Chapter 24: Date Night

It was finally the weekend after VAND and SNTL's mission, and tensions hadn't really simmered down quite yet. Victor was still very angry at his teammates since it adversely effected the mission. The team was sitting around the room, the Blackhound pups meandering around trying to find something to do. They were getting big so hiding under Alexi's bed wasn't going to be much of an option for very long. Victor stepped out of the bathroom in his jeans, avoiding eye contact with any of his teammates as he got dressed.

"You going out, Big Guy?" Dev questioned, not looking away from his guitar in his lap, strumming a few chords.

"What do you care?" Victor grumbled as he put on a gray shirt before putting on his red sleeveless jacket.

"Because we're friends."

"Could have fooled me."

Victor turned to all of them with an easily angered expression.

"Group announcement. If any of you… any of you… question my relationship again… find yourself a new team." Victor growled, easily sending his message to everyone. All of them nodded, not wanting to provoke the berserker any further than he already was. "Good. I hope we can move past this and go back to how we were. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with Kris."

Everyone waved him off as he left, easing the tension in the room by a thousand percent.

"Well, at least that is over with." Nigel sighed as he closed his book. He reached for his scroll and started messaging Velvet. "Hello, my little Bun."

"Hello Nigel. How are you?" Velvet responded almost immediately. They hadn't spoken much with missions and classes in the way, so they would message each other as much as possible.

"I'm quite well. Our issues with our leader have started to simmer down, so that's good. Regardless, I wanted to see if you were free for dinner tonight?"

"Of course! Just give me a few minutes to get ready. Will it be a fancy dinner?"

"Nothing too fancy."

"Okay. Meet me at my room in a bit."

Nigel got up and changed into his usual gear, his jacket and jeans, while taking the time to clean himself up a bit. Alexi noticed Nigel's grooming and decided to ask.

"Got a date tonight?" Alexi questioned.

"Indeed I do. Velvet and I are going out to dinner. It has been far too long since we went out."

"Well, have fun. Don't expect the room to be empty when you get back for a little fun."

Dev and Nigel chuckled at the joke while Alexi continued to flip through his textbook, trying to catch up on some of the work he had missed during his mission. Nigel headed to the door as someone knocked, the Blackhound pups darting under the beds they could fit under as they had been trained. Nigel opened the door, finding Grey in a t-shirt and basketball shorts.

"Hey Nigel. Hot date with the bunny?" Grey questioned, smirking as she leaned to the side and crossed her arms.

"Indeed I do. Enjoy your evening." Nigel responded as he walked out. Grey simply strode in and flopped face down onto Dev's bed, groaning into it. The pups emerged from their hiding spots, smelling a familiar scent since SNTL knew about the Grimm pups. Dev leaned forward and patted the back of Grey's head before returning to his guitar. Grey simply slid up and curled up in Dev's lap, her boyfriend taking a moment to scratch at her ears to her delight.

Nigel walked to Velvet's room and knocked on the door, awaiting his usual greeting. Coco opened the door, fashionably dressed as always, and lowered her sunglasses to check him over. She was always critical of his taste in clothing, choosing comfort over looks. Also she was wary of him since he was dating Velvet, whose team protected her like a porcelain doll.

"Holland." Coco greeted as she pushed her sunglasses back up.

"Coco, always a pleasure." Nigel greeted, keeping a smile on his face. Velvet moved Coco aside to reveal her wearing a dark blue blouse with jeans. Nigel smiled, unable to think that Velvet just looked stunning, then again she always looked stunning to him.

"Velvet, you look amazing." Nigel complimented, causing Velvet to roll her eyes.

"You say that every time we go out." Velvet sighed with a smile.

"That doesn't make it any less true."

Velvet rolled her eyes and attempted to step out, but Coco blocked her by sticking her arm out, placing her palm on the door frame. Another usual path Coco took with Velvet and Nigel.

"You know the rules. Be back at 11, if he tries anything-." Coco attempted to explain, laying down the usual ground rules.

"Break his hand, if that doesn't work, break his manhood. Coco, will you just let me go on a date with my boyfriend?" Velvet cut off and questioned.

"Fine. Have fun. I'm watching you Holland." Coco warned.

Velvet took Nigel's hand and the two started walking towards the airship docks, ready for their date. Nigel took his hand from hers and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. She hooked her arm around him, leaning her head against his since she was taller than he was, ears not included. Nigel was only about 5'3" while Velvet was 5'6", so there was a bit of a height difference. The two boarded an airship and leaned against each other, waiting for them to land in Vale for their date.

The two easily found a nice restaurant and grabbed a booth, the two reaching across and holding hands, like a nauseating couple. The two got their drink orders and simply stared into each other's eyes.

"So, do you think Coco will ever leave us be?" Nigel questioned, breaking the gaze so he could look at the menu.

"Probably not. She'll always watch out for me ever since you and your team stepped in to protect me. You would figure that would have gained you some points with her."

"You would think. Oh well, it doesn't matter. We're on our date and that's what matters."

Velvet giggled behind her menu, hiding the blush on her face. She was happy that someone would ask her out, and that they had continued dating for this long.

"Nigel, can I tell you something?" Velvet questioned as she lowered her menu.

"Anything, my dear." Nigel replied as he put his down.

"I… I want to thank you."

"For?"

"For this… for us. No one has ever really… cared for me like you."

Nigel smiled and reached across the table and took her hand again, earning a loving smile from Velvet.

"How could I not? You are a beautiful woman and a wonderful person. Any man would be lucky to be with you." Nigel complimented. Velvet's face immediately turned a bright red, doing her best to hide it behind her menu. "Come now, Velvet. Is it that hard to believe someone would care about you?"

"Well, most people are put off by my ears." Velvet admitted. It was true, most men looked at her like a freak with her ears. Nigel was the first to show her any kind of interest in her, and she really like him.

"I think they're adorable. Men shouldn't judge another by looks alone, it's about who the person is. You are a kind and gentle soul. I'll say once more, any man would be lucky to be with you. Now, let's see what we want to eat before our server arrives."

Velvet nodded and picked up her menu, ordering pasta while Nigel got a chicken sandwich. They ate and chatted until they started heading back to Beacon. The two returned to their original position, arms wrapped around each other's hips, Velvet leaning on her slightly shorter boyfriend. Nigel brought Velvet to her door, but she seemed a little more intent on taking Nigel to his door. The two stopped outside and shared a long, passionate kiss that left both of them breathless.

"Nigel, is there anyone in your room?" Velvet questioned, the two keeping their foreheads together. Nigel used his scroll to unlock the door and looked inside, seeing a dark room and hearing no pups barking so the room was empty.

"No, there isn't. Why?" Nigel questioned as he turned back to Velvet. She put a hand on his chest and slowly pushed him into his room, closing the door behind her. She guided Nigel to his bed until he fell back onto his bed, Velvet leaning forward with her hands at his sides. "Is there something you want to do?"

Velvet smiled as she reached up and undid the first button on her blouse, Nigel's eyes going wide. They had been dating for a few months, but he didn't know she wanted to move forward. Nigel quickly scrambled out of his jacket, getting a small chuckle out of Velvet, who was halfway done with unbuttoning her blouse. Nigel grabbed her by her waist and nearly tossed her onto his bed, Nigel placing himself on top of Velvet, who seemed to enjoy Nigel being on top of her. The two started to kiss, Nigel breaking it in order to start kissing her neck to her delight.

The two spent the night together in happiness.

Alexi closed his textbook and set his notebook aside, finally finished with all of his work that he had missed. He was currently alone in the room other than the pups, Grey offering to show Dev her bed and he accepted. The pups wandered the room, playing by knocking each other over or tearing up any clothing that was left on the floor. All of the pups started to become very distinguishable. Dev's pup, Fudge, was easily the fluffiest, almost looking like a ball of black floof.

Victor's pup, Vanagandr, was still half the size of the rest of the other pups, but was as fierce as his owner. Alexi's pup, Gwyn, had the most armor plates growing in… and had the largest sex drive. The pup humped practically anything that moved. Finally, Hound, Nigel's pup, was the most well behaved and sat like a statue most of the time. He took a deep breath and sighed, figuring now was as good a time as any to find the pups a new home.

"Come on, pups. We need to find you a new place to live. You're getting too big to be living under my bed." Alexi announced, getting his gear together. He put on a black jacket over his green t-shirt, the pups practically bouncing in joy to be going outside. He knew the pups probably couldn't understand him, but he could at least try. They were slowly being trained and they acted like normal dogs, even though they were Grimm and were naturally drawn to negative emotion. It was definitely strange for Grimm to not attack them on sight, but it also might add into that Alexi and his friends imprinted on them at a young age.

He snuck out with the pups following him to grab his weapon, then headed into the Forest of Forever Fall. He needed to find a place for the pups to live, and the last place he knew Blackhounds lived was in the chasm near the ruins in the Emerald Forest. He didn't want to bring them there since he didn't want to risk any future Beacon students running into them and killing them. The forest was pretty silent, a full moon lighting his way as they walked, Alexi searching for a place to leave the pups. He was hoping to find a cave of some kind for the pups.

They were walking for about an hour when they ran into opposition; a full grown Ursa. The behemoth charged them, the pups easily jumping out of the way while Alexi took the brunt of the hit, sending him rolling. He forced himself up while the pups circled the Ursa, their predator instincts kicking in. Granted, they were barely as big as the Ursa's front leg, but they had to protect the man that saved them. Alexi got up and loaded his grenade launcher, firing an incendiary round at the Ursa, knocking it back but not killing it.

The Ursa roared in defiance, targeting Alexi with its hateful red eyes. Alexi swapped to his rifle, ready to start unloading rounds into the Grimm when something slammed into the side of the Ursa. Whatever was attacking the Ursa was fast… scary fast… and was tearing at the Ursa's neck. Between the small flashes, Alexi could tell the creature was tall, but not large, resembling a velociraptor but more… Grimm-like. Alexi watched as the raptor tore the Ursa's throat out, the massive Grimm bleeding profusely but the raptor not giving up its assault.

The raptor tore and slashed at the Ursa's black flesh, tearing out chunks of flesh and sending spray of blood everywhere. The Ursa finally collapsed to the ground, the raptor tearing out a chunk of flesh and swallowing it, the pups approaching the raptor like they knew it. They jumped and yipped at the raptor, the dinosaur Grimm lowering its head and nuzzling the pups. Alexi was still frozen, unsure of whether to move or not since the raptor might just attack him on sight. Then something even stranger started to happen, the raptor started to change shape.

Alexi was stunned as the raptor's shape altered into a human form, then finally revealed itself as Kira. She was covered in blood, but still had her usual clothing on as she knelt down and started to pet the pups like nothing happened. Alexi still didn't move until Kira started to sniff the air, her head slowly turning towards him with a horrified look on her face. The two stared at each other, neither of them sure what to say to each other. Really, what could either of them say?

The pups easily sensed the tension, all of them starting to whimper to get the focus off of the two. Kira immediately focused her attention on the pups, getting them to calm down and give Alexi a bit more time to process everything. His mind eventually stopped spinning and he was able to join in comforting the pups until they stopped whimpering.

"So… what are you doing out here?" Kira questioned as she rubbed Fudge's stomach. Alexi slung his weapon onto his back as he scratched the back of his head. He was trying to figure out how to see her as a normal girl after watching her tear apart an Ursa as a dinosaur.

"I was… looking for a place for the pups. They're getting too big to live under the bed." Alexi answered, petting Hound who sat by his foot.

"I know a place. It's not far from here. Plenty of room for the pups to grow."

"Alright… well… lead the way."

Kira stood up and started walking, the pups following behind with Alexi taking up the rear. They walked for a bit when they found a large cave on a ridge. It was about as large as the cafeteria at Beacon, and looked relatively empty.

"This was probably that Ursa's home… now it can be the pup's home." Kira offered as the pups started sniffing around. Alexi looked himself, of course he couldn't really see beyond what the moonlight showed him, so he took her word on it. Kira knelt down and the pups ran to her like she was their mother. She started growling and barking at them, the pups staring at her intently since they actually understood her. She stood up and the pups darted off around their new home, seeing that the entire place was theirs now.

She turned, avoiding eye contact with Alexi as she walked out of the cave. Alexi started walking with her, the two "enjoying" a horribly awkward silence as they started their journey back to Beacon. He was the first to break the silence.

"So… you can… become a Grimm?" Alexi questioned, trying to figure it out.

"It's… hard to explain." Kira replied. The hardest thing about it was… she didn't really know what she was. Was she a Grimm that knew how to change into human form? Was she a soulless human that could become Grimm? She didn't know. "I… really don't know what I am. I just know I can change into Grimm… at a cost."

"A cost?"

"Yeah. I have the same craving as all other Grimm… for humans. Every time I change form… that Hunger gets louder. I've found that Grimm meat curves that Hunger."

"So you were out here… hunting…"

"Yes."

She stepped ahead of him and stopped him in his tracks. Alexi looking at her with a raised eyebrow while Kira tried to find the words.

"Alexi, it's… beyond important that you don't tell anyone about this. If you do… My life…" Kira tried to reason. She didn't want Alexi to find out about her secret this way. She had hoped to tell him if they started a relationship, and she trusted him with her life. Alexi heard the concern in her voice and he knew that this was something very important to her. However, he saw an opportunity he simply couldn't pass up.

"Alright. I'll keep quiet about this… for a price." Alexi replied, crossing his arms with a smirk. Kira looked up at him, a little shocked that he would hold this over her.

"Oh… okay. What?" Kira replied, a little nervous about what he would ask of her.

"Well, when we get back to Beacon, I want you to clean up… and meet me in the common area for a movie."

Kira was a little taken back at the idea since she figured she was going to have to do some… uncomfortable acts. But this? He just wanted to spend time with her.

"Y-you mean… like…" Kira stammered, extremely nervous since she had an idea of what he was asking.

"Like a date. Exactly like a date." Alexi answered, finishing her statement. Kira's normally pale face turned a bright red as she tried to look anywhere but at Alexi. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, burying her face in his shoulder. "You are just adorable. Come on, we have a date."

Alexi had to practically drag Kira back since her brain was basically fried from the entire conversation. Luckily, she was able to regain some senses enough to get into her room and get into the shower. She really didn't want to remain in the room since Grey and Dev were in Grey's bed attached at the face. She was in and out very quickly and joined Alexi in the common room. They sat on the couch as Alexi put a movie on, Kira not really paying attention to the movie since she was a little more focused on the fact she was on a date.

She was so nervous she couldn't keep still, her hands constantly moving until Alexi hooked his arm around her shoulder. She froze at the contact, unsure of what to do until he pulled her close, her head resting on his shoulder. She smiled as she accepted what was happening, actually starting to enjoy the date. The movie ended after a few hours, the two rising and returning to the room. They met two familiar faces, Victor and Kristine, who were returning from their date.

"Kira! Are you and Alexi?" Kris trailed off, waiting for Kira to answer. Kira smiled and nodded, the wolf Faunus immediately jumping and squealing while Victor and Alexi shook hands.

"Way to go man. Glad to see the two of you together." Victor congratulated, patting Alexi on the shoulder with his free hand.

"Thanks, Big Guy. How was your date?" Alexi questioned, happy to see that Victor wasn't still angry with him.

"It went well. Had a good time."

The group headed back to the room, only to find Dev walking out of SNTL's room while wiping his mouth. Kris gave Victor a quick kiss and then quickly dragged Kira into the room to gossip about their dates. Victor looked at Dev, who simply smiled at his leader, and grumbled something before turning to the door and stopping dead in his tracks. Alexi and Dev looked around their leader to see a neck tie, specifically Nigel's, hanging around the door handle.

"Is… is he?" Alexi questioned, knowing what the tie meant.

"I… I don't know…" Victor responded.

"I wanna see this." Dev exclaimed as he slowly reached for the handle. The three stacked up on the door and slowly opened the door, looking to Nigel's bed and seeing a sight they never thought they'd see. Nigel was clearly on his back without a shirt while Velvet sat on his hips, also not wearing a shirt or a bra. From the angle, they couldn't see anything on Velvet other than her bare back, but they could tell Nigel had his hands on her chest.

"Oh Velvet… you have an absolute perfect pair of breasts." They heard Nigel compliment, clearly enjoying himself. The three figured it would be best not to interrupt them and let them have their fun, the trio heading to SNTL's room to crash for the night.

Chief A/N: There you have it! Some fun, fluffy chapter after the little more serious one. Worry not! There is still fun to be had! Message me, ChiefD3m0n1c or SOVIETxEAGLE with any thoughts, comments, or concerns or leave a review to let us know what you think. Until next time!