Blake eased herself out of the bedroom, sending a last loving glance at her shirtless girlfriends curled up together on the large bed. It had taken considerable dexterity to extract herself from amidst the cuddle pile earlier, but Ruby had quickly snuggled up to Pyrrha in her sleep and didn't even pause in her soft snores.
Chuckling to herself lightly, the Cat Faunus stealthily headed outside to breathe in the crisp early morning air. The sun was just now cresting the horizon, and she was dressed in her black running shorts, purple tank top, and black athletic shoes. Shivering slightly in the cool air, she quickly stretched out on the railing before setting off in an easy jog.
It was her custom while at Beacon to take these early morning jogs, though the frequency of them had declined since her relationship with Pyrrha and Ruby began. Sometimes it was a monumental effort to extract oneself from two very cuddly women in the morning.
She made a determined effort to do just that this morning, however, her first one on the island of Patch. While her jogs always helped to clear her head and center herself, this morning she wanted to experience the beauty of the rural island that Ruby called home.
As she passed the woods that lined the road she found herself on, she marveled at the colors that the rising sun illuminated in the foliage overhead. The gentle breeze made the leaves sway about, the scintillating display like a kaleidoscope.
I think I might do this run every morning… It is so very beautiful here, especially for a city Faunus like myself.
After about a half hour she reached the end of the road where it stopped in a small cul-de-sac. The houses there were closer together, but their back yards rested up against the beach.
Blake paused at the entrance to the small development, pacing about and swinging her arms around to take a small break before heading back. As she did, she noted two figures approaching from a side street, the both of them jogging as well. Once they got closer, Blake recognized one of them as the girl from the ice cream stand. Her companion was an unusually small bear faunus, if her ears were any indication.
The ice cream girl immediately recognized her and gave a little wave as they slowed on their approach. "Hi there!" she said cheerfully, though a bit winded. "Lovely morning, isn't it?"
"Gorgeous," the Cat Faunus agreed. "I'm very glad I came here for the summer break."
"Ohhh, are you from one of the schools? Oh, I'm Lilly, by the way." She indicated her jogging partner with an incline of her chin. "This is my best friend, Claire."
"Blake," she replied, nodding to the two of them. "And yes, I attend Beacon, Ruby invited me to spend the summer here with her."
"Oh, yeah, I remember seeing you with her yesterday! So she's a friend of yours?"
"Er, girlfriend, actually," Blake admitted with a slight blush.
"Oh, really?" Lilly's eyes shone eagerly. "That's so cool, I never would have guessed! Oh, hey, who was the other girl with you? She looked familiar somehow, I'm not sure from where though…"
The Cat Faunus grinned. "Perhaps from a cereal box?"
"A cereal…" The young teen's eyes widened. "OHMYGODSWASTHATPYRRHANIKOS?"
"Yes, actually…"
"Wow, Pyrrha Nikos is here on Patch… Ohhh, is she here with somebody too?"
"Er, about that… she's my girlfriend as well."
Both Lilly and Claire blinked their eyes at her uncertainly. "I don't follow you," Lilly finally stated.
"Well, you see… we're in a tri relationship. The three of us." Blake gave them a hesitant smile.
"That. Is. So. Cool." Both girls looked slightly floored, but Blake noted curiously that Claire had yet to open her mouth. "Seriously awesome," Lilly continued. "Look, we gotta get back home or my parents will miss us, they know how long our jog takes… Um, come by and visit again? If you want ice cream?"
"I will," Blake laughed. "It was nice meeting you both."
Lilly called out a cheerful goodbye as they continued on their jog, Claire just waving slightly but with a smile.
The raven-haired girl shook her head in amusement as she turned and headed back towards where her girlfriends still slumbered.
o o o
Blake wiped her face with the hem of her shirt as she paused on the porch of the Xiao Long household. Her Faunus ears were upright and twitching, searching for any noise, but all seemed quiet inside still.
She slowly opened the front door, eased herself inside, and then silently shut it behind her.
Okay, time for a hot, refreshing shower… and then perhaps I can give my girlfriends a nice wakeup call…
With a wide, anticipatory grin on her face, the raven-haired girl turned to head down the hallway where Ruby's room lay.
Only to pull up short.
Her heart hammered in her chest, ears flat against her head and fingers involuntarily outstretched into defensive claws. If she had a tail like some Cat Faunus did, it would have been bristling madly.
It had found her.
She'd been so careful yesterday and this morning to avoid the creature, but now it was crouched protectively in front of Ruby's closed door, ready to pounce and tear her throat out.
Zwei.
She said his name internally like the most vilest of curses. Dust-damned demon spawn slobbering canine monster, she moaned fearfully in her head.
Blake slowly backed up, never taking her eyes off the small furry terror. She could just see the saliva dripping down from its extended tongue, drooling in anticipation of feasting upon her shredded remains…
Not today, dog.
With blinding speed, Blake spun on her heel, threw the door open, and hurled herself outside once more, remembering at the last second not to slam the door in the face of the likely charging beast, instead closing it as quietly yet firmly as she could.
She didn't hear the impact of its body against the door she was leaning against, panting desperately in fear, but that just meant it was more agile than she gave it credit for.
Don't tell me they have souls, bloody monsters are as bad as Grimm… I should get Gambol Shroud and…
The Cat Faunus shook her head irritably as she rose to her feet. No, that wasn't the solution here. Aside from the fact that it would sadden her girlfriend, though she'd be sure to forgive Ruby for her lack of good judgement as she would only be protecting her, that would reflect poorly upon her as a guest.
Though she wasn't the most well-versed in the etiquette of such a situation, she was fairly certain it would be a breach of protocol for her to murder her host's pet.
"Perhaps I should ask Weiss," she murmured to herself, walking off of the porch and pacing around the quiet house. "No, she's under that beast's spell as well… charismatic little demon spawn…"
She continued her walk around, past the back door with the smaller door inset into the bottom, until she reached the window to Ruby's room. She gazed at it consideringly.
Alright, I've done plenty of infiltration missions as part of the White Fang. I can handle a simple breaking and entering into my own girlfriend's room. First things first, I need a tool.
She looked around warily until she spied a loose nail on the side of a nearby crate which must have been used to store supplies for the garden. The crate itself was locked, but the nail would suffice.
Once it was wiggled loose, upon pulling it out she inspected it critically. Then the raven-haired girl crept back to the window, looking along the sill inside for the locking mechanism.
Only to note that it was already unlocked.
After a quick facepalm, Blake returned the nail to its origin, headed back to the window, and grasped the ledge. Ever so quietly she eased it open, just enough for her to slip through, but froze again at the sound of panting behind her.
And then her brain finally registered the back door.
With a smaller inset door.
A dog door.
She was doomed.
Her head on a slow swivel, almost afraid of what she might see, Blake turned to regard the furry monster. Its stubby little tail was wagging ecstatically now that it had her cornered, and it was eyeing her rump hungrily.
Blake let out a scared little whimper.
Zwei let out a happy little yip.
With a shriek of terror, Blake levered herself up and through the window, slamming it shut behind her before collapsing to the floor, trembling at the close brush with death she'd just experienced.
"Um… what's up, kitty cat?"
Her head whipped around towards the bed in the center of the room. Ruby was straddling Pyrrha, the both of them shirtless still and obviously having been making out rather intensely, if their swollen lips were any indication. In fact, Ruby had both of her hands resting comfortably on the redhead's bosom, though the two of them regarded her with some bemusement.
"Oh… ah haha… hey, there…" Blake waved weakly from the floor. "I had a nice run this morning."
"I can see that," Ruby smirked, not bothering to move her hands. "Any reason you didn't want to use the door?"
"Er…" Blake got to her feet and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "No, no reason."
"Are you alright, love?" Pyrrha asked softly, her emerald eyes shining with concern.
"Oh, yes, fine, just fine… I'm just… going to grab a shower, alright?"
"Okay, kitty cat," Ruby snickered. "You do that, and then come join us. We miss you."
Blake nodded rapidly, her grin becoming more genuine as her girlfriends both licked their lips while they watched her peel her sweaty clothes off. "Yes, absolutely… er, be right back!"
She darted into the bathroom, tossing the remainder of her clothing over her shoulder as she closed the door.
Shaking her head ruefully, Blake started up the shower, eager to finish quickly and join the amorous girls in the next room.
A/N: Zwei! Zwei Zwei Zwei. And so the eternal conflict continues… Personally, I read the line of "Not today, dog" in an overly dramatic voice like the movie preview announcer. "In a world overrun by canine demon spawn, one Faunus girl stands alone against the onslaught…"
So good news, I did sit down and get a bunch of ideas down to fill out lots more chapters, taking us through summer and the first semester of their second year. Yay! I'm definitely going to stick with a MWF posting schedule, though, I think will work so much better with my other stories. Last night I finally got another chapter for Pearls on a String out, so that was nice. Oh, and I also posted up another chapter yesterday for A Thorny Bind, more fluffy smut for you all to enjoy! This one's theme is jealousy!
THB4: A Yang/Ruby fan club sounds pretty damn funny. I suppose I could have gone that way with Ice Cream Girl here, heh.
ExKage: Thanks! The genes are strong indeed in those Xiao Longs…
DandyHandy: Glad you enjoyed the omake! I'm sure Yang's special 'thawing' has certainly left Weiss feeling a bit more… relaxed. And mellow.
DarthMaine: Qrow is the kinda uncle every kid wants and every parent dreads, lol.
Guest: Many thanks! I think I might definitely take you up on some of those suggestions…
NobleMETA: It's funny, you know, my daughters are always amazed at how other parents are, when their friends complain at school, and they're like, "Oh, no, Kaasan doesn't do any of that, so long as we give notice what we're doing they're pretty chill." I just figure at this point, I've raised them to make their own choices, if they can't figure out by High School what's wrong or right then I did something wrong myself. I don't get 'helicopter parents' at all. (I joke I'm like a 'submarine parent'.)
DschingisKhan: The more diabeetus the merrier! And totally agree, Qrow is an awesome uncle.
Boarador: I am just tickled pink that everyone has liked the omake so much.
Whispering Kataclysm: Yep, the visit to Summer's grave will be a little more heartwarming and less fluffy, and there's gonna be a few of those. Not too many, tho, gotta keep the fluff flowing… just like the spice…
Jack Inqu: Shrooms are always allowed, encouraged even. (Though I know there are plenty of detractors…)
ILikeHotDogs: And sometimes the classic pizzas are the best.
Gorsouul: Thanks! And I think you win for most interesting pizza choice. Tomato sauce, ham, cheese, banana and curry. Damn. I mean, I've had apple, that was yummy, but banana is a new once. Very nice, have a gold star.
growlscout: I agree, Weiss has definitely grown a soft spot for Ruby, lets her get away with more, and by extension her girlfriends. I think Qrow wasn't too sad about losing the alcohol to a spit-take, more that he was disappointed he didn't film it. And I was right there with you on the chicken and shrooms, but anchovies… yeah, those I tend to avoid.
MakaS0ul: Freezerburn shippers unite!
allie300093: Yay another fan of the omake!
LE Whisper: Thanks! I do have another Thorny Bind lined up, soon enough!
SamuraiShippo: Haha, yes the omake does show Qrow in all of his badass glory.
FelipeCH98: And much fluffiness back atcha.
PupOnDRun: You seriously just made my week. Thanks you so, so very much for the wonderful review, I am ecstatic that you've enjoyed my fluffy little crack ship so much! I hope you continue to enjoy the ride!
WyattMoore: Heh, that assumes Weiss even wants to be an heiress anymore, her visit to Atlas with Yang will likely be a bit… contentious.
Stay shiny!