"And neither of you have ever done this before?" Ruby asked incredulously as she walked in between her girlfriends.
"City girl, remember?" Blake replied wryly.
Pyrrha shook her head as well, her long red ponytail swaying behind her. "I did not have the time for such things when I was growing up."
The brunette let out a long-suffering sigh as she wrapped her arms around each girl's waist, drawing them in close. "My girlfriends are so deprived," she stated sadly.
"And that is why we have you, little rose," Pyrrha giggled. "To educate us in such matters."
"Among other things," Blake added sotto voce. Ruby giggled as well at that and leaned over to plant a quick kiss on the raven-haired girl's cheek.
They were heading down towards the waterfront of Mistral, the only side of the city not bordered by swampland. As they approached, each of them let out a sigh of relief at the cooler breeze coming in off of the ocean.
"Wow, Pyrrha, why don't your parents live over this way?" Ruby asked curiously. "It's so much nicer!"
"Because most Mistralians have the same idea," the redhead laughed lightly. "You would not believe the real estate prices down this way."
The trio paused at the docs, searching along the wooden and concrete pathways for a certain vendor that Ruby had insisted would be present.
"Found one!" the brunette chirped, her sniper eyes quickly spying her target on the far end.
The three of them set off once more. All were clad in shorts and tank tops, much to Ruby's delight, as she'd take any excuse to see more of her girlfriend's skin.
Not that she was staring, or anything.
"You're ogling," Blake murmured.
Orrr maybe she was.
"Can you blame me, though?" the brunette protested. "I've got the hottest girls in all of Remnant on my arms!"
"Well, I certainly feel the same way," Pyrrha laughed.
"Mmm," Blake agreed. "Still, we are in public."
"And I'm keeping my ogling perfectly respectful," Ruby proclaimed loftily. "Nobody knows what's going on inside my head."
"We know," the other two answered in unison.
"Can't prove a thing," the brunette snickered as they walked up to the umbrella-covered cart. It had a cooler attached to it, but more important were the buckets of fishing poles sitting on the ground.
"Hi there!" Ruby chirped cheerfully. "We'd like to rent three poles, and buy some bait as well, please!"
"Sure thing," the vendor, a gray-haired young man with furry koala ears on top of his head replied. He paused, though, upon seeing Pyrrha. The two of them stared at each other for a brief instant before smiles grew on their faces.
"Oh my Oum, Pyrrha!"
"Krebbs! My goodness, it's been years!"
The taller redhead gave the thin boy a quick hug before stepping back and turning to her girlfriends with an excited gleam in her emerald eyes.
"Girls, this is Krebbs Cinereal, my childhood friend from before Sanctum. Krebbs, these are my girlfriends, Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna."
"Girlfriends?" the Koala Faunus laughed merrily. "Damn, Pyrrha, you've certainly come a long way!"
The redhead blushed lightly, though she couldn't keep a grin off of her face. "Yes, well… I am certainly more happy than I've ever been, that is for certain."
Krebbs nodded towards the other girls amicably. He suddenly perked up a bit as a breeze blew in from behind the three of them.
"Well, well," he grinned at the Cat Faunus. "And Mated, as well?"
Now it was the raven-haired girl's turn to blush brightly. "Er, not quite," she murmured. "We're, well… That is, it's in the early stages still."
"Ahh, gotcha." He gave Pyrrha a wink. "You're a lucky girl to be sharing a scent with such beautiful women!"
"We like to think so," Ruby replied with a wide smile as she gave the redhead a one-armed hug.
"Right! So you ladies wanna do some fishing!" Krebbs clapped his hands together. "Beginners?"
"They are," the brunette stated, inclining her red-tipped head. "But I've done this before."
"Excellent, then I'll just let you do your thing. One regular pole and two novice ones, three sets of bait…"
The grey-haired boy pulled their items together and accepted Ruby's lien before waving them off merrily.
"Just bring them back whenever you can!" he called out as they headed down one of the docks. "I'm here till sundown!"
"Thank you Krebbs!" Pyrrha called back with a wave.
"So," Ruby murmured. "Guess it's that obvious we share products now, huh?"
Blake nodded happily. "Told you it would be for another Faunus." She eyed the two of them. "And you're both still okay with that, right?"
"You kidding me?" the brunette exclaimed. "That was such a cool feeling, like, he just caught a sniff and was all, 'oh you three are bonded together'! That was awesome!"
Pyrrha giggled quietly. "Well, I would not say I had quite the same reaction… But yes, it was quite pleasant to have our relationship acknowledged in such a fashion, even if I had already informed him of such."
The Cat Faunus sighed contentedly and wrapped her arms around the two of them. "I love you both so much."
"And I love the both of you as well," Pyrrha smiled.
"Ditto," Ruby added with a smirk. "And you still gotta tell us about this whole Mating thing, you know."
"When you're ready," Pyrrha quickly interjected.
"Oh, for sure," Ruby hastened to agree. "No pressure or anything."
The raven-haired girl smiled once more and nodded. "I will, someday soon. There's no rush, though."
"Nope," Ruby replied. "We're not going anywhere."
They ended up at the edge of the pier, which was thankfully unoccupied. Several other jetties had some people also fishing, but the three of them could enjoy the solitude.
"Okay, so lemme give you guys a few pointers," Ruby began, laying the poles out. "This one is mine, it's a little more of a complicated spincaster, so don't worry about it for right now…"
The petite brunette proceeded to show the other two how to properly bait their hooks and cast out into the water. They practiced a few times before all three of them were sitting on the side of the dock, bare feet dangling out over the edge and with their poles in hand. Silver, amber, and green eyes stared out at the bobbing floats.
"This is quite relaxing," Pyrrha murmured, resting her head atop Blake's.
"Mmm."
"Yeah, wish we had some decent chairs," Ruby mused. "But this is nice." She leaned over as well and laid her head on the raven-haired girl's shoulder.
The three of them sat in silence for another ten minutes or so, just enjoying the weather, the peace, and each other.
Until Pyrrha's line began to jerk.
"Oh!" the redhead exclaimed. "Oh oh oh! What do I do?"
"Reel it in!" Ruby replied excitedly. She and Blake put their poles down, securing them into helpful iron rings there for just that purpose, as they stood up on either side of Pyrrha. The Mistralian native was bouncing on her toes, eagerly retracting the line.
Soon enough a small, wiggling fish came into view.
"Okay, bring it this way… Yep, just like that…" The brunette reached out and grabbed hold of the catch, slipping it off of the hook and dropping it to the pier behind them. "Congrats, fluffy fox! You…"
She trailed off as she watched Blake hurl herself forward to pounce on the frantic fish. It shot out from under her and back into the water.
Pyrrha and Ruby just stared at their girlfriend, open-mouthed, as she slowly turned to face them. Her face was bright crimson with mortification as she wrung her hands together.
"I'm so sorry, Pyrrha," Blake whispered, her bottom lip trembling. "I just… I just couldn't help myself…"
Ruby cleared her throat. "Um… kitty cat… What exactly were you trying to do?"
"I don't know!" the Cat Faunus wailed quietly. Tears were now welling up in her amber orbs. "I didn't mean to! It was just there, and I couldn't help it! It was worse than a Dust-damned laser pointer!"
Pyrrha chuckled lightly and crouched down to enfold her distraught girlfriend in a warm hug. "It's quite alright, love, not like we wouldn't have returned it back to the water anyway, right?"
"But that's not the point!" Blake sniffled. "It was your catch!"
Ruby sighed as she squatted next to Blake as well, rubbing her back gently. "And she already forgave you, sweetie. What's really bothering you?"
The raven-haired girl was silent for another heartbeat before she spoke up again, her words barely audible. "I'm not just some animal, slave to her base instincts."
"No, you are not," Pyrrha reassured her gently. "You are our girlfriend and lover who we absolutely adore for all that you are."
"And this is part of you, kitty cat," Ruby added. "We love and accept every part of you. Okay?"
"Okay," Blake replied in a small, sheepish voice. "I'll try better next time."
"You don't have to do that," Pyrrha laughed, helping the Cat Faunus to her feet. "If you want to pounce, then pounce!"
Blake nodded slowly, her hands reaching up to adjust her bow. "It's just… difficult. Going against every hard-earned lesson to… not be myself."
"But with us, you can," Ruby smiled gently.
She nodded once more, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. A small smile crept across her face. "Shall we return to our fishing?"
"Yes, let's," the redhead replied warmly.
They placed new bait on Pyrrha's hook, and before long had returned to their original positions. Ruby snuck a glance up at her Faunus lover, noting that her face had once again attained some measure of peace.
A little part of the brunette was irrationally angry that someone with so much potential for being a free spirit had spent most of her life chained within the constraints of society's prejudices. Blake was beautiful in her eyes no matter what, but when she could be herself, be openly Faunus, she really shone like a brilliant star.
Right then and there, it was suddenly cemented in Ruby's mind that she was truly going to spend the rest of her life with these two girls. They hadn't really discussed the far future very much, but she knew that what the three of them had together - Blake's freedom, Pyrrha's cheer, her own confidence - was far stronger for the bond they shared. And she was willing to defend that bond, their love, with every fiber of her being.
For now, though, she was content to smile softly and nuzzle Blake's shoulder. "I love you guys."
"Love you too, little rose," Blake murmured, turning slightly to place a kiss on the crown of her head. Pyrrha reached her arm around and hugged the two of them in close.
"I love you both so very much," the redhead whispered gratefully. "Thank you again for being here with me."
"Pyrrha," the brunette smiled. "There's no place on Remnant I'd rather be than by your sides."
"Mmm," Blake agreed, with a good deal of her own gratitude.
Yeah, Ruby thought to herself warmly. I'm not going anywhere. Ever.
A/N: I often enjoy sticking little easter eggs inside my stories to see who picks up on them. However, this one took me so long (because for the life of me I couldn't remember the right movie) that I'm just gonna give it to you. Krebbs was the koala in the 1990 animated Disney film Rescuers Down Under. Ahh, the classics.
One more Mistral chapter with the Purruby girls, and then we'll check in with Freezerburn over in Atlas!
Fluffy Cat Faunus snuggles for my lovely reviewers: THB4, DschingisKhan, Jack Inqu, ILikeHotDogs, Throthgar's bane, Gorsouul, kaiju62, Reaper Whisper, ExKage, Boombox94, SamuraiShippo, allie300093, joltflier, MakaS0ul, Marauderby. May your day be free from laser pointers.
Stay shiny!