"So, the first stage of the Mark only lasts a few days?" Ruby asked curiously, scratching absentmindedly at her shoulder. "I mean, not that I mind you biting me any…"
"Ruby!" her raven-haired girlfriend exclaimed, her tone hushed. "Can we not talk about that in the middle of the dorm?"
The brunette peered about the deserted hallway leading towards their room curiously. "Um, nobody's here to listen…"
"Fine," Blake grumbled, her bow twitching furiously. She smiled slightly in appeasement at the warm kiss Ruby placed on her cheek and accompanying innocent giggle.
"So, yes, that's why I reapplied the Mark last night," Blake continued quietly, resuming their trek back to their room. "The first stage is just like you saw, a bruise, but it eventually fades."
"Right, and what did you call it? Sorta like a Dating Mark?"
"Correct again, it's a pre-stage for Faunus to truly see each other for who they are, to see if their potential Mates are in fact worth bonding permanently to."
"Hmm." Ruby nodded slowly as she slipped her arm around Blake's waist. "Sorry I wasn't paying attention to all this last night…"
"Well, you were a bit… tired, after the, er… re-application." The Cat Faunus was blushing lightly. "I don't mind going over it again."
"So then stage two is sorta like being engaged, and is more permanent?" Ruby queried. "What kinda-"
"This is such Grimmshit!"
Ruby and Blake shared a startled look outside their dorm room, their conversation cut short by the bellow from within. While Yang was known for her fiery temper, she'd been notably calmer since she and Weiss had started dating last semester.
The brunette squared her shoulders and pushed the door open, but just a crack.
"Um… Everything okay in here?" she called out tentatively.
"No, it is most certainly not okay!" Weiss' voice huffed out. "Get in here!"
"Are we in trouble?" Ruby gulped, easing herself into the room. Blake ghosted in behind her, blatantly keeping in the smaller girl's shadow.
The brunette shot her a smirk over her shoulder, which Blake returned with an unabashed one of her own.
"Sooo… what's up, guys?" Ruby asked the couple currently hovering over Weiss' scroll while seated on the edge of their bed.
"This!" Weiss proclaimed, shaking her scroll in the air. "This is what is up! What do you have to say for yourselves?"
"Um…" Ruby glanced about for inspiration. "Nobody saw me do it, can't prove a thing? Heheh…"
"This is not a laughing matter, Ruby Rose! Not when we will be the object of universal derision!"
"Okay, that's maybe a little harsh, babe," Yang murmured soothingly.
Ruby had to hide her grin behind her hand. Seeing her combustible sister calm down the icy heiress never failed to amuse her.
Just then Pyrrha burst through the door, out of breath from running from where she'd evidently been working out, as evidenced by her attire. "What's wrong?"
Ruby and Blake shared a sheepish grin. Evidently they'd been worried enough that Pyrrha had picked up on it via their Mating bond, something the three of them had been quietly and subtly working on over the past week.
"Er, we're not really sure yet, fluffy fox," Ruby murmured. "But somehow it seems to be our fault. Whatever it is."
"Have you not even read your incoming mail yet?" Weiss asked loudly.
Ruby, Blake, and Pyrrha looked at each other in perplexion before digging their scrolls out.
"Ooooh…" came three simultaneous quiet exclamations, all with the exact same intonation.
While Yang snickered loudly, Weiss gave her girlfriend a nudge with her elbow. "Read it!" she demanded of the others.
"Beacon Rules and Regulations, Current Semester?" Blake asked. "Didn't they already post this?"
"It's a revision," Weiss snarled.
The three girls slowly meandered over to their bed, sitting down next to each other on the edge while reading their scrolls.
"Okay…" Ruby mumbled. "Seems to be pretty much the same… stuff… as… Oh."
"Yes, oh," Weiss huffed, crossing her arms. "An entire section!"
"Places Students Are Restricted From Having Sex?" the diminutive brunette asked incredulously, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"That's just the first new section," Yang chuckled.
"Sooo…" Pyrrha began hesitantly. "How many of these are, er… because of us?"
"Us, as in the three of us," Blake stated levelly, scrolling rapidly down the surprisingly long list. "Or us, as in Team RWBY?"
"Take your pick."
"I'd say the majority of it is a result of our team. Difficult to place the blame for each entry upon either of our relationships."
"Yep," Ruby giggled as she worked down the list. "Yep, yep, yep, yep... Nope, not that one… Yep, yep… Ew, seriously, Yang? The dumpster?"
"Hey, that wasn't us!" Yang protested. "Can you imagine Weiss…?"
"No! I don't want to imagine you and Weiss anywhere, thank you very much!" Ruby exclaimed.
The five girls stared at each other in perplexion.
"I don't believe I really want to know," Blake murmured.
"Nope, me neither," Ruby chuckled wryly. "Moving on… Yep, yep, yep…"
"Wait, three down from the dumpster was you guys as well?" Yang asked with a grin.
"The locker room? Yeah," Ruby grinned sheepishly, the blush on her face matching those of her girlfriends. "We got caught, too…"
"By Goodwitch?"
"Yep…"
"Oh, man, that sucks…" Yang snickered quietly. "At least we didn't get caught…"
Weiss leapt up from the bed, her face livid. "I cannot believe you are all taking this so calmly!" she practically screeched. "What are we going to do when the entire school finds out this list is because of us?!"
"Well, I was going to say they wouldn't really know," Blake deadpanned. "After your outburst, however…"
Weiss sat back down, clearly chagrined. "Still," she continued in a much more subdued though still clearly agitated voice. "It gets worse."
"Worse than publishing a list of where we have had sex on campus?" Pyrrha asked incredulously.
"Yup," Yang sighed. "Worse."
The other three girls rapidly scrolled past the admittedly lengthy list to reach the next section, merely labelled Miscellaneous.
"Sooo… You gotta pay for property damages now?" Ruby asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah, awfully nice of them to single me out there," the blonde grunted irritably.
"To be fair," her Faunus partner remarked, "you do retain a disproportionate majority of damage on the campus."
"Yeah, yeah… Now read the sub-points."
"What?" Ruby barked out, her face bright red. "Why would they…?"
"Do not, under any circumstances, make Ruby Rose cry," Pyrrha murmured. "Well, that was awfully specific."
"It was the one time!" Yang exclaimed defensively. "One time that Cardin took your cookies our first semester! I'm so much better with my temper now! It's been ages since I've put anyone through a wall!"
"I'm gonna just die now of embarrassment," Ruby mumbled, pulling her hood over her head.
"Many of these are quite… pointed," Pyrrha continued as she scrolled on down. "And yes, many of them do seem to relate to your team, though quite a few from mine as well… This one regarding the breaking of legs is obviously Nora… Oh, and here, disallowing an allergy to boredom as an excuse, I know I've heard her use that before."
"Do not, under any circumstances, assist Ruby Rose in any weapon-based experiments?" Ruby sighed from under the cover of her cloak, still reading her scroll. "That's just mean. I've only ever blown myself up."
The redhead snorted softly. "And right under that, the same goes for Weiss with Dust-based experiments." The heiress in question merely huffed indignantly with her nose pointed in the air, muttering something about acceptable collateral damage.
Blake cleared her throat gently, turning her scroll around for everyone to read. On it, she'd typed out, "We have a listener outside our door."
Weiss' eyes narrowed. "Could this be… some sort of…" She scowled as she examined her scroll once more, typing rapidly and muttering to herself under her breath. "Expand full message headers… routing data…"
The heiress' head snapped up to stare out at the door, her glare surprisingly not reducing it to ash on the spot. She growled out a single word, like the pronouncement of a sentence of doom.
"Nora."
The next sound they heard was a startled yelp and the scrambling of footsteps out in the corridor. It was followed by the thunderous stampede of five pairs of vengeful feet as they tore after the maniacally giggling pinkettee prankster.
A/N: Little more teasing info regarding the Mate's Mark, we'll just have to stay tuned to see what 'stages' Blake's talking about… I got the idea for this chapter from the lovely Nicodemus Cain who clued me in as to what Skippy's List actually was. If you hadn't heard of it, check it via Google. They also pointed me at a wonderful little slice of humor called Rules and Guildlines for a Better Beacon Experience by RexHeller. It's hilarious, even if it's Guildlines and not Guidelines in the title.
And how, exactly, have you kept track of where your friends have been having sex, Nora? I'm not sure I really want to know.
So this fluffy little crack ship has been sailing for three months now. Sometimes I'm still amazed you folk like it as much as you do, based upon the number of hits it gets and the reviews left. Love you all so much, you definitely keep me inspired and motivated to keep cranking out the fun.
Cheers for my wonderful reviewers: Mariticide, l OmegaInfinity l, DeamonHunter, Boombox94, kaiju62, ILikeHotDogs, Mossblomma, Reaper Whisper, Marauderby (I keep going to reply to your reviews and then I can't PM you! Sad panda…), Jack Inqu, ladygoddess8, Gorsouul, eltiochips, lkdog, THB4, yosai, and Draven Eclipse. You are all obviously highly intelligent and cultured people, a far cut above your average reviewer simply for being fans of my fluff.
Stay shiny!