"So we're gonna do the Second Stage soon, right?" Ruby murmured from where she sat next to Blake. Pyrrha was on the other side of the brunette, the three of them catching up on some studying before their planned activity later.
"Soon," Blake agreed quietly, not looking up from her book. "I want it to be special."
"It will be, kitty cat," Pyrrha interjected warmly.
"Well… I intend for it to be more special than usual." Blake frowned slightly at her uncharacteristically awkward verbiage. "Just be patient, please."
"I can be patient," Ruby proclaimed loftily. Her words were met by several incredulous snickers, the loudest from across the room.
"Hey! I can be, when I wanna be!"
"Suuure you can, Rubes," her big sister chuckled indulgently.
The brunette in question stuck her tongue out at her sister and partner before turning back towards her girlfriends. "Really, I'm not gonna rush you any, Blakey. Whenever you're ready."
"Absolutely," Pyrrha agreed softly, the scratches from her pencil on paper unceasing.
"Mmm." Blake had a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Thank you both."
"So, can I ask a question?" Weiss spoke up hesitantly, setting her own textbook aside. Yang was the only one not taking advantage of the study time as, miraculously enough, she'd managed to catch up with everything already. A feat which everyone else found to be dubious at best, but her platinum-haired girlfriend had decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Hence Yang's current activity of watching videos on her scroll while her head rested on Weiss' lap.
"Certainly," Blake responded, fairly sure this was directed at her. "What's on your mind?"
"Well, this, er… Second Mark…"
"It's the Second Stage of the Mark," Blake corrected gently.
"Yes… So this is an upgrade on the one you all have now?" The heiress blushed slightly as she shook her head. "I apologize if I'm messing up the terminology, or if this comes off as, I don't know… disrespectful…"
The Cat Faunus set her book down on her lap and gave her friend a warm smile from across the room. "Weiss, you have come such a long way from when we first met. I know you're trying, both to accept and to understand, and you have got to know how much this means to me."
Weiss smiled slightly and looked down at her hands. "I am trying," she agreed softly.
"I know," Blake nodded. "And I'm happy to answer any questions about anything you might have, really. I don't have a problem talking about this either. Er…" She abruptly glanced aside at her girlfriends. "You don't have a problem with my discussing this, do you, my loves?"
"Nope, no worries here!" Ruby chirped, flipping through her textbook to find a particular reference for her Dust Mechanics class.
"Page sixty-four, little rose," Pyrrha murmured, knowing what section of her research paper she was on. "And no, I do not mind at all, either."
The raven-haired girl nodded happily, reaching across to give the both of them a quick squeeze. "So yes, Weiss, in layman's terms this is a bit of an upgrade. Consider the First Stage like dating, where you are trying to get to know someone to determine if you actually like them, or in this case, find them as potential Mating material."
"Testing the waters," Yang mused, her scroll discarded at her side as she listened in as well, enraptured with the explanation so far.
"Precisely. Now the Second Stage, that's a little more permanent, meaning it won't fade unless it is consciously broken. You could consider that like an engagement."
"I see," Weiss murmured. "And is the physical.. Mark… the same?"
"No, it's different, but the manifestation is unique for each Mating."
Yang, however, had sat upright at what she'd picked up on earlier. "Wait, so… So this is like the step right before getting married? Are you guys…?"
"Not exactly," Blake smiled, waving off the blonde's concern.
"I mean, we could," Ruby conceded idly.
"Ruby!" her blonde sister protested. "Aren't you guys… I mean, you, aren't you a little young for that kinda step?"
The brunette sighed good-naturedly and set her book and papers down. "Yang, we're not getting married anytime soon. Yes, maybe we're a little young. But we know how we feel about each other, and that's not gonna change any. And we're not gonna think about anything more permanent until we're out of Beacon, okay?"
"Yeah, okay," Yang muttered abashedly. "Sorry, I just… Yeah. I know you guys are really together and all, I just hadn't really thought of, y'know… the future."
"We have," Pyrrha assured her gently. "And we're not in any rush, truly."
"Okay," the blonde said again, clearing her throat. Weiss gave her a side-armed hug, which made her smile. "So this Second Mark, it's like gettin' engaged? How is it different from the one you have now?"
"Like I said, it will stay in place," Blake stated. "It will also be more decisively evident to the Faunus we come across that we are, in fact, Mated. And it will be slightly easier for us to pick up on each other's feelings and moods, and to locate one another. As I understand it, even when not concentrating, we will feel a slight, er… tug towards each other."
"That actually sound rather… cool." Weiss blushed lightly once more, this time at her colloquialism. "Thank you for including us in this, I'm… Well, I'm very happy for the three of you, to be able to experience it."
"Yeah, us too," Ruby giggled lightly before going to pick up her book. As she did so, however, she glanced at the time. "Oh, shoot! We have, like, fifteen minutes before we have to leave!"
"Then we should be getting ready," Pyrrha sighed as she stretched her long limbs out. As she did so, her white tee shirt rode up on her, exposing her abdomen, and her brunette girlfriend was quick to capitalize on the sudden weakness by lunging forward and blowing a rather loud raspberry on the redhead's stomach.
Pyrrha let out a shriek as she flailed to the side, desperately trying to push the impish petite girl away from her. "Blake, help!"
Laughing, the Cat Faunus snagged Ruby around the waist and hauled her back. "Little rose, you're the one who wants to go to this weapon show."
"Oh, fine," Ruby pouted, reluctantly allowing her prey to escape. "We'll continue this later, fluffy fox."
"Yes, we shall," Pyrrha conceded with a smirk. "When I am more prepared for you."
"Nobody ever expects the surprise raspberry attack," Ruby giggled unrepentantly as she bounced off of the bed and dove for her dresser. She quickly slipped her shorts off and began to pull on her jeans, wiggling them over her hips.
Both Blake and Pyrrha paused in their preparations, enchanted by the view.
"Gods, you guys, get a room!" Yang laughed, tossing a pillow at their direction. "Stop ogling my sister in front of me!"
"Well then, turn around so I can properly ogle," Blake smirked, tossing the pillow back without tearing her gaze away. It managed to unerringly hit Yang right in the face.
"I'm covered, sheesh!" Ruby exclaimed, grabbing her red hoodie and tugging it over her head. She shook her crimson-tipped hair out as she grabbed her athletic shoes. "You guys ready?"
"Almost," Blake replied levelly, slipping her boots on from where they lay under the bed.
"I am, yes," Pyrrha smiled as she stood up, sandals in place, and adjusted her tee shirt over her skintight jeans. The Cat Faunus was the only one not in jeans, having decided to wear her usual black skirt and purple blouse ensemble.
"Some might think you were a bit eager, little rose," Blake teased with a small grin.
"I am, I am!" Ruby squealed ecstatically, hopping up and down in place. "I'm just so happy you guys are going with me this year!"
"So am I," Yang chuckled. "At least I don't have to be dragged to another one of these."
"That was me that got stuck with her last year, dear," Weiss murmured.
"Oh, yeah," the blonde grinned. "Still owe you for that."
The platinum-haired girl quirked an eyebrow primly. "We can discuss that later while our roommates are out."
"Ahhh, we're leaving, we're leaving!" Ruby exclaimed, grabbing hold of both of her girlfriends and tugging them out the door behind her.
"We shall message you before we return!" Pyrrha called out merrily over her shoulder.
Neither Ruby nor Pyrrha noticed the knowing grin that Blake shared with the remaining two in the room just before they closed the door behind them.
o o o
The three of them walked through the doors of the Valesian Convention Center, Ruby skipping along in the middle while holding onto her girlfriends. A large banner overhead stretched from each side of the massive lobby, proclaiming this to be the 70th Vale Weapons Expo.
"...And they're supposed to have even more cool exhibits for the seventieth anniversary," Ruby continued in the non-stop monologue that she'd been running with ever since they'd set foot off of the airbus from Beacon. "It's gonna be so sweet! Oh, hey, I can see Century Arms has a booth set up again, I hope they're better this year, the last one was kinda disappointing… And there's Armalite, I like their actuators, maybe they finally got one big enough to fit inside my sweetheart…"
Blake and Pyrrha shared a fond smile over the bobbing head of their exuberant girlfriend. The redhead showed their three tickets to the doorman, who gave her a quick double-take before accepting them.
"Is this the first time you've been to one of these without doing a demonstration?" Blake asked curiously. Ruby paused in her chatter at the question, craning her neck up to regard the leggy redhead, who was nodding genially.
"Yes, indeed, I'm well acquainted with these types of shows, but never in just a… casual manner." She smiled at the others brightly. "I am looking forward to this."
"And I'm so happy you're both with me!" Ruby squealed once more, pulling them both in for a tight hug. It was interrupted, however, by her excited shout. "OH MY OUM, THEY'RE HERE!"
"Er, who is here, little rose?" Blake asked, shaking her head to dispel the ringing.
"Savage Arms! They've been doing this really awesome stuff with high-velocity ranged weaponry with Dust-infused caseless ammunition that takes advantage of Aura enhancement and-"
Evidently unable to sustain her rapid exclamation any further, Ruby simply disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.
"Mmm." Blake held a petal up bemusedly, rubbing it in between her fingers. "I believe she was looking in that direction?"
"I believe you are correct, kitty cat," Pyrrha grinned, extending her arm. "Shall we?"
"We shall," the raven-haired girl grinned back.
Before they took more than a couple of steps, however, Ruby appeared before them again, vibrating in place and with her silver eyes shining excitedly.
"C'mon, this way!"
The small brunette grabbed hold of both of her girlfriends and dragged them behind her at a rapid pace, not quite breaking the sound barrier, but if Pyrrha was any judge of such things, it was rather close.
o o o
"I think perhaps we have been training in the wrong manner," Pyrrha panted lightly from where she slumped against the wall, her rear on the floor.
"You may have the right of it," Blake murmured, her head propped on the redhead's shoulder. The both of them were rather worn out and covered in sweat from trying to keep up with their overly-enthusiastic girlfriend.
"I mean, endurance alone doesn't seem to be enough here."
"No, it's the agility from dodging others as well."
Pyrrha chuckled softly. "I think if we were to combine my endurance with your agility, we might have stood a chance."
"Perhaps," Blake giggled, pressing a kiss into her shoulder. Pyrrha smiled and reached across, uncaring of their sweaty state to tip the raven-haired girl's chin up with her fingers. Their lips met in a brief though sweet kiss.
"The things we do for love," Pyrrha murmured against her girlfriend's lips.
"Indeed," Blake giggled once more.
Just then an explosion of rose petals showered them, announcing the sudden arrival of their brunette lover. They looked up to spy Ruby braced against the wall, having skidded to a stop just in time.
"Whew, that was close!" she laughed merrily. "Don't need a concussion this time, been there, done that!" She looked down at her weary girlfriends, and her features slowly dropped into a chagrined frown. "Oh… I'm… I'm sorry, guys…"
"Whatever are you sorry for, love?" Pyrrha questioned.
Ruby plopped herself down in front of them cross-legged with her head hung down low. "I, um.. I get a little overexcited at these things. I wore you both out, didn't I?"
"Only a little bit," Pyrrha smiled. "We're just taking a break to rest."
"And you shouldn't apologize for enjoying these events," Blake interjected with a smile of her own. "This is part of who you are."
"And part of what we love about you," Pyrrha added.
Ruby grinned, her mood improved, and she wiggled around so that she was ensconced in between the two of them, all cuddled up together.
"I love you guys," the brunette sighed happily.
Both Pyrrha and Blake pressed simultaneous kisses onto her cheek, causing the brunette to giggle.
"In any case," Blake continued in a murmur, "it's not like we can ever lose you."
"True enough," Pyrrha agreed, thinking on how easy it was to locate each of her lovers now through the Mark.
"Sooo…" Ruby drawled after a few minutes of contended cuddling. "Ready to hit the rest of the exhibits?"
Pyrrha shared a grin with her raven-haired girlfriend. "Absolutely."
Ruby leapt to her feet, but then held her hands out. "Wait! We have to do a triple-kiss first!"
Laughing lightly, the redhead leaned in towards Blake who was amusedly rolling her eyes. This was something new Ruby had dreamt up, the three of them joining their lips together at the same time so that they could all share a kiss. It was plenty clumsy, and their noses tended to get in the way, but she knew Blake secretly found it to be just as sweet as she did.
Of course, this time was no more graceful than any other time, and the three of them dissolved into giggles after only a moment.
"Okay, we need to work on that,' Ruby snickered. She helped the others up, giving them a wide smile. "Ready?"
"Lead on, little rose," Blake stated fondly.
o o o
The three of them slowly walked together towards the dorms after disembarking from the airbus. All of them were tired, but not to the point of exhaustion, having immensely enjoyed the day spending time together.
At the doorway, however, Blake pulled them to a halt.
"Could the two of you do me a favor?" she asked quietly, her amber eyes unreadable.
It was almost second nature by now for Pyrrha to send just a small tendril of her aura along their bond to check on one of her girlfriend's mood, but what she received from the Cat Faunus puzzled her slightly.
Eagerness. Anticipation. Love. Joy. Secrecy.
Blake immediately reached out with her forefinger and gently bopped the redhead on her nose. "Stop that," the raven-haired girl chided softly.
"Sorry," Pyrrha replied with a wry grin. "But yes, what was it you needed?"
"Can you both go to the cafeteria and see if they have any cookies leftover from dinner? Bring back a small plate?"
"Pfft, don't need to ask me twice," Ruby giggled, grabbing the redhead by the hand. "C'mon, fluffy fox, our kitty cat requires cookies!"
"And we are just the valiant heroes to undertake such a quest!" Pyrrha laughed. She gave Blake a wink as she allowed the shorter girl to drag them off towards the food hall.
They did indeed have some of the brunette's favorite delicacies left, and as they meandered their way back to their room, Ruby couldn't help herself but snack on a couple.
"What do you suppose she's planning?" the taller girl asked musingly.
Ruby swallowed her bite before replying. "Knowing Blakey, something awesome. I like her surprises."
"Hmm, I suppose I do too," Pyrrha grinned. "Never used to be one for such things."
"The anticipation is half the fun!" the brunette giggled.
"I did pick up on some of that from her…"
"Yeah, figured you did," Ruby replied with a bashful smile. "I waited for you to check before I did the same so she wouldn't notice me looking."
Pyrrha paused, an incredulous half-smile on her face. "Ruby Rose, you conniving little girl… Leave it to you to figure out a way to be devious with our bond!"
Giggling once more, Ruby lifted up onto her tiptoes to give the redhead a long, sweet kiss. "But you still love me," she whispered impishly.
"That's a given," she murmured in reply. "Nothing would change that."
Ruby let out a happy little sigh as she wrapped the other girl in a one-armed hug, plate of cookies still balanced in one hand. They made their way up and to their door, but stopped there.
"Should we knock?" Pyrrha questioned softly.
The brunette shrugged, and in lieu of a reply, rapped a few times on the door. At the beckoning call from the third member of their relationship, the two of them pushed the door open and proceeded into the room.
Only to stop just inside the entrance, jaws agape, as the door slowly swung shut behind them.
The lights were off, but there was plenty of soft illumination cast by numerous candles scattered throughout the room on shelves and desks and dressers. Blake sat on the bed, covers pulled back, wearing one of her slinky black dresses and with her ears unbound. Her bare feet were tucked up under her as she sat, back straight and hands clasped lightly in her lap.
The Cat Faunus graced them both with a small smile. "I put your robes out for you," she said softly, gesturing to the end of the bed. Lying there were the red silk robe that Ruby had purchased recently, as well as the linen one that Pyrrha would sometimes use, also in red.
On the desk next to their bed rested a bottle of wine with three glasses already poured.
"Wow, Blakey," the brunette breathed. "This is… really nice…"
"What's the occasion, kitty cat?" Pyrrha asked as she began to disrobe. "And are we alone for some time, I'm assuming?"
"We have the room to ourselves for the evening," Blake replied quietly, her amber eyes glowing in the candlelight. "Yang and Weiss helped set this up for me while we were gone. And as for the occasion…" She offered them a wide, loving smile. "I thought perhaps we could do the Second Stage tonight."
Ruby had stripped off her clothes by this point, pulling her short robe on and crawling over after resting the plate of cookies on the desk next to the drinks. "You are so adorable," the brunette murmured before giving the Cat Faunus a soft kiss. "Setting all this up… Wine and cookies, my kinda fancy night!"
"I figured that," Blake giggled, holding her hand out to bring Pyrrha in close as the redhead crawled onto the bed next. She gave the redhead a quick kiss before pulling back, looking at the two of them with calm resolve. "Would you like to do it first?"
"Definitely," Pyrrha replied without hesitation.
Ruby nodded her agreement. "Been waiting for this, love. Let's do it."
"Alright then," Blake murmured, pulling her feet around in order to sit cross-legged. "Ruby, how about we begin with you?"
The petite girl eagerly turned and sat herself down on Blake's lap, resting against her and leaning into the offered hug. Pyrrha scooted around behind them, wrapping her own arms around the two women who made her heart complete in every way imaginable.
The raven-haired girl slowly pulled the sleeves down on Ruby's robe until her shoulders were bare. The fading purplish bruise was still very evident, even if the teeth imprints had disappeared by that point. Pyrrha felt against her chest as Blake sighed happily before leaning over and resting her lips against the Mark.
Ruby gave a pleased little hum as Blake worked her lips and tongue against the spot on her shoulder, not biting, but pushing every ounce of her love, affection, adoration into the shorter girl, along with her aura in a very specific way. Soon enough Ruby's soft noise turned into a gasp.
"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.
"Yeah, absolutely, just… kinda surprised me, I felt it, like, I dunno…" The brunette seemed to be grasping for words to describe the sensation and eventually came up blank. "It's really nice," she finished lamely.
Blake picked her head up, eyeing her handiwork with satisfaction. The bruise was fading rapidly now, but eventually it should be replaced by something that would have deep meaning for the three of them. Pyrrha knew the raven-haired girl was slightly frustrated on the lack of certainty as to what form it would take, but they would see soon enough.
Giving Ruby a little push off of her lap, Blake turned to face the redhead. "Your turn, fluffy fox," she said with a small grin.
Pyrrha nodded, giving her lover another quick kiss before turning around and sitting with her long legs tucked under her. Blake rose up to her knees, pressing her soft bosom against Pyrrha's shoulderblades and wrapping her arms around in a gentle, loving hug. And then the redhead felt a smaller set of arms reaching around to envelop them both, much as Pyrrha had done before.
She felt Blake slip her sleeves down until her shoulders were exposed, and then felt the soft, warm lips against her skin, slightly roughened tongue working in lazy circles. Pyrrha couldn't help but let a pleased moan escape from her own lips.
And then she felt it, and soon understood why it was Ruby couldn't seem to describe the sensation.
It was like a warm kiss underneath the skin of her shoulder, but one that spread throughout her body, though perhaps more like a hug, or a cool breath that ghosted through her system, calming and exciting and reassuring her at the same time. It was relaxing and exhilarating all at once.
"Oh my goodness," she breathed.
"Right?" Pyrrha could hear the smirk in Ruby's voice, but before she could retort the sensation had faded to only a faint memory.
After a few kisses and hugs, the three of them ended up lying together, just cuddling in the middle of the bed. Pyrrha was on her back, with Ruby sprawled across her torso and Blake on the same side but with her arms draped across them both. Pyrrha had an arm around each of them, running her fingers through red-tipped brown hair and scratching lightly at the base of Blake's Faunus ears.
"So, how long should it take?" Ruby murmured drowsily.
"Well…" Blake leaned up, pulling the shoulder of the brunette's robe back again. "Mmm. Sooner than I expected…"
"What, what is it?" Ruby asked excitedly, all traces of sleepiness gone. "What does it look like?"
"It's still forming," the raven-haired girl stated softly, running her finger along Ruby's left shoulder. "It does indeed look like a tattoo… Right now it's an inverted triangle, about two inches on each side, but I believe it will form more at the points."
"Well, a triangle certainly makes sense," Pyrrha murmured, craning her neck to see what Blake was looking at. It was just as the Faunus girl had described, very faint lines but firming up even as she watched. "There are three of us, equally joined…"
"I wanna see!" Ruby chirped, wriggling around until she was alongside Pyrrha. "Fluffy fox, roll over!"
"Yes, love," Pyrrha laughed indulgently, rolling onto her right side to face Blake.
As the petite girl made soft cooing noises from behind her, Pyrrha rested her hand alongside Blake's cheek, rubbing softly with her thumb. "I love you," she murmured.
"I love you as well," the Cat Faunus replied with a wide, pleased smile. She leaned in and pressed her lips against her own, quickly deepening the kiss and allowing their tongues to dance alongside each other.
Pyrrha was cognizant of Blake's warm body up against her, long limbs wrapped around her torso, as well as Ruby's own toned body pressed up against her back, playing idly with her hair while her calloused fingers ran along her shoulder in a triangle pattern.
"Oh my Oum!" Ruby suddenly squealed. "It's... It's… Oh, you guys! You gotta see! Can you see it on me, can you?"
Laughing, the other two separated from their kiss. Pyrrha rolled back over to where Ruby was now facing away from them but leaning up on her elbow so that her left shoulder was visible. Blake leaned over the redhead's torso, raven tresses tickling her neck as she tried to get a closer look.
"Oh," Blake murmured, at a loss for more substantial exclamation.
Pyrrha couldn't agree more.
At the junction of each side of the upside-down triangle, the lines of which now appeared to be wrapped in delicate vines, were their three emblems. Ruby's rose outline was on the upper left, Pyrrha's spear and shield on the right, and Blake's stylized flower on the bottom.
"Is that awesome, or is that awesome?" Ruby squealed, glancing over her shoulder with a wide grin.
"That," Pyrrha intoned softly, "is all kinds of awesome."
"Yes it is," Blake agreed, wrapping one arm around Pyrrha while the other stroked Ruby's arm. "I think this calls for some wine, what do you girls say?"
"I'd say that sounds like an excellent start to our celebration," Pyrrha laughed.
The three of them maneuvered around until they were all seated facing one another, glasses upraised in their hands and the plate of cookies set into the middle.
"To us," Blake stated with a soft smile.
"The loves of my life," Pyrrha agreed contentedly.
Ruby giggled as they clinked their glasses together. "We are the luckiest girls in all of Remnant…"
A/N: So, the Second Mark is finally in place! That's quite likely the last one I might detail, but rest assured they would take the final step for the Third Stage, likely once they're actually out of Beacon. Now, some of you might wonder what the Mark itself now looks like, hmm? Whelp, remember the very excellent | OmegaInfinity |, masterful word scribe for my favorite polyamory tale, Linked in Life and Love, which is where I've obtained most of this headcannon for the Marks? Well, they just happened to draw up a wonderful little sketch. Behold the official emblem for Purruby!
fav dot me / da5usem
I can't say it enough Omega, you are too awesome for words to adequately describe.
EDIT: Thanks to DandyHandy for pointing out Blake's emblem is a flower, not a flame. That makes so much more sense.
Oh, and hey, just as a teaser. I have something in the works for after I finish up the next project, be it Thorn or Pearls or Ember. Though the latter will run for some time still… Well, maybe my sanity can survive another story… Anyways, It's yet another departure for me, a crossover fic with zero fluff (I know, right?) but lots of bloody, visceral violence and the like. Should be fun. Stay tuned.
So very happy folk liked the last chapter. Had fun writing the escalation of teasing. Much love as always for my reviewers: Gorsouul, DeamonHunter, THB4, DschingisKhan, Jack Inqu, Demonic Angel C, Boombox94, lkdog, ILikeHotDogs, Marauderby, Reaper Whisper, TN, carpenter656, and RedWing36. Thanks for keeping me motivated with your encouraging words!
Stay shiny!