Sun slowly opened his eyes, accompanied by a large inhale through his nose. He groaned as he began to shift, his muscles rubbing against the silken sheets as he rolled to one side to take in his surroundings. The room was quite dim; no sunlight was visible through the paper walls, and the majority of his vision was taken up by a dark purple boot. Sun craned his neck to follow the footwear and traced it up Blake's thigh to find her sitting in the bed with her back pressed to the headboard, reading. He blinked several times, unsure that he was seeing correctly.

"…are you wearing my shirt?" Sun inquired through a haze of sleepiness.

Blake's honey-colored eyes moved from the pages down to meet Sun's, and he just barely saw the edge of a smirk from behind the book. "No. I'm wearing my shirt," she replied with more than a little enjoyment.

Sun shrugged and sat up, folding his legs as he did so. His eyes widened as he realized that he was not only wearing nothing but a pair of red boxers, but he was putting on quite a show for her beneath the fabric. He immediately moved his hands downward into his lap with a hard blush, and pulled some ruffled section of blanket over his legs. Blake's eyes were back on her book, but Sun had no way of knowing just how much she had or hadn't seen.

"Uh, how long have you been here?" he asked sheepishly as he maneuvered his way to the edge of the bed, careful to keep himself covered as best he could.

Blake's eyes flicked to the clock, before returning to her book. "…about three hours. It's nearly 10pm. I wasn't about to wake you."

Sun's face fell at the realization that he had likely dashed all hope of sleeping that night, and therefore, potentially put a wrench in Blake's plans for him. "…oh. I… sorry."

"Don't apologize," Blake stated plainly as she closed the book and set it down atop the sheets. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and rose, showing off her new look. Sun's eyes traced her curves, and he squirmed once again beneath the sheets. "You needed that rest. Do you feel better?"

"Yeah. Totally. I should… I should probably shower, and then… I don't know. Maybe go back to bed in a few hours, and try to get up in time for tomorrow?" he spoke, trailing off.

"Why do that, when we could just hit the town tonight? I slept in, like you asked me to. I'm ready to go." Blake folded her arms and jutted one hip out, showing off her figure. Sun swallowed hard.

"I mean… yeah, sure, but… I haven't picked up new clothes, yet, you have my shirt, and… I should really do laundry," he finished.

Blake smirked hard enough to show teeth, and Sun found himself getting a bit nervous. "Oh, don't worry about that, Sun. Go shower, and I think you'll find that some problems just solve themselves," she said with an air of mystery to her tone.

Sun hesitated and stood, before slowly giving the blankets back to the bed. He made sure to turn away from Blake before he did, and began making a hasty retreat toward the bathroom. "Uh, sure. Sorry about the whole… skin thing? I kinda passed out like this," Sun stated, unsure. He looked over his shoulder and offered Blake a guilty grin, only to find her expression unreadable.

"Do you hear me complaining?"

"…I'll be right back." Sun slipped into the bathroom and closed the door, thankful for the barrier between himself and Blake. He had never felt so vulnerable as he had while she stared at him in nothing but boxers and a necklace, and her near-predatory glare filled him with mixed feelings of arousal and worry. With a nervous smile to himself, he slipped out of his underwear and headed over to the shower. On his way to the glass, something atop the back of the toilet caught his eye.

There, atop the porcelain tank, was a new set of clothing- his cargo shorts had been washed and folded, and atop them lay a black, short-sleeved dress shirt. At the highest layer of the pile was a pair of green and gold plaid boxers, with his neatly-collapsed weapon topping off the stack. Sun laughed to himself and shook his head, before stepping into the shower and beginning to cleanse himself of the caked-on layers of sweat from the morning's work.

Sun rolled his shoulders and moved his neck from side to side as he tested the new shirt. The material was a soft, fuzzy suede, and the front featured two pockets; one on each side of the upper chest. The entire thing was jet black, loose-fitting, and comfortable, and he quickly decided to make the garment his new normal. Best of all, Blake had given it to him, and he could tell by sniffing the collar that she had lightly scented it with her perfume. He guessed that the touch was intentional, though he had no way of proving it.

The boxers were a perfect fit, and his shorts finally felt clean once again. All in all, Sun was far more comfortable than he had been since setting foot in Kuo Kuana, and he knew that he had Blake to thank for it. Despite the marked physical improvement, the regrets of sharing his past with Ghira surfaced again while he was in the shower, and he couldn't help but feel weak and vulnerable. Blake's flirtatious behavior only added to the uncomfortable sensation, and he found himself in need of a new perspective before leaving to rejoin her in the bedroom.

Sun closed his eyes, and ran through the events leading up to that moment once again. His usual coping strategy of focusing on Blake filled him with a new, intense warmth, and he decided against wasting any more time. He reached out a hand to open the door, and froze as his fingers met fabric instead of metal.

Sun looked downward to find his digits entwined within a discarded thong, and his eyes widened. With a great deal of surprise and a few dirty thoughts, he lifted the garment and inspected it. As he realized that the likelihood of Blake wearing something nearly identical at that moment was high, the blush that he had fought so hard to contain came back in full force. With no other options, Sun knew that there was only one thing he could do to turn the situation around- he had to embarrass her just as much, and take back control.

With gusto, Sun pushed his way through the bathroom door, thong looped around the forefinger of his right hand as he strutted out to meet Blake while twirling the garment. "Think you forgot something," he began as he continued to walk. Her back was turned, and her ears perked as he spoke. Sun decided to take the split second window and pull back the straps of the thong like a slingshot, before letting it fly for the back of Blake's head.

The airborne underwear scored a direct hit on where Blake's head should have been, and instead sailed through her clone and into the paper wall. Blake herself appeared just before Sun with a triumphant look upon her face. "What if I didn't forget, and they were a gift?" Her smile only widened as Sun's face continued to burn at both her statement and the embarrassment of his missed shot. Suddenly, Sun's expression changed into a cocky smirk, and he leaned down slightly to whisper into one of her cat ears.

"…well, it was very thoughtful of you, but there's no way those would be enough to contain me."

It was Blake's turn to blush, and Sun strode past her with a victorious grin as she froze in place. He bent to pick up his gauntlets from beside the bed, and strapped them on.

"…wow, you won that one. Just… wow." Blake laughed nervously to herself and shook her head. She approached Sun from behind and rested a hand on his shoulder, earning a look back at herself from the taller male. "This shirt looks nice on you, cutie."

Sun chuckled to himself, and turned to face her. "Cutie?"

"I'm allowed a callback," Blake stated matter-of-factly. "You would leave it unbuttoned, wouldn't you."

"Maybe that's a gift, too," Sun shot back. Blake rested a hand upon his chest, between the open halves of the shirt. Sun shivered at her touch, but remained still.

"Well, it just makes it look even better. Ready to go on a date?"

"Date?" Sun's heart skipped several beats as he asked the question, and searched her eyes. "Blake, are you sure you're r-"

Sun's entire brain shut down as Blake leaned up and pressed her lips to his. She wrapped her unoccupied arm around his waist as she deepened the gesture for a few brief seconds, and then pulled back as quickly as though she had been burned. Sun felt as though he was unable to breathe as he looked down at her, and wondered which of them would have their cheeks literally burst into flame first. He had a distinct feeling that he was winning that race.

"…no, Sun, I'm not sure. But… let's do it anyway. Let's throw caution to the wind, and just… go with it. Isn't that your thing?"

"Maybe it is, but are you comfortable doing this?" Sun reached up to scratch at his hair. His heart fluttered as the kiss replayed over and over in his mind, but he tried his best to hold back his excitement, for her sake.

Blake fixed him with a glare, as though she knew what he would say. "Are you?"

"No, but I st-" Sun began, only to be cut off.

"But you still want it," Blake finished for him. Sun nodded slowly. "I've been thinking, Sun. The question isn't 'are we ready?' or 'are we comfortable?' anymore. That isn't how or why we 'work'. The question is just 'do we want this?' We've both been following instinct. Mine told me to run, and yours told you to put your own wants and needs aside and follow. When we're together… I feel different. Those instincts change. You make me want to stay," Blake finished. Her ears were drawn slightly downward and to the sides, and everything about her facial expression and posture said that she was feeling just as vulnerable as he was.

Sun took the time to mull over her words, and found that for the most part, they made sense to him. Regardless of their budding relationship, his focus would always be on her, before himself, and getting ever closer would only make that instinct more intense. He had a feeling that there was little she could do to change that fact, and he had no plans of giving her anything else to worry about beyond her already numerous burdens. Sun's nervous smile faltered for a split second as he realized that he was being somewhat dishonest by agreeing, but it returned in full force as he reconciled that he was doing it for her.

"Then, yeah. Let's do this," he said while offering a hand. Blake took it with a smile, and joined his side. "Where are we headed?"

"To see the sights. Explore the night life of Kuo Kuana. Maybe we'll walk the streets for a bit, and then head for the beach?" Blake replied while beginning to walk forward. Sun lagged slightly as he let her guide him by the hand.

"Sounds good to me," Sun said while giving her hand a quick squeeze. "Hey, quick question, before we head out- how did you figure out how to get these clothes? The sizes, I mean. Everything's great, and I definitely needed 'em. Thanks, Blake."

Blake didn't look back as she led him to the door of the bedroom. "I guessed on the shirt, and I checked the inner label on the waistband of your boxers while you were sleeping."

"You what?"

Sun received no reply as Blake slipped from his grasp and headed into the hall, leaving Sun to shake his head and follow.

"So, how different is Kuo Kuana from when you left?" Sun and Blake walked side by side through the gravel roads of the village, taking in the sights and sounds of the nightlife. Strings of white lights criss-crossed overhead, spanning alleyways and ricocheting off corners of buildings. Plumes of smoke came from several chimneys and spiraled up into the night, blocking out the overwhelmingly populated field of stars momentarily. No matter how interesting the paint jobs and plants outside of many of the buildings were, Sun found himself constantly looking back over to steal glances at Blake as they walked.

"Honestly? Not as much as I would've figured. A lot of the stalls at the market are the same as they always were, and I even ran into a few vendors who remembered me. I mean, a lot of people remember me, considering my family… but you know how it is. People I actually remember interacting with." Blake looked over at Sun and caught his eyes. She offered him an honest smile, and adjusted her grip on his hand as they made their way onto a path around the edge of the village.

"Yeah, it never really hit me how well-known you probably are, until tonight. Even with most people at home, we're, uh… we're getting a lot of looks, you know." Sun smiled sheepishly as they set out onto the path, with trees on their left and buildings on the right. An older couple sitting out on their balcony began whispering to each other as they passed, and Sun averted his eyes while keeping his tone low. "Like that."

"I've noticed. Does it upset you?" Blake asked.

"No! No, not at all. I just didn't know if it might make you uncomfortable. They're gonna start talking about it, and the town isn't that big. They'll talk about… us," Sun added as they continued to walk along the curved path, leaving the balcony behind them.

"Let them. You make me happy, Sun. It's not just that, I feel like I can finally think straight again. I've felt like I was wandering through fog for years. Sometimes hands reached out, but they always slipped away. You're the first one who kept their grip." Blake picked up the pace as a large, clay-and-straw building came into view. The structure was too large to be a house, and indecipherable voices resonated from inside, even in the late hour. "It's still here! Come on!"

Sun blinked in surprise as he was tugged forward, unused to Blake showing such enthusiasm. He sped up his gait and stayed close as they reached the side of the building, only to find a large staircase leading up toward the rooftop. "What is this place?"

"The Notched Blade," Blake replied. Sun merely looked at her in confusion as they began to climb the steps in tandem. "Inside, it's a tavern, usually taken up by huntsman who want to try to brave the beasts out in the wastes. They use the town as a sort of resting ground, and they tend to make a lot of noise and break things from time to time. Up here, though, on the roof, they run a little café for the less warlike members of Kuo Kuana. They won't be serving anything this late, but the roof is still open to the public. My parents and I used to come here every so often, for the view. It's… something else."

As they reached the top of the steps and ended up on the rail-lined roof of the establishment, Sun's eyes widened. The building was tall enough to offer a view of most of Kuo Kuana, and the nearby waterfont. The strings of lights and occasional glowing window gave the small town a feeling of life far larger than it otherwise let on, and he found himself walking past the set up tables and toward the railing to get a better view.

"Wow… this is… definitely cool," he said as he tried to make note of landmarks, the Belladonna manor included.

"Cool, and… pretty romantic, now that I'm older." Blake looped her arm around Sun's with a small smile as she joined his side at the railing, and pressed the side of her head into his arm. "I think so, anyway."

Sun's attention was immediately drawn to Blake as he felt the sensation of her hair against his skin, and he slowly moved his arm to rest his hand against the small of her back. He chose to remain silent and take in the view for a few minutes, before finally breaking the silence.

"…you know I… really suck at being romantic, right? I mean, I've never really tried, but… if you're thinking I'm gonna manage to sweep you off your feet like a hero in those books of yours, you're probably gonna be pretty disappointed."

Blake rolled her eyes and lifted her head from his shoulder to look up at him. "Sun... I know that isn't your style, and I'm fine with that. Besides, I'd probably turn into a blushing mess if you tried to do that sort of thing, and I'd just get mad over being embarrassed. This is fine, whatever… 'this' is. Come on, let's grab a table, and just hang out for a bit."

With great regret, Sun slipped his hand from Blake's back and led the way to the closest table with a view over the balcony. He pulled a chair out for Blake, and she thanked him as she took her place. Sun took his own, across from Blake, and let out a sigh as he leaned back while trying to look casual. "I gotta say, your hometown is pretty cool, Blake. We'll have to do this again, when they're actually open up here."

"We will. For right now, the view is more than enough for me." Blake rested an elbow on the table and cupped her cheek, channeling her mother as she looked Sun over. It took him far too long to catch on.

"Oh! Me? Sounds like you've been reading a few too many of those novels." Sun flexed for her in his seat, and earned a small giggle for his efforts.

"Maybe I was just talking about the town. You can't prove anything," Blake said through narrowed eyes and a wicked grin.

"I can read you like one of your books, Blake, and that was far from innocent." Sun folded his arms and leaned back into his chair, confident.

"Try me, monkey boy."

"Well, right now, you're thinking… three kids," Sun tried, with a smirk.

Blake raised a brow. "Two, at most, and that's not what I'm thinking about right now. There are a lot of steps between here and there, Sun. Your crystal ball needs cleaning. I'll give you… two more guesses."

"Hm." Sun made a show of bringing his fingers up to his temples, and closing his eyes. "As I channel the spirits, I can see…"

A stray thought floated through Sun's mind, and his eyes snapped open as he spoke with a deadpan. "You're thinking about what you saw while checking the label on my boxers, aren't you?"

Blake's reaction was immediate. She leaned back into her chair and looked away from him, strategically diverting her gaze over the railing to let her hair cover her cheeks as she raised the volume of her voice. "So, Sun, what about your hometown? You grew up in Vacuo, right?"

Sun chuckled to himself, and decided to allow her to escape with grace, just this once. "I did, yeah. Little town called Oasis, pretty far inland. Not too far from Shade Academy. It's more run-down than this, but… it's home."

Blake finally looked back to Sun, her flesh still a bit pink. "Maybe, once everything gets sorted out, you can show me?"

Sun paused, and thought the proposition over. He considered telling her everything- more than what he'd admitted to Ghira, and he knew that she would understand and likely offer to help. Sun also knew that bringing up his past would damper the mood, and he wanted Blake to feel that her 'date' was a success.

"…sure, if you want. It's pretty lame, though. Just warning you ahead of time," Sun deflected.

"Well, we made a lame dance into something pretty entertaining. I never did tell you how much that helped, so… thank you, Sun." Blake slid her hand onto the surface of the table, and Sun uncrossed his arms to place one of his hands atop hers.

"Hey, no big deal. I knew you were stressed out, and I was just trying to help. Well, that, and the whole having a crush on you thing," Sun admitted.

"…can I ask why?"

Sun hiked a brow, confused. "Why what?"

"Why you had a crush on me, even then. Up to that point, I'd done nothing but given you the cold shoulder and dirty looks. Honestly, I felt like you and I didn't really get… 'close' until a few days ago, or at least, I didn't start returning affection until then. I'm asking because you're not the first friend who has fallen for me, and I honestly don't understand what any of you saw before I warmed up to you," Blake said. She turned her hand upon the table to rest palm-up, and locked her fingers with Sun's.

"…I might be about to upset you, but honestly, that's part of it. The whole 'mysterious, annoyed girl with no time for you' thing is a huge turn-on for some guys." Sun watched Blake's facial expression slip to one of annoyance, and tried to disarm her with a smile. "I said that's part of it!"

"There had better be at least two more parts, Sun."

"There are tons of parts! That's just a really common thing, I swear." Blake put her other hand on the table and began to drum her fingers, ears flat. "For me, personally, the biggest thing was your passion. When I first followed you around, after the bit of fallout you had with Weiss, I could see how upset you were by it. I wanted to be there when you decided to finally vent, because it was plain to see you needed someone who could understand what it's like to be a faunus in today's world. I… wasn't expecting you to be involved with the White Fang, but still, the point stands. You kinda blew me away with how deeply you cared, and how intensely you felt about justice and equality and stuff. That's where the attraction started. I figured you must feel that intensely about most things, but you just never showed it to most people. I wanted to be a part of that."

Blake stopped drumming, and let her nails rest on the surface of the table as her features softened. "I don't… let myself get 'intense' around most people, because I find it scares them off."

"Well, I think it makes you even more beautiful," Sun offered.

"…there's a first. I usually get 'hot', or some variant. Maybe you aren't so bad at romance, after all," Blake said with a sweet smile. Her ears flicked as a gentle breeze picked up near their table.

Sun shrugged, and lifted his hand along with Blake's as he propped his elbow on the table. "No, I'm still pretty bad. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just… following instinct, like you said."

"…what are we doing with our hands right now, exactly?" Blake asked as she found her limb drawn up into arm-wrestling position.

"Case in point." Sun shook his head as he let her hand go, and stood from his seat into an overhead stretch. "Should we hit the beach, before it gets too late?"

Blake followed his lead and stood. "Sure, though… I don't know about you, but I'd be fine just spending the night down there, talking. We could probably buy a towel from one of the late-night stalls at the market and sit on the sand, as long as it's not too cold," she added as she began to make her way to the stairs. Sun followed, and almost ran into Blake as she stopped short, her ears twitching. "…did you hear something, just now?"

Sun strained his ears, trying to pinpoint anything suspicious among the general noise from the tavern portion of the building below. "I… don't think so? Something like what?"

The pair of them jumped as a loud vibration rang out from Blake's hip, and she reached into her pocket to take out her scroll. Sun placed his hands upon her shoulders as he leaned to look over her at the screen, only to find that he had supposedly sent her a message. Blake scowled, and let out a noise of disgust.

"It's Ilia," she spat as she flicked her finger to open the message.

Can you hear me now, Blake?

Sun turned immediately and drew his weapon from the back of his belt as he scanned the rooftop. Blake put her scroll away and drew her own from her side, while keeping her eyes on the staircase before them. Sun squinted as he thought he saw movement, and then blinked several times as he suddenly caught sight of an annoyed-looking chameleon faunus in a grimm mask holding a scroll while leaning against the railing.

"You two really need to get a room."

Author's Note:

Let the games begin. A few quick hits from recent reviews:

Woodcutting and Aura usage: From what I understand, taking down a tree is more a matter of technique than strength, which is why Sun struggled while groggy, irritable, and flustered over Ghira. As for combat experience/power levels/general combat ability, I'm aiming for something consistent and sensible. There will be some fighting, because what's a romance story without a few stressful battles, emotional yelling, and angsty teens flailing weaponry at each other? After all, there's a certain matchup we were robbed of in canon that I get the feeling quite a few people would like to see…

Ilia's 'redemption' arc: I have no problem with how things went in canon… other than the fact that she and Sun were dropped like rocks in a single episode. There's way too much potential in both characters to let them just be sidelined for whatever reason. I have my suspicions as to why things went down the way they did, but I'll leave it at that. The real question here is if Ilia will be redeemed at all, in this story. Stay tuned.

Sex and the rating: I'm going to choose not to comment on this just yet, beyond one thing- if sex of any sort is going to show up in the future, it will occur when it makes sense for the two of them to be at that level of comfort with each other. Sun's got some hang-ups keeping him from being completely honest about his feelings, and Blake's involvement with Adam, and what exactly he did to her, still isn't clear yet. It's safe to say that any sort of physical intimacy will take some time to get to. The goal for the portrayal of their relationship is realism, and that means it's going to be imperfect, awkward, and full of new experiences for both of them. I do have a plan, but half the fun is not knowing.

Story length: As of right now, it still seems to be on track for around 30 chapters total.

Thank you again for all of the feedback, and I'll try to address any questions in the Author's Notes, from here on out. Next update on Sunday, 2/17.

-RD