Sun laid back atop the sheets with his hands behind his head, thinking. He kept his eyes closed and focused on breathing slowly to combat the ache in his arms and chest, and found that he was having a hard time maintaining concentration on any one thought. Memories of the foster home, Blake's disappointed, angry, horrified, and depressed faces as he told his tale, and thoughts of how he had nearly caused a disaster at Cinnamon's home swirled through his mind in a confusing, uncomfortable mix. He tried desperately to render his mind blank and fixate on the blackness of his eyelids, but ended up unable to do so as he heard the sound of the sliding door to the room shifting open, and then closed.

Several silent moments passed before the subtle sounds of bare feet on wood filled his ears. Sun kept his eyes closed and remained still as he waited, and tried to imagine Blake's catlike motions while the mattress sank ever so slightly beneath her weight as she climbed atop it. What felt like an eternity passed as Sun felt the sheets tug and shift while her hands pressed into the bed on either side of him, before one freezing hand planted itself softly upon his chest. The other soon followed and cupped his cheek, and was chased by the sensation of her lips upon his.

Sun slowly lifted his head and removed his hands from behind it to gently trail them down Blake's shoulders and to her sides. His fingertips seemed to tingle as he caressed her skin, and he furrowed his brow in confusion as he felt no fabric in his way. The mystery only deepened as he felt what seemed to be silk rubbing against his chest as Blake climbed atop him, and then cold skin along his abs. Regardless of the conflicting picture that Blake had painted in his mind, he allowed his hands to drift lower, until they ended up gingerly holding Blake's hips as the kiss deepened.

Unable to bear his burning curiosity any longer, Sun leaned his head back into the mattress to break the kiss, and opened his eyes. Blake wore only her bra and pants as she straddled him, her chest pressed into his. Her eyes held a look that he found incredibly unfamiliar, and Sun found that the only way he could describe it was intense.

"Mom's fine," Blake whispered as she brushed her hand down from Sun's cheek and around his neck, to rest along his collarbone. "Cinnamon escaped and said a few things that make me wonder, but… we'll get to that later. How did you end up like this, Sun?"

Sun blinked as he considered the question, and kept his hands firmly upon her hips. "I… just wanted to rest for a little while a-"

"No," Blake stated as she softly laid her index finger upon his lips. She shook her head and brought it downward to peck at his jawline, and then the side of his neck. Sun raised his right hand from her hips and slowly began to move it upward as he kept his eyes on her jet black hair. "Like this. Like you are, now. After all you went through in that horrible place, and the anger you felt about being a faunus, and toward human society… how did you turn out so perfect?"

Sun planted his wandering hand on Blake's shoulder blade and began to caress the shifting skin around it as she moved back in to nuzzle and kiss at his jaw. "I'm not perfect, Blake."

"To me, you are. Compared to a few other faunus I know, and considering how they handle dealing with their condition, you're practically a saint," Blake replied. She shifted upward once again to press her forehead to Sun's, and locked eyes with him.

"I don't know. I just… fought, in my own way. I refused to let my anger turn outward, and I guess it just kinda… broke me down, inside. In some ways, every so often, I kinda…" Sun trailed off, and closed his eyes as he tried to force the words out. "…hate myself."

"Then it's a good thing that I love you," Blake stated before locking him into another kiss.

Sun began to feel overwhelmed as he felt Blake's tongue brush across his lips, and he decided to indulge a thought that had lingered in his mind since his first meeting with Kali. With a hesitant motion, he brought his right hand up and carefully took one of Blake's cat ears between his thumb and forefinger before beginning to rub.

Blake inhaled sharply and her eyes shot open wide as she broke the kiss with a hitched breath. Sun froze in the middle of his caress, and looked up at her, worried. "…crossed a line?"

Blake closed her eyes and shivered as she moved her hands to his shoulders and pressed down hard. "Don't you dare stop," she commanded as she dived back into a passionate kiss. Sun did as he was told, and intensified the ear rub as he brought his other hand up to lightly grasp her left ear.

Sun felt his shorts tighten as Blake squirmed atop him, and pulled away from his lips while arching her back. A small, involuntary moan escaped her as she began to blush, and Sun bit his lip.

"O-okay, now stop," Blake pleaded. Sun immediately relented and found his own breathing a staccato rhythm to match hers. "We… Sun, we can't do this right now. We need to talk, but… that felt incredible."

Sun couldn't stop his nervous grin at her words, and Blake's predatory look only made it worse. "Do we have to talk, though?" He yelped as he felt Blake dig her nails into the flesh of his shoulders.

Blake narrowed her eyes as she let up. "You're doing it again. Yes, we do. You hate yourself, sometimes, and blame yourself for never getting out of that place. Eventually, you started to blame the fact that you're a faunus, and later, your spite just turned back to everything about yourself, instead. Your anger wasn't primarily toward the families who left you there. Is that correct?"

Sun nodded. "I… don't really see what that has to do with anything."

"It has everything to do with us, Sun. You saw my bow, and you've always insisted that I look better without it. Part of that is probably because I was never happy when I was wearing it- not fully. I wore it for a long time, to try to fool myself as much as everyone around me. I wore that bow out of shame. I hated myself, too, after what I did with the Fang," Blake admitted as she transitioned to lay at Sun's side. She rested a hand upon his chest, and cuddled gently into the side of his left arm. "My shame was self-inflicted, but… to a small extent, I can understand how you felt, when you took those scissors and made the attempt."

Sun paused and considered her every word, before speaking again. "You said you hated yourself. What changed that?" Sun turned his head to look at Blake, and she tilted her head.

"…come on, now. You can do it," she encouraged in a soft voice as she used her free hand to stroke his bandaged arm. Sun furrowed his brow and tried to follow her meaning, only to let out a frustrated grunt as he caught on.

"…Blake, I'm not that great."

"You are. I'm telling you that you are Sun. You changed my life, as early as when Weiss and I had that fight at Beacon. It's time I returned the favor."

"How?" Sun asked with a hint of frustration. "It all stems from feeling unwanted. And, before you say anything, I mean that in the family sense. A mom, and dad. I had parents, and I was told that one day, they just… dropped me off, there. I don't remember it, and I don't remember them. I never got a reason, so I knew it had to be something wrong with me. That's why I just… couldn't deal with what Ghira said, earlier. I thought that hearing something like that would magically just fix everything, y'know? But it… made me feel sick. It just felt like it was unearned, somehow," Sun finished.

"I think it's because you've spent so long turning your feelings in on yourself that your sense of self-worth is at the bottom of a well," Blake pointed out. "It was too much, too fast, for you to accept."

"…and I'm… Blake, I'm scared that our relationship might go the same way," Sun admitted. "Too much… too fast…"

Blake closed her eyes and sighed. "Do you feel that way right now?"

"No," Sun replied quickly. "And I haven't, since we started. I'm just worried. Worried that I'll end up panicking and sabotaging things, or worried that I might end up hurting you by pushing you away."

Blake shifted and softly tugged on Sun's shoulder to roll him onto his side and face her. "I used to worry a lot, about things like that. The last time I worried about how I might get hurt, or hurt someone close to me, I ended up running away when my team needed me most. It took being blindsided by you and our relationship to knock some sense back into me. If it's ever too fast, tell me. We'll dial it back, and retry. Why worry about what horrible things could happen when you can bask in what you have right now? That's how we can build you up, and get you to where you want to be."

"Where I want to be is with you. Though… I thought that was all that mattered, but it isn't true. I still want that sense of family, but I think you're right. I really do need to just… work on 'me'," Sun concluded with a sigh.

Blake shook her head and brought up a balled fist to gently knock on Sun's forehead. "That's what I've been telling you. I'm glad you're finally listening. Just make sure you back it up with action. Think about what would make you feel 'cool', as you would say, in a meaningful way, and go for it. With me, with my parents… whatever. When we've got spare time, it's the Sun Show, now."

Sun chuckled to himself as he gave Blake a squeeze. "Thanks, Blake. I…" Sun paused to reconsider. "…I deserve you."

Blake nodded, and offered him a rare smile. "There you go, and yes, you do. That's a big part of why you have me."

"And the same goes to you," Sun offered as a knock came from the wooden frame on the side of the balcony door. Blake's ears shot straight up as she looked over at the paper door with a frown.

"…I'll deal with her, Sun. You stay in bed, and close your eyes," Blake said as she sat up and slipped off the bed. She quickly hurried over to the chair where she had flung her shirt, and hastily threw it on before doing up the buttons.

"But…" Sun caught himself, and sighed. "…alright."

"You need to heal, at least for tonight. No more stress. I'll fill you in on everything in the morning, I promise," Blake said as she walked to the door. Sun nodded as she slid the door open, to reveal a worried-looking Ilia standing in the doorframe.

"What the hell did the two of you do? The cops and the Fang are all over Cinnamon's place, a-"

"Shut up. Come," Blake instructed as she grabbed Ilia's wrist and yanked her inside before closing the door.

"Hey!" Ilia whined as she stumbled inside. "What the… um… hi, Sun…" Ilia added as she noticed him upon the bed. Sun gave her a casual wave, before Blake began to walk across the room while dragging her along.

"Hi. Good luck," Sun said with a sympathetic look. "Don't fight it when Blake is like that."

"Yeah, I know…" Ilia replied with a frown. "I can walk by myself!" she hissed as she wrenched her wrist from Blake's grip.

"Then follow, and keep quiet," Blake spat as she made her way out of the room. With one last look at Sun, Ilia made her way through the door and into the hall, behind Blake. The pair of them walked in silence as they made their way around the upper balcony, and toward the opposite side of the house.

"…we're headed to your room, right?"

"Shh!" Blake glared at Ilia over her shoulder before whipping her head back around and whispering. "Yes, and if my parents hear you in here, they're going to be pissed. You're not in good standing."

Ilia had the decency to look down at the floorboards as they walked, and found that she couldn't help herself as she whispered back. "…what about with you?"

Blake didn't reply, and Ilia grew anxious as they approached the familiar bedroom door. The cat faunus pushed it open and stood beside the frame to let Ilia walk in first, and she obliged. As soon as she made it in, Blake followed, and pulled the door shut behind herself, causing Ilia to flinch.

"You and me?" Blake asked. "We're not great."

"Blake, I'm sorry!" Ilia said as she brought her voice back up to normal volume.

"Not as sorry as you're going to be if you ever lay another finger on Sun. If it wasn't for him, you'd be in a body cast, by now," Blake threatened.

"Nice to see you too, best friend," Ilia sneered.

"Don't give me that," Blake snarled as she dug her hand into her pocket, and pulled out the wires she had collected from Cinnamon's workbench. "Do you still do tactical entry for the Fang?"

"Yes…" Ilia said as she moved closer to look over the offering.

"Then what do you know about this? What kind of explosives do they go to? What's this powder on them that was all over, in Cinnamon's basement?" Blake questioned rapidly.

Ilia blinked and picked up a blue wire, to turn it over in her hands. "Blake, these are… wires. I have no idea, they could've been connected to a toaster, for all I know."

"Do you think I know how any of this works?" Blake pressed as she flattened her ears.

"Clearly, no," Ilia said as she made her way to Blake's bed and sat. "As for the powder… it's likely just basic gunpowder. I can take these wires back to the Fang outpost outside of Kuo Kuana and look around, see what I can find."

"Then do that," Blake replied as she leaned against the doorframe. "We found nothing at Cinnamon's house."

Ilia shook her head as she clenched her fist around the wire. "Not really a surprise. She's meticulous, cunning, and tends to be one step ahead of even Adam, sometimes."

"About that," Blake began. "Mom went toe to toe w-"

"You brought your mom?" Ilia asked in shock. "Is she okay?"

"She's not ancient, Ilia!" Blake shot back. "And yes, she's okay. Like you give a shit."

"I do give a shit!" Ilia countered as she stood up and threw a hand out to the side. "I practically lived here when we were young!"

"And now, you don't," Blake stated. Ilia frowned and grit her teeth. "You and I aren't just magically 'okay', now. Not after what you did."

"And what about what you did?" Ilia insisted. "You left me! I know what I did wasn't right, but… I didn't know what else to do! I was angry, and hurt!"

"I was angry, too!" Blake yelled. She closed her eyes as she noticed her hands shaking in rage, and found her thoughts drifting to Sun. "…but I wasn't myself, for a long time," she added as she began to calm down. "I'm sorry, Ilia. Sorry for leaving, without trying to take you with me. I mean that. I thought I was being selfless by getting away from the Fang and saving some human lives, but… it was selfish, in regards to you."

Ilia scrunched her face as she listened, clearly unprepared for such a confession. She opened her mouth twice to reply, but found nothing that seemed right. Eventually, she let her eyes drift down to the floor and softened her tone. "I… o-okay. I'm sorry, too, for not coming after you, and for messing with Sun. And attacking both of you. I was… I wasn't myself. I kinda feel like I'm still not."

"Yeah, well, join the club with Sun and I," Blake said. "Once we fix this White Fang mess, we need to reconnect. It's not going to happen overnight."

"I know." Ilia began to play with the blue wire, and looped it through her fingers and around her knuckles as she avoided Blake's eyes. "…are you in love with him?"

"Excuse me?" Blake questioned as she narrowed her eyes. Ilia slumped her shoulders and continued playing with the wire as she stared over at the wall. "That isn't your concern. I don't know what you're thinking, but for right now, this is a business relationship. And speaking of business, what the hell is up with Cinnamon's semblance? She used it, and Sun's aura didn't come back for nearly an hour."

Ilia's heart sank as she looked back at Blake, and breathed out through her nose. "…business. Yeah. Cinnamon's semblance is your semblance, but I guess you figured that out. If she touches you, she can use her aura to trigger yours, and fire off your semblance. If she envenoms you, she can trigger it remotely, which is… bad. Really, really bad news. From what she's told me, though, her aura playing off of yours does something odd. It entwines them, and her victim has to take the time and energy to recover both auras. It's exhausting."

"Great," Blake stated sarcastically. "So we really can't afford to get touched."

"Or injected," Ilia added. "Listen, I… I should really get going. Get back to camp, report in, and see if I can figure out what Cinnamon made for Adam. She almost definitely made some explosives to use at Haven, but if I can find something concrete, we can go in prepared. Maybe… maybe I can even sabotage them." She rose from the bed and extended her hand. Blake gave Ilia the rest of the wires, and nodded.

"And I need to leave, too. I have to get Sun a new shirt, and pick up some other things."

"…what happened to Sun's shirt?" Ilia asked as she hiked a brow.

Blake rolled her eyes, and slid the door open. "Cinnamon's window happened, when Mom made her dramatic entrance. I'm trusting you to show yourself out, and not get caught. Swing by in two days with what you've found, and then we can have a little sit-down about… us. Alright?"

"Alright," Ilia replied. She felt deflated as Blake nodded and slipped out the door. "…nice to see you too, Blake," she said to no one in particular as she eyed the door to Blake's balcony. Suddenly, another idea struck her, and she made her way out the door that Blake had taken.

Ilia shifted the color of her skin to blend in to the paper walls, and crept slowly through the halls all the way back to the railing overlooking the dining hall. She held her breath as she watched Blake cross the room and exit into the kitchen, before shifting her skin color back and walking quickly to the guest room. Ilia took care to slide the door open as slowly as she could, before slipping into the room and closing it just as slowly. Once she was inside, she walked over to the bed, where Sun laid with his eyes closed.

"Hey," she began. Sun opened his eyes and sat up, looking a bit confused. "Can we talk…?"

Author's Note:

Blake's ear massage has been waiting in the wings for something like 20 chapters, now. What fun.

As far as Sun's age during the flashback- I don't want to pin any hard numbers on any of the three scenes, but I will say that during his initial outburst, he was under 10. The attempted tail severing occurred before he was a teen, and the last scene... I do have a hard number in mind, and there may be one more flashback before this is all over connected to it.

Next update on Saturday, the 16th.

-RD