Show Me How You Smile

by LongSean22

Ilia Amitola; a girl who’d lived a life full of anger and tragedy, barely managing to keep herself from succumbing to the same hate so many other faunus had. Meanwhile, Carmella Lindt had only ever wanted to help people and defend what was important to her, but lacked the means to do so. Two faunus on a collision course, a pair of souls, each one meant to complete the other.

27. Chapter 27

A/N- Ugh. Feelin' sick. My activities are currently limited to laying on the couch and looking at my phone, which works out good for all of you, I guess. Since those are the only things I need in order to write.

(Please ignore the fact that this chapter still took several months to come out)

Now the hardest part of any slow burn romance story; What to do after your characters actually get together.

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A warm, enticing aroma filled the room as The Horned Anvil's proprietor poured the still steaming water into his mug, mixing it with the coffee grounds inside. After a few quick stirs, Domascus Baladi (or Dom, as his friends called him) brought the cup up to his lips for a sip, taking care not to let any spill into his beard, or- Brothers forbid- stain his impressive mustache. The still quite hot liquid slid down the horned faunus' throat and into his stomach, spreading its warmth throughout his entire body and reinvigorating his senses for another day of work.

With a loud, content sigh the tall faunus walked back over to his long workbench. The old, but sturdy looking wooden surface was as cluttered as it ever was, covered in bits and bobs, random chunks of metal, half finished experiments, and more than a few already empty mugs the shops owner hadn't had time to clean yet. The blacksmith brushed one of his large forearms across the table, clearing some space to work, and knocking a few loose screws and wires onto the equally cluttered floor in the process. Some people would call into question Dom's organizational skills, but somehow he always knew where to find stuff, and at the end of the day that was all that mattered.

Having created a satisfactory amount of space, Dom placed his current project on the table before him. The bundle of freshly treated, thick, reddish brown, strips of leather didn't look like much yet, but once he worked his magic? Hoo boy, this one would be something special. The horned blacksmith grabbed a pair of snips that had been resting in an empty coffee mug to his left, as well as a handful of small metal pieces from an old tin bucket and got busy.

Getting to work with leather was a rare treat for the bearded faunus. The smell of the material alone was enough to get his creative juices flowing, and he couldn't resist a small grin as he began cutting into the thick pieces. He hummed quietly to himself as he enjoyed his craft, as he had for years and years now. He attached a few pieces of silver metal to the dark red colored material, including a large buckle with an insignia already pressed into the center.

As much as Dom loved his work- and believe me, he could spend hours getting into just how much he did if you accidentally prompted him to- but he also knew he was working on a deadline. This project was already days overdue, well, this part of it was anyway. The weapon itself has already been handed over to the client, but the faunus blacksmith had been forced to shamefully ask her wait until his- several weeks late- shipment of leather came in for the order to be truly completed.

This was thanks mainly to the supply routes around Mistral seeing even more trouble than usual lately. Between the Grimm, the bandits, and the bordering on extortion prices charged for moving goods nowadays, it was a wonder he was able to get any work done at all.

Putting aside his usual complaints about the logistical side of things, Dom chose instead to focus on the part of his job he actually enjoyed. He grabbed a small needle and some sturdy looking thread, using them to attach a few pouches to the belt, as well as reinforce and tighten up a few of the areas he'd already stitched together, his surprisingly nimble fingers practically dancing across the leather as he worked. There, now even a Beowolf would have a hard time tearing this thing apart.

The large faunus held his work up to the light and rotated it around for a better look, his free hand coming up and stroking his bearded chin. After a close examination, Dom smirked. It wasn't bad for a rushed job, and should hold up pretty well against the claws and fangs of the world. All that was left was to make sure it fit the customer, and that would have to wait for pick up.

Putting the- for the moment- completed project back on the desk, the horned man took another big swing of his still warm coffee, polishing off the last of the dark colored liquid with an exaggerated, "Ahhhhh." Nothing like starting the day off with a job well done.

The blacksmith stepped away from his workspace, looking towards the clock hanging above it. Just about time to open up shop, he supposed. After adding the empty mug in his hand to the collection on his bench, Dom walked out of his back room and through a pair of swinging double doors into his business's lobby area, where he had his work displayed for customers to peruse. Dom opened the small gate at the counter and stepped through, over to the large glass front door, where he flipped the sign hanging on it from "closed" to "open" and unlocked the entrance. He was about to walk away when the sound of voices outside got the tall faunus' attention. He turned and noticed a strange sight.

It was a pair of girls, one of which he recognized almost immediately as the client for the project he'd just finished working on, her long curled ponytail giving her away almost immediately. The other was a rabbit faunus he didn't recognize, who was currently being led by the hand of the other girl. However, what really made the sight so bizarre and eye catching was one of them was wearing a-

---

(Earlier)

"Wait, you want me to what?" Carmella asked, giving the chameleon girl a strange look.

"I want you to put on this blindfold," Ilia repeated, looking at Carmella as if the request sounded any less bizarre the second time. "I want to take you somewhere, and I don't want to ruin the surprise."

The hotel room fell into silence for a moment as Carm continued to stare at the other faunus in confusion. It wasn't like she was against the idea, she trusted Ilia, of course she did, it was just... weird is all.

"Okay?" the rabbit girl acquiesced, brushing some of her short, caramel colored hard behind her left ear. "Wow, we've only been dating for what, almost two days? And you're already breaking out the kinky stuff..."

Immediately, Ilia's face went pink, spots and all, as her eyes widened and her lips pressed into a thin line.

"I-it's not like that! I didn't-"

"I know you didn't," Carmella interjected, stepping closer to the flustered girl. She gave Ilia a teasing grin as she reached up and brushed her fingers against the other faunus' spotted cheek. "I just needed my 'blushy Ilia face' fix today." The rabbit girl punctuated her statement by giving the same cheek she'd just caressed a small peck with her lips.

Ilia huffed quietly as she looked off to the side and pouted, her colors returning to normal... for the most part, as her spots continued to betray the overpowering emotions brought on by Carmella's statement.

"... I'm starting think you enjoy teasing me too much..." Ilia muttered, still having trouble looking Carmella in the eye.

"Maybe," the rabbit girl replied innocently. "I'll tell you what, I'll stop doing it as soon as you stop looking so dang cute when I do."

The chameleon girl smirked as her gaze returned to Carmella. A warmth blossomed in the long eared faunus' chest at the sight, letting her know she was getting off the hook for her teasing yet again, as well as reminding her that the link between the two of them was stronger than ever.

It had been two days since the militia left Mistral, two days since that beautiful moment between the pair of faunus in the clearing that they always trained in, since they both finally revealed the feelings they'd been harboring pretty much since they'd first met. Still though, Carm couldn't resist pinching herself every now and then, just to make sure this wasn't all some kind of dream- although a part of her wasn't sure she wanted to wake up if it was. Yet, as unbelievable as all this was, every time she tested this amazing reality Carmella found herself in, she was always rewarded with the same confirmation; this was all real.

Ilia Amitola is my girlfriend.

Just the thought brought a smile to the rabbit faunus' face, and that familiar comforting warmth enveloped her, like she'd just wrapped herself in a blanket fresh from the dryer.

Seriously, ever since the two of them had shared their first kiss, it was like Carm had to constantly fight to keep herself from bouncing uncontrollably with giddiness every waking moment. Also she was pretty sure she hadn't stopped smiling since then as well, but that symptom was one she felt much less of a need to fight against.

As much as Carmella would've loved to sit there and bask in her own overwhelming happiness, Ilia was still waiting for an answer, holding the blindfold out to the other faunus to put on. The rabbit girl gave the long strip of fabric one final scrutinizing stare.

"Alright then," she agreed with a shrug, taking the dark colored cloth from the other faunus and wrapping it around her head, covering her eyes. "Lead the way, Lili."

Oh yeah, that was a thing too. Ilia was "Lili," now. A little nickname Carmella had cobbled together over the last couple of days. It wasn't exactly clever, just a doubling up the second syllable of Ilia's name, but it rolled off the tongue well, and it's spotted recipient seemed to like it, so Carm was willing to call it a hit.

Not that "Lili" herself had actually come out and said she liked it or anything, but she also hadn't told Carmella to stop yet. The first time the rabbit girl had addressed Ilia as such, the chameleon faunus just given a surprised- and confused- look, before continuing on with what they'd been doing, without correcting the other teen. The lack of reaction would have been discouraging, but once again the almost mystical connection the two shared revealed the truth.

Even now, with both her eyes covered, Carmella was still keenly aware of the spike of joy in Ilia, as well as the way her heart seemed to skip a beat, when she was called by the nickname. So yeah, it was safe to say the moniker was going to stick.

The blindfolded rabbit faunus gave a satisfied smile as she bounced a little on the heels of her feet. "Okay, so, we ready to go?" she asked, adjusting the piece of cloth over her eyes. Carmella hadn't made it too tight, and while the materials dark color blocked most of her sight, she could still see through the gap down past her own nose. It wasn't that she wanted to ruin the surprise or anything, she was just that excited to see where they were going.

"Almost, let me just..." was Ilia's reply before Carmella suddenly felt the loose knot she'd tied behind her head get pulled undone.

"W-what are you-" Carm stuttered out, before the blindfold was pulled off ever so briefly, and then was immediately pulled back into place, tightly this time.

Carmella's peep holes around her nose were gone now, and the fabric was pressed against her face so snug she couldn't even open her eyes all the way. If all that wasn't bad enough, Ilia punctuated her adjustments by tying off the improved blindfold with a thick knot in place of Carmella's earlier weak one. It wasn't at all painful, but the rabbit girl couldn't resist a "gulp" as she found herself truly and effectively blinded.

There was a flutter of something that could only be described as excitement in the long eared faunus' chest when she realized just how well Ilia had applied the blindfold. It made her wonder if she'd had practice with this kind of thing before...

Putting away that thought for later, Carmella cautiously reached up to the cloth that felt like it had been welded over her eyes, only to have her wrist snatched out of the air inches away from its target.

"Now, now," Ilia whispered into Carm's ear, in a tone that turned the rabbit girls legs to jelly, "you wouldn't be trying to ruin your surprise before we even left, would you, Carmella?"

"N-no?" the slightly intimidated faunus stammered out, "Of course not?"

"Good," Ilia replied curtly, the smug smile on her face evident in her voice alone. "Because you definitely don't need to have your hands free for this trip. I thought I was being nice by letting you have that, but if you think you'll be too tempted then..."

Carmella's felt her entire face go red at what her partner was implying. Clearly this was Ilia just trying to get back at her for that whole "kinky" comment earlier, but the thumping heartbeat in the brunettes chest made it clear the chameleon girls "threat"- not to mention the husky, slightly domineering tone she'd said it in- was giving the flustered rabbit girl some... complex emotions.

Gods, I really, REALLY, hope this isn't awakening anything in me...

With that silent plea, the rabbit girl relaxed her arm, and Ilia allowed it to fall back into place at her side. After that, Carmella heard some rustling around the hotel room. It sounded like Ilia was grabbing something, but even with her enhanced hearing, Carm could only barely make out her girlfriend's footsteps, and certainly couldn't track her movements, a testament to the other faunus' stealthy abilities.

Whatever this surprise was, it was clear Ilia was putting a lot of effort into it, which did not go unappreciated by the rabbit faunus. It meant her new significant other was doing her best to show she cared, in her own special- very Ilia- kind of way.

The sounds of movement around Carmella ended quickly enough, and soon after the rabbit girl had to do her best not to jump when she suddenly felt a hand gently wrap around her own.

"Okay, now we're ready," she heard Ilia say, "let's get going."

There was a notable excitement in the chameleon girls voice as she began leading Carmella out of the room by the hand. With her sense of sight completely hindered now- thanks to Ilia- the rabbit faunus followed as closely as she could.

One elevator ride later, the pair found themselves in the hotels lobby. Much to Carmella's disdain, it wasn't until they walked outside into the cool morning air that a rather obvious thought entered her mind.

"Wait. What if someone sees us?" she said, vocalizing the concern that somehow hadn't come to her until this very moment. The sight of a blindfolded faunus being led through the streets was sure to attract attention, mostly of the "bad" variety.

"I guess that depends on how much noise you make," was Ilia's cryptic reply, but when Carm felt the chameleon girl give her hand a squeeze, the long eared faunus was reminded of her girlfriend's special gift.

That's right, nobody would see either of them... provided they didn't make too much noise, that is.

Thanks to the extra set of ears on her head, Carmella was able to make a safe assumption that there weren't many people on the streets at this hour, but still, there was a strange sense of vulnerability- and maybe a little excitement- that accompanied the realization that the two of them could be found out at any moment. That, combined with her lack of sight had the rabbit girl coming to the- perhaps a bit late- realization of just how daring this whole situation truly was. She really had no other choice than to trust in Ilia to lead her where they needed to go safely.

That was easy enough to do though. Honestly, if Ilia had ever had any ill intentions towards Carmella she'd passed up about a million and a half chances to act on them in the time they'd spent together. There was the time she'd nearly blacked out on the boat ride to Mistral, all the hours the two of them had logged training together in private, the time they'd essentially broken into Haven Academy when it was still an active crime scene-

Wow, Carmella was really, really lucky Ilia hadn't had any ulterior motives. She'd basically gone along with pretty much whatever without a second thought. Nine times out of ten, those kinds of decisions- haphazardly made with a girl she'd barely known at the time- ended badly. Even now, the long eared faunus had agreed to being blindfolded and taken to who knows where, all at the mere promise of a "surprise."

Yeah, probably not her proudest moment.

It wasn't like she was stupid or anything, Carmella just... well... she liked surprises... that's all...

Making a quick mental note to work on improving those obviously lacking survival instincts of hers, the rabbit girl continued to be led in silence.

Unfortunately, as exciting as the whole situation was, there wasn't really much for Carmella to do except keep pace with the chameleon girl holding her hand, and so the blindfolded faunus' attention began to wander to the events of the past few days, mainly to the start of the pairs budding relationship.

It was hard to put into words really, it was like everything had changed, but also nothing had? That was honestly the best Carmella could do to describe the two of them finally getting together. Don't get her wrong, she was still ecstatic, over the moon even, that hadn't changed one bit, it was all just so... surreal.

Ilia Amitola is my girlfriend

Again, the thought alone brought a smile to Carmella's face.

After Ilia's bold "confession" that day in the woods, the two faunus had simply made their way back to the chameleon girls hotel room, like nothing had happened...

Well... you know, after they'd finished making out for what could maybe be considered an unhealthy amount of time.

Who could blame them though? After dancing around their own feelings for almost two weeks, the pair of faunus had a lot of lost time to make up for, and now that Carm had decided she was going to stay, the two had all the time in the world. Which had more or less opened the floodgates of passion that had been bubbling under the surface.

They'd become inseparable, even more so than usual. Their schedule hadn't changed much, sure, the pair still woke up early for training, took a break to spend some time walking the city together, got in a bit more of a workout after that, and then when it started getting late, they headed back to Ilia's hotel room- or rather, "their" hotel room, as it had come to be known. To any prying eyes, yeah, things seemed pretty much the same, but it was in the energy that surrounded those seemingly everyday moments, that had changed drastically.

The way the two of them walked hand in hand everywhere they went now, the way Ilia would catch Carmella stealing glances at her out of the corner of her eye and smile, and the way the rabbit faunus would sometimes "accidentally" fall over during their sparring practice, while also- again, "accidentally"- pulling her partner down on top of her so the two of them ended up tangled up together on the grass. Just those little moments where the two of them didn't feel like they had to hold back anymore, that's what had really changed between them.

Oh yeah, that, and there was also the kissing. Had Carmella forgotten to mention the kissing? Because that was also a pretty common occurrence now too. And it was awesome.

The rabbit girl couldn't resist a quiet giggle as the thought had her happiness bubbling over her again.

"What's so funny?" Carm heard Ilia ask from ahead of her.

"Nothing," Carmella answered with a huge, stupid grin on her face. "Just thinking about stuff."

A huff of laughter escaped Ilia. "'Stuff,' huh?" the spotted faunus said in an amused voice. "Anything I should know?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you already do, Lili," Carmella replied cryptically, before adjusting her thumb in the other faunus grip until she could reach the spots on Ilia's wrist, which she began caressing in small, slow circles. The movement was so well practiced at this point, the rabbit girl didn't even need to see to know where those particular spots were.

As soon as Carm started tracing those gentle, little circles, she felt Ilia's arm tremble ever so slightly. The chameleon faunus said nothing in response, and continued to guide the other girl through the streets in silence. Her reaction betrayed nothing on the surface level, but Carmella knew better.

There was familiar spark in the rabbit girls chest, a fluttering of her heart- the origin of which could be traced through the pair of interlocked hands, and to the chameleon faunus ahead of her. That told her all she needed to know.

In the past few days since the official start of their relationship, Carmella had come to learn a very important detail about the spotted girl;

Ilia didn't like to be touched.

No. Carmella liked to be touched.

Ilia Amitola loved to be touched.

Or at least, she loved to be touched by Carm. That much was for certain.

Of course, the chameleon faunus never outright asked for such a thing. No, that would ruin the stoic, badass persona she so cutely tried to maintain around her rabbit eared girlfriend. That was okay though, because Carmella could read her like a book at this point, and was more than happy to supply Ilia with all the TLC she was to stubborn to ask for.

Ninety percent of the time, it was her spots that Carm loved caressing. They were everywhere, and honestly, she couldn't pick a favorite. The ones of her forearms and shoulders were fun to massage after a long day full of training, and she liked tracing the ones on the chameleon faunus' legs as well, moving her fingers across the toned muscles slowly, like some kind of sensual "connect the dots" game.

Those spots were fun, but if she absolutely had to choose a favorite, the ones on Ilia's face were the winners. Carmella never missed an opportunity to either gently run her fingers across them, or kiss them. She'd jokingly told the other faunus that it was her life's mission now to eventually plant her lips on every single one of the slightly darker blotches that were dotted across Ilia's skin...

Every one.

That had gotten a good reaction out of Ilia, which at the end of the day, made it all worth while. Even if Carmella was just kidding...

... You know, mostly.

Strangely though, this time, when the rabbit faunus began rubbing those small circles on Ilia's wrist with her thumb, she'd could have sworn for a second she saw... something, which, considering she was still blindfolded, was a little bizarre.

It was like a splash of color in the darkness that dominated her vision. A flare of pink that dissolved as quickly as it appeared, like a drop of food coloring in a swimming pool, vibrant and beautiful for a moment before fading into its surroundings.

Woah... Carmella thought, surprised by the sudden display. Did this have anything to do with her weird emotional linking semblance thingy?

Wow, she really needed to come up with a better (shorter) name for that.

The rabbit girl experimentally repeated the action, slowly and deliberately running her thumb over the slightly rough area of skin that made up Ilia's faunus trait.

Another splash of pink.

So she continued the motion, making those same small circles on Ilia's skin.

Even more of the color appeared, but this time, the splashes started to take a familiar shape. The more Carmella caressed the spot, the more the pink began to fill out the familiar silhouette of Ilia, standing before her, her hand still wrapped around Carm's own as she was guiding her.

This was incredible. It was almost like she was able to see Ilia in front of her, even with her eyes covered, or at the very least, read/see her emotions. Finally, her semblance had a useful feature!... Or at least it would be, if, you know, Carm could ever figure out how to get the stupid thing to stop only reading Ilia. Not that she was complaining necessarily. This was still cool.

"A-ahem."

The sound of her girlfriend quietly clearing her throat broke Carmella out of her self induced trance, and she stopped her caressing of the other girls hand.

She was about to ask what was going on, when Carmella suddenly realized the two of them had stopped, and she could hear the sound of voices approaching.

Suddenly, the rabbit girl felt Ilia bring their clasped hands in front of her stomach and gently guide her backwards, until Carm's back (and assumedly Ilia's as well) was pressed up against a wooden wall. The voices got closer and closer, until they seemed to corner the pair.

A sudden spike of panic entered Carmella. What was going on? Why had they stopped? Why were there so many people around them now? Had they been trapped? Thousands of questions began running circles in the long eared faunus' head, but she was too petrified of being seen to speak.

The ground seemed to lurch unexpectedly beneath Carmella, and she felt Ilia's free hand shoot out and catch her as she stared to stumble. The rabbit girls fear skyrocketed for a moment, before her body seemed to recognize the strange movement, as well as the vertigo she felt.

The elevator. The two of them were in the elevator, going up. That explained the sudden crowd as well. It was inevitable that Ilia and herself would run into other people on this unorthodox little excursion of there's, and the always busy lifts separating the districts of Mistral were the most likely place to do so.

Still pressed up against what must have been the back wall of the elevator's compartment, Carmella let out what she hoped was a quiet- but still shaky- breath as she felt the transport continue to take them upwards.

Wait, upwards? Like, into the Upper Wards of Mistral? That was where Ilia was bringing her? That was exciting, but it was also strange that Ilia of all people would want to bring her there.

During their ill-fated mall trip a few days ago, it had been clear to Carm that the chameleon faunus wasn't exactly comfortable in the higher end district of the kingdom. She been able to practically feel the distress radiating off the other girl. Ilia had never outright said what was bothering her, maybe it had something to do with her going to school in Atlas? The rabbit faunus couldn't imagine going to school with a bunch of hoity-toity rich kids would be much fun.

Unfortunately, Carmella could only guess as to the true reason. There were still a few aspects of her spotted girlfriends past that hadn't been completely revealed to her yet, but that was fine. After all, Carm wasn't going anywhere now, and those kinds of things would come to the surface soon enough, right? Whenever Ilia was ready to share, that is. Being patient had worked fine so far, so why not just keep it up?... Right?

The two "invisible" faunus remained pressed up against the wall as the elevator continued its ascent and the other occupants continued to talk amongst themselves, continually completely unaware they weren't alone.

Their conversation wasn't overly interesting. Honestly Carmella wasn't really eavesdropping because she wanted to, it was more that she had no other choice in the moment. However, as boring as it was, it was also slightly frantic. Apparently the other people riding the elevator that morning were getting impatient looking for someone who wasn't returning their calls. Maybe a friend of theirs? Well, probably not, given the way they were talking about said "friend."

According to one of the grumpier sounding adults, whoever they were looking for was being a real-

Well, Carm was no prude, but even she wasn't entirely comfortable repeating the word they'd used to describe this person who was proving so hard to find, not even in her own head.

Regardless, the men- three of them, as the blindfolded rabbit faunus had come to realize- continued to loudly complain about having spent all night searching every district of Mistral at this point, and apparently there'd be "big trouble" if they couldn't track "her" down in the upper wards by the end of the day.

Whatever was going on with these guys, it wasn't any of Carmella's business, which was more than fine with her, since she was much too preoccupied with being absolutely terrified of making a single sound that might expose Ilia and herself.

Again though, as stressful as the situation the pair of faunus had stumbled into was, Carmella still found herself at odds with that small twinge of excitement she felt at the fact that at any moment the two of them could be discovered. She'd felt the same way that night at Haven when they were on the run from the Mistral police force. Being pressed up against that rock, with only Ilia's body and semblance concealing the trespassing pair of faunus. At the time, panic outweighed any sort of thrill Carm might have felt, but now that she was revisiting those feelings in this new situation, it was impossible to deny the tiny part of herself that was enjoying this.

Perhaps surprisingly- given the line of work she aspired for- Carmella had never been what you might call a "thrill seeker," but this was clearly doing something for her.

Her back up against the wall, with Ilia's hand still pressed firmly against her stomach from when she'd caught the stumbling faunus moments ago. Carm could feel the other teens tensed fingertips digging into her toned abdomen. All of it was sending waves of electricity up and down her spine, and making her heartbeat slam against her chest. She wondered if Ilia felt the same.

Probably not, the rabbit girl thought to herself, slightly ashamed with herself for being lost in the moment, this kind of thing is probably super normal for her.

Finally, after what felt like ages, the elevator creaked to a stop as it reached its destination. The other occupants all rushed off as soon as the doors opened- probably off to find whoever they were looking for- leaving Carmella and Ilia alone again.

The blindfolded rabbit faunus listened for a moment to make sure they were truly alone again, before letting out a quiet, cautious, but still relieved, sigh.

"Well, that was-"

Carm was cut off when she suddenly felt Ilia's hand leave her stomach, before the rabbit girl was seized by both shoulders and pushed back against the wall behind her. She opened her mouth half out of surprise, and half in an attempt to ask what was happening, but whatever words she had prepared were smothered by a pair of lips crashing into her own.

The initial wave of panic at the sudden kiss barely lasted a quarter of a second, before Carmella recognized the familiar feeling of Ilia- the usual comfort of her aura- wrapping around her.

The rush of emotions from the other faunus had the rabbit girl practically melting into Ilia, her own hands coming to rest on the spotted faunus' hips.

She felt that same sort of excitement, the same thrill at having almost been caught, that Carmella had been feeling only moments ago, seemingly amplified tenfold as the teens linked aura's mingled together. Now, whether or not these emotions were genuinely Ilia's own, or another result of the pairs connected feelings- thanks to the rabbit girls semblance- which had in turn caused Carmella's own overwhelming stimulation to influence Ilia's- was hard to say, and honestly, harder to care about in Carm's case.

Her unbiased opinion?

This.

Was amazing.

Eventually, the pair were forced to separate their mouths from one another's, if only to take in precious oxygen for a moment, and Carmella instinctively leaned forward to rest her forehead against Ilia's.

The chameleon girl met her halfway, and let out a few slow, almost shaky breaths before speaking;

"I... I don't know where that came from... Sorry..."

"For what?" Carmella replied instantly, her barely contained enjoyment making her response break into quiet laughter as the two continued to embrace, standing pressed against one another in the empty elevator.

"So just out of curiosity," the rabbit faunus said, her cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling so wide, "was the two of us going to a random elevator to make out my surprise? Or..."

Ilia's only response at first was low, embarrassed sounding chuckle.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, just curious," Carm continued.

The rabbit girl felt the other faunus' forehead leave her own, followed by a quick peck on her cheek.

"I think... that one was a surprise for both of us," Ilia replied shyly.

Thanks to their proximity, as well as the sudden strange new evolution of Carm's semblance, the blindfolded faunus was now able to vividly see Ilia's silhouette as it lit up like a bright pink neon sign. It was beautiful in a way, not that the chameleon girl herself wasn't a sight all on her own, but the swirling display of brilliant colors dancing before Carmella was a close second.

The spotted faunus' hand slowly slid down from Carm's shoulder, tracing her arm all the way down to her hand, where it re-entwined itself with the rabbit girls.

"C'mon," Ilia said with a hint of excitement for what was to come, "not far now."

Still reeling from what had just happened, Carmella allowed herself to be dragged along in a daze, with the biggest, dumbest of smiles on her face.

Her speechlessness didn't last long however, as the rabbit girls own excitement for whatever surprise awaited her began to bubble over again.

" Sooooo... are we there yet?" Carmella asked, trying to sound more excited than impatient.

"We are... about ten feet away from when I told you it's not far." Iia replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"... But are we there yet?"

The chameleon girl sighed. "... Almost..." she said. Even without being able to see, Carmella could hear the eye roll accompanying the spotted faunus' answer.

Apparently the stealth portion of this journey was over, as the two teens continued this light-hearted back and forth, seemingly unconcerned with being discovered at this point. Fortunately the upper district of Mistral seemed to start the day a bit later than those in the lower, so the streets were still practically empty, most businesses only just starting to think about opening for the day.

True to her word, the pair only traveled for another ten minutes or so, before;

"Well, well, well, look who's up bright and early,"

A deep sounding voice suddenly called out, making Carmella jump, her rabbit ears shooting up straight.

"Good to see a couple of kids being so proactive. I knew there was a reason I liked you, Specks."

Specks? Who the hell was Specks? Was this guy talking to them? It sounded to Carm like he was. Does that mean he could see her? The blindfolded rabbit faunus was suddenly wishing she'd taken the Ilia's advice and stayed quiet so they'd have stayed hidden by the chameleon girls semblance. The excitement she'd associated with the vulnerability of not being able to see was quickly replaced with trepidation, and Carmella found herself fighting against the urge to shield herself behind her chameleon faunus guide.

"Hello, Mr. Bal- er, Dom. We're not too early, are we?"

Ilia's casual reply helped put the still clueless rabbit girl at ease.

"Not at all! In fact you're right on time. I just flipped the sign to open. So uh... is this the uh... friend of yours you told me about?"

"Yeah, this is- oh, right."

Carmella felt the chameleon girl move behind her, and then the other faunus' nimble fingers undid the seemingly iron tight knot securing her blindfold, and the cloth was pulled away.

After blinking quickly a few times to help readjust her eyes to the light pouring into them, the mysterious, deep voice's owner was revealed. He was a tall, dark-skinned faunus with two giant- intimidating looking- horns sticking out of his forehead. He was wearing a thick looking apron over his torso, framed on each side by the giant man's gloved hands which were perched on his hips. The man observed Carm with a friendly looking smile.

With the rabbit girls sight returned, Ilia continued the introductions, "Carmella, this is Domascus Baladi-"

"But you can go ahead and call me Dom," the larger faunus interrupted, reaching out one of his huge hands towards Carm, "put 'er there!"

Shooting her girlfriend a wary glance, Carmella accepted the offered hand, only to have it tightly latch around her own like a trap and begin vicariously shaking the poor rabbit girls entire arm up and down, practically lifting the smaller faunus off the ground with each motion.

"Pleasure to finally meet'cha, Carmella," Dom continued loudly and enthusiastically, "Specks here has told me lots about you."

Ah, Ilia was "Specks." One mystery solved. Must be a nickname this guy- Dom- had come up with for the spotted faunus. Definitely not the kind of thing Ilia would go around asking other people up call her.

Carmella considered herself a bit of an expert when it came to nicknames, and in her professional opinion it honestly wasn't bad. It made sense certainly, given the spots that covered the ponytailed faunus' skin, but...

Lili is way better, Carm thought to herself with a satisfied smirk.

With that settled, the rabbit girl was free to ponder the next mystery of the day; Namely, who this man was, how Ilia knew him, and why the chameleon faunus had brought them here.

Was this the surprise? Well, it certainly wasn't what she'd expected- surprising in the most literal of senses- but it was no making out in an elevator, if she was honest-

But then the rabbit eared girl finally seemed to recognize the outfit the larger faunus before her was wearing.

She'd been thrown out of enough blacksmith shops back on Menagerie-mainly for loitering and gawking while they worked- to know the look. And there was only one reason that came to mind as to why Ilia would be so familiar with a blacksmith in Mistral.

With wide, excited eyes, Carmella's head spun over to her girlfriend, her honey colored irises asking the question that she pretty much already knew the answer to.

Ilia smirked at the thrilled expression on her partners face before confirming;

"Dom's the one who made Carrot Stix for you."

Carmella's head slowly creaked back towards the blacksmith faunus still holding her by the hand. Everyone stood there in silence as Carm remained frozen with her mouth agape. Then, a noise began building in the back of the rabbit girls throat, a long gasp that started off as a whisper before coming to a loud crescendo as Carmella's face broke into an enormous smile. Her eyes began practically sparkling as she resumed shaking the taller faunus' hand, easily matching the vigor and excitement Dom had earlier displayed only moments ago.

"OhmygodsthanlyousomuchCarroyStixissoamazingIpromiseI'mgonnatakesuchgoodcareofher-"

Carmella's words dissolved into nonsense by that point as she continued to almost aggressively shake the other faunus' hand. This went on until the rabbit girl was brought out of her overstimulated state by Ilia placing a calming hand on the other teens shoulder.

"Easy, Carm, take a breath," the spotted girl said with clear amusement in her voice, "and give the nice man his hand back. I'm pretty sure he needs it."

Taking her GF's advice, Carmella smiled sheepishly as she finally released Dom's hand. The larger faunus chuckled at the display, the smile on his own face never once fading. Although he did seem to wince and give his hand a quick shake as it was released.

Guess Carm didn't know her own strength, but who could blame her? This was the guy!

The.

Guy.

The one who'd made the things!

Her things!

The ones she used to kill the other things!

Okay, Ilia was right. Breathe, Carm.

After taking a moment to organize her thoughts, Carmella tried again, this time speaking at a normal- understandable- speed.

"It's so nice to meet you," the rabbit girl said enthusiastically, still bouncing on her heels in excitement. "Thank you so much for all your hard work."

Dom rested his hands on his hips and let out another bellowing laugh. "Happy to do it, kiddo. You know what they say; love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life!"

The larger faunus broke into yet another fit of loud, boisterous laughter- like what he'd just said was the funniest joke ever told- that had both teens awkwardly chuckling along with him. The sound also attracted the attention of several passerby's who also looked in the trio's direction, just as perturbed by the noise. Dom seemed utterly unfazed by all of this, wiping at one of his eyes with his gloved hands as he finally quiet down.

Carmella gave Ilia a confused look, to which the chameleon girl just sort of shrugged as if to say; 'I don't know, he's just like this.'

"Well, that's enough out of me, I reckon. You're here for pickup, right, Specks? Let's get to business then, shall we? Right this way, ladies." The blacksmith faunus said as he stepped back inside his shop, beckoning with a wave for Ilia and Carmella to follow without looking back.

Ilia went to do so, but Carmella immediately cut her off, stepping in front of the chameleon faunus, her hands clasped behind her back as she leaned close to the spotted girl with a mischievous look on her face.

"So... 'Specks,' huh?" the rabbit girl said with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

Ilia gave an exasperated huff, rolling her eyes with a timid grin. "Yeah... Dom's real big on nicknames apparently," she said, stepping around Carm and her teasing smile. "...Whether you like it or not," she added as she moved.

"Awww, I think it's cute," Carmella replied, which might not have been one hundred percent true, but she'd mainly said it because she'd picked up on the disdain in her partners voice.

"Maybe... It's harmless enough, and apparently a sign I've ended up on his good side, or so I hear," Ilia said, stopping in the doorway of the Horned Anvil. Then she looked back over her shoulder towards Carmella and muttered;

"... but personally, I think I prefer Lili."

The chameleon girl quickly turned away and entered the shop. Carmella froze up for a second in response, her own cheeks heating up as she smiled softly, before following her girlfriend inside.

The Horned Anvil's interior was unlike anything Carmella had ever seen. Everywhere she looked there were weapons of all shapes and sizes hanging on the walls, in display racks, even a few laying on the counters. It put those shacks the blacksmiths back on Menagerie usually worked out of to shame.

It was amazing. Getting to meet the genius behind Carrot Stix was exciting enough, but now on top of that, Carmella was getting the chance to look at even more cool weapons? This was the best surprise ever.

However, unbeknownst to Carm, the best surprise was still to come.

"Hang tight you two, I just need a minute to put on the finishing touches, then I'll be right out with your order," Dom said as he made his way behind the counter and through a pair of swinging doors into his back room.

Order?

That's right, Dom had mentioned something about Ilia being here for "pickup" earlier. Carmella wondered what her girlfriend had ordered. Something for Lightning Lash, maybe?

Whatever errand had brought her spotted girlfriend here today, Carmella was just happy to be brought along for the ride, and took the chance to peruse the blacksmiths wares.

She wasn't anywhere close to an expert on weapons, in fact her knowledge on the subject was pretty lacking. Not that it was her fault or anything, up until a couple of weeks ago, the most advanced piece of weaponry Carm had ever held was a long piece of wood, and the next step up after that had been a long piece of metal with a shocky bit on the end.

So yeah, Carmella didn't really know a lot about weapons, or how they worked, but she knew they were cool looking, and that was enough for her to enjoy what was on display in Dom's shop.

The rabbit eared faunus stepped up to one of the walls with various modified pistols hanging on it. Many of them had hooks, or some other kind of bladed weapons integrated into them, either in the barrel or the stock.

Further down the wall, there were a collection of axes, their smooth metal of their sharp edges reflecting the fluorescent lights shining down on them from above. One in particular had a small metal sign fixed next to it on the wall that read: Fire Axe. Carmella had to wonder if that meant the weapon was used to fight fires or create them. It didn't look like she'd ever have the chance to find out, because right next to the sign was a posted note that said: SOLD.

That was fine with her though, because as cool as all these deadly tools were, Carrot Stix was way cooler, and not to mention, they were hers. Maybe it was weird to think, but that fact in particular made the pair of tonfa's so much more special than any other weapon in the entire world could be, to Carmella, at least.

The thought made the big, dumb smile on the rabbit girls face get somehow even bigger and dumber as she continued to browse. That is, until a sudden unprompted feeling crept into the back of Carmella's mind.

The smile on Carm's face slowly faded into confusion as she felt a sudden anxiety take over. It was like this pressure weighing heavy on her heart and her back. Then, Carmella became aware of a gently tapping sound amongst the ambient noise of the shop that made her rabbit ears shoot up straight.

Her head quickly turned back to the counter Dom had disappeared behind, to the usual source of any strange emotions the rabbit girl felt lately, and she was standing exactly where Carmella had left her.

Even without her empathic abilities, one look made it obvious to the brunette that something was bothering the chameleon faunus. Ilia's form was straight and rigid, seemingly frozen in place aside from the rhythmic rapping of all ten of her fingertips on the wooden counter in front of her. Her cerulean eyes were glued to the swinging doors the faunus blacksmith had passed through moments ago as they were just now settling back into place. Even her long, curled ponytail seemed more... angular than usual, like it was more bent into place rather than its usual natural twists.

Without missing a beat, Carmella was across the room and back by her girlfriend's side. She gently placed a hand on Ilia's rambunctious fingers, which stopped the tapping and caused the other faunus to jump a little, like Carm had just pulled her out of a trance.

"Hey," the rabbit girl said softly, "everything good?"

Ilia forced a quick smile to put her partner at ease, "Of course, why do you..." Then the smile drifted away and the chameleon girl sighed as her posture slouched. "Right... I keep forgetting you can do that."

Carmella smirked and offered an innocent shrug. "Sorry, I still don't know how to turn this thing off yet," She replied poking herself in the side of the head.

A dry, hum of a laugh escaped Ilia, before she turned her head back towards the area behind the counter and gave another quick sigh.

"It's okay," she said, "I guess I'm just a little... nervous today is all."

"Nervous about wha-"

Carmella's response was cut off as the swinging doors burst opened and Dom stepped back out into the storefront.

With a boisterous "HA," the blacksmith heaved something onto the countertop in front of the two girls, making both of them recoil slightly.

"There you go, kiddo," Dom said, hands now proudly perched on his hips. "What do you think?"

Curious about what Ilia ordered that had put her in such a tizzy, Carmella leaned in to examine the collection of leather and metal laid before her. It looked like some kind of belt- no, some kind of holster maybe? For Lightning Lash, no doubt.

It looked nice, well made at the very least. The leather was a deep crimson, with a metal buckle in the center, as well as a few seemingly random other metal fasteners and pouches here and there.

It just seemed weird though. The fact that Ilia would order something like this for herself when she already had a perfectly good magnetic clip to hold her whip-blade in place at the chameleon girls hip. It seemed superfluous, and Ilia didn't seem like the type to spend money on things unless she absolutely needed them. Not that it was Carmella's business what her girlfriend spent her lien on. Like she'd said, Carm just thought it seemed weird.

Then, after having taken an even closer look at the pile of leather and metal, the rabbit girl noticed it possessed not just one, but two holsters, which made even less sense to her. Ilia only had one weapon- as far as Carmella knew- so why buy something with two? Was the chameleon girl thinking about dual wielding? Like Carm d-

As soon as the thought entered the long eared faunus' head, she noticed the emblem engraved into the big metal buckle. It was a depiction of a rabbits face, with one of the ears bent on the middle. It bore a striking resemblance to the small charm that dangled off the handle of Carrot Stix.

Carmella let out a quiet gasp as the the final pieces were put together in her head. Her head darted to Ilia for confirmation.

"S-surprise...?" was all the chameleon girl said with an anxious smile.

A loud booming laugh managed to tear the rabbit girl out of her stupor. She looked back up Dom, who was still standing over his work with both hands on his hips, but was again throwing his head back with laughter.

"Ah, well that explains the blindfold, I suppose," The horned faunus said, recollecting himself, but never once letting the huge grin on his face fade. "Well, what're you waiting for, kiddo? Gotta make sure it fits, right?"

With almost shaky hands, the rabbit girl numbly reached towards the collection of leather before her. She ran her fingers over the intricate stitched thread holding the pieces together, marveling at both the craftsmanship, and the fact that something so beautiful and well made was actually hers.

Finally picking it up, the rabbit girl wrapped the belt around her waist, the buckle easily-and securely- snapping together into place. It felt good; tight, but not too tight. Carmella shifted her hips while looking back over each of her shoulders, the empty holsters on each side swaying with the movement.

"Hmm, not a bad fit," Dom said, stroking his pointed beard with his gloved hand. "Looks like the measurements you gave me were just about spot on, Specks."

"Measurements?" Carmella asked, turning to give Ilia an inquisitive look.

The chameleon girl had already gone pink from head to toe when Carm looked at her. The flustered faunus immediately averted her eyes when they met the rabbit eared teens, and then began twirling one of the long strands of hair in front of her ears around her finger.

"I-I just gave my best guess..." the chameleon girl mumbled out, her faunus trait receding as her skin tone returned to normal, but with a bit of pink remaining in her spots. "It's not like I measured you in your sleep or anything..." she added quietly.

Carm smirked at the fidgeting faunus, and said smirk only grew larger when Ilia tried to look her in the eyes again, only for her gaze to drop down to Carmella's hips, and then away again.

Her girlfriend was way too god damned cute. Like, all the time. Seriously. She had no idea how exactly this girl managed to do it, but Carmella was miles away from anywhere that could be considered in the neighborhood of complaining.

Dom laughed yet again at the girls antics, though thankfully refrained from going into a full blown fit this time.

"Well alright then," the blacksmith faunus said, "now that we know it fits you, we gotta check to make sure it fits those little beauties of yours."

Carmella was confused for about half a second as to what Dom was referring to, both them it hit her; he was talking about Carrot Stix.

But wait, Carm hadn't brought her tonfa with her. They were still back at the-

A gentle nudging in her shoulder made the rabbit girl turn to look at Ilia, who casually held Carmella's weapons out for the other faunus to take.

But when did-

How'd she-

Ah, that's right. That must have been what Ilia had been rummaging around their room for after she'd blindfolded Carmella. Mystery solved.

The chameleon faunus seemed to have thought of everything when it came to this little surprise of hers. The amount of effort and planning put into this morning was becoming more and more apparent to Carm, and she was more than a little flattered.

"Oh, you're good," the rabbit girl said, sounding impressed as she took the offered pair of tonfa.

Ilia smirked and just sort of shrugged. "I am aware of my skillset, thank you."

With an amused eye roll, Carmella eagerly inserted Carrot Stix into the leather holsters on each side of her hips. Sure enough- much like with the belt itself- the weapons fit like a glove, easily accessible and fashionably secured on Carm's person whenever she needed them.

Excitedly, the rabbit girl resumed jostling her hips and legs, even jumping up and down a few times in place in an attempt to try and dislodge her tonfa from their resting place, much to the amusement of both Dom and Ilia. Carrot Stix remained in place however, merely swaying back and forth, the charm dangling from them jingling with each movement.

With a satisfied nod, the rabbit faunus moved on to examining the various pouches sewn into the side of her new accessory. They were probably meant to store extra dust clips, much better- and safer- than keeping them in your shorts pockets, like Carmella had been doing.

Exploring further, there was even a magnetic clip for her scroll too! Carm quickly whipped out her device and slapped it into place. With that done, The long eared teen lifted her hands out of the way and really took in the sight of herself.

Look at her; Weapons at the ready, prepared to whip them out at the first sign of trouble. Ready to protect and serve anyone, anywhere, anytime.

She felt good.

She felt like a real Huntress...

It was funny. Once she'd written off that dream as just that; a fantastical aspiration she'd always believed was beyond her station in life. But now, looking at herself, armed to the teeth, joining up with a newly formed faunus civil rights group, a million miles away from that old life of hers. That dream she'd once written off was "fantastical" was becoming less and less impossible every day.

And once again, Carmella owed it all to one person in particular. The one who'd believed in her and continued to provide her with these beautiful opportunities again and again.

The rabbit faunus raised her head towards Ilia, who was still standing in the same spot, nervously tracing the spots on her forearm.

"So... Do you like it?" the chameleon girl asked apprehensively.

Carmella smiled. "I'm going to start hugging you now," she stated plainly. "I'm not really sure when I'll stop."

A short, relief filled laugh escaped Ilia, before she spread her arms wide, welcoming the other faunus.

Needing no further invitation, Carmella leapt into her girlfriend's waiting embrace, nearly knocking the chameleon girl off her feet in the process. Thankfully, Ilia was prepared and strong enough to find her footing, catching Carm in a tight hug and spinning her around in the air a few times as the two girls giggled to themselves.

The pair basked in the comforting warmth blooming in their chests, aura's intertwining with one another. It was a feeling neither girl could ever see themselves getting sick or tired of.

Gods, if it weren't for the fact the two of them weren't alone, Carm would be all over Ilia right now, in a heartbeat. But Carmella had decided to take it easy on the PDA for now. She could tell all of this was still new to Ilia.

Reluctantly, the rabbit faunus detached herself from her girlfriend. Ilia smiled bashfully at Carm, brushing a few of the errant, long strands of hair framing each side of her face behind her left ear, only for them to fall back into place a moment later.

"So... safe to assume that's a 'yes,' then?" the ponytailed girl asked.

"Are you kidding? Of course!" Carmella exclaimed, taking Ilia by the hands and hopping in place excitedly, making her weapons jangle again as they followed her movements. "I love it! Thank you so, so much, Lili!"

Ilia chuckled in response as the pink rose to her spots. Carm could feel the happiness blossoming inside the other faunus, as well as an odd sense of relief. Carmella wrote it off for now, as she turned to thank the other person who had a hand in her little surprise.

"Thank you too, Dom," the rabbit girl said politely, giving the horned blacksmith a dazzling smile as well, "for everything you've done. You do amazing work!"

The owner of the Horned Anvil let out another booming "HA!"

"Careful there, kiddo," Dom said, "You're gonna make an old man blush at this rate." Then he turned to Ilia. "You were right about this one, Specks. She's one in a million."

Carmella shot the already pink faced Ilia a playful side-eye, a teasing smirk on her lips. "Oh, she said that? What else did she tell you-"

"ANYWAYS-" Ilia said loudly, cutting off the other two faunus' attempt to gang up on her, "-Um, Dom, what do I owe you for the new gear?"

The older faunus simply raised a hand and shook his head. "Don't even worry about it," he said, before his hands returned to their respective perches on his hips. "You take care of this girl here just as well as I know my little darlings will, and we'll call it even, Specks."

Carmella quietly giggled into her hand, while Ilia let out a sigh of defeat, seeing her attempt to avoid getting double teamed fail miserably.

Then she looked at Carm and smiled. She stared for a moment, with a genuine fondness in her eyes, before finally saying, "Deal."

Now it was the rabbit faunus' turn to get flustered. As if Ilia's passionate gaze wasn't enough to make her blush, the promise that she'd just made to watch over Carmella made the long eared teens knees wobble weakly.

Oh my gods. I love this girl.

The realization wasn't exactly a world shattering one for Carm, but shockingly, this was in fact the first time that particular word had entered the young faunus' head in regards to Ilia.

Love; Carmella had been there a few times before, different times with different people, or so she'd thought. This feeling however, blew her preconceptions of the word completely out of the water.

She loved Ilia.

Like, head over heels, out of her mind, utterly hopelessly, barely able to string together any other sort of coherent thoughts around her- that kind of love.

The rabbit faunus looked away and tried to discreetly take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She succeeded for the most part, but couldn't manage wipe the huge, dorky smile off her own face.

Carm wanted so badly to tell Ilia right then and there, but standing in front of some guy she'd just met, in a shop that smelt like burnt air and metal (no offense to Dom) was neither the time, nor the place, for such a conversation. That was fine though, the two of them would have their moment, Carmella had no doubt. They had time now- finally- and the rabbit girl was going to make sure to savor every second.

Besides, she'd already been workshopping a little idea of her own, a way to show her appreciation for everything Ilia had done for her. Now, on top of that, it would be the chance for her to tell the spotted faunus just how deep the feelings she had for her were. The added responsibility meant Carmella really had to bring out her A game when the time came, but she was pretty confident this idea of hers would be a hit.

"Well, now that that's settled-"Dom said, his booming voice cutting through the enamored haze both girls had fallen into, "It's probably about time I got my lazy butt in gear and finished preparing for the day. Anything else an old blacksmith can do for you two this morning?"

"I think we're good," Ilia answered with a grateful smile. "Thanks again, Dom, for everything."

"Always a pleasure, Specks," the horned faunus replied. "Don't be a stranger now, either of you."

"Bye, Dom!" Carmella said cheerfully with an enthusiastic wave as she began backing out of the store. Ilia meanwhile, merely offered the shopkeeper a polite nod before following her girlfriend's lead.

"Take care, Hops," Carm heard the blacksmith add just as she went to exit through the door to the Horned Anvil. The rabbit girl stopped and turned to see Dom looking at her and waving. Carmella smiled back before exiting the store and stepping back into the streets of Mistral.

The two faunus began their walk out of the upper districts of the kingdom, Ilia taking the lead, with the rabbit girl following being. Carm couldn't help but stare down at her own hips the entire way, as if just constantly reminding herself that her cool new accessory was actually really hers. She swayed her hips exaggeratedly as she moved, still enjoying the sound and feeling of her weapons gently slapping against her thighs as she moved.

Suddenly, a pair of familiar boots entered Carmella's vision, and she quickly put on the brakes. Her head shot up to see a bemused Ilia's face only inches from her own.

The startled rabbit faunus stumbled back, her arms flailing slightly and she reclaimed her balance. Once her spasming had finished Carmella giggled innocently, standing up straight and scratching the back of her head, trying to play it off like she hadn't just been caught totally spacing out.

Ilia gave an amused sounding huff and rolled her eyes. "You know, if that things going to be a distraction for you, I can take it away," she said in what was probably a joking tone... probably.

Regardless, Carmella wasn't taking any chances and quickly clasped her hands over both of her tonfa in each holster and gave her spotted teacher a pout as well as a playful glare, as if she was daring Ilia to try and take her new toy.

"Fine, fine," Ilia relented. "In that case, what do you say we go break it in?"

The idea made Carm's ears perk up (both sets) and she nodded eagerly.

"Great," Ilia said, turning away again to begin the trip back to the pairs usual training spot. "The leathers probably still pretty stiff, which might restrict your movements at first. Plus, you'd be surprised just how much a couple extra pounds can throw you off in a fight. Also I wanted to try..."

The chameleon girl continued on as the two of them walked. Carmella stared dreamily at the back of her partners ponytailed head as she followed. She swore she could listen to Ilia talk about this stuff for hours. The passion and enthusiasm in her voice was enthralling, not to mention contagious.

And yet, as the pair continued on, Carmella became more and more aware that- as perfect a morning as this had been- something was off. It was like everything good about the day was painted across a canvas into a beautiful landscape, but off in one of the corners- barely even noticeable unless you squinted- was an ugly black smear. One that- once you'd seen it- affected the entire mood of the painting.

Slowly but surely, the look of adoration Carm had directed at the back of her spotted girlfriend's head shifted to concern, and whatever (probably super important) words Ilia was saying faded into the background as the rabbit girl took in the confusing emotions.

It was that same feeling Carm had detected in Ilia back in Dom's shop, a nervousness picking at the back of her brain. Well, it wasn't exactly the same, really. Back at the blacksmiths, the feeling had felt exposed and agitated, but now it was like whatever it was had receded back into whatever den it called home. It was harder to see now, hidden beneath the surface, but it was still very much there, just as sore and nagging as it had been.

Without a word, Carmella sped up her gait, overtaking Ilia, stepping around the spotted girl and cutting off her path, standing in front of her with an insistent expression on her face.

Ilia was caught completely off guard by her rabbit eared partners sudden interception of her. The advice she'd been trying to give was cut off as well, as the chameleon girl did her best to freeze in place mid step. She stared wide eyed at Carmella as the other faunus continued to stand there saying nothing, eyeballing Ilia with that same knowing look.

Eventually, the spotted girl realized what was happening, a look of resigned recognition washing over her as she let out a quiet sigh.

"... Caught me again, huh?" Ilia asked dejectedly, averting her eyes.

Without missing a beat, Carm's hand came up and gently cupped Ilia's cheek, turning the ponytailed girls head back to face her own. Carmella still didn't say anything, she just offered Ilia a patient smile, her way of saying she was here to listen if there was anything her often emotional backed up friend wanted to get off her chest.

"I'm sorry... I just..." Ilia started- which might not have been a strong way to do so, but it was progress- "I guess I'm still getting used to..." the chameleon gestured between Carm and herself with her hands, "... all this."

This caused a sharp spike of guilt to pierce Carmella's heart. Like she'd said, the rabbit girl had made a point to take things slow with Ilia, but had she still somehow managed to inadvertently push too hard?

"Is it too much?" The long eared faunus asked, voicing her concern. "If you want we could... I don't know," Carm brushed her short hair behind her ear anxiously, not really wanting to suggest what she was about to, "we could... take a step back or whatever."

"No! No... no," Ilia's quick refusal brought Carmella some small semblance of relief, but the conflicted look on her partners face still had her concerned. "I mean... unless that's what you want."

Carm gave the other faunus a confused look. Of course that wasn't what she wanted. Why would Ilia think that? More importantly, why did it feel like this conversation was beginning to circle itself?

Perhaps sensing Carmella's confusion, Ilia gave an exhausted groan, bringing her hand up, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just..." Ilia let out a humorless chuckle. "Wow, I'm so bad at this."

Carmella reached out and put her hand on the other teens spotted shoulder, urging her to try again at her own pace. This at least brought Ilia out of her own-most likely discouraging- thoughts, and back to the conversation at hand. She regarded the supportive gesture- as well as the gentle smile on Carm's face- and her posture seemed to relax slightly. So she tried again;

"I just... don't want you to feel... like you..."

Ilia stopped again. Communication was never her strong suit, but Carmella was in it for the long haul at this point, determined to find out what had the chameleon girl so upset.

"... I just don't want you to have any regrets," Ilia finally blurted out in one quick breath. "About... you know..." again, the ponytailed girl gestured between the two faunus with her hands, "us..."

The gears in Carmella's head ticked away for several long seconds as she just stared at Ilia, until finally-

"Oh!" The rabbit girl exclaimed, a little loudly perhaps, judging by Ilia's surprised expression.

"Oh?" Carm said as her realization fully began to set in.

"Oh..." The long eared faunus repeated one more time, giving her girlfriend a pity filled look as she finally got to the center of the issue that was bothering Ilia.

It all made sense. This whole day- the daring and exciting trip from the hotel, going to the blacksmiths shop, Carm's big surprise- Ilia had meticulously planned all this out for her, not just because she was sweet, or because she cared about Carmella, but also because she felt like she had to, to prove something to her rabbit eared partner, and maybe even herself.

Their newfound relationship- finally expressing their feelings to one another- it turns out it hadn't been as freeing for Ilia as it had for Carmella. That was the source of the anxiousness- the pressure- Carm had felt radiating off Ilia back at Dom's as she waited to see what the rabbit faunus made of her gift. Even now, as the two of them walked back, that pressure had succumbed for the moment, but was still there in the back of Ilia's head, threatening to crush her unless she constantly did things to prove herself worthy of Carmella and her affection.

"Oh, Ilia..." Carm said softly, reaching up towards her girlfriends cheek with her free hand, stroking the spots there as the green color slowly overtook Ilia's complexion, a manifestation of the guilt she commonly associated with "burdening" others with these kinds of emotions.

Thoughts like that just weren't going to fly with Carmella, not as long as she had any say in it. The rabbit girl looked around the street they were walking down, seeing it had become much more populated than it was on the way to Dom's shop. Then without a word, the rabbit eared girl took Ilia by the hand and pulled her into to a nearby alleyway, away from prying eyes.

Once she was sure they were alone, Carmella turned back towards Ilia, who now looked a little befuddled as to the sudden location change, but her skin still had that same green tone, now accompanied by a bit of blue that had snuck into the spots on her cheeks and forehead.

Poor Ilia. Poor, confused, sweet, often self-destructive, but always beautiful Ilia. What was Carm going to do with her?

Well, she knew where to start.

The rabbit girl reached forward and took both the chameleon faunus' hands in her own. She held them loosely between the two teens and began making slow circles with her thumbs over the spots that covered Ilia's wrists, as if trying to will away the blue that'd consumed them.

This worked for the most part, and as Ilia's faunus trait returned to its normal hue, Carm raised her eyes to meet her girlfriends. Ilia gave her partner a bashful smile, although hints of her guilt and sadness still remained on her skin.

Carmella gave a resigned sigh. She'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but desperate times and all that. Besides this was probably her one chance to have her past experiences help Ilia out for a change. Still, that wouldn't make it suck any less.

"Okay, so there's a long list of do's and don't's when it comes to a new relationship," the rabbit girl explained, still holding the other faunus' hands in her own. "And talking about your exes a week into dating someone else is pretty dang near the top of the list of 'don't's,' in my opinion, so try to bear with me here."

There were about a billion other things Carm would rather talk about them this, but this was the best way she could think of to help Ilia understand where she was coming from. After all, she'd found herself in a similar situation once.

"So, way, way back in the summer before I started junior high, I started dating my first partner; a boy, named Kombu. He was nice, a bit of a jock, but nice. Didn't work out in the long run though."

Ilia remained silent, but her perplexed look had returned, no doubt wondering exactly where Carm was going with all this.

"Anyway, I honestly don't remember that much of our time together. Like I said, it was a long time ago, but that wasn't the only reason." The rabbit girls ears sunk slightly, as her gaze fell to the pair of hands entwined been Ilia and herself. "What I do remember from that time was how much of a nervous wreck I was; like, all the time..."

"... Don't get me wrong, I wasn't unhappy when I was with him or anything," Carmella quickly clarified. "It was more that... whenever we were together, I felt like I had to be perfect, like all the time. Because I had this constant fear that if I wasn't, then Kombu would realize he was too good for me or something and we'd break up."

Recognition flashed across the chameleon girls face as she finally realized where this story was going.

The rabbit girl shot Ilia an insistent look. "Sounds crazy... right?" She moved her eyebrows up and down for extra- unnecessary- emphasis.

Ilia let out a long breath, partially out of relief, but mostly out of shame for thinking Carmella would ever feel that way about her. "... Yeah, pretty crazy..." she relented.

"The point is;" Carm continued, "I practically ran myself into the ground trying to please him. I was always trying to plan things out perfectly, and buying him all kinds of gifts and stuff, anything to prove I was worthy, not just to him, but also to myself."

"I was so afraid of screwing up my first real relationship, I didn't even get to enjoy it." Carmella stepped forwards and pressed her forehead to Ilia's. The chameleon girl made no attempt to move away, wordlessly meeting the other faunus midway as she noticed her approaching.

"... And I don't want that for you, Ilia..." Carm said quietly, remaining pressed against her partner for several quiet seconds, basking in the feeling of those turbulent emotions in the chameleon girl finally beginning to settle.

With a smile on her face, Carmella eventually- and almost reluctantly- separated herself from her girlfriend and went on; "So I want you to know that I don't need all sorts of grand gestures or gifts to be happy, I just need you. Cute, badass, sweet, cool, dorky, cute, you. You're enough."

For a moment, Ilia was stuck in a stunned silence at Carm's kind words, but slowly and surely, pink began to rise in her spots and her face lit up with a huge smile.

"... You know you said 'cute' twice in there, right?" The chameleon girl said in a teasing tone.

"Did I? Well, that's mostly your fault," Carmella fired back. "Maybe you could try being less adorable?"

The spotted faunus let out a snort of a laugh. "I'll be sure to work on that."

"Please don't."

That got a laugh out of both teens, and the last remnants of discomfort in the air melted away.

"Thanks, Carm," Ilia said, looking at her partner adoringly.

"Anytime."

And Carm meant that. As many affirmations as it would take to put her spotted girlfriend at ease. She'd remind Ilia how she felt every single day if she had to.

"... And, um..." Ilia continued, looking a bit flustered all of a sudden. Carmella gave an inquisitive look, wondering what else was on the spotted faunus' mind.

"You're, uh... enough for me too... just in case you were wondering, or whatever..."

The chameleon girls words dissolved into mumbles near the end, her spots- and most of her face- going pink as she spoke.

Even though Carmella had just said those same words to Ilia mere seconds ago- more or less- hearing them turned around and directed towards the rabbit girl herself surprised her exactly as much as it had when Ilia heard them.

To be honest, there hadn't been an enormous amount of thought behind the words when Carm had said them. She meant them, of course, but really they had more or less just popped into her head in the moment. Only now that she was on the receiving end could Carmella really feel the impact of those words.

Growing up, people had always told Carm that she was a bit "much" to deal with. Either too loud, too energetic, or too quick to throw herself into other peoples problems. So she'd always felt like she had to adjust herself for people's benefit, to avoid being "annoying" or "overbearing" in their eyes.

And yet, here was someone telling her that she was okay with how she was. That she'd seen Carmella as she really was- no filter or anything- and that person wasn't "too much" for her, and that... well, it meant a lot to hear.

The best part was, thanks to the link between the two faunus being stronger than ever, the rabbit girl could tell that Ilia wasn't just parroting what she'd said back to her. No, the spotted faunus meant it explicitly, because she didn't want Carmella suffering under the same pressure she had been. The pressure that came with wondering if you were enough for the person you cared about.

Yup. Definitely in love with this girl. She thought to herself with a soft smile.

"Thanks, Ilia," was all Carm said out loud though. It still wasn't the right moment, but they'd get there.

"Now that all that's out of the way," Carmella continued, a slightly concerning glimmer in her eyes, "I can't help but notice we have this dingy alleyway all to ourselves..."

Without any more warning than that. the rabbit girl suddenly stepped forward, closing the last bit of remaining distance between the two faunus. Her chest bumped into Ilia's, causing the usually sure-footed chameleon girl to actually stumble a little in surprise at the bold gesture.

As Ilia took an involuntary step back, she found herself pressed up to brick wall of the building behind her. Carmella continued her advance though, until her body was completely pressed up against her girlfriends. The rabbit girl put her hands on Ilia's spotted shoulders as the other faunus' trait lit up in a warm pink, effectively pinning the chameleon girl to the wall.

"I think I still owe you for that little pounce you pulled on me back in the elevator," Carm said in a tone of voice that could only be described as sultry.

One of the rabbit girls hands left Ilia's shoulder and went up to her face. With one finger, Carmella traced down from the ponytailed faunus' cheek, to her chin, then down her neck to the top of her tight leather stealth suit, then went even further, coming to rest around Ilia's collarbone, with implied promises of continuing it's decent.

Ilia practically purred at her partners touch, her cerulean eyes- still wide with surprise- slowly shifted to a warm pink, as did her spots, and most of her face.

Back in the blacksmiths shop, Carm had told herself that the only thing keeping her off Ilia was the two of them not being alone, and she'd meant it. Well, here they were, hidden away from prying eyes. It was as good an excuse as any to have a little fun.

"... B-but what if someone sees?..." Ilia asked quietly, a low, huskiness to her voice that made it clear she wasn't at all against the idea, but was still apprehensive about getting caught.

"Well..." Carmella replied, leaning forward into her long haired girlfriend, able to feel Ilia's racing heartbeat, its pace matching her own. Her lips were only inches away from Ilia's now, she could feel the chameleon faunus' hot, heavy breaths on her face.

With both teenagers passion threatening to boil over, Carmella softly whispered;

"... I guess that depends on how much noise you make..."

That satirization of Ilia's statement from earlier this morning was all it took to push the spotted girl over the edge. Her head shot forward, closing that last remaining speck of distance between them as the pair of faunus' lips collided, locking together as the two girls fully and willingly succumbed to their desires.

A muffled giggle escaped Carmella as her arms wrapped around Ilia's body, the chameleon girls following suit. The two enjoyed a passionate embrace as the citizens of Mistral continued to pass by the alleyway the couple had escaped into, completely oblivious to what was happening just out of sight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N- Phew. Got a little spicy there at the end, yeah? I guess I need the practice if I'm going to keep a certain promise I made...

Anyway, here we have another classic case of a little filler chapter that got waaaaaay out of hand. I mean, 14k words that amounted to explaining why Carmella was going to have a belt in the coming chapters? Why do people ever read this crap?

Well... I mean... judging by my activity tracker, not many people do anymore...

But I've moved past caring at this point. This is purely a passion project by now. I have this story in my head, and I need to get it out. If a few people happen to read and like it in the process, then that's just a bonus.

I won't even beg for reviews anymore. I know what this story is now. And the fact that we're almost thirty chapters in? It'll be a god damned miracle of anyone actually gets this far.

No one else to impress here. It's just for me now. Plus writing keeps me out gang's and off the drugs.

I kid, I kid. My poor social skills do that well enough on their own.

Alright, next chapter is... Honestly turning out to probably be the worst one of this story... Not like, for sad reasons, just boring ones. I haven't started writing it yet or anything, but it needs some serious work in my brain.

But... uh... yeah, stick around? For that?

Man I suck at self promoting. Maybe that's why no one reads this stuff.