ShadowedSword21: Whenever I do lemony type stuff I worry about crossing the line that'll get my account deleted...again. So I'll probably continue to tread fairly lightly. You never know, though.

Thanks to: Midora, AoUsagi, Arrix, creatorX33, 37, and LoveGlutton.

Comments as to whether a T or M rating would be most appropriate for this story would be appreciated.

Friday morning Team CFVY had their first formal dance lesson, during their thrice weekly gym class. They spent most of their fifteen minute mid-morning free period practicing, in the shade of a tree on one side of the school's quadrangle, and they were not alone. Likewise, when their seventh and last class of the day ended at 4:00 p.m., they hurried back to their room and waltzed until the dining hall opened for supper.

Returning from their meal, full and a trifle lethargic, the four slumped onto the couch, or flopped on their beds or, as in the case of Fox, slouched on one of the straight-backed chairs that went with the table they used as a common desk.

"I suppose we should get started," Coco offered from where she lay, uniform jacket undone, tie loosened, on the blankets of her neatly made bed. She didn't sound very enthusiastic, and made no move to get up.

"We should rest a while first," Velvet countered. "Let our food digest."

No one argued with her suggestion.

"How much should we practice?" Fox posed after an extended silence. "I mean, we obviously need to practice enough, but how much is that, and how much is too much?"

"That's hard to say," Yatsuhashi answered. "You and Coco have got the box step down pat, and if that was all we had to worry about, we could stop now. Unfortunately, we have a lot of material to cover yet: rotation, spins, dips, open and closed styles, Menagerian..." he spread his hands as he let his words trail off, and shrugged. "Realistically, with just a week until the dance, we can probably manage twenty-four hours of practice outside of gym class. That's enough to get...passable," he allowed. "In one style, anyway. Probably only fair in three styles."

Fox did some quick figuring. "You want us train all day Saturday and Sunday?" he demanded.

"I'm sure they're not expecting us to be experts," Yatsuhashi replied, the merest trifle condescendingly. "But I'm equally sure they're expecting us to make an effort."

"A reasonable effort," Fox returned, a touch irritably. He straightened in his chair, then sighed. "Which spending our whole weekend practicing probably is, given where we are." He offered Yatsuhashi an apologetic grin. His teammate nodded in acknowledgement.

"There's one problem, though," Velvet cut in.

"Which is?" Coco asked.

"You don't have a dress," Velvet answered. "There isn't one in the closet, at least. Did you even bring one?"

It was Coco's turn to sigh. "No, I didn't," she confessed. "I'm not really a dress wearing kind of girl."

At Velvet's surprised look, Coco elaborated. "Don't get me wrong; dresses can be gorgeous, and I'll wear one if the occasion calls for it, but they're not on my list of everyday outfits. I'm not a big fan of skirts either," she added, brushing at the hem of her uniform one. "You always have to watch how you sit."

"I can tell you don't have a lot of practice," Fox said, leering at her. "If I wasn't blind I could totally see your panties right now."

Coco, whose carelessly splayed legs would have offered just such a sight to a sighted person, threw her beret at him. He dodged, so she followed up with her pillow, then sat up, an unembarrassed grin on her face. "Then it's too bad you can't see," she said playfully.

"Anyway," she continued, turning to Velvet, "I'm guessing I'll be needing a dress for the dance."

"It is a formal occasion," Velvet nodded. Her expression turned thoughtful. "I suppose we'll have to go shopping," she said, sounding reluctant. "Unless you want to try and borrow one..."

"No, no, no," Coco said, vigorously shaking her head. "I'm not wearing someone else's dress. I'm going to have to shoulder the burden and shop for one of my own."

"That's very noble of you, Coco," Velvet said admiringly. The two girls were grinning at each other now. "Oh, and shoes," Velvet remembered. "You'll probably need new shoes too."

Coco made a show of throwing up her hands in despair. "And all new accessories as well, I suppose?" she cried. Velvet gave a very solemn nod. "If I have to," Coco accepted, her expression that of a tragic martyr.

The next day, after a morning spent practicing their waltz moves, Team CFVY boarded an airship for the short flight to Vale. The plan was to have lunch in town, hit the stores, see a few sights, and be back at Beacon in time for supper.

At the top of the stairs leading down from the main platform, Fox paused to unfold his cane and place his free hand on Coco's arm so she could 'guide' him. He didn't actually need the help; or rather, he could have managed without it, but what the heck. So he smiled at her, and felt her smile in return. Velvet and Yatsuhashi didn't bother with such subterfuges, and just held hands as they started on their way.

They ate lunch in a little café not far from the airship dock, having been drawn in by the wonderful aromas wafting out the place's open doors. The place was busy, but they'd been waited on almost immediately, and their food had arrived quickly.

"This might be the best club sandwich I've ever had," Fox commented between mouthfuls as he dug in.

Coco eyed him speculatively. "Aren't club sandwiches delicious by nature?" she asked, an amused grin gracing her lips.

Fox gave her a dubious look. "Mass produced bread, pre-packaged meats, and iceberg lettuce are no match for fresh, homemade, toasted bread, hand sliced ham and turkey, and still hot off the griddle bacon," he chided her.

Coco's grin widened into a proper smile, before she went back to her own meal, a large, meat strewn salad. Across the small table from her, Yatsuhashi was tucking in to a cold salmon filet, while Velvet enjoyed a dish that featured a half dozen deviled eggs, which she guarded jealously from her greedy teammates. Only Yatsuhashi got to have one, and only because he bribed her with a generous chunk of his salmon.

"Can I interest any of you in dessert?" their server asked when they had cleaned their plates.

The members of Team CFVY pondered the question only briefly, before saying, almost as one, "What have you got?"

"The special today is carrot cake," their server said, pointing toward a chalkboard covered with the day's promoted items. Sure enough, carrot cake was prominently listed. "But we also have apple crisp and pumpkin pie if you'd prefer something else."

"I'll have the carrot cake!" Velvet exclaimed, clapping her hands together enthusiastically.

Given that it was on special, her teammates had the carrot cake as well, but that didn't stop a woman at the next table from saying, as she watched Velvet attack her slice of carroty goodness, "Do you have to play to the stereotype?"

"Excuse me?" Velvet said, turning to confront her accuser. Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi also turned to look, their faces showing mixtures of surprise and anger.

"A rabbit Faunus going nuts for carrot cake," the woman said, a disapproving frown on her face. "Are you trying to make us look bad?" It was then that Velvet (and the others) noticed the woman's own extra set of ears: floppy, dog-like, and partly hidden by her hair.

"Okay," Velvet said, her cheeks scarlet, indignation evident in her voice, "First of all, I like carrot cake. Lots of people do. Are you saying I shouldn't eat it just because I have rabbit ears?" Her indignant expression turned into an outright glare. "Second, you're a fine one to talk about stereotypes, given that you're gnawing on a bone."

The woman, who had been holding a pork rib when she spoke to Velvet, and had gone back to cleaning the last bits of meat off it when she finished speaking, dropped the bone like it was red hot, snarled at Velvet, and stood up.

Velvet let out a sigh as Team CFVY headed for the first dress shop on the list she and Coco had made.

Coco, who had been whistling cheerfully, eyed her teammate. "That's five sighs since we left the café, Velvs. What's bugging you?"

Velvet looked down at the sidewalk and kicked a pebble . "I hate confrontation," she said. "Especially with other Faunus."

"Nothing that happened was your fault, Velvet," Coco said. "If that bit..." she cut herself off, wondering if referring to a female dog Faunus as a bitch was racist. "If that person," she amended, "didn't want trouble, she shouldn't have opened her yap...damn it that sounds racist too."

Velvet giggled, despite being fairly sure Coco was serious. Her downcast expression returned quickly though, and she sighed again. "She had a point, you know. Some Faunus do play to stereotypes, to ingratiate themselves with Humans. But others do it to ingratiate themselves with other Faunus, and, and it's all just a big mess and I wish people could just accept each other as they are and get along. Is that too much to ask?"

Coco shook her head. "People, Human and Faunus, have always been judgmental of each other. I don't see that changing any time soon."

"I just wish we hadn't been asked to leave," Velvet continued.

"Well, that's our fault for standing up," Coco said dismissively. Velvet blushed at the memory of it. When the dog Faunus stood up, Velvet had slipped off her own chair. Before she knew what happened, her teammates had gotten up as well. Velvet had seen the dog Faunus's eyes widen as Yatsuhashi rose to his full height behind Velvet's diminutive frame, and watched her edge back as Coco and Fox took up stations on either side of their Faunus friend. Before anything else could happen the café owner had appeared and ordered them all out (after they settled their tabs, of course), though he'd been noticeably less hostile toward Team CFVY. From what Velvet had overheard as they made their way toward the door, it wasn't the first time the dog Faunus had caused trouble for him.

Velvet let out another sigh, but then she smiled. "Thank you all for sticking up for me," she said. "I appreciate it."

"That's what being teammates is all about," Coco said. "Mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." She reached out and patted Velvet's head, which made the rabbit-eared girl blush. Fox started taking Coco to task for her gesture, which caused Coco to say, "What's the matter, Fox? Do you want a pat too?" before giving him a swat on the butt. That led to a playful 'fight' that quickly devolved into an exchange of kisses.

Yatsuhashi took the whole sight in with an amused shake of his head.

"They're at it again," he said, slipping an arm around Velvet's shoulders.

She responded by turning, putting her arms around his waist, and tilting her head back to gaze up at him. That, of course, offered a perfect opportunity for a kiss of their own, and Yatsuhashi took it.

When he drew back Velvet cocked her head toward their teammates, who were now watching them with happy grins on their faces.

"That's because we keep setting a bad example for them," Velvet chided with a smile, before stretching up on her tip-toes to kiss Yatsuhashi again.

"I've always wanted to be a bad influence," he mumbled as he returned Velvet's attentions.

Across the way Coco put her hands on her hips and said, "Challenge accepted!"