Disclaimer: I own nothing of RWBY.

Chocolate

By: Imyoshi

Cardin Winchester didn't do many things, including being nice—ever!

Walk away. Turn around and waltz the hell out of there. If he turned around right now, everything would remain normal. No one expected anything from him.

Hell!

No one expected anything from him period!

Tch! This turning over a new leaf shtick cramped his style. Not like anyone told him to do it. No one ordered him! Everything right here and right now was solely all on him people! One-hundred percent Cardin! Grade A beef with a side of steak sauce! Humph!

Figuring none of this was worth his time, he turned, about to walk back to his teammates, but saw Jaune and his lousy friends having a great time—together and as a team—from the corner of his eye. The sight forced him to grumble, this close to pouting.

Instead, his mind recalled how Jaune saved his life the other day against that Ursa Major. He sighed sourly, throwing his head back. Who knew all it took was some life-threatening experience and tough love to knock some common sense into a guy's way of looking at the world?

Someone shoot him now.

Gripping his food tray tightly, he stared down at his meal, frowning at the carrots touching his mash potatoes.

He loathed carrots.

He turned around, paused, and sighed all the nasty comments building on his tongue. With a swift motion, he headed toward a table with a lone occupant and slammed his tray down. The person jumped up in surprise—there was a joke in there somewhere—alone with the entire student body, and stared fearfully at his presence, shaking in her seat like a leaf.

He frowned—this was going to be next to impossible!

"Hey." Cardin greeted in a forced tone to the Faunus he had bullied over the semester, Velvet Scarlatina.

"W-What do you want?" Velvet whimpered, already sliding away.

Sitting down roughly, he rolled his eyes and dug into his meal. Every one of the hairs on his neck rose up. Probably had something to do with all the eyes of the wannabee students staring at him. Like he cared.

"What does it look like?" Cardin flicked away carrots from his tray, staring expectantly at her. "Eating. It's that thing we do here, right?"

Velvet hadn't a clue to know how to answer. She ignored the mocking tone and slid away from him. He made zero attempts to stop her or reach out and pull her ears. Instead, the bully stopped eating to stare mutely at his food, finding his appetite missing. Rather than letting her see she got to him, he pushed his meal around, eventually settling on to inspect the quality of the food on his fork.

"So?" Cardin absently drawled, distracted. "I'm... sorry."

"... W-What?"

Seriously? He dropped his fork. Hands ran through his hair with him mumbling nonsense that not even she picked up. Then he changed things up and glared at her, causing her to flinch and yelp. Anger breathed in those eyes, but that burning passion slowly withered into mild annoyance.

"What do you mean what?" Cardin growled, almost yelling. He dialed back his temper. "I said I was sorry. How could you not have heard that?

"S-Sorry!"

Velvet looked away, unable to muster up the courage to look him in the face. Cardin scoffed. Great! Just peachy! Now she was apologizing. Somehow he made the situation even worse! The only reason he hadn't got up and left yet was that he used all his inner willpower to remain seated.

So much willpower!

Calm down. Breathe! Count to ten or whatever! Just relax. He did all those things and more, pinching the bridge of his nose, wondering how exactly pinching was supposed to calm the nerves. Who the hell thought of this? Dude deserved to be mauled and eaten by a Grimm. Whatever. Back to the plan.

"Look..." Cardin huffed, pulling her sleeve to get her attention. "I'm trying to apologize here! Cut me some slack, okay! I don't do this. Apologies and me don't mix. So, ahem, yeah, you know, sorry for everything."

She didn't struggle too much in his hold and silently waited for the punchline. The entire time she remained timid, shaking like a rabbit cornered by a predator. He saw the fear in her eyes and immediately let go. That snarl of his made a return.

"You don't believe me?" Ha! He felt insulted. Here he was trying to be a nice guy and apologize, and she didn't believe him. The nerve of some people. "You really don't believe me?"

The bunny slowly nodded.

The leader didn't understand why that bothered him so much, but hell it did. Like a knife to the back.

Hn? Trying a different tactic, he averted his gaze, finding his meal of meats and vegetables the utmost importance. A quick stab of the meat confirmed his suspicions. The food at Beacon required better cooks since the fork took too much effort to stab. Not only that but the sauce was a bit bland, adding nothing to the overall flavor and texture.

"Why don't you believe me?"

The question was sudden, unexpected, and harsh, but it defined Cardin, and she kept her mouth shut for a while, entirely stumped. She didn't speak up until he finished more than half his meal, mumbling.

"W-Why would you apologize?"

He stopped chewing since her logic was flawless. Why would he apologize? A damn good question. Before today, apologizing was the furthest thing on his mind. Next to doing his homework and studying for Professor Oobleck's upcoming exam. Between all that procrastination who had time for silly things like saying sorry?

Putting his fork down, he silently stared at Team JNPR across the dining hall. "Let's just say, I'm trying to be a slightly better person."

Silence.

Turning, he found her playing with her food, not having touched a single bit of her meal since he sat down. That act spoke volumes. What was worse was even he didn't believe in the weight of his words. Spoke loads about his character.

"You still don't believe me, do you?" Cardin received another timid nod and a look like she was expecting him to flip out. Tch! "Fine then! What do I have to do to make you believe me? Huh? Just hurry up and say it."

An awful amount of time passed before she made inclination to answer his question. Lunch was practically over before she squirmed in her seat, mustering up whatever hidden courage rabbits had. He had long since finished his plate and had been waiting impatiently for this girl to get on with it.

"Just sit there."

He blinked. "What?"

"Just sit there!" Velvet huffed with a harmless glare. It was adorable. "You want to make it up to me? Then just sit there."

He appeared lost, staring between her and the table before pointing at the same table. "Just sit here?"

"Yes!" Velvet nodded furiously. Whoa, hidden courage indeed. "Just sit right there and don't say anything until I say so, for every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

There! She gave him a challenge she knew he had no chance of accomplishing. That way she could prove he couldn't possibly change no matter what. Bullies never change! It was a harsh fact she learned early on in her life and carried ever since.

Too bad for her Cardin didn't let anyone push him around. He glared, seeing that fire burning in her eyes. A quick scratch to the side of his face had him musing over her conditions.

Her request was simple.

Just sit there.

He could do that.

"Fine!"

He could do that.

Challenge accepted bunny!

Day 1

It was to be expected, Velvet pouted. The jerk sat right beside her without uttering a word and ate away at his plate of waffles during breakfast on the first the first day. Not a word escaped his mouth throughout the meal, having to manage his time building an impressive fort of waffles.

The same happened during lunch—not the fort building part—and he sat right next to her. He ignored his teammates when they tried to get him to leave, pretending they didn't exist. She wished he had gone so he could leave her alone.

No matter.

Cardin was many things, but a patient man he was not. That was wearing thin fast. Still, she gave him credit where credit was due. He lasted one meal longer than she thought he would. Didn't matter, just a little longer and he would be gone.

Dinner came, and so did Cardin. Judging by the frown on his face, his last class must have pushed him hard. He stabbed at his meal repeatedly in voiceless anger, and she feared he might redirect his anger toward her.

He never did.

Day 2

Cardin savored the taste of his toast, drowning the poor loath of bread in an avalanche of mouth-watering syrup. He easily ignored everyone around him, only paying a small notice to Velvet who watched him like a hawk. She was waiting for something to happen.

Like maybe him leaving.

Hehe. Nope! He wasn't throwing in the towel.

He saw the point of this minor challenge and had no intention of letting her win. Watch! He would prove he changed. Damn it he would! Challenging him was a big mistake, rabbit. Besides, it was nice to sit around and think for a change. Thinking about showing the bunny up was more than enough motivation.

That and his delicious toast kept encouraging him to win.

Day 4

Okay! If she was honest with herself, he surpassed her expectation three days ago. It was lunch, and Cardin seemed to be in a positive mood, shooing away his teammates with a simple gesture before they so much as got too close.

So he lasted longer than expected? Humph! Big deal.

This bunny knew he would cave, even if she started to doubt herself as he chewed into his chicken with a predator-like smirk.

Day 9

Cardin had to pat himself on the back later for this one. He lasted much longer than a week at this sit here and shut game he played with Velvet. Don't get the guy wrong he wouldn't mind in the slightest if someone other than his teammates tried talking to him.

The rules were he couldn't talk, not her.

Speaking of teammates, that made him wonder where her team was at since teammates regularly sat together. Weren't people supposed to sit with their team at least once a day or something to build trust, teamwork, and whatnot?

Did they have a different schedule than hers? Was that why he never saw?

Shrugging, he glared down at his meal.

Oh! The cook made toast again for dinner!

Day 11

Okay! Fear yes. The doubts eating away at Velvet have grown stronger through the days. Two weeks have almost passed, and Cardin still sat right beside her during all meals of the day, not looking like he planned to give up and leave anytime in the foreseeable future. Any hope of crushing him dwindled more and more.

His teammates' pleas have gotten shorter each time they have tried to steal back their leader, and she started to worry over her predicament.

Could she have been wrong? Was it possible? Did he honestly mean that apology and heartfelt confession to be a better person?

No!

Stay strong, Velvet! Stay strong!

Bullies lied.

Bullies always lied.

Day 17

Gossip flourished. People were starting to talk. Cardin expected all that. He foresaw the curious stares and hush whispers. Did he care?

Nope!

The only thing this beefcake cared about was winning and flicking some of his peas at an unsuspecting Jaune before he became none the wiser. The activity became better when he watched Velvet find some amusement in his little game. No matter how hard she tried to hide that small smile of hers.

Hn? Cardin smirked. Maybe those old sayings were true? Rabbits might be tricksters in disguise.

An interesting thought.

Flick!

"Who keeps doing that?!" Jaune stood up from his seat, looking around the Mess Hall for the perpetrator. "I'll find you!"

Not today, Arc.

Day 25

Three weeks! No! More than three weeks and Cardin still sat next to her, not saying a word, and Velvet was seriously starting to doubt her instincts. As a Faunus—a bunny Faunus at that—that was a huge thing to do. Instincts were everything to her.

Watching Cardin ripping apart his meat in an animalistic way, but keeping his glare down to a minimum was beyond impressive. Even more was his refusal to abandon her and join his team—his pack! That alone spoke such high volumes, but worse, that worked against her in the worst possible way.

Could she have been wrong?

N-No!

Once she dropped her guard, he would strike her in a way she would never be able to recover. He wasn't sorry! Bullies never were, especially toward her. Life taught her that much.

What made him so different? Nothing! Unquestionably, positively, without a shred of doubt nothing!

... Right?

Day 33

Color him impressed. A month later and he was still here. Same table. Same spot. Same pesky bunny. As impressive as it was, he grumbled at the thought. By now Cardin thought she would have accepted his apology. Seriously? What did a guy have to do to say sorry? This being nice thing was next to impossible. No wonder he spat on it before, Jaune-y boy deserved more credit.

On the flip side what didn't surprise him was he gotten used to Velvet's company.

Every little thing she thought she did when he wasn't looking he noticed.

Like the way, her nose wiggled right before she ate something funny looking. Downright adorable, cute even. Then came those ears of hers, a dead giveaway to her emotions.

High and alert for when he committed pranks on others, low if her sadness got the better of her, that irked him for reasons beyond him, and they waved in the air for when curiosity bit her. They even flopped back and forth when she was happy.

She was always happy when he flicked more food at Jaune.

Flick!

"Seriously! Who keeps doing that?!"

That never got old.

Day 37

Velvet believed she had a righteous sense of morality above petty violence and cruelty toward others, so she did not find it once funny being on the other side of Cardin's pranks or acts of bullying. Nope! Couldn't prove it. It was just pleasant, slightly, to watch Cardin trip the guy earlier who pulled her ears in the hallway, on the way to their table and even more amusing when he not-so-subtly dropped his drink on the chumps head.

Violence was never the answer.

Cardin smirked. "You know what? I think some chocolate would go great with that outfit you're wearing."

Most of the time.

Day 41

Ugh! Carrots! This Winchester pushed those aside in his tray, fighting back a nasty glare.

He hated carrots.

Day 49

Velvet was starting to lose it. She knew she was.

Cardin Winchester was still sitting beside her, not talking like she ordered him to after a shy of under two months.

Maybe, just maybe, he meant that sorry?

N-No! No one ever turned that nice. New leaf her derrière. He hated being nice. All predators did.

However, her instincts refused to back up that claim anymore as her hands refused to stop trembling, even when she grabbed her fork, trying to enjoy her breakfast. Somewhere along the way she picked up the habit of building waffle forts before eating them, courtesy of Cardin.

Sometimes they competed in a silent competition to see who could build the better waffle fortress. She never won.

Her new goal was to wipe that smirk of his dumb face every time he won.

It wasn't because she was having fun!

Shut up!

Day 56

Flick!

"Damn it! I will find you!"

He could do this all day.

Day 63

Instincts? Yeah! Traitors. Velvet learned not to trust her instincts anymore.

They told her that she actually enjoyed Cardin's presence. Which was crazy—idiotic! I-It just had to be.

R-Right?

Her instincts were liars. No two ways about it. Liars! Traitors! Wrong! Yeah, wrong. Wrong with a capital W.

Who needed them, anyway? Instincts—psh! Not for this bunny! So what if Cardin proved he had a sweet underbelly beneath all that tough, crunchy shell? It changed zip! He was still a bully. A great jerk who pulled her ears and called her names more than once.

Although, he hadn't done that in over two months, nonetheless, the point remained.

He was—sigh—she hadn't a clue to what he was. Instincts said one thing and her rationality said another.

Velvet honestly didn't know what to think anymore.

Day 68

Cardin made sure to keep his trademark smirk and usual—slowly weakening—glare down to a bare minimum today. The snarky bunny looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown during dinner if the way her ears flopped in all directions was any indicator.

For the first time since stealing a seat next to her, he was the one scooting away.

Scared of her snapping at a given moment, he peered away and stared off to Team RWBY's table and heard them yammering on about the lame dance. Tch! The last thing he wanted to spend his Saturday doing was dancing with a bunch of nitwits. Damn mandatory policy. He almost settled for the detention.

Seriously! Who wanted to go to some lame school dance?

Day 70

Velvet Scarlatina hadn't a clue why—couldn't fathom it—but she couldn't stop crying.

The tears rolled down her cheeks as she attempted to eat and seize a better control over her emotions. Not like any of that happened. Her mind wasn't into, and she dropped her fork, trying to wipe her tears furiously away with her sleeves.

Cardin Winchester ached at the miserable scene, not knowing why seeing her cry hurt all over.

Tch!

He tried to ignore it, but the small whimpers ate away at his emotions wall, walls he didn't know he had, and his food began tasting like ash in his mouth the longer he pretended the tears weren't there. He grumbled the minute his water tasted like grime.

Sighing, he banged his head and glass onto the table, hating himself for what he was about to do.

When did he get so soft?

"Hey? Hey!" Cardin shook her, breaking the silent oath. "What the hell's wrong with you? Did some idiot hurt you?"

She didn't care that he spoke a word to her and broke their agreement. None of that mattered. She also couldn't help but hiccup at his concern. There was just so much irony there that it hurt not to cry.

She sniffed while wiping the tears away, torn inside from a burst of happiness. "You're still here."

Cardin grunted. Any reason to feel offended didn't exist. Not with the way her ears rocked back and forth in obvious joy. A non-mocking smirk appeared on the Devilish Leader of Team CRDL and he threw both arm and hammer up.

"I thought I told you?" Cardin flexed, earning a small smile from her. "I'm not going anywhere. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner you're stuck with me, just like you wanted."

Knowing that those were tears of happiness made the insides of his feel warm like good syrup. It felt nice. Not overconfident or arrogant, but nice.

The Winchester then rushed over to her, pushing his luck by wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "C'mon! Forgive me already! You're driving me crazy!"

Her body stilled. A hiccup escaped her. A tear ripped across her soul, and she was unable to look at him, head down. "Are you going to leave if I do?"

It wasn't even a question.

"Not a chance."

She smiled, hugging the ex-bully in a teary, bone-crushing hug.

Finally! Happiness radiated out of her like the sun and she was so joyous, no one had ever gone this far for her—not even her team—and it was by Cardin of all people! Bullies could change. Her instincts were right! Yes!

Cardin, stuck in an inescapable hug with a strength that surprised him, managed to free one hand and grab his meal tray. Nothing remained on it except for the leftover carrots that he refused to eat, thinking perhaps Velvet might enjoy them. He felt generous, in a good mood.

"Here!" Cardin gave her the first smile she had ever seen from him. "Take them."

She looked down. Her head slowly bent with her nose scrunching up. "What's that for?"

"Don't you like carrots?"

"Actually, no." Velvet smiled, laughing with silly kindness. "I really hate carrots."

"..."

"Cardin—?"

"Go to the dance with me."

Author Notes: I ship this—I ship these two so hard. That is all.