"I don't trust him," Ruby muttered into her glass of milk.

Pyrrha sighed softly and reached across to run her hand along her brunette girlfriend's back. She followed her gaze over to where their other girlfriend sat across a lunchtable from an old friend of theirs, Sun Wukong.

"You know they're just friends," the redhead murmured. I'm unused to seeing this sort of jealousy from her...

"I know that!" Ruby replied with quiet heat, stabbing her casserole furiously. She let out a breath as the utensil dropped to her plate, giving Pyrrha an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, I'm not… It's me I'm mad at for even thinking like this. I don't wanna be this way."

"You trust Blake, do you not?"

"Of course I do! I just… I don't trust him! I know… Okay, I'm pretty sure he had a thing for Blakey last year, and I know they're just friends now… But what if he still has feelings for her? What if he's trying to worm his way into her heart?"

Pyrrha smiled softly, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on the brunette's forehead. "And if he were to do so, she would turn him down in no time at all."

"I know," Ruby stated hesitantly. "I do know that. I just…" She flung her hands up in exasperation. "I don't know what's wrong with me! They've been cozy all day, chatting away, and…"

"Little rose, are you jealous?" the redhead asked incredulously.

"I dunno?" Ruby's face was flushed brightly. "Maybe?"

The diminutive brunette jumped slightly when a pair of arms encircled her shoulders from behind.

"What's wrong, love?" Blake murmured from where her chin rested on Ruby's shoulder. "I could sense your ire all the way over there."

"It's… nothing, really. I'm just being stupid."

The Cat Faunus smiled as she sat on the other side of Ruby, giving Pyrrha's shoulder a quick squeeze before moving around. "It's not nothing if it's bothering you."

Ruby let out a wordless, frustrated growl before turning to Pyrrha with pleading eyes.

The redhead nodded marginally as she leaned across to speak with their girlfriend. "Ruby is feeling a bit… insecure, perhaps. Over Sun's intentions towards you."

"Really?" Blake leaned forward further, her amber eyes trying to peer under the hood that Ruby had now pulled over her head in embarrassment. "Little rose… you know you don't have to worry about anything with me."

"I know that," Ruby mumbled from the depths of her red hood. "And I don't wanna be this way, but if I didn't talk about it I'd just go outta my mind."

"Oh, sweetie, please don't feel bad for bringing it up," Blake assured her, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl. "I'd rather you always talk about your feelings, That's what makes the three of us so strong, right? How well we communicate?"

"Indeed," Pyrrha smiled, joining Blake's hug with her own and resting her hands on the Faunus' shoulders. "We can always talk to each other."

Ruby nodded against their chests but didn't say anything else, just let out a rather morose huff of air.

The Cat Faunus, still smiling softly, gently stroked the back of Ruby's head through her cloak. "You should know you have nothing to worry about," she murmured earnestly. "You and Pyrrha are the only ones my heart will ever have room for."

"I did try to tell her," Pyrrha mentioned lightly. "Sometimes, though, a person simply needs reassurance from the source."

"Mmm. Perhaps this will help as well." Blake leaned back and motioned Sun over from where he still sat at the other table.

"Blakey, no, I don't… Argh, this is so embarrassing…" Ruby tried to burrow further into her cloak's hood but Blake persisted, pulling it back enough so that she could see inside.

"Trust me," Blake whispered.

"I do," Ruby whispered back. "With my life and my heart."

The Cat Faunus' grin widened as she let out a pleased little giggle. "You are so sweet… Oh, Sun. Do me a favor, please?"

"Sure, what's up?" The bare-chested boy gave both Pyrrha and Ruby a friendly nod, though he peered curiously at the latter's attempts to hide away.

"Please reassure Ruby you hold no designs over me."

"What? No, no way!" The Monkey Faunus let out a short laugh, his hands upraised. "Look, me an' Blake, we're just good friends, honest!"

Ruby sighed as she pulled the hood back, her silver eyes downcast. "Yeah, I know that… At least I should, anyways…"

"Okay, look…" Sun leaned forward from where he perched opposite the three girls. "For starters, I was just asking Blake for advice on… someone else. But, more importantly…" He flashed the three of them his trademark toothy grin. "Everyone in this school, even those who aren't Faunus, know the three of you are way tight. Honestly, I thought the three of you were already Mated, but I know damn well just by scent alone that you girls belong to each other. No way would I mess with that."

"Yeah?" the brunette asked, a smile forming on her lips.

"Definitely."

"Okay then… Sorry I was being such an idiot…"

"Hey, no worries Red, I get it." Sun grinned one more time as he rose. "With girlfriends as hot as yours, I'd be wary of lettin' them out of my sight too!"

"Oh, shoo," Blake snarked, tossing a grape from Ruby's plate at the unrepentant Faunus boy. Sun just batted the projectile away as he walked off, laughing and waving to them over his shoulder.

Ruby sighed and lay her head on the raven-haired girl's shoulder. "Sorry."

"I told you, you don't need to worry about it," Blake replied softly, placing a kiss on the crown of her head. "I rather you talk to me about these sorts of things than let them fester. Believe me, I know all too well about that, I used to do it all the time."

"I do recall you being much… moodier before we started dating," Pyrrha interjected fondly. "Also far less talkative."

"I still don't like to talk much," Blake replied with a small grin. "Excepting for the two of you, of course."

"Speaking of talking… I got two questions."

The Cat Faunus nodded and let Ruby up to speak. "Go ahead, little rose."

"Um… so out of curiosity, who was Sun talking to you about?"

Pyrrha giggled at the rather naughty smirk that crossed their girlfriend's face. "Alright, but you cannot tell anyone else, deal?" Blake continued upon receiving solemn nods from the others, leaning forward and lowering her voice to a whisper even though there wasn't really anyone close to the girls in the dining hall. "Neptune."

"What?" the brunette squawked. "So he's gonna ask him out?"

"That was the intention."

"Huh." Ruby leaned back against Pyrrha who wrapped her arms around her middle, resting her head atop the red-tipped ruffled mop.

"And what was the other?" Blake prompted, running her fingers along Ruby's forearm.

"Well… We've kinda talked about, y'know… Mating. But we haven't really talked about it in any detail."

"Mmm." The Cat Faunus furrowed her brow in thought as she idly played with the hem of Ruby's uniform. "I have been meaning to speak with the two of you for some time now… Not here, though. May we take a walk?"

"Need you really ask, kitty cat?" Pyrrha grinned as she helped Ruby to her feet. "We'd go anywhere with you."

o o o

Blake walked in between the three of them, arms wrapped around each other's waist. Due to the height difference, it would normally have been awkward to try and walk together like that, but the girls had long adjusted to each other in such a fashion. Pyrrha automatically shortened her gait slightly to match Blake's, as did Ruby by lengthening hers. Still, their pace was slow and meandering as they made their silent way down the paths of Beacon and towards the cliffs that overlooked the water surrounding the city of Vale.

The three enjoined girls ended up on a bench in between the landing pad and the Forever Fall forest. Each of them took a grateful inhale of the cooler air, a promise of Fall right around the corner.

"So," the Cat Faunus began quietly, holding the hands of her girlfriends on either side of her. Pyrrha had turned slightly so that she might give the raven-haired girl her full attention, though Ruby simply rested her head on Blake's shoulder, eyes gazing sightlessly out across the water. The diminutive girl was obviously paying very close attention to what Blake was about to reveal, however.

"I've mentioned some about Mating. It's the ultimate expression of a bond between two Faunus, deeper and more meaningful than even marriage. The actual, physical bond is created through what's called a Mate's Mark." Blake shifted slightly as she blinked her amber eyes. "I'll get to that perhaps at a later point. Right now, though…"

Ruby turned her head and pressed a quick kiss to Blake's shoulder in reassurance. "No rush, Blakey. Just what you're comfortable with."

"Yes, please don't pressure yourself," Pyrrha agreed, giving Blake's hand a squeeze.

"No, really, it's fine." The raven-haired girl smiled gently. "I've wanted to tell you both about this. I'm very certain that… that the both of you are my Mates. But it's important for you to understand what goes into it." Her smile turned into a quick frown. "And the potential ramifications."

Blake let out a quiet sigh as she continued. "I've actually done a fair amount of research on this to supplement what little I knew from growing up within the Faunus culture. The problem is that cases where a Faunus would actually Mate with a human are exceedingly rare." She chuckled lightly. "As for three of us at once? Unheard of."

"Well, we are pretty special," Ruby snarked.

"Mmm." The raven-haired girl chuckled once more before sobering. "Everything says that for a Faunus to pursue a human Mate is… risky, at best. It's a matter of physiology, you see. We Faunus have an instinctual urge to Mate, whereas humans lack this. And as such, from past anecdotal evidence, humans lack the ability to make a Mate's Mark of their own, so the bond we would create would be essentially one-way."

"So whatever this, um, Mark is, we couldn't, like, feel it?" Ruby questioned.

"Perhaps, and perhaps not." Blake sighed. "It's unclear. There have been some instances of interspecies Mates who were able to use the bond both ways, even though it only originated from the Faunus. It's… a bit more complicated than that."

Pyrrha waited patiently as Blake seemed to gather her thoughts. "A human can receive a Mark with only the minimum amount of attraction towards the Faunus, while a Mark between Faunus requires an inordinate amount of trust and love."

"I think I understand what you're getting at," the redhead murmured. "So it's pretty risky for a Faunus to Mate with a human, if the human could just leave anytime they wanted to… Would that break the bond?"

Blake shook her head slowly. "No, it would not. The Faunus would remain bonded, even if the human no longer cared for them, unless they were to consciously break the bond. Which, as I understand it, is a very painful process."

"Wow," Ruby whispered. "That's awful. You're not… Are you worried about us leaving you, Blakey?"

"No, I'm not, little rose," Blake smiled. "I know deep in my soul that the three of us will always be together."

"Good," the brunette replied, snuggling further into her shoulder. "'Cause I feel the same way."

"And I feel the same as well," Pyrrha added, smiling widely. "I have no doubt whatsoever. Er… So what, then, is required for this Mark? You mentioned trust?"

"That is one aspect, yes," Blake continued. "At least for Faunus, in order for a Mark to take between them both, they must have an equal amount of deep-seated affection, unshakable trust, and, above all, mutual respect."

"Well, I think we have those in spades," Ruby giggled. "How else could we make this relationship work?"

Pyrrha nodded. "An excellent point. I know we have the love, certainly the trust. As Ruby mentioned earlier today, we trust each other with our lives and our hearts. As for respect?" The redhead ducked her head to give Blake a quick peck on her lips. "I hold nobody in higher regard than the two of you."

"I do know this," Blake affirmed quietly. "And I have the utmost appreciation for you both as well… It's nice hearing it out loud, though."

"So, what now?" the petite brunette asked with subdued cheer. "I'm all for this, do we move ahead?"

Blake glanced at Pyrrha who gave her yet another reassuring nod. "Well… I need to do a little more research to make absolutely sure I understand how this works," the raven-haired Faunus mused. "And it's only the second week of school… Let's talk again this weekend. I should have the time after we catch up on our schoolwork to do some more reading."

"Okay!" Ruby cheered, sitting up and bouncing in her seat, causing Blake's hand to bounce along with her. "This is so cool!"

Both Pyrrha and Blake joined in with her excited giggles.

This is quite the big step for us. But I truly have no doubt this is the correct one for us to take. I adore these two so very much…

Pyrrha smiled softly as she ran her thumb along Blake's wrist. And I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with them.

A/N: Sappiness at full levels? Check. Maximum fluff? Double check. Purruby gettin' their Mating mojo on? Triple check. (See what I did there? Eh? Ehhh?) Once again, major shout-out to the esteemed l OmegaInfinity l and their brilliant polyamory tale, Linked in Life and Love. All credit and much love for my solid headcannon now regarding Faunus Mating. Cheers!

Also, Sun and Neptune? Yes the gay is strong with this story. Cue up Everyone is Gay by A Great Big World… Next chapter will have more on the topic of Mating, so stay tuned for Wednesday's installment!

Many thanks for all my lovely reviewers, I'm so very happy the past chapter was as enjoyable as I'd intended it to be. May your day be filled with kittens or puppies, depending upon your preference. Gorsouul, ILikeHotDogs, anubis7446, ExKage, Jack Inqu, Nicodemus Cain, THB4, Boombox94, yosai, kaiju62, Marauderby, SamuraiShippo, thesecretsix, Reaper Whisper, MakaS0ul, and Guest (another pun that's Yang-approved). Love you guys!

Stay shiny!