..............

She pauses for proooooobably a little too long. 

Then she leans in and gently kisses Sable. On the lips.

That's something she's very willing to do. She returns the kiss tenderly, her tail wrapping fondly around Lilian for the duration.

Ruby blushes, watching for a moment, and then looks away, still blushing.

She pulls away. 

"... Thank you for giving me something real," she says. "I... For years I felt like I was drowning in an ocean of - irrelevance, uselessness, trying to get strong enough to maybe one day make a difference against Grimm..." 

She runs a hand through her hair, making a small circle around her right ear and down. "But this is solid. It's meaningful. It's dangerous, yes, but so is life." 

She looks away. "Thank you."

She nods gently. "Gladly, Lilian. You've been transplanted from the ocean of irrelevance to a highly-relevant sink-or-swim. I know how hard that is. But you're handling it. I'm impressed."

She manages another small smile. 

"Alright. I want... I want a date, with you. You can bring someone if you want, but... I would prefer it if I had you to myself for a little while. I don't know what to do or where to go but I don't want to waste any time doing things that aren't you."

Lilian, phrasing!

I know what I said.

"Well, I guess I'm not seeing the rest of JSMN until it's time for movie night. Good thing I left today open. See ya, Ruby."

She takes Lilian's hand with a grin and starts heading for the door while she taps out a quick message into the JSMN groupchat.

"Ooooh have fun! I'll lock up here! Don't do anything Yang wouldn't do!"

Ruby waves cheerfully.

"What's Yang known for doing?", Violet asks.

Ruby grins sheepishly and shakes her head. "For all the reputation she really just flirts a lot and never took it seriously. She did mostly-destroy a bar once though."

Violet laughs. "Okay, so don't not destroy an entire bar. Got it."

"Wait no don't destroy any bars that's the wrong lesson eep!"

"I'm just messing with you. It's cool." Violet grins.

Then she looks over at Sable. "We'll figure out something."

Ruby giggles and waves.

And Sable leads the way out with a grin. Absent further plans, she's heading for the dorms so they can change into non-workout clothes. "So, the traditional 'dinner and a movie' is a terrible idea, not just because we're going to be watching another movie after dinner, but because you clearly know what you want to be focusing on during this date and fictional media isn't it. I've got two ideas so far: a walk through Vale's botanical gardens followed by dinner in the city, or a hike to one of my favorite secluded overlooks with a dinner picnic. Further suggestions welcome, of course."

"Let's do the former, I don't want to take forever deciding and it sounds cool."

Then Sable drops Lilian off at the guest suite and ducks swiftly into JSMN's dorm to change.

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeee has only a couple dresses and neither of them were really picked as datewear. Why is she worried now. 

You've got this. I'm impressed, honestly.

You kissed her! I'm flabbergasted. But if you want it that much then go and get her. I won't stand in your way. 

Thanks, girls. 

And a star crashes down from the heavens - 

- something in them reaches instinctually -