[Marion Linette]

-Heyo!- A blonde woman Russet knew as Marion Linette waved at her from atop a tall tree trunk she was sitting on. A couple exhausted-looking men and women rested at the bottom of it, panting heavily and looking a little uneasy in general.

-Good to see you here! You arrived pretty much just in time- Marion said, jumping down from her seat, knees bending a bit as she touched the ground. -Sorry to ask you to come on such short notice, but I was really looking forward to this! So I’m glad I won't have to wait for long-

On this sunny afternoon, Marion had apparently decided to go with a simple wardrobe. Some black shorts and a pink tank top, along with a pair of white sneakers and a black choker. She still looked decent thanks to some makeup and some special care she had taken to her hair, but all in all, Marion didn’t look as dolled up as she tended to be.

If her smile was a good indicator, it seemed like she was sincere with her excitement, a stark contrast with the people around her. Now that Russet had gotten closer, she could see that they looked slightly frightened, shaken, and even a bit traumatized by something.

-Can we go home now...- One of them asked, a spark of hope in his eyes.

-Eh? Oh! Yeah, sure. Move along. Unless you wanna stay and watch? I don't care if you do-

Shaking their heads as one, the rest of the revolutionaries made haste to leave the place. They were very transparent in their body language. And it seemed to indicate that the only reason they restrained from running away like a flock of headless chicken was due to some sort of respect for Marion or something like that.

Not that the blonde cared either way. Even noticing their anxiety, she simply shrugged and turned her undivided attention towards Russet.

-You got the weapons I asked you to bring? And the tools?- Marion asked, looking Russet up and down with unveiled interest. A couple hours earlier, she had sent her a message asking if she could show at that location. And that she brought a variety of weapons and tools to spend some bonding time together, as she put it.

-I'm sure you are gonna like this. I simply just wonder why it didn’t cross my mind before. It's just genius...- Marion said, feeling a little introspective like she honestly couldn’t believe such a simple idea had eluded her for so long.

Russet still didn’t know what the hell she was talking about, though. But that was shaping to be a constant with Marion. As the blonde woman seemed to be one of those who liked surprising people. Sometimes for better. Often for worse.

-Oh, we are going to have so much fun now!- She exclaimed, turning away to move before stopping as she remembered something. Kneeling behind the tree trunk, she stopped to pick up a small basket.

-Beer?- Marion offered her Kozak companion after opening one for herself.

After that, she would start guiding Russet towards a nearby conglomeration of trees. Humming happily, as she took a sip from her drink every now and then.

-Care to guess what I have in store?- She asked the other woman, a wicked smile crossing her face as it was clear they were nearing their destination.

---

568 / 568 Words

[Russet Bruin]

Hehehe.

Russet had a date with Marion.

Or well, something like a date at least. Did it count as a date if she was just bringing by a ton of stuff for unspecified purposes? She wasn't sure. The blonde had mentioned it was for bonding, though, so she assumed it was probably a date. And if any bonding was going to be involved, she made sure to bring plenty of rope along with the other tools and weapons she'd asked for. She wasn't really sure what kind of crazy kinky stuff Marion was into, but she was excited to find out.

Though she did find it strange that she was asking for guns too... Russet was a bit of a gun nut herself, but she never really took it to that level before. And she wasn't sure if she would want to. Guns belonged most places, but not in the bedroom, she was pretty sure.

Or well.

No, that was a lie. Guns belonged in the bedroom too.

Just not like that.

Eh. Whatever.

It was just a little odd when she arrived to find a whole crowd of people there. Made sense, though, she supposed.

Marion had asked for a lot of guns...

Maybe she should have brought more rope?

Ah well, no time for that now. She was just going to roll with the flow. Go with the punches. All that jazz.

Seemed the extra party guests were a little antsier than she had anticipated, though. Looked a little afraid of something, even, though Russet couldn't imagine what. Maybe they were just intimidated by the presence of two kickass Kozak lieutenants. That was probably it; she used to get cold feet around her superiors too.

"Used to" meaning a few hours ago when she'd stopped by Sienna's workshop to check if she was staying hydrated.

She beamed up at the blonde on the tree stump as she approached. She wasn't afraid of whatever the others were so shook up about.

Because she came prepared.

"Yup! All right here in the sack- and I brought a couple of other fun little toys for some quality bonding." She tossed Marion a wink and a grin, gesturing to the spool of thick rope she was carrying, and a few sets of slightly rusty old handcuffs and shackles she'd found on an expedition not too long ago.

Hehe.

She was digging Marion's confidence about all of this. It had been pretty clear, after all, that she was into Russet after the whole mine incident. Some people were just born naturally irresistible, y'know? But luckily for the world, Russet chose to use her rockin' bod and smokin' hot looks for good.

With great power, comes a cool-ass bike and ripped prison abs. Probably.

"Hee hee, I'm excited as you are. And oooh! You know me so well." She gleefully accepted the beer, clinking her bottle against her date's, before taking a big swig.

Mmm. Beer.

Oh! She should have brought something for Marion too. Asides from all the other stuff she brought for her. Damn. She had a chocolate bar she'd been saving- sugar runs were tough to pull off lately, and Alina needed more of the take than anyone else, so it was the only candy she had on hand until the next supply trip. Would've been a killer gift though. Maybe for the second date.

Did this count as the second date, actually? She felt like the mine kinda almost counted as a first date.

This one was going to be much nicer though. No Grimm.

"Hmmm..." She scratched her chin, head tilted up in thought as she was asked to take a guess at Marion's plans. Well, from the sound of things, it was pretty obvious what they were going off into the woods to do. "Well, I got nothin' on the specifics, but I reckon me and you are gonna go have a little fun back behind those trees up ahead. Heh. Some very exciting fun, judgin' by all the toys you asked me to bring."

Hehehe.

Whatever it was, Russet was game. She tipped back her beer for another swig, and followed her date into the forest.

WC: 707 // TWC: 707

[Marion Linette]

-I’ve gotta admit, I’m impressed. You really did bring everything I asked for...- Marion said as she rummaged through everything Russet got for them to use one way or the other. A soft, pleasing smile, falling on her face as she hummed contentedly at the loot.

The handcuffs were a weird idea, in her opinion. As Grimm's arms tended to be way thicker than human ones. But she still gave her an A+ for effort. It was nice knowing that someone else took the potential of an army of darkness seriously after all.

-But this rope is not gonna cut it. It’s gonna snap really quick! Luckily, I have my own, Iron chains. Nothing less than that is really gonna do it, you know?- But, again. She had the weapons and tools, which was what Marion was more excited about.

-Ohh... Yesss. You can bet we are going to have an extraordinarily nice time roughing it up. So I hope you are feeling imaginative today...- She called back with a toothy smile and a wink. Hands clasped behind her back as she almost skipped through the forest floor.

For better or for worse. Before Russet’s imagination could keep running wild. They finally reached their destination.

-Behold!- The blonde one cried out. Dramatically waving her hands towards a dark figure hunched down under some trees.

True to her words. Heavy-duty iron chains and collars kept the Grimm grounded and immobilized. It still thrashed around and most likely wanted nothing more than to rip off their faces. But a very professional-looking muzzle made sure the beast wouldn’t be able to do so even if it managed to get his head close to them.

It was honestly... Kinda weird. Everything fitted pretty well, from the muzzle to the shackles and chains. Almost as if specifically crafted to contain Grimm. But if anyone knew Marion, they would soon reach the conclusion that this was likely the case.

-So THIS. Is my little passion project for today- Marion said, receiving an annoyed growl from the Ursae, who honestly looked like the victim in this whole situation. -Don't you growl to mama!- Marion said humorously, kicking the Grimm on the ribs with all of her strength, which wasn’t a whole lot, to be fair.

The Ursa complained but ultimately fell calmer after Marion adjusted some things on the chains that bound the beast. If Russet decided to get closer to it, she would be able to see what appeared to be some sort of metallic plate bolted to the back of the Grimm. Kinda like a small metallic platform.

-So. What do you think? It’s a pretty big one, right?- Said Marion as she approached Russet, swinging an arm over her shoulder and looking all too proud of what she had done.

She shouldn’t.
She shouldn’t be proud of it. But she still was.

-That metal thing on her back is where I’m planning to have us weld the weapons and the trigger mechanism... We don’t need to worry a lot about aiming for today. We don’t have the electronics to do that anyway... But if we can manage to make the weapons shoot without the Ursa immediately rolling over to destroy them, I consider this a win-

Swaggering back towards the Grimm. Marion held his cheeks between her hands like a grandmother would do while bothering her grandsons. Turning her head towards Russet and flashing her best winning smile for some reason.

-I usually pick names for them, but... Do you wanna do the honors of naming this handsome boy? Back in Vale, they say naming Grimm is bad luck because that will make them stronger or something... So I think it fits nicely to do it!-

---

622 / 1190 Words

[Jay]

XP Distribution:

Marion Linette: 12
69 + 12 = 81 XP

Russet Bruin: 7
540 + 7 = 547 XP