Hello, fellow RWBY fans. BlazeTrigger here. This is just a little something I wrote the other day, but I had the idea for a long while, back when Volume 2 was releasing new episodes, so... yeah, it's been a while, haha. This is a songfic, so we'll be seeing some guitar playing by one of our favorite dorks in the show with the title of the fanfic the same as the title of the song. The fact that Jaune could actually play a guitar in that episode was interesting, but what would happen if he wasn't trying to impress anyone? If he thought he was completely alone? Well, we shall soon find out. So let's get to the good stuff, shall we?
Author's Note: I do not own RWBY or Finding Something to Do. The song is owned by HELLOGOODBYE and RWBY is, has, and shall always be owned by the late, great Monty Oum.
Jaune was currently hating his life.
A slow, pained drag towards his dorm room mirrored the results of a two-hour lecture with Professor Oobleck, with another thirty minutes over his horrendous performance on the most recent test. All the life that would be reflected by his blue eyes were now absent as his feet shuffled lazily to his door. Soft murmurings cursing his rotten luck were barely audible to anyone but himself as he forced himself to dig the key out of his pocket to unlock the door to his room. It was his last class for the day, and all he wanted to do was unwind before afternoon training started for his team.
"Hey guys." He groaned to his friends inside their room, hoping for a little sympathy for his predicament. However, he was greeted only with silence, which quickly caught his attention. "Pyrrha?" Jaune called out, wondering if his teammates were present. "Nora? Ren? You guys here?" But no answer came. Jaune assumed his friends were just getting out of class or were caught up with something. He turned to face the alarm clock by his nightstand. 4:30 blinked on the device. In his exhaustion, he forgot that Ren and Nora still had one class together that wouldn't let out until later and Pyrrha studied at the library by herself until 5. The huntsman quickly deduced that he still had a half-hour before his afternoon training began. So he decided to take advantage of the situation and make his way to his dresser, taking his time changing out of his uniform and into his training clothes. He knew he should start warming up for training, but the idea of having to fight off Pyrrha's unrelenting training regiment, Ren's sparring sessions or Nora's… Nora-ness was not something he wanted to deal with at the moment. Right now, all he wanted to do was find someway to relax before being subjected to even more torment. Reading: he just got out of reading all day. Movie: would have to stop halfway into it. Talk to Team RWBY: they were busy studying in the library last he heard from them. A stupid idea came into his mind as he remembered a certain object he brought with him to school, and had promised his teammates he threw away after the dance fiasco.
"Hmm…" Jaune hummed to himself as his lips curled into a grin. "Why not? What they don't know what hurt them." Jaune let out an eager chuckle as he crouched to the floor at the foot of his bed, reaching under it to pull out something that he had hid from the others. Pulling the object out, he revealed an oddly-shaped case, which looked to contain some sort of instrument. Making his way back onto his feet and sitting on the bed, he undid the latches on the side of the case and opened it, revealing a guitar. Just glancing at it brought back memories of what happened the night before the dance, but he put those memories aside as he pulled the instrument out of the case and moved the case to the other end of the bed.
"Now maybe I can actually get some practice in." Jaune mused to himself. He started by pressing down firmly on the top string and strummed down, quietly muttering the name of the note he was playing. He quickly released his hold on the string and pressed his middle finger on the next fret of the guitar. This time however, he strummed up on the string. He repeated the pattern with his ring finger and small finger and quickly shifted his left hand up the fret board to the next available frets. He continued the strumming patterns until he reached the twelfth fret and proceeded to strum backwards to his original position. When he returned, he moved to the next string down and repeated the process on each string, going faster with each exercise. Jaune continued this pattern for each string until he named every note he played on the guitar, feeling his fingers were warmed up enough and his memory of the notes sharp in his mind. He then proceeded to play several notes on the each string in rapid succession, each sound leading to the next one in the scale until it reached the conclusion, then proceeding to play the scale back to the original note.
He never told anyone this, but Jaune was actually skilled in playing the instrument in his lap. Of course, playing any instrument for five years would give anyone some skill. However, the only time he ever played for anyone at school was before the dance, and his futile attempts to ask Weiss to accompany him. The memory still stung the blonde, but remembered the events that occurred the night of the dance. To him, he was glad things played out the way they did, but those were musings for another time. What the girls who watched him didn't realize was that he was so nervous, that he could barely remember the chords or melodies he wanted to play. But now, he was calm, still, and completely alone without anyone to judge him. And that brought a great grin to the blonde's face as his fingertips skimmed over the steel strings, finished with his exercises.
"Now, what should I play?" He thought out loud, musing to himself of all the songs that he could play. He wanted something that would make him feel better, to just take his mind off the day. A song he heard on the radio recently popped into his mind. It was a favorite of his, and he actually knew how to play it. With a deep breath, he started tapping out the beat in order to memorize the rhythm in his head. After two sets of four beats, he started to strum the guitar steadily. He didn't sing yet, but rather familiarizing himself with the sound before the end. And then he began.
I could see our fingers all intertwined
With all your wrinkles perfectly suiting mine
Oh, somewhere down the line
Whoa, whoa, wo oh oh whoa oh
Whoa, whoa, wo oh oh whoa oh
The voice that slipped through his lips didn't sound awkward or nervous like how many others saw the boy as. Without anyone around to see or hear, Jaune was able to control his voice and his fingers far better than people ever expected. It wasn't as skillful as someone of Weiss's caliber, but from the ease the notes left his throat, it was obvious that he had a fair bit of practice. The strums themselves were fast-paced, but by no means heavy in tone or beat. Instead, it had more of a soft-rock quality, a genre the blonde had an affinity for, it seemed. At the end of the line, he let out a few 'oh' sounds in rhythm to the lyrics and strums. And like before, he sang his next verse.
Probably we'd run out of things to do
Holding onto what's left of our fleeting youth
But what else can you do?
Again, he let out the 'oh' in rhythm. He had to admit that this song had a certain place in his heart. The lyrics always reminded him of the time he's had at Beacon. Despite schoolwork or getting chewed out by his professors, he had to admit that he had never had so much fun before. Before he could dwell on these thoughts, Jaune strummed lighter on his guitar and sung softer for the next verse.
Driving home tonight, I didn't see the lights
I was just watching you sleep in shotgun
I could have crashed the car
Jaune was beginning to enjoy himself as he played his guitar. He was so engrossed in it that he failed to notice that his door wasn't completely shut, having cracked open on its own a few minutes before he started playing. Not enough for anyone to see anything, but hearing what went on was another story. His singing and strumming was heard by a couple of passerby students who stopped to take in the song from the mystery student.
I could tell our summer was just in bloom
Opened up the windows in the bedroom
When you woke me up at noon
The idea of him playing a song like this was unheard of to anyone, even his own team. And without everyone perceived judgments, he was free to do as he pleased. So when he stood up and started playing like he was actually performing for a crowd, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to him.
Oh, I was waiting for summer to turn to fall
Sick and tired of everything moving at a crawl
If it moved at all
It was then the last of his inhibitions faded away and he started to move to the strums, now playing with more feeling. And like before, several more students had stopped to take in the pseudo concert that was taking place behind an inch of oak. But no one dared to open the door, lest the magic of the moment was ruined. When he plucked the strings softly at the bridge, the crowd waited with bated breath for what was next.
Driving home tonight, I didn't see the lights
I was just watching you sleep in shotgun
I could have crashed the car
Again, Jaune made sure his voice and instrument worked in harmony together, making sure both were not too loud or too quiet. A few improvised high notes sang through the chord progression, followed by a trail of soft grace notes before the chorus. And as his voice rose, so did the expectations of the ones beyond his room.
As long as there's something to see
I'll see it with you
As long as the days can seem
We'll find something to do
And if ever your love should leave
Just swear you'll follow it through
And I swear I'll always follow you
Jaune's fingers had begun to get used to the fast-paced pattern that the chorus demanded, but he had to slow himself down for what followed. A verse that he had come to feel embarrassed about lately. But by how softly and tenderly he sang, one could say that he was singing to someone in the room, something that the crowd started to gush over. Particularly one standing behind a cooing couple. A small smile graced her lips as she heard the source of the performance, knowing full well who it was and hoping it was her who he was thinking of when he sang.
You have spent your better years bored with me
Sat about waiting for eventually
Which I can't wait to see
These three lines brought the young man's thoughts to those around him. The friends that he made over the months at Beacon. More specifically, one that kept sticking in the front of his mind. Thoughts not of white filled his mind, like the former object of his affections, but of a soft red. Not energetic or combative as one might expect, but caring and patient and supportive. It gave him the push to sing the last chorus with all his heart.
As long as there's something to see
I'll see it with you
As long as the days can seem
We'll find something to do
If ever your love should leave
Just swear you'll follow it through
And I swear I'll always follow you
I swear I'll always follow you
The last chords were played with all the energy he could muster and added the 'whoas' at the end of the chorus. For the last chord, he swung his arm so his fingers could strike the strings in a windmill. That move was followed by him resting a foot on a nearby chair and his strumming arm firmly in the air. "THANK YOU BEACON! GOOD NIGHT!" The blonde had let his imagination run wild as he swore he could hear the sound of applause. Knowing that there was no way that anyone could hear him or even consider cheering for him, he chose to just enjoy the dream a bit longer instead of investigating the source. Unbeknownst to him, the praise wasn't imaginary. Every student beyond his room had clapped for the mystery guitarist, who more or lest figured out it was their clumsy classmate.
"We love you Jaune!"
"Not too bad Arc!"
"Way to go Vomit Boy!"
The applause slowly died down and the students began to disperse and go their separate ways, engraving what just happened into memory. All except for one, who had waited until her comrades had left before moving towards the door, noticing the fact that it was unlocked and cracked. If Jaune ever found out that he just sang to pretty much everyone in their dorm… She quickly shook her head of such thoughts and gently cracked open the door. "Jaune, are you there?" A soft, steady voice rang in Jaune's ears as he turned to the source. A soft red entered his visage and at the sight of it, he quickly scrambled out of his 'rock-star' pose, hiding the guitar behind his back.
"Pyrrha, I-I-I d-didn't hear you c-come in. W-what can I do for you?" Jaune was trying his best to convince his partner that he wasn't playing the guitar he swore he disposed of. But rather than calling him out on it, she decided to let him off the hook.
"Well…" Pyrrha began, a small twinkle in her eye as she spoke to him. "We need to get to training. Nora and Ren should be there by now."
"Right, sounds good. I just gotta…" The sentence died off as Pyrrha said nothing and left Jaune to enter the bathroom, changing into her training gear and giving Jaune the opportunity to store his instrument in its case. After a few minutes, Pyrrha had come back out in her combat gear and awaited the boy. "Shall we?"
"Lets." The two had left their room and closed the door behind them, weapons in tow and made their way through the dorm hall. The duo said nothing to each other, but Jaune couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps Pyrrha caught him. "Hey Pyrrha, you didn't happen to… hear anything earlier, did you?"
"Hear anything? Not that I recall." The spartan replied, simply hiding the lie behind a charming smile. This quickly caused Jaune's worries to fade, but were brought back when she began to walk ahead of him.
"I can see our fingers all intertwined. With all your wrinkles perfectly suiting mine. Oh, somewhere down the line." Pyrrha had hummed out in a sweet voice to her partner, a knowing smile spreading on her lips as she glided past him. Jaune could only stand there, shocked that Pyrrha heard him, and dumbstruck that she liked the song. It wasn't long before a cheesy grin spread across his face.
"Girls dig musicians." Jaune mused to himself as he caught up to the redhead, suddenly forgetting why he was so exhausted in the first place.
And their you have it. These two are my absolute favorite ship in the show, next to Blake and Yang. My muse is back a bit and I'm trying to write another chapter for Chasing Down Love. For those of you who know this, I suck at sticking to a schedule and am currently collaborating with another writer on here for a Persona fanfic. And for those of you wondering about some of the practice techniques Jaune used in the beginning, it was what I was taught when I was learning how to play and how his teacher taught him. Just a few exercises and scales to get in the habit of doing.
But as usual, review, follow or favorite (or all three, I'm not picky) if you like it. And if there was anything that I missed or didn't make sense, hit that 'review' button and let me know.
Until then,
BlazeTrigger21