Jaune Arc's father was a horrible man who lived and breathed by two rules...
Do not speak unless spoken to.
Obey orders without question.
The rules were slammed into his son, Jaune's, head almost as often as his father's fist was, after a long day out patrolling, Jaune's father would come home furious, drunk and poorer, and his family would go to sleep bruised and crying. Suffice to say that there would be no tears at his funeral, and even that was in no way an understatement. In fact, the man's wake would resemble Mardi Gras. However, many of the lessons his father had taught him stayed firmly ingrained...for a little while...
Jaune could easily see himself coming back to life just to recite those words if his father commanded it. That's just the way it was in the Arc household. The only thing Jaune feared was Richard Arc.
But one day soon, even that fear would pass.
"It's breakfast dear!" Jaune's mother called out to him, her voice bright and cheery, despite her condition. Jaune stood silently and frowned, stretching his back with a couple of satisfied pops and a single resounding crack. He quickly dressed and stumbled down the stairs, his eyes dull. "How did you sleep, dear?"
"Very well, mother, thank you." Jaune's mother smile turned bleak as she passed Jaune a plate of fried potatoes and different kinds of meats and eggs. Jaune delved into the meal with ferocity and quickly passed the plate back to his mother as he reached for his jacket. Upon stepping outside, and meeting his father in the garden, stopped to shiver at the sight of his father. A Goliath of a man swung a huge broadsword through a thick wooden dummy, cleaving it in two before looking over his shoulder and growling at the sight of Jaune.
"You're really going to go through with this harebrained scheme to go to a huntsmen academy?" Jaune's father asked. Jaune nodded slowly and his father sighed. "Fine, today we'll teach you how to take a beating."
Jaune grimaced. He had been learning that lesson for years. His father had only ever taught him to withstand the hits, not to dodge. To retaliate would only make it worse.
Richard hefted a blunt piece of roughly carved wood and slammed it across the blonde boy's side, sending him hurtling into the tree line. "You're no son of mine. My child would never go against my will."
Without a doubt, the neighbors were not only astounded, they were disgusted by Richard Arc, a man who had once been a warrior of high caliber. Beating his son bloody was a common occurrence in the small town, and day in and day out, people would walk past, pretending not to see the slumped, emaciated boy hobble back to the house, like a masochistic marionette, the boy never seemed to learn, but today would take a very different turn.
A Grimm incursion this far from the Capitol of Menagerie was no surprise, however, one of this magnitude was entirely unprecedented. The militia rallied and the village huntsman was called, however, it was too late for Richard Arc. The brute suffered a grievous wound and was bedridden for the rest of his short and miserable days. He withered and died, his body buried with Crocea Mors firmly in his grip, unwilling to allow Jaune, a child with "no potential", to bear a weapon of such 'prestige'.
This caused one particular guests at the funeral to stare balefully at the coffin as shook his head in disappointment. The Arc patriarch never deserved to become a soldier, much less the Huntsman he pretended to be.
"Jaune Arc?" The huntsman asked, looking down at the hunched, quivering figure of the boy. Without looking up, the boy responded.
"Yes sir."
"My name is Solomon Torchwick, it's a pleasure to meet you, nephew." The man leaned down and hefted Jaune up, holding him almost like one would a toddler against his deceptively frail looking frame. With a profound swagger in his steps and a rather placid smile on his face, Solomon placed his Stetson on Jaune's long golden locks and walking pointedly toward his faithful old hog; Jerusalem.
Jaune simply bobbed along silently, internally shaking in fear as he was carried away by a man he hardly knew. Jaune tried to speak up, he wanted with all his heart to ask a question, but his father's constant reprimanding left him paralyzed in fear. Solomon placed Jaune on Jerusalem and slid on behind him, removing the Stetson from Jaune's head and giving him a simple brain pan helmet before revving the engine and riding off into the moonrise...
"...and now I'm here." Jaune murmured, looking dejectedly into his only friend, the trash can.
"Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone." Another blonde behind him said, far too peppy for Jaune's taste. "But I do like his hat."
"Notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick..." Jaune gave another heave and sighed dejectedly, tears stinging in his eyes as he ran his hand along the explosive burn mark along his chest.
"Welcome to Beacon Academy-"
"Who's that?" The blonde asked, tilting her head to the side.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh." She nodded, but at this point, Jaune had once again begun to heave into his friendly neighborhood trash receptacle. He felt another movement in his lower stomach until a firm hand rubbed circles along his back, causing his stomach to quietly growl and recede into it's den.
He finally felt well enough to lean back and send a thanks to his knight in shining armor, only for the green-clad boy to hand him a small tablet and a bottle of water. "The green pill will help with the stomach pain, and the blue one is a mint."
"Hey! Ren! Ren! Ren! Ren! Ren!" A bubbly orange haired girl called from behind the boy, drawing him away as Jaune nodded in thanks. "Look! You see the forests?! They're going to be so fun! We should go exploring!"
"Thank you..." Jaune whispered, his throat finally unclenching as the boy walked away to stand beside the other girl. After quickly downing the pill and draining the water bottle, Jaune sighed as he already felt his stomach settle as the door opened.
Jaune threw away the bottle at the trash can outside the ship and popped the mint into his gullet, surprised as it began to dissolve on it's own, aromatizing his entire mouth with crisp, chilly mint and something else...something spicy. "Mm, Peppermint..."
A small explosion rocked the pavilion as students began to quickly part around a small crater in the concrete. Jaune tried to blink away the ringing in his ears, but he wasn't used to such loud noises. The loudest thing in Farwoods was the distant roar of the occasional Belloworm and the discharging of a lever action shotgun that Jaune prided himself on altering to fit his needs. A huge dust explosion this nearby was a major blow to the eardrums.
As Jaune approached the pair of girls in the epicenter of the blast, his ears still ringing, he noticed them yelling mutely at each other through the smoke and ringing. He saw their mouths moving, but he couldn't make out quite what they were saying. I don't like where this is heading. Jaune thought to himself. The scene brought to mind the squabbling townsfolk in Farwoods that Solomon, (or uncle Sam as he insisted) usually had to separate before blows were traded.
Jaune's ears stopped ringing as he stepped between the two, putting on his most placating smile. "Hey hey hey hey hey! Let's please calm down! I think this whole thing can be cleared right up, can't it?"
"This dunce wasn't watching where she was going and she knocked my dust all over the ground. This caused one of my vials to unseal and she had to go and blow it up!" The angry white haired girl said, her voice laced with venom. "Why am I even explaining this to you?! Who're you?"
"Jaune Arc! Maybe we should hear from Lil' Red before we hop to any conclusions. Then we can work this out, head over to the cafeteria and grab ourselves something to drink, eh?" Jaune tried his best to diffuse the situation before someone else could explode.
"I was just standing here! Honestly! My sister pulled on my hood and tripped me and I bumped into her luggage- and I'm really sorry!" The short haired girl supplied, looking between the two, panicked. "Please?"
"I wouldn't expect much from Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." An enigmatic black haired girl drawled, her face drawn into a quietly mischievous smirk.
"Thank you! Some recognition." The heiress hailed, pivoting on the ball of her foot.
"The same company notorious for it's questionable business associates-" Blake continued, but Jaune interrupted her.
"It doesn't matter who she is. God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35). Your title is huntress-in-training Weiss Schnee, Huntress first, Schnee last." Jaune stated, looking between the black haired girl who looked shocked to have been interrupted and the fair skinned fencer who looked sufficiently berated. "Why don't you both just take a deep breathe, calm down and apologize, Lil' Red can apologize for bumping into you, and you can apologize for yelling at her."
"I apologize for my rudeness." The crowned beauty stated with all the grace she could salvage.
"I'm super sorry!" The red-caped girl rambled, her eyes pleading and wide. She turned to Jaune as if to thank him, but he was already on his way toward the auditorium, and the black haired girl was mysteriously gone. "We should probably hurry to the auditorium."
Back with Jaune, a young, innocent sounding voice waltzed it's way into Jaune's ear. "That was a very kind thing you did back there."
"Uncle Sam always said; the worst thing that you could possibly fight is a possible friend." Jaune chuckled, a skip in his step before he remembered his last encounter with Neo. "I wonder if she's okay?"
"You seem to be having too much fun with all these girls around. I remember when I had to coerce you to even raise your hand in class!" The voice seemed to be laughing at Jaune, but he was just glad to be making friends away from home. He wouldn't be alone this time. _
"I'll be brief."
"Trust me, when he says that, he's not kidding." The voice murmured again, a shimmer of scarlet showing through a white shroud that covered the entire figure except for the overshadowed face. "Damn, those two haven't changed a bit. I should have asked Glynda how she kept her skin so beautiful when I was a student here. Ooh! Do me a favor, when this is over, go up to Glynda and ask her how long she and Ozpin have been married."
"I'm trying to listen." Jaune hissed under his breath, only to realize that when he turned to face Summer, he ended up face to face with the ebony clad girl from the pavilion. She gave him an examining glance, her amber eyes boring into his own
"Stick your tongue out at her!" The spectral ghost demanded. Jaune did, sticking out and curling his tongue while crossing his eyes, drawing a garbled grunt from Blake, somewhere between a questioning 'huh' and a disconcerted 'ugh'. He smiled in reply and tipped his hat toward her.
"You will meet in the ballroom by nine o'clock tonight. Lights out is at ten, make sure to get plenty of sleep for tomorrow's initiation, you will need it." The sexy blonde teacher from slightly behind Ozpin finished, gesturing for the students' dismissal. Jaune caught sight of Lil' Red and Weiss from earlier and decided to interject into their conversation, just to see how the pair was faring.
"Hey you two, how're you doing?" Jaune asked, stepping up beside Weiss, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She glared at him and gripped his thumb tightly, twisting it to an uncomfortable angle until he began to whimper and wince, following her directions like a trained puppy. "Ow, ow, ow, point taken! No purple!"
"I'm glad to see that even a hick like you can be taught manners." The frosty heiress remarked off-handedly, releasing Jaune with a quick flourish. As she turned away from him, she caught a glance of Ruby's infamous puppy dog gaze and was instantly struck through the heart by a bolt of guilt. "...Though I suppose your insight into the experience earlier was quite-...beneficial."
"What she's trying to say is thank you." The red themed girl piped up, giving him a smile. "I heard your name before, you're Jaune right?"
"Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." He received different looks from all three of the girls, or rather responses, seeing as Weiss refused to meet his eye out of second-hand embarrassment. Yang snorted at his antics and Ruby simply looked at Jaune in confusion and asked with innocence.
"Do they really?"
"It's just a catchphrase." Jaune faux pouted and slumped his shoulders. "Anyway, who's this?"
"Yang! Nice ta' meet ya!" Yang reached out and grasped his hand, giving it a firm grip and a shake before she took a subtle whiff and caught a familiar smell. "You smell that?"
"Before you make a joke about me vomiting on the ship! Motion sickness is a far more common problem than most people realize and I ate a mint-!" Yang shushed him by lightly smacking him in the face, otherwise distracted. Jaune watched in confusion and worry, wondering what had overtaken his fellow blonde until he spotted the nearby black haired girl who was silently skulking in the corner of the room. "She has bubblegum."
"Oh no…" Ruby mumbled as his apparition chuckled lightly. Yang began to shiver as the chuckling grew in magnitude. "Yang, she's halfway across the room, you don't have to worry about her bubblegum!"
"...That hasn't stopped it before…" Yang growled, huddling in between the other blonde and her sister. Jaune gave a chuckle before he began to walk toward the girl, kneeling down in front of her and smiling shyly.
"Hey, I'm Jaune."
"Didn't you stick your tongue out at me at the assembly?" Jaune's face turned bright red and he scratched the back of his head. He nodded and opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off by sticking her own tongue out at him and crossing her eyes. Jaune laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Blake."
"It's nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out and she shook it, finally looking down at the book she had in her hand. "Whatcha reading?"
"A book."
"That's an interesting title, I don't think I've ever read that one." Blake smirked at his sarcasm and her eyes turned a tiny bit brighter, emoting far more than words could. She was happy, but at the same time, she was...scared? "So, I don't want to sound weird, but my friend over there was wondering if she could have some of your bubblegum, do you mind?"
Blake, having heard the entire conversation, gave Jaune a sly, knowing look before handing over a strip to him. "Tell her that you'll give it back to her tonight."
"I'll give it back to you tonight-" Jaune's brain finally kicked back into gear and he realized what he had just said, and he had no excuse. "Wait, that...umm…" Blake was looking at him with narrowed eyes as she slunk away, shaking her head.
Jaune frowned and growled mutedly at the sky, shaking his fists angrily, miming throttling someone. He looked back down and sighed loudly, taking his hat off his head and running his hand through his hair. "Hello Mr. Arc, I see you've been doing your best to make friends." An eerily calm voice spoke from behind him, causing his skin to tingle.
"Remember what I said! Ask him! Ask him!" The tinkling innocent laugh came from beside him as he slowly turned around, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated like a frightened puppy. "Grow a pair and ask him!"
"Ahem, my- my friend wanted to know how- um-..." Jaune cleared his throat and tried his best to continue. "How long have you and Professor Goodwitch been married?" Instead of the glare that Jaune expected or the lecture on how inappropriate his comment was, Ozpin merely grinned, which on anyone else would have looked harmless, but on him, it was almost worse than a glare.
"Seven years."
"Holy Sh-!" Jaune began, only to be cut off when he felt the tip of Ozpin's cane poke into his neck.
"Holy Shit!" The voice yelled, raising in pitch. "I knew it! I knew it! Qrow so owes me money!"
"I'm getting really sick of this Summer! Who the hell is Qrow?!" Jaune demanded, finally blowing his top. He turned to face the white hooded teen that stood behind him. Ozpin's eyes widened and narrowed almost simultaneously. His cane lowered slowly as he silently scanned the room with his near omniscient aura. Noticing the headmaster's gaze, his own eyes narrowed. "You know her." He accused, jabbing his finger toward the headmaster.
Ozpin nodded. "Her name was-"
"-is." Jaune corrected offhandedly, his instinct to defend Summer's existence overriding his respect for Ozpin.
"-is...Summer Rose, she was one of my previous students. She was quite a genius, though...mischievous is an understatement." Ozpin finished with a nostalgic sigh. "How you are communicating with Ms. Rose is of more concern to me. I've yet to meet a semblance which allows one to communicate with the dearly departed."
"Well, strange is the new regular." Jaune smirked, tipping his hat.
"Headmaster, I have Port and Peach on ballroom duty and-" Glynda stopped midway through her report and glanced at Jaune who took a deep breathe and threw himself to the wolves before he could let himself tell himself it was a bad idea.
"I have a friend who wants to know what kind of skin products you use." Jaune's eyes didn't open for a while until he heard a sound that vaguely reminded him of wind between buildings in Farwoods, a subtle murmur that almost seemed to say something. A whisper so quiet that only the experienced could hear.
Glynda cleared her throat and frowned, looking down at Jaune in obvious discomfort. "I simply wash my face with rose water and the occasional janx bath."
"Holy crap! She uses janx?! They say that stuff can cure cancer! Where does she get it?!" Summer demanded, pushing her hood off of her dark locks and staring at Glynda with harsh focus.
"I hear you can find janx in certain depleted dust mines." Jaune supplied. "There was this guy over in Byute who sold that stuff in old beer bottles. He called it Ol' Janx Spirit."
"Mudder's Milk." Glynda said simply. "It's an extremely rare Mistralian supplier in the Old Olive mountains. He adds in aromatics as well, but it still works w-"
"Why am I discussing cosmetics with my principal?!" Jaune questioned incredulously. "Never mind. I'm going to get food, and then sleep."
"Mr. Arc, I'm terribly sorry about your brother. Solomon is a good man, a wise man, and I hope that you may follow in his footsteps, Mr. Torchwick."
"Thank you-"
"It is supremely unfortunate, though, that I can't seem to activate any of my cameras around the industrial district, near a certain bar...well, it is of no concern to you, Jaune." Ozpin mentioned with a mischievous smile, causing Glynda to glower.
"That's really too bad, and I just got my bike back, it'd be absolutely terrible if I were to have an accident around there." Jaune replied, an equally mischievous smile adorning his face. Glynda's glower turned into a groan.
"Mr. Arc! Go to the cafeteria with the rest of your classmates!" She reprimanded, her voice stern.
"Yes Mrs. Goodwit- wait! Does that mean your last name is Goodwitch?" He asked Ozpin, whose smile widened.
"What are you implying?" Glynda's voice was a dangerous growl, but suddenly, another of those winds whispered past and she sighed. "Go. Now."
"That could have ended better." Jaune muttered to himself. He and Summer trekked through the grounds of Beacon with ease.
"A right up here." Summer supplied, flitting about haphazardly, following a butterfly as it took to the air. "Then a left at the second turn, head straight and you're home free."
"Are you lost?" A thickly accented voice asked, drawing Jaune's attention to a slight Faunus girl. He shook his head and Velvet's eyebrows rose. "Almost all freshman are lost when they're alone."
"But I'm not alone. You're here." Jaune said bluntly. He looked Velvet up and down and his curiosity was piqued. "Your accent sounds familiar. Where are you from?"
"I only just saw you and noticed you were alone, and I'm from Umber Island, down southeast of here." She replied adeptly, her mind easily flitting between the two conversations.
"But if you were there, then I wasn't alone. No one is ever seen alone." Jaune replied in an even, sagely voice. "I have family around there. Solomon told me about them: the Scarletina's."
The Faunus girl gave a surprised cough and shot Jaune a disbelieving look. "My name's Velvet..."
"Jaune." He supplied briskly, continuing on his way toward the cafeteria.
"...Velvet Scarletina." This time Jaune was the one caught off guard, but it barely registered outwardly, only a brief falter in his step.
"That-...that is definitely not a coincidence." Jaune remarked as lightly as he could, stopping to turn to Velvet. "You see, this is the part where I'd give you a hug, and we'd have a moving family reunion where we both reveal our deepest secrets, but I have a feeling that we don't know each other well enough for that yet."
"...yeah…"
"Ummm…"
"So, how's life?" Velvet finally broke the tension just as they reached their destination. The two entered the dining hall, only to be stopped by the sudden din of new students and second years discussing between each other, loudly yelling over tables and searching for friends. "On second thought, maybe you should call me later to catch up. You can find me in the student directory and good luck tomorrow."
"Thanks." Jaune said hesitantly, giving her a quick, awkward hug. Velvet simply nodded and left to find her team. "That was supremely awkward."
"That felt awkward from across the room!" Yang joked, throwing her arm across Jaune's shoulder and guiding him back towards her, Ruby and Weiss's table. "So, you already hitting on strangers? And I thought we had a connection."
"Imagine...that you've suddenly found out that you have a cousin that you've never met before, and she turns out to be going to the same school as you and she happens to not know that you exist." Jaune said distractedly, being easily guided by Yang like a young fledgling. Yang smiled to herself and nodded her head in appreciation.
"That sounds like it'd be fun!"
"Now imagine you're me. Rinse and repeat." Yang cringed and patted Jaune on the shoulder.
"It's okay, I'm sure you'll be fine." Yang tried to reassure him. It didn't work. As the blonde pair reached the table, Jaune skipped the sitting down part and just slammed his head onto the table and slid to the floor in shame. "No need to beat yourself up about it. She's not even in the same year as you, you'll probably rarely interact, and when you do, you can just pretend to be mute!"
"Yang, your boy skills could use some work." Ruby patted Yang on the shoulder and smiled condescendingly. Yang, Weiss and Jaune all gave her looks of disbelief and she smiled brightly. "Anyway~ Jaune, don't worry! By tonight, you'll have made so many more friends that you'll be past your thing with her."
"As tactless as that statement was," Weiss began. "it's true, you shouldn't dwell. You seem...nice…? You'll be fine." Yang smirked at Weiss's discomfort while Ruby winced at her cold tone and Jaune scanned Weiss's face closely.
"I'm pretty sure that was a compliment..." The four simply paused and allowed silence to reign for the rest of the meal. "If it was, thank you, if not, then...I don't really care, sorry."
"She is adorable when she's trying to be nice. Especially 'cus she sucks at it." Summer seemed strangely worked up over it, but Jaune refused to raise to her jab at Jaune's new friend-...ish person. He pulled out a tiny notepad from his back pocket and began to write so that Summer could see.
I don't think she likes me anyway. I'll just bug her some ;P. Summer groaned loudly and let her shoulders droop in irritation. Finally, dinner was over and it was time for the annual night of torture.
First years had the lovely experience of sharing a ballroom with the entire rest of the class for a night of testosterone filled, mind-numbing, nerve wracking fun. If only there were waterboarding and rusted torture implements, the whole thing would be complete.
"I'd rather sleep outside." Jaune said as soon as he saw the state of the room. Overtly masculine guys flexing obnoxiously on the boundary line of the male and female sides of the room. "Revoking previous statement; I'd rather hang myself."
"Shut up and go change. You're just jealous cuz you're scrawny." Yang teased, tossing her bag of toiletries over her shoulder and sauntering toward the women's changing room. Jaune sighed but agreed half-heartedly. As he changed into his onesie, he realized that he was starting to get too tall for it. He'd have to roll up to sleeves and the legs to not look like a dork.
"You look like such a dork." Those words greeted him with the tender loving kindness of a .10 gauge shotgun between his shoulderblades. He took a deep breath and sighed in acceptance. His onesie was baggy and yet too short at the same time. He was at that phase where you've reached your peak height, but during the process, all of your bulk pretty much melted off, meaning that the only clothes that fit him were specially altered. That was fine in Farwood. Everyone knew everyone and no one minded lending cloth to the sheriff's kid. "I refuse to be seen with someone dressed like that."
"Fine! I'll find someone who appreciates me." Jaune joked, turning to pout away from Yang, only two spot his first official unofficial friend. He smiled and traipsed over to the pair happily. Finally he stopped just short of the rambling ginger and smiled, waving silently to the equally silent man across from him. He nodded his head, but the ginger continued animatedly. "You're Ren, right?"
Instantly, the chatterbox stopped and suddenly he was staring down the most curious turquoise eyes he had ever seen. She didn't seem to have moved at all, she was just there and then gone. He looked to Ren for a moment and he responded with an entirely uninterested gaze. The eyes didn't blink, they didn't flit, they didn't narrow or widen, they just stared.
And stared…
Finally, Jaune couldn't take it anymore, he blinked.
"HA!" The girl pulled another dramatic disappearing act. She leaned back and pointed victoriously at Jaune. "You blinked! I win!"
"I suppose soo~…" I looked over her shoulder to lock eyes with Ren who seemed entirely unfazed by the fact that his partner was practically buzzing with manic energy. Nora leaned back and plopped right onto her sleeping bag without a care in the world and then waded through the fabric until she popped up beside the raven haired boy and gestured towards him dramatically.
"This is Ren! He's my partner! But not like together partners, not that he's not-" Ren cut her off with a simple hand gesture.
"I think he gets it." He nodded in greeting and hesitantly stuck his hand out. "Ren."
"Jaune. It's a pleasure to meet you Ren, and you too-...what's your name?" Jaune queried, his eyebrow quirking in interest.
"I'm Nora!" She responded happily, falling back flat on her sleeping bag before immediately, she was asleep.
"How does she do that…?"
"She is an anomaly of twelfth-dimensional physics. Commonly referred to as Noraspace. While moving in Noraspace, she does not move through time like we do, however, she moves through Noratime. Noraspace-Noratime physics are still relatively unexplored due to their rare nature, however, other, similar, studies include hammerspace-hammertime continuum theoretical physics." Ren explained calmly. "I'm currently using Noraspace as a weapon transportation and retrieval system in my sleeves."
"You could just say you don't know."
"I don't know." Ren shrugged, turning away from Jaune for a moment to take off his green overcoat. "It hurts less to pretend like it makes sense."
"I'm going to just sit right here, if you don't mind, I was looking for a place to sleep and I saw you. Do you mind?" The guy hesitated and looked down at Nora with trepidation.
"Sure…" He sounded like he wanted anything but someone else there. He was sitting very near Nora, almost like he was guarding her.
"Actually…" Jaune amended, noticing Ren's hand gripping tight onto his blanket and his unspoken discomfort. "I think I'll leave you two alone. You seem really tired, and I snore. Loudly."
Ren almost let out a relieved sigh, but instead, he just nodded in acceptance, his heartbeat slowing considerably. There was a reason Ren spoke in small doses over long time periods, and now was not the night to find out what it was.
Looking around, Jaune saw the perfect opportunity to regain some respect from his brunette friend. As he slid beside Blake, prodding her with his right hand, holding out an innocuous piece of bubblegum, causing Blake to smirk and roll her eyes, flicking at Jaune's hat as it began to slip from off his head, almost falling off. "I guess you did return it."
"Not the hat!" Jaune quickly gripped his hat, pulling it tight to his head, pouting slightly as he leaned away from Blake and her cheshire grin. Blake reached out again, pretending to go for his hat, only to quickly quail when a pair of extremely energetic girls approached. "Hey! It's madame bubblegum!"
Yang grimaced at the nickname and stuck her tongue out, while Ruby waved happily to Blake. Weiss apparently was still in the bathroom getting clean from encountering and intermingling with 'plebeians'. Blake smiled softly, recognizing Ruby from the courtyard. "So, you're still off flirting with other girls, huh? I mean, your cousin is one thing, this is entirely different. You can't be related to everyone here."
"Is that a challenge?" Summer questioned, grinning from her place on the other side of Blake, who decided now, of all times, she wanted to be mischievous.
"Jaune?" Blake met his gaze and handed him a nondescript foil square. "Have some bubblegum."
Yang gave a quick 'eep' and hopped behind Ruby, who seemed hesitant to say anything throughout the whole conversation. "I'm sorry about Yang, usually she's not this weird, but she has bad history with bubblegum."
"Guys, we should probably get to sleep, I think we're disturbing the rest of the students." Weiss quietly pranced around the prone bodies across the floor, her finger at her lips as she silently shushed the group.
"That's my cue. I'll see you guys tomorrow at initiation." Jaune's face lost its goofiness for a moment as he smiled tenderly at the surrounding girls. "May God's hand be upon you and your dreams."
"G'night…" Yang remarked quietly, staring confusedly at Jaune's retreating form. "He seemed different just then, right?"
"Yeah, almost like he was...I don't know...apologizing?"