Je Ne Sais Quoi
Ren's eyes followed Jaune's as he gazed longingly across the cafeteria. A lesser friend might have been bogged down by the amount of people in Jaune's line of sight, but not Ren. He knew exactly what, or rather whom, he stared at.
Coco Adel.
Oh, how Jaune Arc pined after Coco Adel. Paired up with CFVY for one mission, and Jaune was smitten. Ren and Nora joked about it when Pyrrha and Jaune weren't around.
For a time, it was just a joke for Ren. Jaune thinking he and Coco were meant to be, just like he did with Weiss. But then it persisted. And Jaune didn't stop thinking about Coco.
So he and Nora hatched a plan. Nora would talk to Pyrrha about her feelings, and Ren to Jaune about his.
It had seemed like a good plan. And it was, in theory.
But now that Ren saw Jaune looking at Coco, he took a moment to really look. And he saw something there, something that Ren wasn't familiar with.
"Something on your mind, Jaune?" Ren asked, looking down at his plate of food, twisting a few noodles around a fork.
"What?" mumbled Jaune, not paying attention.
With a quick flourish, Ren reached out a hand and snapped his fingers in Jaune's face. The blond yelped and recoiled back with equally fast reflexes. Ren made a note to tell Pyrrha her training was working.
"I think we need to have a conversation, Jaune." Ren set down his fork and looked across the table at the recovering Jaune. He folded his hands and waited patiently for Jaune's response.
"Uh…about what, Ren?"
Oblivious as ever. "About Coco. And Pyrrha."
Jaune's face colored red. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Ren sighed. "Jaune, I may not be as inclined to gossip and the like as some of our friends, but I am not blind. I can see you looking at Coco whenever you see her."
"And what does this have to do with Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, keeping his composure better than Ren had expected. Or did he genuinely not know?
"Pyrrha has feelings for you, Jaune," Ren said. Should Pyrrha be the one to say that to him? Absolutely, but she was waiting for nothing to come. And Ren needed to address this before things became too severe.
There was a long moment of silence. Then: "Huh."
Ren waited for more, but it didn't come. Frowning, he said, "That's all you have to say?"
Jaune nodded slowly, still seeming to be thinking through whatever was on his mind. "That's…honestly not surprising."
Ren wanted to smack Jaune. "Really? You're telling me you didn't notice? Jaune, the amount of hints she dropped is insane. You're telling me you never picked up on one of them?"
"I thought she was just being friendly."
For the love of…
"We can address that later." Ren sighed deeply. "What do you feel towards Pyrrha?"
"Friendship," came Jaune's immediate response. He paused, then said, "Not anything romantic."
Dammit. As much as Nora and he had planned, neither had expected Jaune to not feel anything towards Pyrrha. After all, what wasn't there to like about Pyrrha? Smart, capable, kind and very attractive? Nora wasn't as keen about the last one when he had mentioned it, but Ren chalked it up to being his male perspective.
"Jaune, this is going to crush Pyrrha."
For the first time, Jaune frowned. "I didn't ask her to develop feelings for me. That is not my fault and you know it."
Ren physically reeled back. He blinked several times. "Jaune…I'm sorry. That was wrong of me to say."
Jaune waved it away. "No no, I'm sorry for my tone. But I meant what I said. I can't control my feelings, or hers. What I feel towards Pyrrha is different from what I feel towards Coco."
"And what do you feel towards Coco?" Ren asked.
His eyes turned dreamy, like Nora's when she thought of pancakes. "I've never articulated it, but there's just something about her. Something I don't know, or can't describe. But it's there and I see it in her." He paused. "When I think of Pyrrha, I can tell you every good quality that makes her an amazing woman. But I can't tell you why I think Coco is beautiful. Does that make sense? I don't think it does…"
He continued on, trying to find the words he sought for. Ren remained silent, listening to his friend. It reminded him of how Pyrrha spoke of Jaune when he wasn't around. They even had the same look in their eyes, where the cynicism of being a young adult was washed away by a resurgence of optimism.
If only it was towards each other.
Ren cleared his throat. Jaune stopped.
"So why are you sitting here next to me?" Ren asked, keeping his face neutral.
Jaune blanched. "Um, what do you mean?"
"I mean why aren't you over there talking to Coco now instead of me? If you truly feel this way about her, you're not going to make a good impression staring holes into her back."
His teammate chuckled weakly. "Ren, what do I have that Coco would want to see in a man?"
Ren laughed lightly. "Jaune, how would you know? You have hardly spoken to her. Maybe she's got a thing for blondes."
Jaune floundered for words. Ren continued. "I'm gonna leave this table. I expect you to go talk to Coco once I do. I won't see you just sit on feelings, or else it'll torture you like it does Pyrrha. You hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Jaune said.
"Good," Ren said as he scooped up his plate. "Message me once you wrap up here." The black haired man began to walk away, pulling out his scroll to call Nora. After all, they had some business to discuss.
Ren cast one look over his shoulder before he dialed. Jaune stood up and made his way over towards CFVY's table.
Ren smiled and hit dial.
Author Notes: Just a little something I cooked up before class. I want to make this clear, this is a oneshot. Some of my readers, bless their souls, think my oneshots are going to be multichapter stories. In a perfect world, they would be. But my life is far too busy to continue some of these ideas, so I find it best just to write them as oneshots. I hope you all understand.