AN: Hey guys! Just a oneshot that I couldn't escape. My other stories are still being written, but class work and personal stuff takes away time for writing. Still though, hope you like this lil fic. Let me know what you think in the reviews! Thanks, and enjoy!
Ah, shower time. It was the one thing Jaune looked forward to after training. Granted, Shade's locker rooms were a bit more… personal… than most he's been in. Where most shower stalls in previous academies' locker rooms were separated to allow personal space, all showers in Shade were located on the far back wall. Tropical themed drapes hung in front of each stall, preventing onlookers from seeing other students taking their shower.
What caught Jaune off guard though, were the thin pieces of stylized, warped glass that were dividing each stall.
Though he couldn't see… well… things from the person opposite of himself, it still left an odd feeling every time he would take a visit to the locker rooms.
It made sense though. Shade was the perfect balance of Vacuoan values. The riskiness of glass dividers represents the riskiness of Vacuo while the designs on said glass gives a glimpse into the past paradise the kingdom wishes it could go back to…
… he may have been spending too much time with Ren.
But none of that mattered now. Not Shade, not the mission, not even the person in the stall next to him- it was just him and his warm shower, with his bathing suit and towel waiting for when he was done.
Letting out a long sigh, Jaune angled his head up. Beads of water danced on his skin, practically kicking off the sweat that he had built up during his sparring session with Team RWBY. He was getting better with every passing day. Without her using Glyphs, Jaune could even match Weiss in endurance.
Jaune was proud in himself. So proud in fact, that he hadn't realized that for the past few seconds, he had been humming. Not a soft hum, more like a 'I'm all alone and don't realize how loud I'm being' hum. It must have been annoying the hunter in the stall next to him, as the sounds of them shuffling around the cramped space had stopped.
"Oh… uh… sorry about the, um…"
What are you doing! He thought. You don't just talk to another man in the stalls! It's weird!
"J- Jaune?"
Wait, why did the hunter sound like-
- Oh god no-!
"W- W- Weiss!?"
What was once the soft sound of water hitting the stone floors in the stalls, was now like a loud rainfall. With nobody moving or talking, the white noise only continued to grow.
"So…" trailed off Jaune, breaking through their quietness. "Given my luck, I'm guessing this isn't the men's locker room?"
"No… no it is not…"
"I see..."
Jaune coughed.
Weiss sighed.
"I take it you got lost," she said. "… Again?"
Jaune echoed her sigh. "That's pretty much what happened, yeah."
There was a smack that came from her stall. No doubt her hand meeting her face.
"You're hopeless, you know that?" she said.
"For the first time, I'm beginning to believe you."
The water once again took hold of the conversation. He had yet to move. It was easy to tell that Weiss was still, still as well.
"You're taking this quite well," he said.
"Truthfully," she said, "this just doesn't surprise me."
Jaune hummed. "Does that mean you'll help me get out of here or…?"
"As if," she said immediately.
"What! Why!"
"If someone sees us, it'll start rumors."
"Rumors!?" Jaune exclaimed. "If I'm seen in here, I'll be seen as a peeping tom!"
"Oh please," she said, "no one in our group will see you as that."
"Yes, exactly, our group. Not the entire population of Shade Academy!"
Weiss huffed. Even without seeing her, Jaune knew her well enough to know that huff would only be accompanied by crossed arms and her head to the side.
"Still no."
"Oh, come on! Do I really need to pull the 'I saved your life' card?"
"You don't, because you told me a while ago that it was nothing and there was no need to worry about it."
Damn, she was good.
"Weiss please would you just-"
Due to the casualness of their talk, Jaune had looked over in her general direction. Through the styled glass, he could make out a blob of white, cascading down a pale body. It was also clear that his previous guess about her posture was correct. Even blurred, she somehow didn't look any less stunning than she usually did.
It was when her body turned, facing his general direction that Jaune realized two things:
One, he had been staring.
And two, the glass was only heavily blurred in some areas…
Letting out a feminine shriek, Jaune quickly spun around. The force of the spin, mixed with the slipperiness of the rocky floor, ended up making him slam hard against the opposite glass divider.
"Ow…" he moaned.
At least the water was somewhat soothing his now throbbing head.
"Jaune."
"W- Weiss?"
"Tell me… why were you staring at me."
"… Gazuntite?"
"Jaune!" she snarled.
"I didn't see anything I swear!"
"… You swear?" she asked.
"Ya-huh."
"Do you give an Arc Oath that you saw nothing."
Sure, that was something he could do, yes! After all, really what did he see? Her eyes? Yes, but he always sees those. Her scar? Again, something always visible. The curve of her soft, pale boo-
"Arc…"
"Uh… no?"
An inhuman growl echoed through the locker room.
"ImsorrymyeyesslippedandIdidntrealizewhatwasgoing-!" lightbulb- "wait, why did you look at me?"
Silence. Or, somewhat silence. Given the water and the sound of a door from another room, opening and closing.
"I- I did no such thing!"
"But you did!" His voice was getting higher pitched with every sentence by this point. Fear and confusion played into it, but it was also due to the curse that his ancestors had put on him since birth: genetics.
"When I get out of here so help me-!"
"Ooo, so help you what?"
Gone was the feeling of warm water. No, in its place now was ice cold water mixed with a side of fear.
That door he heard earlier wasn't from some other room.
"N- Nora?" asked Weiss.
"Yup!" chirped Nora. "Say, who're ya talkin to, Weiss?"
"… Uh-"
"Chloe! My name is Chloe!" exclaimed Jaune.
Another smack.
"Chloe?" asked Nora, obviously directed towards Weiss.
The odds of her selling him out were high, but Weiss wasn't stupid. For whatever reason, she snuck a peek too, and that was Jaune's ammunition. If he was going down, so was she. Was it desperate? Yes, but if there was one thing Jaune learned from his sisters, it was that desperation saved his life a multitude of times.
"Yes!" Weiss exclaimed. "Chloe! My dear friend Chloe."
Nora must've entered the next stall over from Weiss, as another stream of water began to fall. This was good and bad for many understandable reasons. On one hand, she takes showers lightning fast. On the other-
"I thought you didn't have any other friends besides us?"
- yeah, she was going to talk throughout the entirety of her time here.
"I said I didn't have any other close friends, besides you guys."
"Oh," Nora said, like everything suddenly made sense.
"We were just catching up! Right?"
"Yes, we were," she agreed. "Chloe here agreed to not only do my laundry for the rest of our time at Shade but pay for my next blueberry frozen yogurt. Right Chloe?"
Weiss Schnee always gets the last laugh.
"Y- Yes. That is what I agreed to yes."
"That's really nice of you Chloe!" piped up Nora. "How did you two meet?"
"Kindergarten."
"Business party."
…
"Huh?" said Nora.
Right. This was all being made up on the spot.
"What we meant was, we met at kindergarten, which happened to take place at a… ah… business party?"
Weiss flung her head up and down. "Yes, yes, that is what we meant, yes. You know how Atlas is after all, with all those… kindergarten business party… stuff…"
"That's so weird!" Nora exclaimed, completely unfazed. "That's just like how Renny and I met up!"
"Somehow I seriously doubt that."
"What are ya talkin about!" Nora laughed. "It's exactly how we met! Well, change kindergarten to under a house and business party to Grimm invasion, it's practically the same thing."
No, no it was not the same thing. Jaune didn't have the heart to tell her though. He did however, need to stay in character.
"Renny? Who's that?" he asked.
"Oh, silly me," scoffed Nora. "Renny's my best friend! We were together, but not together-together since we were kids." Nora let out a dreamy sigh. "We just became together-together though." Like in usual Nora fashion, things had to take a one-eighty degree turn. "So don't you think about making a move on him, missy!"
Jaune let out a light chuckle. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it."
"Oh good!" She practically beamed. "Didn't want to go and break Weiss' old friend's legs and all."
"Nora!" Weiss exclaimed.
"What?" Nora asked. "I said I didn't want to."
"It seems like you really have strong feelings for this boy," Jaune said.
It went without saying that Jaune was over the moon when they came out as being together-together. All his friends deserved whatever happiness they could get.
Every one of them was on borrowed time, after all.
"Yeah," she deeply sighed. "He's the bestest."
"You make that clear every night," Weiss muttered.
The water in the farthest stall stopped falling. After the flapping of a towel, the curtain opened, followed by the sound of wet splashes on the stone flooring.
"You're just jealous that your boy-toy hasn't made a move, aren't ya?"
That was worthy of making Jaune do a double-take.
"Huh?"
"I- I have no idea what you're talking about!" Weiss said.
"Mhm," Nora hummed unamused. "Sure ya don't."
So, Weiss didn't want him to know who she was crushing on?
What was that smell? Oh, that's right, blackmail. Looks like Weiss wouldn't be getting the last laugh after all.
"Weiss never told me she was interested in some one," he started. "Who's the lucky fella, Nora?"
"Jaune!" Weiss shrieked.
His eyes widened. "Weiss!" he shrieked.
"Yeah that's the one!" Nora yelled out in excitement.
Everything slowed to a grinding halt.
'What…?' he thought.
Nora could be heard fumbling a towel through her hair. It was also easy to hear her giggling.
Weiss hadn't moved. From the glass, it looked like she stood ramrod straight.
"Jaune's my leader and best friend, next to Ren," Nora explained. "He and Weiss didn't have the best start, but every time he has his back turned, we see the Ice Queen checking him out."
Jaune could practically feel the smirk Nora held.
"Isn't that right, Snow Angel?"
It was low, but Jaune heard the tired sigh coming from his neighbor.
And that's when everything clicked.
"Oh really?" Jaune asked, mocking confusion. "Tell me Nora, what changed? What does Weiss see in this 'Jaune' person?"
Nora's clap boomed throughout the room. "Oh, that's simple," she began. "She said that he's kind, noble, sees her for her, and-" Nora leaned closer- "it doesn't hurt that he's not so scraggly anymore," she finished in a hushed voice. "Her words, not mine."
Jaune nodded his head along. "I see, I see," he said. "He sounds like quite the guy."
"Mhm!" Nora hummed enthusiastically. Jaune could make out the sound of her footsteps getting further way. "It was nice meeting you Chloe," she said, "good luck on the laundry stuff. See ya later Weiss!"
The door opened and closed.
Jaune let out a held sigh. He could drop the act.
So could Weiss.
"You know," Jaune said, going back to his regular voice, "you don't have to act all embarrassed. Nora's gone."
She was still silent. Was she really embarrassed by a little teasing? It wasn't even true.
"She was just teasing," Jaune said. He picked up the bar of soap and began washing where he left off. "I know you don't feel that way."
As expected, that snapped her back to reality.
"Yeah, yes!" Weiss snapped quickly. "That's just how Nora is after all!"
Jaune started chuckling. It was nice seeing Weiss get so flustered over nothing. A great reminder of how more open she had become in the past year.
"Really wish she tried harder though," Jaune mentioned off handedly.
"What do you mean?" asked Weiss.
Jaune rinsed his hair of the shampoo he just scrubbed in.
"Just," he paused, "who would believe it you know? You can't have a crush on me."
There was a pause as he waited for her to agree and tell how Nora could be a dunderhead from time to time.
Only, there was no response.
Instead, the water in her stall stopped abruptly, followed by the sound of a flapping towel.
"Weiss?"
Her curtain opened and closed.
Again, Jaune echoed her name.
The response was of a zipper being yanked down.
"Why not?"
Jaune furrowed his brows. "Why not, what?"
"Why can't I have a crush on you?"
Wasn't the answer obvious?
"Because… well… because of Beacon."
Her pack smacked against one of the many benches in the room.
"Beacon?"
"Beacon," Jaune confirmed. Even in the sanctity of the shower, he felt the need to look away ashamed. "I messed up. I ruined what could've been a friendship cause I couldn't take a hint, and…"
"And?"
"… and, you made it clear that being with me just wasn't something you'd be up for."
Jaune waited for a response. Her only reply was another zipping of her pack. It was a lot slower than when she had opened it.
"You think we're still at Beacon then, don't you?" she asked.
She just sounded so… defeated…
"What?" Jaune asked. "Of course I don't."
"Then why do you think my view of you can't change?"
"I never said-"
"But you did," she interrupted. "Even if you didn't mean it, you alluded to it."
Once again, the sound of his shower pounded into his eardrums. What could he say to her now? It wasn't that he believed she hadn't changed or that she doesn't now have a positive view of himself. Just, she was Weiss and he was Jaune.
How could they even work as a couple?
"Nora… wasn't teasing you for the sake of teasing you… was she?"
A pause.
"No…" she sighed.
'But… why?' he thought.
What changed?
Yeah, they were friends now, but…
"Weiss, I… I- I'm-"
"I know," she interrupted dejectedly. "I… understand…"
Jaune grabbed his towel off one of the in-stall hangers. Next, he turned off the water. He couldn't stay in the safety of the stall and push Weiss away.
"Are you… you know… covered?" he asked.
There was a barely hearable "mhm" from the other side of the drapes. Jaune gently stuck his head through the curtain. Weiss was back in her usual combat skirt getup. Powdered white hair that was still soaked, was left undone, flowing past her shoulders. Her eyes took hold of his. As soon as they met though, he once again looked away.
What could he even say? 'I'm flattered, but I'm not interested in a relationship right now?'. Oh, maybe 'sorry for not liking you anymore, but thanks for liking me?' Oh yeah that one would be the best thing he could say right now.
"Do you want to know why I like you?" she asked.
Jaune's eyes made their way back to hers.
"It's deeper than what Nora said."
Jaune nodded along.
Weiss' body straightened. Her arms fell to her sides. The once shy, icy blues turned determined.
"I believe that you are of good nature and have a big heart… bigger than Nora's but not bigger than Ruby's-" she coughed awkwardly into her fist, obviously trying to regain composure. "Back at Haven, you acted recklessly. To put it bluntly, you were an idiot, but I understood it. When we started training, I wanted… I- I wanted to help save you, like you did to me…"
Her composure began to falter. Little by little, the business-like persona she had chipped away. Now she stood with her back hunched slightly, her hands held together by her waist, but her eyes never fell away.
"In doing so, I just… I guess I got to know the real you. Not the flirtatious fool who was well out of his league back at Beacon… I got to know Jaune Arc. The defeated man who would never think of quitting. The guy who treats everyone as equals, no matter their background. The loveable goofball who knows when and not to be serious…"
'Why does she look playful now?'
"The vomit boy," she said in a mocking way, shaking her head.
Jaune breathed out a quick laugh, catching himself surprised.
He's never laughed at that stupid joke, like, at all…
"What you said earlier," she said, "about me not changing my views on you… it… it hurt,"
"But I didn't mean it like-"
"I know, I know," she waved, "but that's the problem. You know my thoughts on you changed, yet you don't think it's possible for me to like you… Why is that?"
He… he really didn't know. It all just came back to his reasoning before.
He was Jaune, she was Weiss…
… But…
"We aren't like how we were back then…"
The words had just slipped out. They weren't meant for anyone else but him.
Weiss cheered up though. She motioned for him to keep his train of thought.
"That's what you mean then… you're not the spoiled girl who wanted everyone to fall in line behind her… I'm not the dense idiot who wouldn't take no for an answer… we… both of us, in a way… are different people."
"The fact that it took you this long shows that you are definitely still as dense as you were back then."
"Hey!" Jaune exclaimed.
Weiss had already begun giggling.
"I have feelings too you know! I'm not a walking, talking beefcake."
"Believe me," she said through laughs, "that word should never be acquainted with you."
"Oh shouldn't it now? Because according to Nora-"
"Shush!" she yelled, slapping her hand over Jaune's mouth.
The steam must've really been getting to her. Her face was beet red…
That's what he will say if she asks.
The hand that was preventing anymore teasing was withdrawn by the owner. Their shared laughter had faded.
They both knew what needed to come next.
They both didn't want to go there yet.
They both knew they had to go there now.
"You don't feel the same about me… do you?"
Stiff. Cold.
"I- … no… I don't anymore… I'm sorry."
No! No, no, no, NO!
That wasn't how he meant at all!
The way she just accepted it…
The business woman mask was back in full swing. She bowed her head politely, as her back once again became straight. Pale hands that were once clasped out of nervousness, were now held together up tightly.
"I understand," she said, moving her head back up. "Sorry for putting you through this endeavor. I'll see myself out."
She quickly started her retreat to the doors.
Something. He had to do something, stop her somehow, but he couldn't get himself to move.
As her face turned, he caught the mask crumble. Head, downcast. Her eyes, dull and staring into nothing ness. Her mouth hung slightly open, like she didn't have the strength to even just shut her lips-
- It was the type of face Jaune knew all too well.
If she went through those doors, their friendship would be back to square one.
Back to Beacon.
And she wasn't showing any signs of stopping.
It's why, once she did, Jaune was taken aback.
'She stopped?' His mind whirled. 'Why? How?'
Looking down, Jaune saw the answer. Both of his arms grasped onto hers for dear life. He was no longer in the shower, rather, right behind her, in front of the door.
She stared back at him. Her eyes looked so tired, questioning why he was still bothering.
"It's okay, Jaune," Weiss said. "I'd rather go back to my room for now. I'll make sure that no one will intrude on you." She turned her head to the door handle. "I think I saw an out of order sign on a bathroom stall not too far from here. I'll retrieve it so-"
"- You're smart, graceful, and so extremely talented. Back during initiation, I wasn't lying when I called you a snow angel. You were one of the most amazing people I've ever seen. And your singing voice! To me, you were- are an actual angel…"
His brain was on auto pilot. He couldn't let her leave in the state she was in. It wasn't fair…
"Back at Beacon, I wanted to tell you these things… I was going to, but…" He took a deep breath. "The fact of the matter is, I still see these things in you, even more so than I did back then."
Her eyes perked up a tad.
"Maybe… maybe things would work out between us now. Maybe I'm being an even bigger idiot than usual and by not accepting this now, am just messing up yet another potential relationship with someone I care about-"
'Breathe… take it slow… just breathe…'
"- I just… something like this, with you- with anyone, has been the furthest thing on my mind. Hell, I haven't even thought about another girl in that sort of way in like a year at this point. Protecting my friends, survival, and stopping the enemy. That's all I've focused on."
Was it now pity she looked him with, or was it concern?
"It won't stay like that," he assured. "But for now, that's how it is. Down the line, after all of this, I can see myself being head over heels for you again… but that's after all of this…"
He relaxed his grip.
"I can wait," she said hesitantly.
Jaune shook his head. "I don't want you to put your life on hold-"
"It already is, Jaune," she interrupted, the usual fire once again gracing her eyes. "All of our lives are on hold. We don't know when we can live freely again. For now, all of us are trapped in a war that just a few months ago, we knew nothing about."
Her hand grasped his. "I'm in no rush."
She was not going to do this for him.
"What if you find someone else that you like down the road? You can't just ignore it."
Weiss paused before answering. "Though I think that is highly unlikely given our situation, if you're still in the mindset you're in right now, then yes, I would try to pursue something with this other boy. If I weren't to, that would mean I'm putting my life on hold."
She brought him closer.
"I don't love you Jaune," she said sternly. "I don't even know what romantic love is like. What I'm doing isn't some big romantic gesture, nor is it just for you. I have strong feelings for you. Feelings that I would like to pursue when you're ready. That isn't putting my life on hold."
Her stance lessened. She let go of Jaune's hand, hers returning to her side.
Gone was the sadness from her face. She just seemed… content now. Not the type of content one would have after eating just alright dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets mind you. It was the kind of content he would see on his youngest sister's face when she was allowed another cookie from the cookie jar…
On second thought, it must've just been awhile since he's seen her happy.
"There's no arguing with you on this, is there?"
"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'.
"Of course," he chuckled.
Just as he moved his hand to scratch the back on his neck, Weiss began playing with a strand of her free hair. She was just as nervous as he was. They pretty much just agreed to going out down the line. It was a far cry from how they were back at Beacon.
But nervousness was still nervousness, and Weiss was still Weiss. Jaune had to capitalize on it while he could.
"Well, I need to go back and finish up before someone comes in," he said, walking backwards to the stall. He purposely walked slowly, hoping she would take the bait.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh! Nothing, nothing," he chirped. Jaune finally turned, casting a sideway glance accompanied with a smirk. "Just trying to catch you checking me out."
"You!- You!-" Her voice was cracking with every word she tried to push out from her stuttering lips.
Thus, Jaune fell into a fit of hard laughter. Nora had just given him an unlimited ammunition. He will never be stopped!
"Oh, shut up!" Weiss exclaimed. "It's not like you never stole glances from me back at…"
Regaining his breath, Jaune turned back to Weiss. "Fine, fine, I admit I may have looked at you from time to time- Weiss?"
Her eyes were wide. Her face was red. It was also lowered, angled right at his towel.
Except it was now lying on the ground.
And his bathing shorts he had for when he left the stall, were five feet away.
"Uh…"
Was that him or Weiss?
Odds are, it from both at this point.
"… I… I'm just going to-" Jaune pointed to the stall.
"… Uhuh…" She was still staring.
"I'll… I- uh… yeah."
As swift as a gale, Jaune jumped into the stall, yanking the curtain over. Glass creaked as his back slumped against it. He raked his hands through his dampened hair, causing more water to run down the back of his head.
"Just trying to catch you checking me out," he mocked. "You idiot."
He huffed. Many things were expected through his usual shower routine. Messing up his current and possible later relationship with Weiss was not to be expected.
"Jaune?"
His head snapped back up.
She was still here?
She was still… trying to talk to him?
"Y- yes, Weiss?"
She cleared her throat.
"I um, I believe you dropped this." A pearl, white towel was draped daintily over the chrome curtain rod.
Hastily, the towel was completely pulled into his stall.
Hands fumbled around with the white fabric until it was wrapped neatly, yet, tightly around his waist.
"Sorry about-"
"It's fine," she said curtly, cutting him off. "I know you'd never knowingly create a position where'd you'd indecently expose yourself in front of me."
Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
"And, um," she paused.
Then, a step forward.
One more.
"We're even now."
Her voice was so hushed, but Jaune knew what he heard. Even more than that, he could practically hear her smiling.
Weiss Schnee always gets the last laugh.
Giggling nervously, Jaune blushed and looked off. "I told you I didn't see anything."
Weiss hummed, before moving away. "Keep telling yourself that."
A new sound, unmistakably her wedged shoes, began its way to the door.
"One more thing, Jaune," she said.
"Yes Weiss?"
The door opened.
"Just… don't take too long with your answer, okay?"
It was kind of amazing, actually. Even with her voice that low and shy, Jaune didn't miss the flirt directed behind her words.
"Sure thing," his voice cracked.
Another slight hum. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah… you too."
The door closed.
That… that all actually happened…
Jaune reached his arm out, grabbing onto the stylized glass of his neighboring stall for support. His eyes shut as he bowed his head. The sigh that followed was a mix of many things. Tired, stressed, relaxed, blissful… The list just went up from there.
There was no way he was finishing up his shower. Slipping on his trunks, Jaune made his way out of the stall. The now unwrapped towel was dabbed around his chest and face, soaking up excess water droplets. He soon moved the towel to his hair and began ruffling it around.
He was still damp around his body, but that went unnoticed as only one thing had his attention.
"Don't take too long with your answer, okay?"
The ruffling stopped.
A small smile etched its way across his face.
He's messed up an opportunity like this once before.
And there was no way he was going to repeat the past.
'I won't'.