Winter felt herself smile as she walked the grounds of Beacon, moonlight turning her hair to candled torchlight. She'd swapped out her uniform for a simple button-up blouse, slacks, and flats, but she let her hair down. Middle of the night or not, she wouldn't appear anything less than perfect.

She knew she should've been asleep, but the stress wasn't letting her. Pulling triple duty as the SDC's new president, Ironwood's aide (even at a distance), and an instructor for JNPR and RWBY… It was taking its toll on her, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Coco had tried to get her to rest, but the end result still tended to be her wandering Beacon's grounds like now.

The smile vanished as she turned her thoughts to JNPR. They were all doing exceptionally after just a few days under her instruction except Jaune. SHe could tell he had likely faked his transcripts to get into Beacon from his sheer lack of ability. Surely Ozpin could tell she could see his resolve and desire to improve, but he flinched whenever she spoke to him. Figuring out how to teach him was proving difficult, but she was doing her best to be gentle. How to make it better, though,s he just didn't—

The sound of a familiar voice broke her thoughts and she crept through a nearby grove of trees. Her eyebrows raised when she saw Jaune running through the drills she'd set him to after school the previous day. He really was dedicated to bettering himself, but it was well after curfew. Surely he knew that if he got caught, it'd result in punishment for his whole team…?

However, her eyebrows drew together as she watched him. She hadn't been able to give him the deeply individual attention she had wanted to, so this told her a lot. The way he moved, the underlying fluidity with which he shifted his weight, the subtle but precise measures of his feet…

A faint smile formed on her lips.

Well well. She'd at least found the key to helping him understand the basics. Speaking to him was another matter, but one step at a time.

"Mister Arc, you are aware you ought to be in bed, correct?" Winter spoke softly and he froze in place, eyes wide as his head whipped around to look at her. He put his sword and shield on his belt, looking down and away. She could already feel his confidence dropping just by being in her presence, but she didn't comment on it.

"Y-Yeah, but Ij ust couldn't sleep… With the Festival in a few months…and how pathetic my skills are…" His voice shook and he closed his eyes. She could hardly blame him. Flynt and Neon were constantly calling her for advice on what to do for training. It was difficult with her on leave, but she did what she could for her personal students.

She let the topic slide and offered Jaune a genuine smile for once. "Tell me, Mister Arc, how skilled are you at dancing?" That got his head to snap up, eyes still owlish. Her smile grew a bit more as he visibly relaxed. She always liked to put her students at ease as much as possible.

"I'm… Well, my parents are dance instructors, so I'd say I'm pretty good." Just from his tone and body language, she could tell he enjoyed it. And perhaps she was onto something with the questions; she'd keep it up and see how he responded.

"Would you be willing to show me by leading?" She kept her tone soft and gentle as always when handling him. He actually smiled for once and held out his hand. She silent wished she'd worn her usual heels, but the three-inch height difference wasn't the worst thing in the world. She took his hand and offered him an encouraging smile. She wouldn't push him faster than he was comfortable at.

After a few moments of bobbing his head, he found the timing and they fell into an easy waltz rhythm. She was honestly surprised by his smooth glide, but she kept perfect time with him. He was even better than General Ironwood, and many of the Atlassian upper-class men she'd danced with. Then again, it was something he clearly loved, so that probably made the difference. Not everybody loved what they'd been born into, so she was glad that was the case here.

They cycled through several different cycles both fast and slow at her request and started to stop until a mischievous smile formed on her lips. In less than a heartbeat, she'd flipped the hold she had and pulled him into a waltz. He blinked and stumbled but recovered quickly, following as naturally as he had led. Definitely quite impressive and spoke to his potential.

She ended the dance a few minutes later and he looked at her, eyes wide. "Wow. I-I knew you'd be an amazing dancer, Win— I mean Colonel Schne, but—" His cheeks dusted pink but she shook her head, the faint smile graced her lips.

"It's quite all right, Mister Arc, but I digress. Would you like to guess why I had you do that?" He rested his hand on his chin, the gears in his mind whirring. Winter just remained silent, still offering him the gentle smile until he sighed and shook his head several minutes later.

"N-No… I know ou have a reason but…" He just dropped his head.

"Would you be willing to retry those drills from earlier with a small addendum?" He glanced at her but nodded, pulling his sword out. "On my count." She raised her hands and started clapping at a steady beat that matched the drills. Almost instantly, his clumsy, imprecise movements tightened and he focused more. His weight shifts became lighter and more fluid, his strikes roughly hitting where she wanted. There was still a lot of work to be done, but for such a small change, it was impressive improvement.

She stopped after a few minutes and he stared at her. "What…What just happened?" She couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, grey eyes sparkling as she looked at Jaune.

" That is the essence of combat, Mister Arc. While there are a great many things that differ, the foundations of combat and dance are the same: timing, precision, and intuition for unexpected changes in the flow. I said before I believe you have great potential, and I still stand by that assertion. This just cemented it even further for me." His eyes widened further, his cheeks turning a rosy red. She rarely used praise, so this was the highest level she could give. He seemed overloaded and just nodded, combing his fingers through his bangs. She put a hand on his back, nudging him toward the dorms." Go get some sleep, Mister Arc. You still have a lot of training to do after class."