Prompt – Jaune and Weiss are out for a coffee not-date in Mistral. She's in the middle of trying to have a serious conversation with him when Neptune bumps into them.

Jaune had been struck by quite a few surprises over the last twenty-four hours. Between Weiss and Yang showing up from a portal, their sudden questioning of Ozpin, and the fact that Qrow had the ability to turn into, well, a crow, he felt like he was ready for whatever twist the world could throw his way. He had underestimated the world.

This morning, Weiss asked him out for coffee. It wasn't some kind of date, he was very well aware of that. All the same, it didn't stop the question from wavering in his mind the entire walk to the small Mistralian coffee shop. What had changed? Why was the 'ice-queen' asking to speak with him specifically? Even as they sat down at their small table for two, he felt like the whole situation seemed wrong.

The pair both watched as warm liquid poured into the aged white mugs before them. Normally, he would put in a sugar and some cream, but he decided keeping it black might just wake him up from this strange dream. Weiss watched him as they both took their first sip. She had invited him here; it was up to her to break the ice.

"This is a bit stronger than what they make in Atlas. I'm starting to worry that I might have left the rest of the group with an out of control Ruby from the cup I made her this morning." Jaune took note of just how gentle her voice sounded. A stark contrast from what he was used to hearing from her at Beacon.

"I think you'd be surprised. She's changed an awful lot over the past few months." He said with a lighthearted smile. He fully believed it too. He had trained, all of team RNJR had grown, he had new armor… The more he thought on it, the more the smile faded. "Yeah… Everything has changed over the last few months."

Weiss sighed and looked at the reflection in her cup. The longing stare she received from the girl in the brown liquid egged her to push the conversation forward. "I know. It's part of the reason I wanted to meet with you." She brought her blue eyes up to meet his. Her concerned gaze petrifying the boy. "I need your help, Jaune."

Jaune's face twisted at the question. "Why do you need my help?" He paused when he noticed just how harsh the question sounded. "I mean… Of course, I'll help. I just… I guess I never expected that I'd be the one you'd come to." In the back of his mind, he wondered why anyone would come to him for help.

Weiss gave him a simple nod. "You know, I honestly never expected it either." Her voice chuckled a little as she spoke. "You're right though. I shouldn't be asking you for anything. I should be apologizing."

Jaune took another sip from his coffee. His eyes never broke contact with hers as he held the mug up to his face. He had to be dreaming. First, Weiss asked to talk with him alone. Then she asked him for help. Now, she wanted to apologize. He felt like there was something he was missing. Her pleading gaze tried to tell him otherwise. When it refused to go away, he gently set the mug on the table and shook his head. "I don't know what you plan on apologizing for, Weiss. Just know that it's not needed."

"But it is needed!" She said with her voice peaking up. "Talking at dinner yesterday, I realized just how… cold I was at Beacon. How unkind I was to you…" She took a deep breath. "I shouldn't be asking any favors of you. To be honest, I'm surprised you agreed to come talk with me. I just… There's something more important going on and I feel like you're the only one I can talk to about it."

Jaune nodded his head at her. As she spoke, he couldn't help but feel a familiarity in the way she asked. He found a strange comfort in it. "Like I said, you don't have to apologize." His face softened and another small smile began to form. "I guess I'm just a little interested in why you came to me. I would've expected you to go to Ruby or Yang before I ever made the list."

Weiss shook her head. "That's the problem." She said looking back down into the coffee. "It's Yang."

Jaune couldn't help but hear the worry in her voice. It was a nothing more than a small falter. The same one that came when someone felt helpless. It made him feel a small tingle in his spine. "Yang? What's wrong?" He wanted to say it in a way that would comfort the girl, but even he could hear the concern in his voice as he spoke. "How can I help?"

Weiss gave him half a smile. "You're already doing it." She took another sip from her coffee as if to collect her thoughts. "Yang… She's… not herself. Since the moment she found me at Raven's camp, she's been on edge. It just seems like any small thing can set her off." Her eyes went back down into her coffee. Her hands playing with the mug. "This morning, she even snapped at Ruby and I…"

Jaune's head was stirring. Something about all of this was still so wrong. Even then, the fact that Yang would ever snap at Ruby caused his eyes to go wide. "Wait. Why would she yell at the two of you? Everything seemed just fine last night."

"That's why I wanted to come to you." Weiss spoke softly. "Jaune, I don't know what to do…"

I don't know what to do…

His heart sank. Advice. That was all she had come to him for. Advice. The stirring in the back of his head had evolved.

I don't know what to do…

His body felt numb. Advice. She needed his help. She needed him.

His chair rocked. It snapped him out of a daze he hadn't realized had fallen over him. He blinked. His vision came back through the fog in his mind. Weiss was staring at him with a concerned look. How long had he been like this? His chair rocked a second time. He hadn't even registered the man behind him.

"I'm sorry about that! I didn't see you… Wait. Jaune? Weiss?"

Weiss' eyes finally fell off Jaune. He watched them as they went from concerned to a temporary state of shock. "Neptune?!"

"Wow! It really is you two!" The boy took a minute to shift to the side of the table. He gave Weiss a smile. "Not that I could ever forget you."

Weiss huffed. "I'm glad to see that you haven't changed…" She murmured back.

The boy turned his attention towards Jaune as if to pass off the comment. "And Jaune! How's it goin' buddy?"

Jaune's eyes met Neptune's dark blue gaze. His weak body took its time following suit. "Hey Neptune." He replied with a weak voice. "I was actually just about to leave." He turned his face to Weiss. "My stomach isn't feeling the best. I guess this coffee isn't sitting too well." He pushed the mug a bit forward to the center of the table. He could see Weiss didn't believe him. It didn't matter. He wasn't ready.

Neptune shook his head. "Yeah, I feel ya. Mistral coffee takes a bit to get used to." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a few lien. "Here. You get some rest. This one's on me."

Jaune gave him another weak smile and slid the chair back from the table. He could feel Weiss' gaze over his every move. "Thanks Neptune." He sat up from the seat and gestured for the boy to take his place. "You two catch up. I'll want to hear all about it later."

Neptune didn't hesitate to take over. "Thanks Jaune! You feel better buddy." Once seated, he turned his attention back to Weiss. "I can't believe you're both in Mistral! This is great! Soon we can meet up with Sun and Blake and…"

Weiss' attention finally broke away from Jaune. "Wait. Did you say Blake was coming to Mistral?"

Neptune gave her a quick nod. "Yep! Well, if Sun's mission goes well that is!"

Jaune saw the smile creep on Weiss' face. Maybe information on Blake's return would be just what she needed to help Yang. Good. Whatever advice Weiss needed, he was sure Neptune could help her.

With their attention on each other, he turned towards the exit. He took no more than a step towards it when he felt something grab his hand. His body froze at the feeling. His eyes looked down at the small pale hand holding his. He could hardly feel the tight squeeze it tried to give him, but it was just enough. Weiss didn't want to hurt him. She just wanted to make sure he knew she was there.

He turned his head slightly towards the girl. He didn't want her to see his whole face. Not when his eyes were going to be filled with tears. He was expecting some sort of concern. Some sort of sadness. Instead, her face held a smile. He could almost feel one on his own face at the sight. The hand holding his gave one more tight squeeze before letting go. He was sad to feel it release, but the trace of warmth it left was all he needed.

He took his next step towards the exit. His thumb feeling the foreign warmth on his fingers. The numbness of his body lifted slightly as he did. The world was full of surprises. At least today's had brought him a new friend.

Author's Notes

Hey Everyone!

So this prompt was given to me by the Writing Prompt Wednesday Master of Ceremonies, Shandromand. Shand is another very talented writer who does a lot for the RWBY fanfiction community so check them out on here under the username, well, Shandromand.

Now, about this entry. So we have Weiss and Jaune getting coffee together to catch-up a bit. Or at least, that's how it seems. I tried to really work on tone this time around by focusing in on how Jaune reacts to everything that comes before him.

So to start, we see Jaune questioning everything that's going on. Why does Weiss suddenly want to spend time with him? It's a very real question when all she used to do was deny him during Beacon.

Next, Weiss begins to ask for help. Now I wanted to make Jaune start to feel strange about her asking, but not 100% understand why. The big reason is that I wanted him to start to flash back to when Pyrrha asked him for advice about becoming a Spring Maiden. It's exactly why Weiss says 'You're already doing it'. I wanted to make Jaune flash back to that moment where he had one of his last ever 'heart to heart' conversations with Pyrrha.

So then it finally strikes him. 'I don't know what to do' is the exact thing that Pyrrha says when she starts to spiral in front of Jaune in the episode. Here, I wanted Jaune to suddenly remember that, and have it hit him rather hard. So he zones out while still looking at Weiss, but thinking of Pyrrha. However, I never mention Pyrrha's name. All of this is happening in Jaune's head so I want everything to carry weight. Every time Pyrrha comes up in the story, Jaune snaps a little. Here, he is trying to keep his composure in front of Weiss, so her name never gets mentioned. I wanted to have it be the one thing that stops him from breaking down in front of Weiss.

So now we move to Neptune's introduction. He breaks Jaune out of his daze and butts into the conversation. However, he has good news! He is going to tell Weiss all about Blake. This ties with canon because Weiss is then able to have her talk with Yang about Blake coming back. In the show, she seems very confident of it happening. Now, being confident in her friend to eventually meet back up with them is a normal thing. However, she has confidence that she will meet up with them at some point, even when they are on a different continent. I was hoping to have this non-canon moment tie in with that a little bit.

All the same, the tone is supposed to feel sort of shaky here. Weiss is now torn between helping Jaune who is visibly shaken, and talking with Neptune who has information that she was seeking out in the first place. In Jaune's head, he just wants to get out of there. Weiss takes the time to stop him. She knows he's uncomfortable, so she grabs his hand to let him know she's there with him. With that gesture, I was hoping to have it feel like Weiss is literally reaching out to him in his time of need. He still wants to leave, so she lets him. However, it's just enough to help him through the time he wants to spend alone.

All in all, I tried to make it shift from an awkward meeting, to a desperate conversation, to a feeling of not knowing what to do next. While I don't think it's perfect, this entry did a much better job of keeping the tone of the story straight all the way through as opposed to having jarring starts and stops in conversation. Granted, it was meant to be more serious this time around, but it does make the story feel a bit more complete in the end.

Let me know if you like my write ups! I probably won't make them nearly this long every time, I just felt like it might add a bit more to the short story.

Thanks for reading!

~Sh1f7er