Another short chapter. Don't worry, I'll have something nice for you guys next time. Enjoy some setup.

Fridays were nice. Everybody got out of classes for the weekends. On the weekends, they would have forty-eight hours to do whatever they wanted, though about sixteen of those hours would be spent sleeping. So what, about thirty-two hours were free? Wait... people have to eat and drink. Subtract another six hours, giving them three hours each day for eating.

"Ruby." The hyperactive yet shy teen turned to me with a cookie in her mouth. "We have about twenty-six hours."

She gulped down the cookie with a swig of milk. "For what?"

Jaune munched on a cookie and hummed. "You didn't tell us why we're here."

I fell back, nearly hitting my head on the desk behind me. "I want to see if we can get our teams to work together."

Ruby stopped. "Isn't it a bit early to be..."

"Forcing people together? Yeah." I closed my eyes. "It could be a bad move this early on, but it's worth a shot."

"It think it's worth a shot."

"I'm obviously with Jaune on this one. What could go wrong?" I chuckled and sat up. Ruby jamming three cookies in her mouth at once. Jaune shot her a look of concern.

"Um, Ruby?" The young girl seemed to be choking, but both of us just watched her snatched her glass of milk up and chug it down.

"I don't think drinking helps stop death." I raised an eyebrow. "So, I'll give her twenty seconds before I start the heimlich."

Ruby coughed uncontrollably. "Weren't you going to help me? I was dying!"

"Didn't you hear me? I was gonna give you time." She crossed her arms and pouted. I sighed. "It was a sick joke, but you put yourself in that spot."

"I'm with Ruby on this one." I squinted at Jaune.

"I don't think I saw you trying to save her." I laughed at his expression. "Nah, I think we should go back to the actual topic." I took a deep breath. "Getting our teams together, what do you say?"

"I don't think it's a bad idea." Jaune chimed in.

Ruby was trying to suffocate again. "Mmph- gack!" I facepalmed.

"Jaune," I waved a hand through the air, "help her out."

Jaune handed her the entire jug of milk. "Here, Ruby."

Ruby began to cough, seemingly in thanks. She took a large gulp from the jug. I rolled my eyes. "Ruby, it would be easier if you weren't trying to kill yourself over there." Jaune laughed.

She took a sharp breath in and let it go in a long exhale. "I'm sorry, I just really like cookies!"

Well, I didn't expect her to have the mental age of a six-year-old. "Yes, now could we please come to agree that suicide by cookie is a bad idea?" Ruby giggled. I honestly thought she'd be more bearable if she was actually six.

"Yeah, so how are we gonna get our teams together?" At least one person was paying attention.

"Ooh, ooh, I know!"

I raised a hand to the bridge of my nose. "Does it involve cookies?"

"...yes."

"Then no."

"Aw..." I swear, Ruby was an alright person, you just had to get past the fact she was a child at heart.

Jaune chimed in. "I have an idea."

"Are cookies involved?"

"No?" He scratched his head while Ruby wallowed in the corner.

"Thank Christ. Let's hear it."

"Well, you, Ren, and Nora are old friends, right?"

I shrugged. "Haven't really talked to them in a few years, but yeah."

"And I saw you hanging out with Ruby's teammates earlier"

"Yeah, Xiao Long ain't bad, and Blake and I are... 'like-minded' individuals." Like-minded in the regard of trying to screw with the White Fang, albeit for completely different goals.

"So why don't you just get everyone together?"

"If it were that easy, I'd have done it already."

Ruby sat up, her mind returning to running on a hamster wheel. "Duh! It is that easy! Just think of some con-. Convene-."

"Convenient?" I suggested.

"Yeah, that." Just ignore it, Sylas. You'll get over it one day. "Just think of a way to get everybody together."

"Ruby, that's like saying 'Well, hur-dur, just invade Atlas! It's not as hard as you think!"

"I don't really see how invading Atlas has anything to do with getting our teams together." Jaune gave some input, though I'd prefer he not point out my crappy analogy.

"See? It's not that hard."

"Yes, but how am I supposed to do it?"

"Take that girl on a date." Jaune, you really aren't helping.

Ruby blushed and recoiled. "What?"

I blankly glared at Jaune. "Which one?" Well, thirty-one years and I can still somewhat turn things around. Funny, most men my age have other things to worry about.

Jaune stammered. "Well, there's that one you were talking to yesterday."

"Oh, Blake?"

Ruby screeched. "What?"

"Yeah, Sylas took her into one of the empty dorms yesterday, right?" Ruby was baffled, I was surprised, and Jaune clearly had no idea what implications he was making.

"Well yeah, but it was only like ten minutes, right?" Fight fire with fire, Sylas.

Meanwhile Ruby was dying in the corner. I don't think her face could have gotten any redder.

"I think it was more like half an hour." Damn, he's good.

"Really? Time flies." I looked at Ruby. "How long do you think it was?" I grinned mischievously.

Jaune turned to her as well. "What's wrong, Ruby?"

She started babbling uncontrollably and pointed a shaky finger at me. "You and..." She trailed off before sprinting into the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her. I chuckled. Now that? That was a pro to having her as a friend.

"I wonder what's wrong with her."

"Probably nothing, Jaune."

"What were we talking about?"

As much fun as it would be for me, I decided against bringing up the whole thing with Blake. "You said you wanted me to do something with Blake in order for me to get our teams together."

"Oh yeah. Why don't you guys just go to the library?" Huh. Maybe it was that simple.

"Then I could also bring Weiss and Pyrrha to introduce them to her."

"And maybe Ruby could tag along with Blake?"

"Nah, Blake's a bit more secluded. If she brings people she'll just find a way to slip into the background."

"Wait, then why don't I get Ruby and her sister to come with me. We'll meet you guys there."

Ruby has a sister? "Yeah, sounds good. We just need to make sure that everybody gets there at the same time."

"I can do just about any time tomorrow."

"Yeah, just make sure that Ruby gets filled in."

"Huh? Oh yeah. I can do that."

"I'll get Blake tomorrow. I'll text you when I do."

"Text?" Another word that they don't have.

"Message."

"Oh. Sounds good. I'll meet you there."

I stood up and began to leave. A faint shimmer of light, something no other person, maybe except Torchwick or Ozpin, could notice. I opened the door, walked through, and closed it behind me. Another shimmer. A faint grin grew on my face. From that shimmer came forth another, and soon, Neo stood next to me, propped against the wall with her umbrella.

"Don't worry. I haven't forgot about you."