The tour of Schnee manor was over before it began, or so it felt. Everything was so rushed and hasty that he had a hard to keeping his bearings. Perhaps it was only by luck of the gods that he managed to memorize everything. His head was still throbbing even now, trying to process everything.
Trying to occupy Jaune's mind was a mission in itself. It didn't strike him how much he wouldn't be doing when he arrived at Schnee manor. He thought there would be a mountain's worth of things to do, but after sitting for hours on end, twiddling his thumbs, he realized what'd he be doing for the next for weeks. Sitting and waiting. It wasn't long before nightfall hit, and Jaune realized how many brain cells he was killing by staring out the window for hours on end.
"Forget this." Jaune muttered, pushing himself out of his and opening his door, where he froze in place. Was this really a good idea? Getting caught wandering in the house of one of the most influential and powerful men in Remnant wasn't part of Jaune's bucket list. Not to mention, Weiss would have his head on a pike if she found him snooping. Who knows how much trouble he could get in.
He shrugged. What did it matter? He was already in deep enough as it was. How could he get any deeper than this? Slowly, he pushed to door open, and marched down the quiet hall.
No one passed him in his lonely trek. Jaune couldn't help but feel sad. The walls were like that of a fort. Impenetrable, and intimidating. He felt like they were closing in on him, threatening to suffocate him. Not even a day in the manor, and he already felt caged in and wanted to leave. He could understand why Weiss wanted so desperately not to come back, and lamented the thought of it.
Ten minutes gone by, and there was still nobody in sight. Had everyone gone home? The darkness of the castle-like manor seemed all too real, almost like was seeing things. Shadows moved in random places, shifting and morphing. He blinked. His eyes must've been playing tricks on him. They had to be. He shook his head furiously, and carried on, wishing secretly that he never left his room at all.
More time went by. Jaune grew more desperate. Wasn't he just in this hallway five minutes ago? They were all starting to blend in. He cursed. No. He thought he had memorized it. Great, now he was lost. Annoyance set in much more than panic did. Of course he would get lost. Why wouldn't he be lost. He was Jaune Arc of course. Who would expect otherwise. He tried to throw away his aggressive thinking, though it stuck around, practically taunting him with his own stupidity.
After turning a corner, he noticed his saving grace. A strip of light peered from the doorway. Jaune grinned. Finally, some hope. Whoever was in there, he could ask for directions back to his room. Hopefully, there wouldn't be that many questions of what he was doing out so late.
Jaune jogged rather awkwardly, trying to be quiet and fast, and hid by the crack of the door. When he peered inside, he suppressed a scream and bounced back onto his rear. Inside was Weiss, sitting on her bed, presumably drying her bare body off after a shower. Jaune pushed himself against the wall, red faced, and heart pounding.
Of all the times to find her, why now? Mind you, he didn't see much, save her bare back, though even that was burned into his vision. Jaune gulped. What the hell was he doing? Did she hear him? Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! What if she heard him? He'd be wearing a scarf of his own entrails if she did.
Jaune waited, lips pursed and body sweating and quivering against the wall, hoping to whatever god was looking over him that the door would not open. When it didn't, he took a breath realizing he hadn't in awhile. Good. She didn't notice him. She was probably dressed by now. He hoped she was dressed by now. When he crept by the door again, multiple things happened in quick succession, so fast that Jaune barely realized what was happening.
The loud ring of a grandfather clock shook the young knight to his core, Jaune shrieked, diving forward directly into the door, forcing it open. Weiss span around, and shrieked in alarm as well. Jaune hit the floor, rubbing his head. Jaune looked at Weiss. Weiss looked at Jaune. She held a towel tightly against her bare body, but he'd already seen enough.
Dead silence. Neither made a move. You could hear a pin drop.
"Oh no." Jaune squeaked.
In a mad tangle, he scrambled up to his feet, and tried to rush out the door, though he didn't make it two feet before it slammed shut, and a black glyph showed up over the lock. The door wouldn't budge after that. He span for a dash to the window, then screeched to a halt as the tip of her rapier was pointed right at the center of his face. Weiss was fuming, red in the face, and glaring, gripping her towel tightly.
"Arc." She said in a dangerously polite tone.
"Meep." Jaune croaked.
"You have one minute to explain yourself before I freeze you, and drop you off the top of the manor."
"I-I…"
"Fifty five…"
"Alright! Alright! I got bored and walked around the house! I got lost, and found your room because yours was the only one with a light on! The bell rang and I panicked! I wasn't peeping on you, I swear! Please don't freeze me!" Jaune begged, practically on his hands and knees.
Weiss looked him up and down, eyes narrowed on him. "You swear?"
"Arc's honor!" Jaune exclaimed, holding a hand to his heart.
Weiss sighed. "Then I'll let it go. For now." As odd as the boy was at times, she did have reason to trust his word. Plus, he didn't look like the type to behave like that. "Though, if you would please step out until I finish changing." Her voice still had its commanding edge, though the embarrassment was there, plain as day.
"Um, yeah, of course." Jaune said, spinning and racing out the door, nearly tripping on the door frame and closing it. There was a certain amount of hesitance, but he could hear the rustling of her clothes. It was a five minute slog before Jaune heard her on the other side.
"You can come in now."
Jaune took a deep breath, and opened the door, the image of her bare body still burned into his mind. Heart pounding and red faced, he stood there, shuffling his feet, and staring at the floor. Weiss sighed, and beckoned him forward.
"Are you coming in or not?" she asked. The blonde knight nodded slowly, and closed the door behind him. She pointed towards her bed, something that made Jaune nearly bounce back. "Sit down, please."
He did as he was told, though when she sat next to him, Jaune couldn't find the words to say. He was absolutely stunned, being alone with Weiss in her room felt like a dream come true, but the room itself gave him chills. Outlined in pure alabaster white walls around a room so large that it could be considered its own house, there were amenities and furniture that seemed to be made for someone of royalty. A lovely computer desk, cloud-like queen sized bed, and a walk in closet that Jaune could presume was bigger than his own room back home.
As beautiful as this room was, it was deathly sterile and lifeless. No paintings or posters adorned the wall, nor any pictures or photos on the desktops, or bedside table. Everything was impossibly clean, not a speck of dust in sight, along with a perfectly well made bed that stayed perfect even with the both of them sitting on it. The only shred of identity the room had was the Schnee emblem painted against a large portion of the wall just opposite of them.
There was no Weiss in this room. Only Schnee.
Weiss looked distant, nearly apathetic, staring at the walls of her window. She looked like a bird, wanting to fly out into the night. "If you're not going to say anything, then I have a question for you. And I expect a good answer."
"What is it?" Jaune asked, head drifting up, and staring at the large ceiling.
"Why are you still in Beacon?" Weiss asked. Jaune seized up. She kept composed, knowing how big of a nerve she could have possibly struck. Recollections of their airship trip here was still prevalent in her mind.
"Why do you want to know." Jaune asked, biting back the cold retort he was planning. Somehow, all the anger he had felt from the airship bounced back. It was almost like a trigger.
"You know why." She replied plainly.
Jaune sighed. "I wanted to help people, and bring a little more honor to the Arc name."
"Quite a long way to go, I take it. You may want to reconsider doing this at all." Weiss said stiffly. Just then, surprising Weiss, Jaune shot up from the bed, fuming.
"Look, all I wanted was for a little bit of direction back to my room. We could've forgone the insults. I know I'm not much, but I'm not a damn punching bag, and I'm not a servant. Don't treat me like one!" He said angrily. As Jaune went to storm out of the room, he stumbled and felt his loosely balanced wallet fall out of his pocket, along with all of his change. Weiss said nothing, only stared. Jaune growled. "No need to say anything, I'm picking it up."
"That's not... " Weiss sighed. "I was looking at your photo's. Who are they?"
"Hmm? Oh." After he picked up all the change, he hesitantly walked back to the bed, and laid a small row of pictures for her to see. "This is my family. Not much in terms of nobility, I know, but we weren't exactly famous for being rich." He said wistfully.
"Care to tell me about them?" Weiss asked, staring at the selection.
"Not much to tell really. I had seven sisters, a mother, a father, and this little guy right here that my youngest sister dubbed 'Barkington'" He said, stifling a snigger, pointing at the rather large dog nuzzling against a child that she could only presume was Jaune. It was weird seeing him so small. Jaune noticed this, smiling blissfully at the memories. "Yeah, I was a runt way back when. How I got so tall, I'll never know."
Weiss continued to nod until something Jaune said struck her. "You had seven sisters?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yup. Dealing with all of them was its own adventure sometimes." He smiled at the family photo of all of them, some leaning on their titan of a father, others, like Jaune, cuddled against their mother. He started pointing down the list of the, presumably by age. "That's Reyna, Mila, Gabriel, Joan, Kairi, Janis, and Iris." the last one he pointed to was a girl that looked no older than four, in the arms of Jaune who looked about fifteen, and finally getting some height on him. She looked so content, nuzzled just under his chin like a little kitten.
"So that's you're family." Weiss said, gaze almost wistful as she stared over them. They all looked so happy…
"Yeah. Like I said, not much to them." Jaune said, tucking to photo's away. "My father was a hunter, and my mother convinced him to get out of that business for his own safety. Can't really blame her. He was a little on the reckless side, and kept getting into unnecessary danger. Mom wanted the same thing for me, but I refused, and ended up leaving with the family sword."
Weiss picked up on the shame in his tone. "And?"
Jaune took a deep breath. "Nothing else. Nothing at all." The ice princess shook her head. While she wanted to know more, there was doubt in her mind that he'd tell her. Trying to break away from his past, he changed the subject. "What about your family? I mean, I know you guys are famous, but-"
"I don't want to talk about it." She snapped out of the blue. Jaune bounced in surprise, staring at her with widened eyes. "Don't ask me again, understand Arc?"
"Crystal clear!" Jaune said, hands up in defense. A short silence passed before Weiss spoke up again.
"I apologize. That was immature of me."
"Um, okay." Jaune replied awkwardly.
"And also, I want to break this misconception you have of your job here. While you are here to assist me, it is only for appearance. You're here to help me with whatever comes. You are not a slave, or some sort of 'lackey' and I…" She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I made it seem so. I do see you as a friend, more now than ever before. Would you kindly help me through this visit?"
Jaune was completely aback. An apology, forced out or not, from Weiss? Again? What's the world coming to? His anger was dwindling away. She considered him a friend? After all this? It was honestly quite a shock. Jaune smiled warmly to her.
"Uh, yeah. It's fine, don't worry about it. I just have to ask you something." Jaune said.
"What is it?"
"Could you not be so formal with me? It's kinda awkward, y'know. I'm not exactly noble material, am I?" He said, chuckling.
"I suppose not. Well, I hope this is the start of something great. Thank you so much for your help."
"No problem! What are friends for, eh?" He cast a small gaze over the room again before asking, "So… those directions?"
"Ah… You're not that far away actually. It's just in the hallway to your right when you leave this room. How long were you walking around?"
"Uh… about an half an hour." Jaune muttered. So he had been wondering in one big circle…
Why couldn't he have a Semblance that told him where he was going?
She sighed. "Well, that does sound like you. I'd appreciate it if you stopped by every so often, though it would have to be at night. I do need someone to talk to. Just knock next time."
"Got it. Thanks, Goodnight!" He ran out the door, closing it behind him, presumably getting lost afterwards.
Weiss laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling, already missing the blonde idiots company. His presence was oddly warm, reassuring even. It made her feel like her hell of a manor wouldn't be too bad. She took a risk casting away her pride, and it paid off in spades. He didn't mock her, or demean her. He took her kindness in turn, despite everything, and agreed to help her.
Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.
Yeah, quite a mixture of things extended this wait time for you guys. Moving to a new country, settling in said country, new school, new friends, new assholes, that jazz. Also, this giant middle finger known as PROCRASTINATION!
My apologies.
Anywho, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review what you think of this chapter, and of the story overall! It really helps me out, and inspires me to make more! Thank you, and goodnight.