A/N: I don't own RWBY. That goes to Rooster Teeth, with its conception to the late Monty Oum.

The warehouse room was dark, shadows consumed all as dust containers were stacked in ominous piles, the massive amounts of energy latent, waiting to be used. All else was a clipboard that people would read, but couldn't, because it was dark, a couple chairs littered in various places, and two people. A crime master and a cun…ning mistress. There was no 't,' Torchwick meant to think 'cunning.'

Couldn't take too many risks, as far as the man knew, Cinder could read minds. That was a possible semblance, right? Reading minds?

Come to think of it, why WAS it called 'reading' minds? You wouldn't 'read' anything, you'd hear it. It should be called mind 'listening.' Yes. That would make more sense.

Wait, I should probably return to paying attention, maybe Cinder was saying something useful?

"…patience may finally be rewarded! As will yours, now that the time towards our victory is almost within our grasp, and we all shall reap the benefits…."

No, she's still redundantly monologuing. Of course she is. Cinder was always particularly annoying to listen to. She talked in long, descriptive sentences, yet somehow he would learn nothing. The same information was recycled into different poetic expressions that yielded absolutely nothing other than the occasional order and… well, that's it. Torchwick, however, knew that while her words were useless and her face was stuck in smirk, there was a power that he would rather avoid confronting. He wasn't a crime lord just by beating the shit out of people, he knew how to pick his battles.

Cinder than gestured towards Torchwick. Oh no, she said something I have to respond to… uh….

"As long as Neo and I get our fair share, I'm satisfied."

"Oh, you will be. You'll be reeaally satisfied." Her tongue licked her frozen lips, "Also, speaking of soon-to-be satisfaction… I must thank you for failing to apprehend the Jaune boy."

Wait, this? Oh yeah, I gotta deal with this now. "I swear, these kids are… wait, you're thanking me?"

"Indeed. While at first I wasn't pleased, now… I'm IMMENSELY happy to have him alive." Was Cinder rubbing her legs? Normally she just rubbed her hands! "And he will be of GREAT use to me alive and standing….. erect." Why did she have to word it like that? This was getting weird.

"Uh… Well, I'm glad I can serve you Cinder!" Roman made sure his trademark smile betrayed no fear, but showed no disrespect. "Now, if you excuse me, I am a busy man, acquiring all this dust, and unfortunately Neo requested the day off, so I got to threaten my men myself."

"Well, I'm glad we can have this talk." Cinder's smirk widened slightly, as she stood up, and shook his hand, moving in to a mock hug to a classic kiss-on-the-cheek that was sucked out his soul more and more with every peck. "You shall soon inherit the…." Roman tuned her out.

"THAT'S A DEAD BODY! Okay!" Nora jumped up, her arms launching towards the ceiling, her hands were indeed in the air because she really, REALLY cared. ON the ground was a faunus man, sloppily slouched on the felt carpet of a humble bookstore. His gaze was dead on the inside AND outside, and was… disturbing. It sent chills down her usually electrified spine "Why did you take me to a place with a dead body? ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME?" Neo shook her head 'no.' "THEN WHY A VENUE WITH A DEAD BODY? SERIOUSLY?"

"You're a huntress. Deal with it." Neo spoke. It wasn't truly 'talking' at the moment. She used either one word answers or telegraphic sentences. Her usually expressive face was now deadpan, as if the act of even using words drained her, or even depressed her.

Nora didn't really care though. There was a dead person within her eyesight and unless it was a heart attack, it was a murder. A murder Neo was very likely involved in.

"Okay Neo," Nora stomped her foot firmly into the plush carpet, reaching into her pocket, pulling something out "I'm pulling out my scroll right now, and I'm going to call the poli-" the object in her hand was suddenly struck out of her hand by an extended umbrella. Nora, despite fearing the older Arc sister, had limits that she demanded be respected. "You can't SERIOUSLY expect me to be BLASÉ about a dead body, do you? I'm not you!"

Neo silently groaned, and the dead body vanished.

"I don't care if you make it invisible. I'm calling the police, we're leaving, and we're discussing this 'thing' of yours like normal girls who are also trained warriors, in a café, with coffee in our hands, and NO DEAD PEOPLE!"

Neo stared her up, her head craned to face Nora, who, despite Nora's own shortness, was taller than the psychopath. It was still scary though, but Nora was not one to back down.

She then continued staring into Neo's mismatched eyes, which were twitching mildly. Okay maybe backing down is the right move here… how many times as she hit me and caused immeasurable amounts of pain that even Pyrrha has failed to place upon me in our friendly spars?

Well…. she may be a psychopath… but I'm CRAZY! She started twitching her own eyes, the heat of her head exploding forth in facial expressions. The two looked at each other with their best intense glares for a long time, blinking about as much as the faunus corpse. Nora then softly shoved Neo.

Neo flipped up, wrapping her legs around Nora's neck, and grappled her to the ground. As her head made cranial contact with the carpet, Nora took the blow, and grasped her hands around the thin yet firm legs of her attacker.

"I'm not drunk this time!" Nora flipped Neo herself, having the diminuitive girl join her recumbent on the carpet. Nora straddled Neo, and started whipping her hand back and forth, slapping Neo repeatedly in quick succession.

Her hand was caught after the umpteenth slap, and the position changed. Neo was now on top, and now was aggressively slapping her, her arm imitating the world's fastest metronome, the slaps matching a cartoonish tempo.

It continued like that until the constant flipping caused them to exit the building and onto the sidewalk. The streets were bare, but the fresh air caused both women to stop and get off each other, as if it was indecent. They shifted back into a staring contest.

"Here." Neo curtly demanded.

"No, a nice, cutesy café… or anything really… How about an ice cream parlor?"

"I….. HATE…. Ice cream."

"Huh…." Nora shrugged, "…I would've thought…"

"You thought wrong."

Nora readjusted her strategy. "Well… what DO you like?"

Neo didn't say anything as she continued intensifying the clearly dissatisfied face of someone who was trying to quell a desire to kill. Nora had no intention of joining the man in the building.

"Well… this is just great." Nora relinquished her gaze and stared off into the vacant streets of back-alley Vale. "And to think I didn't get any pancakes with breakfast today."

Neo's eyes widened. "I like pancakes."

Nora froze. Her blood wasn't chilled, however. Her heart started racing, and electricity once again flowed through her every pore. "I…. like pancakes too… want to…. go get pancakes?"

"It's…. been a while…." Neo admitted.

"I know a place."

As Nora and Neo walked away, Nora sneakily pulled out his scroll and filed a text-request to the police to investigate a…. she turned around… Tukson's Book Trade.

It was a faunus death, probably to be swept under the rug with a cheeky line about how he didn't get his rabies shots. However, it was probably best for that body to not rot in that store…. Dead bodies are NOT pleasant lying around where they shouldn't be.

And he deserved to be discovered and professionally handled…. Damn, she hated dead bodies, it made it hard to refocus herself to happier thoughts.

She saw that Neo noticed her. "…you have your scroll? I hit it away…."

"I didn't pull out my scroll…" Nora mentally enjoyed the small victory she had over the assassin as they walked together towards one of the best breakfast-all-day places in Vale.

She wasn't going to eat that apple anyway…. She didn't hate the things, but it wasn't her taste, and she had WAY too many to spare after this morning.

Jaune knocked on Goodwitch's door, making sure she wasn't there. Blake was a faster reader than he thought, and he constantly had to raid Goodwitch's secret... collection. It was consistently stocked, the amount of literature available to their tastes was surprising. There must've been new releases every week!

Or maybe Goodwitch got early access to many publications. It wasn't like she was a nobody with no connections like him.

"I'm in the middle of a good chapter- I mean!- meeting with a student! Please wait outside!" Shit! Well, he could always come back later. Maybe he could polish that homework he completed. Or maybe train a bit! Or possibly go downtown and walk around….

"Blech… how did a pear get in there?.. OH HEY! IT'S THAT GUY RUBY LIKES AND MY WARDEN IS RELATED TOO! HI!" Or maybe he could interact with Ruby's strange…. Wait, did she just say Ruby liked him?

"Uh… hi Penny, how are you doing?" Jaune turned around as the girl whizzed right to him with a smile, continuing to wave awkwardly with a vicious determination to karate chop the air.

"I am doing sensational, thank you for asking! By the way, I DID say Ruby liked you, but only in the way a friend likes someone. I feel I have to always add that disclaimer!"

"Uh… why? I mean, I appreciate the clarification, but…."

"Well, she certainly didn't like it when I used it when referring to Weiss…. Or Port…. But mostly to Weiss, of all things. Something about 'not batting for that team.' I don't get it. Do you care to explain that to me Jaune?"

"Yes, I do care, but in the way where I'll say 'no.'" Were Atlesians this sheltered and clueless? From the way Weiss acted, things had to be very proper, and there was very little room for… baseball analogies in regards to 'preferences,' as well as progression in those preferences.

"I'll ask the good Doctor then… or maybe Father."

"You do that…." Jaune mildly huffed, "so… are you doing anything right now?"

"Only looking around… WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN ME LIKE A FRIEND!"

"I would…. Be okay with that. But where's Ruby?" Jaune thought that the girl was attached to the shorter leader. Indeed, during their breakfast, Penny was determined to recruit Ruby as her bestie that would cheer her on as apples continuously entered the impressive gullet. How Penny talked coherently with all that fruit in her mouth was unknown to him, considering not even someone like Nora was able to. Semblance, maybe?

They started walking down the hallway as Penny started explaining her 'BFFs' absence. "Ruby and Weiss are doing private spars to prepare for the Vytal tournament, and Weiss didn't want me around to 'spy' on them. So… since apparently my 'team' is busy at the moment, I've just been wandering the school without chaperone!" Penny mildly squeed. "I feel so FREE and POWERFUL!" Flames burst out from behind her in a chaotic maelstrom of rock band proportions. A heat wave slapped Jaune in the face as he winced to withstand the heat.

"Oh! Ooops, didn't mean to do that… I'm kinda getting used to it." The flames disappeared as the girl sheepishly blushed akin to when Ruby explodes something, and much unlike when Nora explodes something. Jaune staggered, felt his heart race, but it was nothing too unusual.

"It's… no problem. I'm used to being frightened by random powers that come out of nowhere." Jaune smirked and shrugged. Evil eyes, metal powers, super dogs. The only thing that could freak Jaune out at this point was a horror movie…. He was still a wuss when it came to those.

Penny, still apparently embarrassed by the random fire spurt incident was oddly quiet as they walked down the halls. As much as Penny's speech was…. odd and uncomfortable, Jaune was never a fan of awkward silences.

"So… what's life back in Atlas like?"

"Oh! It's great! Everyone is so nice to me! My father really cares for me and Ironwood and Glass take really good care of me!" Her face shifted from the embarrassment to excitement so quickly Jaune could've SWORN he heard some kind of whirr. "All I need is to make some human friends and everything will be great!" Jaune looked at the girl, an eyebrow raised at the odd implications of such a statement.

"No faunus friends?" He did hear that Atlesians are the least accepting of the race of people. It wasn't her fault for being raised that way, but ambivalence towards that made it part of the problem.

"Oh, yes! Faunus friends are welcome!" Penny continued smiling. "I mean 'human,' including the faunus people. I just used that term to differentiate people from me…..ANIES! Total meanies! That's what I- hic!- meant to say!"

"So… meanies aren't human? That's a little harsh, to be honest." Jaune continued walking, but faced away from Penny as to actually see where he was going, only to promptly look up as if in thought. "Take Cardin for instance. He was a bully… now… he's an acquaintance. I won't be the best man at his wedding, but I wouldn't spit in his food." Jaune chuckled. "To be fair, you don't know what a person is like until you give him or her a chance."

"Oh! I agree full heartedly! I…." Jaune heard Penny sigh, but it sounded weird. It was more like an exhaust pipe releasing excess pressure rather than a windpipe carrying diaphragm forced air. "I…. I just want people to give me a chance is all… y'know…. but they say people won't give me a chance."

What is it with people opening up to him? He just met this girl yesterday. Well, a friend is a stranger you haven't met yet, and an ally is a friend you haven't helped yet. "Who's 'they?'"

"Father, mostly. Not that he thinks low of me… he's just worried, because I'm difffff… NOT different! I'm just –hic!- so ordinary! Nothing diff-hic!-erent about me! I am a duplicate snowflake!"

"You need some water? That hiccup spell sounds really bad." Jaune pulled out a water bottle, always on hand just in case he had to run for his life or have a surprise duel with Port. Those happened surprisingly often.

"MY WATERPROOFING IS UNDER MAINTENANCE RIGHT NOW!" Penny shrieked as she hopped away from the bottle. She then stopped, raised her hand to her mouth, and whimpered.

"…water…proofing?" The oblivious and awkward way of speaking. The odd sound effects. The fact she is accompanied by the most respected researcher in Atlas. It finally all made sense, she was a…..

"Okay I admit it, I'M A ROBOT!" Penny kneeled down and cried into her hands…. Except no tears came. She literally couldn't cry. She could wail though. "I'M NOT REAL! I'M A CONSTRUCT!"

Huh. I was thinking biomedical clone. Robot makes sense too.

Jaune looked around to see that no one was around. Typical Sunday, everyone is asleep or training or just nowhere near wherever they are. He walked up and offered his hand.

"Hey, it's okay…. I… won't tell a soul." First thing you do with psychotically breaking down girls, tell them what they want to hear. It's how she dealt with Pistachia's tantrums. The girl looked up, face dry from the lack of tears.

"Really? But… but wouldn't you be like…. Popular for pointing me out and saying 'oh look! Atlas is trying to sneak a robot in the Vytal Festival!'"

"To tell you the truth, I know a thing or two about sneaking things in that aren't supposed to be there… it's fine." Jaune smiled as he kept his hand extended. Penny looked at the hand, visibly confused, but then grasped it with the clutches of a vice and rose up to meet Jaune in a hug that felt like two busses colliding to either side of him.

Yep. Penny's hugs were indeed the worst.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Somehow, the grip's strength increased.

Jaune struggled. This was normal: start with a conversation, things escalate, he almost dies. His Mom made more sense every day…. Still kept on though, it's what he wanted to do.

"I'm…. glad…. You… can let gooooo" the last part of his word transformed into a soundless trickle of air as Jaune's vision started to cloud.

"Oh! Sorry!" Penny let go, as Jaune collapsed at the floor. All he could be fully aware of was his breathing, letting air come in as frantic yet as calm as necessary. He let oxygen coat his insides.

He needed to get Nora, Mom, and now Penny on the same team. They could win through the power of love… or the intention of love, at least. Damn hugs.

"Here! Let me make it up to you for offering my own hand!" Jaune looked up to see Penny's hand extended. He took it, and was immediately thrown into the ceiling.

"Oops… too hard."

Jaune, stuck to the ceiling for a good ten seconds, wallowed in discomfort as he eventually peeled off by aid of gravity. He plopped onto the ground. Penny offered her hand again.

"I… I got this covered." Aura was nice in terms of sustaining no injuries, but it didn't stop pain… or the humiliation. He groaned as he creaked upright, and made sure his bones were set into a proper standing position. "So… what I was going to say was…. I know what it's like needing people to give you a chance, and I was so incredibly lucky that people did, so…." Jaune smiled while scratching the back of his neck, "I guess I'll pay it forward and give you a chance as well. Just…. Don't do that again."

"Sorry, I'll also be careful not to burn you with my mystical powers."

Jaune felt his heart freeze, as his body tensed up. "mystical….. powers?"

"Oops! I mean… I don't-hic!- have mystical powers!"

"You hiccup when you lie."

"I-hic!-don't!"

That girl, the one that accompanied me… she's part of this. That's what Dr. Glass said, wasn't it?

Just because he learned to tolerate ridiculous crap, didn't mean he enjoyed it!

"Ruby, I understand your weapon is practically thrice the length of your body, but you shouldn't be holding it like that!" Weiss, using Myrtenaster as a lecture stick, used it to reorient Ruby's limbs into positions her leader clearly were not used to.

"Uhg, Weiss…." Ruby pouted and groaned, "…my arms are getting tired holding these poses for so long."

"Look, Ruby, I understand that you are more than capable of being a good fighter, we're working on you becoming a GREAT fighter, which means working on some details that make ALL the difference."

"Uhhhg, Qrow never said I'd have to stress this stuff….."

"I really feel like I need to talk to your uncle about proper form." Weiss didn't know much about Ruby's family, which was odd considering she always talked about them much more often than she talked of hers and Blake talked of…. well…. WHATEVER she was raised in. Still, all she fully know was 'Qrow is the Greatest.' And 'Dad is the Greatest.' While Weiss was very aware that Ruby didn't take to grammar or logic too seriously, thus the impossibility of both being '-est' didn't bother her, it was more that Weiss refused to imagine anyone being 'the greatest' begetting an admittedly good fighter, but… so… undisciplined.

Ruby laughed, hard enough to release the pose she was trying to instill onto her leader as she slacked down. After that, she straightened up and pointed at Weiss, "that would be his response."

"Well, that doesn't have to be yours, now get back into position, it's best you get used to it now so you have the INSTINCT to revert to these advantageous stances. So we're going to hold it for around…. Ten to fifteen minutes? Does that sound fair?"

"Noooooooooo" Ruby's silver eyes pleadingly looked into Weiss's.

As if Winter would fall for that trick. "Then twenty minutes. Start now."

"Woof!" Zwei cheered her on… as least Weiss imagined it to be so. She brought the dog along as moral support… for herself. Forcing Ruby to do anything was an ordeal in patience and physical endurance. Mostly patience, but there was always the….

WOOSH!

….attempts to escape. Damn speed semblance.

"Woof!"

Weiss looked down at the dog. "You have any idea where Ruby went?"

"Woof?"

"Better than nothing."

They walked down the hallway, following a trail of slowly dissipating rose petals. They didn't stay for long, but they were a trail if Weiss could move fast enough. She darted down the halls, careful not to go too fast as to get in trouble. Also, she didn't want to collide into anyone. No touchy!

"Weiss! I thought your father taught you better than that!" Weiss's feet anchored into the ground, aided by Glyph, at the mention of Father. Chills went down her spine, memories clouded her mind…. Zwei licked her hand. Good Zwei. Be a good boy.

"Woops….." A mild apologetic voice emerged from the snarky tone that preceded it. Weiss turned around to see the diminutive Professor Pluto Glass standing across the hallway. "Shouldn't have said that, shouldn't I? Also, I see it in your face. It's Doctor, not Professor."

"Wait… what? I mean… I'm… sorry sir." The man walked up to her, one arm akimbo while the other was in a pocket. "Have you seen my partner Ruby, she's…. well…. she's running away from her responsibilities as a leader!"

"I'm assuming that was the red blur…. I was actually looking for her. I lost track of Penny and I was hoping to…. well well well…." The man knelt down to the dog, patting his head "what do we have here… Zwei, right?"

"Oh, it's okay, Ozpin has given approval and… wait…. How do you know?..."

"It's on his collar, Weiss."

"Oh." Weiss blushed at the obvious answer, stupid that she should question a prof-

"Doctor!"

"Really! Last time I checked your semblance wasn't Telepathy!"

"If it was, I'd have made less mistakes in regards to people…. No, but there's a certain look when someone says 'professor,' and its similar to when someone thinks, or is about to think it."

"I understand you're a renowned scientist Pr-Doctor! But I highly doubt that…."

"Woof!"

"See! The dog agrees with me!" Weiss crossed her arms in triumph. From what he heard from her father, he hated this specific official, so he didn't feel TOO ashamed to question his authority.

The doctor tisked, but didn't turn his gaze towards Weiss. He was focused on the dog, and Glass's petting was turning…. Aggressive? He put his hands in Zwei's mouth, prying it open to look at his teeth, his bespectacled eyes getting in close to the muzzle. He moved his hands, massaging the pawed feet. He poked the nose. He grasped the entirety of the dog's body and lifted it up, and looked at the belly and back up in the air.

"Woof!"

"Uh…. Docfessor…Protor…. DOCTOR!... What are you doing?"

The man looked at Weiss, his eyes slightly above her own eye level. Within the oculi Weiss saw the churning of a man whose mind went too fast. "I'm giving an express physical to the dog, of course! I can imagine it hasn't seen a proper vet ever since it started living here in Beacon!"

Weiss… well…. she could accept that. She doubted the dog had even SEEN a proper vet EVER at the Xiao-Long/Rose household. Didn't mean she should tolerate the older man's prying, partly because, despite having a PhD, she doubted that Glass was a proper vet himself.

What was going on with this dog? It was behaving admittedly strangely, drawing itself towards the memorial on occasion. It's sojourns with Jaune and Nora. Its presence in Mulan. And now an esteemed scientist was giving an 'express phyical' before her very eyes. What on Remnant could…. wait… maybe.

"Hmmm…. Seems like he could use a couple vaccinations! I see traces of…. stuff…. Can I borrow this pooch for a while? It won't be long!"

"Actually…." Weiss crossed her arms. "I have some questions about this dog… things have been…. Funny, recently."

A bead of sweat fell from the temple of the Proctoressor. "Like… ha ha funny or…. Not funny funny?…."

"Well….." Weiss was about to make her first point until something collided with her with the force of a cartwheeling hippopotamus wearing a red riding hood cloak.

"Sorry! I was just running away from- WEISS!" Ruby shrieked as she hopped up from her partner and started sweating. "I'M SORRY! I JUST DON'T LIKE PRACTICING LIKE YOU PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" Ruby wrapped her arms around Weiss, who felt stifled in the same way that Nora could…. In theory. Nora never hugged her….

"Well…. I'm going to give Zwei here a professional check-up! He'll be back by tonight! Don't worry! I'm a professional!" The doctor…. HAH! Remembered it…. Slunk away, holding the dog, much to the mutt's… protests? Excitement? She couldn't tell the nature of the barks from the distance or from the fact that not enough air was reaching her brain.

Ruby let Weiss go. "Wait…. Why is that Atlesian guy taking my dog?"

"Something about giving it a veterinary check-up…." Weiss paused to get more air, "…but I don't think that's it."

Ruby than smirked, "you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That we're going to skip training to do some stupid spying?"

"….Yeah that's what I was thinking."

Weiss sighed. Ruby was great, but she was still two years younger and had the attention span of a gnat on a sugar high. "Well…. I can get behind that…"

"Yay!" Ruby hugged Weiss again. The closeness to her was not unwelcome. It was rather enjoyable, the way their small frames pressed.…. Weiss realized they weren't the only ones in the hallway.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT?"

The pancakes were thick, fluffy, and doused with sugary goodness. Neo valued herself a woman beyond such trivial things such as reliance upon sensation based desires. The thrill of good sex was beneath her. The pressure of a deep massage was unnecessary. Webflicks was over-priced and she didn't bother pirating trivial entertainment online. And definitely not the near orgasmic pleasure from a good meal. All she needed was sustenance and the occasional blast of raw alcohol.

But…. Pancakes. Damn them and syrup too. Her cakes were decorated with a swirl of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry syrup.

She had a weakness, and Nora had discovered it… and she had the same weakness too.

Oum forbid they bond over this fact.

No. No bonding. It's business, pure and simple. She simply needed Nora to twat-block Cinder: do the things too dangerous for her to even consider doing, and since Nora was a student of Beacon, and a well-known student from what she could tell, Cinder couldn't off her easily without stirring controversy before it was necessary. Indeed, if Neo did the same Cinder could kill her without a thought, she barely existed, and it could easily be written off as 'she wandered off again' and this time got herself killed.

But Nora… Nora would last longer than her on the fact that killing her would be noticeable. And Neo was NOT going to disguise herself as Nora and fake being her…. No. She could fake being Pyrrha, maybe, but Nora…. THAT is impossible.

"Next time we come here, we are DEFINITELY trying the waffles! I mean… I'm not a waffle girl but I feel that fellow pancake girls should like… live dangerously together, y'know? So…."

"We are not…. Pancake girls." Just the fact she opened her mouth and said something so insipid made her want to kill someone…. Okay, she always wanted to kill someone. Made her want to MAIM before killing someone… yes, she didn't ALWAYS feel like doing that.

"Well, then let's cut to the chase, Neo. What do you need me for, and it BETTER not be for… well…. you know!"

Neo sighed. "Someone I don't like wants to fuck Jaune."

The clatter of silverware, the intake of breath, the silence following. The café was loud and boisterous, but even Neo picked up the cues amidst the aural pandemonium. It was fine, though, they were camouflaged. To each other they looked as normal, but to the outside observer, Neo was an red-headed hottie showing more cleavage than shirt, and Nora was a dorky guy with thick glasses and a minor beer gut. For it to make sense 'Nora' was dressed nicely. Neo would rather be the trophy than the doof who 'won' it.

So the casual observer would just assume that Neo propositioned Nora for sex…. It sent chills down Neo's spine to think of it like that, but as an illusionist, the observer can think anything but it's usually wrong.

"….Uh… why are you telling me this? I mean… it's not like I… like like your brother or anything! I mean… what if… what if… this woman makes him happy. I mean… your approval isn't important! Jaune can love anyone he wants!"

Neo stayed silent, keeping her visage deadpan. "Woman is worse than me. Killed more than me. Probably will use Jaune as tool." Not really…. Cinder just wanted to 'bang chugga wang-wang' as Dad would… no… don't bring Noah into this.

"Hmmm….. what does she look like? What should I do? What DO I do?"

That was the question, wasn't it? What could someone like Nora could do to possibly hamper someone as grossly determined as Cinder? "She dresses like a high-class prostitute, and has eyes like fire. She's more leg than head. Talks like a porn voice had sex with a snake's slither. As for what you do? Keep an eye on Jaune, and twat block. Considering your… talents… I assume you can think of something." Good, place all the planning on this on her. Keep herself withdrawn from it. Not involved.

Neo liked Cinder's plan. She really did. But… she had two caveats. Don't kill Jaune. And don't fuck Jaune. Was that too much to ask?

"Good talk." Neo hated using that phrase, "we should finish up. You need to get back to school ASAP to start keeping an eye on him."

"…why do you keep making her sound like an evil mastermind?"

"Because she thinks she is."

Jaune walked alongside Penny, just talking. It was nice, to be honest. Not as great as his talks with Nora and Pyrrha, due to her awkward nature, but it was nice.

She didn't delve into the mystical powers, much to Jaune's relief. The less he knew about it, the less it existed… right?

"Well, it was nice conversing with you Jaune! I must admit, I enjoyed it very much!"

"I'm glad I could show you around Beacon, Penny, just…. Don't punch me into the ceiling ever again, okay?"

"I'll be sure not to try! By the way… there's a dance before the festival, right?"

"Uh… yeah…."

The girl leaned in and excitedly whispered, "if you aren't taken, I would LOVE to accompany you to it!" The girl hopped up excitedly. "Bye Jaune!" And she scuttled away in a rigid skip.

Jaune groaned, "you know, you can tell your sex appeal is great when it attracts a robot and a lonesome celebrity…." She chuckled to himself, "well, I better get started on…."

"You clearly are quite the ladies' man, Mr. Arc… how long was that, an hour or two? And already she wants to invite you to the dance month in advance. That is quite the talent… Jaune." The named boy turned around to see the woman from yesterday, her legs as milky as ever, and hips as curvy as ever. She shook said hips as she walked forward, a gust of hormone exciting perfume entered his nostrils, smelling wonderful and…. exciting. The clacking of the heels on the solid floor was like a bodacious metronome demanding proper tempo from his racing heart.

"Uh…. well…. I mean…. All you need is coffee breath… I MEAN confidence! Yeah…. Confidence…." Jaune then realized something, "how do you know my name?"

"I was wondering who you are… had to ask around… couldn't face you again until I knew who I was dealing with….. and when I heard you were an Arc it made so much sense." She now stood right up to him, her legs threatening to grace his hips. Her nose was practically mere inches from his lips, and her eyes seemed to extend past their corporeal location to bore into his head.

"What… ah… .what… do you ellipses mean?" Jaune cursed himself internally. Did he really have to vocally express the damn punctuation taking place in his head.

"I heard Arcs were BIG ladies men…." She then leaned her head in, her tongue ghostly stroking his ear… "big in more ways than one. Kindness, heart, skill, and…. of course I don't need to explain the last." Her voice was like saliva, dripping, viscous… yet capturing. It would've been gross if it weren't so…. So….

"Well, who are you and what are you known for?" Jaune whispered back, failing to be anything but standing rigid.

"I'm Cinder… and I get what I want."

I'll show off your corpse when I'm done with you, and Cinder will reward me handsomely! Adam's voice suddenly returned to Jaune's head. He remembered the moment vividly, committing that quote to memory just in case that name came up again.

He did NOT expect that name to come up like… well….. how he came down: sudden and ruinous to the mood.

Her hands snaked around and put her hand on his chest. "Shall I introduce you to… the rest of me?"

"M…m….aybe some other time! Yep Exclamation Point I have things to do Comma but how about we exchange phone numbers Question mark At a later time because I'm clearly… not talking right." Jaune had to get out, he….

"Sure…. I understand, shouldn't rush forward. But don't worry…." Despite him backing away, Cinder somehow slithered behind him and whispered once more into his ear, "…I already have your scroll number." She then sashayed away.

Jaune stood there, needing a cold shower for obvious reasons and a hot bath to stop the chills.

To think, it would be the attention of women that would make Jaune want to run back to his mother more than the creatures of Grimm.

"You were trying to contact me, what do you need?" Salem was easily annoyed by her human subjects, but they provided results that made dealing with their mortal-based stupidity bearable. Cinder was the most obnoxious but also held the most promise.

"Don't worry, I got it under control. I have a plan that will make EVERYTHING easier… trust me… I will not only inherit the powers of maiden… I will inherit the powers of beasthood."

Salem sighed, "it doesn't work like that Cinder, you can't just Parasite the Beast…."

"No… but can I Parasite the power from one of the trainers?"

"Only if you link yourself properly to the other… what…." Salem had a feeling she would get an interdimensional migraine if she was in another dimension like people believed. She wasn't, but she wasn't going to prove anyone wrong. "… what are you doing?"

"Don't worry, my Queen. All will be revealed…."

"YOU DON'T REVEAL THINGS TO ME, YOU INFORM ME ON EVERYTHING!"

"It will be worth it… I just need more time…" Cinder hung up. Of ALL the times she WANTED Cinder to shut up and be less descriptive, she now was doing things secretly.

Salem groaned. It didn't matter, she not only had the Dragon lying in wait, she also had her most dangerous creature: outside of herself, obviously.

It was a beautiful creature, using things that many Huntsmen would better not face. They feared giant monsters, but they feared one thing more: the reality of their own mortality.

And only seeing their own mortality incarnated could truly make them feel that.

It was time to unleash the Memorial….. Okay, no it wasn't, but it was time to PREPARE the Memorial.

A/N: Wow! I got a LOT, a LOT of responses for proposing the ship for my next fic, and the results surprised me.

I won't tell them here, but you just need to skim my reviews to figure it out. As I said, I will NOT pick the winner by default, it was just a way to see what kinds of stories people were interested in seeing me do.

I want to try Jaune X Velvet or Coco because the majority of them are fluff. Fluff is great and all, but it'd be interesting to see those ships in a more dramatic, with an overarching plot that ISN'T the romance, incorporated. As for Jaune X Emerald, THAT to me seems like an… interesting… ship to do, because to make that ship work, you got to redeem Emerald or corrupt Jaune. If I do pick this ship, it will be the former. Jaune X Winter would by definition be an incredibly awkward ship to do. Age-gap, knowing the sister first, and… well, you could imagine.

It's sort of what I'm doing with this story, at least attempting. Jaune X Nora is only done in short what-if one-offs or cutesy stories that are more slice of life. Agreed, the plot in this story is admittedly stupid and fan-ficky, but… with many authors giving the Jaune X PRWBY ships stories that are epic and story based, I thought Jaune X Nora needed one. Just a story as silly yet heart-felt as Nora is.

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