(Chapter 1)
"Oh my gosh, this is going to be so much fun!"
The ecstatic voice of one Ruby Rose was met with smiles from the rest of team RWBY as they made their way down the sidewalk in Mantle. Their destination? A hot spring located near one of the edges of the grounded city of Solitas.
"You don't need to be so excited Ruby. You've been in a hot tub before, haven't you? It's just like that, but outdoors."
Before Weiss could continue speaking to her leader, the blonde brawler hooked an arm around the shorter girl's shoulders.
"Aww, c'mon Weiss cream! Ruby's never gotten to go to one before, of course she'd be excited." Yang flashed a smile and a thumbs up to her younger sister, who gave her a beaming grin in response.
"I have to admit, I'm a little excited to go to one of these myself, I've always wanted to." The calm input from the sole faunus of team RWBY caught everyone by surprise, all of them having assumed that the girl had been too absorbed in reading to chime in. Though a mischievous smirk from the lilac-eyed girl made the black-haired beauty light up red in embarrassment.
"Oh, and why's that Blakey~ You wanna reenact a scene from your books?" The girl began to sputter in embarrassment, but before she could continue her teasing, Weiss adopted a stern look while Ruby's face was mortified.
"Yang, you had better be on your best behavior while we're there! You tell them too Ruby." The youngest member of the team went into her 'leader mode' before she addressed the two.
"What Weiss said! No doing anything lewd at the hot springs!" All she got in response was a groan of embarrassment from the cat-faunus, and an indulgent laugh from the girl holding her hand. Weiss let a sigh of either exhaustion or frustration escape her as she took out a hand mirror from her bag and used it to check her reflection as she added her own comment about their destination.
"If we're being honest, I'm really looking forward to this. Back when I stayed with my family, we had our own personal hot springs a bit away from the mansion. I used to take a dip after a long day, and its been far too long since I've gotten the chance to do so again."
"Weiss, you take hour long steaming hot shower and baths back at Atlas, how is this going to be any different." The girl scoffed at the question before she regained her lecturing tone as she explained the reason for her anticipation.
"The difference is the water. Unlike the water we use in our room, the water at the hot springs is all from the ground. Meaning that it will have an astounding amount of minerals within, and the heating comes naturally from Remnant's crust. It does wonders for the skin." The girl capped her explanation thinking about the hot water she'd be exposed too soon.
There was a brief silence, before Yang added a snarky comment that made Weiss's face match the tips of Ruby's hair.
"She just wants a chance to see Jaune without his shirt on." The second of the Schnee siblings adopted a face of indignation as she was about to deny the accusation, but before she could, Blake cleared her throat gently and pointed something out.
"On a side note, it was really nice of the General to have given us all the weekend off like he did." And it was something that the girls had all been truly grateful for. The past four months of doing missions day on and day off around Solitas had been taking its toll on the former students, but here they were with some real down time on their hands, and they were not about to pass it up.
"Speaking of, it'll be good to spend some time with Jaune and the others. When was the last time we really hung out?" Yang's comment was met with looks of thought as the girls each tried to find the answer, which unsurprisingly came from her girlfriend.
"Probably since we got to Atlas. After the first few days of getting settled in, we were all getting sent on our own missions. After were done doing whatever we need to do for the day, they're either out on their own assignments or probably asleep." The statement brought a bit of glumness into the conversation, but it didn't have a chance to stay long, with Ruby's optimistic personality.
"Then that just means we have to make the most out of today!" The girl's refusal to let anything get her down brought out smiles from her team, and a response from her partner.
"She's right girls, I for one think that this will be a fun weekend spent with friends."
As the continued down the sidewalk with their bags carrying bathing suits to wear at the hot springs hanging form their shoulders, Yang made a snarky comment with a wide grin.
"Wiess didn't deny wanting to see Jaune shirtless~"
"Xiao Long!"
The rest of the walk was spent making a generous amount of small talk until they caught sight of their destination, as well as a group of three waiting for them outside. Unable to contain herself, Ruby used her semblance to dash over to her friends and greet them, causing her team to chuckle and jog to catch up.
"It's so good to see you guys!" Ruby met Nora in a tight hug as the group began to mingle together before they went inside.
"It feels like we haven't seen you all in forever." Oscar's calm, though no less happy statement received a series of nods from scythe wielder, but before she could respond, Blake chimed in.
"Hey guys, where is Jaune?" Ren and Nora could only smile fondly as they thought about their leader before the martial artist chose to enlighten her.
"He's coming, but he's doing that crossing guard assignment for the kids again today." A round of warm smiles appeared on the faces of team RWBY, save for Weiss who was confused.
"But why is he doing it on his day off?" Nora chuckled at the question as she explained the reason Jaune had given to them.
"Those kids love Jaune, and apparently he promised one of them that he'd walk them across today too. And you know Jaune." They all looked to each other, as they said the knightly teen's catchphrase aloud as a group.
"An Arc never goes back on his word." A laugh was shared as they all thought about their friend before Weiss began asking questions.
"So, do we know what time he's supposed to be here?" Oscar thought to himself for a moment before he answered the former heiress.
"It doesn't really take a long time, and I know that he brought his bag with him today so that he could head straight here. All he does is lead his group of kids from the elementary school to where the parents pick them up, and then he's done. Maybe an hour if I had to guess?"
The estimation earned a sound of thought, before the girl nodded and led the group inside, all of them following the lead of the sole native of Solitas.
The inside was warm, but not uncomfortably so as the group moved to the reception desk. They all had an unspoken agreement to let Weiss do all of the talking, and before long, they heard a slight squeal of surprise come from the receptionist, who hurriedly appeared to be acquiescing to whatever the white-haired girl's request had been before leading them to the gender appropriate changing rooms.
After the teens all found themselves changed into their bathing suits, or in the male's cases, their trunks; the group was led outside to a surprisingly large outdoor hot spring. Weiss was the first to find herself submerged in the steaming water and let out a sigh of content as she sat down, her friends having similar reactions as they followed her example.
"This is so relaxing…" Hearing those words come from Ruby, at the snail's pace she said them at spoke volumes about how much this little trip was needed. everyone else enjoying the springs around her could only nod their heads or offer quiet agreements as they lazed in the water. Though to no one's surprise, it was Nora who broke the silence.
"Hey Weiss, what were you talking about with the reception lady earlier?" The girl's friends were indeed a little curious as to what happened during the brief exchange of words. The girl gave a dismissing wave as she answered the ginger with her eyes closed.
"Oh that? I simply informed her that'd we'd be renting out the hot springs for the day." There was a moment of silence, before several cries of shock as well were aimed towards the Schnee, who looked at regarded everyone lazily.
"Is there a problem?" The girl's friends sat silently before Oscar decided to voice the question that everyone else had on their minds.
"W-Weiss, how were you able to afford that? That couldn't have been cheap…" The girl in question hid a small series of laughs behind her hand before she let her friends in on her little secret.
"Well, when my father forced me to come back to Atlas, I made sure to set aside an account of funds for when I finally escaped. Naturally, he doesn't know anything about this." The girl's friends all stared at her with mouths agape, more than mildly astounded at the former heiress's audacity. Yang cracked a smile, followed by the rest of the white-haired girl's friends, before they all began to laugh at the situation.
After recovering from her laughter, Yang sent a question over to her younger sister.
"So Rubes, who all did you invite?" The scythe-wielder thought to herself for a few moments before she opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, the door to the hot springs was opened to reveal two people, one of whom was very familiar.
"Salutations!" The energetic catchphrase could only belong to one Penny Polendina, and accompanying her was Ciel Soliel, her former teammate.
"Penny! And you're…Ciel, right?" The chocolate-skinned girl gave a polite nod of her head and failed to suppress a guilty sigh as she lowered herself into the steaming pool of water, and after getting comfortable responded to the younger girl.
"That's correct. Penny insisted I accompany her; I hope you have no problems with my being here." The red reaper shook her head in response with a toothy grin on her face.
"Nope! Any friend of Penny's is a friend of mine, so make yourself comfortable." The sound of someone entering the water could be heard as everyone turned to see Penny sliding into the spring, their faces shifting to ones of curiosity while Blake decided to address the newly born elephant in the room.
"Um…Penny? Is it okay for you to be in water with your…circumstances? The ginger android looked puzzled for a moment before realization dawned on her and she gave an assuring smile to the cat faunus of team RWBY.
"Not to worry Friend Blake! When I was rebuilt, Father took care to ensure I could do anything that a true human girl could." Ruby let out a sigh of relief, before the blonde bombshell repeated her earlier question to her, and she gave the answer.
"Let's see; I invited Penny, Team FNKY, and the Ace Ops." Despite their relaxed states, most of the group's faces present shifted to ones of moderate surprise after hearing the short girl's answer, and it was her older sister who decided to question the younger girl on it.
"Penny I get, and maybe team FNKI, but the Ace Ops? Do you honestly expect them to come?" Ruby simply shrugged her shoulders before answering her older sister.
"I dunno. They're always busy, and we've been spending a lot of time together on missions, so I thought I'd at least make the offer." Yang could only smile at the friendliness of her sister, until the sound of someone clearing their throat grabbed the groups attention. Near the scythe wielder, the former heiress seemed to have a bit of a blush on her face as she held her hand up before speaking.
"I also wanted to inform you all that I extended an invitation to Winter as well." The girl's embarrassment deepened upon seeing the knowing smiles of her friends, but before she could tell them off, the door they all came from opened again, and they turned their heads to see the familiar faces of Flynt, Neon, Kobalt, and Ivori approaching, all of whom were clad in their hot springs attire.
"Hey, how you guys been?" The laid back leader of team FNKI sent a nod of greeting towards the quiet martial artist, to which he returned in kind, and both near-adults watched as Neon used her semblance to zip around the spring's edge until she was next to Nora, before she slipped into the water next to her fellow ginger, letting out a sound reminiscent of a purr as she did so.
"How ya been Lightning Bolt?" the skater girl's raised hand met rather recent friend's in a small high five as the two began to chat while the rest of team FNKI slipped into the water while Flynt asked a question that stemmed from whom he saw present?
"Yo, where's the Knight? I thought for sure he'd be here with you guys."
"Jaune took a quick mission today, he should be here soon." Oscar's answer was met with a shrug of the shoulders from the trumpeter, and soon enough the group began to banter back and forth between friends as they enjoyed the presence of one another, until the chaos prone hammer wielder made a comment.
"Hey, who do you all think is the most jacked out of us?" The question received its fair share of raised eyebrows, before Yang stood up from where she sat next to her girlfriend and raised a tensed bicep as she grinned proudly. Not one to be out done, Nora quickly did the same, and it was admittedly a hard vote between the two.
Both had toned bodies from thorough workout regiments; six packs and defined muscles on their arms and legs. But the sound of water shifting drew the groups attention to see Kobalt flexing his own muscles. Defined pectorals, a six pack that could almost rival Sun Wukong's, and large muscles attached to powerful arms and legs.
The blonde brawler and the ginger berserker huffed in annoyance as they sat back down in the water slightly irritated as they were consoled by their respective better halves, all the while Kobalt wore a smirk as he said nothing, but didn't need to. But it was then that Neon posed an interesting question.
"You guys think blondie might have a better body than Kobalt?" Upon hearing the ginger faunus's nickname for Jaune, those who knew him best were about to give the absent knight their support, before they all had to pause in thought, earning looks of confusion from the members of team FNKI, as well as from Penny and Ciel.
"…Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen Jaune-Jaune with his shirt off." This drew looks of high surprise from those present as they digested what they'd heard.
"You're jokin' right?" The girl shook her head in response to Flynt's question, and looked to her partner and lifelong friend, who seemed to be searching his memories for any recollection of his leader ever being shirtless, and after failing, shook his head.
"Come on, are you two really telling me that Vomit-Boy never changed in your guy's room?" Ren shook his head as he opened his mouth to answer Yang.
"No, Jaune's always changed out of sight from everyone." This only seemed to rouse the groups curiosity further, and soon enough Ruby found herself in the spotlight with expectant looks aimed towards her.
"W-Why would I know what he looks like without a shirt Sis?!" The blonde brawler smiled saucily in response, causing her younger sister to turn the same color as her trademark cloak before the group began to theorize if their missing friend was hiding something about his body; maybe scars or a birthmark of some sort.
Before they knew it, nearly an hour had gone by, and some of the group were beginning to get concerned over the lack of appearance from the Arc. Just as the absent male's team mates were preparing to, reluctantly, leave the water to go and search for him, they heard the sound of a door opening, and through the steam they could just barely make out the figure of their close friend.
"Jaune! What took you so long?" The blonde stopped his approach just before he was close enough to see him clearly and began to rub his neck.
"Sorry, one kid's mom wasn't there to get her when I got them to the end of the route, so I bought them some ice cream and waited until her mom showed up. Tried to offer me another casserole…" A round of laughs was shared by the knight's friends, before he began to continue approaching. As he got closer, the laughter stopped upon seeing his body.
Kobalt was the same height as Jaune, the difference was in how their bodies had been built. Kobalt was slimmer than the blonde and had a more flexible, agile build that packed plenty of power, but the leader of team JNR had built his figure by being the shield for his friends. He was broader than the blue-haired member of team FNKI certainly, but to the groups surprise, his muscles seemed to be larger and slightly more defined the blue-haired member of team FNKI.
Faster than anyone could register, Kobalt appeared in front of Jaune and grasped his hand in a firm and manly handshake, nodding to himself as he'd finally found another man in his group of friends who could appreciate the glory of having large muscles.
"Well…damn." Yang's comment caused a few of the females present to shake themselves out of the staring contest they were engaged in against the blonde's body and looked away with blushes.
"What?" Jaune cluelessly looked to the blonde brawler from where she sat next to Blake, who looked him up and down before nodding and turning to focus on what her partner was saying.
"Since when did you bulk up Vomit-Boy?" The girl saw the pink staining Ruby and Weiss's cheeks before she made a follow up comment that caused pink to turn to red. "Or maybe I should say Lover-Boy?"
It was at that moment that Ruby saw something that she had to point out, both out of curiosity and desperation to shift attention elsewhere.
"Hey uh, Jaune? What's with the strap?" Despite not being concealed or blending in, everyone present had managed to ignore the strap that clenched around the tall teen's chest, and now wondered what its purpose was. The blonde looked confused before he felt just below his pectorals and sure enough, he found he'd forgotten to remove the strap he wore at nearly all times under his clothes.
He sent a thankful look to the girl, who smiled at him in response as he pulled at the strap to loosen it before pulling it away from him, but no one was prepared for when he stretched.
A pair of snow-white, gold tipped wings spread out to their full length behind him sending a few stray feathers into the air, falling gently as he sighed in relief.
Mouths were left agape in breathless wonder as their minds tried to process what their eyes were seeing; all the while, Jaune looked somewhat confused by the stupefied faces of his friends as some of them began shakingly pointing at him, furthering his confusion.
"What? Is there something behind me?" As he turned around towards the door to check behind himself, his friends saw that the wings were indeed real, and very much attached to his back. When he turned around, not having found the reason for the pointed fingers, he was met with a resounding chorus from his friends.
"You're a faunus!?" The volume startled him a bit, before he nodded confusedly and answered his friends while slipping into the steamy, rejuvenating waters of the hot springs, his wings flittering as they sank into the water with him.
"Umm…yea?" The blonde's confusion only deepened their own, as the group stared at him blankly before Blake was the one who surprisingly shattered the stunned silence.
"Since when?!" Jaune gave the black-haired beauty a mild deadpan before answering her question.
"Uh, since I was born…?" Before the girl could comment or question him further, Weiss stood from where she was seated in the hot water and leveled an accusing glare and a pointed finger towards the Arc's two teammates.
"You! Did you two know of this?" Ren and Nora managed to shake their heads, though they remained breathless as they observed their leader's faunus traits. The white-haired girl growled slightly, but before her irritation could raise itself any further, the knightly teen managed to quell her emotions.
"Weiss, why don't you sit down and relax, and I promise, I'll answer all your questions." The girl took a deep breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose, before she nodded her head in acceptance of Jaune's offer. As she was just about to sit back down, Yang had a mischievous idea. The girl put her foot up and pushed the former heiress forwards and off balance, causing the girl to stumble forwards.
Just as her face was about to meet the water, the girl felt someone catch and enclose her. She peeked an eye open to see that her cheek was resting against the strong chest of the newly discovered faunus of the group, with his arms hooked under hers to stop her from falling any further, and his wings surrounding them both ever so slightly.
It took a moment, but as the second of the Schnee siblings looked up to see the concerned face of one Jaune Arc as he asked if she was ok, her complexion shifted to be more reminiscent of a cherry as she thought about the position the two of them were in. She pushed away from him frantically, but with no real effort, as she buried her face in her hands to avoid the variety of looks she was getting.
The blonde sat back down, and Weiss followed suit sitting next to him but not too close, and noticed that the rocks her back was pressed against were much more comfortable than where she previously sat, and leaned back as she began to question the knight, not catching the question look he had when she sat down or the slight blush he wore as he scratched his cheek.
"First off, what kind of faunus are you?" The blonde coughed into his hand as he regained his composure before he answered the ice-cold beauty.
"Easy. I'm an eagle faunus." A round of nodded heads went by as the next question came from Ruby.
"Can you fly?" Jaune could detect a hint of hope in the girl's tone as she asked him her question and was met with starry eyes from the short girl when he nodded his head.
"Why did we never know about this?" Blake's question was capped with narrowed eyes, wondering if he possibly had a similar reason for seemingly keeping his faunus heritage hidden. The taller teen thought for a moment before he finally realized why exactly his friends were all so surprised.
"Wait…none of you knew I was a faunus? This entire time?" His question earned shakes of the head from everyone else present, save for one, who raised her hand with her usual smile.
"I did!" Everyone turned to stare at the ginger android, before Ruby decided to ask the girl a question.
"Why didn't you say anything about it Penny?" The girl's smile changed to more of a sheepish one as she explained.
"I did some studying into how conversations, relationships, and secrets weave together, and learned that commenting at all on someone's race or possibly exposing a secret, intentional or not, is considered rude, so I refrained from doing so."
The group could only nod their heads at the logical explanation, before everyone looked back to Jaune, who had a palm to his forehead. He removed it before taking a deep breath and releasing it before proceeding to say what he needed to say.
"Alright so, I should probably apologize. I guess I never really told any of you about these huh?" He gestured to his wings, before he continued speaking. "But I honestly wasn't trying to keep it a secret."
"Then why didn't you ever tell us?" Yang's question echoed her partner's but was the one everyone wanted the answer to. The blonde knight just shrugged his shoulders before he answered.
"No one ever asked. If anyone ever did, I wouldn't have lied. I guess it never came up." A round of incredulous expressions were his reward, but his male teammate was the one to question him next.
"Why didn't you ever change in the room then, even when it was just the two of us?"
"Ren. I shared a house with nine other people, and a room with my twin for almost my entire life before I came to Beacon. Any bit of privacy I could get when it came to doing anything was a blessing. Changing in the bathroom back in our rooms is some of the only privacy I get even now." The martial artist thought about the answer for a moment, before he accepted it with a nod of the head, while Nora voiced her question from where she sat next to Ren.
"Why haven't we ever seen you flying?" The blonde had to think about the answer for the first time, before finding the answer after a minute of two in thought.
"I used to fly all the time, but when I started Beacon, I barely had the time to anymore. And while we were traveling across Mistral, I was too busy training during my watch when we camped out. I only really ever get the chance to fly during the night." The girl seemed to deflate slightly before she shot her leader a follow-up question.
"What about once we made it to Haven Academy? Or when we made it to your sister's place in Argus."
"I was training almost nonstop once we made it to Haven, and at the time, I was still stuck in my head over what happened to Pyrrha." Everyone's expression dulled a bit as they looked at the tall blonde with worry but were reassured that he was fine when his mouth curved into a soft smile as he continued speaking.
"And I did go flying while we were staying at Saph's place. I went the night before we stole the bullhead." A look of surprise came across the faces of team RWBY and the other members of the new JNPR, as no one had heard him leave or return. Ruby took her turn to ask her question as her question was something everyone else now had in mind.
"Why do you keep your wings under your clothes; doesn't it hurt to have them held down? Why not just get clothes and armor that you can wear with your wings?" The blonde shifted where he sat as he before answering the younger girl's questions
"I keep my wings under my clothes because they're an extra target, and there's a certain way to fold my wings against my back before I put the on the strap. It's a little uncomfortable, but you get used to it. As for your last question, I've been fine all this time, the money we would've spent changing what I wear was better spent on food and everyone else's equipment."
Jaune's selflessness wasn't lost on his friends, however they couldn't help but feel upset. He put all of them before himself, but this was something that they weren't going to let go of easily. Jaune was startled a bit when Weiss addressed him sternly from her spot next to him, poking a delicate finger into his chest as she did so.
"Tomorrow we are going to get you a new wardrobe that will accommodate your wings. No excuses!" The blonde looked like he was about to argue, but before he could, Blake chimed in.
"Weiss is right Jaune. You should change what you wear so that you can let your wings out." Everyone else seemed to agree, save for Jaune.
"Wait a minute guys! There's no need to do all of that, I promise. I'm fine with what I've got, so there's no need to make a big fuss and do all this for me." The former heiress to his side covered his mouth with a hand as she glared at him, causing the blonde to gulp as he kept silent. She kept the hand there for a moment before removing it and speaking.
"Jaune. You've done so much for me, for all of us. So just let us return the favor for once." The girl would have no argument, and the knight knew that, and let a sigh escape him.
"…You all are dead set on this huh?" His closest friends smiled back at him while Yang laughed.
"Duh! So just let us do this Lover Boy." The blonde smiled back to his friend before nodding his head in response. The girl gave him a toothy, radiant smile as she stood up from where she was seated and made her way towards him.
"Good! Now that tomorrow is settled and you aren't going to argue, there's something I gotta do." The group grew curious, and Jaune mildly worried as the blonde brawler continued her approach. Once she stood in front of him, causing the blonde to avert his eyes from her impressive figure with a slight blush, she sat down in the water right by him, and began to inspect his wings shamelessly, gliding her fingers over them gently, shocking the group.
"Yang!" The girl turned from where she was to see her partner approaching, sporting an incredulous look and a blush on her face.
"What?"
"You can't just touch his wings like that! At least ask permission!" The blonde brawler grew a mischievous grin as she tried to deflect the attention with her next comment.
"Oh really? Then why aren't you getting onto Weiss for getting all cozy against Lover Boy's wing?" The heiress froze before sitting up straight and turning around to see that, in fact, she had been laying back against Jaune's left wing. Turning a furious shade of red and beginning to stammer, the girl was about to move when Jaune spoke up.
"Blake, I really don't mind you guys checking out my wings. You can too, if you want." The girl blushed, not knowing if the blonde realized what he was offering, but had to admit, her partner seemed so enthralled with what she was doing, she was a little curious herself. She sat herself down next to her partner and began to poke certain parts of the knight's wings, losing herself a bit while she marvelled at how they felt.
"I didn't think you'd take him up on that Blake." The girl in question turned her head away from Yang so that she could conceal the faint pink dusting her cheeks as she responded.
"Winged faunus are extremely rare. Even back on Menagerie, there was only one person I ever saw that had wings, but he was a bat faunus, so his wings weren't so…uh…"
"Beautiful." Everyone turned to see Weiss holding a large portion of Jaune's wing in her hand, mesmerized by the feathered appendage as she caressed it in front of her. A blur of rose petals later, and Ruby found herself seated opposite her partner with a hand reaching out to touch a few of the feathers, but she hesitated for a moment, looking to her fellow leader as if to ask permission.
Now, the blonde looked as if he was obviously trying to fight down a blush, but still nodded his head to the youngest of the group, and she smiled to him thankfully as she joined in.
With most of the group being admittedly rather curious about Jaune's faunus trait, he'd moved more toward the center of the water so that there was more room for everyone to sit around him.
It felt a little strange, being the center of attention because of his wings, but he didn't mind too much, it was just getting a bit overwhelming when everyone would play with his wings at the same time. Oscar had taken the quickest time in observing him, having pet the feathers near the strongest part of the wing before he was satisfied and moved away.
The two who were making it hardest to keep his composure were Penny and Nora, who were seated directly behind him. They were playing with his wings and feathers near the base, and while he had the suspicion that his berserker teammate was well aware of what this was doing to him with her almost teasing pinches and painfully slow trails, the innocent android was oblivious, and therefore, relentless in her feeling of his feathers.
Ren had found himself seated near Blake and Yang but was on the opposite side of his outstretched right wing, studying them as if he was looking for something, and would occasionally poke at them firmly, but not to the point of discomfort.
Ciel, to everyone's surprise from her involvement, found herself in the same position as Ren but behind his left wing, across from the other two members of team RWBY. She was combing her fingers between his feathers, watching studiously at how his wing would twitch and flitter when she did.
Soon enough, the last two of the present group that wanted to poke, prod, and pet the blonde's faunus traits revealed themselves and sat at either of his wing's ends. Ivori was pinching and feeling the tips of his feathers, and Neon on the other side was dragging her hand back and forth across the top of the wings.
This went on, and on, and on. Those present who weren't entertaining themselves by playing with Jaune's wings had struck up conversation since they were likely to be at the hot springs for a while. Finally, after what the eagle faunus could only assume was the better part of an hour, he finally lost his composure.
From behind him, Penny innocently trailed a finger down his back, between his wings, passing the scar tissue that had formed from when his wings were growing, which was extremely sensitive. At the same time, Nora had dragged her fingers to the base of one of his wings in a claw like fashion. The blonde stiffened and sat up completely straight, getting looks of confusion from those around him.
"Jaune? Is everything okay?" Jaune was busy looking up towards the sky as he tried to hide the deep crimson that was painting his face while he answered the scythe-wielder.
"Y-Yea Ruby-I'm…I'm fine…just not used to having others touch my wings…like this." He had trouble getting his words out, and ever the worrier, Penny from her place behind him asked the blonde a question as she continued to trail a finger around his back.
"We aren't hurting you are we, Friend Jaune?" The blonde managed to swallow a lump in his throat as both Blake and Yang's hands found a sensitive spot in his wing.
"No…it just…uh…" The eagle faunus looked embarrassed about something before he continued speaking in a near whisper.
"…feels really good…" The knight's words went unheard to most, save for Blake and Neon due to their enhanced faunus senses. Neon's smile as she looked at the face of the taller teen turned downright flirtatious as her touching of his wing increased. Blake however pulled her hand away from her friend's faunus trait with the deepest blush she'd ever wore as she realized something.
Among the faunus, touching another's traits was something reserved for one's significant other or others. For example, her cat ears were something she didn't let anyone else except for Yang touch. The reason for this is because most faunus traits count as pleasure spots. Essentially, herself and nine friends had been 'feeling up' Jaune, though with his consent.
The girl gave a small squeal as she instinctively used her semblance to leave behind a clone as she backed away from her newly discovered faunus friend, causing everyone to look at her surprised.
"What was that about Blakey? Get caught up thinking about-"
"Stop touching his wings!" The group looked at the Menagerian girl confusedly after her outburst before Ruby questioned her.
"Why? What's wrong Blake?" The blushing girl in question coughed into her fist as she explained.
"For most faunus…our traits also count as, uh… 'feel good' spots."
Immediately, most of the others who'd been touching the knight's wings looked to the girl with blushes on their cheeks and shock in their eyes, before turning back to see their eagle winged friend still looking up to avoid their eyes.
"Wait. If Jaune likes this, doesn't that mean we should keep doing it?" Ruby's innocent question caused the others to sweat as everyone looked to Yang, wondering if the girl would explain to her sister what the black-haired faunus was implying.
Seeing everyone's eyes on her, the blonde brawler sighed with a bit of a groan as she waded through the shallow water, stopping once next to her younger sister and whispering something in her ear. Moment later, the leader of team RWBY made a high-pitched sound as she began to sputter at what her sister told her.
From her position behind Jaune, Nora ignored everyone else and continued to touch her leader's wing whilst encouraging the synthetic girl besides her to continue as well.
"Nora, I think that's enough." The berserker looked to the side where her boyfriend sat, having stopped feeling his friend's wing after Blake's outburst. The girl looked at the magenta-eyed male, studying his face for something, before she smiled devilishly, causing the calm boy to gulp.
"Oh but Renny~ it seems like Fearless Leader is enjoying it. I think he'd enjoy it even more if you went back to playing with his wing too~" Nearly everyone's jaw dropped at the intimacy Nora was suggesting, blushes floating about the group due to some overactive and scandalous imaginations.
Before the orangette's partner could find the courage to respond, a flash of rainbow caught everyone's attention. A human weight found itself in the winged knight's lap and wrapped their arms around the base of his neck, causing him to look down from the open air above to see who found their way onto him. To his shock, Neon was sitting there with her body pressed up against his with half-lidded eyes while her tail wrapped around one of his wrists loosely.
The girl could feel a multitude of glares on her, but she shook them all off in favor of staring into the eyes of her tall, handsome, and adorably nervous friend. Before she could open her mouth to flirt with him, she was abruptly pulled off by Ruby and Weiss.
The three girls stood up in the shallow water with Neon glaring at the pair with her teeth bared and a glare firmly in place above an embarrassed blush, but the two partners weren't one to back down, and returned the look with equal heat.
For a moment, not a word was said, but before the three could do anything, Jaune stood up from his position, his wings gently pulling away from the two gingers that sat behind him, earning a pair of pouts. He gave them a look that promised he would let them do as they please later, before he took a step to try and put himself between the three girls, but when he did, an interesting chain of events occurred.
Ever the enabler, Yang gave her younger sister a firm push against her back from where she sat, causing the shorter girl to stumble forward, almost falling. Jaune moved quickly, catching her she could finish her descent towards the water, but Neon didn't like this.
The Atlesian faunus girl pounced forward and impacted against the blonde's chest, wrapping her arms around the base of his neck tightly and hanging from him, causing the group to lose balance. As they were falling, Weiss, who'd approached to either assist her partner or pry the cat faunus off her friend, was unfortunately somehow dragged down along with them into a tangle of limbs.
To say they'd landed themselves into a compromising position was putting it lightly. Neon was straddling his chest with her face buried into the crook of his neck and her tail wrapped around his leg tightly. Ruby and Weiss ended up on either side of him, but with their lips pressed against either of the shield wielder's cheeks. The girls pulled away from the knight, shyly and reluctantly, before sitting themselves back down into the hot spring water, trying to hide themselves from the embarrassment.
Meanwhile Jaune just sat there, looking off into space with a heavy blush of his own, not acknowledging any of his friends when they called his name trying to get his attention. Nora just looked at her leader before nodding to herself and turning to the three responsible.
"I think you broke him."
An hour later, and things were back to some semblance of normal. The group was all either talking amongst each other or sitting quietly to enjoy the time they were spending in the rejuvenatingly hot water.
Jaune was sitting alone at one edge of the spring, his friends having agreed to give him some space since he'd been so crowded for much of his time there. At some point he'd gone inside to retrieve his scroll and a pair of headphones, now listening to music with his eyes closed as he relaxed. The group had tried to get their blonde friend's attention a few times, but after a few failed attempts, realized that he must've had his music too loud, which gave way to a new chaos.
"You can't date Jaune!" Ruby's cry of protest was met with a testy smirk from the feline faunus of team FNKI before she responded.
"Oh? And why not? Blondie seemed to like it when I was all over him~" The tattooed ginger was met with a glower from Ruby and a growl from Weiss, neither of them pleased with the girl's earlier position atop their winged friend.
"B-Because…" The red reaper began stammering and fidgeting despite her frustration and blushing, having a hard time saying the words in her mind. Naturally, her hesitation was met with the mocking smile and narrowed eyes of Neon.
"I'm waiting~"
The rave-goer's teasing was met by another growl as the group prepared to watch another argument spring forth from the sidelines. Blake watched with a bit of a blush, likely due to the prolonged time in the hot water, before she felt a nudge from her side, and looked over to see her girlfriend in a similar state as her eyes watched her younger sister argue.
"You think Rubes will finally admit that she has eyes for Jaune?" The Menagerian girl opened her mouth to dismiss the idea but paused. Her leader seemed to be quite invested in not losing this argument, and it made her wonder. Ruby's crush on the leader of team JNR was no secret amongst team RWBY, even then, it was rather obvious to anyone who watched the two interact that the scythe wielder wanted more.
"Honestly…I don't know. She really isn't willing to let this one go from what I can tell. But what about Weiss?"
The black and yellow clad members of their team watched over the last year and a half as their white-haired former heiress started to develop feeling of her own for the knight. Weiss and Jaune's interactions after the rapier user reunited with the group in Mistral were much better than expected, but after their winged friend unlocked his semblance to save the life of their sister in arms, it awoke a desire for him that no one expected.
"I wonder if they'll end up sharing him?" The brawler's question made a cherry blush erupt across the quiet feline faunus's face as she thought about it in her mind, perhaps a little too explicitly as she thought she felt a nosebleed coming on. She did speculate at one point as to whether their teammates may have had closeted feelings for each other, but never really thought much more of it until now.
The girl went to respond to her partner but found herself silent as she took a closer look at her partner's face. Blush present, and studying the blonde girl's gaze revealed that she wasn't looking at Ruby, Weiss, or Neon. She was looking past them where the lovable knight was sitting oblivious of what was happening around him.
Then it all seemed to click.
But before she could comment, her blonde partner brought her knees up to her chest as she looked down towards the water while asking her a question.
"Hey Blake…what do you think about Jaune?" The girl seemed a bit caught off guard by the question, but when she met her girlfriend's gaze, the knowledgeable girl took a moment to think about the answer.
"He's…changed." Yang nodded for her partner to keep going.
"Out of all of us…he's changed the most after what happened at Beacon. I used to think he was just a skirt-chaser, and kinda…pathetic back in our first year. But after the dance, he stopped asking Weiss on dates. And he started to get better. More like a huntsman should be. He didn't care when he found out I was a faunus, or that I'd been a part of the White Fang. Now…he's just so-"
"Reliable."
The interruption made the black-haired girl looked to the side where her lilac-eyed partner was sitting and watched as she stretched out and began to speak.
"I used to think he wouldn't be a good friend for Ruby. He was weak, he wasn't that smart, and he never gave it break when it came to asking Weiss out. But after the fall happened…all that we lost…" The blonde's left hand instinctively went to where her right arm ended, and her prosthetic began as she remembered the ordeal clearly. It didn't last long as her partner pulled her head onto her shoulder and gave the blonde a moment to compose herself before she continued.
"I left Ruby for a year. I let her go out and risk her life without any of her teammates because I was too weak to be there for her," a small smile crept onto her face as she spoke.
"But Jaune wasn't. Out of all of us, he lost the most…but he didn't let that stop him. He was there for his team, there for Ruby, all while dealing with everything on his own. Even now, he's there for any of us if we ever need it. His personality doesn't just draw people to him…it feels like it makes them want to rely on him." She looked back down to the water as she hid her face and whispered something that didn't go unheard thanks to her girlfriend's enhanced hearing.
"…I want to rely on him." Before Blake could find a proper response, the argument between Ruby, Weiss, and Neon seemed to have been put on hold by Nora coughing to grab everyone's attention, earning the eyes of everyone present save for her fearless leader.
"Now that I have everyone's attention, I believe I should make it clear who gets to be together-together with Fearless Leader." The girl took in a deep breath and closed her eyes as the three previously arguing girls waited on bated breath while the rest of group looked on interestedly. The ginger berserker let the pause drag on for another few moments before she finally opened her eyes and revealed the verdict.
"And that's Renny and I!" A silence rolled over the group after the exclamation, the only sound audible to them was that of the water and the faint sounds of the city of Mantle beyond the walls of their getaway.
"That's so not fair!" Neon's own yell brought the group back to reality as they looked at the girl with a fair amount of shock, replaying her words throughout their minds before they realized exactly what Jaune's teammate had just said. All heads turned towards the blushing martial artist as he slouched further into the water to avoid the looks he was getting in response to her girlfriend's statement.
This however did break the damn for Blake as a thin trail of blood began to trickle from her nose as she thought about two of her dear friends in a new light, earning a wide array of looks from those around her. Weiss shook off her shock in favor of firing off a question at the bold hammer wielder with a pointed finger.
"What do you mean you and Ren?!"
Nora's answer came after a saucy smile and was partnered with an almost flirty tone that the group had rarely heard the girl take before.
"Well~ Jaune is a big guy, with a big heart. I'm sure there's enough room for the three of us to share~"
The Schnee present began sputtering with a heavy blush at Nora's blunt admittance before she continued her mock interrogation.
"H-How can you make plans for the three of you to be together! Do you even know if Jaune is also into m-men?!"
Nora's smile turned devilish for the briefest of moments before she coughed into her hand and took a lecturing stance.
"I asked Fearless Leader about his sexuality back when we were still at Beacon." The ginger said nothing aside from that, letting the pause build. When it was clear the girl had no plans to ease them of their suspense until prompted, Ruby broke the silence.
"…And what did he say?" Ruby's question was the one on everyone's minds right now as they waited for the teal-eyed girl to respond. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long.
"He said that he likes beautiful people. To him, what's on the inside is just as important as what's on the surface." Penny seemed to deflate in the background slightly, before Ciel leaned over and whispered something in her ear, causing the innocent android to perk up and smile at what she was told. Ivori however, after hearing what Nora had to say, adjusted his glasses with a slight smirk and a nod, causing the light to reflect off them with a confident gleam.
The group was silent for a moment, before Ruby began to stop in place getting the attention of the group as she was nearly shaking while addressing Nora, a growl on her lips and what might have been tears at the corners of her eyes.
"NO! I-I…I'm going to be the one who t-tells Jaune…" Whether the scythe-wielder's face turned red from embarrassment or anger was anyone's guess, but as the now four girls were about to let the argument continue, Blake chimed in.
"Why not just let Jaune decide?" The group turned to look at her as the girl looked at the four girl's who were just arguing over the winged blonde.
"No way! His teammates would just confess to him and we wouldn't even have get a chance!" Seeing Ruby and Weiss nod along in agreeance of what Neon was saying was humorous, but Blake ignored it in favor of continuing her line of thought.
"Then why not come up with a way to let everyone have a chance?"
The suggestion was an honest one, and as various mouths opened deny the idea, there was a moment of clarity, and those interested began to think.
"How would we do that?" The question came from Ciel, causing the group to look towards the amber eyed faunus as they awaited their answer. Blake thought about it for a few minutes, taking unseen glances at Yang before nodding to herself and sharing her thoughts.
"From what General Ironwood said, this week our help shouldn't be in as high of demand, so why not have everyone who's interested spend time with Jaune over the next week. Then maybe at the end of the week, everyone confesses to him and he can choose who he wants to be with. No sneaking around behind each other and no hurt feelings."
Again, those interested were silent as the mulled the proposition over in their minds. It was the best way to make sure that no one got hurt, and everyone had an equal chance, which was enough for them. A round of competitive nods went around the four girls in the center of the hot pool, before Nora looked to her Menagerian friend and asked a question.
"So how would we do this?"
Blake brought a hand to her chin for a moment as she looked around, before reaching a solution.
"How about Monday, Ruby and Weiss get to spend the day with Jaune. The next day can be Nora and Ren. The day after can be for…Who all is a part of this?" The girl saw Neon, Ivori, Penny, and even Ciel hold their hands up, though the timely girl was doing so ever shyly.
"Wednesday will be Neon and Ivori, then Thursday will be Penny and Ciel…and Friday will be Yang and I…" The girl's declaration made all heads swivel towards her, her blonde partner included. An unspoken conversation happened between the two with their eyes, and after a moment, Yang gave Blake a grateful smile as she took hold of her girlfriend's hand.
"Next Saturday…we'll all tell Jaune how we feel and see who we chooses." Determined looks came over the faces of the involved, while the more strangeness-desensitized of the group who were content with watching the chaos unfold rather than being involved could only wonder how it got to this point.
The group fell into casual banter once again in short time, but there was now a different vibe. It was like being back at Beacon just before the Vytal festival; it had been like every class was a chance to show off in front of the competition and leave an impression. Everyone was friends, but now there was something that they were all competing for.
Or rather, someone.
It wasn't long before Jaune craned his neck to either side, sighing at the audible cracks and grabbing the attention of his friends as he pulled his headphones off.
"Hey Weiss?" The girl in question yelped slightly before she regained her composure as she fell into her practiced grace as she tilted her head up with one eye open as she answered the knight.
"You rented this place out for the day, right?" The girl only nodded in response as the blonde headed teen began to get out of the spring, groaning as he already began to miss the feeling of the lovely steaming water he'd just risen from.
"Just wondering. I'll be back in a sec, I'm gonna see about getting some delivery brought here; I'm starting to get a little hungry."
The tall blonde began to walk towards the door to the reception area in a comfortable stride, his wings on display behind him as droplets of water clung to him and dripped from his feathers. He ran a wet hand through his hair to relax it from the moussed style he normally wore, giving him the look of someone who'd fit on the cover of a faunus fashion magazine.
But before any of the blonde's admirers could chase that thought any further, the blonde stretched out, causing his wings to do the same, again sending a few stray feathers falling serenely. As he stood there for a moment, his wings at their full span with a peaceful smile on his face, those who had an interest in the leader of team JNR couldn't wait for their chance to hopefully be a more important part of the blonde's life.
(A/N)
Hey Everyone!
Don't worry! I haven't forgot about "A Second Chance", I'm just working on other stuff until Season 8 of RWBY ends so I know some more stuff about where the show is going, as well as any huge reveals that might happen. On a side note, I don't know where the sudden burst of motivation came from, but I got the desire to write Jaune a winged faunus, and kinda just rolled with it. Besides that, just know that I'm working on a ton of stuff, and I even began planning ahead in my main story, though my goal will always to be to write something I can go back, read, and enjoy.
Besides that, I hope you all enjoy reading this fic. I plan for it to be a drastically shorter one, but I wanna make it a kinda slice of life/romance type of deal with some humor sprinkled.
Anyways, I'm gonna go and do a little more work on "Hate Breeds Hate", with any luck, I might have that story at a full chapter that I'm satisfied with. It's really hard to write for Adam since his canon portrayal is so one dimensional, and since we see so little of him. Discord link is below.
/dSbQbK7FTy
See y'all soon!
B.J.H.