The troll is back and imitating me and others in the reviews, this time trying to make it look like I'd attack my own reviewers because obviously that's a thing I'd randomly do from a guest account. Ignore the nonsense.

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 64

Jaune woke to a killer hangover, a dry mouth and soft pink hair driven deep up his nostrils. Hacking slightly, he drew back, glaring weakly down at Neo, using him as a pillow as always. The warm flesh under the blankets indicated she was in a state of undress far below what was considered proper.

"Well, at least I had a good night…"

"Mmm," another voice mumbled from his other side. A second arm swept over his chest, far burlier than he'd have liked. "Shut up," Qrow mumbled sleepily. "Too early for this."

Eyes wide, Jaune laid back and stared brokenly at the ceiling.

Well. That was a thing…

If his head had been working better, he might have panicked, but alcohol did funny things and he lay still instead. Whatever happened had already happened, right? Bravely, he snuck a hand down between two bodies and under the blankets.

Denim. He was wearing jeans.

Qrow had trousers on too. Thank goodness.

"So," Qrow said, now fully awake, eyes flat. "Want to explain why you're feeling me up?"

Shit. "Uh. I'm confirming something?"

"Right. Sure." Qrow didn't look convinced. "And why are you in bed with me?"

"I think the question is more why are you in bed with me."

"It really isn't." Qrow pointed and Jaune swivelled his head to look, spotting Qrow's backpack and weapon, Harbinger, propped in the corner of the room. "My gear; my room. And I was drunk last night, I know, but I distinctly remember going to bed alone."

"But then how-?" The answer came quickly, along with an angry snarl. "Roman."

Qrow thought about it for a second and nodded. "Roman."

"Definitely Roman," Jaune agreed.

"Sounds like a Roman thing. Kill him?"

"No, no. Death is release." Jaune sat up, not feeling at all guilty as Neo slipped off with a startled and silent yelp. Knowing her, she was complicit in this. "I'll tell him the school budget doesn't balance. He'll be stuck trying to fix it for hours before he realises it does."

"Cruel and unusual." Qrow yawned and stretched, indeed only naked from the waist up. "I like it." He eyed the bed. "Does your girlfriend always sleep in just her underwear? And around other men…?"

Neo blinked up at Qrow and squinted her eyes. Clad in some tight pink and cream undies, she shrugged one creamy shoulder and stood up, padding over to a pile of clothing and bending over acrobatically.

Qrow's head tilted to the side.

"No." Jaune swatted him. "Bad Qrow. You're an old man."

"And how old is she?"

"Older than me," Jaune said defensively. When you had someone so small in bed with you, it was a common arguing point. "And she's not my girlfriend."

"Kid, she sleeps with you, snuggles with you, makes out with you in public and lives in the same room as you do, wandering around half naked. You even have that communicating without words thing going down."

"It's called a disability, jackass."

"Not that." Qrow rolled his eyes. "The way you look at one another and pass messages on."

"I'm not Neo's boyfriend. I'm her possession." His flat answer earned a happy nod from the diminutive psychopath. "She decides whether I live or die, what I get to wear and whether I have a good day or a bad day."

Qrow stared at him. "You're married, then?"

"And suddenly the reason why you're still a bachelor becomes apparent."

"I like being single." Neo came over to pat Qrow's arm with a pitying smile. The sarcastic `of course you do, you poor thing` was so obvious Qrow's entire posture slumped. "But I do like it," he whined. "I like being a cool and unattached bachelor."

"Who said you were cool?" Jaune asked, pulling on a shirt. "No one thinks that."

"My nieces think I'm cool…"

"Your nieces also think I'm the biggest badass this side of Vacuo." Jaune pulled his blue coat on and buttoned it up, then stepped into his boots. "I think it's clear by now they're wrong about a lot of things."

"Heh. True. I kicked your ass last night."

"You're a huntsman. I'm an amateur."

"I beat you like my ugly stepson."

"You're twice my age!"

"I liked the bit where you tried to tackle me and I dodged and you ran into a lamp post."

Jaune stared at him hard, hungover mind looking for an appropriate response. "Fuck you," it settled on. He wasn't at his best after a night's heavy drinking. "And fuck your Semblance too. I swear that lamp post wasn't there when I started running."

"Yeah, it does that sometimes. We cool?"

"I don't know," Jaune grumbled. "Are we? You were the one all upset I made him think I was going off to die." He paused as Qrow's mirth faded. Even saying that made him feel bad. "And I'm sorry for that. It was a dick move."

"It was. Know why you did it and you pulled it off, you crazy bastard, but I really thought I was gonna lose another friend." Qrow's smile was there but not, mind trapped in the present and the past. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and turned away. "I'm gonna go get breakfast. Catch you in a few."

Jaune watched him go and looked back to Neo. She'd managed to get dressed and was just pulling on her long boots. She looked up inquisitively as he settled on the bed next to her. "I messed that one up, didn't I?"

Neo nodded casually.

"We did the right thing, though."

Another, firmer, nod.

"Could we have done it different?"

A shrug, but also a shake of the head. As close to a `maybe, but probably not` as he could get.

"You're saying there was no way to do it without hurting them?"

Neo nodded one last time and kicked off the bed, using her weight and a few stamps to get her feet settled. Without so much as a warning, she brought her heels up and on the bed between his legs, the pointed toes of her boots against his crotch. Leaning on one knee, she smirked when Jaune, without even thinking, started to lace her boots up for her.

"I guess that's how it is sometimes," he said, tying tight knots to secure the white boots. "No perfect decisions. Guess I'll need to apologise for worrying the others too. Not sure what to think of Glynda, though. If it were you, would you slap-" He paused. "Oh right, it's you. You'd probably torture me to the point of death."

Her answering smile was almost too happy.

I really am surrounded by nutjobs. Not sure what it says about me when I think Neo is the easiest to understand. Then again, it's like I'm a pet dog she owns. Did that count when he was self-aware and pretty much fine with it? He got training, company, and cuddles – sometimes even more. Then again, dogs are probably aware of their relationship too.

He patted her foot once he was done and then laced up her other boot, earning himself a pretty smile and a kiss on the nose. Neo's breath smelled of alcohol, so he was kind of relieved it was only that right now. Standing together, they made their way out the door and down the wooden stairs of the inn Qrow had taken them to. It'd been busy last night, people celebrating the weekend with a complete lack of awareness for the Grimm army that had passed less than half a day away. Now, in the early hours of Saturday morning, the main room was all but empty, only a few early risers nursing breakfast and hangovers.

Roman was the most alert of all, shit-eating grin in place as he leaned back in his chair and asked, "Sleep well, princess?"

Jaune just knew that was aimed at him and not Neo. "I did. Sleep alone, Roman?"

"Actually, no. The landlord's lovely daughter kept me company." Jaune was about to call bullshit on that when said landlord came over and thumped some plates down, clearly rattling Roman's angrily as he glared bloody murder at the unrepentant thief. Over by the bar, a pretty woman of some twenty years tittered and toyed with her curly brown locks. Roman tipped his hat unapologetically.

Okay then. There was no accounting for taste, was there?

"Does she know she bedded an international criminal?"

"Kid, that's how I get more than half of the people I sleep with. And it's reformed criminal now. All the bad boy vibes without any of the risk. Better still, whoever gets me can say they were the ones to reform me. That's a huge draw with the ladies." Roman made to light a cigar only to have it crushed by the landlord.

"No smoking," he growled, thumping angrily away.

"Maybe saying that in front of her old man wasn't the best bet," Qrow pointed out.

"Eh. She's old enough to make her own decisions. Putting up a barrier like that just makes me want to break past it." Roman slipped out another cigar, lit it and puffed under the table. "Thief's instincts. It applies to more than just precious jewels."

"He always like this?" Qrow asked.

"Always." Jaune sighed. "And usually without any merit. Trust me, he hasn't been getting any in Beacon."

"How do you know?" Roman asked. "There's girls there over twenty."

"Because if you did anything with a student, Blake would have found out and reported you to me with a huge smile on her face and a pitchfork in hand."

Roman chuckled. "The kitten sure does seem like the type to stalk me looking for blackmail, doesn't she? Talk about a hate boner. You help the White Fang once, maybe twice – three times at best, and she never forgives you for it. Let's ignore the fact she worked with them for years." Roman rolled his eyes sarcastically. "That's totally different."

"In her defence, she's repentant."

"So am I."

"Roman, you don't know the meaning of the word."

/-/

Glynda was waiting for them when they arrived at Beacon, first stopping by Vale to catch a Bullhead the rest of the way. Prim and proper, she greeted them with a simple nod. Was she still angry? If so, she hid it well.

"Ozpin and the others are waiting to talk to you."

"Is he upset?"

"No. Quite the opposite. Now he's had time to calm down and realise the world isn't ending, he's been practically bouncing off the walls." She turned away, only to stop when Jaune caught her arm.

"Glynda, I am sorry for not telling you. I'll be apologising to everyone."

"Thank you." There was a strange tone to her voice as she pulled her hand away. He wasn't sure he liked it. "I understand why you did what you did. It was… It was the correct decision. The results prove that."

"But you're still angry?"

"Not angry." Though she didn't say it, he felt the words `just disappointed` in the air. "I'm just not sure why you couldn't have told me privately. Did you think I'd go running to Ozpin? Why would I? Reckless or not, the plan had merit and I've agreed with you over him before. As a huntress, I understand that it's sometimes best to place yourself in danger to save others. I wouldn't have turned you in to him." Turning, she fixed him with a piercing stare. "Why did you think this would be different? Did you not trust me?"

"It's not that. I… I needed the act to be sold. Ozpin needed to believe it so Salem would believe him."

"I think that could have been achieved just as easily with Qrow," she whispered. "If I'd sided with you, Ozpin wouldn't have found that a big surprise. We are – were – together, after all. Isn't it only natural for two people who have dated for so long to share things?" Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose and started moving away, waiting for them to follow. "It hardly matters now. What's done is done. Let's go see the others."

It did matter. More than he cared to admit. "Would you have sided with me?" he asked her. "If I'd told you, would you have played along?"

"Yes." Glynda didn't look back. "In a heartbeat."

The immediacy of her answer was the biggest blow. He wasn't sure what was worse – the idea that he'd not bothered to try in the first place, or that the reason he hadn't might have been because deep inside he hadn't trusted her to side with him. It all seemed so obvious at the time. Neo and Roman were the two he always relied on. They had reason to agree with him and their lives were tied to his. Not telling Glynda hadn't been a carefully considered thing. It just seemed the obvious choice not to tell her.

Have we grown that far apart? Come to think of it, we haven't done anything together since Beacon fell. We keep talking about it but… Nothing ever happened. They talked and that was it. Watching Glynda's back ahead of him, their relationship felt professional and nothing more. He didn't know what to make of it.

Ozpin was waiting with Peter, Bart and Tsune in the staffroom. The man trapped in a boy's body rose with a huge smile, proving Glynda's words correct. "Mr Arc!" he said, laughing delightedly, more like a child than a man. "The hero of the hour returns."

"Ozpin." Jaune smiled weakly back. "You're in a good mood."

"Why shouldn't I be? Salem has been bested – tricked even – and sent scurrying away with her tail between her legs. What's more, victory was won with only a box of cigarettes and a broom." He laughed again, sinking back into a chair with a huge grin. "If she catches me a thousand years from now and puts me through the worst torture, I'll think back on this moment and ride it out. I'm never going to let her forget it."

"Before you do, I've something to say." Jaune waited for Roman, Neo and Qrow to sit before continuing. "I want to apologise for making you all worry." He watched Peter and Bart nod knowingly. Ozpin's smile grew. "I won't say I'm sorry for what I did because it was the right thing to do at the time, but I'm sorry that the plan required me to put you all through that."

"Apology accepted, lad." Peter banged his mug on the table. "I had half a mind to take you for a round or two in the ring, but I'll accept your words instead. T'was a good plan, and I could accept that once I stopped choking on my own heart. You had me worried!"

"Agreed," Oobleck chimed. "As a historian I've spent much of my life looking back with the benefit of hindsight. While I felt betrayed and hurt at the time-" Jaune winced. "-I can accept that it was not done without good reason. I'd rather have a scare and have everyone alive then be looking at sending the students to battle once more. You're forgiven, my friend."

"You know my thoughts," Ozpin said. "Though I shall also apologise for anything I might have said in my rage. It's all rather silly now..."

"No. It's fine." Jaune waved a hand, too relieved to feel upset. "You thought I really had gone insane and taken all three Relics to her. I'd be more worried if you didn't react to that."

Their forgiveness came so easily. It wasn't as big a deal, though. They were friends and colleagues, nothing more. Glynda was… well, he wasn't sure what they were now, but they'd been together before. I lied to her once already over my age and skills, and now I've lied to her again. Jaune watched her sit down with a cup of tea and refuse to look at him. What a mess.

"We'll have time for celebrations and discussion later," Ozpin said. "For now, let's take stock of the situation. Salem has retreated, but clearly hasn't been beaten. There are two possibilities here. Either she will return quickly, before we have had time to recover our losses, or she won't at all. Being immortal, she may wish to wait until the current generation passes on."

"That'd be the ideal scenario, right?" Roman asked.

"Ideal for you and yours, perhaps, but less so for me. My true ideal would be Salem's death. That said," Ozpin allowed, "I would accept the result of a peaceful generation. It would give me time to prepare the next and reinforce the Kingdoms."

"You won't push for us to finish her if she backs off?"

"I won't. Such would be a reckless loss of life. If Salem retreats, our goals should be to hide the remaining Relics and train the maidens. If an opportunity arises to take back the Relic of Destruction, we should, but I will not risk lives on it."

That sounded wonderful, but Jaune didn't think it would happen. "Salem as good as told us she'd be coming back," he said. "I don't think she intends to let this go."

"Sadly, I agree. Your threat worked wonders in forcing her to back away, but in doing so you've made yourself out as a dangerous threat to her existence. Salem is cautious, as you know and took advantage of, but that works both ways. Her main priority now will be to kill you before you take the Relics and try to bring them to the Grimmlands."

"So, we're dealing with another invasion anyway?" Qrow groaned into his hand. "What did this buy us, then? Not time. We'd need years to make a real difference."

"It's bought us an opening, moron." Roman basked in Qrow's angry glare. "Thinking that the Relics are being kept in Beacon, she can't bring the Relic of Destruction here again. This wasn't about buying time – we haven't bought much at all – it was about getting that thing out our faces."

"And it is," Ozpin said. "With Salem afraid to bring it here, we're back to an even playing field. That's more than could have been expected."

"Isn't she still dangerous without it?" Glynda asked.

"Yes. Fortunately, it's a danger we can face. The Relic of Destruction wouldn't have afforded us that. Invalidating it is an incredible victory for us."

"And you're still not telling us what each Relic does," Jaune pointed out.

"Am I now allowed some mystery?"

"Not when our lives are on the line. You're keeping secrets, and I can mostly understand why, but when those secrets relate to the exact things we're going up against, the excuses run a little dry." Jaune looked around the table, seeing agreement on the faces of all. Ozpin saw it too and hummed, sitting back down.

"Perhaps I have been a little cagey. Trust doesn't come easily."

"After Lionheart, we can all see why," Glynda said, "But here and now, we need honesty. Can any of the Relics be used to our advantage? Should we go and collect the Relic of Choice for real?"

"No." Ozpin's response was immediate and when everyone stared meaningfully at him, he sighed and said, "The Relic of Choice has powers of next to no use in combat. It's a long-term Relic, much like Knowledge. Two of the Relics have powers grounded in immediacy – Destruction and Creation. Two have powers more limited in nature - Knowledge and Choice. Those reflect the words themselves. To create or to destroy is immediate, either to create from nothing or reduce to nothing. Knowledge and Choice play on the human mind. They provide, but only in ways that humans might act on with their own capabilities."

"That's still very vague, Ozpin."

"With good reason. You'll just have to trust me on that. If I thought it could help, I would have had the Relic of Choice in my office. If you want something useful, the Relic of Creation is your best bet, but getting that away from Atlas would be far too hard. Even if James were willing, Atlas would crash into the city if it were removed."

"No Relics then," Jaune said, sighing. "Wonderful."

"Salem won't have any either."

"Yeah, but she has an army of Grimm."

"And we have huntsmen. Not as many, I'll admit, but quality over quantity."

That didn't help Shade, he wanted to say. It only just helped Atlas. If Ozpin refused to talk of the other Relics, however, there was nothing they could do to force him. Any amount of reasoning would just run into the brick wall of "trust me" and bounce off. It's times like this I wish we've saved a question on Jinn.

"We'll need to begin fortifications," Bart said.

"What justification will the Council accept?"

"We have proof." Bart flashed a scroll. "Cinder decided to record this, saying she'd document his success." Everyone paused to look at Jaune as he coughed awkward and whispered an apology. "While we can't very well show Salem, we can edit that out and let them see the horde of Grimm. We're expected to track and monitor such movements, so show it, say we diverted it, but explain that we believe it will double back soon."

"I can handle that," Glynda said. "The Council would expect the headmaster to be on top of this, so if I say he's busy updating our contingency plans, they'll accept it. At the very least we'll see a higher budget and mobilisation of Vale's militia forces."

Jaune's head came up. "Vale has a militia…?"

"Not anymore. A certain someone saw fit to get rid of Vale's army."

Everyone's heads swivelled to Ozpin. He coughed and said, "After the Great War and the faunus war, I decided armies only led to conflict. It was for the best the Kingdoms disarm."

"And the Grimm?"

"Were managed by huntsmen. We're all alive, aren't we? My decision worked out."

Luckily. Or more like miraculously. All it would have taken was Atlas having a slightly more unhinged leader and as the only country with a functioning military, they could have conquered all of Remnant. Maybe that would have been a good thing if they could sweep in and force a capitulation without bloodshed. At least then the Kingdoms would have had trained soldiers and hardware to defend it. After witnessing Atlas' army defending the city, he wished Vale had one even a tenth as disciplined! They'd been invaluable.

"Does the fact this hairbrained scheme of yours worked at all have anything to do with the Relic of Choice?" Jaune asked.

"I have no idea what you mean, Mr Arc. It was my careful decision after much deliberation."

Really? Because it didn't sound like it. Most countries coming straight out of a war didn't respond by instantly demilitarising. He wasn't a General, but he felt confident saying that. You kept people around just in case it all kicked off again. Ozpin wasn't giving anything away, sadly. The look on his face, the forced innocence, said there'd be no further answers.

"How does Vale's militia work, then?"

"It's volunteers and retired huntsmen for the most part," Glynda explained. "They'll do more work carrying ammunition, setting up automated turrets and clearing away rubble than fighting."

"They're useless then," Roman said flippantly. "Great. Can we move to Atlas?"

"What Vale does have is the largest standing force of huntsmen on Remnant," Ozpin said. "Once the call is sent, and after what happened in Atlas, I dare say the city will be flooded with huntsmen and huntresses ready to fight off any foe."

Jaune stood. "Let's hope it'll be enough."

/-/

The scroll buzzed and buzzed, vibrating its way to a precarious drop and to shatter on the tiles below. At the very last second it was caught, a woman sweeping it up one handed while stirring a pot with the other.

"Hello?"

"Mom…?"

Juniper crooned instantly, pulling the scroll away to look at him. "My baby!" Jaune's face scrunched up at the affectionate term, which was part of the reason she made sure to. "Hello sweetie. How are you? You don't call enough."

"I call once a week."

"Make it sound like a chore, why don't you."

"It's not-"

"Relax. I'm teasing you." Jaune always had been so easy, as his sisters had taken full advantage of. "I didn't expect your call this early, though." And as a mother, she knew what an unexpected call from a child usually meant. It was a problem. Whether that was of the car breaking down, boyfriend cheated on me or went out and drank despite being the driver and now needing a pickup variety, it was always one thing or the other. "Did something happen?"

"I have… well, I could use some advice."

"Keep the baby. I'll be an on-call babysitter."

"What!? No, not that kind! There's no baby."

"Ah, I see. That is a problem." Juniper nodded her head sagely. "Have you tried having more sex?"

"MOM!"

Bursting into giggles, she set the pot to simmer and danced away from the stove, pushing up to sit on the counter. "Teasing, baby. Teasing. You really are too easy. Come on then, tell me what's wrong and I'll help as best I can."

"No teasing?"

"Not if it's serious."

"It is." He sighed. "And it is about a woman."

Correct guess on her part then. It was always easy to tell when it was. There was a look in the person's eye. In her girls, it was usually anger or tears, but Jaune had that same lost and confused expression her Nicholas did whenever he upset her. Those two were alike in so many ways. "Hmm. I'm listening. Is it Glynda?"

"Y-Yeah. How did you guess?"

"Woman's intuition. And because you haven't talked about her to me in weeks. What's happened?"

"Nothing specific. It's just… I don't know. Ever since she found out how old I was, things have changed. It was only three years, and I know I hurt her when she found out, but it's been months now and we've not been able to get anything back on track. Every time we try it's like… something comes up. Bigger things to worry about."

"Do you want to fix it?"

"Of course!"

"Jaune." Juniper said his name as she always did when she wanted him to listen. Like an obedient son, he went quiet. "I want you to think about that before answering. It's easy to think you should fix something or that you have to fix something, but romance is bigger than that. Your relationship, happy as it was, was based on a lie."

"I… I know that… but we were happy."

"You were. The thing is, you could be happy with anyone." It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but she'd be damned if she gave bad advice. "True love is something that only exists in books and movies. Or at least the concept of there being `the one` out there. The reality is that you can fall truly, madly, deeply in love with anyone. It's all about giving someone a chance, enjoying your time with them, and watching the feelings grow from there. I married your father, but I could have just as easily fallen in love with someone else, and the same for him. Most people don't end up spending their lives with the first man or woman they fall in love with…"

Jaune was silent. He looked in some pain.

"I'm not saying it can't happen, mind, but I'm trying to show you that just as people can fall in love with one another, they can fall out of love as well. Sometimes people don't gel, or they discover some flaw they can't accept. Sometimes the spark just dwindles over time and you realise it was passion that kept you together, not love. And sometimes," she said, "It can be damaged to the point that the trust is gone."

He flinched. "You think I ruined it…?"

"I don't think any one person is to blame. You misled her – and I have to say, Jaune, I'm not overly proud of you for that. Glynda put her heart in your hands and you continued to lie to her."

"I know. I hate it. I've said sorry so many times."

"Apologies are just air without action. They become empty if the same mistake is made again and again." Though she didn't know if he had done that, the sudden horror on his face suggested he had. Or he thought he had. "Imagine if Glynda had cheated on you, apologised and you told her it was okay so long as she never did it again, then she went and did so. Even if she apologised a second time, how would you feel?"

"Betrayed. Awful." His voice cracked. "I'd hate it. Oh hell…I… I think I've fucked up, mom."

"You're eighteen, Jaune. Mistakes are expected to be made. Heavens know I and your father made plenty in our time. But that's the thing, loving someone – and being willing to make it work – is about being able to make those mistakes and continue to stay together. It's about overcoming them together."

He was listening intently, she could tell.

"And if Glynda and you can't do that, maybe it's a sign that you're not ready to settle down. Maybe you're both expecting too much of one another. You're expecting her to just accept your age, the difference and all the stigma associated it – and your lies to her – and she's expecting you to be perfect. Expecting a level of trust that you just can't offer her. If that's the case, do the two of you really want to get into that again? Is it what you really want, or do you just want the comfortable pleasure? Because, Jaune, that can be had in other ways."

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure what it is. I think if I had a genie and she offered to bring things back to how they were, I'd take it but… wouldn't it just fall apart again?"

"If you're not able to work together, yes."

"Does… Does this mean it was all a waste of time?"

"No, no, no." Juniper swept off the counter and landed on the tiles, shaking her head quickly. "Listen to me, sweetie. What you had with Glynda – and whatever you may have with anyone else – is never a waste, even if it doesn't work out. You bared yourselves to one another and shared something wonderful. And it was fun for all it lasted, no?"

"Yeah. I… I was happy…"

"Then even if it didn't end happily, remember that you were happy. You both were. You supported one another, grew together, and grew closer – and you can stay close even if this does come to an end. Don't believe the soap operas, Jaune. You don't have to hate the other person after a breakup."

"The other thing is, well, I don't know what I am to Neo-"

"I always assumed you were her sub."

He looked pained. "Mom. You said you wouldn't tease."

"Who's teasing? I'm not one to judge kinks, sweetie. If she dresses, acts, and punishes you like a dominatrix, and if you allow it, encourage it, and enjoy it like a submissive? Well, I'll call it as I see it. That's another thing no doubt driving a wedge between Glynda and you. You really do need to pick, Jaune. You can't leave things floating in the air forever or they'll both get tired and make the decision for you. Or walk away."

"You're right." He sighed, and though she knew he was in emotional distress, it was the kind that couldn't be lightened. The kind he had to push through to grow. "Thanks, mom. I need to talk with Glynda and sort this out, don't I?"

"You do. Remember, us women, we're just the same as you. We eat, pee, and poop like you do, and we have the same insecurities and thoughts you do. Don't go into this thinking you're talking to an alien. Go up to her, tell the truth, appeal to her maturity, and sit down over some nice tea or wine to hash things out. She isn't some vapid high schooler – she's not going to scream, cry, or claw your eyes out."

He laughed again, calming down now that he had a plan. Growing up around so many women, her son knew better than to fall into those silly traps like thinking he had to put on airs or treat women like enemies in a war. Friend-zoning, leading you on, putting you down, all those silly things some men liked to say to make it sound like women wanted to hurt them, as opposed to the reality of just seeing that person as a friend or not returning their feelings.

There were just as many the other way around, and Juniper had lost count of the number of times her friends called guys sleezebags or greasy just because they didn't match up their idealistic expectations. People were at their worst when they were hurt, and often looked to take it out on other people. She liked to think she'd raised her kids better – and so far, she had no reason to doubt that.

"Yeah. Ha. You're right. Worst comes to worst, she'll just raise her eyebrow like she does and call me an idiot. Is that one of those perks of dating an older woman?"

"Mostly, it's about the sex being better," Juniper said candidly, "But yes, experience in other matters and overall maturity is also a benefit. It's the same for older men. Remember, you're two grown adults having a talk about your relationship. Emotions are to be expected, but don't make it harder on either of you by lashing out."

"I won't, mom. I wouldn't be anywhere near as successful as I am now without Glynda's help. I'm not going to spit on that by treating her like crap now."

"I'm glad to hear it. You should always respect women-"

"-but I should remember that respect goes both ways," he recited. "Respecting someone doesn't mean letting them walk all over me. Stand my ground and demand the same respect I give other people. I've not forgotten, mom."

"That's my boy. You know where I am if you need someone to talk to after."

B-But mah pairing…

Next Chapter: 25th June

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur