Darkness. All that enveloped the world around him was darkness. His body felt a familiar, yet foreign weightlessness to it, almost as though he was floating on air itself. Jaune wasn't sure when the last time he'd gotten such good sleep was. Considering the fact that every day was a constant race against the clock, sleeping on Yang's couch felt like heaven.
He didn't have to worry about a thing right now. As far as Jaune was concerned, the day was already starting great.
That was, until he felt something harshly impact his face. A mindless groan slipped between his lips as a hand came up to touch his head. His hand grasped at something soft, yet rough at the same time. Pulling whatever it was off of his face, his eyelids peeling themselves to show… His jeans?
"Wakey wakey." The sound of a familiar feminine voice brushed against his ears. As his eyes pulled blurred lines and blobs into proper shapes, he found a blonde-haired girl staring down at him. Her hands rested on her hips as a smile spread across her face. "Hey, look who's finally awake. How'd you sleep?"
Jaune let out a yawn as he sat up, dragging a hand over his eyes to wipe away the morning crust. "Fine enough." He muttered. The living room was filled with morning light, the rays of orange blinding him for a moment. "Why'd you wake me up so early?"
Lilac eyes blinked as Yang tilted her head. "Early? Dude, it's 9 AM. If you slept in any longer, you probably wouldn't have woken up until noon." Sure, six hours of sleep was a little shorter than normal, but it wasn't that bad.
Jaune only shook his head. "So it's early, gotcha." He muttered, tossing the blanket off of his lap as he threw his legs over the edge of the couch. Reaching his arms above his head, he couldn't stop himself from groaning, the sound of his back quietly snapping bringing him a short spurt of dopamine. "Anyway, good morning."
Yang quirked a brow at the 'early' comment, but she didn't press on it. It wasn't any of her business at what hours he woke up. "Morning, Blondie. You think you want to get dressed anytime soon? Because I kind of want to get some breakfast, and I promised to take you to this pretty sick waffle place."
Staring at the girl for a moment, Jaune sighed as a twinkle lit up behind her lilac eyes. Picking up his clothes, the blond boy pushed himself to his feet. "Alright, just give me a second and I'll be ready to go." He muttered, trying, and failing, to shake off the morning fatigue. All he could hope was that the day went as well as yesterday.
The sound of the blonde girl's giggling wasn't something that he missed. "Sick! I promise you'll love it. It's this little Mom and Pop place in Patch, and they pretty much run the whole place by themselves." Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was having trouble waking up, but he wasn't sure if he saw the same joy in it. Then again, he was still half-asleep, he'd probably pick it up later.
"Right. Hey, do you mind if I use your shower again?" He asked, gesturing to the pile of clothes in his hands.
Yang rolled her eyes, shooing him away with her hands. "You know where it is, just be quick. If I have to wait for more than 15 minutes, I'll just take my bike and drive there myself." Instead of getting an answer, she watched as the blond boy trudged off for the bathroom, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Huh. Weird. Maybe Jaune just wasn't a morning person? She wouldn't blame him if he wasn't. After all, her sister was barely a morning person; the only thing that got her moving was the thought of breakfast.
It wasn't long until Jaune walked out of the bathroom, head was soaked, droplets of water dripping from the ends of his blond hair. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his black hoodie, the phantom of a smile tugging at his face.
"Man, I really needed that shower." His words fumbled out of his mouth as he rolled his neck, a satisfying pop leading him to let out a breath. "Alright, I'm pretty much good to go. Just need to get my shoes and we can head off."
Yang let out an awkward chuckle as she kicked the carpet beneath her boot. "Oh, yeah, before we go, I've got a bit of news to share. See, my dad said that he was going to be out all day, so I've pretty much got the day to myself. So, I was figuring that we could just hang out today. Would you be up for that?" Maybe she was just being awkward, but she had so much fun yesterday hanging out with Jaune. If yesterday was fun, maybe today would be too.
Jaune let out a hum as his brows rose, his lips forming a thin line. "Huh? I mean, sure. Yeah, why not? It's not like I've got anything else to do." A small smile tugging at his lips. Well, that wasn't entirely true; He still had to clean up around his apartment, along with paying his bills. But it wasn't like his apartment was going anywhere, and he could always pay Deryl the lien at work.
The previously meek smile on Yang's face widened as she pumped her fist at her side. "Sweet. Then that just leaves the other bit of news." Jaune quirked a brow. There was still more news to tell? "So, since Dad is going to be out all day, he said I could go out and leave on one condition."
"That being?" Jaune asked, tilting his head he clenched his hands in his hoodie pockets.
"We've got to take my baby sister with us." A hand glued itself to the back of Yang's head as she stared at the nearest wall. It must have made her look so uncool, needing to drag around her little sister. Not that she didn't love her, because she did! But Ruby was… awkward was a word. It was polite too.
The blond boy pursed his lips, waiting for the actual condition to kick in. A second passed, then another, then a third, and all he got was silence. "Wait, really? That's it?" He asked, watching as Yang's shoulders sagged as her hand fell from the back of her head.
"What do you mean, 'that's it?'" The Blonde girl replied, slightly furrowing her brow in confusion. "You don't think it's a little uncool that I have to take my sister with us?"
Why would he? It wasn't like taking her little sister somewhere was supposed to be weird. After all, he had four little sisters that always wanted to go places with- Oh. Jaune couldn't stop himself from laughing as he pressed his hands against his stomach.
"Yang, I think you forgot, I am the fourth son of eight children. You bringing one sister around is not nearly as much as you think. Come to think of it, I didn't know you had a sister?" But then again, that would have probably explained that feeling from earlier. Still, he was a little surprised he didn't see the other blonde running around the house.
Yang let out a hum as she tilted her head, the muscles in her face loosening as her shoulders slumped forward. "Yeah, Rubes is like that sometimes. Don't worry though, I'm sure you'll like her." At least, she hoped he would like her. After all, if Jaune liked her sister, that meant that she wouldn't have to worry about things being awkward.
The blond boy rolled his eyes as he made for the door. "Right, well, I'm gonna go get my car started while you get your sister. Wouldn't want to keep that little diner waiting now, would we?"
The buxom blonde snorted as he brushed past her, patting her hand against his shoulder. "And here I was hoping I could take us all on my bike." She sarcastically remarked, a playful smile threatening to tear her face.
As Jaune reached the door handle, pulling the door open, he stopped right before he stepped out. "I'm not sure how much I trust your bike yet. After all, we just finished putting it back together. The last thing I want is to be added to a statistic."
The blond boy stepped out of the house and quickly shut the door behind him, avoiding any possible argument of his implications. It didn't take a genius to know that bikers had pretty high casualty statistics. However, considering the fact that he was talking to Yang, she would've probably tried to spin it as him making assumptions on her driving abilities. Now, he would never do that out loud.
But in the quiet of his mind, he had to guess that she was maybe an okay driver. Just from her personality alone.
Walking over to his driver-side door, he unlocked, pulled it open, and took his seat. Slamming the door shut, the driver smoothly stuck the key into the ignition, turning it as the engine roared back to life. As his left hand came to rest on his wheel, the feeling of vibrations trailing up his arm forcing a sigh out of his mouth. There was just something so comforting about being behind the wheel for him.
His fingers tapped against the steering wheel, quietly making dumb noises as he waited for his friend and her sister to pile out of the door. Luckily, it didn't take long, maybe a few minutes at most.
As Yang carefreely walked out of her front door, a smile on her face as she mosied over to his car, the sight of a much shorter girl shuffled behind her. Unlike Yang, the shorter girl had shortly cut black hair, red highlights randomly placed in her hair. Though, the greatest difference had to be the way she dressed.
Rubes, as Yang called her, was dressed in what could only be defined as a near gothic look. Dark clothing covered her from head to toe, a black blouse matched by an equally dark corset, both of which were highlighted by red linings. Her skirt followed the previous pattern, black base with red lining. Come to think of her, her entire outfit was just red and black.
If Jaune had to guess, she was one of two things. She was either someone with a troubled fashion sense, or she was well and truly emo. Now, the former was something that Jaune could relate to. It wasn't exactly like he walked around in the best outfits either, but that had more to do with him not being able to afford it. But if she was emo, he wasn't sure what to do.
As Yang walked over to the passenger side door, she didn't bother wasting time, pulling it open before pulling her sister in front of her. "Jaune, this is my sister, Ruby. Ruby, meet Jaune." Oh, forced introductions, okay. He could work with this.
Awkwardly waving a hand at her, he tried his best to give off a friendly smile. "Name's Jaune, pleased to meet you." Though, instead of getting a wave back, he watched the girl's silver eyes flick towards him before twitching away.
Ruby only stared at the ground, shuffling her feet as her brows lowered.
Yang jostled her shoulders as she quirked a brow at her sister. "Ruby, you're being rude." Her sister may have been awkward, but she was never that awkward.
"Hang on, I'm thinking." A hand rested on the dark haired girl's chin, her eyes flicking between him and the ground beneath her. "It's just… This boyfriend seems a lot more normal than the last one. It's a little unnerving, honestly."
Jaune had blink once, then twice, and finally thrice before her words settled in his ears. "Uh, I'm not-"
"He's not my boyfriend, Ruby." Yang growled through gritted teeth, harshly shaking her younger sister as her grip on her shoulders grew tighter. "Seriously, of all things you could've said, you choose to go with that?"
"I'm sorry!" The younger girl cried out, her voice shaking from the jostling. "I just heard Dad talking about him yesterday, so I thought that he was your boyfriend." The shaking slowly died down, leaving Ruby's previously neat hair a mess.
Jaune watched as the blonde girl let out a sigh as she massaged the bridge of her nose. "Just get in the car." He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to laugh. The familiar sight of sibling aggravation was soothing to the soul.
The younger girl piled in behind the passenger seat, sitting on the bench seat in the back. Soon enough, Yang took her place in the seat next to him, and before he knew it, they were moving. The sight of the Xiao Long home slowly growing smaller and smaller in his side mirror.
"You know," a voice came out from behind him. "I'm a little surprised it's so spacious back here. It's actually kinda comfy." He could see Ruby rocking back and forth through his rear view mirror.
He barely heard the sound of Yang snorting to herself from the sound of the engine, watching as she looked over her shoulder. "Of course it's comfy, you're riding in an old car." He wasn't sure what his car being old had to do with it being comfortable. After all, he and Gramps had to go through the hassle of finding a decent bench seat for it. Of course, the only reason that Gramps insisted on it was because of a few particularly nasty comments.
Dirty old man.
Jaune rolled his eyes, as his hands calmly gripped on the steering wheel. "Actually, that's not the first bench seat we had. We swapped out the last one because of how nasty it was back there." The last one had the leather all cut up, along with the stuffing being torn out and exposed. He didn't want to imagine what sorts of things were done back there.
From the corner of his eyes, he watched Yang quirk a brow. "'We?' I don't remember changing out the back seat in your car a few nights ago?" A playful tone hooking onto her words as she smiled at him.
"I mean my Grandad and I." He elaborated, taking his eyes off of the pretty blonde in his passenger seat and focusing on the road. "We pretty much built the car from scratch. We found the chassis in pretty decent condition, picked some parts together, and made it work. And whatever we couldn't find, we welded together."
He heard the younger girl in the back seat let out an 'uh.' "Is driving around in your car really that safe?"
Jaune only shrugged. "It's no less safe than riding around on your sister's bike, I reckon."
Ruby paused for a moment, her body shrinking in on itself as her eyes flickered between the walls of his car. "Let me out! I want off Mr. Jaune's wild ride!" She suddenly yelled out, shaking her sister's seat as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.
Yang deadpanned as she stared at her sister. "Oh, would you relax? Jaune's a perfectly capable driver, and his car works just fine." She watched as the blond boy sat up a little taller, his smile growing wider. "Besides, his car's too slow to be dangerous."
His smile died as his brows furrowed. "Hey, it's not about speed or size, it's about the motion in the ocean." So what if he didn't have the fastest car? He didn't need a fast car. Besides, what good was having a fast car if he didn't know how to handle it?
The womanly blonde next to him snickered as she stared at him from the corner of her eye. "I bet you tell all of the pretty girls that."
"Just the ones I know." He briefly replied.
"And how many is that?" Yang snipped back.
"Just one. But if my good luck keeps up, maybe there'll be another in the cards." He joked. Truth was, he doubted he'd find another pretty girl to actually give him any attention, and the only one that did was Yang. As far as he was concerned, that was enough for him.
"Wha-" Ruby muttered from her back seat. "What about me? Aren't I pretty too?"
"You're, like, twelve. I am legally not allowed to answer that." The last thing Jaune wanted was a court case of something he never said. Granted, he wasn't 18 yet, but he was almost there. "I mean, that's like looking at a puppy and saying 'who's a big dog.'"
Whatever remarked Ruby wanted to make died in her mouth, sputtering as she stared at him through pouting eyes. The sound of Yang's hollering rang loudly in his ear as he saw the older sister ruffle Ruby's hair.
"I told you to stop wearing those, but what did you say?" Yang asked, staring at her sister with a particularly smug smile. "It's a part of my identity. Watch, people will think I'm just as old as you are."
The dark-haired girl dragged her hands over her eyes as she leaned back in her seat. "It's not my fault! I've been drinking milk every day, but it's not working! It's not fair!"
Jaune stared at his fellow blond for a moment, gesturing his head towards the awkward teen in the back seat. "Is uh, is she always like this?" It wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with an awkward teenage girl. After all, there were still three of them back home. His youngest sister was barely done being a toddler, so she didn't count.
"Eh, she wasn't always like this. This actually started a few months back." Why did Jaune feel like he'd heard this story before? "Her fifteenth was not easy."
"Puberty?" He asked.
"Yup, she's a late bloomer." Yang nodded, the sound of Ruby quietly whimpering in the back seat drawing a laugh from the blond boy.
This reminded him a lot of when he was a kid. Long car rides filled with constant bickering, his sisters fighting in the back seats as his parents threatened to gouge their eyes out. Well, that was mostly Mom, but still. Nostalgia filled a previously empty part of himself as he mindlessly drove along the road.
As Jaune leaned against his seat, the idle squabble between sisters filled his ears, though whatever they were talking about went through one ear and out the other. The only thing he could focus on was the road in front of him, the sound of the dirt beneath his tires, and the memories that flashed in his mind.
He broke a lot of promises just trying to get to Vale, as unfortunate as it sounded. Jaune gave his word to give up on his dream, to stay at home and do right by his family. Instead, he went to Gramps, worked on a beat up car for a few months, stole his Great Granddad's sword, and made for Beacon. Now he was stuck working a dead end job, living paycheck to paycheck, all the while wondering if he should even bother going back home.
Would they let him come back? Did they even want him back?
Before he could let out a sigh, the dirt road widened as he drove out into the open, the previously oppressive woods opening up to show Patch proper. The sound of the girls bickering ceased as he drove closer to town, his tires meeting pavement as he left the dirt road behind him. With the odd bit of directions from Yang, he navigated the streets of Patch before pulling up to this brightly painted wooden structure.
Pulling out the keys from the ignition, it wasn't long before Jaune trailed behind Yang and Ruby, both of which were rushing to the door before he could even step out of his car.
As Jaune stepped inside the diner, the smell of sweet syrup and freshly made coffee bombarded his nose, the sound of clinking utensils against ceramic plates filling his ears. The two girls rushed to a booth near the window closest to the door, quickly taking their seats as he calmly walked behind them. The blond boy felt his knees creak as he took his seat, sitting opposite of the two sisters.
The dark haired girl across from him bounced in her seat as a smile threatened to snap her lower jaw. "So, Jaune, what do you think?" Ruby asked, her silver eyes twinkling as she stared at him. "It always smells great, the food is just awesome, and the cookies are worth killing for."
Jaune raised a brow on his face as he stared at the bundle of energy that was Ruby. "You know, I'm not quite sure. It seems nice enough, but I'd have to try the food before I jump the gun." The diner smelled good, and good smells tended to imply good food. But he'd like to withhold his praise until after he got some food.
Yang only snorted as she placed her elbows on the table, clasping her hands together. "You know, I never really got that saying. Like, where does 'jump the gun' even come from?" She knew it was an old saying, old enough to where her dad was born before it, but besides that, she knew nothing about it. Aside from what it meant.
Jaune only groaned as he ran a hand down his face. "Oh man, alright. So, growing up, my Gramps always told me that I should never go through life trying to beat the gun, and it always confused me. So one day, I asked him. Hey Gramps, what's that supposed to mean?" A brow climbed on Yang's face as she watched him seemingly ramble. He promised there was an explanation in there somewhere.
Meanwhile, Ruby only rolled her eyes. "Yeah, duh. It's not like a lot of things can beat a gun. At least, not unless you get a bigger gun, but I'm sure there's only so many guns you can go through before you run out."
The blond boy chuckled as he shook his head. "See, that's what I thought at first. But then, my Gramps tells me this." He started, clearing his throat as he brought a fist to his mouth. "It means that you're s'pposed to take life easy. Ain't no point rushin' yourself into an early grave. That's what old men are for." Doing his best to mimic Gramps' raspy, gravely voice.
"Okay, but that doesn't answer my question. I know what it means, but I don't know why it exists in the first place." Oh, that made a lot more sense.
"Oh, that? That's just a race thing. You know, when a track is about to start, they fire a blank into the air to signal that the race is on. So, you don't want to beat the gun, you know? Hence the term, jump the gun." Granted, the only reason he knew that was a little silly, and it wasn't like it was something he was good at.
"Oh…" Yang muttered, leaning the back of her head against the booth. "You know, when you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense."
Before much more could be said on the subject, a waitress showed up to take their orders, leaving menus down for all of them. Yang already made her order, not even looking at her menu, the same could be said for Ruby. Meanwhile, Jaune was stuck in an awkward place. He wasn't nearly as sure as they were of what he wanted.
So, Jaune just let his fellow blond order for him, watching as she rattled off his order. When it came to drinks, Yang ordered a pop, while her younger sister ordered strawberry milk. As for Jaune, he just got a glass of water.
With everything ordered, and most of it all flying over Jaune's head, the waitress walked away with a wave, stuffing her notepad into her apron. The conversations continued as normal, the girls snipping back and forth, all the while occasionally dragging him into the mess. He only paid half-attention to it, really. The most he could focus on was his glass of water.
Truth be told, the blond boy wasn't trying to do anything more than live in the moment. To accept it for the mindless dopamine that it was. It was rare for him to be surrounded by such bright and energetic conversation as he was, and the last thing he wanted to do was interject. So, he listened, enjoying the fact that he was there at all.
Maybe it sounded sad, or maybe it was just him being awkward, but he was just glad to be around something as simple as idle chatter.
When their food eventually arrived, the blond boy was a little surprised to find such a tall stack of waffles on his plate, a variety of berries and fruits decorating his breakfast, all the while being covered in a sickly sweet syrup. He couldn't even tell what Ruby and Yang had gotten, but that had more to do with the fact that he couldn't take his eyes off his meal, his mouth watering at the sight of absolute perfection. Jaune almost hesitated to grab his knife and fork, he didn't want to ruin the art piece that was his plate.
However, his hesitation dissipated with a growl from his stomach.
Yeah, his meal didn't last much longer after his first bite. The sweetness from the syrup, along with the multitude of flavors from the fruits, combined to create something beyond his comprehension. Compared to the stale breakfast he normally ate, his waffles were nirvana. His only complaint was that Yang thought the noises coming from his mouth were funny.
It wasn't his fault they were so good.
In between bites, he watched as the buxom blonde across from him smiled, propping her elbow on the edge of the table as she rested her chin on her palm. "Seems to me like someone like what I ordered for him." She teased, wagging her eyebrows as she stared at his dish.
As he swallowed his latest bite, Jaune took the moment to sip from his glass, setting it down on the table as the sound of clinking silverware filled his ears. "No clue what you're talking about." He muttered, going right back to his food.
Yang laughed as she nudged her sister with her elbow. "Get a look at that, Ruby. I think Blondie's embarrassed I had to order for him." Her smile grew more smug with each passing word. It wasn't her fault that Jaune being embarrassed was so funny to her. Then again, maybe it had to do with the fact that he looked like her dad.
Well, maybe not entirely, but he looked similar enough. Blond hair, blue eyes, similar build. Hell, the only thing missing was the dad jokes. Maybe a haircut too, but that didn't matter nearly as much. Was that why she felt so comfortable around him? It wasn't like it was outside of the realm of possibilities.
Yang's thought process was broken by the sound of her sister humming. "Wait, aren't you blonde too?" The blonde girl's smile faltered.
"That's what I thought too." Jaune followed up, chuckling to himself as he set his fork down, taking a break from his half finished waffles. "It doesn't help that she asked me to hang out with her before she even knew my name." Granted, that situation was fixed up pretty quickly, but still, the blond boy found it funny.
He watched as Ruby's silver eyes stared up at her sister, who was busy looking out towards the window. "Yang, you've really got to learn when to invite people out." The younger sibling deadpanned as she stared at the back of Yang's head.
"Hey, I don't want to hear that from the girl who has trouble inviting people out in the first place." Yang nonchalantly replied, shrugging off her sister's concern.
"Wha- I do not have trouble inviting people to hang out. I'm just always busy, either with working on Crescent Rose, or studying, or trying out new ammo, or-" Ruby's list of reasons being cut short by Yang wrapping her arm around her sister's neck. Wait, trying out ammo? What would Ruby need to try out ammo for?
"Finding more excuses to not go outside." The blonde muttered through grit teeth, digging her knuckles into the top of Ruby's head. Of course, that didn't last long before the dark-haired girl slipped from her grapple. "Come on, you mean to tell me that you're not having fun just hanging out with Jaune and I?"
The younger girl grumbled as she punched her sister's shoulder, not the older girl seemed to notice. "I'm happy enough just hanging out with you." Came her near immediate response. Oh, okay, that's cool. No, he knows how it is, that's alright. Not like he thought Ruby was alright or anything.
Yang quirked a brow as she stared down at her sister. Though, before she could comment on her sister's behavior, her scroll buzzed in her pocket. She hummed to herself as she pulled her scroll from her pocket, flicking it open to find a pleasant surprise. A smile threatened to split her face as a previously inactive chat sprung back to life.
"Well, what do you know?" She muttered. "I guess tonight just got a lot more interesting."
Jaune's blue eyes narrowed in confusion. That was a little sudden. "Why do you say that?" He asked, hoping that there wasn't something dangerous in the cards for tonight.
A twinkle lit up behind lilac eyes. "How do you feel about going down to Vacuo tonight? Just you, me, your car, and my bike." Going down to Vacuo?
"So soon?"
"Yep." The blonde girl's smile widened, probably at the prospect of screeching tires and loud music. "Come on, it'll be fun."
Before Jaune could come up with an answer, he watched the younger Xiao Long grab her sister's shoulders, shaking them violently. "I thought you said you weren't dating!" Berating her sister in a hushed voice. "And now you've got some weird code word for going out and… being gross."
Yang only brushed her sister's arms from her shoulders, watching as the younger girl plopped back into her seat. "Woah, easy there, sis. I thought I told you that we aren't. Besides, that's not what we're talking about. I get that hormones are a little tricky to deal with, but you might wanna get your head screwed on straight before you jump the-" The blonde girl cut herself off, deadpanning as she stared across the table.
Jaune only smiled, not saying a word. He did absolutely nothing to deserve the smug satisfaction he was currently feeling, and that somehow made him feel even better.
The younger girl let out an 'uh' as she shrunk in her seat. "If you're not talking about that, then what are you talking about?"
The womanly blonde smirked. "Well, if you have to know, there's this fun little car meet going on in Southern Vale, and I promised Jaune that I'd take him to one someday. As it just so happens, there's one going on tonight."
The driver only blinked as his eyes flicked between the two sisters. Hang on, back up, when did she ever promise to take him to a car meet? He didn't remember her ever doing that- she was making it up so that he'd be forced to go, wasn't she?
Ruby's brows rose in understanding as she crossed her arms. "Oh, that makes way more sense. Wait, tonight? As in, late at night?"
"Yep." Yang replied, popping the ending of her response. "So, can you do a girl a solid and not tell Dad?"
Silver eyes blinked before Ruby's lips thinned. "No."
"What? Why not?" Yang asked, crossing her arms as she stared indignantly at her little sister.
"Because you're going to do something dumb, get in trouble, hurt someone, and then not get caught. Either that, or something worse." You know, it didn't surprise Jaune in the least that the dark-haired girl would say such things about her sister. No, really, it wasn't something he was shocked to hear.
"What could be worse than me getting into a fight or two? Besides, most of the guys at the meets are alright, just a bunch of older dudes wanting to show off their cars and unwind. Mostly, anyway." Man, that sounded like heaven to Jaune. Just being able to show up, look at other cars, and relax.
As the blond boy picked up his chilly glass, bringing it to his lips for a sip, he heard the younger girl scoff as she rolled her eyes. "You could get pregnant." Jaune choked on his drink as he set it aside, coughing into his hand as he tried to clear his windpipe.
Yang's eyes widened as she leaned away from her sister, smooshing herself against the wall next to her. "What? I wouldn't- I'm not- Who could get me pregnant anyway? It's not like there's a bunch of guys that I'd be into at the meet." The blonde girl felt a twinge of heat dust her cheeks as she stared down at her sister. It wasn't like she was looking to hook up with anyone!
She was going to have to have a chat with Ruby later, she just felt it.
Instead of directly answering, Jaune watched as the silver-eyed girl only turned to face him. What..? "Oh, no. Nope, not gonna happen, I'm not getting involved with that conversation. Not in a million years, no way." Jaune knew well enough where that would lead, and he didn't want to be accused of anything. He'd been on the other side of this conversation enough time to know where Ruby's head was at, and all he could do was hope she'd move on.
Blue eyes watched as Yang wrapped her arms around the back of Ruby's neck, putting her in a light chokehold. "Yeah, no, that's not a conversation any of us are having. Jaune is a friend, and you're gonna treat him like he's my friend. There's nothing else going on, and I'm getting a little annoyed that you and Dad keep acting like there is." Not bothering to hide her annoyance as her sister tapped at her forearm.
"Okay, yep, just a friend. Now let go!"
Yang rolled her eyes as she let her arm loosen, watching as her sister scooched away. "Nice. Glad we could all level with each other on that."
The blond boy only chuckled as he stared down at his plate. He only managed to get through a little over half of his breakfast, and he wasn't sure if he could finish it. Besides, after that little misunderstanding, along with Ruby insinuating what she did, he wasn't sure he wanted to. "Yeah, now if only convincing your dad was that easy, then I'd feel like he didn't want to pop my head like a grape."
Jaune watched a brow rise on Ruby's face, a small smile spreading across her lips. "Nah, I don't think Dad would do that. I mean, he might be a little skeptical, but I don't think he hates you. Besides, if guys get handsy with Yang, he usually doesn't have to do any of the dirty work himself." What was that supposed to mean?
"Meaning?" He asked.
The blue-eyed boy watched as Yang brought a hand to the back of her head. "I, uh, I've got some anger management problems. If a guy pushes my buttons in a way I don't like, let's just say I have a history of leaving people as a nice puddle on the ground." She said, awkwardly chuckling as she smiled.
Some part of him had trouble believing that, if he was going to be honest. He'd only ever seen Yang when she was cheery, and he could believe that she was capable of anger, but that was about it. Seeing was believing, and as of yet, he hadn't ever seen Yang truly angry.
Jaune let out a hum as his hand cupped his chin, staring at the blonde in question. "You have anger issues?"
"It's not a question of when I'll flip out, it's more of when I'll come down from being pissed, you know?" Her embarrassed smile faltered as she stared down at her plate. "I mean, I'm better now, but when I started going to Sig-" She paused for a moment, clearing her throat. "To middle school, I was a little unhinged."
"Oh." He muttered, smiling as he stared at the blonde across the table. "I never would've guessed. I mean, you've been pretty happy-go-lucky since we met. Aside from what I saw of you at the front desk in the shop, but you know what I mean." She didn't seem nearly as unhinged as she wanted to lead him to believe, so he'd refuse to believe it until proven otherwise.
Ruby giggled as she nudged her sister's shoulder. "Look at you, Yang, coming off all normal and stuff. Wait until the guys at Signal hear about this-"
The older girl's hand slammed over her sister's mouth, staring down at her through wide eyes. A second passed and the blonde girl turned back to face him, smiling widely as her hand remained against Ruby's mouth.
All Jaune could do was blink. "Uh, what was that about?" What was Signal anyway?
"Nothing!" Yang quickly replied, her smile widening as she tried to come off naturally. Oh man, Jaune was going to think she wasn't normal. He was going to put her on this weird pedestal because of the Huntress stuff, and then things were going to be weird, she just knew it! She wanted to die, she wanted to die so bad.
Yang felt something warm and slimy trail across her palm, jumping in disgust as she wiped her hand off against her coat. Meanwhile, Ruby only wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "I take it back, you're being weird again." Her sister muttered as she went back to her breakfast, sipping from her glass of strawberry milk.
The blond boy only quirked a brow as he stared at the two sisters. Okay, weird, but whatever. As he brought a hand up to clear his throat, he shrugged aside his questions. "So, about that car meet. You said it's just going to be a chill gathering, right?"
He watched as the girl across from him deflated, her smile easing as her elbows resting on the edge of the table. "It should be, unless some of the guys want to do some digs. But it should still be pretty easy going. Why, you thinking about coming?" A teasing tone lining her voice as her eyebrows rose.
It was Jaune's turn to lean forward, letting his arms rest against the table as he smiled. "Well, you did promise to take me someday, and as it just so happens, I'm free. So yeah, fuck it, let's go." He said, ignoring the quiet sigh that came from Ruby.
Yang laughed as she leaned back against the booth, grabbing her glass of pop before taking a swig. "Got me there." She held her drink close to her mouth as a glint shined behind her eyes.
Ruby stuck her tongue out as she turned away from them. "Could you not flirt while I'm here? It's kind of gross." The younger girl loudly complained, and Jaune couldn't help but laugh. She reminded him way too much of his little sisters.
"Hey, there's nothing flirty about this. It's called banter, and you're always allowed to step in." He softly chided, wagging a finger at Ruby as he smiled at her. Though, a thought tickled at the back of his mind, a sudden realization coming over him. "Actually, isn't your dad going to be out all day?"
The silver-eyed girl tilted her head as she turned back to face the pair of blonds, curling a brow. "Uh, yeah? But that's not really new. Why?" It wasn't new? As in, they were both used to her dad just not being around? Was he really that busy?
Jaune let out a hum as he brought a hand to cup his chin, glaring at the table beneath him.
"Woah there, Tiger, don't want to burn a hole into the table now. I said I'd cover your meal, not your damages." Yang joked, setting her carbonated drink aside as she watched his blond brows ease up.
"Yeah, it's just… Don't you think it'd be kinda lonely by yourself?" He asked, staring at the dark-haired girl. Maybe it was coming out of left field, and maybe it was none of his business, but he couldn't help but feel obligated to ask.
Ruby stared back at him in shock, her eyes silently flicking between her plate and himself. From the corner of his eyes, Jaune noticed his fellow blond staring down at her sister, equally as surprised.
The younger girl twiddled her thumbs as she stared down at her lap. "I mean, it's not that bad. I get to work on new designs, draw, and play video games, you know? It's never boring." Her argument fell short as her shoulder rose, hiding her neck in her blouse.
"Why not come with?" The words slipped from Yang's mouth before she could stop herself. Who cared if she was going to look lame bringing her sister to a car meet, she didn't want to see her sister look like a kicked puppy. "You can come and see the sights, take a look at nighttime Vale. Besides, it beats being stuck inside all day, right?"
The dark-haired girl looked between Yang and Jaune, repeating the process once, twice, and one last time. A shaky smile came over her face as she shut her eyes. "So long as it's nothing crazy."
With that nudge of confirmation, Yang wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders, shaking her as she laughed. "Oh, you're gonna love it! The engines, the tires, the smell, it's awesome! Ooh, you know what we should do?" A quiet hum from her sister spurred her on. "We should get some snacks! You know, for the car meet."
Ruby's silver eyes sparkled brightly at the prospect of snacks. "We need to go to the bakery before we go! The recipe they use for chocolate chip cookies is amazing." Her energy was put on full display as she gripped her older sister's hands, violently shaking in her seat.
The blond boy only softly smiled, doing his best to hide it behind his glass as he sipped from his water. His mornings seemed to be getting bright with each passing day.
He could only hope that his evenings could match such brightness.
And that's going to wrap things up for this chapter. I think by now, you folks might start understanding what sort of tone and pacing I'm going for. It's gonna be a little slower, but frankly, I think I like writing at this pace. It lets me explore characters and do some extra characterization.
Anyway, I should have a new chapter out by about next week or so, mostly because I don't wanna keep you all waiting. That, and I wanna show off a little. Maybe that's me just feeding my ego, but it's just how I feel.
So yeah, if you're enjoying the story thus far, feel free to follow, favorite, and please do review. I don't respond to them because I don't really find the appeal in it, but I do read all of them. So if you ever feel like telling me what you liked or disliked, feel free to drop a review. I'd say I take criticism, but I'm not sure if there's much more to fix anymore. I mean, if there is, then let me know, but I'll be mildly surprised.
Obligatory discord shill: 7ksPCNs3ZM
Also, no comments on that Roman and Neo chapter? Damn, that kinda sucks. It doesn't hold any weight or water on anything, but I really liked writing it. Oh well, c'est la vie.
Anyway, now that that's all done, I'll see you all in about a week. Ciao, y buenas noches.
