A/N: A Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there, happy extremely late Thanksgiving to Canadians like me and any others who celebrate it either now or in October! To the entirety of the rest of the world, Happy Thursday!
"You've got to be kidding me"
"Nope, totally, one hundred percent serious."
"Who in their right minds thought that was a good idea?"
"Hey, I'm not the one responsible for it, don't give me that look!"
Jaune rolled his eyes, before levelling his girlfriend with that look, "You're telling me, that nobody in your family thought that would be the least bit odd or confusing? Or outright terrifying?" Yang just shrugged in response.
"It's not that big a deal, Jaune."
"THERE'S FOUR LIVING YANG XIAO-LONG'S IN YOUR FAMILY!" he cried out.
"Don't forget that there's two Tai-Yang's" she added in with a grin, making him facepalm.
This about summed up how Jaune's night had been going. After getting together at his family's Thanksgiving Dinner last year, Yang had decided it was only fair that he came to her own family's dinner this year. He had thought for the longest time that an Arc family gathering was the biggest, rowdiest pack of blondes you'd ever see under one roof.
Turns out he just so happened to have started dating someone from the one family that had them beat on all three accounts.
"Honestly, you're acting like it's crazy! Yang and Tai-Yang are family names. You're no different, wasn't your great grandfather named Jaune? Isn't that the name of the founder of your entire family?" Yang prodded, poking him in the side to emphasise her point.
Jaune scoffed, "My great grandfather died decades before I was born, that's different. You have four Yangs – "
Yang cut in, "and two Tai-Yangs"
" - in three generations, and they're all alive." He said, before throwing his arms out in emphasis towards the room full of Xiao-Longs, "they could all be in this very house!"
She gave Jaune a pat on the head, "Only three of us are here. Me, my second cousin who's in her thirties, and third cousin who is less than two." She explained, "The fourth lives out in the Vacuo desert, and is like one hundred and five."
"Are they all as crazy as you?" Jaune asked, looking around as if he'd be able to pick out the other two Yang's on sight. Yang herself snorted.
"Why, looking to trade up? I hate to break it to you, but the older one is happily married and whilst I'm sure getting a newer model is good for most things, the younger Yang might be a bit too young for you."
Watching with glee as Jaune's face reddened, Yang smirked, "I could still introduce you to her, maybe she'll share some of her toys, it'll be a sign!"
"You are awful." Jaune muttered, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment.
"Aw, thanks!" she cheered, pulling him into a side hug and kissing his red cheek. "You're not so bad yourself, dear" her lips pulled into a grin at the baleful side-eye she was given in response.
She pulled herself away, hopping up from her seat and offering both hands to pull Jaune to his feet as well, he looked at her hands warily for a moment, face still tinged with red, but grabbed them all the same. "C'mon" she said as she dragged him up, "I'm pretty sure I heard someone shouting that the pies were being served. If we aren't quick, someone might take all the pumpkin before I get a chance to have some."
Jaune glared, "You mean before WE have a chance to have some." He retorted as she tugged him along through the crowds by hand, she sent him a cheeky wink over her shoulder, shrugging playfully, "I mean if you'd like to be fed by me again, I'm sure I can arrange it."
Returning her gaze forward, Yang heard Jaune huff, but didn't see the mischievous turn his expression took afterwards. Her only warning was a slight tug on her hand as he stopped walking in the hallway to the kitchen before she was being yanked back and through a doorway.
She turned towards Jaune, a remark about manhandling her already on the tip of her tongue, before he rudely interrupted her train of thought by tickling her sides lightly, making the remark come out as high pitched giggles instead. "Not nice" she tried to say, and would have if that also didn't come out sounding more like a series of giggles as well. She could see Jaune smirking at her, the cheeky butt.
"Nuh uh," Jaune said as he let his fingers still and rest at her sides, "I'm not going through that again, maybe this year I'll be the one feeding you pieces of pie."
Well, if he insisted, Yang thought. One eyebrow raised, and she leaned up, placing a hand on his chest, "Would you? I think that'd be great." She whispered, taunting, so close to his face their noses nearly brushed.
To her delight, this didn't phase him, as it would have a year ago. He'd gotten a lot more confident when it came to flirting and teasing back at her when he realized just how much she loved him doing it. He simply leaned in further, nearly brushing lips with her, "Maybe, if you can convince me it'd be worth my while." He shot back, a smug grin on his face.
Not seeing the need for any more verbal response, Yang closed the distance, arms wrapping around the back of his neck to pull herself up closer to his height as she kissed him. She felt his hands slide down to her hips, before tracing towards her thighs, and she let out a quiet yelp into his mouth as he lifted her off her feet and set her on the counter behind her, solving the height difference issue.
Yang would have been more than happy to continue this the rest of the night, but as always when it came to her and Jaune, reality ensued.
"Ahem."
She froze, pulling back from Jaune slowly before opening her eyes. He was glancing back and forth between her and the doorway, face red. She turned her head, following his glances.
There, in the doorway, was a tall, blonde haired woman with bright blue eyes. She looked over the two of them for a few more moments, a familiar smirk crossing her face.
"You know, some of us need to use the bathroom." The woman said, before an eyebrow went up accusingly, "For its actual purpose, that is, not for smooching."
Sighing, Yang backed away a step from Jaune, turning fully, "Thanks for the heads up, Yang." She replied in a light tone, making the elder Yang snort. Jaune did a double take beside her, making Yang roll her eyes.
"Wait, so this is-" Yang cut him off.
"Yep. Jaune, meet my cousin, Yang. Yang, meet my boyfriend, Jaune." She introduced.
"Aw, been talking about little old me?" her cousin teased, grinning and mockingly putting her hands to her cheeks, as if to cover a blush. She heard Jaune groan, making her look his way.
"You didn't tell me they all shared your awful sense of humor." He complained to her, drawing a chuckle from her cousin and a faux offended gasp from her.
"Looks like he certainly has you pinned down." Her cousin joked before she could make a return shot at Jaune's terrible insult. She glared at the elder Yang as she was teasingly patted on the head. The woman walked between the two of them. She stopped to look Jaune up and down for a second, before nodding, "You'll do." She said, before she looked between them.
She and Jaune stared back.
"Well?" her cousin demanded, "Get outta here, I didn't come to the bathroom for a chat. Buzz off!"
They were ushered out the door back into the hall, the door to the bathroom slammed in their faces. Before they could even step away, it creaked open again, her cousin's head popping out.
"Oh, and if you guys aren't using protection, please name it Yang or Tai-Yang." The door slammed shut again, muffled laughter sounding from behind it. Yang sighed as Jaune's forehead hit the wall.
"Is it too late to go to my house?" he begged. Yang gave him a quick squeeze before pulling him towards their original destination, the kitchen.
"Also why is it always bathrooms?" she giggled at the question.
They reached the kitchen quickly after that, Yang weaving the two of them through a mass of relatives blocking the doorway chatting as they took their place in line. Yang took pity on her boyfriend when they did reach the pies, getting a slice of pumpkin for her and a separate one for him.
He had made a convincing argument for it, after all.
She would be holding him to his end though, not that he likely realized it yet. Jaune was a quick learner, but he still had a thing or two to learn about being careful what he promised her.
Their route doubled back from there, through the hall and back to the living room to reclaim their seats. They passed by Ruby as they entered the room, dutifully ignoring her pleading for help as she was almost literally swamped by younger cousins that she had been stuck with by the adults. Yang had done more than enough time as the babysitter cousin; it was Ruby's turn to suffer.
"So," Jaune spoke up as they took their seats on the couch, Jaune in the corner with Yang leaning against him, "Are there any Rose's at this dinner? I didn't think to ask earlier."
Yang blew out a soft sigh, setting her fork down, "Just Ruby." She answered, "Mom was an only child of an only child. There might be distant family out there, but they didn't all keep in touch like mine or your family's do." Jaune frowned sadly for a moment, putting an arm around her shoulders to give her a quick squeeze.
"I'd ask if Ruby ever got lonely with things like that, but I can see pretty well that your bunch have that covered." He joked, pointing his fork at her little sister, or rather, the mass of blonde kids covering her on the floor, "Literally at this point." Yang let a quiet snort slip through, rolling her eyes.
She watched as Jaune took a first slice of his pie and ate it with a smile. Her mouth curved into a mischievous grin as his fork went for a second piece. "Ahem." She interrupted when it had nearly reached his waiting mouth. He froze, eyes sliding over to her warily, met with a raised eyebrow.
"Here I thought you said you were going to feed me." She whispered, leaning towards him teasingly, "You can't just say things like that to a girl and not follow through, Lady Killer."
Now it was Jaune's turn to roll his eyes, even if it was with a smile on his face. "Guess not," he said, before his smile widened, "Wouldn't want to keep such a beauty waiting, after all." He teased.
Yang laughed, cheeks pinkening ever so slightly as she patted Jaune's cheek, "Good answer, very smooth." She praised, watching as he plucked a slice of pie off her plate and slowly held it up to her mouth. Just as her lips closed around the pie and the fork slid away, Jaune commented, "See, that pie really is a beauty like I said." To which she nearly choked trying not to spit it all back out laughing.
Covering her mouth with one hand as she coughed, managing to get the pie down, Yang glared balefully at Jaune, who smiled innocently and rubbed her back soothingly. He didn't miss a beat as she got her cough under control, either, raising his plate into her vision, "Another?" he asked, smirking.
"That was rude." The scolding came out half hearted, at best. Turnabout was fair play, and she knew that she was the one who encouraged him to mess with her more. It helped with his confidence, and the back and forth was usually great. Though this time she could have done with a bit of sheepishness rather than the blatant unrepentant grin he had.
Maturely, she pouted at him in response to his smugness, making him 'aw' at her and tug her closer, pie forgotten as his arms wrapped around her middle to snuggle with her. It was almost worthy of being an apology for making her choke on her food.
"I'm sorry I'm super funny, sweetie pie."
Almost.
"Do it again and the only funny you'll be doing is walking funny, dearie." She retorted.
Jaune waggled his eyebrows at her, "That a threat or a promise?"
Yang chuckled, cuffing him on the side of the head playfully, "I've corrupted you." She mock lamented, "They'll never let me visit the Arc house now, after what I've done." Now was Jaune's turn to chuckle, as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, "Nah, my parents love you." He said, earning a smile, "You've practically already been adopted by them, as if they needed another daughter at this point."
Yang giggled, leaning up to kiss her boyfriend sweetly, "Guess I don't get to sneak in your window like a bad girl, then?" she asked with a devious smirk on her face, tracing her fingers along his jawline.
She was rewarded with a bright blush crossing Jaune's face, something that had become a lot less common a sight in the year he'd been dating her.
"You could if you wanted." He replied after a moment, "I kind of had a thing for bad girls when I was younger." The admission was quiet, though not particularly embarrassed sounding. Her eyebrows raised, but Jaune just shrugged with a sideways smile in return.
Well, "This didn't happen to translate into a thing for mean girls, did it?" she asked, wondering if this was an explanation for his crush on Weiss a few years ago.
"Naw," Jaune brushed off, guessing her train of thought, "I thought Weiss seemed like she'd be great under all the snootiness, which she is, she just had no interest in me and I was an idiot with how I went after her." He explained.
"It turned into a thing for cool girls though, and tough girls." He offered up instead, pressing a featherlight kiss to the top of her head, "You happen to fit both of those perfectly."
Now it was her turn to blush, as she tried to hide it by turning her head. This failed, as Jaune noticed and pulled her into a tighter hug.
"You keep this up and we're going to need to find another bathroom, Jaune."