Author's Notes: Oh my GOD, it's been so long since I've managed to finish anything. I have no real excuse, but what happened was that I fell into another deep depression, and things just seemed to go bad for me once again. 2016 was an absolutely horrible year for me, and definitely not a productive one. I feel bad because I asked for prompts and I only managed to do one before I just up and seemed to disappear from this site. I can't promise I'm back for good, but in the last few days I've had the writing bug, so we'll see if I have a better streak now that I'm faced with a new year.
Here's to every single one of you lovely people, have a good 2017.
Weiss stared at the box with uncertainty. It wasn't every day that she was given gifts, of course, so naturally, she was unsure of what to do. It was an entirely different experience to randomly receive a gift than to receive one on Christmas or one's birthday. Then, it is common courtesy to accept whatever gift you're given, because it is a tradition.
When one is given a gift at random, however, it's just a bit off-putting. One feels like they don't really deserve it. Weiss, in particular, didn't feel like she deserved it at all, not having done much of note recently. And yet, here was Jaune, presenting her with a small, black box that most definitely held some kind of jewelry. Jewelry that she really didn't need in all honesty, seeing as how her jewelry box was basically filled to the brim.
All throughout her childhood she had been drowned in material possessions, not the least of which included obscene amounts of necklaces and earrings, rings, tiaras, and other such things. Things that, looking back, she would have traded for just a little bit of company and love from someone other than her family.
Not only did she receive large amounts during childhood, but she received even more in her early teenage years. Suitors clamoring for her attention saw her as just another rich girl who would accept jewels and diamonds and honeyed words in place of real friendship and affection.
Of course, she wasn't rude. She accepted the gifts. She kept them too, acknowledging that each and every one probably cost a large amount of lien. But the majority of the pieces she never wore.
The black box, thusly, stared at her as if it were mocking her.
She nervously sent a glance to Jaune, who was just smiling at her with a happy expression on his face. He motioned for her to open it up, but she was still hesitant.
"J-Jaune, you really didn't have to get me anything," Weiss said softly, taking a deep breath before opening the box. She felt her heart beat a little faster as she stared down at the object within. It was a necklace, of course, she already figured it would be, but there was something about it that she didn't expect.
That being: it stood out.
All of her jewelry, she felt, was boring. It had nothing going for it. Sure it was all beautiful. Silver, gold, emeralds, rubies, sapphires. All of these things held a base value and had a certain thing that just naturally attracted people.
But this necklace.
It was a silver snowflake. Seemingly pure silver. But the odd thing was that there was clearly flecks of gold throughout the silver, creating a glitter effect.
She knew that this was impossible using simple jewelry making techniques, and thus the necklace had to be made using not only gold and silver but specially produced dust sold to certain jewelers.
The only thing is that there were very few jewelers on Remnant that had the skill to do this, and more often than not their pieces sold for more lien than normal, everyday people had.
Even Weiss had trouble getting jewelry like this because of how long it took to make, and how long the wait list usually was to even get in to special order it.
She looked up to Jaune, closing the black box and holding it close to her chest.
"I know I didn't have to get you anything, I just wanted to. Do you like it?" he asked softly, hopefully.
Weiss couldn't lie. She loved it. It was more beautiful than any other piece of jewelry she had. So much so that she was afraid of taking it out of the box. She didn't want to risk losing it or harming it in any way.
"I... Jaune," she started, pausing to collect her thoughts, "this is absolutely amazing, I honestly can't believe you'd give me something so wonderful... How did you even get this?"
Jaune just laughed, winking in a goofy manner and saying "I have my ways."
She wanted to roll her eyes at how cheesy the response was, but she knew there was quite possibly a really good reason he didn't want to tell her. She knew that he would never resort to crime, of course, but there were plenty of other things he could not wish to disclose.
"This is just... Wow." Weiss clutched the black box closely to her. "I..."
Jaune laughed incredulously. The fact that he had made Weiss speechless was a bit hard to comprehend. She always seemed to so effortlessly take everything in stride, almost gracefully. Though this wasn't always the case, it certainly was now. Sometimes she made a mistake, or she was a little rough around the edges, but never with stuff like this.
"Anything for such a good friend," Jaune said with a friendly tone. Weiss shook her head, taking another deep breath and trying to respond. All that came out was inaudible syllables and a mumble. "Sorry," Jaune said with a chuckle, "can you repeat that?"
Weiss blushed. "This isn't a gift you just give to a friend. Jaune this is... This kind of necklace, this is usually seen as a wedding gift or something you give your spouse. Only in high society, but that- I mean, I-..." She looked up to see Jaune smiling affectionately at her, more care than she ever knew someone to show for her swirling through those eyes that she suddenly found so beautiful. "You knew."
"I knew. And that's why I got it," he said in reply. "I knew the significance wouldn't be lost on you. I know that-... I know that we had a rough start. I was an idiot. And I know that we've only really been good friends for a few months now... But Weiss, I really care about you. I really, really like you. As more than just a friend. And I just wanted you to know that."
Weiss shuffled in place as Jaune unconsciously stood up straighter, trying to seem more like he wasn't a nervous mess on the inside.
"Jaune..." Weiss said breathlessly, her mind still reeling. "I don't-, that is to say, I'm unsure if what I feel for you is anything more than a close friendship. I've had thoughts, I won't deny that. But I'm still unsure." She could see Jaune shift a bit, his eyes moving to the floor. "But," she continued loudly, making him look back up to her, "I think that if we keep spending time together... I think those little thoughts may grow into something more. Just maybe."
She smiled at him, and he smiled right back.
"Well, I hope we can spend a lot of time together in the future," he said hopefully.
"I hope so too," she said back. "Thank you so, so, so, so much for the gift, Jaune. You just... You have no idea what it means to me. I have to go now, or I'll be late for mine and Ruby's study session, but maybe we can hang out later?"
"Absolutely," he agreed with a warm smile.
"Great. I'll see you later, then." She stepped up to him, stopping for a second before shaking her head and leaning up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm gonna wear this every day," she whispered.
He watched her walk away knowing that she meant what she said. He stood there for a moment, just contemplating the whole exchange, before finally rubbing his cheek where she kissed him and heading back to his dorm.