Jaune stepped through the door, taking in the sight of RWBY scattered across the empty prep room. He was familiar with the room and its leftmost door, which led to the locker room preceding the training hall they reserved every week. He was less familiar with actually holding discussions here though, especially ones of such a… particular nature.
"Howdy, Blondie!" Yang called out with a grin. At the very least he could rely on her to break the ice of whatever conversation needed to happen.
With a grin, albeit a shaky one, he responded with, "Right back atcha, uh," he paused, his face pinching as the joke flitted from his brain as quickly as it had entered, eventually sighing and shrugging it off. Yang snickered and he knew his face was tinting a little red, but a gentle nudge towards a chair from Pyrrha, who had now entered behind him, helped steer his mind back on course.
He twisted the chair so its back was to the opposing team, facing them as he sat backwards, trying to keep his fingers from immediately tapping or fidgeting against the table. Silence reigned for a moment as Weiss was, as always, buried in her scroll and Blake in her book. Ruby gave a little wave, glancing up from whatever assignment she was going over at what he imagined was Weiss' insistence, and for a moment no one spoke.
"Really, guys?" Yang muttered, glancing at her team, before flipping Ruby's paper over and pointedly ignoring the mild glare from Weiss. "We're here to talk," Yang continued, looking over again to Jaune and Pyrrha, who had taken a seat next to Jaune and crossed one leg over the other.
Silence continued to reign, and a rasping page turn seemed to do it for Yang as she leaned over and gently swatted Blake's book, not knocking it from her partner's hand but merely grasping the Faunus' attention. Blake turned, giving Yang a flat stare, before rolling her eyes and slipping her well-worn bookmark into place.
"I maintain," Weiss began flatly, her gaze not wavering a fraction from her scroll, "that you are putting way too much effort into this, Yang."
"Noted and discarded, Weiss." Yang chirped, grinning cheekily as Weiss glared again.
Jaune watched all this in silence, utterly clueless on how to interact with the group. He could (somewhat) crack jokes with Yang or (sorta) nerd out with Ruby over something, but watching Yang snipe jabs at Weiss or Blake give dry responses to things he hadn't even realized were jokes made him realize, time and time again, how different the...pace, was. He didn't touch the concept of interacting with Weiss or Blake with a ten foot pole, usually, beyond his typical lineup of humor, but the prospect of trying to intersect into their collective dialogue was somehow scarier than actually talking with Weiss.
Pyrrha wasn't helping much on that front, though her presence was, as always, wonderfully soothing for his nerves. At least he didn't want to run away either. It was uncomfortable, yes, but he'd been in rather a lot of uncomfortable positions lately. Maybe it was losing its effect on him?
He certainly hoped so. That would make things easier in the long run.
"Well." Weiss began again, her voice somehow even flatter than before, "If you're going to insist we meet up and discuss this as if it's a massive problem than how about you get us started with said discussion, Yang."
"Yes," Blake began, eying her book. "Don't keep us waiting, Yang."
Yang pouted, looking to Ruby for support but finding only a questioning gaze pointed her way.
With a deep, exaggerated sigh, Yang turned and, for the first time, properly took in the divide of the room. She shifted over, landing squarely between both teams in the room with a slight frown. Jaune appreciated her effort to bridge the gap, since he had absolutely no idea how to do that himself.
"Well then, as my patient teammates noted, we're all here! So, let's get started on plan 'figure out what the heck to do about these massage things'!" She declared, glancing around the silent and unresponsive room before heaving a deep sigh.
"Okay, prissy," she began, leveling a stare at Weiss who arched a single eyebrow, "If you're gonna push for me to start us off than you need to also play nice."
"I wasn't aware you had opened the floor for conversation, or were you asking for negative feedback on your terrible name?" The heiress responded with an imperious sniff, finally closing her scroll down and setting it on the table. Yang pouted at the barbs, and Jaune fidgeted, still at a loss as to how to face this situation.
"How about," Pyrrha intersected, all eyes turning to her as she leaned forward, "We ensure that everyone is on the same page about this 'massage thing' as you put it, Yang."
Yang beamed as Weiss rolled her eyes but said nothing. After another beat of silence, Yang spoke again.
"We're on five people now, that blondie has massaged. Most of us just got back massages," she said, grinning as Weiss pulled a face, before continuing, "but we've all had one each and, while I don't speak for everyone, I think there's probably a pretty universal consensus of wanting another one. Anyone wanna tell me I'm wrong?"
She turned around, if only for the sake of the visual comedy, only getting eyerolls or head-shakes in response.
"Then, Weiss, it would be pretty disorganized of us to all just holler at poor Jaune whenever we want a backrub, or footrub if that's your shtick, so as the resident organizer what do you think we ought to do?"
Weiss glared poisonously, and Jaune barely managed to not shrink back at just imagining that glare being turned on him.
"I think you ought to try using your brain for once instead of charging into everything and hoping you come out with your head on straight." Weiss bit back, and for a moment Yang's face blanked before she shrank back with an exaggeratedly wounded expression. The pause was enough, though. He was pretty confident that Yang had either been genuinely annoyed by that or hurt by her teammates hostility, only to quickly mask the feeling to avoid confrontation.
"Hey now," Blake slipped into the conversation, her voice cautious as she leaned over to glance at her teammates, "Yang's yang-ness aside, you are the best planner out of all of us, Weiss. This...idea, well. I feel the same about it as you do, but let's at least give it more thought as a group before writing anything off."
Weiss huffed, but the fire was gone from her eyes. She leaned back in the chair, before sighing and turning a look at Jaune that he didn't know where to start on deciphering.
"And you?" She said, sounding as tired as she did aggravated that this whole situation had occurred. He figured she wouldn't appreciate a joke, or a question about what exactly she meant.
"I…" He paused, fiddling with his hands for a moment, before sighing, shrugging, and saying "I guess I haven't really changed much. What I said to Blake and, uh, to you Weiss, is about the same. I just...I just want to help. If I can, I mean."
Weiss' expression didn't soften, but something shifted. The tension in her shoulders might have slackened, her chin might have dropped, he wasn't sure. But she sighed again, gently rubbing the bridge of her nose, and conceded.
"If massages of any kind were to happen again, and consistently, they would benefit from a schedule. As would you."
He blinked, surprised that she'd included anything about him and the severe cramps he'd had, yesterday. Lara had indeed sent him a message containing links to several different sources of information and guides to hand stretches. One of which had even been specifically for people learning to give massages professionally. Those, and judicious applications of Nora's heating pad, had eliminated the pain rather swiftly.
"I, um, y-yeah," he stammered, shaking the thoughts from his mind so he could return his focus to the conversation. "Those stretches helped a lot. I'm still a bit stiff but otherwise I'm all good."
"So you're saying it wasn't that bad at all, right?" Weiss muttered, snorting as Ruby and Yang shot her identical looks.
Jaune laughed weakly, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess not, huh? Makes me feel– well...no, it doesn't make me feel that bad – it hurt."
Weiss snorted again, but raised her hands in surrender when Pyrrha also turned. She didn't give Weiss a look, of course, as that wasn't Pyrrha's style, but her plain gaze seemed to be enough.
"Anyways," Yang cut in, "Schedule seems pretty easy to sort. There's five of us and five days that aren't weekends. If blondie's hands hold up to the strain with weekends as a break, that might be all we need. Anyone have any other ideas?"
No one spoke. For a moment, Jaune felt that he perhaps understood how Blake and Weiss felt. In that moment, glancing around and seeing a lack of objections, he couldn't help but feel that this situation was incredibly absurd.
The prospect of giving massages to his friends wasn't what made it absurd. But to sit down and schedule it every day? He...didn't object, but it didn't feel like there was a good reason to. Stretching had already eliminated the discomfort from earlier and now that he knew what to do it seems pretty unlikely that it would happen again to the same extent.
It all just felt a little surreal, he supposed.
Hearing no objection and seeing no particularly disgruntled expressions, Yang gave a short "Well, I think that about settles that. Oh by the way, I call next massage."
Blake and Weiss both rolled their eyes while Pyrrha let out a gentle laugh. Jaune chuckled as well, somewhat nervously, as Ruby seemed like she wanted to speak up but decided not to.
Silence reigned again, the mood rapidly becoming oppressively awkward. Before that could continue though, Weiss stood up and, with a flick of her ponytail, left the room without another word.
Out of all that had happened so far, that strangely enough lifted his mood the most.
The rest of Sunday would (hopefully) pass equally uneventfully. Jaune was...tired? He wasn't sure, but he didn't feel bad, more...very neutral. He was grateful that no one tiptoed around him yesterday, especially once the pain had faded. They hadn't had any training scheduled, but he knew Pyrrha wouldn't have let him even look at his gear. If it was anyone else, he figured that would bother him a lot – well, except if it was Ren, or Nora, or anyone from RWBY or...
Huh. Being mothered was a lot more enjoyable when it wasn't his actual mother. It was nice to know they cared, even if that care might go a little farther than he felt was necessary.
Though, apparently, what he felt was necessary was very different than what they thought. But that wasn't a can of worms he wanted to open anytime soon, even only in his mind.
Well, he hoped anyways. But the same part of his mind that pondered the recent frequency in which he'd avoided opening mental 'cans of worms' snidely pondered how his hoping for various outcomes, or hoping for relief from nerves, hadn't done much lately.
He tried to ignore it. He really did.
Pyrrha couldn't ignore it.
She prodded what few bites of roasted squash remained on her plate, letting Nora's light-speed conversation wash over her head and drown out the silence a little better. It didn't do enough, though. There was a something that scratched at her, digging its claws into her mind and demanding her attention, but not having the courtesy to explain what it was.
She sighed, setting her fork down in defeat, giving up the last few bites and sliding her plate over to the right. Jaune, next to her, sat in similar silence. The sight of his fork snagging the remnants of squash off her plate brought a little smile forth, but it didn't last.
She was restless. She could tell that much, but it was the same restless as any time she tried coffee or one of Ren's energy drinks. Energy, but no direction, like her skin shrunk a little and her aura was pushing against the smaller boundaries. She didn't like it, especially when she couldn't figure out why it was happening.
Ren interjected with a comment she didn't fully catch, but it had Nora letting out peals of resounding laughter. That brought another smile out of her, but it lasted about as long as the last one.
Ren, ever observant, seemed to catch on to her discomfort. Ren, also ever tactful, didn't ask her what was wrong, but with a few quick comments had steered Nora towards the prospect of watching her favorite show in their room, and between blinks Nora had leapt out of her seat and was trying to drag Ren and Jaune away from the table. Watching a show meant that they would probably not have the chance to catch up like they'd wanted to, given that Jaune's condition yesterday had caused most of the day to be consumed by taking care of him and today he would be training with her shortly after dinner. Nora had expressed some interest in telling the story of their trip, but given the prospect of watching her favorite series...well, Pyrrha was sure that if Nora had a third arm its hand would have snagged her collar.
All accomplished with a few simple words, from a few simple observations. Jaune was...well, she knew she liked Jaune, but this detour only served to remind her that sometimes she forgot just how wonderful Ren was.
Would the show help distract her from this confusing and aggravatingly strange mood? Probably not, no. But it would be nice, to lean up against Jaune with Nora's hand going through her hair. It would feel…
She smiled, jogging to catch up.
It would feel like family.
...Well, perhaps leaning against Jaune wouldn't feel entirely like family. His hoodie was very soft and he smelled very nice, but there was unmistakably the feeling of muscle slowly but surely building under those clothes. Her eyes drifted over to her partner as the entertained the thoughts for a moment, but only that moment. With a sigh, she bent her mind back to it's correct course and actually caught up to her teammates proper.
The first time all of JNPR had watched a show together had been a little awkward. Nora had helped cut the tension with her usual boisterous, explosive self, but Jaune had still found it a little weird to cluster around the projected screen of Ren's scroll. Especially since, as he had guessed readily, they all had pretty different tastes in shows. Pyrrha at least didn't seem to enjoy the action-packed comedy shows that Nora begged to watch near as much as Jaune and Nora did. When Pyrrha chose watching material, it was usually a more emotional or serious show, though she had occasionally put on some pleasantly funny sitcoms.
Ren, to everyone bar Nora's surprise, watched horror shows. That had been a strange realization, but even stranger was the time when he'd instead put on a romantic mini-series.
There were times when Ren seemed like the only sensible person on the planet. Other times, the concept of dating Weiss seemed less impossible than figuring out just what he was thinking.
Jaune sighed, clipping his armor on. He relished their watching parties, no matter what the material, but going from sitting very close to Pyrrha (which had become even harder given recent events) to being pushed to the edge of what his body could handle in combat training brought on a dissonance that he still struggled to reconcile, now and then. Nevertheless, he relished training just as much as he did the team bonding.
Still, today was different.
Without even focusing a moment of time on the talks from this morning, because that was something that he still didn't know how to process adequately, there was something off about him. Maybe it was residual unease from the prospect of having a scheduled massage with five different girls over the coming week (and maybe more) but it didn't quite feel the same as that. It was more akin to the feeling that there was something he'd forgotten, but he was pretty confident he hadn't actually forgotten anything important. Something tickled the back of his mind.
He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what it was, truthfully. Sure, he'd probably have to figure it out, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it.
He stepped out to their usual spot, already clipping on his shield and doing a few practice swings with his sword. He'd already stretched, but he thought the motions helped him unwind a bit more anyways.
Pyrrha followed out shortly, Miló in hand with Akoúo̱ slung over her back. Before they'd changed to prepare for the session Pyrrha had decided that today they'd be focusing on his capacity to face an opponent who utilized primarily offensive tactics, and how the lack of an exploitable defense might hamper his ability in the fight, and then how he could learn from that to turn the circumstances to his benefit.
It was a nice spiel, but it usually tended to equate to "beat Jaune around for a bit before showing him a lot of subtle things that actually were really useful that he didn't notice until she said them." Not that he minded, of course, since he'd already improved leaps and bounds under Pyrrha's tutelage and any excuse to see her in her combat gear was–
Jaune stopped dead, repressing a scowl as he forced the thoughts to go away please. He didn't need those kind of intrusive little murmurings distracting him while he was trying to learn, thank you very much.
Watching a show meant that they would probably not have the chance to catch up like they'd wanted to, given that Jaune's condition yesterday had caused most of the day to be consumed by taking care of him and today he would be training with her shortly after dinner. Nora had expressed some interest in telling the story of their trip, but given the prospect of watching her favorite series...well,
Surprisingly, it worked. Though, part of that could probably be attributed to Miló slamming into his blade. Abrupt starts to training had become a theme in his spars with Pyrrha, and it worked to keep him on his toes.
He feinted, then disengaged only long enough to bring his sword down in a two handed grip.
Shortly after, he ran out of time to think about anything else.
Blake was somewhat surprised, Monday morning, to see all of JNPR trail into the cafeteria. She'd awoken earlier than everyone else and decided that some cereal didn't sound too disagreeable this morning, leaving a note for her team to see and follow her down if they liked. She saw Jaune's eyes scanning the relatively empty room as he and his team filed through the line. His gaze met hers, and after a moment he gestured to the seats around her. She shrugged, turning back to her book and taking a sip of her now-lukewarm coffee. After a few more moments, steps began to thump towards her table, followed by the tapping of ceramic and metal against wood as the group took a seat.
By the breathing, Pyrrha was on her left and Ren her right, with Jaune across the table from her and Nora on his left. She turned a page, the rasping of paper on paper layering against the sounds of metal tableware contacting plates and dipping into bowls of milk and sugary cereal.
She took a sip of the too-bitter coffee, which was curious, since the cafeteria usually didn't over-roast their beans.
Finally, someone spoke.
"How, uh, how was your trip, you two?"
Blake turned another page, focusing slightly more on the conversation than before. She could do without Nora's chatter, or at least her volume, but it was rarely unpleasant to listen to Ren tell stories. He had a knack for it, and a good voice too. Besides, she was at least a little curious. A mysterious trip taken by one of the odder couples (Nora's blushing denials aside) stood a higher chance of having something interesting to talk about when all was said and done.
"It was...refreshing. We returned to pay respects to some departed members of our families - Nora and I lived in the same village, you see, so we didn't need to travel far to visit each one."
Jaune made a quiet little 'ohhh' and trailed off, clearly unsure of how to continue the conversation after such a topic was brought up. Blake couldn't help but think that said topic felt a little...odd. She wasn't sure what her ears had caught, and Ren hadn't sounded any different than normal-
Ahh, that was exactly it. Only Ren had sounded normal. Nora had sounded very strange. Silence from the girl was, as far as the faunus was concerned, extraordinarily strange.
"Do you think- ah, forgive me if this is a presumptuous question, Ren, but do you think we may someday visit with you and have the chance to pay respects of our own?"
Blake turned another page. Pyrrha had a nice voice too, albeit a little too soft for Blake's tastes.
"I think my family would like that, Pyrrha. Nora's too." (and the rustling of cloth and hair here clued Blake into the fact that the girl had nodded).
Silence reigned again for a moment as Blake turned another page in her novel, once more simply taking in the sounds of eating and drinking and the distant murmuring of quiet, muffled conversation. She didn't mind that they weren't trying to engage her in the conversation - they seemed to understand, like her own team, when she did and didn't want to be an active speaker. Sometimes she just wanted to read and listen.
Silence of this magnitude from Nora was unheard of, and if she noticed it then surely Jaune and Pyrrha would. Of course they wouldn't bring it up here, but she was curious if they would at all. Or, if they would perhaps simply assume a good reason for it and wait for the two to be comfortable enough to speak a little more openly.
As if cued by her next page turn, Jaune's scroll began to vibrate against the table. With a jolt, the blonde scrambled for it and checked the time, yelping as he leapt to his feet, the rest of his team followed.
She picked her book up as she rose, following them as they sped out of the room. They were heading to the same class, so she could trail and follow peripheral cues while not having to stop reading in the middle of some surprisingly exciting action. Weiss would glare, but she'd get over it.
Blake hoped classes were interesting today.
Yang was bored. Granted, this wasn't exactly special - a lecture on the historical importance of a particular kind of weapon modification that went defunct years ago was something only someone as nerdy as Ruby would be interested in. What use was it if it sucked and never got fixed?
It was always a mixed bag with Port. Sometimes his stories had Yang hanging onto every word. The man was very skilled at it when he took a moment to stop boasting and ruffling his mustache. It was all his other sidebar topics that had Yang wanting to cry.
So, she took to entertaining herself. She doodled for a while, getting a few laughs out of some round little figures – an especially good giggle out of Ruby when she added a mustache to a little Glynda. Even Weiss had exhaled sharply at that, but it wasn't a huff of disappointment. Yang had grown quite familiar with the difference between said huff and genuine amusement.
That, however, got boring quickly. She could only be so creative during a Port class before that particular tank ran empty. She surreptitiously browsed her scroll, but all her feeds were dry and anything that might have been interesting was blocked by a text from Weiss. Her jig up, Yang slipped her scroll back into her pocket, plopped her chin on her hand, and sighed.
This sucked.
Then, and only then, did she have an idea. It crept up on her, unexpectedly devilish, as she remembered a little thing she'd done many classes ago. The amusement might be well worth it, if she got a good few reactions.
Turning slightly, she fixed the other blond in the room with an even stare. After a moment he realized that he was being watched and turned to meet her gaze, a questioning eyebrow raised. Before he could mouth whatever question was on his lips, though, she grinned and winked.
He froze, cheeks dusting slightly pink before he gave a very obvious cough, ducking towards his paper as she cackled internally. She had no idea how she'd ever entertained herself before she'd realized how much fun it was to tease her friends and family. Anything within reason and without harm was fair game, as far as she was concerned, and if a little touch of the most juvenile flirting she was capable of turned Jaune that red, she'd have an endless source of amusement when Port got this dry.
She snickered, turning back to face front, curious what else she should draw or what else she should do. Last time, nearly a week ago, her joke towards Jaune had been a slight bit more risque – she wasn't quite sure that she'd go that far just for a quick laugh today.
She paused, frowning as a thought occurred to her. Was it right to go anywhere, even if it wasn't "going too far" for a quick laugh? The conversation her team'd had with Ren told her that Jaune thought pretty negatively about himself and, contextually, it wasn't that hard to place those reactions as having followed interactions with women. Jaune held himself to unattainable standards and suffered for it, but if those standards concerned the way he viewed himself, especially when women were concerned, and she was actively provoking that kind of reaction…
Yang sighed glumly, dipping her chin into her hand. This was no fun at all.
While she might envy Ruby for the girl's strong moral center, it wasn't as if Yang lacked her own. If she was making Jaune uncomfortable and he just didn't know how to express it adequately…
Shaking her head slightly, she resolved to find out later. Assumptions sucked, after all. She didn't think she'd outright ask him, but it wouldn't hurt too much to test the waters a bit and try and get a more solid feel for what the boundaries were in that regard.
The moment Ren turned to look at him, Jaune's heart sank. He could fool himself and delay the inevitable self reflection forever, if he put his mind to it - he was relatively sure of that by now, given his track record thus far. But Ren? Ever watchful, pensive, contemplative Ren?
He couldn't ignore Ren. Ren wouldn't push, but he'd remember, and…
'You have supported me in ways no one else has, Jaune'
He exhaled. It wouldn't feel right to ignore it, so long as he couldn't just convince himself it was a bad time to think about it or not the right emotional state.
Pyrrha said he supported her. He lifted her up, helped her be better, just as she him. That encouragement, that confidence that she gave him every day…
It would be a disservice to not try and live as that person, even if Jaune didn't feel like him.
Jaune turned, meeting the gaze of his teammate. His lips parted, closed, then opened again as he rolled words over his tongue and found them lacking. There was no way he could discuss it now, not without the right language to explain what he felt, but he could at least say:
"Later, Ren. I'll...I'll talk later."
Ren nodded and, true to Jaune's mental image of his friend, said nothing more. He did not push, did not attempt to force any information forth. Without another word, he turned back to face front and lifted his pencil once more.
Jaune swallowed, turning back as well, trying to quell the uneasy feeling in his gut. Whenever that conversation happened...well, it certainly wouldn't be enjoyable. But maybe that was for the best? If it were an easy thing to talk about then he wouldn't have any trouble with thinking about it, but it sure hadn't been easy to massage Weiss and something reasonably good had come from that, right?
Maybe this would be the same.
Maybe it would be okay.
For once, the little part of Jaune that usually whispered sardonic or pessimistic 'as if's' after such thoughts was uncharacteristically silent. He didn't really know what to make of that.
Ren, silent as ever, slipped his scroll out from his pocket, under the table, and through the well-practiced motions of someone who liked to be on-time and also liked people not knowing just how he was so good at being on time, blindly set a reminder to mention to Jaune that they needed to talk. That done, he contemplated sending a text, typed out a draft, then decided better of it and shut the device down. If there was a group chat that existed, he would get added whenever it was time. If there wasn't, there was no need to push the subject now.
"Oh, hey short-stuff!"
Velvet restrained a giggle as Jaune whirled around with a tiny shriek. She'd been snuck up on by Coco enough to know how disturbingly quiet the girl could be when she tried.
"O-Oh, hi!" Jaune stammered in response, clearly trying to slow his breathing as he calmed down from the startle. "When, um, when did you guys get back from your mission?" He blurted out .
"Only a few hours ago," Velvet cut in gently, deciding not to let Coco say whatever she was about to say. She had absolutely no idea how Coco could turn a lead-in like that into a joke, but the look on her face told Velvet all she needed to know about what was about to come out of her teammate's mouth. She plucked a cup from the dispenser, filling it with juice as she balanced a bowl of soup on her tray.
Jaune made a little 'ahhh' sound, the conversation rapidly lapsing into an awkward silence as he clearly didn't know how to continue beyond that point. Truthfully, she wasn't sure either. Let it never be said that she was a particularly skillful conversational partner, after all.
Jaune blinked, suddenly whirling to stare at Coco as he blurted, "Wait a minute! 'Short-stuff'!?"
Coco burst out laughing, leaning dramatically against Velvet as the faunus covered her mouth to mask her giggles.
"Where the heck didja get short-stuff from! I'm taller than you are!" the blond complained, stepping back far enough to let a student shooting them weird looks get his own drinks.
"Not taller than Velvet, shorty – those ears add a lot." Coco fired back with a broad grin, popping her sunglasses up with a single finger as she pretended to look down on him. He pouted, but couldn't hide his own smile as they turned to walk back towards their seats. Shortly afterwards, that same awkward silence returned. It was something Velvet had picked up on in her admittedly short interactions with the younger student. He went back and forth between seeming to have no idea how to have a conversation with her, but when Coco made a joke or one of his friends did, that awkwardness was buried under his response to that joke.
She supposed it wasn't even remotely unusual to find comfort in humor, and for humor to help bring people out of their shells – it certainly worked that way for her, after all. But the difference, as in this case, could be very dramatic. His laughter and stammer-less response was swiftly replaced with silence and uncomfortable glances as he had no idea how to move forward in the dialogue.
"We should eat together sometime, blondie. Get your team's butts over to our table once and awhile."
Humor helped her socialize, but so did Coco. Most of Velvet's interactions with people that weren't in her team occured only when Coco dragged some unknowing new students to sit with them. Sometimes she would quite literally drag them, which was hilarious in its own right. Especially when they could play off the joke. Some couldn't, and such demands of interaction between years at Beacon were effective tools in getting an idea of the broad population of a new year and what they thought on...certain subjects - if people refused after seeing Velvet, it told them rather a lot. If they looked nervous, or put off, or masked any emotion, it said even more.
This was the first time Coco had extended the invitation to Jaune and thereby the rest of JNPR. Given the trend, the next 'invitation' would only be such in name. She looked forward to that – JNPR seemed to be composed of fairly nice people, after all. She hoped Coco didn't hurt any of them by dragging them over.
Velvet gently grasped Coco's sleeve, leading her teammate away from a confused-looking Jaune as they parted ways. She turned back, waving as Jaune turned back after giving a hesitant wave of his own, returning to his team as she did hers.
"We, uh, we've been invited to sit with CFVY sometime, guys" Jaune said, somewhat distractedly, as he set his tray down next to his team.
Ren, having watched and listened, paled slightly at the thought of Coco and Nora meeting and, god forbid, talking. Pyrrha, seeing his concern and remembering what she knew, giggled as she imagined how that would play out.
Nora, to no one's surprise, was ecstatic.
Hours later, Jaune sighed, setting his notes down on his desk and turning to the door. At the motion, the rest of his team turned to look at him before understanding dawned across their faces.
"Already?" Nora joked, Ren quirking his lips as Jaune grumbled, trying not to turn a little red.
"Shut up, I can help them," he grumbled, trying not to feel too bothered by the playful jab.
"We know, Jaune. It's admirable that you are happy to give up your time to help your friends relax like this." Pyrrha soothed, resting a hand on his shoulder and, as easily as always, washing away whatever discomfort or negativity he was feeling. Someday he'd have to learn that trick, or at least grow more proficient at it, so he could return the favor. It worked wonders on him and he could only imagine that it might help Pyrrha when she was in a slump, or any of his teammates and friends.
"I'll be back soon, can we go over test stuff then?" He asked, not all surprised when Ren immediately gave an affirmative, Nora whining and batting at him with balled fists.
"We'll have enough time to watch another episode of those documentaries, I think, so let's work hard and finish early!" Pyrrha encouraged, and like magic Nora's attitude inverted as she demanded to go over the tests now.
Laughter trailed behind him as he slipped out, feeling a little sad to be walking away from it. He boxed that sadness up, though – this was something he wanted to do, and it wasn't as if he could monopolize his team's time and make sure they only made funny jokes or had fun together when he was there.
...He did wish, though. Sometimes.
Shaking his head to clear the thoughts (though it, of course, never really worked that way), he squared his shoulders and, once again, rapped a fist against the door to team RWBY's room.
Before his hand had even come down against the door a second time it had flown open, nearly bringing his fist into Yang's nose. In his attempt to catch himself he scrambled back and slipped, causing Yang to burst out laughing as he hit the ground, practically cowering, hands raised and opened to ensure he didn't bop her.
"S-sorry!" She gasped between giggles, "I got impatient and was waiting for ya!"
Jaune calmed his breathing as best he could, steadying himself against the wall. After a moment, he sighed, lifting back up and stepping over to Yang. She paused, which he had to imagine was due to his silence, before gently prodding his chest and asking, "Wanna reschedule, blondie?"
Jaune's head whipped up in shock before her finger pressed against his lips. Her eyes were serious, which was a rare sight in and of itself.
"Be honest, Jaune. Do you want to?"
He thought of his room, his friends, his...whatever it was, with Pyrrha. He thought of the mini-series they were watching, the studying he needed to do, the tests to go over and the training he'd be missing by virtue of there not being an extra hour in each day.
He leaned back from Yang's finger, his shoulders sagging as he said "No. Not if I can help."
She fixed him with another look, one he couldn't decipher, before her face broke into a grin again. "Well, thank you for enabling my selfishness! C'mon in."
Jaune blinked, trying to work out what had just happened in that conversation. Had she just baited him? It really didn't seem her style, but…
His mind flickered back to all the unexpected revelations he'd had about his friends in the past couple days. There weren't that many, and none of them exactly earth-shattering (beyond the obvious one with Weiss, y'know, not hating him), but the ones that were there were still unexpected.
Of course, that didn't mean one could draw an unfair conclusion about Yang.
He sighed again, scrubbing his face as he followed the blonde into her room for the second time in two weeks. What a strange habit this was becoming.
...Wasn't that bad of a habit, he supposed.
Yang pondered his reaction as she set up the room as it had been, many days ago. She brought out one of the less comfortable chairs, but one that was easier to turn her back to him in, and another for him, of course.
He hadn't asked for a break, but he hadn't denied wanting one either. All he said was that he wanted to help, something that was apparently starting to become a trend with him. Sure, he'd been kind in the past, but going out of his way to give that help to others wasn't a side of him that she'd seen near as much as in the past few days, before.
She was grateful, of course. She liked being selfish, when it didn't hurt anyone. It had hurt Jaune before, but she'd make sure her selfishness didn't hurt him now. That was something important she'd learned before coming to Beacon – selfishness wasn't wrong. You could be just as charitable and self sacrificing as the nearest moralistic hero and still treat yourself. Selflessness or selfishness weren't ways of living, just ways of acting.
If Jaune was okay with it, she was okay with it. If he was an idiot who hurt or deprived himself for her sake, she'd punch that out of him. Simple as that.
Still, she couldn't not slip in at least one joke as they prepared, so she turned back to him, standing awkwardly in front of the closed door, and paused.
Was it the right time to make this kind of joke? Would it make him uncomfortable?
...Did she want to spend every moment of the next hour or so afraid that she would bother him by overstepping a boundary she didn't know existed?
If he didn't like it, he'd tell her. Or she'd make him tell her.
"So, blondie?" She asked, quelling the instinctual flutter of 'this might be a bad idea' as he turned to look at her.
She shot him another grin, put a hand on her hip, and murmured "How do ya feel about that offer I made, last time?"
It took him a moment, as she held her breath and waited for the shriek, the yelp, the rushing for the door, perhaps.
It didn't come. Instead, he went beet-red, choked on air, and turned away, fidgeting slightly.
More importantly, and what was another trend she was beginning to pick up on with him, was that he didn't give a distinct answer. He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no.
"Well, maybe we can save that for the future, hmm? Wouldn't wanna make you too uncomfortable" She chirped, restraining a giggle as the comment was paired with the action of her abruptly tugging her shirt off as she turned away. Jaune did yelp this time, turning away from her until she was settled and no longer moving.
"...Have I? Ever?" She asked softly, crossing her arms over the top of the chair's back and resting her chin there.
"H-have you, um, made me uncomfortable?" He replied, stumbling through the words as he took a seat behind her, judging by the creaking of the chair.
She didn't respond, only shifting her head before pulling both halves of her hair forward, over her shoulders and exposing her back to him, save for the thin strap of her bra. She heard him swallow, the room becoming much quieter in her silence.
For a moment, she thought she might have to poke him as warm hands pressed gently against her back, but before she could open her mouth to press for an answer he said, somewhat haltingly, "A-a little, but...maybe that's my problem and not yours."
She blinked, having not expected that, pulling her arms off the chair so as to relax her shoulders. "Uh, isn't it almost only my fault if I make you uncomfortable?" She asked, trying and failing to follow his logic.
"I, I guess you'd think that? But...I dunno, it's so hard to explain, Weiss and P-Pyrrha both, um, said that the, the source of my discomfort isn't wrong. To feel weird about, I mean."
Yang wasn't sure she understood but she did have an idea of what he meant. It wouldn't do any of them well for her to address it so brazenly, anyways, but there was at least something.
"Does it bother you?" She asked, voice softer than before, and absentmindedly his hands (which she had forgotten were simply resting against her exposed back) began to move, doing that funny fluttery thing like they had the first time.
"Does what bother me?" He sounded confused, and she realized how he might interpret that different ways.
"Ah, sorry, does it–" she paused as his thumb pressed in, sucking a hissing breath through her teeth before managing to complete her question. "Does it bother you that you feel discomfort? Or does the, m-mmm, discomfort bother you?"
She tried to steady herself as his hands began to work again. It wasn't surprising in hindsight, but she had forgotten in that short time just how good his hands felt. For a single moment she wished the scheduling hadn't happened and she could just monopolize his hands, but that wouldn't be fair to anyone but her. That kind of selfishness was the stuff she avoided.
"I, I guess it's the first, but only recently?" He trailed off, his hands working non-stop despite his vocal pauses. "It...the way I, uh, reacted, to some situations used to bother me, but now...I dunno if it's me being bothered by that or being bothered because I'm being bothered?" He trailed off again, but this time she laughed at how confused he seemed by trying to understand himself. She was sure Ruby would be able to relate to that confusion.
"I think I get it?" She asked, managing to restrain a gasp until after she'd spoken. She did understand, it was just that she hadn't felt anything like that since quite a few years ago, but she wasn't about to tell that story in this context. It wasn't the time or the place or the right person.
...Maybe someday, but not today, anyways.
Jaune was growing to be used to living in a state of constant confusion, it seemed. Or, perhaps, he was growing to realize that the world and the people around him had always been this confusing and he was just now understanding that truth. Those two possibilities sounded pretty similar to him though, so it was also entirely possible that he was just confusing himself more in effort to distract himself from this strangeness in the people around him. Or, perhaps, he was walking himself in circles for no reason in order to avoid a topic that he couldn't seem to be able to face. It was as if when he tried to think about it the train of his thought skidded off a wall of ice, keeping him from addressing whatever it was that was causing him such distress. He could veil it under such thoughts of "I'll talk about it later" or "this isn't the right time to focus on this subject."
Sometimes, though, he didn't think of it at all. Sometimes it well and truly escaped detection, shielded by a focus on different concepts and ideals that he didn't want to face. His mind grabbed onto different elements of his surroundings, pulling him away from noticing or even remembering that something had happened, because to acknowledge it was to realize that it had happened, and to understand that his lack of understanding of why it had happened was more distresing than anything else.
Of course, sometimes he went forth on lengthy tangents of thoughts simply because the alternative was focusing on what was under his hands.
Yang's back was warm.
Strands of hair slipped back as she shifted, muscles tensing and relaxing, coiling under his touch as shoulders rolled beneath his fingers. She wasn't moaning, which he thanked the heavens for, but she was moving and without an embarrassing distraction to pull him away from it, he couldn't help but remain hyper-focused on that reality.
He could trace the curve of her spin with his fingers, the gentle contact like electricity sparking against his fingertips, near-invisible hairs brushing against his hands as he tracked the movement of his hands lower and lower. She was wearing her pajama bottoms, which he hadn't realized until he'd looked and immediately looked away from, and when he failed to keep his gaze away for the nth time he could follow from her hip to her thigh to her knee, before the rest vanished in front of her.
He swallowed, wishing she would make a noise beyond faint, tight groans, wishing she would embarrass him or make jokes or do anything to focus his gaze elsewhere. He could see the material of her bra, the swell of padded fabric on either side of her body spilling out, no longer under any restraint from a shirt. He bit his lip reflexively, the pain helping for but a moment before he realized that he had to keep his hands moving, couldn't stop or he would be drawn to gaze in the very manner that so repulsed him.
Yang, as if answering his prayers, spoke.
"J-Jaune? I have a, ah, a-a question."
He swallowed noisily, causing her to give a stunted giggle as he gathered himself, thankful for the interruption, for the distraction. He didn't know how he could thank her, beyond trying harder today, but maybe-
"You, you looked like you were gonna cry, the other day…"
He froze as she trailed off, his fingers stopping all motion as the heat from her back slowly seeped into the digits.
It was never easy to be bluntly reminded of the subject you were subconsciously avoiding. It was sobering, like a bucket of ice-water or a punch to the face or getting distracted when training with Pyrrha. He mentally reeled back, no longer feeling grateful for the distraction if the distraction was a question on why he'd been so emotional when he didn't even understand himself, and couldn't bear to try and imagine why. He was no psychologist, armchair or not, but to try and break down this thing he felt, this pervasive, sorrowful happiness-
"S-sorry," she cut into his thoughts. Her voice was soft, and she leaned back into his hands. It didn't encourage him to keep up the pace of his motions, as she seemed like she wanted to talk more, but it was gentle, and he focused every fraction of his mind on that heat, thankful for the thing he'd wished to not feel only moments prior because it brought him some semblance of constancy.
He didn't want to think about this.
"I...I couldn't help but notice." She fumbled through the sentence. He'd guess that she wasn't used to apologizing for bringing something up like this. "It just...stuck with me."
He really didn't want to think about this.
"But, but I couldn't help but bring it up, and...I'm sorry, for that, but I'm also not sorry." Her voice firmed up as she kept a steady pressure against his hands, grounding him through her flesh as her muscles shifted beneath his grip, toned and strengthened by years of training and combat. He let himself be swept away by the train of thought, tracking her musculature because it meant not thinking about what he didn't want to think about, didn't want to talk about-
"But...I saw a situation," she paused, pulling his focus back to her as his hands wavered.
"And, and I thought 'I can help.'"
He stopped breathing.
She turned, his eyes fixed on the curtain of gold as it shifted, glinting in the light, and purple eyes met with his. They were gentle, moreso than he'd ever seen them be.
"If that's good enough for you, it's good enough for me." She finished, his hands slipping down to his knees.
This...was wrong. This was all wrong. He'd never seen a hint of Yang like this. She was brash, strong, stubborn, firm, aggressive. She solved problems, she didn't have quiet conversations about wanting to help people-
But who'd have imagined that Jaune Arc would be good at giving massages, or be liked by an attractive, strong celebrity, or cry when someone said they trusted him-
His mother probably wouldn't have. Nor would his sisters. His peers during his years of initial schooling would never have guessed, because those other kids-then-teens had very little idea of who he was.
He was beginning to realize that he didn't have a solid idea of who Yang was, beyond what he'd seen.
"I don't know."
His lips had spoken the words before he'd properly caught up, answering a question that hadn't even been verbally asked. It didn't precede a waterfall of emotion, tears and sobs. He didn't spill his life story or a long string of terrible things done to him. There wasn't anything like that, but it didn't seem to matter. She nodded all the same.
"I can't say how I turned out how I did either." She said, simple as calling dust powerful or Grimm black.
"I know how I became strong, and I know how I got here. But...how I became me?"
She trailed off, and for the first time ever he saw a hint of uncertainty in her eyes. A glimpse, the briefest fragment of not understanding. They were teenagers, after all, and he'd heard it a thousand times from a thousand people all saying a thousand, identical things.
But if a thousand people said it, in the exact same thousand ways, from a thousand different jobs and perspectives and lifestyles, then it couldn't just be thrown aside, could it?
"Nothing's going to change overnight. But you couldn't justify a week-long commitment with 'I can help, so I want to.' and then tell someone else they're wrong for wanting to do the same, can you? That wouldn't be fair."
He swallowed again, but as the corners of her lips rose in a gentle smile, bearing the faintest hints of her usual teasing smirk, he found his own loosened.
"M-massages are, very different than soul searching" he said, stumbling through the sentence. She, as he wanted, leaned back with a hearty chuckle. Without a response she turned back, his eyes skimming over the sway of flesh that might have otherwise caused him to turn away and grow angry at himself like it hadn't even occurred.
"But they both boil down to the same thing, don't they? We can help, so we want to. You scratch– or, rather, massage my back, and I yours. Well–"
He cut her off by pressuring his fingers against her back, and as she sucked in a gasp that drowned the words she might've spoken, he leaned forward and muttered a small, slightly choked, "Thank you, Yang."
She only hummed in response
With the big, emotional fiasco out of the way, Yang figured she could get back into her favorite pastime. After all, one could only withstand so much mushy friendly talk before it became a practical necessity, as far as she was concerned, to have some cathartic embarrassment. They'd discussed if she made him uncomfortable and so far as she was concerned, his discomfort seemed to stem from his own reactions bothering him, not her comments. With that in mind, and as some much needed boundary testing, she leaned into his hands, waited until he moved his fingers just so, and let out a deep, throaty, exaggerated moan.
This wasn't some paltry moan either, not something you'd expect from a locker room with a bunch of dumb teenage boys trying to embarrass each other with fake moaning sounds. Hell, this wasn't even on the same level as her exaggerated sounds from their first evening. Those had been testing the waters and gradually overcome by genuine enjoyment and, in a platonic, vague way, actual pleasure. No, she let the sound move through and with her, leaning back, tensing muscles, allowing her voice to resonate and fill every corner of the room with a sound of unadulterated, if falsified, pleasure.
As she hoped for and anticipated, the contrast from their only moments-past discussion and pseudo promise to help Jaune work through whatever issues he had to this exaggerated albeit realistic, pleasured sound, had exactly the right effect.
He shrieked. A combination of being caught off guard by the sudden loud noise coupled with said contrast and the sheer realism of the sound, his hands ripping away from her back like she'd burned him. His breathing quickened, his aura fluttered about him, and while she wasn't the best sensor around the block, she could feel the embarrassment coursing through his veins in the pale fire of his soul.
"C'mon, Jaune" She purred, glancing back at him, seeing a deeply scarlet face, "I'm still all sorts of tense…"
It probably seemed counterintuitive to him, or perhaps in bad taste. She'd find out and rectify the situation if that was the case, but Yang had learned to trust her instincts as often as she could. Rare indeed had they led her astray, and her instincts began to sense that this wouldn't be that bad. It might confuse him, but what she wanted was a level of comfort, and an understanding that as far as she was concerned, helping people solely by sitting down and having quiet, emotional talks was missing out on forming a different kind of connection.
She had aimed to convey the sincerity of her conviction to help him with the turn, gaze, and gentle voice, but now she wanted to illustrate that it wouldn't all be that. She'd still tease him, still make sounds that turned him red, still probably make jokes about letting him massage her butt. That wouldn't change, that fundamental type of interaction they shared, she'd just expanded it to include more calm moments amidst the flurry of jokes.
At least, she wanted to convey that. But he wasn't as...prickly, as Weiss was, or as reserved as Blake, so she figured the roadblocks she'd become accustomed to with her team would be less present, if absent entirely, in this new dynamic she wanted to engage in.
So focused on her thoughts was she, however, that she missed a minute detail. A warmth, a shift in the temperature of his fingers, and a flickering sense of embarrassment located around her back. She was, after all, not the best sensor around, and Jaune was growing more accomplished at controlling his aura when activated.
If the sense of relief altered as well as his hands moved, she chalked it up to renewed confidence and a changed sense of closeness they shared. She wasn't that gentle with just anyone, after all. Her thoughts turned more to him as the massage continued, understandably enough, as her subconscious mind followed this train of thought to the distant unconsciousness. In the present, she merely leaned into his hands, shifted her shoulders, and allowed the occasional sound to grow into a moan, delighting in the little embarrassed noises he made in response. After a while, though, as it began to take less effort to make those noises, she noticed his sounds had shifted as well.
From little squeaks to gentle huffs, from groans in response to her exaggerated motions to quiet puffs of air. He was laughing, she realized.
She smiled at that. It may not be as hilarious as his reactions, but she did want to help, after all. If he was growing a little more comfortable with her, and presumably with others by proxy, than all the better.
It was almost difficult to believe how quickly his reactions had shifted, but Yang seemed to have an unusual talent in pulling out unexpected emotions from him. The first time she'd...made that sound, he'd wanted to bolt. When she'd inhaled, some corner of his mind seemed to know exactly what she was about to do and his whole body (save his hands, of course) had tensed, ready to move. Then she'd…
He swallowed. The sound she'd made, he felt like it was still ringing in his skull. He didn't exactly have experience in the matter (and that thought alone risked turning his face so red it'd look purple) but as far as he was concerned, she sounded...accurate.
He resisted the urge to cover his face and let out a tiny scream, instead turning his thoughts back to the second part of this recollection with an immense effort.
After The Thing she did, she'd repeated it a few times, but as he processed them with his hands moving on autopilot, a very different sound had begun to bubble through his lips. It was funny, what she was doing. It embarrassed the crap out of him, but after just seeing a part of Yang he'd never seen before, he couldn't just write this off. Unless he wanted to assume she was bipolar, anyways.
Perhaps it was just him acknowledging, once more, the absurdity of all this. Perhaps he was going insane. Perhaps, though, she was trying to help him?
A week ago, he'd remembered Yang saying she wanted another massage and laughing at himself for having such a stupid thought. Now, imagining her wanting to help him and embarrassing him to do so, something he hated…
He was laughing. But more than that, it felt good.
He smiled.
He liked that feeling.
The massage tapered off slowly but surely, his flickering hands (which she hadn't noticed, thank god) seeking down her back. She hadn't been as wound up as last time to begin with, but he was surprised it had taken him this long. His hands hadn't cramped up, but he'd just started to get a bit tired and so used his aura like a recharge.
She shifted, and he guessed she'd taken notice of the diminishing pace. Indeed, shortly after her movement, she pulled away from his hands and took a long, languid stretch. For a moment, as her hair shifted and fell down her back, muscles tensing and stretching under her skin, the tiniest sheen of sweat visible on her back, Jaune feared he might be hypnotized. The way light struck the falls of gold was…
He looked away, trying to control his breathing. She was...wow.
"Thanks, Jaune." She chirped, and with a rustling of cloth and a twisting in his peripheral vision, he guessed it was safe to look back at her.
She had stood up after pulling on her pajama top, the fabric tight on her body and he flicked his eyes up to her face before they could be distracted. He stood as well, and as if riding the high of this entire, ridiculous situation, he found himself unable to properly restrain a question.
"Y-yang?"
She tilted her head quizzically, and in an instant he desperately tried to backpedal. She cut him off as he was opening his mouth to blurt out a 'nevermindnevermindnevermind ignore me', however.
"No, what is it blondie? You already said my name." She said with a giggle, clearly relishing in his growing embarrassment.
He looked away from her, then from everything else, scratching his neck before he finally muttered.
"O-out of, um, curiosity, would you have actually, um, y-y'know…"
She leered at him, and he regretted ever coming to Beacon.
"Weeelll," she drawled, leaning towards him and, without warning, giving him a firm slap on the butt. "Who knows~!"
His face burning hotter than the sun itself, Jaune didn't even try and say anything else, electing to take the smart option and abandon ship before his lips could betray him any more.
...A small, shaky smile as her laughter was muffled by the door wasn't a betrayal, right?
He returned to JNPR's door, hand resting on the handle for a few moments.
With a shake of his head, he resolved to try and process all that tomorrow. What she'd said, what he'd said...He'd think about it later. For now he had TV to watch, and a team to cuddle.
He barely managed to catch the slip-up before it was noticed, flicking the aura in his hands off before he opened the door to a call of "we've been waiting for you! Lets get started!" from Nora.
Yang squeezed a fist, glancing at her hand. The slap had been unexpected, but his face had been hilarious. Besides, he didn't seem bothered by it, though that was never a justification.
After a moment her scroll blared an alarm, and after she definitely didn't jump and squeak in surprise, she remembered what alarm she'd set and lunged for her scroll.
dont ask me xiao long has added Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren to the group chat!
snow thanks: God no.
dont ask me xiao long has changed Nora Valkyrie's name to: thunder thighs
snow thanks: I want a new teammate.
dont ask me xiao long: oof
dont ask me xiao long has changed Lie Ren's name to: lie zen
dont ask me xiao long: sry weiss but this bods nonrefundable
snow thanks: I would return you for free.
dont ask me xiao long: o o f
Bit later than I wanted, but then again I am consistently churning out 10k+ word chapters. I think it evens out?
As always, thanks to SpookyNooodle for his meticulous work in going over the chapter and pointing out my little mistakes, as well as giving me some neato suggestions.
A second as always, because she took ages to do it /s is a big thank you to Akardos, otherwise known as siderial, donglord, and A Short Bitcheth, for going over my shit. Love you lots honey.
I love suggestions, y'all! Please leave them in reviews or PM's. If they aren't constructive or if the suggestion is "end the story and your writing career" I'll laugh with my coworkers about you the next day, of course. But seriously, I love feedback. Please feel encouraged to check out my Stromael-Writes tumblr - contact there encourages me to be more active. I can do chapter progress updates, give behind the scenes info, etc.
For a short, semi-serious clarification, I am pretty meticulous when it comes to going over these chapters, not just my beta's. A lot of confusing stuff, or weird stuff, is very intentional. If a character doesn't understand a feeling they are having, or a subconscious desire, and I don't clarify in the narrative what that is and don't give adequate context clues, chances are good that it was intentional of me to do that. I want to establish a sense that these characters, while training to fight monsters, are people and, moreover, are teens. They are approaching adulthood but either aren't there physically or emotionally.
Finally, a poll for y'all. Spooky thinks that Yang might have given Jaune a hug when he arrived to massage her, both because she's a hugging kind of person and also to help in with his comfort around her and others. I felt it didn't quite work at the stage these characters are at, but i'm open to having my mind changed on that. Leave a review and lemme know whatcha think!
Cheers y'all, (man, three y'all's in one authors note. spoopy.)
Stromael.