Jaune Arc stared into his bowl of alphabet soup, willing it to give him some sort of sign. He was sat at the usual RWBY/PNRJ table all by his lonesome, having been ejected from class a bit early due to some... challenges during one of their combat tests. He sported a bandaid that wrapped around his hand a few times, it restricted the movement of his fingers, it stung, it was an all-around terrible time. But it stopped blood from squeezing out of the nice cut he had that ran across his palm.
He slumped in his seat as he thought about it. He'd grabbed the blade. Weiss had thrusted at him with her rapier and much to the surprise of everyone he reacted by trying to reach out and block it with his hand.
It wasn't like he wanted to. He'd spent hours fencing with Pyrrha and she'd warned him that this happened with newbies who had a free hand in a fight: they wanted to stop whatever was coming. They'd put their hand out front like he did and get stabbed, sliced, or at the very least bruised from a training weapon.
After the fact Ruby and Pyrrha had said once more it was a common 'rookie' mistake. It was supposed to make him feel better but it mostly irked him. Not that he was mad with them of course, he was upset with himself. He didn't want to be making 'rookie' mistakes, he wanted to be like them.
He glared at his reflection in the soup. A few of the letters spelled out 'wurlgsh', and that's about how he felt right about now.
"See anything interesting?"
He looked up, his expression dour, right into someone's near-exposed chest. He then adjusted his gaze a further twenty degrees to meet purple eyes. "Oh. Hey Yang. I didn't hear you coming."
"I could tell." Yang chuckled as she sat down opposite him, water bottle in hand. "Enjoying your chill time?"
Glynda, as training coordinator, liked to refer to the half-hour to an hour of free time after combat sessions as "chill" time. She always offered large air quotes while saying it even as her tone never changed. The downtime was to help make sure that nobody was too taxed after, it gave them a time to cram down some calories and get their aura back in shape.
"Yeah." Jaune answered, his voice 90% sigh, 10% groan, 100% lie. "Just, you know, chilling."
"Bah, I wouldn't worry about it." Yang said with a laugh. "You'll get better at it sooner than later. Most of us have been fighting since we were kids, you'll learn fast."
"I kinda wish I learned faster." Jaune mumbled, looking down at the offensive soup, whose letters had recombined into 'lulwojerx'. "I hope Pyrrha isn't disappointed in me."
"Naaaah." Yang drawled, reaching over the table to give Jaune a pat on the shoulder. "She'll make a Huntsman out of you yet. Just give it some time, guy."
"I may be somewhat worried about our progress." Pyrrha conceded, her arms hugged around her chest. "I might have pushed him too far by having him volunteer for a bout, I should have given him more time."
"Well, be glad I convinced Weiss to match up against him then." Ruby chuckled. "Glynda wanted to set him up against Cardin, and I don't think that guy'd hold back."
The image of Jaune confidently grasping an incoming blade was clear in both of their minds. Aura had limitations, even if someone was gifted with rather sizable reserves like Jaune appeared to have. Grasping a blade tightly enough it contacted skin was an easy way to get sliced open. Everyone was lucky Weiss reacted fast enough to stop her movement.
Pyrrha shivered. Perhaps she should have grabbed Jaune's gauntlet with her semblance, and stopped his hand in its tracks?
"I could use some help, I think." Pyrrha finally said, looking at Ruby with a grim smile.
"That's why I'm here." Was the grinning reply. Ruby and Pyrrha were standing in the upper bleachers of the combat hall, behind one of the arching pillars. Both still in their Huntress garb, they were sharing Pyrrha's water since Ruby had 'forgotten' hers and 'didn't have time' to go to the Caf like the other half of the class did.
"I don't have a lot of training teaching people from scratch. I don't know if you're any better but I think it's time I explored my options." Pyrrha admitted and looked to the ring below them. "He doesn't have a foundation to work with, so when we get into training it's like I'm starting from scratch. He knows what a parry should look like but that doesn't help him if he doesn't remember how to hold his sword. He needs a foundation." Pyrrha frowned, sighing. "The school expects me to participate in extracurriculars, run our team, and perform, all on top of my ordinary schoolwork."
As Pyrrha looked back to Ruby she caught sight of a shock of white in the distance. Weiss was standing near the opposite exit, looking directly at her from thirty yards or so away. She was being very unsubtle about it too.
"I think you might be a bit too kind when it comes to these sorts of things Pyrrha. You could definitely ask the school for a reprieve and they'd give it to you. Hell, they let me get away with a lot just because I'm Qrow's neice." Ruby grinned. "As for Jaune. he wants to be a hero. Heroes have magic, training montages, and damsels. We all have magic," Ruby floated a few petals, "you've been training him," she motioned with her head towards the circle, "and you're the strongest fighter in the school, which makes you not a damsel but a damn good teacher." Ruby shook her head, "The guy might just have a gentle soul. We'll have to beat some viciousness into him, make him really feel his inner warrior, that might get his sword arm screwed on straight."
"If he did have a 'gentle soul', he wouldn't be chasing your partner's skirt." Pyrrha sighed, looking a little… well like she was experiencing some complicated emotions at that moment. Like she'd just tried their best friend's cooking and it sucked, but common courtesy demanded she at worst say it was 'interesting'. "Speaking of Weiss what is she doing over there?"
Ruby blinked before turning her head slightly. As Ruby's back was to the pillar she couldn't see the Schnee at all, so she merely motioned to where she might be hiding. "Is she here?"
"Yep." Pyrrha murmured. "It's less... intense than normal. But she's there. Watching us. Or me."
"Yeah, I'd uh, I'd ignore that." Ruby whispered, before coughing to clear her throat. "I'll see if I can get on Jaune's case a bit, alright? He and I haven't spent much time together since his accident when the semester started, maybe he'd be willing to talk?"
"Maybe." Pyrrha admitted. "Thank you for doing this Ruby. I really want to help Jaune but I'm being pulled in one too many directions."
"Don't worry about it," Ruby chuckled. "It's worth it. I don't want you to be all stressed out because you're trying to learn how to be a Huntress at the same time you're trying to teach someone else to be a Huntsman. You have enough issues with groupies and haters as it is, right? Let me take a bit of the load off you." Ruby took a long sip from their shared water bottle and smiled. "Besides, Jaune is my friend too, I want him to succeed."
"You're a good friend, Ruby." Pyrrha smiled, taking her bottle back and not missing the fact that Ruby once again watched as she drank. "And you're not just doing this because your partner is the one who hurt him, right?"
Ruby spluttered a bit, haphazard excuses tumbling from her mouth before she righted herself and scoffed. "Nah. It was an accident, right? These things happen, I'm just trying to do right by you." She looked a little shocked at the surprisingly pointed joke coming from the redhead.
"Right." Pyrrha's teasing look was replaced with a smile. "You shouldn't keep Weiss waiting. I'll see you later?"
"Of course!" Ruby grinned and held her hand out. Pyrrha grasped it, and with a squeeze the brunette released it. She waved, sliding along the pillar before turning on her heel and sauntering over to Weiss. The moment she was dozen paces away Pyrrha could feel Weiss' gaze shift, and when she looked over Weiss was looking down at her scroll, feigning disinterest.
Between Ruby's awkward... Fake? Real? Crush and Weiss' possessiveness they certainly were an odd pair. Pyrrha crossed her arms and watched as the duo met, nodded to one another, and left. It felt... weird.
Ruby had always been flirty with Pyrrha. She was handsy, she talked about her physique, did grade-school style things like trying to get indirect kisses. It would have been rather frustrating, not to mention annoying, if other's had done it, but Ruby had never taken it too far. Her overtures were sometimes comically over the top, but they never lasted more than a few seconds. Nor did she ever do anything truly out of line. No matter how many times Ruby caught her in the showers, changing in the dorm, or whatnot she never did anything untoward. She never nervously snuck a peek, never said anything rude, never made Pyrrha feel like she was a spectacle. Pyrrha'd experienced her fair share of over-enthusiastic admirers, and many of them got far too comfortable for their own good.
If Ruby shared similar designs, she was being awfully patient about it, or maybe it really was just a teasing act. Pyrrha was thankful or that, because she didn't want to lose Ruby as a friend when she told her that's all they should ever be.
"What were you two talking about?" Weiss eventually asked as they made their way to the locker room. The masonry of the training area gave way to more modern halls, linoleum floors, rec rooms and such behind a myriad of doors along the corridor.
"She wants you to pay damages for maiming poor Jaune." Ruby sighed, shaking her head, her hands shoved into her pockets as they neared the door.
"So you're going to train him now?" She frowned.
"You were a bajillion miles away, how did you hear that?" Ruby guffawed, stepping through the threshold and keeping the door open for her partner to enter.
"You grabbed her hand, you promised her something." Weiss explained, nodding in thanks for the courtesy without stopping. "And given the circumstances I think there's only one dumb thing you could be doing."
Ruby paused, scoffing, "Yeah, uh, kicking your ass? Revenge? Greetings from Don Nikos?"
In a show of growth, Weiss merely turned and arched a brow.
"Alright, fine, you got me, I'm helping Pyrrha." Ruby grumbled, holding up her hands. "As friends."
"I'm well aware." Weiss sniffed, walking past the lockers that held their weapons and such and approaching the showers. "Port mentioned changing the field mission, we're safe to rinse off."
"I'm loving these last minute changes where we go from 'field trip to mountain glenn' to 'hang out in forever fall for a couple hours'." Ruby said with a roll of her eyes. She paused at her locker to pull out some soap and tossed a bar to Weiss, who caught it and scanned the label. Red Cedar.
"It's infuriating." Weiss concurred, mildly, surreptitiously taking a sniff of the aromatic scent. It had a slight spice to it, something cinnamon-y maybe. "Is this some sort of insult?"
"Your body wash has too much power Weiss. Jaune's going to home in on you at a quarter mile and start guessing what you smell like." Ruby pulled out a towel and shut the locker door, following Weiss once more. "Which would be very bad because Pyrrha needs the lad in once piece."
"Maybe Pyrrha should deal with her own problems if she's worried, instead of you handling them." The heiress scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"She needs help. I'm not going to leave her to struggle alone just because you're jealous Weiss." Ruby said, stopping to level a look at Weiss. She stood at her full height, not the slight slouch she normally wandered around in. With one of her hands on her hips, the other cradling the towel at her hip, she cut a more severe countenance than she normally did. Weiss retreated back a step at the change in tone. Her haunches raised like a cornered cat, but bit her tongue. "Do you and I really need to sit down and talk about having basic respect for our friends? Or do I need to lock you in our dorm while I'm doing literally anything with someone you don't like since you can't leave me alone?"
Weiss shrank back more and more with each word, and by the time Ruby'd stopped she had the girl cornered. 'She's tiny.' Ruby thought as she stared down at her. Weiss the bitch had vaporised, leaving the ash of 'Weiss the Kid'. She took a deep breath, stepping back, running a hand through her hair to distract herself as she pushed down the indignation that was clawing at her throat. She was better than this. She had to be.
"I'm sorry." Ruby sighed, turning away from Weiss and walking to another shower stall. "Let's not do this now."
She entered and latched the door behind her, looking into the mirror that hung on the stall wall to see the frightful image of her own anger. She held her own gaze in the mirror, willing the creature within the glass to look as calm as she wanted to feel.
A moment later she heard Weiss take a breath, muttering something or other under her breath. She heard the pain in those whispered words, and though she couldn't hear them exactly they sounded bitter, the hatred pointed inward. Ruby stared at herself in the mirror as Weiss entered her own shower and stripped. Moments later the sound of running water filled the room, and steam began to fog the glass. With a grimace Ruby stepped away and reached into her pocket, pulling out her scroll and dialing a familiar number.
Blake cursed as an offensively red maple leaf landed on her head, she shook her head to dislodge it, but the stem was caught in her bow. She was about to give up on tying her boot when a hearty chuckle rumbled behind her, and a gentle tug dislodged the foliage.
"Thanks Yang."
"It's what I do." Yang sang with a grin Blake could hear. "Saving damsels is all part of the job description."
Blake rolled her eyes, a smile coming to her lips. She finished her knot and stood, brushing herself off and turning to face the group. Aside from the three tardy ones (Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss), the squad was more or less here. Ren and Nora were walking — well, Nora was climbing him more like — a little ways ahead for privacy. Jaune was following a bit behind, his eyes trained on the ground.
"What's up with Jaune?" She asked in a half-whisper as they started down the path once more.
"He got hurt earlier in the match, right?" Yang asked, mostly to make sure Blake had been paying attention and not hiding somewhere reading her 'books'. The Faunus nodded, so she continued, "He's a little bummed about his combat training."
Blake nodded. "He's only just started, right?"
"Personal lessons from Pyrrha since a few weeks ago." Yang said, lifting her hands and clasping them behind her head in a stretch. "It took him a little while to get out of the clinic, yeah? She's been training him ever since."
"He's definitely better than he was. He just needs to practice more."
"That's what I said, but who isn't a little impatient when you're trying to get better?" Yang mused. Their little conversation was cut short when they finally arrived at a clearing. Professor Port started shouting this and that about the bounty of the forest, living off of the fat of the land... Aaaand Yang was bored. She cast her gaze about and saw a whole lotta red. Now bored twice over she elbowed Blake and started to gossip. "Do you think Ruby has a chance?"
"With what?"
"Pyrrha."
"Like, fighting?" Blake asked, her brows canted.
"No, like, you know," Yang made a peace sign with both hands and started angling them towards one another in a suggestive manner, "like this."
"Is she gay?" Blake asked, frowning a little. "For that matter, is Pyrrha gay?"
"Pyrrha's gay?" Jaune hissed, suddenly appearing behind the pair. His voice was loud enough that people started to turn to look at him, and Yang was overcome with the urge to put the man in a headlock. That was definitely going to become a rumour.
"Shut up!" Yang hissed back, holding a finger to her lips in a 'shush' and turning to Port to pretend to pay attention.
"We'll talk about this later." Blake whispered quiet enough that the sound of rustling leaves nearly drowned it out. Yang merely nodded.
After Port finished his combination brag-lecture they were free to split up after taking a jar from a pallet that must have been dropped off beforehand. The duo grabbed theirs and found a quiet area to chat, but found themselves tailed by a somewhat meek looking Jaune.
When they got to the other side of a tree they scanned for nearby students and thankfully found none. Then Blake turned to Jaune: "Why are you following us?"
"Well, normally I'd follow Pyrrha, but she's not here." Jaune offered as explanation.
"Yeah, but Nora and Ren are here too." Yang crossed her arms.
"They're a bit too, you know." Jaune paused and puckered up before making a smacking noise. "You know?"
"I almost wish I didn't." Blake muttered. "I hope you know that if 'Pyrrha's Gay' becomes the hot new gossip you're a hundred percent to blame for that."
"You said it, not me!" Jaune guffawed in protest.
"Yeah, quietly, posed as a question," Blake said as she crossed her arms. "Not as a statement yelled out in a crowd."
"I mean, I was just surprised." Jaune stammered, scratching the back of his neck. "You know, it's not like I mind or anything, my sister is gay! She's got a wife and everything! Whole kit and kaboodle. My other sister might be gay too, so the whole family is just, you know, the gayest!" He paused. "Aside from me. And my parents."
"I'm honestly a bit speechless." Yang said with a blink.
"I could have probably said that better." Jaune admitted with a blush.
"Yeah." Blake agreed.
"Uh, moving along, why were you guys wondering?" Jaune asked, curious. "Again, not that I mind, just, you know, curious."
"Ruby's got a thing for redheads." Yang said with a wink. "Or so we think."
"Allegedly." Blake concurred. "Why do you think so Yang? She's never said anything."
"Oh, you know. Things." Yang answered. "Like, aside from the fact she's always talking about her? And the fact she wants to 'wrestle' her?" Yang waggled her eyebrows. "But you're right, she's never out-and-out said 'Pyrrha Nikos stars in my every dream and I like it'. ."
"She does spend a lot of time in our dorm." Jaune pondered aloud. "She's always sitting on Pyrrha's bed, touching her and stuff."
"Oh?" Yang's eyebrows started to wiggle faster. "Touching her where?"
"Like on the arm and stuff." Jaune shrugged. "Girl stuff."
"You can touch the homies Jaune, it's not weird." Yang smirked, her fingers coming to her chin in contemplation. "Anyways, this is all very, very interesting. I'm going to have to ask her about this."
"It's not that interesting if Pyrrha isn't into girls." Blake countered. "More tragic, at least for Ruby." She looked at Jaune, considered asking him something, then turned back to her job of trying to figure out how to tap a maple tree. She wasn't going to bother.
"What?" Jaune asked, and Blake grimaced.
"She was going to ask if you know if Pyrrha bats for both teams. Or the same team." Yang explained. "But you definitely wouldn't know."
"How do you figure that?" Jaune scoffed, puffing his chest out. "I'll have you know I'm the people person's people person. I know all about people and I definitely would have noticed that Pyrrha was."
"Was what?" Yang asked.
"Like my sisters." Jaune said with a nod.
"Some sort of inherited gaydar?" Blake mused.
"Yes."
"Incredible. I don't believe you." Blake deadpanned, and Jaune guffawed. "I mean, if you can tell, does Ruby register?"
Jaune began to stroke his chin, miming pulling a magnificent goatee into a point. "I'm not sure." His voice was brimming with confidence, somehow.
Yang and Blake shared a glance, then looked back to Jaune, then to the still-empty jars in their hands.
"We should get back to... whatever this is." Yang said.
"Indeed." Blake concurred.