Cardin narrowed his eyes at his wardrobe, taking to heart the ideology that a tall, muscular, scary looking person staring at a problem long enough would force said problem to either run away for fear of getting punched in the face or that your guy wasn't big, muscly or scary looking enough. It was little wonder that at the age of fifteen Cardin was already working a part-time job as a bouncer at some nightclub on the shady side of town. All Cardin had to do was mention that he was currently going through a combat school and most people backed off instantly. Of course, there was always the odd jackass who Cardin felt tempted to smack upside the head with his mace even without the promise of a paycheck. But considering that in hindsight Cardin was akin to those jackasses in more ways than one, he didn't feel like complaining about it.

Naturally, such tactics didn't have any effect on a wardrobe, so Cardin's attempts to burn a hole in it with his gaze was a particularly futile waste of time. He'd tried asking Ruby what she meant by 'hanging out' but got a rather inconclusive 'I dunno, I just kinda make it up as I go' in response. Which left Cardin in a bit of a predicament in that he had no idea if he would need to dress for cold or warm or if they would be doing something athletic or not. As a child, Cardin would just throw on whatever he picked out first and endure half an hour of his mother hassling him about 'dressing nicely' and making sure he was 'prepared for anything' to a chorus of 'okays, yeps and fine'. He remembered hating it at the time, but there was nothing he wouldn't give up to have that back.

"Don't think about that, just focus…ah screw it."

Giving up any and all hope of picking an a hundred percent appropriate attire, he just picked out a worn out tracksuit and an old pair of sneakers before leaving his teammates, the trio talking about 'Gibbering Mouthers' and other such things.

Ruby and Jaune stood near the airship heading for Vale, sipping from containers of Udder Satisfaction and Orange juice respectively, the two waiting for Cardin. The two were watching a plane create a message in the sky, taking interest as it slowly created each word and hypnotised by the oddly soothing turns and twists the plane made and raised an eyebrow each as the planes final message spelt out a commercial for People love Grapes, consisting of nothing other than the brand name itself.

"Yep." Jaune said in agreement with the ad.

"Yep." Ruby said in agreement with Jaune.

"Mhmm…" Jaune said, acknowledging Ruby's agreement.

The two stood there in silence, before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggling that ended with Jaune doubled over and Ruby rolling around on the floor, the two crying a little from laughing so hard. Both of them didn't know why they were laughing, but this wasn't the first time this had occurred. Perhaps it was just that the two, being so close friends, could find humour in just about anything when in each other's company.

Jaune's bright attitude faded a little, however, when he spotted Cardin walking towards them in the distance.

"Are you sure he's nice now?"

"Yeah, anyone who gives me strawberries can't be too bad!" the scythe-wielder said optimistically.

"Ruby, the White Fang could give you strawberries and you'd say they 'weren't as bad as most people think they are'."

"Probably. But who cares? Strawberries!" she said excitedly, drawing out another fit of chuckles from Jaune.

"C'mon Jaune, trust me on this. I promised not to tell people about the cheese wheel incident."

The mere mentioning of that unfortunate afternoon was enough to make the blonde blanch. As Cardin drew closer, Jaune could feel his unease building. But he trusted Ruby and Ruby trusted Cardin, so he couldn't be too bad anymore, right?

"Ruby. Jaune." Cardin said nervously, fearing that he would be shunned or treated as a third-wheel.

"Heeeeeey Cardin." Was Jaune's equally nervous reply. The two extended a hand to the other, Jaune going for a fist bump and Cardin for a handshake. The two realised that they had messed up, and spent a few seconds awkwardly adjusting their hands until they settled for patting each other on the shoulder.

"Aww come on! That's it!" Ruby said incredulously. "That is not how we're gonna start this off! Hug it out guys!"

Jaune and Cardin gave Ruby a weird look and each other an uneasy one. Jaune started kicking pebbles on the path while Cardin took a particularly fascinated interest in the clouds above them

"Hug. It. Out." Ruby commanded, gently nudging the two together. Unwilling to protest, the two uneasily wrapped their arms around each other and tensed up. After about twenty seconds however, their unease faded away and the two felt strangely satisfied by the experience at which point they pulled apart.

"Was that so hard?" Ruby asked, receiving muffled no's in response.

"Good." She said, walking up to the two and standing on the tips of her toes. "Now kiss." She said, half-heartedly pushing their heads together.

"Oh God no!"

"Not even once!"

The two backpedaled quickly, Cardin stumbling over his feet and falling onto his back while trying to get away and Jaune ran off the path and hid behind a tree. Ruby was laughing so hard a their reactions that she wasn't even making noise, just a strangled exhaling noise. Jaune walked up to Cardin and helped him off the ground, leaning in close to whisper something in his ear.

"She's really ticklish." He said, a vengeful smirk on his face. Cardin nodded and the two began their assault.

"What are yo- no please, AHAHAHAHA! No, stop, I surrender Pfftheheheeh!"

The two spent a few moments basking in the glory of their victory before sharing a fist bump while Ruby recovered from the 'deadly' assault.

"Well…we'd better get going…the plane will leave soon." Ruby said, still somewhat out of breath. The leaders of RWBY and JNPR walked towards the ramp, leaving Cardin behind to wonder whether or not this was just an elaborate prank to get back at him or something similarly Machiavellian.

"C'mon Cardin! We're gonna miss the flight!"

At least one thing was for sure; if this was fake, Cardin wasn't sure he wanted to live in the real world.