A/N: Woo hoo! I'm sure tons of you guys were looking forward to this chapter. I keep getting surprised by how much I write for this story, let me tell you. I thought I was going to end it around the 2500 mark... ended up writing 2000 words more. Which was... fun. I guess. On another note, woo hoo, 1000 follows F%^K YEA. Now I shoot for 1500! Hahaha XD Thanks to everyone who seems to either enjoy watching Jaune suffer or suffering from the feels themselves, this story would be nothing without y'all! Well, I mean, it would be something I guess... Anyways, enjoy!

D: Thanks!

The first time Jaune saw her, he thought she was an angel. White as snow, even the dim fluorescent lights were enough to make her glow. Seeing her made his heart rise up into his throat, the organ threatening to choke him unconscious. She had strode in, all grace and poise, head help up high as if she knew how important she was.

She was perfect in every way, Jaune thought, until she opened her mouth.

The image of the perfect girl shattered under the force of her personality, and while her words were polite and gentle, the tone was not. Quickly Jaune revised his previous observations towards her, realizing that if anything, she was even less mature than he was.

Of course, as a Huntress, she still garnered his respect. Jaune could see that she was a strong, independent girl, and took pride in that.

Weiss had come into the bar the first time after hearing Ruby and Yang rave about the place, as well as seeing Professor Goodwitch come in as well, to her immense surprise. She wasn't one for drinking, but the establishment had piqued her curiosity, and it wasn't much longer before she demurely stepped through the doorways of the bar, greeted by a face that was almost as young as she was.

She hadn't meant to categorize him, but her mind did it anyways, and when she spoke to him for the first time, Weiss hadn't bothered to hide the disdain in her voice, her doubt that someone so young could handle a bar so well evident in her tone.

It wasn't much of a stretch to say that Weiss and Jaune didn't start off on the right foot. They found that getting on each other's tempers was one of the easier things to do, and before either of them knew it, they would be arguing over the most inconsequential things, such as Weiss's drink not having the right proportions of alcohol to espresso, which then sparks Jaune's side comments about how only crazy people drink alcohol with coffee.

Their arguments lasted for hours at a time, to the point where when regulars noticed the girl walking into the bar, they would either leave quickly to avoid getting into the middle of the mess, or quickly order another drink, ready to see the upcoming show.

Which is why on that particular day, Jaune received a sudden influx of orders as the doors opened wide, Weiss striding in with a leash in her hands, leading an adorable puppy into the bar. Normally Jaune wouldn't allow pets into the bar, but when he saw the black and white corgi, he didn't bother saying anything, knowing that the dog had impeccable manners.

Probably better manners than the girl holding his leash.

Weiss frowned as she looked at Jaune serving drinks, her facial expressions showing a certain distaste, as if she had heard what Jaune had been thinking. Without any word from the bartender, Weiss found the cleanest bar stool she could find and grabbed a few napkins, making sure that she personally kept the seat tidy, to Jaune's offense. He cleaned the bar from top to bottom regularly, maintaining its top shape of cleanliness whenever he had the chance, and Weiss decides that it still isn't enough for her? She was probably raised inside a disinfected quarantine bubble, Jaune thought rudely, finishing up the last batch of refills before going towards the bartending counter, giving a very fake smile towards the girl.

Weiss sniffed at the air, crossing her arms. "Took you long enough." She said, making Jaune grit his teeth and turn to Zwei.

"Good afternoon Zwei, I'm glad you took the time to visit." Jaune greeted, to which the dog barked happily at. Weiss didn't appreciate that, glaring at the boy, clearing her throat loudly.

"Excuse me, isn't it proper manners to greet a customer, or were you just not taught how to service properly?"

This earned a glare back towards Weiss, Jaune pursing his lips. "I don't know what you're talking about, I was greeting a customer." He countered, pointing at the dog. "I can't greet the both of you at once now, can I?" Jaune rolled his eyes and leaned towards her. "I hope you didn't trip on your heels when you were getting here, princess."

"I am an heiress, thank you. And no, I don't trip." Weiss slammed her hands on the table, the glare still clear on her face. "And for that matter, I think it is downright rude for you to be greeting their pet before the customer."

Jaune nodded, face serious. "I think you're completely right." He said, to Weiss's outrage, before turning back to the exasperated looking corgi. "I'm guessing you want the usual, Zwei?"

The dog barked an affirmative, to which Jaune procured a small bowl of water, while placing a nice bone chunk that he had saved for the dog. The dog yipped its thanks, and Jaune leaned down to give it a nice pat, the dog's form of payment for the meal. Weiss sat there impatiently, glowering at the boy at having to wait to be served before the dog. After making sure the dog had everything, Jaune paused for a second, briefly looking at Weiss before leaning casually onto the table, looking back at Zwei.

"So Zwei, what problems are you having back at Beacon?"

Weiss's throat was slowing making a noise that only Grimm should've been able to make, her hand on the grip of Myrtenaster turning her knuckles white. Jaune pretended to chat with the dog for a little longer, nodding sympathetically at every sound that the dog made. After a nice, long chat with the corgi, Jaune finally turned towards Weiss, a polite smile on his face.

"Alright your highness. What'll you have?"

The girl opened her mouth, inhaling and preparing a rather large and angry lecture on, well, everything Jaune had just done, but stopped herself, closing her eyes and inhaling, mentally counting to ten. She put on hand on top of the other and straightened her back, opening her eyes, a sea of calm suddenly surrounding her.

"I will have the Espresso Martini please." The girl said politely.

Jaune's jaw dropped a fraction, completely confused as to what had just happened. He must be dreaming. There was no way Weiss of all people had just passed up a chance to berate Jaune for intentionally ignoring her. The bartender pinched himself rather viciously to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The red welt that appeared and the pain assured him that yes, he was definitely awake, and yes, Weiss had been taken over and mind controlled by someone.

"…Neo?" Jaune asked uncertainly. Sure, the girl couldn't speak, but this seemed like something that the ice-cream loving girl would do. Instead of giggles erupting to indicate that Neo had in fact used her semblance to impersonate Weiss, the snow-haired girl simply arched an eyebrow in question, wondering silently if the bartender had gone out of his mind.

"I'm sorry?" Weiss asked, not sure if she had misheard. Jaune shook his mind, deciding that he had probably just woken up in an alternate dimension this morning and had to roll with it.

"Never mind, sorry. One Espresso Martini, coming up." The boy said, turning around to hide the shock on his face as he gathered the materials. Quickly putting the drink together, Jaune placed it in front of Weiss, waiting for her to critique his latest creation of the cocktail. Instead the girl sipped the drink daintily, placing it down and nodding.

"Thank you Jaune. That was quite nice."

"No." Jaune shook his head, stepping back. "I'm not doing this right now." Jaune turned around and rubbed his eyes, turning back to see if his vision was going to clear up, and replace the image of a proper, non-objecting Weiss that was sitting in front of him. When she didn't disappear, Jaune tilted his head and jumped a few times, wondering if there was water in his ears that was distorting everything that Weiss was saying. "Am I just hallucinating or something…?" Jaune muttered to himself, rubbing the bandage on the side of his head. Weiss simply stood there with a bemused expression on her face.

"What are you doing?" Came the confused question, Weiss taken aback by what Jaune was doing. The bartender looked at Weiss, then at Zwei, who seemed to shrug at the unspoken question Jaune was asking, then back to Weiss. With a weary sigh, Jaune decided to answer to question.

"I'm… sorry if I'm being rude," Jaune started out saying, the strangeness of the situation causing him to default into his Polite Bartender mode, "but I just… expected more a reaction out of you is all." Weiss raised her eyebrows, taking another sip of her martini.

"You mean you were waiting for me to fight with you again." Weiss stated flatly, to which Jaune nodded reluctantly.

"Well, I am much too mature for that sort of thing now." Weiss said proudly, crossing her legs. "I don't have the time for such childish things."

"Uh huh." Jaune said skeptically, recalling how just the other day he was arguing with her about the homey décor around the bar.

It didn't matter that it was outdated, dammit, it was cozy.

Weiss nodded and took another sip of her martini, silence falling on the both of them. It was a strange feeling for Jaune, who fidgeted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do. The two of them were never this quiet, always having something to say (shout) to each other. It felt wrong.

"Something happen recently?" Jaune probed out, wondering what could've changed Weiss so dramatically. The girl played with the stem of the glass for a little bit, her face showing a lot of conflicting emotions. Jaune took that as a yes, and continued with his line of questioning.

"… Does it have anything to do with your partner?"

Jaune found the answer to that pretty quickly, as Weiss's face darkened, her lips moving quickly as she muttered something too quietly for even Jaune to hear.

"What happened?" Jaune asked, grabbing another cocktail glass to prepare another martini. Weiss glared at the boy, eyes sharp.

"Why do you care?" Came the question, subtle accusations hidden underneath it. Jaune sighed and held up his hands.

"Hey, I was just curious. And I thought maybe it would be a good idea for you to get this off your chest."

The suspicion in Weiss's eyes didn't entirely leave, but as she took another sip of the cocktail, her shoulders seem to fall a fraction of an inch, and Jaune heard something he had never heard from Weiss before.

She sighed.

It was a despondent sigh, but looking at the petite girl doing something so cute made Jaune's heart tighten. It took another minute of reminding himself that no matter how cute the girl was, she could tear him to pieces, physically and word-wise.

"You know, Ruby has been… different, these days." Weiss started talking, lifting the glass up to her lips, interrupting herself for a second. "She is… quieter. Not in a bad way," Weiss was quick to add, seeing Jaune's face turn concerned. "She's still nowhere near Blake's level of quiet. She is still happy and cheerful but…" Weiss gestured helplessly. "She's just quieter." Weiss put a hand on her forehead, trying to think of an example.

"The other day, we messed up on one of our team exercises. I... may have been a little frustrated, and lashed out at Ruby. But she didn't even argue back! She didn't even try to!" Weiss spread out her hands, looking at Jaune as if waiting for him to say something back.

"That's… uh, that's weird."

"Exactly!" Weiss threw up her hands, eyes up towards the sky. "I mean, it was just so unlike her that I stopped what I was saying and asked her if she was alright. Do you know what she said to me?" Weiss waited for exactly half a second before continuing. "She said that she was fine, and then she thanked me for yelling at her, promising to do better next time!" Weiss sputtered a little bit, unable to think of what else to say. "That's just, I didn't. it's just so unreasonable of her!"

Jaune nodded, the action automatic even though he was still just trying to wrap his head around how this was a bad thing.

Weiss pointed a finger at him, shaking it. "And get this. I turn around and look at Yang and Blake to see them surprised as well, so I know it wasn't just me! I tried asking Professor Goodwitch if she knew anything about it, because I saw her nod at Ruby later on, but all she did was smile at me and tell me that I should learn a few things from Ruby. Me!"

Jaune nodded again, this time a lot more uncertainly. "That's uh, that's a shame there." Weiss agreed distractedly, quickly returning back to the topic at hand. She covered her face with her hands, letting out an anguished groan.

There was silence in the room as Jaune stood there, unsure of how to comfort the girl. In the end Jaune decided to awkwardly pat the girl on the shoulder a few times before retreating backwards, unsure of how she would react to him doing that.

Weiss raised her head up and looked at the boy, frowning.

"Now that I think about it..." The heiress said thoughtfully, "Ruby started changing the day after she visited you. Did you do something to her?" The question came with an accusing finger, shaking threateningly in front of Jaune. The bartender shook his head, taking another step back.

"What? No! It's probably a coincidence or something." Jaune waved aside, scooting a little to the left and smoothly grabbing her martini glass, putting it into a nearby sink. Weiss shook her head, a frown on her lips.

"No, I remember her talking about meeting someone that helped her out with some problems. That is when I knew something was wrong." Weiss declared, hitting her fist onto her palm. "Ruby tends to be really specific with what she says. She's never that vague."

Jaune rolled his eyes at that. "Right, but it's not like I'm the only person she could've talked to." Weiss copied Jaune's earlier motion, rolling her eyes.

"Please, Ruby might be social amongst her friends, but she isn't the type of person to talk to random strangers off the street." As the cold cage of logic continued to surround Jaune, he wracked his mind for another excuse.

"Maybe the alcohol changed her?" Jaune didn't even bother pretending that was actually a possibility, but hoped that Weiss would be fooled by the question. It didn't work, which was pretty much expected at that point.

"No, she hated the alcohol. Said something about never drinking again." Weiss said, waving her hand dismissively. Jaune let out a quiet sigh, happy that he had convinced Ruby to stay away from drinking for just a little while longer. When he returned to Weiss's conversation, he was caught back by her narrowed eyes.

"Another drink?" Came the compulsive question, Jaune sliding an already made cocktail towards her, which she reluctantly accepted, her cheeks a little pink. Weiss usually stopped at two glasses of the stuff, leaving with a disgusted look on her face. Then again, they usually argued so much that it would take almost two hours for the girl to finish up her drinks anyway. Today, it's been less than half an hour and she was beginning to put away a third.

"Why are you trying to avoid the topic?" Came the sudden question, making Jaune blink in surprise—and a little bit of guilt.

"I- I'm not trying to avoid the topic." He said defensively. Weiss crossed her arms, raising a single eyebrow.

"Really? Then answer my question."

"Uh," Jaune stuttered, before smiling sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "What was the question again?"

"Don't pretend you don't know the question." Weiss scowled. "What did you tell Ruby that changed her so much?"

Jaune set his lips into a thin line, leaning backwards and sighing, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. Standing there, he didn't say a word for a while, actually keeping his eyes on the other customers sitting around the bar, silently making sure that they were minding their own business. Many of them respected his wishes, nodding and turning back to their own conversations, and others stood up, disappointed that there wasn't going to be a shouting match any time soon. Weiss sat there, watching him not pay her any attention, and opened her mouth to yell at him before he finally spoke.

"This isn't why you're here." He said softly, stopping her in her tracks.

"Excuse me?"

Jaune leaned forwards, face getting very close to Weiss's. The girl flinched and shifted backwards an inch before realizing that whether or not Jaune knew it, he had gained a footing over her with that action.

"You aren't here to find out why Ruby's changed." Jaune repeated. Weiss tried to object, but was distracted by a bark, turning to look at Zwei, hopping up and down with his tongue out, shaking his head.

"I- I am not sure what you are talking about." Weiss said falteringly, to which Zwei let out a small whine, crouching down onto his hind legs. Jaune didn't say a word, mentally thanking Zwei for backing him up on this.

"I mean," Weiss started again, not to be defeated by a blonde bartender and a tiny corgi, no matter how adorable he was. "I guess I might be here to—to talk with you as well, but finding out why Ruby changed is definitely top priority."

"Oh really?" Jaune drawled out the words, making it very clear that he didn't believe a word that she had just said. Weiss started to blush, and Jaune had to count that as a personal win, because this was probably the first time she's blushed out of embarrassment instead of anger.

"Well, I- I mean, there's not really—" The blush only got deeper as Jaune sat there patiently, an innocent look on his face while he waited for her to finish. Weiss scowled at his expression, standing up abruptly from her seat. "Well. I do not need to justify anything to you, Jaune." Flicking her ponytail to the side, she turned to leave, only stopping when Jaune reached out to grab her wrist, laughing while he pulled her back into her seat.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry about that. Can you calm down for a second there?" Jaune gestured to the seat and waited for Weiss to sit down in a huff, her body so wound up that she had crossed both her arms and legs, the only thing stopping her from staying that way was another drink, offered by Jaune.

"Better?" He asked, Weiss nodding reluctantly, sipping her drink and waiting for the boy in front of her to speak. Jaune took a second, putting away the glasses in front of him and using that time to gather his thoughts, making sure to choose his words carefully, not wanting to offend such a sensitive girl.

"... You're a competitive person." Jaune stated. Weiss nodded, knowing it was true. "I'm sure there are reasons for that, and I'm not going to pry," Jaune said quickly, holding out his hand. Weiss gave a small, thankful smile for that gesture. "I'm going to make a very general guess and say that you're trying to impress your parents by making a name out of yourself. Right?" He let the question hang in the air, watching as Weiss's eyes widened, not having to say anything to affirm his question.

"Thought so." Jaune said, nodding. The heiress shook her head, unable to believe that he could have just guessed that.

"How did you know?"

Jaune shrugged at the question. "Your sister may have mentioned something like that once or twice."

"You know my sister!?" Weiss gaped at him, disbelief clear in her eyes. "How would you know my sister? I mean, Winter Schnee right? Tall, beautiful, formal?" Jaune rolled his eyes, nodding at the question.

"Yes, yes, and yes. Trust me, she's your sister. She's practically a grown up version of you." Jaune paused, realizing that he had just compared the two sisters, and was quick to backtrack if it wasn't for Weiss interrupting indignantly, yelling out, "I am the grown up version of me."

Jaune stopped talking, knowing that he had tripped up, and tried to placate the girl, holding his hands out in front of him. "Sorry. That's not what I meant. I apologize if I caused you offense, as I didn't mean to." This seemed to calm the girl down a little bit, as she settled back down in her seat. Jaune continued to talk, mentally revising and hoping that he didn't step on another land mine.

"We've wandered off topic. The point that I'm trying to make," Jaune said, raising a finger, "Is that you're comparing yourself to Ruby, and probably for the first time, you've found that you're losing."

"I am not losing." Came the instant reply, before Weiss scowled at the misstep, hurriedly correcting herself. "And I am not comparing myself to Ruby of all people. There are plenty of talented people in Beacon that I could compare to, why would I do it to Ruby of all people?"

"Well, I was sort of getting there," Jaune said, annoyed at the girl's constant jumping in. "Anyways, sure there are plenty of people in Beacon that are talented. I'm pretty sure every person in there has to be talented, just to be accepted into the school. I think it's demeaning of you to think that Ruby isn't talented."

"I've never said that." Weiss objected, making Jaune groan.

"Can you just shut up for a second and let me finish?" He asked, exasperated. Weiss at least had enough decency to look sheepish at that, nodding once to let Jaune finish what he was saying. "Thank you." Jaune pinched the nerve pulsing between his eyebrows, hoping that the headache would go away soon. "Now, I know you've never said that, but the way you talk about her implies that you think less of her. I don't know if that's subconscious or what, but that's something you need to fix, because that will only lead to you hurting her and your team." Weiss looked as if she wanted to deny what he was saying, but was stopped when Jaune glared at her, making her shrink back. He didn't say anything for another second, waiting to see if she would jump into argument mode again. When she didn't, Jaune resumed speaking.

"Let me ask you something. Every application to Beacon was reviewed by the staff there, preferably even the Headmaster, right?" Weiss nodded. "Okay. So that means that whoever looks at the applications has a standard when they're accepting students, making sure that they're choosing the best of the best, right?" Again Weiss nodded. "Good. And you would agree that whoever approves of the applications is competent, right?" Jaune didn't even wait for Weiss to answer that question. "So when Ruby was let into Beacon Academy, they more than likely made sure that she could hold under the rigor of the school. Sure, she might not have the greatest academics, but she's talented with her weapon, and she's determined to make the world a safer place." Jaune paused, before adding in something else. "And she's determined to improve and grow."

"Which is why Professor Goodwitch told you to make her an example."

Weiss's head snapped up from the position it had been before, eyes showing that she was slowly understanding what Jaune was trying to say.

"So you're saying... that I'm not growing." Weiss said despondently, making Jaune wince at how dejected the girl sounded. The blonde bartender didn't even know the girl could sound so down.

"That's not what I'm saying," Jaune quickly corrected her, venturing to lay a hand on hers, making sure that she was looking at him. "What I'm saying is that Ruby is growing by leaps and bounds, and if you want to keep up, it doesn't hurt to take a few notes out of her book."

The white-haired heiress looked contemplative, eyes hazy as she thought about his words. "Well, I am not one to shy away from taking notes." She said reluctantly, looking at Jaune, who smiled warmly at her.

"Good. I'm sure you'll grow in no time." He said confidently.

Weiss nodded quietly, a smile appearing on her face as well, before she glanced down, looking at her chest with a conflicting expression before looking back up at Jaune. "Do you really think I'll grow more?"

Jaune froze, hearing hope in her voice that he guessed didn't just mean as a Huntress. He made the mistake of letting his gaze drift downwards for a brief second, catching himself a moment too late as Weiss caught his line of sight, and her hand tightened around his, almost crushing the knuckles.

"Oh yes, of course, I'm sure you'll grow in all sorts of ways." Jaune quickly wheezed out, trying not to yelp at the pain. Her grip lessened, expression doubtful.

"You really think so?"

Jaune nodded, thinking about her older sister.

"Yeah, I really think so. I mean, you've still got a few more years to grow and if your sister is anything to go by..." Jaune whistled in appreciation, once again freezing as he realized what he had just done in front of Winter's younger sister. Looking at Weiss was like looking into his own death, and for someone known so well as being the Ice Queen, her gaze was made of flaming fury, hand slowly reaching her rapier.

"Uh, you don't have any Dust that can erase the past few minutes of our conversation from your mind do you?" Jaune asked hopefully, slowly edging away from the murderous girl. Weiss let out a breath, before inhaling and letting out another, repeating the process a few more times. Jaune stopped trying to escape, eyes brightening in hope that she had learned restraint.

"I am going to count to ten, and by that time, pray that you've run far enough."

"Yeah I didn't think so." Jaune muttered, before taking off as fast as he possibly could, ramming his shoulder into the doorway and speeding past it, praying to whatever deity that he would still be alive by tomorrow morning. Weiss finished her count and followed, creating a glyph under her feet, which was completely unfair. Zwei followed along, barking happily as he skipped along.

The crowd that he had left behind in the bar cheered, taking a swig from their drinks. Sure it wasn't the fight that they were looking for, but it sure as Dust was the next best thing.