For a moment, there was an awkward silence. Ruby, realising that Jet had no idea what the teammates' names were, spoke up.
"Ok," she said, clearing her throat, "Jet, this is Weiss, Blake and Yang. Team, this is Jet, the one I told you about."
Jet addressed each person in turn upon hearing their names, earning a short huff from Weiss, a tilt of the head from Blake and a cheerful "Hi" from Yang, which Jet returned with a smile. Weiss took a step forward, wanting answers.
"So, what were you doing with Ruby last night?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom. Jet said nothing for a moment. Ruby got the impression he was deciding how to answer that question, and decided to see how he reacted. She would step in if Weiss got too carried away.
"Just talking to her." Jet replied plainly, in a neutral voice. This did not seem to be what Weiss wanted, however, so she continued.
"What did you want with her?"
Jet paused, before saying, with a hint of anger only Ruby seemed able to hear, "Just a little company. As I'm quite sure you're aware, it can get pretty lonely up here."
"What were you talking about?" The question had come from Yang, trying to diffuse the tension. Both Ruby and Jet gave her a small smile of appreciation.
"Oh, Ruby and I have similar interests with weapons. She showed me her Crescent Rose, and I showed her my Shadow Meteor. Hers was made by an excellent craftsman." He answered with a bow of his head slightly to Ruby, who blushed a little. There was that feeling again. She couldn't describe it. Something was attracting her to Jet. What was it?
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Blake poke Weiss in the back as she was about to get Jet's attention again, and she wheeled round. Blake whispered something in Weiss' ear, and she nodded, but her expression of distrust did not change. She turned around, in time to catch Jet's joking response to Yang, "No, no, I'm not interested in that. I find such things absurd."
She tried to catch the joke, but it had already slipped by. Ruby checked her scroll, and realised that it was getting late. The sun was already setting, and as team RWBY said their goodbyes to Jet, they walked over to their dorm, still talking about Jet.
The girls got into their respective pyjamas and all clambered into their beds. But none of them could sleep, as Jet was still fresh on their minds, Ruby most of all.
"I don't trust him," Weiss was saying, "and if we let him keep us up all night, what state will that leave us in the next day? And the fact that we don't know much about him and that he doesn't give anything away, that's even worse."
"Weiss, maybe you should have a little faith." Yang replied.
"If you didn't immediately be aggressive towards him, we might have gotten him to open up a little more." Blake said.
As the three girls' discussion continued, Ruby herself was dropping off to sleep. The next day, she was going to talk to Jet, alone. He had been a lot more open with her, and there was that feeling. She shrugged off the thought, and finally fell asleep.
The rest of team RWBY's week went almost like a normal week. Ruby went to class, got homework, did homework, and studied. The only real change was that on the evenings, she would sneak out to see Jet, who was always in his usual spot on Sunset Hill. They talked about many things, the tournament being one of them.
Ruby learned that team LIJN was also participating, yet for some reason, and for the first time ever that she'd admit it to herself, she felt afraid to go up against Jet. He was casual with her, but she knew about his wings and the fact that he could use different weapons, and would pose a serious threat if her team came up against LIJN.
The feeling in her heart grew stronger with each visit, and finally, during the last school day of her week, Ruby could handle it no more. She couldn't concentrate, even during duelling practise. Her first port of call was Yang, and she found her laying on her bed, enjoying a free period. Ruby gently shook her awake, and was given a grunt and a snuffle before lilac eyes met hers.
"Y-yeah Sis? What's up?" Yang asked, shuddering as a yawn escaped her.
"I'm feeling different." Ruby admitted. Yang sat up from her bunk and got out, before sitting down with a concerned expression on her face, as Ruby sat down too.
"What's wrong?" she asked her little sister. Ruby fought with telling her, knowing this would only mean Yang teasing her about it, before finally breaking her barriers.
"It's Jet. Whenever I'm around him, my heart beats faster, and I can't concentrate. Is that… normal?" she finally confessed.
Yang looked at Ruby, her face flushed with colour, and her expression timid. Yang did the one thing that Ruby didn't expect. She broke out into a grin.
"Ruby, if what you're saying is true, you have a crush on him!" she exclaimed. Ruby was instantly taken aback.
"I… I…" she said, trying to marshal her thoughts and failing, her cheeks turning a similar colour to her namesake. Was it love? Did she really love Jet?
Ruby looked back at all the times she had been with Jet. She recalled all the times her heart had fluttered when she'd met those eyes, the strength in his gaze, even a couple of dreams she had had afterwards, depicting Jet and her in a more… immoral sense. He certainly seemed to enjoy his time with her. Maybe it was.
"So, Jet's your Romeo?" Yang teased, quickly bringing Ruby back to reality. She blushed even harder.
"Yang, this is serious. And who is Romeo anyway?" Ruby whispered.
"I'll explain later." came Yang's reply. Ruby sighed, she had had a feeling Yang would tease her.
"Just…can you find out if he feels the same way with me? I'm supposed to meet him in one of the parks later tonight." Ruby said, finally starting to cool down from the embarrassment.
"Sure I can." Yang said, cheerily, looking at the clock, which showed a time important to Yang as she started to get her books together. Maybe she had another class. "You and me, we go out together." Yang explained. "You lay low, and listen in on our talk. We'll find out what's on his mind, little sis."
"It's a date." Ruby said, smiling.