Chapter 21 – Speak Up And Dance

In which Jaune Arc learns more about his partner and himself.

"Did you hear?" asked Perry. "Apparently Ironwood, the new headmaster on the block, blew up the entire White Fang."

"Huh, 'zat so?" asked Jaune, barely listening to his partner as he looped his tie in on itself.

"Yeah." Perry glanced both ways. "Don't tell anyone you heard this from me, but Faunus tend to hear things from other Faunus and…this was a gamechanger."

"Neat."

"I'm talking, a complete gamechanger. Not just something to shake up the playing field, but a restructuring of the entire White Fang. Adam Taurus, a larger-than-life hunter-like member of theirs, apparently sunk everything he had into some big dealio railroad project, and now he's got nothing to show for it to the big bosses at Menagerie. Those folks don't like their fighters turning up empty handed, especially after being given command of a whole kingdom's branch. Him and four other fellas were the only survivors of their entire firefight with Atlas. Two hundred and ninety-three dead terries, and they couldn't even scratch the Atlesian warships' paint."

Jaune tried to pay attention to Perry's description of the events, but…

"Perry, I don't mean to downplay your story about the White Fang, but I'm just…a little preoccupied. I want to hear it, but I can't even hear my own thoughts right now. Would be okay with telling me later?"

Perry looked over at Jaune with sympathy. "You really had it that bad for her, huh?"

"It wasn't like I wanted to marry her," said Jaune, messing with the noose-in-training around his neck. "It's just, well, she was my first. First girlfriend, that is. I had always hoped as a kid that the first girl I crushed on would be the one. I know it's stupid, but you know me – ever the naïve romantic."

He sighed and plopped down onto his bed. The stupid tie wasn't going right, and the video Amber had found which was supposed to show him how didn't explain it well at all. Why'd they have to remove the dislike button? It wasn't hurting anyone. I guess only the good die young.

Perry sat down next to him and folded his arms. "You need a hand with that?"

"If you don't mind."

Tonight was prom, and Team JP were going to be its most eligible bachelors. Well, Team JPR, since Ren probably didn't have a companion either, unless Nora had the city's fastest turnaround. Beacon had given Perry the okay to bring a date from the outside world since even the eldest students were nearly half his age, but he still had no one to bring. It wasn't for lack of skill on the dating scene – Perry seemed a suave enough gentleman from what Jaune could tell – but because of the nature of the event. Even if Perry had a thirty-five-year-old Faunus (or human) girlfriend to invite, asking her to come to what was essentially a high-school prom would have probably resulted in a bigger fiasco than Jaune and Nora.

"There we go," Perry took his fingers off of Jaune's tie and brought them to his lips, blowing a kiss. "Voila! One tied tie."

"We're dead, aren't we?"

"It ain't too bad, Jaune," consoled Perry. "Taking a hearty sip from the old No-GF juicebox isn't the end of the world. Take it from an adult who's been to the occasional social function – the whole 'need to bring a plus one' thing is wildly fabricated or exaggerated beyond reason when it's not. No one cares if you don't get any – they're all worried about chasing their own tail, and I ain't talking about the Faunus kind. If you had a bully, it might've been a tad more embarrassing, but apparently you put yours on ice, so that's that."

"Actually, Nora was the one who took care of Cardin for me. I just stood back and watched while she did the fighting."

Perry rubbed the back of his neck, and Jaune immediately felt guilty for putting the older Faunus out.

"It's okay. There's really nothing we can talk about that won't remind me of her in some way. The four of us are a team." Jaune sighed again. "But that's actually what I was referring to when I said we're dead. Have I messed up Juniper for good? Is this team of ours already dead?"

Jaune had always heard that dating a close co-worker was a recipe for disaster if things went sour, but he'd thought himself more mature than that. When he'd proceed with Nora, the biggest obstacle had been Ren not being able to control his own insecurities. Now that whole affair was…actually still unresolved as far as Jaune knew.

Ren and Nora were fighting because of Jaune, Ren probably hated Jaune for driving a wedge between what he thought was a happy couple, and Nora had been on the verge of tears last he saw her when he r̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶w̶a̶y̶ put some distance between them. He still had Perry, but even a perfect partnership would flounder at a hunter academy if the team wasn't steady.

And Amber's a part of the team, but the others still don't even know she exists.

"You wanna know why it's just Perry?"

Jaune looked over to his partner in confusion. "What?"

"My name. You wanna know why my birth certificate says Perry, not Perry M'Pagne or Perry Laghura?"

"I…o-okay." Jaune pivoted where he sat so he could look directly at Perry. "Go ahead…?"

"You see, a Faunus is kind of a weird thing, when you stop and think about it. In theory, there're only two outcomes for us animal folk in the long run – either the humans go extinct, or we do. And I'm not saying that as a declaration of war. When a Faunus and human have a kid, out pops a bouncing baby Faunus. All the time, every time. Don't matter how many generations of human blood you add in; every time a Faunus procreates, the babe is just as Faunus as they are. It's the opposite for humans: you only get a human baby if both parents are human. That means that eventually, factoring out inbreeding, the number of human bloodlines will eventually dwindle down to zero over the decades, centuries, eons, or however long it takes. Unless, of course, the racists have their way and slaughter us first."

"That won't happen."

Perry's smiled mirthlessly and raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Life ain't so simple sometimes, and I doubt you can just…that's not the point. What I'm getting at is, because you can't have half Faunus, last names are the only way to keep track of who's 'pure' and who's a half-breed like me. That's right: ol' Perry has a human mother. At least, I assume I do – she didn't stick around. She liked Faunus enough to do one, but she didn't want nothing to do with marrying or rearing one. Course, it might've had somethin' to do with the fact that both her and Pops were younger than you are."

Jaune was stunned. He hadn't known any of this, primarily because Perry had never even so much as suggested it before. It had always been an assumption in the back of his mind that Perry came from a long line of Faunus in some loving home, but the more he thought about it, there was actually no reason to have ever thought that.

"My old man, Perry Sr., took care of me. I'm pretty sure he only did it out of responsibility, but he did it nonetheless, and not a day goes by when I don't miss that wonderful fellow. Lung cancer – he smoked. Don't worry, it was a long time ago. When I was born, Pops had just dropped out of school, and he didn't have the dough to take care of himself. My grandparents offered him money, but they knew I was half-human. Even though there's really no such thing as half-anything, this was a big deal to them. So, their condition for funding Pops as he got on his feet was that I don't carry on their last name, Laghura." Perry sneered. "No way was the fate of their proud pureblooded Faunus lineage going to be placed in the hands of a halfling bastard. Pops gave me his own first name, and the rest is history. I'm Perry – just Perry. Technically Perry Jr., but since I'm older than most everyone around me these days, I thought it'd be best to drop the Junior bit. Plus, some mobster bloke is in the process of getting Junior trademarked, and I don't want to get tied up in that."

You know, if his goal was to get me to stop thinking about Nora, he succeeded.

The sheer shock of it left him speechless. "That's…"

Jaune struggled to find a word that captured Perry's traumatic home life. Despicable came to mind, as did horrifying, but neither seemed strong enough.

Perry shrugged. "It is what it is. At least I had a father, so it's not all bad. As for dear old mommy, I ain't never met her, so I don't really have anything to miss. Woulda been nice if she could have spared a dime to make things easier for me and Pops, but she was only seventeen when she got pregnant, so I guess she can't be blamed. But my grandparents, them I despise. They knew me, they sat me down on their laps, they called me an adorable little munchkin and stuffed my face full of homemade cookies, and I sometimes think they even came to love me, but the race part always came first. They made it a point to correct me when I said I was their grandson, because in their eyes, I wasn't. Lil' Perry Jr. was just their son's illegitimate bastard, even though they looked uncomfortable every time they said it. We could never be seen together in public or when company came over. Even on their deathbeds, they refused to budge on letting me into the family tree. The worst part is, if they'd just pretended I was a 'real' Faunus, no one would have ever known. Like I said, Faunus parents always have Faunus babies, so there's no way to tell who's a real Faunus. It mattered to no one but them, and now the Laghura family name went out forever with Pops."

Jaune was surprised to see that Perry wasn't growling or crying or tearing up or anything. With his spiel finished, his face was back to a pleasant look, and he rose up off the bed. He motioned to the door with his head. "C'mon. We've got a prom to go be embarrassed at, pardner."

Jaune and Perry weren't going together, but they were planning on entering together in a show of Juniperian camaraderie. As much as Jaune didn't want to be ashamed of his bachelorhood, going alone when all his friends had dates seemed a touch too embarrassing.

As the now gussied up and ready to go duo walked towards the refitted auditorium in which the dance was being held, Jaune took a second to ask Perry a quick question that had been forming in his mind.

"So, if you're the last one in your family, and there's no financial power held by racist grandparents anymore, why don't you just call yourself Perry Laghura?"

Perry yawned. "I never really wanted the last name itself. That's not what the bitterness is about. It was being a part of the family, a real, acknowledged, accepted legit part, that I missed out on. You know, same as that Northman main character from the violent, sexual fantasy TV show you kids watch – Jaune Snow."

"You could choose a different last name."

"I've been just Perry for so long. It would be weird."

Jaune scoffed. "Dude, I don't think you realize how much of a golden opportunity fate has handed to you."

"Really? Please, clue me in on how my bastard, half-breed status in the eyes of my extended family is a blessing in disguise."

Jaune knew from Perry's tone that he was just ribbing him and that he hadn't actually crossed a line, so he continued.

"You're just Perry now, sure, but you could be anything. Perry Deathblade, Perry Lightningheart, Perry Infinitron. You've got a blank check, and all you need to do is sign it with the coolest name imaginable."

Perry considered it, still walking alongside Jaune but distracted by the notion put forth to him.

He snapped his fingers. "I've got it."

"What?" Jaune asked eagerly, excited to hear the epic last name his partner had picked out for himself.

"Perry Junip–"

"Cringe."

"But it's so wholesome."

"Cringe, old man, pure cringe."

"Fine," Perry pouted. "I defer to the snot-nosed brat who can't even tie his own tie."

"Okay, boom–"

Jaune's scroll rang, cutting him off before his ultimate and exceedingly clever roast could absolutely annihilate his senile partner.

"You brought that?"

"I brought everything – my scroll, my wallet, the new weapon I bought the other day. Mercury and Emerald worked for Torchwick, and they were here, Perry. In Beacon." It wasn't easy to feel safe with the security, even with Atlas around, when known terrorists were waltzing about the school as though they owned the place. Thus, Jaune had gone and picked up a little security of his own in the form of a new weapon. It wasn't huntsman level, as he was still counting on getting Crocea Mors back, but it was better than nothing, especially now that he didn't have armor either.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Amber."

"Oh, good that you specified, cuz I mistook you for the other – n-never mind." Jaune had been about to say 'other sentient scroll I carry around,' but Perry was right next to him. "What's up, Amber?"

"I've got the perfect last name for Perry."

Jaune put her on speaker. "He's listening. Shoot."

"Okay: Perry…Winkle."

Jaune retched. "Extra super cringe, old woman. Did someone bring a rocket launcher? Because all I can hear is boomers."

Perry tapped Jaune's shoulder, a bewildered look on his face. "Uhhh…Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"H-How did your friend know what we were talking about?" he croaked. "About my last name? I didn't hear you bring it up, and I only just told you."

Jaune's brow creased. Of course Amber knows what we're talking about. She's just about always listening to everything we…oh, I see the dilemma.

"Yeah, don't worry – it's not super creepy or anything that she listens in. She usually doesn't make a big deal out of anything she hears, but it if makes you uncomfortable, I can just–"

"–ASK ME TO TURN OFF MY SEMBLANCE!" bellowed Amber loudly. "H-He'll ask me to stop using my semblance, which is…reading Jaune's mind. From a distance."

Realizing the extent of his mistake as well as the error he'd nearly just made, Jaune rushed to agree. "Yeah. You remember how I said Amber is shy? It's because she's always…embarrassed when she hears my l-lewd thoughts about Nora."

"Oh. That's, uhhhhh…so, like, is it just Jaune's mind that you can read?"

"Yes," said Amber.

"No," said Jaune at the same time.

There was a brief silence between the Faunus, human, and scroll.

Amber hung up.

Perry stared at Jaune for about five more seconds before exasperatedly throwing his hands into the air. "Nope. Nope nope nope. Not today, not after you just broke up with Nora and nearly got eighty-sixed by a terrorist deathbot. I'm not going to deal with this. Tonight is for relaxation. Perry ain't gonna deal with no one's weird shiz until late, late tomorrow morning."

The two walked the rest of the way in a semi-uncomfortable silence. The sun was still out, but it wouldn't be for long, meaning that it was still that point where the sky was transforming from a plain light blue into the rich assortment of faded pinks and oranges that always reminded Jaune of an ice cream fruit smoothie.

I have to be more careful with Amber. Penny knows that she's a scroll, even if she doesn't have the name right, and now Perry nearly found out. Still, neither of those were really my fault, per se. Amber was the one who cold-called us and blurted out her name idea without making some excuse about why she was listening in.

Heh. Just realized – I know a Penny and a Perry – that's going to get confusing real fast.

Perry had seemingly forgotten about the scroll weirdness by the time they got to the ballroom, enough to hold back Jaune when he attempted to throttle the woman who checked them in.

"An older Faunus – you're one of the Citron Commandos! And if Jaune's going to the prom with you, you guys really must be his lovers like I theorized! Got it in one!" Velvet mimicked shooting a basketball. "Nothin' but net!"

"DEATH TO THE HEATHEN!" Jaune ranted. If he had his sword and she hadn't had her aura, he would have ended Velvet Scarlatina's time on Remnant right then and there. He really would have.

"I ain't no White Fang, you racist," Perry objected angrily, pulling Jaune into a headlock before he could sink his bared teeth into Velvet's throat. "Some journalist you are."

"But you didn't deny the lover part!" Velvet proudly declared. "Hmm, I guess if you're not a Citron Commando but are an old man–"

"You know, if you're gonna be rude, I could just let Jaune go."

"REEEEEEEEE!" Jaune verified.

"–then you must be a legendary pro huntsman, recalled from the field for this special mission! It makes perfect sense – no mere student could comprehend the magnificent thought processes that Jaune's noggin churns out, so they called in the best of the best to act as a liaison/translator."

Someone else spoke next, a different woman. "Ol' Oz must've really pulled some strings to get a handpicked partner for Jaune. I've never heard of him breaking his eye contact rule before." Velvet's partner, Coco, scratched at her chin. "If that's true, then I guess that means your theory about Jaune being groomed to take the reigns as the next headmaster might just hold water after all. Beacon is in good hands."

"R̶̖̹̦̞̻̼͓͐ͅa̸͚̠͖̯̜͉̙̘̮̲͔͑̎̎̿̓͆͘ͅb̸̛̛̻͗͒́̑̀̃͂̐̇̽̔̕͝b̷̧̢̯͍͖͉͚̞̮̣̫̼͉͌͐̃̾̿̑̏̒͋̈́̌i̸̛̞͙̼̰̺̬͍̜̗̭̗͉̻̣͑̅̓͑̍͆̀̚͘t̸̡͕͔̻̣̟͍̙̭͇̱͉̯̰̗̂̄̊̾̃̆̚͜ ̷͚͉̯̲͓͉̺̼̹̽̈̄͂̎̀͋̐̅̉̃͗ņ̴̨̢̛̺̺̠͕̦͚̪͙̩̳͓̜͌̅͂͐̊̇̆̅̿̀̈́̚͠ͅo̵͕̯̦͂̀͐̀̄̊̂̏̕̚̕͠͝͝t̴̹̟͖̳̼̳̹̯̄͝ ̵͕̏ȩ̸̢̖͙̮̙̠̪̞̱̙͕͙͉̂̏̓̈́͠n̷͔͙͙͍̙̥͙̞̗̖̥͉̉͛̃̌͆́̔̇͐͝ǫ̶̨̜̗̰͉̗͓͉̼̗͚̗͊̊ͅủ̸͎̫̮̠̃͑̔̋̂̓̓̿̅͂̄̓̚͝g̸̨̺̏̀͋̒̾͝h̸̾̍̅ͅ," Jaune frothed, gobs of drool leaking past his gnashing teeth. "Ç̵̞̯͍̜͔͈̖̰̰̫̌̊̆̐̉͜ͅơ̶̡̨̢̥̥̜̜̞͈͙͋̃͗͐̌͂̄̚͠n̷̨̥̥͇̮͍̲̻͈̰̬͈̞̱̗̝̠̋̉̓͊̆̽̀͒̚s̸̞͊̆͌̿̋̂̐̑͗̈́͗̈̓̃̀̒͝u̴̡̽̓͊̽̾͂͊m̵̨̗̭͚̓͐̚ę̶̰̥͔̗̩̬̗̺̗̱̠̫́̈̌̀̃̈͗̆̿̕ͅ ̸̨̧̹͓͈̭͉͚̟̗̰̫̲͌̾̈́̌͆̄̈́̃̿́̈́̀̕͜a̷̡͍̩̦͓̮̫͉͎͔̐̉͛̈͒l̴̛̝͇̼̮̖̻͈͐̈́́͛͋̊̄͛̑̎̊͊̾̚͠͝l̸͖̿͠ ̶̡͍͍͓͉̹̀͘C̴͖̗̼̫̰̘̩͉͔̰̻̘͍̹͗̍̉̽͆̕͝ö̸̡̳̺͍͖̰͖̭̜̹̤͎́̿͋̚͘ͅf̷̦̈́̍͑̈́f̴̨̡̧̧̬̰͇̭̮͚̳̹́̂́̽̌́̎͌͐̉͊̕͘é̵̛͕̲͕̹͉̱̌̅͛͑͒̏͋͆̌͠͠ȩ̷̨̛͙̫̰̣̞̪̫̥̘̻̤̦̣̏̍͊͆̂̈́͒͐̏̈́̽̊̐́͘͝s̵̨̺̫͎̭̻͖̿̌́̓̆̈́̅̚̕̚͝."

"Whoa, take a chill pill, mate," said Coco. "I was just joshin' ya, I don't actually believe Vel's headcanon or anything. Why don't you two head on over to the party now that you're all swiped in?" She handed Jaune and Perry back their scrolls and motioned for them to move on.

The prom wasn't yet in full swing as they entered. Some of the younger teams were already there, but Jaune failed to count a large number of his classmates among their ranks. Yang and Blake were each dancing with their partners – a blue haired, bespectacled boy for Yang, and a monkey Faunus for Blake.

Actually, upon closer inspection, Mr. Blue Hair was actually wearing swimming goggles, not eyeglasses. Bit of an odd thing to bring to the prom, but maybe he and Yang had planned a late night trip to the pool after the party or something.

Nora was noticeably absent. Jaune had expected that, although a grim part of his mind had feared that he would see her and Ren blissfully arm-in-arm together. It was his duty as their leader and their friend to be happy for their happiness, but his own pain was still too raw for him to see that without feeling the sting of regret.

The real main attraction was Ruby and Weiss, both tearing up the dance floor as they moved completely out of sync with one another. Weiss was attempting to perform some formal Atlesian waltz that to Jaune looked awfully stiff and complex. Her every move seemed to be pre-planned in advance, as though she were reciting the steps of her dance's routine straight from a guidebook or script. In contrast, Ruby was barefoot, heels to the side, dressed in a business suit and breakdancing wildly. Her movements were erratic, sometimes closer in form to martial arts than dancing, and Jaune was willing to bet that she was making the whole thing up as she went, especially when she spun around on her head.

Still, despite their complete lack of unison, the duo was surrounded by a ring of amazed spectators. Individually, they both had talent and flare; they simply seemed to be dancing in one another's presence rather than dancing with one another.

"I guess you were right," said Perry. "They really are an item. I suppose I owe you an apology for doubting you."

"Be glad you found out like this," Jaune said, wincing. "I'm thinking of trying out the dance floor when Ruby and Weiss hop off. You comin'?"

"I'll pass. I'm just here to be social – prob'ly won't do much dancing. Imma go hit up the drinks."

Perry left in one direction as Jaune started to move in the other. However, his legs froze up when he saw the happy red and white couple pull one another into a loving kiss.

I…I can't dance alone.

He knew how, but it just felt wrong. It felt like giving up, like letting all the fear and insecurity and self-loathing win. Proms were supposed to be fun times to make friends, and the whole point of Vytal was cooperation between harmonious people of the world. Jaune refused to spend the entire night alone.

I'm going to ask someone to dance if it's the last thing I do.

But who to ask? Just because Nora was off the table didn't mean there weren't plenty of other folks who might be interested. Perry was long gone, and Ren hadn't shown up, but there was no rule it had to be a teammate. Looking about the couples in the crowd, it seemed common, as teammates spent the most time together and would thus develop close friendships (and sometimes more), but it wasn't required.

Still, Jaune barely knew any of the women in the room. All of Team RWBY seemed interested in their own dates (especially the first two members, R & W). Amber was an inanimate object, and dancing with his scroll wasn't physically possible. Penny was being guarded by two Atlesian troops who warded off any boys or girls that got too close to her. That meant that the only other person who Jaune knew well enough to ask was…

"Velvet Scarlatina! I have no idea why I said my full name out loud, but I need you to come with me for just a moment, Jaune."

"No." He wasn't that desperate. "No way."

Jaune tried to move away from Velvet, but her hand gripped his wrist and pulled him through the crowd.

Jeez. I joke about killing her and all, but if I actually tried, I'd turn up as smushed Jaune. She's got to be fifty times stronger than me, and she's not even straining.

"C'mon, we've just got to see someone…you'll understand when we get there."

By this point, they'd exited the main dance hall and were now heading down a hallways of the repurposed classroom wing/ballroom.

"Let go of me!" Jaune said, frustration at her antics boiling over into actual anger. "I'm not in the mood for weird shenanigans tonight!"

"When have I ever pulled any weird shenanigans, Jaune?"

"Would you prefer it alphabetically or chronologically?"

"Oh, you old jokester. Here we are!"

Velvet shoved him through the doors to which she'd been leading him. Jaune stumbled into the classroom and heard the doors lock behind him.

Without missing a beat, Jaune slammed his fists into the wooden frame. "Velvet! Let me out of here!"

"It's no use," said someone behind him. "This is a reinforced training room. Not even I could break free, and I'm me."

Jaune turned around to see that he wasn't alone in the room. Locked in with him was the last person he'd been expecting.

"…trail of pancakes, and when I followed it into this room, the door locked behind me! It has to be Ren trying to get revenge on me, I'm sure of it! Can you believe him?" Nora kicked her foot into an empty seat. "First, he toys with my heart, then he refuses to let me move on, and now he's imprisoned me for what I can only assume is the first stage of his fledgling human trafficking operations!"

"Noraaaa," Jaune groaned. He had a feeling that Ren had nothing to do with whatever scandalous tabloid-esque scheme Velvet was cooking up, and the fact that he was where her mind went was dishearteningly telling. "Look, I still have my scroll. I can message Perry, and he can let us free from the outside."

He took out Amber and saw that she had already done so upon hearing his request, but for Nora's sake, he made an effort to be seen typing on her screen. No use making the same mistake twice.

"So aggravating! Just like him to meddle around in my life even more, and after I told him not to!" Nora kicked another chair, sending it flying towards the first. "I just want him to leave me alone!"

"Coulda fooled me," Jaune muttered under his breath, tucking Amber away into his pocket.

Nora turned around to stare at Jaune with gritted teeth, murder in her eyes, and Jaune realized that his offhanded remark may not have been as under his breath as he'd intended.

"What."

"I…I didn't…I…" Jaune hadn't meant for her to hear that, but that wasn't a valid excuse that he could just give her.

"What, you think I'm still into Ren? After everything I did to tell him off so that we could have our relationship? I did that for you, Jaune!" She slapped her chest. "I threw him away, and then you threw me away. So I guess some congratulations are in order, because you're now at the top of the food chain. How does it feel, you jerk?"

"Is that what you think? That I broke up with you because I didn't like you anymore? I wasn't bored, Nora, I was hurting! You said you were done with Ren, but then you kept longingly sighing for him every chance you could get!"

"Longingly–!" Her teeth clenched, and she ground her foot into the classroom floor. "I didn't do that!"

Jaune bit his teeth in frustration. "Not literally, but you wished you were with him when we went on our date! You even invited him!"

"You invited your partner!"

"We both agreed that we were fine with Perry coming along! And I wasn't in love with Perry for years!"

"Nooooow the truth comes out. So that's what this is all about, is it? Little Jauney-boy's too much of a baby to date a girl who's ever thought of another guys besides him, not matter how frequently she reassures him that she's over the other man."

"Are you over Ren?"

"Yes! How many times do I have to –"

"Then why did you openly say you wished you were with him instead of me at the restaurant?"

Nora froze. "What?"

"At the restaurant. You said that you wished Ren were there instead of me. Well, you didn't say instead of me, but I figure that was implied."

Jaune had assumed from the upset look on her face and the fact that the conversation had lulled at the time because of him that she was not enjoying their relationship. Still, even if she hadn't meant it like that, she'd still admitted to wishing for the company of another man.

"I didn't say that!"

"Yes, you did!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Don't lie to me!" Jaune screamed, finally losing his cool. "You did, right after I said 'enjoy each other's company!' I said that we should spend time together, and you said you'd rather be with him! 'I wish Ren was here.' Those were your exact words! Do you have any idea how much it hurt, to hear you openly admit it with me sitting right across from you? And I tried to be a good leader, a good boyfriend! I tried, with everything I had! I was mature and ended things politely and kept my cool and was the bigger person, and now you're out here getting mad at me, AT ME, for…argggggh!"

Jaune kicked a chair of his own, only to immediately regret it. They were harder than he'd anticipated, and Nora had clearly been using her aura to protect her own toes.

"I…I didn't say that," Nora said weakly. "D-Did I?"

The pair heard a noise from the opposite side of the door. It rattled around for a few seconds, then burst open. Perry fell through, bursting in and landing on the ground as he lost his balance. Jaune helped his partner up.

"Thanks for coming."

"Your message said it was urgent. I came as fast as I could."

But not quick enough.

"P-Perry, I didn't say it, did I?" Nora asked.

"Say what?"

Jaune scoffed. "Nora's trying to gaslight me into believing I just up and made up the whole horrible excuse for a date we all went on. Apparently, she did nothing wrong at all ever, and I'm just a jerk for the sake of it."

"No!" Nora said quickly, her voice rising in anger. "I just…I didn't even bring up Renny. Jaune made a joke about how he'd been oblivious to Renora, but he cut it off halfway, and then we all were awkward for a while, and then you left, and then Jaune dumped me. That was how it happened, right?"

"See? She can't believe she did anything wrong, so she's trying to pretend she didn't."

Perry held up his hands in retreat. "Please, guys, don't drag me into this. Jaune, I don't think Nora's trying to gaslight you into anything. Nora, you did say that you wished you'd brought Ren on the date."

"I…I don't remember saying it."

"Liar," Jaune hissed. He'd been the goody-two shoes, put-everyone-else-first leader for too long. Nora had walked all over him, but no more.

Nora shook her head, panic in her eyes. "No, I seriously don't!"

"I think it just slipped out," said Perry. "You said it quietly, and you probably don't remember saying it because you just muttered it without thinking. Jaune, I don't think Nora's trying to play mind games with you. This is Nora we're talking about – she's the most genuine person we know."

"Doesn't change that she said it," Jaune said furiously. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if Perry was right about Nora not meaning to have said it and thus not actually recalling it. He hadn't meant to say the offhanded comment he'd made about Nora not being done with Ren that had started this whole fiasco – it too had simply 'slipped out.'

"Jaune, I don't love him."

"Yes, you do."

"I…he means a lot to me, but it's not love. And if I did say that–"

Jaune's eyes flashed at her furiously. Nora cringed.

"–w-when I did say that, it wasn't because I wished for Ren instead of you. We've been friends so long that it's just second nature for me to turn around and have him there with me."

"Fine."

"S-So…do you forgive me?"

Jaune sighed. Once again, he was going to have to be the responsible team leader, putting everyone else first. "Fine."

Nora was wrapped around him in an instant, nearly knocking Perry over as she launched through the classroom. "Oh, that the Brothers! I'm sorry for hurting you, Jauney! I promise I'll be better."

"Hold on a second," Jaune pried himself free. "I said I forgive you. I didn't say we're back together."

"But–"

"Even if you don't love Ren, his shadow's still going to be looming over any relationship we have. You may not have meant to say it aloud, but you wanted him there on our date. You even invited him without even asking me. And don't bring up Perry – we both agreed together that we would ask him to come with us."

"Jaune, I've moved on from Ren. He's still a friend, but I'm not going to cheat on you or something stupid like that, I swear."

"Really? You can honestly tell me that you don't think you'll constantly compare me to him at every turn? You think you can truly be happy with just me, and you won't keep wishing that Ren were there to keep you company?"

"YES!" Nora said. "Yes I can!"

"How can I believe you?"

"Because this!"

Nora closed the distance between the two of them in an instant, and before Jaune knew it, their lips were pressed together. Nora's eyes had closed, but he'd had no time to react and was still looking at his teammate's face up close.

This was his first kiss, and he didn't fully know what to make of it. He had no reference for whether it was good or not, and he honestly wasn't sure what 'good' was supposed to mean. People talked about it like kissing was a pleasurable experience, but Jaune didn't see how. This was actually just uncomfortable. Nora's lips were pressing a bit too hard into his, and her cheeks were cold from all the tears.

Wait, she's…crying? Because of me?

Jaune had never made a girl cry before. The closest he'd ever come was when he'd stolen a fruit cup from Tammy Maybelle in second grade, but she'd just hit him on the head afterwards and stolen it back when he was unconscious. Nora was really broken up about their breakup, and that meant…

She really does like me.

Since he'd been the one to ask her out, he'd always assumed that she wasn't really all that interested in him and had been humoring him. It had felt like unrequited affection, especially given how she was so torn up about Ren. Everything he'd known about romance told him that in a relationship between a guy and a girl, the guy was supposed to be head over heels for the girl, and she would coyly choose to accept or decline the hapless sap.

But that was just from TV, movies, books, and other people's online tales – this was real life. Nora was actually fighting to win him back, which meant that she must want this. She…She must wanted him.

He was still right. If they got back together, their unresolved issues would remain. Ren would always still be there as a part of Team Juniper, an unending living reminder that Jaune had started at second place. Maybe Nora would never be able to move on from her old feelings for her partner. Maybe they would come back up one day, and she'd leave Jaune for Ren.

But Nora was trying.

Trying to move on from Ren, trying to make up for her mistake at the restaurant, trying to get Jaune to give her another chance. And from what Jaune knew of how she saw a romantic partnership, trying meant everything to Nora.

Jaune decided he would try too, and so he kissed right back.

Actually, he had no idea what kissing was supposed to be or how it worked, so he just stuck his tongue into her mouth impulsively. She recoiled in gleeful disgust, squealed in delight and laughter at his stupidity, and they kissed once more to the sound of Perry gurgly vomiting.

"Were you able to get them together?"

Velvet nodded. "I figure we ought to check on the two of them in about five, maybe ten minutes."

"I doubt they'll have reconciled in such a brief period of time."

"Not to see if they've reconciled. Jaune was in a bad mood when I dragged him over to her, and Nora seemed equally upset. We probably ought to verify that neither has killed the other or something like that. You know Jaune – a huntsman that powerful can barely control all that raw, animalistic strength. But until then, Coco can handle the check-ins, so we might as well share a dance or two."

Lie Ren took her arm and nodded. "I concur."

"You know, I'm a bit surprised. All my sources say that you're head over heels for your partner, and here you are, locking her up with her ex in the hopes that the two work it out and get back together."

Ren smirked playfully. "Have you been spying on me?"

"No, I've been spying on Jaune. Extensively. You were just in his proximity. Still, why the sudden change of heart?"

"Because the only thing worse that seeing Nora with Jaune is seeing Nora cry. She…She was right. I was happy in the strange semi-companionship we had built together, but only because I willfully chose to ignore the evidence that she wasn't. Jaune may have been oblivious, but at least his actions were unintentional. I knowingly caused my beloved pain so that I could avoid having to change what felt safe. Well, no more. Never again."

Velvet's ear brushed against his cheek. "Better not go around calling your partner 'beloved' in front of your date, mister. Remember, you asked me out."

"I –"

"Kidding, Ren. I've got a decent spy network set up to monitor Jaune's every move, so I know that you really were beat up by the whole thing, and I'm perceptive enough to tell that you have moved on if you're going through all this effort to force a reconciliation. Now, care to dance, dear date of mine?" She extended an open hand as they arrived at the dance floor.

Ren took it. "Gladly."

tl;dr Velvet ships Jaunora so hard that Renvet somehow happens (this is the last chapter with dumb ship name tl;dr's, I promise)

Next Chapter: Let's Zap All The Way Tonight

In which Jaune Arc doles out electrifying pain and pleasure to two smokin' hot women.

Author's Notes

And that's how you end on a lame cliffhanger and immediately resolve it in the next chapter in a miserably failed attempt at introducing drama without actually having lasting emotional stakes, boy and girls. Boom!

And that's how Ren got over (some of) his issues. Boom!

And that's how Jaune didn't get a harem, but did get a steady relationship. Boom!

And that's how Li Ren got Faunus grandbabies. Boom!

And that's how Perry and Amber were boomer. Boom!

Happy rats, and don't do crime!