Hey everyone, trying to get another chapter in, truth is, feeling better since the last chapter. I've had times to adjust to the fact that my friend is gone. We have the funeral to go to on valentines day. So spent a lot of time getting my uniform ready. Still hard to believe what happened. But the good news is, his wife is healthy, the baby is still a month away from being born, and we've all agreed we're going to do whatever we can to help her.

It doesn't change what happened, but hopefully we can all help give the kid a better life.

Anyways, good news is I have a new tattoo scheduled for the 28th. So pretty happy about that.

Jem

Jem was honestly glad that Winter wasn't using Aura, because she was surprisingly strong without it. Granted, still not as strong as him, which he was incredibly thankful for. He didn't know if he could deal with a woman with smaller arms than him being stronger than him. That would just be a blow to his self esteem. The only problem was she was still being a bit cocky about her strength. And Jem was tempted to knock her down a peg or two. The only problem was he wasn't entirely sure how to do that. He already knew he couldn't beat her in anything that required brains. Not because he was stupid, but because he knew she had to be highly educated being a Schnee. But she was matching him in terms of strength, so again that wasn't helping.

And there was Winter herself. To be honest, he wasn't sure what to make of her. To be honest, he found her sexy, that much was obvious from when he saw her clothes all torn up when she was first brought to his world. But if he was also honest, she was also kind of snooty and a pain in the ass. Which surprised him, because she seemed a lot more humble in the show, but now she seemed a bit arrogant. He wasn't sure if it was because at the time period they arrived from if it was before she got humbled, or maybe she was always like this, but the show only covered her interactions with other huntsman. He didn't know, the point was, it kind of irritated him.

Did they get along? Well...yeah they got along just fine, but the point was she still got on his nerves a lot. She often seemed to look down on certain aspects of his way of life. Which, that wasn't uncommon, a lot of people looked down on Redneck types. Plus there was also the fact that it was taking him FOREVER to get her to try foods that weren't high class. I mean, he knew she was a special operative, but how is it that she still ate only fine dining and healthy food? Was Remnant just that much better in terms of food for their armies?

The point was, despite the fact they got along, Jem did have his issues with her. She was a bit too high class, and had a bit of a stick up her ass.

"Kale smoothie with 1/2 a scoop of protein, 15 blueberries, a cup of oats, blah blah blah." Jem tuned out Winter's complicated order for a health shake.

He was thankful there was a smoothie king close to his hometown now, he had gotten addicted to it when he was stationed at Campbell. And it made for a better dessert when he was cutting out ice cream, plus it was his treat to himself after a long hard workout, it was having a meal and a dessert all in one if you really thought about it. Plus, really helped him with his gains.

"And its on him." Winter said as Jem rolled his eyes.

"Goddamit, I'm a gentleman, and I know she doesn't have any american money, but does she have to get the biggest most expensive and complicated thing they offer? Thats just rude and uncalled for." He said as he was really going to have to try to find some way to humble her.

"Jem! Jem! Jem! Can I please get one?" Ruby said with puppy dog eyes as all of RWBY and JNPR had joined him today.

"...Yes Ruby...you can have whatever you like..." He couldn't help it, she just looked so adorable.

"Yay!" She went up to order but then she stopped and looked back.

"I'll only go with a 20oz, I don't want to cost you to much." And with that Jem's heart melted.

"Holy fucking shit, I swear to god if I ever have a daughter, I hope she's as adorable and sweet as Ruby." Not only was she adorable, but she was going with the cheaper option.

Following her sisters example, Yang and the others followed suit. Making Winter the only one who got the most expensive thing on the menu. Which again, Jem was mad about. But again, he couldn't step up to the plate and serve her a piece of humble pie until he knew what to do.

Honestly, he had to admit. This whole situation was much different than what he thought it would be in his fanfics he wrote years ago. I mean hell, he remember that self insert he wrote when drunk where he had Salem and Sienna Khan fight with sex toys. He was surprised anyone made it past that chapter. But again, it was all in the past, nothing he could do about it now. The point was, he knew for a fact that IF this situation ever happened in real life, it wouldn't be anything like the crack that he wrote. But again, he was still expecting something a bit more than this. Instead, despite Winter's irritating habits, this had all been pretty wholesome.

"Hey Jem, why do you have so many tattoos?" Yang asked noticing he was wearing his tank, showing off his numerous tattoos.

"Well, short answer, I like tattoos." He said not feeling like explaining it.

"Oh come on, you got to give me more than that." She said as he realized he was going to have to give the long explanation.

"Well, all of my tattoos represent my heritage or ideals, for example, the family crest on a shield along with the motto of our clan back in Scotland, where as the Valkyrie on my other arm represents my Nordic heritage, along with the Icelandic symbol on my delt, and the Bindrune on my chest." He said as Ruby was looking at them.

"But don't they hurt?" She asked as she couldn't stand needles.

"Honestly...a little, but it kind of feels good too." He had no idea why, but it was a good kind of pain.

"But...don't some people think you look...you know..." Weiss was trying to think of a nice way to say it.

"Thuggish?" He finished.

"I was going to say intimidating." She was really trying to clean up her word use.

"Eh big deal, people are going to believe what they want to believe." He said as it didn't bother him.

"It doesn't get to you?"

"Not really, why live your life constantly trying to get everyone to like you? You'll drive yourself crazy trying to make everyone happy, besides, I'm pretty sure Pyrrha over there can attest to my character." He said as Jaune looked at Pyrrha confused.

"What does he mean?" Pyrrha giggled a bit at it.

"I saw him baby talking to Zeus, calling him his 'cutie patootie, snuffy fluffy puppy dog' At this everyone looked at Jem like he was retarded.

"Hey, if you're so tough you can't baby talk to your dog, get the fuck out of here." Jem was very passionate about that.

Seriously, dogs were some of the best gifts the gods ever gave anyone. If you can't baby talk to your dog like its your child, then you needed to go home and rethink your life. Granted he will admit it was funny, one time he was out walking with some of his army buddies, and naturally, when you have a group of fit guys who all have tattoos, some people will be intimidated, little did they know that that particular day he passed by a couple who thought they were criminals, that they actually came back from a pony ranch where they baby talked to ponies while feeding them carrots.

The moral of the story is kids...even if the guys in question look like criminals or hard asses, chances are they're just a bunch of softies with tattoos.

Unless they actually turn out to be hard asses in tattoos, in which case your fear is justified. But the point is, sometimes you're wrong.

"Besides, I didn't get them because I wanted to look bad ass, I got them for the symbolism behind them, and because it helps my personal aesthetic."

"Wouldn't fly in the Atlesian military." Winter threw in her two cents.

"Ugh, good thing we're not in Atlas, shit I don't even wanna imagine what my life would be like in the Atlesian military." Jem had a feeling that it would be similar to his time as an 11B, but somehow even weirder.

"Anyways, why did you ask me about my tattoos?" Jem asked as Yang shrugged.

"Honestly, while there are tattoos on Remnant, you're the first person I've met whos so...thoroughly tattooed."

"...Its just my upper arms and some of my chest." He said as he didn't even considered himself all inked up.

"Well compared to everyone on Remnant, you're practically a walking picture."

"...Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing a lot of tattoos in the show."

Probably because he imagined it would be a pain in the ass to animate them.

Everyone went back to the house after they got their smoothies, Jem was kind of annoyed because again, he paid for everyones because they didn't have Earth cash. But again, everyone had the deceny to get the more affordable options on the menu, while Winter got the most expensive, so that kind of a dick move.

He was cheap when it came to certain things, so one of his pet peeves was people who spent money crazy like. Then again, he also imagined Winter was used to having money, so maybe it was possible she didn't realize what she was doing to his wallet? If so, then he would feel like a bit of a dick.

But if she was aware of what she was doing, then he was going to be justifiably pissed off.

He was like the dad from everyone hate Chris.

Hell he didn't even like giving rides to people if he coudl avoid it.

"You want a ride down the road? Thats like 68 cents worth of gas I would be using up!"

Hey, you may have hated that character as a kid for being cheap, but once you get old enough you start to understand him.

As soon as they got back to the house. He went up to Winter.

"Hey, so, maybe next time go with the better option." He said as Winter seemed confused.

"I'm sorry? I got the largest offer with the most nutritional value." She said as Jem sighed.

"Yeah, but that costs a lot."

"I know, but I'm sure you understand." At this Jem's eyes hardened.

"...Come again?"

"Well, I'm sure you know how important it is to keep your body in top shape, so I imagine you don't mind helping me keep my body at peak performance." She said as Jem was not a happy camper.

"...Your special concotion costs about triple what everyones else were..."

"As I said, the most nutritional value for what I could get, its imperative I don't get weak here."

"That shake you ordered cost me like forty bucks!"

"And your kindess is appreciated."

Jem was standing there shaking as he realized this little devil knew EXACTLY what she was doing.

"Oh, I have to go, shower time." She said as she ran off and Jem groaned.

She used the shower in the motor home, and she always used a lot of hot water...which ran up his heating bill for his motor home because his water was heated by propane, and she used up a lot of it everytime she showered, which meant he had to keep getting it refilled. And it was just really annoying.

"Jem, you know what you need to do." Pa said as he watched his son.

"Dad, you know I can't do that."

"Son, look she's a nice girl most of the time, but you're letting her walk over you."

"Well what am I supposed to do? I can't be the dickhead who kicks a woman out of the house when she's practically homeless."

"You don't have to, you just have to show her that YOU are in charge." Pa said as Ma agreed.

"Thats right Son." She said as Jem sighed.

"And how do you want me to do that?" He asked as they went quiet.

"...Well, we'll be honest, we don't know, but I guarantee you, it will come to you one day." Ma said as Jem sighed.

"Anyways, anything you guys need me to do?" Jem asked as he needed something to take his mind off of Winter spending money.

"Cows need feeding."

"Gotcha." He siad as he put his jacket back on and went to go feed the cows.

"That boys going to have to lay down the law soon." Grandmama said as both parents looked at her.

"So are we all in agreement here?"

"The girl may be a bit snobbish at times, but I do believe they would be a good match." Grandmama said as they both nodded.

"I assumed you also got that call from Alex?" Ma and Pa asked as Grandmama nodded.

"Yes, the boy may be a bit light in the loafers, but he's got a fine eye for matchmaking." Grandmama said as both Ma and Pa couldn't believe what she said.

"Prreettyy sure he's not gay, considering how Jem was brokenhearted that Alex was dating the girl he wanted."

"Oh please, theres no way he's completely straight, he helped me bake quiche." Grandmama said as Ma and Pa forgot the old woman had no filter.

"Why were you baking with him?"

"Oh, he goes to my Yoga class."

"...Since when do you do Yoga?"

"Since I realized how in shape all the young men are."

"OH GROSS! MOM! YOU'RE 92 YEARS OLD!"

"We're getting off the subject! Are we all in agreement that in given time, they would be a good match?"

"Okay yeah in time." Pa said but Ma added on.

"But he's letting her dig her spurs in."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about him, a woman like that is like a wild horse, all it takes is one rough rider to break her in."

"...Mom please tell me you're not suggesting they sleep together right off the bat."

"Ugh! No, but a woman like that needs to be tamed, and its going to take a lot to do that."

"...Mom...I worry about what is going to happen now that you said that."