Jaune held up a pair of shirts, one blue, one white. "What one do you think I should go with, Ren?"

Freshly showered and hair still damp, Jaune was standing in the middle of their room wearing nothing but a towel wrapped securely around his waist. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have dared to just walk into their shared living space practically butt naked but Pyrrha and Nora had already left, leaving their partners to finish getting ready alone. They were all heading down to Vale with Team RWBY, a final outing before the Beacon dance in a couple weeks time, and the beginning of the Vytal Festival. While it was a chance to blow off some steam before cracking down and getting in some solid, last minute training, the real reason was a little more important.

Blake was feeling a little down after what had happened at the docks. Things between her and Weiss were better now, the heiress having forgiven her but that wasn't the problem. Ruby was worried that her teammate was working herself too hard, trying to find any leads on the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, and Jaune had seen the proof of it. Blake looked permanently worn out these days, barely getting through their daily classes. Already quite an introverted individual, she spoke even less these days which was quite the achievement.

Blake would never be accused of being a chatterbox at the best of times.

The events that had taken place at the docks had clearly rattled her. Even though she appeared willing to accept their fall from grace, she couldn't get over the fact that they were now working hand in hand with a criminal mastermind; a human criminal mastermind, going against everything they said they stood for.

Especially one so vile as Torchwick, whom Ruby had informed him all about. They may have been working together but apparently he saw faunus as nothing more than dumb animals, calling them names to their faces without shame. Why they would tolerate such, Jaune didn't know. Wasn't their whole problem with humans exactly that type of behavior?

It didn't add up.

While they weren't super close, Jaune wanted to help. Blake was his friend. If all it took was to try and snap her out of her funk, then he was more than willing to do his part. But that didn't mean he couldn't help himself at the same time.

Ren blinked at him, confused. "Why are you asking me?"

"C'mon, man – why else? You're really good at this stuff."

"I am?"

Jaune shot him an annoyed look. "Are you being serious right now? You know that half the girls in our year check you out, right? The only reason they don't approach you is because Nora scares the hell out of them. You take better care of your hair than my sisters do and you always look good in whatever you wear."

Ren looked taken aback. "Uh – thanks?"

"No problem – but help me out here. I've got zero fashion sense and I don't want to mess this up."

"Mess what up? We're just going to Vale."

Jaune let out a long suffering sign. "Ren… Weiss is going to be there."

Ren made a sound of recognition, finally understanding his dilemma.

Jaune really liked Weiss; like really, really liked. There were the usual reasons like her otherworldly beauty and her general grace and poise in everything she did, but those were only the surface reasons. They were what attracted his attention in the first place but not what kept him so invested, so smitten with her.

It was true that she could be cold and even a little mean. He wasn't alone in bearing the brunt of her ire. Ruby had been the recipient more than a few times, particularly at the beginning of the year. Just recently, Blake had been the focus of her discontent. But while she could be all those things, he had seen the warmth of her heart when she allowed herself to open up around those she trusted. He had seen the real Weiss behind that cool mask she liked to portray to the world; just a teenage girl who could be a little silly, a little goofy, who was absolutely besotted with Ruby and Yang's dog, Zwei, and who had an unhealthy addiction to cake. A girl that was willing to look beyond Blake's past and judge her on what she did now, and not on what may have been before, even though her first instinct had been to rebuff her.

She was intelligent, skilled and – well, she had the voice of an angel. Jaune had heard her sing, had downloaded a bunch of her songs when he'd found out about them and… yeah, she'd blown him away, even though many of the songs she sung were sad, filled with a loneliness he'd never know.

In simple terms, he was a goner.

The problem was that she wouldn't give him a chance. If he could just show her how much he cared, really, truly cared about her – then he was confident he could win her over. Jaune believed he just needed one shot.

Easier said than done.

It felt like no matter what he said, no matter what he did, she found fault in it. Jaune knew he wasn't the most eloquent and, yeah – his bravado was completely fake. His dad said all he needed was confidence but that didn't help if he didn't have a lick of it. He was beginning to understand that no matter how hard he pretended, she somehow saw right through him but he was so deep into the role that he felt like he'd passed the point of no return. If he turned back now, wouldn't it all be a waste?

So he needed to go bigger. Bigger was better, right?

With the Beacon dance coming up, he saw the way forward. But simply asking her to accompany him wasn't good enough. He needed to do something to command her attention, to ensure that she understood he meant business and since Weiss was quite the singer herself, then why not try and serenade her? Jaune… had some experience with a guitar. He'd taken lessons, even if that was almost ten years ago now.

So maybe he needed to practice a bit more but that was fine. He'd saved up enough pocket money that he could purchase a new guitar since he'd left his one back home, not thinking he'd need it. This outing into Vale gave him the perfect opportunity to do so, but it also gave him the chance to lay a foundation.

Butter her up a little bit.

Or he would at least try.

It wasn't like he'd had much success so far.

But there was an even bigger problem than her previous disinterest. Jaune had been lucky so far in that no one else at Beacon had shown interest in getting to know Weiss better; a small blessing. That blessing had run its course, though. With the arrival of several students from Shade, Haven and Atlas, another suitor had appeared.

Neptune.

Jaune wouldn't lie. The guy was handsome, smooth and… well, he was just cool. Not many people could pull off blue hair that well. He'd sauntered in, called her Snow Angel of all things, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, Jaune had been forced to watch as the girl of his dreams swooned.

Swooned.

Over Snow Angel, the name he'd used for her more than once, a name she'd only ever shown disdain for. But coming from Neptune, this new, handsome, cool guy from Mistral – well, apparently it was different.

Because it was.

Jaune wavered, his conviction threatening to crumble. Lowering the shirts he was holding, he sighed tiredly. "I just… I want to look nice. That's all. Even if she doesn't notice…"

She probably wouldn't – but he had to at least try, right? If he asked her to the dance and she rejected him, then… well, that was the end. Even he wasn't so delusional as to push on after that.

Ren stared at him for a few seconds, silent.

Then, "I think the white suits you."

Jaune perked up. "You do?"

Ren nodded.

"And that old jacket you've worn a few times, the dark green one," he continued. "What pants are you wearing?"

"Er – oh," Jaune dropped his shirts on the bed and went rummaging through his drawers, pulling out a pair of dark denim jeans. They were practically brand new; he'd only worn them twice. "These ones."

"Shoes?"

He had a few options. There were his usual black sneakers that he wore with his combat attire, his school shoes, and a pair of boots that he'd purchased on a whim, black leather with white toe. Ren took one look at the selection and pointed at the boots.

Jaune hesitated. "Really?"

Ren arched an eyebrow. "You're the one that asked for my advice."

"Right, right, sorry," Jaune collected his clothes and dashed into the bathroom, quickly pulling everything on. When he saw himself in the mirror, he was surprised by what he saw. He looked halfway decent.

Asking Ren had been the right call after all.

Jaune tried to style is hair but it was an impossible battle that he didn't have the time to fight right now. Without liberal amounts of styling gel or wax, it was just going to fall back into place so he did the best that he could, wetting his hands and combing it in an approximation of neat. Instead of the usual deodorant he wore most days, he went for something with a little more style; a cologne filled with a woody, earthy fragrance, something warm with a vague touch of spice.

...it was something his older sister, Saphron had picked out for him…

...no one else needed to know that.

Ready, he made his way back out into their room and saw that Ren was already waiting at the door.

"Nora just messaged," Ren held up his scroll, giving it a shake. They've already gone down with Team RWBY. She said they'll meet us at some cafe Yang picked out, I've got the address here."

"Right."

They were a little late but that was fine. It was barely a hiccup.

"Mr. Arc," a familiar voice called just as they were leaving the dormitry building. A feeling of dread washed over him as Professor Goodwitch approached, an uncharacteristic smile on her face that only made her scarier. "I require a moment of your time."

For a moment, he thought about refusing.

Only for a moment.

"Uh, sure, Professor," Jaune turned to Ren. "Go, I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah – just send me the address if I miss the airship."

Whenever Professor Goodwitch wanted to talk, it was always bad news. Okay, maybe he was exaggerating a little bit but it always made him feel pathetic afterwards because it only ever had to do with his performance in class. Having faked his way into Beacon, he was being constantly reprihmanded for his less than stellar showings or on the receiving end of harsh critisims regarding any improvement he'd made.

Jaune understood. He was not at the level expected of a first year Beacon student, so she had taken it upon herself to let him know it. He didn't think she was taking any enjoyment out of it. Professor Goodwitch was a good teacher but she was a harsh taskmaster. This was her way of pointing out which areas he needed to work on.

It just sucked when everything was negative.

"I wont take too much of your time," she said at once, looking him up and down. "It appears that you have plans."

"Uh, yeah, sorta," Jaune laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're just spending some time in Vale. Things are about to get super busy with the festival and all."

She nodded in understanding. "Of course. So I'll get straight to the point. Your recent performance in my class."

Jaune cringed.

"In particular, your last bout with Mr. Lark."

Jaune recalled Weiss' criticisms and prepared for the worst.

"While your swordsmanship had come along steadily since the beginning of the year, this was the first fight I've witnessed from you where I can definitively say that you carried a plan into the engagement and executed it to perfection."

Jaune stared at his combat instructor, confused.

"Often times it is a simple plan that garners the best results," Goodwitch said, as if reading out a quote of some unknown scholar. "It may not have appeared this way to your classmates but your predictable defensive patterns were a bait?"

Jaune swallowed.

"Uh – yeah. I thought if Sky believed I was doing the same thing I always do, he would press the advantage. Because of his reach, I didn't want to be the aggressor."

Goodwitch nodded. "You lured him in and then caught him in your trap by loosening your shield – rather, it was loose from the beginning but you simply slackened your hold. Your unexpected lack of resistance led to his stumble, and the match."

That about summed it up. Weiss had been right for the most part. Sky was weak against opponents that showed initiative and were aggressive; fighters like Yang and Nora were particularly bad for him. But Jaune's ability to close the distance wasn't reliable. Goodwitch saw what even Weiss Schnee didn't, that he'd been banking on Sky's knowledge of Jaune's defensive style. It was more than just having a loose guard to cause the fumble. It was about engaging in familiar, repetitive actions to fool an opponent into becoming complacent.

Weiss hadn't been wrong in her assessment, it was just that Professor Goodwitch had a slightly better understanding of what he'd done.

Pyrrha had pegged it, as well. She'd told him as much after class.

As expected of a four time champion.

"You showed me that you've a calm mind under pressure," Goodwitch praised. It was the first time he'd received such from her, and Jaune felt himself growing an inch taller. "That you can think something out logically and then apply that logic in the heat of the moment. This isn't the first time I've witnessed this from you. Despite many of your lacking qualities during initiation, the reason you were made team leader was because you showcased the ability to rally those around you and lead them into battle. As much as the skill of your teammates helped fell that Deathstalker, it was your commands that organized them into an effective fighting unit. You've always held that potential within you and yet in my class, it was absent – until now."

He didn't know what to say. Jaune felt a little choked up. "Professor…"

Her smile didn't appear so threatening any more, his dread all but evaporated. Her eyes even crinkled a little as she smiled even wider, showcasing just how attractive she really was. Sometimes it was easy to forget when her frowns could elicit terror from the student body.

"Keep up the good work, Mr. Arc. Continue to develop your physical skills but do not neglect this," she tapped the side of her head. "That is your most important attribute. Hone it like you would a sword and it will never fail you."

And then she was walking away, brushing by him without another word. Jaune mouthed words uselessly for several long moments before hurriedly turning around, shouting, "Thank you, Professor!"

She raised a hand in acknowledgement and kept walking, rounding a corner and vanishing from his sight.

Jaune couldn't help it; he felt giddy. Perhaps it was silly to feel so elated by simple praise from a teacher but when all he had heard was criticisms except from his closest friends, to hear it come from someone that had been one of his harshest critics… was it any wonder that he was getting a little emotional?

He took some time to calm down, though he walked with a definite bounce in his step as he hurried towards the airship terminals. Even when Ren messaged him, letting him know he'd missed the flight, the smile didn't fade from his face. They ran between the school and the city every twenty minutes.

He could wait for the next one.

The day was looking up. If this was a preview of things to come, then maybe – just maybe – things with Weiss may work out. He just needed to keep a level head and not freak out, and not get ahead of himself. Just because Professor Goodwitch praised him a little bit didn't mean he needed to get a big head.

"Don't freak out," he said to himself, taking a steadying breath. "This is just the first step. Easy does it, Jaune. You've got this."

All his hard work was beginning to pay off but he couldn't slack off now. He needed to continue working hard and putting in the minutes and hours. Become a Huntsman, date a beautiful girl, get married and have a dozen kids.

Yeah, okay – he was starting to get a little too excited.

The airship terminals were located on the cliff edge, overlooking the city of Vale. The view was breathtaking, the air filled with moisture as rivers sliced through the land and tumbled over the edge in towering waterfalls, feeding the great lake at the base of the cliff face. The sun refracted off the misty droplets, creating a halo of light that made the great kingdom appear aflame.

It was beautiful.

There were a number of students loitering around as well as night staff from the CCT, returning to their homes down in the city proper. Jaune quickly checked the time on his scroll and then the timetable on the notice board.

The next airship should be arriving in less than ten minutes.

Jaune found an empty bench and sat down, choosing to pass the time browsing the internet. Opening the web browser on his scroll, he was about to lose himself in mindless forum posts that reminded Jaune that his own life was pretty stable like 'AITA for not helping my husband when he was sick?' or 'WIBTA if I divorced my wife because she told me I was her second choice?' when someone sat down next to him.

The first thing he noticed was their scent; a little sweet and powdery with a strong vanilla note with a mild hint of spice, it tickled his nose and left a very sensual, lingering warmth behind. It was a very pleasing smell, and very distracting.

With a subtle shift of his eyes, Jaune glanced at the person next to him and froze.

It was a girl. A very pretty girl at that.

There was something familiar about them, and it came to him in a flash. He'd seen her around Beacon, though only very recently meaning she was probably one of the foreign students here for the Vytal Festival. With her mint green hair and vibrant red eyes, mocha skin and beautiful complexion, she was hard to miss.

Jaune knew he should have looked away but his eyes refused to listen, giving her a long once over. She was dressed in a pair of dark, snug jeans that highlighted her slender legs and plump, womanly thighs, riding low on her wide hips. Her midriff was exposed, giving him an eye full of her toned, well muscled tummy leading up to her shapely, prominent breasts secured by an olive crop top. Her delicate shoulders and collar were on full display, her shoulder length hair tickling the soft skin as she inspected her long, perfectly maintained nails, painted a glossy green. Her hairstyle was interesting; a mix of a traditional, simple bob cut with two longer portions at the back, long enough to hang by her narrow waist.

She wasn't just pretty. No, she was hot. The very vision of a youthful Huntress-in-training.

Jaune felt his heart leap into his throat when she suddenly turned her head, catching him looking. He hastily looked away, cringing internally as his anxiety spiked. He'd just been caught staring like a moron.

"Hey," she said, voice crisp. It was a little on the deeper side, rich and full; strong.

Jaune swallowed thickly. "Uh – hi?"

Real smooth, Jaune. Great one, Jaune. Why don't you just make a complete fool of yourself some more, Jaune!

She laughed, seemingly amused but his awkward greeting. "My name is Emerald. What's yours?"

Not only was she really attractive but apparently she was nice. Nice enough to introduce herself and not call him a creep for checking her out. That eased some of his apprehension, knowing that he wasn't about to get yelled at.

"Uh – Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short – er, yeah," he almost gave her the whole spiel, managing to catch himself at the last minute. Emerald tilted her head, curious.

"Short?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," he quickly thought of something to deflect. "So – uh, I've seen you around but you don't go to Beacon, right? You here for the Vytal Festival?"

She smiled, a hint of her blindingly white teeth peering from between her lush lips. "That's right. I'm from Haven."

"Oh – really? Then I guess you know Sun and Neptune?"

Here she rolled her eyes. "Yeaaah, I know them – Sun is okay, though a little too out there for my tastes. Always getting into mischief. Boyband Blue on the other hand flirts with anything with two legs and a pair of tits," she scoffed. "Girls fall all over him until they find out how much of a flake he is. Lets just say he has quite the reputation back home."

Jaune perked up. "He tried flirting with you?"

"First day I was there," Emerald confirmed, smirking. "I made sure to put him in his place, though. I'm not into guys who aren't serious."

Serious how, he wanted to ask but kept that to himself. But he could definitely get on board with someone who was down on his current rival in securing the affections of a certain Snow Angel.

"So – I guess this is your first time in Vale?"

"Yup. I wanted to go check out the city but my team decided to bail on me at the last minute," she sighed. "Which totally blows. I don't know my way around and going it alone seems a little boring, but I don't feel like just staying cooped up at the school the whole time. Don't get me wrong, Beacon is beautiful and all but I need a change of scenery."

Jaune found the words bubbling up before he could stop himself. "If you don't mind, I could show you around?"

Emerald looked at him, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. I'm not from Vale either so I don't know all of the good spots but I've been down to the city enough times that I know my way around, pretty much. That is – uh, if you don't mind. I wouldn't want to force you into anything."

"No, that would be great. You don't have plans, though?"

He did. He was meant to be helping Ruby cheer Blake up and then he was supposed to go purchase a guitar so he could practice for his big moment, but that didn't mean he also couldn't help this girl, right?

"I do. I'm meant to be meeting some friends," he confirmed. "But you're more than welcome to join us, they won't mind at all. They're really nice people and they'd be happy to have you."

Emerald beamed. "Great~! And here I was thinking I'd be alone all day. You're a lifesaver," one of her hands settled on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Really, thanks, Jaune. You've made my day."

Having a beautiful girl fawn over him was pretty cool.

"Hahaha, no problem," he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little hot. "More than happy to help out."

"So," she turned more fully towards him, placing her hands in her lap as she straightened up. "Tell me about your friends."

Jaune was more than happy to share but their airship had arrived.

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