"Missions! Can you believe it?! We are finally going on missions!"
To say Weiss' partner was excited would be an understatement but despite Ruby's exuberance, it could not completely pull Weiss out the fugue she has thought herself into.
After last night, things were only starting to settle down for Weiss as her thoughts turned into a quiet mess. A whirlwind of heartbreak, pain, joy, excitement, and lusts last night has her reeling in confusion and uncertainty.
She cannot believe she did that.
Encountering Winter first thing in the morning has her realizing the ramifications of her actions last night.
While hiding the salacious truth under Winter's nose and misunderstanding did send a thrill of exhilaration and excitement through her spine, Weiss gulped as the thought gave light to another trouble.
Winter could never know, if not for the sake of her own embarrassment then for the sake of Jaune's own safety.
Which means Weiss Schnee could not afford to go public with Jaune Arc.
And if she could not afford that, did she even deserve to stand beside him?
And while she remembers having a similar conversation with Blake last night, her friend's resolution mainly boiled down to just being with Jaune and ignoring what people thought of them. It was something that was wholly unsatisfactory to Weiss' own opinion.
"Hey."
She gets jolted out of her worries as Blake lightly shoulders her.
"Blake?" She blinked but Blake only pushed a tray towards her with a smile on her face.
"Eat first, think later."
It takes Weiss a second to realize that they have already reached the cafeteria and were in line to get breakfast with dozens of groggy and groaning teenagers. Yang rubbed her temples in the line in front of her as Ruby led them first while yapping about all the cool Huntress missions they could take.
"Thank you, Blake." She mutters as she takes the empty tray from her friend.
Cafeteria food was never something to be looked forward to but it was what they had and they surely needed the nourishment to get through the day. Usually, she would just scan the options and absently pick which looks the most edible but this time….no, this time her eyes immediately land on one particular dish without even looking at the other options.
"Huh, you sure picked fast today, Weiss-cream." Yang noted as to Weiss' horror, her hand was already pointing past Yang towards the dish.
"D-Don't worry about it." She stuttered as a light blush crept up her cheeks while shakily stretching her tray out.
Plop! And there it was. Thick, long, and curved like his-
"Craving for some sausage, Weiss?" Blake waggled her eyebrows behind her and Weiss hunched in on herself embarrassedly.
"Quiet down, Blake!" She hissed with a blush on her face as Yang turned to look at them.
Yang blinked at their display before slowly shaking her head. "You two are horrible. At least let us sit down first before talking about that."
Shame and indignation bloomed inside her. Oh how low had she fallen to have Yang Xiao Long of all people call her actions horrible? Well, considering she got on her knees and-no! No, no, no! This was not the time to remember the details of her actions last night! Not in public at least!
Weiss' heart beat rapidly as she hurriedly moved across the line, overtaking Ruby and leading their team herself towards their usual table.
"Wow, Weiss! You must really be hungry!" Ruby quipped up as she sat beside her while Weiss blushed up to her ears and Blake laughed beside her.
"She is, isn't she?"
"S-Shut up." She replied even as her eyes stayed at the thick, long, juicy-
"Where's Jaune and Pyrrha by the way? What's taking them so long?" Yang grinned as she sat beside Ruby, aiming a knowing look at Weiss as she emphasized a certain Ruby.
Before she could even react however, Ruby was already groaning between them.
"Can we please talk about literally anything else? It feels like that it's always been Jaune this, Jaune that, lately."
"Yeah, sure. They're probably just having a little trouble waking up Ren and Nora." Blake shrugged beside Weiss.
"Looks like the boys of Team JNPR sure know how to have fun in their own ways, huh?" Yang laughed towards Weiss and Blake's direction even as Ruby suddenly shrieked at them.
"This! This is what I'm talking about people! We start talking about Jaune and then the conversation turns weird! Nope, what's done is done! They are our friends but we need to talk about something else!"
"R-Right, sorry Ruby. Perhaps we should talk about something else." Weiss stutters abashedly before seeing her partner's face slowly light up as Ruby starts talking.
"Finally! I was already talking about missions! Your sister said Headmaster Ozpin was going to announce something about them!"
Weiss nods slowly. She remembers that actually but she also remembers the innuendos and hidden meanings flying above Winter's head. Her heart drummed rapidly inside her chest back then. Fear of her sister finding out the truth had set her on edge but with that fear came exhilaration and a rush of relief once she knew Winter did not suspect her of getting on her knees and sucking that thick, long-
"Weiss! Stop playing with your food!" Ruby admonished with a scowl on her face as Weiss found herself absently poking the sausage in front of her and wasn't that humiliating?
Weiss Schnee, berated by someone younger than her for playing with her own food.
"W-What? Sorry, Ruby. What were you saying again?" She cringed as Ruby growled at her before disappointedly shaking her head.
"I said…what kind of missions do you think there would be?"
Weiss was so rattled by the sudden role reversal between them that she could only stutter dumbly. "The…uhm…normal ones?"
"Normal ones. You really gonna go with that?" Ruby asked flatly as Weiss winced and the rest chuckled.
"I mean protection missions" She answered, slowly gathering her wits as she focused on Ruby's questions. "We could even be given escort missions, or possibly even Grimm extermination ones." She adds to redeem her earlier failings.
"Grimm extermination. I like the sound of that." Yang grinned beside Ruby even as Blake hummed beside Weiss.
"Hmm, yes, yes. We all know you like fighting but what I'm wondering about is why now? Why the day after the dance when so many are still tired?" Blake pointed out and they all looked at the people around them.
Blake was right.
Students shambled around the cafeteria as many still struggled to sober themselves up. She could spot Team CRDL in a nearby table lethargically eating their breakfast with their hairs still messy as if they just woke. Weiss had no doubt that they just did and she was sure some students were still asleep or just waking up with the quiet murmurs filling the cafeteria instead of the usual background conversations of an awake student body.
And as her eyes absently scan their surroundings, her eyes meet with another's and Weiss instantly freezes.
The person instantly stood up and slowly walked towards her.
"Hey, Weiss." Neptune Vasilias called out with a smile on his face.
The audacity.
Her eyes remain stuck on him and her hands tighten on the table but try as she might to shoot back a scathing remark, her mouth refuses to remove and Weiss is caught paralyzed as Neptune nears their table.
Focused as she was at Neptune's embarrassed smile, she doesn't notice her team squaring up beside her to aim glares at him. Nor did she notice the other figure rapidly rushing towards them. She only noticed Neptune with his teammate Sun behind him and wanted nothing more than to punch the stupid playboy's stupid face.
"Look, Weiss. I'm-"
"SORRY!"
Time slowed down as food rained down all over Neptune and as all eyes turned towards the source, there he was.
Jaune Arc stood leaning against another table with a messy tray on his hands as he wore an embarrassed smile on his face.
"Neptune! Sorry about that buddy! I'm always a bit clumsy in the morning!" The blonde laughed woodenly, food still dripping from his tray as they scattered all over Neptune's clothes.
"J-Jaune?!" Neptune called out shakily as Weiss and her team gawked at them.
Jaune however only laughed louder, setting his tray down on the table he was leaning on before stepping in front of Neptune.
"Let me get that for you, buddy! I know the perfect way to clean you up!"
"N-No, it's-" Neptune shook his head but Jaune shouts over him as the blonde grabs his collar.
"CARDIN!"
Cardin snapped towards their direction as everybody around them watched the growing commotion and everybody there saw what was on Jaune's face.
A cold smile appeared on his face as he called out to Cardin like an old friend.
"Wanna help me get him to the lockers and take care of him?" Jaune asked, waving towards Neptune's soak uniform.
By all rights, it was an innocent question that in most cases would be taken as a well-meaning friend getting some more help for Neptune but Weiss knew and she was everyone else there did that it was anything but innocent.
Cardin blinked slowly at that before a malicious grin grew on his face as he stood up with his team filled with vigor they didn't have before.
"Hell yeah, Jauney boy! That's what I'm talking about!" The ginger shouted as he grabbed Neptune from Jaune and pulled him away while Sun nervously shuffled around them.
"Uhm, Jaune-"
"It's okay, Sun. You can watch and make sure everything is okay, got it?" Jaune kept his smile as he looked at Sun with half-opened eyes.
Sun hemmed and hawed for a bit before slumping resignedly into himself. "I guess he has no one to blame but himself."
"It's okay, you'll be there to make sure nothing bad happens, right?"
"Sure, I guess. He still is my partner, after all." Sun sighed tiredly, dragging a hand down his face before lethargically following after Cardin who was dragging a screaming Neptune out of the cafeteria.
"Weiss! Help! Anyone, please!"
Neptune had the audacity to turn toward her but as Weiss only looked on in shock, he turned towards anybody who would be willing to help him. It turns out nobody was.
Weiss looked back at Jaune to see him smiling back at her. Heat flushed up her face as he gave her a wink before confidently walking beside Sun to follow Cardin and his team to doing who knows what to Neptune.
"Looks like someone's in love." Yang cooed, leaning over Ruby to look smugly at her.
"S-Shut it." Weiss could only squirm embarrassedly as she looked down to her lap with a blush on her face.
"Aiming to steal my boyfriend, Weiss?" Blake teased, winking at her direction as she crumpled into herself more.
"N-No." She answered weakly as they laughed around her.
She knew it was a joke of course. There would be no stealing done between them. Only sharing. Even then, it was still very embarrassing to talk about it in public despite the sliver of exhilaration beating through her heart as the inside joke flew past the heads of most everyone around them
Was this how Blake and Pyrrha felt all the time when subtly talking about their relationship in front of everyone?! If so, how could they move past the embarrassment?!
"Lighten up, Blake. Weiss is just embarrassed because she has a good friend in Jaune."
And speaking of Pyrrha, there she was.
Pyrrha smiled down at them as she walked past their side to sit across them.
Weiss saw Blake roll her eyes at her greeting before shooting the redhead a smile of her own.
"Perhaps too good a friend." Blake teased lightheartedly leaning closer to Weiss.
"There's nothing wrong with having too good of a friend. Don't you agree, Weiss?" Pyrrha chuckled before looking at Weiss meaningfully.
She could only nod bashfully at that with a blush on her face as all eyes turned towards her. Luckily for her, she didn't have to verbalize her answer as Nora arrives with Ren in tow while carrying trays of their own breakfast.
"Hello, Team RWBY!" She greeted happily, getting Yang to chuckle as she sees Ren's tired face bringing up the rear.
"Looks like someone's happy." Yang waggled her eyebrows at Nora who only blushes lightly while waving her hand casually.
"Oh, you know…" Nora trails off with a bright grin on her face and as the topic moves away from Weiss, she breathes a sigh of relief.
She does not notice her partner pouting at her before grumbling into her own breakfast.
"Yeah, we know. We didn't see you much at the dance last night." Yang grinned as Ren and Nora sat down in front of them beside Pyrrha.
"We did one dance and then…" Ren nodded, before blushing lightly as a small smile grew on his face.
They all knew what that meant. They all knew what the two got up to last night. Normally, Weiss would have scoffed and looked away with slight disgust at that thought but she would be a hypocrite to do so now considering what she also got up to last night.
"Nice. Respect, Ren." Yang nodded with a grin on her face, raising a hand high in the air.
Instead of Ren, it was Nora who meets her hand with hers in a high five.
"Shouldn't you be saying that to me?" Nora grinned brightly to which Yang only laughed loudly.
"Considering Ren is tired and you are glowing brightly, yeah, maybe I should. Nice one, Nora!"
Which brings to mind another thing.
Ren and Nora together. They had a simple relationship that Weiss was a bit tad envious to but looking at the usually stoic and steadfast Ren looking tired and lagging with his sunken cheeks and drooping eyes, a thought entered Weiss' mind.
Ren looked like he had been through a grueling battle and in a sense he did after last night, but Jaune….Jaune now had to satisfy three women including her. Would he get that tired as well? The fact that he never was so far was a feat in itself and Weiss ... .well, Weiss was maybe a tiny bit looking forward to testing his limits.
What could he do with that thick, long, juicy-
"Weiss, you're playing with your food again." Ruby sighed tiredly beside her as she squeaked embarrassedly.
"I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I'm sorry!" Neptune pleaded but Jaune's eye twitched at that as Dove opened one of the empty lockers.
He knew exactly what he did.
"Alright, in you go." Cardin said as he and the rest of his team threw Neptune inside.
Sun winced beside Jaune at that.
"Maybe….go easy on him?"
"We are. It's the only reason we are launching him to Vale instead of the Emerald Forest." Jaune nodded stoically as he met Cardin's eyes.
"Scare him." He mouths the word silently and grins as Cardin nods excitedly.
Who knew befriending your former bully would be useful?
"You sure you don't wanna send him to the Emerald Forest? I thought we were sending him to be Grimm chow for hurting Schnee."
Let it not be said that Cardin did not know how to scare people. Launched alone into the Emerald Forest in the middle of Grimm territory with nothing but the clothes on your back? It was a death sentence and he had no doubt Neptune knew it.
"Woah there, isn't that a bit too much?" Sun asked worriedly.
Jaune only hummed loudly at that before making a show of it and grinning towards the locker. "Hmm…You do make a good point."
"W-Wait!" Neptune squeaked at that as Jaune saw him shakily look back at them through the metal slits of the locker. "This is about Weiss?!"
His teeth clenched at hearing Weiss' name from that asshole's mouth. Okay, he was now seriously considering launching Neptune towards the Emerald Forest.
"Jaune?" Sun called out worriedly and Jaune had to take a deep breath to calm himself.
"I don't know, Sun. He hasn't exactly given us a reason to be merciful." He winked cheekily and Sun suddenly blinked at him for that.
Jaune didn't really want to send Neptune into the Emerald Forest and be an accessory to murder, he just wanted to scare him.
Sun's eyes widened at the realization and nodded slowly at him. Neptune must've taken that as Sun giving up on him because he suddenly starts struggling against the locker door.
"Let me tell you something! Let me tell you something!" Neptune shouted and Jaune nodded as Cardin and his team stopped from toying with the locker.
"Alright, what is it?" He asked, curious at least to what Neptune would say.
"If this is about, Weiss, can you tell her I'm sorry?!"
Jaune froze at that. Maybe this guy wasn't as hopeless as he thought? He looked at Sun beside him only to see the Faunus nodding enthusiastically at him.
"Right! See, he's sorry for being uncool last night! Can you please just let him out?"
Jaune looked at him for a moment before shaking his head. Weiss was….Weiss was hurt. If a simple sorry could have undone all that pain then maybe Jaune would have considered it but one thing was bothering him.
"Why?" He asks loudly.
Why do it at all if he was going to be sorry for it later? Surely Neptune knew what he did was wrong and hurtful, right? He couldn't be that much of an asshole not to know that.
"Why what?" Neptune asked back, and Jaune's fists tightened on his sides as his eyes narrowed towards the locker.
"Weiss." He says her name slowly, letting Neptune think on it before continuing. "She invited you to the dance herself. I remember, I was there. She invited you and you left her on the dance itself. Why? How could you just turn her down like that?" He finished coldly, aware that even Team CRDL were now focused on his words.
"I…ugh…it just didn't work out."
Jaune saw red at that.
BANG!
Before Jaune even knew it, he had already stepped forward and punched the locker door beside Neptune's. Pain didn't even register as he shouted one word.
"WHAT?!"
Gone was the levity in his voice. Gone was the thought that he only wanted to scare Neptune as revenge for him hurting Weiss. All he wanted now was answers. Answers that Neptune didn't seem to want to give to him.
"Woah!" Neptune yelled out from the inside, rattled from the sound of the metal ringing around his head.
"What do you mean it didn't work out?! Are you suddenly too cool for her?! So many options that you could just drop her and talk to other girls?!"
It…It just didn't work out and so he left her hanging and alone?! Her confidence, shattered just because what?! Neptune was suddenly too cool for her?!
"Chill out, dude! You're making my ears ring!"
Chill out? Chill out?!
"Neptune." He growls as his fingers hover above the keypad that will launch the locker. "I am going to count to three. If you don't tell me the truth by then, then I am going to launch you into the Emerald Forest."
He wasn't really going to launch him into the Emerald Forest, he's not a killer for gods' sake, but Neptune didn't know that. And so-
"1"
"Alright! Alright!"
He folded.
Jaune smiled at that. Like really really smiled with his teeth out and all as he looked closely into Neptune's eyes and said one word.
"Good."
"Damn it! You guys are crazy!" Neptune cursed, shouting loudly as Jaune stepped back from the locker.
"I'm waiting, Neptune!" He called out as he crossed his arms in front of him.
"Look man, I don't know what to tell you." Neptune sighed and a frown began to worm onto Jaune's face as Neptune continued to stall.
"The truth, Neptune. Now stop stalling."
"I….I…I can't say it!"
Welp, nobody can say he didn't try to be merciful. Looks like he was going to be a killer after all.
"Into the Emerald Forest you go." He announced as he stepped back towards the locker and began to press coordinates into the keypad.
Beep, Beep, Be-
"WAIT!"
Jaune barely managed to type in the second number before Neptune already shouted. Jaune froze for a moment before glaring back at Neptune who shook hysterically at him.
"Y-YOU REALLY WERE GOING TO DO IT!"
He didn't want to but he underestimated just how much Neptune could infuriate him.
"Talk, Neptune. I won't ask you again."
"I..Y-You're going to laugh at me!"
Beep!
In the third digit goes and only a few more before Neptune goes flying and Jaune becomes an accessory to murder. Thankfully, Neptune didn't let him input anymore digits because he suddenly cried out towards him.
"Alright, alright. I'll tell you!"
Jaune glared as he saw Neptune close his teary eyes. And finally…Jaune gets his answer.
"I….I can't dance!"
Jaune blinked. Cardin and his team blinked. And even Sun blinked.
"What?" Jaune asked blankly as he tried to process those words.
Weiss was hurt because….Neptune can't dance?!
Jaune laughed hysterically at that.
"I-I told you! I told you you were going to laugh at-"
BANG!
"-meep!" Neptune finished as Jaune banged the locker he was in.
"Be serious, Neptune! Tell me the truth!"
Weiss was hurt because Neptune can't dance?! How utterly ridiculous!
"I-I'm telling the truth! I can't dance! I didn't even dance with anybody last night!"
Jaune looked incredulously at that. He turned back towards Sun just to be sure and he sees the blonde Faunus slowly nod thoughtfully at that.
"You know…now that you mention it, I never did see Neptune dance last night. What's sad is….I wouldn't actually put it past him that he can't dance." Sun finished sadly and Jaune could only step away from the locker in shock.
"Damn, that's just sad." Cardin shook his head sadly as the rest of his team nodded in agreement.
"He…can't dance?" Jaune repeats loudly as Neptune cries out.
"I can't! I told you the truth! Now let me out-"
"SHUT UP!" He shouted as the truth settled in his mind.
Weiss was….Weiss was-
"You….left her alone, essentially breaking her heart after she put herself out for you, just because you can't dance?!" He growled.
"Look, man….It just happened that way." Neptune squirmed embarrassedly as Jaune heard Sun sigh loudly behind him.
"You would rather break a girl's heart than admit you can't dance?" Jaune asked flatly.
"That…about sums it up, yeah."
"Wow, Neptune. You are pathetic." Jaune said tiredly as he backed away from Neptune's locker.
He saw Sun wince embarrassedly at his words and Jaune couldn't help but feel pity for his friend. This was his partner? Granted, Jane wasn't the best of partners for Pyrrha back then but even he wasn't this pathetic.
He patted Sun comfortingly on the shoulder even as the Faunus smiled brittlely at him. "I-It's okay, I can whip him up to shape."
Jaune will admit, he was impressed at Sun for that but Neptune crying out ruined it for everyone.
"Please don't tell anyone!" Neptune pathetically called out and Jaune couldn't help but snort at that as Cardin and his teammates laughed at him.
Was it cruel? Yeah, a bit. But Jaune never claimed to be perfect.
"Yeah, no. Everyone's going to be hearing about this." Cardin smiled as he took a picture of Neptune's pleading face behind the locker.
"Why do it at all, Neptune? This…." He trails off, waving all around them as he sighed loudly before continuing. "All this could have been avoided if you just admitted everything to Weiss instead of stringing her along. So, why? Why do it in the first place?"
"I…I wanted to be cool!"
Jaune shook his head sadly at that. This…This was just embarrassing even for him.
"Send him to Vale." He nodded at Cardin as his former bully rolled his eyes at him.
"Fine, to Vale it is. Here I thought we were sending him to be Grimm chow." Cardin grumbled mockingly as he stepped forward to type in the settings.
Before he could however, Neptune calls out and for the first time, stumps Jaune with his words.
"I want to be cool like you!" Neptune admitted shamefully as he looked at Jaune with tears in his eyes.
Jaune froze as Cardin stumbled on the floor into the lockers at Neptune's words.
"You…what?" Jaune asked slowly.
Did he just-
"I want to be cool like you."
Yeah, that's what Jaune thought he said and he wasn't the only one who heard him clearly.
"HIM?!" Cardin snorted as the rest of his team laughed loudly.
Yet Jaune was not laughing. He was listening.
"Yeah….I want to be cool like him."
Despite Neptune saying it a lot more quietly, Jaune still heard it clearly as their eyes met one another.
"You…want to be cool like me?"
Neptune flushed shamefully at that before looking away and opening his mouth.
"Ever since Sun told me how you were dating both Blake and Pyrrha-"
And just like that, Jaune's palm meets his face.
"Wait, what?" Cardin asked with wide eyes.
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