Light flitted over my closed eyelids, taking me from my sweet slumber. I swatted at the nuisance, only for my hand to glide through thin air. I grunted in annoyance and opened a single eye to glare at whatever the source was. It was nothing like I expected. I jumped away, colliding into the wall and startling the other two awake. They stared at me, mouths agape and propped up on their elbows.

My cheeks turned dark. "Sorry."

Unwrapping the covers from around my feet, I turned away from them to give my full attention back to the orange orb. The orb had come to a stand still before the bed, and I carefully approached it. My feet swung over the front of Ruby's bed while I reached out an open palm to touch the light. My hand once again slid through the thing as though it were translucent, despite the immense heat it was giving off. Surprisingly, though, the warmth didn't hurt. Instead, it was comforting.

A knock on the door startled me once again, sending me spiraling to the floor as my heart wanted to leap out of my chest. This prompted the strange orb to flitter around in apparent amusement. I groaned in protest, giving the stupid thing the finger. That drew no more visible reactions from it, and it shot out the partially open window without leaving a trace behind. And to think I believed that the orb was comforting?

I say good riddance, you little shit.

Weiss just rolled her eyes at the whole display. "Coming."

Her bare feet plodded against the cool floor, which I only knew was cold because my face had made direct contact. Even so, I straightened up and drew myself to my feet, not wanting to look like any more of an idiot than I already had. Ruby peered up at me from the bed, and I scratched my cheek. Thankfully, she looked much better than she had last night. "Morning."

"Good morning. Did mom scare you?"

Mom? She wasn't referring to Summer Rose was she? No, that couldn't be the case. There was no way Salem's magic was that powerful. But, then again, she had created this whole academy filled to the brim with her hybrids.

"Ruby," I asked, trying my best to sound uninterested, "what did you call that thing?"

"Mom?" Her answer sounded more like a question than an answer, but she tittered when she saw my expression of disbelief. "It's nothing that serious, you goof. It's just something all of us in this dorm call it because it always wakes us up in the morning. It's kinda hard to keep track of time here if you didn't notice."

"Right," I chuckled a little, "that makes sense. I guess alarm clocks–"

"Good morning, my wonderful neighbors!"

An obnoxious voice interrupted me. One that I knew all too well. Barreling into the room, Nora's dark eyes immediately sought my own. "Ah~, newbie. I was wondering where you ended up." Her gaze flickered from Weiss to Ruby, and then back to me. "Guess I was worried about nothing, though."

She looked better than when I had last seen her at the gate. Her ruined clothes were replaced and she was acting less like a mindless monster and more like her human counterpart would have; however, I refused to let my guard down completely, even if Salem's magic had proven effective so far at masking the scent of my fear and appearance. The desk full of metal pipes remained within my reach, and I ensured I kept her in front of me at all times, despite her intent to enter my personal space any chance she got.

The man beside her with raven hair down to his hips let out a sigh. It was the sigh of a damned man who had resigned himself to wanting to be able to rein Nora in but was unable to do anything about it. That was the only way to describe it because it was uniquely Ren.

I swallowed thickly. "Ren, you're here?"

He tore his gaze away from Nora, a tiny smile directed toward me. "I wasn't aware there was somewhere else I was supposed to be."

Shit. All of them exchanged a glance, and I wondered if I would ever learn my lesson. Everytime I met one of my friends I instinctively called out to them. Now how was I going to explain this away? I could try the same excuse I used on Weiss, but at some point that was going to become suspicious. Wracking my brain for answers failed to help. Luckily, Nora was more than happy to provide me an out.

"You remembered Renny's name?"

"Of course." I nodded. "How could I forget when you wouldn't stop going on about him?"

Her face twitched and suddenly she was lightly kicking at the floorboard. "S'not like that…"

"It's not everyday someone can cow Nora like that." Ren chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you…" He trailed off, waiting for me to introduce myself.

"Jaune."

"Jaune." His smile grew a little larger as he adjusted the sleeves of his green robe. "I would introduce myself, but it seems that won't be necessary."

Nora recovered quickly enough, bouncing over to me with a grin that would have entirely eclipsed Ren's. "See, I told you he was a fortune teller. He's gone two for two in guessing names so far. And he even looks more like a Grimm now than he did before. Seriously, nice job, newbie!"

I let out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks, I try to please."

"And that's all well and good," Weiss said, walking back over to her bed, "but we're going to be late for class. Professor Tyrian will have our heads if we don't hurry."

While I imagined she was trying to make light of the situation, I didn't doubt that she was telling the truth. If she was referring to the psycho scorpion faunus then there was no doubt he would take immense pleasure in ripping us apart. Limb by limb if he was given the choice.

I slipped my boots on, turning away from Ruby who had no problem with flinging her clothes off at the drop of a hat. She let out a cute whine–and holy shit did I never expect to say that about a Grimm–to make her displeasure known to her partner. "But Weiss, what about breakfast?"

"If you wanted breakfast, you should've gotten up earlier. Now let's go."

My attention flipped to Weiss, and I noticed she hadn't bothered to replace her clothes. The tattered dress left little to the imagination, and yet nobody had said anything to her. Perhaps here such a state of undress was normal as the people we passed on the way to their dorm room hadn't commented either. It seemed like I was the only one concerned about it all, and it made me feel childish, which was an odd feeling, considering I hadn't felt that way in quite awhile. Had Ruby been correct in calling me a pervert? Is that what I was fated to end up as?

"No way I will," I complained aloud.

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Nothing. Aren't you going to change?"

Nora whistled in the background, but Weiss thankfully ignored it. "I would, but I don't have any dresses left. I'll have to go shopping soon."

I would be the first to admit I was beyond curious where a Grimm bought clothes from, yet I pushed that curiosity down. Instead, I pulled off my hoodie, stepped toward her bed, and held the garment before her. "Here."

She blinked rapidly at my sweatshirt almost like it was offensive. "T-that wouldn't be necessary."

"Like hell it isn't." Nora shouted, ignoring the gentle hand Ren had laid on her in the vain attempt to get her to calm down. "Damn, you move fast. Already trying to claim Weiss as your mate?"

"Mate?" I asked.

"He wouldn't know." Weiss grumbled something to herself before rapidly slipping on my sweatshirt which came to her knees. "Thank you, Jaune."

"Hmm…" Nora's grin split from ear to ear. "I wonder if he's as clueless as he lets on. He used to have quite the interesting scent, but now I can't smell anything on him other than Ruby. Anything going on there?"

Weiss' eyes narrowed further. "She slept with me last night, while Jaune borrowed her bed. He's a new creation, so he doesn't know any better. I hope you weren't implying something else?"

"Yeah, don't drag me into this!" Ruby squeaked out.

"Strange for someone who isn't part of your team, but who am I to judge?" Nora hummed. "Also aren't you being oddly protective of someone you just met?"

"That's enough, Nora. Now let's go before we actually are late." Ren guided her with a hand on the small of her back out of the open door, effectively diffusing the situation. Weiss snarled at the other woman's back, but nonetheless fell in line behind him.

Ruby brought up the rear, standing on her tiptoes to whisper in my ear as I found myself following Weiss. "For what it's worth, I think you and Weiss would make a cute… marriage I think they call it in human terms."

I pinched the bridge of my nose to ward off the ensuing headache and the image of the unholy matrimony between me and a Grimm. The priest would probably douse us in holy water before doing the same to the church with gasoline and setting it on fire. And so, I continued to follow them to class, accepting that nothing ended up making any more sense in the morning.