With a last look at the retreating back of Blake, he gathers his armor which he put aside for the massage, and puts it back on until he can get back to his dorm room. He still can feel Blake's hand on his arms and back. How the fuck did he manage to stay so calm with her doing all of that. He slowly lets out a shuddering breath in a vain attempt to calm his beating heart down. Gods, he needs a cold shower.

He tries to put that part of their workout out of his mind, which is admittedly pretty hard. He thinks back on the progress he made—well, his progress, according to Blake at least. He can't really see it for himself. It's just hard to imagine calling such fundamental things he was working on progress when every other student in his class is so much better than him and already had these classes when they were children.

But he still wants to believe her, the support Blake had given him is something he greatly appreciates and he doesn't want to disappoint her by continuing to belittle himself.

His armor back on now he can finally make his way back to his team's room and take a nice shower. Leaving the training room with his thoughts still on Blake they inevitably stray to the only other person who offered him support like this: Pyrrha.

Ever since he rejected her offer to train him, in the worst possible he can now freely admit, their relationship is not how it was before. He would not call it hostile or anything like that but their interactions which always had this kind of warmth to them, now feel stilted and cold. He of course apologized to her which she accepted, or she at least said she would. Looking back now it was pretty naive of him not to question that.

Finally, he arrives. He can't hear anything from the room which probably means he'll be alone or at least Nora is somewhere else right now. Jaune quickly unlocks the door with his scroll and steps inside.

The room is empty with the exception of the person he was just thinking about. Pyrrha is sitting on her bed and reading something on her scroll. With a quick look at the door, she sees Jaune entering but doesn't say anything to him and returns to her scroll.

"H-Hey, Pyrrha."

"Hello," she responds without looking up at him. Her tone is unnecessarily polite.

"So, Nora and Ren are out?"

"Yes."

He waits a moment for any kind of clarification but Pyrrha doesn't say anything else and keeps reading on her scroll.

"Are you reading anything interesting?" He asks her after another bout of uncomfortable silence.

"Hmm, not really."

And again, she adds nothing else to that.

"Anyway, I'm going to take a shower," he hurriedly said as he made his way into the bathroom, escaping the awkwardness.

Okay, maybe it's worse than he first thought. Trying to put this out of his mind he takes his well-deserved shower.

Five days later, his problems with Pyrrha did not change at all. Any kind of conversation between them is as short and distant as it has been since their fallout. It has become bad enough that even Nora seems uncomfortable around them.

Not only that, but Blake has been behaving strangely too. She did not write him about their next training session, and when he tried to talk to her directly about it, she seemed evasive. Other efforts on his side to engage her in any kind of conversation have all been futile. They mostly ended in the same way, with him asking if everything was alright and Blake trying to reassure him that nothing was wrong or that she would tell him later and that she was too busy to talk about it now.

So, as she is not inclined to speak to him directly, Jaune observes her anytime he can spare time to finds out what is bothering her.

In class, he sits a few rows behind her and almost entirely focuses on Blake for any signs. For anyone else, Blake probably looks like someone who is vaguely disinterested in the topics of Oobleck's class but to him, she looks nervous and impatient. She would check the time almost every other minute, and she never fully sat on her seat as to dash away as soon as possible which she did but only when it was the last class of the day, running to who knows where.

It's kind of funny, who would have thought that Jaune Arc could ever have woman problems; okay that doesn't really apply to his situation as it's more likely him being a dumbass that changed Blake and Pyrrha's attitude towards him. Whereas Pyrrha's change is easy for him to comprehend. Blake's attitude change on the other hand is far more difficult for him to understand. The last time they met ended on a good note, or at least he thought it did but something he did must have changed that. Ugh, he won't be able to change this without help.

As soon as the class ends, Blake is again the first to dash outside of the classroom without waiting for her teammates. So, with nothing else to do about her, he makes his way back to their dorm room without Pyrrha who is doing some extra training for today, and intends to ask for help from Ren and Nora.

"Let me get this straight. You rejected Pyrrha's offer for training out of misplaced pride to then only accept help from Blake who is now not talking to you and that is why Pyrrha is so short with you," Ren's calm voice almost has a tinge of incredulity in it but he probably only imagines it.

"Well, I wouldn't call it pride but-, " Jaune begins to explain only to be interrupted by a none-too-gentle punch to his shoulder by Nora. "Ow, what hell!"

"You are being an idiot!" Nora exclaims, raising her fist threateningly so as to punch him again.

"Okay, okay, I get that. Really, I do," He raises his arm in surrender and tries to back away from Nora. "I need your help guys. I don't know what I should do to make it up to her."

"Apologize," Ren chimes in again.

"I did! She also accepted it."

"Then I have no idea what to do." Wow, Ren is no help whatsoever.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you are lucky that a lady is here to help you," Nora says while shaking her head.

Lady? He shares a look with Ren who only shrugs his shoulders in a miniscule way.

"What?"

"Of course, she hasn't forgiven you yet. You probably only came here to say sorry and expected it to go back to how it was," Nora explains with a smug look on her face.

Yes, he did. Isn't that how apologies are supposed to work?

"That's not how you do it! You have to make a big gesture, how else will she know if you are truly sorry. She is your partner and you basically left her behind for another woman."

Ren looks at her with an exasperated expression. "Nora, I don't think-,"

"No, no, let her talk Ren. I think she has a point," Jaune interrupts him, making him sigh. "What should I do Nora?"

"Well, you should not get back to her with empty hands. Bring her some flowers or chocolate or pancakes!"

Hmm, sounds logical and he thinks he can remember his father saying something similar when you want to apologize to a woman.

"And maybe you should speak to her somewhere else. You know, so you can have some alone time with her and really talk things out."

"That is actually a great idea Nora! Thank you!"

She hums triumphantly. "Hehe. See I told you. A lady as I am just knows what to do in such situations."

Now in a better mood thanks to his awesome teammates his tail energetically wags behind him as he laughs along Nora.

"Thank you, lady Nora. This humble knight is in your debt," he jokes around. "I do not want to burden you with any more of my worries but might the lady bequeath me with any more wisdom for the situation with Blake.

Nora giggles at his pompous way of speaking and even Ren smiles at their interaction.

"Of course, my knight and about the problems with Blake," she hums in consideration and taps her lips with her finger. "I have no idea."

"Are you sure? Maybe I should do the same thing as with Pyrrha."

"No!" "No," Ren and Nora seem adamant about that.

"What should I do then?"

"Maybe ask someone from team RWBY," Ren says before Nora can answer. "They probably know Blake better and can get you advice on what to do."

"You are right Ren."

Well, no time like the present. Walking with the intention of asking Ruby about Blake he makes his way out of the room with the last thing he hears from Nora and Ren as he closes the door.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Nora?"

"Yes, of course, Jaune is not the only one being an idiot at the moment."

A few steps over to team RWBY's room he knocks at their door and waits for a moment. He hears a sigh from the inside and someone in high heels going to the door.

"Yes?" Weiss asks annoyed while opening the door. Only to stop herself with a complicated expression as she sees who is on the other side, "Arc, how can I help you?"

"H- Hello, Weiss," she looks really pretty right now with her hair out of her usual ponytail, flowing like a waterfall of white along her back. She really does look like an angel.

"Um, don't worry, I am not here to ask you out or anything like that," he awkwardly laughs trying to reassure her which only makes her furrow her brows. "Um, anyway, are Ruby or Yang in?"

"Yes, please wait a moment," she says and closes the door. After a short moment, Ruby is the one opening the door grinning up at him.

"Hey, Jaune!"

"Hey Ruby, can I come in for a moment I want to talk to you and your team," he asks Ruby who looks a bit surprised, which is understandable they normally never meet in each other's rooms to hang out together.

"Oh, sure."

He is always a bit shocked when he sees the perilous construction of their bunk beds and how it is still holding on. Weiss is sitting at a desk and reading a textbook and Yang is lying on her bed reading some kind of magazine from which she looks up with a grin but Blake is nowhere to be seen.

"Sup, Vomit Boy."

"So, you wanna play some games Jaune?" Ruby asks with two controllers already in her hand.

"Actually, I hoped you could help me out with something."

"What's wrong?" Ruby asks immediately

"Do you need love advice Vomit Boy? Because if so I am the right person. Tell Mama Yang how she can help," Yang jokingly says which only makes Weiss scowl at her and he feels embarrassed as his infatuation with Weiss wasn't exactly a secret.

"No! I don't need love advice," he vehemently denies.

"Pfft could have fooled me."

"Don't tease him, Yang," Ruby comes to his rescue. "How can we help you?"

"It's about Blake," Ruby and Yang share a look with each other and Weiss has a look of distaste on her face but otherwise keeps quiet. "The last few days she kept avoiding me and whenever I actually get to talk to her she says she has something to do. I am worried about her and it feels like I have something to do with that."

Yang is no longer lying down and looks at him with narrowed eyes, "Why do you think it's your fault?"

"Yang! Don't," Ruby exclaims. "Just let Jaune explain the situation. What happened Jaune?"

"Since, last week, we met up a few times after our classes so she could help me out with something."

Yang raises her eyebrows at that, "So that's where she was disappearing."

"And the last time we begin talking a bit more, you know. And I was talking to her about home and it felt like we really connected but I don't know."

Gods, it's kind of embarrassing to tell them that but Blake is more important than his own dignity.

"So, you are telling me you were going on dates with Blake and after the last time where you really connected she just avoids you?" Yang asks almost incredulously.

"They weren't dates! She was helping me out with something." Yang doesn't really look convinced by his denials, checking the reactions of her teammates doesn't help with that either. Ruby's face is red and she is trying to hide her face in her cloak clearly uncomfortable with the possibility of giving advice about relationships Weiss doesn't even look in his direction anymore.

"That's not it! And it's also not important," he tries to get back on track. "Do you know where Blake is right now? Has she said anything to you?"

Ruby snaps out of her brief moment of embarrassment and sports a worried look herself.

"She actually didn't say anything. And now that you say it she seems a bit more -," Ruby trails off.

"Skittish? Withdrawn? Secretive?" Weiss chimes in.

"Yeah, withdrawn. She seemed more withdrawn."

"Listen Jaune, thank you for worrying about Blake, she usually comes back after midnight, we will talk to her then and tell you what she said tomorrow, is that alright with you?" Yang asks him and for once there is no playful expression he usually sees on her.

"I guess?"

"Good, and I think we need some time for ourselves and talk about what to do with Blake"

Even he knows that this means that he should leave now.

"Alright, and thank you for trying to help," with that, he steps back out of their room and into the hallways of Beacon.

Ugh, that wasn't really what he wanted to hear from them. But what else can he do but wait? Maybe he should focus a bit more on apologizing to Pyrrha and just wait for team RWBY to talk with Blake before deciding what to do about her, he doesn't even know what he did wrong yet. So waiting it is.

Checking the time on his scroll, it seems like he would have enough time to take a short trip to Vale and get something to give to Pyrrha with his apology.

After a vomit-inducing bullhead ride, he finally arrives In Vale proper. It's only his second time being in the city and the sights are as awesome as the first time. Especially the shopping district, everywhere you look people can be seen, those that are rushing to their next destination, those that are meeting up with friends at a restaurant and those just returning from or going to work. It just feels so different from his quiet village life. It's exciting but it also makes him a bit nervous at the same time.

Walking along the streets aligned with rows of shops, he looks for something that Pyrrha would like. Maybe some chocolates or even some flowers. He knows some flowers can mean friendship or even an apology.

Right there next to an alleyway is a flower shop. Hurrying across the street he walks past the alleyway when a voice stops him.

"Be careful, brother. The florist is not the most enlightened fellow if you catch my drift," a kind-looking, red-haired man says to him before he can enter the shop. Instead of human eyes, his eyes have an orange tint with slitted pupils that seem to pierce him when he looks at Jaune.

"Uh, thanks...brother?" He only receives a nod in return.

What the hell was that about?

Without further ado he enters the flower shop, an electric chime announcing his entrance.

"Take a look around, I'll be with you in a minute," an older, male voice calls out from somewhere in the backrooms.

He looks around the shop and yep those are flowers. He knows that roses would probably send the wrong signals and a potted plant wouldn't fit either. In short, he doesn't have the first idea what kind of flower might fit his purpose the best so he just waits a moment for the florist to come back to the front.

"So, how can I he-," he begins only to cut himself short. "What the hell are you doing here."

Surprised by the sudden change of tone by the man in front of him, he takes a cautious step back and his tail stands up at attention.

"What?"

"I have told your group of animals, if I ever see you here again this won't end the same way it did the last time," the florist snarls at Jaune, spittle flying from his lips.

"Sir, I think this is a misunderstanding. I-" Jaune tries to placate the angry man.

"Shut the fuck up, you dog!" His hands make a motion to something under the front desk.

Seeing this Jaune doesn't wait for the shopkeeper to pull out whatever he has stored under there and hastily retreats out of the shop and into the alleyway that sits right next to it. Adrenaline still courses through his body in response to such an unexpected outcome making his legs feel jittery. He leans against the wall and slowly slides down, trying to calm his beating heart.

"I told you, brother," the faunus who spoke to him before he entered the shop is still in the alleyway and looks at Jaune with a pitying look.

"Huh?" Still a bit disoriented and concentrating on calming down, Jaune looks back at the reptilian faunus.

"You see brother, this man was robbed by some young wannabe gangsters probably thinking the shop would be an easy payday and they happened to be faunus."

"So, you are saying that because of that he chases out every faunus that steps into his shop? Just like that?"

"You are not from Vale, are you? Here in the city we faunus don't have the best reputation. Something like that indicts all of the faunus in the eyes of a human like him."

Jaune lowers his head. At home, something like that never would have happened. In Domremy there weren't many faunus but still.

"Ah, no worries brother. As long as we faunus stand together we can look forward to a brighter future, don't you think?"

That actually sounds nice. Even at Beacon, there are almost no other faunus around, maybe he should start talking to those few who actually are, like the bunny faunus he has seen being bullied by Cardin.

"Yeah, you are right," now with a bit more energy, he smiles up at the man. "I am Jaune by the way."

"Oh, where are my manners. You can call me Janir, Jaune. It's always good to meet a fellow faunus," he says while helping Jaune up from the ground and slings his arm around Jaune's shoulder.

"It's nice to meet you too Janir."

"Ah, if I may be a bit presumptuous but you don't seem to know a lot about life as a faunus here in the city," he really didn't. "Maybe I can help you out. I am actually part of a self-help group for faunus. And as chance will have it, we actually have a meeting in half an hour and I would be delighted to bring you with me. It might be a good chance to meet other faunus here and build a support group so to speak.

Oh, how nice of him. He only just met this man today and he already tries to help him. And meeting other faunus sounds really good.

"Are you sure that this isn't too sudden? I just met you."

"Ah, nonsense brother! I am sure they'd love to meet you as well."

"Alright, then please bring me to your group," Jaune says and quickly sends a message to Ren informing him that he might come back a bit later today.

"Very well, follow me."

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