A gift for Andrew Joshua Talon.
"So... that went well."
Jaune frowned as he wiped a carton's worth of yoghurt to his face, not even bothering to look in Yang's direction, "Please, don't joke. Don't make light of my suffering."
Yes, your suffering and everyone else's," it was Weiss who spoke up this time, giving Jaune a dull stare as she then asked, "Honestly, what were you even attempting to do back there? With that other girl?"
"Er, well, you know, you're going out with Neptune now, and I figured... well, you're with someone else and-"
"And not interested in you in the slightest?" Weiss snarked, "Like I was trying to make clear the first time I met you?"
"...Yeah," Jaune sighed as he turned away from the bathroom mirror and looked at Yang and Weiss standing in the doorway, "So I figured, er, well-"
"That as soon as I turn you down, you immediately decide to try and hook up with another girl?"
"Weiss, why do you have to keep making me sound so scummy?"
"Because it does sound scummy, at least when you look at it from an outsider's perspective."
Jaune opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and then looked down, "Yeah, I... I guess you're right... well now I feel like a creep."
"You were kind of a creep," Weiss stated.
"Sorry."
"Sure."
"Getting away from your frankly terrible attempts at impressing Weiss," Yang said, "Just... what was that back there? With that girl."
Jaune blinked, scratched the back of his head with yoghurt-soaked hands, frowned at his own mistake, and then said, "Er, well... you know, back there was..."
Jaune sat down at the cafeteria table, a respectable two seats away from the pretty girl also sitting at the table.
"Hey there, are you an angel? Because I have a fear of heights."
The pretty girl stared at him.
"...Wait, I mean... are you a snack? Because I forgot to each breakfast this morning."
The pretty girl stared at him some more.
"Wait, that also sounded weird... and kind of gross, er... you have a very pretty face... can I wear it?"
The pretty girl kept staring at him.
Jaune stared, blinked, then threw a bundle of flowers at her face.
She threw a carton of yoghurt at his.
"...A mistake. It was a mistake."
"Yeah," Yang nodded, "Like that time you tried to hit on that other girl-"
"Hey baby-"
He received a carton of yoghurt to the face, followed by a quick punch.
"Sorry... I didn't know you were taken... that's on me... could one of you please get me a plaster? I can't feel my nose."
"Look, in my defence, how was I supposed to know that she had a boyfriend?"
"What, you mean the guy who had his arm slung around her the entire time?"
"Yeah, he's got a mean left hook, I tell you," he shrugged, "Well, on the plus side, I made a friend that day."
"Really?"
"He invites me out to get pizza."
"Huh."
"Well," Weiss said, "You can't deny that it's no better an attempt at seduction than when you were actually approached by a girl."
"Hey there... how're you doing tonight?"
"...I love you."
"Oh! Er, thanks... do you want to, I don't know, kiss or something?"
"...I'm an alcoholic."
"..."
"...Do you have a carton of yoghurt on you? I have a reputation to uphold."
"You know, if you ask Pyrrha out, she'd probably say yes."
"Yang, I told you not to joke about this."
"Heh, yeah... jokes."
Weiss shook her head in exasperation. Jaune didn't notice.
"Honestly, I don't get it," Jaune threw up his arms, then remembered that he had to wash them from all the yoghurt on them as it splattered onto his face. He grumbled, "I mean, my dad always said that-"
"That all you need is confidence, we know," Yang shook her head, "But let me just tell you this, Jaune; girls don't want just confidence. They want substance - like, charm and care, like you can listen to them and treat them well and accept them as who they are - and your attempts to flirt with them, it's like, well..."
"It is like watching a car crash into a train crash into an airship crashing into a dust refinery and the resulting explosion destroying an entire city," Weiss bluntly stated.
"Yeah, that."
"Honestly, I can't see why you're trying so hard with this," Weiss said, "You can talk to women; you're talking to us just fine right now, after all. Yet when you try to flirt, you stammer and falter. Embarrassingly so," she turned head away, "At least you didn't bring out the guitar..."
"Well, actually-"
"Don't," Weiss cut Jaune off, "Seriously," she sighed and tweezed the bridge of her nose, "It wasn't good then, and it's not going to be good now."
"He's good when he's not trying to force himself."
Weiss and Yang both jumped in place as they looked behind themselves to see Velvet Scarlatina standing behind them, a towel in her hand as she moved between them and towards Jaune.
Jaune smiled, "Oh, hey Velvet. What's up?"
"Just heard that you got another yoghurt box slammed into your face," Velvet put the towel to Jaune's face and began to wipe it clean, "What have I said about getting yoghurt on your face?"
"Don't get yoghurt on my face."
"Because?"
"Because it's a waste of yoghurt and a pain to get out of clothes."
"Bingo," Velvet said as she unclipped his armour and pulled off his hoodie. Yang and Weiss blinked as Velvet took a second to stare at his waistline before pulling his shirt down and taking the hoodie for herself, "Nice bunny, by the way," she smiled as she looked at the hoodie.
"Wha- hey! Be careful with that, it's a-"
"Collector's edition, I know," Velvet smiled, "I'll take extra care of it when it goes in the wash."
"Oh, you don't need to do that," Jaune told her.
"Think of it as a favour repaid," Velvet said back, "For helping me with that talent show nonsense."
"Hang on, it wasn't nonsense," Jaune said to her, "You got a chance to really express your passions. Don't ever think there's anything nonsensical about wanting to do something that you're so invested in."
"Ah, well," Velvet smiled as she tucked a strand of hair behind her not-rabbit ear. Her Faunus ears, meanwhile, twitched atop her head, "Thanks. You're a great guitarist too."
"Ah shucks, you don't need to oversell me like that."
"Of course I do, and it's not overselling. Not when it comes to you," she patted his shoulder and waved as she left, "See you later, Jauney."
Jaune smiled and scratched the back of his now clean head, and Yang and Weiss kept their eyes on Velvet as she left. Jaune didn't notice the rabbit Faunus pause for a moment, press the hoodie to her face, take a big whiff of it, and then leave with a satisfied look on her face.
Yang and Weiss blinked again, then turned to Jaune, who gave them a confused look, "What?"
Weiss pointed to the now-empty doorway, "What was that about?"
"Oh, Velvet? Oh, I think that was just her paying off an old debt of hers. I kept telling her that she didn't need to repay me for anything, but she was insistent about it. Threatened to kick me if I dropped it. Guess the talent show meant a lot to her."
"I'm sorry, talent show?" Yang asked.
"You didn't hear? There was a talent show in Vale a couple weeks back, and Velvet needed my help with setting up some background music for her show. It was a whole thing, I had to call in the whole of Team FNKI to help out, then there was that favour that I had to call in from Cardin, and it ended with the two of us and Velvet helping her perform a magic show in front of, what? A thousand people?" Jaune laughed, "It was a wild night, let me tell you?"
"Hang on," Weiss began, "You got Velvet and Cardin on a stage together?"
"Yeah, I got Cardin to start taking online seminars about racism. Turns out, he's a pretty cool guy without all the bigotry, and I've heard that thanks to him and Velvet, CFVY and CRDL are all best friends now."
"...Are you serious?"
"They've got a group chat now."
"...Huh," Yang vocalised, "Okay... well what's with her... taking your clothes?"
"Oh, she just does that sometimes," Jaune shrugged, "They always come back smelling of perfume though... don't know why."
"...You, er, ever think that she might... hold a candle for you?"
"What? Yang, stop being ridiculous. There's no way that Velvet would be interested in a guy like me," Jaune shook his head as he left the bathroom, Yang and Weiss trailing behind him, "I mean, you said it, my flirting skills are atrocious. Criminally so. I don't know the first thing about trying to talk to girls. I'm barely hanging on with you guys."
"Well, I mean," Yang said, "You can't just-"
"Hey JJ!"
"Jaune, my dude!"
Suddenly a pair of green/purple and orange blurs shot back them, and they saw one Reese Chloris and Neon Katt holding onto Jaune's arms, looking up at him affectionately as he smiled and cheered, "Neon! Reese! How're you two doing?"
"All's good, my man," Reese grinned as she spun around him on her hoverboard, "Just over here setting a new record, leaving Miss Disco Ball over there in the dirt!"
"Hey!" Neon pouted at the skater girl, "It wasn't me in the dust back there, was it? Not when you were eating rainbow trails for breakfast!"
"Oh, like you didn't see that sick drift I pulled around the cafeteria back there! We can go another race if you want!"
"Another race? Oh hoh hoh, mess with this kitty and you get the claws, girly!"
"Hey, you two! No fighting!" Jaune suddenly called out to the two, causing them to cow instantly, "And what have I said about racing in the hallways?"
"To... not do it," Reese looked away guiltily.
"Because?"
"Because it's not considerate of other people," Neon's eyes were darted at the floor.
"Exactly."
""Sorry,"" the two said.
Jaune sighed, "That's okay, just be more careful next time," he couldn't help but smile in nostalgia, "I still remember how mad Miss Goodwitch was when you two slammed into her the first time."
The two girls joined him in laughing at the memory, and Yang ended up raising her hand to ask, "Um, I'm sorry, what's all this about?"
"Oh," Jaune turned to face them, Reese and Neon keeping themselves latched to his arms, "A while ago, Reese and Neon were having a competition with Ruby over who was the fastest, and Ruby brought me along to act as a judge."
"Yeah," Reese tilted her head to rest on his arm, "Ol' boy over here was our umpire, referee, whatever. He was keeping track of all of us with his super sweet ninja leadership skills... right until we smacked into a teacher."
"Witchy lady was so mad at us," Neon clambered up, almost piggyback riding Jaune, as she rested her chin on his shoulder and angled herself to tilt onto his head, "Gave us all detention. It was so worth it though, especially since we got to meet this cool guy here."
"Oh come on," Jaune looked embarrassed, "I'm not cool."
"You're right dude, you're not cool, you're cold," Reese smiled, "You're as cold as ice cream, and as sweet as it too," she pressed her face into Jaune's sleeve and smelt it, "You smell sweet, too. Did you get yoghurt on you again?"
"Heh, yeah."
"Bad time flirting."
"Yeah, I screwed it up again," Jaune shook his head, "It's like Yang and Weiss there said, I'm bad at flirting. Terrible."
Reese and Neon's eyes turned to Yang and Weiss, and the two suddenly felt a chill go up their spines as the racers narrowed their gaze into an ice cold stare...
…And then a few seconds later they were gone, as Reese looked up at Jaune and went, "You should've told us when you got it on you. We could've cleaned it up for you."
"Yeah, dairy's good for the bones," Neon nuzzled her face into Jaune's hair, "Shouldn't let it go to waste."
"Oh, don't worry," Jaune said, oblivious to the closeness of their touches, "Velvet's got that on lockdown. She's cleaning it now as we speak."
"Is she?" Neon's grin was catlike, "Maybe we should give her a hand, eh Reese?"
"Heh, yeah, good call," Neon and Reese detached themselves from Jaune and skirted away, the skater girl calling out as they left, "Hey, are we still up for the skating competition down in Vale?"
"Yeah!" Neon began, "And are we still up for band practice? We're waiting to see more of that finger work of yours!" Yang and Weiss' eyes bulged out at the way that Neon said it, wiggling eyebrows and all.
"Hah, yeah, tell Flynt I'll be there!" Jaune waved back.
"Awesome!"
"See you later, my man!"
"Hey, no racing in the halls, you two!"
""Okay Jaune!"" the two racers called out as they disappeared down the hallways.
Jaune smiled, "Ah, those two..." then turned back to Yang and Weiss, "...What?"
"...Okay, what was that?" Weiss pointed at him wildly, "How did you not notice... that?!"
"What?"
"T-Those two! Clinging to you! Like-!" Weiss threw out her arms at him, "Like that!?"
"Oh, Neon and Reese? They do that all the time. Ruby clings to me like that too."
"She does what?!" Yang's eyes turned red.
"And that's normal for you?" Weiss grounded out, "That's completely normal and not romantic in the slightest?"
"...No?" Jaune asked, "Why would it be romantic? It's perfectly normal behaviour between friends."
Weiss' eye twitched.
"Hello Jaune," the three looked to the side to see Arslan Altan approaching them, offering Jaune a proper bow before going, "I am here to inquire of the training match between Pyrrha and I tomorrow, as I have hopes that you will be there as well."
"Oh, of course," Jaune nodded to her, oblivious to Weiss and Yang's stares, "And I know that Pyrrha's itching to get back into the ring with you. It's nice to see her reconnecting with old friends again."
"Technically old rivals," Arslan amended.
"Friends, rivals, what's the difference hey?"
"Many differences."
"Really?"
"A great many."
"Okay," Weiss tweezed the bridge of her nose, "What's the story behind this?"
"Oh," Jaune began, "Pyrrha and Arslan were big rivals back in their old school."
"You man Sanctum?"
"Yeah, there too. Anyway, the two of them would go against each other a lot, and apparently it got really heated."
"I must admit, my conduct back in our old school was... less than ideal," Arslan confessed, "Thankfully, Jaune was able to mend our relationship into something much more amiable."
"Hey, don't go selling yourself so short, Arsly. You and Pyrrha put in a lot of work to make it happen."
"Yes, and you rented out the rage room for us to do so."
"Yeah," Jaune shook his head, "I'd have never known a pair of Huntresses to destroy so much property... well, aside from Nora, that is," he gave Yang and Weiss a look, "Apparently rage rooms are a really good way of venting your frustrations. Lots of things in there to smash. Good way to let your anger out."
"Regardless, you should not go undermining your own successes and achievements as such," Arslan leant over and pecked Jaune on the cheek. Yang and Weiss froze like ice as she smiled to him, "I shall be seeing you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Arsly," Jaune waved Arslan off, and then turned back to Weiss and Yang, "So-"
"Okay, she was- the kiss!" Yang called out, "She kissed you! Kissed you!"
"She kissed you on the cheek!" Weiss twitched in place, "She's clearly attracted to you!"
"What, no! Arslan does that to everyone," Jaune shrugged, "At least I'm pretty sure she does that to everyone. I've only ever seen her kiss me on the cheek... ah, I'm sure she does. It'd be weird if she only kissed me."
"You ever think," Yang began, "That she might be into you?"
"Yang, you need to find better material. You're really running that joke into the ground."
"Jaune," another new voice, and the three of them were now joined by Ciel Soleli as she said to the blond boy, "It has been one day, eleven hours, fifteen minutes, and forty-seven seconds since we last spoke. How are you today?"
"Ah, I'm doing okay, Ciel," Jaune answered, "How're you doing?"
"It has been... suboptimal. I am attempting to 'Reflex' as you say, but I find that I am unable to do so as efficiently as would be ideal."
"You mean 'Relax'?"
"That too."
"Ciel, it's not a case of being able to relax efficiently. You can't be efficient in taking a rest," Jaune shook his head, "You just need to stop working for a few moments. Find something to do in your spare time before you burn out and crash. You know, like a hobby or something."
"A... hobby," Ciel narrowed her eyes, "Your words are alien and confusing to me."
"Just something to do in your free time," Jaune frowned, "You do have... free time, right?"
"Does waiting in my room for my next assignment count?"
"Okay... what do you do in your room? Like, reading, or watching TV, or knitting?"
"Studying, maintaining my equipment, sitting on my bed and staring at my clock for my next assignment and when General Ironwood unlocks the latch to my door to prevent me from 'Overworking myself to death', according to his testimony."
"...Okay, just- something to do in your spare time, your free time. Something to take your mind off of working for a moment, at least."
"Hm... well, you take my mind off work. Would that make you my hobby?"
Yang and Weiss' eyes bulged while Jaune said, "Huh, I guess, yeah."
Ciel smiled, "Then I shall make you my hobby."
"That's good! Glad to see that you've finally got something down."
"Wha- but- JAUNE!" Yang almost shrieked. Almost, "She's- she's flirting with you! She is clearly flirting with you!"
Jaune blinked at her, "No she's not."
"She just stated that she wanted to make you her hobby!" Weiss shouted at him.
"Yeah, it's a bit of an odd way to state a friendship, but it's still valid Weiss, don't go bullying her because she finds it more difficult to make friends then you."
Weiss screamed into her hands.
"By the way Jaune, you have a bit of yoghurt on your neck," Ciel added, "Would you please allow me to clean it off?"
"Oh, yeah, sure."
And that is when Ciel pushed her hand against Jaune's head, tilted it back, and then licked a long stripe down his yoghurt-flecked neck.
Yes, licked.
Ciel wiped her mouth, "Thank you, Jaune. I must be going now," and then left.
Jaune chuckled, "I should be thanking her. She got the yoghurt off..." and then looked at Weiss and Yang for the umpteenth time, "Wha-"
"She licked your neck!" Yang cried, "Like, actually licked your neck, and you don't think that there's anything odd about that?!"
"Oh don't worry, she only does that with me," he shrugged, "It's like our little in-joke. It'd be weird if she licked everyone."
"And you don't think it's weird that she does that with just you!?"
"Hey, she's not very good at making friends, okay?" Jaune suddenly crossed his arms and sent Yang a glare, "Be nice, she's still getting the hang of talking to people."
"Wha- I- wha-"
"I'm sorry, how does licking constitute as an in-joke?" Weiss was desperately trying to regain whatever sanity she had left.
"Oh, well, when Ruby and Penny introduced me to her, she was as stuffy as could be. Turns out, she'd never tried ice cream before, so I took her to all the best dessert places in Vale to find the best sample for her. After that, we went out a few more times to a few restaurants, then a theme park, then to help her find some nice dresses for her - heck, a few days ago we went out to find her a nice ring," he chuckled, "Fool on me for not knowing that she was into jewellery, I guess. I suppose that's a good place to find a hobby, if an expensive one."
Yang barely resisted the urge to scream at Jaune that he had basically been taking the poor girl out on dates (or courting her, as Weiss and Blake would say), before going, "And the licking...?"
"Oh don't worry, I lick her too."
"...Do you?"
"Yeah," Jaune shrugged, "In-joke, remember?"
Yang felt like she was going to pass out.
"How," Weiss grumbled, "Are you suddenly this good at flirting with all these girls, and yet when it was my turn you fumbled it so badly that you could've named a national holiday after it...?"
"What? What are you talking out?" Jaune had a look of confusion across his face, and it only baffled Weiss even further.
"The dates! The trips to restaurants and picking out dresses! The ring!"
"What, those weren't dates. We were just going out as friends."
"As friends?!"
"Weiss, I'm pretty sure that I'd know if I was on a date."
Weiss highly doubted that.
"And even then, I'm terrible at flirting. You said so yourself. Why would anything that I'd be doing there be classified with flirting? I was only showing her how much I valued her and the other girls as friends."
"And you don't think anything of the amount of... close contact that's going on?" Yang threw out.
"Why would I? I hug them just as much as I do my teammates. I used to hug my sisters all the time."
Yang so desperately wanted to explain it to him, but-
"Hey Jaune~" called out Nebula Violette and the other girls from Team NDGO as they passed by, "We still up for our shopping trip next weekend?"
"Hah, so long as some of you are there to help carry the bags?"
"Why would we do that," began Octavia with a sultry grin, "When we can get a big strong man to do it all for us?"
"You say that like each of you can't carry a metric ton of bag and myself all by yourself."
"Yeah, well," Dew's smile was cheeky, "You're not going to turn us down, are you?"
"No, I'm not," Jaune smiled back before turning to the last of their number, "Oh, Gwen, are you still coming to the band practice? FNKI are missing their drummer."
"Aw shucks, if I ain't there then cover me in sugah an' call me honey," Gwen drawled out giddily in her country accent as she fanned herself, "Consider me just a hoot and a skip away!"
"Hah, knew I could count on you!"
"Of course you can, it's us, we're just that awesome," then Nebula leant forward and-
{SMOOCH}
-Kissed him on the lips, "See you around, Jaune."
{SMOOCH}
"See you soon, handsome."
{SMOOCH}
"Be there, or be squared."
{SMOOCH}
"Don't keep us waitin' too long, darlin'!"
And then, just as suddenly as they appeared, NDGO were gone.
"Aw, those guys are something else entirely..." Jaune once more turned back to Weiss and Yang, and opened his mouth to-
"They kissed you," Yang's hair was now on fire, "All four of them. They kissed you. On the lips."
He shrugged, "Yep."
"And...?"
"And what?"
Yang's face went as red as her eyes.
"Let me guess," Weiss was twitching, "There's some deep seeded relationship between you and the four of them, some personal connection that marks you as 'Friends'...?"
"Oh no, they just dragged me off shopping with them to carry all their bags around one day, and they've been doing it ever since."
"...So the kissing-"
"Is just something that they like to do?"
"With absolutely no romantic undertones."
"Why would there be?"
Weiss was a few seconds away from exploding.
"Jaune..." a soft voice called out, and an olive-skinned girl with maroon hair, dressed in a red and white hoodie and with a black beanie covering the top of her head and left eye ran over and hugged Jaune, wrapping her arms around his body and pressing her head against his chest.
Jaune smiled again, "Hey there, May," he hugged her back, "How're you doing?"
"Missed you..." May Zedong murmured into his chest.
He laughed softly, "Missed me? You saw me yesterday."
"...Still missed you," May said back, "Wanted to see you again... didn't know when I would... I'm sorry..."
"Hey, no, don't go saying stuff like that," Jaune reached up and tilted May's head to look into her one visible eye, "Don't say that you're sorry for wanting to see someone. That's not fair on you, and it's not cool for anyone. And hey, I wanted to see you again, and I'm always happy to see you again."
May smiled warmly and nuzzled herself into Jaune's chest again, "M'happy to see you too... you smell sweet."
"Hm, yeah, I got a carton of yoghurt on me."
"Smells nice."
"Okay," Weiss bit down on the inside of her cheek so much that she thought she might draw blood, "What's the story here?"
"Oh, May and I- we're old friends," Jaune smiled as he and May held each other, "Really old friends. Back to when we were babies, in fact."
"Knew each other for years," May tilted her head to look at them, her greyish-blue eye (which Yang would've sworn had a hint of silver in them if it wasn't for the blood red filter currently colouring her perception of the situation) twinkling with nostalgic memory, "Played with each other, did everything together."
"Yeah, some of my best memories are thanks to her as well," Jaune smiled, "I don't think I'd be here right now if it wasn't for her."
May blinked, then pushed her head back into his chest and turned as red as a tomato, "You're exaggerating..."
"Not in the slightest, and you know it."
May whined happily into his chest.
"This is the most romantic coded thing that I have ever seen and I am fucking angered by it," Yang grounded between her teeth as Weiss felt her entire body tremble.
"Hm? What's romantic about this?" Jaune asked as he and May hugged each other and held themselves tightly against each other and May pressed her head into his chest to hear the gentle beat of his heart.
"THIS! ALL OF THIS! ALL OF YOUR BLATANT FLIRTING WITH EACH OTHER!"
Jaune blinked, then looked down at May, "May, they're being weird. They're first saying that I'm bad at flirting and now they're saying that I'm good at flirting."
"Seen you flirting," May giggled into Jaune's chest, "Terrible. Really bad."
"Yeah, I know," Jaune rested his head atop May's, "Figured it out recently."
"Why weren't you like this when you were attempting to court me?" Weiss couldn't help but grate out, "I would've been so much more receptive to your advances if you had."
"What are you talking about? This is friend stuff we're doing," Jaune said as he and May cuddled together.
"Friend stuff?"
"Totally friend stuff."
"I feel like you're just messing with us right now."
"Why would I do that?" Jaune blinked owlishly as May pressed her chest against his frame.
"...Why indeed..."
"Oh, that reminds me, I've got to go. I've got a training session with Pyrrha to get to," he turned his head down to May, "I'll speak to you tomorrow, okay?"
May smiled, "Okay!"
And then she leant her head up, and kissed him on the lips.
Very deeply.
With tongue.
And then Jaune started kissing back.
With tongue as well.
And Yang and Weiss could do nothing but watch as the two childhood friends made out with each other.
Very passionately.
And listen to May moan into it.
When the two eventually separated, May wandered off with a giddy smile across her red-flushed face as she readjusted her beanie (briefly revealing the single silver eye hidden underneath her beanie), and Jaune waved her away with a simple, utterly oblivious smile.
Then he turned back to Yang and Weiss.
"...What was that?" Yang said without a hint of emotion in her voice.
"Friendship kiss!"
"...Friendship kiss."
Jaune tilted his head like a dumb puppy, "Between friends."
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"
"Wha- WAIT! YANG WAIT-!"
And Jaune was left screaming and running for his life as a rage-driven Yang chased after him like a sentient ball of fire and pure unquestionable anger, leaving Weiss in the dust.
"...Why couldn't he have done that with me?" the Schnee heiress muttered to herself.
Pyrrha blinked as she heard the door to the dorm slam open and closed, and looked to see an exhausted looking Jaune stumble into their room and slump down at their desk. He looked like he'd run a marathon. Maybe he had.
"Jaune?" she asked as she approached him, "What happened?"
"Yang got really angry with me," Jaune said after a long pause to catch his breath, "For some reason. I honestly don't know why."
Pyrrha leant over him and rested her chin on the back of his neck, "Oh really?"
"Yeah, I was just telling Weiss and her about how I talked with all my friends, and they got really mad at me for some reason. And mind you, this was after they were telling me about how atrocious I am with flirting."
"Mm," Pyrrha hummed as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and nuzzled her head against his, "So you finally noticed?"
"I guess... am I really the last to notice this?" Pyrrha hummed again in agreement, "Dang it... I really thought I had something going for me, back then? I mean, my dad always said-"
"That women like confidence, yes," Pyrrha kissed his ear, "Take it from me, Jaune: women like a bit more than just confidence."
"So I have learnt. I really should thank those two for telling me. Maybe I'll bake them a cake or something, like I did for your birthday. Or chocolates. Or I could take them out to dinner sometime like I did with you and the others, that's be nice."
Pyrrha leant down and kissed his neck, "That's sounds lovely."
"Yeah," Jaune nodded as he tilted his head to the side and gave Pyrrha a very nice friendship kiss, "Oh, by the way, where's Ren and Nora?"
"Oh, Nora took Ren out to that pancake place down in Vale. She said something about bursting out of a cake for him."
Jaune sighed, "I swear, that guy is the most oblivious person I've ever met," he shook his head, "I mean, how can he miss all the signs that Nora is throwing his way about how attracted to him she is."
"Doesn't make sense," Pyrrha said as she friendship cuddled him.
"No," Jaune said as he friendship cuddled her back, "It doesn't make sense at all."
"Come on Jaune, let's get you cleaned up. You smell like sweat and yoghurt - not a bad smell - and after that we can get on with our training lesson."
"Yeah, actually, I've been meaning to ask you and the other girls about that... how does sex relate to training?"
"...Stamina."
"Stamina?"
"Absolutely."
"...Well," Jaune said as he began to take off his clothes, "Can't argue with that."
Sorry about not including any Dragonslayer in this for you, Andrew. I tend to find writing rare pairs more fun than (most) main pairs.
(Gwen Darcy's brief bit in this was actually inspired by a mixture of didyoutrydynamite's depiction of Gwen in his Team JNRZ fan project and Gwen Stacy's drummer background in the Spider-Verse films.)
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a fifteen-thousand word creative and critical piece for my university to write.