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"Riiieeeaaaaa" Jaune complained as Trivia pinched his cheek.
He knew why.
He works too much. Neo agreed, still completely bewildered by it all. What the hell? He can say he's always up to something all he wants, but he's just running himself ragged, isn't he?! We HAVE to stop him!
He could boast all he wanted about being able to do surgical and prosthetics work for hours on end, but that didn't mean that's what he should be doing.
She'd been planning on sneaking by while he was working and finding a moment where she and he could have a bit of a private moment and go see Kuo Kuana's sights, but he'd skipped lunch and been looking after refugees from Mistral since ten in the morning.
It's almost four o'clock! Neo mentally stomped, growling angrily. Even THOSE girls dropped in to remind him to eat lunch and he'd said he'd eat something, and then he FORGOT while working! Ugh!
Yeah, Jaune needed her to look out for him.
"Iem saahhweeee."
Trivia sighed, letting go of his cheek with a pout.
Shit, all he had to do was apologize for her to let go. He had her wrapped around his fingers more than he realized. That wasn't great for her, actually.
"I-I'll eat, I'll eat. Heck, we can get something together." He gave her a sheepish smile as she found herself smiling back. "It's not the same level as me, but there are good places to grab an early dinner around here. Just let me ask Emerald to help hand out tickets for tomorrow."
Trivia frowned. Tickets?
The Emerald girl was alright, as she gave her a weird amount of deference and respect (actually it had felt sort of good) when Jaune mentioned that she was important to him, but she also didn't like the fact that she waited on Jaune hand and foot. It was good that he had a helper, but mmmmmrrrrrr.
"I'm glad you're at least not clashing too much with Em. She really means well, but Mistralian culture is pretty different from Vale's is all. And the tickets are for all the people still waiting in line that need help. I'm not just going to shrug off all the people that are left. The tickets give them hope, you know? That they'll come next time I'm in the clinic and have some priority because they waited at the end of the day today. That they didn't waste their time hoping to walk away with nothing. It's the best comfort I can give."
Trivia glared.
"Sorry." Jaune laughed, as he scratched the back of his head. "I know I'm doing too much for your tastes, but it means a lot to people that have nothing. I just wanna give them some assurance is all."
She sighed again. It wouldn't be Jaune if he wasn't like this. She'd just never really gotten to see this side of him as much before. She'd only really had Jaune during nights, when he was allowed to be a warrior, seeking freedom like her.
Free under neon lit night skies.
She'd never realized how much his time in the light tied him down like this.
"Hey, don't think of it like that." Jaune pleaded, his brows knitted in concern at her frustration. "I like doing this too. It's tiring, and not as glamorous to people like us, but it's good. I like this too."
Of course he liked it. People walked away with smiles and he'd do almost anything for that.
"I mean. Yeah?"
Trivia glared again leaning in, seeing him flush as she got closer to his face. He was reacting cuter than normal. Shit. Those girls must have made a move. They touched what was hers. Still.
She turned her cheek to him, demanding a kiss.
Jaune giggled a bit weakly, leaving a gentle, soft kiss on her cheek.
Jaune wouldn't abandon her. She'd just win in the end, so it was fine for now. She wasn't happy, but she was fine.
Neapolitan stepped in to ask for one on the other cheek, and Jaune gave that freely too.
"Alright, alright. Let's go get some food. I still want to show you more of Menagerie."
Jaune wanted to share some of his light, too. She didn't really understand his obsession with the Kingdom fully, but as long as Jaune liked it that was enough for her.
Her fingers laced against his. His hands were warm.
"SENSATIONAL!" Penny cheered, laughing as she hugged her friend Ciel, lifting her up and around in the air, her cyan blue beret flying to the side.
"Polendina." Ciel frowned with a gasp. "Air."
"Oops!" Penny placed her friend down, patting her sides to straighten the wrinkling she'd left behind. "My apologies, friend Ciel!"
"It's fine, Penny." Ciel sighed as she took a small inhale of oxygen. "I'm aware of your enhanced strength and was mostly prepared, though clearly not enough."
She only used Penny's last name when she'd accidentally done something wrong according to Common Sense™ or used too much of her own strength.
"My apologies again, friend Ciel. I was simply excited that we have been given permission to attend the Vytal Festival!" Penny beamed, excited at the thought. "It shall be sensational!"
Not only that, but she would be able to visit her other Father, Jaune!
To see the Kingdom™ he'd grown up in!
Though he'd mentioned that the Kingdom™ was not kind to Faunus like him, that did not change the fact that it was still the lands of his birth, something that had shaped him! Penny wished to see that for herself as well.
"It's just because they want to test your ability to blend in with civilians, Penny." Ciel sighed. "It's not what you're expecting it to be."
"Oh, I understand." Penny nodded. "I will likely be forced to attend in my more juvenile body to limit my capabilities in case of any accidents. However, that will not be a problem! I am safety ready!"
She gave the Pose of Confidence™ that she'd researched via movies on the internet, alongside the various comics and manga provided by Father Jaune.
Ciel furrowed her brows by 67%, a sign of Skepticism™ but Penny would prove her worth!
"As long as you don't try to set me up with Professor Arc again, everything will be fine." She replied, glancing at her watch. "Regardless of it being a request by fathers to attempt to woo him, I am not comfortable pursuing someone who is already under so much scrutiny with his own near-harem."
"But I believe you would make a wonderful mother." Penny immediately protested, getting a small glare from her friend. "My apologies, but that does not change my opinion."
"Well that's… kind of you, Penny. But to be frank with you, I am wildly uncomfortable with the idea of you calling me Mother. Plus even if you think of Professor Arc that way, you need to make a habit of not calling him Father in public. He'll get into trouble if you do, you know that."
"Oooohhhh." Penny groaned, crouching down and covering the top of her head with two straight open hands performing the Pose of Worry™ as she additionally rocked in place to complete the action as shown in her manga. "I do not wish to cause Father Jaune any undue worries."
"...At least you're aware and will try." Ciel's voice was not at all filled with reassurance, but it was clear she recognized Penny's efforts. "That's always the first step."
Penny felt her eyes water.
"Ciel! You are a good friend!"
Ciel gave her arm a Reassuring Pat™ as she turned to hug her friend.
"P-Polendina! A-air!"
Ah. It was not a Reassuring Pat™ but rather a Tap Out™.
"Nora?" Ren asked, his long black hair fluttering. "What's wrong? You're more distracted than usual."
Her eyes drifted to his smooth, soft cheek.
"Hmmmmmmm."
"Nora." Ren laughed. "My eyes are up here."
"Ah." Nora felt herself flush as her eyes flicked up to meet Ren's fuchsia orbs. "Sorry, Renny."
Ren's eyes clouded a little as he gave her an odd smile.
Gosh he was pretty.
Nora wished she could read his mind like Jaune could. Mind reader and his secret-y secrets. Why couldn't he share that magical forbidden knowledge?!
"I was asking if you wanted to get food out today."
"Hmm? Why would we do that? Is Jauney not making dinner today?"
"I have it on good authority he'll probably be back home late today."
Nora frowned. She wasn't exactly going to tell her brother Jauney what he should and shouldn't do, but like, he worked way too much! Why didn't he just use his Jaune-Magic to make multiple copies of himself?!
Ok, maybe that was unfair. If he could do that, he'd have done it already.
Dammit, Jauney. You invested far too much in your Int Stat, rather than your Mag Stat!
Wait. Weren't they usually mechanically the same stat?
Ehe~
Househusband Stat, then. Yup. Well, if he gave up his Househusband Stat his pancakes could get worse! Hmmm. No reclassing allowed, Jauney.
"If you keep frowning like that, you'll develop wrinkles." Ren teased, his index finger poking her between the eyebrows "I don't want to see a wrinkly Nora yet."
"Boo! I'm going to be young forever, Renny!" She complained, her arms thrusting into the air as she pouted, even though she did nothing about the finger pressed against her brow. "Mom Noelle always says that an Arc is forever twenty one!"
Ren laughed, his normally emotionless face bursting out into a bright smile. So bright and so pretty. Nora felt her heart feel like it was being squeezed into pulp. But his face quickly returned back into a more calm baseline, only the faintest bit of it remaining.
Even when Ren laughed, his Semblance always muted it back down. That was unfair.
"You're frowning again, Nora." Ren warned. "I'll have to take drastic measures at this rate. I've learned a thing or two at this point."
"Ha! Do your worst, Renny!" Nora cackled, closing her eyes with a triumphant grin as she balled up her hands on her hips. "Castle Nora will never fall!"
She didn't need her eyes open to know that Ren was shrugging.
"Ok." He replied simpl-
Her eyes flew open as she felt his lips on her cheek.
The scent of cool water and blooming lotuses lingered as ozone and lightning crackled under her skin. Ren's lips were pressed against her cheek.
What?
She felt lightheaded, her heart pounding louder than the drumset Ren practiced on, her blood pumping through her ears as she felt her whole body heat up as Ren pulled back and turned as he began to walk away.
"Nora. If you keep standing there like that, we won't be able to get dinner." Ren turned to look over his shoulder with a small smirk.
TH-That wasn't fair! Castle Nora fell in a single blow! That wasn't fair!
"O-okay." Her hand reached out to clutch at the edge of his sleeve, unable to bring out her usual courage to pull him by the hand. "Dinner sounds good." She whispered quietly.
GAAAAH! THIS WASN'T LIKE HER AT ALL!
Major Nora to Major Nora! There's been a MAJOR hull breach! SS REN has fired upon us and pierced the hull! We're taking in water! The ship's going down!
"Nora." Ren's voice was like silk in her ears as he reached out to pull her by the hand, her fingers coming loose from the edge of his sleeve as his fingers laced against hers. "Come on."
She was sinking. Something something a captain goes down with her ship.
"HOW did something that important go MISSING Blake?"
Blake winced as Yang felt Burn roar to life through her hair and skin.
"I don't know either. Nobody does. It… it must have been someone's Semblance at work."
"No no no. We can't just say Semblance and call it a day. This is Jaune's stuff. It might look like regular tech, but there's a reason that Jaune doesn't just dump out a bunch of this shit. His Multi-Fabricators are probably partly magic."
Yang might have gotten more careful about pretending that Jaune wasn't some sort of crazy wizard apprenticing under his ancestor ghost Juniper, but there was no fucking way she forgot what happened in the Glacial Incident.
She'd felt it then. The weight of what could only be described as magic. Something strange and mystic, heavier conceptually by far compared to Aura. The scent and taste of juniper berries exploding against her senses, drowning her in it, filling up her very being by simply being within his vicinity.
The spell he'd woven to call upon Juniper Arc back to the land of the living.
He'd never done so ever again, claiming that he only had one such card for the longest time.
It must have been something hard even for Jaune to make. A one of a kind trump card (heh) that he could play for a moment of desperation. Something that could have saved his life. Would have saved his life when he'd been almost kidnapped by bad guys back during the Starlight Eagle's Ball.
And he'd used it to save Menagerie. The Kingdom he'd trusted implicitly to protect what was his.
Yang had (secretly) told Blake about what had happened that night the first winter back in Menagerie after the incident. As it wasn't something she could really truly discuss over the Scroll. Half to make sure Blake was in the know as she deserved to know, the other half was to make sure his stay in Menagerie would be as smooth as possible. That hopefully they could give him the simple comfort of avoiding a new little trauma of his.
And wow Jaune had a lot of little trauma that had built up over the years, huh? Yang just wished she could punch them out somehow, but that, sadly, wasn't how it worked.
It sounded silly how insistent she'd been to Blake that (before she was able to explain in person) for Jaune's sake it was imperative that they made sure that the Belladonnas as well as anyone that would get close to Jaune wouldn't smell like apples or offer anything with apples in it.
The moment he smelt or tasted apples he would get sick after the events of the Starlight Eagle Ball. The second Starlight Eagle Ball Jaune attended in Atlas (the event was held every five years) the whole menu had to be pruned over to accommodate for it, just in case.
He'd gotten better about it, being able to bear the smell of it (though still queasy), but even now if he tasted apples he'd hurl up whatever he last consumed. He pretended it was just an allergy, the only lie he could now tell with a straight face.
He'd practiced that lie so much he almost sounded truthful. To anyone but his closest friends and family.
"But we know who has it now, and we can't exactly pursue an insurgent group into Mistral." Blake frowned, "There's nothing we can do."
"We can at least find out who stole it."
"How? The trail's been dead for over a month. I've been trying the moment that the White Fang and the Menagerie Militia let me but-"
"Do you think they could have done it?" Yang found herself asking, wincing at the look of shock that Blake gave her. "I-I'm just saying it's not impossible. Not accusing anyone, kitty cat."
"I- no. They… they'd never. Not after everything Jaune…" Blake pursed her lips. "That… that would be wrong."
"It could just be a few guys that got bribed. Or maybe you're right. A Semblance might have been involved? Could have tricked someone or even been straight up blackmail." Yang carefully argued, her hands reaching out comfortingly to grasp at Blake's arms, pulling her into a warm hug. "Sorry, just trying to do the Jaune thing of looking at all the angles."
Blake, luckily, didn't fight her off, rather leaning into her.
Yang felt her heart flutter at the sensation of midnight dew cooling her summer sunlight, scales being stained with the scent of parchment and ink.
The fact that she, Jaune, and Blake were all… kissing practice buddies was still sort of unreal.
Rather Yang was still not exactly happy with the exact arrangement. She was loud and proud, wanted to shout to the rooftops that Jaune was her boyfriend and Blake was her girlfriend.
She probably had too much of mom Raven in her, to be honest. Something that she was as proud of as she was embarrassed by it at times.
Her mom had given her a smirk and a ruffle of the head when she'd told her what she and Blake did, telling her that it mirrored what she and mom Summer had to do for dad to stop being a manwhore.
The only issues were that A) her mothers had been older and been able to take things a bit further and secure their man and B) dad wasn't nearly as messed up in the head growing up as Jaune had been.
Really, Jaune's life, as larger than life and amazing it was on the surface, was just all kinds of sad if she stepped back to look at it. He was just under so much pressure all the time and about a third of it was from himself and his own overblown expectations.
Still, this was the best she had at the moment and Yang was no quitter. She'd get her man AND her woman in the end.
That Neo girl wasn't weaseling her way into this that easily!
"Yang, you're getting distracted." Blake laughed, she wasn't as good at reading people as Jaune was. Not by far, but she was definitely the most introspective of the three of them, as Jaune could be pretty easily scatterbrained by a stray thought of something magic or science-y.
"Whoops. Uh. You said that the trail was cold. I suggested somebody did something tricky. Hmmm. Didn't you mention there was a report log?"
"Yeah. I have a copy of it in my room. Let me-"
"Wait." Yang selfishly sighed, enjoying the feeling of Blake's Aura. "Just gimme a minute."
Blake giggled, her head turning in her shoulder to leave a featherlight kiss on her jaw, making Yang's Aura bubble up with excitement.
"Ok."
Yang leaned her head down to leave a single kiss on Blake's shoulder through the cloth of her shirt, enjoying her natural scent mingling with that of her Aura. Blake's room was silent aside from the sounds of the two girl's soft breathing.
"Alright. Let's, uh, get that thing, y'know?" Yang reluctantly let go, feeling Blake's fingers also linger against her form. "Just maybe a new perspective might be helpful."
"Yeah, thanks Yang." Blake smiled prettily.
For some reason Yang was reminded of Blake back when she'd first met her on Menagerie when she'd had a light tan similar to her mother. Suddenly it felt like a bit of shame that Aura blocked out the sun's UV rays. Blake with a tan had been cute.
Heck, she was sure that she and Jaune could both pull off the look too. Specialist Pepper was gorgeous and her tanned skin and long pale blonde hair was a good match.
Blake reached over to her bookshelf to pull out a blue three ring binder labeled COPY Honua HoHonu Mines Report: October, Operation Year 8.
It was actually pretty meticulous, Yang noted as she flipped through it. If anything she felt kind of bad even suggesting that either the White Fang or the Militia might have been involved.
White Fang reported into the binder every half hour even if nothing happened, the Militia pretty much did that every hours seeming to be slightly more lax in timeframe, even if their notes on events were a lot more detailed.
It sort of reminded her of the classes she'd been taking now at Signal of how to write up basic mission reports.
Even if Vale wasn't militant like Atlas, eventually all Huntsmen and Huntresses would be expected to know the basics for such a thing, after all. No harm in some early prep.
"Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Blake inquired as an uncomfortable feeling welled up in Yang's gut.
"...It's just… this looks weird, doesn't it?"
Yang pointed at the guards' log on the night when Jaune's Multi-Fabricator was stolen.
"Look how empty it is."
Yang flipped before to the previous night, the report completely full.
Then the one after it, looking exactly the same as the night before the incident. A full report all throughout.
"It's weird. It's super weird." Yang hissed, her eyes narrowing, feeling her Aura well up through her body. "Blake. I don't think we can ignore this. I think this is… well…"
Blake looked uncomfortable, like she didn't want to acknowledge it. She must have noticed it too, just didn't wish to face it. Blake was, honestly, a lot smarter than her.
"It… it-no. They can't."
"Blake. Someone in either the White Fang or the Militia stole it. And if anything… they might both be involved here."
Yang's finger pointed at the 2AM mark when both the Militia and White Fang normally left a report note.
"And I think we even know exactly when they'd done it… We have to tell Jaune."
Sun played a lazy game of Angry Geese on his phone, launching Geese in colorful hats at the evil Boarbatusks in simple wooden structures on his phone.
Showed them to steal his geese's egg shaped rocks! The poor things were all male and couldn't have kids! You had to steal their one happiness?! Get wrecked!
"...Spring… yup. No I… not a big deal…"
Velvet was currently in the bathroom because one of her Atlasean uncles were just calling to check in on her. They were pretty protective of Vel, to be honest.
He could sometimes still feel that punch across the jaw he'd received from the big one. Gosh. The man really hadn't held back at all when he told him that he wasn't going to let them see Velvet. He'd been built like a brick house to boot.
Still they hadn't come hunting him down when Velvet showed back up on his doorstep with her hair dyed black as if she was in a state of teenage rebellion, just checking up on her instead over her new Scroll.
Nor had they come to beat his ass when she'd become his girlfriend for real either, so that was good too.
"...with Sun… yes, still… pft! I won't let… mhm… can't stop… got it!.. Love you too, uncle!" Velvet's voice got louder as she began to open the door. "Alright! I'm done checking in! Let's go, Sunny!"
"Your uncles are still telling you to break up with me?"
"Yup!" Velvet smiled brightly as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Every week!"
"At least they're not coming in person to whoop my ass." Sun shrugged, turning off his game as he pocketed his Scroll using his tail.
"D'aww, you haven't even met the scary one yet." Velvet teased. "And Uncle Hansel is just protective."
"Uncle Hansel nearly broke my jaw!"
"Big baby." Velvet rolled her eyes, kissing his cheek. "I'll kiss it better when it breaks."
"When it breaks?!"
Velvet just laughed, pulling him by the wrist as Sun himself couldn't stop himself from smiling.
They had dinner plans, plus were going to go shopping for stuff for a small gift for Jaune since his birthday was around the corner.
Even though it was outside the dude's comfort zone, Menagerie created the North Star Day celebration as a national holiday on it, but he was just planning on having a small personal party at home at the Belladonna Estate.
Unsurprisingly he felt uncomfortable about the holiday, but when all of the Kingdom wanted for it to exist, what was the guy gonna do, say no?
Sun hadn't known Jaune that long, but he wasn't the type.
Dude was weird, really nice, but weird, just wanting to make people smile and stuff. He even apparently ran a clinic (or rather, had a location lent out to him in Kuo Kuana by the Settlement) where twice a week he'd just measure and fit people for prosthetics if they'd lost a limb or an eye and stuff.
Out of his own pocket too.
Sun couldn't imagine having that kinda money laying around, but Jaune also said since he had the tech to manufacture it himself from scratch, it pretty much cost him nothing more than the base cost of materials, so it wasn't much.
But he'd seen those lines.
'Wasn't much' were not the words he'd use, especially when despite a bunch of Mistralian miners having been brought over by the efforts of the White Fang in the wake of some crazy people calling themselves the Black Knights or something else edgy. It was mostly Faunus but Sun saw a handful of humans mixed in.
And Jaune was actually making really tangible headway in helping them all. At least, all the ones that needed more than a regular doctor, anyways.
"-that's why I was thinking you could pick the material, and I could do a bit of needlework. We'll just make him a little bunny strap he can hang off his Scroll." Velvet was talking, shit he'd phased out of the conversation.
Improvise time.
"Yeah. Sounds good!" Sun smiled, only for Velvet to turn with a knowing look.
"You only heard the last part, huh?"
"...ehehe."
Velvet rolled her eyes, giving a pout and turning a cheek in his direction.
Ok, ok. Sun knew what Vel wanted in apology.
He kissed her on the cheek, only for Velvet to turn her head and meet his lips with her own.
"He he he." She snickered, only for Sun to kiss her again. "Ah, one's stealing, but two's a reward! Suuuuuun."
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