The Weekend

XxX----XxX----XxX

Official Supporters:

Priests, The Impossible Muffin, Xager the Chaos King.

Adeptus, Private Wilger

Ze Nope Rope, Kaiser Snek, Snekiest Snek

Acolytes, DigiDemonLord, Cheeseberry

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM one of us for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen : https://discord.gg/2UZncAm

Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i)scord(.)gg(slash)kfhkfUb

I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.

Beta(s) :

XxX----XxX----XxX

His hand had only just closed around the doorknob before the door was yanked open, out of his hand. The door swung open with a quiet creak and Jaune smiled warmly, watching pink and brown eyes peek around the edge of the door. Slowly, they looked him up and down appraisingly and he smiled, waving at the small woman. She relaxed at that, one hand poking out around the edge of the door to wave back.

Then, those eyes slid to Pyrrha, standing beside and just behind him, and narrowed suspiciously.

"Um," Pyrrha started awkwardly, waving, "hello, there."

"This the bitch?"

"Neo." He chided gently, giving her an unamused look and folding his arms over his chest. "Be nice. Maybe invite us in?"

"I don't wanna." She signed back, pulling the door open and turning around while he choked on air and she trotted away. Over her shoulder, and ignoring his wheeze, she signed, "And you're always welcome here, Jaune."

"N-Neo!" He stammered, the girl rounding on him with her brows raised while he gestured at the tight leotard she was wearing, in spite of the cold, "Pants! Guest! First impressions! Why?"

"It's comfortable." She shrugged, trotting off on bare feet while he stared after her.

"What did she say…?" Pyrrha asked quietly, sounding… Strangely bemused. When he turned to look at her she cocked her head, "I'm assuming she explained her lack of, um… Pants."

"Apparently she's comfortable in just that." He sighed, following the small woman into the apartment and adding, quietly, "But I think it's because she's mad and wants to mess with us. Or me."

"Would she do that at a time like this...?" Pyrrha asked, pausing to shut and lock the door behind them. "It seems most inopportune, does it not, to… Fool around right now, with stakes as they are. Doesn't it?"

"Yeah, well, it's Neo. She's…. Yeah, it's Neo." He shrugged, sighing and running his hand through his hair, using the motion to brush his hood off. "Not the first time I've shown up and she's forgotten that pants are a thing most people wear around the house."

"Ah." Pyrrha flushed and then grimaced and sighed, "Well, if that is her way, then… I suppose it would be rude to complain."

"Eh, do what you want, Pyr." Jaune shrugged, "This isn't exactly a polite setting. And honestly, Neo will probably just laugh if you say anything about it, though."

By the time they got to the living room Neo had already settled in on the couch, bundled up in Jaune's fleece blanket and surrounded by pillows. All they could see of her was her face, peeking out between the blanket and the pillow she was hugging to her chest. Even so, she scowled as he and Pyrrha entered the room, watching the Mistralian woman ease into a chair by the end of the couch opposite her.

She relaxed a bit, though, when he settled in on the couch beside her.

"So," Jaune started, glad that at least she was covering up those long legs of hers and at least half pretending to care about first impressions, "Neo, this is my partner, Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha, this is my favorite murder gremlin, Neo."

"Murder… Gremlin?" She murmured, turning a slow gaze on Neo, one brow raised in clear question.

"I mean he's not wrong." She signed, Jaune translating for her, "Less murder, more gremlin, though. At least normally."

"And abnormally?" Neo only smirked and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Pyrrha grimaced and turned to Jaune, electing, it seemed, to ignore that and asking, "Where is, um, our host, then?"

"Out." Neo signed simply.

"Doing…?"

"Stuff."

"Such as?"

"I don't know, really, but maybe he's sucking a dick like you should." Jaune only glared at the small woman, refusing to translate the second half of that while Pyrrha looked confusedly between the two of them. After a second she puffed a breath out, blowing a strand of hair out of her face and signed, "He went to get food for dinner. Killjoy."

"That I'll translate." Jaune chuckled, repeating the words for his partner and adding with a smile, "Personally, I'm hoping for home-made tacos."

"Tacos?"

"Roman makes just, the best home-made tacos." Jaune nodded, explaining, "Fresh tomatoes and lettuce from a friend of his that lives outside the Walls, then he fries up beef and chicken. Sets it all out on plates on the dining table with the shells and cheese and boom. Done deal. You build your own with whatever you want but the seasonings he uses!"

"He was taught by a Mistrali ex-bandit." Neo signed, "At least, to cook."

"I wouldn't think that banditry made one that great of a chef." Pyrrha murmured, reclining in her seat ever so slightly and seeming to relax just the tiniest little bit.

"It doesn't, but she wasn't a raider or anything. She was a cook." Neo explained using him as a proxy, leaning to the side slightly so her pillows pressed against his side. "Bandits hit a lot of farms and villages out in Mistral. She would go with, take her pick of the food stores and kitchens. Wandering around like that, a good cook is valuable, so she learned well."

"And taught him." Pyrrha nodded understandingly, chuckling and shaking her head wryly, "A rather unique backstory. Which makes the mundanity of Roman Torchwick being good at making tacos a bit more… Palatable isn't quite the right word, but you get the gist."

"Understandable?" Jaune tried, chuckling when Pyrrha shrugged unsurely. After a moment, he said, quietly, "See? Perfectly normal. Right?"

"Aside from being just under naked?"

"Just because you and Jaune both enjoy the view, Nikos." Neo signed, turning an expectant look on Jaune and then pouting when he didn't translate it. Flipping him the bird she signed, "Don't make me get my Scroll and have to embarrass your partner again."

"I won't buy you any more cheesecake if you keep misbehaving."

"Oh, talking about punishing me already, Jaune?" Neo winked and Jaune felt his ears burn red hot, stammering while she wheezed in silent laughter, flopping over across the pillows and the arm of her chair.

Pyrrha, reading Neo's wheezing laughing and Jaune's red face, laughed quietly behind a hand and asked, "W-What did she say?"

"N-Nothing!" Jaune rushed to assure her, face burning as he laughed, "S-She didn't say anything!"

Silently, Neo sat up, wiggling her other arm free of the blankets and pushing the swaddling down under her chest. Silent and as still as she could be, she turned a smirk on Jaune, who stared at her with his lips pressed into a thin, anxious line. Slowly, she made a circle with the fingers of one hand, and raised a single pointed finger to it.

"Oh my goodness…"

"Neo!" He flushed, grabbing one of her hands and pulling it down and to the side, pouting at her. "Behave!" Her eyebrows rose and he added, tentatively, "Please?"

"Fine." She rolled her eyes, signing with one hand while she tugged the other free of his hand. Once it was free she smiled at him gently so he'd know she wasn't angry, even if grabbing her hand was kind of like covering her mouth.

"Sorry." He smiled back as he heard the door open and slam shut, and the sound of rustling plastic. Standing, he asked, "Do you need any-"

"Kid, I think you've done more than enough helping this week." Roman growled tiredly, shuffling through the living room with a dirty overcoat and his arms full of groceries. As he passed by he nodded a curt hello and grunted, "Nikos. I'll have a panic attack over you after I put the groceries away. Good?"

"Alright?" She blinked, turning an owlish look on Jaune as the most wanted man Pyrrha had ever seen shuffled away, laden by taco supplies. In spite of what he was, Pyrrha asked, quietly, "Is he… Alright?"

"I don't know." Jaune answered quietly, turning a look on his other, smaller friend, "Neo…?"

"No he isn't." She answered quietly, looking Pyrrha dead in the eyes, "We've spent years working and working to live well, in spite of where we come from. And now, tonight, he's playing host to a woman that might just get him killed tomorrow."

"Get him killed?" Pyrrha scoffed, shaking her head, "How would I possibly-"

"The people Roman works with might not be comfortable with someone as involved and high profile as Roman Torchwick just going to jail." Jaune explained, more than aware of how things ran in the darker edges of Roman's world. "Roman isn't a murderer, he doesn't tend to kill anyone that doesn't force him to. But some of the gangs out there…"

"Just knowing certain people's names is enough to put him on a hit list." Neo explained slowly, grimacing while Jaune parroted for her, "Or a dozen of them. And in prison, he doesn't have me to protect him. Then they'd come for his friends, to keep revenge out of play."

"So if you decide to turn them in…" Jaune let it trail off, giving Pyrrha a meaningful look for a moment.

"I see." She sighed, letting out a breath, "And I suppose that danger is posed to you as well, Jaune?"

"You saw that everyone knows I'm friends with them." He shrugged simply, ignoring the pillows Neo shoved into him while she wiggled free of her little fortress. Smiling he added, quietly, "And if people come for them… I won't turn my back on them."

"Jaune…"

"They're my friends, Pyr." He went on as Neo stood, running her thumb along the hem of her leotard to straighten it as she padded away, towards the kitchen. She walked slowly, lazily, though, and he knew it was to hear what else he had to say. So, he said it, "I'd fight and die for you, Ren, Nora, team RWBY… And I'd do the same thing for either of them."

He met Neo's eyes at that but she didn't say anything, instead shuffling into the kitchen quietly, leaving the two of them to their awkward silence.

"What if they end up fighting each other…?"

"I'll help whichever side looks like it's going to lose." He answered simply, "And try to stop the fighting. But I won't let any of my friends get hurt, Pyrrha. Not if there's anything I can do about it, at least."

"None of them?" Pyrrha asked, smiling thinly when he nodded. "My, my, but that is an ambitious goal, Jaune. You do realize most of your friends regularly shoot at each other, try to stab each other, and run off to fight giant monsters. Yes?"

"Yeah, well," he shrugged, relaxing as the awkwardness died out, "I am not about to try and stop Nora from riding her battle Ursai into battle."

"No?" Pyrrha joked quietly, "I'm quite sure Ren would enjoy the help, though. I love her to death but Nora is... Not exactly easy to handle."

"I have one excited little gremlin in my life that I have to deal with." Jaune laughed, feeling the warmth in his chest when Pyrrha answered in kind and smiled genuinely. Smiling, he pressed, "I also have an amazing Mistralian in my life. And I'd like to, you know, get to keep dealing with both of them."

"Well…" She sighed, chewed on a lip and, after a second, sighed again, "I suppose so long as they aren't evil, and I have time to get to know them… I won't do anything, Jaune."

"Thank you, Pyr."

"Don't thank me just yet, Jaune." She chided him warningly, "There is nothing to say that tomorrow, or Sunday, I won't see evidence which changes my mind. I'm just… Surprised, is all, and willing to let them surprise me more. I expected to meet monsters, and instead I met a small girl swaddled in pillows, you know?"

"Yeah Neo… Has that effect on people." He left unsaid that she only did when she wanted to. Otherwise, she could be terrifying. "Just… Word to the wise? Neo can be very affectionate once she gets to know and like someone."

"Is that so-"

"Oi." Roman grunted, shuffling into the room and wafting the heady smell of peppers and meat into the living room. Ignoring Neo hanging on his back like a limpet, her arms draped over the man's white button up chest and his pilfered hat on her head, Roman asked, "Either of you have anything to say 'bout rice with the tacos? I'm thinkin' of frying it, but I can do white if I need to."

"E-Either is acceptable to me." Pyrrha murmured, seemingly taken aback either at Neo hanging off of him or at Roman speaking so normally to her. He nodded and, without bothering to wait on Jaune's answer, vanished back into the kitchen. "Is… That what you meant?"

"Yep." He nodded, "She's… A Cuddler. If she likes you enough, she gets like that, sometimes."

"If she doesn't?"

"Eh." He shrugged, smiling thinly and already knowing he'd regret what he was about to say, "She'll try and stab you, probably."

"W-What?"

"Joking!" Jaune laughed, standing and shaking his head as he set to work tidying up Neo's nest now that she didn't seem inclined to crawl back into it. Smiling, he added, "She doesn't stab people I like, after all."

"Implying she would otherwise!" He smiled cheekily and she rolled her eyes and sighed, shaking her head and standing, "Shall we go see if your, er, friends would like any help in the kitchen, then?"

"Nah." He waved her off, turning for the kitchen, "Just gonna grab a drink while I'm up. Want anything?"

"A glass of water would be quite nice, if you don't mind." She nodded, turning for the hallway and tossing over her shoulder, "I'm going to visit the lavatory, if you don't mind at all."

"Nah, you're banned." She rolled her eyes and left, and Jaune did the same, headed into the kitchen.

As always when Roman cooked, it was a mess. He wasn't a very orderly man at the best of times, after all, and when he cooked he ruled with an iron fist. So, no one bothered him about it. Moderately uniquely, though, looking at Roman gave him a great view of something he… Did not want to get caught looking at.

He thought of that just in time to catch Neo looking at him innocently over a shoulder, both eyebrows raised.

He raised his middle finger at her.

She wiggled her eyebrows and her waist, smirking and challenging him.

Jaune blinked first and she laughed silently, dropping off the man and signing, "Nikos?"

"Bathroom run." He answered, grabbing a purple can of soda and a bottle of water from the fridge and ignoring the way Neo sauntered around the kitchen, obviously amused at him. Instead of addressing that he asked, quietly, "What do you guys think? And don't," he added, "say that you think I'm dumb."

"Old news?" Roman snarked, "Or have you finally gotten how damn stupid this play of yours was through your head?"

"Yes to both." He smiled, shrugging when Roman gave him a disbelieving look, "I made a mistake. Or, well, a lot of them. But I think this is going well. Don't you guys? I mean, she's not freaking out, or attacking anyone, so..."

"Let's just let it go how it's gonna go and see what happens." Roman said simply, grunting, "Neo, strain the meat, would you? I'm gonna chop the veggies while the dumbest Knight in the… Hell, pick a direction, but while he gets his partner. Food's in five minutes."

"Sure." Jaune nodded, "I'll go get her."

"And while he washes his damn hands, too!" Roman called after him as he left the room, the blonde knight pausing long enough to flip him the bird before he was gone.

"Here ya go." He smiled as Pyrrha stepped into the living room and he brushed by. She took the offered bottle of water and he smiled, explaining as quietly as he did quickly, "Dinner will be done in a minute, so feel free to grab a seat. At the dining table or on the couch, it… Doesn't super matter, really."

"Oh." She blinked, and then smiled, "Alright, then. And thank you."

"Yup." He nodded, waving a hand over his shoulder, "Out in a few!"

And hey, it was taco night, too. Taco night, everyone was getting along, no one was stabbing anyone yet, and Neo even felt comfortable enough to be her usual self… The evening was going better than he'd thought it was going to, even in his most optimistic leanings.

Hopefully, it would stay that way.

XxX----XxX----XxX

As always, Jaune was the second to wake up, the sound and scent of crackling bacon drawing him out of his sleep. Feeling a shifting weight on his chest he looked down at a loose mop of pink and brown splayed out over his chest, along with thin but powerful arms hugged around him like a vice. She'd brought her comforter out with her, swaddled in it and nestled in between the back of the couch and his side. He shifted and she whined pitifully, a low, keening sound in the back of her throat that had him stiffen.

"She's worried." Roman murmured, Jaune looking up to see the man in his pajamas, leaning on the back of the couch. "About everything."

"Yeah, I figured..." He sighed, reaching up with his free hand to run his fingers through her hair and straighten it. She stiffened for a moment and then leaned into the contact with a quiet, pleased sigh. "She's affectionate, but this is something else, so I figured something was up."

"Yeah." Roman grunted, walking around the couch and kneeling to gently pry him free of the small woman. She whined and wiggled in sleepy protest but, after a moment, Roman nudged her off him and he rolled off the couch and onto the floor.

"Thanks." He said as the two of them stepped into the kitchen, Jaune pulling on a clean shirt while Roman went back to cooking. Worried, he asked, "What's wrong, though? Everything went well last night, so I wouldn't think she'd be-"

"She's worried about something else." Roman sighed, leaning on the stove and watching the bacon sizzle for a long moment. Finally, he asked, "You meant what you told Nikos, right?"

"About…?"

"Protecting Neo." Roman answered, turning and giving him a level, serious look. There were bags under his eyes, Jaune noticed as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

And bandages on his chest, just barely visible under his shirt.

"You're hurt, Roman." Jaune said quietly, drawing a swear from the man as he turned back to cooking. Pushing off the wall, jaune asked, "What is going on, Roman? You're hurt, Neo is scared and-"

"The person I'm working for is planning on… On doing something bad. Worse than I'm willing to let happen, if I have a chance to stop it." Roman answered, turning to meet his eyes again and asking, quietly, "So, did you mean what you said? About protecting Neo?"

"About protecting everyone." Jaune corrected, crossing his arms, "And yeah, I did. Hell, high water, Grimm, whatever."

"Then I have a bit of a job for you, kid." Roman said, pulling open a drawer and pulling a small brown package out of it. Setting it on the counter, he tapped it twice and said, quietly, "I need you to get this on Doctor Oobleck's desk, or in his room maybe. And do it without him realizing it was you, kid. That is more important than you getting it there, honestly."

"What is it?" He asked, walking across the kitchen to pick it up. Weighing it in his hand he murmured, "Heavier than it looks…"

"What it is doesn't matter." Roman answered quietly, tugging a plate over to him and pulling the bacon out of the pan, leaving it on the plate. "And you don't need to know, either. What you do need to know is that, if you get this to that caffeinated excuse for a doctor, you might just be able to protect everyone."

"You're sure?"

"Kid, would I lie?" Roman smirked when Jaune cocked his head to the side. Shaking his head, Roman said, "Who knows? Maybe, just maybe. Will you do it?"

"Of course." Jaune nodded, tucking the fist sized package under his arm. Quietly, he asked, "Are you going to tell me what happened to your chest?"

"Nope." The man smiled, setting a bowl of stirred eggs on the counter in front of him and turning to leave, "I'm gonna get changed, kid. Start the eggs for me, I'll take over so you can shower after."

"Sure." Jaune nodded, "Just a sec, though. Gonna stick this in my bag."

"Sure." Roman nodded, waiting until he came back to head back to his room to get changed.

What had hurt him so badly his Aura hadn't already healed it, Jaune didn't know for certain. But he had a suspicion that it was connected to that 'Cin' person the man had talked about before, whoever they were. And they were pressing to do something… Bad. Bad enough Roman was willing to risk acting directly, apparently.

Bad enough he'd asked Jaune for help with it, too.

So, he'd just have to protect them, like he'd said he would.

'An Arc always keeps his word…'

XxX----XxX----XxX

Dun, dun, duuuuuun.

Plot!

This only exists thanks to ze Supporters of mine. Means a lot, from them and anyone else that enjoys these enough to help.