4-Like Real People Do

[Hey before we start this is a lack of sex in this chapter, and I'm soorry but next chapter will make up for it I promise, I promise! But I really do like the story thats starting to develop here and I think everyone else is too. This is the Pale chapter so the story mostly focuses on the events going on between Jaunea nd Pale, but next chapter is harpy so we'll see the events between Amber and Harpy and get a few blank spaces that Jaune is unaware of filled in. I do think the ending implies something that isn't true but keep in mind that within a couple of months they're all happily in a relationship together so this small hiccup at the end will be paved over smoothly by the end of next chapter!

Besides that I really do love Writing better than ever and I have a lot of plans for this new story I have going on. And I'll be writing this fic for a long-long time to come!

ALSO ALSO I got artwork of Pale commissioned so I'll put that here before we move to the story proper, I love her with my whole heart and cannot wait to hear what you think of her chapter!]

https://imgur.com/yZEPMuQ

"James you can't be serious."

"Deathly so." Was his only response to the ever emotional Glynda Goodwitch. As much as she prided herself on her reserved put together nature she broke down the second it was a child in danger, always did. "Jaune Arc is proof not only of how we as teachers have failed these students but our own ignorance to the opportunities laid bare before us."

"You're talking pretty big for someone who doesn't know if his plan is even going to work." Qrow brought up, sitting down on the floor with his flask in hand, sitting with his back against the desk. "You expect Salem to bend the knee because a beautiful blond boy bats his pretty twink eyes at her? Trust me if good lucks would have won this war, I'd have had us home by christmas years ago."

"Please take this seriously Qrow." Glynda growled. "And stand up, this isn't your living room."

"My living room is nicer than this."

"I'm not suggesting we send in Arc's team to their deaths. No. I have bigger plans than that." Ironwood paced away from the clockwork window, thinking back to the weeks after Jaune's first night at Atlas, how he has separated himself from everyone, only going to classes and his mandatory meetings with other students. He was still a b- student and a borderline failure as a soldier but every time Ace or Hariet knocked him down, he got up with that same fire of determination, a look towards Amber and then back into the fray.

"Jaune isn't a fight like you or I Qrow." One of his hands came from behind his back, rubbing over the rough freshly shaven texture of his chin, maybe he'd grow a beard? A thought for another day. "Jaune Arc isn't the solution to all of our problems. His semblance is."

"Jame what could you possibly mean by that?" Ozpin was leaning on the table now, a growing annoyance in Ironwood's self righteous babbling taking a toll on his seemingly endless patience. "If there was a semblance in his world that could hurt Salem I would have used it to defeat her a thousand years ago, your Semblances aren't stronger than my or the maiden's magic."

"I am well aware of that, Ozpin." His tone didn't waver, it was so deathly calm, so intent and sure that it honestly made everyone else in the room pause with a sense of unease. "But what if Jaune arc could use his endless Aura to fuel and increase the power of the Maidens?"

"That…" Glynda started but realized she didn't know if it was possible or not.

"So we hook him up like a battery?" Qrow joined in.

"Perhaps not stated so bluntly but, in essence, yes. Mr. Arc only knows that I have picked him to lead the special unit that will have the Maidens in it. I have my best scientists working on ways of connecting his aura to theirs."

"What you're suggesting is barbaric." Ozpin warned, tone getting dark.

"More barbaric than training children to fight a war?" A pause Glynda and ozpin both readying their prepared debate to that age old topic. "More barbaric than keeping a maiden alive in some god awful machine just so we can kill her ourselves? What About Qrow and Raven?"

"What about me? I'm fine." Qrow retorted.

"Qrow you're a barely functioning alcoholic with mommy issues." Glynda answered, a little ashamed she was agreeing with Ironwood even just on this subject.

"I heard functioning and that you want me to call you mommy."

Ironwood cleared his throat. "The things we do, the things we have to do, to survive, to push Salem back… They are necessary evils that we have chosen to burden because we can make the hard decisions. Let Jaune lead the Maidens, we can finally fight back, after all these years we have a chance."

When Ozpin didn't seem impressed.

"We have hope, Oz."

Ozpin looked up, and James was happy. There it was, gleaming behind those glasses, the smaller glimmer however reluctant, of home behind those melancholy pupils.

________________________________________

Why did bettering yourself feel like dying?

Jaune had to wonder why anyone in their right mind would go through as much exercise as Amber did. They joined a gym not to far from the academy with the goal of Jaune into shape and letting Amber stretch her legs, being cooped up in the tall long hallways of atlas was driving her a little passed insane. He did put his foot down about letting her go for a run in the tundra but.. Well a gym membership seemed fine, someplace away from the school where he didn't have to worry about feeling like he was being watched.

Eyes seemed to follow him wherever he went.

Here, though, he had a certain amount of peace, only a few students, who equally didn't want to have the prying eyes of other classmen watching them, came to this place. Jaune was looking up past the bar rising and falling above his face, sweat pouring over his face and clouding his vision but clearly making out the curve of Amber's bust that gave way to her perky smile looming over him.

"Just a few more!" She cheered on. "Forty three! Forty four- four!" She stuttered as his arms shook. "Fifty is right there!"

She was great, her enthusiasm sunk into him even if he ignored her semblance, she was just a beaming ball of encouragement that pushed him to lift that iron bar far from his face, lowering it slowly with a harsh groaning exhale. Forty eight, forty nine.

With a roar of effort he pushed up the final stretch, feeling his arms give their last bit of energy, straining to finish his titanic task.

"You did it! Fuck yeah!!!" Amber cheered, wrapping one of her hands around the bar and lifting it from his grip, he felt a little embarrassed by how easily she just took the weight from his arms, effortlessly putting it back into place, making a hundred fifty pounds look like putting away folded laundry even as Jaune was dying with his noodle arms exhuasted, laying in his own sweat on the bench.

"You make that look so easy." He bemoaned.

"I make everything look easy." She teased, leaning against the bar with her chin resting on her palm, looking down at him, the line of her cleavage on full display through her loose tank top and sports bra. "You're doing a lot better than when we first started though."

She reached down and poked his nose. "You might want to get better at not staring though." She winked at him.

Jaune felt red rush to his cheeks, turning his head away with a wry little giggle from his companion. "Hey I'm just warning you for when you start talking to some of the girls in class, better to not be so obvious about it." She snickered.

"Can we not talk about this?" He tried to sit up but his arms could barely support himself, Amber reaching over to prop him up, at least until he was sitting up right. "I really don't need dating advice right now. If you want to give me advice on how to catch up with you in a few days, I'll take that though."

"I'm still pretty sure it has something to do with sneakily looking at boobs." Amber nodded thoughtfully.

Jaune waved his limpy noodly arm, still very sore, at her and struggled up to his feet with only a mild amount of shake to it. What was it about exercise that made him want to die? At least he wasn't going it at school, He'd seen the best of his year, athletic demigods like Pyrrha and Yang that could probably lift cars if they really put their minds to it. Jaune couldn't keep up, hell he was barely lifting half of what Amber could.

He remembered vaguely a lesson about Aura being able to strengthen a person's body, giving them the ability to perform great feats of strength… Jaune just guessed he wasn't particularly gifted in the aura department.

"Wanna do squats next?" Amber asked with eager excitement, even if the idea did take years off of Jaune's life. He was exhausted. They'd been here for an hour already and Jaune was more than aware of the fact Amber was slowing herself down so he could keep up, but the fact she was constantly up for more and even harder exercises, was both amazing to keep him in shape. While also being horrible because there was never a point Jaune didn't feel like he'd vomit up a lung.

"Amber, I cannot express how much I don't want to do that." Leaning his head back and wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

Amber just shook her head and put her hand on his shoulder. "Chicks will never dig you unless you have a rockin bod, Jauney."

He put his hand over here and gave his partner the most serious, honest expression he could muster. "You need to stop watching daytime television."

"You can't separate me from my soaps Jaune, I'll burn this place to the ground, I swear I'll do it." Amber smirked and outer the top of her head against his cheek, nuzzling into him.

Jaune just shook his head, a bright smile across his face, arm wrapped around her shoulder. The moment sweet, a good break from the hectic hellfire of his new life at Atlas. Ruined entirely by an aggressive grunt from the boxing ring at the other end of the gym.

The stretching sound of rubber echoed in the small room, one of the two people in the ring falling back against the ropes and waving his hand, tapping out of his encounter. The other participant obviously working out some deep seeded issues with the level of aggression she was throwing into her punches. She wasn't even wearing gear, opting instead to just use the gloves to cushion her blows.

"Oo who is she?" Amber marveled. Indicating to the more aggressive of the two combatants. A girl with green and purple hair, mostly neon green with a streak of lavender through it. Her nose pierced with a small stud, which Jaune wondered if she should take out at the gym? If she should, she obviously didn't care. Her slender face was small, her whole stature on the shorter side, maybe the same height as Amber.

She wore a loose black tank top that did little to hide the black sports bra and white wrapping she had on under. Her hands and arms up to the elbow were similarly wrapped in bandages to keep her hands from cracking and droning blisters. She had on impossibly tight black leggings, if Jaune didn't know any better he'd think she was in the middle doing a photoshoot for new gym wear. In fact she had a popstar sort of feel to her with her neon bubblegum aesthetic. Her dark tanned skin so abnormal for the people of Atlas she couldn't help but stand out.

Jaune knew her though. He'd read her file, she was a student. Well a delinquent really.

Harpy.

No last name, no first name, just whatever she gave the juevinal detention center before she was picked up and brought to Atlas to teach her 'discipline'. If it wasn't for her perfect physical scores Jaune would have suggested they just throw her back into a detention center. Sixteen fights in the first three weeks since she'd gotten here. Refusal to take lessons, her academic scores were worse than his, bottom of the class. Which was really saying something.

"I'd just avoid her." He offered to Amber. "She's bad news."

"Jaune. My family before you was Grimm." She reminded him to which he really didn't have an argument. For only a moment he wondered why Amber even cared? But then again Amber wasn't ever wrong when it came to people, maybe there was more to the raging punk than Jaune originally saw. "Imma fight her."

Or maybe Amber just wanted someone who could keep up with her. Jaune rolled his eyes and waved her off.

"Don't hurt her too bad." He warned. Though looking at them Amber, the sweetheart she is, hardly ever hurt a fly. Even when they were running from Grimm, she would just make the beasts calm while they passed by rather than fight them directly.

Meanwhile Harpy had one of the best physical scores of the class, maybe in the school's history. The only people who had higher entrance combat scores were Winter schnee, clover and less students than he could count on one hand, maybe two?

Jaune thanked the stars for Amber giving him a break, he'd probably head home and ruin all this progress by eating a bag of chips.

He stood up, legs quivering only a slight tremor. Hand reaching for his water bottle, fingers wrapping around its neck. Then Amber put her hand over his, which shouldn't have made him blush with how often her entire body was pressed against him, how often they slept in the same bed. But it was the way her perfect eyes gleamed down at him.

"Hey." She said, voice more earnest now. "You did really good today, I'm proud of you."

Cheeks turning a deep red, he avoided her eyes, looking anywhere else but finding the ground instead. "I- uh"

Realizing he had no idea how to take compliments he just stammered out sounds until Amber just smirked and poked his nose. "Don't eat my chips or I'll piss in your cereal."

With that very vivid threat Amber was off, leaving Jaune with only the faint memory of her fingers on his skin. What faded sweet sorrow, on one hand the only thing that made being here bearable, the only person he could trust in the entire world, walking away and leaving him to his own thoughts.

On the other hand he got to watch her walk away, the sway of her butt elegant in it's sashe.

On top of the fact he no longer had to stay in this fucking gym.

He cleaned down the machine he was working on and headed towards the showers. Mostly just to change out of his gym clothes and put on some better deodorant. Putting on a loose fitted long sleeve, collars Atlas shirt, doing up the top three buttons, filling out the loops of his black jeans with the rigid length of his belt, his fingers running through the long locks of Blonde tangled hair. Shaking the sweat out of his features and splashing some water over his face, Jaune slapped his cheeks and looked at himself in the mirror.

His cheeks seemed slimmer than the last time he'd really studied himself, shoulders wider, he was even taller than he remembered being. Maybe Amber working him to the bone was actually doing him some good afterall?

Exiting the locker rooms he eyed the lobby of the gym building, it had a fairly plain reception area, checking in, a receptionist, even had some of those healthy foods, high protein cafes. Health food made Amber want to barf, so Jaune had never even tried their stuff. He figured it was horrible, it always was.

That was one of the things people never tell you about depression. It does always hit the same or even take on the same form. Jaune had a great person in his life and honestly was on the rise, better than he was ever going to be at beacon. Trauma liked to cling to a person, mistrust, bitterness, that took weird shapes. It was food for him, it all tasted bland, ugly gray blobs of tasteless paste. It didn't matter if it was a hamburger or cheese, salad, fruits, steak. Everything just melted together into this horrible soup.

Maybe he should talk to someone? He didn't think of himself as really that bad, sure he might not have been as excitable, maybe that was a good thing, being so immature was what got him here after all. There were people who needed it more, besides he wasn't really -depressed- just… empty.

An emptiness that he would now fill with slightly more than average healthy protein shake.

One overly expensive translation and a curious discussion about the difference between seaweed based and seaweed infused, regardless it didn't matter. In a matter of minutes he was sitting down at a table watching people walk by outside through a glass window. The people of Atlas were such a strange bunch, well strange in how completely ordinary they were. It felt so much like Beacon, like Vale, like Argos when he visited his sister.

It felt like watching them through a tv. Like the world moved through a screen so distant and irrelevant. Like he was in a world separate from theirs. Especially without Amber besides him, he felt so discounted from humanity as a whole honestly.

Jaune's eye caught some movement to his left. His head turned over to see someone turning their head to look away from him. He blinked, the person, a woman, was tall with white hair, someone he'd almost mistake for a Schnee if not for her impressive stature and wider figure. She was maybe 6ft, her hair done up into a long braid that even still made it down past the chair she was sitting on. It was clear she had been looking at him and just turned her head away when he caught her staring.

W-why was a woman like her staring at him?

She was pretty, slender face with angular cheekbones, her hair swooping over one eye in that seductress Jessica Rabbit sort of way. Wide hips with a plush rear that hugged her chair nicely. A heavy set top, she was built perfectly like an hourglass. Though her middle wasn't nearly that thin, more of a womanly thick shape that gave her a softer figure. Not to mention her striking blue eyes and snow white skin. Her dress was not really fitting for a gym, not 'dress' as in 'attire', but literally a dress. She was wearing a white summer dress with a blue wave pattern on it, the hem was a little small so she wore long cream coloured leggings covered with purple and lilac patterns of lilies across them, which swung back and forth with her feet kicking idly. Now she was nervously trying to pretend like she hadn't been leering at him from just two seats away.

Jaune just turned his head away, back towards the window, taking a sip from his glass. But he noticed her head turn to look back at him the second his gaze was no longer directly on her. What was this girl's problem? Still though she seemed at least mildly familiar, he realized. She'd been working on a few machines just vaguely in view, mostly the treadmill or elliptical. She'd been wearing something different so he hadn't noticed until now.

But he knew her from somewhere else too.

Amelia Pale. Middle child of the rich and noble Pale family. One of the more respected houses of the local Atlas elite. He'd read her file when he'd been given the whole classes. Now he realized why she reminded him of a Schnee, she was just like Weiss. Holier than thought Atlas nobles, so much better than low class scum like him.

She was probably here to see if she could find any gossip that she might spread behind his back, like there wasn't enough of that to go around already.

He tried to ignore it and just focus on his drink, refusing to give her anything to work with. She just kept looking at him though. It felt like an hour; it must have been only a minute before she finally got up, Jaune realized he was sweating.

"Did you want something?" He asked with an idly tilt to his tone.

That seemed to startle her, making a show of sipping her drink but she didn't look away when his head turned to face her this time. "Me- I-"

"Amelia, right?" He raised a lazy eyebrow. "We're in the same class."

"I-I know that, I was just making sure it was you." Her voice wavered a little, like it was obvious that there was more to that. When he didn't reply, keeping his eyebrow raised she sort of melted back into her seat, defeated. "I was trying to think of how to start this conversation…"

Jaune couldn't help but feel his mouth curling into a grin. She was cute.

NO.

He tried to steel himself, turning his head away, no he wasn't some simp, he wasn't going to start crushing on some Atlas girl. Especially not some high school princess like he had over Weiss.

Jaune cleared his throat into the back of his hand, looking back at her with the smirk cleaned from his face. "Well, you got me. Well for as long as this shake is still around, what do ya want to talk about?"

There was a distance to his words, keeping himself away from getting too attached in any way. He wanted her to know they were going to stay acquaintances, he didn't have room for friends now after Beacon.

Pale just tilted her head to the side, like she was trying to read him. He didn't know but she was in fact more observant than a wooden sign and could clearly tell he was wrestling with something, trying to keep her away for some personal reason. Concern spreading across her face even if it was only the most mildest sense. "Well… We're classmates, we should get to know each other. You will have to interview me at some point to see what team I should be on."

"Yeah, I suppose I will, trying to get on my good side so I put you on a good team?" There was a little edge to his voice that he hadn't intended on.

Jaune grew up with enough sisters to know what her raised eyebrow meant. She was trying to read him, see if he was upset or just temperamental. Like he was some toddler and she was deciding how best to handle his bad mood. It was the same thing with his sister's, sometimes he'd just want to be left alone and they would look at him trying to figure out what thing besides them was causing this issue.

"I wouldn't say that. More like, I'm trying to get on your good side, and I hope I like my team, the two are certainly exclusive though." Her smile was disarming. So unassuming, like there wasn't a world where she didn't have a motive for being nice to him.

Maybe this was a test from Ironwood? Giving him power knowing that others would try to use him for that power.

"I'll have your interview soon, so I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure there is a perfect team for you." He tried to sound as professional as possible. Keeping his monotone level.

"And what about you, have you found your team yet?" She took a sip from her drink leaning over the counter in front of them and making a face at the bitter shake.

Jaune had to admit he was a little thrown off, the question directed to his own team, something he hadn't even remotely thought of, of course he was going to pair himself up with Amber, but there hasn't been much thought besides that. Though the other thing throwing him off was the sudden shake of the wall mounted ledge, Amelia's chest making the wood shake as her weight shuddered against it. The boy was embarrassed to admit his gaze drifted down towards her tight sports bra, pushing her heavy set chest together, barely hidden by the plain white tee shirt that did little more than offer a semi translucent sheet between his eyes and her milky white flesh.

"Well no.."

"You and your girlfriend aren't on the same team?" She seemed genuinely surprised, though Jaune was a thousand times more so.

"Girlfriend??" A heat rushed to his face, turning his head away so she wouldn't see the creeping red across his cheeks. "N-no Amber and I are just friends!"

Amelia laughed it off, her soft laugh had a little tilt to it, a heart belly laugh that sounded like music. Still jaune couldn't help but feel annoyance creeping over him, she was laughing at his embarrassment, fucking… she played him so easily.

"I didn't even bring Amber up, are you sure you don't like her?" She sounded like a highschool girl gossiping about boys in one of Amber's shitty soap operas.

"I- well.." he was trapped.

Something touched his head, her slender pale fingers running through his hair like she was softly petting a dog. "I didn't mean to tease you so much." There was a pause. "You're cute when you're embarrassed though."

Jaune tried to even form a thought.

Tress….

He wasn't sure what it meant but it was the only word going through his mind, the only thing the two remaining brain cells In his skull could formulate.

Her hand retracted and she stood up, shaking her empty bottle and letting out a contented sigh with a long stretch, showing off her perfect wide hips, her stomach that fit her thicc frame so perfectly. "I should get going though. You'll be here tomorrow right? We should work out together."

That coy catlike smile never left her face, like she was so utterly pleased with herself.

"Y-eah, b-bye." Was all he managed to stammer out when she left.

What the fuck was that??? Trees?? Really? He chided himself. He should have swatted her hand away or looked at her like the crazy person she was. A leader wouldn't let anyone below them treat a superior like that.

Though the idea of Winter Schnee patting General Ironwood like a dog did strike a certain ironic cord that made Jaune smile. He quickly wiped it away, feeling so utterly ashamed of himself and at the same time a little scared. She was so good at working him, if she wants to embarrass him in front of everyone like she just had, she could, couldn't she? Then it would be like Beacon all over again, with him a laughing stock, someone that was meant to be the butt of everyone's joke.

There was something else though. His hair felt nice. He reached up and put his hand where hers was, a red creeping across his cheeks again. That hadn't been horrible, he supposed.

________________________________

Jaune didn't stay at the gym that much longer. Just enough to finish his shake and get back home, thoughts of classes and strategy, running over some wargames that Ironwood had given him the day prior. His mind often wandering back to Amber and now this new addition to his life, Amelia Pale.

He checked his scroll, this was later than Amber was normally out. Not by enough to be worried but there was a hint of nervousness to the tapping of his pen against his desk. While some might be worried the gruff and aggressive Harpy had maybe done some damage to the smaller, more affectionate Amber, that wasn't what Jaune was worried about at all.

Images of Amber behind bars, trying to explain to Ironwood and Winter that it was an accident, flickered through Jaune's mind. He had seen that wolf girl fight and knew exactly how unholy her strength was, she was a demon. Jaune dreaded the day she started weapon training.

Jaune looked over the notes he'd taken, notes on test scores, mock combat scores, knowledge of semblances. He was trying to pair teams based on how well they would do together, some were easy, some were harder but made sense when they were pieced together. He'd come up with two teams but looking at the rest made his brain hurt, it didn't help that He and Amber hadn't been properly tested and admitted on 'recommendations'. The best academic scores were a Hayden, the best combat scores were Harpy. Which Jaune guessed would be overshadowed by Amber in minutes.

He obviously put himself and Amber together but the idea of adding Harpy to his team was mind bogglingly stupid, he wouldn't trust her to watch his lunch let alone with his life. His mind wandered to Pale but her significantly above average test scores were crossed with equally significantly lower combat scores. He considered briefly a few others, someone who would ignite things they touch, someone who could turn their aura into a physical shield. There were those who were better at ranged combat which would benefit Amber's physical style. He tapped his thumb against his pen to add a little noise to the dull room.

Then again what did he really bring to the table? It felt weird to build a team around him without considering what he added to it. He was thinking about how to make Amber stronger or make up for her slight weaknesses, but in reality he was just taking up a spot on a team and making it so he had three overachieving teammates rather than trying himself.

He settled on putting another team together, but then scrapped two instead leaving only one together. There was also the problem he felt bad for putting anyone with Harpy. She was dangerous, not just to grimm but it seemed to everyone. She was a hazard, maybe he'd talk to Ironwood about that specific difficulty.

The door to their room opened up with a slow long creak, Jaune didn't even look up from his notes, only noticing it in his periphery, "Hey Amber how was training?"

"Good I suppose." Amber sounded a little winded, maybe wistful.

That got Jaune's attention, he looked up to see Amber a little red in the cheeks, like she'd been running, a little out of breath too, his brow furrowed and then they raised in mediocre surprise. He'd seen what a crush looked like before. "Amber.. You… uh."

It was also the way that her semblance worked. He could feel the warm fuzzy feelings of that budding romance wafting off her in waves.

"Did you have a good time training?" He finally finished, a sly little smile on his face, sure he was hoping she'd say she met someone else besides Harpy but there was part of him that had a feeling this was brought upon by the delinquent.

There was a part of him that was melancholic about the whole thing, some little jealous nagging thing in his brain that didn't want to share Amber with anyone. Even if he was happy for her ultimately.

"It really was amazing!" her voice sung with the tune of a lullaby, she was practically angelic in her response, mind still somewhere else.

"Yeah? Maybe I was wrong about her, tell me about it, how'd it go?" Jaune felt like a schoolgirl, which he supposed Amber was, talking about their fancy date with a little bit of giddy excitement.

Amber turned to him with stars in her eyes, hands coming up to her chin in balled fists with too much energy for her little body to handle. "It was amazing, we started sparring and it was really boring at first but then she kept getting faster every time she didn't hit me. I could just, like, feel her getting madder and madder!" It was 'angerier' but Jaune didn't want to correct her. "And then she got me, just right on the cheek!"

She thrust her fist forward for emphasis, showing how Harpy gave her a right hook. Jaune was honestly just waiting to hear about how this turned romantic, his face growing more and more concerned as Amber continued.

"And like, it was like, like-" She stuttered trying to get the words out, "I- When I fight and it all just goes white right? But it didn't go white, I just felt a little light headed, like all those feelings just vanished."

"Wow that's really interesting." Jaune was s earnest about that, he'd seen her eyes glaze over whenever a Grimm attacked her, it was why he called her a demon.

"And then I punched her in the face!"

Jaune blinked twice. Huh. Maybe the warranted more of a reaction from his part. Or perhaps a less excited reaction from her.

"Jaune I learned so much from that, it was like seeing a whole different person!"

"R-really? How so?" He wasn't sure if he should be excited or not.

"There's so much about her I just never knew! And then after she hit the mat, she got back up!" Which also surprised Jaune, he'd seen the things Amber punches when she gets like that, and he'd yet to see one actually get back up. "And then she hit me in the face!"

Again that probably warranted less excitement in her part.

"And she thinks I'm cute!" Amber pressed her palms to her cheeks practically jumping for joy like a schoolgirl with a crush. Which Jaune supposed she was, to be fair.

"Huh, normally hitting someone in the face is not something you do to someone you like." Jaune waved his hand in the air, letting her go on but returning to his notes, obviously Amber had fun and that was all that mattered.

"But the more we spared the more I felt this growing heat from her, like when you look at my boobs and think I don't notice." This time she sounded more thoughtful, almost wise, if one could sound wise while talking about boobs.

"I don't… Amber." Jaune huffed. "Are you sure that heat wasn't anger?"

"Jaune are you jealous?"

"Your semblance tell you that?" Jaune smirked and looked over his shoulder to see her closer than before.

"I don't need a semblance to see what's bothering you." Her voice was low, that same time from their first night here. It brought the smile from Jaune's face down to a frown. Her chest pressed against his back, she could probably feel the way that affected him but there was a warmth wafting off her, it was calm, welcoming. "I'm not going anywhere Jaune, it will always be me and you."

"I know." There was a pause even as he nodded, her chin pressing into his head, rolling so her lips were against his scalp. "I just… I want you to be happy, make friends, if you like Harpy.."

"That doesn't mean I'll like you any less." Of course that was obvious, but we'll, part of him likes her, they were best friends but he liked, liked her, he thought at least. His only reference was his silly crush on Weiss, Jaune honestly wasn't sure how liking someone really felt, but he was sure he loved Amber even if it was just as a friend. Maybe he was jealous…

"Jaune you think I'm cute too?" She practically purred teasing him. But held him steady as he tried to pull away out of embarrassment. "I think you're cute too.."

Jaune froze.

"You do?" There was some measure of utter disbelief. Amber was drop dead gorgeous and such an amazing person, he was just him.

"You're nice." She concluded which made him ease up a bit. "Nice is a bare minimum, you're more than that though, it's that I know you'll be there tomorrow, you won't leave when things get hard or I say something silly. You smile just to make me smile and you're always thinking about making my day better." Her hands weaved over his chest, wrapping around him and holding him close. "You're warm, inside and out, you want to make the world a better place even if you don't want to let that world in. You don't look at me like a freak just because I don't get people."

Jaune felt like he might cry, he could feel it just as he heard it. Amber was telling the truth. "You're lonely but you still go out of your way to make me feel welcome."

Which was of course the final conclusion. Jaune tried to keep tears from spilling over, a hand coming up and wrapping around hers on his chest. She gripped his palm tight, she was there, she wasn't going anywhere. "Amber you're really good at being sweet when you're not acting dumb"

She laughed a little at that, both of them smiling.

"Says the biggest dummy I know." She kissed the top of his head against but melted more into their impromptu hug, annoying the warmth and shared feeling of love and respect. "Besides I can tell you don't just like me because I like to push my boobs against you."

That got a little flare from him, she snickered in his ear. "Teasing, of course." She squeezed his hand tighter. "I like that you like me, because of why you like me."

Jaune wasn't sure if he understood, but he didn't really need to. "I do really like you Amber." a small confession. "A lot."

"Took you long enough to say it out loud." She snickered, her hand not in his coming up to run through the shaggy locks of his long hair. "You know, you and Harpy a lot of like, in a lot of more ways than just that."

Jaune tilted his head upwards so that her chin was resting on his forehead and he could look up at her. "You think so?" He couldn't think of a world were he and harpy were anything alike. "I don't uhh.. I don't think she'd agree with you."

"I don't need my semblance to know you to feel the same." Amber stuck her tongue out at him. "You have a lonely look in your eyes, I saw it the first time you looked at me out in the tundra. I see if every time you look at someone new. I see it when Harpy glares at me too."

Jaune didn't think that was a good thing, he was in a really bad place when he first met Amber, sure he wanted to help her but there was a hatred for everyone inside him. Still he had good reason to be cautious, it was girls like Weiss and Pale, Harpy and Pyrrha that got him here after all. That ruined his life and forced him to this frozen hell, they ruined the way he looked at people. There was still that lingering mistrust, the way that he looked at people changed the second he walked out of the gates of Beacon.

"I just don't think I see her the way you do." was all he managed to say. How could he, he couldn't look at her without seeing another knife ready to gut him the second he exposed his back.

"I'm not asking you to invite her to dinner. Just try and be friendly."

Jaune raised an eyebrow "Why would I need to be friendly?" and Amber avoided his gaze even taking her chin off of him and separating. "Am- Amber, why would I need to be friendly?"

Amber turned away with her ears pointed straight up into the air. " Well I may have talked her into training with us tomorrow if I beat her in our little match."

One Blink, two. "S-" He stuttered and stopped. "You… do you want to run that by me again?"

"I just thought she'd be fun! Jaune have you seen her butt?! It's massive!"

"Amber I don-" He had noticed. "You didn't think about checking in with me first?"

"I'm sorry!" Even though her face just seemed more hungry than apologetic. "But I was just so distracted by that booty!"

"Amber!"

"I Just wanna bury my face in it!"

"Amber that's gross." He put his fingers against the lids of his eyes.

"I just wanna like, take a big 'ol bite of it, you ever feel like that, Jaune? Just see a big bodonkadonk and just like, wanna sink your teeth into it?"

"I… Well yes, but that's not the point here!"

"So you'll be nice while we work out tomorrow?" She leaned in with big puppy dog eyes. "I'll let you bite my bu~utt"

"You're gross." He let the air out of his lungs in a heavy sigh. "Fine, fine. One day one wont hurt."

Amber leaned forward pressing her lips to his cheek in a small simple kiss. "Thank you Jaune." His face was bright red when she pulled back, sure they'd shared far more intimate moments than this but the realization that this was the first time a girl besides his mom had kissed him, was, well. "You know maybe you should try softening that way to look at people, maybe you'll start to see what I see."

"A-am" He stuttered, trying to still process her lips on his cheek.

"And if I get my hands on that fat wobbly ass-mountain!" thunderously she roared, throwing a fist up into the air, utterly ruining the moment. "You'll be the first to know."

There was a slight unease to the air though. Jaune's eyes drifting to the other side of the room away from the wolf girl in front of him. "Amber… You like Harpy then? I thought… well.. You liked me?"

"Of course I like you silly." Her fingers ran through his hair, the pink on his cheeks only increasing with her touch. "I like her too."

"I mean like."

"Butt touching kinda friends?" She reasoned.

"No!" Jaune couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head and nuzzling into her hand. They hadn't really talked about it but he supposed she didn't really have a concept of modern boyfriend and girlfriend dynamics. "I just… nevermind."

He sighed, resigning himself to the fact he'd probably have to share Amber, or that she'd end up picking Harpy, he was happy for her obviously but there was a sense of melancholy to that though.

"You want me to be your girlfriend, right?" Jaune seemed a little shocked by that, opening his mouth to argue to the contrary but she brought up her hand to stop him. She started to chew her lip. "Grimm don't form relationships, they don't mate or procreate at all, they are born from sludge and darkness."

She paused to try and collect her words.

"I don't know how to be a girlfriend. I don't know how to love only one person, or what i'm not allowed to do." She shrugged, and maybe Jaune was doing that thing where he looked at people differently because he understood, he understood not wanting to admit you were lacking somewhere. Amber didn't know about social situations, she didn't know if hugging was too much, or if she was too loud, hell he had to explain to her that there were specific rooms to use the washroom in and that no she wasn't allowed to go into the same room as him.

He understood there was a little bit of embarrassment in not knowing about feelings and people and what was acceptable. "I know that it's not normal for me to like you and Harpy, I don't even know if I like Harpy as much as I like you." A pause "I don't… not right now, but what if I do down the line?"

She let out a defeated little sigh. "I don't want you to be with me knowing that I might like other people too. Or if I do something I shouldn't, like when I kissed you, right? That felt normal to me, but I felt it on you, it wasn't."

"Amber…" He finally spoke, some part of him wanted to tell her she was wrong, that he liked her and that was enough, but honestly, wasn't he happy enough as her friend? He was. Was he happy for her finding someone special to her besides him? Of course he was. Would he be happy knowing she also had feelings for other people and that was just something that happened to her? He… wasn't sure.

"Is there anyone else besides Harpy?"

"Winter.. But thats really just her butt, she's not really my type." When he looked at her out of surprise she just smiled wide and snickered. "Teasing, of course."

"You're ridiculous." He shook his head. "I mean, listen, how about we just keep an eye on it, I'm not going anywhere, If someone else comes along that you like, we can see if that becomes large feelings or maybe you just want to be their friend?" He shrugged. "Same with me, we're already best friends, lets see if this becomes more, or if we stay friends. I don't see that as a loss."

Amber looked at him with nothing besides pure honest love in her eyes. "Jaune you really are amazing."

"I'm not really doing anything special." Shaking his head he really believed it, everyone should treat their friends with understanding. "Now come on, we have a big day ahead of us."

"Oh Jaune taking me to bed after all that?" followed by a wink.

"You can sleep outside." He groaned, hitting the lights and getting up from his chair, sauntering over towards their bunk beds.

Though unmistakably there were four note cards left together, just from him fiddling idly with them, three girls, Amber, Harpy, Pale and their soon to be leader, Jaune Arc.

_______________________________________________________________

To say the next day was awkward-

"You're kinda pathetic, anyone ever tell you that?" The harsh crass tone that only one woman in the world could ever pull off. Jaune was laying down on a bench gasping for air just trying to keep up with the two girls he had been jogging with, well sprinting, well gasping for air and flailing his arms to try and keep up.

Honestly Jaune wasn't even unathletic anymore, sure when he was at beacon he'd been a lazy sack, but now he was showing muscle, getting into shape. He was starting to middle of the pack it with the rest of the trainees and yet compared to Amber and Harpy he was a toddler running in the olympics. "I'll keep that in mind, might make me run faster next time."

"Well you can't possibly do worse." a long drawn out huff. Harpy ran her fingers through that short colourful hair, barely even sweating.

"I thought we were playing nice." Jaune stood up right stretching his back and feeling his shirt ride up just ever so slightly over his abdominals. His attention more focused on Amber now who was just tagging her tail and looked overly happy that her two new friends were interacting.

"I am playing nice, I'm here aren't I?"

"Hey come on, it's just nice everyone hanging out together, right?" Amber just tried to spread her arms wide and just take in the warm fuzzy feelings that were evidently so absent.

"Sure." The pattering of Jaune's feet away from the two indicated he wasn't a huge fan of being talked to like this, not after getting it from Weiss and Yang basically every day back at Beacon. He gets it, it's fun to pick on him for being behind the pack, he was trying to improve damnit, but Harpy didn't give a shit, that much was obvious.

"Done already, Captain?" Harpy called hummed towards him, putting her water bottle to her lips.

What was her problem with him, beside the fact she was a person so obviously that meant she was some self centered asshole. Even now Jaune was trying to be civil, he hadn't said a single thing to her, tried to keep chatter to a minimum but that seemed to make her only angrier. He'd tried to do what Amber had told him, stop seeing people for that shell and see deeper into them, but all he saw on Harpy was annoyance, attitude, a bad one at that.

"No, just getting my water." Muttering under his breath.

"So what's next?" Amber piped up excitedly.

"I was going to suggest sparing but we might kill him."

Jaune gripped the neck of his bottle tighter, trying to control that rage boiling in his putrid gut. Screwing back on the cap he let out a ragged breath from between his teeth. "Right, you two can go on ahead then."

"Jaune?"

"You heard him, Amber." Harpy turned to her new friend, pleased with herself, that bad attitude finally getting him fed up enough to leave. Yeah if Amber wanted him looking close enough then yes, he could plainly see Harpy as the aggressive manipulative bitch she was.

"I'll be fine, I should get back to group pairing anyway." There was a twist to those words, idle for sure but be made sure they rang enough for Harpy to pick up on them. Yeah if she wanted to play hardball he could play hardball.

She wants to be a cunt, he could make her life a living hell, pairing her up with the worst possible team and as far away from Amber as possible, Amber might hate him for a minute but it was better than letting this leech dig her talons in.

"You two have fun." His monotone dark as he glared over his shoulder at Harpy, who stared back at him with daggers lingering at the fringe of her vision. Man if looks could kill.

Still it wasn't long until they were out of sight and he was walking back together that no-carb keto friendly sea-weed… Jaune tried to think of more hipster words but couldn't bring any to mind.

But was surprised.

Sitting at the same spot she was yesterday was Amelia. Great a Schnee wannabe to deal with too, even if she was shaking around a drink, something green and viscus and motioning for him to sit down with her.

Did.. did she buy him a drink?

"Jaune!" She practically purred, mature full lips pursing at every syllable of his name.

"Amelia?" He pulled back out the chair. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Well I saw you getting chewed up by that green haired punk girl and figured you could probably use a pick-me-up." Her smile was bright but one may be forgiven for it not melting Jaune's heart immediately. He couldn't see a reason why she'd be nice to him, she didn't stand to gain anything besides a better place in a good team, but there was no doubt in his mind that she didn't stand a chance at wiggling any sort of favoritism out of him.

This wasn't some school yard fantasy of the honour student blowing the teacher under the desk for a better grade to keep appearances.

"I appreciate it." Was all she got as he took the drink, even then her smile while and warm never faded from her features.

"She and Amber seem to be getting along." There was a tinge of judgement to that, like she wasn't sure how she felt about it either. "Glad you both seem to be making friends, though Harpy may not be the best ambassador to Atlas unfortunately. I do assure you, we're mostly a lot nicer than she is."

"We had atleasians at Beacon." He made the comment but put the straw of his drink back in mouth to indicate that there wasn't more of that dangling sentence. That smile faltered only just a second, her face turning to stare straight ahead.

Good going Jaune, he told himself, you managed to kill this conversation, can't you just accept someone being nice to you?

The answer was clearly no.

Jaune inspected her face from the corner of his eye. Drawing the line of her jaw, the way her hair fell just ever so slightly right in front of her face, two loops of long white locks. She wasn't pouting but it was clear there was something distance to her gaze.

Oh shit, he was doing that, 'looking closer' thing Amber wanted him to do. He… fuck he saw it there too. He saw her frowning, not with her face but in the way her eyes shook with sadness, the pout of her lip even if ever so slightly. He could feel it too, like her aura was touching his and all that emotion was running through him the same way it did with Amber. Well not really but he could imagine it, he could remember the tangible feeling of sadness, he felt it all over Amelia like it was coming off her in waves.

"Thank you." He let out the words with a breath, taking another sip from his drink. "For the drink." A pause. "And the company."

She turned to him but he was already looking away, was she… blushing? He couldn't help but feel his own cheeks turn a little pink. She smiled and hid it in taking a sip from her drink. "Jaune Arc, being nice? Are you sure you won't have an allergic reaction to it?"

"Don't get used to it." He gave her a smirk but honestly he still held feelings that she was just buttering him up. "So why come to this gym out in the middle of nowhere? The school has better facilities than this."

"I could ask you the same thing." She countered, eyes glancing at him from their corners, even if her smile was playful. But she did offer an answer to his question. "I just like the view here better."

Her 'humph' and unapologetic demeanour gave him the impression that was not the truth, or at least not the whole truth and she made no secret of that fact. Which left the question to Jaune, which became a sensitive subject, he put his hand to the back of his neck, she wasn't exactly being forthright with her own weaknesses, should he just come forward and say he was here because he was remedial in all his tests?

"I'm actually kind of a shite hunter." He admitted, not sure why he was, afterall it went against everything he believed. "I have terrible scores, honestly it's a crime to even give me a weapon."

Pale smiled and leaned back "Thank gods It's not just me! I thought I was going to be the only one terrible at fighting!" That bright smile on her face practically lighting up the room. "I love coming to the gym but the one at the school is so intimidating! It's a struggle even having amber and harpy here. My poor ego."

A hand went to her cheek bashfully taking herself down a notch. "Trust me, with me around, you won't be the worst in the class at least."

"Hey, Ironwood picked you as our leader for a reason, and I hope it wasn't for your brawn." Taking her drink and downing the last of it she got to her feet with a small bounce that Jaune found it hard not to take notice of. "But since we're actually having a real conversation, want to keep this going and walk me back to the dorms?"

Jaune thought back to Amber, she was safe, harpy was no danger to her, it was probably the other way around. She did want him to make friends… "Yeah I thi-"

"I can't believe you!" Amber was storming out of the locker rooms in a huff, walking away from a Harpy who followed after in a lazy fashion. Amber's feet stomping away towards the doors until she strolled to a stop seeing Jaune still in the building, her cheeks turning a little pink.

"Amb-" Harpy tried to shout after her but stopped when she saw Jaune too.

"Hey…" muttering with an awkward inflection Jaune just stared at the two women, then back to Amelia. "Th-this is Amelia, Pale, she's in our class?" He tried to offer, something to keep their minds off of whatever argument the two girls were having.

"Apologise!" Amber chided and pointed towards Jaune, he balked, eyes going wide for a second before she turned her gaze back towards Harpy, leering at her and making it clear to everyone she meant her.

"I didn't do shit to that asshole." The punk teen growled. Crossing her arms under that in comparison to the other two ladies, smaller chest. Still at a better size than most other girls their age.

"Apologise."

"What's going on here?" Amelia asked with a tilted head.

"I have no idea." Jaune just stared with pure unadulterated terror, this was more public than he'd ever wanted anything in her life to ever be.

"Apologise!"

"FINE!" Harpy shouted, loud enough that even the server at the health shake shack lowered behind the desk slowly to escape the awkward situation. Jaune envied her, instead he had to stare as the pink and green haired girl stormed her way towards him, a grimace on her face "I'm sorry!"

She sounded anything but. "For what?" Amber chided.

"For…" She cursed under her breath. "For making fun of your pu-"

"Harpy…"

"For making fun of you." She spat out, Jaune did not feel the love but honestly he was beyond words, this was amazing, Amber had gotten a bully to apologise to him, thats… wow that had never happened before. "I… Do I have to say it? Are we cool?"

"Harpy you have to say it all."

"I… Fuck, this is so uncool." Who says 'uncool'? "I… still wanna be friends.. I'm sorry I was mean to you." She glared backwards at Amber, as if asking if that was enough. Amber just smiled the biggest brightest smile she could.

"I love when we all get along." No one, it seemed, was getting along.

"Should I be concerned about this?" Amelia asked with a half laugh creeping into her voice.

"I certainly hope not." Jaune murmured. Then coughing into his fist he tried to straighten himself and look Harpy in the eyes, trying to figure out what in the world brought this on. Certainly she didn't care about Amber but that was the only thing Jaune could think of. "We're cool then, yeah."

Harpy just let out an annoyed sigh and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "That good enough for you, Mutt?" Mutt? Jaune nearly burst a blood vessel and from the looks of it Pale nearly did too. "He said we're good."

Before either of the two could step in though Amber just rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the punks's shoulder, pressing her lips against Harpy's cheek and made a loud smacking sound. "See, that wasn't so hard was it?"

Jaune just stared stunned, "Who's this?" Amber asked excitedly, tail wagging behind her.

"Amelia. Amelia Pale, Jaune alrea-"

"Right! Right, sorry we were distracted, Harpy was just upset-" Harpies hand clapped over Amber's mouth before she got any farther into that line of thinking, trying to laugh it off before letting Amer have her own voice back. "Are you two fighting? You're both so mad!"

"N-" Jaune tried to collect his thoughts, this conversation moving a mile a minute and hard for him to honestly keep up with. "No! We… We're actually about to head back to the dorms."

"The movies." Pale corrected. "Dinner and a movie." Her sly smile was accompanied by her saddling up next to Jaune and wrapping her arms around his, pressing that ample plush chest against his bicep and giving the other two girls a playful smirk. "Jaune just asked me out."

Amber was clearly as confused as he was. Everyone looking at the very proud of herself Pale. Though surprisingly it was Harpy who got a bright red smear across her face that equally matched Jaune's own. Pale was so much taller than him, her body so soft against his, he didn't know what brought this beautiful woman to get so close to him but he loved every second of it.

"He asked me to go out with him right before you both came from the showers, so I decided to give him my answer." Putting her hand on the other side of his chin in a vaguely possessive manner, standing more upright so that his head was pressing firmly against her chest.

Jaune hadn't the faintest idea what she was talking about and the sly little wink she gave him asking him to play along mixed with the sheer awkwardness the young Arc had around women made it hard for him to do little more than avoid the questioning gazes of amber and harpy and mumble his own agreement.

The busty woman pulled away leaving him feeling a chill where her body heat so long clung to him and a drawing feeling like he wanted to dive back into the soft confines of her plush body. "Perfect, we will have a wonderful date then, I'm so excited!"

Feeling his pants get a little tighter, he tried to clear his throat but the sound off Harpy 'tsk'ing and the look of growling anger she wore getting a shade worse reminded him vaguely of staring down an Ursa during his first week at Beacon. The air seemed to get colder in the lobby, feeling her cold killing intent in the air.

Harpy just grabbed the drink in Jaune's hand and tossed it as hard as she could against the wall. Everyone staring at the sudden burst of rage as the green kelpy shake splattered against the porcelain white walls. "ASSHOLE!" She shouted as his face and stormed off.

"Harpy!" Amber called rushing after her, but stopping and trotting over to Jaune and Pale. "Sorry, she's uh. Um.. It was nice to meet you pretty lady!" She gave Pale a curt bow and returned to running after her new friend.

"Wh-at was that about?" Jaune blinked twice, looking at the funky coloured crime scene of his murdered drink.

"You're really not good with women are you?"

Jaune leveled his gaze back at her to which she made a disarming apologetic look. "Speaking of asking what shit was about, care to explain our date?"

Amelia put her hands on her cheeks and got a wistful romantic look on her face. "I was just so taken with you, I had to confess my feelings." Why did Jaune not believe that for a second. She crossed his arms and made it clear he wasn't going to take some half answer from her. She let out a tired sigh and shrugged, putting her own arms under her impressive chest. Looking down at him with a more cunning expression on her face, though it still looked playful on that beautiful face of hers. "You really don't understand women."

"I understand people, they do things because they want something. So what is it that you want? To make Harpy upset with me?" Jaune's tone was dark, an edge to it, that mistrust coming back with a vengeance.

"Jaune.." She sounded a little hurt, her brow furrowing upwards, Jaune had to look away to stop his chest from tugging, he might want to be cold but it was a lot harder when you could actually see the face of the person as you got them upset. "I…"

There was an awkward silence as the server at the smoothie shack slowly rose up. "I-is it safe?"

Amelia just took Jaune's hand, getting him to look at her. "I… I'm sorry."

He blinked. Eyes looking up at her, a small blush forming just on the edge of his nose. She continued after taking a small breath. "I… I saw the way Harpy looked at you-" the way Harpy looked at him? With hatred and disdain? "-And I was going to ask you on the way back if we could stop for dinner."

Pulling him closer so that she could lift up her other hand and rung her fingers through his hair. "I just didn't want them to drag you away from me. Y-you can go tell them it was a joke, if you like."

She was petting him like a dog, he tried to tell himself that he didn't like it but then again he also wasn't pulling away or telling her to stop. He made a grumbling noise and shifted on his feet, trying to ignore that he was practically at eye level with that impressive chest of hers. "I… They'll calm down, Amber will see what's got Harpy in a mood…" He mumbled out the rest trying not to sound like a child but it came out that way anyways. "W-we do have a date after all."

Pale got a weird smile on her face that made Jaune feel like a rabbit being stalked by a fox, her lidded eyes and bared fangs made him sweat but at the same time made his heart thrum in his chest. He couldn't help but feel like he was in danger but that he really- really did not mind that fact for a second.

"Ara ara, you're so good to me~" She practically purred. "My sweet boy."

Jaune discovered a new fetish that day. Though to be honest since his experience with women was limited to getting rejected with Weiss really all he'd just discovered was that he had a thing for attractive women who were sexually attracted to him. The fetish developed later when she all but ruined him for other women after their first valentine's day together.

"Sweet boy?" he tried to sound more confident when he questioned her about it but it came off more breathless than he intended.

"You, you're our leader but you're a sweet man, Jaune Arc. Even if you want me to think you're not." Leaning down she kisses his forehead, just a small peck but it stunned Jaune to the point he didn't even realize that she had pulled away, now at the doors of the building motioning for him to follow her. "Coming?"

The first step was instinct, but he made the rest of his own free will, pushing forward into the dangerous territory of this new strange relationship.

_____________________________________________

When Jaune had seen dinner dates in movies, tv, stories, he'd thought it was more fancy than Pale taking him to a local pub and ordering a bowl of nachos to share. Even Though she was the one who said she wanted nachos she'd stayed quiet and indicated for him to order when the server came by.

They sat and talked, mostly about their lives and where they came from to this point. Jaune talked about his many sisters, his mom, dad, going to Beacon. She could tell he wasn't giving the whole truth but everyone vaguely knew that he had been kicked out of Beacon even if only a few students were ever made aware of why.

Pale herself had a fairly simple life even if she was an Atlas elite, she was the third daughter and fifth child of her family, all of them prestigious in their own rights. Two well trained hunters, a politician, one was even a scientist leading the field of aura augment and development. Which was just a fancy way to say that she made the equipment that turned aura into weapons.

While he was nodding like he understood, he was actually very lost, mostly just trying to keep up and take genuine interest in her family. Her father seemed to be very big in the market and also has his hands in the manufacturing industry and is a massive donor to the academy. Though what really excited her to talk about was their families part in the faunus rights movement. She talked about setting up marches, funding work efforts. It seemed like her father was a big proponent in sustainable movements. Funding schools, creating jobs, Pale specifically mentioned a week when she joined him during a business meeting to start a huge push for new businesses to start up around the crater and try to jumpstart the economy of the lower income sections of Mantle.

That part actually got Jaune really interested, their conversation a wonderful smiling talk of business and beliefs. It never quite got too close to them just patting themselves on the back for being good people, always edged with some subtle jab about sipping caviar while they looked from ivory towers, stuffing their faces with chips and even the beautiful Pale ugly laughing with tears rolling down her face at times.

She kept questioning about Jaune and his family, seeming so enamoured with the idea of having a close family, even if she had a big family herself most had different moms. Her father was a philanthropist not a saint, and while they were all good people they didn't seem to have much in common and many years between them. Her oldest sibling was in their thirties. So Jaune talking about hoa he and all of his sisters with five years apart even while his family was larger was exciting to her.

Pale did make sure to clear up that her father was a kind and gentle man, who cared for them all equally. He just had a bad habit around beautiful women. Which judging by Pale's lookos meant that they were probably genetic and his father had amazing taste.

"I feel bad for Amber to be honest, living without a family. I had my older sister, and my dad, the butlers and maids." She put her chin into her hand munching on the dregs of chips remnants. "To be stuck out there with only Grimm for company."

Jaune just shrugged, thinking about Harpy who grew up in an orphanage. He shuddered trying not to think about her at all. "Amber's just happy… well in general, I'm sure she would be happy no matter where you put her, that woman just loves being alive."

Pale couldn't help but tilt her head at that, raising an eyebrow at him. "You really like her don't you?" There was a melancholy to that, it was obviously she meant as more than friends. His instinct was to lie and say no, he wondered if that would make her feel better or worse? Maybe a lie was easier? "For someone who doesn't know anything about women you're plenty popular with them."

He figured that lying would only make things worse, Pale was smart enough to notice something so plainly obvious. Lying would only hurt any trust they'd built up until now. "Yeah.. I know that's… weird. I don't want you to think I'm going to be with her or anything. We're just friends, she's my best friend, the only person I can really trust…" He tried to say besides Pale, but in all honesty he couldn't, He trusted her like he trusted Pyrrha before everything at Beacon happened. For as much as they were having a great time and as much as he found himself genuinely falling for her, he couldn't trust her, not fully, everyone leaves at some point, he reminded himself. "I think it's because when I met her she said she wasn't human or Faunus, she called herself a Grimm, of all things. Weird that I trusted her more for that. I want to trust people, It's just hard to."

Well that sounded crazy, he knew that for sure, but she looked like she understood. "Trust me I'm not judging you for having feelings, I would be lying if I said I didn't think she was cute too. I also get 'not trusting people', my father taught me never to trust men until you've seen the colour of their soul. When I was little I didn't know what he meant. I'm sure he meant something profound but when I got my semblance I understood it more, When I touch people I can see what kind of person they are. At least for the most part."

Jaune read her file but seeing someone's soul wasn't in there. "What do you mean? So my soul is a good colour than?"

She just smirked and gave him a wink. "No it's terrible, so I know I can trust you to do the worst thing possible." She snickered but leaned back putting another debris chip into her mouth, Jaune following suit, finishing the plate. " I see what people's semblances look like, what their aura is like. When I touch them at least. I can't tell what they're thinking or anything but if you believe aura is an expression of our souls…" she shrugged. "Yours is warm."

"Warm?" He made a face at that, a mix between bashful and nervous.

"Warm." She confirmed. "Welcoming, like home."

Jaune felt himself blush, turning his head away only to hear her laugh. "You're so cute when you blush." Which only made him blush even brighter. "I can see why so many girls look at you the way they do."

"Pfft" She scoffed. "Alright, I'm a little slow but I'm not dumb, or blind. Amber likes me and you like teasing me." He pointed out the last bit as a way to insinuate that he was fun for the moment but she'd get bored of him. "I tried to be the guy girls like back at Beacon, now I'm well aware, I'm the guy girls spread rumors about in the back of the class."

Pale got an almost sympathetic look on her face, as if to say 'aww poor little puppy' and leaned forward so that her bust rested on the hard wooden table between them. Her elbows pressing them together as she rested her chin on her palms. "Maybe when you first got there. Hell, even when you first got here, but you worked off that baby fat and started dressing better. You walk like you know who you are, and besides, I've got to admit the rugged jawline, blonde hair and blue eyes are really doing it for me."

Jaune stared at her with his mouth hanging open. This drop dead gorgeous bombshell of a babe- woman was lavishing him in compliments, her voice low and hushed but loud enough that she wasn't afraid of others hearing.

He tried to form a sentence but there wasn't really a word that could filter through his brain.

Giggles started to seep through her throat, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. "Besides you noticed Amber looking at you and she's adorable. So right now that's at least two pretty ladies who are very interested in you." She got kind of a queer look on her face. "Well Three but I'll let you figure out the third yourself." Giving him a sly wink.

That statement came with a doubtful look from the man across of her, but he didn't press any farther. "Honestly, you're the first person I've wanted to trust since I got here. Besides General Ironwood."

He added the second part as an afterthought, like it was obviously and was an expectation. Amelia just nodded. "Ironwood is a good man, he's been to plenty of balls and dinners. A perfect gentleman, but his aura is always so cold." She shivered like she remembered the feeling of ice after years in a desert. "I'm flattered you chose me, for my station and good looks I assume?"

To which she did the last thing Jaune expected, peeling back the corner of her already low collar, revealing more of that creamy porcelain white cleavage. "You're a good man, but you have wandering eyes, Jaune Arc."

Her wink made him well aware of the face he didn't mind that, and while every fiber of his being was yelling at him to look away out of modesty, to hide that red creeping around his face and down his neck. Instead he stared at her eyes, keeping his gaze locked on her, his words softer, more sympathetic. "No, I saw that you were missing something, just like me." The words fell out and her eyes got a little more shocked than before, questioning and letting go of the hem from her shirt. "You're beautiful, wow are you beautiful, like damn-" He stopped because he realized that was going to go on for a while and cleared his throat. "But I want to let you in because you're- you feel warm."

He didn't quite know what he meant by that, but he had to admit that he felt safe with her, however much of a mistake that was. But he understood exactly what she meant when she said his arua felt like home.

This time it was her turn to blush , covering her face with a palm. "I-I-I-" She stammered and brought the other hand up to cover her face completely. "I, no one's ever…"

"Sorry that was probably super weird to say." Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Amber would have just agreed you have nice boobs. She's bett-"

Her hand reached out and grabbed onto his hand, holding it tight and peeking at him from behind her hand. Jaune had made this beautiful woman blush like a schoolgirl, which he supposed she was, after she'd been so confident, wow that was an ego boost. His chest swelled and his heart thrummed in his chest, he hadn't felt like this since the first night he stayed here with Amber, oh no he'd fallen for her. Head over heels.

Amber felt different, he knew he liked Amber when they had their big moment. Pale was a surprise, a pleasant, utterly welcome one. He hadn't expected to feel anything for her, but now there was something lighting the gasoline of his veins on fire, boiling over and making his entire body burn up.

"I know I basically strong armed you into this date, but would you want to go out again sometime?" How could one woman be so cute, that confident bravado, forward sexuality, shy blushing demeure when someone returned her flirtation with earnest affection. She was adorable, almost unreal. If he hadn't seen her demolish a plate of nachos and also see her get jealous easily, he'd have said it was an act. But then again her getting so jealous had been pretty cute, a nice change of pace for the girl to be the one getting jealous, he snickered inwardly.

"I'd love to. This was.. A lot of fun, more fun than I've had in a long, long time."

"I suppose we should head back to the dorm." Her lamentation was echoed by Jaune who equally didn't want to go back to the dorms, more interested in talking to her but they had held up this table for a long time.

The bill got paid and there wasn't really anything else interesting that happened. Their walk back was long but neither person felt like it was long enough, arriving meant parting. Arriving meant it was over.

What was so sweet, better than the meal and talk that came prior was the looks they got, hands coiled around each other, Pale making sure to put on a show of putting his arm around her hip when other girls walked by.

Jaune couldn't help but love the feeling, love being around her, she made him feel so special, so powerful. He wanted to make her feel like that, wanted her to feel as strong as she made him. Their dorms were close, but of course she was staying on a separate floor. Just a minute away, but seeming like another country for the extra distance between them.

He was a man of his word and walked her to the door, both standing out in front of it.

And then he said the dumbest thing he'd ever said in his entire life. "I had a great time tonight."

Like every basic white girl in every rom com movie. Pale stared blankly at him and he felt his inside curl up into a ball, he wanted to die. That was how he was going to end tonight, he put his face into his palm. "Wow that was.. That was terrible wasn't it?"

Her fingers against his chin, lifting his face to look up at hers, she gave that same room brightening smile. "I had a great time too."

His hand came up to touch her's still on his cheek. Their fingers curled against each other, she took another step close to the point they were almost touching, but just enough room that she wasn't craning her neck to look down at him.

One palm pressed against his chest, feeling the hard layer of muscle and letting her nails curl against it. His free hand going to her hip, feeling her distinct muscle under the plush layer of flesh than his fingers sunk into, god that feeling drove him wild. Their eyes explored each other, his drawing over every line of her face, her nose, her full round, red lips. Her cheekbones, her beautiful eyes, glinting with the hallway's white lights.

"I.. really like you, Jaune." Her breath tickled his neck, his chin, she leaned down closer closing most of the distance as the hand on his chest wrapped around his back, holding him steady as she leaned in.

"I-" He was cut off by himself, closing the distance, his eyes fluttering shut as she pressed into her, fingers against the soft skin of her cheek, arm pulling her close. It was chaste at first, feeling the softness of her full lips, savouring the sensation of the breath from her nose against him, her skin against his, their bodies pressed together in the timeless.

Then her lips spread, tongue filtering out and connecting with his, still this wasn't a gross make out but it felt more intense than Jaune was expecting, she tasted- a little like nachos still, but there was a tingle in his gut that made his knees weak, his head was getting light just feeling the sensation of intimacy. The way she groaned against his open maw showed him she felt it too.

Their hands explored, along his back, over her sides, chaste but the intention was there. This wasn't just physical but there was so much physical attraction here it was painful to hold back. They were clumsy, tongue bashing against each other in awkward movements, her teeth hit his at one point. But it was those moments, those moments that made him feel even closer to her. They weren't afraid to make mistakes in front of each other, and that feeling of the other being warm? It made sense, it was safe, the Jaune felt safe with her, like he did with Amber but different, it was subtle but it was a whole different world for the vastness in difference it made.

Jaune could only describe it with one word. Home.

Their lips parted with such sorrow, a little line of spit connecting them until it broke under it's own weight. Pale got a sheepish smile on her face, even if her eyes still spoke of that same predatory gleam, like she wanted to pounce on him and take him inside, doing whatever she wanted with him. But she was a patient huntress, and she could wait to devour this one yet. Even if her legs were shaking from just that kiss alone. "I-I've never kissed- I, well.."

"That was my first kiss too." Jaune concluded for her. Tightening his grip on her hand.

"Gods, I'm going to ruin you one day." That felt like it was supposed to be an inside thought, but without thinking she made it an outside thought. Both of them blushing before she cleared her throat. "Well… I should go inside now, to curl up and die."

"I mean… how will you ruin me if you die? Gotta stick around to get the chance." That was… actually really smooth? Jaune was impressed with himself. She bit her lower lip peering down her cheeks at him, she was thinking even worse things than she said and she made no secret of hiding it.

She kissed him one more time, pulling him closer this time and practically lifting him off the ground, nothing as deep as before but still just as passionate. "Goodnight, Jaune~"

"Goodnight, Amelia."

"Pale. I prefer Pale."

"Pale~" The word sounded good on her tongue, he decided he liked it. With that the door was closed and he was left alone in the hallway.

Jaune tried to suppress the giddy sensation in his guts, feeling like he was walking on air. The elevator took him up to his floor, the slow music playing on the inside, did any of today really happen? It felt so distant in the back of his mind. He hardly believed it and he was the one who lived it.

The halls if his floor looked so drab, colourless white and faded blue, but he had to admit they looked cleaner in this new light. The white was bright instead of oppressive, the blue was vibrant instead of dull.

He ran his fingers over the tiled walls, looking at the door that's his, thinking he could hear movement on the other side.

Right he would need to apologise and explain things to Amber wouldn't he? To a lesser extent Harpy but she hardly mattered, Amber would get bored of her pretty quickly and it was clear that Pale also had a thing for Amber. So perhaps the pink and green punk wouldn't be around for much longer.

His hand wrapped around the door and gave it a twist. He opened it regularly but stopped at the halfway point. Just enough that both Amber and Harpy looked back at him with red embarrassed expressions.

This… this was not how he wanted to see Amber naked.

Laying on her back with Harpy on top of her, their tongues were hanging out obviously just pausing a passionate make out session, hell he could have sworn he saw Amber swallow a load of Harpy's drool. The wolf girl has her shirt pulled up with her tits exposed, bra discarded off to the side and a little rip in the t-shirt she always wore.

What was more embarrassing though was the fact neither woman was wearing pants, Harpy's massive bubble butt in full display with arousal dripping down her thigh, Amber with two fingers of the pink girl pushing her panties aside, up her skirt and deep inside her.

Jaune just stared for a long second with none of them saying anything. Amber whimpering with embarrassment, covering her face but still grinding her hips against Harpy's hand.

Harpy herself just looked at him with a mildly annoyed face. "If you're going to be a pussy, just leave, at least close the door."

"Right, I'll be back later." He agreed and shut the door turning away from it.

Jaune could feel his chest ripping open from the inside, clutching at his heart, hand balling up his shirt he unsteadily made it back to the elevator. Collapsing into a heap in its corner.

He… she… they..

Amber was sleeping with Harpy. She said she liked him and they hadn't even kissed in weeks, barely done more than hold hands and hug. Harpy was sleeping with her in two days.

Jaune's mind raved, raced from one possibility to the other. Amber wasn't his anymore though, that was clear, Harpy won, she won because he let his guard down for a cute face once.

This. This was why he couldn't get close to anyone. Well… he could get close to one person.

Taking out his scroll, Jaune flipped to the only contact he had besides Ironwood and Winter. He his enter and waited.

"Jaune, so soon? Miss me that much?"

He let out a shaky breath hearing her voice. Pale sounded so serene, so beautiful even as sleep clouded her voice. He wanted to just listen to her talk. Well he wanted a hug, but that just made him think of Amber and that just made that growing pain in his chest grow even tighter.

She could probably hear his shaking breath and her voice got nervous, a little scared even "Jaune? Are you okay?"

"I uh.. I can't be in my dorm tonight…"

She didn't need any more than that. "Come back upstairs, I'll take the couch. I'll have some hot chocolate made for you when you get here."

Her voice was so warm, he couldn't help but feel a year roll down his cheek. He should feel as betrayed as he should but for some part of his brain it was this bad. He wouldn't have been upset to see Amber with someone, but they were sleeping in his room, sleeping in his bed, that was the same bed he and her had cuddled up in and promised it was them against the world, that they'd be by each other's side. And she was sharing it with someone who hated him, someone who wanted nothing to do with him.

He didn't register the elevator ding or knocking on Pale's door. He didn't even really have a thought, just running in auto pilot until he was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring down at his hands. Pale standing in the door way.

"Hey you're going to be okay, you know that right?"

"Yeah I suppose so." He finally spoke. Looking at the still steaming cup of coco at the nightstand. "This is just how things are, I suppose."

She took a step into the room, putting her hand on the frame of the bed. "What do you mean? Amber sleeping with Harpy?"

Jaune supposed that was the logical answer but he shook his head. "People move on, everyone is just a stepping stone to someone else. I'm one of those stones, stable, easy to push off of to get to better ground."

Pale just shook her head, sitting down beside him, feeling the best bend so that he was forced to lean against her. God's she was more comfy than the bed itself. "You're bit Jaune, you're more than just a stone, and I'm sure Amber will explain things to you in time." She tried to reason. "Just because a few people did horrible things to you, doesn't mean they all will, doesn't mean Amber will, and it certainly doesn't mean I will."

Pale was wearing a pair of very flattering pajamas, just a simple white t, no bra, baggy shorts that did little to hide the way her butt just fell out of them. Her room was sparse but it was awkward she would have to admit that a couple of posters for local musicals hung on her walls.

Jaune looked around her room but ended up feeling like his eyes were going to bite out of his skull if he kept them open. So he closed then hard and just pushed her head back down into her, feeling her soft hands pat along his tangled golden hair, making soft comforting noises and stroking his mane.

Her arms wrapped around him pulling him in so that his face was buried into the heavenly pillow of her chest, but he could hardly call it sexual, this was comfort, this was the most human, the most intimate way to express that comfort. "I'm not going anywhere Jaune, you're not some stepping stone, you're my island, you're a rock, you're home."

There was so much of that he wanted to believe, his arms wrapping around her tightly, not wanting to let go for tonight at least.

But she was wrong, he was just her stepping stone, she didn't know it yet. Once something better came alone, or thing got hard, she'd move onto someone else.

Still.

Until this he just wanted to hold her close, feel her warm body against his, take in her scent, hear her heartbeat through her chest, her breath on the top of his head. She was going to leave eventually, he knew that, but he wanted her here for as long as she would stay. At least for tonight, was all he wanted.

Before you leave, just hold me a little longer.

__________________________

In the present Jaune tossed fitfully in his sleep, a nightmare about Grimm and his girls clouding his mind, hands clawing a recent scar cooked white against his chest and through his torso.

Sweet poured down his brow, it wasn't one of those nightmares that just disappeared when you woke up. It was one of the ones that felt real, that when his eyes finally did open he wasn't in the waking world. The monsters, the death followed him into the room.

But his body wasn't moving, his whole body paralyzed while the shadowed and Grimm coiled around him, eyes unable to look away from the corpses of his friend littering the floor.

A shift behind him, a real shift pushed him out of it, letting his eyes adjust to reality, adjust to the room. He sat up, sweat still pouring over his body. He pulled off his shirt and couldn't help shaking. He'd fought hundred of Grimm but still these nightmares wouldn't leave, they came for him in the only place he was vulnerable, his mind.

A hand placed itself on his back. "You okay? A dream about those awful kelp shakes back at Atlas?"

Jaune tried to laugh at that but his voice failed him. In a couple of minutes he'd be their strong leader again, stalwart, infallible. The man his girls could believe in. Watching then die and not being able to do anything about it, just- it felt so real, he thought it was real, he woke up and still saw their corpses.

"Jaune?" Pale got even more worried now. Sitting up and pulling him in closer, putting her forehead against his jaw. "Hey I'm here, I'm here. Breathe for me, baby."

She pulled his arms up, pulling his sweat drenched shirt off and pulling him back in so that his head was laid across that heavenly pillow he'd come to recognize so we'll. The body he loved, has become so familiar with, the place he called home.

"It was that nightmare again." He murmured, feeling the familiar sensation of her fingers through his hair, her lips against his ear. She turned him around so that her entire body fit against his back, spooning him and running her hands over his hair, kissing the back of his head and holding him closer than she had before, hugging him like a back pack.

"I'm not going anywhere, I'm always going to be here, I'm here, I'll always be here."

Jaune believed her, a smile finally forming in his face as she'd helped him so many months ago now. It felt like a lifetime. Jaune let out a breath. "I love you."

"I love you too, I'm always here for you my love, always, I'm never going to leave you, I'll be there with you until the end."

Always she repeated, forever and always, until the stars died out and only they were left and then even after that. And then finally "I'm here."

End