You Always Need Preparation

They were silent. Both understood what their friends had done. They liked each other and they knew that they liked each other, but saying such words wouldn't exactly be easy.

"Soooo..." Jaune started, unsure of what to say to the girl in front of him. "Friends are acting kind of weird huh?"

Velvet nodded with a slight blush on her face. "Jaune, do you like me?" Jaune was shocked by the question. "Of course I do!"

Velvet smiled. "As more than a friend?" Jaune began to blush now and unable to formulate a sentence, he nodded.

"I like you too Jaune, but what do you think we should do about it?" Jaune didn't need to think for very long to come up with an idea.

"We don't need to do anything about it Velv, I say we just let things run their course and see where we go." Velvet smiled at Jaune's idea and nodded in reply.

Their Scrolls both vibrated as they got a message from Yang. Jaune decided to read it out loud. "That isn't good enough; you aren't getting off of this roof until you agree to… go on a date?!"

His blush was back in no time. "Velvet, what do you think?" Looking up from his Scroll, Jaune saw that Velvet was blushing also.

"I-I guess we've got no other option…" It was fairly apparent that Velvet wasn't displeased by this fact. Jaune sighed in recognition. "Alright, we can head out to Vale over the weekend and go on a date."

Velvet was about to reply when Jaune got another message. It read: "Say it like you mean it." 'She is enjoying this way too much.'

Jaune took a deep inhale of breath and calmed his nerves. 'She already likes you, she wants this, just say it.' He looked Velvet dead in the eyes and asked her the question they hadn't been expecting for a long time.

"Velvet, will you go out with me?"

Velvet didn't hesitate for a moment when she replied. "I'd love to Jaune." They both smiled as they shared a warm embrace. It was broken however when yet another message was received.

"And now they kiss~"

Jaune nervously gulped as he looked to Velvet for some form of compliance. He sighed inwardly when she gave him a blank expression in return. 'I really need to make this call myself?'

Steeling his nerves once again, Jaune took hold of Velvets waist and brought her closer to him. He had to hold back a laugh when she made a small noise because of it.

She was now staring into his eyes and Jaune knew that Velvet wanted this as well. So he leaned his head closer to hers and closed his eyes, praying that she would do the same.

They met half way and shared their first kiss together. It was chaste and sloppy, but it meant the world to them both.

Only then did the door to the roof make a clicking sound and open for them. "Nice work you two," Yang said with her Scroll raised and another clicking sound was heard. "I didn't think you'd actually do it, you didn't have to after all."

The two hostages said nothing as they walked passed Yang and made their way down the stairwell. They passed the rest of the group along the way; each giving their own form of apology.

As Jaune passed Ren he gave the martial artist a death glare and whispered three simple words to him. "I trusted you."

The defeated look on Ren's face was then captured for eternity by Yang with another click of her Scroll.

Jaune and Velvet soon made it to the bottom of the stairs and turned to each other. "Sorry about that Velv, my friends can be a little 'enthusiastic' sometimes." Velvet laughed as she shook her head.

"It's fine, I guess it was pretty funny." Jaune then pulled the girl in for a quick hug. "It's Friday today, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow for our date."

As they parted, Velvet stood up on her tippy toes and gave Jaune a light kiss on the cheek before she turned around and took a few steps away from him. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Jaune."

She then turned around and winked at him. "For our date." She said seductively as she left for her own room.

Jaune then felt a burning heat on his face as he turned for his own room. 'I never knew Velvet could even act that way. I thought she was always innocent! Looks like I'm in for more than I thought tomorrow.'

He then smirked as he opened the door to his room. 'I can't wait.'

When Velvet returned to her room that night she had a proud smile on her face. This was easily noticed by Coco as she sat on her bed checking her Scroll for messages.

"What's gotten you so happy?" She asked with a smirk as Velvet sat on her own bed. "I have a date tomorrow." She replied as she took out her own Scroll.

"A date?" Coco asked in surprise as she put away her Scroll and looked at Velvet with a smile on her face. "With who?" She inquired. "You remember that guy I was telling you about, don't you? His name was Jaune."

Coco was slightly perplexed by this. "That guy that stopped Cardin? He asked you out?" Velvet nodded and turned to her. "His friends had a lot to do with it but we're going on a date tomorrow."

With the thought of her friend finally getting a boyfriend firmly planted in her mind, Coco set to action. "Where are you going?" She asked. "Out into Vale." Velvet replied.

"What are you wearing?" Coco continued as Velvet gave her a confused look. "Uhh, clothing?" She asked as Coco got a furious look on her face. "No, no, no. You have to dazzle him, wow him so much he'll have to go on a date with you again." Velvet was getting confused by this point.

"You need to wear something cute, like a skirt or a dress. There are plans that must be made!" Coco had by this point stood up and begun shaking Velvet with each word to get her message across.

"You can't do this by tomorrow. Postpone the date until Sunday and we'll be going into Vale to get you better prepared." Now Velvet was on the defensive. "What, why?!"

Coco's response was a stern glare. "Because you will follow the orders of your leader when she is working to protect you from harm." Velvet shivered at the sound of Coco's voice and curled into a ball on her bed. "Y-yes ma'am!"

"Good. Message Jaune and tell him it's off until Sunday, we leave at dawn." Velvet followed the order of her leader and sent a message to Jaune's Scroll.

'I hope he's okay with this.'

Jaune had fallen to sleep the moment he entered his room that night and his team soon followed. Ren felt guilty for what he had done and vowed to make up to his leader for misleading him.

The next morning they all woke up to their joint alarm and three of them groaned in protest. Nora was as chipper as usual though and got dressed before everyone even managed to leave their bed.

As Jaune struggled to get out of his sheets, Pyrrha asked him a question. "What are you going to be wearing for your date Jaune?" After he made his way out of the valley of doom that was his bed in the morning, Jaune gave Pyrrha an unclear look.

"C-clothes?" He asked as he stood in his blue onsie. Pyrrha only rolled her eyes. "I mean what clothes? Will you be dressing casual, formal, where are you even taking her?"

Jaune looked around the room to find both Ren and Nora staring at him as well, also curious to see what he had planned. "I guess I hadn't… thought about it?"

Three simultaneous face palms followed as Jaune stared at his friends in confusion. "Jaune, you're going on a date. You have to plan for these things." Pyrrha scolded as Jaune got dressed in his usual hoodie and jeans.

"But it's today, how am I supposed to plan for anything? Besides, you guys were the ones who made this happen." He directed that last bit specifically at Ren who felt a pang of guilt rise in his chest again.

Ren decided now would be a good time to help him. "Then you should postpone the date until tomorrow. We'll head out into Vale and scout out some places that would be good. You can also get some more impressive clothing."

Jaune continued to give Ren a blank stare and said nothing for a whole thirty seconds. "Oh, and then what? You'll ditch me and leave me alone in another awkward situation? I see you're game, you rogue."

Throughout his entire life Lie Ren had been called many things, but a 'rogue' was not one of them. He wasn't sure if he should feel insulted or not.

"Jaune, I promise you I won't do something like that. I'll only be there to help." If Ren knew anything about Jaune, it was that the blonde never broke a promise and he despised those who did. So he knew that Jaune would trust him here.

It took the knight a few seconds though. "Alright… fine. I'll message Velvet and tell her to wait until tomorrow to…" Jaune had grabbed his Scroll but found that there was already a message from the girl in question.

He read it to himself and chuckled before putting his Scroll away. "That was Velvet; she said to wait one day so she can get ready." He decided not to share the part where she said she was 'super-duper-mega-ultra-sorry' about it though.

Ren smiled to his leader before looking over at Pyrrha. "Do you think you can take care of Nora for the day and make sure she doesn't get into trouble?" Pyrrha nodded.

"I'll keep her reigned in." Ren said his thanks before he and Jaune grabbed their wallets off their bedside tables. "We'll be back later today. Nora, stay out of trouble. Or you'll learn why Pyrrha's a four time champion."

Nora nervously gulped while looking at Pyrrha's scarily innocent smile. "Y-yes Ren." Ren nodded once more as he opened the door to their room. Jaune exited first and Ren closed it behind them. "See you later!" He called out as the door shut.

Pyrrha silently waved them off while Nora continued to stare at the redhead in fear. "So, what would you like to do today Nora?"

Three hours had passed since Velvet and Coco left the airship that docked in Vale. It was now nine thirty and the duo had visited more clothing stores than Velvet knew existed in the world.

Yet by Coco's standards, none of them had anything that was good enough for her 'perfect little bunny rabbit' and they were now on their way to the forty eighth store to try again. Yes, she had been counting.

Velvet was dying of exhaustion because of it. "Co, can't we take a break? My legs are killing me here…" Coco stopped her brisk pace abruptly and turned around to issue a glare in Velvet's direction.

"Do you want to go on a date with this guy or not?" She asked as Velvet held onto her knees while panting. "Of course I do." Velvet replied. Coco nodded.

"Then quit your complaining and enter this store with me. It's the last one in this part of the city anyway so we'll take a break if nothing's here."

Velvet sighed in defeat as she followed her leader into the forty ninth store for the day and looked around at all the mannequins that lined the display.

None of them quite fit her style though and she was forced to continue after her leader as she checked all of the racks.

Ten minutes had passed and just as Velvet was thinking of sneaking out, a pair of arms thrust some clothing at her and told her to go into the changing booth to try them on.

Velvet was slightly befuddled but followed the instruction and entered the booth anyway.

Coco gasped as Velvet stepped out. She was clad in a white, silky dress that ended at her knees. The dress was sleeveless and appeared to be frayed over the torso. A single brown belt was strapped over the waist for good measure.

It was perfect, nothing could've looked better on the girl and Coco squealed in delight at the sight of her. She did notice one small problem that needed to be fixed right away.

Coco grabbed the belt around Velvet's waist and tilted one side further up while the other hung lower. "Now it's perfect." Velvet laughed softly as she re-entered the booth and changed back into her usual clothes.

While she was in there, Coco also grabbed a pair of brown, knee-high boots that went perfectly with the dress. Velvet soon exited the booth and found her leader holding the boots out to her.

She could only roll her eyes with a smile in response. "Come on; let's grab something to eat before we head back to Beacon."

After paying for the outfit and leaving the store, both girls made their way to a café for some breakfast. After they had ordered their meal, with a coffee of course, they merely sat together in silence.

That is of course, until Velvet spotted a familiar head of blonde hair walking through the streets next to a streak of pink. "Jaune?!"

This caught the attention of Coco who immediately looked out the window to see two boys walking down the street chatting amicably.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you weren't the only one who needed time to prepare. He the one with the black hair or the blondie?" Coco noticed that both would be acceptable, neither was unattractive in any way.

"Jaune's the blonde one with the blue eyes." Coco chuckled as her eyes never left the two. "Aryan, huh? Seems you've got good tastes after all. Besides, the other one looks a little… high class."

Their meals arrived shortly and both scarfed them down as fast as they could and skulled their coffee. "How about we tail 'em and see what we can find out?" Velvet was slightly disoriented by this.

"What would we be finding out exactly?" She asked as Coco stood from her seat and placed some Lien down for the bill.

"Who knows, where he plans on taking you, what he's going to be doing? We might even catch him buying a nice outfit for you to ogle him in." Velvet rolled her eyes at the thought but decided it couldn't hurt.

"Alright, we'll see what he's up to…"

"ACHOO!" Jaune sneezed loudly as he and Ren stopped in front of a fancy restaurant. "Enjoy yourself? I swear there was a cloud of mucus in the air for a few seconds after that."

Ren chuckled softly as Jaune rubbed his nose with a finger and cleared his airway. "Oh hardy har. I'm sneezing more and more often these days, which is weird because I'm definitely not sick."

Ren chuckled again as they entered the building. "Looks like someone's getting popular then." Jaune laughed with him as he pulled out his Scroll and searched reviews for the restaurant online.

As his terribly slow internet loaded, Jaune looked around the place and saw delicate carvings along the walls. There was a chandelier hanging from the roof and all the waiters were dressed in coat tailed suits and pure white masks.

Once the page loaded, Jaune took a peek. "Terrible staff, one out of ten. Uncooked food, two out of ten. Faulty lighting, one out of ten. Smelt like corpses…? I don't think this place will work Ren."

Ren was already taking steps back. "Yeah, no kidding." Looking up, Jaune saw the staff members were all glaring at the two of them with malicious intent.

They left in an instant.

"What was that place called again?" Jaune asked as they continued down the streets of Vale. "The Ultra Luxe, nothing ultra about it if you ask me…" They shivered remembering the eyes behind the masks.

"Alright, what's up next then?" Jaune asked as he looked around all the buildings that littered the streets of Vale. "I doubt where you eat is all that important. Velvet is a pretty down-to-Earth girl. I'm sure that any regular café will work just fine."

Jaune nodded in understanding. "Yeah, you're probably right. I saw a café a little earlier back. It looked nice enough." Ren nodded. "It'll do. Now we need to find you something snazzy to wear."

As they walked, Jaune couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching him. 'I'm probably just nervous.'

The duo entered the first clothing store they came across and began searching immediately. Ren had informed Jaune that going 'casual' wouldn't be good enough, but also not to be too 'formal' either.

All in all, Jaune had no idea what type of clothes he should be searching for but Ren seemed to have it covered when he shoved a pile of clothing into Jaune's hands after the first thirty seconds of being in there.

Seemed a bit fast, but Jaune entered the changing booth without objection and exited after roughly one minute. Ren whistled as the curtain was pulled open.

"Not bad Jaune…" His point was emphasized as Jaune heard what sounded like a girl squealing on the other side of the store. He turned around and checked himself in the mirror once more.

Jaune was decked out in a white, long sleeve dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to emphasize his growing biceps, a black vest was buttoned up over it and Jaune figured this was the 'formal' part of the outfit.

He was also wearing black sneakers and dark blue jeans to go with the 'casual' part of the look. Ren knew Velvet was going to be pleased and Jaune couldn't help but agree.

There was one small detail that couldn't be overlooked though. Ren walked up to Jaune and undid the top two buttons of the shirt, combining the two parts that Jaune needed for the look.

Jaune smirked and went back into the booth to change into his casuals. After he left, Jaune paid for the clothing and they both left the store. Jaune's wallet was basically weightless, but he knew it was worth it.

They passed by the café Jaune had spoken of earlier and checked the place out. The interior was good enough and the staff was kind. After checking online, Jaune found it received nothing but four to five stars so he made sure to remember its location.

Ren and Jaune then boarded the first airship back to Beacon and waited calmly to arrive at their destination. That is, Ren was pretending not to know who Jaune was while Jaune threw up his non-existent breakfast into the closest bin.

Even while he was dry heaving though, Jaune continued to feel as if someone was watching him. Although that was probably just all the people who were laughing at his misfortune.

Soon enough, Jaune and Ren arrived back at Beacon and returned to their dorm only to find Nora tied up with rope and duct tape over her mouth as a make-shift gag.

Pyrrha continued to smile innocently all the while. "What? She's been staying out of trouble." Only one thought passed through Jaune's mind as Ren went to go untie Nora.

'I have the weirdest team ever.'

"Oh my God Velv, he is such a dork! Did you see him hunched over that trash can?! That was priceless!" Coco continued to laugh at Jaune's airsickness even after they landed and had returned to their room.

"Yes Coco, I saw him hunched over the trash can." Velvet's eye was twitching as Coco continued to laugh until she cried form lack of air.

"I will admit though," Coco started as she regained her bearings. "He did look styling in that vest, aren't you glad you followed him now?" The leader asked as she raised an eyebrow at her friend.

Velvet was interrupted before she could reply. "Followed? Should I be worried about what you two were up to today?" Yatsuhashi asked as he and Fox entered the dorm.

"Not at all Yatsu, we were just getting Velvet ready for her date tomorrow." Fox's eyes widened at this while Yatsuhashi gasped in shock with his hands held to his mouth.

He then squealed like a little girl. "My little Velvy is growing up so fast! You have to tell me everything about this guy, right now."

Coco laughed while Fox only rolled his eyes. Velvet gave a deep sigh as she looked at the giant with the overly happy grin on his face.

'I have the weirdest team ever.'

I like to think of Yatsuhashi as the 'friendly giant' of RWBY who would always be looking out for Velvet. I hope I'm not mistaken when he's introduced.