Summary: After a long day of training, Jaune decides to relax on a rooftop.

When Everything is Still

RWBY

A sigh escaped Jaune Arc's mouth, fading into the night sky.

The stars sure are bright out tonight, he thought to himself. Heh, I sound so cliché. And now I'm talking to myself… aw man, mum was right. I really am weird…

It had been a rather long day for the second-year student. Pyrrha was bedridden with the flu, so Jaune had to turn to the rest of his team for his training session. Ren provided moral support and Nora nearly broke him in half.

So basically, it was like any other day for Jaune Arc.

Now, having eaten and showered the young hunter-in-training chose to spend the rest of his night on Beacon's rooftop.

Jaune leaned on the railing, stifling a yawn. The breeze was cool against his skin. He closed his eyes, taking it all in. It was so… peaceful.

"Oh! So this is where you went."

Jaune smiled to himself. He didn't even have to turn as the door swung shut, recognising the sound of a familiar set of boots clacking along the rooftop. "Yeah," he said. "I like it up here."

Weiss Schnee walked into his peripheral with her arms folded. She had let her hair down, letting it be gently caressed by the cool breeze. "So, what brings you up here?"

"Oh, you know," he said with a shrug. "Just relaxing. You?"

"I'm… waiting for a call," she said.

A flash of blue shot through his mind. "Ah."

"Just from a friend I haven't heard from in a while," she said hastily. "It's been so long since the tournament, and I thought it'd be nice if hi-they and I caught up is all."

Jaune laughed. "You don't need to defend yourself, ice queen," he said, choosing to ignore the Freudian slip. "I was just asking."

"Are any of you going to let that nickname go?"

"Are any of you going to let go of vomit boy?"

"… touché," Weiss admitted.

Since the dance, their relationship had slowly begun to properly form. Granted, they weren't on the levels of Ren piggybacking a sleeping Nora after hanging out at the RWBY dorm room, but they were much better friends than they were before. Weiss doesn't choose to give Jaune the cold shoulder, and Jaune doesn't royally fumble every conversation with Weiss.

"You seem out of it," said Weiss, breaking Jaune out of his reverie.

"Uh, a little," he said. "Just thinking, really."

"Thinking about what?"

"About…" Jaune paused. "Do you ever think about what you want?"

Weiss' brow furrowed. "What do you mean, exactly?" she asked.

"What you want out of life," he said. "Like uh, I want a motorbike like Yang does. That kind of thing."

He heard a scoff. "I don't enjoy dealing with hypotheticals," said Weiss.

"They don't have to be hypotheticals," he said with a grin. "Come on, humour me at least."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really, no."

"Ugh."

"It'll be fun…"

"Fine," Weiss sighed. She looked out into the horizon. "A bigger dorm room would be nice."

Of course you'd say that, Jaune thought, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. "A cooler weapon."

Weiss' brow quirked. "There's nothing wrong with a standard sword and shield."

"Tell that to the rollerblade chick you guys fought at the tournament," he said with a forlorn stare. "Your turn."

"Um… a better breakfast menu."

"Pfft, better lunches."

"More warm water for showers."

"Easier exams."

"But they're already eas-"

"Hey now, no judging, you judgerer."

"Alright, fine," Weiss sighed. "Private airship rides."

"Of course the ice queen would want private airship rides."

"Didn't you just say no judging?"

"Sorry, sorry, uh… black hair."

"Manservants."

"Red eyes would be pretty sweet, now that I think about it."

"Right, and next you'll want to be a Wolf Faunus."

"… dude." Jaune's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "You are literally blowing my mind right now."

Weiss shook her head. "More festivals," she said, pressing on.

"Being a Wolf Faunus." Weiss gave him a glare. "Uh… I mean, bigger monitors in the dorm rooms."

"Better testing facilities."

"Being able to fly."

"Better acoustics in the school."

"The power of invisibility."

"Frozen bananas."

Jaune paused again. "Do I even want to-?"

"No."

"Are you going to-?"

"No."

"Not even a-?"

"No."

"Okay," said Jaune. "Less Grimm in the world."

"A less hyperactive Oobleck."

"Agreed. A six pack."

"I… I'm sorry, I don't think all of the lien in the world can give you a six pack."

"You wound me so."

Weiss smirked. "A Yang that doesn't snore."

"Pyrrha versus Yang."

"Oh, that'd actually be a really good fight…"

"Right?"

"Blake versus Sun."

"Ruby versus Ren."

"Weiss versus Jaune."

Jaune gave Weiss a look. "You just want an excuse to beat me up, don't you?"

"Well," Weiss said thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it…"

"Jeez… a manlier dad."

"Ouch."

"Oh, trust me. My mum wears the pants in that relationship."

"I'll take your word for it. Bunk beds."

"Don't you-?"

"Proper ones."

"I see, I see," Jaune muttered. "A brother would've been nice when growing up."

"Yeah," said Weiss. "Maybe then you'd have come to Beacon with a backbone."

"Whoa. How about you calm down over there?"

"Unicorns."

"Dragons."

"A fairy godmother."

"World peace."

"A proper family."

Weiss' voice cut through the night. Jaune's smile faded as he looked towards her. All mirth had vanished from her face as well, being replaced by a mask of melancholy.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I probably shouldn't have said that."

"Nah," he said. "It's fine. Some things just come loose, yeah?"

"… yeah."

Silence came over the two of them. Jaune was mostly quiet because he didn't quite know what to say. Weiss looked so frail and small in front of the night sky. It was a frightening contrast to how she usually was.

She looked so…

"Your turn," said Weiss, looking back up at him. She gave a weak smile. "What do you want out of life?"

Jaune stared back. The answer rose almost immediately, burning at the tip of his tongue. His eyes widened, surprising even himself at what he wanted to say.

"I…"

The sound of a scroll interrupted them. Weiss pulled hers out. "It's him," she said. "Um, I mean… them." She glanced back up at Jaune. "Next time?"

"Y-yeah…" said Jaune. "Tell Neptune I said hi."

She stiffened. "H-how'd you-?"

"Lucky guess," he said, forcing a laugh. "Seeya around, ice queen."

Flustered, Weiss nodded. "Okay, vomit boy," she said. "Don't stay out too long. You'll be useless to your team if you catch a cold."

"Will do."

And with a slam of the door, Jaune Arc was alone on the rooftop once more. Another sigh escaped from his mouth, fading into the night sky.

The stars really are bright tonight, he thought to himself. And I'm monologuing to myself again. Boy, I really am… something.

He continued to stare out into the horizon.

"What do you want out of life?"

Weiss' voice rang through his head. The answer burned at the forefront of his mind once more.

"You," he said to himself.

"Just you."

When Everything is Still Fin

- Narutochaos22