Be warned that the amount of fluff of this chapter is ridiculously high.

Pyrrha's firm steps reverberated around the empty corridor, she hadn't realized when she had started walking in this rushed manner, almost running, but she did know why.

The light pierced the windows making the pure white walls of the dorm's hall acquire an orange glow and the lampposts all around Beacon gradually flickered on with the first signs of the sunset.

And Jaune wasn't back yet.

She was nervous, and after Nora had commented that she would burn a hole on their room's the carpet with her pacing, she had decided to head down to the kitchen - maybe some tea or even a glass of cold water would help.

Lost in her thoughts, Pyrrha hadn't realized that the sound of another set of running footsteps mixed with hers until it came from the end of the same corridor she was walking.

"Pyrrha!" The shout came from behind her, the voice of her partner made her stop immediately. Before she could even turn around to his direction, a weight slammed against her back and arms wrapped around her waist in a surprise hug.

She gasped as Jaune buried his face on her shoulder; she felt his heavy breathing and quickened heartbeat even though the fabric of her uniform - it seemed he had been running for a while.

However, if there was one thing she didn't feel, it was the characteristic movement of his tail that was very noticeable in every hug they had. And if his tail wasn't wagging…

The butterflies in her stomach that had awakened with his embrace suddenly turned into uncomfortable weights. "Don't tell me this is a goodbye hug…"

He shook his head; strands of his soft hair tickled her cheek. "He already knew…" The reply came out as a muffled murmur.

"He what?!"

"Apparently he knew since the first weeks..." He supported his chin on her shoulder, his voice still a low whisper. "Still… he had allowed me to stay."

"But in the beginning, he had only done that because expelling someone in this school is basically the last resort. Taking a person away from a team is really complicated…" The grip around her quivered a bit, as if he was going to let go and his muscles had hesitated the separation. So, placing her hands over his wrists, she coaxed him to stay.

And he did. "Then… then the teachers saw how much I was improving. And he said to me that that made him believe he had made the right decision."

She perked up at his last words - causing her to realize that she had unconsciously leaned against his chest as he talked - and spun around quickly so she was facing him. "You're staying!" Laughs of relief intertwined with her voice.

"I'm staying!" His tail finally awoke with some firm wags, he chuckled with her and for one second his eyes had recovered that charming sparkle that she had missed so much.

Then he looked down, his tail stopped moving. "But… I think I accidentally managed to make some things more complicated for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I was so nervous about talking to Ozpin about all of that and so shocked at what he had said… And I still am!" He laughed awkwardly and held his hands in front of her - they were shaking slightly. As if it was instinct, she promptly took them with her own hands, followed by a reassuring squeeze. "And I straight up said 'it can't be this simple, right?' I mean, I had just spilled to the Headmaster of the most important academy of the world that I had cheated my way in!"

Pyrrha tilted her head waiting for him to continue, her expression a mix of worry and curiosity.

"And he said that yes, it could be that simple… Or he could give me a chance to fix everything." Jaune shook his head, still dumbfounded about what had transpired at his meeting. "And I decided to do the right thing!"

She had to let out a few giggles at his baffled expression. "And what is the right thing supposed to be?"

"A test." He tipped on his toes. "More like a series of tests actually. As if I was doing the entrance exams, but a little bit more advanced. And in the end, the results would become my real transcripts."

"Jaune! This is fantastic!" Pyrrha beamed, squeezing his hands one more time. She saw his tail perking up by the corner of her eyes with her reaction.

"Yeah, it is." He smiled back at her. "But it's going to be really hard, and exhausting because it would be taking place at the end of the semester together with our regular exams, and all the pressure of the results being my new records..." Even with his list of difficulties, the grin never left his face, displaying how happy he actually was with the opportunity. "… I would have to train a lot harder than before."

It was his turn to squeeze her hands. "And I know I said I wanted to repay you… And I still do! But because of that, I need to ask you for your help one more time."

His cheeks tinted pink, his smile turned sheepish, his tail wagged shyly as he stared at his feet. "So... Even with all of that… Would you still be willing to help me... to help me become a better fighter?"

Pyrrha let go of his hands, and he started to ramble at the same second. "I'm sorry if I'm asking for too much I shouldn't just throw those things at y-"

Jaune shut up at the same second she tossed her now free arms around his shoulders. He stumbled back a bit in surprise, his hand instinctively going resting on her lower back for support.

"Of course I'll help you!" The light flush of his cheek turned into burning heat with her hug, his tail was faster to react than his brain and the rest of his body by wagging until the sound was loud enough to bounce through the hall.

Soon he remembered how to move; relaxing under her arms, he let go of a breath that tickled her neck and pulled her closer, his other hand resting between her shoulder blades to do so.

They had only hugged each other a few times, and they all had been very brief. Yet, Pyrrha had already determined that Jaune gave the best hugs, and she had absolutely no problem with this one being a little longer.

He was so soft and warm, everything about him felt comforting. Even his scent - tinged by the smell of leather and of the soap his mom was adamant to send him, even after he insisted that she didn't need to do that many times - felt homely. The way he held her, as if she was something precious - delicately not to break yet eager to have close - made her never want to let go.

She quietly wished he had been wearing his hoodie instead of their stiff uniforms, wanting to lean on the plushy fabric without his chest plate on the way, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Maybe next time - and by the way she could feel the wag of his tail with their proximity, she had a feeling that it wouldn't take long for that to happen.

She messed with his hair on the back of his head and he laughed, raising his head a bit. His nose rubbed her cheek right after, a gesture that was starting to feel familiar, and she leaned into his touch.

"Thank you."

His smiling lips accidentally brushed against her skin with his words, not quite a kiss, but still made electricity flood her nerves as if it had been one.

She felt so happy! The danger of his partner one day having to leave was gone, and now she had him on her arms, his caring gestures heating up her skin and making her heart soar.

She felt loved.

A content sigh.

She loved him so much.

Neither of them had the rush to let go, but eventually - and a bit hesitantly - they did. Especially because they heard the sound of the door of the building opening and closing a few times down the lobby, the voices of the students arriving from their afternoon classes gradually filling the halls.

"Let's go! I want to tell the others!" He was beaming, a cute, quite obvious blush on his cheeks - and this time she was sure it wasn't because of exertion from training or because the situation was embarrassing for him. There was something else. And the way he shyly looked away for a second after their eyes met after their hug only confirmed it.

Pyrrha didn't have any siblings, but she was sure a person didn't look at a family member that way.

"Let's!" She matched his smile, and feeling a bit more confident than usual, took his hand - instead of his arm as she usually did - leading the way to their room.

They didn't let go until they arrived there.

That same night they headed to the rooftop. Because they had no time to lose, but mainly just because they could.

Jaune stretched until he heard some of his joints cracking with a satisfying sound, his tail swaying against the breeze as content sigh found its way out of his lips. The sky was finally clear from any traces of storms after days of heavy clouds, allowing the school grounds to be decorated by the shine of the stars.

"It feels like we haven't been here for training in forever!" He relaxed his muscles to unsheathe his sword, turning around to face his partner. "I missed it…"

Pyrrha's spear and shield flew to her hands with an elegant motion. "We got some catching up to do then."

He had to stop his tail from wagging as he assumed his stance, but didn't restrain a smile from spread freely through his face.

Their spar ended up having more of a playful tone, their joyful laughs intercalated with the sound of colliding metal more than usual. They both knew his big test would approach soon; still, the happiness that came with the news that he was going to stay, that he would have the opportunity to fix everything, and just of being the two of them at the rooftop again, cleared his mind of any uneasiness and anxiety.

He felt as if there was nothing to fear as long as she was by his side.

Then there was a moment in the night when he caught her smile turning into a teasing smirk a second too late.

After a block that was too rushed to be completely effective, a stumble backward and one last advance, Jaune was on the floor, looking up at his partner smiling at him, not a single strand of her hair out of place. "Break time?"

The movement of his tail hadn't to be restricted by his stance anymore. "Break time!"

As much as he wanted to lay on her lap again, he pushed the idea to the back of his mind, sitting by her side on the edge of the roof as usual.

Pyrrha raised her hand as soon as they were settled, his tail shook in anticipation but went completely still when no contact came.

"Wait!" He looked to her as Pyrrha retracted her hand that had been so close, and a tiny whimper of confusion escaped from his lips before he could even register.

"Just one second." She giggled at the sound. "Let me do something first."

He tilted his head curiously as she directed her attention to her arms, her fingers quickly went to work on the ties of her gloves, losing them up with swift tugs. The moment he realized what she was doing his tail perked up again immediately.

After freeing her hands from the leather with incredible agility, she turned on the floor, retrieving her legs from the edge, until she was facing him.

Jaune leaned his head to the side to watch her, and before he could ask what was up with the change of position, his mouth was left hanging open by the electrifying feeling of both of her hands burying into his hair, her nails scratching up all the way from his nape to his scalp.

A sound between a gasp and a yelp escaped too quickly for him to think of even trying to restrain it, the jolt of energy elicited by her touch caused his back to straighten and the fur of his tail to stand up in shock.

And for his distress, she took his surprised reaction as a disapproving sign, and she jerked her hands away in the same second. "I'm sorry! I should have asked I'm so sorry-"

"No!" He barely registered that Pyrrha thought she had done something that he didn't like, and that was very wrong, her hands were really far now and why was she apologizing?

So he moved his body forward without even thinking, head-butting her hands lightly. "I was… I was just a little surprised, that's all."

He heard a breath of relief before her fists uncurled between his strands. "Sorry for surprising you."

"Don't be." He looked up to her, only to avert his gaze at the same second their eyes met, realizing how close he had gotten when he pushed his head forward. "I- I liked it."

Pyrrha only hummed in response, and her fingers started to move before he could restore the distance between them.

His breath hitched. They were so close; he could kiss her with just a quick movement upwards, or lean into her shoulder by just tilting his head to the side by a fraction.

He was too much of a coward to even attempt the first option, and even though he hadn't exactly a huge supply of courage for the second one, it was so tempting. It would totally give him a more comfortable support for his position, and he would be able to hide his burning face that was probably being flooded by a diversified mix of red and pink at this point.

And of course, the fact that he would be basically cuddling with her added a lot of points to his mental list of pros.

He was just going to start thinking about the cons when her hands slipped to the back of his head, one drifting to the side to scratch behind his ear, and every single bit of resistance he was supposed to have crumbled, he closed his eyes and he let himself fall.

Pyrrha's already fast heartbeat went frenetic as Jaune snuggled into her shoulder. A sharp breath caught up on her throat, and she released it in a way that was certainly unnatural, but at least she hoped it had been quiet enough for him not realize her startle.

She inhaled and exhaled as softly as she was able, the same way she always did before a battle to calm her nerves down. The scent of his hair filled her nostrils - coconut maybe? - she held herself back from nuzzling her cheek against his soft strands, still too busy trying her best to normalize her quickened breathing and jarring heartbeat, regulate the temperature of her face and restrain her hands from shaking.

Especially after he shifted around a bit as she moved her fingers, his nose brushing against her skin lightly for a second, a puff of air heating up the spot between her neck and shoulders.

Pyrrha made the mistake of glancing down to him. She could only discern the corner of his satisfied smile with his position, his flushed cheeks raised to his eyes, he had the audacity of letting out one of his cute sounds at that exact moment - but guess it was partially her fault for tickling his nape - and of being completely, utterly, ridiculously adorable.

How was she supposed to deal with that?!

It was pretty obvious breathing exercises were absolutely useless at this point, and she really didn't want him to take her jumpiness, heavy breaths and loud heartbeat as discomfort.

She had to find something else to focus on for a while, and quick!

Pyrrha looked around; the movement of his tail was the first thing that caught her attention. It waved from side to side rhythmically, almost like a pendulum - she knew it only wagged this way and with this speed when her partner was completely relaxed.

So maybe she could relax too. She kept her eyes on his lazy sways as she petted his hair, and it wasn't hard to maintain her focus on it. It was almost hypnotic, her breathing soon synchronized with his rhythm as the fur of his tail swept lightly against the floor tiles. It looked so fluffy and soft; she wondered one more time if it would feel just as smooth as his hair, suddenly filled with the urge of wanting to run her fingers through it to obtain her answer.

Could she even do that though? Was touching a faunus' tail considered invasive? Or offensive or disrespectful? She didn't know.

She supposed she could ask, sure that Jaune would be mad at her for doing so. But with the possibility of making things awkward if his response was negative being very real, she didn't know if it was worth the risk.

He let out a serene hum as her fingertips stroked up the back of his neck, the satisfied sound helping her decide that just watching was more than enough for now.

She found herself leaning against the top of his head as she relaxed, and for her amusement, his tail sped up immediately after the contact.

Her lips curled up in a small smirk; since she was just watching, maybe she could see the other reactions she could get out of him.

Her fingertips were following the pattern of lightly combing up and down his scalp for some time now, so she changed that. Making sure she was using her nails, Pyrrha stroked down until she reached the bare skin of his nape and the edge of his hoodie, she moved upwards soon after, stopping to gently tug the tips of the strands on the back of his neck.

She felt his gasp against her skin, his wagging now strong enough to produce the familiar sound as it pierced the evening air.

She knew well what he liked and how he acted while she gave him some pats, the have been doing this during their breaks for a while after all, but now she had the opportunity to observe his reactions closely, without the fear of being caught staring or being distracted by his cute smiles.

So without wasting any more time, she slipped her fingers to his favorite spot.

Pyrrha felt his breath hitch, his tail perked up in the same split of a second, rising from the floor, still wagging enthusiastically as she gave him twin scratches behind both of his ears.

His body shook slightly following the fast movement of his tail, the strands of his hair against her cheek were starting to tickle her skin, so she moved to attenuate the itch.

Nuzzling him had been unintentional at the beginning, but then she just went with it; she had stopped herself for doing it earlier, and she found out that she wasn't strong enough to resist twice.

She kept one eye on his tail. It wagged like crazy as she moved her cheek, and jolted in surprise before picking up the pace again as she turned her head, rubbing her nose on his fluffy hair.

Pyrrha realized one second too late that she had pressed her lips against the top of his head in a light kiss.

She went completely still. A weird combination of panic and satisfaction combined with the wild fluttering on her chest. Her first thought was that maybe he hadn't noticed the touch, it had been brief and probably cushioned by his hair.

Then she blinked, Jaune had frozen under her hands. She looked down, the tips of his ears were completely red, she looked up, his tail wasn't wagging anymore.

"Oh no, I broke him!"

Then the movement resumed, a content, heavy exhale brushed her skin, the tension of his body leaving together with the released air.

Wait…

Was that a yawn?

Was he…?

Pyrrha let out a sigh, not quite sure if it was of relief or disappointment, but if there was one thing that she was sure about it, was that it sounded louder than she had anticipated.

Now it was as her turn to freeze. Jaune cracked his eyes open after he heard her loud sigh, blinking until his vision adjusted to the view of his blurry reflection on the gold of her neck piece. He could still feel the pressure of her hands, but no movement, why had she stopped? Why no more head pats?

"PyrrhaAa…" He called, her name sounding more like a tired whine than he would have liked, but wasn't able to avoid it coming out that way. He had been almost falling asleep, discovering that was something he really could do while enfolded by strong arms on a supporting embrace. Her familiar scent with mingles of metal and cinnamon was comforting, and her caress was feeling exceptionally fantastic today, completely relaxing him, until he felt something; a brief, soft touch that for some reason startled him out of the path to his dreams - still, it had felt really nice.

Then after that… nothing. Why? He head-butted her hands, letting out an interrogative whimper, not wanting to move away from his comfortable position on her shoulder, the residual drowsiness still making his movements slow.

"Jaune!" She sounded a bit surprised. "Were you… asleep?"

He groaned, raising his head a little. "Almost…" A yawn. "Sorry for… It was just… really good…"

She had to giggle. "It's alright." Her hands went back to combing his hair, and he leaned back on her shoulder. "I thought you were awake. You are pretty energetic for someone who wants to sleep."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Your tail…" And your gasps. "I was just watching it…"

"Oh!" He recoiled his tail closer to his body. Pure instinct, developed after years of people sending it disapproval looks and obnoxious comments. But he soon relaxed it; he didn't need to feel this way, not here, not with her.

"Yeah… I can't really… control it very well in these situations." He laughed awkwardly; he would have scratched the back of his neck out of habit if she wasn't already doing that for him. "You know… almost sleeping and all…"

Pyrrha hummed a laugh, his cover-up about which situation he wasn't able to control his tail not going unnoticed by her. "I noticed." She scratched behind his ears, the movement accelerated. "It wags in different ways depending on the way I pet you..." She whispered more to herself than anything. "It's…" She bit her tongue before the cute escaped. Could she even say that about a faunus? "… Captivating…"

He laughed lightly. "Nobody had used this word to describe my tail before." Jaune shifted his position and pulled it closer to his body again, this time just to pluck out a speck of dust that was stuck to the tip of his fur. "I think I have to brush it again today…"

She tilted her head. "I've never seen you doing that."

"I usually do it in the bathroom, so I don't risk getting fur all over the dorm." He ran his hand through it with a fluid motion before letting go. "It's the price to pay to keep it all soft and smooth, luckily it doesn't really tangle."

He had to be tempting her - it had to be it. "It doesn't?"

"Yeah, I guess the fur is too thin for that to happen? So it only gets dusty from time to time." He thumped it against the floor. "Especially with how clean this roof is."

She laughed. "Well, it really does look like you take good care of it."

"I try." He replied sheepishly. "Thank you."

They fell into a comfortable silence, the only noise being the sway of Jaune's tail against the tiles. Pyrrha couldn't take her eyes off the rhythmic movement; if she had been curious about the texture of his fur before, now after he told her about how he tended it to keep it soft and smooth, the itch to verify that for herself overwhelmed her as if she was being pecked by thousands of tiny Nevermores.

"Jaune, I-" The words started to jump out of her mouth almost against her will. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry if it's inappropriate, or offensive, or invasive or just something that shouldn't be asked at all, and please tell me immediately if that's the case and if it's wrong and I-"

"Hey, hey, Pyrrha! What are you talking about?" He raised his head to look at her after her ramble. And that made him worry; Pyrrha didn't ramble, unless something was really making her nervous - and Pyrrha almost never got nervous.

"Sorry! It's just… Can I - again, tell me if that's an inadequate request - And I'm deeply sorry if it is, but can I… can I touch it?" Her shoulders shrunk together with her tone of voice as she said the last words.

"Touch it…?" He leaned his head to the side, still not sure of what she meant.

"I'm sorry! I don't know much about the faunus to know if asking that is inappropriate or not." Her eyes wandered, looking at everything but his face.

He made the connection, and he would be lying if he wasn't caught off guard by it. "You want to touch my tail?"

"I- Yes." She shook her head lightly, and finally looked back to him. "I'm sorry. It's weird to ask that, isn't it?"

He opened and closed his mouth like a dumbfounded fish before he remembered that words were a thing. "N-no! It's not weird! Just… just unexpected." He looked back to his tail, partially to hide a rising blush. "Nobody ever asked me for that before…"

"Oh! I understand if I shouldn't have-"

"No!" He interrupted her before she could apologize once again. "I… Y-you can touch it..."

"Really?" The hints of excitement behind her words got his wagging to speed up.

"Y-yeah! Let me just…" He moved away from her, he had been laying on her shoulder for so long, so he was a bit hesitant to separate from her comforting closeness. Stretching his body to sit up straight again, he turned to face the Beacon Tower, deciding to cross his legs over each other instead of dangling them from the edge.

Pyrrha stayed at the same spot as he changed his position, her front facing his side, so he just tilted his tail to her direction, glancing to her face quickly before looking away with a blush, giving her the permission for her to do what she had asked.

She didn't say anything, just scooted closer. Her knee touched his leg, he saw by the corner of his eyes his partner sending him one last look before shifting her attention back to his tail and raising her hand.

"Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

Her giggles filled his ears. "I can't do it if you don't stop wagging."

"Oh! Right! I didn't even…" He shook his head and released a breath. "Ok." He stiffened his back, and his tail finally went quiet.

She chuckled softly before trying one more time. Approaching her fingers to his fur, she barely made the first contact, only feeling the feathery tickles of the strands on her palm when Jaune abruptly flinched.

Pyrrha jumped back at the same split of a second. And she was surprised to hear him shout "I'm sorry!" in tandem with her.

He continued babbling though. "Sorry, Pyrrha! It was just reflex! Usually when someone touches my tail it's because they want to pull it, so I… I know you weren't going to do that but… it's just a reflex…"

His explanation made her worry. "Jaune, if it makes you uncomfortable-"

"No, no. It doesn't…" He exhaled before shrugging awkwardly. "This is kinda new for me… Besides, like, my mom brushing it when I was little, I don't really receive a lot of caring touches on it… so guess I got I little jumpy..."

"But you can do it…" He glanced at her, his lips curled up in a sheepish grin, shyly moving his tail back to her direction. "I literally don't have a reason to not trust you."

Pyrrha felt her face heating up under his soft look and after his soft words. So she just smiled back to him, before quickly redirect her attention down to his tail once more.

Her fingertips finally stroked his fur, and this time his tail stood completely still.

"By the gods…" She whispered under her breath as her hand ran through it.

"W-what?" Jaune sent her a nervous glance.

"It's so fluffy!" She replied, completely awed. Jaune chuckled at her tone, and the tip of his tail shook with her compliment before he quickly restrained the movement.

The thin, long strands cascaded through her fingers as if they were made of golden light. Certainly the definition of soft and smooth, and almost delicate. Yet, together they formed a heavy mass of fuzzy fur, that she knew it was strong enough to beat up someone as it wagged - according to Nora's declarations - and now thick enough for her to bury the length of her fingers on it.

"I didn't know it was possible for something to be softer than your hair…" She leaned her head into his shoulder pad, enticed by the feel of his fluffy golden fur on her palm. Actually, calling it just golden was an understatement, the color was there for sure, but it was also mixed with a warm hue of caramel, and the tips were sprinkled with streaks of shining white.

Beautiful and cute; it suited him well.

Jaune stiffened even more by feeling Pyrrha's weight on his shoulder. He was doing his best to try to keep himself from wagging, but if she kept this up, he didn't know for how much longer he would be able to do that.

The sparks caused by her tender touch through sensitive tail spiraled up his spine, spreading all over his nerves, causing every single strand of hair on his body stand up, as if an icy wind had suddenly stroked his skin. Yet, even if the rooftop breeze was chilly, her warm caress was the cause of his reaction.

"Do you... Actually like it?" He only managed to gather his words to ask after a few seconds of silence he took to dissipate the lump on his throat.

She only hummed a positive response, and he wasn't able to hold back a twitch from traveling through his tail.

Her combing suddenly stopped after that, and it was her turn to ask. "… Do you?"

His face flushed. "Y-yeah."

She hummed approvingly again, and resumed her pets, and this time instead of stiffening, he was able to relax, letting go of a breath he had been holding for longer than he had realized.

He was just enjoying her touch when Pyrrha shifted her weight on his shoulder a few times, as if she was testing positions; and took him only one second to realize that she was probably doing exactly that, after all, lying on the cold metal of his shoulder armor didn't seem very comfortable.

Jaune mentally cursed himself. He couldn't let that happen! Pyrrha always made sure he was comfortable while giving him pats, and when he had been the one being supported by her shoulder, it had felt so nice he had almost fallen asleep. So he had to make sure she was comfy too.

"Hey… do you want me to take this off?" He sent a glance to the piece of metal.

She only raised her head and nodded. He easily undid the straps keeping the piece of armor in place before putting it to the side.

Jaune caught the corner of a cute smile and of red spreading through her face milliseconds before she shifted to lay back on his shoulder.

Pyrrha changed her position to scoot even closer to him, her body now facing the roof's door, leaning her right arm against his own, their hands only an inch apart. Brushing lightly her cheek on the sleeve of his hoodie before settling, a soft sigh escaped as the fingers of her other hand went back to his tail.

He let out a satisfied hum with her touches, a swarm of wild butterflies filling his stomach with her proximity.

He tried to clear his mind as he relaxed, and the opposite occurred.

During all those months, there were moments of his day when Jaune would just stop and wonder why she did this, why she helped him so much.

A bunch of reasons popped on his head every single time. One of his first theories was that it could be for pity, but knowing Pyrrha that alternative was basically an absurdity.

Then he considered that it could be for obligation; he was her teammate, her partner - partners had to have each other's back all the time right? And he wouldn't be able to have her back if he couldn't even hold his sword right. That didn't explain why she would accept to pet him though.

Then he thought that she could just be one of those people that were so nice, that they weren't able to say no to someone who needed help. Being a help to survive a Huntsman Academy, or just to deal with his need for head pats.

He decided to believe in that last option. That was one of the reasons that during their firsts times he always asked her if she really, really, didn't mind doing this. He didn't want to take advantage of her selflessness in any way after all.

There was one more plausible excuse thought, one that every time it crossed his mind he would shove it away as fast as he could. Because, well, it was a ridiculous, unbelievable and very unlikely reason. And it didn't matter how this one started to poke him like an annoying little kid with a stick with more frequency with each passing day.

Yet, sometimes it felt so… right, that was almost successful to make him believe that it was true several times.

And now after catching a glimpse of her cute blush and smile, having her snuggled against his shoulder, listening to her serene breathing, and to the soft sighs that escaped from her lips from time to time as she touched his tail in this such caring way… His tail! A part of him that many didn't even dare to look at, or only glanced at it with pure disdain. All of that made the annoying kid and the stick be replaced by a sugar-rushed Nora and her hammer.

And the absurd, but quite simple, answer to his questions was just the fact that Pyrrha liked him.

As in, liked-liked him. Like he liked-liked her. Actually, he already had come clear with the fact that he felt more than a cluster of like towards her, and there was a possibility that she could feel the same way too?

It felt so obvious, but at the same time, he couldn't wrap his head around this idea. Why would she like him? An awkward faunus boy who was stupid enough to throw himself into a dangerous world which he knew almost nothing about. He didn't have any outstanding qualities; he wasn't confident, or smooth or cool, he had improved, yes, but he wasn't a really good fighter, he wasn't the best team leader, he didn't even know what his semblance was supposed to be and he could keep increasing this list for a long while.

So, just… Why?

"Why what?" A whisper against his shoulder, and he froze.

His tail shook in surprise under her hand the second he realized that his question was made aloud.

"Ahn…" He looked around frenetically, as if the lights of the stars and lighten up windows ahead would come together to spell to him an excuse to blurt out. "It's nothing!"

"Jaune…" She nudged his shoulder. "Is there something bothering you? Do you want me to stop?"

"No! And please don't…"

A quiet giggle. A skip of a beat. A second of silence.

"I… was just wondering…" He didn't know what gave him the motivation to start. "Why… you do this…?"

Her caress paused, but he didn't.

"Why… do you help me so much? I mean, I know I definitely need help… but I don't… I don't know… I- You…" He ran a hand through his hair as a nervous gesture. "Ok, let me try this again…"

"At Initiation… You basically chose me to be your partner…" He chuckled. "I mean, you did throw a spear at me."

"I'm sorry?" He caught the smile on her words.

"No, you're not." He felt her stir in a way that could be a nod or a laugh. "And… I couldn't understand why you would do that… I guess there was no way you could know that I sucked at that time, still… I'm… I'm a faunus… and most people aren't really excited to be partners with one… I think you remember how Weiss acted around me in the locker room before we went to the forest."

"Jaune, that's-" Pyrrha raised her head from his shoulder, and he knew she was frowning from her tone of voice.

"Wait! Let me finish…" He felt her hesitate before she leaned back on him. "I know you, and Ren and Nora don't care that I have a tail. But I was still surprised! I mean, you're from Mistral, right? I grew up with people whispering how there was the worst place a faunus could live. How our species were treated, how places prohibited our entrance… If it was bad here, Mistral was insufferable."

"So when I got to know you… You were so nice, and kind, and-" His face flushed, better hold himself back from dumping a list of compliments. "And I couldn't help but ask myself why! Why you didn't think my tail was weird? Why you were offering to help me even after I was a jerk to you? Why do you believe in me so much? Why… do you… like me…?" His tone of voice dwindled as he finished his questions, leaving her to interpret the like as she wanted.

It took her a few seconds to realize that he was done, and a bit more for her to gather words for her reply.

"The day we met at the locker room… You saw how Weiss was talking about me, how she had a listing of my accomplishments ready to throw at you…" She went back to combing his tail as she started talking, doing so had almost a calming effect over her. "She, of course, wasn't the only one that knew about those. And she wasn't the first person, neither the last, to mention them that day.

"The only person who I talked to who didn't even know my name was actually you." She smiled at the memory. "And when I realized that I felt so… happy and relieved. And then I was pulling you out from being pinned on a tree. For some reason, I knew you would be an amazing partner and friend."

"I wasn't wrong. It was like a breath of fresh air from all those people who just look at me and see an untouchable record of tournament wins." She let out a quiet sigh. "So when I noticed you needed help, I had no reason to not offer it to you... Even if took a while for you to accept it."

She felt Jaune flinch slightly, getting her to decide that this was a good moment to place her free hand over his - his tail jumped right after the contact. "And I know… I know that there are people like Cardin at every corner, and Mistral is definitely full of them…"

"When I was little I didn't even understand the reason for all that conflict, and as I grew up, my father always taught to be kind and my mother always spoke to me about equality." She shook her head. "More about equality on the battlefield, but guess it also suited for out of it as well."

"So I don't care if you have a tail or not, being a faunus or human does not define who you are as a person!" Her tone raised in intensity and the grip she had on his hand got stronger unintentionally.

"And you…" She relaxed, her last words coming out with a bit more of a feeling than she had intended. "You're such an amazing person. A great partner, friend, leader… and I know you struggle to believe that from time to time... And that it can be frustrating…"

"I know that coming up here to revise the same move for hours, to fall and get up over and over again; can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "But look back! You've already come so far. You've grown so much since we started training... And we are only on our first year, just the beginning."

"That's why I believe in you so much. I've never met someone so determined to better themselves..." She let the smile overcome her expression, her next words came out full of nothing but sincerity. "I'm so proud of you."

She took a deep breath, exhaling it softly before raising her head from his shoulder, his hand twitched under hers as soon as the distance was put between the two of them. "I like you… simply because of who you are."

"And I help you…" She looked at his direction, his face was downcast, and his messy bangs shadowed his expression. "… Simply because I'm just happy to be a part of your life..."

She withdrew her hand from his, his head shot up at the same second and she took the opportunity to place it gently on his cheek, turning his gaze to her direction.

"I'll always be here for you, Jaune."

Something wet grazed her thumb. His quivering pout and knitted-together eyebrows were the details she noticed next.

Her heart dropped. "Jaune! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry! I'm sorry!" In a blink of an eye, both of her hands were on his cheeks, wiping as gentle as she could the tears that had silently started to trail down his face.

He released a puff of air that turned into a chuckle. "Pyr-rha…" His voice cracked, the laugh morphed into a sob.

She didn't hesitate; pulling him closer immediately, wrapping her hands around his neck, letting him rest on her shoulder. Pyrrha only knew that he had let his tears fall freely by the wetness in her skin, Jaune cried without producing almost no sound, his silence only rarely broken by a few small sharp breaths.

She couldn't help but wonder if it was always like that for him, or if it was a skill he had developed over the years.

He inhaled a large amount of air, letting it free slowly, and his breathing soon steadied. "Thank you..." The cracked words were pressed on her shoulder. "Thank you." He repeated after raising his head a bit, firmer this time, a faint trace of a smile present on the sentence.

"I wasn't expecting all of that..." He let out a weak chuckle as she ruffled the back of his head. "That was… Nobody had ever said something like that to me before…"

He raised his head fully to finally look directly at her eyes. His own were still a little puffy from crying, his cheeks still marked by a few shiny trails. He dried one side off with the back of his glove, and she took upon herself to do the same with the other cheek. "I meant every single word."

He closed his eyes after his face was dry. He had grown up hearing so much discredit and hate, her words had been a screeching contrast to them, he had never felt so encouraged and loved.

He leaned into her hand; her thumb gently caressed his skin. He fluttered his eyes open, finally able to take in how close they were to each other, he could count her eyelashes and feel her breath over his. The expression he found on her flustered face made his breathing, heartbeat, and tail to compete for who could go faster. Yet, at the same time, he had never felt so at ease.

"Pyrrha…" Her name flowed out of his tongue as if it was a sacred word. "I- I…" He moved forward by a fraction of an inch, his nose brushed hers just barely in a ghost of a touch. Still, the feathery contact made her mouth open in a silent gasp.

His confession hung at the edge of his lips, and it was just about to come out when he was abruptly interrupted.

By a repeatedly loud vibration of several notifications arriving on a Scroll.

They both jumped apart immediately, his tail sprung up and he almost fell backward with the startle.

The buzzing continued, he cleared his throat awkwardly, suddenly very self-conscious about everything.

"I-it's mine." Pyrrha placed her hand over the pouches on her belt, proving that indeed the noise was coming from there.

She quickly retrieved the rowdy device, ignoring the slight shake of her hands.

"Nora?"

"Yes."

He nodded to himself, muttering an "Of course." under his breath. After all, their teammate's texting style was very distinguishable.

Because she didn't believe in sending only one message with all the information she needed to convey. Sending a bunch of them to trigger thousands of notifications apparently was way for effective in her opinion.

- Heeey Pyrrhaaaaaa

- ! ! !

- Ren and I r back

- We are going to the kitchen

- To prepare for our super special!

- Ultra awesome!

- Commemorative!

- Pancake night!

- And don't tell Jaune yet

- It's a surprise!

- But we found some sprinkles!

- And they r STAR SHAPED!

- Really cute!

- So get ur lazy butts down here

- I bet u guys aren't """training"""

- So no delays accepted

- Unlessssss

- U are FINALLY making out with him

- Then I guess u could stay a little longer

- And cuz I'm a good friend

- I'll try to spare some sprinkles for u 2

- No promise about the syrup tho

Her next series of messages was a combination of emojis, laughs and key-smashes.

- Seriously tho hurry up Ren won't let me start without u guys here

Pyrrha ran her tongue over her dry lips before clearing her throat. "She wants us to go down to the kitchen." Her face felt excruciating hot, especially with the fact that if it wasn't for Nora's messages, there was a huge chance that they would be doing exactly what their teammate had suggested on the last ones. "They are already waiting for us there."

"Oh!" Jaune dared to glance at his partner direction, just to quickly change his mind when noticing that they were still sitting very close to each other. "Well… We shouldn't keep them waiting, right?"

"Right." She put her Scroll away, tapping her nails a few times on the floor tile as a nervous gesture, before having the courage to look to her side.

Jaune was staring at his legs as he waved them over the edge, his hands tucked over his tights as he fidgeted with the leather of his gloves, his tail apparently unsure about moving or staying still, the blush completely taking over his face.

Cute was the only word that popped on her mind.

Something about seeing him like that made an intruding smirk rise to her lips. So, suddenly receiving a jolt of bravery, she inclined forward, swiftly pecking her partner's flustered cheek, before getting up with the fastest motion she could muster.

She heard a squeak and his tail heavily pounding against the ground behind her back. "Let's go before we end up without syrup… Again."

She already had her hand on the doorknob when he finally moved. "W-wait for me!"

She could wait.

The walk to the kitchen had everything to be awkward.

Yet, it wasn't.

There was a silence all right, and exchange of glances that were soon diverted, and rising blushes, and of shakes of tail, and of brushing strands behind ears, and all of those tasty ingredients for an awkward pancake.

Still, this silence felt comfortable, as if it was more prone to be broken by a fit of giggles coming from both of them than to hang heavily like a storm cloud over their heads.

Then, they rounded a corner to the last corridor before the destination, as soon as they took a step, the air got colder and the silence poked them like shards of ice.

Emerging from the opposite end of the corridor, exactly at the same time as the duo, was a very angry Cardin Winchester.

He was still wearing his uniform, and aside from the kitchen, this specific hall only connected with the entrance lobby. And if he was just arriving from the school's building at this hour of the night, with that expression on his face...

The second Jaune's stare clashed with the one of his bully, his tail almost flinched out of habit, he almost stopped walking, he almost took a step back.

Yet, he didn't.

Pyrrha had slipped her hand on his the second the other boy appeared in front of them, giving him her usual support, telling him that he was not alone. So he kept moving forward.

Cardin did the same; his scowl seemed sculpted on stone. But Jaune kept his gaze firm ahead, the sound of his solid steps taking over the hall.

The bully kept walking straight to them, as if he was ready to confront him or just run over them like a truck.

But Jaune was stubborn, he straightened his eyes, almost daring the other boy to even lift a finger or open his mouth.

So his surprise was very much justified when instead of the words of scorn or shoves to the side, Cardin lowered his gaze, a frown still engraved on his expression, stepped to the side and just kept walking, giving the partners free space to cross through the hall, and soon disappeared on the staircase Jaune and Pyrrha had just went down.

Jaune's mouth hung open as soon as the other boy was out of sight, unable to produce any sounds whatsoever out of sheer perplexity.

Pyrrha looked behind her for a second, her eyes full of surprise, she looked back to her partner and his completely baffled expression, so yes, whatever just happened was real.

And whatever the Professor had done or said to Cardin had apparently been very effective this time.

She felt the relief rising up her chest, and she didn't hold herself back from giggling.

Jaune looked at her, and dumbfounded, pointed back to the staircase. She just squeezed his hand in response.

He shook his head, she rolled her eyes and made the effort to tug him in the direction of the kitchen. He finally started walking, and when the sounds that came from there arrived at their ears, they knew that they couldn't be produced by only their teammates.

His tail started to wag and he sped up the second they heard Ren's voice being muffled by Nora's shout mixed with team RWBY's laughs.

His friends were there for him.

The spear came right to his face.

"The weakest points of a Deathstalker?"

He jumped to the side, sword blocking the advance.

"The point between its tail and stinger!"

She raised an eyebrow, and her weapon.

"… And it's eyes!"

A satisfied smile, because of the correct answer and his successful block.

"The Grimm species native from Anima's Lake Matsu?"

A step forward, a slash with the sword.

"Ahn… those giant bee things!"

His reply was not as confident as his last movement.

"Bees?"

She twirled out of the range of his sword.

"Wasps? Lancers!"

A loud clash of metal.

"The name of Mantle's king when the first war began and the action he took that is considered the reason for the beginning of the conflict?"

Repeatedly swings of spear pushed him back.

"Wow! Weren't we talking about Grimm? What's up with the change?"

Another slash.

"What's up with your stance?"

A step to the side, a correction of posture, a raise of an arm.

"Better?"

A block.

"Jaune, the answer…?"

A dodge.

"Aaaah… I don't- it's on the tip of my tongue!"

A confident advance, a step back.

"Wait! Does his name start with an E?"

He raised his sword right at the last moment, the weapons met with sparks.

"No? An F?"

He focused to maintain his ground as they got face to face.

"Frederick? Ferdinand? Funderburker?"

The curl of her lips was reflected on the metal of his sword.

"You're just making those up!"

Don't down look at them. I know she's close but don't look down at them.

"Ahn… I- I don't-"

He was weak.

He had a privileged view of her smile growing.

Pyrrha pushed him, hard, he stumbled back and kept going. He had got distracted, his stance had lost its base, his tail waved in a last attempt at recover - too late.

"Jaune!"

Her call filled his ears as the back of his sneakers hit something and he lost his footing completely.

Black aura suddenly engulfed his armor, his body was roughly yanked forward to her direction, and spun around her as she placed him on the middle of the roof, away from the edge.

Pyrrha had just saved him from dropping from the top of the building. The hold of her semblance faded as soon as he was safe, he stumbled with the shift of balance after the dizzying trip.

Then he fell graciously on his butt.

"Jaune! I'm sorry!"

He shook his head and blinked hard to get back on his senses.

"Is that how the entrance exams were like?" He let out a chuckle. "People shouting questions as you fight?"

Her concerned expression softened. "No, but we don't know how yours is going to be." Pyrrha diverted her gaze, only to look back to him with an apologetic smile. "And I thought that would be good to work your reflexes."

"Taking the almost falling out of the roof part, it was actually pretty fun." He shrugged before looking back up to her - it had been a while since the last time he almost fell out of the edge, it was terrifying, still, it reminded him of his first training sessions. "Thanks…"

She approached him, putting her spear away. "I wouldn't let you fall."

His tail wagged lightly at her words. He knew that well.

Pyrrha soon crouched in front of him, offering the usual assistance for him to get up. "Are you ok though?"

He blinked again, realizing that he hadn't made a single effort to get up yet. And that he was staring. Those same lips that had made him lose all his concentration before now curled in a playful smile.

"Y-yeah." He grasped her hand, her vibrant red hair really contrasted beautifully against the dark blue night sky... "I guess you could say I just fell for you."

During Pyrrha's successful career, she had faced countless opponents in a plethora of matches at diverse tournaments. She would come out victorious, not falling a single time, and that's how she received the title of Invincible Girl.

Who would have guessed that a silly pick-up line would be a reason for her knees to go weak and cause her downfall? So when Jaune tried to pull himself up after he held her hand, she fell too.

He yelped as her weight crushed his leg, the metal of her armor digging through his jeans to his skin.

Pyrrha retracted her hands closer to her chest, ready to launch a series of flustered apologies, but her mouth wasn't able to produce any sounds, only move with the beginning of unspoken words.

He had just flirted with her!

Jaune froze after the wave of pain passed. Why had he done that? He was such an idiot! Now she was on top of him, looking absolutely mortified! Her face was almost matching the color of her hair. Wait… Why was she blushing? Stupid, of course she was! She was probably embarrassed. This wasn't good.

Their eyes met, both wide with astonishment. His tail shuddered and his skin tingled as if his whole body was blushing. He opened his mouth, and his "I'm sorry!" synchronized with hers.

"Jaune! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I don't even know! I-" Pyrrha fumbled with her position, trying to find a way to get up.

"It's not- Ouch! Pyrrha! My leg!" The metal scraped his thigh as she moved.

"I'm sorry!" She stopped squirming.

"No! Ow, let me…" He instinctively plopped his hands on her waist, pulling her to a position that he believed it would be more comfortable for both of them.

He let out a breath as he shifted her weight, but his relief was very short lived and abruptly shattered when he heard her squeak cutely.

So now she was sitting on his lap. Why had he done that?! She wanted to get up, not get comfortable! He was sure she could feel the heat emanating from his face - it was burning! He jerked his hands away from her, raising them up in surrender. "I- I don't know why I did that!"

The concept of coherent thoughts and words waved Pyrrha goodbye as she watched her partner fumble with his actions. So now she only had one thing left to do.

She started to laugh.

Nervous giggles converted into joyful laughter as she covered her red face. "I'm- I'm sorry!"

"Pyrrhaaa…" Jaune whined her name embarrassedly, but he wasn't immune to the contagious sound, the last stretched syllable quivering with the beginning of a smile.

She only shook her head, still laughing, and he had to join her - this situation was ridiculous.

"Aaaah... Sorry!" Her habit of apologizing a lot was probably starting to rub off on him. "All of that…" He winced in the middle of his chuckles. "… Was actually really bad."

She peeked between her fingers, her words mixed with giggles. "It wasn't that bad."

He sent her a look. "I almost fell off the roof, Pyrrha." He intentionally didn't mention the flirting part. "I would judge that as bad."

She rolled her eyes, still feeling a tad flustered, but the awkwardness was completely gone. "Come on… It was a bit more intense than our regular training. You did well!"

She ruffled his hair out of habit as an appraising gesture, his tail gladly thumped on the floor. He closed his eyes and his head instinctively pressed against her hand as it made a mess of his strands.

"Oh!" The smirk appeared on her face as she noticed his reaction. "Do you want to take a break already?"

His tail wagged faster. Would she pet him here? Now? While she was on his lap? He sent her a look through his bangs, she didn't seem bothered in any way, her cheeks were just a little rosier than normal.

He lowered his head quickly as he felt his own face heating up - again - and just hummed in response, not exactly a sound of agreement, but not denial either... If she really didn't mind…

"I'll take that as a yes." His heart did a double jump. He kept his gaze fixed on a spot on the ground, his breathing accelerated together with the movement of his tail as her hand slid down to the back of his head.

Her touch paused after a few seconds though, and she hesitantly shifted on his lap. "Do you… want me to move or can I…?"

He shot his head up, the position was just as new for her as it was for him after all, and she probably was wondering if he didn't mind. "I… I d-don't mind if you want to stay…"

She nodded lightly at him, resuming to combing his strands. Jaune soon relaxed under her soothing touch, letting his tail wag freely, it was amazing as always. Still… His brow furrowed, something was missing... Or better, something had to be missing, but it was there.

"Pyrrha…" He called her under his breath, almost a whimper. He leaned his head to the side, pressuring her palm. "… Gloves?"

She let out a giggle and, felling a strange urge to do so, poked him on the nose, causing his tail to flutter. "You're getting spoiled."

"Your fault." He huffed a laugh. "You're the one getting really good at this." Jaune peeked through his bangs and unconsciously started to fumble with his fingers. "… Please?"

Pyrrha stopped and stared at him, her words coming out barely as a whisper. "I can't say no to a face like that…" It's not like she was planning to deny, but something about his look full of hope made almost impossible for that outcome.

Then he beamed at her, his tail swishing joyfully, and she had to admit, he really looked like a happy puppy.

Pyrrha took her hands off his hair, quickly focusing on her gloves, and taking this time to try to normalize the color of her face.

Jaune kept his eyes on the floor as he waited, following the path of a crack on the tiles, suddenly getting very self-conscious about how his partner was sitting on his lap for real. Yeah, she was really close, and he was doing his best to not stare - Mom raised a gentleman!

He jumped a little when he felt the pressure of her hands back to his hair. Her nails scratched behind his ears and he let out a content sigh as his shoulders dropped.

She ran her fingers through his smooth strands, watching closely his expression softening. The wrinkles of his forehead disappearing, his pink cheeks lifting to his closed eyes, his lips curling in a charming grin full of bliss.

She had to use every single ounce of self control to prevent her fingers to moving on it's own accord, to trail down his face all the way to his smile, to run her thumb over it, to part his lips, so she could do what she had been prevented from doing the day prior, to claim them between her own.

She almost didn't notice that while she tried to not do that, her hands had completely stopped moving.

Pyrrha only snapped out of her moment of distraction when she saw the blur of his tail coming to focus as it slowed down. Then she caught a speck of blue, Jaune peeked at her through one eye, tilting his head in a question - why had she stopped?

She breathed out a chuckle at his adorable expression, and quickly moved her hands again, ruffling the top of his hair, eliciting a small laugh from his part too.

She had to admit that watching his reactions so closely was really something else. And if last night she had been taking notice of his tail…

"Hm… Maybe if I…"

Pyrrha mussed with his strands, letting them cover her fingers. Jaune let out a happy hum, the sound almost made her give up on her plan, but she found the will to keep going, so with a swift movement, she moved her hands away from him.

His tail stopped at the same second, his brow furrowed slightly in confusion, and a cute, tiny pout appeared on his lips - and oh no… now she wanted to kiss it even more. She didn't give him the opportunity to open his eyes, or he would have caught her face absolutely on fire, digging her fingers back on his hair as fast as she could.

He relaxed and his tail picked up the pace once again.

Patting him while they were face to face and while they were this close was really something else.

Yet, she found herself repeating the process. And this time when she retrieved her hands, he only raised an eyebrow, right after the wagging stopped, cracking his eyes open just slightly. Unfortunately for her, by doing so he caught the grin she had been trying to suppress.

Jaune let out a tiny huff and straightened his eyes at her suspiciously; it took an extra second for him to shut them again after her hands went back to his blond mess.

She bit her lip to hold back from giggling. His tail was now twitching slightly as it moved - he was on alert. Yet, it only took a scratch behind his ears for it go back to its regular faster pace.

At that exact moment, she messed his hair quickly and moved her hands away again.

But Jaune had caught on what she was doing.

"Pyrrha!" He moved his head forward together with her fleeing hands, preventing the separation. "Don't be mean!"

Pyrrha laughed freely at his plea. "I'm sorry!" She kept moving her hands back almost unconsciously, and he let out an exasperated huff, the puff of air tickled her cheek.

"It doesn't sound like you are." Her hands were still far! And Pyrrha had been messing with him! So in an attempt to reach them again, he placed his own hands back on her waist to propel himself upwards - and by extent, pull her closer - hers stayed up in the air now more out of surprise than anything now.

He still couldn't reach them! How could she? He let out an annoyed whimper - it came out softer than he had intended. Since moving forward was giving him no results, he turned his head slightly to the side, poking her cheek with his nose.

He heard her gasp, his tail thumped playfully against the ground at the sound - so two could play this game - and he did it again.

"Pyrrhaaa…" His next touch was rewarded with a light chuckle, so he kept going. "What were you doing?"

"I-" His nose grazed her jaw, and she couldn't control herself anymore.

She burst out laughing, squirming under his tickles, her hands fell into the nearest surface, which was his hair, much for his contentment.

He let out a satisfied, almost smug huff, his tail wagged victoriously and making sure her hands were still there, he finally put some space between the two of them.

Jaune only took notice of how fast his heart was beating and how warm his skin had gotten when the distance he was able to create wasn't much more than a few inches. Since when he had gotten so close?

This time he didn't feel the necessity of being awkward or to freeze up though. His tail waved joyfully as he watched her laughter subside; it was such a wonderful sound, he almost didn't want it to end.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha managed to say in the middle of her final giggles, releasing a breath before finally letting them cease. "I was just…" She looked back at him, only to immediately divert her gaze because of the way he was staring at her, her cheeks flushed instantly.

What had she been doing again?

She raised her head, her fingers had started to move without her knowing, he had a pleased smile on his face because of her light caress, and The Look was still there; the only way she could describe it would be full of affection, it made her tongue go tied.

Then Jaune tilted his head cutely to the side, waiting for her to continue speaking.

And she did, but what came out wasn't the explanation that she was just watching his reactions.

Her hands stopped by the sides of his head, she stared right at his eyes and the words fell. "How can you be so adorable?"

Those same eyes widened like dinner plates, his light pink flush evolved into a bright red blush that reached the tip of his ears, and the fur on his tail stood up with surprise, exactly at the same second the words left her mouth.

"P-Pyrrha!" He looked away from her, quickly turning his head to the side, and ended up burying his face on her palm in an attempt to hide his flustering - she could feel how warm his skin was.

All of that was what made her realize that that was definitely not what she had planned to say.

"Jaune! I- That wasn't what I… I'm sorry!" She was sure her own face was matching his colors.

"N-no! Don't- I…" He let go of a breath, still not looking directly at her, his tail had gone back to waving lightly though. "I- I mean…" He finally forced his eyes to meet hers, moving his head a bit, he leaned his cheek on her palm so his words could come out clearer, a shy grin found its way to his lips. "D-do you really think so?"

Next thing she knew she was moving a hand to the top of his head, shoving to the side his stupidly cute face with his stupidly cute smile, because if she had to look directly at it for one more second she probably wasn't going to survive for next day. Her other hand went to cover her own burning face. "Gods, Jaune!"

He dared to laugh. Then he abruptly stopped. "Wait… you're serious…"

She managed to peek at his direction. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"W-well… Usually, when people say stuff like that to me, it's like… Hey! A dog faunus! How adorable!" He mimicked a voice. "But I know you wouldn't say it like that."

"Y-yes, I…" Pyrrha slowly turned back to him fully, restoring their previous position; her hands were drawn to his hair out of habit. She chuckled. "I actually always wondered if it would be alright to say things like that to you…"

"Always wondered?" Jaune leaned into her hand as her fingers ran behind his ear, the smirk leaking into his words.

She paused. "Don't let it get over your head." In a quick movement upwards, Pyrrha messed with his bangs, causing them to fall over his eyes.

"I'll try." Jaune laughed, then he quickly added before he lost the courage to do so. "But it's gonna be pretty hard considering it's a compliment coming from the prettiest girl I know."

Her heart skipped a beat and words slipped from her grasp. "I… wha-?"

He chuckled lightly, raising a hand to the back of his head embarrassedly. "I don't know why you're so surprised."

Why?! He was openly flirting with her! Of course, she knew well by the way he acted that he had to like her more than just a friend and partner - she was sitting on his lap for crying aloud! Still, witnessing him saying silly pick-up up lines in that clear and blunt manner made her mind go blank.

"N-no. I'm…" She attempted speaking, her face locked in a lovely shade of pink, and Jaune had to admit, now she was the one who looked adorable. "I mean…" Pyrrha smiled at him, bordering a knowing smirk, her eyes glinting playfully. "Do you really think so?"

Jaune stopped, his tail was the only part of his body that continued to work properly, wagging like there was no tomorrow, he could hear loud and clear his frenetic heartbeat pounding on his ears. "Is… Is t-this some kind of payback?"

"Maybe…" The word intertwined with a giggle. She ruffled his hair and he let his head be lowered, partially to hide his blush.

Since when their breaks had evolved from just sit by his partner side, and lock his gaze on the horizon as her fingers combed through his hair almost hesitantly, to laying on her lap, or leaning on each other's shoulders, or her sitting on his lap, all the while her fingers following a path confidently, knowing exactly what he enjoyed the most?

Since when brushing his nose on her cheek was a common gesture between them? Since when he knew she wouldn't flinch away in shock if he did that, but instead lean into his touch with a melodious giggle?

Since when having his arms around her waist felt so natural? Since when they flirted with each other? Since when her touch had become something so intimate?

Since when she felt the same?

"Pyrrha…" He shyly looked back up to her, her hands slipping to his nape as he did so, and that only made him more self-conscious about their position - her arms around his neck and his own hugging her waist - he could end the distance between them with the softest of pulls. "How long… has this… been happening…?"

Her eyes lightened up in realization, he didn't specify what the this was about, yet only taking his tone of voice and the sheepishly look on his eyes into consideration, she knew. "A while…" The reply came out as a sigh.

"O-oh." His tail perked up, his fingers tapped against her back pensively. There was a slight tremble on his lips as he fought an intruding smile from splitting his face before he continued. "A long while or a short while?"

"I…" She drifted as she gathered her thoughts; he leaned into her palm to indicate that he was listening. "For me… I'm almost sure since when we started coming up here to train…" She admitted, feeling surprisingly light after the words left her mouth. Then she let out a tiny chuckle before looking back up to him, followed by a scratch behind his ears. "So, a good while."

He stiffened, his tail dropped at the same second, though it continued to wag. "Y-you're kidding? Right?"

Pyrrha opened her mouth to question him and he shook his head, continuing before she could say a thing. "Pyrrha! A-all this time… I… We both… I can't believe it!" A few dry laughs escaped out of pure disbelief.

"… Both?" Her expression copied his shocked one. "Wait... You mean… you too? Since back then?"

He nodded, his tail went back to wagging. "Y-yeah!" He lifted his eyes to the sky, letting go of a heavy breath. "I can't believe it… I've l-liked you during all those months… And you..." Fluttering butterflies left trails of tingles through her skin as his confession filled her ears. "I could have done something… Said something… I'm… such an idiot."

"Jaune… Don't blame yourself." She still scolded him, dragging her fingers to the back of his head, so she could guide his gaze back to her. "After all I… I liked you all this time too… I could have done something earlier…" She let out a short chuckle. "We both were… a bit clueless."

"A bit? I can't believe we didn't notice!" He laughed, still dumbfounded, his head pended forward when he tried to suppress it and he accidentally rested his forehead on hers; he had no intention of moving away though, it was a nice view. "I can't believe you didn't notice!"

"I'm sorry!" She squeezed her eyes shut, joining him on his laughs. "Sometimes I suspected… but I wasn't actually sure… Until... pretty much yesterday, I think."

"Really?" Jaune spoke with genuine surprise. "Pyrrha, I can't even… I can't even control my tail when I'm with you! And I know it's not exactly subtle…"

She stopped, her eyes widened as the realization dawned on her. "I can't believe Nora was right…" Pyrrha whispered almost only to herself.

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head to the side, the blonde strands of his bangs mixed with her crimson ones.

"She kept telling me non-stop about how she would bet that you... liked me back..." She looked down quickly as the last words left her mouth; they still felt too good to be true. "And one of her favorite arguments was how your tail wagged around me. She really was adamant about… us."

Jaune let out an amused snort, she raised her gaze at the sound. "How ironic! Because if it wasn't for her messages yesterday I totally would have… Erh…" He stopped, suddenly feeling hyper-aware of what words were about to jump out of his babbling mouth. "… Done something earlier… Not that just one day earlier is the greatest of difference in the world and all but you get what I me-"

He had started to ramble again, and what made him come to a halt was the feeling of her fingers slipping from his hair, creating a trail through his jawline until it arrived on his chin, where she stopped, lightly guiding his head up until their eyes met. His breathing also came into a momentary halt when their noses touched.

"Well…" She started just below a whisper, the breath of her words brushed his lips. "There's nothing stopping us from picking up from where we left off now…"

His gaze immediately dropped from her mesmerizing eyes to her inviting lips. He could feel his quickened pulse through his whole body, the wag of his tail was so fast that he believed he wouldn't be able to make it stop.

Neither of them could tell the exact moment when and who closed the final distance between them.

Jaune was soft. Pyrrha knew that already, he had soft hair, soft smiles, soft looks, soft hugs, soft tail, so she was more than thrilled to be finally able to find out that his lips were no exception.

She hadn't realized how nervous she had been felling before until the gentle pressure on her lips made her melt, the touch sending a wave of warmth from her heart to the very extremes of her body - it was simple, tender and incredibly satisfying, like getting under comforters after a long cold day. He tasted like the chocolate chips they had sneakily snagged from Ren's stash - more like asking him politely while he cooked - before they came to train, and the sweetness only made everything better.

They slowly parted after the short, experimental kiss, feeling as if they moved too fast the moment would be shattered. The sound of his tail filled her ears, with her eyes closed, she could only imagine the sped of its wag.

A light chuckle caused her to slight open them, His eyes shined, full of wonder, flickering through her face as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. She let out a soft laugh too, her hands soon slipped to his messy hair before she gently poked the side of his nose with her own, and he took that as a sign to lean in again.

So he did, a warm kiss that was soon broken because Jaune couldn't control the growing smile on his lips. He tried again, but now Pyrrha was the one who was smiling. Then they were exchanging feathery kisses, giggling like little kids who had just exchanged secrets, and neither had complaints about the situation.

It took a few more seconds, and a few clashes of teeth, for them to stop smiling like idiots, and he was finally able to kiss her fully.

She made a sound against his lips as he pulled her closer to his chest, his arms completely circling her waist, the curves of her body pressed against his palms, any traces of distance between them now almost inexistent.

He was pretty sure she could feel the movement of his tail as it whipped against the air with their proximity, especially after her hands moved upwards, nails digging into his hair as they followed a path to the top of his scalp. Jolts of electricity spiked through his whole body with each movement of her fingers - and of her lips, they tasted like cherries.

Pyrrha's hands didn't stay in one place for long. Her touch lowered from his hair, gently tugging the strands on the back of his neck before sliding lower. For a few seconds, her fingertips burned against the bare skin of his nape before it trailed down through his back, dodging his armor until her hands stopped on the center of his spine.

Jaune didn't have the mind to question her straying touch, being hard to do so while she nibbled on his lip, but then she stretched her fingers forward, the tips lightly brushing against his tail as it wagged, it jolted in surprise, and the movement unconsciously stopped.

Next thing he felt was her fingers running through his fur, he was powerless to contain the gasp from escaping. Pyrrha saw that as an opportunity, and he jumped in shock to the feeling of her tongue over his lips.

Her touch reached the end of his tail, she let it go to get back to his hair promptly, the frenetic movement resumed immediately, and he lost himself completely to her lips all over again.

They lost track of how much time had passed, still, the inevitable need to breath gave them a hint of how long it had been, and they finally parted. Foreheads touching for support, their heavy breathing mixing in the small distance between their faces.

Jaune cracked his eyes open. The view of his partner cute flustered cheeks and her pink lips, now with the color not being provided by her lipstick, were the confirmation that he hadn't dreamed all of that.

What made almost impossible for him to recover his breath though, was the view he had of her enchanting eyes - the green going as deep as an untouched forest, being dotted with tiny golden fireflies that you could only discern if you got really close - now bearing a look he knew very well.

He saw the same look on himself in the mirror as he tried to get his hair back to its place after their breaks. Recalling the sensation of her fingers going through it oh so gently, remembering the glances, words or contact that had made him really want to believe that maybe there could be more between them.

It was the look that appeared on his own face with the thought of how much he loved her.

Strangely, the view also came with an intriguing sensation of familiarity, as if he had already seen it on her face before.

Jaune let out an amused laugh, mentally slapping himself for his obliviousness - of course he had.

"What is it?" Pyrrha poked his nose with hers, letting out a small laugh of her own at his expression - full of genuine happiness and amazement, as if everything was too good to be true.

"Oh!" He tilted his head at her touch, his tail swaying playfully. "I was just thinking…" Jaune instinctively leaned back a little, just to place a quick kiss on the tip of the nose that had just nuzzled him. Her blush intensified, her eyes glimmering at his delicate gesture of affection. If she was a faunus like him, he would bet that her tail would be wagging just as fast as his. "… I think I just found a way to repay you."

Pyrrha managed to speak up after a few flustered noises. "Jaune, you don't need to feel like you owe me anything..."

"I know. It's just…" He moved his head until he was leaning into her hand. "I really like when you pet me... So I thought that while you do that… I could… do something for you to…? Something that you like…" His tone of voice lowered together with his gaze as he shyly finished his suggestion. "I mean… it looked like you liked it, so... I thought it would be a good idea… "

"Ah! Yes!" Her excited tone of voice caused him to perk up again; her lips covered his own with a small soft kiss as soon as his head raised. "That sounds grand!"

"And... just so you know," He grinned and his tail stood up joyfully infected by her enthusiasm. "I wouldn't be doing that just because I want to repay you..." He reattributed her kiss with one of his own, she giggled against his lips. "It's been a while since just wagging my tail hasn't been enough to demonstrate how much I love you."

The gasp, the look on her vibrant eyes, and the way her fingers curled around his strands made him realize exactly which words had slipped out of his mouth.

He wasn't able to even react, her smiling lips came crashing into his, he had to take his hands off her waist to prop them on the floor so he wouldn't fall on his back. "I love you too." Her laugh tickled his skin, her hands glided across his hair to scratch him behind the ears. "I've wanted to say this for a while now."

He let out a breathy laugh and promptly kissed her back, feeling her hands making an even bigger mess of his hair, letting his actions speak for him, because he was sure that if he tried to express himself with words now, it wasn't going to be really efficient.

It took a while for one of them to speak again.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha called him between her short breaths; he halted the trail of tiny kisses he had been drawing across her chin.

"Hm?"

"It's almost curfew..." She motioned her head to the side, the lights coming from the windows of the other buildings quickly flickering off. Pyrrha chuckled lightly. "I think we may have lost track of the time a little."

"A little…?" He repeated, shooting his head up, a grin finding its way to his expression. During all those months of training sessions, they had always left the roof way before the first signs of curfew, so a little wasn't exactly the best way to describe the situation

Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders, biting her lip to contain her smirk. "I think our breaks are going to get a bit longer if we continue like this…" Her expression turned serious. "… But we can't forget that we have to train for your test."

"Oh, right. That." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly. "We can… set an alarm?"

"That can work." She laughed. "Still, I think... We should keep our breaks shorter. The end of the semester will be here soon and we need all the time we can get."

He whimpered, lowering his head into her palm, more to be dramatic than for actual protest against her suggestion. Noticing his act, his partner just rolled her eyes.

"And I'm saying that because, well… We don't necessarily need to be up here to do the things we do in our breaks anymore." He moved his face, his eyes locked on hers immediately, shining in expectation; his gaze made her flush instantly. "I mean… If you don't mind the chance of the others seeing us, I can pet you anytime, even on the days we don't come here to train…"

"Really?!" He breathed out. She could swear there were actual stars on the dark blue sky of his eyes.

"Hmhm." She hummed an agreement. Idly picking the tips of the stands on the back of his neck, she diverted her gaze for a moment to gather the courage to suggest one more thing. "And... maybe we can… if you want… cuddle sometimes...?" Her face tingled with her blush. "… Yesterday… was nice."

There was a second of silence before he whispered. "Pyrrha…" She looked back to him. Jaune was vibrating with excitement, his tail nothing less than a golden blur - she couldn't help but compare him to a happy puppy once again. "Can we do that right now?"

She let out a small giggle and pecked his adorable smile, before pushing herself up. "Let's go!"

Pyrrha offered a hand for him to get up, and after stretching a bit to recover the feel of his legs, he gladly took it.

They didn't let go even after they arrived at their room.

Did their late appearance and handholding trigger a bunch of questions from their teammates?

Of course.

Did their sudden and blunt display of affection made their friends accuse them of dating in secret for a while?

Totally.

Did they - mostly Nora - demanded an explanation?

Sure.

Though they both decided it could be given after some head pats.

Aaand we are done! Thank you sooo much for reading! I seriously had a lot of fun writing this, it was such a different experience from my other fics. So I hope you enjoyed reading just as much!

And if you did, please leave a fave and a review! It makes my day to read your thoughts about it! \o/

As always, if you want to see more from me, I have a Deviantart, Tumblr and AO3 all with the same username as here. If you want to support me, I have a Ko-fi account too: ko-fiDOTcom/chrisrainicorn

Thank you again and see you soon!