Taking a Chance

Jae felt more at ease with himself than he had ever felt before since he left Blake's mindscape; whether it was because he had the opportunity to embark on an adventure that literally came out of a book or the fact that said girl openly admitted to him that she likes him. However more things were pressing at this time since he had yet to find a suit to wear for this dance or even find someone to ask…But considering that he had more confidence with himself, he had the person in mind; Though it seemed like the others had the same vague motive since Jae's scroll started to show them in their dance dresses.

Ruby was wearing her full dance outfit which consisted of a red dress with black highlights, though seemed a little happier since Blake was okay and there was not much reason to worry. "It's my first time wearing one of these, how does it look?"

Weiss had a short, white, sleeveless dress with cutouts on both sides of her waist. Though considering the last interactions the two had; Jae was quick to notice that she had a blush tinting her cheeks in what could be seen as either embarrassment or shy about sending something like this to him. "Ruby insisted that I show you too…Do you think it fits this dance?"

Yang in the meanwhile had taken a different approach and decided to take a more….close up picture with her smug grin in the top half of the picture while the rest of it slowly lead down her neck and into the more open part of her cleavage; "If you wanna see the dress, come find me at the dance~"

Jae had been reduced to a sweating wreck from Yang's picture alone but thankfully Nora and Ren were there to take his mind off of things. "Looks like we still got time if you two aren't…Ready?"

It looked like the wrong time since Nora was currently getting pulled into her dress, in contrast to the whites and reds that he saw from Ruby and the others; the redhead was pouting and clad in a bright pink dress and Ren was half dressed. "Jae, do you mind getting ready first? Getting Nora dressed in this is NOT a one man job…"

"I told you I had an idea in mind!" Nora whined as Ren straightened up the bow on her back.

"No, your idea was to wear what you normally wear but adding war paint." Ren pointed out.

"Well…She does look cute in the dress." Jae mentioned which made Nora blush in surprise since she hadn't expected to hear that from Jae of all people.

"Can you just go get ready?" Ren mentioned but felt a little embarrassed since Jae was staring at the two of them while he didn't didn't have a shirt on.

Jae nodded quickly and rushed to the bathroom while grabbing his suit; "To be fair, I'm with Nora on this…Why exactly do we have to wear all this fancy stuff for a school dance?" he said from behind the door.

"Because this is being held for everyone from here to Atlas…No bad impressions and all that…" Ren pointed out as he then went to grab his shirt and put it on; "Plus it makes a change from what we normally wear out in Vale or our school uniforms."

Jae hmm'd and hawed before growling in frustration as he then came out in part of his dance suit; he was wearing black dress pants and black shoes along with a white shirt with the last two buttons undone while clutching a tie; "These things are stupid! They're flimsy and awkward to look at plus all it takes is a good tug to choke someone." Jae grumbled with his usual issue regarding ties.

"Whoa…You could just go like that~" Nora smirked as she wiped away the blood from her nose as she eyed his partially exposed chest and earned a light head chop from Ren.

"If he does then he'll get in trouble with the teachers…" Ren pointed out as he buttoned up Jae's shirt and showed him how to tie it while doing it too; "Though…In all honesty, it's a look that really works for him…"

"Speaking of which…You guys know where Pyrrha is? I wanted to talk to her about something before the dance." Jae asked them both, though the looks on Ren and Nora's faces seemed to tinge with guilt when he asked.

—Prior to Jae coming back—

"You're seriously not going to ask him?" Nora asked Pyrrha as she was standing by the door; "Out of anyone here, you could probably stand the best chance of him saying yes."

Pyrrha nodded though her sad smile was still there; "I don't actually think that he sees me that way anymore." She admitted and then turned to them; "Truthfully, he did ask me to go into Vale with him after I got stung but I just…panicked….and ran off, so if he isn't worried about my status…then he's probably worried that I don't like him."

"So that's why you've been keeping your distance with him…" Ren pieced it together; "But surely you could at least be honest with him about it all…Admit what you feel."

"And besides, that whole thing with the wasp stinging wasn't his fault or your's…If anyone, you should blame Cardin…" Nora pointed out as she sat up on the bed; "Plus I don't think Jae's actually said yes to anyone who's asked him…Even that one girl from Haven who was all over him in the hallway got turned down…Well, more like walked away from."

"I'll…I need to think about this…." Pyrrha mumbled as she headed out.

—Present Time at the Dance—

Jae was currently watching as the Dance was underway and the music was playing for everyone to be dancing with each other. With a cup of punch in hand, he barely noticed Ruby coming up to him; "So, you decided to hang out by the punchbowl?" She asked as she grabbed a cup too to stand with him.

"Mhm, I got swamped by people asking to dance so I decided to hang back a little…" Jae admitted; "Not a fan either?"

Ruby groaned as she drank her punch; "There's so many people here…I don't know how Weiss does it…" She complained and then looked to Jae; "The socialising, the not wearing my hood thing and these stupid lady stilts….I swear, I nearly broke my leg three times trying to walk here…" Ruby grumbled as she lightly kicked her foot; it appeared that Weiss insisted on her wearing heels to go with her dress.

"Well, at least you'll practice being more steady." Jae laughed a little; "I'm just glad that the others are enjoying themselves after we busted our humps to get it ready."

"Yeah, though it doesn't look like Pyrrha's had a partner to dance with yet, nearly everyone here does." Ruby mentioned; "You could always offer…I don't doubt that she'll say no."

Jae thought about it and sighed; "I could try but I don't think she would…The last time I got the nerve to ask her to join me on something…She ran off…"

Ruby lightly nudged his side; "Jae…You helped to save her from getting stung to what could've been a lot worse than it did, you were her knight in shining armour! Give yourself more credit and at least talk to her." Ruby insisted, flashing him a small smile, "Besides, if she ends up getting partnered to dance with someone like Neptune or something…You'd regret it."

Jae nodded as he then headed toward the dance floor to look for her but then saw Pyrrha wandering outside towards the balcony and decided to join her; "Hey, I was worried you weren't going to show up." He would say to her as he got outside.

"Heh, sorry…Just arrived late, I'm afraid…I had to find the right dress…" Pyrrha apologised as she took in a breath of fresh air.

Jae paused as he took in the sight as she mentioned her dress; She had opted to wear a turtleneck sleeveless red dress that made for a sleek figure, it also did no justice to her slightly muscular body with the back exposed and complimented her perfectly. "You *ahem* You…look wonderful." He mentioned as he slowly got closer and felt his gut tying in knots out of anxiety.

"Just breathe and take it easy…You really can't mess this up." The Voice said in Jae's mind as a pep talk.

"Thank you…" Pyrrha would say anxiously as she felt her cheeks flush at the compliment and then glanced away from him; "You look good in your suit too…"

"So uh…I'm guessing you brought your date to this thing?" Jae asked curiously as he leaned against the balcony to look over the lit up city.

"I…Don't actually have one." Pyrrha mentioned as she walked over to join him.

"But I thought someone like you would've had guys AND girls crawling over each other to ask you to dance." Jae asked her in surprise; He figured that with her popularity and how often Weiss gushed about her, Pyrrha opted to go stag to the dance.

"Well…It's always like this with social stuff…I've been blessed with more skill, potential and talent than anyone else even as far back as Combat training." Pyrrha elaborated as she leaned over the balcony; "And while it has given me more opportunities than I could ever ask for…It's placed me on a pedestal for so long that I haven't been able to form a legitimate relationship with anyone outside of business or talent wise…"

"I see what you mean…It's hard to accept what you're given and once that label sticks, it makes it difficult for anyone new to get close." Jae admitted; knowing full well how people seeing them from the outside affected things.

"But that's what I like about you…" Pyrrha said softly; "Back when we first met, you barely even knew who I was and you treated me just the same as anyone else…And it's because of that, that I have formed bonds with people that I can say will be treasured more highly than any accolade or gift…Look, Jae…I have something to say about before, when I ran off."

Jae turned to face her; "Yeah?" He asked her as he wondered if this is what made her keep so distant towards him.

"I'm sorry…I felt guilty about leaving you all alone like that and for staying as far as I did after that…I got self conscious about the stings and the fact that you asked me out there made me feel…A lot of things; I felt happy and I also felt nervous so I just…I'm sorry…"

Jae smiled a little; "Look, I'm not worried about that…I mean it's honestly not the first time that someone ran away from me." He said with a soft laugh, though Pyrrha could tell that it was more of a sad one than a happy one.

"If we're going to keep on the subject of honesty, I had honestly hoped that I could ask you to the Dance…But I was worried that you would have resented me for running." She admitted and then moved a little further away; "Plus when I saw that everyone else was getting a little closer to you, I wanted to give you some space so you could choose for yourself."

"Pyrrha…I never actually asked anyone to the Dance…"

This threw the "Invincible Girl" for a loop; "Y-You didn't? But what about Yang…Or Weiss…Or that one girl from Haven who tried to flirt with you…I thought you would have asked them since they didn't care that…That they stuck around." Pyrrha asked him to try understanding his process.

"Because I wanted to ask YOU…" Jae remarked, the bandaid was ripped off so now he couldn't stop himself any further; "I always felt nervous and safe around you…Like having the safety belt on a roller coaster." He kept talking and almost felt like the words were just pouring out. "You ARE a celebrity, a prodigy and most importantly, you are a completely amazing person….That last reason is why I wanted to ask you…"

Pyrrha was shocked to say the least; The fact that Jae had felt no resentment or hard feelings towards her for running away was one thing that she wanted to know, the fact that he actively reciprocated her feelings on this was more than enough to cinch this. "Jae…I…I'm glad that y-" She would gasp as she felt his hand gently curl around her's while he turned to smile a little bit more.

"Pyrrha…You stuck up for me and helped me even when I made it difficult for you…So how about I make tonight something good." Jae said softly as he felt that knot of anxiety melt away and become something warm in the pit of his stomach.

Pyrrha had so much positivity in her that she felt like she could take on an army of Grimm right then and there. "You already are." She whispered and then leaned more against him.

"Hey..Pyrrha..You think that maybe…You'd want t-"

"JAE, need your help! Sorry Pyrrha but I need to borrow him!" Yang quickly jumped in and grabbed Jae by the arm and dragged him into the hall again however she was taking him towards the music stand. "Alright, we've got a problem…."

"You think? I was about to ask Pyrrha something and nearly got choked out!" Jae snapped as he readjusted the tie's chokehold around his neck.

"L-Look, I'm sorry and I'll make it up to you later but I really really REALLY need your help with something!" Yang begged him with her hands clasped together.

Jae realised that once Yang had her mind set, she wouldn't let go…Much like Ruby; "Alright, what is it?"

"Okay, some of our players for tonight suddenly got sick and their sets coming up…So I've asked around and nearly have a full set to replace them, are you any good with music?" Yang asked Jae and earned a raised eyebrow from him.

"Well, I am good with a guitar…Though I'm not exactly something to brag about." Jae mentioned as he felt a little on the spot.

"Perfect! Alright, so I've got Ren on trumpet, Sun on trombone, you on guitar and vocals, me on the tenor sax, Nora on drums, and Pyrrha offered to be on piano." Yang listed off but then rechecked her list; "Hold on…I still need someone for Bass."

"I think I know a guy." Jae grinned; "Wait, you've got Pyrrha on Piano? I didn't know she could play."

"Okay, great! Meet us backstage and I'll give you the sheet notes." Yang said as she rushed off to tell the others.

"Sheesh…Give a guy a little warning, next time." Jae grumbled to himself as he loosened the tie and saw Pyrrha rush over.

"I see she got a hold of you too?" She asked him lightly; "I told her I could play some piano and she jumped at the chance, I went out there to get my head straight so that's why you saw me there."

"Well, I guess if we're doing this, then I suppose we can wait until after to make this a night to remember." Jae mentioned as he and Pyrrha rushed backstage.

Meanwhile unbeknownst to Jae OR Pyrrha, Nora had been bouncing up and down in excitement as her shipper on deck mentality was in overdrive when she saw how close Jae and Pyrrha got...However other people seemed to notice as well.

—A Few Minutes Later on Stage—

Jae was feeling the anxiety build since he hadn't played any guitar since he was 14.

"Can I even still do this?" He asked himself while trying to find a good instrument for him to use.

"Trust me, you just talked up one of the school's strongest and prettiest students there is…At this point you should be feeling like you could take on the world!"

Jae nodded as he let that little nugget sit in his head; "Well, still wouldn't change the fact that I might have gotten rusty…"

"Too late for second guessing because we've got two for one on that guitar deal…Plus a little help from an old friend."

"Alright, students…Our resident band for this segment has been unable to show, but Ms Xiao Long who helped to organise this year's dance managed to put together a band to help play for you all to enjoy." Glynda announced to the group and then let Yang and the others take to the stage.

"Jae, I'm not seeing that extra guy…Please tell me that you found someone." Yang whispered to him.

"Just let me worry about the Bass and the Guitar, you focus on saxing it up." Jae promised her as he stepped up to the mike and tapped it to get people's attention. "Alright everybody…Let's see if we can get the swing of the party and make into something more exciting?!" Jae would say to hype people up…Though it did seem to get people excited for what they were about to see.

"Jae's up front and singing? This oughtta be good…"

"They got Pyrrha up there too?! Man, I'll bet she's amazing!"

"I mean, it's a school dance and a replacement band, it can't exactly be anything super."

"DOPPELGANGER!" Jae mentally changed up and suddenly a double of him appeared with a sudden puff of smoke, earning not just a yelp of surprise from the band but also a reinforced "Oh, this is gonna be good~"

The Double gave Jae a thumbs up as it took it's spot on the second mike as both it and Jae summoned up guitars out of thin air. These instruments however looked drastically different to anything Beacon had on hand. It took on the form of a one neck, six stringed guitar with three thin strings for electric and three thick strings for bass; It had a pure black body with red veins running along it and a white neck with the head of the guitar resembling a mask that looked like a Nightmare's and it's singular red eye between the tuning keys.

"Ozpin…Is that a…"

"I was wondering why Shion was so surprised that the Nightmare wasn't expelled…Looks like Mr Cielo earned himself something new out of the process." Ozpin mentioned as he chuckled.

Glynda leaned over with a new concern, "And the Second Jae? Are we going to pretend that's normal?"

"What can I say? Demons have some strange tricks up their sleeves." Ozpin shrugged it off but both Glynda and Ironwood looked at him like he grew a second head.

"So Yang, did I ever tell you that this guy reminded me of the man?" Jae asked Yang who was still double taking the two Jaes on stage.

"Of course, he looks just like you." Yang mentioned as she was concerned he might have lost it at this point due to stage fright.

"Yang, I don't think you get it…Does he remind you of the man?" Jae repeated as he yanked off his tie and undid his top shirt button to let himself breathe for what was coming next.

"What man?"

"The man with the power!" He sang out with Yang and the others slowly catching on.

"What power?" Pyrrha asked curiously as she tried to poise herself properly for the piano.

"Oh, the power of voodoo!" Jae yelled out as he and the Doppel-Jae gripped the guitars tight.

"Who do?" Ren asked as he looked more confused than anything

"Oh, you do, you do." Jae sang back and gestured with a point at Doppel-Jae.

"Do what?" Yang began to sing along as she urged the others to continued.

What came out next was a shock from everyone else as Nora started banging on the drums with a fevered beat to get the blood pumping. Jae's voice then got husky and deeper as he started to make a more primal singing voice to match along with the rumbling of Doppel-Jae on the bass; "YOU REMIND ME OF THE MAN!"

"What man?!" Sun and Ren sang back to the two as the Doppel-Jae started playing a few strings on the bass side of the guitar.

"Yeah, the man with the power!"

"What power?"

"Yeah, the power of voodoo!"

"Who do?" All of the band began singing in tandem with him as the crowd started to clap along to the beat.

"Yeah, you do, you do!" Jae then pointed his finger out to the crowd with a powerful blast of his voice.

"Do what?!" The crowd joined in the singing as the cheering started and everyone began to dance to the now jazzy beat, Ren, Yang and Sun began to let loose a powerful melody of Sax, trombone and Trumpet as the tentative playing of the piano could be heard from Pyrrha yet it didn't detract from the song at all.

Everyone on the dance floor was bouncing about in a fevered dance or they were mingling in the crowd to cheer, clap and encourage the playing.

"Hmm, Mr. Cielo is really coming into his own…I think I owe it to him to see what I can do to help for the missions tomorrow…And I think I know the right people for that."