67

"This is good. Fits snugly and even encases my tail!" Red Mane laughed from inside his personal armored exo-suit. "Almost a shame that it is not also called a Leo though, eh? Gah ha ha!"

Thanks to the casino baron's larger frame, it had been possible to scale up the components of the original exoskeleton, increasing its power output. Of course, this also meant that the power requirement of the unit had increased, but the man claimed that he'd have someone he knew from Atlas look over it for adjustments.

Somehow it wasn't surprising that the rich and charismatic man had a connection to someone in the vaunted Ordos Mechanicus.

The armored suit was bulkier and thicker, a crimson crest and additional crestings on the sides of the head made the Tallgeese much more reminiscent of an ancient spartoi soldier depicted in the ruins of Argus that had been the reason that the settlement had been created in the first place.

Covered entirely in DLC coating, a carmine red titanium-steel alloy shining under the layer of black, glinting like an underlight from certain angles, as if trimming the black armor in red. Should the coating above be cracked, Cid was sure that the carmine color would shine through the cracks.

Not that they'd be live fire testing this at the moment, of course. This was just a test fitting.

"The tail armor won't be powered, and it's not light, but-"

"Ah, it is of no problem, friend." Red Mane assured from within the black and carmine armor. "I have my Aura and my strength."

The corded segments of black and carmine armor that wrapped around his tail lashed out a training post, heavily tearing into the wrapped length of rope around the wooden post, a cracking sound erupting from the wood beneath. Though it was armor for the tail, it was made purposefully larger, a bit of a series of rectangular segments with a cap at the end, not covered in the DLC coating to give the end of the tail a look as if it was aglow with embers.

"Rather, it makes for a rather lovely mace. Or is it whip? Gah ha ha!"

Cid swallowed.

That was with just Aura alone.

And he'd given the man a suit of effectively power armor.

"Hmm, yes. I get the feel for it." Red Mane twisted his torso, turning in various angles to test his full range of motion. "I am impressed at how little it hampers my mobility."

"Th-that's more because of Professor Arc's original design." Cid admitted openly, "All I did was design armor around it to keep the actual exoskeleton hidden underneath. As long as it keeps that under wraps and protects the body, I figured mobility was the most important feature."

"Indeed. Especially if it is necessary to work covertly, that is even more necessary." Red Mane agreed.

A blur of black armored hands wove jabs, thrusts, hooks, knees, elbows, and kicks flew as the lion Faunus began to shadow kickbox.

"Yes, yes! It moves as if it is aware of how I wish to move! Ha ha! Delightful!"

A spinning heel kick tore through the training post, sending the top of it flying into the woods, crashing through underbrush as splinters and strips of hemp sprayed everywhere.

That was terrifying. A kick from the Red Mane of Golden Sands right now was enough to literally kick a man's head off of his neck right now.

"Ah, I wish to take it for a spin! How long shall I expect it to last me, friend?"

"Oh! Uh…" Cid checked his clipboard. "More space in the armor for batteries, so… twenty five minutes? Depends on how strenuous the activity is, though."

"Mmmm. Not bad. If the wearer has Aura and enough ability to bear the weight of it until they reach a target location, they'd have an easy time fighting once the armor is powered, even helping ensure an escape with remaining energy." Red Mane's laughter echoed tinnily through the armor's mic and speaker built into the helmet. "That is good. All we need to do is teach our dear Knights a bit of conditioning to perform in the field."

He reached to the side, picking up a large black shield, clipping it to the holster on his left shoulder, part of the new design for the new leadership Tallgeese units and the basic Leo units.

Then he picked up a broad greatsword, its edges and shape as if a flamberge was given thrice the mass, being twice as wide and thicker by a half. No dust, no gun, just a normal First-Gen weapon.

It almost made Cid think more of an executioner's blade.

"Then my good companion Staunch and I shall go and cull a few Grimm for sport and be back." Red Mane laughed, turning to walk away.

Then paused, turning back around.

Something about how Red Mane's Aura glinted from within the carmine visor of the Tallgeese made Cid uncomfortable. Like how despite he'd seen the tall man wear the helmet with his crimson and gold blindfold on, Red Mane could still see him from underneath both layers of material.

"The shield. Does it have a name?"

"Oh, no." Cid shook his head. "I hadn't thought of naming it. Sho-should I have?"

Red Mane turned to the shield on his shoulder.

"...It is not necessary. It is… a good shield. I can sense that. Sturdy and… stalwart. Familiar." Red Mane turned around again, beginning to walk into the forest. "...he he he… HA HA HA HA HA!"

Something about the way Red Mane laughed, as if he had told a funny joke that Cid couldn't understand, made him nervous.

Rich people really were weird. Especially when they felt like a Huntsman. The power of Lien with the power of Aura was a terrifying combination.

If there was anything to be sad about was the fact that Yang and Blake both didn't seem to get along with Trivia very much, even when he'd asked if they'd like to be friends.

Blake made a token effort, even shaking the older girl's hand, but for some reason he had the feeling that neither girl liked each other very much.

Which was, honestly, not too weird of Trivia. Despite her wealth and the circumstances of her 'good birth', she'd led a bit of a hard life from rough conditions in her upbringing, and she wasn't easy to trust. Rather she tended to be very prickly on the surface, not caring about most people.

Maybe that was part of why (aside from how pretty she was) that he sympathized with Weiss so much. She honestly did remind him a lot of Trivia.

It was a sad way to live and it worried him sometimes, despite the fact that he was somewhat similar, though more because it was hard for him to find someone that didn't wish to become acquainted for his money, fame, or abilities.

Hmm. Pyrrha was currently suffering from that too. Honestly it was good they could complain about it to each other. Gods know how crazy the both of them might have been driven without each other.

Yang, however, being unnaturally competitive at the best of times, pretty much didn't even really acknowledge Trivia at all, somewhat unlike her normal super friendly and cheerful norm. That worried him too. He wanted his friends to get along, but maybe he was lucky that so many of his friends were compatible already?

Still the rest of the barbeque passed mostly without incident, the older Beacon students answering a lot of questions about what it was like in the colleges (honestly a bit more mundane than most of them had expected) as well Cinder, as leader (Team Mom) of Team CRXN offering to give the younger Huntsmen and Huntresses in training a spar or two while they were in Menagerie.

Pretty much everyone took up on that offer, Yang and Blake included.

Hopefully that would end well enough, as a lot of people seemed to grow closer after they'd gotten to spar with each other.

Regardless, his evening that day had ended up being Jaune taking Trivia and the rest of Team CRXN around Menagerie a bit on his Fenrir. Trivia rode behind him, hugging him tightly, as the rest sat in a sidecar on both sides.

Sure it was an odd sight, but his bike was powerful enough to cart everyone along.

Naturally Cinder got one of her own while the Faunus couple shared.

Mostly it was just him showing off a little, giving a mini history lesson, almost, of how he'd been helping Menagerie grow, going step by step about what had happened over the years. The Solar Farm to the Green Laurel. The factories that were created to develop air conditioning units, solar panel parts, and batteries, then to the cable barns.

It was sort of embarrassing how it felt like he was just bragging, but he really did sort of have a hand in almost everything.

And once again trying to explain the differences between trolleys and cable cars went mostly over their heads. Maybe a culture difference between Earth and Remnant.

He showed off some of Menagerie's defenses, fortified metal walls embedded into the ground, rising up from the sands in order to give an idea of their defenses on a smaller scale. Their sides were supplemented by dome topped pillars that would rise up and open to reveal turrets to tear through Grimm.

The sand made some things difficult, but nothing was impossible with enough engineering.

The ARK of Humanity had survived for centuries underground. A little sand was trivial in comparison.

The bigger issue was making sure that the alarms were turned off when he did the little test reveal. Last thing Jaune wanted was to cause a panic.

He also didn't bring up the fact that they used Earth's ammunition, rather than Remnant's. Frankly he had more gunpowder than he knew what to do with thanks to the Gacha, and this was a good way to offload.

Also he showed off the pseudo-CCT he'd made that gave access to the full internet that stood proudly between La Hau and Kuo Kuana. It was modeled after the Namsan Tower of Earth, a miniature model having existed in the ARK of Humanity. It was tall, but half the height of the original, but it was still an impressive 120 meters.

Getting BOLT units outfitted with fusion powered jetpacks for its construction had been both hilarious and a headache. However those jetpacks were neatly stored in his Inventory afterwards and unlike his Multi-Fabricator hadn't been stolen.

There was, unfortunately, a lot Jaune had done that had been less easy to show visually.

Such as a 'water source' he'd discovered that had been a Gacha item he'd installed into the ground, much like the SSR Rarity Consumable: Peak Quality Hot Spring Source that he'd implanted into the location where he'd built the Green Laurel Bathhouse.

Still he did point out the water purifying plant built over said water source in the distance either way. Additionally the plant could take salt water and separate out the salt for both consumption as well as water purification.

Things like his contributions to the sewage system and such were also left out of the grand tour outside of a brief offhanded mention, as neither he nor Team CRXN would want to go sewer delving for the details on its engineering, maintained by a dedicated squad of BOLT units with some Faunus oversight.

They originally intended to end the tour by coming to the Glacier, as it was a pretty sight at night lit up by the stars and moon from above, and with lamps from below, even if The Burrower encased within wasn't nearly as pretty to look at.

It was not far off from the Solar Farm, a small segment of La Hau was based around it, mostly to observe and research the visual decomposition of the Grimm frozen in time. Thus, effectively their tour had made a full circle.

Less people studied the structure now than when it first had appeared, but it was still of interest to many. Trivia smirked at him as if she knew he'd been responsible and all he could do was give her a shrug, pretty much admitting to it.

Though earlier in the tour Jaune had been able to introduce the idea of his BOLT units, they encountered 2B and 9S that had been stepping out in their combat gear to hunt some Grimm in the dark as they'd been about to end the night.

Oddly (or maybe not so odd?) everyone seemed to like the two YorHa AI BOLTs, even asking to see them in action, so they extended the trip slightly, driving out into the wilderness to go fight some Grimm alongside them.

It had been one of the rare moments that Jaune used a firearm, as the 'arms' of his Fenrir was actually loaded up with a slew of guns, from shotguns to assault rifles and even SMGs. Mostly loaded with some experimental ammo created not from Dust but the 'conventional' designs from the ARK of Humanity. Originally the arms of the bike were meant to store swords, but it had been adjustable enough.

He technically even had a bastard sword in each arm of Fenrir to pay homage to whoever owned the original version of his bike. It wasn't the length of blade he was most familiar with, but he could wield them while riding if he had to without much issue. Fenrir was designed to operate without hands if necessary.

Which was to say the resulting firepower in the firearms held inside the arms of his bike were meant for Raptures, which made them quite effective against Grimm.

Though everyone had given him an odd look when he'd explained that these bullets were made of metal instead of Dust though. Still they'd just shrugged when he'd explained they were just experimental and not really meant for Huntsman work, as Recoil Tech was a staple for most Huntsmen.

He also neglected to mention that the cartridges used gunpowder rather than Dust as well, but that didn't seem too important, though Team CRXN had noted that the weapons gave off an odd scent and that the ammunition didn't react to their Aura.

Xayah seemed to enjoy the shotguns though when he'd let her give it a go. Trivia might not have cared too much for them, but Neo liked the SMGs. Cinder had an odd fascination with the ammunition itself, seeming to have some thoughts of her own about something.

Still every day had to end, and Jaune had driven them all back to their room at the Green Laurel Inn.

Having Trivia on Menagerie with him was odd, but he was happy to share a bit of Menagerie with her regardless, getting a kiss on the cheek from both Trivia and Neopolitan separately for the experience.

She'd (as usual) not let him go until he reciprocated, however, one on each cheek for both girls in turn.

He pretended to not see Sun in the lobby give him a thumbs up at that as his girlfriend Velvet smacked him in the head.

He liked Sun, but whatever was making him get punished by his girlfriend was none of his business.

"J-Jaune?" Blake called from her room as he walked by, her head peeking shyly out of the doorway. "Do you… have a moment?"

"Hmm? Yeah, what's up?" He was still riding the high of riding around on his bike, the sound cut down exponentially as it was late and didn't want to cause any noise complaints.

"Uh… well. Yang and I were, uh, sharing a bit of reading material. We were wondering if you wanted to join us?"

He blinked.

He wasn't sure why, but Blake seemed to think this was important (if not critical) so he just nodded.

"Sure. I'm not quite sleepy yet. And we haven't really had a lotta time to read together in a bit." Jaune smiled, recalling all the times that he and Blake had shared a quiet moment where they'd share a good book, sometimes reading aloud quietly to one another, enjoying the other's voice in a bit of storytelling. "Rare for Yang to want to join us for reading though."

"W-well, the topic of the book is just something we both have a bit of interest in, so, uh…"

Jaune just laughed, opening the door to Blake's room as he stepped in.

"If the both of you are interested it has to be good. I'm in."

Yang was weirdly quiet as she rocked on the edge of Blake's bed, her face faintly pink, a hardcover book in her hands, almost flinching as she looked up as she chewed her lip. It was glistening pink, though it was faintly darker than her normal lip gloss.

"H-hey Jaune. Nice night?"

"Yeah! It was great." He nodded happily, but that seemed to just get Yang determined for some reason, like she'd made up her mind. "I took Team CRXN on a big tour of Menagerie and they got to meet 2B and 9S as they were leaving for some Grimm hunting, so we ended up staying out a bit later than expected."

His gaze caught the sight of the clock on Blake's bookshelf.

"Oh, it's already almost midnight! Should we put this off-"

"No!" Both girls spoke quickly, hushing a bit as they gazed at the door as if they were expecting one of the adults to suddenly step in and check up on them.

"Actually it's probably better that it's a bit later. It's something more, y'know, private, y'know?" Yang muttered, playing with a strand of her long, luscious locks. "Better that we're not interrupted. We don't want to be too loud though. We'll read quietly and stuff."

"Yes, quietly is best." Blake agreed, her hands pushing him to sit at the edge of the bed next to Yang, Blake herself sitting on his other side. "Yang and I already have been… reading together and… practicing."

"Practicing?"

"You'll get it in a bit!" Yang quickly pushed the book into his hands, one of her hands clamping down on his left thigh, just a bit above the knee.

She was really red. As was Blake. They weren't sick, right? They didn't seem feverish or sweaty, just red.

He shrugged, finding it weird that Blake was pressed up so close against his side that he couldn't help but to sense her Aura, the scent of parchment and ink, the sensation of droplets of midnight dew. As always it contrasted heavily against the scent of warm summer sunlight, the sensation of smooth scales against his skin. Yang's Aura warmed from his other side.

He found himself swallowing as he opened the book and began to softly read aloud, both girls placing a hand above his knee, giving him a feeling like he was being pinned in.

A few scratches against the Tallgeese armor was inevitable. Rather small faint microscratches seemed to build up a lot on the form of the black armor, but it seemed that only some more significant scratches and dents seemed to cause the coating to shave or flake off entirely.

All things luckily easily repairable through Professor Jaune's tech.

Though it seemed more a testament to the quality of Professor Jaune's invention that even so, the coating seemed to hold very well, the flashes of red coming out where the armor had taken damage rather looked almost artistic. Like something out of a video game or a movie.

"Ah, my friend!" Red Mane's voice was excited but controlled, a sense of what could only be described as battle hungry. "This Mobile Armor is good! Very liberating! If it were possible I'd buy a thousand! Bwah ha ha!"

That filled Cid with a bit less assurance as Red Mane stepped out of his Tallgeese Crown, the front of the Mobile Armor opening up and letting him step out of the machine with casual ease. The freedom fighters that were making up the current numbers of the Black Knights weren't much more than a hundred Faunus, but only about a third of them were planned combatants.

Despite the fact that he'd crafted a bit over three dozen Leo units and was working on the Tallgeese units for the four people that would be acting as captains in the field (a fifth being gifted to Red Mane) that already felt concerning.

It was true that change required a bit of a helping hand and they needed force as an equalizer, but a thousand Mobile Armors? That could only be used for war.

If it came to it, he'd rather delete all the design files on the Multi-Fabricator himself and bear the consequences.

Maybe.

He wasn't sure if he was truly brave enough for that, even with Aura.

"What is wrong my friend? Do not look so troubled. Your Mobile Armor is fine work." Red Mane assured, stepping forwards to give him a pat on the shoulder.

Despite the increased strength of the man, it was true that the miners back in Menagerie had always expressed that the exoskeletons seemed to know how they wished to move almost perfectly. If Red Mane had been in his armor, perhaps the aggressively friendly pats would have been less painful.

"Oh it's nothing. Just, uh, a bit dazzled by how good the Tallgeese looks even after combat."

"Ah yes! Even when I allowed the local Grimm to charge with full force the armor held up well! This black paint especially, and it is almost pretty in how it shaves against claws. Certainly it will make for good visuals for your cause after battle, I presume. Damage from bullets and blades shall have a similar effect, which will actually be quite helpful! Even a normal soldier would have the understanding of where they'd taken a debilitating blow. A lesson onto oneself even into the very paint job. Our Knights might learn a thing or two even from the battlefield itself after the day is won!"

"That wasn't exactly the intention. The DLC coating is something the Professor made… I can't take credit for that. But, uh, lord Red Mane, sir?"

"Yes my friend, what is it?" His hand still rested on Cid's shoulder, his red and gray hair fluttering in the wind.

"Were, uh, were you ever a teacher once? You reminded me of my senior forgemaster for a bit there."

It had been merely a sense of familiarity to Cid, a positive emotion, but a hard hand gripped at his shoulder, painfully pressing against Cid's Aura.

"That is of no concern to you, friend. Do not ask so many questions." Red Mane spoke quietly, not like his normal boisterous state. It made his hair rise on end.

A hard hand slapped his shoulder again, Red Mane laughing as he returned to normal.

"Come, my friend, come. We shall go and enjoy a drink together to celebrate. Have you ever had fine Vacoan brandy? It will change your life! Come!"

"...I think we broke him." Yang grinned, her face as equally red, but a look of victory on her face.

Blake could still feel like she could taste her strawberry lip gloss if she looked at Yang, feeling her pulse race in her neck.

Her tongue wet her own lip subconsciously, tasting her own grape lip gloss.

Jaune was laying on his back on her bed, his mind clearly racing at speeds that Blake herself couldn't comprehend, small imprints of purple and pink lips along his cheeks and mouth, even at his earlobes.

She felt a bit short of breath, her lips slightly puffy.

Blake glanced at the time.

"Oh shit." She swore softly, "It's almost two AM."

"Hrlsbrgh." Jaune mumbled out at that, still a bit tongue tied at what he'd just gone through.

Introducing him to one of her more… heated romance novels that started getting spicy early, revealing to him how she and Yang had been 'practicing' kissing (though admittedly they'd only built up to the courage to do so mere minutes before Jaune had arrived back home) as a result, and wanted a boy's input, taking (slight, ok a lot of) advantage of his giving nature to tell him that they trusted him and didn't know who else to turn to had…

Well both girls had, admittedly, taken plenty of advantage of Jaune's nature.

But it had been almost everything she'd ever fantasized about, outside of more… well there were things that she should probably wait until marriage for, right? Or something? Though she'd also dreamt of Yang once or twice, she'd never had any of Yang and Jaune at the same time that she could recollect.

S-still, some practice wouldn't hurt once they were older, though. Probably.

A lot of her novels had mentioned how kissing had a taste to it, often bringing up food, alcohol, and sometimes tobacco, but maybe due to Aura but there hadn't been any such a thing outside of her own and Yang's lip gloss which was less on their lips now and all over each other's faces.

Rather all Blake could hazily remember in her and Yang's joint attack upon the lands of Fort Jaune had been his Aura, burning hot against her own, occasionally Yang's sunlight and scales brushing hot against her as her cheek rubbed against Blake's own as they fought over territory.

E-even occasionally fighting directly against each other's lips as they could feel Jaune stare at them, feeling the muscles of his leg tense.

Thank god Jaune (and Ren as well, as an aftermath of Qrows occasionally dirty fighting style) wore a cup underneath his pants, or things could have gotten much more embarrassing and scary for the two girls. They weren't ready for some of that.

Though maybe Yang might have been a bit more prepared for more than one kissing partner, considering the situation with her parents, outside of books, all of this was wildly uncharted territory for Blake herself.

She was going to have to make a new diary for these moments later.

Neither girl had been brazen, or brave enough to include any tongue, at least not intentionally, as she could feel from how both of their Auras felt as if they were pulsing along to their rapid heartbeats. But still at some point she was sure that both she and Yang had teased at Jaune and each other with just a bit of them. Probably.

She was still just processing a lot of this too.

But maybe Jaune was competitive, or he didn't like being left out, but whenever the two girls backed away to 'practice kissing' with each other, it was Jaune himself that had silently forced himself into the mix, his breath hot and his own lips seeking their cheeks, ears, necks, and mouths.

But unlike those moments of uncontrolled passion, he was currently laying on his back, his hands covering parts of his face, meek and embarrassed.

How absolutely just like Jaune. It was adorable. He'd always been adorable, but somehow in contrast to his dark clothes and more confident appearance nowadays, seeing him meek and shy like this made Blake want to kiss him again.

"Then if the two of you are done with my master, I would make sure he is allowed a good night's sleep."

Blake froze, feeling Jaune and Yang also freeze at her side.

Emerald rippled into view by the doorway, her Aura fading off of her like motes of light.

Had… had Emerald been just watching until her Aura ran out?!

"...you bitch." Yang exhaled with a disbelieving flush, her face growing ever redder. "How long have you been watching us?!"

"I've been here since the both of you chickened out and resorted to 'practice' as your avenue of attack in preparation for my master." Emerald's voice didn't carry a single hint of emotion beyond a matter of fact neutral tone. "I must say I am somewhat disappointed in you two. Really you do lack confidence as women, despite this possibly being for the best, in the end."

"So you were here since the beginning." Blake groaned, feeling mortified.

She'd known Yang long enough, trusted her best friend (who might be, like Jaune, slightly more than a best friend now) with her most intimate emotions, but while she was friends with Emerald, the green haired girl wasn't that close.

"Oh gods, why the hell, Emerald?"

"Someone had to supervise and ensure you did not cross any lines." The girl replied coolly, though the sweat at her brow from having to have stretched her Semblance and Aura to the limit implied that she probably wasn't feeling nearly as calm and collected as she appeared. "You do not think that advice aside, I would trust the entirety of my master to the two of you? I would be a poor blade should I have done so."

"What, so you're going to just watch like a creep every time?" Yang glared, her eyes crimson. "Dammit to fucking hell, Emerald!"

"What I am going to do," Emerald stepped forward, pushing both of them away to pull up Jaune by his wrist, "is ensure that my master gets a proper night's rest."

Despite the sensation of anger, shame, and slight betrayal, neither she nor Yang did anything as Emerald left her room with Jaune in tow.

"...Fucking Mistralians." Yang cursed under her breath. "Weirdos the lot of 'em."

Blake just nodded, her face red.

Juniper opened his eyes, finding it odd that it had taken Jaune so long to get back to his room.

He blinked, confusedly seeing pink and purple lipstick (Lipgloss? He'd never really understood the difference himself to be perfectly honest) peppered along Jaune's face, jawline, and mouth.

What did he miss?!

Pyrrha sent an excitedly amused but equally embarrassingly horrified sensation through his form.

"We're here, Jaune." Emerald was wearing no such lipstick or lipgloss, so it wasn't her. "Do you require my assistance in getting changed into your sleepwear?"

It was an offer the girl always made, surely in jest. Jaune just silently shook his head, his face still pink from whatever he'd been doing this late at night.

But with who? There were also TWO different colors!

Juniper had drifted to Jaune's bedroom to hibernate the moment his younger self had returned home, so he had zero idea what was happening.

"Sleeping in your daily wear is not good, Jaune." Emerald chastised softly, a bit like their mother Noelle. "I'll get your pajamas for you. Wait here."

Quickly the girl stepped over to Jaune's dresser, though it really was only filled with some bare essentials. Jaune often got lazy and changed his clothes directly with his Inventory.

She turned around, allowing Jaune to quickly change, picking up his clothes after and folding them neatly for him, putting them away in a drawer.

"Good. Have a good night, Jaune." Emerald smiled sweetly as Jaune slipped under the covers.

"Night Em." Jaune mumbled back absentmindedly.

Emerald hummed pleasantly, leaning over and KISSED HIM ON THE LIPS.

Shock ran through both him and Pyrrha, though Pyrrha seemed rather scandalized and more curious about this turn of events than Juniper himself.

"Mmmm… pah." Emerald pulled away, her face betraying no emotion as her lips let out a sound like a suction being released. "And should you wish to 'practice' for anything, feel free to call upon me as well, Jaune."

Emerald smiled mysteriously, her eyes aglow in garnet light as Jaune's eyes widened like saucers. Juniper felt heavily like he was intruding.

"Whenever, for whatever, I will come."

The girl turned and left the room quickly, almost with a skip in her step.

"Jaune what the hell happened?"

"...I don't know." Jaune muttered up at him. "Why are girls all so soft?"

Juniper groaned as he facepalmed.

He wasn't ready to deal with second-hand puberty.