63

"WOOOOOOOOOO!" Xayah hollered, drawing too much attention to herself, "I'M BACK, KUO KUANAAAAAA!"

Rakan chuckled behind her as he tucked his head beneath her legs and stood up, letter her ride on his shoulders. Or he wore her like a hat. Dealer's choice.

She let out a cackle as she ran her fingers against the sides of his head, leaning over to contort her body enough to kiss the top of his crest, unable to reach down to the top of his head.

That would have required flexibility on the level of kissing her own belly button. Xayah was flexible, but not that flexible. Hmm. Maybe she could be though if she trained for it? A thought for future Xayah to mull over.

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but please make sure not to cause any trouble for others!" A passing dockworker laughed as they passed, a sailor uniform with a White Fang logo emblazoned proudly. "Have a good stay in Kuo Kuana!"

"You got it, bossman!" Xayah waved, nudging her lover's ribs with the flat of her talons. "Honey, let's gooooo!"

"Somebody has to lug the luggage, but I'm guessing you don't want to do that." She heard Rakan laugh, his rumbling making the bones of his head vibrate against her core, making Xayah wish to be at their hotel room already. "You've still got our money, right?"

"Of course!" She pulled out the debit card in her cleavage pocket. "And with being able to get full payment on missions now that we're in our last year, we've got some bank!"

Which was extra great, as because Menagerie wanted Huntsmen and Huntresses to call it home, any students of the Four Colleges got STEEP discounts at many establishments with a valid student ID.

Considering this would be the last year they'd be able to take advantage of that, it was decided that it was necessary to swing by Menagerie for Winter Break.

"Can you two not just run the fuck off at every opportunity?" Team Mom (Cinder) sighed behind them, carrying her trusty rucksack. Honestly, she carried everything inside that thing and didn't buy a lot of personal stuff for herself so she could travel 'light'. "You all have this weird obsession of calling me mom, but I'd prefer to not actually have to mother the lot of you. You're all grown fucking adults. Act like it, dammit."

"Ah, but that is the burden of leadership, mother." Rakan teased from under her. "Looking after your three innocent twenty year old children. It is your job as the eldest."

"I'm only ONE year older than the lot of you!"

"Mom, if you frown so much you'll get wrinkles~" Xayah teased from utop Rakan's head, leaning back to dodge a small fireball launched towards her.

Cinder was such a tease. That thing would have missed even if she didn't lean away, judging from how it swerved mid-air.

"Darling, mama's bullying me!"

"Mother no! Hit me instead!" Rakan teased.

By this point they were drawing some attention, but despite the fact Cinder who was flinging flame was a human and she and Rakan were Faunus, their laughing faces made it clear that they were friends. That mixed with their colorful and bright Huntsman/Huntress garb kept people from misunderstanding their group too much.

Most civilians tended to think of Huntsmen and Huntresses as 1) Super Hot and 2) Super Weird.

It was about this time that their team's trump card, Murder Princess Neopolitan Rider stepped off the boat, her Whisper popped open over her shoulder, her hair tied in a lazy, but neat bun, sort of reminding her of the way Professor Goodwitch wore it, and a pair of large, expensive shades over her face.

She was sipping on what was probably her second milkshake of the day through a large clear straw, having already gone full vacation mode, dressed in a thin fluttery dress that the light would shine through. Not so that you could see the skin underneath, but if Neo stood between Xayah and a light source, she could see Murder Princess's bodyline through it.

It was sexy as hell.

She'd first shown it off at Beacon for the trip and Xayah had asked for where to buy one herself, but their princess just went and gave her a few in different colors the day after telling her on her Scroll to not worry about it.

But she'd completely forgotten to remove the price tags, the rich bitch. It was the first time Xayah had ever own any piece of clothing that cost SEVEN DIGITS. And now currently there were four of said dresses in her suitcase that Rakan was carrying.

Xayah was a free spirit and wasn't really the kind of person that cared much about material things, but THAT WAS A LOT OF MONEY.

Honestly it was part of the reason that she wanted Rakan to carry the luggage. Xayah wasn't a klutz, but she knew she wasn't super mindful of her own things. She didn't want to do something stupid, like accidentally kicking her bag into the ocean while messing around.

Because she'd definitely done that during the second summer break to Menagerie. She'd almost waterlogged all of her luggage then.

So considering Rakan was the responsible one between the two of them, which wasn't saying much, but it was true, he'd have to bear full responsibility for her new wardrobe. He'd be the one enjoying it on her later, after all.

This place looks neat. Neo's Scroll flashed casually. How're we getting to the hotel?

She tipped a sailor that helped her with two large designer suitcases with two purple 10K Lien bills, making his eyes go wide.

"Thank you, miss!" He smiled widely, clearly having expected nothing, let alone from a human.

In truth he wasn't even a porter, just happened to see Neo angrily trying to lug her bags along and had offered a helping hand. Even though Neo had fronted the cash for them to travel First Class, the Green Zakko didn't have anyone to help with luggage in the first place. Probably a bit of an oversight, to be honest.

Neo just gave a lazy thumbs up and a nod before turning back to her teammates, sipping at her milkshake. A ring that looked like a curling silver feather glinted from the middle finger of her left hand, the vane a bright gold, as she raised her paper cup closer to her mouth.

"We'll have to walk." Rakan stated simply, "Or hire a rickshaw. Not a lot of cars in Menagerie, though Jaune's made a trolley system. Should be one here at some point if we're willing to wait."

Xayah helpfully pointed at a green trolley car in the distance somewhat slowly headed in their direction as her boyfriend turned in it's direction.

"Like that one, over there! We won't have to wait too long, since we're lucky." She smiled, ready to play tour guide for her friends.

"Public transport is free too, unless you have luggage that takes up seating. It's not super pricy though." Rakan nodded, "And the hotel we're staying at is next to one of the best places in all of Menagerie!"

The Green Laurel. Jaune said he made it. Neo's Scroll may have emotionlessly stated it, but the smile on their Murder Princess's face spoke louder than any words. I've been looking forward to it.

"Trust Jaune to take a cornerstone of Mistralian high society and make it a casual joy for the masses." Cinder's voice was gruff, but Xayah could see a rare smile faintly grace the corners of their Team Mom's lips. "Sounds about right."

"Gah! I'm just so glad you two finally agreed to come with us!" Xayah cheered as she leapt off Rakan's shoulders and ran over to hug her two best girl friends. "This Winter Break is going to ROCK!"

"There's so many rocks." Ruby sipped at a cup of lemonade as she watched Jaune order around a bunch of generic BOLT units as he rode sidesaddle on BOLT 2B's back as BOLT 9S trotted around them in circles.

It was cute how happy the two white and black BOLTs were about Jaune being back. According to Blake they didn't seem to be very torn up by it whenever he left, but they were always extra present during the first week of Jaune being back in Menagerie, year after year.

"It's a mine, Ruby." Blake gave her head a pat as she flipped a page of her book, a protective cover hiding the title from sight. "They dig up rocks and metal here."

"It's just kinda weird because I'm only used to seeing a bunch of sand in a desert. Sometimes they're rocks, but they're usually super BIG structures." Ruby waved her hand like she was drawing an archway, like the large sandstone archway structure they'd passed on the way here via the Yellow Line 2. "Why're they even there anyways?"

"Some people guess that it might be the ruins of ancient civilizations, worn down over thousands of years." Blake smiled teasingly as she saw Ruby's silver eyes sparkle with wonder, "But it's probably just a rock structure that was somehow worn away by sandstorms to look like that by chance."

"Phooey." Ruby pouted as she pouted as Blake had taken her for a ride. "Meanie."

Blake giggled at her, flipping another page of her book.

"It's not my fault that you're so gullible, Ruby."

Ruby's eyes narrowed, flicking down to Blake's book, leaning up to try to read over-

Blake pulled her book back immediately, her face faintly flushing.

Oh ho~

"Whatcha readin', Blake?"

"Nothing important, Ruby. Definitely not for kids!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby puffed up chest, her white dress swelling as her black corset faintly strained from her intake of air. "I'm thirteen!"

"And this is meant for older girls than thirteen."

"It can't be that bad." Ruby blitzed behind Blake in a shower of rose petals, "Just let-"

"Nope!" Blake snapped the book shut. "Shit, I don't remember what page I was on."

"Hey! I heard you swear next to my baby sister, kitty cat!" Yang called from the side, having stripped off her Parabellum coat to fight the heat (Aura protected against it, but it was harder to offset body heat from exercise when it was hot out regardless) as she helped Jaune's BOLT units move around raw materials.

Yang rolled her shoulder to better hold a long metal bar, her navel flashing as her low cut yellow crop top fluttered in the desert breeze.

Ruby could hear Blake swallow faintly next to her.

"You hearing me over there, Blakey? No swearing by Rubes!"

"I-I'll be more careful!" Blake yelled back, "Got it!"

"Lemme read the book too!" Ruby's hands darted out to try to grab the book, only for Blake to use her Semblance, Shadow, to warp away as she left a clone of herself behind.

She wondered if Blake had named it that because of Jaune's own Semblance that seemed to eat up his items and himself as he teleported through his smaller shadowy mice. Actually was that even what Jaune called his Semblance? He only seemed to refer to his mice as Shadows. But he always spoke about them like they were something else entirely. Actually…

…Ruby had never once heard Jaune refer to his Semblance by name. The only reason that he would do that was…

…that Jaune hadn't ever named his Semblance. Never named the reflection of his soul.

That was kind of sad, she thought, as she burst into another dash, Petal Burst fluttering behind her in a trail of rose petals as she began to play keep away with Blake. Or was it tag? Who cared, when it was fun? It was fun enough to distract her from that sad thought.

"GIMME GIMME!" Ruby cackled as she fully released what Jaune kept so rudely calling her 'gremlin mode', chasing Blake who kept running for dear life, clutching her book to her chest. "I JUST WANNA PEAK!"

"NOT THIS BOOK, RUBY!"

Jaune always had an issue having pride in himself. And that was sad.

But he was looking over to Ruby and Blake right now as Yang slung an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer as they both laughed at her and Blake play. Laughing as they distracted him from his work.

Ruby smiled, her heart roaring with joy at seeing Jaune smile.

It was enough if she could make him smile enough that offset all the sadness, right?

"This isn't super different from Vacuo." Velvet laughed, clacking their coconuts together, the inside filled with a fruity drink mixed from local Menagerie delicacies. Non-alcoholic, at her insistence, despite the fact that they probably could have used a fake ID to get their hands on some booze. "But it's nice that the ocean is right by the city. It keeps everything cooler, even in summer."

"Crazy that the seasons flip down this far below." Sun scratched his head, his lips seeking the funny little twisty straw that Velvet had insisted on. "Explains why a lotta settlements south of the equator tends to fail, huh?"

"It's incredibly logical once the method for the seasons is pointed out, but astrology isn't exactly a well documented study outside of how it's used to chart sailing voyages." Velvet noted, leafing through a small booklet about Menagerie that the city of Kuo Kuana handed out for a mere 100 Lien. "Really, it's remarkable that Jaune knew about that!"

"Should I worry about competition?" Sun grumpily pouted, feeling slightly deficient. Jaune was his age, even blond like him, but dude clearly overachieved too much. How was a slacker like Sun supposed to compare?!

Velvet just giggled, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"Oh you big baby. I can be a fan of Jaune and his music but still love you."

"You're just saying that cuz I saved your life."

Velvet rolled her eyes at his sulking, black sheer blouse over her red two piece bikini, sitting in his lap, making his thighs feel hot.

"Sun." She glared. "I fell in love with you for you. If I fell in love with everyone that saved my life, I'd be in love with the ones that pulled me from the wreckage of the Glacial Ferry. Don't be an idiot. Just because you found me after I got my ass kicked in a fight in Vacuo and nursed me back to health doesn't mean I just fell in love because of that. This isn't a fairy tale where you rescue a princess and it's happily ever after."

"Sorry, sorry." Sun sighed, reaching up to hold his girlfriend. "I'm just a moron. I didn't think Jaune was that much of a crazy genius."

"You have his number, you know. You can message him and hang out again." Velvet giggled as she nipped his ear. "It'll be fun."

"That was before I knew he was the guy that apparently helped single-handedly rebuild all of Menagerie! What's a guy like him gonna want with a dumbass like me?"

"I think he liked that you didn't have any expectations of him. It must have been fun just being a normal kid."

"...You think? Just weird to think of being that famous and not being happy about it."

"Do you want people hounding you constantly and waiting on every breath?"

"When you put it that way, it does sound a bit fun… but I can see that getting annoying after a while, ha ha."

He heard Velvet sip at her coconut behind his head in their embrace.

He turned to kiss her neck as she swallowed, getting a hum of enjoyment from Velvet, one of her legs running up his side.

"See? Just ask him if he wants to hang out at some point. You're all mopey right now anyways." Velvet pulled back to meet his eyes, her forehead bumping against his. "I don't like seeing my Sunny all droopy."

Sun just laughed again. Shit. He had the best girlfriend, huh?

"Alright, alright. Tomorrow, though. I want to spend all of today with you."

"Charmer." Velvet smiled prettily, her eyes glimmering softly, a faint redness behind her irises. "I love you, Sun."

"I love you too, Vel."

"I don't get it."

"Ruby, give that back!"

"Read it out loud, sis!"

"NO!"

It was just a bunch of words about people kissing and getting too grabby. Maybe because she was just jumping into it from the middle of the book, she didn't have any context? The fact they were taking each other's clothes off with their teeth was the weird part.

People have hands, Blake. Your book is dumb.

"It's really dumb. Blake, people have hands. Why use tee-"

"LALALALALALA!" Blake shouted, her face redder than the inside of Ruby's cloak, snatching her book back. "NOTHING! IT'S NOTHING!"

"Ok, now I gotta know what that book is." Ruby could hear Jaune wheezing and gasping for breath, lying prone on 2B's back as Yang was playing with his hair. Actually that looked fun.

Ruby skipped off to join her sister. She'd always loved petting Jaune's ears. So fluffy and soft.

"Ok, now spill, sis. What was the book about?"

"Nothing interesting. Just a bunch of people sounding like they were reciting poetry to another and stuff."

That and stripping each other with their teeth. Weirdos.

And kis-

Her eyes gazed down to Jaune's smile. His li-

Then snapped up as suddenly Ruby found that the clouds in the sky were very interesting at this time of day.

"Ruby, you good?"

"I'm fine, I think." Ruby replied, her fingers just focusing on Jaune's velvet ears. "I, uh, thought I saw something? Must be my imagination.

Gosh, summers in Menagerie were hot. She could feel the skin of her neck warm heavily. Even her ears felt hot.

"Hmmmm. Hey, kitty cat. Lemme see that book of yours." She heard Yang step away, her voice starting to take a faintly dangerous tone. "I just want a peek."

"It's nothing Yang!"

"If it's nothing, it's fine if I just get a peek, ain't it?"

Jaune snickered, letting out a sigh as she played with his ears.

"They get along well, don't they?"

"Super well." Ruby laughed, feeling a bit calmer and able to look back down at Jaune, seeing his bright blue eyes, like the azure sky above. "You know she always complains that you and Blake should go to Signal with us."

"That would have been cool too." Jaune faintly nodded, his head moving just enough that he didn't pull his own ears as she stroked them. "Patch is nice. I miss it often. The time I spent there with you, Yang, and the rest of Team STRQ before everything with Atlas began were some of the best days of my life."

"We wouldn't be against it if you visited more." Ruby chirped hopefully, "Not saying you have to, we know timezones are an issue and you're always up to something."

She shared a laugh with her surrogate brother, both turning to see Yang and Blake running circles around a pile of rocks. Squabbling like kids half their age over a book that was about dumb people kissing.

"I'll try to free up an extra day here and there." Jaune's hand rose to pat the back of hers, his smooth but calloused fingers, grazing a trail against the back of her own hand, suddenly making her aware of how small her hands were. "Friday's are mostly Yang's when I visit. That hasn't been very fair to ya either, Ruby. I'll try to fit you in the middle of the week somewhere. We can take some time to deal with weapons, or comics, or whatever. Just something quiet and small."

Ruby couldn't stop smiling at that. That sounded fun. Really fun.

"A-are you sure? I don't wanna be a burden."

"You're not. Neither is Blake for that matter. Rather I feel more bad like I've been picking favorites or something, even if that's not what I meant to do at-"

"Nope!" Ruby bopped Jaune's forehead, "Stop right there."

It was something she'd seen mommy Summer do to mommy Raven (and occasionally daddy Taiyang and even Drunkle Qrow) so Ruby could do it too.

"You're not a god or anything, Jaune. You can't be everywhere. And even if you could be, how would splitting your attention all that way even help? You're amazing, Jaune. You're super cool and smart, but you can't do everything. I love weapons. I love them so much sometimes it hurts, but no matter what, scythes are the only thing I'm good at. Mommy Raven still says at minimum I should learn some more hand to hand, and she's right, but no matter how much I love weapons, I'm never going to be a Prodigy Weaponsmistress."

"Are we really really bringing Remnant TCG into this?"

"Hush!" She bopped Jaune's forehead again. This was kinda fun. "Ruby Rose is talking!"

Jaune snickered, but said nothing as he smiled.

She ran her fingers along his ears again, sort of embarrassed at how her line of thought was disturbed suddenly by that alone.

"But yeah, uh. Stop trying to take responsibility for things that aren't even your fault. Promises happened, and you like to keep them as well as you can. I mean sometimes you come Thursdays instead of Fridays, but you still come, right? I don't think you've missed more than three weeks, tops, in all the years we've known each other. You don't need to make such a big deal of everything."

"Feels like a big deal to me, though."

"I believe, that's what Yang and her friends sometimes call: a skill issue."

"You all play way too much Remnant TCG." Jaune laughed again. "As well as Super Alley Hunter IV."

"You should play with us more instead of just watching."

"Nah. I like playing ref and being in charge of the Random Event Cards like you. Just throw crap into everyone's dinners and stir it. He he he."

Ruby laughed.

He was right, that was the most fun part of the game.

"Jaune Arc could have probably put this together in a cave with a box of scraps." He sighed, slaving over the Multi-Fabricator, "And here I am barely inching forwards with his most fabled blackbox at my fingertips. I'm just a guy they hired to man the thing and make sure it wasn't doing anything fucky, why did I get pulled into this? Just because I was allowed to mess around with it when it wasn't in operation? Because I actually know how to experiment with it?"

"Cid! How's everything looking?"

"I'm just trying to make sure that the armor doesn't pinch someone's skin off! If you haven't noticed, I'm not Professor Arc! I'm a fucking amateur! And pretty much everyone has to get something custom fitted! You're all lucky I was into cosplay and detailed design and an apprentice to a forgemaster!"

"That's why you're paid the big bucks from our Vacuoan sponsors, Cid."

"Big bucks? I ain't getting paid at all! Or at least, me being paid is worthless if I can't even go outside to spend it! Even if I was allowed out, this is Animus where we're treated like borderline animals."

"Aww stop whining. Hard to believe you're that mad when there's that giant grin on your face."

Cid pulled his expression back into a scowl.

"If you were half the nerd I was and got to get free reign with tech made by Jaune Fucking Arc, you'd be feeling like a giddy schoolgirl at a prom with the strongest Huntsman in training!"

"Ew. Fucking weird ass man."

Cid rolled his eyes with a snort, tossing a thick black bag at the man that came to check in on him.

"Whatever, go test the Heat Hawk and Heat Chetes and make sure they work. I did some weird bullshit to try to twist Arc's Heat Pick designs into something derivative but usable. I'm pretty sure the output will suck comparatively, but we can't go around with pickaxes and call ourselves knights and shit."

"Sweet. The battery packs for these work the same as normal still? Just pop 'em into the hilt?"

"Yeah, but there's still enough charge to use them once they're depleted for things other than the weapons. Plus, you know, they're Arc style batteries, so we can reuse 'em. So make sure we bring them back or worst case use them for fuel for the improvised grenades to destroy the evidence."

"We can reuse them for the Cracker Bombs? Nice. Good job, Cid. Thought those things were gonna be a dead end."

"Don't good job me. I'd rather we never use one of those things. I'm trying to look into less lethal alternatives, please don't make that a part of the standard gear. The only reason I even adjusted the design so that'll work with the remaining battery charge is only because once I mess with the designs for the Heat Picks into a different tool the efficiency drops a bunch. I'm just making the best of a bad situation. Once again, yall want a real pro for this stuff."

"If we had one we wouldn't be relying on you. Well. Actually we might have relied on you for armor anyways. That shit fits pretty snug."

"And it doesn't the moment your fat ass adds another two inches to your waistline. Good gods, man. I get that Mistralian food is hearty, but maybe stop guzzling carbs like water?"

"Fuck you, Cid."

"No thanks, yall pay me enough that once I'm allowed out, I'm going to run my ass through every bordello that'll allow Faunus on this shithole of a continent. And you all still haven't told me why the Red Mane of Golden Sands is here in person! Why're we taking commands from a casino baro-"

"Need to know operations, Cid. Stop asking so many questions. You're not irreplaceable."

"...fine."