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Beacon Academy’s Christmas Ball was fast approaching and everybody seemed to be excited except one person – Neptune. Sun presumed it was simply because his friend couldn’t dance and was terrified of embarrassing himself but little did he know that there was actually another reason he wasn’t looking forward to the occasion. Of course this was something Sun didn’t find out until the morning of the ball when his best friend burst into the food hall and all but threw himself into the seat opposite him.
“I give up.”
“Give up what?” Sun asked, barely even looking up from his banana. Neptune’s rage would always come second to food, not because Sun was a terrible friend but because he really loved food.
“I can’t find a date to the ball!” Okay, that was definitely enough to get Sun’s attention. Neptune had never really struggled with girls ever because look at him, he was a blue-haired cocky piece of womanizing crap. Sun had seen him flirt with more girls than he could ever possibly count and at least half of them always fell for his charms.
“Seriously?” This was serious. Serious enough for Sun to put his banana down.
Neptune leaned in closer to speak in a whisper that only he could hear. “I think Weiss has put out a ‘no go’ hit on me,” he hissed, genuine fear in his voice. Sun just stared before bursting out into laughter. “Sun! This isn’t funny!” his friend whined, pulling back and crossing his arms as he gave the most over-accentuated pout he’d ever seen.
“Lemme get this straight, you think Weiss is stopping you from getting a date to the ball?” Neptune nodded. Sun had to stop himself from breaking out into giggles again. “And you really need a date? You can’t rock up solo?” Again, a nod. “Nep, you don’t even dance. Why are you even bothered?”
“Because dancing isn’t the point of a ball!” Neptune argued, causing Sun to quirk an eyebrow. He was pretty sure that was completely wrong but okay. “I need somebody to stand on the sidelines with and then make out when we move up to the balcony and have that big romantic moment! Come on bro, you’ve gotta help me find a date!”
There was no way Sun was getting out of this one, he knew it. He couldn’t even rely on Sage or Scarlet for help because they would just laugh at Neptune’s misfortune and move on. Damn it, why was he the pushover of the team? That so wasn’t cool.
“Fine. I think I know somebody without a date,” he sighed finally. Neptune’s face lit up like Christmas lights with pure joy and relief.
“I could kiss you!”
Sun just smirked back at him.
“Sun, I’m gonna kill you,” Neptune hissed under his breath.
“What was that?” Jaune asked nervously from beside him.
You see, Sun had been very sly with details about Neptune’s date over the past few dates. All he’d saw was that he’d spoken to the date and they were totally cool with it and Weiss’ “don’t date Neptune” ban (which was totally true, Blake had confirmed) didn’t apply to them. Neptune had thought it was too good to be true and it was because he hadn’t ended up with some pretty girl as his date. No, not at all.
He’d ended up with Jaune Arc.
They were stood on the edge of the dancefloor watching all of their friends having a good time. Every now and then Sun would look over at them and wave. Neptune just seethed in return. He was so going to get him back for this.
It wasn’t like Jaune was terrible company, he just happened to be nervous one-hundred-and-ten-percent of the time. He practically flinched every time Neptune moved.
“So, uh, do you wanna dance?” the blond boy asked. He was looking somewhat forlornly at the rest of his team having a good time out on the dancefloor and yeah, Neptune couldn’t help but feel bad for him.
“I don’t dance,” he reminded the other boy, feeling just a little bit stupid. Not too much though because Neptune wasn’t really in the market for beating himself down. (Beating himself off was another matter though).
“Oh! Yeah. Right.”
With that, they fell back into awkward silence. Jaune slurped loudly on his non-alcoholic beverage. Neptune mentally wept for the disaster that his night was.
“How ‘bout we get some fresh air?” he suggested finally. Jaune seemed to perk up at the idea.
Five minutes later and they were up on the balcony, the cold winter air hitting them like a punch to the gut. Neptune was suddenly regretting his suggestion very much.
“Did Sun tell you I was gonna be your date?” he asked finally. Jaune shifted awkwardly on the spot.
“Um, yeah. Did he not tell you?”
“What?! Of course he did!” Neptune lied, grinning sheepishly at the other boy. Apparently that was enough for Jaune to believe him because he didn’t question it at all.
Pulling the hipflask out of his jacket pocket, Neptune took a good long swig from it. Jaune watched him in bewilderment and shook his head when Neptune offered it to him. “I don’t drink,” the blond boy admit. Neptune just laughed.
“Of course you don’t.” It wasn’t said in a harsh way, it was just exactly what he had expected. The other boy was just so pure that it almost hurt to be around him. Maybe it was dealing with Sun’s crap all the time or having a constant need for attention from the ladies ever since he’d hit puberty but Neptune honestly couldn’t remember a time he was ever that innocent. Was Jaune even real?
“Sorry.” Jaune glanced away from him, as if ashamed by his admission.
“Hey, no need to apologize.” Neptune wasn’t sure when his hand had found its way onto Jaune’s shoulder but he didn’t move it away either.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes after that. Jaune shuffled closer in to Neptune’s side and the blue-haired blue didn’t find himself complaining. Instead his arm reached around Jaune’s shoulders to a more comfortable position. If anybody had walked out to the balcony and seen them right then they would probably presume that they were best buddies rather than practical strangers whose only real connection was a mutual crush on a girl who was definitely too good for either of them.
“Why did you say yes to Sun?” Neptune asked finally, looking over at Jaune and only really noticing how close their faces were now. “I mean, to be my date?”
Now that he was up close, Neptune could really make out the faint pink blush that crossed the other boy’s cheeks. “I just think you’re really cool,” he muttered, hesitating for a moment before adding in an even quieter voice, “And cute.”
“You think I’m cute?!” He wasn’t angry or disgusted or anything like that, just surprised. It was honestly the last thing he’d expected to hear Jaune Arc of all people say. Sure, Neptune knew that there were a lot of guys who were attracted to him because come on, look at him, but he’d never stopped to consider that Jaune might be one of them. He had a crush on Weiss after all!
“It’s cold out here,” Jaune said suddenly, looking away again.
Smirking, Neptune raised a hand and turned Jaune’s head back to be facing him. “Don’t worry, I can think of ways to warm you up,” he whispered huskily, not even caring how cheesy the damn line was because he was too busy moving in and tenderly pressing his lips against Jaune’s. There was no fighting back or pulling away, much to his relief. Jaune seemed to melt into the kiss, both eager and nervous. Neptune was happy to take control, his hands finding their way into the boy’s shaggy blond hair. He kept his grip loose, not wanting to hurt him and only pulled away when he was in desperate need for air.
“I… didn’t expect that,” Jaune gasped, his blush even more prominent than before.
“Neither did I,” Neptune admit, his lips pulled up into a permanent grin. He’d enjoyed that a lot more than he’d ever expected. Hey, maybe making out with guys wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Neptune was more than happy to broaden his horizons in the future but for now he had an adorably confused Jaune on his hands and he wasn’t about to waste that opportunity. “You wanna dance?”
“Uh—maybe a minute? I think I’d like to kiss you again first.” Jaune was practically red in the face with that admission.
Neptune smirked back at him. “That can definitely be arranged.”
The next day Neptune found Sun in the same spot of the food hall and pulled him into a massive hug. Needless to say Sun was a little bit confused and alarmed until he saw Jaune stumble into the room, struggling to hide the lovebites on his neck.
“You devil,” Sun laughed, clapping his best friend on the back. Neptune just shrugged and placed a kiss on his best friend’s forehead before moving off to join Jaune with the rest of team JNPR, leaving Sun sat on his own. “Wait, what? Hey, get back here! I got you a date, you owe me one!”
Rolling her eyes, Blake pulled him back down onto his seat and gave him a stern look. He deliberately avoided her eye, only to catch Weiss folding her arms and glaring at him from across the table.
Sun didn’t stop grumbling about being ditched by his own best friend for the rest of the day until Blake snapped and kissed him just to shut him up. There was no more grumbling after that. Sage and Scarlet sent Blake their thanks and asked if she could get Neptune to stop talking about Jaune’s sensitive spots. She rage quit the conversation in record time.