Chapter Text
Weiss felt a stinging sensation in her cheeks. She had never felt so humiliated in her life.
That was really saying something, considering some of her past experiences. She had gotten a reputation from her closest friends as a bit of a “dork,” or that she was “adorable”. She had even been called “adorkable” before. Weiss had no idea what the word meant, but she had a pretty good idea by the giggles and smiles on her friends’ faces as they said it that it was nothing good.
Of course, with that, she could at least take some solace in the fact that those attempting to mock her for being “adorkable” had to create an imaginary word to do so. In the end, their being linguistically inaccurate was their own problem. She had always been flawless in her reading and writing studies since her time back at Beacon.
She had been sent flying through a chute by Nora, screaming as her body went flying faster than she knew was possible (which was really saying something, considering her main schtick in combat involved remarkable speed and agility, including in the air). She recalled the panic she felt during the incident; what had started as a brief moment of relaxation quickly escalated to a moment of pure horror.
She recalled falling through a hole in the Ever After, before landing on the ground where she had just been standing two seconds before. She remembered the feeling as she laid there on the concrete, her mind wondering what she was doing with her life. She had felt a sense of defeat and almost boredom at how ridiculous everything had become for her. It was like her life was on a never-ending loop, where the joke was her and her misery was the punchline.
Speaking of never-ending loops, how could she ever forget the humiliation of her attempting to walk towards the tree in the Ever After, only to find herself teleporting back to the same area? She had let her composure temporarily slip (as often happened in the Ever After for her), throwing a rock in frustration… which then hit her in the back of the head and sent her falling face-first to the ground. Now, that had been very humiliating.
But… not even the “mature~” incident, where she had humiliated herself in front of her three closest friends because of a rather… muscular and burly adult Jaune Arc, could compare to the humiliation she currently felt. No… this took the cake by far.
She stood on her tippy toes, attempting to reach the pickle jar on the top shelf, but no matter how far she stretched her arms, it was just out of her reach. She could feel the very tip of her index finger occasionally scraping up against the glass of the jar, but only for a split second before it frustratingly evaded her grip once more.
However, as frustrating as that was, that was not the main source of her humiliation. No… it was the goofy blonde standing next to her. He was grinning like an idiot before he let out a chuckle.
She grit her teeth and then turned to look at Jaune with a glare. “What is so funny, Jaune?” She crossed her arms as she stared into his eyes angrily. However, if it affected the young man, he didn’t show it, as he just shrugged his shoulders with a big stupid smile on his face.
“Nothing, Weiss. I was just… thinking of a funny joke that Sun told me the other day. You want to hear it?” He still had that suspicious look on his face, much more mischievous than his normal face. Like he was messing with her… and it irritated her greatly.
“No, I do not want to hear it,” she said in a dry tone, “but I highly doubt that will stop you from saying it anyway. So… go ahead, Jaune. I’m sure it will be very amusing.”
Jaune nodded, his goofy grin spreading wider. “Alright, Weiss. Why did the businessman get a new tuxedo?”
Weiss felt her stomach churn. She had a feeling she was going to regret asking this question, but she did so anyway. “Why?”
“Because his old one didn’t suit him!” Jaune let out a chuckle at that.
Weiss narrowed her eyes at him. She was so disgusted that she stepped further away from him, looking at him with disappointment. She had half a mind to leave him in the middle of the store right then and there, but she decided against it. She needed someone to carry the groceries, after all, and her summoning Armas to do it might cause people to panic. Her toothpick arms were certainly out of the question, too.
"No," Weiss said with a blank look on her face.
"No?"
“Just, no! Jaune, that is one of the worst jokes I have ever heard in my life, and that is really saying something, considering I’ve known Yang for years. You should honestly be ashamed of yourself!”
Jaune shook his head. “Alright, you got me. Sun didn’t tell me that joke; I just came up with it on the spot.”
“Oh, that’s so surprising. The fact that it was one of the worst things I’ve heard in my life wasn’t a dead giveaway or anything!” She shook her head, letting out a huff before she looked at him again. “Well, then, if that’s the case, Jaune, I’ll ask you again: what’s so funny?”
Jaune looked up at the top shelf of the aisle at the pickle jar, then looked back at her. “You know, I could get that for you if you’d like.” He then gave her a rather annoying smirk. “Since you seem to be having some troubles.”
Weiss growled, stepping closer to him. “What are you insinuating, Arc?”
“I’m not insinuating anything, Weiss. I’m just saying that you’re short. Hence why you can’t even reach the top shelf.”
“Excuse me?!” She gasped incredulously at him with an agape mouth for a split second before she growled. “I will have you know that I am 5’4”, thank you very much.” She put her right hand on her hip, pointing her other hand at him accusingly. “My apologies that not all of us are blessed with… with the height gene!”
Jaune shook his head. “Weiss… please stop lying to yourself.”
She scoffed. “What? Lying to myself? What are you talking about, Jaune?”
He shook his head, putting an arm around her shoulder. Weiss looked at his hand resting on her shoulder in surprise before looking at him with an even gaze.
Luckily for her, she was able to contain the blush that attempted to take over her cheeks… barely. Yet, she didn’t feel like pulling away from him either.
“You tell your friends you’re 5’4”, but you’re not. What you do is you add an inch to your heels every year to make it look like you’re growing. The reality is you’re probably not even five feet tall.”
Her eyes widened in shock momentarily, before she furrowed her brows at him. “Excuse me, what is that supposed to mean? That is a total lie. I may… have a slight advantage due to my footwear, but I will have you know that I am at least five feet tall, if not more.”
Jaune instantly laughed, which only furthered her irritation. “Yeah, right. And Blake hates reading Ninjas of Love, too.”
Weiss waved him off, her patience for his mockery steadily running low. She pushed off him, turning back to the shelf, reaching up on her tippy toes again to reach for the jar… and just like her previous efforts, these attempts were fruitless.
“Weiss, come on, I don’t mind getting that for you.”
“No. My pride will not allow it.” She reached for the jar again, feeling the cold chill of the jar once again, which was quickly followed by the cold chill of failure as she accidentally pushed the jar back another inch. She let out a growl of frustration. “Ugh, this is so stupid! Stupid tall people with their stupid shelves and their stupid pickle jars!”
An idea popped into Jaune’s head, and he proposed it to Weiss. “How about using a glyph to reach it?”
The logic was a sound one, but using her semblance for such a mundane task also felt humiliating to her in a way. It made her feel like she was using her skills as a crutch to complete something an ordinary person would find routine. It… made her feel weak, but in a different way than the humiliation of failing the task normally.
She shook her head. “My pride will not allow it. I must do it this way. I am Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, and a proud huntress. I can do something as basic as this. I should be able to do something like this. I will not be defeated by a damn pickle jar.”
Jaune put his hands up in defeat. “Alright, fine… if you don’t want to use your semblance or let me get it for you, maybe I could give you a piggyback ride to help you reach it. Or uppies, as you like to call them?” He gave her a smug smile; was he mocking her once again?
The horrified look Weiss gave him almost made him burst out laughing, but he held it in check, instead only giving her a small smile as she looked at him in disbelief and horror. “Are you serious, Jaune?! That is… that is twice as humiliating as the other solutions you have provided! That sounds like something a little kid would do. I am not a little kid! I am a young woman!”
Jaune rubbed the back of his head. “The little kid is probably taller than you…”
“What was that?!”
“Nothing, nothing…”
“Just try it, lover boy. See what happens. Next thing you know, you’ll find yourself eight aisles across the store!”
To a normal person, the threat would be horrifying, but to Jaune, he knew she was all bark and no bite 95% of the time. Still, he had to avoid bursting out laughing at the adorably angry look and the pout on her face. She was almost like a lost, sassy child in a way, except she was a child in a grown woman’s body.
He watched as Weiss glared at him before looking back up at the jar. He saw as her angry look disappeared; her eyebrows lowered, and her shoulders sagged.
Oh, no. As much as Jaune loved to tease her and evoke her exaggerated anger, he hated seeing this. It was always a sign that Weiss truly felt upset about something when she wasn’t saying anything.
He stepped a bit closer to her, putting his hand on her right shoulder. “Weiss… what’s wrong?”
She stayed quiet before looking at him. “Jaune… this is humiliating. I should be able to do something like this… how is it I can stand my ground against life-threatening forces like it’s nothing, but a pickle jar of all things is my greatest rival?” She looked down at the ground. “This… this is pathetic.”
Jaune gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before releasing his grip. It was then that he felt his eyes light up and his mind spark; he had an idea. One that would solve this issue, while still allowing Weiss’ pride to remain intact.
Well… as long as she didn’t notice what he was going to do, of course.
“Tell you what, Weiss. I’m going to go check something else off the list. While I do that, you just keep trying, okay?”
Weiss looked at him pensively before giving him a weak nod. “Yeah… sure.”
Jaune wanted to say something to comfort her further, but he knew Weiss: her pride was something that mattered greatly to her. No amount of kind words would help her truly feel better if she knew she had failed to accomplish an objective. As he turned around to walk down the aisle, he looked back once to make sure Weiss wasn’t paying attention.
Sure enough, she had gone back to trying to reach the jar again. Jaune nodded to himself before turning around and exiting the aisle. He began walking down the length of the store, wading between the crowds of people and the movement of carts. He began to scan the signs above each aisle, which showed the items you could find there. However, that was not what he was looking for. He needed a way to get the jar close enough to the edge without Weiss noticing so that she could reach it.
That would be difficult… Weiss was incredibly smart and perceptive. She would be able to tell from a mile away if Jaune made it look too obvious. And, even though he was trying to help, he knew that it would make her feel even worse if she knew she had needed his help, which he didn’t want, obviously. He wanted to give her the slightest amount of assistance and let her do the rest on her own.
He felt a surge of satisfaction as he thought of a way to distract Weiss long enough to be able to help her succeed, without her garnering suspicion.
He decided to walk up towards the front of the store to the cash registers. Weiss had decided to leave her wallet with him; he felt flattered by the trust, although he wondered if she just enjoyed using him as a mule.
Not that he minded, of course.
As he approached the front cash register, he pulled Weiss’ wallet out. He walked up to one of the cashiers who had no customers currently and approached a young boy. He looked to be no older than a teenager, with a scrawny build, brown hair and green eyes, and glasses.
The boy noticed him and gave him a smile. “Hello, sir. How can I help you today?”
Jaune leaned forward to whisper to him, like he was telling a lifetime friend a secret. “Hey…” He looked at his name tag. “‘Carl’… I need a favor from you. I’ll make it worth your while.”
Carl looked confused as to why he was whispering, but he decided to entertain Jaune. “Okay… anything to satisfy a customer, within reason.”
Jaune gave him a smile, nodding. “Thank you. So, long story short, my girlfriend is having a hard time reaching a pickle jar on aisle 12. She’s a bit of a shorter woman, but she’s also way too prideful to even think about asking for help from anyone else. I need a way to distract her for long enough to be able to help her without her noticing.”
Carl stayed quiet before he let out a quiet sigh. “I see. And what do you suggest?”
Jaune pointed at the phone next to Carl, just below the screen, which showed the items scanned and the total price of the order. “You guys use that phone to call over the intercom, right? In case you need to ask a service manager for assistance or need to alert someone away from you in the store about something?”
Carl nodded. “That’s right. You seem awfully knowledgeable about how these things work.”
Jaune waved it off. “Ah, I used to work in a grocery store for a part-time job long ago. You forget a lot of things over the course of your life, but some random things you always remember. Anyways, here’s what I need you to do.” He took the wallet out and set it on the counter. Carl looked at it, unsure, before looking at Jaune again.
“I am going to ‘forget’ this wallet here. I will walk away and ‘leave’ it here, and you will ‘notice’ it was left behind when I am long gone. Since you do not know my name, your natural inclination will be to check the wallet for ID, to see who lost it. You will see it belongs to a woman named Weiss Schnee. While you call her over the intercom and she is lured away… I will be working my magic.” He smiled.
Carl nodded slowly, clearly looking exhausted, but following Jaune’s plan. “Okay, that makes sense, but you said you were going to make things worth my while. What exactly did you have in mind?”
Jaune nodded in response. “Yes, I did say that. Hand me your scroll.”
Carl looked a bit suspicious at first, but he hesitantly pulled out his scroll and handed it to Jaune. Jaune pulled out his own scroll, opening his savings account. He then selected the option to withdraw, choosing to withdraw 2000 lien. He then pressed his scroll against Carl’s, and after a second, he heard a dinging sound as the transaction completed.
“There you go. Check your account.”
Carl hesitated for a second, picking up the scroll and looking at it. His eyes widened in surprise before he looked at Jaune. “Two… two thousand? Are you sure?”
Jaune nodded confidently, giving Carl a warm smile. “I am. It may be a bit much, but since this is for someone I care about a lot, it’s worth it to me. Her happiness is something that is priceless, after all.”
Carl briefly hesitated before returning Jaune’s smile with a soft one of his own, giving him a small nod. “Got it. Thank you. I’ll give you a minute or two to get in position for what you need to do, then I’ll do as you’ve asked.”
Jaune chuckled. “Awesome, Carl. You’re the man.” Wasting no more time, Jaune decided to start heading back towards Aisle 12. He wasn’t outright sprinting, but he was walking much faster than he normally would. He remembered he told Weiss he was going to get something else; if he showed up empty-handed, Weiss would get suspicious. He had thought way too hard for a way to distract her without arousing suspicion, just to blow it at the very end.
He quickly went down the bread aisle, snagging a loaf before he decided to turn and head back towards Aisle 12. He stepped into Aisle 13, pretending to browse something near the end of the aisle, before he heard Carl’s voice over the intercom.
“Would a Miss Weiss Schnee report to Register 4, please?”
Jaune had to avoid chuckling and blowing his cover as he heard a frustrated sigh on the other side of the aisle divider, before he heard the sound of heels clicking. He waited a moment before leaning out of cover, watching as he saw Weiss’ back moving away from him as she headed towards the front, her snow white ponytail waving to and fro behind her.
Now was his chance.
He quickly moved around the corner to head back into Aisle 12, holding the loaf of bread with his left hand. He looked up for a second, still seeing the same pickle jar in the same position.
His mind raced momentarily. He knew he could not move the jar to the very edge; Weiss would notice that. He knew he couldn’t put it on a lower shelf; Weiss would notice that even easier. No, he had to find a way to make it look like nothing had moved at all, when they actually had.
He sighed. This was going to be very difficult. He would have to pull the balancing act of a lifetime to make sure he didn’t break anything, but he knew that store shelves could be lowered or raised; they could be pulled off and slotted into holes on the ends of the shelves. If he could pull the shelves off, he could move them lower.
Of course, that involved making sure nothing fell off of them, considering he had no time to remove everything to do the process safely. He had to move all of the shelves down about an inch to make sure they still looked like they were in a similar position, so that Weiss would not only not notice something had changed, but that her little self could accomplish her goal.
He normally wouldn’t do something like this, but he resolved that Weiss was worth the effort. He put the loaf of bread in the cart and got to work.
With a grunt of effort, Jaune pulled the top shelf off, gritting his teeth as he attempted to balance it while lowering it. It was a difficult task; luckily, years of training had made him much stronger and more precise with his movements. With a bit of effort, he lowered the shelf by about an inch and placed it into holes about an inch below its original height. He let out a sigh of relief as the shelf was firmly put back into place. No pickle jars would shatter on top of his head today.
As fast as he could, he worked to move the other three shelves. These shelves also had breakable items, but after getting the hang of moving the shelves the first time, the following attempts were much easier. He precisely made sure to lower the other three shelves by the same amount. While it would look odd to someone later on, he hoped it was convincing enough that Weiss would not notice it.
Granted, Weiss was highly perceptive, so he wasn’t entirely sure. Still… he wagered that this was his best shot at helping her without making it entirely obvious.
After locking the bottom shelf back into a lower ring of holes, he stepped back quickly, looking around to make sure no one had been watching. Fortunately, the aisle had been empty, and those walking by the aisle had not noticed what he was doing. He had made sure to do it as quickly and quietly as possible, completing the process in a little over a minute.
He stood there, casually leaning down on the cart as he waited for Weiss to return. After a few minutes, he heard the sound of heels clicking before he even saw Weiss, and when he did, she did not look happy.
Weiss approached him with an annoyed look on her face. She then held up her wallet in front of his face, like she had found some smoking gun evidence.
“Really, Jaune? I trust you with one thing, to keep track of this, and you lost it! I mean, honestly, are you trying to kill me? What is wrong with you? Do you just want some random person to make off with my life savings and bankrupt me? You are lucky that a nice cashier found this before your screwup completely destroyed my credit score by some Mantle floozy using my hard-earned lien on herself!”
Jaune let out an internal sigh. Well, her being pissed off at him was certainly one way to distract her from the work he had just done. He gave her a weak smile.
“Sorry, Weiss, I must’ve taken it out and forgotten it. It won’t happen again.”
“That’s right, it won’t! Hmph!” She pocketed her wallet in her white dress before she walked past Jaune, grumbling under her breath. Jaune couldn’t entirely tell whether or not she was actually angry with him, or playing it up like usual. He hoped it was the latter, because if it was the former, it would defeat the entire purpose of what he had been trying to do.
She went back to her normal position, preparing to get on her tippy toes to reach for the jar. Before she did, she looked over at him with a curious expression. “Why were you up at the register anyway, Jaune? That’s nowhere near the aisles with the items we’re looking for.”
Crap. He should’ve known that things wouldn’t be that simple.
“Oh… I was going to buy some gum at the register really quickly, but I guess when I paid for it, I accidentally left your wallet there, and the cashier didn’t notice until I left.”
Weiss eyed him suspiciously. Jaune avoided the urge to wince as her ice blue eyes seemed to pierce through his skull. Even when Weiss wasn’t trying to do so, her eyes seemed to naturally have that effect on him.
She stayed quiet for a few moments before letting out a small sigh as she gripped her forehead. “You know, I’m not surprised, Jaune. You would do something like that.” She then went to get on her tippy toes and reach for the jar again.
Jaune wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that she had seemed to buy his story or insulted that she wasn’t surprised he would do something stupid like that. Maybe a bit of both.
He watched as Weiss’ face furrowed in concentration, as she reached for the pickle jar. He crossed his arms and watched her with more interest than he cared to admit. This was all he could do for her; if she was unable to do this, then it truly was a long cause, and Jaune would have to wound her pride and get it for her.
He really didn’t want to do that.
He watched as Weiss tried in vain for another minute… before he saw her just barely grip the very edge of the jar between her thumb and her index finger. He found it awfully adorable as she let out a slight gasp of surprise, the serious look on her face persisting as she continued to concentrate heavily. Her face scrunched up, as if she were doing something that was life or death. She slowly pulled the jar forward, and finally was successful. She gripped the jar in her hand and pulled it off the shelf.
She felt a surge of triumph within her as her face brightened up. A smile emerged on her face as she looked at Jaune, feeling a blush emerge on her face. She had no idea why that was the case, but she was so excited that she barely registered it.
“Jaune… I-I did it!” She held up the jar in front of his face, as if doing so proved the existence of the deed more than Jaune watching her do it.
Jaune nodded, smiling gently at her. “So you did. I’m glad.”
Weiss felt a bit embarrassed as she put the jar into the cart. Here she was, acting all giddy over managing to grab a pickle jar. Displaying it to Jaune like it were some sort of prize. She internally slapped herself at how stupid it sounded in her head. And if she thought it was stupid, she could only imagine how dumb she looked to Jaune.
Her smile faded as she thought of that. She felt stupid. Childish. Somehow, even more humiliated than she had been when she had failed before. She had wasted so much of her and Jaune’s time just because she didn’t want to admit her shortcomings. Instead of relying on Jaune, who was more than willing to help her, she had to do things her way. Here she was: a proud Huntress, reduced to a woman so pathetic she was celebrating being able to reach a high shelf. She felt…
Pathetic.
However, as if sensing her very thoughts, Jaune continued speaking.
“It may not seem like a major thing, Weiss, but something as small as this is just more proof of who you are. Your pride in your abilities means a lot to you. You want to feel independent and strong, even though you also seek the comfort of others around you. You wish to feel like you’re in control of your actions, and most of all, you will never, ever give up as long as you think you have even a minuscule chance of success. So… don’t feel ashamed. You may be a bit shorter than most people, but that’s fine. Who you are on the inside is all that really matters… at least to those who matter in life.”
Weiss felt a lump in her throat as she listened to him speak. She felt a stinging sensation in her eyes at his words, and she found that she did not want to turn to face him, even though his words had made her chest feel a bit warmer. He had made such a small thing seem important, seem meaningful. Like it was a part of who she was, like it wasn’t something stupid, because it meant something to her, which meant it also meant something to him.
She took a deep breath to clear her mind. She was a Schnee: she would not let herself appear weak. Just like her refusal to use her semblance to accomplish the jar task effortlessly, her pride would not allow her to look weak. Not in front of anybody, but especially not in front of Jaune.
Weiss turned around slowly, looking at Jaune. He had a warm look in his eyes that instinctively made her stomach feel funny. Luckily, she was able to maintain her composure enough to look him in the eyes with a steady gaze and give him a warm smile.
“I… thank you, Jaune. I don’t know if you realize how much that means to me.” She stayed quiet for a moment before she felt a smug satisfaction rising inside her. She placed a hand on her hip as she looked at Jaune. “But don’t think I forgot: you didn’t think I could do it. Jaune, you were wrong, and I was right. What do you have to say about that?”
“You’re still short.”
Her smugness faded as quickly as it rose, as she grit her teeth in anger. “Oh, whatever! Here, take this!” She pushed the cart towards him. Jaune grabbed it before Weiss walked past him with a huff.
“You’re unloading all the groceries when we get back, just for that.”
Jaune smirked as he turned the cart to follow behind the adorably angry woman. “Yes, snow angel. Anything for you.”
He was only half-joking… and if he could’ve seen the fact that Weiss’ face after that statement looked like she had just been hit by a tomato, he would’ve understood that she knew that as well.