"It's my Semblance that did it."

The conversation was probably long overdue, even if he wasn't giving them full context yet. Doctor Oobleck had suggested he continue to keep his dream-walking aspect hidden until he could at least control it, because people would only worry around him if they knew he might end up in their heads.

"That would explain why your aura was all screwy a week or so back," said Ruby. "So, you unlocked your Semblance? What does it do?"

"We're not sure yet. That's why it's backfiring. Or maybe it isn't even backfiring and it's trying to do something." He had everyone's attention, his teammates most of all. "But I'm working with Doctor Oobleck every day to try and understand it, and the headmaster and Miss Goodwitch know as well, so it's not like I don't have a lot of help on this."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Pyrrha.

Her concern was obvious, as was the reason. She loved him. Pyrrha was in love with him. It was hard to meet her eyes and not show some sign of knowing that, be it blushing, breaking eye contact or just stumbling over his words.

This was why his Semblance was a pain in the ass.

"Doctor Oobleck says it's a bad idea to practice with an unknown Semblance on people you like," he deflected. "On account of them maybe ending up dead."

Weiss snorted. "An exaggeration, I'm sure, but not an unreasonable point. Lacking control, you could end up hurting someone."

"Or more likely he gets hurt," said Nora.

"Or that. It's good you are seeking expert help from the teachers, however. I can only imagine how hopeless you would be if you were fumbling around on your own with this."

Weiss meant it well, even as she insulted him, and Jaune pretty much agreed with her anyway. He'd have been pretty screwed trying to get a handle on all this without help from Doctor Oobleck. Not to mention he'd been in the dreams of some important people. Without support from the teachers, General Ironwood may have gotten away with arresting him.

"I haven't heard of many Semblances that come with self-harm," said Blake.

Before Jaune could panic, Yang cleared her throat. "Mine does."

"Really?"

"I don't harm myself, but my Semblance relies on being harmed. In a way, so does Nora's."

"Yang has a point," said Ren. "Nora may not feel any pain from being electrocuted, but it is self-harm when she does it. Or it would be for anyone else. My own could be considered the same from a mental perspective, though fortunately the effects are only temporary."

Blame hummed, defeated. "I guess it's more common than I thought."

Phew. Yang and Ren to the rescue. Of course, their Semblances didn't cut their own throats open, but that had been his own lack of attention. He'd thought himself invincible in the dream and ignored all damage coming his way. Given he could control everything down to being able to fly, that shouldn't be a problem in future ones.

"The big question is whether he'll have control of it in time for the festival," said Pyrrha. "If not, then I don't know how wise it will be for you to compete, Jaune."

"Hey. Hey. Let's not jump to conclusions. Besides, I was only ever going to compete in the first round. One fight won't kill me." He could see no one was convinced. "How about this? I'll only compete if I have a signed letter from Doctor Oobleck telling me I can."

"And Miss Goodwitch," said Pyrrha.

"Fine. Fine. Both of them. Happy?"

"I'll be happier once your Semblance is discovered and under control... but I suppose this will do."

"Trust me, Pyrrha. I'll be happier once it's under control as well."

/-/

Jaune was in class and sat next to a naked man.

Stark naked, that was. From head to toe with his mini-me hanging out and, seemingly, zero awareness of it all. The class was talking and Miss Goodwitch was presenting, and Jaune's neighbour was pulling his notepad and books out of his bag without a stitch of clothing.

"Oh, I've been here before," said Jaune.

"Hm? What?" The man glanced his way, bright blue hair flicking by. "You say something?"

"Only commiserating on shared— Wait, you're Neptune, aren't you? The one who asked Weiss out."

"Ahah. Y-Yeah. Crush of yours? Sorry, man."

Jaune fought down the brief flare up of annoyance that yes, Weiss had been a crush of his and Neptune had sauntered in and picked her up so easily that it had burned Jaune deep inside. But that was the old him, and he'd given up on Weiss, and even if he did still feel a little annoyed by it, he obviously had no right to tell Weiss who she could and couldn't be with.

"It's not that," he said. "You stood her up at the dance. Why?"

Neptune cursed under his breath and finished putting his stuff out on the table. "Does it matter? You have a free shot at her now. You're welcome."

It actually annoyed Jaune all the more that Neptune would write off Weiss' public embarrassment in such a way – as if to suggest it was a favour to him. He would have grabbed the man by the collar if he had one.

"Look, you idiot. Weiss is my friend and—"

"Mr Vasilias. Mr Arc." Miss Goodwitch, the dream version at least, had called them out for talking. If nothing else, Neptune had a good approximation of what she'd do to them in this situation. "If you are done speaking, perhaps you would like to stand and answer the question on the board?"

Jaune sighed. "I wouldn't if I were you."

"Y-Yes. Of course." Neptune's chair scraped back as he stood. "The answer is—"

"Oh, my goodness!"

"Whoah!"

"Hahaha! Where are your clothes, man?"

The class burst into whispers and laughter as Neptune floundered, suddenly realising he had forgotten his clothes to class and forced to face the scorn of his peers. He tried to cover himself, but there was really no stopping the scrolls flashing and people hooting.

Honestly, Jaune had been here.

It was a bit of a boring dream, and cliché, but he'd had them himself, and others like them where he did something stupid in front of class, or family, or friends, and ended up looking like an idiot. He'd even read up about it on Oobleck's psychology notebooks and found it was theorised to be based around insecurities and self-esteem issues. Or, put simply, a nightmare about people laughing at you.

"Mr Vasilias, while I appreciate your eagerness to come to class I do believe you could take the time to dress yourself." Miss Goodwitch handled it like a pro, with only a sigh, which Jaune oddly thought she might in real life.

He doubted this had ever happened in real life to her, though.

"Return to your dorm and get dressed. Mr Arc, go with him."

Neptune bolted, his bare bottom chased out the room by laughter and whistles. Jaune sighed and took a step, then imagined himself catching up with the fleeing boy. Sure enough, his first step carried him some hundred paces and put him at Neptune's side.

"Well, that was something I could see coming a mile away. You know, Weiss probably felt just as embarrassed when you promised her you'd go to the dance with her and then stood her up. I bet she felt just as naked in front of all those people who had come with dates."

"Dude!" yelped Neptune. "Not now!"

Neptune burst through a door into what Jaune assumed was his dorm, and quickly began dragging on clothes while Jaune stood and looked out the window. He really didn't want to see a naked guy anyway, and he was curiously amused by the way the outside was of a completely different landscape to Beacon. He guessed it was Haven, where Neptune had come from, subconsciously bleeding into his head as an idea for the "view outside the window" of his dorm.

That must have made the sloped buildings in the distance Mistral. He'd never been, though he'd always wanted to see it at least once. He'd wanted to travel when he was younger, back when he'd been cycling through ambitions faster than Ruby through a bowl of cookies. Being a huntsman would probably take care of that ambition, as you were often expected to go all over the world to keep people safe. Maybe he could ask Pyrrha, Ren and Nora to show him around Mistral, too.

He'd always wondered how Ren and Nora ended up at Beacon. For Pyrrha, he knew he reasons were to avoid the fame that hounded her in Mistral, but Nora and Ren had been orphans in another country and yet chose to come here. He supposed he could ask them, but the truth would probably be a boring answer about Beacon having higher credentials or something. Or maybe they wanted to travel and see the world the same as he had.

The same as Amber had...

"Done!" said Neptune.

"Hm? What?" Jaune turned, distracted by his thoughts. "Oh, you. Right. Good job putting clothes on, I guess."

Neptune scowled at him. "Why are you even here?"

"Good question. Blame my—" Not his Semblance if Neptune remembered this, "—bad luck in having Miss Goodwitch pick me out to escort your sorry ass. I wouldn't call us friends after what you did to Weiss."

"For the love of..." Neptune groaned. "I stood her up. Big wow. Shocker. Would you have rather I took her back to my dorm and made out with her? Because that was the plan."

"Are you trying to be a dick or is it coming naturally?" Jaune honestly wanted to hit him, and he was fairly sure Yang would have gone through with it. Blake and Ruby would have been equally furious, but they'd have glared and seethed.

"It is what it is. Look, I've asked loads of girls out back home. I have a fanclub. They'll be there when I compete cheering me on. Weiss was just the prettiest girl around. I had to ask someone out. It's not like I was serious about anything. We're seventeen. I don't even go to Beacon. Did you really think I'd be looking for a long-term relationship when she and I live in different countries?" Neptune flashed a cocky smirk his way and walked out the door. "It was only ever meant to be a fling. A holiday relationship. You know, last two or three weeks, make some memories, then never see one another again."

Jaune saw red. "You piece of—"

"That's not the only thing that's short." A female voice interrupted him, and Neptune flinched and came to a stop in front of a woman that Jaune had never met before. Ever. She was a little older than them, maybe one or two years, and she was wearing a grey and green school uniform he recognised from the Haven transfers.

She was gorgeous too, with long, curly ringlets of black hair, and a perfectly shaped face, plump lips and sharp, intelligent green eyes. She was the perfect example of the older girl in school every younger boy had a crush on, and Jaune knew he wouldn't have been any different.

But Neptune flinched. "C—Cass—"

"Oh hi, Neptune," said Cass. Cassandra. Cassie. Casey. Jaune wasn't sure. She had two girls with her, and both giggled. "How are you doing? I heard you had an eventful day in class. What was it? Oh yes, you showed everyone your little surprise, didn't you?"

The two other girls burst out laughing while Neptune burned a hot shade of red.

"Poor Nep. I remember when you showed it to me, too. I didn't mean to laugh – honest!" Her lips curled up as she said it. "I just thought it was such a cute little thing and couldn't help myself." He trembled. "You didn't have to run away, you know."

Her eyes narrowed.

"And you didn't have to make up those rumours about me—"

Neptune fled. He was chased by laughter, and Jaune sighed and took a single step to catch up with him again as Neptune ran through a hall flanked with women on both sides. They reached out for him like they wanted to touch a celebrity, and their voices mingled and filled the air.

"We've been dating for a while now. Why don't we get serious?"

"Why do you never go further than kisses?"

"My parents are out for the night. Come over?"

"You're dumping me!? Why? You said you were happy with me!"

"I thought you loved me..."

"I hate you, Neptune! I hate you!"

"STOP IT!" howled Neptune, shaking his arms wildly. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Sighing, and more annoyed than anything else, Jaune waved his hand and imagined them in a quiet room together. Immediately, they were alone, and Neptune collapsed to his knees, holding his head between his hands as if he could still her their voices ringing in his ears.

"Geez." Jaune sighed and walked over. "I'm going to assume that's not how it actually happens in Mistral. I don't know whether to feel sorry for you or say you're an arrogant ass to actually imagine women would line the corridors wanting a touch of you."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Jaune squatted down on his heels in front of the man. It was a mistake. Neptune lashed out with a fist, probably not even seeing him. Thankfully, Trivia's dream had provided ample warning and Neptune's fist faded through Jaune's head and sent the man stumbling forward. Jaune, having burst into mist before contact, reformed behind Neptune in the same, squatting posture.

Okay, he thought, turning to mist worked. I really am just about invincible in a dream as long as I keep my focus up and don't let the dream convince me I'm in danger. Trivia's just caught me off guard is all. I'll have to tell Oobleck this worked.

"Why are you hitting me?" asked Jaune. "And honestly, what's your issue? I literally saw you naked, Neptune, and I hate to feed your ego but your package? A little above average. Not insane or anything, but definitely not a tiny thing like that girl said. Why are you so worked up? You're good-looking, popular and confident with girls."

Neptune burst into hysterical laughter. "Am I? Am I?" He rounded on Jaune with wide eyes and tiny pupils and lunged forward to grasp his shoulders. Jaune let him since it didn't look like an attack. "Am I confident, man? Look at me. Look at me!"

"Okay. You look like a mess right now."

"Mess. Yeah. Yeah, I'm a mess. You want to know why I stood your crush up?" he said, practically spitting. "You want to know why I left her in tears?" Neptune squeezed Jaune's shoulders hard. "It's because I can't dance!"

Jaune blinked.

Neptune stare manically.

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "That's it...? You stood Weiss up because... you can't dance..."

"Yes."

"You pathetic piece of crap!" Jaune yelled, pushing the other man onto his ass. "Do you think Weiss gave a hoot about your dancing ability? Do you think she would have even remotely cared? You dumb asshole!"

"You don't get it!" Neptune roared back. "What kind of man can't dance!?"

"MOST MEN! For fu— Have you even been to a nightclub? Most of the men there are just bouncing up and down and swinging their arms like they're trying to tread water. No man can dance, and the ones who think they can are lying! No one at the school dance could. They just held onto their date and swayed. If they were feeling adventurous, they took a step or two, but there was no tango, salsa or country dance there. For crying out loud, Ruby was a hazard on the dancefloor but at least she tried! How up your own ass are you that you couldn't face even the slightest embarrassment—?"

It clicked.

"That's it, isn't it? All of this." Jaune laughed. "You're terrified of being embarrassed. That's your fear. While some people are afraid of being abandoned, or killed, or losing the people they love – your greatest fear is being bad in bed."

It was a legitimate fear to have, but it felt so pathetic when he'd seen the problems his friends had. Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Yang, Blake, Ruby and Yang. Amber, Glynda, Trivia, Mercury. He'd seen glimpses of their pasts that made him burn with anger on their behalf, and here was Neptune, after standing Weiss up, being afraid of a girl telling him he had a smell penis.

When he didn't even have a small penis.

It was mind-blowing.

"You're pathetic! Is that what those girls were talking about? You've been picking up women and then dumping them before things can get serious because you have performance anxiety? Seriously!?"

Neptune stared off to the side, ashamed. "What if... What if I'm not big enough."

"Neptune!" yelled Jaune. "By the time a girl as a) decided to go out with you and b) been out with you for weeks and c) wants to take things to the next level, she is very much going to like you for who you are. Why does your size bother you when she's literally already fallen in love with you? At that point you could be one inch erect and she'd probably shrug it off!"

"But what if I'm useless in bed? What if I'm a bad kisser? What if I'm not good enough?"

"You're a virgin!" yelled Jaune. "We both are! Of course we're going to be useless in bed." Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "But I have it on good sources from my sisters that it really doesn't matter that much since the emotional component is just as powerful. If they love you, they'll feel happy just being with you. And for the love of dust, man, you can get better. I don't know. Practice makes perfect. The only one who expects you to be perfect on your first time is you." Jaune swore. "And why am I your therapist all of a sudden? I can't stand you!"

"Should I... Should I try again with Weiss?"

"To lose your virginity and practice on her? Neptune, if Yang, Blake or Ruby doesn't get to you first then I will stab you myself."

Or Weiss would. He doubted she'd take the idea of being practice well.

"No. I... I meant to apologise... and to explain..."

Jaune sighed. He wanted to say no and tell the man to go away and never come back, but that was the jealous part of him talking. Even if he was over Weiss, or trying his best to be, he couldn't just ignore the part of him that whispered how pretty she was. But giving in to that would make him as bad as Neptune, and he was dating Yang.

"I think that's up to you, man, but I'm sure Weiss would appreciate knowing the problem wasn't with her." Jaune squatted again. "You left her thinking she was ugly or insufferable in some way, and that you'd decided not to come because you didn't like her."

"What? No. I... I just..."

"You couldn't dance. Like every other guy there. Great excuse. But it is your excuse and it is the truth, so maybe it wouldn't hurt if you found the balls to tell her it. And to put up with whatever she says back." Jaune ran a hand over his face. "But seriously, Neptune, this is all kinds of pathetic. You're training to be a huntsman. Aren't you, like, even remotely afraid of Grimm?"

"I can kill Grimm. They're not a problem."

"No past trauma...? No PTSD or horrific childhood memories?"

Neptune tilted his head. "I lost a prized trading card down a storm drain once."

"I hate you, Neptune."

"Dude, it was a King Ozma limited edition foil. It was a misprint!"

"I hate you so damn much..."

/-/

"A boring dream is a good dream," said Oobleck. "And at least you learned something."

"I guess so. I was able to turn to mist when he tried to hit me, so that should protect me from most other dreams I have. I just need to keep paying attention and not let any dangerous nightmares trick me into thinking they're real."

"Indeed." Oobleck looked pleased. "The biggest danger will be in your belief. If you see a truck about to hit you, every instinct in your body and mind will tell you that the damage will be fatal. This is normal. You're going to have to convince yourself that you cannot be harmed, and that won't be as easy as it sounds. Fear is something we have developed through evolution, as have most animals, and it keeps us safe from predators and dangerous situations. Losing all fear would be a terrible thing, and yet you're going to have to teach yourself to lose it in other people's dreams, and only in them."

"Any tips?"

"I cannot think of any other than to constantly remind yourself it is a dream. There are people who have talked of self-hypnosis but very little empirical evidence to back it up. I expect those who believe they have hypnotised themselves are simply experiencing a placebo effect. Still, I have seen studies into lucid dreaming in which people could create a trigger in themselves to realise if they are in a dream or not."

"Can I get an example?"

"The one that stuck in my head – and it sounds ridiculous – was a man who taught himself to press his thumb into his palm every thirty minutes. Whenever he did, he would stop what he was doing and look around and ask himself if reality was real or if anything was suspicious to imply he was in a dream. Apparently, it became such ingrained behaviour that he would touch his thumb to his palm in dreams, realise that he was in a dream, and then begin lucid dreaming."

Jaune looked down at his hand. "That sounds a bit crazy."

"I agree. For one, forcing yourself into a permanent life habit would take a long time, and interrupting your life every half hour for a reality check would get old fast. You've done a good job telling when you're in a dream up until this point. I suggest you just keep going with that rather than look for any fancy new techniques. Don't fix what isn't broken."

"Yes sir. Thanks again for your help, too. I'd be in a lot of trouble without you."

Doctor Oobleck's smile grew. "Mr Arc, it is not only my duty but my pleasure to help any student who comes my way. I am not a teacher solely for the pay, you know. But you are welcome. Now, go on and enjoy the rest of your day. Be sure to report anything new back to me."

Jaune thanked him again and made his way to the library for his afternoon read. Blake was already there, but the quiet faunus sent him a nod and made room for him. It actually looked like she'd gone so far as to reserve a seat for him with her bag. It was a strangely intimate gesture and he did his best not to make too big a deal of it and make her awkward.

"Thanks." He set his own bag down and brought out his latest psychology textbook.

"Another meeting with Doctor Oobleck?"

"Checking up on my aura. There were no fresh wounds last night and my aura was at a good level, so we're hoping the incident with my neck was a one-off." He answered quickly and succinctly, as Blake liked, and she nodded back.

Oddly, she was reading a book on Semblances. Normally, she read fiction.

"Something interesting happened while you were over there," she said, eyes on the pages. She flipped one over as he hummed. "Yang was doing her best to force me into another of their silly boardgames when the blue-haired buffoon who insulted Weiss at the dance turned up. Along with Sun."

"Ugh." Jaune wasn't surprised, but he still didn't like Neptune. "Did he apologise?"

"He did, actually." Blake lowered her book. "How did you know?"

Oops. Too much information, and Blake was certainly shrewd enough to notice. Jaune shrugged and said, "It's the only reason I could imagine him going near Weiss, unless he wanted to be killed by her or Yang. How did Weiss take it?"

"Hmm." Blake didn't sound entirely convinced. "I couldn't truly say. Well? I suppose. Weiss did not lash out at him or break down into tears, so that is good. She was as calm and cold as she ever was with Ruby however, so I don't expect the two will be getting back together anytime soon."

"I don't blame her."

"Nor me." Blake chuffed under her breath. "And Sun came up to make sure he and I were still cool after it. He said he only came as moral support for his teammate but didn't want me to assume he and Neptune were all that alike."

"He seems like a good guy."

"He does." Blake said no more on it, and Jaune didn't pry. "Anyway, Weiss accepted his apology, though with a stern warning that she doesn't want to speak with him again. I would have stayed to make sure she was alright, but I was never very good at the whole team bonding and sympathy thing. I think Ruby and Yang will handle it better than I could."

"I think you care for her."

"Of course I do. That's not what I was saying." Blake sighed. "I'm just not good with words."

"Imagine saying that to me."

Blake smiled faintly. "You're bad with words in the way that you stumble over them and embarrass yourself, but at least you can convey your sentiment. You made up with Weiss after all, and in a much better way than Neptune did. I'm just bad at getting my meaning across. If it wasn't for Yang basically forcing me to interact with my team, I expect I'd have been the loner who never offered much. Not by choice," she added. "I just have a very sarcastic manner."

"Really?"

"You want to see?" Blake set her book down on her legs, turned and faced him with lidded eyes. "I greatly appreciate your company when I read, Jaune," she said, with a put-upon sigh. "It's good to not be in complete silence."

Jaune stared back at her.

"I... Can't tell if what you said is real or not..."

Blake picked her book back up. "Such is the problem."

"But you do appreciate my company?"

"I don't know," she replied, smiling faintly. "Do I? Or was I being sarcastic?"

"H—Hey. No fair..."

"Life is rarely fair. As Weiss discovered. But at least the idiot admitted that it wasn't a fault with her that led to his cowardice. Apparently, he couldn't dance, and felt that it somehow disqualified him from going to the school dance with her."

"And Sun showed up with the only difference being he buttoned his shirt up."

Blake's shoulders bounced a little as she laughed internally. "Yes. I'd have criticised the lack of effort but he did show up, and he also told me it's because he doesn't have anything else he could have worn. He's at Haven on an orphan programme."

"Ah. It's easy to judge people wrong without knowing them, isn't it?"

"Yes." Blake turned another page. "Yes it is."

Settling in beside her, Jaune cracked open his own book and began reading. They didn't talk, and the only sounds were the other turning a page or the occasional scrape of their chair as they stretched their legs or repositioned for comfort.

But Blake had a point about it somehow feeling companionable.

Not everyone's dreams get to be traumatic I suppose, lol. I do wonder if Monty had more plans for Neptune before his passing, and the character – along with Sun – was practically written out the story. You can't really call them side-characters when Monty made the conscious decision to include them as love interests and then have them accompany Team RWBY on an adventure against Roman and Neo. They were getting as much screentime as Team JNPR.