Alright, let's do this.

Angst is Not Hot

Ruby had always known Jaune was a great guy.

Sure, Jaune was also kind of a dork, but so was she. Sure, he was kind of scraggly and noodly, and he had thrown up on the ship, and he really hadn't been the best of fighters.

But really, who cared about looks, skill, good breath, and all those other things?

Jaune was the guy who held his hand out to a lost girl with normal knees who had just exploded and told her they were friends. That was what mattered, and Ruby was never going to forget it.

It was a pity most people at Beacon hadn't been able to see what she saw. Still, Ruby was confident it was only a matter of time. It was one of the reasons Ruby liked Pyrrha (not that there were reasons to dislike Pyrrha. She had been awesome like that). She believed in Jaune as well. She saw the good things in him like Ruby did.

Still, Ruby was sure it was only a matter of time before the good things hidden inside Jaune started to become not so hidden, and other people began to take notice.

She had been right, just not in the way she expected.

It took a while for the full truth to hit Ruby, but that wasn't her fault. She was just too close to Jaune to notice. It was only natural. Ever since entering Beacon, Jaune had become part of Ruby's daily life. The change in him had been too gradual. It sneaked up on her.

When Ruby first noticed people staring at them as they traveled across the continent of Anima, she told herself they did so because they were travelers. People were bound to be curious.

She was partially right.

Then Ruby started noticing how a lot of the female gazes were aimed at Jaune, and that was kind of weird. For whatever reason, Jaune was receiving way more female attention than he ever had at Beacon. Girls found excuses to talk to him. They would giggle at things he said even when he wasn't trying to be funny. Waitresses would, for inexplicable reasons, have a couple of buttons undone when serving their table.

It took Ruby two months to realize all those girls were flirting with Jaune.

In her defense, Ruby was still a proud member of the socially awkward club. She and Jaune had made badges and everything.

Ruby was used to girls flirting with Ren. That was a thing that happened back in Beacon. It always led to Nora scaring said girls away. Sure, Yang was the one who had to point out the dynamic to her, but after she did so, Ruby learned to spot it all on her own.

Girls flirting with Jaune, though? That was new. That was different, and Ruby didn't quite know what to make of it.

It was only during a warm Tuesday morning when they all decided to take a swim in a nearby river, and Jaune took off his armor and shirt that Ruby finally got it.

Jaune was hot now.

All that training with Pyrrha had done his body good. Lots of good. Somewhere along the way, Jaune had become all lean, perfectly-defined muscles. Each of his movements revealed just how much work Pyrrha had put into shaping his body. Ruby found herself audibly swallowing as he jumped into the river and splashed around, drops of water dripping from his impressive pectorals all the way down to his toned abs.

Ruby kept starting for a long time until a knowing smile from Nora made her quickly and violently turn away, her face as red as the petals that came with her Semblance.

That was the turning point. It was like Ruby was seeing Jaune all over again, and she couldn't believe how much she had not noticed all this time. Save for his hoodie, most of Jaune's clothes were now far too tight on his body, a fact which Ruby found herself appreciating more and more each day, especially when she walked behind him. His face had grown sharper over the past year, any remaining baby fat was long gone. He had even grown a couple of extra inches, not that he needed them. Jaune had been tall to begin with.

Even the way Jaune walked was different now, more confident, filled with a sense of purpose. There was no scraggly blond anywhere to be found.

The dorky side of Jaune was thankfully still alive, although it did not show up nearly as often as Ruby would like. Instead, the new Jaune was prone to moments of melancholy which usually culminated in long, heart-wrenching training sessions in front of his scroll at night, but Ruby would rather not think of those right now.

The important thing was Jaune had changed, and once Ruby had time to sort herself out, she decided she was glad other people were taking notice of Jaune. Sure, Ruby would prefer if people noticed things about Jaune other than his improved body, but her friend deserved some waitress cleavage shoved in his face every now and then. Ruby even made sure to find inns with especially hot waitresses, a skill Uncle Qrow had taught her but one she never thought she'd use.

However, there was just one thing Ruby failed to consider.

"Oh, yeah, work it!" Yang leered as she removed her shades to better appreciate the action.

"Do not be so crass, Yang." Even as Weiss reprimanded her teammate, her gaze never once strayed from the courtyard, the red of her cheeks plain to see on her milky white skin.

The object of their attention was currently training, unaware of their presence, his sword cleanly slashing through the air. The sun was strong that day, so his upper body was bare. He had already worked up a light sheen of sweat.

It was Jaune.

Her friends were ogling at Jaune.

Ruby was so not ready for her sister and her best friend ogling at her best male friend.

It was exactly the kind of thing that wasn't supposed to happen. Sure, Yang and Jaune had gotten along well enough back at Beacon, but it had never been like that. Theirs had been a simple friendship. Jaune puked on her boots that one time. Yang decided to call him Vomit Boy and tease him ever since. All in good fun, of course.

Weiss' case was even more bizarre. It was no secret that Weiss had never been Jaune's biggest fan, and maybe, probably, certainly, Jaune had something to do with that. Still, they did manage to become quasi-sorta friends after the dance. It was a distant, mostly implied friendship, but that was business as usual for Weiss.

They were not supposed to be staring at Jaune like he was a piece of meat!

"Oh, that's just not fair," Yang said once Jaune picked up a towel and started rubbing his pectorals to wipe the sweat off. A giggle escaped Weiss' mouth, and it wasn't even an 'Oh, Zwei is the cutest dog ever' giggle. It was a Neptune-giggle from the first days of their short-lived relationship.

Ruby's eyebrow twitched, a vein clearly visible on her forehead.

That was it.

The line had been crossed!

The young girl grabbed her teammates and activated her Semblance. The two barely had time to protest before Ruby dragged them away in a storm of rose petals.

"Team meeting! Now!" Ruby snapped once she dropped them in her room. There was a stack of unread comics in the corner, and cookies hidden in strategic places.

"Ouch! Sis, what the hell?!" Yang yelled as she tried to shake the rose petals out of her long mane.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Other times, Weiss' glare would have made her hide behind the nearest meat shield, but not today! Today, Ruby hadn't left cookie crumbs on Weiss' bed. Today, she hadn't taken Weiss' charger without permission because it was easier than trying to find her own. Today, she was right!

"You two!" Ruby pointed her finger dramatically at them. "Bad! Wrong! Bad!"

Okay, maybe Ruby should have put some thought into what she wanted to say before dragging them away.

Yang and Weiss traded looks. "You feeling okay, sis?"

"You two! Muscles! Not right! Wrong! Bad!"

"Did you eat too many cookies again?" Weiss sighed. "I told you those are bad for you."

"Stop sexualizing Jaune!" Ruby finally shouted, her eyes closed and her small fists clenched at her sides.

Long stunned silence followed her declaration.

"Ruby, what-"

"No denying it! I've seen you two!" Ruby's pointed finger rapidly switched targets between Yang and Weiss. "All looking and ogling and drooling!"

"I do not drool!"

"You are looking at him like Zwei looks at a piece of meat," Ruby told Weiss flatly, making the girl blush. Yang snorted but went silent once Ruby turned her glare on her. "And you're even worse! I can't believe you two! All because he has muscles now."

Those were Pyrrha Muscles!

"This is ridiculous," Weiss said, primly sitting at the foot of Ruby's bed which just happened to be near the window. "I have not been, as you put it, ogling."

"You are inching towards the window right now! As we speak!"

The pale girl flushed at being caught. "I assure you if I have become more appreciative of Jaune during our time here, it is only because I find his company more pleasing now than it was before. He has become quieter and more serious. I do not dislike that."

"He is quieter now because bad things happened, Weiss! Angst is not hot! You're staring because he's shirtless and sweaty!"

Yang laughed. "Oh, I don't know about that. Maybe, Weiss-scream is into that sort of thing. Maybe that's what it takes to get all the ice dripping." Yang nimbly sidestepped the pillow thrown her way by Weiss. "But fine, I'll be honest. Yes, Vomit Boy is hot now. Yes, we've been staring at his sweaty bod. What's the harm? It's all good fun."

"There's harm! There is plenty of harm!" Ruby said, as she started pacing around the room. "Yang, you know how you are."

Yang actually looked a little offended.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, it's all fun and games then the bar is on fire!" Ruby then rounded up on Weiss. "And you, you two had this whole thing and… and I don't want him to get hurt again!"

Ruby looked down. "He's still… he's still hurting about Pyrrha. So much. You have no idea. It's fine if random girls on the road flirt with him. Nothing is going to happen. But you two are right here, and he's still so sad and… and…I...I am really bad at saying this."

Weiss and Yang traded looks. Suddenly, this was not funny anymore.

"I think you just said plenty, sis," Yang said. She held out her arms. "Come here."

Ruby accepted the invitation and let Yang envelop her in a hug. "You're a good friend, you know." Yang said. Ruby murmured back something unintelligible.

A minute later, Ruby had calmed down, and Yang had let her go. "So basically," Yang said. "You are scared we'll get our evil claws on Jaune and hurt him."

Ruby flushed and twiddled her thumbs. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that…"

Yang raised an eyebrow.

Weiss coughed meaningfully.

Ruby looked away. "I am sorry."

Yang shook her head.

"No, it's fine. It's fair to worry about stuff like that. Even friends can hurt each other. Most times without meaning to." Her face darkened. "Sometimes without caring because they are selfish like that."

"Yang…"

"The point is," Yang continued, her face now the picture of a model older sister once more. "Relationships can get ugly, especially if one side isn't ready for it. You were right to let us know your worries."

Ruby looked up at Yang. "Really?"

"Really." Yang nodded. Then she added, "But you are also totally jumping the gun."

"Huh?"

"Think, Ruby," Weiss said, folding her arms. "What did you think was going to happen in the next few days? That we were going to seduce Jaune like in some bad romantic comedy just because we enjoyed watching him train?"

"Watching shirtless Jaune is fun," Yang agreed, shrugging. "But that's it. Fun. Nothing more. I don't think anyone here is ready to jump into anything. There is just too much stuff going on right now to even consider a normal date."

Relics. Maidens. Fate of the world.

Now that Ruby thought it, there really was a lot of important stuff going on. "You're right," Ruby said, scratching the back of her head. "I guess I jumped the gun. Sorry."

"Don't be." To Ruby's surprise, it was Weiss who spoke. "What you said was useful in its own way. It will help us modulate our interaction with Jaune. I will try to be more… discrete in the future."

"And I was planning on teasing him a bit… a lot," Yang admitted with a guilty smile. "I'll scrap that for now."

"Thank you." Ruby smiled guiltily. "I am sorry I implied you would be horrible girlfriends. You'd be awesome girlfriends."

"Eh, it's fine. We all say things sometimes."

"You will be doing my cleaning chores for the following week."

"Weiss!"

"What?"

At that moment, Jaune's voice drifted through the open window. "Hey, Ren, do you think you can help me out? I need to get some practice in hand to hand. There are some holds I've been meaning to try."

"It will be my pleasure, Jaune. Just let me take my shirt off first."

"Good call. Wouldn't want me getting my sweat all over it."

At once, the three girls rushed to the window.

Only to come face to face with an upside-down Nora.

"Team eyes only!" The cheerful girl said before closing the binds and snapping the windows shut, leaving Ruby, Weiss, and Yang alone in the room.

"That lucky b-"

"Yang!"

"What? We were all thinking it!"

AN: The lesson here is Nora is the only one who gets to see Jaune and Ren getting sweaty with each other.

Originally, this story was supposed to be way more crack-ish. Somewhere between Team CRDL, Action and Know Your Meta. Somewhere along the way it became a bit more serious than I intended with Ruby being genuinely worried about Jaune's emotional state. It was probably around the time I brought up Jaune's training sessions in front of his scroll. Yeah. that probably did it. That scene always makes me sad.

This was also supposed to be the next chapter of The Jaune-Shots, but he is more mentioned than seen in this fic. Didn't feel quite fair, so I am posting it as a stand-alone instead.

For anyone wondering, yes, the moment where Yang's face darkens is because she is thinking about Blake. Now, there is a confrontation I really hope we see next Volume.

Till next time!