Oh, hey there. I didn't see you come in. Welcome! So, this story was kind of spur of the moment and (mostly) IRL inspired. While being prodded and realizing that 9Days is approaching, I figured, why not release a little extra in honor of Lancaster and my two favorite dorks?

If you haven't read Operation: Attack RWBY, this story is within the same universe, but that doesn't mean you HAVE to have read that to enjoy this. You may just miss a few references or already-paired pairings. I'm not cruel enough to make you read a 100K word story. As always, my stories are rated M for suggestive theme(s), and adult language with some OOC. I do not own RWBY (unfortunately), but I guess I'll live.

Lastly, I hope everyone supporting Lancaster comes out and supports the 9 days of Lancaster event. There are some pretty talented writers that are publishing some good stuff for it (unlike me!). Enjoy!

- GodRealm

Italicized – Inner thoughts

BOLD - Speaker

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Operation: Blackmail R(uby)

Chapter 1 – Advice from a Friend

Jaune could feel his will faltering as he tried to avoid contact with a pair of silver eyes that were glued to him. Much like dealing with a certain someone, his chances of winning did not seem optimal to say the least. The internal struggle to keep looking away while, at the same time, attempting to have a firm stance in the argument he was posing, was slowly draining him by the second.

Apparently, it's quite difficult to win an argument when you can hear the opposite party offer a low-pitched growl at them. Yes, definitely growling. But, in Jaune's defense, he had not given up as quickly as he had before. Could he consider this a milestone? Was this what it meant to stare death in the face and be defiant while actually avoiding eye contact?

These questions raced through his mind as he found himself with his back against the side of the kitchen refrigerator in his apartment. For how long he'd been there, he couldn't say, but his arms were beginning to become weighty on his shoulders as he kept them raised high above his head if that was any indication. His fingers were tightly clasped around a large jar that he had been holding, his hands slightly clammy from holding it as long as he had. The fact it had come to this was quite a quandary.

He looked down to see those same silver eyes glaring at him as he tried to stay erect and show as if he was not actually about to give in. Their proximity was also unsettling to Jaune. Something about Ruby always made him want to give in to what she wanted, but there were just times he had to stay true to his beliefs.

"Cookies. Now."

He stared at the petite redhead as she offered the simple two-word command, meanwhile not diverting her eyes from his face as she had been. Her words were stern and effective as Jaune could feel that cold sweat returning to old form similarly to only a few months ago. He wanted to offer a reply but he was unsure of how to respond, his face only showing further signs of worry. He knew he had to lay down the law right then and there, but that was easier said than done.

He swallowed a large amount of saliva in an attempt to clear his mouth and mind to produce words, something Ruby seemed to notice with a smirk. She was winning this battle, but he wasn't about to give in as he opened his mouth to finally attempt a retort.

"Ruby," Jaune began. "You know I want you to be happy right?"

"Sure." She answered, keeping it short.

"Then you know that there's a reason that-"

"If you loved me, you would give me the cookies!"

"That's not fair!"

Jaune narrowed his eyes and pulled the jar labeled "Cookies" down to his side as he tried to defend his case. Ruby stood in front of him, still unrelenting in her stance. She kept both of her arms outstretched to either side of Jaune, keeping him trapped between them to be sure he didn't run off with the delicious chips of chocolate she so desired.

She was sporting a pouting face now as if she were a child who had just had her favorite taken away rather than the soon-to-be eighteen-year-old. She was having none of the blond-haired boy's antics right now. She was Ruby freakin' Rose and she would not be denied a cookie despite what her boyfriend was telling her about whatever he was rambling on about. Blah, blah, responsibility, and all that jazz. Besides, who did he think he was? Whenever she wanted a cookie, she GOT a cookie. No one could stop her. Not her dad, not Yang, and certainly not the tall boy before her who was fading under her pressure little by little.

That's when she saw it, her new opening. In between Jaune's most recent outburst, he was gawking directly at her now. Sucker. As if on cue, Ruby's pout stonewashed from her face and she dropped her head, staring down at the floor now. Jaune dropped his insubordinate glowering towards his short girlfriend and replaced it with a questioning look. Ruby had dropped her arms to her sides, giving Jaune the chance to move out of the "danger zone" any time he felt now, but he was concerned at this point.

She remained eerily still for a few passing moments as Jaune tried to regain his composure and ask her what was going on. That's when he heard it… the sniffles.

Oh no. He thought to himself.

Before he could try and look up, it was too late. He had found himself in the proverbial spider's web as he was met with a couple of teary, silver eyes before him. He was powerless to resist and he knew it. At this point, it was all just a waiting game.

Ruby smiled internally as she sported her famous eyes and a quivering lower lip in her defenseless boyfriend's direction. This was a tactic she had seen on television not too long ago during one of Weiss's sappy romance movie marathons she had forced her to sit through. She spent most of the night trying to annoy her best friend into turning said movies off, but she did pay attention once in a while. She was intrigued by one of the movie's characters who would half-heartedly cry to get attention in front of her boyfriend.

She had initially laughed off the notion of that even being a feasible option for one to get what they want in front of their partner during a disagreement, but, as it turns out, she couldn't have been more wrong. As a test, she decided to employ this tactic initially about a week ago when I came to who was going to get control of the bedroom television. To Jaune's credit, he supplied a valid and consistent argument that should have seen him the victor. Unfortunately for him, Ruby wasn't afraid to fight dirty.

With a few fake whimpers under the covers that were just loud enough for the knight to hear along with more fake tears, the battle was reversed before Jaune knew what had happened. She would be lying if she said it didn't make her blush by the way he attempted to comfort her and relent his control of their television to make her happier, and she had done well to hide as best she could. That being said, she learned a new "trick" to employ against her boyfriend to get what she wanted and she was not going to relinquish that for any reason. It was all about the win for Ruby, and she was good at winning, especially against Jaune.

She offered another sniffle and a slight whine as Jaune continued to stare at his beloved's face without any recourse. He could feel his eye twitch as he tried to remain calm, but it wasn't doing much to hide his demeanor. He couldn't resist the urge to give in to that face. How could anyone fight it?

"R-Ruby… I just want you to eat better and not get crumbs in the bed." He attempted.

"O-oh," Ruby whimpered. Damn her. "I'm sorry I'm not a very good girlfriend, Jaune. I-I g-g-guess, you're mad at m-me?" She finished.

Double damn her. "Ruby, that's not true at all! You're amazing! Really! But when you eat too much sugar before bed you kick in your sleep and your feet are cold against my backside, and-"

Ruby feigned a fake collapse to the floor in front of Jaune, interrupting his struggled reasoning with her altogether. She used her hands to cover her face and began a soft whine that transitioned seconds later into what sounded like full-blown crying to Jaune as he stood there in front of her.

"Jaune doesn't love me anymore!" Ruby sobbed into her hands as she shook her head from side to side.

That was it. Game over. Without any hesitation, Jaune dropped to both knees so he was about the same height as Ruby, still holding onto the cookie jar with his right hand as he placed a left, out-stretched hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort his partner as best as he could. The look in his eyes said it all; he would have to surrender now.

"Ruby!" Jaune nearly shouted. "I could never stop loving you! You are the most important thing in the world to me! I mean that!"

Ruby's crying seemed to dwindle as she stopped shaking her head, but still kept her entire face covered as to not let him see. Her muffled sobs were slowly declining as she attempted to speak once more between them.

"R-Really?" She managed between her face-covered-cries.

"Yes!" he responded immediately. "I would do or give anything for you and I will always be here with you!"

"A-anything?"

"Yes, whatever you need. I will-"

YOINK!

Before Jaune could finish his otherwise sincere words, Ruby had snatched the jar of cookies from his hand with both of her hands. It had happened so quickly that Jaune had to double-take to his right to see that the jar was indeed missing.

As he looked back in front of him, Ruby was already standing before him, no longer down on both knees in a semi-fetal position, jar in hand. He also noticed at this time, her wide smile and the absence of any actual tears streaking down from her beautiful silver eyes. She had played him, much like he knew she would, but he was absolutely powerless to stop it.

"Aww, you're so sweet, Jauney-boy." She mocked playfully. "If that's the case, I'll be taking these since you did say anything, right?"

Jaune's eyes twitched more and more as she spoke to him. Damn, she's good. He collapsed downward, his hands bracing himself from hitting the floor beneath them both in a defeated fashion. The air remained thick for a few moments before he offered an answer.

"Y-Yeah… anything for you."

Ruby smiled at Jaune as the last of his defiance exited his body and he was left on there to think about his failed attempt at conquering the formidable and indomitable Ruby Rose as she unscrewed the top of the cookie jar. This would be the taste of victory and sweets that she much required prior to bedtime.

Jaune remained quiet and refused to gaze upward at his vanquisher as she reached into the jar, retrieved the sweet bakery treat, and took a much-fulfilling bite that had her squeal as if it were the first time ever having one of her most beloved snacks. With the win secured, she made a turn on her heel, shifting one hundred-eight degrees and began her march towards their bedroom as she reached in for another cookie.

"I knew you'd see it my way, lover~" She finished before entering the room and disappearing from the view of the kitchen and the boy she had just left behind.

Jaune remained there for a few more moments before blinking a few times, receding back to reality, rather than this jolting trap that she had sucked him into. He pushed himself from the floor and back to his knees as he gazed up at the ceiling of his apartment, still slightly lost in thought. He eventually found the strength to force himself back to his feet as he let his shoulders hang low, still signaling a defeated person.

Jaune took his time as he walked around the entirety of the apartment turning each of the lights off and locking their door before looking over to the hallway leading to the bedroom Ruby and he shared. With one last, routed sigh he slugged his way down the passage with only one word on his mind as he prepared for another night of uncomfortable, cold-feet-on-his-back, sleep.

"Fuck."

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"Damn buddy, that's pretty rough." The one and only former-playboy answered in response to the blond knight's recounting of the night prior to the two meeting up.

Neptune sipped his drink and continued holding his controller, fixated on the television before the two boys. The two had agreed to meet up and hang out as Weiss and Ruby were recalled for a mission on the outskirts of Vale. It was nothing they couldn't handle as newly appointed Huntresses. A few Grimm had settled in a cave and needed to be dealt with proactively, rather than reactively.

"Yeah, you're telling me." Jaune retorted. "I think I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I bought that jar at the local flea market downtown almost 2 weeks ago. I'm living in a personal hell of my own design."

Letting her stock an old cookie jar to the brim with as many delicious chocolate-filled circles as she could, may not have been the smartest decision Jaune had made in recent memory. To be fair, he wanted to get her something she would enjoy, and enjoy it she did. The problem was, more room for cookies meant more cookies in a single sitting could be devoured. Hell, she was liable to come back with even more cookies tonight after she nearly finished the entirety of the jar last night.

It was a thought he'd rather not entertain, but one that was slowly making his eye do that twitching he had developed recently, more and more.

"So," Jaune began as he had his hands on another controller for the gaming system he and Neptune were playing. "Any advice for me, pal?"

Neptune remained focused on the task at hand as he nodded at hearing the blonde's question. It took a few moments, but he did offer something for his friend to take into consideration.

"Yeah, have you thought of 'accidentally' breaking the jar while she's out on a mission and you have the day off?" Neptune asked as he side-glanced his former accomplice.

Jaune's eyes bulged as he heard the deadly idea his cohort had suggested to him. "Are you insane?" He asked flatly. "One, Ruby's not an idiot. She would know I did that on purpose. Two, she would just buy, or rather, make me buy another immediately. And lastly, I would deal with a wrath that only Oum knows."

Neptune chuckled to himself loudly as he listened to the counter-argument Jaune posed. He offered valid points that he couldn't really contest.

"Fair enough." Neptune replied.

GAME OVER. PLAYER ONE WINS.

Jaune's eyes narrowed as he chucked the controller over to the open couch in Neptune's living room with a scowl. Neptune just looked at him with a shit-eating grin while shaking his controller mockingly after a decisive victory of his own over the knight.

"Looks like this victory is mine, dude." Neptune indicated arrogantly with another low chuckle.

Jaune just sighed in response as he leaned back into the couch, sinking himself down into the comfortable cushions. He had a mood that could suffocate a room of people with how toxic it was.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll just add it to my list of defeats. It is a list that seems to be growing by the day as of recent." He spoke, adding another audible sigh at the end of the statement.

Neptune offered a sigh of his own and placed his controller down on the coffee table in his living room before turning towards Jaune. The two boys made eye contact as Neptune placed a hand on Jaune's semi-limp shoulder, making sure he was garnering all of the boy's attention.

"Well…" He stated. "You could always blackmail her with juicy information."

"Blackmail her?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, you know? Like using something over her head so she can't get her way every time you both come to a disagreement? Something like that."

Jaune's eyes shot open again at the boy's response. Had he truly learned nothing from the previous time they attempted to do something like that?

"Yeah, because that worked out SO well last time, right?" Jaune answered sharply.

"Hey now, we almost got away with all of it." Neptune tried to defend. "Plus, you did get a girlfriend out of it along with myself somehow."

Jaune snorted as a response to his friend's weak attempt to coerce him into another night of running and alcohol-induced charades. "Okay smart guy, how would I even go about pulling off something like that if I were to try and 'blackmail' her into submission? Jaune retorted, making sure to use air quotes with his fingers over the word as he looked at his friend skeptically.

"Hmm." Neptune thought as he placed his hand under his chin and stared around the room. "Well, you would need something that she wouldn't want anyone, not even her team to know."

"Well, that's obvious."

"You don't know or have something around the apartment that she gets embarrassed about that she wouldn't want others to know? Like something scarring?"

"I don't know what Weiss leaves around here, but Ruby doesn't just advertise humiliating content around our place for me to laugh at her for. In fact, I'd say a lot of people don't do that." Jaune replied with a harsh tone.

"Okay, okay." Neptune stated, waving his hands off showing he understood Jaune's point. "But maybe, she has some stuff in the apartment somewhere after moving in that you haven't seen? Or maybe she does things you could record and threaten her with?"

Jaune stood up and stretched from Neptune's couch before looking back at him with a face of disconcerting. "I think you may be a sociopath, my friend. But, no, not that I'm aware of. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back across the hall and make dinner for the night."

He made his way towards the door as he flashed a hand over his shoulder signaling a wave in the direction of his Blue-haired chum that he had been growing closer to with each passing day.

"Okay." Neptune commented. "Just don't give up on the idea entirely! You never know!"

"Right, something miraculous is going to appear and save me. See you later." Jaune replied unconvinced as he opened the door to the hallway and made a prompt exit before closing the door behind him.

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As the door clicked behind him, Jaune let out a heavy sigh. He reached into his pocket to pull out the keycard to his apartment directly across the hall before taking a step. Unfortunately for him, thinking mail wasn't delivered in the middle of the day on your day off playing video games at a friend's place and stepping without looking could prove to be costly and painful.

Such was the case as Jaune stepped onto something while he had his eyes closed, figuring he remembered the path on his short step across the hall. His misstep led him to lose his balance and slam against the door to his own apartment as he rolled over, clutching the part of his head that had just made contact with the metal door.

"Ow, ow, ow." He hissed. "What the hell, man. What is-"

Jaune looked back to what had caught his leg and caused a rough landing for him to see a large brown package that was now on its side and opened on the top. Guess he had kicked it a little harder than he had thought initially.

He crawled over to it to examine the new package. He picked it up to look at who it belonged to as he examined the postage. It read "Xiao Long residence" in Patch.

"Oh, so it's a package for Ruby from her dad. Well, that's nice." Jaune commented nonchalantly.

As he picked it up, a piece of paper that was once on the inside of the box spilled out onto the hallway floor in front of Jaune. He thought nothing of it as he leaned down to pick it up. As he grabbed it from the carpeted floor, he placed it on the box, before using his keycard to allow himself with the parcel into his residence.

Once inside, he walked the package over to the small table they had in their apartment kitchen and placed it directly in the center. Normally, Jaune would have just left it alone by that point, but something drew him to the note that was left on top of the box. He knew it to be invasive, but he was genuinely curious about what could be the contents of the box or why it was sent to Ruby now.

As he picked up the paper, he began glancing over it slowly, but as he read it more and more, he couldn't help but have a small smile creep onto his face as his blue eyes lit up concurrently with said smile. Once he finished reading the note, he wasted no time tossing it to the wayside and ripping the partially open top of the box open more than it already was.

That's when he saw the true contents of the box. That of which, the note had explained in full detail. This is when the wheel in Jaune's head began to turn. This is just what he needed to turn the tables.

"Something miraculous appeared…"

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Well, there's chapter one. What antics is Jaune about to pull? What could the contents truly be? I guess we're going to have to find out next time. I just hope it's not something that will come back to bite him later. But, surely, he's learned from his past, right? If you enjoyed this, please consider, following, favoriting, or leaving a small review to let me know what you think. As always, I am open to all forms of criticism! Have a great day!

- GodRealm

Next time: Chapter 2 – Rose Bottom