Hey, it's me again! Here's the next installment of youalreadyknowwhatthisisbecausewhyelsewouldyoubehere. Anyway, I don't really have much commentary off the bat, so I'll keep the intro to a minimum. I feel like this chapter's a bit shorter than the last few, so sorry in advance.

It's also chocked full of Easter eggs. How many can you find?

The song for this chapter's title is "Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood.

Beta: Maxaro, as always. Had me a good chuckle over your editor's note.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Sweater Weather

In a different part of the city, a nondescript brown van lazily coasted between cars and rowdy pedestrians as the flashy colors of the city lights awed the passengers inside. Ren manned the vehicle while Nora rode shotgun with her face leaned against the side window, taking in every sight and sound. Pyrrha did the same in the seat behind her, although she sat in a more proper manner and maintained a reserved sort of intrigue. Next to her, limbs awry across the seat, was a softly snoring Yang, who had passed out almost immediately after the transit began. The snoring was only drowned out by The Juniperberries demos playing over the van's stereo.

"I'm hungry," piped Nora.

Ren kept his eyes on the road. "Come to think of it, I am as well."

Nora grinned and turned to face Pyrrha. "Hey Pyr-Pyr, you got anywhere you wanna eat?"

"Oh, I'm fine with anything," answered Pyrrha graciously.

"That's a dangerous sentence," muttered Ren, but fortunately for him no one heard his comment.

Nora pondered for a moment. "Oh, there's a pancake house right down the street! We should eat there. After all, pancakes are always a good idea! Does that sound good, everybody?"

Two yesses from Ren and Pyrrha. Yang was still out for the count.

"Done." Ren parked the car in front of the small food joint with a slight check of the curb. "Let's get some to-go. We'll be able to get back to searching for Casey faster that way."

"I love it when you talk smart," beamed Nora, with a flirtatious hint in her voice. "Coming Pyr-Pyr?"

Pyrrha glanced to the sprawled blonde adjacent to her. "Will we be gone long?"

Ren shrugged. "It shouldn't be too long if we're ordering out."

Pyrrha hesitated for a second, then nodded. "Sure. Let's go!"

"Awesome!" With that, Nora bounced out the door and towards the restaurant, with Ren and Pyrrha following closely behind.

All was quiet in the van for a moment.

Snoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore –snort!

Yang awoke with a start.

The first thing she noticed was that the world was moving.

Except it wasn't. The twenty-odd drinks she had sloshed down at the bar were still in full effect. Of course, the fact that it was twenty-odd drinks meant that Yang was not quite aware of this. So in her mind, the world was moving and that contrived explanation made complete sense - at least to Yang.

"Ugh," she groaned, and with some effort, Yang managed to open the door and dropped shakily onto the pavement beside the van. "Need… fresh air…"

The second thing she noticed was that no one was in the van.

"Hello?" called Yang, lethargically poking her head back in the van door. "Loudmouth? Shy-guy? Lady in red? Where is everybody?"

No answer.

"Huh…" Yang looked up the block and down the block, cursing the world for its incessant spinning as she turned.

"Where are you guys hiding…" she murmured playfully, and, slowly and absolutely not steadily, she zig-zagged her way through crowds of people that weren't actually there. Those that were there, however, gawked at the very drunk girl struggling to push past imaginary strangers and yelling at apparently nothing.

But neither did she notice nor care. "You can't hide from me. I'm the best at hide-and-seek. I'll search the whole damn city if I gotta!" roared Yang, her competitive streak settling in.

She wasn't kidding, either. Unfortunately.

"Does this happen a lot?"

"… Yup. Kind of the reason I keep a bottle of Mrs. Clean in the car."

"That does explain the Mrs.… wait, Mrs. Clean?"

"I, uh… it's a knock-off brand. Being a starving artist will do that to ya."

"Ah."

Forcing small talk seemed to be much easier for Blake and Jaune when the collective goal was to try to drown out the love-making sounds (if you could even call it that) emanating from the back of the Crown Victoria. Where silence used to be a cherished commodity, any clamor that could bleach their eardrums now reached peak demand.

"Soooooooo… uh, have you ever been to this club before? Juniors?" asked Jaune.

Blake shrugged. "Normally I don't. They're too loud. And there are waaaaaaay too many people; it's like if the people on subways never stopped moving. Or hit on you. That would be a nightmare." She sighed. "But I digress. I've been once. With Yang. Rather, she dragged me along."

"How long did it take you to just run the fuck outta there?"

"About five minutes and forty-five seconds. Yang beat up the bartender, the DJ, and some of the bartender's thugs. She also made a fair amount of damage."

"Yikes," Jaune winced. "That couldn't have been good on her wallet. Or her record."

"Her dad helped her out. He's close to the local law enforcement. But boy, do I remember the lecture he gave her." Blake smirked at the memory.

"So… now she doesn't punch though local property anymore?"

"No, just people these days."

Jaune shivered. He recalled almost being on the receiving end of that not too long ago.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind- oh God!" he cried as a masculine hand from the back grabbed onto Jaune's face. The grunts and moans from that general direction did not help the situation either.

Blake broke out into a giggle at the sight of an infuriated Jaune with a man's hand vigorously caressing his face. She was just glad that it wasn't happening to-

A foot kicked her in the face.

It took her by such surprise that for a good second, she just stared at the foot, which was currently thrashing against her headrest. Resigned, Blake warily leaned her head against the car window, still staring begrudgingly at the foot. "This isn't funny anymore," she grumbled.

Thankfully, they didn't have to suffer much longer.

"And we're here!" announced Jaune irately, slowing the car to a stop. "Junior's on 10th and Duquette."

A short commotion came from the back seat, complete with the sounds of grunts and zippers. The right side door finally opened and the lady in red stumbled out onto the sidewalk, swaying so erratically that if a stray breeze were to glide by, it would surely knock her over.

The other drunken half of the pair poked a head to the front. "How much?" the man slurred.

Without missing a beat, Jaune replied, "$8.50."

The man searched his pockets and came up with a five dollar bill. "This is all I got."

Jaune sighed. "Sure. Just get the fuck out."

"Yeah yeah, take it easy, blondie," chuckled the man as he slapped the five on Jaune's chest. "I'll give ya a good rating on Uber." With that, he slammed the car door and bumbled after the lady into the club.

Blake watched the couple as they disappeared amongst the cluster of partygoers. "You know, he probably had more money on him, considering that they're at a club, of all places."

"I know," muttered Jaune tiredly. "I didn't care anymore. I just wanted them out. I don't even know if that asshole knows the difference between Uber and actual taxis." He let out a small chuckle. "I'm sorry you had to sit through all that."

Blake returned the laugh. "Me too."

They cherished the peacefulness that befell them for a moment.

The moment became awkward again soon enough.

Blake bit her lip. "I, uh… I'm gonna go use the club restroom." She fumbled slightly on the door handle before stepping out into the crisp, night air.

"Uh, yeah!" Jaune started to reach for the bottle of disinfectant. "You go ahead. I'm gonna clean up the car real quick. You sure you'll be able to get in?"

"I'll manage. I'm friends with the world's biggest party girl, anyhow." Blake smiled. "See you in a bit," she said, and gently closed the door behind her.

As she walked away from the car, the smile lingered on her face a moment longer, and the warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest began to subside.

"They sure took their sweet time with those pancakes," grumbled Nora.

"You did order about fifteen of them plus sides," pointed out Ren.

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha had finally emerged from the pancake joint after a good thirty minutes. All three had their hands full of enough to-go boxes to supply a thanksgiving feast.

"Hey, better too many than not enough, amirite?" chirped Nora.

"I'd bet Blake and Jaune will be hungry when we meet up with them, ordering this much food isn't a terrible idea," added Pyrrha with a polite smile.

Ren snorted. "You haven't seen Nora eat."

"He's got a point," said Nora, skipping towards the van happily.

Ren set his stack of boxes down to unlock the van. As he opened the side door, the three of them noticed something very, very wrong.

"Uh-oh," murmured Nora. "That's not supposed to happen… right?"

Blake sighed as she finished taking care of business from inside the tiny stall. Her mind was racing as she retraced the night's events thus far. They still had yet to find any sign of Casey and the Red Rosies, and yet she had to admit that she was enjoying herself. For once, it wasn't Blake who was taking care of a wasted Yang, and being in Jaune's company had turned out far more pleasant than she had previously anticipated. The usual anxiety she felt in the presence of strangers was strangely quite this evening, and she'd been talking with the blonde much more than she usually did with anyone other than Yang, to the point that her mouth was parched. She'd been glad that the boy had been willing to talk to her, and even more so that she wasn't running out of things to say.

She shook head. Why am I smiling? she wondered to herself. Stop smiling, Blake, you look like a goddamn idiot. Besides, he's just talking to you because you're talking to him. You're the one running your mouth. He's still hung up on Weiss, of all people. Don't be weird about it.

Although… She wrestled with those thoughts for a moment, then exhaled as she leaned against the stall door and closed her eyes. I guess he wouldn't keep talking to me if he wasn't interested. Wait, interested? Maybe I'm taking this too far… I mean, I'm not looking for anyone right now… am I? Dammit, I'm overthinking things… I just need to stop for a minute. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Okay. Let's just take this one step at a time.

Blake opened her eyes. She was still in the stall.

She mentally slapped herself. Why would I be anywhere else?

Her eyes wandered about the walls of the stall and its various pieces of amateur graffiti. Each side had its fair share of phone numbers and names. There was a single heart scratched into the right wall with the words "Coco & Velvet 4eva" inscribed inside. Someone else had made an intricate sketch of the White Fang symbol in silver sharpie, to which Blake scowled at. Another "Blank wuz here", another phone number, a disturbingly detailed phallus (Could be Yang, mused Blake), some rose petals along the side…

Wait… rose petals?

Instantly, Blake became alert.

She leaned closer towards the petal markings. They seemed to be leading up the stall wall.

Making sure her footing was solid, she carefully stepped on top of the toilet seat and followed the trail of rose petals, which seemed to circumnavigate the whole stall before encircling around a small cluster of text.

Blake squinted at the tiny words and mouthed each one as she read them:

The White Whale - 12:00 Midnight - 1429 Halcyon Ave.

She read it again. Then for a third time.

"Jackpot," she whispered, and burst out of the stall.

Jaune's face blanched.

"What do you mean, you lost the girl?" he uttered in disbelief.

Jaune struggled to put on a jacket to combat the increasingly frigid weather as he sat on the hood of his parked car, and could audibly hear Nora gulp from his phone, which he held between his ear and his shoulder.

"Well, uh…" Nora voice emitted from the phone. "We went in this restaurant to get some pancakes, and when we came back, she was gone."

Jaune groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You didn't think to leave even just one other person in the van? There are three of you, for fuck's sake."

"Yeah…" Nora mumbled reluctantly. "Pyrrha's beating herself up pretty bad about it. She wanted to stay back, but we encouraged her to come with us."

"Well, sure, tell her it's not her fault, but that's totally on you and Ren," snapped Jaune. "As per usual."

There was a small pause from the other end, and Jaune wondered if he had been too harsh. Before he could apologize, Nora responded. "Jaune… I'm sorry. We fucked up. Bad. I… I'm so sorry."

Jaune sighed. "It's alright. Everybody screws up. Right, Nora?"

"… Right. Thanks, Jaune."

Jaune allowed himself a small smile, despite the circumstances. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Blake rushing out of the club towards him, excitement etched across her face. Damn, thought Jaune. Blake is not gonna be happy about this.

"Don't worry, Nora. Just get over here as quick as you can. We're parked by Junior's, that club right by the really good sushi place."

"Oh, I know where that is! Okay, we'll be there in a few!"

"Alright. Bye." Jaune hung up and turned to Blake, who was standing restlessly by him while she waited.

"I did not realize how cold it had gotten out here," the faunus girl remarked, shivering slightly. "What was that about a sushi place?"

Jaune took a deep breathe. "Something… came up."

"Oh. What happened?"

"They lost Yang."

Jaune watched sadly as Blake's excitement immediately turned to alarm. "Oh. That's not good."

"Yeah. They're gonna be here in a few, then we can go look for her." Jaune shifted uncomfortably. "Do you think you can call her?"

"Yes. Hold on a sec." Blake pulled out her phone and dialed Yang's number, but after a few rings, the call went to voice mail.

"Heya, this is Yang! But if you're calling, you probably already knew that! Or maybe you didn't. That's okay! Just leave a message, and we'll figure it out together. It'll be fun, I promise. Talk to ya soon! Bye!"

"Goddammit Yang, you… you wet turd of a friend! Pick up your phone!" Blake growled angrily, and hung up.

"Shit shit shit shit!" yelled Blake as she turned to kick the side of the pavement.

"Yikes," said Jaune, flinching. "You okay over there?"

Blake turned to him indignantly. "Do I look okay to you?"

"N-no. I suppose not."

Blake glared at him for a moment, then sighed deeply. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just that I'm worried that she's going to get in some really shitty situations and it's gonna be all her fault. I swear I'm gonna kill her."

"Her fault?" Jaune blinked. "We're not about to have that talk, are we?"

"Huh?" Blake asked confusedly before her eyes widened. "No, not like that! Let me explain: I'm not particularly worried about her. I'm worried about whatever poor bastard decides to flirt with her."

"Oh. Yeah, that would make sense."

"Yup." Blake sat next to Jaune on the hood of the Crown Victoria. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up burning the whole city down by accident."

"Hah, if it were closer to New Years, that might actually be appropriate."

The two shared a laugh, their breath visible in the cold, crisp night air. Jaune noticed the dark-haired girl still shivering against him. "Here," he grunted, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around Blake's shoulders. "That better?"

Blake looked surprised at the kind gesture. "T-thanks," she murmured, the color rising in her face as she looked at Jaune. "What about you? Aren't you cold?"

"I'll be fine," he replied, smiling. The two held each other's gazes for a moment.

"JUST KISS ALREADY!"

The random holler from across the street caused both Blake and Jaune to jump.

Preemptively, Jaune called out in response, "We're just friends!"

"Yeah… just friends," he heard Blake mumble beside him. Turning to check on her, Jaune could have sworn he saw her face fall.

Huh. I wonder what that was about, mused Jaune, but before he could give it a second thought, a very familiar (and at this point, exceedingly annoying) rendition of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" rang out through the night.

Jaune and Blake looked up to see the band's van pull up next to them and screech to a halt. The passenger window rolled down and Nora poked out her head with a to-go box in her hands.

"Pancakes?"

Another chapter in the books. Oh hey, a pun.

I find myself more fond of writing Blake then I am of Jaune, most probably because I wrote Blake as a socially anxious person as well as an introvert, which I relate to very well, because I am both of those. Just to clarify, the two go hand in hand but are not quite the same thing.

Remember to keep your eye out on Tuesday for the premiere chapter of Ten Little Hunters, complete with prize system and all! That aspect will be explained further at the end of the first chapter, so get hyped!

Until next time, you lovely lovely people!