Fate's Wild Card Ch. 23 (Released)

Pryce thinks about Jeanne's request for a moment. She must be pretty dumb to assume he'd know Weiss well enough just for being her teammate, for two days. Then again, Weiss has been a major pain in his ass—even if she was surprisingly competent as a teacher. There's the whole pregnancy delusion, her constant criticism, her general bitchiness. This could be a perfect way to get back at her.

And he's definitely going to have fun doing it too.

So he makes a show of thinking really hard, as if he's actually making some difficult moral decision. His ears droop, then perk up, then droop again while he rubs his chin thoughtfully, staring at the ceiling like he's pretending to think it through.

"Alright," he finally says with a heavy sigh, like he's doing her some huge favor. "I'll help you."

Jeanne's entire face lights up with pure, unadulterated joy. "Really?! You mean it?!"

"Yeah, but not tonight," Pryce says quickly, holding up a hand to stop her from tackling him with gratitude. "We'll need time and place to go over everything. Practice your approach, figure out what works best, all that strategic stuff to help you woo your 'snow angel.'"

"Oh my gosh, yes! Absolutely! Whatever you think is best!" Jeanne bounces on her toes excitedly, her bunny-eared hood flopping around. "This is amazing! Thank you so much! You're like, the best person—err, Faunus—ever! I take back every mean thing I thought about you!"

"You had mean thoughts about me?" Pryce asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean, not really mean, just like... something a little perverted? But totally not anymore!" Jeanne grins sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah," Pryce waves her off dismissively. "Now get out of here before we both get caught."

"Right! Yes! Good thinking!" Jeanne gives him an enthusiastic double thumbs up, then runs back toward her dorm, practically skipping with joy and to make the matters worse every few steps she does a little hop.

Pryce watches her disappear around the corner, her ridiculous bunny-eared hood bouncing with each enthusiastic step.

"That was so fucking dumb," he snorts.

But the smirk spreading across his face says otherwise. Oh, this is going to be entertaining as hell. Watching Jeanne fumble her way through increasingly ridiculous attempts to impress Weiss, all based on his completely made-up "insider information"? 

That's going to be worth every second of effort.

Maybe he'll tell her Weiss loves being serenaded. Or that she's really into grand public displays of affection. Or that she finds clumsy accidents cute.

Payback's a bitch, Ice Queen.

His ears twitch as he hears footsteps approaching. Moments later, Blake emerges from the bathroom, looking considerably more composed than when she went in. Her ears perk up at his expression.

"Why do you look like that?" she asks suspiciously, her cat ears flicking forward.

"Like what?"

"Nothing, nevermind." Blake quickly gives up.

“Okay, it's just a week by the way it will be over soon enough.”

“Shut up!” Her face heats up and storms off.

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It was another day, and after another mind-numbingly boring lecture from Professor Port about his supposed heroic adventures from decades ago; complete with wildly exaggerated gestures and his own sound effects. Pryce found himself in the academy gardens with Jeanne for their "training session" to woo the snobby princess.

"Okay, okay, how about this one," Jeanne says, clearing her throat dramatically and squaring her shoulders. "Are you from Atlas? Because you've got me feeling all cold and wanting to warm up to you!"

"That's terrible." Pryce deadpans. 

"But you said Weiss likes compliments about Atlas!" Jeanne protests.

"She's an Atlesian," Pryce corrects, barely keeping his expression neutral. "I said she takes pride in being from Atlas. That doesn't mean she wants to be compared to freezing weather."

"Oh." Jeanne deflates slightly. "Right. That makes sense."

"Try the other one I told you."

"Right, the one about my dad!" Jeanne nods enthusiastically, her confidence returning. She clears her throat again. "Hey Weiss, my dad always told me to follow my dreams, and you walked by, so here I am!"

Cringe. Pure, concentrated cringe.

"Perfect," Pryce says, nodding seriously while internally dying. "She'll absolutely love that."

Jeanne beams. Then her eyes suddenly lit up with inspiration. "Wait! What if I make it more romantic? Like, with a prop! Girls love props, right?"

Before Pryce can ask what the hell she meant by that, Jeanne jogs over to a nearby patch of flowers. She spins around dramatically, almost losing her balance, and plucks a single white flower from the garden. Then she drops to one knee with a theatrical flourish, holding the flower up like she was proposing marriage.

"Are you a snowflake?" Jeanne announces. "Because you've fallen from heaven and landed right in my heart!"

That did it. 

Pryce doubles over, desperately trying to suppress the laughter threatening to burst out of him. He grabs his stomach, his legs kicking slightly as he fights to keep quiet. His shoulders shake, and his rabbit ears pressed flat against his head from the sheer effort of not making noise.

This was even better than he'd imagined.

"Is it good?!" Jeanne asks hopefully, still frozen on one knee with the flower extended.

Pryce can only nod frantically, not trusting himself to speak without exploding into hysterical laughter. 

"Great! I can't wait to try it for real! This is going to—"

His barely contained laughter dies abruptly when his ears suddenly perked up, swiveling sharply toward the sound of footsteps crunching through fallen leaves. He quickly composes himself, straightening up and wiping his eyes as he looks in that direction.

Pyrrha was walking alongside Weiss through the garden path. What caught his attention immediately was that Weiss had her head lowered and—wait, was she actually blushing?

Jeanne snaps back to reality, following his gaze. When she spots Weiss, her entire demeanor shifts. She straightens herself immediately, brushing off her uniform and patting down her hair before she looks back at him

Pryce gives her a reassuring nod and an encouraging thumbs up.

Jeanne's face lit up with pure determination. She grips the flower tighter, takes a deep breath that puffed out her chest, and strode forward with all the misplaced confidence in the world.

"My snow angel!" Jeanne calls out.

Weiss looks up, just in time to see Jeanne drop dramatically to one knee directly in front of her, presenting the white flower with both hands.

"Are you a snowflake? Because you've fallen from heaven and landed right in my heart!" Jeanne declares, her blue eyes practically sparkling. "Also, that blush looks really cute on you on your perfect velvety face!"

The transformation in Weiss's expression is instantaneous. The soft blush vanishes as her blue eyes narrow dangerously, and her posture goes rigid with indignation.

"Get. Lost."

She walks past the kneeling blonde without another word or even a second glance, her head held high with wounded dignity. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Pyrrha covers her mouth with one hand, trying to hide her giggles as she paused beside Jeanne, who is still frozen on one knee with her flower extended to empty air. She gently pats the blonde's head in sympathy.

"Perhaps try again another time?" Pyrrha suggests kindly. "Maybe with a... different approach?"

"Okay..." Jeanne responds in a small voice, her earlier enthusiasm completely deflated. Her shoulders slumped.

Pyrrha gives her another reassuring pat. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to speak with my partner. Team matters."

Jeanne nods miserably, still clutching her rejected flower close to her chest and then leaves.

The redhead turns and catches up with Weiss, both of them heading directly toward where Pryce stood, trying his absolute best to look innocent. The whole scene had been even better than he'd anticipated, and this was just the beginning.

But now the fun is over—for the moment, at least.

Well, it was entertaining while it lasted.

He straightens up casually, adjusting his uniform and running a hand through his hair to appear composed.

His teammates stop directly in front of him. Weiss's arms are crossed under her chest, her expression still frosty from the encounter. Pyrrha looks more amused than anything, though she was clearly trying to be polite.

"What's up?"

Pyrrha takes the lead by clearing her throat. "Pryce, Weiss has something she'd like to say to you." She gives Weiss a small, encouraging nudge with her elbow.

Weiss stiffens slightly, her posture becoming even more rigid than usual and takes a deep breath..

"I... I want to apologize," she begins, forcing out the words. Her blue eyes won't quite meet his as she speaks, instead focusing on a point somewhere over his shoulder. "For my attitude toward you. And for... for the accusations I made." Her face flushes slightly with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or place undue stress on you regarding the... the misunderstanding."

She pauses, her hands clasping together in front of her

"Pyrrha explained the situation to me properly, and I now understand that I was... gravely mistaken in my assumptions." The admission clearly costs her greatly, as her face turns a deep shade of red that rivals his partner's hair. "It seems my father purposely left some... significant gaps in my education that I wasn't aware of on purpose. And I reacted poorly when you attempted to rectify my ignorance."

That's putting it mildly.

But it's acceptable, so Pryce crosses his arms and nods at Pyrrha. At least that ridiculous problem has been solved.

Still, what kind of father deliberately keeps their daughter ignorant about something like that? That's just setting her up for disaster.

"And you, Pryce?" Pyrrha prompts gently, looking at him with those green eyes of hers.

That catches him off guard. His ears twitch in confusion as he points at himself. "Me?"

Pyrrha just gives him a pointed look, her expression patient but firm as she silently mouths the word 'yes.'

Right. Because apparently mutual apologies are how functional teams work.

Pryce sighs, his ears drooping slightly. He unfolds his arms and does his best to look appropriately remorseful as he looks at the still-red-faced Weiss, who's finally meeting his gaze with obvious discomfort.

"Yeah, I... I also need to apologize," he admits, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "For taking your first kiss without permission. That was a shitty thing to do, and I didn't think about how it would affect you or make you panic about the whole situation."

Not really sorry about shutting her up, but if saying this gets things moving forward, he'll gladly play along.

Weiss's expression softens slightly. "I... appreciate that. And I acknowledge that I was being rather... harsh with my words at the time."

"You were being a bitch," Pryce corrects bluntly, then adds, "But I could have handled it way better than just kissing you to shut you up."

Weiss bristles slightly at his language but doesn't contradict him. "Yes. Well. I suppose we were both... less than ideal in that situation."

There's a moment of awkward silence as they both stand there, having successfully apologized to each other.

Pyrrha, however, beams with a pleased smile. "Wonderful! That should settle things between you two. Now we can move forward as a proper team, supporting each other instead of being at odds."

"Right," Weiss says, straightening up and regaining her usual demeanor. "Moving forward. As teammates."

"Yeah, teammates," Pryce echoes without much enthusiasm.

Pyrrha seems to be the only one genuinely happy about the resolution, but that's probably just her nature.

"This is excellent progress!" Pyrrha claps her hands together once. "Now that's settled, we should probably head to combat class. Professor Goodwitch is very strict about punctuality, and we wouldn't want to leave Ruby waiting, would we?"

That, at least, everyone can agree on. Ruby had every trait to be a worrywart.

As they start walking back toward the main building, Weiss falls into step beside Pyrrha and Pryce trails slightly behind, his hands shoved in his pockets, content to let them lead.

"By the way," Pyrrha glances back, scratching her cheek. "Why were you out here with Jeanne? I didn't realize you two knew each other or that you would talk after…that."

Pryce shrugs nonchalantly. "Just helping her with a few things. Nothing important."

"That's very kind of you," Pyrrha says warmly. "She seems like a sweet person, if a bit... enthusiastic."

"That's one word for it," Weiss mutters under her breath, clearly still irritated by the earlier scene.

Pyrrha shoots her a gentle look. "Now, now. She was just trying to be friendly in her own way."

"Friendly," Weiss repeats flatly. "Is that what we're calling it now?"

"To be fair," Pryce interjects, unable to resist, "you do make it pretty easy with the whole ice queen thing you've got going."

Weiss whirls on him, eyes flashing. "Excuse me? I do not have an 'ice queen thing'—"

"Whatever you say."

"She was being ridiculous!"

"I'm just saying, maybe if you were less..." Pryce waves his hand vaguely, "icy, people wouldn't be so weird around you."

Pyrrha quickly steps between them with a polite smile. "What Pryce means is that perhaps a gentler approach might help next time. And Weiss, while I understand Jeanne's approach was... unconventional, she seems genuinely interested in becoming friends."

"Friends?" Weiss scoffs. 

Yeah, no she definitely wants to become her girlfriend.

Pryce has to bite his tongue to keep from grinning.

"Regardless," Pyrrha continues smoothly, "we should focus on class. I’ve heard good things about Professor Goodwitch's combat class. And I'm eager to see what she has planned for today.”

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Pryce sat in the tiered seating surrounding the combat arena, watching as the older woman strode to the center of the ring with her signature riding crop held firmly in one hand. 

"Good afternoon, students," she began, her voice crisp and authoritative. "As I'm sure you're all aware, practical combat experience is the cornerstone of your education here at Beacon Academy. Theory and lectures can only take you so far. Real understanding comes from actual engagement."

She tapped her riding crop against her palm for emphasis.

"Which is why observation is equally crucial to your development. You must learn not only from your own mistakes, but from the mistakes of others. Every battle, every spar, every clash of weapons and technique provides valuable lessons—if you're wise enough to pay attention."

Pryce's rabbit ears twitched as he listened, his arms crossed casually.

"Therefore," Goodwitch continued, "as is customary in my class, I will be selecting students at random to demonstrate their combat capabilities. The rest of you will observe, analyze, and learn from what you witness before we discuss the results."

Next to him, Ruby practically vibrated with excitement, her silver eyes sparkling. "Ooh, ooh! I hope she picks me!" she whispered loudly to no one in particular. "I've been working on this really cool spinning scythe move that I totally want to try out! It's like a tornado but with more slicing and—"

"Ruby," Weiss hissed from her other side, "Professor Goodwitch is still talking."

"Right, sorry!" Ruby stage-whispered back, though her enthusiasm didn't diminish one bit.

Weiss merely rolled her eyes at their team leader's inability to sit still, adjusting her posture.

Goodwitch pulled out her tablet. "Now then, let me select our first combatants for today's demonstration."

The arena fell into anticipatory silence. 

"Our first participant will be..." Goodwitch's eyes flicked to her scroll, then up to the seats. "Pryce Locke."

His ears shot straight up in surprise. Of all the students in this class, she had to pick him? Was that on purpose?

"Oh wow, Pryce! Good luck!" Ruby bounced in her seat excitedly. "Show them what you've got!"

Weiss glanced at him. And his partner gave him an encouraging thumbs up.

"And your opponent will be..."

She looked back down at her scroll, her finger hovering over the screen.

The entire class held its breath.

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AN: And Pyrrha saves the day.