Isolation

Errancy

Whitley stood in front of the window within the entertainment room. He was trying his best to collect his thoughts on what had occurred today. A task easier said than done, between the sounds of his butler gathering dishes in the room and the anxiety creeping through his body. When was the last time he enjoyed spending time with a member of his family? He didn't recall.

It was simple to slip on a mask in front of Jaquese, considering he was easy to read. Play into his pride, play into his need for always being the one to be correct. There was no need to fake anything in front of Willow, she would just forget his words the following morning. Winter, he could barely recall his direct interactions with. The few messages she bothered to send him were always generic.

His lack of interaction with Weiss hurt him the most. Weiss had always had a better connection with Winter, she had no need of him. She hardly acknowledged him between her multiple pursuits in life. Maybe she occasionally tried to reach out to him, but he never gave her a chance. There never seemed to be a point to get close to her knowing she would leave.

Today changed things, at least just a little. Jaune had informed him of his wish to invite Weiss to their small end of the year celebration. At first, Whitley found the request to be pointless. There was no way Weiss would accept wasting her day playing video games with him. He was shocked to hear she accepted the invitation.

A part of him expected the worst when she did show up to the entertainment room. He figured she would spend an hour with them at most. Whitley thought much of her time there would be spent complaining, mocking his hobby. It never occurred to him she would bother to attempt participating. She even seemed to enjoy herself.

Whitley was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand rest upon the top of his head. His butler gave him a small smile at his side.

"I told you things would work out. You had fun didn't you?"

"You were correct. I have to thank you for this, it was... pleasant," the anxiety he was feeling slowly began to fade away.

"Yeah, it was. This is how holidays should be spent. An entire day of relaxing with family, playing games, and eating food. Not much else I can think of to make things... better."

Whitley turned his head slightly enough to read the expression on his butler's face. Jaune had a small frown, his gaze seemed to be firmly focused on the world outside.

"You sound troubled or are you perhaps tired?" Whitley gave him an excuse, a potential out.

Jaune gave him a soft smile, "Thanks for worrying about me. I've been tired for a long time, but I'm used to it. Today has just been a very long day for me."

"Is that so? You can have tomorrow to yourself. Take the day off, I order it."

He felt Jaune lightly shake his hand on top of his head, "You're a good kid, Whitley. You just need to let others see this good side of you more. I know it's easy to close yourself off, to go through the motions. It's something you have to fight."

Whitley quickly turned away from Jaune, "I still do not fully understand the point in doing so. There are very few individuals I care to interact with. Father pulling me out of school gives me a perfect excuse to avoid many annoyances."

"The world is a very dangerous place. It was ten years ago, you know? This time of the year is when Mountain Glenn fell. I was six years old when it happened. You know what memory sticks with me the most? I remember being an absolute brat," Jaune's voice grew heavy.

"My dad was hardly ever home because of work, but for the holidays he came back to give us gifts. My dad bought me some type of race car. I tossed it at him, threw a giant tantrum because it was the wrong color. I went out of my way to avoid talking to him for the majority of his visit. Ended up watching him die a few days later, torn to shreds by the Grimm."