Professor Arc

Chapter 38

Professor Jaune Arc sat in the middle of the meeting room, eyes staring off into the middle distance as he tried to remember who he was, what he was doing and why he felt both tired and excited at the same time. Memories from the previous night flashed back in a blur, prompting his cheeks to darken and a goofy smile to blossom across his face. Even now, he could barely believe what had actually happened. Part of him was still expecting to wake up and find it all a dream.

The other part of him was still wondering what this changed, what it meant. There hadn't been the time to talk in the morning, the two of them already being late to what was an important meeting. And while Glynda had rushed out first, promising to speak with him later, Jaune had been left with a curious sense of tension... like nausea in his stomach. Had he done something wrong? Did she regret it? Had it been a mistake?

"Would you like some coffee, Jaune?"

"Mbrll-" Bartholomew Oobleck cocked his head as Jaune stared at him, both in horror and mortification, before the blond realised just who it was and just how innocuous the offer actually was. "Um... yes, please... thanks, Bart." Ye Gods, was he never going to be able to look at coffee the same way ever again?

"How did your dinner with Glynda go last night?" the green-haired man sat down beside him. His expression was just about on the flimsy side of neutral, the kind which had curious eyes and an almost desperate desire to know more.

"It went," Jaune said. He wasn't going to give any more than that without talking to Glynda first. "Do you know what meeting she had to rush off to?"

"Did she rush off to one?"

"I saw her in the hallway," Jaune lied. Because he totally hadn't seen her in her own rooms, rushing about to get ready for a meeting. Because that would have meant things that weren't supposed to happen had happened. Frankly, the Beacon Rumour mill would probably pick up on it sooner or later, it always did. But if Bart didn't know the full story now, then there was no way he was going to give him it – or worse – Peter!

"I believe she is meeting with the headmaster and Ironwood," the older man sighed. The door to the meeting room opened slowly, Peter walking in idly chatting to Cinder. Had it been anyone else, Jaune might have felt some pity. But the frigidly polite expression on the woman's face filled him with joy. The dark-haired woman quickly looked towards him, no doubt for an escape route, but Jaune quickly turned back to his colleague and pretended he hadn't seen her.

"This is about the Vytal Festival, then?" Jaune asked.

"I would assume so. It's only a matter of a week now until it starts. I dare say we're quite far behind on preparations for it."

Jaune blinked, "I wasn't aware we'd even started."

"Quite far behind," Bart repeated. "The fallout from the Breach was difficult to deal with, not to mention the sudden influx of transfer students. I'm confident we'll be able to get everything sorted on time but it might require some creative use of discipline."

Jaune gave the older man a confused look at that, prompting him to cough and look away awkwardly.

"Ah well... technically we can stipulate what students do during detentions... if that so happens to be tasks which aid us in preparing for the Festival..." he trailed off meaningfully.

"How convenient," Jaune drawled, "and I suppose there will be a sudden increase in how strict we are in the coming weeks, just to make sure there are plenty of people in detention?"

"In our defence," Bart winced, "It's more us taking a harder line on what is already against the rules. I'm not suggesting we trap students into hard labour – rather, not being quite as lenient as we usually are."