"Come on, Cowboy! Pony up!"
Jaune looked up from his homework to the table in the JNPR common room. Team RWBY and Pyrrha were gathered around, while Nora and Ren were watching a movie nearby. Yang grinned like a hungry shark as she held up a deck of cards. Jaune's eyes narrowed.
"You stole my playing cards," he accused her. Yang nodded, unrepentant.
"And you'll get them back if you play a few hands with us, Stud," she said, "it'll be aces!"
Weiss groaned in a long suffering tone. Nora scowled from the couch and held up a thumbs down.
"Booo!"
"Wow, it must be really bad if Nora didn't like it," Ruby snickered. Yang shook her head.
"Shut up, Ruby. Come on Jaune! Why won't you play poker with us? Afraid we'll win and get your body~?"
Jaune coughed. Pyrrha blushed and looked speculative, as did Blake. Weiss was bright red and sputtering, but her eyes went to Jaune all the same. Ruby covered her redface, but peeked through her fingers at the cowboy. Jaune finally sighed.
"All right," he said, slowly standing up. He walked to the table and calmly pulled out the one remaining chair. He sat down in it.
"What we playing for? And if it's strip poker, I'm out," Jaune stated flatly.
"Awww," Yang pouted. Weiss cleared her throat.
"Just a friendly game," she stated, holding up a box of chips, "with nothing perverted happening. We just wanted to see your skill, since you said you've played before."
"Of course, that might just be a lie," Yang teased. Jaune scowled.
"I'm not a liar, Miss Xiao-Long," he stated. He looked seriously offended.
"Don't take it so personally, Cowboy!" Yang said with a smile. Jaune's scowl grew deeper. Pyrrha reached out to rest a hand over his.
"She didn't mean anything personal, Jaune," Pyrrha said quietly, "You know this."
Yang winced a bit. She slowly nodded.
"Yeah... I'm just curious about your skills."
Jaune relaxed very slightly.
"Well... If it's just friendly like," Jaune said with a shrug and a small smile. Yang grinned mischievously. She glanced at Ruby and Blake, who nodded. Weiss maintained her poker face, but only just.
Their plan was simple: Win enough to escalate into removing clothing. Jaune was frustratingly polite and reserved, never doffing any clothing around them even in the scorching heat. Even Pyrrha, sweet and "innocent" as she was, was in on the plot.
Between all five of them, they were sure they could get Jaune down to his bare chest at least.
What could possibly go wrong?
Three hours later...
Jaune coughed, looking very uncomfortable as Blake laid in his lap and Yang massaged his shoulders from behind. A huge pile of lien stood in front of him, with various objects tucked in haphazardly.
"Ah... Ladies? Can we call it a night?" Jaune asked.
"NO!" Weiss growled, a fire in her eyes, "I know I'm going to win! I just know it!"
"Not before I win first," Pyrrha stated, as firm and grim as a warrior on a battlefield.
"You got my Crescent Rose!" Ruby said, almost desperate, "I can't let that stand!"
"I didn't ask you to bet that!" Jaune insisted, "I didn't ask you to bet anything! Certainly not Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao-long's bets!"
"What? You don't want us to be your slave girls?" Yang asked, frustrated but enjoying the blush she got out of him.
"I-You-I certainly didn't mean to win that hand!"
"Well you did, so accept the consequences, nyah," Blake stated, smugly smirking at the fuming Pyrrha, Weiss and Ruby.
Nora for her part was scowling at the movie box.
"What the heck do they mean it's a deconstruction?! Shinji's not the first mentally ill, traumatized giant robot pilot! And the symbolism doesn't mean anything, it just looks cool! And they explain everything that happened! It's not up to your interpretation at all!"
Ren sighed and patted Nora on the back.
"One should never believe the hype," he wisely stated.
