Take the Remote with Him

Jaune headed back into Beacon, already wondering what to do with this remote that seemed to be more than just a normal piece of technology. He clutched the box in his hand and made his way through the hallway back to his dorm. While he wasn’t going to tell his team about it just yet, Jaune still wanted to try the remote on his TV and see what it could do. With all the fancy buttons and things, it had to be a super universal remote. Maybe he could control any TV in range? That would lead to some fun pranks on his friend Ruby’s team.

Little did he know how right he was about it being ‘universal’ before turning a corner…

“Oomph!”

…and colliding into someone much smaller than him.

“Watch where you’re going, you oaf!”

Out of all the people in Beacon, Jaune found himself crashing into his crush, Weiss Schnee. A shorter girl with snow white hair tied in a side ponytail. Now Jaune had a crush on that girl but, putting it mildly, she really did not like him. He came on a little strong during their first meeting. Weiss was also a heiress and was a little uptight and snobby about some things, but she really wasn’t a bad person. Just… prickly.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/p__/images/b/bb/Weiss_Schnee_%28RWBY_Ice_Queendom%29_ORIGINAL_OUTFIT.png/revision/latest?cb=20220627075326&path-prefix=protagonist

“Sorry!” Jaune apologized instantly and scrambled to his feet. Reaching down, he offered a hand to help her up.

Ignoring the gesture, Weiss stood up and dusted off her dress.

“Why are you tromping through the halls like a neanderthal?” The girl demanded to know.

“I just turned a corner and we bumped into each other.” Jaune protested, a little hurt by the accusation. “I just was taking…” He suddenly looked around and saw the box on the ground, the top open, and the remote next to it. During the fall, it escaped his grip. Scrambling, he picked it up and looked at the remote careful to see if it was okay.

“What’s that?” Weiss asked, realizing he wasn’t paying attention. “A remote?”

“Yeah, it’s a new expensive smart remote for the TV.” Jaune lied quickly. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t say he just found it. Maybe because Weiss would tell him to throw it away or turn it into the lost and found and he didn’t want to give it up. A strange desire kept him wanting to keep it. “Was going to be a surprise for my team.”

“You should be spending your money on better things.” Weiss rolled her eyes. “You’re just like Yang and Ruby. Those two will spend any money they get from their parents and junk food and toys. Seriously, you could be spending that money for weapons maintenance or parts, though I guess Ruby does that a little. Maybe even some tutoring since you are near the bottom of the class.”

“Okay… ouch…” Jaune muttered.

“You and Ruby both need to step it up if you’re team leaders.” Weiss continued to admonish. “Seriously, the two of you seem to goof around the most of anyone, even Yang and Nora. At least those two are in the training rooms breaking the combat dron-...”

Jaune didn’t know why he did it, but some instinct within him made him do it. Discreetly pointing the remote at Weiss, he clicked the Pause button. Of course, he didn’t expect anything to happen, more of a joke, but to his surprise, Weiss had stopped talking.

In fact, she had stopped moving all together. Not blinking, not breathing, nothing. Just stuck in the position with her arm out and her eyes closed for a moment as she was in the middle of her sentence.

The boy’s mouth fell open as he stared at her.

“Weiss? Weiss?!” Jaune waved a hand in front of her face and even pushed her cheek with a finger. Her head moved slowly from the impact, but there was no resistance. “It can’t be…” His eyes fell on the remote and he stared at it for a moment before raising it once more and hitting the pause button again.

“-...es. If you have time to shop for frivolous things, you should be using that time to work on improving your-...”

Jaune hit the pause button again and Weiss froze in mid-sentence.

“This remote works on people?!”