𝐈𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 (English)

Chapter 3

Doctor Oobleck listened in full and then removed his glasses to rub at his eyes. He set them down, pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled shallowly. "It is good you came to me with this," he said, without looking up, "But I dearly wish you had spared me the explicit details of the dreams of several of my students." Under his breath, he muttered, "I'm not sure how I'm going to look Miss Belladonna in the eye again."

"I'm not sure how I'm going to sleep again!" argued Jaune.

"By learning to control your Semblance and choose when and when not to enter dreams." Oobleck gestured to the seat opposite his desk, and Jaune took it anxiously. The teacher didn't look angry or about to expel him for intruding on the privacy of his peers, which was a good sign. "Your condition isn't uncommon, Mr Arc. Few can perfectly control their Semblances when they first unlock them. They can fire off at random times and inopportune moments. That doesn't mean they will stay that way. You can control this given time and practice. You just need to have that practice."

Okay. Good. Calming. Jaune took a deep breath and let it go, and felt his heartbeat begin to steady. This... This was confirmation that he wasn't completely screwed. Having an idea of where to go, a direction, made it much easier to stay calm.

"What if I drain my aura?"

"Then your Semblance will cut off and I imagine you will go back to your own head. You will wake up exhausted however, and likely need the day off to recover like you did today. That may be something we have to accept," said Oobleck. "It's not ideal, I know, but this happens and there are allowances for it. You wouldn't be the first student to miss lessons for a week or two because their newly unlocked Semblance rendered them too tired to think. That said, you claim that you invaded two dreams on the first day without issue, and only one last night. Is that right?"

"Yes. It was Nora's first, then Blake's later that day and Pyrrha last night."

"Hmm. Miss Valkyrie's dream did not drain your aura so much that you were near collapse, nor did Miss Belladonna's. Miss Nikos', however, pushed you to the infirmary. Why is that, do you think? There must be some reason one could drain your aura faster than another."

Good question. Jaune sat back, confused. "I don't know."

"Recite their dreams for me," said Oobleck. "I'd normally be against it, but the cat is already out the bag. Tell me what you did in each of those dreams."

"Right. Um. I helped Nora fight some Grimm in hers. In Blake's, I kind of just walked around and didn't do much. Pyrrha's was a lot crazier. It was simple at first, but when she started to um..." He blushed, and Doctor Oobleck thankfully let him skip it. "I was running around a lot. Like, a lot. Trying to fend her off."

"Did she assault you?"

"Not like that. Just... Whenever I tried to push her away, she'd appear back by me and... well..." His cheeks darkened even further. There had been hands on him, touching, rubbing and getting him worked up in ways he felt embarrassed to admit. "I can't believe Pyrrha would have that kind of dream."

"None of that, Mr Arc," chided the teacher. "Everyone has them and you can't judge a person by what fantasies or night terrors they experience."

"I know. I know. It's just..." Jaune paused and pondered whether he should put words to the thought that had been in his head ever since the dream. "Does it mean she... likes me?" His cheeks darkened. It felt arrogant to even think it, especially from Pyrrha. "Does it mean she's interested in me?"

"It might. It also might not." Oobleck was calmer in his answer. "I'm sure you've had fantasies about celebrities in your own time, Mr Arc, to say nothing of porn stars online. Does that mean you are in love with them? It could be that Miss Nikos harbours feelings for you, but it could also be that she simply finds you to be her type, handsome or just that you were there in her dream at the right time and right moment. What I am trying to get across is that you cannot take anything you witness in another's dreams at face value."