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Of Complacency and Conspiracies

Day 10: Anywhere in the World

Jaune's face paled slightly at the mention of going to trivia night. "Pyrrha, I'm… um…" He glanced around, checking to see if anyone was in sight. Neptune was busy at the counter, but other than that, there wasn't anyone in earshot. Jaune leaned over the bar where Pyrrha was seated, sighing guiltily. "Do we have to?"

"Ruby thinks it's a great idea," Pyrrha said gently, concern welling up in her heart. It was clear the blond wasn't super excited about heading to Crow Bar the following day.

He wiped the counter quickly after setting down her latte in front of her, biting his lip, nervous. "I guess… it could be fun…"

"It will be, Jaune. Don't worry!" She winked suddenly (although where she found the gall to do it, she'd never know) and added, "I'm pretty good at trivia, you know. You just distract the other teams."

Hearing that, the blond's face broke out into a tiny smile. "Now that, I can do," he agreed, amused. "Alright, I'll message Ren!"

She beamed back, sipping her latte quietly as she watched the boy text Ren before making a drink for the next customer. Soon, he had wandered back over across from her, leaning over the counter. "So. I wanted to ask- how did you meet Nora anyways? You know my story with Ren."

Pyrrha chuckled, holding onto her cup with both hands. It was warm, comforting between her palms. She smiled at her reflection in the liquid, gaze clouding in nostalgia. "We were roommates in first year," Pyrrha said simply. "We didn't talk much at first, mostly since I was always busy and at the field- but one day I had this psychology assignment that I needed someone's help for, and so I asked her, since my friends were in a different dorm and it was late. Nora stayed up with me until… what, 4 AM?"

"Wow," Jaune murmured, "that's impressive. So you met Ren through her?"

"Yup! Although I've never really gotten my schedule to line up with both of them, though, so usually I just see Nora. We've never gone more than a week without seeing each other ever since, to be honest."

"You guys are close." His tone was fond, kind.

She brought the cup to her lips with a happy smile. "We are," she beamed back. "She's the best friend I've ever had."

Of course, the sweet moment was broken in an instant when Neptune called out, "Jaune, it's payday! Don't forget, dude!"

"I got it," Jaune laughed, rolling his eyes at Neptune's silly little dance behind the till.

"How much more do you need to save now?" the other asked.

That made him grin widely, eyes shining in excitement. "Just a little bit more! The tickets are all booked," he announced proudly.

"Nice, dude," Neptune grinned, high-fiving him.

"What's that for?" Pyrrha asked once Neptune was engaged with another customer.

Jaune ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly. "I, uh, wanna go backpacking," he explained. "I never got to go during college, but my job right now is flexible enough that I could do it, so I want to get it done before I end up with a stable job that will tie me down somewhere."

"Really? That's amazing!" Pyrrha leaned forward, intrigued at this revelation. "So- where did you want to go?"

"Well," the blond explained, "I grew up in Mistral, so I was thinking… maybe Vacuo?"

Pyrrha winced. "Vacuo isn't exactly the safest location…"

"And that's what traveller's insurance is for!" he quipped brightly. "Anyways, I'm bringing nothing of value other than my passport and my computer, which isn't that good anyways. But I've gotta do work somehow, right?"

"That still would be a decent amount of money," Pyrrha murmured, calculating everything in her mind. "Do you have another job?"

To her surprise, the blond did- as he launched into a heated explanation on his job editing for an online newspaper, Pyrrha felt something in her shift. Jaune's trip was planned in just over a month, and then he'd be gone for two months after that. It was a strange thought, but it suddenly struck Pyrrha, surprisingly hard.

They only had twenty days left to get Nora and Ren together. Then, coming to A Simple Bean like this during her break wouldn't really be feasible anymore. The thought was a little lonely.