POV: Pyrrha Nikos
Chapter Eleven: Life After the Wall Shattered
"For the love of god Jaune kiss her already!" Jaune flinches slightly in my grasp at the comment showing how uneasy he is, thankfully he listens to Jason's words and leans in. Our lips meeting for our first long and compassionate kiss. My heart is pounding in my chest as I wrap my arms even tighter around Jaune bringing him as close as possible, with him doing the same to me until our bodies are pressed together with no room left between the two of us.
When Jaune hears Jason and Yang start to leave he pulls away from me slightly to be able to turn his head while not moving the rest of his body. "Hey guys thank you-" He pauses looking back to me, a radiant smile on my face. "For everything, Jason especially." Jaune finishes the thought while looking at me. "No problem just don't go messing it up, and Pyrrha remember how clueless he is and take that into account before you get mad at him." Jason jokes making me giggle and Jaune look slightly embarrassed but still ecstatic, this time I am the one to reply.
"Will do, thank you both" I keep my answer brief before turning my attention back to Jaune, leaning in for another long amazing kiss. Our embrace tightening once more as time seemingly fades away, the only thing in the world that matters is the two of us. I start to feel my body growing warmer and my mind is racing which is accompanied by the pounding of my heart, i've never met someone who could make me feel this way before which only makes it all the more special.
We pause for a moment pulling back to catch our breath and placing our foreheads together so we can stare into each other's eyes, Jaune breaks the silence "Well… ugh where do we go from here?"
Wanting to keep the mood as light as possible, and also try to see that cute blush of his I decide to joke. "Well since we seem to have skipped the first date, maybe we should go get dinner" Jaune the gentleman he is immediately becomes flustered and turns red making my attempt a success. "P-Pyrrha I'm sorry I didn't even realize, I'll make it up to you I promise my sisters would expect nothing less it's the right thing to do." To calm his nerves I lean in and plant a brief kiss on his lips, which silences him almost instantly. "It's okay Jaune, I was only joking." I giggle at how worried he is, knowing it's just another way he shows that he cares.
Jaune relaxes seemingly relieved that I was just joking, smiling at me before adding "Well I still think I owe you dinner, what do yah say?" Matching his smile I reply "That sounds like a lovely idea." Jaune's smile brightens as he sheepishly reaches for my hand which I make easier by meeting his hand part way, interlocking our fingers and giving him a reassuring nod. "You don't have to be so nervous around me Jaune, I like you and there isn't a thing you could do that would change my feelings for you." Hearing this Jaune seems a little more at ease
"So Mrs. Nikos where would you like to go dinner, since it's our first date I don't think the cafeteria will cut it. I want to treat you to something much more memorable for our first official date." I think for a moment pulling out my scroll to check the time, seeing as it's only four in the afternoon we have some time to get ready if we want to go somewhere classy. "We could always go into Vale, I know a nice place we could go. It's more on the fancy side of things though so we will need some time to get ready, which works out great because we have about an hour and a half."
We walk hand in hand to the dorm room to get changed for dinner. Arriving at the dorm we notice that Ren and Nora are gone which is no big surprise, considering Nora is always off doing something with Ren following to keep her out of trouble. To be honest it's quite odd how often they are gone yet they are still passing all their classes but they don't typically come back beat up so I guess they are not causing trouble….or I guess it'd be more accurate to say ren keeps nora from causing trouble. Either way i'm not about to complain about having the entire room to ourselves, now more than ever.
We take turns getting a shower with Jaune being kind enough to let me go first. As I shower I can't help but think about how adorable Jaune is, when he is being so thoughtful and a perfect gentleman. Wanting to spend as much time as possible on our date I quickly finish my shower, stepping out to start to drying myself off I wrap my hair up in my towel and put on my bathrobe so I can dress in the room while he showers. Insuring that he doesn't see what i'm wearing before we are ready to go, since I want it to be a surprise.
I open the door and let Jaune know the bathroom is available, he quickly steps inside and closes the bathroom door as I go to my desk and start getting ready. Once my makeup is done I step over to my closet to select the dress I plan on wearing tonight, I decide to go with my red sleeveless dress. The back of the dress splits midway down my thigh exposing my leg as I walk. After I am dressed and ready to go I decide to wait for Jaune in the hall, giving him his privacy to get dressed. I make my way to the door, opening it to step out into the hall. As I do I see Ruby and Weiss who are holding hands exiting their dorm with Jason, Yang, and another girl I've never seen before following behind them.
"Hey Ruby, Weiss I have a quick favor to ask" I say as I step over to them. "Yea sure whats up? Nice dress by the way!" Ruby replies without missing a beat. "Well it's Jaune's and my first date and I want it to feel like a proper date, you know in that classic sort of way. So I was wondering could I wait in your room for Jaune while he gets ready?" Ruby seems slightly surprised. "Jaune finally figured out you like him huh? Great and sure you can wait in our room no problem." Ruby answers while holding the door open for me. Weiss lets go of Ruby's hand and says "I'll text Jaune for you, telling him to pick you up here." "Thanks guys, to be entirely honest i'm more nervous now than I have ever been when in tournaments."
"That is not like you at all Weiss, that was actually really nice." Ruby says, earning a snappy response from Weiss. "Well maybe i'm not as cold-hearted as you think." While she says this she winks at Ruby and even laughs slightly, I'm not sure what happened between them but I can only assume from the hand holding and all that it must be something similar to Jaune and I's situation. I must say that it's nice to see a genuine smile on Weiss's face for once, "Thanks so much again girls I'll make it up to you later." I say as I step into their room to await my chivalrous knight.
I like that my chivalrous knight…
I seat myself at Weiss's desk and after a few minutes there is a light knock on the door, "Pyrrha are you there?" I stand answering the door with a smile on my face excited to see Jaune's reaction, and he does not disappoint. Although I too am awe struck at him being dressed up, apparently Jaune's dress clothes are a suit and tie you would see at a prom or wedding and I must say he looks extremely handsome. Wanting to break the silence from the shock I attempt to say something but all that comes out is an inaudible "H-Hi..."
Of all the times for my mind to go blank….I couldn't even comment on how good he looks
Luckily he doesn't seem to notice, or is just as surprised as I am. After finally finding my voice again..., "Would you like to take a picture, it will last longer?" Hoping the joke would kick start his brain back to working. "Umm I-I'm so-sorry it's just I was not expecting you to be so beautiful.. wait that came out wrong ugh I mean your always beautiful, but Wow!" I can feel my face start turning red at the compliment, "That you Jaune, you look handsome and very dapper. Where did you get the suit?"
"Thanks, and I've had this for a while actually I got it as a hand me down from my dad we had to have it re-sized a bit so that it would fit but hey… it works." The suit itself is a standard charcoal colored three piece with a white undershirt that reminds me of the style that Jason favors, along with a purple tie that has his double arc symbol embroidered on it in gold. The suit still seems a little big for him but it fits well enough to not be too noticeable, Jaune takes my hand seeming less nervous this time and leads me from the room and back out into the hall.
We walk together hand in hand to the docks, where we board the airship and start making the short trip to Vale. When we arrive it is five thirty, leaving us plenty of time to have a amazing evening and still make it back before the last airship leaves at ten. Jaune still holding my hand starts to walk off before realizing he has no clue where he is going, he stops turning back to me slightly embarrassed. "Oh yeah haha, where are we going again. I got kinda caught up in the moment and was just walking."
I take two quick steps so that I am now in front of Juane, leading him by the hand quite literally. "We are going to a place I know over towards the shopping district, you may have heard of it it's called Le LakeSide. I have been there a few times and it was amazing so I want to share the experience with you." I say to Jaune as we walk, by now he has closed to distance between us so that we are walking side by side. As we walk I notice Jaune occasionally glance over at me and then at my hand in his, still looking slightly nervous.
We walk for about two blocks before taking a right at a small cafe on the street corner, then continuing for another block before the restaurant is in our view. I lift my hand which in turn raises Jaune's, I point to the sign that sits above the door that says Le LakeSide in large cursive letters. We quickly close the remaining distance to the restaurant, Jaune releases my hand and quickens his pace slightly to reach the door before me, opening it and holding it for me to pass through before following behind me.
He's so sweet, I like that he is doing it because he wants to, not because he feels obligated
The room we enter into is a narrow entrance way that expands into a large rectangular dining area. There is a small counter at the end of this entrance way with a man standing behind it, he looks up from the desk briefly at our entrance before looking back down at whatever he was doing previously. The floors are a dark red carpet with black borders near the baseboards of the walls, the walls themselves being a greyish color that matches the carpet very well. When we approach the counter, I examine the man standing behind it briefly. He is an older man probably in his late forties rather short standing around 5'4 if I had to take a guess, with dark black hair and a pencil thin mustache on his upper lip. He also wears a pair of thick rimmed glasses, though I am unsure whether they are for reading or just for general use.
Jaune clears his throat in an attempt to grab his attention, to which he responds but does not look up from the papers in front of him. "Do you have a reservation?" His tone is flat and filled with indifference, Jaune looks at me then back to the hostess. "No, um will that be a problem?" The man lets out an audible sigh of annoyance, lifting his glasses up and rubbing his eyes beneath. "Yes it will be sir, you see without a reservation-" He stops mid sentence as he levels his gaze onto the two of us, more than likely because he has recognized me.
"Oh Mrs Nikos forgive me, I had no idea that I was speaking to someone with such an profound reputation such as your own. This must be your gentleman caller, let me get the two of you seated at once." He snaps his fingers twice in the air which I assume to be a signal of some sort because within seconds a tall maitre d' in a black tuxedo appears with two menus in hand. "Well we don't need any special treatment we are happy to wait if need be." I speak up slightly embarrassed, the last thing I want is for Jaune to think any less of me because of who I am. After all that is the main reason I fell for him in the first place, my reputation and status didn't matter to Jaune all he cared about was the real me.
Though my objections fall on deaf ears, as soon the maitre d' gestures for us to follow him into the main dining room. The main dining room is a large rectangular area with a slightly smaller rectangle inside that is lower down compared to the rest of the building, and blocked off with decorative fake planter boxes surrounding it to provide a level of privacy from the surrounding path. The purpose of which is more than likely there to provide staff with an unobstructed walkway. The design scheme is the same for this room as it was for the entrance, the colors of the walls and carpet matching exactly. There is also a large glass chandelier hanging in the middle of the room.
The lower part of the room is filled with square tables which are strategically placed to leave just the right amount of room between each. The maitre d' leads us to a slightly smaller table in the middle of the room and gestures for us to take a seat, Jaune walks to the far side of the table to pull my chair out for me before taking his own on the other side. The maitre d' says nothing but hands us each a menu before disappearing, leaving the two of us alone.
Shortly after he leaves our waiter arrives at the table "Hi my name is Phil i'll be taking care of you two tonight, can I get the two of you something to drink?" He asks politely, "I'll take a iced tea please." I answer matching his polite tone, "I'll take a grape soda please, thank you." Jaune adds Phil nods "I'll be right back with those." Jaune and I both answer with a quick thank you and Phil steps away, leaving us to ourselves once again. I pick up the menu and start browsing through it to find something that sounds appetizing, Jaune does the same. All the food on the menu is fancy high class food, though nothing sounds bad a certain dish catches my attention.
The dish in question is a steak that is topped with grilled mushrooms and parmesan cheese, a side of garlic mashed potatoes also comes as a side dish. I close the menu placing it back down on the table having made up my mind, Jaune is still looking at his menu when Phil returns with our drinks. He places them on the table in front of each of us before pulling a small note pad from a pocket on his tuxedo. "Have you decided what you would like or do you need more time?" I turn my attention from Phil to Jaune giving him a questioning look, he notices and speaks up. "Yeah I think we're ready, Pyrrha go ahead."
Ever the gentleman
"I'll have the steak and mushrooms medium rare, please." He nods and turns his attention to Jaune. "And you sir?" Jaune is silent for a moment before answering. "I will take the stuffed pork chop please." Phil nods once more, "Wonderful i'll get those started for you guys." He turns and heads off once again, disappearing once again from our view. I change my attention back to Jaune noticing that he is looking down at the table, I become slightly worried. "Jaune is something wrong?"
Jaune looks up a slight blush on his cheeks. "No, no nothing like that...I uh was just thinking about something is all." He flashes a brief smile before looking back down. "What are you thinking about It seems to have you troubled, anything I can do to help?" I question, a terrible thought creeping into the back of my mind.
Is he not happy?
The blush on Jaune's face darkens showing that whatever on his mind clearly has him embarrassed, there is a few moments of deafening silence before he speaks again. "It's just I need to know why, why me. You are the most caring, fun and attractive girl i've ever met but for some reason I don't understand you chose me and it just doesn't make sense." He lets out a awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head, the question catches me off guard and I struggle to think of the right words to get my point across.
"Well…" I pause for a moment to think, feeling my cheeks start to turn red as well. "There are many reasons but there is one that stands out among all the rest, that being how you don't care who I am and you never have you like me for me. You didn't know anything about me when we first met other than the fact that I was on the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box, and here we are now on our first date together. You cared enough to build that friendship… and now this relationship and that means the world to me." I smile brighter than ever, talking about my feelings for Jaune feels liberating. Any doubts or concerns I may have had about the two of us have vanished and it feels amazing.
Jaune's cheeks are the reddest I have ever seen them be, but he is smiling. He reaches his hand across the small table once again meeting mine and grasping it firmly, his eyes finally meeting mine. "Pyrrha-" His voice breaks causing him to pause. "You are the most important person in my life you quickly became my best friend and helped me so much now you mean even more to me. I can't express how happy I am when I'm with you, I only wish I wasn't so clueless and had realized these feelings sooner." I can feel my eyes begin to swell, I have never been so happy in all my life everything else pales in comparison to his words. "Oh Jaune…" I manage to get out before we are interrupted by the arrival of our food.
Our food is placed in front of us but I never break his gaze, the waiter leaves wordless. We stay this way for a few more moments before Jaune speaks. "I think we should eat before it gets cold." I nod and our hands release and we start eating. The topic of conversation changes to everyday chitchat about training and school, transitioning to much lighter topics. Before long Jaune and I have both finished our food and the bill has been delivered to the table, I instinctively go to reach for it but Jaune beats me to it. "No Pyrrha i'm treating you tonight, meaning you don't touch the bill."
"You don't have to pay Jaune, this place is expensive and it was my idea to come here." I say attempting to reach for the bill once more, which again fails. "Not a chance, i'll take care of it." He replies smiling and placing the bill out of my reach and grabbing his wallet. He places the money inside and replaces it at the edge of the table. Phil appears a few moments later taking it away with a quick thank you and a good night. Jaune stands from the table as I do the same and I take his hand once more,and we make our way out of the restaurant and back out into the cool night air.
Jaune once again holding the door for me as we exit, a quick check of my scroll tells me that it is eight o'clock meaning we have just enough time to make it back to the airship. We walk back the same way we came originally reaching the airship docks in no time, when we arrive the airship is preparing to leave so we board quickly and find a place to take a seat. I rest my head on Jaune's shoulder, I can hear his heart start beating quicker at the gesture and he wraps his arm around my back pulling me in tighter much to my surprise.
Before long the airship docks at Beacon, we disembark and make our way back to the dorms, when we reach the hall just outside our door I pause. "Thank you Jaune, I had a wonderful time that I will never forget." I smile once more at Jaune before grabbing his tie and gently pulling him in close for a kiss, the kiss is simple and only lasts a few moments but everything considered it couldn't be more perfect. I unlock the door and quietly step inside unsure if anyone is sleeping or not, unfortunately no one is Jason, Nora, and Ren are sitting on their respective beds still wide awake.
Though surprisingly enough none of them say a word beside a simple greeting from Ren and Nora, and a grunt from Jason who seems to be preoccupied with project of his own, his green eyes focused on the papers in front of him. I make my way to my bed just as Nora says "Well it sure took you two long enough."