It had been a few days since Jaune had gotten sick, and in that span of time, plenty of things had happened. Both of their teams had relentlessly bullied the respective members, most of the bullying coming from Yang and Nora. Beyond that, not much really happened, aside from Blake also catching a cold, but Jaune blamed himself for that.
Of course, he was with her every step of the way that he could be, repaying her the same kindness that she had for him. Getting her lunch, bringing her medicine, getting her blankets to keep her warm. Not to mention the fact that he indeed did get to use his voice for some gruffer, more raspy voices when he went through the book again, this time narrating it to her, rather than vice versa.
But ever since the day that Blake had come to his bedside, helping him recover from his cold, he kept getting weird side eyes from his Partner. Nothing malicious, on that he was certain, but she seemed concerned. About what, Jaune had no clue. Ren also tended to give him weird looks too, but that one didn't hurt quite so much.
That brought him to the here and now. It was Sunday morning, the skies were clear and blue, not a cloud in sight. The weather app on his scroll told him that it was to be a nice, 70 degree weather day, cool enough to keep his hoodie on, but also warm enough that he didn't need it. Jaune made sure to check the weather every day, first thing in the morning after the… indescribable events that took place a week ago now.
You know, with the thing, and the rain, and the purple- he quickly stopped that train of thought. Jaune didn't like thinking about the bus stop, it made him feel weird. Not like a normal weird, though, it was closer to a self-conscious feeling, as though one of these days, Blake was going to kick his door in and lob his head off because he saw something he shouldn't have. Granted, it wasn't really in her character to lose her temper like that, but still.
As he laid in his bed, dressed in his normal attire, a black Pumpkin Pete hoodie, a white undershirt beneath it, and a pair of blue jeans, he let his thoughts run wild and undisturbed. Life had been interesting over the past few days, filled with all sorts of colorful conversations. Conversations like, "How are you doing, Jaune?" Or, "Were you safe with Blake, Jaune?" Obviously, it's not like she would kill him, despite what the back of his head would say. But his personal favorite was one that Pyrrha seemed to enjoy initiating, the one that went something along the lines of, "Jaune, are you certain that you're not dating Blake?"
He was! Goodness, yes, he was! At least, not in the way that his team thought they were. What was so hard to understand about the relationship that he and Blake shared? Sure, they may have become relatively fast friends, and shared stuff about their homes, and had some similar hobbies, but that wasn't something that friends didn't do! It was just, you know, Blake and him getting along.
Of course, this always looped back to other questions like, "But why'd you share a bed if you're only friends?"
It was a question that Jaune had a little trouble explaining himself. It was just a thing that happened, but it wasn't like they did anything unsavory. The only thing they did was sleep, and they just so happened to be together. But they didn't, you know, sleep together, if that made any sense.
Jaune let out a sigh as the back of his head sunk deeper into his pillow, his scroll falling out of his hand and onto his face, leaving a dull pain on his nose as it clattered to the carpeted floor. He let out a hiss as he rubbed his face, thank goodness that neither of the girls were there to laugh at him.
Of course, that left Ren on his bed, but he was so engrossed by his weapon maintenance, meticulously disassembling his handguns as he cleaned out the soot- why was he measuring his gun? Wait, where'd the gun actually go? What were all those parts for?
It threw Jaune through a bit of a loop as he stared at Ren's thorough inspection of his weapons. He would pick up a piece, take this weird horse shoe thing on the end of a rod, it would make some clicking sounds, and he'd write it down. Jaune couldn't help but feel curious as he stared at his only male teammate work on his-
"Can I help you, Jaune?" Ren calmly asked as he continued to stare down as his weaponry, continuing his measurements and cleaning as he went.
Jaune blinked a few times as he pushed himself up, bringing his legs over his bed as he sat up. "Uh, not really," Jaune started, even more curious on how Ren knew he was staring. His teammate had a strange power that Jaune couldn't figure out, "I was just curious on what you're doing is all."
Ren let out a hum as he measured another piece, jotting the piece's measurements down on a piece of paper clamped down on a wooden clipboard. "I'm measuring the tolerances on all the pieces to make sure I don't have any jams in the field."
"Meaning?" Jaune asked.
Ren set the clipboard down to his side before picking up his measuring tool, grabbing another piece as he went, "It means that I'm making sure nothing will break."
Jaune tilted his head to the side in curiosity, "And how are you doing that?" He asked.
Ren finished measuring the newest piece before setting it down with all the other pieces, arranging them on a baby blue cloth by some kind of sorting system, but Jaune didn't understand how they were sorted. "By making use of a Micrometer and measuring down to a ten thousandth of an inch and making sure that everything is up to specs." He explained, and Jaune nodded.
Yep, he didn't understand a thing.
"I think I get it?" Jaune said, unsure of himself.
He heard Ren laugh under his breath as he continued to measure pieces, writing down his findings as he went. "Maybe you would better understand it if I showed you instead." He said as he looked away from his piece, looking at Jaune with a small smile.
Well, it wouldn't hurt to know a little more. Even if it didn't really apply to Jaune's own weapon maintenance, it was always fun to learn how other weapons worked. So, he stood up, picked his scroll up off the floor, pocketed said scroll, and strolled over to where Ren was tinkering with his weapon.
As Jaune took a seat next Ren, he picked up what seemed like an ordinary looking metal stick, "Let's take the guide rod as an example," Ren started, he placed the horseshoe rod thing in his hand, placing the guide rod onto it, slowly screwing it down onto the… spinny thing. "If I want to measure the exact diameter, I just have to get it until it barely touches." Ren continued, the sound of the tool clicking as he finished. "Once you get to that point, you remove your item from the tool, you flip this tiny, little lever that locks it in, keeping it from moving. From there, you read the measurements."
It all just sort of sounded like jumbled up words for Jaune, all going through one ear and out the other. They were all words he knew, but for some reason, none of it actually clicked together. Of course, that didn't stop Ren from continuing.
"And that takes us to the sleeve scale, which brings us to the first measurement. As you see here, the last number exposed is a two. Now, since they measure at a ten thousandth of an inch, that would make this point two-zero-zero-zero." Ren explained, motioning with his free hand to the larger numbers. Jaune thought he understood, "And then that brings us to the check marks here and here," he said, pointing to the marks right of the number two, "Which measure individually to twenty-five thousandths, or in our case, two hundred fifty ten-thousandths."
Jaune felt the room begin to spin as all the numbers went through his mind, "Since there are two marks, that makes five hundred ten-thousandths." Ren stated as he set the tool in his hand down before picking up the wooden clipboard, pulling the pen on his ear from its spot before muttering, "Two-five-six-four." He muttered before setting the clipboard back down, picking the tool back up.
"Now," he started, gesturing to a little knob on the side, "We get to the thimble." He said as he looked over to Jaune, who looked almost nauseous as his eyes darted all over the room.
"Ren, please slow down. I don't get it." Jaune said, using his hands to set his waving head straight.
Ren only laughed as he went back to the tool, "I didn't expect you to. It took me a few days before I understood how a Micrometer works." He said, a smile resting on his face as he jotted down more numbers on the clipboard next to him, "But, at least you paid some attention. Nora would have fallen asleep by now, or gotten distracted." He offhandedly mentioned.
Jaune shrugged his shoulder as he let out a hum, "I mean, it sounds like you really enjoy doing maintenance."
Ren let out a hum of his own as he nodded his head, continuing to work on his in depth inspection, "I do. But there's always a question that lingers on my mind while I work in relative peace."
"Being?" Jaune asked as he tilted his head.
Ren put aside his tool and clipboard and turned to face Jaune properly, a serious look on his face. "Weren't you and Yang dating a few weeks ago?"
"No! I'm dating Blake!" Jaune yelled out in response. Jaune couldn't understand why everyone jumped to so many conclusions! Jaune can talk to girls and not date them! Just look at his friendship with Ruby, they talk all the time, and he's not dating her!
"So you are dating Blake?" Ren asked.
"Who told you that?" Jaune yelled out as he leaned away.
"You did, just moments ago." Ren stated, his face deadpan as he clasped his hands together. Jaune mentally slapped himself upside the head. While it technically wasn't untrue that he and Blake were dating, they weren't really, you know, dating.
Not that he could tell Ren.
Jaune let out a sigh as he let his head fall, his shoulders slumping as he brought a hand up to his face, dragging it downwards, "Listen, Blake and I are friends, and we are dating but we aren't- it's complicated." Jaune explained, his voice heavy and tired.
"Is it because of your night out with Yang?" He heard Ren ask, causing him to let out a groan as he tugged at his blond hair.
"I didn't do anything with Yang! Why are you so certain that I did something with Yang?" He yelled out in question. He had talked to Yang maybe a handful of times in the past few weeks. He didn't know the first thing about her, her interests, and had very little interest in getting intimate with her too. Don't get Jaune wrong, Yang was one of the prettier girls in the school, with a figure like a fine, ornate hourglass, and a temper that could match the sun in ferocity, but she just wasn't his type, if that made any sense?
Ren only shrugged as he let out a hum, "I figured when Yang came to get you a few weeks ago, she was asking you on a date." Ren explained, and it was making some sense to Jaune. It could have all been a huge misunderstanding? "Besides, when you were talking to her, it looked like you grabbed her shoulders and got real close. So I figured you kissed her."
Jaune let the information sink into his mind before laughing very loudly. So loudly, in fact, that it bounced off the walls as he held his abdomen as he fell backwards in the bed, kicking his legs as his laughing fit came to its peak.
Although, as his laughter started to come down and subside, taking deep breaths as he went, he pushed himself back into a seated position, wiping away tears from the corners of his eyes. "Oh god no, Ren. You think I, the noodly leader of team JNPR, could kiss Yang Xiao Long, one of the prettiest girls in the school, and get away with it? Yeah right!"
Ren only quirked a brow at Jaune's humorous outburst, "Well, why couldn't you?" Ren asked. Ren thought that Jaune could've gotten away with it, it wasn't like Yang was some anger-fueled gorilla. If anything, Ren imagined Yang would tease Jaune relentlessly for it.
Jaune blinked for a good, long second, "Because it's Yang? She's got the whole 'mess with the bull, you get the horns' attitude, you know?" Jaune slowly explained. He didn't know why he felt that way about Yang, but he did. There was just something about her that made Jaune want to steer very clear of her.
Ren snorted under his breath as he picked his Micrometer back up, going back to working another piece, "Jaune, I think you're severely overestimating just how far Yang would go. She's a student, just like you and I. I doubt that she would do anything that would jeopardize her place here." He said, the sound of his tool clicking as it clamped down on another part.
Jaune gave that some room for thought as he let out a sigh. He supposed that was true, but he still didn't know why they were still talking about Yang of all people. Sure, she was nice, and a joker through and through, but she was a bit… much, you know?
"Maybe," he muttered, "maybe."
Although, after a brief moment of quiet, the sound of Ren's pen scribbling away at his clipboard, Jaune heard him say, "So have you kissed Blake yet?"
"Okay," Jaune quickly cut him off, "We are not having that discussion." Jaune sternly stated, much to Ren's surprise. "Listen, what Blake and I have is something… different, you know?"
"How so?" Ren asked. Jaune certainly seemed like he didn't know how to approach the topic.
Jaune let out a sigh as he placed his hands on his face, rubbing his eyes for a moment before letting his hands fall to his lap. "It's like this, right? Say, and this is just a hypothetical, that you and Nora went on a nice dinner together. Are you following this far?"
Ren only nodded as he continued to mark down numbers for individual pieces, "Yeah, I'm following." He heard Ren calmly state. Wow, was Ren ever the multitasker. Then again, when living with Nora for so many years, Jaune figured that it was probably just a skill that was learned out of necessity.
"Now say that this fancy dinner was terribly awkward-"
"It wouldn't be since Nora and I know each other so well." Ren quickly interjected, setting aside the piece on his micrometer before jotting down more numbers.
"I know that! But still, say it was, but the walk through town was perfect. Magical! Absolutely breathtaking!" Jaune explained, using his hands in large, booming motions to explain just how incredible it really was.
Ren found this to be a very specific example, but he let Jaune continue. "Now, say that neither of you really bothered talking, and just took in the sights. Together, but still alone in your own head."
Ren had to admit, in its own way, that sounded incredibly comfortable. Solitude, but in company. He knew he would never achieve such a feat with Nora around, but he didn't mind that. "That sounds… Really nice, Jaune." Ren looked for a better word for it that didn't sound quite so demeaning, but he couldn't find it.
"How would you feel if I told you that what I explained is a pound for pound explanation of what Blake and I did?" Jaune asked, deciding he would rather rip it off like a bandaid.
Ren let out a hum as he finished measuring all of the pieces to one of his handguns, deciding to move on to the other disassembled weapon. "So, you're dating, but not for each other?" Ren asked.
Jaune almost panicked at how accurate it was, but something in Jaune wanted to turn down the idea of accepting it as reality. Truth was, Jaune 'dating' Blake was something past just the solitude in company, it was just about having fun around her now. Wanting to hear her laugh, see her smile, and all around being a good friend to her.
Jaune let out a hum as he brought a hand to his face, "No, that's not it." Jaune started, shaking his head as he continued, much to Ren's surprise. "Well, at first, maybe. But now, everything just feels weird, you know? When we first started hanging out, it was out of searching for some peace, but now I just want to be a good friend to Blake. To listen to her problems and help her where I can, like she did for me." Jaune spilled his thoughts on to the floor, not bothering to backpedal or articulate them in any other fashion. They'd come off less genuine that way.
Ren couldn't help but be more and more intrigued by Jaune's situation. Ren may not have been one to go out of his way to be in others' business, but this was his only male companion here. He couldn't help but talk more about it. "You're right," Ren started, his voice even and calm, his many years of self-discipline showing, "That does sound like a complicated relationship."
Jaune laughed at Ren's comment, "Right? That's why it's easier to say we're dating. We may go on dates, but it's not exactly like we're physically or romantically intimate." Jaune said as he rubbed the back of his head. He may have liked Blake as a person, as a friend, and she may have been very pretty, but Jaune knew better than to fall head over heels for a girl that paid him even the slightest bit of attention.
He'd learned that lesson the hard way.
Ren let out a hum that Jaune could only discern as uncertain, "I don't know about that, Jaune. Two people who aren't either of those wouldn't just cuddle for warmth voluntarily." He heard Ren say, much to his dismay.
He let out a groan as he tugged at his hair, "Could we please talk about something else now?"
Ren laughed a bit as he held the micrometer up, "I could always talk about my micrometer again?" Ren jokingly suggested, drawing an even louder, more drawn out groan from Jaune, much to Ren's amusement.
Jaune pulled his scroll from his pocket to check the- "Oh hell, it's 11:30!" Jaune yelled out as he stuffed his scroll back into his pocket. They had spent the past 40 minutes talking, he had to go!
Ren was surprised by the sudden outburst, nearly dropping his micrometer because of it. "Did you have to be somewhere?" He quickly asked.
"Yes! I told Blake I was going to meet her at the campus entrance!"
"When were you supposed to be there?" Ren asked, bracing himself for a very rough answer.
"Ten minutes ago!" Jaune yelled out as he rushed to throw on his sneakers, not bothering to tie his shoelaces. He could tie them when he met up with Blake, after he apologized for being late anyway.
Ren's eyes widened as he pointed to the door, "What? Go, run!" And for the first time, Jaune heard Ren yell.
He didn't waste any time once he got his shoes on, flinging the door open as he ran out, closing it behind him before darting down the hallway.
He hoped Blake wouldn't be too upset.
Blake was annoyed, to say the least. Here she was, standing at the entrance to Beacon's campus, waiting for Jaune to meet up with her, like she had been for the last, oh, she didn't know, twenty minutes now? As her shoe tapped against the concrete sidewalk, her arms crossed as her fingers impatiently tapped at her forearm, she let out a sigh. Did he get roped into something by his team?
She checked her scroll for what felt like the third time, seeing if she had gotten any messages. But like the last two times, she had received nothing. No call, no text, nothing. Blake stuffed her scroll back into her pocket, her foot tapping that much faster against the concrete.
But then an intrusive thought wriggled its way into her mind, like a parasite feasting off of her insecurities. What if Jaune just ditched her for something else? He could have just decided to spend his day with his team.
But now, instead of boredom, she felt anxious, a horrible void taking hold of her stomach as the feeling of her throat tightening up was all she could think of.
She tried to shake the thoughts away, but they always seemed to come back stronger. She'd push them aside by thinking something like how Jaune was probably just taking a nap, or how Nora was probably hounding him about something. Or maybe Pyrrha was just making him sit down and study more, God knew Jaune needed it.
But worst of all was that Blake didn't know why she felt that way. She knew it wasn't within Jaune's character to just up and disappear without a word, but she couldn't help it. She enjoyed the little time that they spent together, laughing and smiling as they went. It had been maybe three weeks or so since the two of them had actually 'gotten together,' but the truth was, Blake had forgotten when they had started. It all just sort of melded together like the greater piece to a puzzle.
Blake let out a sigh as she pulled her scroll out of her pocket for the umpteenth time, the clock saying that it was 11:45 now. Blake's lips curled downwards as she stuffed her scroll back into her pocket, "Maybe I should just go back to the dorm." She muttered to herself as she shifted in her spot.
Although, before she could act on those thoughts, she could hear the sounds of footsteps rapidly thudding against the concrete. Curious, Blake turned her head to face the sound, her bow bobbing slightly as she listened.
Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline, her eyes widening as Jaune barreled towards her. But as he grew closer, his steps became more sluggish and slow, and she watched as his chest quickly rose and fell as he sucked in as much air as he could. "Hey Blake," he spoke between breaths, leaning forward as his hands rested on his bent knees, "Sorry I'm late."
Blake blinked a few times before her eyebrows furrowed, her hands resting on her hips as she looked at him, "Where have you been? I've been standing around for the past half hour waiting for you. I almost thought you weren't going to show up." Blake spoke, breaking away from her normal monotonous tone and deciding to express her actual annoyance.
Jaune winced slightly as her words stabbed into his chest like mastercraft daggers, leaving him breathless for a moment. Or was that because of the fifteen minute sprint? He couldn't tell, "I'm sorry, really, I am!" Jaune spoke from the bottom of his heart, "I was stuck in a conversation with Ren about parts, and Micrometers and weird scales."
Blake almost didn't want to believe him, considering the fact that Ren hardly spoke about anything. But she also felt like Jaune could barely lie his way out of a paper bag, so he had to be telling the truth.
She was still mad at him though.
Blake let out a sigh as her shoulders slumped forward, "Whatever," she muttered as her bow seemed to slump with her, "Anyway, what did you call me out here for?" Blake asked, a brow quirked as her fingers tapped against her forearm once more.
Jaune chuckled slightly as he stood up to his full height, scratching the back of his head as he went, "Well," he started, "I did a little looking around on my scroll for a nice spot in Vale, and I found this really cool Cafe. You want to come?" He asked with a wobbly smile.
He hoped she'd say yes, because he felt horrible, absolutely terrible even, that he had her sit out here for so long. And without even a notice too, Jaune realized. That extra tidbit of information did nothing for Jaune's growing guilt.
Blake had to think about it for a moment. On the one hand, Jaune had her waiting for a half hour to ask her something. That alone wanted to make her turn him down. But on the other hand, he did genuinely seem sorry, and it's not like she had anything to do for the day. Plus, she sincerely enjoyed his company, so the pros to this trip outweighed the cons.
That, and she might also be able to muscle him into buying her something as an apology.
Blake let out a hum as she brought a finger to her chin, "I don't know, Jaune," Blake started, a mischievous twinkle dancing around her eyes, not that Jaune noticed. "I'm not really much of a coffee person, is there anything that might sweeten the-"
Jaune brought a hand up to cut her off, he already knew where this was going. Growing up with seven sisters, Jaune knew all the signs that he was being extorted. Luckily for him, he knew how to make it as easy for himself as possible.
The secret? Appeasement.
"Blake, you'll love this cafe. They've got all sorts of teas, from the southern Vacuan Jungles to the rolling hills of Mistral." Jaune started his pitch. He knew how this sort of thing went, first Blake would make a counter, saying how she needed a little more, and how he'd have to come up with something that would knock it out of the park. It sure did pay to do his research though.
Blake was a little surprised that Jaune didn't cave in to any kind of demand, and instead dialed in on the subject. That was fine, Blake still had plenty of ammunition to chew through. "Jaune, I love tea as much as the next girl, but I'm talking more about entertainment value."
Jaune tried to suppress the laugh that was clawing at him, and managed to bring it down to a slight chuckle. Just like clockwork. "Oh, but Blake, this isn't your ordinary kind of Cafe. It's a Gaming Cafe, one of the more top of the line spots too, if what I've read on the internet is true." He said with a smile.
And it was true too, he knew it. After all, he'd gone to visit it earlier in the weekend on his own time. It wasn't like Jaune was going to ask Blake to hang out with him and nothave a place for them to go, that would be ridiculous. Besides, he really didn't want a repeat of the Blue Moon restaurant. He felt a shiver trail along his spine as he thought of the horrendous state of that restaurant.
Blake only quirked a brow at the mention of it being a Gaming Cafe, she wasn't exactly one for playing video games, and she figured her attitude might have reflected that. Then again, her 'significant other' wasn't exactly the most versed in all of her interests, so she couldn't blame him.
"I don't know, Jaune, video games aren't really my sort of thing. They tend to get a little loud for my taste-" She explained, only to be cut off by Jaune holding out both of his hands in front of him, his palms facing towards her.
"Oh, but Blake, this place even lets you rent out a soundproofed room for a couple of hours, so you can do whatever you want, and you won't hear a thing outside of the room! Doesn't that sound great?" Jaune asked, trying to really hammer home the idea of visiting the cafe. Truth was, he just really wanted to see the spot and explore everything about it. Sure, he may have gone in and asked a few questions, but he wanted to experience the establishment, and see just how fun it could be.
Well that, and he also wanted to share some of his own interests with Blake, and it just so happened that he played video games whenever he could. Granted, classes had made it a lot harder for him to play, but still.
Blake did have to admit, the soundproofed rooms did sound nice- No! She had to actually get something out of this, right? Besides, she still had leverage against Jaune. He was the one that was late, not her, so there was no reason why she should be the one getting the deal.
Blake let out another hum as she brought a finger to her chin, staring up at the clear blue sky in feigned thought, "That is pretty tempting," she started, and through her peripherals she could see Jaune's expression grow brighter, "But it doesn't really sound like something for me. I'd do better at a library or something. You know, a place with books." Blake hammered away, hoping that it would be enough to let her take control of the day's plan.
However, what left Blake confused was that Jaune's smile, which was bright and clear, did not leave his face. In fact, it seemed to grow wider as he crossed his arms, his chest puffing outward slightly. "Then it's a good thing that they have shelves lined up with some of the latest, most well known books from some of the more prestigious authors in the rentable rooms, isn't it?" Jaune responded, certain that he had gotten her.
Blake bit into the side of her face as she tried to stop herself from smiling. Damn, now that was an offer that she honestly couldn't refuse. Either Jaune had really done his homework on this place, or he was lying out of his mind. It was almost too good to ask for! A quiet room, a shelf full of books, and all for several hours!
Blake let out a breath as she kept her composure, shrugging her shoulders slightly as she looked off to the side, "Well… that does sound pretty great." She said through feigned uncertainty, "Sure, why not?" She rhetorically asked in her normal, monotonous voice.
Jaune had to restrain himself from letting out a sigh of relief. He was glad he managed to convince her to actually go along with his plan, he figured she would've gone along with it if he told her about the soundproofed rooms, along with the books. But he didn't want to play his hand too soon, or else the chance would've been lost.
The chance for what? Why, to play video games together, of course!
Jaune hadn't been able to play video games with anyone for a long time now, not since he left the frontier several months ago. The last people he played with were his sisters, and he had most of them figured out in every game they played, and he craved, desperately yearned even, for some new competition.
Or, at least someone new to play with.
Jaune let out a laugh as he scratched the back of his head, "Great, I'll lead the way." He said with a smile, but as he went to walk past her, she grabbed at his right wrist. He gave her a curious look, his eyebrows raised as he tilted his head.
The look she gave him was one he'd never really seen on her before, her eyes twinkling with some emotion that he couldn't really pinpoint, and a playful smirk on her face. It was both unnerving while also being a face that he would love to see again. "You're buying drinks though. After all, you still owe me for being late." He heard her say, her voice soft and lighthearted, and he couldn't help but groan as he let his head fall.
Damn, and here he thought he was going to get away with it too. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
After a short, half hour walk through Vale, the two students had eventually made their way to the Cafe that Jaune was talking about. It wasn't a massive establishment by any means, but it looked comfortable enough to Blake. The entrance was what was expected of a Cafe, small round tables meant for four were scattered about the room as people drank their refreshments, a slow, gentle tune playing from several pairs of speakers embedded into the ceiling.
As Blake had taken in the sight, Jaune had paid for the room, along for their drinks. He had gotten the room for them for a handful of hours, enough to experience it all, but also leaving them enough time to get back to Beacon. And it all rounded up to around 60 Lien total, what a steal.
Which brought them to now, sitting in their own small room, the walls covered in some kind of padding that focused on dampening sounds, the floor composed of a seemingly soft, beige carpet that she could describe as a cloud of cinnamon. There was an assortment of colorful, moderately sized bean bag chairs in the room, none of them being all too far from one another.
Blake let out a breath as she took in the room, it looked cozy to her, like a place to stay for a short while and just be comfortable.
Although, a question did linger in her mind, "What do we do now?" She asked, looking to her right and up at Jaune. They had come all the way out to this comfortable little cafe, they had their drinks with them, but there still wasn't a plan of what they were actually going to do.
Now that was the question, wasn't it? Jaune honestly had no clue, he didn't really think that far ahead. But what he did know was that the bean bag chairs were starting to look really comfortable. And so, he quietly made his way over to one of the larger, blue bean bag chairs before taking a seat, sinking into it with a sigh.
Blake's lip curled inward as she watched Jaune sink deeper into the bean bag chair as he sipped from his cup of coffee. Yeah, no, that was fine, just ignore her, it's not like she had an honest question or anything. She let out a breath as she followed his lead, the warm cup of tea in her hand as she pulled aside a bean bag chair of her own, sitting next to him.
Blake tried to suppress the sigh of relief, but it escaped her lips as she sank deeper. It was like floating on a cloud, and Blake brought the tea up to her lips, but cut herself off. It was still too warm, she'd likely burn herself trying to drink it.
Blake hadn't taken to tea since before she left Menagerie, she wasn't exactly allowed that kind of luxury when she was apart of the Fang. Not to say that she couldn't sneak away with some from time to time, but that required a very specific set of circumstances. But still, having a cup of tea in her hand really made her miss home. Of how her mother would make tea, how she and Blake would talk just about anything as they drank. It could be about old stories, from when Blake's mother was young, how she had met her father, or how the weather was. The subject of conversation never really mattered, what mattered was the fact that the conversation happened at all.
Blake really missed home.
Jaune knew there were all sorts of things that the two of them could be doing, but none of it really sounded appealing at the moment. They could turn on the TV that was nailed to the wall and watch a show or movie, but Jaune wasn't feeling it. They could also turn on the console that sat atop a small, wooden table against the wall, beneath the TV, but he knew Blake wasn't particularly interested. And he honestly just didn't want to read books right now. So, relaxing just felt like the best option.
As he took another sip from his coffee, he looked at Blake through his left peripheral, who seemed much more intent in staring at her drink, rather than actually, you know, drinking it. To Jaune, she seemed almost lost in her head, her eyes staring down at her cup, but not actually looking. Like she was in a far away place, above the clouds.
Jaune had seen it before somewhere, in a place that wasn't all too far from where they were, where the rain never let up and the skies were dark and grey. He hated that look, or rather, he hated seeing that look on Blake. It didn't suit her by any means, she was normally calm, collected, and grounded in reality, so seeing her like that was really throwing Jaune off.
Jaune cleared his throat for a moment, which caused Blake to blink, throwing her out of her thoughts. "So," she heard him start, "Spring break is coming up soon, you got any plans for that?" She heard him ask offhandedly.
Was Spring Break really so close? It honestly hadn't felt like it had been so long since they entered Beacon. Yet there they were, so close to Spring Break. Blake let out a sigh as she shook her head, "No, none really. I sort of planned on staying in the dorm for the whole week." She explained before blowing through the hole in the lid of her cup in the hopes that it would cool it faster. "What about you?"
Jaune's eyebrows shot up as he took another sip from his coffee, the warm fluid going down his throat, a familiar warmth resting in his chest. "I don't know, I might go back to the Frontier and visit some family for a bit. But I'm still on the fence about it." Jaune tried to explain as carefreely as he could, but it came out slightly stiff at the end.
Blake quirked a brow as she stared at Jaune through her peripheral, "What's got you on the fence about it?" She asked, she knew what Jaune's opinion on the frontier was, and she also knew just how much he didn't like it, but it was where Jaune's family lived. To Blake, she felt like the decision should have been relatively easy.
Then again, maybe she didn't know the whole picture?
Jaune let out a drawn out sigh as he slumped in his seat, setting his coffee down on the floor next to him, "My family is… intrusive is the best word to use, I think. Or, at least the nicest." Jaune explained, his eyes darting around the room as he tried to find the best explanation he could.
Blake fell back into her normal deadpan expression as she willed herself into not saying something rude. She wished he wouldn't beat around the bush when it came to stuff like this, but she had very little room to complain. After all, there were even secrets that Blake didn't share. Like two very big secrets that sat atop her head.
She only let out a breath as she slugged him on the shoulder once, to which he hissed at the sudden contact. Although, as he turned to give her a glare, she calmly looked him in the eyes, "Jaune, say what you mean. If you keep beating around the bush all the time, you'll just keep walking in circles."
Jaune felt a little surprised by Blake's sudden bluntness. Well, maybe surprised isn't the right word, since what he felt was closer to whip lash. He had seen it coming in his head, but because he wasn't prepared for it, he got thrown around.
But still, Jaune couldn't exactly refute what Blake said. He was dancing around the subject, but not because he didn't want to tell Blake, but more because he didn't want to hear it himself. He let out a groan as he leaned back in his seat, slinking further into the soft surface of the bean bag chair. "I don't know-"
"Yes you do, Jaune." Blake had cut him off again, but as he turned again to glare at her, he noticed how her features softened, how her eyebrows had tilted upwards as a soft smile rested on her face.
It wasn't fair. None of what Blake was doing to him was fair. She couldn't just give him a look and make him want to talk about his problems, far away from them as he may have been. How her kind, caring features wanted to make him spill his heart out over and over again, and how she'd tell him it was alright. What made it all so much worse was how okay he felt with it.
He wanted to be there to listen to her problems too, but every time he felt like he managed to get her close, so close, to talking about them, she'd always managed to flip it on him. Was it some weird coping mechanism in Blake's mind, or was it something wrong with Jaune? Did Blake even need- that didn't matter, Jaune wanted to listen to her problems regardless of if she needed to talk about them.
He felt his chest tighten as his throat felt that much dryer. He picked his cup of coffee up and took a swig from it, but the warm drink did nothing to tightness in his chest.
It wasn't fair.
Jaune let out a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling, "My family, they were really big on the idea of me not being a Huntsman. Did I ever tell you that?" He asked, much to Blake's surprise. The way that most hunters came about was by their family either signing off on a waver and enrolling them in a school, or via apprenticeship from parent to child. On the off chance, it could also be that a random Huntsman just picks a kid off the street to train, but those were extremely hit or miss.
Blake shook her head in response, her long raven locks swaying as her head moved from side to side. "You never did, but I could see why they wouldn't want you to be one." She said, but the sight of Jaune's eyes widening made her backpedal, "Not that they should stop you, but you know what I mean, right?" Blake asked, hoping that it might have smoothened whatever that was out.
Jaune let out a bit of a chuckle at Blake's backpedal. He didn't think she would've done something like that, but he appreciated it nonetheless. "Well, they were really insistent that I didn't come here," he started, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke, "You know what they say, family will be family." He offhandedly explained.
It wasn't fair.
Jaune didn't want to be in a bad mood, he didn't want to feel horrible about something that was beyond his control, so he tried to minimize whatever feelings he could, stuffing it a back down. Was it unhealthy? Oh absolutely, without a doubt. But it didn't matter, they were both there to have fun, not to listen to his problems.
Blake quirked a brow at Jaune's explanation, even more so at how he seemed so detached from it all. "You don't look like you talk about it a whole lot?" Blake asked, but it was more of an observation than a question.
Jaune let out a sigh as he placed a hand against the back of his neck, "I don't really like to talk about it, you know? I mean, I get where my Family's coming from, really I do, but it's like they… they don't get it, I guess." Jaune said as he let his head fall.
She could only really tilt her head, because not even she really understood what he was talking about, "I'm not sure I know what you mean?"
Jaune only looked over to Blake with a quirked brow before laughing at her curious expression, "Being a Huntsman is all I've ever wanted to be, but my Dad was so certain that I shouldn't be one. He said how no son of his would die for the sake of another politician and his dirty, tax payer money." He explained. His dad was very adamant on keeping away from the large cities, and for good reason too, he thought. The big cities never really provided for the frontier towns, and along with the fact that Frontier Townspeople were seen as backwater, idiot hicks in the big cities, it tended to chaff a little.
Blake blinked once, then twice, "Jaune, that sounds more like a problem with your Dad than it does for you." Blake stated, her lips curling to the side. From what she had heard of Jaune's family thus far, she wasn't sure if she would actually like to meet them.
He could only really hum in response at that, because in a way, she was right. But it was also more than just his Dad not liking the politics of it all. "I mean, my Dad's an ex-huntsman now, so I think he's got some good authority on the subject." Jaune started, chuckling awkwardly as he went on, "But I ignored him most of the time, and tried to go it on my own. Granted, he always caught me and dragged me back home, but I tried."
Blake's eyebrows furrowed slightly, the fact that Jaune's father was an ex-huntsman said two things. Either he fought long enough to retire, or he quit halfway through. Hunters were required by law to spend a certain number of years actually partaking in culling Grimm on the frontier. It was a normal thing, a task all hunters were inevitably prepared for, in some sense or another. Of course, Blake wouldn't openly make any accusations, it wasn't her place to even pry in that regard.
But something stood out to Blake as she digested the information. Jaune's father dragged him back home, several times from the sound of it. "Did you run away from home, Jaune?" She asked as Jaune was in the middle of sipping from his coffee.
Although, as he was mid-drink, he nearly choked on it as it went down the wrong pipe, coughing before setting the coffee cup down. "Uh, where'd you pull that information from?"
Blake only deadpanned as she stared at him, "You pretty much told me, Jaune. Not directly, but you told me enough so that I could put it together."
Jaune let out a sigh as he leaned forward in his bean bag chair, rubbing his eyebrows with his two first fingers, along with his thumb. "Can we please talk about something other than my family, or my home life?" He asked, desperate to change the topic.
Blake knew it too, if the way he was looking at her held any weight. The way his eyebrows tilted upwards as his mouth fell into a frown. Blake let out a breath of her own as she took a sip from her tea, yep, it was still scolding hot. "I won't push it any further if you don't want me to. But if you ever want to talk, I'm always free."
Something about what Blake said put him off. It felt like whenever Jaune had problems, or if his thoughts were running wild, Blake was always there to help him tame them, to keep them under reigns. He let out a sigh as his shoulders slumped, "I don't know how you do it." He muttered as he shook his head.
Blake tilted her head again, "How I do what?" Blake asked. Had she done something wrong? Did she say something weird, or something off putting? She hoped not, because she wasn't sure if she could even apologize for it.
Jaune quietly laughed to himself before shaking his head, "It's nothing, forget I said anything."
"No," Blake started, her voice firm as she stared at him, her eyebrows narrowed as her eyes hardened, "You can't just say something like that and then say 'forget about it.' Did I say something wrong, or do something weird?" Blake demanded an answer, much to Jaune's surprise.
He quickly shook his head from side to side as he brought a hand up, "Oh no, nothing like that! It's just…" his voice trailed off as he stared away from Blake, his eyes focussed on the wall ahead of him. "How do you keep it all together, Blake?" She heard him ask.
What?
Blake blinked a few times before quirking an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
She heard him let out a breath as he grabbed his cup of coffee before bringing it up to his mouth, taking a sip of the slowly cooling liquid. "I'll just cut to the chase then," she heard him quietly say, her bow twitching as her breath hitched. What was happening? "As we've been hanging out, I've noticed that you get this look on your face whenever I leave you to your thoughts for too long. You sort of get this far away look in your eye, but you never really crumble under its pressure, you keep it together."
"What about it?" Blake asked, falling into her monotonous tone out of instinct as her stoic facade naturally crept onto her face, and berated herself for it. What was she doing? What did she have to hide, aside from the fact that she was a Faunus in hiding, along with the fact that she was ex white fang.
Blake felt her heart rate rise as it loudly thumped in her chest, but she took slow and deep breaths to try and counterbalance the horrible feeling that Blake felt. That feeling that the walls were closing in on her, and that sooner or later, the mask would crack and her world would crumble around her. Enjoy Jaune's company as she did, she didn't know how he would react to a lot of the things she did, much less how he would react if he found out she had been lying for so long.
Jaune took a moment to close his eyes and collect his thoughts. He wanted to find the right words to describe what he felt. How he felt about himself, how he felt about Blake and her strength of will, about all of it, really.
He let out a hum as he opened his eyes, "I think that, well… I think it's incredible, you know? That you can think about, well, whatever it is that puts you into that state and just keep going." He explained, not bothering to hide his awe at Blake's mental fortitude. "If I had even half of that strength, I think I could handle anything the world could throw at me."
As Blake let his words simmer in her mind as she sat inhumanly still, she felt this growing pit in her stomach grow larger and larger, the hollow feeling grasping at her very heart. It hurt. To hear someone try so honestly to give a fair compliment, only to know that everything they say is nothing more than a lie you've slowly fed them. Blake wasn't any of the things Jaune claimed her to be. She didn't have everything under control, she just kept pushing it away, back down to the depths of her heart, focusing on the things in front of her. But every time she was around Jaune, it threatened to claw back out, not because Jaune made her think horrible thoughts. The opposite, in fact!
It was because Jaune was around that she felt like she could almost bring herself to talk about her thoughts. It left Blake feeling guilty though. How many lies had she fed to Jaune by now, whether voluntary or via omission? She didn't know, but she felt like they must have been piling up by now.
Blake let out a sigh as she slumped forward, her raven locks dangling by her face as a frown wormed its way onto her face, marring her features. Had Jaune said something wrong just then?
Blake had to make a choice, the scary truth, or the pretty lie. But she already knew both choices, what she didn't know were the outcomes. She could just walk with the compliment and lie by omission like she had done so much as it were, or like a bad bandaid, she could tear away what separated Jaune from the truth.
"Jaune," Blake started, she hoped she made the right choice, "I've got something I want to show you. Just promise me that you won't freak out, okay?" She spoke slowly, raising her hands slightly.
Jaune's brow furrowed as he turned to look at her, but as he looked at Blake, he watched as her hands hovered in front of her, her eyebrows tilted upwards in a pleading manner for him to answer her. The look of desperation on Blake's face was one that Jaune was very much unaccustomed to, and he hated to see it. It left Jaune's heart tied in a knot as he stared at Blake.
He didn't know how long he sat there for, or how long Blake's hands hovered for, but he gave the most sincere nod he could. Whatever it was that left Blake so concerned, he'd bear that burden for her. After all, she had done so for him countless times by now, the least he could do was return that favor.
"Yeah," Jaune started, giving the best disarming smile he could, "I can do that."
He watched as her hands slowly hovered over her head, brushing against her black bow. Hesitantly, Blake tugged at said black bow that sat atop her head, gently pulling at the fabric before it began unraveling. Jaune couldn't tear his eyes away from her if he tried, there was almost something dangerously appealing about how slowly she took her bow off.
It made Jaune feel weird.
Although, as the bow fell from the top of her head, it revealed a pair of… Cat ears?
Blake watched as Jaune blinked once, twice, then thrice before placing a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide as he stared at the top of her head. What did that mean? Was he shocked? Was he betrayed? Blake's heart pounded against her chest as she waited for some kind of response, but the longer she waited, the more her heart raced.
"Jaune," Blake started, her voice uneven as her eyes flicked around the room, "You're starting to scare me."
She heard Jaune snort behind his hand as his shoulders began to shake, that snort turning to laughter as he brought his arms to rest against his abdomen. Blake's concern quickly dissipated, replaced by the normal feelings she got when she was around Jaune. You know, annoyance, anger, the normal thing.
As he came down from his laughing fit, he brought a hand up to his eyes to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes, "Blake, you have cat ears! That's adorable!" He yelled out, much to Blake's dismay, the bow now longer being there to muffle her hearing ability, as little as it actually did.
Blake felt the corner of her lip involuntarily twitch as she stared at the smirk on Jaune's face, "Yes, I have cat ears. Is there a problem with that?" Blake asked in a standoffish manner.
Jaune's smirk only got wider as he took in her words, "Blake, why would I ever have a problem with you having cat ears? If anything, I feel like a genius right now!"
Blake's annoyance quickly disappeared as she tilted her head to the side, "Wait, why would you feel like a genius right now?" She asked. Had Blake been too negligent when it came to her disguise? Or was Jaune just far more observant than she gave him credit- Thinking it now, Blake felt like she was at fault. There was no way it was the latter.
Jaune stood up from his seat before moving in front of Blake, his arms outstretched by his sides, "Because it makes sense! You're exactly like a cat in every way I can think of! You like your solitude and independence, you don't bother to deal with people you find annoying, and you love seafood, like a cat!"
Blake let out a sigh as she fell into her normal, deadpan expression. Well, at least she knew now that it wasn't her fault, it was just Jaune coming up with crackpot theories like the idiot he was. "I'm not even going to humor half of what you said, Jaune." She droned out, turning her head to look away from him.
He only laughed at Blake's behavior, because she was acting exactly like a cat! Her ignoring him because she didn't like him being right? Total cat behavior. "Still, I don't get why you didn't tell me this sort of thing earlier. It's not like it would've changed how I look at you." Jaune said, and he meant it too, he appreciated Blake's friendship too much. But he noticed how his words made Blake's head turn that much further away from him, tucking it deeper into her left shoulder. "You do know that, right?"
Her head only tucked itself deeper into her shoulder. Well, that certainly answered his question. "Well, I do now. But can you blame me, Jaune? It's not exactly like everyone would be very open to the idea of their friend lying to them for so long, only for them to just up and say, 'oh, hey, I'm not who I said I was.'" He heard Blake say, and it hit a little too close to home.
For him, what she had just said was, word for word, exactly what he felt. But he didn't let it distract him from the fact that this was a moment to celebrate! After all, Blake had just trusted him with something kind of big, and something about that just made him really happy.
He couldn't really help himself when it came to his smile, even if he tried to tear it from his face, he knew he'd fail. No amount of bad thoughts or awkward moments could really ruin this for him.
But to Blake, the way he smiled at her was starting to get off putting, like he was a little too happy to hear that she was a faunus. "What's with the wide smile, Jaune?" She carefully asked. She may have been hanging out with Jaune for a few weeks now, but she didn't quite know enough about him to discern if he was being a creep or not.
Jaune quirked a brow at the question, but smiled regardless, "Well, I'm just happy that you trust me with something like that. I mean, that must be hard to tell people, right?" Jaune asked.
It was an interesting question, Blake thought. To some degree, she would say yes, but the hardest part of answering his question wasn't if she could tell people, but how people would react in turn. Blake knew that most people weren't very open to being deceived, herself included. And she was all the more of a hypocrite for it.
Blake shrugged a bit as she looked away from Jaune, "I guess. I think the hardest part is waiting for an answer." Blake explained, her voice being as monotone as it always was. She honestly didn't expect Jaune to be taking it so well. Granted, she didn't expect a lot of things out of Jaune, like his openness to discuss so much about himself, or how he was so open to Blake's Faunus features, or how quick Jaune was to look out for her. She supposed it wouldn't be the first time he had surprised her, but it was the most important surprise to date.
It was then that Jaune had gotten a dumb idea. He had to suppress a laugh at the thought of doing something he knew would make Blake annoyed, and for some reason, it felt really appealing to Jaune. Jaune bent his knees slightly before letting his left arm fall to his side, but he kept his right arm outstretched in front of him. With his right palm facing the ceiling, he curled his index before uncurling it again.
"Pspsps." Jaune blew air through his teeth, and he watched as Blake's eyes quickly snapped towards him, the fires behind said eyes promising horrible pain if he continued. However, Jaune knew Blake, at least, well enough to know that she wouldn't hurt him too badly.
Through furrowed brows and gritted teeth, Blake spoke, "Jaune," she started, her voice firm yet restrained, "I'm going to kill you for that." And she meant it too, she already had to deal with one blonde idiot as it was, she wouldn't dare humor the idea of putting up with two.
This, however, only caused Jaune to snort. "Pspsps-" he did it again, only for Blake to set her tea next to her seat before leaping out of her chair, tackling Jaune to the carpeted floor with a thud, "Ah, I'm sorry!" He instinctively yelled out, the back of his head resting against soft carpet.
Although, as he stared up at Blake, who was sitting on top of his, he noticed a dangerous gleam in her eye, a dangerous cheshire grin on her face. Although, as he watched her hands raise to the sky, he did the first thing he could think of. He brought his arms up to the sides of his head, protected his face, and prayed.
What he didn't expect, however, was that Blake went for his ribs, her poking and prodding causing him to squirm as he bit back a laugh. "Blake, stop!" He yelled out, hoping for mercy.
The smile on her face grew wider as the desperation from Jaune fueled her, driving her to poke and prod that much faster. She resented the fact that he called her a cat, and she made that very well known. Besides, she was having far too much fun messing with Jaune. She didn't know what it was, but sitting on top of him as she poked and prodded at him, watching him squirm, it was funny to her.
For a moment though, Blake paused her attack and looked Jaune in the eye, relief evident on his face as he took quick breaths. She let out a hum as leaned down and got a closer look at him, to which he looked away. "You know what?" Blake started, her voice oozing with a smugness that Jaune didn't even know Blake was capable of. "I don't think I will."
His eyes widened as he looked back up at her, but before he could protest, her hands went right back to attacking his ribs, and his laughter bounced off the walls once more, but this time louder, and with much less room for breathing. If this kept up, Jaune was going to quite seriously die from laughter.
So, Jaune did something that he knew he'd get yelled at for.
With all the strength he could muster, he pushed himself onto his side, rolling to his right. The sudden movement had caused Blake to fall with him, and before Jaune had even noticed, there Blake was, lying beneath him, her eyes wide as her arm was outstretched behind her, keeping her back from actually touching the ground.
This was bad, Blake thought. This was the worst thing that could've happened to Blake. Her heart quickly beat in her chest, her eyes wide as she looked up at Jaune. This was a dangerous position to be in, and Blake hated how she just couldn't calm down.
Jaune wasn't fairing much better though. He knew he could knock Blake off of him, without a doubt, but didn't actually think that he could flip it on her, leaving her beneath him this time around. But this left Jaune with a dangerous idea.
Now, Jaune knew that eye for an eye made the world go blind. However, being blind didn't sound too bad.
Jaune pushed himself upright, balancing himself properly, much to Blake's relief. Well, at least it wasn't going to be too awkward, she thought. However, that thought process was shoved aside as she saw a dangerous smile on Jaune's face, stretching from ear to ear, and it sent a chill up Blake's spine. "J-Jaune, get off of me." Blake found herself stuttering, much to her own surprise. Oh no.
She showed fear.
Her eyes widened as she watched she lean downward a bit, that smile unmoving from his face. This was bad, this was really bad! Squirm as she might, Blake couldn't move from her spot, her legs pinned by Jaune's. She heard him let out a hum as an eyebrow quirked on his face, "You know what?" She heard him ask, his tone lighter than a feather, almost as though he was on the verge of laughing, "I don't think I will."
With those words, Jaune began an attack of his own, poking and prodding at Blake's ribs for a change. This time, it was her loud, boisterous laughter bouncing off of the walls, the smile on her face as she squirmed beneath him gave him this sort of warm, fuzzy feeling that he couldn't quite describe.
However, Jaune wasn't like Blake in the sense that she liked torturing people, if the way she was looking down at him when she was tickling him held any manner of weight. So, slowly, he eased up on the throttle before stopping entirely, letting Blake catch her breath for a moment.
With her breathing restored to normal, she shoved Jaune off of her, to which he took a seat next to her prone form, "You're not funny, Jaune." He heard her say between breaths, her chest slowly rising and falling. Not that he was looking at her chest! At least, not in a weird way. "That thing with your dumb noises, that was dumb."
Jaune only laughed in response, "Oh yeah, absolutely," Jaune started before flopping backwards onto the carpeted floor, turning over to look at Blake with a smile, "But come on, you act way too much like a cat. How could I call myself your friend and not poke fun at that, at least for a little."
Blake tore her eyes away from the roof above them, and turned her head to face Jaune, the smile he gave her subconsciously caused her to smile back, if only a little. "...This is your one chance. Anymore dumb cat jokes after this, and I tear you apart." She spoke halfheartedly, still catching her breath after… whatever had just happened.
She heard Jaune hum to himself before sitting back up, pushing himself into a seated position, "So, question. Can you purr?" She only gave him a deadpan stare, not bothering to humor that kind of question, "Okay, that answers that. When's your birthday?" That question had blindsided Blake.
She narrowed her eyebrows in question, "Uh, in October. Why?"
"So I can buy you a scratching post-" Jaune didn't get to finish his sentence before Blake sat up and walloped him on the shoulder, "Ow, alright, that's the last one." He muttered as he rubbed his shoulder, that one would probably bruise.
Blake only continued to glare at Jaune, "Please take me seriously, Jaune. Just because I have an extra pair of ears doesn't mean that I'm a small, cuddly feline." She stated matter-of-factly, her eyes squinting still as she spoke.
Jaune only quirked a brow at her, his face neutral and calm, "Blake," he started, his tone even and unshaken, "My team still hasn't gotten over the whole 'come back to bed' thing. Nor have they forgotten how they found you and me in my bed again an hour later because you were cold." Jaune explained. He was tired of his team laying into him about the day he was sick, and sure, it wasn't any reason to take that out on Blake, but he couldn't help it.
"If you didn't want to end up in a spot like that, you could've just told me no. It's not like I twisted your arm into doing it." Blake shot back, but Jaune knew the truth. Truth of the matter was that he couldn't say no to Blake, and that's the truth. He couldn't, not without feeling weird about it. Not because of some dumb obligation, or because of feelings, but because she was his friend, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make her comfortable.
Jaune only rolled his eyes at Blake, "Well, I'd like to see how you would react if a cute girl offered you a spot next to her in bed."
Blake snorted as she looked at Jaune from the corner of her eye, "That's easy, since I'm not into girls." He heard her say, and could only laugh in response.
"Man, I'm never allowed to win, am I?" Jaune rhetorically asked, a small smile resting on his face as he looked at Blake, watching as a smile of her own crept back onto hers.
"Nope." He heard her briefly state, her voice full of amusement, her eyebrows raised slightly as she smiled at him. Jaune didn't know why, but whenever Blake smiled at him like that, it made his thoughts jumble up, like he was thinking of nothing but white noise, because all he could focus on was her smile.
Blake didn't know how long they quietly sat there for, enjoying one another's presence. But what she did know was that the eye contact was lasting a little too long, and it left Blake a little… not uncomfortable, no. That wasn't the right word to use. Nervous? Maybe, but what did she have to be nervous about now, she wondered?
Blake took the moment to clear her throat, bringing a hand up to her mouth to cough, "So yeah, this is me, I guess. Extra ears and all that." Blake trailed off, making sure to look at anything aside from Jaune. She didn't know why, but now that all the joking and laughing had finished, all that rested with her was this weird, empty feeling in her gut.
Jaune only gave her a pat on the back with a smile, "I mean, it was always you, you just didn't show it all. So hey, no harm, no foul."
His words caused Blake's shoulders to slump, a sigh escaping her lips as a relieved smile stretched from ear to ear, "Well, thanks for not freaking out on me. And sorry for keeping that from you for so long."
He only shrugged his shoulders in response, "It's not really that big of a deal. How many others know?"
"Just you and my team." Blake stated. She wasn't exactly confident in anyone else knowing her secret, and she knew it was a cowardly thing to do, but she didn't care. At least, not enough that she'd discard the bow entirely.
Jaune was slightly surprised by the low number of people, he figured that there would have been a few more than just three- well, technically four now, including himself. It felt sort of odd, being so included on such a big secret, well, big for Blake. It actually made him feel a little guilty about his own. "You sure know how to make a guy feel special, don't you Blake?" He sarcastically asked, to which Blake hit him in the shoulder again.
"I wouldn't have told you if I didn't think I could trust you with it." He heard her firmly say, even if he didn't believe her at face value.
Jaune felt this cold, dreadful feeling clutch at his heart as he sat there for a moment, thinking to himself. Blake had entrusted something pretty big, a secret that, if exposed, could turn a fair number of bad people on her. Jaune could think of a number of people like that in just Beacon alone, a certain Winchester ringing many a bell in his mind. That kind of trust wasn't something that was randomly tossed out, it was something fed with time, so why was it that Blake was so ready to let him know something like that? He had known her for a few weeks, her team had known her for months.
That kind of discrepancy was fairly noticeable for Jaune, and left him feeling like he owed her something.
Jaune let out a sigh as he turned back to face Blake, "Well, if we're here to share secrets, then I think I've got one of my own." Jaune started.
Blake, of course, went to cut him off. He didn't have to say anything he wasn't uncomfortable with just because Blake did, "Jaune, you don't have to do anything like that-"
"I don't belong, Blake." Jaune went on regardless, his eyebrows furrowed, his lips a thin line. The serious expression left Blake confused, and his cryptic statement did nothing to alleviate said confusion.
"What do you mean, Jaune? Of course you do."
She only heard him sigh again, "No, Blake, I mean I really don't belong. Here in Vale, or at Beacon. I ran away from home, walked through Vale's gates, forged my transcripts, and lied every step of the way. I don't belong." His voice grew heavier with each passing word, his head hanging low with his shoulders slumped.
Blake needed a moment to process all of the information that was just force fed to her. Jaune was a fraud, not unlike herself in some cases. Whereas Blake hid her identity, Jaune hid his credentials, or rather, the lack thereof. And to Blake, as much as she hated to admit it, it made sense that Jaune lied his way into Beacon. He wasn't an incredible fighter by any means, and he may not have had the most information on fighting the grimm, but this was easily counterbalanced by his willingness to try. In that, Blake felt like he deserved to at least try his luck at it.
Jaune's leg bobbed up and down as he waited for Blake's response, his eyes glued shut as he waited for her to say something, anything! He would take apathy over disdain at this point, so long as he didn't lose his chance at being around Blake. And Beacon too!
He heard Blake let out a long breath from her mouth, "That's… a lot to take in. Why?" He heard her ask, opening his eyes to look over at her. What did she mean by why? He didn't have any other choice.
"Because there was no other way. No freelance Hunter would ever take me in, my Dad never signed off on me going to a combat school, and he'd never dream of training me himself. So I did what it took, and I lied my whole way through it." Jaune explained. Every time he'd talk to a wandering huntsman, he'd plead with them to take him in, and every time he was either outright rejected, or they took him to his parents for permission. Nothing ever really worked out for Jaune, frauding his way into Beacon was his last hail mary, and it worked. Well, at least thus far.
But this conversation? It was going to make or break his time at Beacon, he thought.
"All you've ever wanted to be, huh?" He heard her ask, freezing up as she quoted him, "Well, I can't really fault you for trying. But doing it this way, you're going to get yourself hurt, Jaune." He heard her say, not chastising him, but almost like she was concerned.
Jaune shook his head in response, "People are going to get hurt regardless of what I do, Blake. I'm going to get hurt regardless, so the least I'd like to do is try, you know? If I fail, so what? At least that means that I didn't make the cut. But being denied the chance to try at all?" Jaune started, his voice cracking slightly near the end, "That's unbearable. I refuse to let go of my dream without trying." He finished, his voice hardening with honest conviction.
Blake had to blink to let the information digest, but she couldn't help but find herself somewhat impressed by the lengths Jaune would go to at least try, "Then stop talking as if you don't deserve to be at Beacon, Jaune." She firmly stated, much to Jaune's surprise.
"Huh?" He muttered as he stared at Blake, his eyes slightly wide as he stared slightly down at Blake.
"If you want something badly enough, you'll do anything in your power to get it, I can't fault you for that," Blake started, "That's actually kind of impressive in its own right." He heard Blake say, and he felt this knot that wrapped around his heart begin to slacken. He didn't know what to say, he was touched, no really, he was! He couldn't even try to describe how relieved he felt.
"I- Thanks, Blake. That means a lot coming from you." He spoke, his voice breaking up as he spoke.
"Still doesn't stop you from being a stubborn idiot though." He heard her follow up, there it was, there was the humbling part of Blake's thought process. Those happy, relieved feelings that Jaune was feeling? Yeah, they were quickly replaced by a light touch of annoyance.
"Gee, thanks Blake." He muttered monotonously, much to his own surprise.
Blake quirked an eyebrow at his comment, but let it slip, "But, if it's any consolation, I think you're doing fine. I'm sure you'll find your feet before the end of our first year." Blake said. Now, did she mean it? To some degree. Jaune was capable of some common sense when he felt like having it, and while it may not have been enough to become a Hunter, Jaune had enough of a brain in his skull to make it work.
At least, she hoped so.
"Does anyone else know about you faking your-"
"Just my Partner." Jaune cut her off, he hated thinking to himself about how undeserving he felt to be at Beacon, and hated even more so to hear that he faked his way in. But he would push on regardless.
Blake couldn't help but chuckle at that fact, "Look who's making who feel special now?" Blake joked, much to Jaune's relief.
"So… you're not mad that I snuck my way into Beacon?" Jaune asked, to which Blake calmly shrugged.
"As far as I'm concerned, Jaune, it's none of my business. If anyone asks, I don't know a thing." He heard Blake calmly say, placing her hands outwards towards her side.
Jaune couldn't contain his excitement as he wrapped both of arms around Blake, squeezing her frame as he brought her close, "Man, you're awesome, Blake." He muttered as he hugged her, her ears twitching as the words left his mouth. "Seriously, I mean it."
Blake only gave him a few pats on the shoulder as her eyes darted around the room. This came out of nowhere for Blake, and she wasn't exactly sure as for how she should react. "Hey, it's no big deal, really." She quietly spoke, feeling his arms pull her in that much closer.
"Blake, they could put me in jail for falsifying credentials. This is plenty of a big deal." Jaune responded slowly, and Blake's eyebrows tilted upwards. He was right, he could go to prison if he got caught. The world couldn't afford to have unqualified Hunters, so if Jaune was caught, he'd go to prison for a long time. How long, Blake didn't know, but it probably wouldn't be too unlike the prison sentence she'd receive if her time in the White Fang was made known.
Blake only put an arm around Jaune, patting him on the back. "Then I guess we just have to make sure you don't get caught."
What did she mean by 'we?'
He chuckled at Blake's statement. Were it so easy, "Well, thanks for not freaking out at me." Jaune quietly spoke before trying to break away from the embrace, his arms slackening. But before he could pull away, he felt Blake pull him back in, his eyes widening slightly, but accepting the events unfolding in front of him.
"I'd be a hypocrite otherwise, Jaune." He heard her say, her cheek pressed against his shoulder as her arms squeezed him. There it was again, that odd feeling that Jaune couldn't explain, that weird pang in his chest whenever he and Blake had a moment like this. The pang that left Jaune's throat dry, and his breath hitched.
"You're too good to me, Blake." He muttered.
"I know." She muttered back.
He didn't know how long they sat there for, seconds? Minutes? The rest of the hour? He couldn't say, but it was perhaps one of the most comfortable he'd felt in a while, the weight of his fraudulent entry being diminished to a degree he hadn't thought was possible. He was certain that he was going to live the rest of his life with his guilt weighing him down, and yet here he was, spilling his secrets out to Blake. Again.
Huh, Deja vu.
Of course, the two did eventually separate, doing whatever it was they did when in one another's company. That is to say, laugh at each other, read books, and for a change of pace, watch something on the TV on the wall. Granted, it was a few episodes for the book they were reading, but still, a change of pace nonetheless.
And so the two read, watched, laughed and joked, the weight of their lies growing lighter and lighter as the two embraced their faults, not because they accepted them on their own, but because they accepted each other. It was odd, they both knew it, but they were both odd people, with an even stranger relationship.
With time, however, the sky grew dark, and their time grew short. With that information, the two left the small cafe in Vale and walked back to Beacon in a comfortable silence.
It was a good day.
Alright, I'm done. Jesus H. Christ, you won't believe how much more difficult this chapter was to write. I found myself walking into walls a little more than usual, which makes sense since I haven't really planned too far beyond this point.
But hey, at least I'm on schedule, right?
Okay, so first thing's first, thank you all for the absolutely phenomenal amount of support for the last chapter, it blew me away at how much support it got. And thank you all for the now 11k views. Wild stuff, right?
Anyway, if this chapter felt like it ended a little abruptly, it's probably because it did. But I have a schedule to keep to and all that, I'm sure you kind folks understand. I just hope it didn't give you whiplash, you know?
Also, is it just me, or are these Chapters getting longer? Because the last chapter was 12k words, the one before was 10k, and before that was 9k. To give context, this one was 14k words. So yeah, I'm really feeling it now, you know?
But I've been thinking about whether I should take next week off to just plan the next couple of chapters, along with letting my brain reset. I dunno, I'm still giving it thought. I guess you'll figure that stuff out either next week, or the week after. I'll keep you folks posted.
I think that about wraps everything up for me. Thank you very much for following, favoriting, and reviewing this short little story of mine. When I started, I didn't expect it to get any steam, like, at all. I was actually downtrodden when I saw it picking up steam because it put so little effort into it initially, at least, in comparison to some other works of mine (which you seriously should not look into, they're not nearly as good as this one.) But I'm rambling now.
So, please follow, favorite, review, etcetera etcetera, and please keep humbling me with your kind words.
Buenas noches, ciao.