Blake was not having a good day. The day was Sunday, one of the few days in the month Blake got to have some time to herself, to sit down and read a book without a care in the world. A day where she could forget about the past, present, and future and allow herself to be thrown into the world of literature. The dorm room she stayed in had posters adorning the walls, various kinds of bands that Yang would listen to, along with the occasional poster of a cat hanging onto a branch with the inspirational words of "hang in there" sprawled across it.
The bedroom itself was always a mess, beds stacked on top of one another, forming makeshift bunks for no other reason than because their leader thought they were, in Ruby's words, "Neat." She wasn't against it, as a matter of fact, she approved. It gave her more space for bookshelves and the like. But the problem that came with this little fact was that they were horribly rickety. At night, if Blake was unlucky, she could hear the sounds of Ruby's bed creaking under the weight of her admittedly small stature, being held up by nothing more than bedsheets and nails, and with so little to properly support it, Blake felt that the bed would one day teeter over and crush someone. Again.
Something about that last poster that Blake mentioned felt somewhat demeaning, but she figured it was only because she was overthinking it. She still wasn't accustomed to living around humans, but the majority she knew were kind enough, so she pushed her invasive paranoia and anxiety aside for the time. The last thing she wanted to do was push the few friends she had away.
But unfortunately, today was one of the days that Yang, along with the rest of her team, decided that they wanted to go out and do things as a group. This didn't suit Blake very well, and as much as she enjoyed being around her team, she had things that she would rather be doing. Like reading her books undisturbed. Whereas Ruby and Weiss left her to her devices, Yang did not, and voiced that opinion very clearly.
Which brought Blake to the here and now, her Faunus Ears ringing loudly, "Come on, Blake!" She could very clearly hear Yang yell out, so much so that it made her head spin and brought the veins in her forehead to throb. "Don't you want to get out of this dark room and do something fun?" She heard Yang ask, to which Blake promptly flipped the page in her book.
"Not at all," Blake started, her tone even, and her eyes glued to the pages in front of her as she read through one of her personal favorite books of the year thus far. It had to do with the escapades of a young couple and their trials of finding a way to save a large group of children from a horrible fate. "As a matter of fact, there is nothing I would rather be doing than reading this book." Blake finished as her eyes ingested every piece of information that the pages had to offer, her heart beat rising as the story picked up, the heroes finally tracking down the gang of child abductors across the desert. She could feel it, both in her hands and in her heart, the book was nearly done, just one more chapter and it would all come to a close.
However, as her eyes were glued to the paper, Yang strode over and plucked the book from Blake's hands and promptly closed it, and Blake's heart froze as she heard the thud of the hardcover book clasping against paper. She forgot what page she was on.
"That's it, no more reading until you get some sun." Yang spoke firmly, tucking the book away behind her back as Blake glared daggers into her face. Not that Yang particularly cared, it's not like Blake would go out of her way to start a bare-knuckle brawl over a book.
At least, that's what she thought until Blake's Faunus ears tucked backwards as her lip curled downwards, her eyes a pair of fiery orbs with an anger that no hell could dare match. Yang only sighed as she looked at Blake, "Listen, you can have it back after you go out and get some fresh air. I mean, look at yourself, Blake! You'd rather sit in a dark corner, reading a book instead of taking a look at the world around you! Don't you see how messed up that is?" Yang argued, not Blake cared for her argument at all, since she didn't see any problem.
"Not at all," Blake stated through ground teeth, so much so that Yang thought she could hear the sound of nails on a chalkboard from how much force Blake had put behind her teeth. "Now give me back my book." Blake demanded, her hand outstretched with her palm facing the ceiling above them.
Yang was marginally unimpressed, "Blake, that's not how this game goes."
"Who's playing games? Give me back the book." Blake was quickly growing tired of Yang's antics, and was almost willing to go to blows for that book. She had absolutely nothing else on her mind but that book, and by goodness she was going to get it!
It was then that Yang realized that she was approaching this situation the wrong way. No, she needed to approach this differently. With a hum, Yang brought up her free hand, her left hand, to her chin, "How about this?" Yang started, her eyebrows raised as a smirk plastered itself onto her face, "You come with me to this new restaurant that opened up in Vale, and I'll give you back your book."
Blake's mouth dropped as her eyebrows furrowed, a deep crease forming between the two brows as she processed what she was listening to. She was being extorted so that she would go outside, which was a thing she did every single day!
"You've got to be joking." Blake stated, the disbelief evident if her face was anything to go by.
"Who's joking?" Yang asked, deflecting Blake's reaction with an answer not so dissimilar to one of her earlier rebuttals.
As Blake glared at Yang, the sight of her book peeking out from behind her back, she let out a deep, frustrated sigh. "Fine, as long as you hold up your part of the deal and don't bother me about this anymore."
Yang let out a long hum as she looked upwards, the gears in her brain cranking and turning as she thought to herself. "How about I give you the book back when we get back to the dorm, and I get to tease you a little for shits and giggles?" The smirk on Yang's face grew a size wider as her hand, the book resting in it, rested on her hip.
The corner of Blake's lip twitched for a moment before letting her shoulders slump, "And here I thought Weiss was the one with a Business background. Fine, sure, whatever gets me my book back."
Yang only pumped a fist at this, the book still gripped tightly in her hand, "Yes! Blakey, you're gonna love it, it's a little place called the Blue Moon. A nice little spot right out of the inter-war period."
Blake tilted her head as she processed the information. A restaurant from right out of the inter-war period? That was from more than a hundred years ago, she didn't think that Yang would be one for that kind of dining. "Sounds interesting, I guess. What's the catch?" Blake asked, her right eyebrow quirked inquisitively.
At this, Yang would let out a chuckle as she rubbed the back of her head, "Well, you see, it's a really swanky place, and prides itself on being old school. That means a dress code is in place. Big fellas in nice suits, Ladies wearing long dresses. Kind of formal, you know?"
Blake, for what felt like the 20th time today, let out a sigh, "I guess I can wear the dress I planned to use for the dance." She muttered, and quickly reminded herself that it was for her book.
Yang's beaming smile seemed like she made a bad choice, Blake thought. "Awesome, I'll meet up with you at the Blue Moon around 6:30!"
"Wait, I thought you would be going too?"
Yang let out another awkward chuckle, "I'm going to be out for a little bit before I go to the Blue Moon, so I figured I'd meet you there, you know?" Yang explained, rolling her wrist as she went on.
Something at the back of Blake's mind gnawed at her, her nose wrinkled as she thought to herself. Something was up, Blake knew, but didn't express it.
And much to Yang's relief, Blake nodded her head, "Okay Yang, I'll meet you at the Blue Moon later today. But you better uphold your side of the bargain." Blake stated as she flopped backwards onto her pillow before fishing out her scroll to check the time.
"Alright Blake, well I'm going to go and run some errands. See you later!" Blake could hear Yang say as she could hear the door click open, and then shut.
On her scroll, the time was told. 4:30 it said, and as she stared at the time, she sighed. "Yang better not be doing something dumb."
As the door clicked behind Yang, her smile grew from ear to ear, oh she was going to enjoy herself. You see, Yang was going to do something dumb.
She quietly strutted over to the door across her, her boots quietly thudding against the carpeted floor, she could hear the sounds of things in the JNPR room being thrown, sounds of massive things crashing, and incomprehensible sobbing. It almost made Yang want to walk away and find some other poor sucker.
But Yang was never one to shirk away from a challenge, and so she brought up a hand and calmly wrapped her knuckles against the door. All sounds ceased behind the closed door before she could hear the sounds of a single set of footsteps behind it, the clicking of the lock on the door, and watched as the door slowly creaked open.
Yang stared ahead at a certain clumsy Blond swordsman she knew, bags forming dark circles beneath his eyes, his hair more scraggly than usual. His eyebrows were raised as he stared back, his blue clearly filled with surprise, "Hey Yang," he started, tilting his head to the side, "Uh, so how are you doing?" He said as he leaned against the door frame, an awkward shaky smile plastered onto his face.
Yang pushed down the urge to snort at Jaune's attempt at pretending to be relaxed, "Oh I'm good, just wanted to come over and see how you guys were doing. But you look like you've got your hands full?" Yang remarked, pointing at the view behind Jaune. Over Jaune's shoulder was the sight of Nora standing on top of her bed, swatting at Ren or Pyrrha whenever they got close.
Jaune could hear the sounds of Nora incomprehensible screaming from behind him as Ren and Pyrrha tried to console her. The reason her panicking happened in the first place was due to a horrible dream she had. Not of anything drastic, mind you, but because a cartoon character died in her dream.
Jaune's shoulders slumped that much more as he heard Ren speak, "Nora, it's okay, they were never real-"
"My feelings were!" Nora screamed out as she lashed out another arm from atop her bed, Ren quickly ducking beneath her flailing arm.
Jaune's bags seemed to grow heavier in Yang's opinion, "I think I'll manage to find some time." Jaune droned out, "So what's going on?"
Yang had him right where she wanted him, all she needed to see was if he'd take the bait. Yang failed to suppress the mischievous smirk that slowly took the place of her relaxed smile, "Well," Yang started, a hand resting on casually her hip, "The girls and I planned on going to this new restaurant in Vale, out by downtown. But you probably won't want to come since you've got your hands full."
However, instead of receiving a half baked acceptance, Yang felt Jaune's hands grip her shoulders, his eyes lighting up as though it was Christmas, "I'll be there." He spoke quickly and beneath his breath.
Yang could barely contain her excitement as she noticed the desperation Jaune was exerting, the smirk on her face growing an extra size, "Perfect," Yang said as she dug through one of the pockets of shorts, fishing out a small slip of paper, "Here's the directions to the place. Oh, and make sure to come wearing something nice, there's a dress code in place. Besides," Yang took a moment to pause and look Jaune up and down before looking him in the eyes, "Every girl's crazy for a sharp dressed man."
Now, had Jaune fully been awake and oriented, he might have gotten embarrassed by a comment like that, but he was more focused on the chance to get away from the dorm. Who knows, maybe by the time he got back, he might be tired enough to ignore his team's antics and sleep properly.
"I'll make sure to come dressed the part then." He spoke as he took the slip from Yang's hand, a small smile resting on his face as he looked down at the slip.
On the slip was scribbled down the words "Blue Moon." Jaune thought the name sounded funny, and much like how the name implied, if he hadn't been invited, he would've only gone to a restaurant with a name like that once a Blue Moon.
Yang was certainly caught off guard by what she assumed was confidence, but took her wins wherever she could get them, "Great, we'll meet with you at 6:30. See you then." She spoke with a grin as she gave his shoulder a slap before walking off down the hallway, walking with long strides as her Golden locks flowed behind her.
Jaune would be the first to admit that he was a little distracted as he went to close the door, watching as Yang walked away, her hips unconsciously swaying as she strutted away. At least, he thought it was unconscious. Shaking his head, he gave the door a little push, the sound of the lock clicking shut. "6:30 huh?" He muttered to himself before digging out his scroll.
As he hit the power button and checked the time, he saw that he had two hours before it was 6:30. He could work with that. As he stuffed his scroll back into his pocket, he stumbled over to his bed before flopping onto said bed. Nora had already calmed down and was draped in what she liked to call a Blanket Burrito while Pyrrha sat next to her, patting her back as she sobbed into her forearms.
But Ren decided to take a break from that situation and decided to approach Jaune, noticing that he seemed excited after talking with Yang. Now, Ren was a fairly average person when it came to intelligence and wisdom, or so he liked to think, but seeing Jaune so excited after only a conversation made Ren curious.
And thus began Ren's investigation.
As he sat down across from Jaune, on top the bed adjacent to him, Ren spoke. "So Jaune," his voice even and relaxed, decided to get straight to the point, "Did you just get asked out by Yang?"
It was an honest question, and Ren meant nothing by it, and it was clear as day that Jaune didn't take it as anything but. It was an interesting question though, Jaune thought. He let out a hum as he brought a hand to his chin, "I don't think so?" Jaune responded, his answer displaying his own understanding of the situation. That is to say, little.
It seemed to Ren that his leader was as equally perplexed as he was, which only left Ren with more questions than not. How could someone not know they were being asked on a- He mentally facepalmed as he reminded himself that it was his dear leader, quick with his tactical wit, but slower to all other fields.
"Well, I'm sure you'll have a pleasant evening regardless." Ren reassured.
Jaune looked over to Ren with a quirked brow, his mouth falling into a frown, "I don't know, maybe I spoke too soon? You guys sure you don't need me to-"
Ren raised a hand before shaking his head, "Go out and have fun, Pyrrha and I will make sure Nora won't do anything crazy."
It was then Jaune allowed himself to smile for the first time all day, "Thanks bud," Jaune spoke, his voice full of sincerity as the little energy he still had reared its head around, "But hey, do you mind waking me up in an hour? I kind of want to take a nap."
Ren only nodded one last time, and it was enough for Jaune to lay his head down on his pillow, one last thought resting in the back of his head before consciousness left him.
"I hope Yang doesn't do something dumb."
The city of Vale itself was always something that Blake thought she could lose herself in. Quite literally of course, since there were few landmarks that she could think of that would help guide her through the city. Granted, she had her scroll with her at all times, so she couldn't get too lost.
From beyond the gargantuan skyscrapers that towered over her, casting massive shadows behind her, she could see the resting comfortably above the horizon, the sunlight reflecting against the beautiful blue ocean to the west. Blake couldn't help but stare at it for a moment before shaking her head and strutting down the concrete sidewalk, the sound of her heels clicking against the path beneath her, a light purse slung around her shoulder. She would have preferred not to have the purse, but she needed something for carrying since she didn't have pockets, what with her wearing a dress.
"I wish this dress had pockets." Blake muttered to herself as she stood at a crosswalk. As she stood idle at the edge of the street, watching as cars came to and fro, waiting for the light to flick green so she could pass, she felt the cool breeze brush against her arms and against her back. It was nice, she had to admit. The feeling of stepping out of the dorm to feel the weather, she just wished that she was allowed to do it without someone having to tell her to. And that she didn't have to do it in a dress.
Not that she would ever say it out loud, if only to not listen to Yang's constant "I told you so's." Whatever higher power there was knew that Blake wouldn't be able to live with that.
It was then that Blake noticed the light flickered green, and thus she took the chance to cross. As she stepped across the asphalt, the sounds of car engines rumbling filled her ears, the low vibrations providing a strange sense of calm that she didn't know she could get from cars. A note for the future, she supposed.
Blake continued her secluded trip down the many roads of Vale until she came upon what she was searching for. As she turned the corner, she let herself take in the sights of the sidewalk being lined with a steel rail, over the rail was the river that fed out to the sea, along the rail were several wooden benches, each of them spread out far enough to feel as though they weren't smashed together, and not far down the road in neon blue lights were spelled out bold words.
"Blue Moon," it said, and Blake already had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Something in her screamed out to just turn around and walk away, not because there was some sense of danger, but because it was going to be a waste of time.
But then she remembered what she had at stake. She really wanted to figure out what would happen at the end of her book, there were so many different things on the line. The lives of several dozens of children, the massive operation of horrible men that spanned the wastes of the desert, the fates of the two heroes that she had learned to grow attached to. It was more than a book to Blake, it was an escape from the terrible reality of life and a chance to indulge in a better world.
Of course, Blake knew about the horrors of overindulging in escapism, so she regulated the feeling constantly, but that wasn't the present topic. No, she had to focus on the here and now.
She only hoped that Yang stuck to her end of the bargain.
She slowly walked to one of the benches along the railing and to seat, gracefully wrapping one leg over the other as she laid her purse to the side before fishing out her scroll. As she flicked on the power button, the time read 6:48.
Blake suppressed a groan as she set her scroll back in her black purse, "She better not be running late." Blake muttered. But as Blake moved a hand up to rub her eyebrows, she could hear the sounds of formal shoes clacking against the concrete, and as she looked over, she saw a figure dressed in formal clothing, blond locks on top of their head and with bright eyes.
Although, the blonde she was expected and the blond she was looking at were two very different people. The biggest difference is that the one she was staring at was a man, dressed in a fine black suit with unwrinkled black slacks, and a button-up white shirt beneath. His eyes were a deep blue color, not so unlike the ocean that brought the river at her back, and the smile he wore was awkward, and if Blake had to guess, somewhat guilty.
"Ah shoot," He began, bringing his right hand to rub the back of his head, "I guess I'm a little late. Are the others inside already?" Her thoughts were interrupted by the unexpected appearance of someone she knew. Well, that wasn't exactly true, more like someone she knew of.
Blake took a moment to blink as she looked at Jaune, her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at his face, "Jaune, what are you doing here?" Blake slowly asked, her head slightly tilted to the side.
It was Jaune's turn to be confused this time, "Uh, same as you? I got invited to get some food at this new restaurant in downtown." He spoke clearly, trying to understand where the confusion stemmed from.
"No, no," Blake started, shaking her head as her brows furrowed even deeper, "I mean, how did you know I was going to be here? And what do you mean by 'others?'" Blake stood up as she grabbed her purse, with each word stepping closer to Jaune that inquisitive look that made him want to run away, and Jaune knew exactly why. Inquisitive and angry women were a very dangerous thing.
But he chose to answer honestly, if only out of reflex. "W-woah, hey now, let's just take it easy, Blake. Yang asked if I wanted to come out to the Blue Moon with you and your team, and I figured I'd say yes."
Blake let out another sigh as she brought a hand up to her face, "And here I believed Yang when she said it'd just be me and her." She spoke, exacerbated by Yang's antics.
But just as Jaune was going to retort with some sort of agreement, both of their scrolls dinged, and as they both fished their scrolls out of their respective pouches, they both got the exact same text.
On their scrolls were the same words written, "Hey guys, something came up, can't come. Have a nice night!" Followed up a stick figure sticking out its tongue, bonking the side of its head with a closed fist.
As if on queue, both shared the same words, "She did something dumb." Both of their faces deadpanned, Blake's voice far more monotone than Jaune, but Jaune more than made up for that with the bags around his eyes.
After a moment of both of them staring at the scrolls, Blake let out a breath before stuffing her scroll back into her purse. "I'm going back to the dorms." Blake spoke through grating teeth.
But as she turned to walk away, Jaune took the moment to grab her forearm, to which Blake looked over her shoulder, entirely unamused, "Wait a second."
Blake only quirked a brow as she quickly shook free from his hold, "What is it, Jaune?" She asked, her voice seemingly apathetic.
It was then that Jaune felt like he should learn to think a bit longer before acting, but he had already initiated, and figured be should finish, "I mean, we're already here, and we're already dressed up. Why not just, I dunno, commit to it?" Jaune asked, besides, they had both already gone through the effort of looking nice to get good food.
And Blake knew he was right to a degree, but if she was going to be honest, she was already miffed as it were. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Jaune. I mean, neither of us are here in favorable circumstances."
"Sure we are!" Jaune exclaimed, much to Blake's dismay as her ears rang, "I mean, I'm away from my team for an evening, and you're away from… Well, whatever made you come out here. Way I see it, this is plenty favorable!" Jaune spoke, trying to make the best argument for the sake of just not being at the dorm.
As the ringing subsided, Blake gave Jaune a glare through narrowed eyes, but eventually sighed, "Fine, sure, whatever. Just don't do anything dumb." Blake muttered, something in the back of her mind told her that she should be having a bad feeling about this.
Jaune, meanwhile, was mentally fist pumping at the idea of not needing to go back to the dorm, because the lord above knew he was bored of being there. There were only so many times he could count dust bunnies on the ceiling before he wanted to tear his eyes out.
But outwardly, Jaune put on a smile and shrugged his shoulders, "I mean, come on. You and me, a fella and a lady partaking in some fine dining at a classy place? How bad could it be?" Jaune asked the one question that Blake knew was going to bite him back later.
Blake put on her best poker face to ward off the dread that she was feeling as she stared at Jaune. "Jaune, that optimism of yours is going to kill you someday." She stated, and Jaune knew she was probably right, and laughed at the fact.
He was sure they were going to have a nice dinner. I mean, come on, what's dinner between friends?
Jaune was wrong, he was so very wrong.
The entire time they were in the restaurant was suffocatingly horrible. The entire establishment smelled of cheap booze and cigar smoke, enough so that Blake's nose was irritated and stuffy, and the food was mediocre at best and bland at worst. And the stage that they used to have people perform nearly blinded Blake for the overuse of white lights. Quite frankly, she thought it was pretentious in its attempt to bring back the flair of an older generation.
Jaune wasn't fairing that much better than Blake, as he felt even more awkward than he thought. Initially, he was somewhat confident when it came to holding a conversation with Blake, the suit providing him the feeling of being more suave than he actually was. At least, he was confident until they actually started having small talk, which consisted of small things like classes, the weather, and other superficial things. The food was fine, he thought, nothing to really write home about. But the atmosphere, the environment? It made Jaune incredibly uncomfortable.
Jaune was already out of his element as it were, being raised on the frontier with his family, so being in Vale was already something else. But being thrown into a suit and having a formal dinner with what he thought was a fairly attractive girl put his awkwardness into overdrive. He felt like a fish out of water, surrounded by a group of hungry bears, only for those bears to be killed by a Seasoned Big-Game Hunter, and then put on a spit roast and eaten by said Hunter.
Needless to say, they both hated it.
After splitting the bill for the less than stellar meal, they both wordlessly walked out of the horrible establishment and took a seat on one of the benches not far from the rail near the river. Blake was the first to take a seat on the wooden bench, letting her arm rest on the metal armrest. Jaune trudged behind, and flopped down onto the bench, foregoing the grace that Blake had made sure to use.
For another moment, they sat in silence as the cool breeze brushed against them, the broken moon now in full view as the stars speckled the black sky above them. Jaune noticed how the stars in Vale looked a little different than they did back home. Not in a bad way, but there just weren't as many.
"Jaune," he heard Blake speak, her voice heavy with fatigue, "That was the worst."
"Yeah."
"Why did you talk me into eating here?" He heard Blake ask.
Jaune hummed to himself for a moment before taking off his increasingly stuffy jacket and slinging it over his shoulder. "I dunno, figured I might've had a chance at getting closer to one girl I know." He remarked sarcastically.
However, Blake was undeterred by his sarcasm and only quirked a singular brow. At that, Jaune chuckled, "Alright, you got me. I was bored and wanted to get out of the dorm."
Blake accepted the answer with a shrug, her face like a stone in the sense that no emotion slipped through. "As good a reason as any other, I guess. But it doesn't change the fact that the restaurant was shoddy."
Jaune looked at Blake out of the corner of his eye, her bow resting gently atop her head, her wonderful purple dress hugging her figure well enough to accentuate her feminine figure without leaving nothing to be imagined. Her raven locks flowed behind her as the moon itself went out of its way to cast down a beautiful light on her.
But something about it felt wrong to Jaune. He felt… nothing. His heart was even and slow, his mind was at rest, calm. He felt at ease. Jaune had just eaten dinner, awkward as it may have been, with a beautiful woman and felt nothing when it came to romantic feelings.
Jaune shook the thoughts, maybe he was just tired or something? That had to be it. He was sure he'd end up feeling embarrassed or something in the morning.
"Uh, Blake? I'm not sure if you could call that place a restaurant when most of the people in there were stuck at the bar." Jaune pointed out, and Blake only bobbed her head in response. Maybe, she thought, maybe.
"Doesn't change the fact that it was horrible." She said, and Jaune had to agree.
"You've got me there."
Blake looked out of the corner of her eye to see Jaune leaning forward on the bench, his elbows resting against his legs as his hands were clasped in front of him, his deep blue eyes focused on his hands, and his jacket draped over his shoulder. The wind brushed against his blond locks as his white button-up sleeves gently flapped against the breeze, the sight of the road behind him being lit by orange street lights as the sky above was covered with stars.
Blake knew that Jaune certainly wasn't unattractive. As a matter of fact, she knew that if he improved on social and physical aspects of his life, he might be quite popular. And even with the setting that they were in, after having dinner and with the night sky above them, she knew that she felt, well…
She felt nothing.
No rapid heartbeat, no embarrassment, no butterflies in her stomach, nothing. Was that normal? To go through a night like such and to feel nothing at all? She didn't think so, but she couldn't tell why.
It was Blake's turn to slowly shake the thoughts away. They were thoughts that didn't matter, and she wanted to get away from the Blue Moon, something about it just really didn't make Blake happy.
As she stood up from the bench, her purse wrapped around her shoulder, she looked behind her and at Jaune, "I'm going for a walk," she began, "You want to come?"
As Jaune looked at Blake, and then behind her at the neon light sign of the Blue Moon, he only sighed as he stood up, "Yeah, being around here right now just isn't really appealing."
"Well, I'm glad that makes two." Blake said with a small smile, but the smile vanished as quickly as it appeared, as though it was a figment of Jaune's imagination, which he was sure it was.
With that, the two walked away from the Blue Moon, following the rail alongside the river, the sounds of Blake's heels and Jaune's loafers clicking against the now cobblestone road beneath them. The moonlight reflected gorgeously against the river's surface, and it seemed as though the mirrored images of the stars themselves danced atop the river itself.
Jaune thought it was something of a marvel, he would have never gotten to see something quite like it out on the frontier. Sure, he could see rivers and moonlight all he wanted at home, but the way the river fed into the city itself, a canal seemingly constructed for that purpose? Jaune didn't think he'd be able to find the sight anywhere else.
Blake however was far more intrigued by the stars above. The way they tiptoed across the night sky, the moon itself like a broken crystal ball that they still danced to, regardless of its state of disrepair. It was a beautiful sight, she thought, but not one that she was unaccustomed to seeing. It was not the first time she had seen the sight, and wouldn't be the last, but she always appreciated it, no matter the day. The thought that the moon and the stars would be there the next day was always a comforting thought.
It was odd, for both of them, how despite the fact that they were both supposed to be on a walk together, they felt very separate. And that was okay. Solitude in company was a very different feeling to both of them, but it certainly wasn't unwelcome by any means. As a matter of fact, it added to their own individual experiences. Would those experiences have been enhanced if they had shared them? Maybe, but they never expressed those thoughts.
Blake managed to tear her eyes away from the beautiful night sky to look down the long, winding cobblestone road, and at the end of it, leading away from the river was the entrance to the Vale City Park. Blake didn't know why, but when she saw it, she tugged at Jaune's sleeve, his arm calmly resting by his side. Jaune stared at Blake through his peripheral, confusion evident on his face, "What's up, Blake?"
"Let's go take a seat in the park." She said, pulling on Jaune's sleeve as she walked ahead, the sounds of her heels resounding in the comforting 'clack clack' that Jaune was quickly accustomed to hearing, and Jaune made sure to follow close behind as he was dragged along.
As they passed through the iron-ringed entrance of the park, they were both quickly surrounded by greenery, trees and brush quickly became the norm as the path they walked turned to concrete once more. The path ahead of them was lit by street light, an orange glow guiding their way through the dark. Well, Jaune's way to be more specific, since Blake wasn't quite as impeded by the dark.
Eventually, they did stumble upon a wooden bench along the path, and as they both took their seats, the sound of a nearby lamp buzzing as its light flickered occasionally, Blake let out a breath.
The night sky seemed all the more wonderful when they were surrounded by greenery, the trees of green creating a gorgeous backdrop as they stared up at the sky. The shattered moon seemed to shine more in the park, and Blake didn't know why. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she didn't have to worry about stumbling into street lights or onto the road, making it seem like there was so much more to actually look at.
It was a nice scene, the cool breeze blowing through the green leaves of nearby trees, the stars gently floating in the sky, and the sounds of crickets chirping as they sat completely still on the park bench. Both of them accepted the peace where they could, but something gnawed at the back of their minds.
Jaune pushed down the lump that was forming in his throat and decided to speak his mind. "Hey Blake, you mind if I ask a question?"
Blake internally chuckled at the redundancy of his question, "You already did, but sure." A small smile making its way onto her face as she stared up at the night sky.
"What was all of this supposed to be?" He asked, gesturing all around them.
"It's a park, Jaune. It's not hard."
Jaune suppressed the feeling to groan as he brought his right hand up to his face, "That's not what I mean, Blake."
"Well, what do you mean?" Blake asked, sounding more aggressive in her question than she actually meant to be.
"I mean dinner, a nice nightly walk, and then a sit down in the park. This just didn't feel like something that two friends would normally do." He spoke, a hand resting on the back of his neck as he tried to explain how… Off it felt.
Blake had to admit that Jaune was right in this case. She noticed it too, a nice dinner for two, then a late night walk, followed by a sit down in a park. It played out like a sappy romance novel that a 13 year old would call realistic. But the biggest difference between their reality and a bad novel is that neither of them felt anything by the end.
"I'll be honest, I was trying really hard to not notice." She said, her eyelids heavy as her shoulders slumped.
Jaune took the moment he had to push the ever growing lump in his throat down properly, "So, what do we do now?" Jaune asked, uncertain and curious more than anything.
As Blake continued to stare up at the stars, she let out a deep breath before turning her head to the right to look at Jaune. "Can I be honest with you for a moment, Jaune?"
Jaune quietly nodded his head in response.
"If tonight was supposed to be some blind date set up by Yang as a means to push me out of the dorm, then I don't think it really provided the incentive. No offense."
Jaune snorted at that as a small smile graced his face, "None taken. But what do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is… If I'm going to be honest, I didn't really feel a lot of romantic feelings tonight. Or rather, any at all." Blake fumbled around her mind, trying to find the right words, but decided to pick the ones that came to mind.
But much to Blake's dismay, Jaune only let out a deep sigh, unbeknownst to her that it was not a sigh of frustration, nor disappointment, but relief. Jaune chuckled to himself as he dragged a hand down his face.
"Well Blake, do you mind if I also get a little honest?"
"Go ahead."
Jaune looked over at Blake, a smile stretching from ear to ear as his eyes shut, "Yeah, I know what you mean. This date was kind of a stinker, and I really didn't feel much either." Jaune spoke lightheartedly, the relief pouring through his voice.
Blake's eyebrows shot up in surprise before letting out a small giggle, this causing Jaune to let out a laugh of his own. Neither of them could believe how easy it was to let the other down gently, and the fact that it worked out so well, and without any bad blood no less, made everything just work out.
After recovering from their respective laughing fits, Jaune had to take a moment to look back at the night sky, "If I'm going to be straight with you though," Jaune started, his voice heavy with guilt, "I feel like this kind of night was wasted on us."
"What do you mean?" Blake was beyond confused by what he meant. She felt that the night was nice, and despite the fact that things may not have worked out the best, she was somewhat glad she came out.
At this, he shrugged as he clasped his hands together, "Well, there's just this feeling in me, you know? That if we were two other people, completely different from ourselves, there totally could've been something. I don't know, maybe I'm just being dumb, but it's what I feel."
In response, Blake only let out a hum as she let the information sink in. In a way, Jaune was right. If they were two entirely different people in every sense of the word, there could've been a spark of chemistry. But they weren't. They were Jaune and Blake, and no one else.
But if Blake were to be honest about that, she was content with the thought. "If two other people wanted this night so badly, they could've had it. But from what I've seen, no one else really wanted it."
Jaune's smile stretched a little wider when he heard Blake's words, "At least it wasn't all bad though, right? I got some time away from my team, and you got- I still don't know what you got out of this."
This made Blake smile back, her eyebrows shooting up, "A nice night and my book back."
This time, it was Jaune's turn to be surprised, "Oh, so that's why you came out tonight. Extortion?"
"Yep. How about you? Nora?"
"Yep. How'd you know?"
Blake laughed to herself as she leaned back in the park bench, "Lucky guess. What did she do this time?"
Jaune could only sigh as he leaned forward, the cool breeze brushing against his hands and wrists, "Nora had a rough dream when she took her nap. Something about a dead cartoon character, and when Ren tried to calm her down, she just flipped out harder. Of course, he and Pyrrha eventually got her in bed and all tuckered out."
But Blake was still left with one question. "Wait, then what was all the loud banging I heard earlier?"
"Well," Jaune started, breaking eye contact as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Nora thought it was appropriate to throw her end table at the wall when she woke up."
Blake laughed a little harder, her voice a lot softer than Jaune would've imagined, but it was a nice surprise. "Sounds like you didn't need a lot of convincing to come out here."
Jaune only shook his head as he leaned back on the bench, "I really didn't, but I'm glad I did. Even with all the awkward small talk and forced smiles, I had fun. Mostly with the walk, because the restaurant was kind of meh." He said, using his hands as a scale to show where the restaurant stood. Needless to say, it wasn't very high on the scale.
Blake had to nod at that, "Yeah, that place reeked of cheap alcohol and smoke."
After a moment though, Jaune let out a sigh as he let his shoulders slump, "It's a shame we won't be doing this sort of thing anymore though."
It was then that Blake felt it, a stroke of genius. It was true that neither of them had romantic interest in one another, but who needed that when you're having fun? "Well, why not?"
He looked at her through furrowed brows, hadn't they just agreed that neither of them were, well, interested? "Blake, were you cold while we were out on that walk? I could've lent you my coat. You got a fever going?" Jaune asked as he raised the back of his hand slowly with the intent to press it against her forehead. Not that Blake was having that, if her shoving his hand aside said anything.
"Jaune, I'm serious." She said, crossing her arms as her eyebrows made an even line.
"Well so am I."
"Jaune," she stated, "It's clear that we both had some fun, and that both of us are clearly a little fed up with our team from time to time. So why not use each other as an excuse to just walk away from it all?"
It was here that Jaune's gears started turning, the little workers in his mind working overtime to catch on to Blake's scheme. "So, what, you want us to fake a date as a way to get away from our teams?"
"Well, I wasn't necessarily thinking of faking dates, but it does make it sound more believable. Besides, if we do fake dates then people won't ask us to reschedule for other things." Blake went on, listing the positives of faking a relationship, much to Jaune's chagrin.
Jaune let out a groan as he dragged his hands down the sides of his face, "This is a really bad idea, Blake. I mean, what if people call us out on it, or ask us to prove it?" Jaune was asking some good questions, at least he thought so, and hopefully they were good enough to persuade Blake to go the more moderate route for this plan.
It did not.
As a matter of fact, Blake thought the answer to those questions were rather easy, "Then we'll just have to be good actors." She stated, her words coming naturally.
Jaune only groaned harder, his nails digging into the skin of his face, not breaking skin, but still hurting. Blake only rolled her eyes at Jaune's display of melodrama, "Relax, it'll work."
Jaune let his hands fall from his face and onto his lap, "Right, well if this goes up in smoke-"
"It won't." Blake interrupted, and Jaune was caught off guard by her confidence, but continued nonetheless.
"If it goes up in smoke, then it'll hopefully have been fun." Jaune said with a small smile.
Blake looked back at him, a small grin of her own gracing her face, her eyebrows raised, "So, are you in?"
"Sure, I'm in."
So, I figured I might slap two bland characters together and see what happens. It was neat. Anyway, I threw this shit together over the span of the past three days, it was one hell of an exercise. But yeah, figured some folks would have some fun reading something like this, minus the hard-line Blake and Jaune shippers, which I'm more surprised about their existence if nothing else.
I figured I'd might do a real-ish take on how something like this idea would go. Also, I wouldn't expect the average chapter to be as long as this one if I were you.I'd also say you should follow, favorite, and review, but let's be real, you probably won't.
Muh discord: /hEu4QQP
