Disclaimer: Potentially poor use of the Greek language ahead. Song lyrics belong to their respective copyright holders. I don't own RWBY in any way, in case you were wondering.

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Jaune's mother, while well-meaning, was adamant in the idea that Jaune himself would never, ever drive a car until after he had graduated high school… despite the fact that most, if not all of his peers would be doing that very thing by their junior year or earlier.

That being the case, the boy was doomed to never be able to go out on his own and enjoy even a slight taste of freedom. Or pick up a date on his own. Nothing. He might as well have gotten a tattoo that said 'Forever Alone.' On his forehead. In Comic Sans font.

So yeah, he wasn't feeling too good about himself right now.

When he'd initially asked the epic question to the Greek transfer student-slash-goddess, Jaune was riding a high – but now that he was here, waiting for his date to arrive, he'd hit an all-time low. Pretty much every member of his expansive family also felt the need to offer some 'advice' before he got dropped off to his first-ever date, none of which was helpful.

Pretty sure Sera's tip to not kiss Pyrrha on the eyeball wasn't needed very much. At least she tried, right?

But seriously, why did Pyrrha actually accept his request, anyway? She could have had – literally – anyone she wanted for herself. Jocks from all over the country should have been lining up to offer their own left arms for the chance. He would have been there with them… admittedly, at the back of the line.

"Shawn…! I am sorry, I did not realize I was late!"

Biting back the automatic 'It's Jaune, actually' response, the blonde boy stood to his feet as Pyrrha Nikos approached from the glass double-doors. She was dressed in a lovely red blouse and dark pants with a gold-colored scarf hanging low around her neck. Thankfully she elected to wear pumps – in heels, she would have towered over the poor boy.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm always early for… stuff like this…" he admitted while scratching his neck awkwardly. For once the boy was wearing a pair of properly fitted trousers with a good shirt and shoes. He looked quite handsome… at least, according to his mother and two oldest sisters. The rest of them just giggled like there was some inside joke going on.

Pyrrha bowed in apology, almost pleading, "It was …um… terrible of me to make you wait! I am so sorry. Please…"

"No, really, don't worry about it. I'm fine, you're fine, we're all fine." Jaune grimaced as he realized what was happening. "How about we …get a table before we just sit here apologizing all night?"

The redhead smiled warmly as she nodded. They made their way in and got their table.

At Denny's. Fine dining at its best.

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"So…" Jaune started the conversation, feeling good about himself after staying under budget so far, "You're from Greece, right? What part?"

"A small island called Naxos, in the Aegean Sea. I grew up pretty much in the shadow of Apollo's Temple," she answered between bites of fresh pancakes.

"That sounds awesome," came his reply. "Must be pretty nice there." He was digging into his own skillet breakfast with aplomb, but still paying attention.

"It is. I became used to it growing up, but I have a better liking …um …appreciation for it now."

"And your family? What are they like?"

"My father is learning… I mean, studying to be a lawyer. My mother bakes bread and sells it in our geitonia… I mean, our neighborhood."

Jaune paused, watching the normally unflappable amazon start stumbling over her words. It seemed her study of the English language wasn't quite complete. "Any brothers or sisters?" he added, hoping to spare her any longer explanations for a bit.

"No…" She answered glumly.

"It's alright… I've actually got seven sisters. My mom once told me she only had me to keep the number from being too… odd." He chuckled at the woman's strange sense of humor. Pyrrha laughed a bit, but most likely only because he laughed first. It took a strong will to keep up with his family.

"My dad works out-of-state, but Mom can handle all of us just fine. She once said she turned down a job with the Army. They wanted as a drill sergeant – but she didn't want to scare anybody away from enlisting!"

This got a genuine chuckle from the redhead. He breathed a sigh of relief – if she could unwind that far, maybe things would go well…

CLICK

Just past Pyrrha's head came the flash of a camera-phone going off, aimed right at the pair. Jaune's eyes lost focus for a few seconds as a familiar voice spoke up, "Well, well… you two look like you're having fun."

"Was that really necessary, Coco?"

The brown-themed girl put her phone away and gave the blonde boy a theatrically innocent smile. "Don't worry, Jaunny Boy… my intentions are pure."

"Pure evil…"

She gave a mild cackle as she strode off, casually saying, "Don't sweat the details… just be glad your rise to internet stardom won't happen right away… Mwa-ha-ha…" And with that, she left the restaurant.

The pair continued eating in silence, all thoughts of continuing the previous conversation now dead.

Just under her breathe, Pyrrha muttered a line in Greek that Jaune made a point to remember: "Poso malakas ise…?"

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About three hours later, the pair were waiting in front of the theater for their respective rides home. Both were full of good memories, laughter, and popcorn of course.

"I don't usually like musicals, but that one was pretty good. Never knew P.T. Barnum's life was so hectic," Jaune mentioned between bouts of humming the movies' catchy tunes.

"Agreed. I have been to the circus back home, but I had no idea that was where it all started! Afto itan fantastiko!" Pyrrha's eyes were sparking as she slipped into her native tongue. Jaune chuckled a little at how …unguarded the transfer student was at that moment.

Pyrrha must have misunderstood the laughter, for she suddenly blushed a furious crimson and started bowing profusely, saying, "Oh! I am so, so sorry… I did not mean to… Oh my…"

Jaune's hands went up automatically, "Hey, hey, it's fine! I actually like it when you talk more… normally. You don't have to apologize!"

The redhead paused mid-bow, her face a mix of concern and apprehension. "But… my papa… I mean, my father… he told me the people of this land do not like hearing any language other than their own. He told me they would get …mad …if I spoke normally…"

"I admit there are some people in this world who are that stupid, but trust me… I am not one of them," he reassured her. "You don't have to worry about things like that around me. Just… be yourself."

The look that came over Pyrrha's face was almost indescribable. It was as though the pressures of overseas living and the crushing weight of her family's hopes and dreams just… fell away. Her brow un-furrowed, her shoulders loosened, and her entire body just… seemed lighter.

That, and her smile was far brighter than he'd ever seen it before.

"Thank you, Shawn. You have… no idea what that means to me…"

It took a tremendous force of will to hold back the automatic 'It's Jaune, actually' response he'd become so used to over the years (people got his name wrong a lot). Still, he felt that if it was Pyrrha calling him that, he wouldn't mind too much.

Much of that willpower was directed at his eyes in an attempt to keep them from glancing at a pair of figures that had appeared just past Pyrrha on their way out of the theater. A pair with dark red hair and platinum blonde hair, respectively. Pyrrha would have caught the movement and looked herself, thereby ruining the mood they'd built up so far.

Thankfully, Weiss noticed the two of them and rapidly understood the situation. She grabbed her date (muffling the yelp of surprise) and quickly ducked back inside.

Jaune made a mental note to find a way to thank Weiss tomorrow.

Quickly remembering himself, Jaune nodded and said, "It's no problem, really. I've actually thought about learning Greek at some point, so meeting someone who's actually from Greece is a nice bonus."

Pyrrha's smile turned a shade mischievous as she said, "Eimai prothymos na sas didaxo, …alla mono an eiste o filos mou."

Jaune blinked a few times. "Uh… okay…?"

Pyrrha giggled at his cluelessness and started to say something, but that was when her ride pulled up to the curb. Rather than what she would have said, she leaned close and kissed his cheek, saying, "I will see you later, Shawn. Kalinychta."

As much as he hoped that meant 'good night' Jaune was not about to butcher a new language on the first date. "G'night," he said as she climbed in. She gave him a warm smile and a wave as she rode off.

Time seemed to pause as her car pulled away. Jaune almost felt like part of his soul, his very being, were leaving right along with her. It was a strange feeling. He'd known friendship before (and yes, he counted Coco), but this was… so much deeper…

"Was that Pyrrha Nikos just now?" came Ruby's voice just behind him, shattering the blonde boy's reverie. "Wow… how did that happen, vomit boy?"

"It's called skills, crater face," he shot back without missing a beat. His grin was a close match to the shorter redhead's own by this point. The two would have looked like long-lost siblings to any bystanders.

Weiss sighed from the side, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't even want to know what that was about," she said wearily, pointing between Jaune and Ruby.

"It's okay… we don't know either," Ruby said with a shrug. Jaune nodded, then held out his fist, which Ruby quickly bumped with her own. Yep, Ruby was definitely another friend.

"So… another date, huh? No pizza this time?" Jaune couldn't help but remember the pair's first date, which naturally brought the two of them to his place of employment on a Friday night. Grr.

Ruby nodded emphatically, then wrapped herself around Weiss' right arm and gleefully said, "Yep-yep-yep! She feeds me, she takes me to see movies… we're practically married already!"

Weiss' face turned a shade of red Jaune had only ever seen on Macintosh apples. She also sounded like she was choking on her own lungs. He just managed to hear her mutter under her breath, "That's the last time I give you caffeine after 7…"

"Uh, well… have a good night, you guys!" he called out as they made their way to the parking lot. He watched as they boarded Weiss' scooter (Yang had dubbed it The Devil's Scooter, if he remembered right) and puttered away. Ruby was, of course, holding Weiss tightly from behind.

The platinum blonde looked just as red as before. Jaune chuckled as he gave a silent prayer that the redhead could keep her hands to herself for the duration of the ride, lest they get into an accident.

"Everyone's so happy tonight…" he muttered to himself, still grinning.

It was at that moment that Jaune thought about how popular a pairing those two had become over the few months they'd been together. Literally everyone in the school was aware of their relationship, for better or for worse (a certain pink-and-brown haired midget came to mind for the latter).

Even Coco, in her pursuit of Velvet, was getting rather famous. Not to mention the Blake and Yang soap opera. Oum High's gossip train had been running full steam since the first day of school, and it wasn't about to stop now.

Would he be alright if… God forbid… he ended up on that ride with them? Somehow he suspected Pyrrha would be just fine with it, but… what about Jaune Arc?

Intense green eyes and flaming red hair arose in his mind, coupled with a brilliant smile without any hint of stress or social pressure.

Yeah, he thought… he'd be alright. Pyrrha Nikos was worth it.

As he went back to wait on his own Mom to come get him, Jaune found himself in much higher spirits than when the date started. He lightly started singing to himself as his feet started be-bopping to the rhythm.

"…Where it's covered in all the colored li~i~ights…
…Where the runaways are runnin' the ni~i~ight…
Impossible comes true, it's takin' over you…"

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Later that night, Pyrrha was a tangled mess of emotions.

Dressed in her bright pink pajamas, the Greek girl rolled about on her bed clutching her stuffed bunny rabbit tightly. Her thoughts were on the dorky, out-of-shape, yet incredibly radiant young man she'd just had a date with.

"Why did I say that…? I know he didn't understand me, but… gamoto!"

Shawn couldn't run fast enough to save his life. In an emergency, she would likely have to carry him over her shoulders to get them both to safety. Even in this more …open culture, that would be mortally embarrassing for both of them. That was something she could work on, assuming he stayed with the Track Club.

He also wasn't quite as good-looking as some of the boys mama had tried to set her up with in the past. That wasn't his fault, though… not everyone was lucky enough to be born with Greek blood in his veins.

Yet despite all of these negative factors… why couldn't she stop thinking about him!?

Maybe it was his kind nature, doing everything in his limited power to make everyone else's lives a little easier… Maybe it was his innocence, that feeling of a pure soul that simply must be protected… There were simply too many thoughts running through her head to sort out.

In the end, it had to be that smile. The smile of a man who never judged, who never held you up to a lofty ideal, and who never sought to bring you crashing back down to ground level. It was a genuine smile. A real smile.

At last she understood – she'd fallen in love with that smile.

She loved him.

Pyrrha Nikos – extraordinary athlete, Greek transfer student to Oum High School and the pride of her hometown – quickly buried her face in her pillow and squealed like a three-year-old.

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Story Note: This chapter was meant to serve as a breather before getting back to the main plot. I've always felt that stories like this benefit more from a good supporting cast rather than focusing solely on the MCs all the time, so I figured having Jaune and Pyrrha finally hook up was a good way to do that. As for the Greek stuff, Pyrrha is based on the character of Achilles (a Greek hero), so it fit. The Greek words were just me looking up the language on the internets. Because weeb.

=^..^=

(Sources: Google translate and various other websites)

'Kalinychta' – Good night
'Afto itan fantastiko!' – That was fantastic!
'Eimai prothymos na sas didaxo, …alla mono an eiste o filos mou' – I'm willing to teach you, …but only if you become my boyfriend.
'Gamoto' – roughly means Dammit!
'Poso malakas ise…?' – lit. How much of a wanker are you…?