Olivia had one good dress in her pack; it was one that Winter had packed for her. the thought of her pseudo sister slightly troubled her. Winter had no idea what she was now getting into and when she found out that Olivia had to travel on important business she immediately agreed to pack a bag for her.
the dress was nothing too fancy just simple well made white dress with red trim and a few rose petals running down it. she used her scroll to order ahead so that the place she ordered from would be ready when she arrived. stepping to the modest set of heels that she kept on her at all times Olivia opened the door and saw Adam adjusting his tie with one hand while he aplied makeup with his other.
He was clearly well practiced in hiding the scar over his eye but still watching him finish and then stand up shocked Olivia. if she didn't know any better she wouldn't have believed that this was the same man she spoke to ten minutes ago. his leather outfit had been swapped for a slim fit grey suit complete with vest and tie. holding his arms out for inspection he asked. "what do you think?"
Olivia was speechless. she had no idea that he could look so much unlike himself. the wide grin on his face told her that he expected this. "everyone does that when I dress well. That's why I always wear the edgelord outfit. everyone remembers it so the first time I don't wear it everyone is confused. I can go anywhere dressed like this and never be noticed."
the way that he spoke told her that he had in fact gone places that he should not have been allowed dressed like this. "where are you going?" she asked out of curiosity.
"We are going to dinner, I reserved us a table at the hotel's five star restaurant." Adam said grabbing a fixed blade knife and tucking it into the sheath that he had hidden in the armpit of his jacket.
"but I already placed our..." Olivia tried to say before being cut off by Adam.
"I called ahead and cancelled your order," he said with a wave of his hand. "I wanted this to be a Surprise."
Offering his left arm to Olivia he waited for a moment before Olivia remembered that she was supposed to weave one of her arms with his. Walking to the door they quickly learned to match their steps together.
As they left Adam subtly checked for the maid and was glad to not find her. The less they were watched coming and going from their room the less likely they were to be spotted when they shouldn't be.
When they arrived at the restaurant Adam was that one that addressed the matron. Olivia had no idea what he said because she couldn't speak the language.
When they had been led to their table Adam pulled out Olivia's chair for her. She tried not to blush too much as she accepted the offer. As Adam read the menu he noticed that Olivia looked confused and then realized that she didn't speak or read the language of ancient Vale.
The waiter was on the way over to their table and Adam had to think fast. Drawing undue attention would be a bad idea and having to teach her how to order would most definitely draw undue attention.
Hoping that Olivia took after her father he turned to the waiter who was in the process of asking for their order and said. "Juasucre Du'frey, ue ro tru liwu. Qrase ron do frozure ue ro liwu qrosu ran da mantles corso. Ue nintul drauwlor"
The waiter recorded Adam's words before taking both menus. And leaving the table. Olivia was doing her best to not be too confused by what was going on. "I just ordered for us. I need to teach you how to be conversational in ancient Valettian at some point." he said blandly. They sat in silence for a moment before Olivia noticed that Adam was staring at her.
He seemed to be studying her intently for something but she didn't know what. Her blood started warm all the same but she tried to not let it show. The waiter returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses for them setting them down and leaving to continue his work elsewhere.
"What did you order?" Olivia asked, wondering what was going to be coming to her plate.
"I ordered a steak with truffle sauce and you ordered a svaor variation of a sandwich that your father loves." Adam said
"Why are you doing this?" she next asked wonder what his goal was with all of this.
Pouring them both a glass of wine Adam handed Olivia her glass explaining. "One this is a part of the mission you and I need to be able to co exist in public and private. Two you said you had never been on a date before. If your father finds out that I let someone later on down the line manipulate you by playing with your feelings then he could kill me. Not that he would get the chance to."
Oliva did her best not to look deflated at the fact that Adam was only doing all of this because of her father. Right up until he continued on. " that and I got out of a very poorly thought through relationship a few months ago so I want to make sure that nobody ever hurts you the way that... " Adam seemed to stumble over his words for a moment before he finished. "The way that I hurt Blake."
Several things suddenly clicked for Olivia. She had wondered why Blake tried to run away that night, she had wondered why Adam seemed so gunshy about the fact that she tried to kiss him. He wasn't afraid of her father; he was afraid of messing up again. Of hurting someone again.
It seemed unlike the monster she had seen on the news and in the propaganda. But then again that was the whole point of propaganda it made the enemy inhumane so that they were easier to kill. She had always known that but she had never given it much thought.
Their food had just arrived. And Olivia had to stifle a laugh when she saw that Adam had in fact ordered a steak. Looking up at her he smiled. "What?" he asked.
"I'm sorry but i find it odd that you ordered a steak doesn't that cause some kind off"
"Problem," Adam finished. "None whatsoever, when you live like me you need to get all the protein that you can get and beef is solid protein."
Looking at her own plate Olivia saw what may have once been a sandwich. But had since been coated in some manner of sauce or gravy that smelled good.
"That has a good combination of ham, cheese, toast, and roasted red pepper sauce." he explained motioning with his fork that was oddly held in his left hand.
Olivia cut herself off a piece and sure enough it was amazing. She could understand why her father enjoyed it so much. She kept going and before she could think about it the plate was empty and Adam was likewise tearing through his plate and glass in order to not make her sit awkwardly. Once he was done he waved for the check and after paying they locked arms and left.
On their way to the elevator Olivia noticed that they were being watched. Deciding to sell the ruse and that turn about was fair play she snaked her left arm down Adam's back and settled in on the left side of his ass.
If Adam noticed her actions then he didn't show it. That was a good sign for her since that meant that he was trying for all he was worth to hide his reactions.
By the time that they had made it to the elevator she let go and stepped a half step to ehr own right. Adam adjusted his jacket which Olivia was learning may have been a nervous tick of his. The walk to the door Adam leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Playing with fire can get you burned."
He opened the door and as she walked though trying to figure out what he meant Adam swung his hand down swatting Olivia's ass hard enough to make her loudly yelp and hop step into the room as Adam swaggered in behind her and closed the door.
This was going to be a complicated week.
…
Jaune woke up to find Yang peacefully sleeping to his left arm laced under Yang's right and their legs woven together. It was challenging to untangle himself from her but he managed to do it. Silently getting to his feet he grabbed his pants and put them on. The button was challenging given that he only had the one hand but he managed with some difficulty. Opting to forgo his shirt Jaune checked that his scroll was still in his pocket and headed down stairs.
His only memory of the house was with a mild hangover so he was looking around and learning the blind spots. As he made his way into what seemed to be the main room/ kitchen he saw a man that seemed to be thirty give or take a few years waiting for him.
Holding out a cup of coffee the man introduced himself. "TaiYang XiaoLong, father of the woman you slept with last night." there was a clear edge in his voice but Jaune understood. Taking the cup Jaune sat at one of the stools and almost fell over when he went to stabilize himself with his absent right arm.
Taking a moment to look into the cup of unsweetened and black coffee Jaune shifted his gaze to Tai. " Jaune, your son in law." he replied. It occurred to him that this was no time for him to be laconic but honestly he had no desire to engage in a long and drawn out conversation.
Tai took the news fairly well. Nodding like he already knew about Jaune and Yang being married. "I kinda figured something like this was going to happen since Yang has been wearing a wedding ring. Nice to meet you." Tai almost held out his right hand for Jaune to shake it but he stopped himself.
An awkward silence settled over them and Jaune turned his focus back to his scroll now that he was sober Jaune was making plans. The last few weeks had been sloppy. He refused to tend to anything since he was too busy being pathetic. That changed now.
Tai looked like he was trying to figure out what to say when Yang broke the silence. "I see you two have met." as she walked past Jaune she brushed her hair out of the way allowing her to gently kiss his cheek as she walked by. Giving her father a hug she stole his coffee and sat down across from Jaune.
"So, what happened to you after… well after?" she asked.
Jaune didn't want to answer but years of Arc training told him that the bond between husband and wife was a sacred one that was to be honored. Even though he no longer held the name many of the morals still hung on so setting his scroll down he answered. "I made it to one of my hidden caches and got some clothes. The rest of it is sort of a blur I think there was a lot of drinking involved. That was when Shiro found me and brought me here."
Yang reached out and grabbed Jaune's left hand with her right. "We buried Sun and Pyrrha," she saw the tears welling in his eyes and squeezed a little tighter. "Ruby and Willow went after the people who did this."
"Don't bother," Jaune said, freeing his hand long enough to wipe the tears from his eyes. Instead of answering Jaune simply stared at Tai. the older man needed a few seconds to figure out that Jaune wanted him to leave the room. Tai didn't totally trust Jaune but Yang seemed to know what she was doing.
Once Tai had closed the front door. Jaune explained. " the woman who killed Pyrrha is dead, I made sure of it myself. And as for whoever killed Sun, those matters tend to sort themselves out."
Yang was surprised to learn that Jaune had killed the woman responsible for Pyrrha's death but in hindsight that made complete sense there was no way that he would allow the bitch to live. The part about Naomi sorting herself out was also obvious. He was scared. He was trying to circle the wagons until he knew what was going on.
"Naomi betrayed us, she killed Sun and tried to kill Shiro, if Cinder is dead then she will be next." Yang said hoping that Jaune wouldn't fight her too hard on the matter. Luckily he seemed to agree with her.
"That makes sense but I think that it's going to take more than a few students to bring this whole thing down."
Checking his scroll he looked out the window in time for an old model of rocket locker to land in the yard. Tai apparently wasn't expecting it since he jumped a little before Jaune went up to it and used his scroll to unlock it.
There was a long gun inside with boxes of ammo and maps, charts, knives, and various bi and tripods.
Grabbing the rifle, a box of ammo, the charts and a bipod before heading over to the valley nearby. Attaching the bipod Jaune laid down and looked through the scope. He referenced the chart but he was clearly having a hard time doing everything with one hand.
Loading the magazine he aimed for a dead tree on the other end of the valley. Firing he adjusted the scope a little and fired again. This time the tree was hit square in the center and with a satisfied nod Jaune took out the magazine and put the rifle into the case in the locker.
"I work for a set of subcontractors," Jaune explained. As he worked to fit a tripod and a box of ammo into the case he realized that he was going to have to explain further since Yang didn't know what that meant.
"Cransler or Omar?" Tai asked, surprising Jaune and confusing Yang.
" Cransler why?" Jaune replied wondering how his father in law knew either of those names.
"I am Cransler," Tai answered in a clearly impressed tone.
Walking up to him Jaune held out his hand. " AJ Koss" Jaune offered.
When Tai shook his hand Yang burst. "What are you two talking about!?" she yelled.
They looked at each other for a moment before Jaune answered. "I have a side job as a hitman,"
"And I'm his employer," Tai finished.
Now Yang wanted answers. She was done with having things held out on her. Walking over to Jaune she grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the woods. Once they were alone she snapped.
"Anything else you want to tell me about," she had been very patient but she was running out of chill very fast.
" Willow isn't my sister, I've been working as a hired killer for the last seven years, and while your breasts are amazing the way your eyes shift when you get angry is without a doubt the most beautiful thing about you." Jaune answered back calmly. He had been on the metaphorical firing line before with his mother and sister so this wasn't too different.
Yang took in his answer piece by piece nodding at the part about Willow not being his sister, accepting that Jaune was a hitman and when she got to the comment about her eyes she had to fight the blush running to her cheeks.
Realizing that he had said that in order to get her to calm down a little she laughed and punched his left shoulder. "Cheater," she joked.
Instead of responding with words Jaune leaned in and kissed her using his left hand to wrap her waist. Somehow this resulted in the two of them rolling on the forest floor fighting with each other's clothes.
Suddenly Yang rolled into the mount before leaning up and breaking off the kiss. "We need to talk about a lot after this." she said not quite holding the promise of the next few minutes over Jaune but still making her point clear.
Nodding somberly Jaune agreed " yes but that can wait a little longer." before his left hand reached up and went to work at Yang's shirt.