Wishing to get rid of his gloom, Jaune keeps traveling through the Hotel, looking for something to occupy his time with until he hatches a plan for what kind of weapon he wants to design for himself, when he is enticed by the sound of music and enters a club.
Jaune is shy and very awkward, as he had never visited such an establishment before, and while he had some idea of what to expect thanks to movies and Scroll shows he had caught his sisters watching in the past, the ambiance in this particular establishment seems different than the youthful exuberance he was expecting, the lights being warmly dimmed, rather than blinking and the songs being very slow, regal melodies from Atlas, like the ones his mother preferred and taught him how to dance to, rather than the more electric Vacuan style his sisters enjoyed.
He's not sure entirely what he is doing, but the festive nature of the event eases his mind, and Jaune makes his way towards the bar, feeling embarrassed when the bartender looks unimpressed with his non-alcoholic soda order, but still, the boy sits down in a corner, and enjoys some people watching time.
It doesn't take very long before Jaune notices an older woman on the other side of the room, sitting on her own, and not seeming to be enjoying herself much, and while he is conflicted and worried, his mother's words about strangers being friends he hadn't met yet give him the courage he needs to approach her, hoping to find a way to cheer her up a little.
"Hello, Miss." an annoyingly cheerful voice drags Lisa Lavender's consciousness from the long list of slurred curses she had been muttering under her breath and she is faced with a young man, looking at her with a mixture of nervousness and eagerness that makes her want to gag.
"What do you want?" She sighs, hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible.
"Would you do me the honor of granting me a dance with this next song?" The boy asks theatrically, even going as far as bowing, as ridiculous as that looks, and she has to force herself not to groan at the gaudiness of the act or turn around and glare at whomever must have set him up with such an unoriginal dare.
"I am old enough to be your mother, kid." She tells him dryly, not wanting to draw this conversation long, but also aware a single bad interaction with a random civilian going viral could drop her career even lower, even though it was hard to imagine anything lower than the grunt work she had already been assigned to do.
Rather than quickly turn around and get laughed at for his failure, the boy tilts his head to the side in a manner not so dissimilar from how a curious labrador puppy would do it when surprised.
"Really? I honestly thought you were around nineteen." The boy jokes in a manner so deadpan, she would have believed him had she heard him talking about someone else and she can't help but laugh at the notion. It had been a long time since she had found herself cast as the 'strict teacher' archetype when delivering the news, and while the claims were completely bogus and ridiculous, nobody had dared try that route with her.
"Why are you here, kid?" She cuts to the chase, still having a few drinks to get to, regardless of how cute the little boy was proving himself to be with his absolutely awful flirting game.
"Well, you seemed like you weren't having very much fun, so I thought I would try to cheer you up with a dance or two." The boy said with a smile so pure she found herself unable to doubt its sincerity.
The complete goofball standing next to her wasn't an awkward victim following his friends' whims, or an overconfident player thinking he could pull her, but really just an overeager earnest idiot with a terrible understanding of boundaries, a pretty bad judgement, and a heart of gold, apparently.
"Do you even know how to dance?" She asked with an eyebrow raised, halfway split between amusement at the gall of approaching her just to dance, and incredulous at the fact she was actually considering accepting if only to laugh at the boy's inevitable embarrassment.
"If I know how to dance?! You dare besmirch my good name in such a manner!" Jaune exclaims in mock outrage. "Well that does it! You will pay for your words, young lady, I challenge you to a dance off!"
Lisa has to bite her lips not to laugh at the boy's overreaction, though her attention is quickly diverted when Jaune takes her hand and pulls her towards the dance floor, immediately spinning her around and moving in rhythm with the song.
She is ready to rebuke the young boy's daring, when Jaune flashes her a grin so blindingly radiant, she relents, indulging him for a bit, what's the harm in some innocent dancing after all?
After a few seconds of keeping up with him, Lisa has to admit to herself that this boy could dance, and before long she finds herself entirely at the mercy of her partner as he sets the pace, taking her into a demented flow of spins, dips, drops and throws.
She stiffens for a second when Jaune puts his hands on her hips, but it seems she didn't have to worry, as the boy is much too concentrated on showing her a good time, a preciously happy smile on his face, while his eyes do not leave hers for the duration of that dance, then the next one, and the one after that.
Lisa doesn't know how long it has been since she had been swept off her feet, let alone it happening oftentimes literally in the incredibly elegant and acrobatic moves the boy had showed off during the night, but her outlook on him had slowly changed as they moved in tandem and heart feeling lighter, perhaps because of the alcohol she had been drinking finally doing its job, maybe it was because of the festive ambiance, or if it was only due to those warm blue eyes showing her affection and admiration in ways she hadn't received in far too long, or maybe it was just due to how much fun she was having, feeling warm in the arms of a handsome man, but as another song comes to an end and Jaune dips his head towards her to finish his dancing move, she closes her eyes and claims his lips.
The kiss doesn't last very long, and while she enjoys it immensely, that changes quickly when she opens her eyes to see Jaune look shocked frozen, eyes wide and uncomprehending.
At that moment, she feels the world stop on its axis, the music going completely silent and the judgmental glares of everyone in the room eyeing her with disgust at the magnitude of what she has done.
She had just kissed a teenager. A non-consenting teenager, who had clearly not initiated or even wanted to be part to any of it.
She had misread the situation entirely. She was a monster.
Lisa Lavender feels her heart drop, and the bile rise up as she struggles with keeping her stomach down her throat.
Jaune can only watch in muted shock as the woman runs from the room as quickly as her legs can carry her.
