[#3]
A few more days went by since Blake and Jaune's detour to Mantle's underground rail system. Things obviously haven't turned out all that great, if their report to Specialist Ebi was anything to go by.
And to make matters worse, any future operations related to Mantle's subway situation were officially put on hold. At least until Ironwood himself was satisfied with the progress on the Amity project. It was their main priority, after all.
Still, it didn't sit well with Blake knowing they left their job unfinished, but Clover assured them their security drones would prevent anyone from venturing anywhere near those tunnels. Because that was exactly what they needed: More robots being sent down to Mantle.
But on the bright side of the spectrum, things were hitting off between her and Jaune. Well, not romantically of course. That'd be insane.
They started taking on missions together more often. From simple ones like patrolling the city, to more important ones like guarding the military outpost stationed at the mines under Amity.
And on occasion, Blake even went to watch him on his street guard gig. Nora tended to show up there as well, so at least she had some pleasant company.
"So…" Nora poked Blake's arm with her elbow as they stood by a street corner. "You and fearless leader, huh? Keeping a close eye on him?"
At least she had some company.
Blake ignored her annoying smirk and looked over to Jaune by the cross walk as he was being followed by a single line of children while also being cheered by a line of single moms.
"There's a bookstore down the street that hasn't opened yet." Explained Blake. "I had nothing better to do while waiting, so I came to see how he's doing."
"Sure, sure…" Nora said, not at all convinced. "I don't blame you for wanting to get chummy with our local noodle. I mean, just look at him."
As if on cue, Jaune looked over and waved his stop-sign at them. Nora reciprocated by waving her arm at him while Blake merely waved her hand.
"What about you?" Blake deflected. "Why do you come down to Mantle to watch him then?"
"Oh, me? I'm on guard duty!" She responded, brandishing her hammer.
"Wait, really?" Asked Blake. "Is it part of your mission, or-"
"No, nonono. I'm just on standby in case some middle-aged hussy tries to take advantage of Jaune's niceness."
Blake looked slightly worried. "…I'm not sure Ironwood would approve of your abuse of power."
"Nah, it's fine~" She moved Magnhild closer to Blake. "It's not loaded. See?"
"I don't think that has ever stopped you before…"
"And it won't once I catch them in the act!" She them stared at the group of mothers across the street. "Looking at you, thirsty mom number 6. I know what you've been putting in those casseroles. I've proof-eaten every single one of them." She whispered in a deadly manner.
Blake subtly took a side-step further away from the menacing ginger. She still wasn't entirely used to Nora's eccentricities.
One that came to mind was of course her theory regarding Jaune's haircut. About how apparently it was so 'good-looking' that it charmed anyone that came in contact with him.
Blake wasn't a conspiratorial person by any means. Sure, she had taken part in a certain faction with skewed intentions, and sure, she did find out about the long-lasting war between Ozma & Salem not even a month ago, but she still made an attempt to remain reasonable to her core.
That been said… There were still a few instances Blake had witnessed which supported Nora's theory. Nothing too crazy, mind you. Just… Notable mentions.
Like…
Exhibit A:
"Thanks for coming in such a short notice." Robyn commended.
"Not a problem." Blake responded. "There wasn't much info disclosed on the app. What do you need help with exactly?"
The leader of the Happy-Huntresses gestured around their settlement situated in a canyon just outside the walls of Mantle.
"We mainly need a few extra hands to help us carry food and other supplies. A lot of citizens recently lost their homes due to the economic depression caused by the embargo, and now our settlement is getting overcrowded. I usually don't go out of my way to hire Huntsmen for these kinds of things, but the Happy-Huntresses need all the support we can get during this crisis."
"We'll be more than happy to help, Ms. Hill." Jaune declared.
"Oh please, Ms. Hill is how the folks in the Council address me." She said. "Either just Robyn or Miss will do. Preferably the latter in your case."
"Uh... Okay, Miss." Said Jaune. "Where do we begin?"
"You two can start by carrying those crates over there. We need the materials for a shelter we're building for a Faunus family that just arrived last night."
"You got it!" He did a playful salute before walking up to the aforementioned crates.
Blake followed, not acknowledging Robyn's sudden change of tone towards him. She was probably just grateful, that's all.
She picked a crate filled with what she assumed to be roof sheets, judging by the metallic sounds it made. As for Jaune, she watched as he squatted in front of a much bigger crate filled to the brim with bricks.
"Always lift with your legs." He stated. "Is what my mom used to say."
That comment made her hum. Being a momma's boy was one of Jaune's most consistent traits. "I take she used to tell you that a lot?"
"Technically, she only ever told dad about it." He attempted to lift out that crate with little success. "He's pretty forgetful sometimes, so mom has to constantly remind him about it."
"Is he really that bad at keeping his posture?" She asked away. Not out of malice per say, her own father was also guilty of the same thing.
"I guess you could say that. Especially when he's busy helping other people." He responded, still squatting in front of that crate for attempt number two. "Like whenever he helped our neighbors from back home. Our village is fairly small, so dad often helps them out with heavy stuff. Funny thing is, mom also forgets to warn about his posture when that happens. From what I remember, she never said anything about lifting with his legs whenever our neighbors were around. Mostly when their wives were present... I always found that strange for some reason."
Blake felt like making a comment about cluelessness being hereditary, but she opted to keep it to herself.
Just when Jaune was finally making progress on lifting that crate up, she decided to see if his story had any merit to it and glanced downwards to his jeans.
And she immediately regretted her decision and looked right back up, realizing she was just about to check him out while he was distracted. For a split second, she could've sworn she saw a perfect silhouette of his bottom-half.
Was he wearing a size too short? Maybe those moms from Mantle were onto something.
"Phew! There we go." Jaune stood up with a crate in arms. "Nora would definitely make this look easy."
"Y-Yeah…" She uttered. "We better get these to Robyn."
And so, they spent the next hour going back and forth across the settlement just moving constructions materials. Just plain and honest work.
Blake felt pleased with their work all the same. For once, she was actively helping a local community in need as opposed to shooting Grimm all day long. At least this way she could see and interact with the people they were protecting.
But then there were oddities such as the refugees staring at them for the whole duration of their stay. Or rather, staring at him.
Like, sure, it wasn't everyday actual Huntsmen came all the way down from Atlas to help these people. But the attention he was getting also came accompanied by humming and whistling from some of the refugees.
And just when they were about to finish their first shift, Jaune accidentally bumped against an inconspicuous sheep Faunus.
"E-Excuse me! I need to bring this report to Robyn- Oh…"
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Jaune apologized. "Good thing I was carrying a sack of cement mix instead of a box of sharp nails. Heh."
"Ahem…" She cleared her throat. "Name's Fiona. I'm in charge of Robyn's electoral campaign."
"Oh. In that case, I'm Jaune. And I'm in charge of… Carrying this sack of cement mix."
"Then you must be really busy!" Fiona suddenly shouted. "Sorry again, I forgot Robyn had requested extra help for today. I'll get off your hair. Your stunning hair…" She whispered in a way only Blake could hear.
"If you say so!" He responded. "Take care, Fiona."
Jaune went up ahead, leaving the Happy Huntress all over the broken moon.
"This might be the best thing Atlas has sent us yet." She said.
"…What?" Blake asked.
"Uh? Oh!" Fiona was caught off guard by Blake. "I mean… BEH! I'm a sheep, I say random stuff all the time, I… I…"
Blake observed as the Sheep Faunus blinked rapidly, reconvening herself from whatever daze she was having.
"…What was I doing again?" She asked, to which Blake simply pointed to the clipboard she was carrying. "Oh."
Fiona shrugged as if nothing had happened and continued on with her business.
"…Weird." Blake went back to her job as well.
Exhibit B:
Blake took the rest of the day off to hone in on her skills. And while they were as sharp as the blade she carried, there was always room for improvement.
At least that was the intendent idea. In reality, she just sat on top of one of the columns generated by the holographic training chamber while enjoying some reading. Turns out her friends had beat her to it and were already using the room.
No sparring, thankfully. Just some casual exercises here and there. Ren was meditating, Ruby was going laps around with her Semblance and Nora was launching some bouncing balls at Jaune with her hammer.
Given the opportunity, she sat right up there and read one of the previous entries of her favorite series. You know, the one where she had the idea for Jaune's haircut to begin with.
She had been lucky to find at least one copy in a bookstore situated in Mantle. That alone had offered her a gleam of hope that she could eventually rebuild her collection.
You'd think she would feel some sort of discomfort by reading a book of such nature in a public space in the presence of her friends, but she had been doing this exact same thing since Beacon so it was nothing new.
That aside, the main reason she was reading said book right there was related to the same boy who was currently getting balls deep in his training thanks to his partner.
"NORA, I SAID ONE AT THE TIME!"
"MY BAD!"
With everything else going on, Blake decided to look into the source material to see if there was any correlation to the strange interactions Jaune was getting lately. Hers included.
So yeah, she was basically reading it for research purposes. She was allowed to use that excuse.
However, her sensitive research would have to be postponed, for a pair of Specialists had entered the chamber.
"Hey there, pipsqueaks!" Announced Specialist Bree accompanied by Specialist Ederne. "How are you all enjoying one of our top-of-the-line training facilities?"
"Oh! This place is great!" Ruby was the first to respond. "It's amazing that you can personalize the structure of the whole room with Hardlight Dust."
"I can only imagine the cost of maintaining a chamber like this." Said Ren. "Beacon's budget only allowed for training drones at best, so the components used here must be exponentially expensive."
"That's Atlas for you." Responded Elm. "You won't find tech like this anywhere else."
"Yeah, what she said." Said Harriet. "Speaking of, I was going through the logs earlier, and from what I remember, none of you kids have scheduled any training sessions for today, so..."
"Mom says it's our turn to use the training chamber." Completed Elm. "So if you could all vacate the premises, we'd appreciate."
"Uh… Come again?" Ruby said.
"This isn't a lounge for you and your buddies to hang out." Said Harriet. "You have to fill in a form for a training session in order to use this room."
"And since we scheduled a session for just the two of us, you're all basically trespassing here." Elm said.
"…Are you two seriously doing the whole 'Bully' routine just so you can get rid of us and have this enormous room to yourselves?" Nora complained.
"Oh, c'mon. It's nothing like that." Explained Harriet. "This is just how things work around here. And besides, we had a stressful morning with five missions back-to-back and now we really feel like winding up for a bit."
"But you can't just throw us out like that. We got here first!" Argued Ruby. "How is that even fair?"
"Again, it's basic regulation. You should've known better." Said Harriet. "So unless you want to stick around and get caught by one of Elm's rockets, I suggest you all boogie."
"Nothing personal!" Elm shouted as she unbagged her rocket launcher.
Well, they certainly weren't lying about being stressed out. Blake ended up closing her book as both her training and impromptu research would have to wait.
"Hey, hang on a second." Jaune spoke out to the two Specialists. "I know we don't have any business being here at all, but could we at least compromise? I'm sure there's plenty of space for everyone."
Harriet looked over to him. "No offense boy, but I'm not in the mood to argue with small fry right now, so could you and your friends…"
Specialist Bree's words died as soon as she stared at him for more than a few seconds.
Jaune simply took his cue to continue. "Look, we promise to schedule our next session so this won't happen again. But since we still have a few routines left to finish, would it be okay if we shared this room for a bit? You two can have this side of the chamber while we take other. Sounds good?"
"I… Uhm…" Harriet responded to the best of her sudden limited ability. "Whatever. Just don't get in the way, okay?"
"We'll try not to." He responded. "Thanks."
After that, Jaune and the others moved to the other end of the chamber. Ruby jumped with joy and hugged him from behind.
"Way to go, BFF!" She said. "How did you do it?"
"Well, you know me." Boasted Jaune. "I simply stood my ground and- Wait, I thought Weiss was your BFF?"
"Oh. Yeah, don't tell her I said that."
"I'm bringin' dem balls!" Nora said.
Blake then shifted her attention back to the two Ace-Ops.
"…What was that?" Elm questioned the shorter Specialist.
Harriet turned to her partner. "What was what?"
"Why did you just let that shrimp talk you over?" Scoffed Elm. "Wait until I tell Marrow about this."
"Oh yeah? Why didn't you say anything to help then?"
Elm seemed like she was about to shoot back a response, but she couldn't for the life of her. "…I don't know."
Harriet annoyingly threw both arms as if to say 'fuck it' to whatever just happened. They proceed to unbag the rest of their gear for some casual training.
Blake didn't know how to properly process what she just saw, so she chose not to.
"Weird." She uttered and went back to the chapter of 'Knights of Lore' she left off.
I think that was the name.
Exhibit C:
"…And after the Captain helped her calm down, he then explained it how she finally unlocked her Semblance." Blake said.
It was past midnight when both her and Jaune were standing on top of a three-story building in the middle of Mantle, tasked of surveilling the streets past the city's curfew.
Occasionally during the night, a Grimm would sneak past the walls into the streets and lurk around the shadows searching for food, and wandering civilians often fell into that nomenclature.
And since not everyone obeyed the curfew enforced by the General, there they were. Not that Blake fully agreed with the idea of an enforced curfew to begin with, but Mantle's defenses were already stretched thin due to most of their resources being relocated to Amity.
And as always, Blake resorted into talking about that same book starring that same 'Pirate Woman' whenever she ran out of things to talk about with Jaune.
"So, they have Semblances in their world too?" He asked.
"Well, they're not really Semblances. The people from those kingdoms refer to them as Blessings. Like a contract with the gods many adventurers earn after sailing across the sea for long enough."
"Oh. Sounds… Overly religious?"
"That it does." She agreed. "Then again, their religion is real. So is ours, if you really think about it."
"And what can she do with it?"
"Well, she can essentially 'turn off' her senses and other systems in her body in exchange for greatly increasing her hearing. The more she turns off, the stronger her auditory system gets. She's also able to achieve echolocation in the same manner, but she has to go fully numb to do so. Her teammates of course make jokes at her expense, saying she goes into 'Cucumber Mode'."
"…Oh, I get it. Because she practically becomes as defenseless as a vegetable."
"Something like that. It is rather risky using it in a combat situation, but they make it work sometimes."
"Yeah, I see." Said Jaune with his back against the ledge of the rooftop. "I've been meaning to ask if I could borrow that book at some point. I'm really enjoying the characters from what you told me. Like this one teammate of her, the tall one who's weapon is a pickaxe. Forgot his name."
"I'll see into it after I finish revisiting it." Blake responded.
It was a good way to pass the time on long missions like this. And it felt great to talk about one of her books with someone else. Something that her own teammates weren't exactly too keen on.
The only exception she could think of was Ruby, who had read…
Blake had made the conscious decision to never bring that up with Ruby nor her sister. Most of the contents on those pages were enough for Yang to lock her in a box and test that old theory if she would be alive and dead at the same time.
That all aside, there was still the 'you-know-what' issue she was working with Jaune. So far, Blake found it much easier to hold a conversation with him while not maintaining eye contact (and no other contact whatsoever) with him. She at least made the effort to glance at him once in a while to not come off as a weirdo. Not that he would ever notice, but still.
Never minding that, she reached for her scroll in regards to their mission, but nothing urgent seemed to be happening. "Anything on your end?"
Jaune checked his too. "Not a word from Marrow. Yang?"
"She and Ruby reported to have chased another Sabyr down to an alley on the north side of the city about fifty minutes ago, but that's about it."
"Guess we got our work cut out for tonight, huh." He turned himself around and watched the empty street over the ledge. "Say, I'm surprised you're not with Yang right now. I was under the impression you'd be partnering up with her for tonight."
This was something Blake was expecting him to point out eventually. Fortunately, she had an excuse in store.
"I'm surprised you took this job at all. You have your own assignment with the elementary school tomorrow, just like you had it this morning, remember? I am just making sure you don't end up sleeping on the job."
"Oh, trust me. I'm hitting the bed right after this one." He assured. "Nothing wrong with staying up late for a quick buck, right?"
Just like the yawn he failed to conceal, Blake saw right through his act.
"Those children must look up a lot to you."
"I just don't wanna be all appearances, okay?" He sighed. "Sometimes they look at me as if I was a super-hero or something. I even had this one kid asking me if I had slayed a dragon. Not even a Grimm dragon, but like, an actual dragon."
"To be fair, you do look the part." Offered Blake, gesturing to his whole knightly look. "Still, doesn't mean you have to overwork yourself because you feel like you need to. You got nothing to prove, we've been over this."
"I… You're right. I wouldn't mind the whole super-hero thing, though. Hey, have I ever told you about the time I was the HuntsMan- THERE'S A GUY BEING CHASED DOWN THERE!"
"Wait, what were you saying?"
"Not the time!" Jaune pointed to the streets. "There's a guy running away from a Sabyr!"
"No, what was that about being the HuntsMan? I want to hear it."
"BLAKE!"
"Fine…" She gave in and went to the ledge, certain that Jaune was pulling a practical joke on her. Just who would even be unfortunate enough to run into a Grimm this late at night-
Ah shit, it was the dude with the purple beanie. What were the odds?
"Right!" Said Jaune. "We have to catch up to-!"
He didn't have the time to finish his sentence as Blake leapt off from the rooftop and used the ribbon from Gambol Shroud to swing on a lamppost.
"…It's cool, I'll take the stairs."
Meanwhile, dude with a purple beanie ran as if his life depended on it (mostly because it did), not even bothering to scream for help as that would take a lot of oxygen that he could be using for more running.
The frosted Sabyr ran on all fours over the streets, stumbling on some trash cans in its way. Things took a turn for the worse as the guy tripped over the sidewalk, making it all the easier for the Grimm to jump in and feast on his insides.
Purple beanie man looked up, paling in fear before the approaching Grimm. That was until a cat-eared Huntress landed on the creature with a sword piercing through it like butter.
The Sabyr that was threating his life not even ten seconds ago turned into mist before his eyes. He let out several breaths before he could assess what was happening.
"Are you okay?" The Huntress in question asked, offering a hand for him to get up.
The guy with the purple beanie refused her help and exasperatedly got up on his own, almost tripping on his own legs.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!" He let out an undignified yell, his breath reeking of cheap alcohol. "I swear, I go out drinking for one NIGHT and this is what happens!"
The individual wasn't as thankful as Blake hoped he'd be. "Citizen, if you could tone down-"
"Where are those fucking robots when you actually need them?!" His voice cracked. "I swear, next time anything inconvenient like this happens to me, I'm revolting against Atlas! Property damage be damned!"
"…I'd advise against that, man with a purple beanie."
"I HAVE I NAME, YOU KNOW?!"
"I'm sure you do."
It didn't take long until Jaune caught up to them. Blake turned as she saw the blonde jogging his way to the scene.
"Hey…" He huffed. "You did it! Good job."
"Thank you." She sheathed Gambol Shroud. "This man here claims to have been chased after-"
"Hey-hey, hey, hey, hang on…" The civilian interjected. "You're that Faunus chick from before! Did you cut your hair or something?"
Blake blinked at his statement. "…Please sir, if you could-"
"HAH!" He laughed. "Seriously?! First you talk shit about MY city and now you're working for us?! What, did the minimum wage here turned out be bigger than were you used to work?!"
Her only response was a very judgmental frown. It wasn't the first time someone happened to be blatantly racist towards her. Hell, it wasn't even the first time since she arrived in Mantle.
"…She just saved your life." Proclaimed Jaune. "Don't you think you should be at least thankful? Instead of making disrespectful comments like that?"
Purple beanie man stared unamused at him. "Sorry big guy, but I don't feel like being lectured by an off-duty street guard. So why don't you zip it and-"
"That's Huntsman for you, citizen." Jaune cut him off. "An official one at that. Same goes for her."
"Whatever dude." He said, letting out a hiccup. "I gotta get home before my wife starts throwing a fit. Since I'm the only one with a job here!" Another hiccup. "Some of us have to fight to keep our jobs, you know? Unlike Faunus here who probably got admitted because of some stupid quota!"
Purple beanie guy walked off with little to no urgency, the alcohol in his system affecting his balance as well as his brain, judging by the constant rambling.
Blake dared to glance at her partner, noticing the irritated expression on his face. She preventively stuck out her arm in front of Jaune, impeding him from going after the guy and giving him a piece of his mind.
"Blake…"
"Please don't be throwing him in a dumpster too. I don't think Weiss would appreciate the competition."
Jaune huffed. "How can you just let something like that slide?"
"Believe me, I got practice." She stated with zero humorous intention. "I was already mostly used to it even before I started wearing that bow."
He looked as though he wanted to say something apologetic, but a yawn got in the way. "Sorry… We've been here for too long."
Tired as he was, he could only afford to look sympathetically at her. Instinctively, she wanted to avoid looking at him eye-to-eye at the risk of being stuck in another trance. But for the first time that night, she decided to make an exception, if only to thank him for standing up on her behalf.
Only for a jet engine to roar across the air, breaking away the momentary silence.
They both looked over to the sudden source of green light. Penny, the protector of Mantle herself, landed gracefully on the asphalt with open arms.
"Greetings, honorary Huntsmen Blake and Jaune!" She exclaimed. "I have received readings of distress in this area. Are you requiring assistance?"
"…No, I believe we have everything taken care of." Responded Blake. "How are things going around in Mantle?"
"All sectors were successfully secured! I also came here to inform you two that your shift is over. It is recommended that you return to the Academy at pronto for a well-deserved night of rest!" She gleefully swung her right arm around with a closed fist.
"Now you're speaking my…" Jaune yawned yet again. Blake feared he wouldn't make it to the Academy in time.
"Say, uhm…" Blake spoke out to Penny. "Would you mind giving us a ride to the nearest transport center? We're both exhausted from tonight."
"Oh! Surely!" She put on a pilot cap. "Welcome one and all at Polendina Airlines! How may I help you today?"
"Just getting us to the bullheads is quite enough." Said Jaune, displaying his signature smile at her. An orange light from a lamppost above him shining over his hair. "Thanks for looking out for us tonight, Penny. I don't know what we would do without your help."
Penny stared intently at Jaune before responding. Is what I would've said if she had responded at all. Instead, she continued to look at his face without letting out so much as a blink.
"…Penny?" He asked.
Again, nothing. Penny continued to stand there as a statue.
Now concerned, Blake slowly approached her. She proceeded to give a slight tap on Penny's shoulder.
Both her arms went limp and her head crooked slightly to the side. Her legs weren't affected though, so fortunately she was standing still.
Blake noticed a message written on both her eyes over a blue background.
"A problem has been detected and PENNY 2.0 has been shut down to prevent damage to your Penny." She recited out loud. Figures. This is what you get for rebuilding your one-of-a-kind Atlesian weapons system with Schneendows XP.
"…Weird." Stated Blake. "Now what?"
"Maybe we should take her back to Pietro's workshop? It's close by." Suggested Jaune, letting out another yawn. "Think he'll let us crash there for the night?"
And crash there they did.
"Blake?" Nora snapped her fingers. "Blakey? You staring at him again?"
Blake snapped back into the realm of living, I.E., that same street corner beside Nora while watching over Jaune on his job. "No! No. I swear, I was having a flashback."
"Yeah, that's what you said last time." Said Nora. "You gotta keep together! You have a date with him tonight, remember?"
"You're right, I really should-" She blinked. "I mean… Date? What date? Who said anything about date?"
"Really… That's odd." Said Nora with both hands on her hips. "I could've sworn he made a reservation for this fancy-ass place. What was the name again? 'Lune de Corail'?"
She winced. "How did you…"
"His scroll's password is still the date of our initiation. Back when our teams were first formed."
That didn't seem like a very secure password to Blake. It was sweet, don't get her wrong, but not at all secure.
"Hey, cheer up!" Nora suggested. "I think you two being a couple is the cutest thing ever! Aren't you excited for your date?"
Blake hmphed. "As if you could call it that."
"What do you mean by- Oh…" Nora's brain seemed to have put two and two together. "Let me guess, he thinks you two are going on a friendly trip to town?"
"…Pretty much." She confessed. "I'm honestly afraid to bring that up to him at this point."
"Well, my dear Faunus activist with questionable literary choices. Whatever it may be, I want you to keep one thing in mind." She pointed at Jaune from across the block. "You break his heart, and I'll-"
"Break my legs." Completed Blake. "Yes, I figured as much."
"…What? No. Why would I do that?"
She stared confusedly at the hammer-wielder. "…Isn't that your thing? Your catchphrase, even?"
"My 'catchphrase'." Paraphrased Nora. "When did I ever say that?"
"Well, there was this time at Beacon-"
"Beacon?! Girl, that was volumes ago. I must've said that, like, once!"
"…Oh." She paused. "Really?"
"Yeah, really!" Nora groaned. "Look, I know we don't talk much, but I'm really trying to help you here. For starters, I need you to overcome your thing for Jaune's hair."
Blake frowned, her Faunus ears turning flat. "I most certainly do Not have a thing for his hair."
"Why not?" Nora genuinely asked. "Everyone else does. Haven't you noticed?"
Everyone except Nora herself, apparently. Against all odds, she appeared to be immune to the haircut's mysterious influence. Insert overused joke about how Nora is only attracted to Ren here.
"I appreciate the concern, but I can handle this on my own." Stated Blake. "We fought a literal Leviathan on our way here. Sitting at a table with Jaune for dinner isn't going to be the death of me."
"Oh yeah? Can you really endure more than half-hour with him for a romantic meal without succumbing to his handsome haircut? Cuz unless you're blindfolded for the whole thing, chances are you're not gonna make it past the appetizers."
Blake really wanted to dismiss that whole repertoire as Nora being Nora. But with a single glance at Jaune from across the block, she felt a wince creeping through her body just by glimpsing at his gold-spiked hair. She turned back to the ginger who held a condescending smirk on her face.
"Alright, fine." Huffed Blake. "Let's say I buy your theory for a very generous millisecond. What exactly is your plan here?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Nora began to tug on Blake's white sleeves. "Let's get you back to the Academy so we can prep you for your big date."
"It- It's not a date!" She protested.
Across the block, Jaune saw as Blake unwillingly followed Nora while being dragged by her right arm.
"Huh… Weird." He shrugged and went on with his job.
Blake looked back at him once again. Maybe Nora had been rubbing off on her, maybe everyone else was acting strange on their own accord, or maybe...
'Maybe it's the haircut?'
