Jaune idly watched as the bullheads landed and took off from the academy pad. Six O'clock was the agreed time they'd meet up for the date but she was currently five minutes late. Jaune didn't peg Neon as a very punctual girl but the wait was still driving his nerves crazy. He had showered and groomed himself before showing up just a little early as not to miss her. He kept thinking about anything he could have missed or gotten wrong. Why was this so stressful? Weren't dates supposed to be fun?
He took a deep calming breath of the cool evening air to help relax himself and as soon as he released it he saw her. She hadn't been lying when she said she was going to be dressed to kill. She wore a black minidress that gave him a very good look at her legs and a tasteful if somewhat low neckline that exposed enough cleavage to draw his eye. The hem of the dress was frilled with punk style tears as if it had one been a full length dress but the tears revealed a bright rainbow of neon colors. It had an effect that drew Jaune's eyes to her legs which he found brilliantly unfair. Knee high leather boots with rainbow laces adorned her legs and her red and green hair was down.
Jaune took in an eyeful of her and tried to think of how best to greet her. "Wow!" it was all he managed to stay to her as she approached.
Neon grinned widely and did a twirl for him giving Jaune a view from all sides. "Wow yourself Mr. Sharp!" she said closing the distance to him and looking him up and down with a very approving eye. "Look at you rocking those fine threads, don't I feel special."
Jaune scratched the back of his head, "You really like it?" he asked her, "I was a little worried."
"I told you to suit up and you did, you look really sexy in a suit," she told him, taking hold of his arm and pulling him towards the nearest bullhead accepting passengers.
"Thanks," Jaune said as she led him, "You look amazing."
"Amazing?!" she said with a teasing pout feigning disappointment in his choice of word. "I was going for hot."
"Trust me you nailed it," Jaune assured her with a nervous laugh, "You look hot, like… amazingly hot."
Neon grinned in satisfaction, "Good," she said smugly.
Jaune couldn't help but grin. She was actually happy to be on this date with him. He felt like that shouldn't be a surprise to him considering she had been the one to ask him out but seeing her face light up when he called her hot seemed to ease his apprehension.
They stepped aboard the bullhead together and sat right next to each other hand in hand. Neon leaned against him making herself comfortable against him as she settled her head against her shoulder. The bullhead took off and began flying them over Atlas as it began to ferry them down to Mantle.
"Is the suit new?" Neon asked clearly, comfortably against him.
"Yeah, how could you tell?" he asked.
"Because it still has a tag attached," she told him with a giggle, she took hold of his sleeve where a single tag hung from the buttons of his cuff. Jaune felt himself go flush with embarrassment, why did it have to come with so many tags?
Neon took hold of the tag and ripped it off for taking a glance at the price. Neon whistled in appreciation, "Whoa big spender," she said appreciatively, "you spent that much on lil ole me?"
"Well I didn't exactly pack a suit when I came to Atlas," Jaune explained, "and I figured if you were going to be dressed up so I'd probably get something nice."
"Well color me flattered," Neon smiled and Jaune felt his embarrassment fade as she tucked the tag to his jacket in his breast pocket.
In little time the bullhead managed to complete the short journey landing in Mantle. It didn't take long for the two of them to catch a cab and they both stepped into the back seat. "Drive us to the Beats nightclub please," Neon told the cabbie as they buckled up.
They watched the lights and the nightlife of Mantle pass them by as the taxi navigated the roads. "I haven't really had much of a chance to soak up any of Mantle's nightlife," Jaune mused aloud gazing at the various clubs and bars lit up in stark contrast to how he usually viewed them in the day when he helped escort the kids to school, "I really should try coming down more in my off hours."
"Oh you should," Neon told him, "take it from a local this city never sleeps so you can always find something to do."
Jaune nodded, "well I look forward to seeing it for myself tonight," he said flashing a smile in Neon's direction, she returned it with an ecstatic grin.
The taxi parked on the street in front of the nightclub and Jaune took in the sight of it. Beats as the glowing multicolored neon sign read above it with holographic projectors showing the image of amplifiers pulsing with a rhythmic beat.
Stepping inside past a muscle bound bouncer and through a soundproof door Jaune's senses were assaulted. The loud techno music was the first thing that struck him, it was like being submerged into pure noise, and the bass was especially heavy rattling his teeth and bones.
The flashing multicolored lights illuminated the dance floor where an army of clubbers were already at work. They looked like a writhing mass as they crowded the area and the bar was no different with a crowd of people packed around it trying to get a drink.
Neon turned to him with a grin and said something he couldn't make out over the overly loud music.
"WHAT?" Jaune yelled to her, barely able to even hear his own voice over the oppressive din of techno music.
"YOU KNOW HOW TO DANCE RIGHT?" she repeated again but louder for him.
"NOT LIKE THAT." Jaune answered looking again at the crown moving.
Neon grabbed his hand, "IT'S EASY, I'LL SHOW YOU."
He let her take the lead as she led him directly to the crowded dance floor. It felt like being pulled into pure chaos for him as everywhere someone was moving to the beat. Neon faced him and started moving with the music. She was very clearly in her element, the close proximity of the other dancers and the smell of their sweat clearly didn't perturb her like it did him.
Jaune had no idea how to move to this kind of music. He'd learned to dance thanks to classes he took with his sisters but that was different. That was ballroom dancing and he had no idea how to match this. He took a moment to observe her movements and mirrored them bouncing his shoulders with the beat.
He found himself getting into a rhythm with her and while it wasn't his type of dancing or music he at least was able to get a feel for the movement. Neon was at least right that it wasn't hard to get into this form of dancing, it wasn't so much the dance itself that bothered him but the atmosphere.
He felt a few people bump against him and while Jaune never considered himself claustrophobic or whatever one called a fear of crowds but this was certainly testing his comfort levels. It seemed that Neon at least saw that he was having trouble getting into it.
His date stepped closer still moving to the beat. Jaune couldn't deny that she was quite enticing to watch dance, she flowed with the DJ's tune better than anyone around her and the way the frill of her skirt swayed drew his eye as the colored frills seemed to glow beneath the neon lights and her cat tail swayed in time just as much as any part of her. She put her hands on his shoulders and danced intimately close to him.
"You're doing good," she praised him. She still was having to raise her voice to be heard over the deafening music but this close at least he could hear her somewhat normally. "You're a little stiff though."
Jaune nodded to show he heard her, he didn't want to be hoarse by the end of the night because he had to yell just about everything he said to her.
"Just relax," she told him, maintaining contact, her dark green eyes met his and held his gaze. "Just listen to the music and let it surround and flow through you, and don't worry about everyone else around you," she advised, "just feel their energy and focus on me."
She was close and more than once Jaune felt her body glide against his. He could smell her perfume, it was some subtly sweet tropical scent that was heavenly compared to the lingering smell of sweat that hung around the humid dance floor. She took hold of his hands and gently guided them to her waist, "oh and you can touch me if you want," she told him, "just don't get too handsy."
Jaune nodded dancing and swaying to the beat with her. Standing with her much closer he was at least able to ignore the other dancers and focus on his date. He definitely was enjoying his hands on her tiny waist and hips as she moved them with practiced movement. The bass still boomed over the rest of the music and it stressed him out giving him a little headache but he forced himself to ignore his discomfort to continue dancing.
The songs changed up into a faster and more erratic pace and the crowd matched the new pace moving with the speedy beat. Neon stepped away out of his touched writhing and shaking expertly to DJ's beat.
Jaune continued to move as best he could. He was certainly still stiff but he was starting to ease and he didn't mind too much as long as he got to watch Neon move. She radiated this aura of freedom as she danced answering only to the rhythm.
A guy bumped into him and sent him away as he took Jaune's place in front of Neon. Some guy maybe a decade older than him moved sloppily to the beat and leered down at Neon as he danced in front of her looming close.
Neon kept moving with the music but moved her head to look around him at Jaune. The other dancers around her were too focused on their own dancing to notice the faunus girl trying to get around and back to her date.
"HOW ABOUT YOU DANCE WITH ME," the stranger yelled to her slurring his words at her.
"NO THANK YOU," Neon said trying to sound polite despite needing to shout over the "I'M WITH A DATE."
"JUST ONE DANCE!" The guy insisted, refusing to move and looming closer.
Jaune stepped up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "SHE'S WITH ME," Jaune told him, he didn't want to sound confrontational but when you need to raise your voice over deafening music it is difficult, "LET ME DANCE WITH MY DATE."
The guy turned on Jaune and he caught the strong sickening stench of booze on his breath. "FUCK OFF DUDE!" The guy slurred at him slapping his palm against Jaune's chest, knocking him back a step.
"CALM DOWN," Jaune said to him, putting his hands up to show he didn't want any trouble. There was no point and nothing to prove by provoking him. A drunk civilian was hardly a threat, even to Jaune and he had no doubt Neon would put him in his place if he tried touching her but the last thing he wanted tonight was a fight.
The drunk guy however didn't see it that way. "I SAID FUCK OFF!" he yelled swinging a fist at Jaune. He simply stepped back avoiding the sloppy punch with ease and keeping his hands raised. The guy however kept pressing his attacks and Jaune found himself being pressed into the mass of bodies that started to clear away as they witnessed the guy swinging at Jaune.
Once he felt his back was against the crowd circled around him Jaune stopped and let the blow come. His meaty fist connected with Jaune's jaw but his aura flared to life shielding him from the blow. The drunk fell back on his ass screaming in pain and clutching his bleeding hand, Jaune saw that his knuckles here warped from the punch while he on the other hand had hardly felt anything.
Jaune looked up at Neon who looked more annoyed at the guy than worried for Jaune. She watched the drunk cradle his broken hand on the clear dance floor. The music stopped and everything went quiet, it was like surfacing from water but the sudden quiet was deafening in it's own strange way. Before Jaune could even think of anything to say to Neon a couple of bouncers parted the crowd of dancers to the clearing. A large bald headed man took a look at the man whimpering on the floor and Jaune standing over him.
"You're out of here!" The bouncer said, jerking his thumb towards the exit, "both of you!"
"I didn't hit him," Jaune explained to him.
"That's right he didn't do anything," Neon spoke up for him, "he's a huntsman he broke his hand on his aura."
"Don't care you're out," the bouncer said as one picked the drunk up off the floor. "We don't want anyone getting into fights, leave or there will be trouble."
Jaune sighed and flashed an apologetic look in Neon's direction. "Alright alright I'll leave," Jaune said, even if he doubted a few bouncers could force him out there was no reason to be difficult. He turned to leave and the crowd parted to give him space, to his relief Neo followed him out as he stepped out into the street and the cool night air.
The ambient sounds of the city was a comfort compared to the oppressively loud or the chilling quiet he had just escaped. The normal street light and neon signs were much easier on his eyes and the air didn't carry the sweat. Jaune felt his headache ease and found himself grateful to be out of the club, though he couldn't help but feel guilty that the dance was cut short just as he was starting to ignore everything else and enjoy himself.
"I'm sorry," he told Neon as they walked down the sidewalk together, "looks like our date is a bust."
"Don't apologize, it's that drunk jerk's fault," Neon told him taking hold of his arm, "I'm sorry things got out of hand."
"It's fine," Jaune told her, "but it's way too early for our date to end."
"I know of some other nightclubs," Neon suggested to him as they walked the streets of Mantle together, it didn't seem to Jaune that they were heading anywhere in particular just walking.
Jaune shuddered, "If you don't mind… I'd rather pass. Don't get me wrong you were a treat to dance with, but the rest of it isn't really for me."
"Was it the crowd?" Neon asked him.
"The crowd, the lights, and especially the loud music, I like techno well enough but it's hard to appreciate it when it's blowing my eardrums out. And I felt like I was going to shred my vocal cords just trying to talk to you."
Neon smirked, "I'm good at reading lips, and I've suffered enough hearing loss in those clubs not to be bothered, I love feeling like I'm surrounded by the music but I guess it's a little much for a first timer. We don't need to go to a club."
"Thanks," Jaune said, he could tell she was a little disappointed but the idea of plunging back into that noise was the last thing he wanted to do on his date.
"Mind if I roll?" Neon asked him.
"Sure," Jaune answered her not quite sure what she meant but she rose a couple inches as her knee high boots deployed a set of roller skates letting her casually roll beside him. "Are you ever not wearing skates?" Jaune asked her amused that even her fashionable boots were roller skates.
"Not if I can help it," Neon told him with a smirk, "I can hardly remember a time before I was rolling my way through these streets."
"What got you into it?" He asked her as they continued to aimlessly traverse the city streets.
"Friends from my neighborhood, we used to all skate our way to school. It was pretty far away and our neighborhood wasn't safe, not to mention our parents usually didn't have time to take us to school. I also skated when I got a job as a paper girl when I was seven, I was making the money to help my mom with the bills but years later I learned later that she had actually saved every lien I earned so I could go to a Huntress prep school."
"Wow," Jaune said, "that's impressive!"
Neon nodded, "yup, skates definitely got me where I am today, they're just an extension to me now."
Jaune smiled, it was nice to be able to talk to her. "Sounds like you worked hard as a kid," he mused trying to imagine just how much anyone would have to work and save to get into a huntress prep school.
"Oh sure but it's worth it, and I get to live it up now," she explained to him, "My neighborhood was poor and full of faunus so I learned how to protect myself and stay fast on my feet early on."
"So why did you choose to become a huntress?" Jaune asked her, he found it curious that her mother had spent so long saving what could have been very helpful money away.
"They were heroes in my neighborhood," Neon explained, "whenever we had trouble with grimm or some criminals which was often we posted a job but scraping up enough lien to make it worth it was hard, but other faunus huntsmen and huntresses always accepted the job and helped out for what little we could offer them, some didn't even take the money, I wanted so badly to be just like them."
"I can see why," Jaune told her.
"What about you tough guy?" Neon asked him. "It's your turn to share, why did you choose to be a huntsman?"
Jaune released a sigh, "I wanted to be a hero," he told her, "I know it's kind of dumb but I thought being a hero would be awesome and I liked the idea of helping people, pulse I figured it was in my blood."
"You're blood?" Neon asked.
"My family has been made up of prominent huntsmen for generations," Jaune explained, "I won't go into detail but I wanted to live up to their legacy."
"And now?" Neon asked.
"Now I just want to save people," Jaune told her, "I don't care about being a hero or my family history, ever since Beacon all that other stuff seems so small to me."
Neon nodded. They walked together for a bit in a comfortable silence, Neon still held his arms as she rolled next to him. Eventually Jaune stopped and looked around the unfamiliar street, "where are we going?" he asked.
Neon giggled, "Nowhere at the moment, just wandering and talking I guess, not that I mind."
"It is nice," Jaune agreed, "but I think I owe you a better date than just getting kicked out of a club and wandering the streets."
"Don't sell yourself short," Neon said, "I'm having fun just talking, but since dance clubs aren't your scene what would be your ideal date?"
Jaune shrugged, "I don't know, this is the first real date I've been on."
"Oh come on," Neon said, "I'm sure you've put some thought in what you'd do if you went out with a girl, what do you want to do?"
He had of course thought about going on a date before but most of his fantasies had involved the girl and not so much how they were passing time together. He just imagined a night of pleasant conversation, some casual flirting and maybe a nice kiss of if he was lucky. But he remembered his one plan when he tried asking Weiss out.
"How about dinner and a movie?" Jaune suggested, he knew it sounded lame but honestly it sounded like a perfect date to him, it was simple and he liked the idea of that.
Neon nodded and pulled on his arm to turn down another street, "I'm not hungry, I was planning on working up an appetite dancing, so how about the movie first?"
"Ok lead the way," Jaune said.
Neon showed him the way through the streets showing him the way to the movie theater and pointing out occasional landmarks on the way. They looked at the selection of movies while they waited in line agreeing on a science fiction action horror. Jaune paid for the tickets and the concessions, Neon told him that he didn't need to pay for everything but he insisted.
They took their seats and watched as a starship crew battled a group of aliens that had infiltrated their ship. They snacked on a tub of popcorn and candy and shared a large soda. Neon rested her head on his shoulder as they watched what was supposed to be a scary action movie but was honestly too cheesy and cliche to be properly enjoyed, Neon and him only laughed at the poorly designed aliens and whispered to each other about how dumb the entire crew was. The rest of the audience didn't seem to appreciate them laughing at the fake gore and badly shot action scenes but it was so horribly bad it was difficult for them to restrain themselves.
Once the movie and they left they spotted a Mistrali restaurant across the street. They ordered several sushi rolls and a couple bowls of miso soup together eating as they continued laughing about the movie.
"They never just shot the damn aliens," Jaune chuckled pouring her a cup of green tea, "they kept worrying their guns would blow a hole in the hull of their ship, why even have them then? Or at least have weapons that wouldn't do that."
Neon giggled, "we should have tried going to that romantic comedy."
Jaune picked up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks, "You were the one that said it looked boring," he told her, plopping the unagi roll into his mouth.
"Yeah but we could have made out during a boring movie," she said, flashing him a sly from across the table.
Jaune choked on his bite of sushi and grabbed his water glass to help wash it down. His face felt hot, "I… uh… I suppose the rest of the audience would have appreciated that," he stammered.
Neon giggled as she took up her own chopsticks, "I thought about making a move after that annoying comic relief guy got killed and I knew the movie was a bust."
"Why didn't you?" Jaune asked her nervously.
Neon shrugged as she picked a roll up off her plate, "I could see you were invested in the movie," she answered, "plus I wasn't really sure you would go for it."
Jaune wasn't really quite sure how he would have reacted himself, he did feel a little dumb that he had apparently been too engrowsed in that bad movie to notice that Neon had other things in mind. "I'm sorry," Jaune said embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it," she told him, taking a bite of her sushi.
Once the bill came Neon insisted she pay, she argued that since the club was a bust and he paid for the movie and a small fortune in concessions that dinner was on her. Jaune had at least been able to make her agree to split the bill.
"You're so old fashioned," Neon chided playfully as they stepped out into the streets.
"It's how I was raised," Jaune explained falling into step beside her, "Dad always told me to be a gentleman, and my mom and sisters definitely made sure I took that to heart." He fished his scroll from his pocket and checked the time, it was just over an hour till midnight.
"It's almost midnight, I guess it's time to get back," he said, surprised that so much time had actually passed.
Neon sighed, "I suppose so," she said taking hold on his arm as they started working their way to the bullhead pickup.
"You cold?" Jaune asked her as they walked.
"You gonna give me your blazer? Like they show in the movies?" She asked him with a giggle.
Jaune scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I was thinking about it."
She laughed, "You really are a gentleman," she told him.
"Yeah I guess it is kind of silly," Jaune admitted to him.
"No I like it," Neon told him, "It's nice."
"Really?" Jaune asked her.
"Trust me I love it," she assured him, "now hand over that jacket."
Jaune chuckled and obeyed pulling his blazer off and draping it over her petite shoulders. Neon pulled it around herself as she rolled on her skates next to him. "You certainly know how to make a girl feel special Jaune."
"Uh… thanks, I don't really feel like I've done anything," he told her.
"Then it must be a part of your natural charm," Neon told him.
"That's flattering."
"I meant it to be," Neon told him with a wink, "but it's true, I'm actually shocked that I'm the first girl to ask you out, you may not have been a hit with the ladies while you were at Beacon but you've become a heartthrob for sure."
"I'm starting to think you just like seeing me blush," Jaune told her.
"I'm serious… I overheard Nora talking about those moms giving you casseroles and other home cooked meals," she explained.
"I told her," Jaune sighed, "it's not like that."
"I think it might be," Neon told him, "If half of what she's said is true Jaune I am sure it's exactly like that, take it from a woman we have a sense for these things. You better watch yourself around them."
Jaune chuckled still doubting that Nora and now Neon apparently were right about the mothers. They were just nice and grateful to him. "Alright, I'll watch myself." he promised her.
They made their way to the bullheads and boarded for their short flight back to the academy. They disembarked together and walked their hallway back to their dormitories, Jaune saw her all the way to her team's dorm room. Neon teased him again for being a gentleman the whole way.
"I guess this is it," Jaune said as they stopped at her door.
"I guess so," Neon said with a smile, "this was nice."
"Really?" Jaune asked her.
"It was a good date," Neon assured him, "it wasn't my style at all but I had a lot of fun, it was different than my usual dates."
"How are your usual dates?" he asked her.
"Usually spent in loud nightclubs, working up a sweat on those dance floors," she explained to him, "And usually staying out until the early hours of the morning, usually I'm not home until dawn."
"Woah," Jaune said looking away awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."
"Don't sweat it, we just move at different speeds," she explained to him, "I asked you out so I could get to know you."
"And what do you think?" Jaune asked her.
"I think we're two really different people," she told him, "You're a nice guy, but I like loud nightclubs and dancing the night away."
Jaune chuckled, "Yeah that's not my style at all," Jaune agreed with her assessment, "I may not have been on many dates but I think movie theaters, long walks, dinner and home a little after midnight is just my kind of date."
Neon nodded, "and that's fine, but I think I'd like a boyfriend who would like to go clubbing with me all night and dance his ass off with me."
"That's fair," Jaune agreed, "I think I'd like someone who goes at my pace too."
Neon grinned, "For the record you're taking this better than a lot of other guys," she explained to him.
Jaune shrugged, "You're right… This was fun but I just don't see us working out. But if you ever want to have a quiet night at the movies or get some dinner I'm there."
"I might take you up on that," she said shrugging off his blazer and taking in her hand. "Here's your jacket."
Jaune reached out to accept it but she leaned forward and raised herself on her tiptoes. Her lips brushed against Jaune's cheek as she let him take his jacket. She pulled back leaving him a little stunned and red faced.
"Goodnight Jaune," Neon told him, giving him a wave as she opened the door to her team's dorm room, "I'll see you for training, text me if you need me."
"Goodnight," Jaune echoed as she watched her go. He felt his cheek, it felt warm where she laid her lips on him. He threw his blazer over his shoulder and walked back to his team's dorm room. He felt light on his feet as he walked and replayed the night's events in his mind. Even though there wasn't going to be a second date, and even though the night had had some road bumps he felt great.
He opened his dorm room and stepped in. Ren was sitting at his desk cleaning his twin pistols running a swab through the barrel as they were disassembled in front of him. Nora sat on her bunk with a magazine and her headphones. She turned to him the minute he opened the door.
"You're back! How'd it go?" Nora asked him, "are you two going out now?"
Jaune shook his head as he sat down on his bunk removing his shoes, "No were just friends," Jaune told her.
"Did anything go wrong?" Ren asked, him settling the barrel of StormFlower down on the cleaning mat.
Jaune shook his head, "A few snags here and there but it was great."
"So it was a good date?" Nora asked.
Jaune grinned, "it was a great date."
Hope you all enjoyed this weeks chapter. This one was a pleasure to write if I'm being honest. Things may not be working out for Jaune and Neon in this story but I certainly think it has potential in another story. I'm certainly openminded to writing a different fic for these two there isn't enough content with the two of them. Is there a name for that ship? Anyways please review and leave me with your thoughts snd opinions. I'd like to thank MidKnightMoonglow99, MajorBrony95, DrknssRukes1 and Firefly25 for all their help, input and ideas.
Hope you all enjoyed reading this week's chapter and I hope to see you next week.