Same night.
City of Vale, central park.
My belief in you.
"Man, I knew boxing was brutal and all, but that's still pretty hard-core I had to visit the hospital after my first practice," He remarked, carefully pinching his patched up nose.
She offered him a compassionate look. "Actually…well, I mean boxing is brutal and stuff, but trust me, todays case was a shitty luck on your part more than anything. Baby face Ippo' punching power is simply over the roof. It's crazy, I tell you," She emphasized, paused for a moment and sighed, scratching her head. "But really, the one who's at fault is actually my dad. I mean, I know better than anyone he can be crazy and brutal with his demands from a fighter-he taught me how to fight, after all-but even I think he really went over the top with putting you up against someone like Ippo right from the get go," She said, gently allowing her fingertips slide across the length of his nose.
He smiled cheekily. "Would you look at that? Is it actually sympathy I'm hearing?"
She grabbed him by the nose.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch-I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!"
She giggled for a moment or two, and then obliged to his pleads.
"I've actually sparred the guy a couple of times myself, so I definitely know the kind of monster he is."
He continued to soothe the newly inflicted pain away, then felt his hand being brushed aside as she took on that duty herself.
"How was it?"
She let out a humorless snicker. "I was pissing blood for a day or two."
He cringed.
"Ew, that just sounds nasty. And painful. Disgusting as well. Scary too, now that I think about it."
She chuckled, making him ponder; perhaps, worrying over a broken nose was actually trivial in comparison.
"You really had it harsh as well, though."
"Eh," He shrugged. "Now that my nose's patched up, I think I'm okay," He said, his tone true to his words.
She inspected his face for a moment longer, then smiled and parted her hand from his face.
"I hope so."
"I am!" He chirped, making a comically serious salute, earning a giggle from her.
"Okay, okay. I trust you," She said, and he relented his silly act. Most of it, anyways, since a glimmer in his eyes remained. Then again, it could have been something else entirely, she wasn't hundred percent sure.
"…"
A brief pause between them, he laid back a little and closed his eyes, enjoying the chilly summer night's breeze.
She did the same, extending the moment for a tad bit longer.
"…"
"Jaune?"
"Hmm?"
"You're not already regretting it, right?"
He opened his eyes.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
He looked to his right, to her gorgeous figure and moved his palm just a bit closer to hers.
His blue hopeful.
"In the ring, did I…well, did I look at least a tiny bit cool?"
She opened her eyes.
"No."
He looked away.
She tucked her hand under his chin and forced him to look back.
"You looked awesome in there, so get that right, Blondey." She smiled, he smiled back, her smile turned into a grin and so did his.
"I did?"
"For sure."
He thought for a moment, leaned back even further, but instead of closing his eyes, looked up the night sky.
"I guess I did good then," He reflected calmly, his blue distant.
When she rested herself against his side, however, the focus quickly returned.
"I just really, really didn't want to disappoint you." He admitted, earning a curious look from her.
"Why?"
"I don't know. I…I guess I just really wanted you to see my better side or something."
She thought for a moment, then pointed her finger up to the night sky.
"See those stars up there? Which one do you think you are?"
"The smallest one." He answered as if to himself, only then his blue meeting the one above.
"No. You're the one which isn't visible at all, meaning you've barely tapped and uncovered the potential you have," She said, their looks coming together.
"And how can you be so sure? Or no, why am I so sure you're sure?" He asked in full seriousness, bending forward to rest his elbows on knees.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "Well, it could be because I'm blunt with people. If I think they suck at something, I have no problem to tell them so, if I believe they're good, okay, I'll be the first one to praise them. Something like that," She explained, making him ponder just briefly.
"That sounds about right," He said with a knowing smile.
She stared at him voicelessly for a moment, then adjusted her position to rest against him again.
Plenty of words lingered behind closed lips, but instead of voicing them, he carefully got hold of her hand and waited.
"…"
The faintest of blush disappeared, he softly smiled and rested his head atop of hers.
"I just remembered; I forgot to properly answer your question."
"About you having regrets already?"
"Yea."
"And?"
"I don't. It's way too early for that. At least allow me to fail miserably a couple of times before I start to regret something," He said half-jokingly, making them both chuckle just briefly.
"No worries. I'll be there to pick up and slap you when you do."
"Ouch. Will I really deserve a slap at the times like that?"
"And also being reprimanded."
"…You're evil."
She laughed so heartily, he couldn't resist not joining in himself, even if her presented notions most certainly worried him.
"Okay, okay. If I'll feel like it, I'll give you a hug or something as well," She added, and he figured that sounded a bit more fair.