Hey, guys. Sorry about the late update. My backlog, which I mentioned in the previous chapter, actually ended last week. Between finals, packing, and a bunch of other crap, I wasn't able to get an update out on time, and I apologize for that.
On the plus side, I am now a college graduate. My plans for the future involve saving up money for the next year, trying to get some stuff published, and traveling to Europe with the money I save up. Since I won't have classes to worry about, I'll have time to update fics quicker. I also plan on starting a account, where I'll give out rewards and sneak peeks of some original works. Another exciting update is that I plan on opening for commissions for the first time ever soon. I just need to figure out a good payment method (since sucks) and a good price system. So, stay tuned for updates on that.
In the meantime, enjoy this next chapter.
The smell of DAP overwhelmed the senses and caused Pyrrha's nose to burn. She was thankful for the fact that Barty's garage at least had decent ventilation. After carefully sanding her piece of PVC pipe, she smeared the smelly substance onto the rough plastic and the foam she would be attaching to it.
Jaune was in a similar situation as he worked on a new blue sword. His nose wrinkled as he checked the DAP. Once it dried partially, so that it was tacky and sticky, he draped the foam over his sanded pipe lengthwise, so that it folded over the tip and ran up and down both sides, making the first curve of his sword. He checked the hilt, which was still drying. "If this one turns out good, you can use my old blue, if you want," he said as he used a clamp to keep the foam tightly attached to the PVC. "Javies are okay at short distances, but not quite as good as a sword."
"Thank you," Pyrrha said. "I hope to try making a blue of my own during the next building session, but I figured that my javelin and shield were enough for this one."
A sizeable number of people had come to Barty's garage that Sunday for the building session. For ten dollars, Barty allowed access to his equipment and supplies, and cut the PVC pipes using an electric saw. Most of the newbies were making blue swords, but there were some exceptions. Pyrrha had decided on a javelin and a circular punch shield, Ren was making a pair of daggers, and Nora was trying to make a blue battle axe. Sun had wanted to make a staff or a set of nunchucks, but neither one of those weapons was approved, so he settled with a standard pair of blue swords.
After clamping the end of her javelin to secure the foam to the pipe, Pyrrha leaned against Jaune's side, smiling as a cool breeze came through the window, temporarily overriding the smell of DAP. "Will we be fighting with our new weapons once they're done?"
"Afraid not," Barty cut in as he walked toward the electric saw with still more pipes to prepare. "You'll need to let the DAP sit overnight. Twelve hours at least, otherwise the weapon could fall apart with a hard enough hit."
"So, I'm hearing 'impromptu hitting each other session before class tomorrow,' is that right?" Nora asked, glancing at the others with a hopeful grin.
"That would involve getting up early on a Monday, though," Jaune reminded her as he wrapped an arm around Pyrrha's shoulders. "How about in the evening after class?" He rested his cheek on top of Pyrrha's head and closed his eyes contentedly.
"Post on the forum if you are planning an impromptu session," Barty advised. "Most of the members on campus are happy to come out for some extra fighting."
"I'm game," Sun said. "My last class ends at four. Think you can get Blake out, Nora?"
"I might. It's not easy, but she's coming out of her shell."
"Cool. No pressure, though. I know that the quickest way to turn off an introvert is to bug her constantly."
"They can become immune. Take me, for example," Ren said, casting a teasing glance in Nora's direction.
Nora pouted and stuck out her tongue. "Jerk!"
Ren smirked and lightly tapped her nose. "Boop," he muttered.
"H-Hey! That's my word," Nora protested, her face flushing. She hoped that Ren wouldn't notice. Thankfully, the DAP got passed to him and he was briefly distracted as he spread it on his short pieces of pipe.
Pyrrha cast a knowing glance in Nora's direction before yawning quietly. She snuggled closer to Jaune, bringing up one arm to wrap around his middle.
"Tired?" Jaune asked, rubbing her shoulder.
"Just a little," Pyrrha admitted. "I barely slept this week because of midterms, and I had to work on an essay that's due tomorrow." She sighed loudly. "And that's not even all I have to do."
"You can take a nap while the DAP dries. I won't move."
"That would not be advisable," Barty said as he placed an armful of pipes on the table. "I would never recommend sleeping in the presence of DAP fumes, ventilation or no. Please step outside if you start getting drowsy."
"That involves moving, though." Jaune leaned his head back against the chair. "I'm not really feeling that right now."
Barty promptly found a loaner blue and started sharply tapping Jaune's head with it. "Get up! Go out and spar. There are loaners outside. It'll be good for you."
"Ow! Hey! Guys, I'm being bullied!" Jaune raised his hands to fend off the blows. "A university professor is bullying me. Make it stop!"
"I wanna join!" Sun started pelting Jaune with bits of scrap foam.
"Hey!" Jaune cringed under the double-attack. "Pyrrha, they're ganging up on me."
"I'm on it." Pyrrha got up and rounded the table, grabbing Sun and easily putting him into a headlock.
"Hey, that's Ren's roommate!" Nora shouted, standing up. "Ren, aren't you going to fight for your roommate's life?"
"…Eh." Ren shrugged.
"Oh, I see how much I mean to you now!" Sun lamented, struggling to get out of Pyrrha's grip. "And I thought we were bros."
"I shall fight for the Monkey King in Lotus Boy's stead!"
"That will never be my Dag name, Nora," Ren groaned.
"Okay, okay, let's take this outside, please," Barty quickly cut in. "There is an electric saw five feet away from you."
The five were quickly vacated. Once in the yard, they found the loaner weapons. Nora and Sun immediately bolted for the pile before running toward Jaune and Pyrrha. Pyrrha nimbly dodged around Sun before grabbing a sword of her own.
"We've got you now, fiends!" Nora declared, beating Jaune's side.
"Hey, let me get a weapon first," Jaune protested, running toward the pile and grabbing a sword. He raised it just in time to block another blow from Nora. "No Viking can match the greatest drow-slayer in the land! Hey, Ren? You getting in on this?"
Ren watched the two fighting pairs, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Not yet. I'm weighing my odds."
"Reeeen, you're supposed to be on my siiiiide," Nora whined, whacking Jaune's leg.
"Keep beating up Jaune, and I will be."
"Jerk!"
"I'm not dead, yet!" Jaune lunged forward, propelling himself with the leg Nora hadn't hit and thwacking her side soundly with his sword.
At the same time, Pyrrha was beating Sun into the ground while he curled up and tried futilely to fend off the blows. "Do you surrender?"
"Never!" Sun shouted. "I shall never- Ow! Hey! That's a cheap shot, man."
"I don't know, Nora. Jaune and Pyrrha are making a pretty strong case." Ren walked over to the loaner pile and started digging through it for a suitable sword.
"How about this case?" Nora jumped on Ren, tackling him into the foam weapons before mercilessly tickling his sides. "Is this a strong enough case for you? What about this one?" She giggled as her friend immediately curled up and dropped the weapon he had been holding. Tickle fights weren't uncommon between them. Nora almost always won.
"Nora!" Ren sputtered, trying to bat away her hands. "That's cheating! You can't-" Unable to speak anymore, he doubled over laughing. He let his muscles go loose, accepting his fate and leaving it up to Nora to decide when he'd be freed.
Nora, sensing victory, rolled off of Ren with a smirk. She yelped when Jaune started hitting her with his blue again. "Don't beat a dead girl," she protested.
"Tickling isn't Dag-legal. I'm disciplining you," Jaune explained, whacking Nora's side a few more times before backing off. He rolled his eyes and smiled at the two friends. "You doing okay, Ren?"
"Uh huh," Ren replied, still semi-breathless. "This is normal for us. Just give me a second."
"I do believe this round is ours, Arc Angel," Pyrrha said, stepping back to allow Sun to get to his feet.
Jaune nodded, looking at the three prone forms scattered across the yard. "I do believe it is, Ophelia." He walked over to Pyrrha and pulled her close with one arm, kissing her cheek. "Well fought, milady."
Pyrrha giggled quietly and touched her lips to Jaune's cheek, smiling at the immediate blush that flared up on his face. "Well, I'm certainly not tired anymore."
"Barf! Get a room," Sun said as he got to his feet.
"Am I detecting bitterness from the Monkey King?" Jaune asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nah, though I am starting to feel like a bit of a fifth wheel between you two and those lovebirds over there."
Nora's face turned bright red as she sat up. "H-Hey! Ren and I aren't together-together. We've t-told you that before."
"That's right. You have." Sun glanced at Jaune and Pyrrha with a clear "Are they serious?" expression.
Pyrrha shrugged and shook her head. It was none of their business when Ren and Nora finally figured things out. She had a feeling that Nora wanted to ask her for advice on the matter, but was content to wait for her friend to come to her. "Well, now that we've thoroughly beaten each other, what do we do now?"
As if on cue, Barty stuck his head out the window. "Just so you know, some of the others have brought Cards Against Humanity and are going to start a game soon."
A devilish grin spread across Sun's face at these words. "Oh, yeah. Prepare to bask in my superior glow, peasants. This is my game!"
A few minutes later, they were all sitting at a fold-out table with a few other newbies. One of them was holding his black card and reading off the various choices. "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and…mouth herpes." He went through until the last one. "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and…a big black dick." He waved the white card. "Okay, who had that one?"
To everyone's surprise, it was Pyrrha who raised her hand. She smirked at Sun as she took her third black card of the game. "Who were you calling a peasant?"
The game went on for an hour. After a sudden upset during the last few rounds, Ren was the victor, earning his fifteenth black card with the combination: "Daddy's belt: kid tested, mother approved."
Afterward, they went back in and continued the process of gluing down foam. Jaune put two more layers of blue foam over the one he had already attached to the pipe while instructing Sun on how to do the same with his blues. Pyrrha carefully attached a wad of furniture foam to the end of her javelin. Ren did the same for his daggers. Nora had to glue a few extra layers and weigh the whole thing down, due to the uneven nature of her battle axe. Pyrrha's punch shield took another hour. It was agreed that making cloth coverings for the weapons would have to wait for another day.
By this point, the sky was starting to turn faintly yellow-orange. Since it was a long walk back to campus, the five decided to start back immediately. Barty was giving rides to anyone who asked, of course, but the small group felt that they should enjoy the fall weather while they could. According to Jaune, winter in Vale was pretty nasty and lasted forever.
Jaune noticed that Pyrrha's eyelids were starting to droop as they walked. "We could take Barty up on that ride, if you want?"
"I'm fine," Pyrrha insisted. "I'll just sleep when I get back to the dorm."
"Are you good on that essay?"
"Yes. I finished most of it, since I figured I'd be spending most of the day here. It's due in the afternoon, so I have time to polish it up." She hugged Jaune's arm and sighed. "It's Sunday, and I'm ready for the week to be over."
"I hear that," Sun muttered. "At least midterms are mostly over."
"Are we still on for beating each other up tomorrow?" Nora asked eagerly, skipping next to an exhausted Ren. "Even though our weapons won't be ready, Barty's gonna bring up the loaners in the evening after classes."
"After finishing that essay, I'll definitely want to hit something," Pyrrha said. "I'm in."
She blushed as Jaune kissed the top of her head and squeezed his arm a little tighter. If they had been alone, she would have tried mustering the courage to go for a full kiss on the lips. For now, however, she forced herself to wait. While she knew that she wanted her first kiss to be with Jaune, she also knew that she wanted the moment to be special. So, she simply nuzzled against his arm and smiled sweetly up at him.
The rest of the walk back consisted of plans for the upcoming week and a mutual agreement between all five young fighters that it needed to be the weekend again as quickly as possible.
I'm a little conflicted concerning what I want to do with this fic. Part of me wants to have chapters that focus on the other characters while part of me wants to keep the focus on Jaune and Pyrrha here while maybe making oneshots in this AU in the future that are about the others. What do you guys think?
Anyway, as I said, sorry for the late update. I will be more punctual in the future, and you can expect a timely post on Friday. I have also started working on chapters of Once in a Shattered Moon, since that seems to be the winner in my poll. I'm also halfway done with the Black Sun chapter of Mates for Life, so you have plenty to look forward to from me in the future.
Peace out!