"Good evening and welcome to Sea Breeze Lounge. Table for two?" The hostess asked the young pair as they stepped into the restaurant.
"Actually, we have a reservation." The gentleman answered, smiling at the young lady standing at his side.
"Ah yes, Arc. Right this way please." The hostess smiled as she led them to their table.
"Well, I am impressed." Jaune smiled at his date, dressed gorgeously in her full length red dress. He pulled out a chair for her and went to take his seat across from her.
"Only the best for my partner." He responded after sitting down, raising his glass to Pyrrha.
"Jaune, there's nothing in the glass." She laughed as Jaune attempted to drink from the empty glass. He slowly put the glass down. "How did you find this place?"
"Ren actually." Jaune answered. "He did a little research on what there was to eat and suggesting this place."
"Where would we be without our team?" Pyrrha reflecting as the water boy quietly filled their glasses.
"Probably either dead or a lot less stressed." Jaune commented with no emotion. "There is no in between with those two." Pyrrha smiled at the smirk on his face, the only indication of how much he was not serious.
"But we love them." Pyrrha added. "I still cannot believe Nora was able to practically drag Ren across the sand and into the water when we started playing chicken against Yang and Blake."
"Oh, I believe that." Jaune responded. "I also believe that Yang nearly gave Neptune a heart attack when she tried to help him by using Ruby's bucket to dump sea water on him." Pyrrha shook her head.
"And he wasn't the only one to have a fright. Poor Weiss and Yang could barely breathe when Ruby disappeared underneath the water."
"You didn't get scared yesterday." Jaune commented.
"When would I have been scared?"
"When I jumped out of the water from behind you." Jaune explained.
"Was I supposed to be?" Pyrrha asked in response. Jaune raised an eyebrow at Pyrrha, unsure why she of all people would respond that way. However he realized that Pyrrha was serious, in an almost innocent sort of way.
"Well, a lot of people when I was younger were scared of sea creatures. Like sharks or aquatic grimm." Jaune began explaining. "So when my family would go to the beach, my sisters would always try jumping out of the water to scare each other, like they were a grimm attacking."
"Did it ever work?" Pyrrha asked, taking a sip of her water.
"Never as they planned. One time my sister actually fought back, nearly giving the other a black eye." Jaune half laughed recalling the memory. "And the one time they tried it on me they, they…" He trailed off.
"They what?"
"They made me cry." Jaune admitted with a small smile still on his face. Pyrrha covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. "You think it's funny?" Jaune asked, realizing Pyrrha's expression.
"No." Pyrrha attempted to say with a straight face. "I'm not. I mean I don't" She said in vain as a smile stretched across her face.
"Pyrrha, I was six!" Jaune raised his voice, defending his younger self. "They were barely able to get me in the water and then the scare me like that." He said again in vain as Pyrrha continued covering her mouth. However, her smile was infectious. Soon, he too was smiling, even laughing at himself and his sisters.
"Yeah. I can still hear my mom yelling at them." He chuckled once both of them had caught their breath. "Do you want to scar him for life?" He mocked his mother, pretending to wag his finger at his sisters. "How can we expect you to take care of others when you can't even watch your baby brother?"
"Did they ever do it again?" Pyrrha asked, taking a sip for her dry throat from laughing.
"Well, not to me. But they did do it a few times to get the attention of a life guard one year." Jaune thought back. "Yeah. We were at a beach and there were some new life guards on duty. A few of the younger sisters decided that they should try getting the life guards attention by pretending to be attacked."
"What became of that?" Pyrrha asked, entranced by Jaune's family and stories.
"Oh, they got his attention alright," He responded, "when they nearly made my mother have a conniption and afterwards she lectured them on the beach." Pyrrha sighed with a smile, imagining the poor girls embarrassed as their mother dotted upon them rather than their intended target.
"I guess it's one of the things people will do for a pretty face." Pyrrha commented, thinking back to all she's seen Jaune do in the past year.
"I suppose. I'm just glad no one tried that on you yesterday." He responded back, unaware of Pyrrha's reaction.
"Come again?" She asked, trying not to sound suspicious.
"Yesterday at the beach." Jaune explained. "With that bathing suit you looked like you stepped right out of a movie as the beach life guard. I thought guys would be falling over themselves thinking they'd have an opportunity for you to 'save them'." Jaune said, putting air quotes around the last part of his sentence. Pyrrha took her silverware and laid her napkin over her lap, trying to keep her composure.
"You really thought I looked like that?" She asked gently, glancing back up at Jaune. He gave her a confused look.
"Of course." He finally responded enthusiastically, flashing that dorky smile she'd grown to love. "I mean, you're Pyrrha Nikos. The woman who can somehow manage to kill not only grimm but also the dance floor while wearing heels." She blushed lightly, tilting her head down in modesty.
"I'm not the only one who can do that Jaune." Pyrrha tried correcting him. "Blake, Weiss, even Coco all do that."
"But not like you." Jaune affirmed gently, reaching his hand across the table to hers. "Plus, you were willing to lose an hour of sleep or more nearly every night training me. Even when I wasn't even willing to take the help at first." He finished, looking at the floor sadly.
"Your first course." Their head waiter spoke, shaking Jaune's focus. "Our specially spiced Black Bean Soup for the gentleman and the Citrus Salad for the young woman." The assistant waiter set down their respective appetizers in front of them. "Please do not hesitate to tell us how to make your night more enjoyable."
"Wow, this looks great." Jaune commented, looking down at the food.
"It does." Pyrrha agreed, but laughed. "The funny thing is, I don't remember ordering." She took an orange from the top of her salad and popped it into her mouth. She looked back over, glad to see Jaune's smile had returned with her joke.
They began eating quietly until a slight coughing interrupted them. Pyrrha looked up slightly, noticing Jaune taking a large drink of his water.
"Jaune," she began gently, "are you alright?"
"Oh yeah." Jaune quickly responded, clearing his throat. "How's your food?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly.
"Delicious." Pyrrha said, eyeing Jaune's soup. "The fruit is nice and ripe and the whole bowl is light enough I'm not too full for our main course. How about yours?"
"Oh great. It's got a bit of a kick but nothing that I cannot handle." Jaune answered, pushing the still half full bowl over. "But you're right, I should save myself for the main course." Pyrrha smiled. How many times had she seen him trying to act cool? Pretty much whenever he had flirted with Weiss. So why has he been doing that now? She looked back over at the boy sitting across from her.
"Jaune," She began until a guitar chord interrupted her. Standing next to them was a gentlewoman holding an acoustic guitar.
"If it would please you," she began politely, "is there anything you would like me to play for you as you enjoy your meal?"
"For us?" Jaune questioned, glancing at something behind Pyrrha's head.
"Yes sir." She answered. "Do you have any suggestions Miss?" The guitarist finished, turning to Pyrrha.
"Um," She began, thinking, "you wouldn't happen to know the song Shine." Without a word the musician began playing, transforming the usually peppy song into a slow, romantic ballad.
"Wow." Jaune breathed quietly, his mind entranced by the melody and memories flooding him. Pyrrha really did look stunning that night. Not like she doesn't right now, but with her headpiece glinting in the moonlight on the balcony, just thinking about it takes his breath away. Jaune and Pyrrha watched as the musician walked away, her song trailing behind her. "I wish I could play like that. My dad once said that music was how he was able to ask my mother on their first date."
"Is that were you got the idea to ask Weiss?" Pyrrha thought back, remembering Jaune trying to psych himself up to first ask Weiss to the Beacon Dance.
"Maybe a little."
"Yeah and all you got was a cold breeze shutting the door in your face." Pyrrha reflected aloud, seeing Jaune's face after Weiss' said no. Not like she cared for you, uptight. It was ever meant to be.
"Hey." Jaune interjected surprised. Pyrrha looked up, her emotions doing full a 360 from bitter to confused to mortified.
"I, I." Pyrrha stuttered, then suddenly getting up from the table and walking out the side door.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune called, quickly following her. He quietly closed the door behind himself, but stopped short as he turned around.
Unnoticed by both of them, the restaurant was perched over the lake with a secluded porch stretching around nearly the entire restaurant. The sun glowed across the watery horizon, it's reflection off the gentle surface like a guiding line to Pyrrha. She stood with her back to Jaune, her hands resting on the railing of the porch. Gazing out into the sea, her skin glowed and her majestic headpiece glimmered as brightly as the Sun.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, trying to sound normal. Pyrrha didn't move. He took a few steps forward. "Pyrrha?" He asked again louder. Still no reaction. "Pyrrha, please," Jaune begged, his voice cracking as he stood next to her, "what's wrong?"
She continued staring out in silence. Jaune sighed and followed her gaze. Despite her nerves and his concern for his partner, the setting sun and sounds calmed both of them until they breathed in time with the lapping water and music gently playing in the restaurant. The guitarist still played Pyrrha's request, gently and smoothly filling the air. Jaune looked over at the beauty next to him. It's worth a shot.
"Ms. Nikos." Jaune began calmly. Pyrrha turned to him, intrigued with this new tone coming from him. Jaune put his arm in front of himself and bowed slightly. "Would you do me the honor and dance with me?" Pyrrha looked back at him her eyes widening.
"I would love too." Pyrrha answered, taking his hand. Unlike the first time they had danced, Jaune gently pulled her close, guiding her into a waltz. They danced until the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the guitarist finished playing.
"Pyrrha," Jaune asked again, now wrapping both arms around her waist in a comforting embrace, "are you alright?"
"Yes." Pyrrha smiled, her arms resting on Jaune's shoulders. "I was just thinking how frustrated I was before about Weiss. It's really silly though." She laughed lightly. "I felt she just didn't see in you the things that I could see."
"Well, what did you see?" He asked joking. "You know how much Weiss brags of her 20-20 vision."
A crash from inside brought both of their attention back to where they were as they caught sight of a server running away from a table.
"More than I think our waiter would appreciate my listing." Pyrrha responded with a slight laugh. "I don't know how long we've been out here but they've probably thought we'd skipped out without paying."
"Oh, I doubt that." Jaune said, dismissing the thought. "Besides, who needs food when you've got the greatest company by your side." Pyrrha flushed lightly, turning her head down again. "But if you insist." Jaune released his arms from around his beauty and offered his arm.
The couple walked together from the patio back to their table, and continued talking. Soon their main course arrived.
"Our specialty Jerk Chicken, prepared with our homemade mix of spices for the gentleman. And for the young lady our baked Mahi Mahi on a bed of local vegetables."
"Excuse me." Jaune asked before the waiter left. "Now when you say spices, do you mean flavoring or doe the dish contain hot peppers?"
"Why, peppers good sir." The waiter responded courteously. "We say that one of our sources of life and happiness on the Island comes from a meal that fuels us with the fiery passion for life right from nature." Jaune gulped slightly as the waiter finished and looked back down at his plate.
"I can't wait." Pyrrha put her hand over her mouth, struggling again to keep a straight face.