Blurgh, still ill – here we go.
Cover Art: Coeur al'Aran
Day 5 – Here we are again
"Say ahhh~" Jaune grinned as the cute girl opposite him leaned forward, opening her mouth and tilting her face upwards as he guided the small spoon to her lips. Mismatched eyes drifted shut in pleasure as she savoured the treat, her tongue flicking out to catch any last traces of ice-cream. Jaune laughed at the pure euphoria on her face, cheeks red with a mixture of pleasure and alcohol. In a mix of about 10 parts pleasure, 90 booze.
It was a good ratio; he couldn't help but feel – even as the room swam. Or was it rooms? No, no… it was definitely just the one room.
Rooms were tricky like that…
Something kicked against his shin beneath the table, the girl leaning forward with her lips parted once more, upturned at the edges as she awaited her reward. Once more he picked up a small piece of vanilla ice-cream, adding a strawberry to the top as he guided it to her mouth. Somehow it never got old, watching her face scrunch up in delight.
He almost felt like he could do this forever… budget notwithstanding.
Picking up his glass Jaune peered carefully into it, taking note of the fact that it had become suspiciously light and airy in the last few minutes. Clearly some foul Grimm had come by to drink it while he'd been distracted. What had he been thinking leaving Crocea Mors back in the cabin?
"We need mor-"
"Desert Rose sir, yes, we know," someone answered – a vague indistinct shape leaning down to refill his glass before he could even finish calling for it. "And I've brought some more wine for your companion."
"And I-"
"And ice-cream," the mist-creature sighed, placing a fresh bowl before them. "Trust me sir, every member of staff knows to bring ice-cream with your orders now."
"Huh..." Jaune huffed, impressed with the four to six people he was talking to, who kept merging and swaying back into one figure, "you guys must be really dedicated to have figured that out."
"Dedicated… yeah, sure… let's go with that."
"…!" Neo gestured, interrupting Jaune's deep conversation as she rattled the table and leaned forward once more. The waiter mumbled something dispassionately as Jaune went back to feeding the smaller girl, the two of them guzzling their drinks like they'd spent the last two weeks in the desert.
Their last full day before returning home… what with the flight being on the following afternoon. The realisation had been a maudlin one, weighing over their morning no matter how they tried to ignore it. In the end they'd fallen back on the only thing they could trust to distract them from the horror of returning to Beacon.
And the rest, as they said, was history.
"Next~" Jaune cooed, holding the spoon out as she closed her eyes and waited for it. He darted it close to her lips. Just enough that she could smell it, before drawing it back to his own with a smile – loudly savouring the sweet dessert. Her face was priceless. That open mouth transforming into the biggest pout he'd ever seen, even as she reached over and dragged the rest of the bowl over for herself.
Like an angry cat she huffed and turned away, digging into the remaining goodness with as haughty an expression as a small girl eating ice-cream could muster.
He simply shook his head, tipping his glass back just in time to get a mouthful of nothing. Pulling the container away with a frown, he shook his head. Those damn alcohol-thieving Grimm again!? There was no way he was actually drinking all this himself. He felt fine.
Very fine. Too fine, in fact, to be sat around like a boring bastard when they could be doing something else.
"I'm bored," her eyes met his across the table, some silent conversation passing through them as she finished off the last of her treat. "Wanna swim?"
A grin, the bowl clattering onto the table as she leapt to her feet – knocking her chair back in the process. Jaune echoed her, pushing up even as he staggered briefly due to the sudden change in altitude. Yeah, it was definitely due to the altitude – that was his story and he was sticking to it.
The two of them ducked between a pair of nearby tables, bumping into other diners who sneered and insulted them, not that either cared. Jostling their way past staff and holiday goers alike the two dashed out of the main resort and down to the beach. With the sun just setting, purple and red rays of light had transformed the ocean into a rainbow of violet hues.
Neo grinned as she danced away from him, rushing towards the stone pier that cut its way out over the waves. Jaune followed close behind, fingers fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. Even in the late evening there were people still around, sitting together, watching the sunset. Jaune ignored most of them, struggling with the last button until Neo appeared and tore it off – tossing the shirt aside as she dragged him towards the water's edge.
Behind them a ten-year-old boy took the shirt in the face, falling backwards off the pier with a loud splash.
The two ignored it, Neo running down the stone pier as Jaune chased after her, both of them showing a hunter's grace – even while drunk – as they ducked and weaved between other people, who would shout out in anger. Eventually though, she ran out of room to run, giggling silently as he caught hold of her.
"Got you," he grinned, lifting her up and spinning her around. Neo's hands came to rest on his chest, eyes glancing down even as she leaned in and up towards him. Jaune's eyes drifted shut, leaning in himself as his hands drifted around her waist.
Cold water met him. Leaving him spluttering for air as his arms thrashed about – looking up at the smirking girl who'd pushed him off the pier.
"Bitch!" He shouted, laughter bubbling forth. Neo simply rolled her eyes, standing on the edge of the pier as she clicked her fingers, swirling motes of dust spinning about her as white and black clothing twisted and transformed into her pink swimwear.
Pausing to pull a brief pose, she held took a step back before diving over him, arching through the air before striking the water with a quiet splash. Closing his eyes against the spray Jaune turned to look for her, only to pause – trading water as his eyes roved the light waves.
"Neo?"
She'd come up soon for breath… she had to.
But we both did drink a lot…
"Neo, Neo!? Neo where are y-blrghll-" Something leapt on his back, legs wrapping round his hips as his face was forced into salty water. "Y-you bitch," he coughed once she let him up, treading water opposite him with a shit-eating grin on her face. Striking the water before him, he splashed water into her face, before swimming away as she tried to do the same in return.
People could only shake their heads in despair from the pier, as the loud man and silent girl fought in the water, driving every other swimmer away in their drunken haze.
Jaune watched the last vestiges of the day fade into twilight, the stars seeming to come out all at once as the sky was blanketed in dark blue. Neo shuffled against his chest, her hair tickling the underside of his chin as she sat between his legs. Every few seconds the surf would come back up, washing around their legs.
"You know," he sighed, letting his arms rest on her crossed legs, "this wasn't so bad after all."
She didn't turn to face him. But she did tilt her head to the left, just the slightest amount, but enough for him to understand the gesture. Perhaps it said something, that he could understand her when she couldn't even speak.
"I wasn't sure what I would do on a holiday," he continued, "I agreed to it because… well, there was nothing better to do."
He'd have found something probably. Maybe just read books or catch up with his studying… but it would have been wasting time or just relaxing.
"Instead I found myself actually having fun, you know?" Fun with the last person he thought he'd have been able to have it with. Even though maybe… just maybe… he'd had fun with her before too.
"I'm just saying… I could maybe… get used to this, to u-" light breathing reached his ears. Cutting into his words even as he looked down at the girl against his chest. Face tilted to the side, cheek against a curtain of hair resting against his heart.
Fast asleep. The alcohol must have finally caught up with her.
"Heh," he chuckled, slowly standing up while rearranging her in his arms, "I guess it's just like you to not pay attention when I'm trying to say something important." With a soft shake of his head he turned about, flipping Neo's legs wide – clotheslining a young child pulling himself out of the ocean – before carrying Neo back to their cabin.
"The things I put up with for you," he sighed.
Double-kill. Ugh, I'm still ill as hell… and I can see and feel my writing suffer for it. Hell today was a busy day anyway, I had to write so many features for various magazines. Here was today's list, of which I got all but one finished.
Golfing Advice – Garden Landscaping – Bridal Fashion – Wedding Lingerie – History of Woodhall Spa – How to care for Elderly relatives – 6x Spring Food Recipes – March Horoscopes – Equine Nutrition – Supply Chain Software in Food Manufacturing – and a book review for a really shit book. And for those wondering, no I don't know anything about most of those, that's what writing professionally is. You don't have to "know" anything - so long as you can write, you can bluff or research it. My job pretty much is Professor Arc at times. I pretend to know what I'm writing about, while researching the topic literally the day I have to do it.
Even giving public speeches on it if necessary, like I had to a few months back. Which, on that note, they want me to speak again at the next PPMA show - sigh - another speech to hundreds of people who know more about the topic than I do. Yay.
What can I say, all hail the weekend.