True Potential

Chapter 19

-Jaune-

"Two tickets for the ten o'clock showing of Ninjas of Love please." Jaune pulled out his wallet as he and Blake got to the front of the line.

"Would you like the couple's bundle?" the person working the counter asked as Jaune felt his ears suddenly burn, "It gives a discount for two tickets and includes a shared drink and popcorn with the deal."

"S-sure." Blake coughed, the cat Faunus just as flustered as he was, the person behind the counter ringing them up with a bored expression.

"Enjoy the movie." The part timer sighed as they handed over the tickets, Jaune and Blake heading inside to get their shared snacks, both of them still cherry red.

"It-it's just for the discount." Blake coughed, "Nothing wrong with that."

"N-no." Jaune shook his head, "Nothing at all." And he planned to keep telling himself that, blocking out the mental voices of his sisters teasing him. Given Blake's expression he wasn't the only one doing so. Getting into the theatre, they went up to the empty back row, not many people showing up for a ten AM movie.

"I can't believe they actually made a movie!" Blake's embarrassment was drowned out by her excitement as they got settled, the lights starting to dim as the previews began, the theatre surprisingly empty apart from themselves.

"I know." He grinned as he tuned out the trailer showing, it being for a horror flick he wasn't into, "I almost ended up being in it too."

"You're shitting me." Blake looked over at him wide eyed.

"No, I'm serious." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, "My sister based one of the characters off me and offered me the role when the movie started being made. But I wanted to be a Huntsman, not an actor."

"Hey, nothing says you can't do both." Blake pointed out as he snorted.

"Classes and Homework say otherwise." He chuckled, "But I see your point. Maybe after we graduate, yeah?"

"Put in a good word for me if you do." Blake bumped his shoulder playfully as he chuckled, the too settling into comfortable silence as they watched the various trailers. His earlier blush came roaring back to life when he reached for popcorn, feeling Blake's cool fingers meet his as she did the same. A furtive glance out of the corner of his eye showed Blake just as red faced as he was.

"Sorry." He coughed, yanking his hand back, Blake doing the same as she held hers to her chest.

"N-no, it's fine." Blake coughed, the two of them sharing an awkward look before the absurdity of the situation had them chuckled together.

"My sisters would have a field day with us." Jaune gave Blake a grin as his dark-haired companion tucked back a strand.

"Yang would have a field day." Blake chuckled before Jaune suddenly got a bad feeling in his gut.

"Uh…Blake." Jaune winced as he finally thought through the situation that had led them here "If Sun went to find Weiss, then your team will find out what we told him. And our Scrolls have team tracking enabled, remember?" Blake's eyes widened at that, realizing that Yang would definitely find out about them going to a movie, together, alone, and it wouldn't be hard for her to figure out what the movie is about.

"Dust damnit." Blake sighed, slapping a palm to her face, "Well, beds made, might as well lay in it. Five Lien says that Yang's waiting outside the theatre when the movie ends to interrogate us."

"And pass up the chance to spy on us with Nora?" Jaune scoffed, "Not a chance. She's going to…attempt to be subtle, I guarantee it."

"It's a bet then." Blake bumped her shoulder against his as their movie finally began. The conversation died as they focused on the movie they were both eager to see, neither of them noticing their hands staying connected when the popcorn finally ran out.

-Nora-

"This is Hammer goddess to Goldilocks, come in Goldilocks!" Nora whispered into her radio as she held binoculars to her face, watching the front of the movie theatre intently. She was currently hidden in some bushes across the road from the movie theatre.

"This is 'Goldilocks'." Yang sighed, "And why are we using radios? We are literally right next to each other?!"

"Bah, you're sounding like Weiss." Nora made a face, "When did you convert to the army of anti-Fun Goldilocks?"

"…No sign of the targets 'Hammer goddess', over." Yang relented, using the Radio as Nora let out a silent cheer. Ren and Pyrrha had been off helping Cardin with something, so she'd been alone and, more importantly, bored when Yang came to her; needing help spying on their teammates who went on an unsanctioned date.

"The website says their movie should have finished a couple minutes ago." Nora frowned as she glanced down at her scroll, the times listed being very clear. Yet there was no sign of Jaune-Jaune or Blakey.

"Wait, I think I see- what the what?!" Yang exclaimed as the doors opened and a swarm of Blakes poured out, going in all sorts of different directions along with the other movie goers leaving.

"We've been had!" Nora gaped, "But how could they have known where we were!"

"…Nora, did you bring your scroll?" Yang sighed as the swarm of Blakes, a statement that probably described Sun's dreams every night.

"Yeah, why?" Nora tilted her head even as she tried to spot any signs of blond hair in the throng of people. Movies were long, and Flappy Grimm was fun.

"Nora…we found them using the teammate tracker on their scrolls." Yang deadpanned, "They probably did the same and saw where we were."

"…Oops?"

-Blake-

Laughing, Blake kept pace with Jaune as they ran from the theatre, his hand holding hers so they wouldn't get separated. They'd checked their scrolls after the movie and, like they'd guessed, Yang was there. Unfortunately, so was Nora and they were shown as hiding in the bushes, so she owed Jaune five lien.

He had a brilliant idea though, of mass spamming her semblance to cause a distraction they could use to slip out the back entrance, having run into Yatsuhashi who agreed to take their Scrolls back to Vale so they could hide from their teammates for now.

"That…was great." Jaune laughed as they finally got far enough from the theater to be safe.

"Gotta say Jaune," Blake smirked "you sure know how to show a girl a good time." her friend turned red at that as she noticed she was still holding his hand…and that she didn't want to let go.

"Do…do you wanna grab some lunch?" Jaune asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously but not making any attempt to let go.

"…That sounds nice." Blake nodded, deciding to give what was happening a chance. She hadn't felt butterflies like this in so long, maybe it was worth the risk. Giving her a smile that made her stomach do flips, Jaune led her by the hand to a small out of the way diner, the owners clearly knowing him well given the warm greeting they gave Jaune when he entered.

"Well, well, someone's Mr. Popular." Blake grinned as they got to a table.

"Oh, Jaune here's a sweetheart." The elderly owner smiled as they came over to take their order, "He comes down every week or so to help out at the local soup kitchen."

"I didn't know that." Blake blinked in surprise as she glanced at her fellow Huntsman trainee.

"I didn't want to make a big deal about it." Jaune admitted red faced, "I like helping people, I'm not in it for retweets or whatever."

"But we're all grateful Jaune." The diner owner gave Jaune an affectionate pat to his cheek before grinning and readying her pen, "Now what can I get you dears?"

"The fish sandwich here is great." Jaune suggested as she glanced at the menu, "I figured you'd like it which is why I brought you here."

"Oh my, Jaune, is this a date?" the owner teased as Jaune' cheeks turn red, Blake's doing the same "Oh, you should have told us you were going to bring your girlfriend here!"

"…The fish sandwich please." Blake hid her face behind her menu even if she could still hear the owner cackling "And a sweet tea?"

"I'll have my usual Betty." Jaune groaned as the amused woman let them be.

"The teasing, it's inescapable." Blake groaned, slumping exaggeratedly as Jaune chuckled at their shared misery.

"Thankfully everyone will be too busy teasing Cardin soon to bother with us…hopefully." Jaune grimaced at the uncertainty at the end.

"Cardin?" Blake blinked, "Why?"

"He's planning to ask Monika to the dance." Jaune smirked as Blake blinked before chuckling, silently glad that that Monika might soon be 'off the market' as it were.

For now, she focused on having a good time with someone who meant a lot to her.

-Michael-

Giving a scowl to a smirking Roman Torchwick, Michael Arc walked to the back of the warehouse where his potential new 'employer' was waiting. If this was just some stupid trick though, then he'd bust every skull in this place on his way out.

"Ah, Michael Arc." The voice that he'd heard on the scroll call purred as he entered, the voice now belonging to a dark-haired woman with golden eyes, "So glad you could join me here."

"You mentioned being of use to each other." Michael grunted as he took a seat, "I can already figure what you need from me. But what I want to know is what could you possibly do for me."

"In a word? Power." The woman licked her lips, eyes blazing at the mention of the word, "I've heard all about the situation with your 'son'."

"Hmph." Michael growled out at the brat and what the idiot had cost him.

"And with that new semblance of his, one comparable to Ozmium himself?" the woman shook her head, "You'd never get close to deal with him yourself…as you are now."

"Are you saying you can make me stronger?" Michael raised a skeptical eyebrow. He already had an enhancement semblance, but it wouldn't be enough to let him topple an 'Ark'.

"With my power, I can place you under a 'Geas'." The woman explained "It shall grant you power, and in return you must abide by the terms of the Geas. In this case, I can grant you a power comparable to Jaune's Adolmaea. In return you will work for me and serve my goals without betraying me. When I don't have any tasks for you to do then you are your own man."

As she spoke, she held out a piece of thick parchment that seemed to pulse with power and aura, light shining from the words written on the page, and from a suspicious blood red seal at the top.

Figuring if it was a trick, then he could still kill her and everyone else in his way, he took the black quill from her hand and signed his name on this 'Geas', gasping as he felt the back of his hand split open, his name carving itself into his skin exactly as he signed before it rapidly healed.

Then, to his shock, everything on the page flowed to the tip of the quill and up, even the blood red seal was no more as it flowed to the quill tip and up, spreading onto his hand and forearm to become an intricate array that sunk into his skin.

And as it vanished, he felt new words flow into his mind, words that poured from his lips "Oh Dinivas, deliverer of dark and dread, ruler of the ancient shadows, grant me your power. Verto!" and he knew power.

-Jaune-

Still holding Blake's hand, Jaune smiled as they walked back to their dorms. The movie had become a movie and lunch, then a walk through the park, and then dinner together before they finally started to make their way back to Beacon.

"I had a great time today Jaune." Blake gave him a nervous smile as they reached their floor.

"I did too. Would…would you like to do this again sometime?" he tried not to sound too desperate, but he was sure he failed.

Blake didn't seem to mind though as she turned to face him, arms sliding behind his neck "I'd love to." Blake nodded before leaning in, Jaune meeting her halfway as they shared their first kiss.

His arms went to her waist as they slowly explored the kiss, both of them losing themselves to the sensation. Before it could escalate though, a loud cough caught their attention as they froze, breaking the kiss as they nervously turned to see their teams standing there.

Well…this was awkward.