Smell the Roses

"Where did you get these?!" Ambur asked in excitement as she lightly jumped up and down in place, staring down to the tickets in her hands.

"Well, I had some money leftover from the stuff my parents gave me to get me through the year and I figured I'd treat us to a nice day...we could certainly use it if you ask me," Liv answered. "So do you wanna go?"

"Yeah of course I do! But you didn't have to do that," Ambur said softly as she pulled Liv into a tight hug, her friend struggling to breathe.

"I know, I wanted to. I know she's your favorite and I saw that she's in town for the next few nights so why not huh?" She smiled as Ambur set her back down on the ground. "I got some extras too. Make it a friend's night? We might not get another chance to see each other outside of class like this until next year right?"

Ambur's smile quickly ran away from her face however as she began to calm down before nodding her head. "Ya, I know you're right...You're going home for the summer right?"

"Ya I am," Liv sighed, "I'd rather stay here but I'm sure my parents would be happier if I came home to see them for a few months you know?"

"Ya I know...I'm just gonna miss you is all...But hey, who should we invite?"

"Well I told Gretch already and she said she'd like to go. Would any of your teammates wanna go?"

"Well, Mydnight-" she began before suddenly stopping. "She's Mydnight's favorite singer too so I could...talk to him about it if...he'll actually talk to me..." She said slowly and quietly.

"Well..." Liv answered with a sigh, knowing the pair hadn't spoken much over the past several weeks. After Mydnight had learned that he was the one who had hurt Ambur he had become very reclusive. Ambur hadn't even seen him hanging out with Rosa very much, never mind anyone else. It was clear that he blamed himself but Ambur hadn't been able to get his spirits back up. He had even sworn off the use of the wolf and refused to even practice with her, slowly slipping back down into the fog. "Maybe this will be your chance to get him talking huh? Show him a good time at the concert and maybe he will open back up right?"

"Maybe..." she sighed. As she stood from the bed with hers and an extra ticket in her hand Liv watched her head to the door, trying to give her friend a confident smile.

"Don't worry Am," she soothed as best she could, "He'll come around."

Ambur looked back as her hand took hold of the doorknob and tried to give her a small smile in return before leaving, but it was obvious that the smile had been forced. Ambur had been down lately and Liv, of course, could tell the difference. It had really been hard on her the past few weeks, having to deal with what happened alone since Mydnight seemingly wouldn't talk about it.

As Ambur left the room and crossed the hall she pulled her scroll out of her pocket, leaning up against the wall, struggling to read the screen as she often did now. She did her best to send a text to Mydnight, trying to find out if he was in their room or not. As she waited for a reply she couldn't help but fidget with her phone, trying as hard as she could to keep her hands away from her face. Thankfully she hadn't needed to wear the bandages for more than a few days but the stitches were a nightmare. She had already scratched them loose once and had to have them redone and ever since she hadn't even dared to touch her face.

Olivier had been helping her with her make up every morning that she desired some, which of course she was thankful for, but it had made Ambur begin to feel even more useless in her situation with Mydnight. It had really begun to get to her that she couldn't even take care of herself, how was she supposed to take care of her partner as well?

Rather than getting an eye patch, Liv and Ambur had decided to try and style her hair to flow down over the right side of her face. Not too much like her old hairstyle, this one was much more taken care of and rather than looking as if she was hiding behind her hair it actually was quite becoming of her. The doctors had told her that her wound was actually healing up quite nicely all things considered. Of course, anyone with an aura was able to heal much faster and better than any normal person but this was no paper cut.

Her phone buzzed in her hand as she pulled up the message, surprised to find that he had actually responded to her. He had taken to ignoring her messages lately but on this day it seemed maybe he was in a better mood.

'Can I please talk to you? I have a surprise. Where are you?' she answered back.

'I'm in the courtyard. Getting some air so...if you wanna come down I'll be here.'

Ambur was moving almost before she had finished reading the text, trying to maintain her balance down the many staircases to the first floor and out the front doors of the dorm building. Ambur could seem him already and was as shocked as ever that he was still wearing that full-body jacket of his. Even in summer, Vale didn't see any extreme heat but it certainly wasn't cold enough to be wearing that heavy thing every day. It never seemed to affect him though and honestly, a part of Ambur was jealous.

Back when she had been trying to blend into crowds she had wished she could wear her heavy sweaters in the summertime but she had always gotten far too hot and been forced to show skin. Of course, now this was no longer an issue, she was after all wearing a tank top and a pair of high wasted gold jean shorts and she couldn't be happier to be doing so.

She had missed so much of this at Signal Academy, feeling the air on her skin, getting tan and being able to enjoy the sun. When she finally reached him he looked toward her, without letting their eyes meet and let her speak first. "Mind if I uhm...sit?" She asked timidly.

"Go ahead...so what's up..."

"Well I uh...well there's a lot...are you finally ready to talk to me or should I just forget it?.." She asked solemnly.

He was silent for a few moments as he looked off toward the Horizon at Vale's skyline. Ambur could tell that as usual, he was avoiding eye contact with her. "Ya I...guess...I'm not gonna see you again until next year so I...I probably shouldn't keep ignoring the problem...huh?"

"Wait..." Ambur said softly. "Why won't you see me over the summer we live right across town from each other..?"

"Qrow uh...wants to take me on some jobs around the world that he's got lined up so he can try and train me a little more...I already agreed."

Ambur fell silent as she folded her hands in her lap and looked down to the stone walkway beneath their feet. "Oh...do you mean you or...the wolf?"

"Both," he shrugged. "I don't wanna put anyone in danger anymore and...well. Qrow has always been a pretty rough, hands-on teacher so there's no real chance of me hurting him ya know?"

"Mydnight I...I already told you I-"

"I know," he cut in, "I know you keep saying it's fine and...maybe you really believe that it is fine but...I don't." He sighed, "You're...really...important to me Ambur," he let out as she looked up to his face again, shocked by his words. He, of course, didn't look at her in return but instead kept talking. "I already hate myself for hurting you and I don't think I could live with myself if it ever happened again so...please...just let me do this."

Ambur took a long shaky breath before she reached over grabbed for his hand. She watched his vision fall to their entwined fingers. "Look at me...please just look at me," Ambur said as she felt tears welling in her eyes. "I will let you go if you say that again and look me in the eye. Every time I've seen you...you refuse to look at me and it makes me feel like trash so just…please," she sobbed, "make me believe you..."

Mydnight's ears slumped and she watched him sigh heavily. His large k-nines poked out and she saw him bite down on his lower lip. Finally, after several weeks, Mydnight looked up into Ambur's face. His bright golden orbs shining in the light of the sun. "I'm sorry..." he said softly as he reached with his free hand and wiped the tears from her left eye, Ambur reached up and held his hand against her face, savoring the touch of her partner. "I know you think I'm not looking at you because of your eye but...that's...not the reason Ambur. Well...not entirely," he said as they continued to stare back at one another.

"Then what is it?" She wept. "What do I need to change?"

Mydnight's lips parted before he shook his head. "Nothing Ambur...you've already...changed far more than enough," he smiled. "Like I said...you're very important to me and I..." he trailed off as he thought better of his words. "...Anyway, just please keep being yourself...be who you want to be...not who you think I want you to be. Those two people are one and the same," he smiled again before he looked back out to the horizon.

Ambur was stunned, she couldn't believe everything that had seemingly spilled out of her partner's lips. As his face ran hot and cheeks became red she finally remembered the tickets in her pocket. As she pulled them out and let go of his hand she spoke, "Uhm...I uh..."

This was enough to get Mydnight to look back, seeing her holding the tickets out in front of her. "What're those for?"

"Liv uhm...got some tickets to go see Casey Williams tonight and we had an extra so uhmmm...do you wanna come with me? US?" she panicked after implying he would only be going with her.

"Like...a date?" he asked with a smirk.

"No I mean...well...aren't you and Rosa still dating? It's been kinda hard to tell lately to be honest..."

"That's...fair," he sighed. It was true that Mydnight and Rosa were sending the group mixed messages lately. After yelling at her during their mission in Glade, Rosa had seemed determined to not let their relationship die but she hadn't realized what an uphill battle that would be. Mydnight hadn't been putting in much effort anymore and neither had Rosa. The pair would still find themselves tangled in bed from time to time but it was nothing concrete. They had stopped going on dates and it truly seemed like any semblance of a honeymoon phase had ended.

Though over the past few weeks Ambur had still had plenty to be jealous about since Rosa was still getting more attention from the wolf boy than herself. It seemed like no matter what happened Ambur wasn't going to get her chance to pounce this year, if at all. It was plain for all to see that a break up was inevitable between the two but for reasons that only Ambur understood Mydnight still felt as though he needed her.

Even if he had been changing into the wolf behind her back with Qrow it still seemed like Mydnight was in a bit of a fog. Not nearly as bad as before but there could be no doubt that it was still there. He could concentrate when he really wanted to but if he let his mind wander even a little bit then he was off in the clouds in mere moments. Of course, Ambur too knew that his urges were still dialed to eleven and that he was still very much in need of attention.

Ambur almost regretted not having finished her statement those weeks ago, nearly about to volunteer to help him with it just so that Rosa would be completely out of her way. She had thought better of it though, hoping that if she won his heart first then the relationship would end up being healthier than his with Rosa.

"No, I just...can I just..." She began slowly trying to get her thoughts straight in her mind. "You and I, we...we really hit it off that first day of school...at least I thought we did and...well I really thought that being your partner was like...the best thing ever," she sighed with a chuckle, amused by her own childish words. "You and I seem to get along really well...ya know? Then Rosa kinda...pounced on you or maybe you thought that you really liked her or...whatever," she shook her head trying to get along with her explanation. "But I've been here the entire time just waiting to get my friend back...And when I finally did get you back I lost you again the next day. I just want...to be closer to you and I don't care if you think you're too dangerous for that," she finally let out as she looked back into his eyes and held out the extra ticket to him.

Mydnight couldn't help but sigh and shrug his shoulders. "Ya I know...I've been a real shit friend...and teammate, and every time I try to fix the things I screw up, I just make things worse and I'm sorry for that but...I'm still learning how to actually handle having more than one friend ya know? But," he said softly as he looked back to her and met her gaze, "I'll keep trying," he smiled as he accepted the ticket from her.

"Thank you, please just...don't ever shut me out again okay? You know I...You're really important to me too...maybe more than you realize…" she muttered as she blushed and looked away from him.

"Ya well...maybe."

/

As the sun slumped lower and lower behind the trees the four friends arrived at the concert hall in Vale and Ambur felt as if a massive weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders. She finally had Mydnight back to normal...ish, and now she was going to her first live concert for her favorite artist with her closest friends. As they finally made it through the screening line they walked inside the hall finding it decorated in mostly deep blues and white, the main lights off with matching neon lights flashing all over the enormous performing center.

The girls had all changed outfits into something a little more party appropriate, though as expected, Mydnight hadn't dressed up. Ambur was grateful that he had at least left his coat at home and was only in his tight v-necked t-shirt and his fitted black jeans though. Liv had turned up to their room in a short white dress, though contrary to her normal look it wasn't form-fitting. The skirt frilled out a little and the entire garment seemed a bit looser than what Liv normally would wear, with white thin straps holding it up.

Her arms were full of jewelry as well. Normally Liv would wear a few bracelets here and there depending on what day it was but this time it seemed as though she had thrown every single one she owned on at the same time, both wrists totally loaded up. Her hooped earrings too were replaced with amethyst studs to match her eyes.

Ambur had opted out of a dress, still not loving the way they fit her body, believing firmly that she was too tall to wear dresses. Liv had however helped her pick out an outfit for just this occasion and was far more lenient than normal now that Ambur had fully gone through her changes. She more or less matched Mydnight in fact, with a black crop top with two-thirds sleeves and a pair of short elastic shorts which clung to her hips for dear life.

If Mydnight was being honest with himself this had been an immense distraction as the group had been walking over from the shuttle to the performing center. With all the feelings being tossed around between himself and Ambur lately and his ever-growing abstinence from sleeping with Rosa, it had been nearly impossible for the wolf to keep his eyes off of Ambur's backside. He had even begun to trail behind the girls as they walked becoming more and more entranced by the sight of Ambur's wide hips and toned butt swinging back and forth in front of him. After all, she'd been taught to strut.

He feared he had been caught too, barely noticing as Gretchen and Olivier had looked back at him to make sure he was still with them, only to find his eyes fixated on the object of his subconscious desire. To be sure, somewhere deep down he did feel quite bad about it, and he was trying so desperately not to look at Ambur in that way, but more and more lately it had become difficult to keep it up. Ambur too had noticed his stares and had done almost nothing to prevent his actions, simply blushing and continuing down the sidewalks with Liv's words again lingering in her ear. 'Strut...strrrut,' she thought to herself as she tried her very best to swing her hips in front of her crush. 'I don't care if it's the wolf...I want his eyes on me tonight, nobody else,' she thought.

The group found that there was a large open dance floor in the center of the massive indoor venue in front of the stage. "Oh thank god there's room to dance," Liv sighed with a smile before she looked around the room for the bar.

"I've never really...danced before honestly," Ambur confessed as Mydnight smirked.

"Same."

"Well I'm going to and I swear I'm at least going to get you," she pointed to Ambur, "To join me. Now," she said before motioning for the group to lean in and listen to her closely so she could whisper to them. "I'm going to offer this now and it's entirely up to you guys. But if at any point tonight you want a drink just ask me and I'll order it for you."

"Uh...how exactly are you gonna do that? We are all underage," Mydnight asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Just this ONE TIME," Liv stressed, "I'll abuse my semblance for this special occasion," she huffed as she waited for their answers. "None of us can get crazy though because we need to make it back to the school when this is over and not draw attention to ourselves."

"I mean...thanks but I...don't even know what I like," Gretchen laughed out before Ambur agreed with her.

"Any dark spiced rum is good for me," Mydnight shrugged his shoulders as the girls looked to him with confusion on their faces. "What? Qrow has let me drink before in private. I know what I like."

"Oookay then well," Liv answered as she made a mental note of the order, "Anybody else got any ideas of what they wanna try? We can go look at the menu if you want, just let me do the talking."

"Alright...ya let's do that," Ambur said, trying to sound confident as the girls walked over to the bar, Mydnight staying behind to look for a place for all of them to sit.

After several minutes the trio found him and as Liv handed him his drink he began to try his best and smell what was in the other's cups. He could tell that Ambur had gone for a sort of mid-ranged beer, not too dark but not too light either and by the way she kept smiling after sipping it she seemed to enjoy it so far. Gretchen had opted out of drinking and to no surprise, Liv seemed to have her cup filled with red wine. "That your brand?" He asked as he gestured to her cup.

"Antoinette Red, yep," she confirmed before sipping it. "Tastes like home. Don't love it but when you spend so long away from what you're used to you end up missing it ya know?"

"How often did you drink it back home?"

"Oh, every dinner we have it. It's out on the table at all times. I don't know that I could actually drink enough of it to get drunk at this point I'm so used to drinking it. Probably first got offered it when I was like ten. Didn't care for it much back then but I've grown to appreciate it."

"Is whine all you drink then?" Ambur asked.

"I mean, for now. I've tried other things at parties and stuff but nothing has really stuck with me."

As she finished her statement the trio heard the crowd begin to applaud, hoot and holler as Williams walked out onto the stage, each of them joining in with the rest of the crowd around them, welcoming their entertainment for the night. Mydnight could even hear Ambur squealing over the rest of the crowd since he knew her voice so well. He couldn't believe how excited she was and he couldn't help but smile as he watched her hang on every word that would come out of William's mouth as she spoke to the crowd. They watched as the rest of the band members filled in and took their places behind her before the lights on stage began to dim and the laser light show started back up, again featuring mostly blue and white lights.

As she began to play Ambur saw Liv begin to chug her drink before placing the empty cup on their table. She quickly stood from her chair and grabbed onto Ambur's hand, pulling at her to get her to stand as hard as she could. "Come on!" She shouted over the music. Ambur hesitated as her mind began to race, trying to convince herself to just let go and let Liv drag her out tot he dance floor as the music kicked up to a much more bass-heavy, fast passed song.

Ambur quickly looked across the table to find Mydnight looking back at her, seemingly spacing out and studying her face in silence. She took in a deep breath and exhaled before downing a huge gulp of her beer, her face scrunching up from the alcohol before she shook her head quickly and began to stand, "Alright I'll do it," she blurted out as she let Liv lead her out to the dance floor, feeling Mydnight's gaze on her the whole way.

Mydnight quickly looked to find Gretchen, though discovered that she too had disappeared into the crowd behind his other companions. Again his attention turned back to Ambur, easily spotting her amongst the sea of other fans, clearly standing out to him not just from her height, but from her scent as well. He could see her plain as day thankfully as the girls had only just gone onto the dance floor and were near the edge of the entire pack of people.

Time seemed to slow as the music went on and his vision rested with his partner. At first, it seemed as though she really didn't know what to do but after a few minutes of Liv getting her moving the Amazon seemed to be quite in sync with the rhythm. Mydnight would fall into an incredible trance as song after song went by and things just seemed to happen around him. Ambur and Olivier would come and go from the table, getting a few more drinks and getting increasingly tipsy as the night went on. He would interact with them in small ways as they came and went but nothing substantial.

Eventually, in the dark of the room, Mydnight would find himself completely entranced with Ambur. Her scent had changed throughout the night and her appearance along with it. She and Liv had been dancing so much in the hot crowd and their skin began to glisten with sweat, the scent reaching Mydnight's nose. To his surprise, however, it wasn't offensive at all. It seemed as though Ambur's body could do no harm to him in any sense and it only seemed to drag him down further into Ambur's unwitting control.

"He's watching," Liv breathed into Ambur's ear, too quietly for Mydnight to have possibly noticed over all the noise.

"Good," Ambur whispered back, both girls constantly on the edge of being out of breath "I want his eyes on us all night," she said softly as she bit her lower lip and put her hands on Liv's waist.

"Gosh," Liv let out with a smirk before whispering again. "I've created a monster," she faked a gasp and looked up to watch the lights flashing in Ambur's reflective red-eye as Ambur did the same in Liv's deep plum orbs.

"Is that a problem," Ambur smirked back as she spun her shorter counterpart around. She held her hips and lowered herself a little to match her hips with Olivier's as they began to grind on each other. Liv too began to bite on her lip as she looked back over her shoulder into Ambur's face. She couldn't believe how bold Ambur was acting, especially in front of Mydnight. Even if she was only acting this way to make the wolf jealous, Liv didn't care. She had longed for the touch of another person in this way for far too long and if Ambur wanted this then Liv wasn't about to object, grinding her pelvis into Ambur's, feeling her breasts pressed up against her back.

"Not tonight it's not."