I should apologize for the long wait between chapters. Some work stuff got in the way, and I'll be honest a straight grind in Tarkov dominated the month of August. So, hopefully chapters will come at a faster pace. I'll also be honest that I hit a block with this one, losing my momentum. Considering it was slowing everything down a bit too much might have been the problem, so I apologize for the rushed feeling if there is any and lateness of it because I wanted to get a move on and get something out. If I see myself losing momentum again maybe I'll throw a one-shot of something out. Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy the next chapters.
CHAPTER 8 - Obligatory Beach Day
It wasn't that Jaune would say he was surprised by his circumstances, the last months of his situations called for a different understanding of his newfound life. Yet, somehow every new experience with Cinder brought forward a new revaluation of his thoughts on the woman, her confidence to do something, and her thought process behind such a decision. Staring at a bikini-clad, unreasonably good looking terrorist was doing wonders for his morals.
Jaune and his father had been stuck with setting up the chests, chairs, towels, and any other items they had brought for the lake advent to the private dock. His sisters and mother had found various floats to meander around, while Cinder had decided to place herself on the end of the dock. After he finished setting up, Jaune took his time to get to her. He never thought, especially with how much he had seen plenty of well toned backs and silhouettes with the RWBY girls and his teammates that he would take the time to appreciate the view he was privileged with, yet there he was.
A moment after his stupor was broken by him realizing to be better, Jaune sat down next to Cinder. "Not going to swim, Cin?"
"Arc, have I ever given off the implication that I am unfit or unable to do anything?" Cinder asked, deadpan to his face.
"Ah, well." Jaune wasn't sure how to reply, doing his best to focus on the conversation and not the living distraction next to him. It was really unfair how well Cinder pulled off her swimsuit, really the utter confidence she held herself in it was extremely attractive alone. No, focus, keep attention on the question. He cleared his throat, "I'll admit that throughout the whole time I've known you or about you I haven't heard or seen you fail. So, no, I gotta say Cinder you're pretty stellar at anything you do."
It looked like Cinder wanted to leave it at that. And she might have a several months ago too, Jaune guessed. He could tell the consistency of his presence had whittled away at her, especially in how the talks they had the last couple weeks before had become more serious. Gone was the question for a question, and in came the real insight into how each other thought. Cinder was a directionless being without a goal, the broad guidelines her villainy had provided gave plenty of what she saw as reason behind her actions.
After hours of talking over the weeks, Jaune had convinced her of a new goal. To properly establish herself at Beacon Academy as a trustworthy huntress, maybe even get some short term goals like learn to bake cookies for Ruby. Her eyes had gotten a flare back in them after he saw her realize the legitimacy and possibility behind the goals she could build in her new circumstances. It was, for lack of better description, saddening to see her eyes so grey compared to their usual hue.
"I can't swim."
It took everything in Jaune's essence, in the fiber of his being, of his morals, ethics, and logic to not laugh at the sudden absurdity of the statement uttered by the villainess. But he knew opportunities became triumphs to those who took advantage, and he kept his laughter to the back of his throat. "Well I guess we'll have to fix that won't we."
Cinder scoffed, "Right, I gladly will make myself a fool in front of your family. This dock serves me well, better than you have ever in these trying times."
This time Jaune let the trapped laugh escape. There was a sense that any tension he had made up in his mind had dissipated, leaving a different situation for the knight. This terror inducing huntress, was blocked by a simple survival skill. Jaune smiled at the chance that Cinder had given him, almost like teaching Joan to drive when he had first gotten his silence. It was a core memory for the two in the making, a picture that could be framed if ever taken, that instead would define their relationship.
Jaune placed his hand over Cinder's, getting more and more comfortable with the confidence that was growing every time he reached for it, multiplied every time Cinder took the initiative to entwine their fingers. "I'll take you to the cove just a short walk away, its waist high and just like those lagoons you see over in menagerie. You'll only be embarrassing yourself in front of me, and let's be honest you have plenty of more times you've seen me embarrass myself."
"Well..." Cinder rubbed the inside of his palm with her thumb, "If it's just the two of us, I think I can compromise with that. Swimming is a necessary skill, that alone gives it merit."
"Awesome! Let's get to it then," Jaune heaved himself up from the edge of the dock, bringing Cinder up and with him from their still clasped together hands.
It was no less than a few minutes walk to the location needed to teach Cinder. The journey was quite, only interrupted by the occasional bump of their shoulders from the closeness caused from their hands. It was a simple cove, beach gave plenty of area around the circumference of it, and the light tree line allowed for viewing a good amount before their arrival. A pattering, small waterfall splashed into the water on the far side of it, encompassed by a large rockface.
Jaune took refuge near a flat rock on the edge of the cove, taking off his shirt and placing it atop the rock. He waded into the water, gesturing for Cinder to come to him. "It'll be okay Cin, I'll be there every step of the way. You'll be a better swimmer than me before you know it."
Cinder stood at the wayside, frozen in place looking at him. Had it been earlier in their interactions, he would have racked his mind to decipher her action. Was she scrutinizing him, producing more tabs for the mental file she had of him? Was it that there was something wrong with how he said his comment, not short enough, or too little information? No, by now he could catch the intricacies that she displayed, and Jaune was beginning to become confident that it was a skill that only he possessed.
There was a red hue to the top of her cheeks. It could almost be forgiven for sunburn, or a trick of the light. Jaune knew better for once, and he thanked the increase in his training regime after their encounter on the tower for her reaction. A slight flex of his muscles threw Cinder out of her stupor, "I can't say I don't enjoy the view you're giving either, but I thought we came here to swim Cinder?"
"Tha-I-hm," For once, it seemed that Jaune had checked Cinder. Checkmate was on the horizon, but never on the table in her presence. Jaune had learned to accept that. "Let's get started already."
Their lessons progressed quickly, which came as no surprise to Jaune. Cinder was a natural to just about everything but social interaction, though it was coming slowly to her she was even improving at a steady pace. Her friendship with Blake and Ruby spoke volumes to her progress. As much as he wanted time alone to continue pushing Cinder toward betterment, Jaune saw the bases that the other two had provided in a manner which he could not. All their efforts had really made a difference, in the long and short run for sure.
After close to half an hour of confidence building, Jaune was holding Cinder's hands while she paddled in front of him as he slowly guided her around the water. It would be the first time he took the training wheels off and let her swim around. She floated just fine, and treaded water without sinking at all, which left the last basic trait. He was a second away from letting go, but hit his ankle on a rock, unseen from the murky water.
Trying to catch his balance, and subconsciously holding on to what his mind viewed at counterbalance through Cinder's hands, Jaune pulled Cinder with him while he tripped over the rock. The chest high water was inconvenient, but his tall stature allowed his center of mass to settle quickly, not before he noticed the closeness of Cinder's face.
Their breath was mixing above the water, dissipating across their cheeks. Jaune took note of the clarity at which he could admire her whole face, the usual tuft of hair that covered her eye had been slicked back. He could decipher the meaning behind her confidence in doing so, proud that she would in the privacy between them two. His eyes glazed across her cheekbones, gazing into the always fiery and entrancing eyes she possessed.
A quick glance south grounded Jaune in the reality of how close a tug would bring Cinder. Instead, Jaune steeled himself from making a decision that could effect too many things than just his selfishness. It didn't stop him from voicing what his actions would have, "You're beautiful you know. In every sense, I mean. The confidence that you hold yourself is beautiful. When you explain a topic your knowledgeable about is beautiful. I could get lost in your beauty for the rest of my life."
Cinder didn't move away, nor did she move closer. Jaune couldn't figure out in the moment what that meant for his confession. Or rather, admittance of thoughts. Confessions tended to be more direct in his opinion, he still couldn't break his consistent cowardice in certain situations. Maybe the thought came from the utter overload of anxiety at the situation.
"Jaune," This would be important, he could tell. Cinder Fall didn't tend to use his first name unless she wanted his full attention. "I am not nearly close to what you see me as. I am a bonified monster in a sultry body, never to make it to how you, or Ruby, or Blake see my future possibilities. For a decade I've made horrible decisions, never considered the second or third order effects of such things. I'm ugly, and disgusting, and am honestly only here because of an enemy's good nature. Of your sense of honesty for a killer."
"Cin-"
"No, listen." Cinder interrupted, "You're everything I want to strive to be. An honest, diligent worker toward the good in everyone. The giver of second chances because of the effect that the chances will have even when your prescense is forgotten. This natural, born ability to draw people to your sense of justice and righteousness is infectious. And makes you completely, utterly unobtainable for someone like me."
Jaune watched as tears leaked steadily from Cinder's eyes, taking initiative in silence to pull Cinder close to his chest. He moved them to the shore, picking her up in a carry and dropping them on the flat rock he had placed his shirt on. Cinder sat on his legs, straddling him in an extremely flattering position. All that was on his mind at the moment was righting her wrong thinking, to completely give up the last trump card he held.
"Look, let's just say your the epitome of what you say, especially imply you are, okay? Because I think that what you don't see, is because you don't know the full story. See, I might be everything on the surface of what you say." Jaune paused to wipe the tears from Cinder's cheeks, prompting her to lock eyes with him. "But I'm still just as greedy as you view yourself. Because I completely forged every single piece of paperwork to get into Beacon. I was greedy to consume the pride that came with being a hunter, protector of the innocent, killer of evil, placer of justice. My actions put several, easily dozens, of people in danger because of my lack of understanding of the most basics of basics."
Jaune laughed at the absurdity of the hindsight, "Heck, I didn't even have my aura activated. An amateur sword hobbyist had, still has, more skill than I do. And that lack of training and foresight put people that I have come to care about in danger every day I don't get better than I should have come in as. So, Cinder Fall, don't discredit yourself over misunderstandings. Because you have the opportunity to right things through your hard earned skill and knowledge, I just hope I can atone for the life threatening situations I've put my teammates, friends, and fellow citizens at risk for in my ineptness."
There was little movement for a moment after Jaune's monologue, only the rise and fall of his and Cinder's chests. He had no time to react to the sudden lunge of Cinder, definitely none at all for the heat that filled his mouth as Cinder's lips pressed against his. The trail by fire became a back and forth of learning, as the two found what ways the puzzle pieces of their mouths could click together. Jaune wrapped his arms around Cinder's back, pulling her mouth even more against his, caressing the top of her lips with his.
It was an uncounted amount of seconds before they parted, both stopping centimeters from going back for seconds. Cinder took heavy breaths to recover air, none of which had been received through their locked lips. "I...cou-, " A deep breath, "C-couldn't figure out how to get you to understand how much I could give a shit that you cheated your way into Beacon. Hell, any other situation I would have just said I'm proud. I think what I did will have to suffice, though."
Jaune grinned, taking a page out of her book and taking the lead. His action was softer, more expressive of emotion through the wondering nature of his kisses. Short and sweet, they pecked across her soft features, only stopping when Jaune got his senses back. Their foreheads pressed together, "Well Cin, I think I like this new way you found to communicate."
"Good, because I have something to tell you."
So, totally just went with the flow with this chapter. I originally just planned for a cute swim scene, but other than placing the actions and newfound revelations that Jaune gave in the next chapter, I didn't see anywhere else to put them. You'll see in the next chapter where I could have put his info he gave Cinder, but to be honest I like what I gave myself to deal with for it. We'll see the last bit I wanted to get done before moving on to the second half of the duo's freshman year and thus the second half of the arc.
And we're back with another ramble, unsure if I've really hit the mark enough with discussing why I have everyone act a certain way. So if I repeat myself, or I've already established something I say, just take it in stride. I'd like to get into the idea that a lot of series and books and such get yelled at for, which is not following their own rules. Disney's Star Wars is a good example with the retconning their new movies have done, and disobeying of their own rules. Not to say that the world exploring and visuals aren't top tier, which goes back to RWBY's similar case (visuals that you can't deny you hoped for when the first few seasons came out, and world exploring (not building, there's a difference) you expected).
On a side note relating, I would argue that in a more broad sense that was why (among other things) RWBY was recieved so poorly after its third season and subsequent seasons after. The jovial nature of even the fights, constrained by what seemed like an unsaid rule to have fun making and watching it, which was tainted after by corporate cliches and taking itself too seriously.
I want to keep Jaune and Cinder as close to themselves as they've been portrayed up to the beginning of the story. Or at the very least, keep to how I think they would realistically react to everything. Do I take exceptions when I think outside the box thinking is needed, sure, but not always.
This story, and any of my future stories, look to keep anchored to these rules set. Not only the rules I set for myself, but what I think that the initial making of RWBY also set out. We're still in the first arc (about half way), and plenty of rules and constraints are to be set up and followed.
All in all, though a short ramble, I hope that it keeps with what I've been writing. Because I want to create stories that seem like within those rules and constraints can really happen. Thanks again for reading. Reviews of any kind are appreciated, I'll take anything to improve, stay consistentwith, or anything else.