Auras and Alibis

Chapter 11

The next day, Jaune woke her up bright and early. Cinder blearily cracked both eyes open, a low, tired groan escaping from her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Time to get up," Jaune said. He moved over to the window and threw the curtains open, allowing light to spill into the room. Cinder brought a hand up to shield her eyes, giving a small grunt as she did so.

She cast a glance at the nearby digital clock, groaning once more when she saw that it was just after six. "Why so early?"

"Because we have that thing today," Jaune told her. "You didn't forget, did you?"

Cinder's heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she was worried that she'd forgotten something important, like their anniversary or his birthday. Then, memories from last night came flooding back, and she turned to him in surprise.

"Did you sign us up for the cooking class today?"

Jaune grinned at her. "I sure did! I figured, why wait, right? It was surprisingly cheap and easy to get into, probably because nobody wanted to do it this early. But I think that'd be better for us – this early, I suspect they'll be teaching how to make breakfast foods, which should be pretty easy."

"Do you lack confidence in my abilities?"

Jaune's expression faltered. "...Okay, I love you more than anything in the world, but I have to admit it – Cinder, you're a menace in the kitchen. I'm sorry, but it's true."

She let out a soft sigh. "Believe me, I know. So this is your way of fixing that, is it?"

"And a way for us to do something together," Jaune reminded her, his smile returning. "Come on, it'll be fun. And besides, I've already paid the fee for the class, so it'll be a complete waste of money if we don't go now."

"Alright, alright…" Cinder threw the covers off herself, then stood up and stretched. Behind her, Jaune let out a low whistle.

"You know, it never really hits me until it does," he said. "We're so familiar with each other that it's easy to forget sometimes."

"What is that?" Cinder asked as she dropped down into her first set of basic morning calisthenics.

"Just how out-of-this-world hot you are," Jaune said, taking a seat on the bed to stare at her. She was naked, of course, because what kind of crazy person wore clothes to bed with their significant other? "Seriously, you're smoking. I guess those stretches do a lot of good for you, not to mention the crime-fighting."

"You should join me sometime," Cinder said between grunts of exertion. "With working out, that is. I have read studies about the effects that exercising together can have on couples."

"Oh, yeah? Lay it on me."

"Aside from the obvious of getting us both into better shape? Apparently, it can make the sex better."

"Truly?" Jaune brought a hand up to his chin in thought. "Alright, then. What do I need to do?"

"Join me on the floor and do as I do," Cinder urged. "Do not worry if you can't keep up – you're not in bad shape, but you don't exactly have a Hero's build yet, not to mention your lack of Aura."

"Sure. Just let me-"

He went to sit down next to her, and when he did, Cinder pounced. She sprang up and landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Jaune stared up at her, his eyes wide with surprise, and she smirked at him.

"Of course, if we are to do this together, then I must insist that you strip down first," she purred.

"That eager to eat the eye-candy, huh?"

"Do not be ridiculous. Clothes inhibit your range of motion – makes it harder to get the most out of the exercise. And besides, it's not fair that I should be the only one naked right now."

Jaune grinned at her. "You have a point."

Cinder rolled off him, watching as he began to strip down. As she watched him peel the layers of clothing away from his skin, she couldn't help but lick her lips.

When she'd first met Jaune, she'd known he was special. But she'd had no way of knowing just how special he'd end up being to her in the end. He was clearly smitten with her, that much was true, but she was just as enamored with him, too.

Unfortunately, that meant having to suffer through this stupid cooking class, but it would be worth it in the end.

Everything involving Jaune was, after all.

Like Jaune had said, the cooking class was supposed to take place at their local community center. It was a large, multi-story brick building in downtown Vale; the class was going to be on the third floor. As they ascended the stairs up to it, however, Cinder couldn't help but be a bit apprehensive.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it is," Jaune replied, following after her. "It's just cooking, Cinder. It's not like it'll be life or death."

She bit her lip. "I mean, we know how bad my cooking can get-"

"I'll be right here with you, so there's nothing to worry about," he assured her. "Though, admittedly, I'm a bit weirded out that we haven't really seen anyone else heading for this classroom… Then again, they're probably all just inside at the moment. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"If you say so…" Cinder replied.

Eventually, they made it to the third floor classroom, and Jaune stepped forward to get the door for her. Cinder gave him a nod of appreciation, and they both entered the room.

Thankfully, they weren't the only ones in class. A few other couples were already there, though none of them were anyone Cinder recognized. There was no sign of the instructor, at least not yet, so they simply found a spot to sit down together, which ended up being at a table towards the back of the class, next to an open window.

As they sat down, Jaune looked out at the table in front of them. There was a small oven connected to it, along with a series of cooking implements spread out across its top. Jaune's brow suddenly furrowed, and he picked up some of the tools to examine them.

"Is something wrong?" Cinder asked. "Those aren't implements of torture, are they?"

Jaune shook his head. "No."

"Then what's that one you're holding for?"

"It's a whisk, Cinder. You use it to beat eggs, mainly. It's kind of a strange choice for a cooking class, though; a lot of this stuff is, in fact. I mean, measuring cups and spoons, stand mixer, flour-" He suddenly paused before letting out a sigh of resignation. "...Alright, I'm suddenly realizing why this class was so cheap."

"Why is that?" Cinder asked, suddenly concerned.

"See, it is a cooking class, but they didn't say what kind of cooking we'd be doing," Jaune pointed out. "Which is to say that I think this is actually a baking class."

She blinked. "...Is that bad?"

Jaune shrugged. "That depends. Baking is a lot more of an exact science than cooking is. Like, a lot more. Cooking is forgiving; baking, though? Baking is rough. But as long as the instructor knows what he's doing, there shouldn't be any problems-"

The door to the classroom suddenly came flying open, and a very large man with a bald head and a handlebar mustache dressed in, of all things, a bright purple suit and bow tie, came striding in, a big grin on his face.

"Hel-lo, class!" he announced.

Immediately, Jaune shrank back. "Oh, no…"

"What is it?" Cinder whispered. "You can tell he's not going to be good already?"

"I had this type of teacher before, in school. We might be in for a ride."

Cinder quirked an eyebrow at that, but said nothing, instead turning her attention back to the teacher as he clapped his hands together.

"You can all call me Peridot," he announced. "And I must say, it is absolutely super that all you lovely young couples have come out on this sunny and bright morning to participate in this class. Cheers to you!"

Cinder looked out the window. It was overcast. Slowly, she turned to look at Jaune.

"How much did you pay for this class?"

"Like fifty lien for the day," he answered.

"I think now we know why it was so cheap."

"Well, we're here now, so might as well make the most of it." He gave her a smile. "Frankly, I'm just happy to be here with you, no matter what we're doing."
Cinder felt a faint dusting of red cross her face. Just for that, she'd indulge this ridiculous class for as long as she could take it.

"Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you all!" Peridot said, his voice never once losing its upbeat, jovial tone. "I figured it'd be best to start with something easy, so how about some super-basic and yet super-yummy chocolate chip cookies?"

Next to her, Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good… those should be pretty easy." He gave her a reassuring nod. "Okay, just follow my lead and follow the recipe. Do that, and it'll turn out just fine."

Cinder nodded, a faint smile crossing her face at his reassurance.

Maybe it was just overconfidence on her part, but she was suddenly sure she could accomplish this task. She was Vale's number one criminal mastermind, after all – compared to her usual heists and capers, this was nothing.

After all, how hard could baking be?

Cinder watched in dismay as the other couples hurriedly vacated the room, coughing their lungs out the entire time. Peridot came walking over, waving his hands to clear the smoke pouring off of the stovetop.

"Well now, seems we've had a tiny problem here," he told her, never once losing that friendly smile or jovial tone in his voice. Her eye twitched at it. He bent down to get a closer look at the stovetop. "So, what seems to be the issue?"

"We're… not sure," Jaune said, giving her a glance from the corner of his eye. Cinder mouthed 'I'll tell you in a bit' to him, and he nodded in understanding before looking back to the instructor. "Seems our batter mixture spontaneously combusted, sir."

"Well, that's no good," Peridot replied, standing up straight. He brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Hm… admittedly, that's a new one for me to hear, but no matter. I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation for it."

Cinder let out a small cough, and not because of the smoke still filling the room.

"Anyway, why not try again?" Peridot asked. He gave Cinder a wide grin. "We'll turn you into a master baker yet."

With that, he walked away. Cinder's eye twitched.

"He is mocking me."

"I don't think so," Jaune offered. "He's just one of those teachers who tries way too hard to be everyone's friend." He looked down at their blackened and burned batter mixture, frowning as he did so. Under his breath, as asked, "So is that your Semblance?"

Cinder nodded, and answered in a hushed voice. "It is. I can superheat things by touching them."

"Huh. Sounds powerful."

"It is, but also hard to control. Sometimes if I focus too intently on something, it leaks out."

"Oh, is that why cooking is so hard for you? You're so concentrated on getting it right that your Semblance comes out?" She nodded, and Jaune nodded in understanding before bringing a hand up and resting it on her shoulder. "Take it easy, okay? I'm right here with you, there's no reason to get everything so perfect. And I don't just mean with cooking."

Cinder blinked, a faint dusting of red crossing her cheeks. "Thanks."

He grinned at her. "Hey, what are soon-to-be husbands for, right? Anyway, let's try again." His brow furrowed. "But first, let's get rid of the reject batter." He looked around. "Is there a trash can somewhere?"

"I think we're beyond the point of being able to scrape that batter off into a trash can," Cinder admitted. "There's no way it's coming out of the bowl, Jaune."

"Then we'll have to throw away the whole bowl."

"That would do nothing to get the smell of burnt batter out of the room."

"What do you suggest, then?"

Cinder stared at him for a moment before picking up the ruined bowl, waiting for Peridot to look away, and tossing the entire bowl out the nearby window. Jaune blinked as he watched the mixing bowl go out the window, then slowly turned back to her.

"I suppose that solves that problem," he admitted. "Okay, do me a favor and get me another bowl. Let's try this again."

A few minutes later, and the room was once again filled with smoke. None of the other students had come back after the first go-around, so it was just the two of them and Peridot coughing this time, though that did nothing to mask the shame that Cinder felt. She stood there, gritting her teeth and looking down at the floor as the instructor once again moved over to get a look, again waving the smoke out the nearby window.

"What happened?" he asked, still keeping that some upbeat tone. "Another spontaneous combustion?"

"Seems like it," Jaune said between bouts of coughing. "You know how this stuff goes, I'm sure."

"Hm…" Peridot again brought a hand up in thought. "Your stovetop isn't on, is it?"

"It was," Jaune hurriedly answered. "We, uh, turned it off just before you got here. I must have turned it on by mistake – my bad. Won't happen again."

Peridot clapped his hands together. "Well, it's no trouble, of course – making mistakes is part of learning, after all. Nothing to worry about."

"Not even the ruined bowls?"

"The fee for the class pays for more than just the ingredients, you know." Peridot winked at him. "Anyway, let's try again. Third time's the charm, after all."

Again, Cinder grit her teeth as Peridot walked away.

"This time, I am sure he is mocking me," she said.

"He's not," Jaune emphatically told her. "Look, I know it's frustrating, but baking isn't easy in the first place. It's especially not easy if you have a Semblance making things difficult for you." Again, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Just relax, okay? Let me take the lead this time. You put in the ingredients, and I'll mix them. We'll have to get an electric mixer for ourselves at some point, because I think the problem here is you're trying to mix everything by hand… you know, assuming we're not sick of hearing about chocolate chip cookies by the end of today."

Cinder let out a tired huff. "It's just frustrating. I am a Hero, someone who fights criminals and defends innocents. I have stared down dangerous people armed with even more dangerous weapons several times by now. Something as basic and domestic as cooking should come naturally to me, especially since we are living together. You should not be the only one stuck making meals for both of us, especially given the hours you work."

"Cooking and crime-fighting are two completely different skills," Jaune softly told her. "Your worth as a person and as a wife is not determined by how well you can cook, Cinder. That's not why I'm marrying you."

"And why are you marrying you?"

"Truthfully? Because you've got a great ass." She flushed red at his unexpected comment, and he grinned at her. "Chalk another one up for Jaune."

"I'll get you back for that one," she muttered. "And, for the record… that's my reason for marrying you as well."

She punctuated her statement by looping an arm around his waist and giving his butt a gentle squeeze. Jauen looked to her in surprise.

"Why, Cinder, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me, right in front of the cooking instructor."

"Perhaps I am," she purred. "It would certainly make this class more interesting, wouldn't you agree?"

"I won't argue that, but-"

Peridot suddenly cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt your little moment, but if you both could please very kindly refrain from making love on the countertop? People eat off those."

Jaune looked to Cinder. "Now, what makes him think there wouldn't be any eating going on between the two of us?"

Cinder's blush was downright luminescent, even as she grit her teeth. "I am about fed up with this man, Jaune. I can deal with mockery, but blue balls, so to speak? I have half a mind to set the room ablaze."

"But our fifty lien, Cinder."

"Consider it an investment. One more comment and I am liable to explode, and not in the good way."

Jaune held up his hands in surrender. "Calm down, okay? All we need to do is bake some cookies, then we can call it good. I think he'd be just as happy to see us out of the room at that point as well."

Cinder let out another huff. "Very well. But you are making it up to me later."

"You're stressed," Jaune noted. "Perhaps you'd like a massage when we get home?"

"Mm… been awhile since you've offered me one of those."

"No, it hasn't. I do it pretty regularly. It's just that while they start as massages, they never end as massages."

"Arguable. My understanding is that a happy ending is expected at many of those places."

"Yes, but generally it's the guy getting one, not the other way around."

"Are you implying my endings for you aren't happy? Is this you calling me a selfish lover?"

Jaune paused. "...Loaded question."

"I know. Add one for Cinder."

"Oh, come on, I wasn't flustered, just confused."

"It still counts."

"Hmph. Maybe I will make you mix the ingredients, after all."

Cinder paled at that. "My apologies, Jaune. Please do not force me to burn another batch of cookies."

"Well, alright," he conceded. "But only because you're so cute."

He motioned to the lineup of steadily-dwindling ingredients in front of them. "Okay, let's do one more batch, then call it good."

For the first time that day, they succeeded in getting the cookies into the oven without burning them. Peridot even came over to examine them as they baked, eventually standing up and nodding, that same smile still ever-present on his face.

"Excellent work!" he complimented. "I knew you both could do it eventually."

"Sorry about the mess," Jaune apologized.

Peridot waved him off. "Oh, it's no big deal – that's what the janitors are for, anyway. Frankly, I'm not surprised to see new bakers burning the cookies… though admittedly, generally that happens before they get in the oven… but I digress! Good work." He checked his watch. "Now then, I need to step out for just a few minutes. If you two can just watch the cookies as they bake and pull them out when they're done? It shouldn't be much longer, just a few minutes."

"That won't be a problem," Jaune promised. "We'll be right here, watching them."

"Excellent! I will be back shortly."

With that, Peridot turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Jaune watched him go before shaking his head.

"Man, that's guy's weird. So, what should we do for the next-"

That was as far as he got before Cinder grabbed him, spun him around, and kissed him on the lips. Jaune stood there for a moment, shocked, but eventually, began reciprocating. After a few seconds, they both pulled away, panting and gasping for breath as they looked each other in the eyes.

"Okay," Jaune ventured. "Not that I'm disappointed, but what brought that on?"

"Oh, I don't know," Cinder said playfully. "Perhaps something you said earlier has been stuck in my head. Perhaps I've thought of a way you can pay me back for your earlier comment."

"I thought you wanted a massage when we got home?"

"Perhaps I can't wait that long. Perhaps I've thought of something we can do to pass the time." A wicked grin crossed her face as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "And perhaps a certain comment you made about eating something has gotten me a bit excited."

She pulled away, and Jaune stared at her in surprise. "...Really? Right here, on the countertop?"

"Why not?" Cinder asked. "I know you're more than a little riled up right now."

"But… we'd be getting the counter dirty-"

"What are janitors for?"

"...Point," he conceded. "What if Peridot sees?"

"Consider it a challenge, then," Cinder said. "You have a few minutes. Are you good enough with your tongue to make them count?"

Jaune's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You know better than to challenge my tongue game, woman."

Before Cinder could relax, Jaune grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her onto the counter. She gave a small, surprised yelp as he spread her legs and got between them, looking up at her with a downright devilish look on his face.

"You are a bad influence," he said. Each word came with a pulse of hot breath on her crotch, making her flinch, her face turning crimson as she twitched. He grinned at her when he realized what was happening. "Seriously? I haven't even started yet."

"...Your comments from earlier may have gotten me more than a little excited," she confessed. "Do you intend to keep me in anticipation forever? Need I remind you of our time limit?"

"Alright, alright, I'll-" Jaune suddenly paused. "...What smells like burning chocolate?"

Both of them blinked and stared at each other before suddenly separating, Cinder scrambling off the countertop and watching on worriedly as Jaune opened the oven and pulled at the tray of cookies. To her dismay, they were all blackened and burned.

And right at the moment, Peridot came walking through the door, whistling a tune. He paused mid-step as the scent of burning cookies hit his nose, then turned towards them.

"Well," he said, still somehow not losing his smile. "How unfortunate. Still, there's always the fourth try-"

That was enough for Cinder. Without missing a beat, she pulled one of the rock-hard cookies off the tray and threw it at him. It struck him right between the eyes, and he fell to the floor in a heap.

"Cinder!" Jaune exclaimed, putting the tray of burnt cookies on the countertop and moving to rush forwards. "Is he okay?!"

"He'll be fine," she said, reaching out to stop him. "He is merely unconscious."

"Still, we should check on-"

"Jaune," she said, stopping him. "He will be fine. Trust me."

"How can you tell?"

"Believe me, I've knocked enough people out to know. Though admittedly, this is the first time I have done so with chocolate. Still, I suppose there's a first time for everything. Besides, be honest – you wanted to punch him out too, didn't you?"

Jaune bit his lip. "...Okay, maybe a little," he confessed. "But still, we should-"

"We should do nothing," Cinder insisted. "Aside from vacate the premises, of course. Peridot will be fine, but being found standing in the same room as his unconscious body is… not a good look for us."

Jaune let out a chuckle. "Okay, yeah, you've got a point." He reached down and turned the oven off. "So, what now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "We finish what we very regrettably did not have a chance to start yet."

Again, Jaune let out a chuckle. "You're a horny little minx, you know that?"

"Only for you. Now take me to bed or lose me forever."

"Well, between those two options, I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Jaune took her by the hand, and together they both left the room, stepping over Peridot's unconscious figure as they hurried home.

The next morning, Jaune was awoken by the scent of, of all things, chocolate. He groggily sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before throwing the cover off himself and standing up.

"Cinder?" he called. "You here?"

"I'm in the kitchen!" she called back.

Jaune's blood ran cold. Without missing a beat, he ran in, expecting a horror show. And he wasn't wrong – the entire countertop was filled with bags of ingredients and bowls of rejected batter, most of which was at least somewhat burned. But that wasn't what really surprised him.

No, what really surprised him was the sight of Cinder, dressed in nothing but an open-backed apron, as she pulled a tray of unburnt cookies out of the oven.

Jaune stared in shock as she set the tray on the stovetop, then took a step back, wiping sweat from her brow as she did so. Tentatively, he took a step forward.

"What is all this?"

Cinder hesitated. "I… wanted to try it on my own," she offered. "It turned out that we had the ingredients here already, so I simply followed the recipe we learned in class. It took several tries, and I rejected anything that even hinted at being burnt, but eventually, I had one batch that turned out well enough to go into the oven. After that, I simply watched them like a hawk, and… here they are."

She motioned to the tray of cookies sitting on the stove. Jaune stepped forward, examining them closely. None of the cookies were uniform; they were all of varying shapes and sizes, which naturally meant that some were undercooked and others were overcooked. Still, despite that, these were a labor of love, from a soon-to-be wife to her soon-to-be husband.

Without missing a beat, he reached for one and popped it into his mouth. Sure enough, it was overcooked; the underside was burnt, and the entire cookie was dry. It wasn't exactly bakery-quality, but Cinder had made them for him, and that was enough.

"What do you think?" Cinder asked, anxious. "Be honest."

Jaune swallowed what was in his mouth, then turned towards her, a smile crossing his face.

"It's the second-best thing I've ever eaten," he told her.

It took her a minute to get it, but when she did, she blushed harder than he'd ever seen her blush before.

Jaune grinned, and silently gave himself an extra point for that one.

Apologies for the delay, friends - things have been getting kinda crazy around here over the past few weeks. And they might be getting crazier still, since I've realized I fucking hate my job and really need to find a new one. So don't be surprised if there are further delays on the fanfics. I'll do my absolute best to keep consistently coming out with an update for each of them every few weeks, but life is keeping me busy, unfortunately.

That's about what I've got as far as a status update is concerned. Now for a word from everyone's favorite co-writer:

Jaune ain't the only one eating well tonight. Hope y'all you enjoy the chapter! -ickbard

And there you have it, folks. Speaking of Ickbard, very special thanks to him for the help with this chapter, as well as for the help with basically everything else I've written, lol. Love ya, man.

That's pretty much all we've got for now, so we'll see you next time!

Enjoy my work and want to help me out a bit? You can support me, as well as read more of my writing, over on Amazon. My second original story is available for purchase now, you can find it by going on Amazon and searching for 'Dead World' by John Haruspex. The story is available now for three bucks in ebook format (or free with Kindle Unlimited) or twelve bucks in paperback format, if you prefer physical media. (Remove the spaces)

www . amazon Dead-World-John-Haruspex / dp /B0C2RPGXVC / ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1682982861&sr=8-2

My first original story is also still available at the following link as well:

www . amazon dp/ B0BLFL72MX

I have recently launched my first piece of serialized web fiction. It's called An Angel's Retirement, and you can read it over on Spacebattles, Royal Road, or r/HFY. In each case, it's been posted under my name, Obsequium Minaris. I'll try to link it here, but FFN's wordfilter may make that impossible. In any case, let's try it (remove the spaces):

www . reddit r/HFY/ comments / 18xythv / an_angels_retirement_chapter_1/

forums . spacebattles threads / an-angels-retirement.1137358/

www . royalroad fiction 79445 / an-angels-retirement

And the synopsis:

Captain Eric Anders thought his time in the military was over when the war with the Iprenians ended in a ceasefire. He was content to sit back, collecting his monthly pension and drinking his sorrows away. But everything changed when the government saw fit to drop one of its very own super-soldiers into his life. Suddenly, he finds his retirement interrupted by the need to babysit a socially-maladjusted killing machine who has known nothing but war for almost her entire life.

As it turns out, the war itself may be over for the two of them, but the wounds it left behind are very much still present...