Auras and Alibis

Chapter 10

It didn't take much to set something up for the weekend. Before she knew it, the five of them were set to arrive in less than an hour.
And Cinder was panicking.

"Babe, seriously, what's wrong?" Jaune asked as she paced back and forth through their apartment.

"Nothing," she said hurriedly. "It's just… I want you to approve of them."

His expression softened. "Cinder, we talked about this. They're your friends – of course I'll approve of them."

Cinder hesitated. She knew Jaune was trying to be his usual self and reassure her, but it did little to help. After all, it wasn't the real reason why she was so worried.

There had been people in her apartment before, namely Ren and Nora, but this was different – these were actual Heroes, people who would readily try to kill her if they ever discovered the truth about who she really was.

And they were about to be in her humble abode, around her Jaune. There was no telling what they would do if, somehow, they were able to discover something about her true identity.

Jaune must have seen that she was still distraught, as he rose from his seat and walked over to her, then pulled her into a big hug.

"I know you're nervous," he said. "But you don't have to be. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Cinder swallowed nervously. "How do you know?"

He just laughed softly. "Because when has anything bad ever happened between us?" He paused. "Aside from that thing with the mugger. That doesn't count."

Despite herself, Cinder couldn't help but crack a smile. She shook her head. "I'm so glad I met you."

"And to think it all started with some spilled coffee and a ruined top."

"Don't forget the sex," Cinder reminded him.

Jaune's expression faltered. "...Uh… you like it as much as I do."

She blinked. "Well, that was a letdown of a jab. Then again, I suppose you'll make it up to me later."

She expected him to blush, but instead, his smile just widened. She blinked again, surprised. "You're not flustered."

"Hey, I had to get used to your teasing at some point," Jaune said with a small laugh.

"Then I suppose I will just have to step things up."

"What is this, some kind of romantic arms race? I wasn't aware that this was a competition."

"It's always a competition," Cinder said. She gave him a mischievous grin. "And I am winning."

"Only until I do that thing with my tongue." She actually blushed at that, and Jaune laughed again. "See? You can get flustered, too."

Cinder playfully smacked him gently on the shoulder. "Just for that, I'm going to be on top tonight."

"You're in rare form today." Jaune leaned in to whisper in her ear. "We still have an hour. Why wait for tonight?"

That was her cue to take him by the hand and pull him into the bedroom, slamming the door behind them.

An hour later, and the two of them were once more standing out in the living room, desperately trying to make it look as if they hadn't been up to something and had just finished a few moments ago.

"How's my hair?" Cinder asked.

"Looking good, as always," he commented.

"Not what I meant. There's not anything in it, is there?"

"Why would there be anything in it?"

"Because sometimes we get a bit carried away. Remember your last birthday? You went into work the next day with hickies all over your neck. I'd prefer to avoid Yang's teasing as much as possible."

"That's…" He paused. "That's a fair comment, actually. Yang is the blonde one, right?"

"Yes." Cinder nodded. "Yang is the blonde one, Blake is the black-haired one. Those two are partners. Then there's the short white-haired one, Weiss, and her equally short partner and team leader, Ruby. And then there's Pyrrha, who's the tag-along we just picked up a few nights ago. But you'll know more about them when they get here, which should be very-"

There was a knock at the door. Cinder froze, a chill going down her spine. Next to her, Jaune cracked a smile.

"They're here!" he announced. "Cinder, do me a favor and check on the food, would you? It should be about ready, but just check and make sure."

Cinder nodded. Her mouth felt dry as she watched Jaune step over to the front door. She turned away, instead moving to the oven to check on the food. She winced when she heard the door open and Ruby excitedly call out.

"Hi!" she said. "You must be Jaune! Ooh, Cinder's said so much about you! May we come in?!"

"Absolutely," Jaune replied. "Please, come inside, all of you. Dinner's just about ready."

"Dinner?" Weiss asked as she stepped inside. "You shouldn't have. I was under the impression that this would just be a little get-together."

"Now, who gave you the impression that I would let guests into my house and insult them by not feeding them?" Jaune playfully questioned. "Cinder, was that you? Did you imply that I would starve them all?"

"I did no such thing!" Cinder replied, a bit too hastily. She stood up and straightened her hair out a bit, then forced a thin smile onto her face. "Hello. It's good to see you all again."

Yang stepped forward, looking around. She let out a low whistle as she did so. "Damn, nice place you've got here. Very comfy. Reminds me of Ruby and I's house back on Patch."

"Oh, right," Jaune commented. "I forgot you and her are related."

"We're half-sisters," Ruby explained. "Same dad, different moms. Hence why we don't really look anything alike."

"But don't let that fool you," Yang said with a grin, throwing an arm around Ruby's shoulders and pulling her into a headlock while Ruby futilely struggled. "We're as close as two sisters could possibly be."

"I can see that," Jaune said with a grin. "Reminds me of my sisters, to be honest."

"Right," Blake told him. "Cinder mentioned you had a big family."

"Yup. There's me, my parents, and my seven sisters."

Yang's jaw dropped. "Seven sisters?! Your poor parents!"

"Believe me, they weren't complaining." Jaune laughed. "At least, that's the impression I get whenever my mom talks about grandkids. You remember that, Cinder?"

"How could I forget," Cinder said dryly.

Jaune's expression faltered. "Is there something you forgot to mention to me?"

"Just that time your mother had a bit too much wine and commented to me that she expected no less than four grandchildren from us."

Jaune's jaw dropped. "You never told me that."

Cinder shrugged. "I figured it was the alcohol talking more than anything. Didn't see a reason to bring it up."

That, and if she was being honest, she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea…

"Well, your family certainly sounds fun," Weiss commented. "I hope we get to meet them some day."

"Believe me, if you're friends with Cinder, you will," Jaune told her, cracking a wide grin. "After all, you're all going to be in the wedding."

Their jaws dropped. They all turned to Cinder, who shrugged. "He insisted," was all she said.

"We're all gonna be bridesmaids!" Ruby said, excited. She looked around. "Where's Pyrrha? Why isn't she here yet? She has to hear this!"

"I heard it from down the hall," Pyrrha said, stepping into the doorway. She was holding a bottle of red wine in her hands, and had a surprised look on her face. "And… not to imply that I'm disappointed, but this is a bit sudden, isn't it?"

Jaune shook his head. "Nonsense! You're all friends with Cinder, so of course you'll be at the wedding if you want to be. And anyway, it's nice to meet you, I assume you're Pyrrha?"

"That would be me, yes." Pyrrha tucked the bottle under her arm, and then offered Jaune her hand, which he shook briefly. "Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise," Jaune answered. "Come in, come in! And thank you for the wine, as well."

"Of course!" Pyrrha said, offering him the bottle. She looked around the apartment. "Well, this is certainly very nice. Thank you for opening your home to us."

"Any time," Jaune answered. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna go ahead and open this bottle now. Everyone here is okay with a little wine, right?"

"I was wondering when this party was going to start!" Yang commented happily. "Crack that thing open, let's have some fun!"

"Behave yourself," Weiss chastised. Yang stuck her tongue out at her, and Weiss rolled her eyes before looking back to Jaune. "I would very much appreciate a glass of wine, Jaune, as I'm sure the rest of my friends would, too."

"No need to be so formal about it," he said with a chuckle. "I'll get some glasses out. Cinder, entertain your friends for me until I get back, will you?"

"Of course," Cinder answered, though her heart was pounding the entire time. She watched as Jaune took the bottle and left the room, heading for the kitchen to grab some wine glasses. She took a breath, then looked back to her so-called friends.

That word still didn't feel right for them.

"So," Ruby said, rocking back and forth on her heels. "I can see what Nora meant."

"Which is?" Cinder asked.

Ruby's grin widened. "You're both so in love with each other! I can see it in your eyes whenever you look at each other." She paused, her voice taking on the faintest touch of a somber tone. "It reminds me of the old photos of my parents I used to see growing up."

"She's right," Yang confirmed. "It's very sweet. Frankly, I'm surprised Blake isn't bawling her eyes out at it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing," Yang said, cracking a smile. "Just that you're a hopeless romantic with this kind of stuff. I've seen you get teary-eyed reading those romance novels of yours."

Blake rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll have you know that I am not a so-called 'hopeless romantic'… I just have an appreciation for the finer points of literature."

"Is that what they're calling crudely-made porn now?" Blake glared at her. "Well, it is!"

"Pardon me," Pyrrha interrupted. "Cinder, I apologize for bringing this up, but I think there's something in your hair."

Cinder's hand immediately flew to her head, panic lancing through her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was just a small patch of hair product, rather than something else.

"Sorry," she said. "We were in a bit of a hurry, I didn't have much time to get ready."

"Aw, you shouldn't have rushed on our account!" Ruby said. "We're all pretty casual… well, except for Weiss. She can be pretty prissy."

Weiss bristled. "I am not 'prissy!'" she said prissily.

"Weiss, we went to a steakhouse to celebrate last year's graduation and you ordered a salad," Yang pointed out. "Even Blake had the courtesy to order a filet."

"I would just like to remind you that you forced me into ordering that filet," Blake said. "You won the bet, so you got to pick the restaurant, and in typical Yang fashion, you picked the place that serves nothing but protein and carbs."

"Oh, I wasn't aware I twisted your arm behind your back and forced you to order a steak. You could have pulled a Weiss if you'd wanted."

"Well, I wasn't going to go to a nice steakhouse and not order a steak," Blake specified. "And what's wrong with a filet? It was good."

"I'll tell you what the problem is – it's not a prime rib or a ribeye. If I'm paying forty dollars for a steak, I want to be satisfied when I'm done eating it. A filet just isn't enough food for that price."

"Lesson learned," Pyrrha cut in. "If you serve a filet at your wedding, Yang won't come, Cinder."

Yang's jaw dropped. "Oh, that's just cold. I didn't think you had it in you, Pyrrha."

"You're all rubbing off on me, apparently."

At that moment, Jaune came back into the room, several glasses bundled in his arms. He set them down, then reached for the bottle of wine he'd set on the counter and began to fill them all up. Once the glasses were filled, he passed them around, then raised the final one to them.

"Cheers," he said, which they all echoed before taking a quick sip. Jaune let out a content sigh as he pulled the glass away from his lips, then gave Pyrrha a nod. "Excellent choice in wine."

"Oh, I can't take all the credit," Pyrrha said. "I just took the advice of the guy at the liquor store."

"Either way, this is great." Jaune took another sip, then looked back out over to the others. "So, you're all Heroes."

Ruby choked on her next sip of wine, coughing and sputtering as she pulled the glass away from her mouth. Yang gently patted her on the back, and after a moment, Ruby was able to recover, then turned to Cinder with surprise.

"You told him?!" she asked.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Ruby, he's her fiance. Of course he's going to know."

"But… my secret identity…"

"It's not much of a secret anymore," Blake commented. "For any of us, really. At least among everyone in this room."

"In her defense, I think Cinder wanted to keep it a secret, but circumstances kinda yanked it out of her," Jaune offered. "Cin, you want to tell this story?"

"There isn't much to tell," Cinder explained. "We were walking home from a date one night when we got mugged. I stopped him-"

"You completely rearranged his face, Cinder. The guy's head looked like raw hamburger meat when you were done with him."

"Only because he tried to shoot you," Cinder replied. "Anyway, the bullet hit me instead, but my Aura stopped it. Jaune saw, however, and from there… well, I had some explaining to do, since he put the pieces together very quickly. But then, he's always been sharp."

"You give me too much credit, really," Jaune told her. "In retrospect, you didn't conceal it all that well."

"It's hard to do when you live with someone like this."

"So… that's it?" Yang asked. "Because that's kinda cute, if so. A lot of people don't want to put up with dating a Hero, let alone marrying one – the lifestyle is just too much for them."

"I am not most people, which is to say I'm kind of a weirdo," Jaune said. "Besides, I love Cinder with all my heart. She's worth going through anything for."

"Aw!" Ruby cooed. "That's so sweet!"

"Don't let him fool you," Cinder interrupted. "He's just always wanted to sleep with a Hero."

"I don't hear you complaining," Jaune replied. "In fact, you were the one who insisted on roleplaying in-uniform last night-"

"Jaune!" Cinder chastised, a blush crossing her face as the other girls laughed.

"Well, you two at least look good together," Pyrrha said. "I'm happy for you both. It's rare to find a Hero/civilian relationship that lasts. But something tells me we don't have to worry about any of that here."

Jaune slipped his arm around Cinder's waist, pulling her close. "We haven't exactly said our vows yet, but let's just say that when an Arc says they're with you forever, they mean it. We never go back on our word."

"Alright, alright," Yang said, waving him off. "We get it – you're both sickly sweet for each other. It's nice, I'll admit, but I'm starting to get cavities from it."

"Yang," Weiss chastised.

Jaune chuckled. "No, no, she's got a point. We should probably dial it back a bit, lest you all start thinking the only thing we do together is breed like rabbits or something."

"Just mostly what we do together," Cinder said.

"You're trying to fluster me, and it's not going to work. Besides, I'm one up on you as of now."

"Give it time," Cinder said dismissively, though a smile had crossed her face. "The night is still young."

The small house party continued well into the night, before finally, the girls had to say goodbye. Jaune stood at the door, seeing them all out.

"Thanks for hosting, Jaune," Weiss said. "And for dinner, as well."

"Of course, Weiss," Jaune told her. "Any time."

"Well, don't let us keep you two out of the bedroom," Yang cut in with a grin.

"Yang!" Ruby protested as they all left and began to walk down the hall.

"What? We were all thinking it."

Jaune watched them go, then turned towards Pyrrha, who was just leaving. As she stepped out into the hall, however, she paused, then turned and looked behind her.

"Cinder," she said.

"Yes?" Cinder asked.

"Shall we go patrolling together tomorrow night?"

"Sure," Cinder said with a nod. "I'd like that."

Pyrrha's expression brightened at that, and she nodded. "Thank you both again for tonight. I had a great time."

"So did we," Jaune said. "See you around, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha waved goodbye, and Jaune saw her out of the apartment, and as she left, he gently closed the door behind her. Once she was gone, he turned back towards Cinder.

"Well, your fears were misplaced," he said. "Because I liked them all."

Cinder's brow furrowed. "I'm not about to have competition, am I?"

"Of course not, hon. You know you're the only one for me."

Jaune leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before pulling away, then turning and beginning to clean up whatever remained from the party.

"By the way," he said, "I was thinking that it'd be nice if we started doing more activities together. If you've got time for it, of course."

"If it's you, I will make the time," Cinder declared. "What did you have in mind, though?"

"Well, I was thinking something fun, but also practical," Jaune told her. "So, how about we take a cooking class of some kind together?"

She paused. "Cooking?"

"Yeah. I was looking into it, and I found a good class at the local community center. It should be fun."

"Jaune, you know I'm a disaster in the kitchen."

"Well, that won't last," he said, flashing her a grin. "Especially because I'll be eating whatever you cook, and if it kills me, I'll never forgive you."

For the first time in a long time, Cinder shuddered in fear and anticipation.

Special thanks to my good friend Ickbard for the help with writing this chapter/story!

Sorry for the delay with this one, guys – I got super busy with work/family obligations during December, and I also got a bit distracted by some originals I was working on, too. But it's good to be back and updating this story again, I'll say that much! I did really miss it.

I don't have too much to say story-wise regarding this chapter, because it's really more of one of those sweet, feel-good chapters. After all, this is supposed to be kind of a romantic dramedy – can't just have drama all the time; there needs to be some lightheartedness there, too.

Anyway, I was having a discussion with Ickbard regarding some of the comments I've been getting. We both thought it was weird how much horny posting Seeing Red seems to be attracting, and yet we're giving you guys the good shit here, and there's very little horny posting going around on this one lol. Not to say I want you guys to horny post – I mean, I can't really stop you from doing it, but still. He feels the same way, too:

Hi, this is Ickbard. You guys are really weird with the unsolicited cow milk DMs in Seeing Red when we're literally giving y'all primo stuff over here… but please still don't keep responding with porn requests, shit's weird.

But yeah, we can't really stop you from doing it, so it's whatever, I guess lol.

Anyway, about those originals I mentioned earlier. As of last week, I have 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...

It's a serialized work, so I'm trying to keep the chapters very short for the sake of brevity and ease of reading/posting - around 2k words each. It's not super long, and I'd really appreciate it if you guys wouldn't mind giving it a read-through and upvoting it or even commenting on it if you feel so inclined.

Anyway, because the chapters are so short and it's currently the only piece of original fiction I'm working on, I will be aiming for weekly updates for it. I hope to do more in the future, but for now, weekly updates seem like the way to go.

Also, a note: No, my fan fiction is not going anywhere any time soon. I still very much enjoy writing not only this fanfic, but also Auras and Alibis and Seeing Red as well. I just also wanted to get a start on my originals again very fucking badly, which led to An Angel's Retirement. But yes, I'm going to keep writing my fanfics as well, too, so no worries there.

But yeah, that's about all I've got for now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I really hope you enjoy An Angel's Retirement, and I hope you all have an excellent day! I'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