The sun was beginning to set over the Kingdom of Vale creating a beautiful painting as the sky became drenched in a multitude of colors and more than a few people in the walled city-state were taking the time to admire the view but Tock wasn't one of them. She'd seen better sunsets from the other side of the walls and cared very little for them either, everyone had their own preferences and hers were far too action-packed to really cultivate the temperament needed to enjoy such a sight. Frankly, her entire time in Vale had been for the most part a bizarre series of experiences that at times felt like a dream and that feeling only became stronger the longer she sat on a bench in front of the police station and getting more than few stares in the process. In one hand she held a scroll that she used to both occasionally check the time and frequently read and write text messages from and to her crew who were currently busy elsewhere.

The other hand was empty but she had a desire to change that in the near future perhaps with some food or some kind of drink or maybe even a warm hand gently holding hers as she held his…, "Whit th' hell is wrong wi' me? A'm acting lik' a damn schuil lassie daydreaming aboot a crush!" She slapped her own forehead but continued to sit and wait patiently on that bench for a near stranger that she married on an alcohol-induced whim, "Howfur muckle langer is this aff tae tak'?" Shortly after she asked, the door to the station opened up and Jaune walked out and for one moment she wondered if the timing was coincidence or the actions of some divine entity that had been waiting for its cue… the very next moment had her pondering where that last thought had come from, How come wid ah ever think aboot something lik' that? a'm a badass bounty hunter, nae a philosopher!

Regardless of whether it was coincidence or divine providence, it only took Jaune a second to spot her and when he did he immediately called out to her and gave her a wave before jogging over to where she was sitting, "Sorry for making you wait, they kept asking me questions about the weirdo who was disguised like my dad."

"O' coorse, they're wur aff tae ask questions aboot that, like howfur did he ken whit yer faither keeked lik'? Howfur did ye ken he wis lying? How come did ye think 'twas a guid idea tae luring him behind a hoose 'n' shot guid day EFTER letting him huv a go tae SHANK YE?"

He flinched at that last one mostly because it was a point that he agreed with, sure at the time it seemed like a good idea and it did make him feel like a badass but hindsight was 20/20 and now he just felt like a dumbass. "Yeah, the more I think about it the more I realize that there were far far better things that I could have done… I guess he just pissed me off, the things that he had done, the things coming out of his mouth, and the face he was wearing." He then sat right next to her and decided that it was time to open up and get a certain weight off of his chest, "I was just a child when I lost my arm which meant that any prosthetic I got had to be easily replaceable."

Her eyes widened, "That's how come ye used that cheap hook haun fur ye weren't even a trainee back then sae ye didnae qualify fur a free prosthetic 'n' ony arm ye git wid need tae be replaced afore lang!"

He sighed and then continued his story, "My dad was one of the few people who genuinely believed I could make it. Most others including a couple of my extended family thought they were helping by telling me to look for another career and even worse were the people who lacked the courage to tell me what they really thought and instead took it easy on me out of some misguided attempt at mercy."

"Fur real? Howfur wur thay worse?"

"Let me give you an example, in my class there is a guy by the name of Cardin Winchester and while his academics are only passable at best, he more than makes up for it with pure power."

"Power?"

"Yup, the guy is jacked and If it wasn't for Yang and Nora then he would have easily been the physically strongest student in the class. Now factor in his two-handed mace named Executioner which more than lives up to its edgy title since the damn thing hits like a wrecking ball with literal explosive force thanks to a large shard of Fire Dust built right into the head and designed to trigger upon impact. One swing is often all he needs to kill a Grimm and against someone with Aura, well... it still hurts, a lot."

"Did he dae something tae ye?" There was a noticeable edge in her voice and hardness in her eyes as she asked.

To her relief, he just chuckled and shook his head, "The guy is a bully and a racist asshole but apparently, he draws the line at amputees."

She rolled her eyes before sarcastically replying, "Weel, then ah suppose that he cannae be a' that ill then."

"As crazy as it is to say I sometimes wish he was an asshole towards me as well," he saw the look that she was giving him and moved quickly to clarify. "I'm not talking out of some kind of bizarre masochistic desire to be put down by others, I'm just saying that I don't want to be treated like a fragile vase by people who think they're helping but in reality are insulting the hard work I put in to get where I am. Seriously, there is a fine line between being actually helpful and being unintentionally condescending."

"Tae be fair, it's nae aye easy tae ken whaur th' line is."

"You're right, it is not always easy but there are some moments where it should be obvious. Take for example the sparring sessions, the whole reason that I'm there is because I want to push myself further to improve and the only way to do that is to give it your all and learn from critique. Yet Cardin and others like him will pull their punches, sometimes even let me get a free hit in, and the less said about their 'critiques' the better." He began to subconsciously clench his fist as his anger rose with every word, "You know as well as I do that Huntsmen don't always fight Grimm."

"Fowk kin be monsters tae 'n' thare ur plenty o' crooks who'd see ye 'n' assume that ye'r an easy murdurr."

"Exactly!" He stood up and faced her with his arms widespread, "Cardin is not helping me! It's actually the complete opposite! I don't learn anything when I'm handed an undeserved win, I can't correct my mistakes if you don't have to guts to tell me what they were, and where does that leave me or others like me!?" He lowered his arms but continued to stand and began to take deep calming breaths as he basked in the liberating feeling of finally being able to get that off of his chest. Brothers that felt good, how come I didn't do this earlier? It was a rhetorical question because he already knew the answer, he didn't want to burden his friends with his frustrations especially when they were already helping him train, and neither he did want the teachers to make a big deal of the issue… which meant that it kept happening, What did I think was going to happen?

"Is that how come ye wanted tae learn fae me? Fur ye weren't learning anythin' fae Beacon?" She wasn't upset at him, just curious

"No." He surprised her by how quickly he answered and the sincerity in his eyes as he sat right back down on the bench and looked into her eyes, "I really did wanted to learn from you and I might have had um, other less… noble reasons to want to spend time with you."

"Fowk go ahead 'n' say it, ah ken whit ah git."

"Fine! You're hot in a weird dommy alpha predator kinda way that's a bit hard to explain and embarrassing to do so, are you happy?" The smile on her face was all the confirmation that he needed, "Seriously, how many times do you want me to tell you how hot you are!?" He shook his head waved his arms as though he was exasperated but did so in such an overly dramatic way that only an absolute fool would think he was being serious.

She appreciated the theatrics and gave an earnest chuckle as she played along, "'Til ah git tired o' it 'n' ah ne'er git tired o' hearing it darlin'!"

He then sighed in defeat but decided to take the opportunity to admit something that he had yet to tell anyone else and until now had no intention of ever doing so, "You know, I used to think that my ideal woman was someone like Weiss, someone who was feminine, prim, proper, a real fairy tale princess but who could also kick-ass and do so while dressed as though she was going to go the ball afterward."

"Then ye wid be th' sly rouge wha wis aff tae sweep her aff o' her feet 'n' shaw her a brand freish world that wis aye thare 'n' yit forbidden." Her eyes then widened in realization and she fought hard to keep herself from laughing, "Och, mah gods! that's how come ye dress lik' a pirate fur ye'r trying tae be a naughty wee jimmy fur yer princess! " Saying it out loud proved to be too much for her and loud laughter erupted from her throat and echoed into the night which drew the ire of a few people whom she acknowledged and then promptly ignored in order to continue laughing.

However, Jaune found it much harder to ignore their angry glances but instead of shame or embarrassment, he found himself getting angry right back at them, A couple of them are even starting to record us and another one is on her scroll and keeps shooting angry looks at us… is she calling the cops on us? For what?! "What's their problem?"

"Dinnae mynd thaim, th' Breach is aye fresh oan thair minds 'n' tis takin wae me oot th' gey wirst in thaim. Forby, ah will be th' gey foremaist body tae admit that a'm a bawherr scary."

He frowned as he looked at her, "You don't deserve to be treated like this, no one does."

For a moment she didn't say anything and instead bent forward and pulled up the leg of her pants revealing an odd-looking ankle bracelet that Jaune didn't remember seeing before, "They Atlas wee jimmies wur sae impressed by mah story that thay decided tae gift me 'n' mah crew some trackers sae that thay kin aye bade in titch."

A distraught look came over his face as he repeated that one keyword in disbelief, "Trackers?" There was a pause as though he was waiting for something as though he was silently begging her to tell him that he had misheard but there was no mistake. "Why? You helped protect people during the Breach and we would have never been able to catch Peter and his gang without you! So why are they treating you like a criminal!?"

She pulled the pant's leg back down until it was completely covering the bracelet and then with a low voice reminded him of an important detail about herself, "Fur a'm a criminal 'n' sae ur th' ithers." She took a moment to study his expression and saw that he still couldn't accept it and then chastised herself for being too vague, O' coorse, he wasn't aff tae ken fae juist that. "Bounty hunting is a joab that exists oan a malinky line atween legal 'n' illegal 'n' a thinner line atween moral 'n' immoral. Salem hired me fur she knew that ah hud crossed that line multiple times 'n' ah'ament aff tae pretend that ah didnae cross it again whin ah cut that woman's een oot."

He sighed and began starring at the ground, "I… I suppose you're right."

She winced over how defeated he looked and sounded right now so she grabbed ahold of his hand capturing his full attention and tried to ease his concerns, "Tis aff tae be a'richt, if thay wur aff tae arrest me then thay wid hae dane sae whin ah wis giein' mah testimony in th' station. Th' fact that a'm 'ere noo is proof that neither ye nor ah hae anythin' tae fear." There was small but still hopeful light in his eyes as she said this and it was growing a little stronger with every passing second but, the truth be told she wasn't really all that sure or confident about what the future held, Salem isnae aff tae let this go sae ah better mak' sure ah hae na regretts. With his hands still in her's, she got up from the bench and began walking down the path while gently pulling him along with her.

"Where are we going?"

"I dinnae ken bit whit ah dae ken is that ah hae an entire nicht free 'n' a'm waantin' tae spend it getting tae learning aboot yer while ye learn aboot me."

"But I thought we've already decided to go on a date, that's why you were waiting for me in front of the police station."

She laughed, "A'm glad ye'r in agreement, sae whaur tae foremaist?"

The sun had finished setting but instead of darkness there was light, it wasn't the light of a starry sky or any other type of natural lighting. It was the artificial light produced by a grand multitude of Dust powered lamps working in tandem with one another to illuminate nearly every part of the city as it let its hair down and revealed a wilder side of itself to those who remained awake and on the prowl. Clubs, bars, adult cinemas, and even what could be described as a pseudo red light district opened up their doors and beckoned all inside with the promise of a good time however none of that was of any interest to the couple as they walked down a sidewalk heading in no particular direction while discussing where they could go.

"Turley tellt me aboot this bonnie public flower back green that he fun juist th' ither day, ah think tis claise by 'n' bides open till midnight," she suggested while checking her scroll to make sure that she had the directions right and that they hand enough time to make the trip worth it.

"A Garden? That sounds good to me." He then chuckled and confessed, "I'll admit that I'd never pictured you or Turley as the type that would enjoy such a thing but I guess that's on me for making assumptions based on first impressions."

"Weel o' coorse you'd think that, mind ah wis dressed as a damned pirate whin ye met me! hell, juist keek at th' wey a'm dressed noo! wha in thair richt mynd wid think that ah wanted tae keek at flowers?"

"Trust me when I say that I've been getting a really nice look," His eyes then glanced over the dark green leather jacket she was wearing that was designed to look like it was made of crocodile skin, underneath that was a plain white tee but there was something oddly suspicious about that he couldn't quite figure out, and then there were her pants… tight leather pants that hugged her toned legs and leaving nothing to his imagination, and finally she was wearing a surprisingly cute pair of heeled boots. Meanwhile, I'm feeling underdressed in my blue jeans, combat boots, and a red polo I bought at a thrift store. Oh well, I'll somehow find a way to survive the embarrassment and in the process, I'll get to enjoy a date with a biker babe.

Tock noticed where his eyes were and smiled not for him but rather for herself, being crocodile Faunus she wasn't used to receiving many compliments about her appearance apart from looking tough which she did appreciate but she like everyone else wanted to be more than just one thing. Jaune wasn't the first person to think of her as attractive but he was by sure the most open about it and while it was clear that he was a sub, he wasn't a freak who thought only with his dick. He acknowledged, though sometimes with hesitation, the other parts that made up the person named Tock, and yet there was still so much to learn and no way to know if they would have the time and that was a scary thought, A've wasted awfy much time. "Awright Jaune, tell me aboot yer fowk 'n' ah will tell ye aboot mines."

His eyes snapped away from her legs and began glancing around looking for inspiration as he wondered what to start with, I'm pretty sure she already knows about my seven sisters and how my dad is an accountant, besides the whole point of this date was to learn about each other and that topic would just be about my family. Up ahead he could see the open plant-covered gates which served as the entrance of the gardens and got an idea about what he could share, "I grew up on a farm my mother owned that was located near Mistral's west coast, there was no particular product we specialized in because every year we'd grow a different crop to help keep the soil nice and healthy." He noticed that Tock was nodding along listening intently to what he was saying which encouraged him to keep going. "My sisters and I naturally helped out and while the farm was profitable, it never made more than just enough money to keep us from worrying about the near future."

"Is that how come yer da is an accountant? Did he learn tae become yin in order tae better figure oot howfur tae pinch 'n' save ilka lien?" They were almost at the gate and she noticed that there was a sign hanging from the fence that had listed a reasonable entrance fee and booth manned by an employee collecting the money from visitors, "Ah will cover this 'n' ye kin buy something tae munch."

"Sounds good to me and to answer your first question, yes and no." She gave him a confused look so he clarified, "He did it because the closest tax prep was in a town about a half days walk away and so he figured that with a license he could make a bit of bonus cash and then in the process he learned that he enjoys crunching numbers. After that, becoming an accountant was an easy choice to make, and it certainly has helped out. Sure we're still far from anything approaching rich and will probably never be, but the bills are no issue, we get to splurge every now and then, and we could afford to go on the occasional camping trip to visit settlements."

"Soonds tae me lik' yer da wis a real jammy jimmy."

"Really?"

"O' coorse he wis, dae ye hae ony idea juist howfur mony fowk gang thro' thair bides hoping tae fin' fowk wha wull support thaim or a jab that thay loue 'n' provides fur thair needs? hell, if ah hud even hauf as muckle a'd likelie ne'er become a bounty hunter."

"So why did you become one?"

She didn't say anything at first but it wasn't out of a desire to avoid answering the question, she just couldn't remember why she had done it. Or maybe the problem was that there wasn't a single solitary reason or even one that truly stood out from the others either way she was going to need a little time to think. Fortunately, they had just arrived at the gates and could now see that there was a young man working in the ticket booth and that he was giving her a wary look while trying and failing to pretend that he wasn't. That bothered her but it would be impossible to tell just by looking at her face or listening to her voice, "Mah date is a student at Beacon, does he qualify fur some kind o' discount?"

The young man looked over to Jaune and narrowed his eyes in suspicion when he saw the cheap prosthetic attached to his arm, "Admittance is half off but we require a student ID." There was an unspoken accusation in his answer and the way he was constantly stealing glances at Tock only cemented it, Troublemakers. Both of you. Jaune was naturally irritated but didn't say anything as pulled out his scroll and used the hologram projector to display his ID and he managed to hold his tongue as the young man read the display and reread it while comparing the picture and Jaune's face in a pointless attempt to prove foul play. Eventually, the asshole gave up and calculated the price, "Your total is 35 Lien." Without saying anything Tock pulled the cash out of her wallet and handed it over to the man who took it and in return gave them both paper wrist bands as proof of purchase before waving them inside.

Without the light of the sun, it was difficult if not outright impossible to truly appreciate the garden's beauty as the landscapers intended and this remained true despite the cold artificial light of the Dust-powered lamps putting in work to pick up up the slack. Even the "Perfect," night-vision that many Faunus possessed was not enough to completely compensate however this was not as big a problem as many would think. Under the moonlight, the garden took on a different though utterly unintended and mysterious beauty where the lit areas and the ones in shadow contracted with each other in a way that dared visitors to step out of the light and delve deeper into the more obscured areas lit by dancing fireflies and moonlight. Needless to say, the garden at night was popular amongst the artsy types looking for inspiration, thoughtful types wanting contemplation, romantics couples desiring a cheap but memorable date, horny couples trying to fuck in a public space even though it ruins the experience for everyone else, and foodies looking for some of the harder to find food trucks.

At this moment Tock found herself a member of the contemplative crowd and it was not a position that she ever thought she would find herself in but at the same time, she wasn't shocked. The whole purpose of this date wasn't to have some fun before running into a hotel room to fuck like horny newlyweds, the point was to learn something about each other but… that meant that they had to be willing to open up which meant allowing themselves to be emotionally vulnerable ad she wasn't afraid to admit that was an area where Jaune was considerably more skilled. That was the reason why she had yet to answer his question, it was not because she didn't want to answer it but rather she didn't know how to answer it.

"How come did ah become a bounty hunter?"

"Yeah, that's what I asked you," Jaune replied feeling a little confused which was something Tock quickly picked up on.

"Ah wis juist asking masell that. Noo dinnae misunderstand, tis nae lik' ah dinnae mind how come ah did it bit ower that thare wur multiple reasons a dinnae ken whilk yin finally sealed th' deal."

He thought it over for a second, "Well, what's the first thing that came to your mind?"

She sighed, "Th' wey that guy wis keekin at us."

"What does he have to do with anything?"

She stopped walking and turned around to face him, "Keek closely at whit a'm aff tae shaw ye." Then without further explanation, she opened up her mouth while using her fingers to move her lips out of the way allow Jaune an unobscured view of her teeth.

He leaned in to take a closer look but he had no idea why she wanted him to do so, then he saw the screws. There was a part of him that pointed out that he already knew that Tock's teeth had to be fake after all a Faunus only has one animal trait and her's was the skin so, therefore, her razor-sharp teeth had to be some kind of denture. However, every other part of him was quick to point out just how crude and utterly barbaric it looked, Just what is the story behind those teeth? Do I even want to know? He then stepped away from her mouth and waited for the explanation but at the same time, he dreaded it.

"Relax, th' stoory isnae as ill as ye'r thinking," she said apparently picking up on his apprehension and helping him calm down just a little. " Tae keep it short, ah wis born in Mantle whilk if ye dinnae ken meant that mah earlie years wasn't ideal... Ah git heavy goin wi' a ill crowd bit thankfully mah parents sent me ower tae Vacuo tae bide wi' mah grandma afore ah crossed ony lines."

"But something happened anyway."

"T- tis nae somethig that a'm comfy sharing wi' ye juist yit... sorry, ah ken that we wur suppose tae be opening up tae ilk ither."

"Don't apologize, if we were close enough to talk about that then this date wouldn't have been necessary."

"Bit we'd aye be oan yin cause ye'r sae damn cute!" The two shared a brief but earnest laugh before she finished her story, "Mah grandma taught me tae tak' pride in whit ah wis, she introduced me tae fowk wha teuk mah frustration 'n' anger 'n' forged intae a take the motor tae hunt doon batards wha thought thay hud escaped consequences. Whin ah failed tae become a Huntress mah grandma ca'd in favors sae ah cuid become th' neist best thing 'n' mah mukkers joined me... Ah owe everything tae her."

"She sounds incredible."

"She wis mah hero bit, keekin back oan it... She wasn't a guid body." Tock didn't even have to look at Jaune to know that she had just confused him so with a sigh she moved to clarify, "Grandma gave me a set o' rules tae follow 'n' ah did, thay made me a damn guid bounty hunter 'n' kept me safe bit... A've crossed lines fur tis whit she taught me tae dae. If ah wur tae follow her advice then ah wid hae ditched Vale th' gey foremaist chance ah git... by th' Brothers, how come does this hae tae be sae complicated?"

"Well I don't know what kind of person your grandma was but I know that you are the kind of person who takes challenges head and fights tooth and nail for what you want and you wanted to help."

"Howfur dae ye ken that?"

He gave her hand a squeeze, "Because you didn't leave even though you had plenty of reasons and opportunities to do so. And as if that wasn't enough, not even an hour ago you told me how you came clean to Atlas authorities even though it put you in a bad light. No one forced you to do either of these things, you chose to do so and you went above and beyond. Hell! You even helped Weiss and I with our swordplay and then you gave me a gun!"

"Th' gun thing wis a bawherr o' an uncomfortable moment," she squeezed back.

He couldn't help but chuckle a little as he remembered that moment, "Calling it uncomfortable is the understatement of the century."

The two began walking deeper into the garden and before long came across an open well lit area with benches, tables, Food Trucks parked around the edge, and three paths. One was blocked with a gate since it wasn't for the guest but rather for the food trucks and other vehicles to enter and leave the garden as needed while the other two paths were for the guests who wanted to explore the garden.

"Which path do you want to take or would rather eat first?"

"Let's sloch foremaist 'n' then burn th' calories wi' a donder."

Jaune agreed and after a short discussion the pair were standing in line for a Food Truck that was offering Gyros, "So are your swords a gift from your grandma?"

"Actually, ah juist fun thaim yin day lying oan th' ground richt oan tap o' a sand dune."

"That's funny, I found my sword in the attic. The weird part is that no matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find out anything about it other than there might have been a companion piece but we never found it. To this day we still don't know who even owned the sword."

"Mibbie 'twas nicked."

He frowned at the suggestion that one of his ancestors was a thief but he supposed that it ultimately didn't matter since it happened so long ago, That would explain a lot about the sword. There was a brief and quickly dismissed the idea of somehow finding the descendants of the original owner and returning the blade but, If I couldn't find out which ancestor of mine stole the sword then there is no way I'm finding out who they stole it from. With that line of thought laid to rest, he purchased the food and sat with Tock at an empty table. As they ate the two engaged in lighthearted conversation such as silly stories of their friends and things that they enjoyed when they were younger and in plenty of cases, still enjoyed to this day. Eventually, they finished their meal, and as they did the conversation began to shift away from their past and into the present. They didn't talk about anything too serious just yet, both still needed a little bit of time to recharge their emotional batteries after the last heavy topic and there were a plethora of subjects that had yet to be explored, such as Semblances.

"I haven't figured it out yet, though I'd like to think I've been handling myself just fine without it." Jaune admitted with a passive shrug.

Tock nodded in agreement as they stopped to admire a Dust lit section of the garden, "Bit ye hae tried tae figure it oot, richt?"

"Of course I have but it's hard when I have no idea what it could possibly be, though we have been trying to narrow it down."

"Weel, a lot o' fowk hawp that tis based oan oor personalities though ah dinnae think tis ever bin pure proven. A've an' a' heard that howfur we wale tae cope wi' problems an' a' plays a muckle pairt in whit we git bit that's aye juist a theory."

Images of all the seemingly endless personality tests that he had taken flashed through his mind, each one giving birth to numerous experiments all intended to trigger his Semblance and each one ending in awkward and sometimes painful failure, Thank the Brothers I have so much Aura. "Yeah, I found that out the hard way. How did you find yours?"

"Back while th' stairt o' mah bounty hunting days, ah fucked up 'n' traivelt richt intae an ambush resulting in me bein' surroondit by bandits. Seeing na wey oot o' it, ah made mah lest staun 'n' didnae even notice that ah hud become invincible."

"I bet your grandma was impressed."

"You'd think sae bit instead she sat me doon 'n' lectured me fur hours 'til ah understaun ilka single mistake ah hud made. Afterward, she forced me intae training session efter training session inorder tae learn th' ins 'n' outs o' mah Semblance."

"Was the alarm clock her idea?"

"Actually that wis mines."

"Really? But why not use a scroll or was it that you didn't have one?"

"Ah git a scroll efter bit ah kept usin` th' timepiece partially fur ah enjoyed th' confused keek oan peoples faces whin th' see th' thing hingin oan mah hurdies 'n' as fur th' ither reason... Ah um." Her cheeks reddened ever so slightly out of embarrassment before mumbling something that Jaune couldn't quite make out.

"Tock, you're talking to a guy who dresses like a pirate so believe me when I say that you do not have to worry about embarrassing yourself."

She hesitated for a little bit longer before repeating what she said just loud enough for him and him alone to hear, "Ah wanted tae win` up th' timepiece while spouting a gallus one-liner lik'; Thae ur th' lest 60 seconds o` yer life." Jaune tried and failed to keep a straight face and it wasn't long before even Tock was laughing alongside him and earning the upset stares of the other patrons who were trying to enjoy the sights in peace.

That laughter died an ugly death when they caught the attention of a particularly angry woman who decided to confront them while glaring right at Tock, "Do you mind?! We're trying to enjoy the flowers in peace! If you want to laugh then leave the garden to those of us who can actually appreciate it while you can go to a bar and drink until you pass out!" The woman then noticed how Tock was glaring back at her and took several steps back and began to reach into her purse, "Are you going to start something? I-I'm w-warning you, I h-have…um," she became more frantic as time passed by despite how Tock hadn't taken a single step towards her.

Tock then grabbed Jaune's hand and without saying anything turned away from the woman and began walking deeper into the garden and away from the woman who was still frantically looking for something in her purse, before long she was completely out of sight. For a while neither said anything, opting instead to just keep walking until they were certain that they wouldn't run into the woman again, only then did they allow themselves to vent, "That wis pumpin' bullshit! Seriously, ah git that we wur loud bit whaur does she git aff suggesting that we ought tae pick a windae, yer leavin'?!"

Jaune couldn't have agreed more, "I thought it had it bad but I've never had to go through something like that, how do you keep yourself from going mad?"

"Ah learned tae pat up wi' it fur a bawherr 'n' then vent whin ah kin bit tis sae damn exhausting…,'' There was something about what she had just said that was reminding her of an earlier conversation, We wur talking aboot Semblances 'n' ah mentioned a theory… She was drawing a blank for the moment but had no doubt that she'd remember once her anger faded.

"Do you want to keep going or would you rather ditch this place?"

"Ah paid guid dosh tae git in 'ere, ah'ament letting some boot ruin that."

"Alright, if that's what you want." He tried his best to sound confident in her decision but he was afraid that they would encounter the woman again who might try to cause more problems for them, That ankle bracelet is already constricting enough, getting in serious trouble here could make things worse for her.

However, despite his attempts to hide his concerns, she saw right through him but also saw an opportunity to try and jog her memory, move her mind away from the bitch, while also helping him to relax a bit, "Tell me aboot yer gang, howfur did thay fin' thair Semblances?"

"Well Pyrrha told me that she found her's after an especially hard day of training, Nora was struck by lightning, and Ren…," he drew a blank, "I don't how he found it but it must have been bad to make him want to suppress his emotions." Come to think about it, I really don't know much about Ren or Nora's past… well they'll tell me when they're good and ready.

"'N' howfur dae thay handle a ill day 'n' how come?"

He shot her a confused glace but answered the question anyway, "Pyrrha likes to work out because it gives her a sense of control, I've never seen Ren get upset though I think it's because he's using his Semblance to avoid feeling stressed, and Nora takes on whatever is bugging her from the front." Didn't we talk about something like this? Oh yeah! It was a theory on Semblances, something about it reflecting the ways we manage stress… "And I like to feel helpful."

"Ye lik' tae hulp fowk whin ye'r pure upset?"

He scratched the back of his head out of embarrassment, "Well, growing up on a farm meant that there was always something that needed to be done, and having a big family meant that there was always somebody that needed help. So if I was upset I would take my mind off of it by helping around and getting some work done in the process… what kind of Semblance would that translate into?"

"A dinnae ken bit whit ah dae ken is that thare ur a' kinds o' Semblances. Fur example, ower in Atlas, thare is a Huntress wha's Semblances mak' her a human lie detector."

For a moment he thought that he had misheard her, after all she did have a heavy accent and even though he had been able to understand her so far, it was only a matter of time before she said something he couldn't decipher. "I sorry but I could have swore that you described her as a 'Human Lie Detector?'"

"She steals yer haun 'n' asks ye a quaistion, tell th' truth 'n' th' haun glows green."

"And if you lie?"

She shrugged, "Back then ah tellt her th' truth sae a dinnae ken whit happens if ye lie." After that, the conversation drifted into fun small talk as they wandered around the garden admiring the beauty on display and truly enjoying each other's company without any more drama but not necessarily without a truly awkward or risque moment.

"Harder," whispered an unfamiliar voice catching their attention.

"Did you hear something just now?" asked Jaune as he began looking around for the source.

"Who's my dirty girl? Who's the slut getting off on this?" whispered a second deeper voice that neither of the two recognized.

"I'm your dirty girl, daddy!" The first voice answered back and made the situation considerably clearer.

"Ah think that it comin' fae ower thare," she pointed at an area that was particularly dark and noted that the fencing in that particular spot was low enough that someone could easily climb over it and walk amongst the plants or in this case, hide behind them.

"Are there people having sex out here in public?" Jaune asked but then immediately realized what an utterly stupid question it was, Of course, that's what's happening! What other possibility is there?

Luckily for him, Tock was too busy listening to the couple to notice what he had said, "Dinnae ye think th' wey they're talking is a bawherr pure weird?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dinnae juist pay attention tae whit they're saying, pay attention tae howfur they're saying it."

With a nod he began to pay closer attention even though doing so made him feel dirty but the more he listened the more he began to notice that there was something oddly… fake about it. The moans and grunting sounded exaggerated, the dirty talk had an oddly artificial feel to it, and every now and then he thought he could see a small light hidden behind the plants. Channeling some Aura into eyes allowed him to make out the silhouette of two people leaning against each other while using a tree for support. A little off to the side he could see the silhouette of a third person holding a device that was producing the light and more importantly, was pointed at the lovers, Is it a camera? Are they really filming a porno here? The answer to that question was clearly yes. There's no way they have permission for this... should I do something?

Those thoughts flew right out the window the moment he felt Tock's strong hands on his shoulder pulling him a little closer to her and then he felt shivers running down his spine when her hot breath caressed his neck and slowly moved up to his ears. "They perverts ur giein' me a' kind o' ideas mah cute wee guidman," her voice was dripping with honey.

"T-Tock! W-we can't! Not here at least!" his mind trying in vain to talk some sense into his body who was raring to go.

There was now a hand on his chest and he felt her nibble his ear, "Then let's git oot o' 'ere 'n' gang tae th' change-hoose that a've booked fur th' nicht."

"You booked a hotel for the night!?"

She then grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest and suddenly he understood why her shirt had seemed a little off; she wasn't wearing a bra. He pulled his hand back out of pure reflex and then immediately regretted doing so, "Let nae beat aroond th' bush ye 'n' ah baith knew howfur this date wis aff tae end bit if ye pure dinnae waant ye then we-"

He cut her off before she could finish, "Let's fucking go!"

Jaune woke up to the smell of a freshly brewed pot of coffee accompanied by the sizzling sounds of egg cooking on a frying pan. Looking around he quickly realized that he was in an unfamiliar room but soon remembered that it was the hotel room where he and Tock went to… his face turned red as he recalled last night. Shortly afterward he became aware of the fact that he was completely naked, he wasn't even wearing his prosthetic arm. I've been losing a lot of arms lately, hopefully, Tock will… lend me a hand! For a moment he felt nothing but a deep sense of shame and regret as it became all too clear what his friendship with Yang had cost him, this thought was promptly discarded and forgotten the next moment as he got out of bed to look for his clothes and arm.

"Aboot time ye woke up, howfur dae ye lik' yer coffee?" Called Tock from the kitchen.

"A bit of cream but no sugar," he answered back before spotting his reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall, and out of curiosity, he took a closer look. He wasn't sure what he expected to see but it sure was not a myriad of scratch and bite marks all over his body, I knew she'd be rough but I figured my Aura would have healed this by now unless… she was so rough that she managed to break my Aura during sex!?

"Time fur breakfast!" announced Tock as she set down some eating utensils, two plates that had scrambled eggs with pieces of bacon inside and shredded cheese on top alongside some toast, and finally two cups filled with coffee. She then sat down and enjoyed the sight of Jaune's naked body but like him also noticed the still present scratches and bites, Ah micht hae bin a bawherr tae rough lest nicht. She watched as Jaune turned around to face her and she smiled when his jaw dropped and his other "Sword" rise when he saw that she was wearing nothing except the flimsiest of aprons, "Dae yi'll waant tae hae a quickie afore or efter breakfast?"

"I- I- I'll have breakfast first?"

"A'richt, let's eat noo 'n' then ye kin bend me ower th' table."

As Jaune sat down to eat he noticed that there was a tiny feeling in the back of his head like he had forgotten something important. He did his best to remember but the rest of his mind was thoroughly distracted by his wife and the desire to finish eating as quickly as humanly possible. Maybe I should ask if she remem-! He thought were completely cut off the moment he felt something rub against his crotch and looking down revealed a foot covered in green scales resting right on his leg… I guess it really wasn't at all important.

Author Notes: Honestly I'm not too happy with how this chapter turned out but I'm not going to beat myself up over this since it is the first date I have ever written, I can only improve from here. As for the thing, Jaune was thinking about towards the end… I wonder how many of you will figure it out before it becomes a problem.

Either way, in this chapter I wanted to address some of the issues that Tock and Jaune would realistically face with Tock especially having the worst of it since she's a Faunus in a city that recently suffered a terrorist attack. I also wanted to call to attention a really interesting fan theory that argues Semblances are representative of a character Coping Mechanism. There is a video by Dragonkeeper Analysis and Games that explains it very well while also talking about Mercury's lack of a Semblance titled: Mercury - Toxic Masculinity.