Pranks

...

The afternoon sun was slowly beginning to dip below the horizon, sky awash with pinks and oranges. Cicadas and crickets were starting to chirp their evening song, beautifully natural and ambient. It was - normally - a peaceful place to live. A little house in the middle of nowhere and nature. Wind whipping through the trees, birdsong teasing you awake in the mornings. It was grand.

But today, a Teenage Arc-Nikos child had been locked in combat with her Father, combat of the highest calibre. A test of whits, mind and soul:

Pranking.

That was the war being waged this day. And Jaune Nikos-Arc, father of said child, was losing. The day began like any other Saturday; The nearly 40 year old Dad rushing downstairs to watch cartoons, coffee brewed and ready to perch in front of Bugs Bunny's latest shenanigans.

But his teen daughter was one step ahead. With a spring loaded fake snake tucked up inside the coffee pot. No one, not even Jaune, knew he could scream like that, hanging from the ceiling light until he realised the plastic snake laying lifelessly wasn't real.

Then it was the bucket of water above the patio door - sadly the bucket hit him before the water, so he had a bump for Aura to nurse and wet pride. Great.

He tried getting his giggling Oriana back with typical Dad pranks, like "Look in this bottle of water to see the coin at the bottom!"

She just raised a brow and squeezed it at him, drenching him... again.

"You think I don't watch the internet?!" Ori explained with a cackling laugh.

So as evening approached, Jaune readied his 'Pier de resistance', his masterpiece, his war ender, his atomic bomb of pranks. And then Oriana invited her Dad to play video games and...

He forgot about it. The dim blonde was happily sat cross legged in her room, mashing buttons on the controller as the TV flashed in front of them.

"I'm tellin ya Squirt, we used to play this all the time back at Beacon!" Jaune tapped and manoeuvred the controller around animatedly. Ori was upside down, laying off the edge of her bed, red and gold hair swishing against the carpet.

"I was world champ until we got your Mom playin it! Then she became champ, as you can imagine." Jaune chuckled. Ori snorted.

"Yep sounds like Mom!"

"Yep hah." Jaune frowned. "Speaking of which, where is your Mother?"

"Hmm? Oh she was out in the garden since like lunch I think." Ori shrugged. "Hah! Beat you! Get wrecked!"

"Glad to see I raised such a gracious winner." Jaune snorted, rolling his eyes. "Another game! Wait, you say the garden?"

"Yeah, she was tending her new flowers and shit."

"Okay first, language, and second..." He gasped loudly. "OH SHIT!"

There was a loud crash, a loud splat, a loud gasp, and a loud silence. Followed by...

"JAUNE ARC!"

The colour drained from his face, and a blue hue of fear descended from under his wavy locks. Ori flipped over on her bed.

"Ohhh boy, what'd you do Dad?"

"I uh, I forgot about it. I feel dizzy, hold me."

"Wait huh?" Ori raised a brow. Jaune clambered across the carpeted floor behind his daughter at the thunderous footsteps coming up the stairs. "Daaad, what'd you do!?"

"Gimme the swear jar..." Jaune whimpered as Ori soundlessly reached up onto her desk and pulled it down, Jaune depositing some Lien into it. "... Cos I fucked up."

"H-How bad?! Also gasp really naughty word." Oriana stared at her door as the impending footsteps grew louder.

"Ooooooh big bad. Swear Jar double dip bad. I was gonna prank you back for all the times you got me today, it was my crown jewel and then.. I forgot about it."

"You forgot?!" Ori asked. Jaune hid behind his hands.

"Games distracted me!"

The door slammed open, and a seething, horrifyingly angry Pyrrha Nikos-Arc stood in the doorway, eyes vivid green and livid.

And her red hair, an equally vivid shade of green. Slime green.

"Ahhh the ol Bucket of slime, nice!" Ori snorted.

"You!" Pyrrha pointed at Oriana. "To your room!"

"But... I'm in my room?"

"Then OUT of your room!" Pyrrha panted. Her heat seeking eyes found Jaune. "And you. Oh dear husband of mine."

Jaune was in a ball in the corner of the room. "Heh, heyyy honey!" Pyr-bear, baby you look-

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?!" Pyrrha snarled, green slime dripping off her hair in long ropes, splatting on the floor. Their chipper Dog Luna padded up the stairs, lapping the slime off the floor. Mmm lime!

"Deep trouble?" Jaune cringed.

"Deep, deeeeep trouble." Pyrrha hissed.

"Heh, I uh, I'm sleeping on the couch tonight, huh?" He rubbed the back of his head.

"Couch?" Pyrrha raised a brow.

...

Night time brought about a heavy torrential downpour from the east; horizontal rain, flickers of lightning and roars of thunder clapping above. Puddles littered the dark garden, rain bouncing up high off their rippling surfaces.

And sat by a hastily put up tent was Jaune Arc, absolutely drenched and slowly rubbing two sticks together over a bundle of wet wood.

"Hey I think I saw a spark." Pyrrha said, arms crossed and leaning against the patio door, safely dry from the rain. Jaune pouted at her across the garden.

"I'm sowwy." He called with a sniffle.

"Mm hm." Pyrrha grumbled, pulling a chunk of dried slime out of her hair that even her shower couldn't get out. Jaune sighed and his shoulders sagged, dropping his sticks in the wet mud.

"Can I come in? I'm gonna get new-money-uh."

"Pneumonia?" Pyrrha raised a sable brow, crossing her arms under her chest again. Jaune whimpered like a kicked puppy.

"Yeah that."

"Well, that depends." Pyrrha huffed with a frown. "Are you sorry?"

"I've been sorry since it happened!" Jaune whined. "I... I really am, Pyrrha." He said softly, just about heard above the heavy rain. Pyrrha worried her lip and fiddled with her wedding ring, a small amount of guilt settling in her gut. She sighed and shook her head.

"Come here. You're soaked." His wife gestured for him to come over. Jaune's eyes lit up and he scrambled over the garden, avoiding deep puddles and hopping up the slippery steps to the back porch.

He panted, soaked to the bone, yellow mop of hair with a few stray flecks of silver damp and stuck to his face. Pyrrha kept her frown as she looked him up and down, grabbing a towel off the side and returning to rub his shaggy hair.

"I'll umm..." Jaune huffed. "I'll go make up the couch."

Pyrrha sighed, picking some wet maple leaves off his shoulders. "You'll do no such thing."

Jaune stared at her as she towelled his hair off softly, her face still grumpy. He took her hands and gave them light kisses.

"Come inside and I'll dry you off."

"I love you." Jaune said softly. Pyrrha looked up at him with the smallest of smiles.

"I'm still angry with you. But, I love you too." And so she towelled off her damp husband and eventually they went up to bed. And after they silently and awkwardly got into bed, facing away from each other, Jaune guiltily burying his face in his pillow, he felt Pyrrha drape her arms around his tummy and snuggle up behind him.

"I love you." She breathed and he smiled, softening in her arms.

"I'm sorry, Pyr. I know how important your hair is to you, so... yeah, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. I know you are, my darling." She kissed his ear and he hummed in delight. "Just don't do it again." She lowly spoke, Jaune nodding.

"Y-yes Ma'am."

And with that the Arkos pair drifted off to sleep. That is until the spring loaded snake in Jaune's shoes shot up into the air, startling the parents awake.

"Oriana!"

"Ah shit sorry!"

"Swear jar!"