Jaune let himself drift off, deciding not to really worry about the gravestone's inscription. Closing his eyes, shouldering his cape into a more comfortable position, he let himself drift off into sleep. He woke up in the same place he had several times. On the floor of his single bedroom flat in Haven. The world was still a little dark, but there were signs of the sun peeking up past the clouds, threatening to break with the dawn. Stretching out, popping his back, Jaune got ready for the day.
Shower, use cold water to wake himself up. Get dressed in the school uniform, which was really incredibly bland. Surely he could hit it with some spray paint or something.
I think you would want to use embroidery thread, or at the very least fabric paint. A suggestion. Spray paint seems a little… Neanderthalic.
Jaune shrugged, buttoning up his shirt and letting his tie hang open. He had taken to not tying it, not wanting to admit that he had forgotten how to. Eh, you win some, you lose some. Fastening his belt, tucking his symbolic waist wrapping in under it, Jaune was ready to take on the day. All mornings were roughly the same at this point. Wake up from whatever purgatory he had come from the earlier night, shower, get dressed, go down and find something to do until the cafeteria opened up for breakfast. If he was lucky, he would bump into Arslan on her way to the gym. Jaune was indeed lucky today, as he did see a familiar set of muscular legging clad limbs turn the corner. Jaune sped up his quiet pace, speed walking to catch up to his favorite faunus. Coming up behind her, close enough to see the individual creases of her skin that her muscles left, and admire her athletic catlike build. Close enough that he could smell her.
She smelled like bed linen and toothpaste, with just a hint of that natural spicy chocolate flavor he could associate with her. Maybe it was some kind of shampoo that she used? He really shouldn't have been surprised. His sisters always had some of the most interesting and impressive shampoos he had seen. He and his dad always just used some thirteen in one bottle. The same one that he had stored away in his shower at the moment. Old habits die hard. He surmised with a light chuckle. Arslan's ear tilted, hearing the noise. She stopped to turn at who was following so closely.
"Jaune." She greeted with a head tilt. "And just when were you going to alert me to your presence?" She asked the ranger. He shrugged.
"I dunno. I wanted to see how far I could push it." He said, moving to walk next to her. "Off to the gym again, Ms. Altan?"
Arslan laughed a little laugh. Jaune was sure it was too coarse to be considered a giggle. Perhaps a snicker? He would call it a snicker, if he were a writer of great poems. "How many times have I told you to call me Arslan, Jaune?" She asked. The answer was zero, but it felt as though she had told him a hundred times. Perhaps even a thousand, each one with a similar snickering chime.
Jaune only gave her a small tilting of his head, all the bow anyone would get out of him. "At least once more, Ms. Altan." He said quietly, as though those words were only for her. Like distant starlight, across countless parsecs just to end up here, right on her doorstep. She gave him a well meaning huff and a shake of her head.
"You're impossible." She sighed, continuing her gait with the fellow blonde. Jaune made a clicking sound with his tongue, almost insect-like.
"Just improbable." He corrected me. "if it were impossible, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Arslan rolled her eyes at him.
"Careful. You're starting to sound like Nadir there." She chastised. "So, I suppose you're joining me for the gym again?"
"I see no reason not to." Jaunde admitted, rolling his shoulders. "Besides, I haven't had the opportunity to have a gym buddy in a long time." Ren had been his last gym buddy. Pyrrha spent a lot of time with him in the gym, but she was more so his personal trainer. Constant little improvements, advice on how to lift, how to run. What he was doing right and wrong. She trained him, always seeking to improve him, shape him in her image. He appreciated it, but they could never just be friends. She could never just be his friend. Pyrrha always needed to be something more. Whether it be his teacher, his trainer, his advisor or something else. They could never just be his friend, no matter how much he wanted to be.
Ren was different. He never really told him how to be better, or feel the need to correct him. He was calm, serene, and quiet. On the rare occasion he would offer Jaune a word of useful encouragement. 'It's only five more reps, jaune.' 'you can do it. The trick is to breathe evenly.' 'get some water. It is important to keep hydrated during your workout.' 'Nora, stop that. It's not a toy.' Jaune smiled at that memory. Ren probably spent more time in his day keeping the excitable redhead in check than anything else. How nice it must have been to have that kind of relationship. Easily explained and defined, even if they couldn't stand to give it a name. Nora set a destination, and Ren plotted their course to get there. Nora wanted something, and Ren figured out how to get it. Nora launched herself headfirst into whatever she wanted, and Ren sighed as he followed, leash in hand to pull her back. When Ren sat back, Nora would come right to his side to sit with him. Ren would tell Nora something, and Nora would hang onto each word. Ren had his hobbies, and Nora absolutely supported them. Jaune remembered the only reason Nora liked pancakes was because they were the first thing Ren learned how to make. Ren and Nora, Nora and Ren.
"You're in a good mood today." Arslan noted, dragging him out of his thoughts. Jaune gave her curious head tilt, inquiring as to what she meant.
"Oh? And what makes you say that, Ms. Altan?" He asked her, letting her go down the steps before him. She smiled as she stepped down the carpeted staircase.
"You're smiling. As in an actual, noticeable smile. That's a rare thing, particularly in the morning." She said, letting her words bounce off the walls to reach him. This hallway tended to echo a little, and the staircase more so.
So why can I only hear his voice? Arslan thought, the little lock in her head that she had given to Jaune growing just a little bit tighter. Little gears were now sticking out of it, and a lever to the side had appeared where there was none, and just when she thought she had made some progress in that puzzle. Sometimes she wished she could manifest that little lock, printing it out on that neat machine the school's forges had. Then she could give it to Nadir for him to obsess over instead. Nadir loves puzzles like that. She thought to herself. Reese had gotten him a rubix cube once, one of those four by four ones. He had solved it within ten minutes of getting his little smart hands on it. Her feelings would be so much simpler if she could just have them be solved like that. She let the fantasy go, as tempting as it was.
"As for the Gym partner thing, you are going to have to fight Rheese for that title." She said as she got off the stairs with a little hop onto the floor, facing him. Jaune blinked dryly, his eyes shifting focus to her face. Arslan had the briefest moment of wonder, as to where Jaune's gaze lay beforehand. She let it go as soon as it had come to her, swept away with the passing of the moment. Jaune gave her the most Cheshire grin she had ever seen on him, in the near week she had known him.
"For the honor of such a noble and prestigious appointment?" he said, painting his words with silver and gold, guiding them with a mirthful rancor. "I would gladly fight to the death for such honor." He gave her a deep and exaggerated bow, spreading his arms as though he was some great medieval jester. Arslan laughed out loud, a cheerful and full laugh that was only barely interrupted by a quick snort. Her head thrust back and her chest heaving powerfully, her laughter echoed throughout the hall.
Jaune found that he rather liked the sound of her laughter. It was not the polite and controlled giggle Pyrrha had, or that quiet, short and sharp snort Wiess did. It was not a rain of nervous and uneasy snickering that Ruby gave him, or the deafening lung capacity put into full force Yang had. Nora's was similar to Yang, but much choppier and in shorter bursts.
No, it was Arslans, and he rather liked that. They entered the gym, heading towards their usual sector. The actual workout space of the gym was rather large, divided up into several sectors that had a selection of what you would normally find in a single gym alone. Treadmills, stationary bikes, weights, benches, dumbbells, the whole works all laid out on an open space.
"so, what are you going to do today? Another set of laps around the gym?" Arslan asked him as he stripped down into his undershirt. Arslan gulped, looking at his bare arms. He had wrapped his palms and forearms, almost reaching his elbow in medical tape and gauze. It was clearly intended to be worn with armor, and act as a kind of padding that would be under all the layers of cloth and metal. Designed to prevent chafing, Arslan couldn't help but wonder if a compression sleeve would have suited him better. It covered much of them and with the tee shirt only a couple inches were visible to the naked light. There was some clear wearing on them, as the top edges of his wrappings were starting to fray. Arslan wondered if he ever took them off. She also wondered if they were like the small visible parts that he dared to show the world.
Scar ridden and stitched together, held in place by what seemed to be sheer force of will more than any actual flesh. She hoped not, but knew that it would not be likely for her hopes to be justified. Jaune only shrugged at her question.
"I'm not sure. I might, but I think I might have been neglecting my strength training though." He admitted, stretching the back of his head in what Arslan had learned was a classical Jaune move. She turned to the racks.
"Well, I think I can help you with that-" Arslan offered, but was cut off by Jaune shaking his head.
"Your offer, while kind Ms. Altan, I am afraid wouldn't be fully appreciated." He said with just the smallest look of remorse. "Thank you, however." Arslan shrugged, strutting over to the squat rack. Jaune moved to a curling bench behind her. She stretched, twisting her back and leaning into a was routine for her, and she knew it by heart. She noticed that Jaune bothered with no warmup beyond just popping his knuckles. She shook her head, wondering if Jaune even cared about if he might strain a muscle. She suspected not. Taking the heavy plates off their shelves, she started putting on weight. 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 pounds of dense ceramic was put on the bar. She knew that it was a little on the lighter end for her, but she was just warming up. She'd want to save at least some of her energy, particularly if she was going to do some bot training.
Squaring her shoulders and getting into a good stable stance, she took the bar off its hooks. Lowering herself down, Arslan felt the light burning in her thighs, particularly around her hips. She raised up, letting out a soft sigh of relief. And she dropped again. This repeated for some time, each one with Arslan whispering the word, almost mouthing it to herself. Jaune took a dumbbell and began to curl it, pumping it up and down with each flex of his arm. He got into the mindless mechanical rhythm that came with repetitive tasks. It let his mind wander, thinking about the lessons he had learned. The lessons he had suffered for.
I want a refund for my education. A glowered.
B chose that moment to shift the subject away to something that Jaune had been pondering for quite some time. Speaking of education, B started, it occurs to me that we are lacking in knowledge in certain subjects. Subjects which, as much as I loathe to say it, fellow students probably know much more than us.
Jaune switched arms, working the other one for a moment. As in aura. He said flatly. B nodded.
For it to be our "Greatest weapon against the Grimm" B sarcastically rolled on, putting it in air quotes. We know jack shit about it. Not that we've ever met a Grimm immune to getting hit in the face before though…
Jaune shook his head. Aura has saved our ass a couple times already, B. He remembered all the times Aura had saved him from being disemboweled, decapitated, or crushed under Cardin's mace. But sure, I'll ask Arslan. She seems to know her stuff. B blinked for a moment, before trying to stop that.
Wait, jaune, you're going to make a fool-
"Ms. Altan?" He called out, causing for Arslan to stop her squatting and put her bar up. Jaune fought the male urge to gaze somewhere disrespectful, and instead kept his eyes locked and focused on Arslan's face.
"Yes, Jaune?" She asked him, resting her weight on her left leg. "What do you need?"
"I have a question regarding Aura and the human soul." Jaune said, returning his gaze to the forty pound dumbbell. "I suppose it is a rather ignorant one, but I fear that I am a rather ignorant man."
Arslan scoffed at that. "Is that so?" She asked, moving to sit down next to him on the bench. "You think you are ignorant?" That was a humble take. Jaune knew at least two languages, most likely three if he grew up in Orleans. He knew chess and strategy well enough to keep pace with Nadir, and if her conversations with said hunter were to be trusted, he actively sought to improve his mind at the library. She had yet to know Nadir to lie, or have reason not to trust him. She would take his word as truth. Actually, she wasn't sure if Nadir even knew how to lie to people. Regardless, such attributes of the mind did not speak of an ignorant man.
"I know I am." Jaune said, putting the dumbbell down softly. "There is so much I cannot claim to know. I am no scholar of great things, no inventor nor scribe. I am merely… me" He said with a shrug, turning to meet Arslan shoulder to shoulder. "Whatever it means. But there are many things I do not know. The human soul is one of them." He looked almost mournful at that, as though he had a long abandoned envy of what he did not know. "So, tell me, if you wish." Arslan blinked at him.
"Us, sure. What do you want to know?" the lioness asked. Jaune sat there, thinking about it for a moment.
"Well, a friend of mine once called Aura a force field." he started, but then noticed the furrowed twitching in Arslan's brow. "Judging by that face, I am going to assume you disagree?"
Arslan let out a long breath through her nose, collecting herself into a more composed form. "It is a… humble way to think about it." Jaune could hear her almost say some other, much less kind adjective. "But Aura is so much more than that. People say that Aura is the extension of the soul, but they don't really understand what that means. Aura is a… feeling more than a thing. It's like blood in a way. It flows through you, is a part of you. To think of it as a tool, or as something as simple as just a force field is wrong." She shook her head. "Semblances are a reflection of ourselves, not tools." Jaune hummed, thinking about what that said about the people that he knew.
"And what does that say about you, Ms. Altan?" He couldn't help himself from asking. He instantly winced, about to retract his question. Arslan stood up, getting ready to return to her workout.
"I can't claim to have a precise answer for you." She said as she took the weights once more. "I like to think that my Semblance, Noble Presence, comes from my desire to protect people and a deep sense of empathy for human life." She dropped, grunting with the squat.
"The aura vision thing, right? Rheese mentioned it back at ." Jaune asked. Arslan nodded, before continuing on.
"But I don't actually know. What do you think your semblance comes from?" She asked him, raising up once more. She looked at him as he set his bar, the ceramic plates giving that tell tale clinking of just barely being misaligned with the placement notches. Jaune stopped to look at her, tilting his head.
"I don't have a semblance." He said as he moved to some other exercise machine. Arslan had to stop for a moment. That can't have been right. Someone as experienced as Jaune. "Really?" She asked him, dropping down once more. Jaune had chosen to do some bench presses to match Arslan's squats. "But I could have sworn that you had one…" She trailed off, refusing to believe it. Jaune grunted as he started his set of reps. Arslan watched his form almost instinctively, curious to see how he lifted.
Jaune grunted with the motion, working through his sets. Man, I haven't done this forever. He gasped to himself. The two let the conversation die, working their muscles sore in silence. They lifted weights, ran laps, and did some stretches. Arslan wanted to say something, but was unsure of what to even start with. She was too busy in her own head, trying to pick apart this new information. Jaune didn't have a semblance. That threw quite the wrench in her puzzling.
That little lock in her head suddenly became rather large and complicated. A veritable box of iron and bits of gilding sat in the back of her head now. Arslan looked at her watch, noticing the time.
"If we're going to make it for breakfast, we should wrap this up." she said to her companion. Jaune just gave her a nod through the paced breathing. He looked so calm, undisturbed as though the last four miles had been a walk in the park. It didn't even seem like he was using his Aura to soothe his muscles, like she had started to do at mile three. They finished the mile together, Jaune respectfully keeping pace with Arslan, and not a step faster. They headed to the edge of the gym, where the hallways to the lockers and other associated rooms lay. Jaune paced behind her, kindly letting her go first. Arslan could feel the burning in her hips and legs in particular. Perhaps both squats and running were a little ambitious today. She groaned, rubbing her sore muscles. Jaune had to clench his jaw as his eyes narrowed in on the motion.
That's not fair. He thought to himself.
"Did you say something?" Arslan asked, looking over her shoulder. Jaune's eyes shot up to meet her, almost jumping. Embarrassed at being caught in the action, he rubbed the back of his head.
"No. I did not." He gave her an attempted smile, but it couldn't quite be registered as a "Smile". Arslan shrugged it off as Jaune having social skills as bad as Nadir.
"If you say so." She said, walking into the showers. "Are you coming?" Jaune had to cough at that, not expecting such a forward proposal.
"I-i'm sorry?" He asked, really hoping that the burning in his face was unnoticeable. He really didn't know what to do in this situation, he had never been so brazenly propositioned like that-
I very much doubt that's what she means, Jaune. A interrupted quickly, trying to bring him out of hazy mental images of a dark skinned blonde.
Arslan nodded to the opposite side of the women's locker room. "To take a shower. I hate to say it, but you will probably need it. Being sweaty in class sucks." She smiled before closing the door, presumably to cleanse herself. Jaune just stared at the closed door for a while.
"Right." he nodded slowly, the rest of his brain catching up. "Yeah, that's a good idea." he managed, before looking around. "Why am I still standing here?"
B took in a long, deep calming breath. You are using cold water. He commanded. Jaune nodded, unused to the burning sensation in his cheeks. He hadn't felt that in such a long time, it was a stranger to him.
The rest of his morning was a lot like breakfast. Breakfast for Jaune was, as many things were, uneventful. He had a normal breakfast next to Arslan and most of her team, although he did his best to keep his eyes on his food or out the clouded window instead of elsewhere. Nadir had chosen to eat somewhere else that morning, which was also normal. Jaune would have to endevor to eat with him later today.
"Ah, drat." Rheese cursed from behind her scroll screen. "Weatherman says it's going to rain today." She sighed, closing her scroll shut. "And I wanted to go skating today." Jaune gave no indication of even noticing, but internally was thankful for the slight change of weather. He liked the rain far more than the brightness of the day.
It took him several hours for something interesting to happen beyond that, and that had to be in combat class. Jaune walked into the class as he had most every day, taking a seat towards the back. He didn't really bother watching the matches. It was to his misfortune that the teacher noticed that. Professor Hart called down to him to the ring.
"Mr. Arc!" They called out to him. "Perhaps I could get you to engage in the class if you're in the spotlight?" Jaune sighed, his shoulders slumping at the attention.
"I would rather not." he called out to the teacher below him. Professor Hart just glowered at him. Jaune met the gaze with a stalwart aloofness, unbothered by the clear disapproval.
"Get your ass down here young man." They scolded him. "Mr. Hori, to the ring please." Bolin's command to the ring was much more kind than Jaunes.
"For our next match: Mr. Arc-" Jaune had to take in a breath there, aggravated from the long false name. "Against Mr. Hori! Best of luck." Jaune sighed, seeing that Bolin was rather excited for the match.
Great… B groaned. We get to fight the one with a stick stuck up his ass.
Jaune rolled his neck, letting the vertebrae pop as he made his way to the ring locker rooms. Might as well get this over with. He thought to himself. It would hopefully be quick.
Hello, another fast one for you all today. I did say I practically had this one done anyway. And something to look forward too, the long awaited Bolin Vs Jaune Fight! Place you bets, place your bets!
I did end up replacing the near smut scene with something a little deeper philosophical and character based, but there was still some remnants of it. Mostly Jaune being an embarrassed noodle that is doing its best to hide. Thank god Arslan is a little preoccupied herself.
I understand that the last chapter was not popular, and i'll be honest: I wasn't a huge fan of it either. I think the dragon fight could have been better. But I don't understand why people are saying it's... crack? I mean, the phone call is campy, but it's also not quite out of place. It is jaune and Nora talking, and as close friends they can afford to be a little silly with each other. Friends can be comfortable to be human and silly and honest with each other. Something Jaune doesn't feel with other people right now. Besides, I can't write doom and gloom all the time, can I?
Your honor, the defense of this chapter rests it's case. And you know what? It's fine you don't like it, not all chapters can be bangers. Your honest critism is greatly apricated.
As always, leave your likes, comments, thoughts, theories and support in the reviews! I love reading them and they either make me a better writer or make me write my personal thoughts and defense of the chapter in the next thing, so you know I read them and that I do care for them.