Chapter 24
Tag(s): N/A
Girl(s): N/A
Words: 9,094
Jaune found himself drifting in and out of a thick sleep for the next two hours, never awake for more than a few minutes before comfort and lack of willpower slipped him back under.
The first time it happened, the sound of soft television forced his eyes open to peek at what turned out to be a documentary on dust and mining playing, apparently paid for by the SDC themselves. A glance down showed Glynda's eyes open and aware, turning to regard him with a silent smile before returning to the program. Back and forth, the sensation of her hand stroking his arm eventually lulled his eyelids to close.
The second time, he was a little more aware. Enough to question how long he'd been lying there with Glynda in his arms. The sunlight from the far window had shifted a bit, sending a beam onto the floor at a sharper angle. Likewise, the TV was still on, flipped to a movie Jaune vaguely remembered watching with his family some years ago. However, Glynda had stopped watching entirely, turning around to press her sleeping face into his chest as she joined him for his lazy afternoon nap.
Her breath was low and even, breaking across his chest in humid puffs of warm air. Seeing her so close to the edge, Jaune pulled her closer against him. And while Glynda stirred, she didn't wake, filling her chest with a content sigh. After a few minutes, Jaune found himself watching her more than the TV, petting her back the same way she'd soothed him to sleep. Sleeping close together, her body was warm. Almost uncomfortably so, but the young man couldn't find it in him to complain. Her lack of bra was never as apparent with her chest nestled against his, and he enjoyed the way her breathing rubbed against him.
He couldn't help himself as he bent down to kiss the top of her head. Glynda was always beautiful. Always…striking, compared to girls closer to his age. And yet, as the two of them snuggled comfortably on the couch in her apartment, Jaune was stricken by how cute his second wife could be when she didn't know he was watching.
Delicately, Jaune found his fingers tracing along the plains of her features, tucking a strand of hair out of her peaceful face and tracing the line of her sharp cheekbones. Glynda didn't flinch, even as he found himself testing the softness of her lips. He already knew how soft they could be, but the tips of his fingers gave him a clearer picture of the smooth texture and gentle give he'd come to treasure.
"Having fun?" Glynda's voice interrupted his ministrations. Nearly startled, Jaune confirmed her eyes were still closed before realizing he'd accidentally woken her.
Rather than getting ashamed or embarrassed, the blond's voice answered back with careless amusement, "You're usually up before me and Pyrrha. I haven't gotten that many chances to watch you sleep." It used to make him feel bad at first, especially since he tended to sleep longer than both women on the weekends. But Glynda never seemed to mind, simply claiming that work had forced her to become an early riser. "You're kind of adorable, did you know?"
That got the woman to open an eye, but just one. And the look Jaune received was far from flattered. "You're teasing me," she huffed. "And after I let you rest so peacefully. You should know better than to call a woman twice your age adorable."
"If you don't want to be teased, don't marry a teenager," Jaune shrugged his shoulders. She really only had herself to blame. Glynda must have realized the same, surrendering with a sigh. Her lone eye closed as she pressed her face back into his chest, hiding from any further exploration.
"Sleep now. Flirt later," she commanded. "Do you know how rarely I get to nap?"
Yesterday had been a perfect example. Before Jaune, time to herself left her more on edge than anything resembling a break. She couldn't help feeling like something would inevitably go wrong without her attention to keep it in line. Was that a little narcissistic? Perhaps. Had she also been proven right? More Mondays than she could count. But her husband's presence held a quality that allowed her to forget the rest of the world. He helped her relax, even when he was the one trying to hassle her.
Reaching behind her, Glynda's hand flailed before finding the remote and thrusting it at her husband. "Find something to watch that isn't my face."
Jaune laughed to himself, accepting the command. Itching at trying to fit two people on one couch, the blond shifted the pair, grabbing Glynda by the waist and pulling her so that she was lying on top of him rather than side by side. Hardly expecting the shift in gravity, the older woman grunted initially, only to groan with approval at the comfortable alternative. Legs intertwined, she settled her smaller frame into Jaune's larger body. Likewise, Jaune accepted her weight without complaint. Truthfully, the woman was deceptively light for the power she wielded.
It wasn't long before his teacher's breath returned to normal. Despite her instructions, Jaune still found himself watching her more than the TV. But at least he was able to keep his hands to himself this time. It was only after he'd gotten his fill of the beautiful older woman that he allowed himself to get distracted by the flashing screen set against the far wall.
'Man, how long has it been since I got to lay around watching TV?' Jaune marveled, flipping through channels with practiced ease. Sure, his scroll connected to the CCNet like everyone else, but that was hardly the same. And while RWBY had smuggled a small TV for their dorm, that was for video games and movies more than anything else.
More channels flew by, all accompanied by the sound and feel of Glynda's breath.
Back home, this had been all he used to do. Lay on the couch and let his brain rot between school and homework. It was insane to think about how much free time he'd had back then and how little he'd done with it. This was probably the first full day of doing nothing he'd gotten to enjoy since starting Beacon.
Another movie appeared, this one clearly based in Mistral. Huh, Beacon must spring for premium channels for faculty dorms. 'Lucky me.'
Maybe that's why he'd pushed himself so hard. Why he thought he needed to succeed. Back home, he'd been free to fail as much as he'd liked. Huntsman training, guitar, even that pottery class he'd tried, none of it had mattered. So when he eventually got bored and walked away, that didn't matter either.
Continuing deeper, Jaune raised an eyebrow at an animated show, one featuring a rather buxom school girl that he definitely didn't want his wife to wake up to catch him watching. Not that that stopped him from lingering for a few seconds or memorizing the channel before continuing.
Marrying Pyrrha had been the first thing in his life that did feel like it mattered. That he couldn't just put down when he lost interest. Then Glynda came along, and he had even more responsibility. Another person who was counting on him to be better than he'd been.
Finally, an old rerun of X-Ray and Vav flashed onto the screen, letting Jaune set the remote aside. Instead, his hand found the small of his wife's back where her shirt had ridden up a bit, letting him touch the warmth of her bare skin.
He'd been so worried about falling back into bad habits that he'd gone too far in the other direction. Beacon had been meant to be a new start for him, a chance to change. But no matter how much he worked, that other Jaune still lingered in the back of his head. Lost. Clueless about his future. Just…existing as days went by.
And yet, here he was. Sprawled out on a couch watching Sunday cartoons. Take out the beautiful woman treating him like a mattress and it was practically indistinguishable from his life only a few months ago. Jaune would have laughed if he had the energy. Instead, the blond chose to simply appreciate the moment for what it was.
Except, try as he might to enjoy his show, he found his attention drifting away from the comedy of Mogar and the Mad King more often than not. It looked like the juvenile humor simply didn't capture his attention like it used to. And the longer he tried to watch, the heavier his eyelids grew.
Glynda certainly didn't help, serving as his personal weighted blanket. Her stifling warmth became soothing as he found himself matching her breath. And after five minutes of struggling, Jaune forgot why he was supposed to care.
Taking his wives for granted and ignoring them wasn't the answer. But neither was killing himself trying to be the perfect partner. As unfortunate as it was, balance was needed, no matter how much harder that was than simply accepting one side of the scale. And that meant knowing when he needed to make them a priority and when he was allowed to be a little more selfish.
Considering how long the practice of marriage existed, you'd think someone would have figured that balance out for him years ago, but that was not reality. Instead, he was going to have to make more mistakes, possibly hurt the people he cared about, and risk being hurt himself. That, more than anything, was what marriage meant. Lucky for him, he'd fallen in with two women with enough patience and understanding to suffer that journey with him.
Reconciling with his path forward, Jaune felt peace overtaking him as darkness descended to steal any further rumination. This was the shortest sleep of all. And the third and final time Jaune blinked himself awake, he was alone, and the comfort of his wife's weight was irritatingly absent. Instinct took priority as his hand shot out to find her, only for his memory to catch up with him afterward.
He was on a couch. This was his and Glynda's date. Which begged the question, where had she disappeared to?
The answer wasn't far. Catching the sound of pen scratching paper, Jaune sat up and found his wife sitting quietly at the dinner table, her sharp stare glued to a stack of documents set in front of her. A moment passed before her eyes narrowed, and the pen reappeared to mark something she'd found.
Shaking the last of his sleep from his system, Jaune stood with a long stretch. Pleasant tension raced through his muscles, leaving behind a sense of refreshment he'd been sorely lacking as of late. Without a thought, he wandered over to see what his wife had gotten up to, leaning down to place a kiss on her cheek as he gazed over her shoulder.
"Good afternoon," Glynda greeted him with a hum, tilting her face into the gesture. "Feeling a little more rested?"
"I needed that a lot more than I thought," he confirmed. Truly. He hadn't known how worn down he'd gotten until he actually felt rested for once. The difference was night and day. "What about you?" He raised an eyebrow, trying to make out a few lines on the page. But everything was a bracket of names and numbers, none of which made any sense. "What are you working on?"
Glynda had the decency to feign guilt as she answered, "Ozpin may have handed me a few expense reports that need to be reviewed as part of the festival's preparations. Most people know better than to try and overcharge Beacon during the rest of the year, but with the Vytal festival, there's so much Lien getting thrown around that there are always a few brave idiots."
To prove her point, Glynda searched through her completed pile, retrieving a previously marked page to show him the same kind of grid, with a bright red outline highlighting one of the entries. "As you can see here, this gentleman assumed he was allowed to add a zero at the end of his proposal simply by listing a much higher quality wood for their stand."
"People have to build their own stands?" Jaune asked, wondering how that would look once the festival started.
"No," Glynda sighed, narrowing her eyes once again at the obvious fraud. "No, they do not. It's an option, of course. So long as the stand meets the expected criteria and limits. But those construction materials do not fall under Beacon's burden. Otherwise, there are still plenty of constructions from previous festivals to be loaned out."
Jaune grunted in acknowledgment, taking note of the name of the man who'd tried to get one passed a huntsman academy. The blonde had no idea who this John Lampwick fellow was, but he had some balls. That was for sure. But then he looked at the stack of papers his wife still had to go through and winced.
"How, exactly, is all of this Beacon's responsibility? Keeping track of stands and budgeting for the festival all sounds more like it should be the council's job, shouldn't it?"
"You are not the first person to think so," Glynda nodded, making another mark on another entry before moving on. "Unfortunately, the festival only came about as an offshoot of the tournament itself. And the council loves to use that as an excuse to maintain that the Vytal Festival still counts as a school function, despite happily scooping up all the added revenue that floods the city as a result."
"That's shitty."
"Well, I don't mean to sound too bitter. They have their own responsibilities. Mostly the city and making accommodations for so many people visiting at once. We might have to entertain the other participating schools, and that's already a logistical headache. I can only imagine the burden of the rest of the visitors. It's just the actual festival that falls unto Beacon's responsibility."
"And you get stuck dealing with all the paperwork on your weekend," Jaune admonished, prompting his wife to shake her head.
When she turned to regard him, her lips were twisted into something of a helpless smile before admitting, "I'm sad to say that this is no one's fault but my own. I doubt Ozpin actually expected me to get started today."
Jaune raised his eyebrow, clearly asking, 'Then why the heck are you bothering?" Prompting the blonde to explain.
"Is it too pathetic if I admit that part of me enjoys this kind of work?"
Jaune's answer was cautious, "Not…pathetic." His tone made it clear that he didn't understand, however, looking at the thick packet of papers like a particularly grueling homework assignment. Far from anything he would have called enjoyable.
"I am not blind," Glynda did her best to explain. "I know this work is tedious and meticulous. But I'm good at tasks like that. I always have been. More importantly, It's work that needs to be done. And knowing that I've done a good job gives me more satisfaction than knitting or painting or any of the other thousand hobbies past friends have suggested I pick up."
Spreading her hands across the finished stack of papers, she smiled briefly. "It's slightly neurotic, but I don't think I could have survived this job if I didn't enjoy it somewhat." Her eyes took on a pitiful quality as she asked, "Would you mind if I finished this up? I've almost completed the assignment, and if I stop now, I know I'll simply spend the rest of the evening thinking about it."
Lucky for her, Jaune didn't see the harm, more amused by her behavior than put off. "It's your weekend, too," he held up his hands. "Don't let me stop you from enjoying it however you like. I really don't mind." However, it was only after she smiled in thanks, letting Jaune stray back toward the comfortable couch, that he realized his words were more than simple platitudes.
The TV flashed with silent pictures, muted while Glynda worked. Rather than interrupt the quiet, Jaune retrieved his scroll to partake in the long-favored activity of scrolling through the endless apps and social media. And as the young man relaxed on the couch and let his brain fizzle into white noise, he found himself enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
Glynda's paperwork continued in the background as the older woman circled this or underlined that. The sound of pen on paper became comforting in a way, more than Jaune had expected so early in their marriage. With Pyrrha, their time together was constant and engaging. They were either doing an activity or actively talking with each other. If they were in the same room, they were each other's priority and everything else faded into the background.
He hadn't gotten to spend as much time with Glynda alone so it had been harder to recognize, but Jaune slowly realized the older woman felt different. Not in a neglectful way, but Glynda wasn't the type of woman who needed to be entertained to feel loved and wouldn't enjoy being constantly needled for attention by someone else. Being next to each other, existing in the same space, was enough. And although he couldn't see her as he delved further and further down the trail of messages and videos that never got more than a dry grin, he could feel her. He could hear the occasional exasperated huff of idiots who thought they could overwhelm her and empathized.
This mild peace continued for another forty minutes before the sound of her work was replaced by a chair scraping along the floor. Still, Jaune didn't look up from his scroll until he felt the cushion next to him sag, and a modest weight settled against him. Leaning her head on his shoulder, Glynda glanced at what had him so distracted, which happened to be a poorly rendered photo of a Beowulf, bone-white claws extended and frothing at the mouth. The caption below read, 'Me At Three A.M. Lookin' For BEANS!'
It had more than a hundred thousand likes.
"I don't get it," she scrutinized, squinting at the scroll not unlike his mother whenever he or his sisters tried to show her whatever terrible joke was popular at the time.
"You know, I don't think anyone does?" Jaune shook his head. "We all just pretend to laugh at it anyway." And sure enough, the blond made sure to press his thumb against the heart at the bottom of the post before closing the device and adding it to his pocket. "Done with work?"
"Yes, thank you for waiting. I'd like to say that it won't happen often, but…" Glynda didn't want to start making promises she knew she couldn't keep. She'd burned through enough relationships that way already.
"I don't mind," Jaune grinned, a devious quality lighting up his face. "It even gave me an idea for something that could be fun."
Glynda raised an eyebrow at his tone. "Another surprise?" she droned, almost threateningly.
Jaune put up his hands in defense. "No!" he denied, only to wither beneath her continued stare. "Okay, yes. It might have been part of my earlier plans." Her mouth immediately opened to reprimand him, only to be cut off as he continued, "But! You made me a promise, and I intend to collect."
That stopped his wife short as her narrowed eyes blinked, trying to remember what promises she could have made. And that was how Jaune left her, kissing her briefly before standing up to rush toward the backpack he'd left set beside his guitar case. When he turned back around, Glynda's suspense transformed into surprise at the gaming console cradled between his hands.
Jaune's expression turned sheepish. "I borrowed it from Ruby and Yang. On our first date, you said you were interested in playing together sometime. And well, I know you said you work to relax, but I was wondering if this might be a better alternative?" Except, Glynda didn't say anything, simply staring at him. "We don't have to actually play," Jaune rushed, backtracking. "I'm not going to force you if you don't wanna. I just thought it could be fun?"
Glynda had to hold up a hand to stop him before he could ramble any further. "I'll give it a try," she intoned, comically serious for the topic at hand. "So long as you don't expect me to have any idea what I'm doing." She looked like she regretted it as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "It certainly can't go any worse than the time I signed up for a baking class."
"You bake?" Jaune's head tilted.
Somehow, Glynda's answer was even more dire. "Not anymore."
Rather than delve into that story, Jaune decided to accept his victory and scurried over toward the TV to start plugging in the correct cords with a strange familiarity. Before Glynda knew it, an image appeared on her screen of a group of young teens, each of their outfits and weapons more ridiculous than the last.
Jaune took his seat beside her before explaining, "This is called an RPG. Or a rolling-playing game. It's my personal favorite, and all you need to know is that you and I are heroes trying to save the world by destroying the source of all Grimm."
It took everything inside the blonde to keep from startling, slowly straying her eyes in her husband's direction. But Jaune's clueless gaze and silly smile soothed the woman's burst of concern. Clearly, the story was meant to be a fantasy, and Jaune took it as such.
This was the second time she'd made the same mistake. And while part of her knew it was wrong to keep such secrets from her spouse, it was also her responsibility to keep Ozpin's confidence. It just so happened that she was the only one in their little group who had a loved one on the outside and struggled to justify telling him.
Jaune was still a first-year student. The queen of Grimm, Ozpin's past, none of that was his problem. All he needed to worry about was a child, schoolwork, a child, his semblance, and The Brothers willing, a child. In that order. All of which felt like plenty without adding an ancient evil into the mix. Maybe once he graduated and could contribute to the cause, Ozpin and James could be persuaded to inform Jaune. But until then, Glynda was left in this awkward position.
Thankfully, the older woman wasn't allowed to dwell on the issue for long. While she'd been distracted, Jaune had already started explaining something called character creation. Glynda only needed a glance at how many sliders were on screen to realize she was in for a long, long evening.
After that, things progressed…slowly for the couple. But oddly enough, not where Jaune had thought his wife would struggle. His biggest worry had been teaching her the controls. What button did what and how to move and look around at the same time. But after a quick once over, Glynda memorized the overlay of her controller without any difficulty, not so much as glancing down at her fingers as they navigated the first few minutes of the game.
Nope, it turned out that the logic of the video game was what tripped the blonde up the most, forcing Jaune to explain tropes and game mechanics he'd picked up before basic mathematics.
"Okay, good." he complimented her once they encountered their first enemy. "Do you see those Ursa? They're gonna keep spawning until we destroy the nest. Use your character's ability to throw a fireball while I'll try and draw the pack's attention." However, rather than simply cast the spell and continue with their tutorial mission, his wife's eyebrows had drawn together at his instruction.
"Grimm don't come from nests," she'd argued as if that were obvious. "Certainly not Ursa. And why is there a pack of them? You know, Ursa are surprisingly territorial without humans around to focus their aggression. If we simply stay hidden behind this rock, they should start attacking each other and disperse on their own."
That should have been a pretty good indication of how the rest of the game was going to go. But Jaune was an optimist, so he chose to push on, sure that it would click for her eventually. But the harder he pushed, the more she resisted the contradictions of what she understood.
"How is a cluster of dust supposed to refill my aura?" Glynda squinted at the screen, correcting her glasses. "The two have no correlation whatsoever."
"I-I know," Jaune winced. Well, he knew that now. But considering how heavy the substance was consumed by Huntsmen and Huntresses, most media had taken to using it as a magical panacea, filling whatever role they wanted. In this case, a healing potion. "It's just how the game works. Try not to think about it so closely."
"But it doesn't make any sense!" Glynda insisted, "Not even the placement. Any surface dust went extinct years ago. Certainly any fully formed crystals of this size." She gestured toward the small tower of bright yellow dust their characters were standing underneath.
Jaune answered with a long, slow breath. Yes, he could explain that the developers likely only made it that large so that it was easier for players to spot. However, he and Glynda were already thirty minutes into what should have been a five-minute tutorial, and they'd only scratched the surface. Rather than argue further, the young man made the executive decision to let the matter slide so that they could continue to the fun part.
Once again, the couple pressed on, encountering the first boss of the game. A rampaging Queen Lancer was flying above a village, and it was their job to rescue its people. The fight itself was stupidly easy. Jaune had literally watched his little sister deal with the monster when she was ten years old. Surely, a grown woman like Glynda would have no problem.
Famous last words.
"Watch out for the laser attack!" Jaune exclaimed, watching his wife stand still despite the obvious flash of light surrounding the Grimm's stinger. The game even took the warning further, revealing the path of the attack via a bright red bar along the ground, inside of which Glynda's character stood in the middle, unmoving.
"Jaune," the older woman tutted, looking disappointed in him, "Lancers don't have a laser attack. Don't be redicul-, oh." Glynda's reprimand was cut short when the attack was finally unleashed, burning through her squishy mage's HP bar like it was made of toilet paper. One ply. Bloody letters flashed across the screen, adding insult to their injury. As if it weren't obvious what had happened.
"YOU LOSE."
Jaune fell back against the couch, a muted groan in his chest. Glynda took the loss far more gracefully, sniffing indignantly. "Well, that wasn't very fun." Jaune wasn't in much of a position to argue. "Someone should really contact this company about so many inconsistencies. You know, misinformation like this can be dangerous if people don't know better."
And you know what? This was Jaune's fault. He couldn't find it in him to get mad or annoyed at his wife. Just because this was his favorite kind of game, that didn't mean she was obligated to enjoy it. It was the same problem he'd had with Pyrrha when he'd tried to show her his comics. It was as if he'd asked a normal woman to pretend to be a cashier for an hour. And who would want to play a game like that? If he wanted Glynda to enjoy herself, he needed to find what kind of game she would enjoy.
"Let's…try something else," Jaune suggested, and left it at that. Unbothered, Glynda merely watched as he stood up to swap the disk for something he thought she might enjoy a little more.
"And what's this one?" Glynda asked when a new title appeared, portraying two overly muscled, shirtless men as they glared at each other, their faces inches apart. "Looks vaguely homoerotic."
"I mean," Jaune paused, really looking at the start screen for the first time. "You're not wrong. Um, it's called a fighting game. We're going to fight each other. Really simple." At least, the blond hoped so. It was a game about fighting. Glynda was a combat instructor. Those interests had to bleed over somewhat. More importantly, there weren't any confusing mechanics or world-building to stress over. All they had to worry about was punching and being punched.
Okay, well, there was a story. But Jaune wasn't sure if anyone actually paid attention to that in fighting games. They were more just an excuse to have guys in skimpy outfits and women in skimpier outfits throw particle effects at each other and end friendships.
But underneath all of that, there was some plot about tournaments and collecting the strongest huntsmen from each of the four kingdoms. Something-something, fighting each other somehow saves the world from some ancient darkness and boom, this was the eighth iteration of the franchise.
"Okay, let's start with practice mode."
Jaune proceeded to show Glynda the basics. Punch, kick, block, and movement. And once she was confident with those, he moved onto high attacks, low attacks, and counters, all of which his wife absorbed with little difficulty. It was only after he went into an explanation about combos that the professor appeared to pause, scrutinizing the long list of complicated attacks before nodding. Her husband took that as a good sign, initiating their first match.
Finally, Glynda was given a chance to look at the game's available characters. And while Jaune insisted that it didn't matter who she picked, Glynda apparently disagreed, carefully reviewing each character as they appeared. Or rather, she inspected each of their weapons as they appeared when it became obvious she couldn't judge fighting style or strengths from their figures alone. Eventually, she scrolled down toward a particularly busty blonde character. One that had the teacher raising an eyebrow before Jaune could start his summary.
"Right, so this is The Good Witch, Glenda. She doesn't really carry a weapon, but she does have this wand she uses to throw stones or fire or launch other characters around the arena. Not a super popular pick, mostly because she's considered a spam character. But she still has a pretty good selection rate. Probably because of her, erm, dress." The younger man ended with an awkward wince, looking at his wife when she didn't immediately switch to the next character like the last twelve. And what he found was a profound confusion.
"She looks…familiar," Glynda commented, forcing Jaune to look back at the TV. At first, the blond had no idea what his wife was talking about. The character was your standard witch archetype, complete with a black cloak and a witch hat. Her clothes were painted on, much like the rest of the roster, with a plunging neckline meant to show off the dark purple amulet dangling between two impossibly large breasts and a long slit up to her hip exposed as much creamy leg as the rating board would allow.
It wasn't until the blond stopped looking at her assets and focused on the character's features that something clicked. Green eyes. Blond hair pulled back into a severe bun. The character even had his wife's lovely deadpan stare painted in pixels.
Was it an exact match? No. Certain angles of her face had been exaggerated and there was only so much detail current technology could permit. But between the name and everything else, Jaune couldn't help looking between his wife and her mimicry on the TV screen.
'I wonder if Glynda knows what cosplay is…?'
An awkward moment passed between the married couple before Jaune sheepishly admitted, "Now that you mention it…I think I remember some advertisements talking about how some of their fighters were meant to be based on real-life hunters." It had been a large part of its early success. People treated Huntsmen like celebrities, depending on their popularity. And being able to play and fight as your favorite would make anyone curious.
Part of Jaune was surprised his wife was popular enough to warrant her own appearance in the franchise. But then, he'd thought the same about Pyrrha's fame and yesterday had proved to be a lesson in his ignorance. His first wife had been recognized all day, and she was relatively early in her career. Whereas Glynda was deputy headmistress to one of the four top huntsman schools in the world. She was probably just as well-known as Pyrrha, if not more so. And it didn't hurt that she was also a beautiful woman that they could put unto a dress most strippers would roll their eyes at.
'Seriously, is there any chance I could talk her into finding a real version of this outfit?'
Now the question was if his wife was upset by this revelation. Glynda hadn't commented yet, staring at her video game model with the same passive stoicism that she afforded most things. Clearly, she'd had no idea her likeness had been stolen, likely a workaround to avoid actually paying her anything.
Jaune itched at the silence, wondering if this game was already a bust, when the TV pinged, announcing that a fighter had been claimed. The blond looked at his wife, surprised to see "Glenda's" profile highlighted in a halo of fire. Glynda met his stare unapologetically and as if nothing were wrong.
Well, Jaune wasn't about to argue with her. Clearly, she was far from offended by her inclusion. Instead, the blond moved to grab his own character. A familiar, burly man whose large sword was only outsized by his muscles. He wasn't the fastest. But when he landed a hit, his damage was easily higher than most of the fighters. A strategy that had seen the young man through more than a few wagers against his sisters growing up.
The first round went roughly how Jaune expected, with Jaune's character standing above Glynda's, albeit missing quite a bit more health than he'd been expecting. His wife had done her best to pelt him from afar, experimenting with different attacks whenever she could gain enough distance. But his character choice might have been a poor matchup, cutting the fragile blonde down with six crushing blows.
To Glynda's credit, she took the loss amicably. It was almost like she hadn't been expecting to win in the first place. Jaune thought about switching to make it fairer, but when the rematch menu appeared, she was the one who answered, summoning their characters back to their corresponding sides of the television.
'Okay," Jaune resolved, 'maybe go a little bit easier on her.' He wouldn't throw the game completely. Something told him Glynda would notice that. But that didn't mean he couldn't miss a few blocks here or forget a dodge there. The young man wanted his wife to have some fun, and no one liked playing a game where they always lost. However, after opening himself for an easy attack, Jaune's patronizing condescension took a sharp turn when Glynda's first attack flowed into a combo…and didn't stop.
Fireballs and blades of wind fired from Glenda's wand. At the same time, all Jaune could do was watch as his oversized claymore became all but useless as the muscled ape of a character was thrown into thin air, where he stayed until his life bar sprinted to zero. Every attack served to keep him helplessly suspended, perfectly timed and executed.
Fucking spam characters…
The rematch menu reappeared, where it remained for a few seconds. Jaune didn't move, silently wondering if he'd accidentally turned on the game's AI by mistake. But no, the game itself wasn't that good. He'd played on the hardest difficulty before, and even that wasn't as ruthless as what he'd just experienced. Once again, the blond turned to regard his wife. Except this time, he could swear she was wearing the smallest of smiles, her pale lips illuminated by the bloody graphics celebrating his defeat.
"Again," Jaune demanded, immediately locking in. For all the good that did him.
Charging in close as soon as the fight started, Jaune's obnoxiously slow swing was suddenly blocked when an earthen wall sprang between his character's and Glynda's a second before it could connect. The man on the screen was stunned by the parry for only a moment. But that was twice as long as Glynda needed to restart her combo. And once Jaune's feet left the floor, he didn't come back down. Not until he was dead, with Glenda standing atop him in a halo of arcane power.
"So you lied to me," Jaune supplied after another brief pause.
His words earned Glynda's first real reaction since they'd started playing as she raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I'm sorry?"
"When you said you'd never played before?" the younger man gestured feebly toward the screen. "Lie." To which Glynda simply rolled her eyes.
"I've never lied to you, Dearest."
"Then how do you explain-!" Jaune started with exasperation, only to get cut off by his wife's answer.
"It's basic memorization, timing, and hand-eye coordination." Like it was that simple to master a game in seconds. Like it was easy. And judging by Glynda's conciliating smile, she must have seen his disbelief. "Don't feel too bad," she soothed. "It's the same reason Huntsmen are typically banned from most competitive activities, excluding events tailored toward those in our profession. We've physically and cognitively honed ourselves to the point that it's not truly fair to put us in the same category as civilians."
Jaune let his wife's words sink in before realizing that she was right. It just felt wrong that she could go from learning button inputs to kicking him across the map in a single fight.
"Was it fun, at least?" He tried, hopeful. He didn't care so much about losing as long his teacher enjoyed herself. That was the goal of all this. However, Glynda only considered the question for a moment before wrinkling her nose.
"I liked beating you," she admitted, completely unapologetic toward his wince. "But I don't see this as something I would enjoy on my own. The fighting is too flashy and inefficient to appreciate. Too much wasted movement. It's no wonder I have so much trouble with recent first years if they're coming to Beacon trying to emulate this kind of material instead of their textbooks."
"Okay, so that's a no to fighting games," Jaune accepted his third defeat, setting the controller aside. Sure, there were other fighting games they could have tried, but the two of them were likely to run into the same problem. "Ready to try something else?" And his wife, bless her patience for putting up with him, nodded in easy ambivalence as she tucked her feet beneath her.
And to her credit, she maintained her positivity even as their next game crashed and burned. And the next. And…the next. Unfortunately, each attempt appeared to encounter the same two issues. From shooters to racing games, Glynda either couldn't suspend her disbelief or the mechanics were so easy that it became boring.
Jaune thought he'd had her for a moment when they'd started a popular war strategy sim. But that only lasted for as long as it took her to miss an attack three times in a row at ninety-five percent accuracy.
Over the next two hours, they also tried puzzles, rhythm games, roguelikes, and a horror game, all to no effect. Albeit, that last failure was all Jaune's fault. How the hell did he think he could scare a professional Huntress with digital monsters? Sure, zombies and maniacs might still creep him out, but it might as well have been a puppet show compared to some of the things his wife must have experienced on the job.
And then, the main character successfully glued his foot back on with green healing juice, and Jaune didn't have it in him to answer Glynda's justifiable confusion.
Not because he was upset with her, gods no. It wasn't her fault she wasn't having fun playing video games. And yet, she'd still gone into the games as open-minded as he could have ever asked of her.
Instead, he was more frustrated by his disappointment. By this point, it was pretty clear that they should have moved on with their day. But he'd persisted, mainly because he wanted her to like this kind of thing, no matter how much she didn't. He wanted to have more in common with the woman he called his wife, and he wanted to share interests outside of her job and training him to make him a better fighter. And that want might have made him more stubborn than he should have been.
"I'm sorry," Glynda eventually apologized, likely sensing her husband's mood after yet another failure. It took everything in Jaune not to curse himself for letting his feelings appear so transparently, rushing to reassure her.
"It's not your fault," he held up his hands. "Seriously. Thank you for humoring me at all. Most people would have given up after the third game. And that's if they'd been willing to try something new in the first place. You've stuck it out for a whole stack." Well, almost. Looking back at the tower of games he'd grabbed from Yang, the blond was surprised to see one left.
Following his gaze toward the last disk, Glynda sighed, "You might as well put it in."
"We don't have to," Jaune argued, recognizing how much time she'd already wasted on his behalf.
"I suppose it depends on what kind of game it is," Glynda considered. As long as it wasn't the same as anything else they'd tried, it might be worth the trouble. Because as much as Jaune wanted them to have more things in common, Glynda was just as desperate to bond with her young husband. Being different was perfectly fine, but some common ground felt necessary for a healthy relationship.
"It's a city building sim," Jaune deadpanned once he picked it up, half wondering how this had even ended up amongst his friend's collection. Then he spotted the faded seventy-five percent off sticker pasted to the case's corner, and everything made a little more sense. "Basically, the game sets you up in the middle of nowhere and expects you to build your own settlement. You spend time collecting building materials and defending against Grimm. You know, settlement stuff. At least, I think so? I don't think I've played a game like this before."
Growing up in a settlement himself, why would he? Then again, he also remembered this game getting, like, five sequels already, so some people must enjoy that kind of thing.
Glynda's eyebrows furled at the information. This afternoon alone she'd killed Grimm, aliens, and robots. She had raced through space and palaces and explored no less than three separate fantasy worlds, which, frankly, still made no sense in her mind. Compared to all that, this game sounded downright logical. And if nothing else, that was worth looking at a little closer.
"Put it in." the professor nodded, earning a raised eyebrow from her husband. But her decision didn't change even after Jaune shot her a skeptical look, forcing him to do as he was told and insert the disk. Seconds passed as the console did its thing, eventually projecting what had to be a downright ancient sixteen-bit logo across the screen.
Jaune winced, taking a second to look at the case and see that the game was actually a re-release from an older genre of games. Much older, by the look of things.
Glynda, however, had no modern references to judge the game by. Truthfully, the other games she had played had all appeared rather…busy, cluttering the screen with unnecessary detail to the point she hadn't known where she was meant to focus. Whereas this game's simplicity came across as much more comfortable. Even rather charming as she pressed the start button and watched a pixelated topography of a forest come into view, followed by a single sprite standing in the middle of an open clearing.
Jaune leaned his head on his palm, watching his wife test her controller. Rather than controlling the avatar directly, she had to select the worker sprite and issue orders. Be that cutting wood, collecting food, or building whatever blueprint she'd placed on the grid around her. Instead of any of that, Jaune raised an eyebrow when she forced the character to start marching deep into the thicket of clouds obscuring most of the map, clearing the gray mist away wherever she went.
This continued for a minute before he had to ask, "What are you doing?" Had she gotten confused? But Glynda's answer was full of confidence as she responded.
"Looking for water." Like it was obvious.
But it wasn't obvious. Not to Jaune, at least. Forcing him to question, "Why?"
"You said I need to build a settlement," she reminded him, "settlements need water. Just look at any city or town in the world, and you'll see it started around a water source. That, or a resource valuable enough to warrant transporting water toward it. A river would be preferable, but I'll settle for a lake if I must."
Stopping to think about it, Jaune realized she was right. Every town he'd visited had had some kind of river or stream running through it. It was also true for Ansel, his small settlement. And it was true for Vale, the kingdom, with a huge river splitting the walled city down the middle, framing its many districts, and feeding directly into the ocean at the kingdom's edge.
"Okay, but shouldn't you build a settlement first and then look for water?" Jaune urged. "You only get one guy to start, and there's Grimm you need to worry about." And he was just a regular guy, at that. Huntsmen were a resource that you could cultivate, eventually, but you needed to build a huntsman academy before that. Right now, she was limited to the most basic of workers.
"Without water, any settlement I build will be doomed anyway," Glynda insisted, continuing down her winding path all the while. "Remember, Jaune. If you ever find yourself lost in the wilderness, water is always the priority. Then shelter, and then food." She paused the game for a moment to look at him critically, "Remind me later to review survival exercises with you over the semester break. This is another thing you should already know."
Jaune picked that moment to shut up and let his wife play her game. Every now and then, Glynda or Pyrrha were reminded of how sorely he was lacking in the education department and made a note of his ignorance to correct later. It had started out as a good idea, but the list was steadily growing, and Jaune was starting to fear the coming break from school and everything he was expected to accomplish over those three weeks.
"Hey, look! A river," Jaune pointed at the screen, desperate to distract the blonde professor. And sure enough, her green eyes brightened at the line of blue pixels peeking from the cloud bordering her explorer's range. The game resumed, allowing the professor to begin collecting resources for her first building.
And to Jaune's surprise, the river turned out to be more of a boon than he'd assumed. On top of the expected wood, stone, and food required to build buildings and increase her population, a notification warning about water appeared not long after the settlement gained its fifth worker. It was recommended that she create a well in the center of town. However, because she had the forethought to find a water source, she'd been able to skip that step entirely in exchange for a water purification building, providing ten times as much water for her settlement than the first-tier building had offered.
Jaune had never seen his older wife appear smug before. And given her face, others might not have been able to recognize it. Turns out, it was all in the angle of her nose.
After that, walls were quickly erected and expanded when Glynda's initial capacity became cramped with houses for her population. And the more people she obtained, the more technology became available, each either offering new amenities or more efficient means of progressing her medium-sized town.
Even after the first wave of Grimm was unleashed upon her settlement, she had already prepared a modest militia of townsfolk able to hold back the hoard with strategically placed archer towers and ruthless choke points that turned the ominous crowd of black and white pixels into a killing field. Of course, the first attack of the game was meant to be easy, but the fact that she hadn't lost a single settler from the exchange was notable. The console must have agreed, celebrating her victory with a flashing trophy for her achievement that Yang and Ruby must have never earned in all their years of owning the game.
Glynda paid her accomplishment little mind, far more preoccupied with reassigning all her townsfolk back toward their respective jobs. And her progress resumed, even unlocking a forge to be added to what was becoming her business district.
This theme continued on and on while Jaune sat back and simply watched. It wasn't the most entertaining thing in the world, but Jaune never expected the game to be on for more than twenty minutes. That was about as long as Glynda usually lasted before simply setting her controller down and asking to stop. So when he eventually glanced at his scroll and realized an hour had gone by, no one was more surprised than him. And yet Glynda's focus remained on the screen, plotting out yet another field of edibles to sustain her growing population.
"Glynda?" Jaune asked, raising an eyebrow at his lovely wife.
"Hmm?" she answered, fingers flying as buttons audibly clicked in her palms.
"You've been playing for a while now…I thought we were going to do something else?" His tone was hesitant but far from discouraging. At the same time, he didn't want her to keep playing out of obligation.
To his surprise, Glynda's eyebrows curled together as she finally glanced at him. "Can I have five more minutes?" Jaune didn't answer right away. "I just unlocked metallurgy, and I need to give my soldiers iron weapons if I want to stand a chance against the next invasion."
One of the things that impressed Jaune about his wife was how she always carried herself. Very mature, exactly how kids imagined adults to behave every second of every day. Which made her sudden fussing all the more amusing.
Jaune didn't bother hiding his grin. "You're having fun, aren't you!" The words came out like an accusation, even though the blond couldn't be happier. For her part, Glynda found herself startled by the idea as if she'd only now realized how much she was enjoying herself. But once it was apparent, it became impossible to deny.
"I…I am," Glynda startled, staring down at the controller in her hands like it had snuck its way there. "The game is all about management and delegation, except I'm in charge! There's no council or Ozpin looking over my shoulder and no incompetent coworkers that need constant supervision." Her eyes became animated suddenly as she gasped, more than Jaune had ever seen them. "And no paperwork! Everyone just does what I tell them and does it exactly as I tell them. It's magical…" Her gaze returned to the TV screen, a sudden fondness softening her features.
It took everything in Jaune not to laugh out loud at his wife. Most people played video games as an escape or to live out a fantasy real life could never fulfill. And it so happened that his wife's greatest fantasy was no overview and a competent workforce. To her credit, she was clearly getting results. Enough to make him wonder what Beacon would look like if she had complete control?
"However," Glynda hedged, "I suppose it can't be very entertaining simply watching me play a game. Perhaps we should try and find a movie to both enjoy?" The blonde's sure tone lilted, pitching ever so slightly higher and turning her suggestion into a question. It wasn't intentional, and neither was the flicker of attention she sent toward the paused screen. But the small allowances spoke of how reluctant his wife was to abandon the wonderful discovery.
"Play as long as you want," Jaune immediately answered, gesturing toward the TV.
Glynda's shoulders released their incline, relaxing at her sides. "You're sure? I don't want you to get bored."
The younger man grinned at her token effort. "I don't think you understand how much time I've spent watching other people play video games growing up. My generation loves that stuff. Besides, we're still spending the day together. That's all that matters."
"If you're sure," Glynda folded, still unsure but not enough to appreciate that her game time could continue. Her voice sharpened. "And as long as you promise to tell me when you start getting bored."
Jaune was already nodding when an idea came to mind, one that benefited both of them. "Well, if you're really that worried…," he stood suddenly. Holding out his hands, Glynda raised an eyebrow, taking them nonetheless. And as soon as she was on her feet, Jaune took her place, appreciating the warm indent she'd left behind. Spreading his thighs, he made his invitation obvious, patting the exposed cushion between his legs.
Glynda's curiosity became a knowing smirk. The good-natured roll of her eyes didn't stop her, however, from turning around to settle her shape into her husband's. Back to chest, she relaxed into him, his chin resting on her shoulder as his hands rediscovered the warmth of her waist, burrowing underneath her shirt without a second thought.
"Comfortable?" The blonde professor hummed, shivering at the small circles he'd already started tracing into her hips. Jaune answered with a kiss against her cheek, reclining further until they were both tucked into the corner where the armrest met the back cushion.
"I can think of worse ways to spend a few hours." Especially when his hands reached higher, stopping shy of the two heavy mounds hanging freely beneath his wife's baggy t-shirt. "Enjoy your game. I'll keep myself entertained somehow…"
Even if Glynda couldn't see his smirk, she could hear it. Her smile was modest by comparison but no less honest as she submitted to the exploration. Some people might be annoyed or uncomfortable with a partner's constant touching, but Glynda reveled in the attention. She'd spent the last too many years without the comfort of a warm body holding her close, and the older woman was more than willing to make up for lost time, content to let Jaune access her body as he liked.
Her own hands reclaimed the discarded controller, unpausing her game to resume the continued expansion of her virtual dynasty. Jaune's hands became pleasant background noise as her focus returned to matters of agriculture and setting up a reliable iron source to fuel her newly acquired forges.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone, and thank you for your patience and kind well wishes. Long story short, I wanted to finish Glynda's date with this chapter but once I hit the 15k mark and still hadn't made it to the sex scene, I figured I needed to finally post about half of what I had. Chapter 25 should finally see an end and we can move on to quicker paced events again.
That said, hopefully people are still enjoying this type of content. Writing about Jaune and Glynda's relationship is always an interesting challenge. Even with a mind controlling ring in the story, I still want their age difference to be prevalent and a hurdle they both have to work on. And most of this chapter was an effort to bridge that gap. Exploring how the two might try to relate to each other and learn to live in each other's spaces is genuinely interesting to me, which is why I'm spending so much time exploring that topic. Besides, someone commented a while ago about being interested in seeing Glynda try and learn to play videogames and I agreed with them.
Otherwise, I've been getting a lot of comments on this story about my other stories and if I have any plans to go back to them anytime soon. Specifically Vault 69 and Genjutsu Gone Right. And while neither of the stories are officially abandoned, neither do I have time to work on more than one story right now. Look how long this one chapter took to come out. Unfortunately, I am an adult with a job and responsibilities and I only have so much time to devote to writing for you all. But thank you for enjoying those stories enough to care despite how long they've been left in the air. I genuinely would love to go back and finish them eventually. It just can't be right now.