Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jaune was not meant to be a fighter. He had to come to terms with that a while ago. When he tried one last hail marry, forging transcripts to attempt to get into Beacon and was refuted, he stayed in Vale for a time. Sulked around for a few weeks, feeling like he had failed his family, shamed them. He didn’t know what to do with his life after that.

Then his family came to find him. Or rather, they finally tracked him down after he ran away. Que a heart-to-heart between himself and his parents, letting all his insecurities spill from his rambling mouth, and they were able to make him feel accepted as he was.

Fast forward two years, he’s found himself a nice life in Vale. Got into personal fitness, now no longer concerned about killing Grimm, it was ironically easy for him to get into. He also often found himself volunteering at a local bookstore, taking classes on Boxing and just generally worked on himself at every opportunity. It was certainly a peaceful life he found himself living. Of course, he still made sure to stay in contact with the rest of his family.

“So Jaune, when are we going to hear about your big debut as the next big-shot song writer, hm?”

“A-ah, you know it’s not that easy, Saph. These sorts of things take a lot of time. Besides, I don’t like where the song’s going anyway. I’ll probably have to start over again.” Jaune answered his sister with a nervous inflection.

“You’ve been saying that for the past two years! Honestly, If I hadn’t heard you play in person, I’d say you’re full of it.” The voice on the other end of the Scroll teased. A cold sweat fell down Jaune’s face as he pursed his lips.

“Well, I should probably get back to it then, it’s not going to write itself.” He nervously said, wanting to end the call already. He could hear the eyeroll on the other end.

“Okay, fine. You don’t want your big sis hounding you anymore, I get it. Maybe I won’t call anymore then.”  She said in a fake offended voice. Jaune let out a sigh of relief, happy that she didn’t press him for any more information.

“Love you, Saph. I’ll talk to you soon.” He said with a smile. He heard a laugh before she responded.

“Love you too, ya dork. Bye.”

A click, and she hung up. He put away his Scroll, leaning back in his comfy office chair. He looked around, the foam noise cancelling pads lining the walls of his spacious workspace a combination of black and blue. A beanbag chair or two laid around the floor, his main desk and work area in front of him.

The desk itself was large. Large enough to hold his entire PC setup, several other devices used for his job with the foremost object being a mic. One would assume he made music, rightfully so. He had his guitar to the side, a few other instruments as well that he’s learned over the years. However, this was only a front. Why he was so nervous about being asked when his first song was going to be published.

Spoiler alert; There was no song.

“No matter what I do, I just can’t get it right.” He cursed to himself, looking over to the trash bin halfway full of crumpled up ‘music’ he had attempted to make, only for them to sound utterly horrible. He could sing, he could play, he could perform with the best of all the others at karaoke night. What he could not do however, was write songs. A skill that has escaped him at every possible turn. He could feel something just on the tip of his tongue, but whenever he tried to put it down into words, it comes out as a garbled mess. There was just nothing keeping that inspiration through the process and it always falls flat on its ass.

So what then, might you ask, is all of this equipment for if not to record music? The answer to that is why he is so adamant in selling the lie that he’s a musician to the rest of his family. The truth is a bit…complicated, to put it into a word.

“’Complicated’. No, it’s totally normal to tell your family you opted out of writing music to instead do audio porn. That’d go by wonderfully!” Jaune exclaimed to himself, throwing his arms into the air. He rubbed his eyes, for a moment wondering how exactly he got into this mess. It all lied on the mic in front of him. Well, maybe not this mic, but rather the one that used to stand in its place.

You see, a month after the intervention held by his family for him, his sister gifted him a microphone. So that he could record the music she knew he liked playing. He was grateful for the gesture, knowing the piece of equipment must have cost a good amount of money. However, he noticed after doing a bit of research on the mic that it wasn’t one really meant for musical purposes. Rather, one to capture minute details and simulate surround sound. He was going to tell his sister, but ruled against it, seeing as she spent her own money to get him the gift. He was planning to try and make the best out of it and still try to record some music. He had his headphones in, ready to hear his own performance to see what he needed to do.

Then he smacked his lips.

He didn’t know exactly what it was about the noise he heard, but it sounded almost…dirty. Moist in a word, and dear Monty did he hate that word. Still, it did catch his curiosity enough to make him do it again. And again. And again. To a point that he barely noticed five minutes had passed. He did a bit more digging into the mic and found out that some people used it just for that purpose. To capture those sounds, modify them, and post the audio for people to listen to. It was called ASMR.

That’s when he fell down the rabbit hole. Eventually, he learned of the more sexual variety of ASMR content and found himself making them as well. Granted, he only did so because of some sick sense of morbid curiosity. Though, that didn’t explain why he bought lotion, lube, various editing software and tissues, but he did it regardless.

Nor did it however, explain why his video blew the Fuck UP in popularity.

It wasn’t the sort of popularity that pointed out how bad it was either. It was genuine praise and adoration for his work. He had been surprised. That surprise turned into pride, which then turned into motivation to make more content like it.

Eventually, he had dozens upon dozens of videos posted. A sort of cult following of his own formed. He made money, good money. Enough that he could afford a decent home and other luxuries. He was absolutely astonished at how lucrative this sort of business was. However, he was reminded indeed, ‘Sex Sells’. Even if it was only his voice acting out fake scenarios.

Something he also noticed, but wasn’t surprised by in the slightest, was the sheer number of women saying how lonely they were and that his videos helped them at least alleviate that feeling for the duration. In some strange and perhaps twisted sense, he felt like he was doing a service. Not that he would ever admit that to anybody.

That led him to his situation currently. A man with his life together, in a profession that could tear his social cred to pieces if word got out about it. He certainly liked his ‘work’, but he figured no one would like admitting they did it for a living.

“Well, I’ve gotten by just fine for the past two years. I’ll tell my family I simply can’t find inspiration and look for a ‘more suitable job’. Definitely a lot better than just telling them the truth.” Jaune mumbled to himself as he browsed his ScrollHub account. ‘Banana-NUT Muffin’, as he called himself, had as of right now…just shy of half a million paying subscribers. No, that wasn’t exaggerating, and no he wasn’t quite sure how he garnered the attention of so many people. In fact, the thought alone of that many people taking an interest in his creations enough to pay for them terrified him. Even so, he figured he was in this deep, so he had to keep it going.

Thankfully, he had content lined up for when he finally breached the threshold, but knew that wouldn’t be for another good while. He reviewed the profits he made today, noting with only a small bit of surprise that he had already made what it cost for a mortgage payment twenty times over. He only moved into this place last Non-descript Winter Holiday and he was looking to pay it off within two months after moving in, and that’s only because he didn’t feel comfortable using so much money at once.

“Is this what rich people feel like every day? Neat.” He commented to himself, finding that he very much liked being able to afford buying whatever he pleased. That is to say, he doesn’t go on spending sprees just because he could. Rather, it was empowering to know that he could if he so chooses. He was never one to understand the need to buy all these extravagantly large mansions for a family of five. Hell, even his own family of ten people only owned a house not too larger than this one while he lived with them. This was about the largest he could ask to be living alone in.

Any larger and he’d be constantly scared that he wasn’t alone here.

“I should probably get to working on my next video. I’ve still got that commission from that one woman. If it weren’t for the fact she paid good money for them and that they’re all pretty in line with my own tastes, I’d be a little creeped out how often she pays for them.” Jaune spoke to himself, opening a file with a rough draft of his next script. He liked to keep each of them unique, so as to not sound repetitive or lazy. Of course, a few were bound to be similar in many ways, but he tries regardless.

“And then there’s…all the other ones.” Jaune continued, knowing that there were many other commissions sent in by his other subscribers. He got to them when he could, knowing that they would certainly pay him a good amount of money for him to do so. Then again, he did get a strange ask every once in a while. Some of them were just a bit out of his comfort zone, generally it would take him a bit of convincing himself to do them. He did them far and few between, with those ones doing only half as well as his regular content.

Then there’s the uncomfortable requests.

Those ones were asking for scenarios he just could not even begin to try and write, let alone act them out. Those usually were things of a cruel nature. He can do assertive if not domineering altogether, maybe a power bottom if he was feeling particularly generous that day. Yet, some of them were asking him to straight up act out rape. He’s not usually one to shame someone for their kinks, but he did have to draw the line somewhere. He didn’t do that, not even in a fake scenario. Sure, he lost a bit of potential revenue, but he’d rather not have that money if it meant having to lose a bit of his dignity in exchange.

An audio porn star he may be, but he’s an honorable audio porn star!

“Huh?” Jaune questioned, suddenly hearing his Scroll start to go off. He was just about done with the script when he received a call. A quick look at who it was told him it was the bookstore owner that he occasionally volunteered for. Tukson, he believed his name was. A bit standoffish, but a nice enough man once you spent enough time around him.

“Hello?” The blonde asked, wondering what this could be about. Tukson usually didn’t ask for him to come in unless he was looking to face a particularly busy day. Even then, he would call ahead to make sure he could do so. Further from that, it had only happened a handful of times in the past.

“Hello, Jaune. Sorry for calling you out of the blue. Something just came up and I need to go take care of it. Could you come in and run the shop for me while I’m gone? I’ll pay you for the trouble.” The Faunus’ voice rang out. Jaune was a bit surprised, feeling like this was important. He looked up at the clock, seeing that it was just past eleven. He was actually supposed to go to the gym in less than an hour to take Boxing lessons. Still…

“Sure, no problem. I’ll swing by in a few minutes.” He answered, figuring that he could probably move his class to later in the day, if not just cancel until next time. He was always one to help a friend in need. Even if technically he and Tukson weren’t friends.

“Thanks. I’ll be here to hand the keys over to you before I leave.” Was all he said before hanging up. Tukson was a pretty straight forward guy. He’d say what he needed and then nothing else. A quirk about the man Jaune found intriguing, in a word.

“Welp, I better make that call.” Jaune told himself as he went through his contact list to find his Boxing instructor. After a few rings he heard someone pick up, the sound of gym equipment being used in the background.

“Hello, this is Chris speaking.” They answered. Jaune had asked for his number in case something like this happened. It hadn’t before, but he was glad he prepared for this regardless.

“Hey, Chris. It’s me, Jaune Arc, part of your twelve o’clock class. I was wondering if I could move my class to later this afternoon? Something just came up and I need to reschedule.” Jaune asked, staring down the clock. He would think maybe the one in the evening. He heard that was a relatively calm one. The other students weren’t as tumultuous as the-

“Sure. I can move you to the…four o’clock class. Does that work for you?” Chris asked, going over his notes and seeing an opening for that class since someone dropped out.

Jaune wiped a hand down his face, knowing that class had horror stories. He’d heard of a woman who, while having terrifying strength, was utterly lacking in technique and was prone to bursts of anger. Still, he hoped that maybe these were just rumors and it wasn’t that bad.

“Yeah. Yeah, that works. I’ll see you then. Later.” Jaune responded, hanging up. He let out a sigh, putting on his boots and heading for the door. A quick check to make sure he had everything he’d need for the day and he was set. A press of a button and the doors to his car were unlocked. It was a nice enough vehicle, sporty. Something he felt proud to be able to call his own. He knew if he settled down, he’d have to trade it in for a more family oriented one, but he wanted to enjoy it while he had it. Then again, he had the money, who’s to say he couldn’t just have another one for family?

“Pfft, ‘settle down’. Who’d be comfortable dating a guy who makes audio porn for a living?” Jaune asked himself, half joking and half serious. Doing this sort of thing was also a rather hefty handicap when it came to dating. Didn’t exactly sound appealing to be in a relationship with someone who, at this point, hundreds of thousands of people relieve themselves to.

“Hey Tukson, I’m here.” Jaune greeted, entering the shop and seeing the large man awaiting behind the counter. As soon as he entered, the Faunus eyed him before nodding. He then came around and approached the blonde.

“Good. I’ll be back in a few hours. You know what to do.” Was all he said before handing him the keys and leaving. Jaune stared after him for a moment before letting out a sigh. He’d never understand that man, always so to the point. He wondered what drove him to open this shop if he was so disinclined to communicate with others. Still, he wouldn’t judge too harshly. He didn’t know his story, so he didn’t have much room to say anything.

“Alright, this place isn’t normally all that occupied. Unless someone ‘famous’ comes around to do book signings. They’re mostly just local celebrities anyway. Shouldn’t be that hard.” Jaune told himself as he looked around the counter to see if there were any books he needed to put away. Seeing there were none, he looked around to see if there weren’t any customers that looked like they would need his help at all.

Believing he was in the clear, he went to the back of the store to take an inventory check. Always had to make sure there weren’t any returned books that needed to be shelved again. The donation box only received so many books a day, if any. He often wondered what kinds of books Tukson kept and which ones he chose not to. He knew the slogan said it was ‘Home to every book under the sun’, but he didn’t really see this place holding copy upon copy of a book meant for toddlers. Then again, maybe he was wrong. It always seemed like those kinds of books just appeared in homes. Like, he’s never actually seen a brand-new baby’s book.

*Ring*

“Ponder on this later, gotta go see who that is.” Jaune told himself as he pushed a cart with a few books on it to the front. Maybe he’d look around when he could to see if the shop actually had any of those children’s books.

“Hello, welcome to Tukson’s book shop. Home to-“ Jaune went to greet, only to be interrupted by the voice of a young woman. Around his age if he had to guess. One of the first things he noticed were her strikingly yellow eyes.

“You’re not Tukson.” She stated, tiling her head to the side. Jaune blinked a few times, still a little mesmerized by those eyes before clearing his throat and answering.

“…Yeah. Tukson is currently unavailable, but will return in a while. Is there something I can help you with?” He asked, putting his best smile forward. More out of habit than anything else, but it was certainly easier some days than others.

“…I’m here for my book order.” Was all she said, placing forward her receipt. Jaune looked down, taking the slip and reading it. His eyebrows raised, being surprised at what she had apparently bought.

“Ninjas of Love? I didn’t think someone else else would…Ah, never mind. I’ll go get that for you right away. Excuse me.” Jaune excused himself. He caught his tongue before he said anything too incriminating. Regardless of if someone else liked that series, it wasn’t his place to say anything. Even it was something one of his Scrollhub subscribers gave him for reference in some of his paid for videos.

He never did notice the intrigued look of surprise on the woman’s face.

“Let’s see. Ninjas of Love, Ninjas of Love, Ninjas of love…here we go. Volume number…6. Hm, maybe she’s trying to complete her collection? I can’t imagine someone getting into a book series like this mid-way through.” Jaune speculated to himself as he returned to the front counter. There, he saw that same woman looking at him with a strange look. He wouldn’t call it judgmental, more…curious? Weird how he could get those two expressions mixed in this situation, but he supposed facial expressions were strange like that.

Like how she was still staring at him. Man, those eyes were real distracting

“Here you are ma’am. Is there anything else I can help you with?” He asked, both making sure that he carried out with his job and to break from this rather awkward silence. It worked; in that she broke from her trance. She cleared her throat, seemingly realizing how weird it was that she was just staring at him.

“B-bye.” Was her curt and quick response. Jaune gave her a small wave as she quickly left out the door.

“Cute.” Jaune had to say to himself. That woman certainly looked so in his eyes. Something in the back of his head made him wonder if he remembered her having a bow on her head, or cat ears. Thinking further on it, those eyes did hold a certain feline quality to them. He went back to work, figuring it was a nice exchange, but merely a chance encounter that wouldn’t happen again.

“I’m back.”

“Holy-…how did you sneak back in here?” Jaune caught himself before he yelled at the top of his lungs. That same woman from before was right there at the counter, staring at him with those same intense looking eyes. Even so, he was surprised that she got back into the store without making so much as a single sound. That bell should have-

Oh, it’s yoke was gone. He’d have to fix that.

“Um, you’re…nice to look at.” She suddenly said, making Jaune snap his attention back to her. He was surprised, honestly. This was…well, he wasn’t going to say new, other women had come on to him before, but he certainly wasn’t expecting it while he was working at a bookstore.

“Thank you? You’re rather pretty yourself. I really like your eyes.” Jaune complimented back, staring into her yellow iris. Her lips twitched, a red dusting of her cheeks the only thing telling him that she appreciated what he said. They stood there for a moment, saying nothing. Jaune looked over the store to make sure that there wasn’t anything he needed to do at the moment before breaking the silence once more.

“So…was there anything wrong with the book, miss…?” He trailed off, wanting to know the name. It was probably on the receipt she gave him earlier, but he didn’t look at it properly. It was something starting with a ‘B’, it was probably either just her last name or something equivalent to a pen-name.

“B-Blake.” She spat out. Jaune nodded, maybe he was wrong before. Maybe that was her name. Still, he smiled as best he could. She was pretty, that much was sure. A quick glance at the rest of her outfit told him a bit more about her. Mostly that she apparently knew fashion very well. She’d have to, if she was able to pull off a black and white motif this well. Even further from that, the weapon at her side also told him one other real big part of this woman’s life.

She was a Huntress. Or at the very least, one in training. Probably a student from Beacon Academy.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Blake. I’m Jaune. Jaune Arc. Now, is there something wrong with the book, or did you just come in here to gawk at me?” Jaune joked, being amused when she suddenly looked away from him and down to the floor. He had to hand it to his sister, it certainly was fun to tease people sometimes.

“N-no, but I came to book you out like a che-er wait, no. I mean check you book like a…n-never mind.” Blake sighed, having failed quite horribly at whatever pick-up line she tried to execute. Even still, she tried, and Jaune did feel flattered regardless.

“Your tongue seems to be a bit out of order. Want to use mine instead?” Jaune asked, internally applauding himself for coming up with that on the spot. It got the reaction he wanted out of her, so he felt pride in that. She was giggling at his rather bad pickup line. Though, he could have sworn he heard her whisper under her breath something about him being like another blonde she knew.

“I joke, of course. If you’re looking to ask for my number, I really don’t mind. Here, I’ll write it down for you.” Jaune stated, finally relenting and taking a small piece of paper from beside him. It was a small map that was supposed to be used when tourists came around. He figured Tukson wouldn’t mind if he gave one out.

“Sorry, I’m still getting used to talking to people…freely.” She said once he handed her the paper. Jaune shrugged, not minding it one bit. People that came in here were usually sorts that liked to be left alone with their books and didn’t like conversing much.

Hm, maybe that’s why Tukson opened this shop. He didn’t have to talk to many people that way.

“That’s fine, I’m more than willing to just hang out if you want. Other than this job, I have a lot of free time. Maybe we can read that book together? I do have a special edition of volume six at home, if you’re interested?” Jaune proposed, trying to be as suave as possible. Honestly, he was a bit surprised at himself with how well this was going, or about his effort at all. Sure, he might have talked to a few girls before while living here, but it never really got past that stage. He just…didn’t feel that kind of connection with them.

Call him old fashioned, but he kind of wanted to meet someone he really meshed with, you know? Someone he could see himself getting old with. He had no idea if she was that one, but he certainly felt something different here. Then again, this would probably only get so far before she eventually found out about his ‘occupation’ and then left him.

On the one hand, he could go the typical route you’d always see in romantic dramas, books, or, Oum forbid you’re one of those degenerate, horny losers who reads fanfiction. He could lie, never tell her what he does for a living, hiding the truth becoming harder and harder as their relationship gets further and further until he finally works up the courage to come clean, only for some outside interruption to tell her before he can and ruin whatever trust she had in him. Followed by either a long redemption arc that ends the story with a happy, if not simply hopeful end for the two. Or he goes down a spiral of depression before eventually offing himself by committing toaster-bath.

‘I mean, I could just lead with it. That way there’s no unneeded conflict. Like some people apparently like in their story telling, the fuckin weirdos.’ Jaune thought to himself as he made a plan to tell her of his job, if she did intend to follow up with him.

“You read Ninjas of Love too? I thought you might have when you said something when I first came in here, but I didn’t want to assume. I would like to read it with you, actually.” She said, smiling at him. He didn’t know why, but seeing her smile felt like a rare commodity. It might have something to do with how her face rests, or maybe just because of her now one hundred percent confirmed cat Faunus traits, but he made sure to remember what her smile was like.

“Great. How does later this week sound? Maybe Saturday, around five?” Jaune asked, knowing that if she was indeed a student up at Beacon, their little ‘date’ would have to be on the weekend. He just hoped she wasn’t planning to train or whatever on that day. He wasn’t sure what they were doing up on that cliff. He heard for Initiation they threw the kids off that cliff and into the Emerald Forest and made them fight their way back. Almost made him glad he was rejected, really.

Almost.

“Sounds good! I guess I’ll see you then.” Blake said, turning to leave again. Once she left the door, and Jaune made sure she was actually gone, he allowed himself to take a breath.

“Didn’t think I’d be getting myself a date today, but I guess that’s just where the chips landed. Oh well, back to work. Now, to fix that bell yoke.”

Kitt Kat: Hey Yang?

Buxom Baller: What’s up, Blakey?

Kitt Kat: You know how you keep telling me to put myself out there and try to find someone?

Buxom Baller: No fucking way.

Kitt Kat: Yeah, so I kind of have a date this Saturday.

Crimson Raider: Excuse me, WHAT!?!

Kitt Kat: Hey Ruby.

Crimson Raider: I look away from my Scroll for one second, and I hear Blake has a date!? With who!?

Kitt Kat: His name Is Jaune Arc. I met him at the book store I told you guys about.

Buxom Baller: Ooh, he already sounds cute. Is he a Faunus, or are you trying humans now?

Kitt Kat: Yang, don’t make it weird.

Kitt Kat: He’s human though.

Crimson Raider: You said Saturday, right? It’s not going to get in the way of our team exercise, is it?

Kitt Kat: No, Ruby. It’s supposed to be later in the day. We’ll still have plenty of time to do all that stuff.

Buxom Baller: Forget all that, I want to hear more about this ‘Jaune’. Is he tall? Mysterious?

Buxom Baller: Details girl! Come on!

Ice Queen: Jaune Arc. Age: 20. Height: 6’3”. Weight: 95kg.

Ice Queen: If you give me a moment, I can bring up his listed occupation, social security, family standing along with his last known address.

Crimson Raider: WEISS!!!

Buxom Baller: Woah! Slow down there, Ice Queen. I just wanted to know what Blake knew about him. I don’t want you to Dox him.

Crimson Raider: Isn’t that illegal anyways? Where did you even get that information!?

Crimson Raider: Actually, scratch that, I don’t want to know.

Kitt Kat: Honestly, I’m just flattered you care enough to do that, Weiss.

Ice Queen. (deleted)

Buxom Baller: Did you just ‘baka’ me over text?

Ice Queen: No.

Ice Queen: Anyway, I just want to make sure Blake isn’t getting mixed up with the wrong people. Oum knows she doesn’t deserve that again.

Crimson Raider: Aw! You’ve come a long way from our freshman year, Weiss. I’m proud of you!

Ice Queen: Whatever, I can still bring up all that stuff about him if you want, Blake.

Kitt Kat: Tempting, but no. Still, thank you guys for caring.

Buxom Baller: Of course, Blakey. That’s what teammates are for!

Buxom Baller: Now, are you going to tell us more about him or what? You’ve gotta spill quick ‘cuz I got to head out to my boxing class in a bit.

Crimson Raider: Yeah, as your leader, I should know about these things!

Ice Queen: If you’re not going to let me dig into his history, then you could at least tell me what you know about him.

Kitt Kat: Ugh.

Jaune was feeling pretty good, all things considered. He got some work done for a video this morning, then he got paid to do pretty much nothing for a few hours, and he secured himself a date with a pretty looking girl. Things were looking up for him. All things coming up Jaune!

“Ah, mister Arc! Welcome. You’re a bit early, but we were just about to do some warm ups until we had everyone here.” Chris greeted the blonde as he entered the room. Jaune nodded, looking across the room to see a few other normal looking people. Some of them might look a bit rougher around the edges, but nothing he’d say is cause for concern.

“Alrighty then, is there anything different about this class than the one I usually take?” Jaune asked, wanting to know if there was anything he’d need to know about their curriculum that was different from his usual routine. He’d already done all his pre-workout stuff at home, so he was ready for whatever.

“There are a few small things, but I’m sure you can keep up. Ah well, we do have…one Beacon student that takes the class.” His instructor added with some trepidation. It was here that Jaune knew the stories of this class originated from. So, it was someone from the academy that was causing all that ruckus. He worried briefly if they were going to be as problematic as he heard about, but was hoping they really weren’t.

“I’m sure they can’t be that bad. I mean, it’s not like I’ll be sparring with her, right?’ Jaune asked, joking about that last bit. He was already at the stage of his training that he was sparring with other students to improve his skill, but he didn’t think he’d have to do that. Confident, even.

“Well, about that.”

Less confident now.

“The guy that dipped out of the class was her partner for the longest time. He finally called it quits after last week. You’re going to have to be the replacement. No need to worry, I assure you. Although she does have a lot of strength, she’s still trying to work on her technique. Part of why she’s taking classes here and not up at Beacon. She has to pass a benchmark here to get her teaching from the academy again. A little agreement we have with the headmaster.” His trainer informed him. Jaune sighed, just about accepting the fact that he’s had too good of a day to end it off with an easy training session.

“Alright, just…warn me when she gets here? I want to settle things with my loved ones before I go.” Jaune joked lightly. Chris, his trainer if you couldn’t remember, laughed with him before the blonde left and went about his warm ups.

It took a minute, with a few people walking in and saying their apologies for being so late, but one final person walked in and everyone sort of collectively hissed when they did.

“Hello, miss Xiao-Long, you’re just in time. Alright everyone, you all know the drill, pair up and meet in the rings, we’ll be focusing on your footwork today.” Chris called out, with the rest of them quick to get to their own areas before the newcomer could try and fight one of them again.

“Alright coach, who’s going to be my next victim?” The new blonde that entered asked, smashing a fist into her open palm. The impact being loud enough that it made Jaune shake his arm of second-hand pain.

Heh.

“Yang, we’ve talked about this. He is your sparring partner. Not your personal punching bag. Your focus is bettering your technique, remember?” Chris reminded the woman. She rolled her eyes, obviously tired of hearing it over and over again. Jaune could already tell this was going to be a rough evening, so he began to calm himself. How, you may ask? By practicing his stand-up comedy…that he was going to use in his videos…about ASMR…that was used exclusively for sexual gratification…that millions of people used for their sexual relief…that they pay him for him to do…

What was he doing? Stand-up? Right…stand-up. He’s just going to…do that. Yeah.

Unfortunately, since the author does not know the first thing about writing comedy, and the fact that he is currently incapable of finding a good segue into the next interaction but is also too lazy to just rewrite this part, he’s simply going to ask that you pretend there were some good witticisms and cleaver wordplay here.

“Hey there slugger, you Jaune?” The woman asked, walking up to the blonde and making him stop his small chuckle. Man could that guy tell a really good joke. Just, some real knee slappers. Some real guffawing good stuff. Gut busters if you would. Make-you-roll-on-the-floor-crying good, even.

He was real funny like that.

“That would be me, yeah. And you are?” Jaune asked in response. He could definitely tell this was someone from Beacon. They carried themselves a little too confidently, along with the fact that they had a rather unique, and quite frankly expensive, looking wardrobe. He had no idea where they got the money for such designer clothes.

Or how they can make it still combat functional, for that matter.

“The name’s Yang Xiao-Long, but you can call me Goldilocks. Mostly because this mane is the last thing you’re going to see before I punch your lights out.” Yang taunted, flipping her hair back for effect. Jaune felt a frown wanting to form, but he held back, mostly because he knew he was pretty much outclassed here and didn’t want to give her a reason to knock all of his teeth out instead of just half of them. Still, Goldilocks…where has he heard that name before? In a kid’s book? Something he read when he wasn’t working at Tukson’s?

No, maybe a character in his comics? Perhaps, but he remembers most of the characters in them, so probably not. However, now that he thought on it, he’s pretty sure he’s seen that name on his-

Oh fuck she’s one of his subscribers.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare at someone? Are you going to fight or not?” Yang asked, completely unaware of what was going through Jaune’s head. Truthfully, one could say that this was merely a coincidence. Something that had nothing to do with his separate life of whispering sweet nothings to whoever would listen. A freak coincidence, nothing more. In fact, it was strange that she would even say something like that, given the fact that if she was that subscriber, she’d avoid any and all mention of her online name. It was ridiculous and shouldn’t even be considered!

.

..

…

Look, there is no easy way for this to be explained in this story about someone who snags himself a girl through doing audio porn, so this going to have to do. Now shut up, stop asking so many questions, consume the product and then get excited for new product.

“Right, right. Okay, whenever you’re ready.” Jaune relented. He was getting caught up in his own head again. Maybe going through whatever hell gauntlet this was would help him focus some more.

So, walking over to their mat and dawning his sparring equipment, he got into his stance. Yang did no such thing, and simply stood on the other side of the ‘ring’ with a cocky look about her. Something about how she looked at him made Jaune a little uneasy. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she had something planned.

“Jaune was it?” She asked once more. It gave him pause, finding it strange she would ask that again, considering he had already told her his name when she asked about it. Still, he nodded and brought his fists up again. She did too, though he could tell she wasn’t invested in this in the slightest. Her footing, while certainly on the right track, was still notably off point.

“Yeah…why? If you’re worried I won’t be able to keep up, I’ll have you know I’ve been in this class for three years now.” He said, waiting for her to make a move. She was a Beacon student, so he figured he’d try to see what exactly she was capable of before making any attempt at attacking. Didn’t want to make a fool of himself here.

“Mhm, sure you can. Be warned, I don’t hold back my punches.” She warned, before a punch aimed for his side was thrown out faster than it had any right to. Jaune just barely moved out of the way when another one tried to make it’s home in his ear canal. He ducked under it before having to block a straight, feeling the force of her punch in full.

“What’s the matter? I thought you could keep up?” She taunted, keeping up her assault. All the while, Jaune tried to survive what he felt were slugs from a shotgun being fired at him. Even so, he was able to dodge most of them. Only taking the ones he felt he needed to, studying what kind of attack pattern she was using as to try and fight a little better.

“Hey, I’ll give you this much, the last guy didn’t even try to dodge. Props for that.” She laughed, still throwing punch after punch, not seeming to tire herself at all. He should have expected this, really. He heard just how resilient the students up at the academy were. How they could fight for hours and never tire. However, with this one in particular, it was easy to see just how much of her success was used with strength alone. Her punches, while having structure and flowing freely, overextended and used far too much movement. Flashy, in a word. Something he was told early on he should never model his fighting style after. At the end of the day, fighting was meant to protect rather than to be used to show off.

“What’cha thinkin’ about? Maybe how embarrassing it is to be beaten up by a-“ She began, only to get interrupted by a quick jab to her nose. She recoiled, obviously not expecting a counter to her attacks. It hadn’t happened before, and it seemed like it would be the same with him too, but evidently…not.

“I’m thinking you need to work on your form. Not to mention your punches. Sloppy.” Jaune breathed out, his arms still up, despite how they ached. He steadied his breathing and made sure not to take his eyes off of her. This was still an active spar, so he couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Especially not when he’s up against the likes of her.

“Lucky shot. Alright, tough guy, let’s take this seriously-“ She tried to say, rushing forward with an arm cocked back, ready to try and pummel him again. Only thing being that her charge made sure her face was front and center while she did so. Which in turn gave Jaune a perfect opportunity to land a straight directly to her nose.

“For starters, don’t leave your face open like that, or telegraph your moves so readily.”

“Mother fu-…Okay. Okay. Let’s try that again.” She hissed, her demeaner changing quite a bit as she rubbed her nose before she got into a more serious stance. Jaune took a breath, feeling as though he probably should have thought that through a bit more.

But come on…she was wide open!

She came at him with a bit more force, each of her punches just barely grazing him as he dodged to the best of his abilities. Even so, he could see a rather significant decrease in her form as he dodged more and more. He didn’t dare to try and take another hit, knowing that at this point it would end the fight immediately. Though, he found that she left herself open rather frequently when she overextended with her strikes. He was able to get a few gut punches along with one or two more jabs to her face.

“You’re overextending. You need to make sure you can defend yourself if you don’t land the punch, if not just retreat outright.” Jaune breathed out as he dodged a few more strikes. He heard a low growl come from Yang as he noticed a flash of light almost illuminate her hair.

“And you need to make sure to shut the hell up and let me hit you!!!” She yelled, the glow going away after that brief moment. She came at him even faster now, even with her punches all but sending her body left and right, she was still moving too fast for him to be able to counter her. He was stuck trying to dodge, which was proving more and more difficult, as he could only do so by focusing on where she was going to hit, and she was pretty damn quick.

“Time! Everyone stop your matches and come over so I can tell you what you need to work on.” Chris called out as a timer rang out. Jaune took the opportunity to duck under one final punch before quickly making his way over to the trainer.

“Wha-Hey! Get back here, I’m not finished with you yet!” Yang called out as she stormed after him. Jaune shot her a warry look, a nervous chuckle leaving his lips as he made for the door.

“Oh, sorry, can’t stay, I’ve got…er, something important to do right this second. Yep, can’t stay any longer. If you can E-mail me later Chris, I’d appreciate it, but I really do have to go!” Jaune yelled as he left the borrowed equipment in a bin before leaving with his stuff. Yang was going to chase after him, her eyes flashing between lavender and crimson, but Chris stepped in front of her with a troubled expression.

“Xiao-Long, we still need to discuss your performance today. I’d say it was an improvement, but that’s only because the match lasted longer than two minutes.” He said, looking rather disappointed. Yang looked at him with anger in her eyes.

“You’re stopping me, but not him!?” she yelled at the trainer. He sighed before shaking his head.

“He did rather well, all things considered. And I do intend to have a talk with mister Arc about just walking out before briefing or being dismissed. Even so, he’s not the one who needs to take this class. You do. Now, if you would?” Chris gestured to the rest of the class, waiting for her to get with the others so that he could give them advice on how they did.

“…Fine.” She relented, clearly still mad, but also not wanting to add any more marks to her record in his class. She was already warned by the headmaster himself that if she didn’t comply by the rules that she’d only be taking it for longer. She didn’t understand why she was here in the first place. She was doing just fine when it came to fighting. She killed Grim, she beat up bad guys, and she could totally whoop anyone here while she was blindfolded and with an arm tied behind her back!

Well, except that guy, apparently.

“Stupid Jaune, and his stupid, dumb, punchable face…wait, Jaune. Where have I heard that name before?” She asked herself as she stood to the side and waited for her turn to come up as Chris talked to another pair. She racked her brain for the information, her lingering anger making it a bit difficult.

“Jaune…Jaune…hey, wait a minute, isn’t he the guy that…oh my god.” Yang thought to herself, realization dawning on her as she remembered Jaune was the name of the guy Blake said she had a date with. She even remembered that she had remembered him before their spar! She was going to interrogate him and everything before he landed that cheap shot to her nose! She face palmed faster than she could think, feeling stupid for letting her pride as a fist-fighter get in the way.

“Surely she wouldn’t know it would be me if I decided to make him late for that date by let’s say…fifteen years, right?” Yang asked herself as she contemplated finding Jaune ‘randomly’ when he was out and ‘accidentally’ punch him so hard he winds up in a coma for the foreseeable future.

.

..

…

“You know, I’m starting to think Ruby might have been on to something when she suggested anger management classes.”

“Well, I’m going to make sure I’m not part of that class again.” Jaune said to himself as he drove back home. That had been the most stressful two hours of his life. Even more so than the three days of painful, agonizing waiting he had to endure before he got that letter of refusal from Beacon. A few times he felt like his life was on the line.

“Pfft, what am I thinking? She’s a Beacon student. There’s no way they’d just let a student attend classes if they thought they’d just murder someone over a simple sparring session.” Jaune laughed to himself, getting a good chuckle at the absurdity of the idea. He let it linger for a moment, really getting good mileage on the joke he made.

Only to cautiously check his rearview mirror and hit the speed limit in less than two seconds.

Buxom Baller: Hey Blake?

Kitt Kat: Yes?

Buxom Baller: Let’s say, just as a favor to me

Buxom Baller: Your partner, best buddy and most importantly, your ride-or-die

Kitt Kat: Yang, I’m not covering for you again, Yang. I barely got away with the story I told Goodwitch last time.

Buxom Baller: Okay, good to know for future reference, but not what I’m talking about.

Kitt Kat: What else did you message me privately for then?

Buxom Baller: I’m pretty sure I met your date in my boxing class today.

Kitt Kat: Didn’t you say that class was supposed to be filled with people wanting to get into Beacon?

Buxom Baller: People with delusions of grandeur, yes.

Kitt Kat: You know some of those people might actually get in some day, right?

Kitt Kat: And since when did you become a gate-keeper?

Buxom Baller: I’m just keeping it real here, ain’t nobody in that class making it in.

Buxom Baller: Look, can we just get back on topic?

Kitt Kat: Are you even sure it was him? What did he look like?

Buxom Baller: Do you know anyone else who’s tall, blonde and soft on the eyes?

Kitt Kat: …

Buxom Baller: Okay, I kind of walked into that one. But that doesn’t give you the right to hit me with the in-text silence. Can’t you be normal, like everyone else?

Kitt Kat: Yang, with all due respect, you literally blow up when someone touches your hair.

Kitt Kat: Weiss is the daughter and rightful heir to a multibillion-lien corporation.

Kitt Kat: And Ruby got in a whole two years early.

Kitt Kat: I only read and occasionally write spicy literature.

Kitt Kat: I’m pretty sure I’m the only ‘normal’ one here.

Buxom Baller: Are we really just going to ignore the fact you ran with the you-know-who for most of your life?

Buxom Baller: Or the fact that you pretty much obsessed over them for all of our freshman year?

Kitt Kat: …

Buxom Baller: Yeah, didn’t think so.

Buxom Baller: Now, back to your new boy-toy.

Kitt Kat: Jaune.

Buxom Baller: Right, boy-toy.

Buxom Baller: He was in my class today.

Kitt Kat: Okay, and?

Buxom Baller: He was my new sparring partner after my last one called it quits

Kitt Kat: Yang, you didn’t put him in the infirmary, did you?

Buxom Baller: I wish!

Buxom Baller: (Deleted)

Kitt Kat: He did what now?

Buxom Baller: Nothing. He did nothing and I did in fact send him to the hospital.

Kitt Kat: You realize you’re proving Ozpin’s point, don’t you?

Buxom Baller: So he got a few lucky shots on me, so what? I wasn’t even trying! And he was fighting dirty!

Kitt Kat: How?

Buxom Baller: He kept taking cheap shots!

Kitt Kat: Like?

Buxom Baller: He punched me right in the nose!

Kitt Kat: While you were fighting? No.

Buxom Baller: Hey, who’s side are you on!?

Kitt Kat: Sorry.

Kitt Kat: Continue

Buxom Baller: No matter what punch I threw at him, he just moved out of the way!

Kitt Kat: You mean he was…dodging?

Buxom Baller: No! He was totally cheating! He had to be another student here!

Kitt Kat: Yang

Buxom Baller: Or he was doping!

Kitt Kat: Yang

Buxom Baller: I’m not crazy!!!

Buxom Baller: I bet he’s into some weird shit, Blake!

Buxom Baller: (Deleted)

Kitt Kat: I

Kitt Kat: Yang?

Kitt Kat: Where did you get ASMR from?

Kitt Kat: Is there something you want to talk about?

Kitt Kat: Yang?

“Okay, I’m pretty sure I have everything I’ll need.” Jaune said to himself as he looked over himself in the mirror. He didn’t have anything overly fancy on. A rather tight-fitting marine blue V-neck with a baby blue jacket, black slacks and a pair of dress shoes. A good mix of nicely dressed and casual clothes he’d say. He looked at his reflection, briefly wondering if he should have gotten a haircut, but realizing it was a tad bit too late to change his mind now.

His eyes glanced at the box sitting within the drawer he had his wallet in. It wasn’t opened yet, as he bought it only two days ago. Mostly as a prop for his recording sessions, but then realized how his listeners wouldn’t even notice he was using it. Still, all things considered…

“Well…It never hurts to be prepared. Right?” Jaune whispered to himself as he opened the box of condoms and placed two of them in his wallet…then proceeded to shove an extra three. Only because he wasn’t sure how ‘active’ a Huntress could be. If things even went that far tonight. It was a first date, after all, but Jaune liked to be prepared for anything.

“Trying a lot of new things here.” Jaune thought aloud as he stared at the bottle of cologne he held in his hand. It was recommended to him by the guy behind the counter when he mentioned he was having a date with a cat Faunus. He didn’t know for sure if there was anything he needed to avoid when it came to Faunus, considering some of their senses were enhanced further than any human’s. So, he decided to play safe and try to take it into consideration.

The price was a bit steep, but then again, most quality cologne is. Had a name he couldn’t hope to pronounce, made by someone he was sure came up in some controversy everyone forgot a few weeks after it happened.

“At least it smells nice.” He spoke, giving himself a few spritzes of the stuff. Maybe a spritz more than he intended, but he hoped it wouldn’t be too harsh. Otherwise, it would completely null the whole reason he got it in the first place. The scent itself was honeysuckle from what he gathered. He vaguely remembered some other component within the stuff, but he was sure it was just some jargon meant to confuse him and make the sale easier.

“I mean, I did buy it, so…” Jaune didn’t let that thought linger much longer, as he reminded himself that he was supposed to meet Blake in less than an hour. He smiled as he made his way out the front door. The sun was beginning to set, Jaune’s anticipation swelling in his chest. This would be the first time he’d been on a date in about…oh, who was he kidding? This was literally the first date he’s been on. Period.

It's not like he hasn’t tried to put himself out there. It was just that the people he ‘talked’ to weren’t necessarily looking to go further than just talking. There was always something that made them stop pursuing him not long after he showed interest.

It was almost like some cosmic force was making sure he didn’t have any sort of romantic partners before this moment.

“No time to dwell on that now, I’ve got a date with a beaut and I’m not taking that for granted.” Jaune reassured himself as he got into his car and began to drive towards the air docks that would take students up to Beacon academy and back. It was open for anyone to hang out around, but the Bullheads themselves required a student ID to board.

“If all goes well, we’ll go on another one of these. That is, if she can look past what my job is.” Jaune said with some level of trepidation. He wasn’t intending to lie to her about this, or keep the information away from her, but he did worry it would immediately turn her away from pursuing a relationship with him. He’d understand if she wanted to call things off, but he at least had to try.

Jaune had parked his car along the curb, leaning against the vehicle as he waited for his date to arrive. It was right across from him, so he knew he’d be able to see them from here and wave them over, or meet them halfway. He saw a good number of people walking by, some of them obvious students, or other people waiting for someone else, just like him. Thankfully, it didn’t take that long for a Bullhead to come down and from it, he saw those stunning yellow eyes emerge.

She wore a black t-shirt that left just a tiny bit of her stomach exposed, an open white crop jacket to cover up. Her torn black jeans looking more like ripped leggings with how well they accentuated her figure, with a pair of monochrome women’s boots. As he made his way over, he kind of felt underdressed.

“Hm? Is that a friend of hers?” Jaune asked himself as he saw Blake talking with someone else. They were a little shorter than her, with her color scheme really only being one color off from being a complete goth stereotype. The red did add nice highlights to her outfit, which in turn really accentuated her features.

“Pull the brakes, Jaune. Focus on the one you’re taking on a date.” He had to remind himself, making sure his gaze stayed on Blake and not the one next to her. It was rude to stare at someone that wasn’t your date, after all. It’s what his sisters and mother always told him. It wasn’t that hard to focus on Blake either way. She was stunning.

“We’ll worry about it when you get back. I’m sure it’s just her being overdramatic again. You know how she is with things that make her uncomfortable. Kind of like you when-oh! Hi, are you Jaune?” The woman next to Blake asked as she stopped her conversation once he got close enough. He smiled and nodded, extending a hand in greeting. She took it, catching Jaune by surprise at just how strong a grip she had. Just went to show what kind of training they went through up there.

‘Would I have even survived if I…’ A traitorous thought emerged from the recesses of his brain. Thoughts of what could have been if he really did get accepted. It came up every once in a while. Less often as of late, but was still there. It didn’t bother him much, seeing as how he was perfectly contempt to live his life as a civilian here in Vale.

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

“That would be me, yeah. Are you a friend of Blake’s?” He asked, pushing his thoughts to the side for now. He didn’t want any distractions for tonight. He already had his work cut out for him, considering he was going to try and romance a future Huntress.

“And my leader too, actually. She just wanted to see me off before I left with you. Her name is Ruby, by the way.” Blake explained, giving a bit more clarity as to what exactly happened up atop the cliffs. A team would entail a number of people. Honestly, thinking on it now, Jaune probably should have researched a bit more on the school before trying to lie his way in.

“Exactly! I also just had to see the ‘handsome blonde’ she couldn’t stop talking about.” Ruby teased, smirking at the cat Faunus. Blake’s cheeks flushed with color before lightly punching her leader’s shoulder. Jaune just looked on in amusement. He could tell the two were close.

“I talked about him twice. I swear, you’re sounding more and more like Yang by the day.” She grumbled, annoyed that she had two people teasing her about her love life now. She didn’t really do dating. Anyone who knew her would know why. Her last ‘relationship’ didn’t exactly end on a very amicable note, to say the least.

“I’m sorry about her. Shall we go?” Blake asked, turning to Jaune in hopes that they could leave before Ruby got the chance to say anything else. Jaune nodded, not commenting on their conversation, as he found it would be rude. He didn’t really know them yet, so he had no say in the matter. Still, the mention of someone named ‘Yang’ was something he’d have to bring up during the date.

“Whenever you’re ready. And don’t worry, I’ll have her back by ten-thirty, miss leader person.” Jaune joked lightly, giving a mock salute. Ruby blanched in good faith, shaking her head.

“Bah, just call me Ruby. And you don’t worry, you two can stay out as long as you want, I know she can take care of herself. Besides, we get a lot of leeway as Beacon students. Well, those of us in our last year, at least. Pretty much already Huntresses, just gotta get those licenses is all. Have fun you two.” Ruby told him. He nodded, already getting the vibe that they’d be pretty good friends if tonight went by smoothly.

“Duly noted. You ready to have a bit of fun on the town, then?” Jaune asked Blake as they walked away from Ruby. Blake had a small smile on her face. He liked that smile. Really, her beauty was damn near distracting him from everything else around them. Exaggerations perhaps, but he really did find her greatly attractive.

Even without the utter dump truck she was lugging around. God damn was that shit phat!

“So, where did you have in mind?” Blake asked as they got into his car. Jaune got back onto the roads and was steering them through the streets when he answered, still not sure whether or not she was going to like where he picked.

“To start us off, I was thinking of a nice little place. Doesn’t really see a lot of people, and it has a pretty good view of the city.” Jaune told her, driving towards their destination. The Faunus hummed in intrigue. Though, after a moment he could hear her taking a sniff or two.

“What kind of cologne are you wearing? It’s…nice.” She complimented. Jaune smiled, glancing at her for a moment before directing his focus back on the road.

“Honeysuckle. I figured that since you’re a Faunus, any regular cologne might be a little harsh on your nose. T-That is, I wasn’t sure if it would be, and I uh…didn’t want to take any chances. I’m sorry if that sounds-“ Jaune stuttered, realizing now how that might have sounded incredibly ignorant. Still, he stopped when he heard Blake next to him giggle.

“I know what you’re trying to say. You are right to be worried about my sense of smell, but It’s not as bad as it used to be. Still, I’m happy you went out of your way to try and accommodate me.” She reassured him, happy that he was at least trying. Most people around her, sans her team and sister team, didn’t even take that into consideration when around her or other Faunus. They did have enhanced senses, so certain smells had a more adverse effect on them than on humans.

“Oh, good. I wasn’t trying to be offensive or anything, I just…yeah. Anyway, we’re close to the diner now.” Jaune sighed in relief, happy that he hadn’t ruined the atmosphere this early into the date. Still, he couldn’t count himself out of the woods yet. He still had to drop the ‘I do audio porn’ bomb on her.

But you already know how that’s going to end, don’t you?

“’The Gentle Magenta’. A diner?” Blake inquired, giving Jaune a quizzical look. He smiled at her before parking his car in the relatively empty lot outside of it. The place itself was rather unassuming, with the only notable thing being how it looked to be a few decades out of its element. In terms of aesthetic, at least.

“Yep, got some great food here. Not to mention, I know the owner.” Jaune told her, feeling rather confident that she would like the food. Though, he would withhold patting himself on the back until they got inside.

“Interesting. You get around, then?” Blake asked in an amused tone. Jaune was going to answer, but after a moment, he caught on to the joke and let out a chuckle. It turned out she had a rather interesting sense of humor. It was a bit out of the blue and not delivered with much grace, but it was an attempt. Maybe he’d have to teach her how to tell a proper one.

Because he totally knew how to do that. Obviously…

“Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that. But I was able to stumble into you, wasn’t I?” Jaune asked. It was cheesy, or perhaps even corny, but it did get a smile on her face. He’d count that as a win. They both entered the establishment, Jaune taking a quick scope of the place and seeing that there was really only two other people here. An elderly couple chatting away idly.

“You weren’t kidding when you said this place doesn’t see a lot of traffic.” Blake commented as they went up to the greeting pedestal and talked to the host. They were seated quickly and were told their waiter would be with them shortly.

“I can’t say this is what I’d imagine our date would start off like.” Blake said, looking around and seeing the various decorations about the place. Some things of note that she saw were of different families that had presumably eaten here. A note of joy came over her when she noticed Faunus amongst those as well.

“What can I say? I’m a bit old fashioned. I like to think that this is comfortable enough.” He explained with a shrug. He liked to think things like this were still nice to do. That at least his date would enjoy coming out to a diner to eat would be nice. Maybe taking her out to dinner as a first date might not have been the smartest idea, given the fact that this very well could end rather abruptly. He’d complain about the money he’d have to spend here, but…come on. At this point, he could probably buy everyone in this place breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of the month and not even come close to half of his daily revenue.

Actually, he never really put it into perspective like that. Holy shit, he had money.

“I never said I was complaining. Certainly, a nice break from having a communal kitchen that I have to share with seven other people.” She shared, remembering how her team and their sister team JNPR have had to share one kitchen since their second year. It got hectic at times, especially when Nora stormed her way downstairs and wreaked havoc in her crusade for pancakes.

“Would you believe me if I said I know what that’s like? Having a big family will do that. Still, Huntress life a bit more stressful, I take it?” Jaune asked, wanting to know a bit more about her life up in Beacon. He was curious as to what exactly went on up on those cliffs. Of course, he was also interested in her own life as well. It just so happened that her life coincided with such a dangerous profession.

“It can be, at times. If you were to ask me though, I’d say dealing with your teammates is the hardest part of the job.” She joked. Well, it was half a joke. It definitely felt most of her woes came from her own team.

“You’re close to them though, no? Your friend said you were in your third year, if I heard correctly. It certainly seems like you get along.” Jaune prodded. He didn’t see any real distain in her eyes, or hear it in her voice. Unless lying was a skill all Huntresses had to learn.

“They’re like family to me at this point. But enough about me, what about you? I’d like to hear what a guy like you does here in Vale.” She asked, turning the conversation back to him. He nodded, though he did spot a waitress coming towards them. Peculiar, as he saw his friend Magenta behind the counter, giving him an excited smile.

“I’d be glad to tell you, even if my bland civilian life might bore you. But let’s at least start on dinner here, hm?” He inquired, greeting the waitress and taking the menus from them.

“Hello there, I’m Coral and I’ll be your waitress for tonight. What drinks can I get you started with?”

She seemed nice enough, what with her mute orange cream colored hair and matching uniform. Still, he knew the façade of a teenage employee who’s working two jobs just to make ends meet, bone tired and just about ready to keel over and die. He’d seen it in his sister, back before she met Terra. She was happier now, and all the more appreciative of her partner for letting her be a stay-at-home mother.

He should try to visit her and little Adrian when he had the chance.

“Now, where to start…” Jaune trailed off. He was a bit at a loss from where to go from here. There were a variety of options to choose from. Some of them were more appropriate for the occasion than others. Still, he wanted to pick one that’d leave a good impression.

“Their…tuna melts seem pretty good. If not a…a salad to start things small.” Blake suggested. Her small pauses in speech made him look over in confusion. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she sounded winded, if not just a bit distracted. Up until now she’s been rather calm and collected. That aura rather fitting for her cool beauty.

“…I was thinking more along the lines of what kinds of hobbies I’m into.” Jaune clarified. He of course was looking through the menu, but he also wanted to try and share things about himself as well. She looked up from her own menu, her cheeks with the tiniest hint of pink dusting on them. He also could have sworn her eyes were looking at him with a bit more sharpness to them than before.

“Oh, well, what do you do in your spare time, then?” Blake asked, her seeming disturbance a passing moment. It was probably just something to do with being Faunus.

Was that racist? It kind of felt racist. Best to probably avoid that kind of thinking going forward.

“I’m pretty good at the guitar and bass, fairly proficient with the piano and I’m okay with a saxophone. I’m also looking to learn how to play the drums too. Just gotta look into a good drum set to start off with. After getting better with the sax, of course.” Jaune said, thinking it would be a nice segue into the conversation of what he did as a ‘job’. Not that it wasn’t a real job, just…not one most people would probably be going for.

“Hm, a one-man band. Are you into art and the like?” She asked. It was a valid line of thought. He himself didn’t delve too much into that sort of medium, but he could appreciate it at the very least.

“A bit. I do like reading, as you could probably guess. I’ll admit, I didn’t know what to expect with Ninjas of Love, but that hook at the beginning of the first volume already sold me on the whole series.” Jaune spoke. The way the world was introduced, with the characters so interesting, and the greater conflict integrated so seamlessly. If you told him before he knew it was a fantasy novel that it was an account of real events from the past, he’d probably believe you.

“I’m happy to know at least someone appreciates the thought and care put into those books. The rest of my team just thinks it’s some kind of shameless smut series. I mean sure, there are a good number of scenes like that in each of them, but it’s only part of the overall story.” She explained, invested in the conversation about her favorite book series. Jaune nodded, just as happy to find someone who’s so passionate about this kind of thing without feeling shy or ashamed of it.

“Exactly. I feel the author knows that keeping those things out of their books is only limiting their creative potential. Not to mention how it could be a tool used to make the relationship between characters feel that much closer and more intimate. Take Ryuka and Jin for example.” Jaune stated, furthering what Blake was talking about. Blake smiled and nodded in agreement.

They paused in their conversation for a moment when Coral came back, a pair of glasses on a tray.

“Here are your drinks. One lemonade, and one Pepschnee. Are you two ready to order?” She asked, her pencil ready and notepad in hand. Jaune nodded, turning to Blake to see her nod as well.

“I’ll have the avocado tuna melt, with waffle cut fries, please.” Blake started, making sure to get the name of the item right. Coral nodded, writing that down before turning to her again.

“What type of bread would you like that on?” She asked, Blake looking down at the menu for another second before nodding.

“Wheat, if you could. And can I have that with light mayonnaise?” Blake asked, wishing for her preference to be known. Coral nodded, writing it all down just the same.

“Of course. So, that’s going to be an avocado tuna melt on wheat with light mayo and waffle cut fries, correct?” The waitress asked, wanting to confirm that was the whole order. Blake nodded, with both women turning their attention to him.

“I’ll have the house special, if you’d be so kind.” He stated, knowing coming here often enough that he knew what it’d be for today. Not to mention, Magenta usually made sure to make his order custom made for him whenever he ordered it.

“Of course. So, that’s going to be an angus beef burger with a side of curly fries. Is that okay?” she asked. He knew what it was, what with him being a regular here, but this girl didn’t know that. Besides, he could see she was pretty tired. Probably at the end of her shift. He’d have to leave a good tip when he left.

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” He said, grateful for her doing her job. She nodded and walked away, taking their orders towards the kitchen.

“So, about what you were saying about Ryuka and Jin. I absolutely agree. If we didn’t get that scene between them hiding in that cave to shelter themselves from the storm, trying to…share their body heat in the cold…t-their relationship that came immediately after wouldn’t feel as genuine.” Blake continued, a brief pause passing by again. That same look in her eyes passing by once more. Something in the back of Jaune’s mind told him there might be something off, but he chalked it up to being a coincidence. It could just be something that happens to her. A simple quirk to her character. He’s heard a lot of Huntresses have those.

“You can only understand their bond when every detail is described. Flesh against flesh…all that passion…” She continued, the ears atop her head alert and twitching. He saw her taking a deep breath through her nose, with that pink dusting of her cheeks coming back.

“Blake? Are you alright?” He asked, a tiny bit concerned. She seemed to snap out of it, blush deepening in embarrassment as she cleared her throat, looking off to the side.

“S-sorry. I just…I don’t have a lot of people I can have an actual discussion with about this. Forgive me if I’m a bit…overzealous.” She apologized. Jaune just smiled at her. He understood that struggle. For the longest time, he didn’t have anyone to share his interest in comic books. The rest of his sisters just saw them as childish. So what? Was it so wrong to want to relive the carefree days of being a child again? Back when the worst thing you had to worry about was if you’d do well on the test at school at the end of the week? He’d take that over doing taxes any day.

“No problem, I get it. Though, I guess if we’re talking about books like this, I should probably tell you what I do for a living.” Jaune began, that feeling of anxiety building up yet again. Seeing those stunningly yellow eyes of hers staring into his own sapphire ones made his heartbeat spike for a moment. Even so, he knew he’d need to do this. Even if she wanted to leave immediately, he wouldn’t hold it against her. He’d just have to move on and be content that he at least tried.

“Have you ever heard of something called…ASMR?” Jaune hazarded, he tried to sound as nonchalant as possible saying this, but knew damn well he failed miserably. The wide-eyed look she gave him for a moment passing before he could blink, Blake taking a breath before speaking again.

“I…certainly have. Are you bringing this up because you listen to it, or do you…make it?” She asked. He was at the very least relieved that she didn’t call of the date right then and there. So, he still had a chance that this could end well for him. Still, as far as he knew, he was walking on paper-thin ice right now.

“I do make it, yes. Some of the material I make is based off of the Ninjas of Love series as well. Those ones having been paid by someone who really wanted to hear the scenes be voiced out, be immersed in it as it were. I was thinking of just making an audiobook for it at this point.” Jaune explained, wanting to make this sound as appealing as possible. Maybe using the book series she obviously liked was a bit underhanded, but he really wanted this to work out.

Also, putting in that he was being paid at least made him sound like something akin to a professional. Not some two-bit shitter with his earphone mic trying to sound ‘sexy’ when the quality of the audio made it feel like they took your ear drums, sent them through a woodchipper, had it go three rounds in the ring with Mickey Tyson, and then set to roast in the oven at over four hundred degrees. Celsius.

“R-really? Then I take it you upload those videos to Scrollhub? What other sort of content do you make?” She asked. He idly noticed that while she had calmed down a bit from earlier, that pink dusting on her cheeks was still there. It sort of gave him hope, thinking that maybe she wasn’t as adverse to the idea of what he did as much as he thought she would. Which was good, meant that he had an even better shot at having a successful date than before.

“It’s only ASMR, really. But I do make whatever scenario comes to mind. That is, in between the paid commissions I’m given. My use of instruments comes in handy too.” He explained further, taking a bite of his burger and fries. He really wanted to make sure this was made to look like a profession, but also just a hobby that he liked to do. Either way, Blake still seemed on board so far.

“Well, truth be told, I do…peruse that content every once in a while.” She admitted. At that, Jaune was almost certain that he had this in the bag. If she did like that sort of media, then surely she was at least willing to give this relationship a chance, right?

By the gods he sure hoped so.

Blake was…in a bit of a pickle, let’s say. When she said that she ‘occasionally perused’ that content, what she really meant was she listened to it damn near religiously.

It wasn’t her fault, honest! When you had enhanced hearing, sometimes it was nice to just sit back, relax and let the soothing sounds of soft whispers take you away to a land of fantasies. To be immersed in a story, filled with heartfelt deliveries of lines, sound effects and background music…Oh, who was she kidding? She listened to audio porn to fuck herself to. To hear the rapt and detailed description of carnal bliss was intoxicating. It made her really feel like she was there, being pounded down into the ground!

Gosh, she’d be mortified if any of her teammates even heard wind that she liked that stuff. Sure, things like this were ‘normal’, that everyone had their own way of getting off. Hell, she was a fully grown adult, one who was going to be a Huntress in the near future even, so she had every right to enjoy whatever she wanted. It didn’t diminish the shame she’d feel if someone like Ruby, Weiss or Oum forbid Yang found out.

Yet…It was far easier to talk to Jaune about it for some reason. She couldn’t place her finger on it, but ever since she met him at the air docs, she’s been feeling more and more relaxed, and dare she say it frisky.

“Oh yeah? Well, I’m not sure if you’d be interested, but maybe you could have a look at my account, then. I go by Banana-Nut Muffin.” He threw out, as casually as he could. Really, this whole conversation was going to test just how well he could perform under pressure. If you were to look in the mind of one Jaune Arc currently, you would see all systems working overtime not to allow his glans to flood with sweat. Positively stressing his vocal cords so his voice wouldn’t break.

“…Banana-Nut Muffin?” She echoed. He nodded, unsure whether or not she only meant to echo, if she had already known of the channel and was skeptical that he owned it, or simply curious as to why that name specifically. Truth be told, he had no idea why he chose that name. It just seemed innocent enough, with enough of an innuendo there to make sure you knew what you were getting into. It also separated him from the crowd, giving him a unique brand of marketing. How it ended up with so many people backing it with their own money, he still had no clue, but it worked…somehow.

“Yeah, I can pull it up for you if you’d like.” Jaune offered. By now, they were done eating. Though, He noted that they both had only gone through half of their food. He was going to ask for a bag or container to put away the rest of his stuff, as he didn’t want to be too bloated, in case something more became of the night. With how things were going, it was starting to look-at the very least-a possibility.

“See? That’s me, Banana-Nut Muffin.” Jaune showed her, wiping his hands with a napkin and looking around to see if he couldn’t flag down that waitress from before. He left his Scroll for her to look through, so he was free to start cleaning up his area.

“You…really are him.” Blake breathed out in astonishment. She had not at all been expecting for her date to be the one that she often times went to try and relieve herself of sexual frustrations. That this…she didn’t know what to call him. Technically, she should be labeling him as just a possible suitor, but at this point she was almost certainly looking forward to their next date.

“Ah, so you’ve seen-er, heard my stuff then?” Jaune asked, finally able to wave Coral over. It was a pretty high probability, if he was going to be honest. Not to be that guy, but when you have hundreds of thousands of people subscribed to your content, with several hundred of them paying you to make more content, it was inevitable that he’d run into one of them. Hell, he might have passed one or two of them in his day-to-day life without even realizing it!

Actually, thinking about this whole situation from an outside perspective, it sort of seemed like some sort of fever dream someone cooked up while high on crack.

“Y-yeah, I may have um…been the one to…pay for the Ninjas of Love stuff.” Blake said, her face becoming a bit skittish. A blossom of color graced her features as she saw the light of realization reach her date’s eyes. If it weren’t for the fact this was the perpetrator of her most wicked fantasies, she’d feel like dying under a bridge right now.

“Huh, small world. Well, I’m happy that you really like my content, at least. Though, you aren’t really bothered that I’m essentially giving my services to those that pay me?” He asked, deciding to nip this problem in the bud as well. Blake looked at him strangely, as though he was spouting something that didn’t make sense.

“Why would I? You’re simply doing audios. It’s not like you’re actually having sex with someone.” She explained. He could see a few flaws in her argument, but if that’s what she believed, that’s what she believed. They’d see how this panned out anyway, so he didn’t fuss over it any longer than he needed to.

“You sure you’re not just saying that because you want me to keep making audios about Ninjas of Love?” Jaune challenged, feeling a bit cheeky. Blake rolled her eyes, but relented regardless. She could really feel a connection with him. Not just because he was cute, but because he seemed to be a rather honest man. As weird as that sounded, given she knew his profession.

“I’m not going to lie, it might have something to do with it, but I’m not going to stop you if you wanted to make a full audio book for it. I’d even be willing to pitch in my vocal talent, if you’d like.” She offered, feeling like this could be the start of a beautiful relationship. She’s always wanted to take her love for the series to another level, but with the nature of the content, she knew doing so wouldn’t come easy. She was so glad to have found someone who shared the same passion for the series as she did.

“We’ll see where tonight goes. I’d like to know you a bit more, actually. You got any family?” He asked, wanting to shift the conversation now. Blake nodded, only seeming to be a bit embarrassed at his inquiry. It didn’t seem like he had hit a nerve, but she certainly had a story for this.

“I’m an only child, my parents live in Menagerie. Not really much I can say about them, just that they’re really loving parents. Certainly, better parents than I deserved.” She said with a hint of regret in her tone. Jaune took a moment to process that information. He could understand that, if only in a different way. His own parents seemed so far beyond measurement he often wondered how they didn’t see him as a failure. He didn’t feel that way anymore, but he understood where she was coming from.

“Had their hands full during your rebellious phase, I take it?” He prodded jokingly. She smiled, some hidden joke he didn’t see. He knew for a fact she wasn’t laughing at his joke, mostly because it wasn’t much of a joke at all. He didn’t think anyone’s humor was that broken.

Somewhere, an irritable blonde twitched.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. We’ve made up since then though, I try to call every week just to stay in touch. What about you? Do you have any family?” She asked him in turn. He nodded; it was only natural that his question would only boomerang right back to himself. Besides, he was more than happy to talk about his parents and sisters.

“Wouldn’t exactly be here if I didn’t, would I? Yeah, my parents live over near Mantle, outside the walls in a little village south of the main kingdom. Been living there since it was founded, I don’t know how many generations ago. We’re mostly concerned with protecting the village from Grim and bandits.” Jaune started, describing his roots to his date. She seemed interested at least. It wasn’t every day that you heard someone’s family having resided in one place for so long. Families at some point had to move places, with Grim around it was almost an inevitability. If they didn’t, it was either a feat of great luck, or massive amounts of skill.

“Must be a pretty peaceful village you used to live in. Did it ever get boring?” She asked. It was inevitable if nothing happened in what was mostly likely an agricultural settlement that focused on farming, to stay as self-sustainable as possible.

“Maybe, at times. Mostly near my house, but there was at least one Grim attack each day. Dad took care of them usually, if not my mom. Before them, my grandparents protected the village. Before them, their parents protected the village and…well, you get the picture.” Jaune explained, seeing that their waiter, Coral, was walking towards them. She looked almost dead at this point. He noticed vaguely that another set of customers, an older couple, were rather unruly and not at all respectful to the woman. He had seen them before, not sure what their deal was but they were pretty much just your stereotypical grumpy old people.

“Sounds like your family has a history of being protectors.” Blake said, interested in his family a bit more now. She didn’t really say much of anything about her own family, mostly because it wasn’t really relevant. Also the fact that she was the daughter of two of the most influential people in Faunus history was a bit of a bombshell to drop on someone.

Then again, Jaune had revealed that he was the person she had let whisper endless nothings to her almost every other night.

“Well, my ancestry is filled with a strong line of warriors. My great grandfather actually fought in the Great war. General Nicholas Arc the second, of the house of Arcadia. His most notable battle was probably when he led the defense at the Battle of Farequise.” Jaune said, taking pride in retelling his family’s exploits. Of course, this information made his date widen her eyes in shock. He couldn’t possibly be referring to that Nicholas Arc…

“Will that be all?” Coral asked, finally making it to their table. Jaune turned his attention back to the waitress, a smile on his face.

“Yeah, and if it isn’t too much to ask, could we have two to-go bags?” Jaune asked, trying to be as polite as he could. The waitress smiled at him regardless, a pink dusting to her cheeks. She found him a nice breath of fresh air in comparison to the old coots that had complained to her about every little thing day-in and day-out.

“Of course, sir.” She agreed, walking way towards the kitchen to fetch him those bags and a pair of boxes. Jaune smiled at her as she left, feeling like he’d have to leave an especially generous tip for the woman. She looked dead tired from her work, and possible other jobs.

“Hey, we’re not just going to brush over that little bit of info, mister. Are you saying your great grandfather was the Nicholas Arc?” She pressed, wanting to make sure she wasn’t misinterpreting his words. Jaune nodded, a proud look on his face. He really did love talking about his family. Not that he was particularly arrogant about the name itself, but more invigorated at their achievements.

“Yep, and my father was named after him too. He’s mostly the reason I…well, I’m just proud to be able to call them my ancestors.” Jaune stopped himself from telling Blake that he had originally intended to attend Beacon not even five years ago, and had been working towards it for most of his childhood and adolescence.

“That’s quite the bloodline you have there. I’d be proud to call them my ancestors too, if I were you.” Blake complimented. It was truth after all. If what he said was true, and she had no reason to doubt him in that, his family was very influential in not only the Great War, but also the Revolutionary War. She had done some extensive research into the topic, obviously, and knew that the name ‘Arc’ was very prevalent in the effort to gain equal rights for the Faunus.

“As much as I would love to talk about me all day, I think we’ve over stayed our welcome here. What say we head over to my place? T-to read that book together, that is.” Jaune stuttered over his own words when he realized how that might have sounded out of context. Blake chuckled at it regardless, a warm look in her eye.

“I think I’d like that.” Was all the Faunus said. He smiled in turn; happy this was going so well. He wasn’t exactly the best at extended social interactions, so he was glad he’d been doing alright so far.

“Here you are sir, and your bill.” Coral stated, handing him a pair of boxes and his bill for the meal.  He nodded, only glancing at the price for a moment, taking the offered pen and writing how much he was paying and how much of a tip he was leaving. Taking a few Lien cards out from his wallet, handed them over to the waitress.

“A-Ah, sir. You accidentally gave me two light blue cards.” The waitress told him, believing him to only have accidentally given her two one hundred Lien cards instead of the deeper blue ten Lien ones. She was grateful for the twenty Lien he intended to give her as a tip, but she didn’t want to take advantage of this kind man’s generosity.

“Hm? Oh, I guess I did. Here’s another one.” Jaune stated, taking another light blue card and giving it to the even more flabbergasted waitress. He gave her an easy smile before gesturing for Blake to get up and leave with him.

“Don’t worry about it. I know how hard life can be sometimes. You look like you’d make better use of the money more than I would.” Jaune explained away. He wasn’t stressing for money, if you couldn’t tell. It was a better use of his money than simply buying things just for vanity’s sake. Besides, he was thinking of using his money to start investing anyhow. Maybe put some of his stocks in companies, before then using whatever profits he gained and putting them towards causes he knew could help the most people.

Then again, he didn’t know too much about stocks to begin with. He’d have to look into it himself, or just ask someone with more know-how on the matter.

“That was really nice, what you did back there.” Blake commented, smiling at him as she took her seat next to him in his car. Jaune barely gave her a glance before shrugging. He started the engine before checking to make sure no one was behind him.

“It’s not that big of a deal. I meant it when I said she would make better use of it than I would. I make enough money as it is, so I don’t see why I can’t help where I can.” Jaune answered, making his way through the streets of Vale. The sun was beginning to dip down beyond the horizon, the sky beginning to take on the bluish violet hue of the evening. It would take a moment to get back to his place, accounting for the traffic and all that.

“I’m starting to believe I made the right call asking you out on a date.” Blake said with a demure smile gracing her lips. Jaune let a light dusting of pink grace his cheeks. Though, it more than likely would have made its way to his face whether he let it or not. A brief thought to tease her about how he was the one that ended up asking her out, but decided against it. He was having a good time, so he figured it didn’t matter who instigated the date in the first place.

“Well, I hope to meet up to your expectations. For now, I think we were discussing Ninjas of Love, right?” Jaune started, hoping to continue their discussion from before. It really was a good feeling to find someone to talk to about something you’ve been a fan of for a while. Especially when you couldn’t find anyone because of the nature of your interest.

“Hm, where do you want to start? We could start from volume one. Or do you want to continue talking about Ryuka and Jin?” Blake asked, more than willing to go either way. She didn’t want to say anything definitive, but she was fairly sure this would be her most successful relationship to date. He was nice, generous from what she’d seen, not to mention he didn’t hate Faunus! He was certainly a lot better than the rest of his kind.

Was that racist? It kind of felt racist. Best to probably avoid that kind of thinking going forward.

“Actually, I was able to get my hands on the platinum edition of the latest installation. It’s a hard cover, signed. Haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Maybe we can read it together?” He asked, feeling like tonight may end with both of them rather satisfied.

That is, that they’d both be satisfied that their date went so well. Why else would they be ‘satisfied’?

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. I can’t really get things like that; my allowance doesn’t allow it. Well, I could, but that would cut into some other things I need.” Blake conceded, not exactly mad that she couldn’t have what she wanted all the time, but more that her priorities restricted her from doing so. A simple fact. Everyone knew the struggle, but it would seem Jaune wasn’t burdened by such troubles.

“I get it. If it weren’t for my job, I’m pretty sure I’d be struggling a bit for some basic necessities.” Jaune relented, knowing that most people weren’t as fortunate as him. That waitress at the diner was proof enough of that. However, a thought struck him when he thought about what she said.

“Things you need, huh? Like paying for videos to live out your sexual fantasies?” Jaune teased, throwing that bit of news back at her. A look of surprise crossed the Faunus’ face before she blushed to her ears. It would seem she had forgotten she told him that earlier. Still, she couldn’t deny she much enjoyed his…services.

“I suppose I would be remiss if I were to pretend I didn’t take pleasure in your work. Still, I’d really like to see that Limited Edition copy you have of Ninjas of Love. I heard there’s a bit of extra lore tucked into the pages across the books.” Blake commented, having heard various people claim something that was lurking in the foreground of each book that were rumored to come to a head in the final three installments once they released. She hadn’t looked them up online, simply because she wanted to read them for herself.

“You heard right, but I can’t say much else on it without spoiling anything. You’ve been able to read the previous editions, right?” Jaune asked, knowing that things could very quickly get confusing if you haven’t either read or memorized the previous ‘limited editions’ of the series. Like diving into a third installment of a movie franchise without watching the previous two.

“I have, thankfully. Though, getting my hands on them was…difficult, if I had to use a word.” Blake admitted, withholding the fact that she may have acquired some of the earlier copies in…less than legal means. She wasn’t proud of it, but what’s done is done. All part of the greater plan, she’d tell herself.

As for what that plan was…she’d have to get back to you on that.

“I totally get it. Though the series is phenomenal, you do have to admit it’s a little predatory to leave crucial bits of lore and extra story behind an even bigger paywall than the already rather sizable one for the base version of the book.” Jaune pointed out, voicing his one gripe with the books. They were great, of course, well worth the money, but it did seem cruel to essentially ransom that extra little bit of content from its fans.

“I…can’t really disagree with you there. Doesn’t stop anyone from buying it though.” Blake countered, knowing for a fact that so long as people were kept happy and entertained, they would be willing to pay considerable amounts of money for whatever you’re selling.

“Hey, you’re talking to the guy who bought every single limited edition in the series just because someone commissioned him to start from beginning to end of the first five volumes.” Jaune teased, referencing the fact that NinjaLover, AKA Blake, over the course of several months paid him to voice and reenact most of the raunchy scenes in the first five volumes of Ninjas of Love.

“…It was worth every Lien, I’ll have you know.” Blake teased back with a mirthful smirk. Jaune let out a small chuckle and shook his head, making one last turn before he knew they were on the street where his home was. It was then that he realized that he was bringing a girl over to his house after a date. He’d be nervous if he didn’t know he liked his house clean at all times.

“Well, I’ll have you know, I quite enjoyed doing them.” Jaune quipped for the last time before riding up into his driveway. He grabbed a small remote from one of his cupholders and pushed a button, making his garage door open.

“Are you sure this is your garage? This feels more like a normal room, with how clean it is.” Blake complimented, exiting his car and seeing the rather tidy looking garage they were in. She hadn’t been to very many homes in her life, but this just felt very comfortable to be in.

“Thank you, I like to take care of the place in my spare time. Keeps me busy.” Jaune admitted, shutting the engine off and closing the garage door behind them. He then walked to the door leading to the rest of his house and grabbed his keys.

“Now, for the next part of our tour, the living room.” Jaune joked, gesturing for Blake to follow him inside. Once she stepped into his abode, she could see that the whole of his house felt rather homey and inviting. It was almost minimalist in it’s setting and aesthetic.

“This is a nice home, very warm.” Blake had to hand it to him, he knew how to decorate. As she leaned into his arm, he smiled down at her, a warm feeling in his chest. It might be a bit premature to be saying anything concrete at this point, but Jaune was really hoping this was something that was going to stick. She was a very nice girl from what he could tell. One that he had a mind to bring home to the folks, if things go a certain way.

“Like you.” Jaune stated, causing her to look up at him in surprise for a moment before looking away in slight embarrassment.

“You’re sweet, you know that?” She mumbled, not accustomed to people complimenting her like that. Her team was supportive to be sure, but they couldn’t get her feeling as fuzzy as he’s been able to.

Except for that one time with Yang, but that was a story for another time.

“I try to be. No point in making people miserable, you know? I just want to make the world a better place.” Jaune admitted, leading her to his living room and passing a hallway lined with different photos of him and his family. Ones that featured him as a child, all the way to when he moved into this new home.

“On that, you and I are in agreement.” Blake said. She’d make a quip about his rather peculiar way of going about that, but the timing felt against it. Jaune hummed in satisfactory before they arrived in his living room. A nice open space with dim lighting and a few soft looking couches.

“Here, you can relax here for a moment while I put our food by the stove before we get that book out.” Jaune planned, leaving her to place their bags from the diner in the kitchen that was attached to the living room.

“Don’t keep me waiting.” Blake laughed, watching as her date vanished from view. She sat down on a smaller couch, one that could seat both herself and one other person, and took a deep breath. So far, this date had gone wonderfully. Jaune was nothing but good to her, they shared many of the same interests on top of him just being a great guy. That wasn’t even mentioning that he was soft on the eyes.

And even softer on the ears.

“Gods, this is difficult.” Blake whispered to herself. This entire time she’s been battling with something that’s been eating at her since he picked her up from the air docks. She didn’t even know if he did it on purpose, but she could tell there was a certain element to his cologne that was making her animalistic instincts want to take over. She was far too strong for that, of course, but to be exposed to it for so long had left her feeling…pent up.

“It really doesn’t help that his voice is just so unf~.” Blake almost moaned, biting her lip to try and contain herself. Whenever he spoke, it was like his voice came out like silk and bathed her sensitive ears in the finest of cream. She didn’t know if he did it subconsciously or not, but he spoke with a practiced ease. Deep, consistent, masculine.

“And his Aura, just…Brothers above, I might need to borrow his shower. I’m getting way too hot under the collar for this.” The feline Faunus nearly panted. Throughout their date, and to a certain extent even upon their first meeting, she had been able to feel Jaune’s own Aura with her own. A skill most Huntsmen and Huntresses learn during their second year of training. It essentially allows them to get a feel of someone’s character through their Aura. When trained enough, it can tell you what kind of person you’re dealing with without fault. It goes without saying that one can train their Aura to stop others from doing this, but the main focus here is on Jaune’s own Aura.

And how absolutely fucking huge it was.

To put into perspective, the largest Aura she’d seen before Jaune was from her friend Nora, with Pyrrha being a close second tied with Yang. Nora’s own Aura was much like a very large pool you’d set up in your back yard. It was vast and one would have difficulty trying to empty it on their own. However, when she saw Jaune’s Aura, it was comparable to something like an industrial sized aquarium. It was just so vast and…comforting. She’d never felt that kind of Aura before. Whenever she interacted with it, it would hug her and make her feel safe.

“Hey. Sorry to keep you waiting, almost forgot where I put this thing. Would you like something to drink? Water? Tea, perhaps? I could get a kettle boiling if you want.” Jaune offered, coming down from a set of stairs on the opposite side of the room. Blake would question how he went from his kitchen to upstairs, but she couldn’t be bothered. She was just thankful for the distraction from her thoughts.

“Tea sounds lovely, if you don’t mind. Do you have any chamomile, by any chance?” She asked, wishing to calm herself. Jaune placed the book down on the table in front of her before thinking on it, already moving towards the kitchen again.

“I think so. I’ll have to check. I know I have a good amount of jasmine tea. A bit of lavender, I think I have some matcha left. Haven’t gone out for it recently. I like to unwind with some tea sometimes after I get done recording audio. Keeps me from losing my voice.” Jaune called out from his kitchen. She could see him looking through his cupboards, taking down a few containers and looking at their labels. She smiled. Even without sensing his Aura, Jaune seemed to be a very kind hearted and sincere person.

“Aha! Here we are; Chamomile.” Jaune congratulated himself as he brought out the last container he had. Though, he could have sworn he labeled all of these, where this had no such thing. It was full too, and something in the back of his brain told him why it was, but he brushed it off. Tea was tea after all. There weren’t any kinds of tea that would give adverse effects or anything!

“…I’m pretty sure.” Jaune added not entirely confident in his assessment. Still, he hoped she didn’t mind if he served her a different tea.

“Tea enough for two cups, and we’ll be in business. I’ll put the kettle to boil and I’ll be with you in just a sec.” Jaune exclaimed for his date. He quickly placed the pot of water on the stove at a moderate temperature and left it to boil, making his way back to his date.

“Alright, while we’re waiting for that to be ready, let’s get down to business. How do you want to do this? Do you want to just read together in silence, or…” Jaune trailed off, opening the book to the first chapter. It began earlier than its base counterpart, offering a bit more insight to the setting of this book and a bit more set up for some plot twists later on.

“I-If you don’t mind, could you um…read it to me?” Blake mumbled; a bit embarrassed at having to ask for it. With Jaune right next to her, and his warm expression staring down at her, she really couldn’t be blamed for becoming a bit more demure than usual. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a proper date with someone. In fact, this was technically the first date she’d been on period.

“Sure, I don’t mind. I do have one question, though.” Jaune agreed, settling in to start reading. It was a bit of an odd request to ask him to read her the story, but he figured if she was a fan of his work, it had something to do with it. Still, there was one thing that’s been on his mind throughout the date.

“Hm? What is it?” She asked, also getting comfortable next to him. His solidly built frame a nice cushion for her to lean upon.

“Well, earlier this week, I ran into someone. A blonde girl, lilac eyes. Said her name was Yang Xiao-Long. And I think I heard you mention a Yang at the air docks. You know anyone like that?” Jaune asked, figuring now was a good a time as any to bring it up. He knew full well that it could be a coincidence, but the subject didn’t want to leave him until he at least got it off his chest.

“Hm, so she wasn’t lying. Yes, that would be my partner. I remember she told me that she had her butt handed to her in her boxing class by someone. I guess that’s you?” Blake mentioned, staring up at him. She of course already knew that Yang faced off against Jaune whatever-many days ago. She just didn’t think to mention it. Honestly, she thought he’d have brought it up a lot sooner than now, considering how much of an achievement it was he got one over on the brawler.

Truthfully, she knew that if Yang was truly serious, she probably would have been able to beat him. Quite handily too. Though, her temper and rather large ego probably got the better of her again, as it always does. It’s a wonder that she hadn’t lost an arm yet.

“I guess so. Though, I don’t think I’d want to spar with her again. She looked like she was ready to murder me by the end of it.” Jaune half-joked. He wasn’t sure how much of that was false, and quite honestly, he wasn’t one to wish to find out.

“She can be a bit temperamental at times. Still, I’m surprised you held up against her. Aren’t those classes two hours long?” Blake asked, trying to remember how long Yang was usually out for those lessons. It’s the only time she’s allowed enough time to read by herself most times, so she doesn’t necessarily keep track. It’d waste too much time not reading.

“Two and a half, but that’s only for the days we do sparring. It’s usually only an hour and a half, an hour and forty-five minutes at most.” Jaune told her. It truly didn’t feel so long most days. Though, with that spar against Yang, he felt every second passing by. Painfully slow.

“Regardless, I’m surprised you didn’t make it into Beacon, if you’re able to even challenge her in the first place.” Blake commented, thinking that to be the end of their conversation for the time. She was also a bit anxious to start the reading already.

“…I-“ Jaune wanted to say something about getting into Beacon, but was interrupted when he heard the whistling of the kettle. It didn’t seem like that much time had passed, but he figured it was a good thing that it did. Trying to think about getting into Beacon was always a surefire way to ruin his mood.

“That’d be our tea. You said chamomile, right?” Jaune asked as he got up. He didn’t let any of their conversation get to him, instead focusing again on his date. No point in ruining the atmosphere they’d built up through the night.

“Do hurry back, I’m getting a bit cold without my pillow.” Blake flirted. Jaune blushed a bit before heading over to the kettle to get their drink of choice ready. He was really happy that things were going so smoothly. He felt safe in assuming they’d do something like this again in the near future. Maybe he’d get to know her friends, meet her parents, and that he’d be able to do the same with her.

“What did you do to get so lucky, Arc?” Jaune whispered to himself as he placed the boiling water into two mugs, already having the last of his chamomile scooped into them.

“It’s already lucky enough she thinks you’re cute. Then she has to go and be just…perfect.” Jaune said to himself, almost overwhelmingly happy that he’d found a partner in Blake. Even If nothing was official yet, he wanted to try his darndest to make it so.

“One order tea for the lovely lady.” Jaune greeted again as he placed the mug into the Faunus’ hand. She hummed and took a tentative sip, sighing in satisfaction. Though, a look of confusion made its way onto her face as she processed the taste of the drink.

“This is some quality tea, but I don’t think this is chamomile. Where did you get it?” She asked as Jaune took his seat next to her again, and once again, she took it upon herself to lean into his side. Jaune took a thoughtful look for a moment before answering.

“Well, to be honest, I just bought a bunch of different teas, so I’m not entirely sure which one this is. I assure you, though, it’s all above level. I remember getting it from this one place called Herb Your Enthusiasm. The guy who runs the shop is very nice by the way. I’ll tell you where it is later if you like?” Jaune told her as he took his own sip of tea. Blake smiled up at him, finding his antics cute. Regardless, her senses were still picking up nothing dangerous. Her Aura would have flared up even if it slipped past those anyway. So, it was simply a matter of her date radiating Himbo Energy^TM.

She needed to stop reading fanfiction for a while.

“Regardless, it’s wonderful. Now, shall we get back to reading?” Blake suggested, wanting to get to the reading more than ever now. With the warm atmosphere, the comfortable seat and a nice hot cup of delicious tea, she was more than content to sink into Jaune’s embrace as he placed an arm around her shoulders and held her close to his form.

“H-hey Jaune?”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“I just…I just really want to kiss you right now. Can I do that?”

“Uh, I mean sure, but like…right now-!?”

Jaune had just gotten halfway through one of the raunchier parts of the book when Blake had suddenly reached up and kissed him, nearly knocking the book out of his hands. Their tea had been done not too long ago, and he could still taste it on her lips. He didn’t hesitate long before he was reciprocating the affection.

Blake couldn’t pin it down what it was that made her want to do this. It might have been the cologne and whatever might have been inside of it. It might have also been the ‘mystery tea’. Though a more romantic part of her mind wanted to pin this as destiny, if she was being brutally honest about this, she definitely knew it was because she had found her ideal partner.

Someone who was genuine, kind, considerate, generous, handsome, blonde. He was just perfect. She didn’t know what she did to deserve such a man, but she was more than happy to embrace this chance for what it was.

“Blake, as much as I-ah, like where this is going, I still have to ask. How far are we taking this?” Jaune asked, feeling like it would be prudent to assess the expectations she had for tonight. She was getting rather handsy, and she’d already progressed to violating his mouth with her tongue. He didn’t mind it one bit mind, but there was still the thought of where this was going to lead.

“I would be lying if I didn’t want this date to…advance, as it were.” Blake spoke in a low tone. Jaune shot her a surprised look, a bit caught off guard that she’d be the one to suggest it first. He silently applauded himself for packing those condoms earlier, but he also figured it didn’t matter because he had a whole box of the things up stairs.

‘I should probably be glad I unlocked my Aura last year. My sisters finally believed that I was well and truly done with the notion of getting Into Beacon.’ He thought to himself, knowing from word of mouth that Hunters and Huntresses were intense under the sheets. If there was one thing he knew he had going for him, it was the fact that he had a massive Aura pool.

And a huge shamalamadingdong, but that’s not the focus right now.

“I’m surprised you’d want to go that far. Wouldn’t you want to wait a few dates to see if I’m worth it?” Jaune asked, wanting to make sure she was confident in her decision. He knew she hadn’t drunk any alcohol tonight, at least to his knowledge, but this seemed rather spontaneous. His mind briefly thought back to the strange behavior she displayed back at the diner, but he didn’t think that could have been anything. Then again, his sisters did always tell him how dense he could be sometimes. Still, he just wanted to make sure she knew what she was doing before he allowed himself to indulge.

“I could, but I’m pretty sure you’re worth keeping around. The thing about Aura being an extension of our souls, if you’re in tune enough with it, you can tell a lot about another person just by feeling their Aura.” Blake revealed, still giving him that half-lidded gaze. She’d been feeling a certain type of way about him since they’d met. That feeling only intensified when she met him again at the air docks. It’s only gotten worse as their date progressed. She’s been keeping herself in check, but now she just couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Is that right? I was wondering why I warmed up to you so quickly. Still, I do hope what we have going on is actually something that lasts longer than tonight. I’d like us to actually be a thing, if you don’t mind?” Jaune spoke, wishing to make his intentions clear. He was not against making this relationship physical so soon, but only because he believed an actual romance would develop from this. He wasn’t just going to let this be a one-night stand. If that’s what she wanted from this, and he didn’t hear anything saying she did, then he would call this off. It was a bit hypocritical, not to mention unorthodox, but considering the situation, it was only par for the course.

“Of course, nothing would make me happier. But enough about that, we can worry about that later. Now, I think I really want to head up to your room.” Blake propositioned, her intent clear as day. At this point, he had completely forgone the idea of reading the rest of that chapter. He nodded, plopping the book down onto the table, forgotten already. He then took Blakes hand, helping her off the couch and began to lead her up the stairs. He could feel himself start to heat up in anticipation. Whether it had something to do with that Aura thing she mentioned or not, he didn’t care. This just felt right.

“Alright, last chance to back out before-“

“Stop talking.”

The only sort of conversation Blake intended on having was one made with actions; it seems. Not five seconds after entering his room was the cat Faunus pawing at his chest and smashing her lips into his. It was something he just couldn’t get enough of. He’d try to compare this to any other kiss he’d gotten in his life, but he didn’t think a ‘pretend kiss’ when he was seven counted. This was a real kiss with a very much real woman.

They were sloppy, teeth clattering from time to time, and they even smashed their noses into one another in their fevered frenzy. However, none of this deterred them from consummating this fiery passion that had been lit within. Hands roaming and fingers caressing. Blake hiked up Jaune’s shirt, feeling the tight and fit muscles he’d been teasing with the cloth. In turn, Jaune felt the smooth and taught skin of the Faunus woman.

“Be honest, did you know your cologne would turn me on?” Blake asked in between breaths. The information was certainly new to Jaune, but it didn’t stop him from taking her jacket off.

“The guy I bought it from said something about the scent and Faunus, but I didn’t think anything of it.” Jaune admitted, thinking back to when he first bought the fragrance. He probably should have looked into it more if he was so concerned about her sense of smell to begin with, but he didn’t think the guy behind the counter would actively sell him something like an aphrodisiac.

“And the tea?” Blake pressed. Jaune looked up at her with a genuinely confused expression.

“The tea?” He repeated, not sure what she was asking about. Blake laughed a little and pecked him on the lips again.

 At this point, she was convinced he only stumbled upwards.

“Nothing, nothing. It’s not that strong, even for a Faunus, but now that we’re here~.” Blake cooed, taking a fistful of his shirt and gesturing for him to take it off. He obliged, allowing her to freely feel his body between her fingers. Feeling emboldened by her groping, he allowed his hands to snake from down her back and over the fullness of her rear.

“Is it what you expected? I know you’ve eyed it a few times~.” She breathed, once more reaching up to kiss him again. She kicked off her boots, struggling a bit more to reach up to his lips for it. However, with his grip on her, Jaune was able to carry her near effortlessly. She let out an excited and impressed laugh from within his mouth as she wrapped her legs around his hips

“I’m going to be brutally honest; it took every ounce of my willpower not to openly ogle it whenever you had your back turned.” Jaune confessed, letting her know that her ass was damn near hypnotizing. She bit her lip in arousal, having never really felt such genuine attraction to someone like this before. A man who was kind, considerate, a fan of Ninjas of Love, unprejudiced and hot? Never in her life was she so glad Tukson decided to be out of town on that day.

“Well, if we’re revealing secrets…” Blake began, allowing her date to carry her across the room and towards his bed. All the while, feeling his broad back and leaving tender kisses along his neck.

“I think it’s pretty hot that you were able to embarrass Yang in that class the other day.” She finished, recalling how they talked about the blond when they were in the living room. A bit of a shiver ran up his spine, being reminded that he was able to match up against a Beacon student. A fourth year, no less.

“Well, how about I impress you a bit more?” Jaune promised, finally stopping at the foot of his bed. He gently placed her down on the mattress, pressing himself against her with her legs still locked around his waist.

“I’d like that.” Blake goaded. Their eyes glowed in the darkness, deep blue staring into sharp yellow.

Reaching under her shirt, Jaune gently rolled the cloth up off her form, Blake doing nothing to stop him, instead raising her arms to allow him to take it off entirely. A brief disconnect of lips before they set upon each other once more, Blake bringing her hands down to entangle themselves in his golden locks.

Grinding against his form, Blake moaned. His hands, strong and rough, slid up and down her sides. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as he reached for her bra.

“Not fair that I’m the only one bare-chested.” Jaune teased, kissing the nape of her neck as his fingers deftly undid the hooks of her bra. The years of having to do his sister’s laundry having paid off.

“Not as good as my ass, but I don’t think you really care, do you?” She asked. Rhetorical, of course, but she was still pleased when he began to leave a trail of soft kisses from her neck, to her collar bone, to her breasts. Using his mouth to lick at one of her nipples while he used a hand not caressing her body to tweak the other, her breasts a perfect fit for his palms.

“Mhm~. You’re really good with your hands.” Blake complimented, biting her lip and running her fingers across his scalp. Jaune hummed, sucking upon her teat and pinching the other between his fingers. She moaned a bit more, arching her back. He let go after a moment, but not before sucking on her other nipple briefly. Both light pink peaks standing with arousal.

“If you’ll let me…” Jaune trailed off, touching the hem of her pants. Blake nodded, untangling her legs from around his torso and lifting her hips to allow him to undress her. With those tossed to the side, Jaune was able to get a look at her figure in all its glory.

Her soft face, slender shoulders, dainty hands, perfect breasts, toned stomach, voluptuous thighs and long legs…all of it.

“Gods you’re beautiful.” Jaune breathed out, taking in every detail he could while he had the chance. Regardless of their rather unorthodox meeting and situation, Jaune couldn’t think of a more beautiful woman than the one in front of him.

“Jaune...” Blake was flushed something fierce. The way he said it, and the way he looked at her. She’d never been looked at like that. For all her life it was either envy, jealousy, fear, anger or apathy simply because she was a Faunus. A person with animal features. Her time with the White Fang didn’t help much. Being part of an ex-terrorist group did things to you that you couldn’t just shrug off. Finding a companion near impossible at that point. Then there was Adam. The Bull Faunus that was going to lead the White Fang and all other Faunus to a world where they would be accepted as equals.

At least, that’s what he’d fooled her into believing.

“Are you alright?” Jaune asked, seeing a bit of sadness creep into Blake’s eyes. She nodded, dispelling any thoughts of her old flame. Back then, where Adam cared only for his end goal and saw others as a means to an end, Jaune seemed to care for her, truly. She could feel it in his Aura, his soul. He was a good man. She didn’t know how she stumbled across him, but she was glad she did.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…you’ve been so good to me.” Blake explained. Jaune let out a small chuckle, shrugging.

“And why shouldn’t I be? From what I could tell, you’re working hard to make the world that much safer. Besides, when I agreed to go out on a date with you, that was my promise to give you a wonderful night, no matter how I had to do it. That was my word, and an Arc never goes back on his word.” Jaune stated, explaining his reasoning. It didn’t matter that they only met so long ago. If they were serious about maintaining a steady relationship after this, he was going to make sure to treat her like his girlfriend. No ‘ifs’, ‘ands’ or ‘buts’.

“Well, let’s hope words aren’t the only thing you can use that mouth for.” Blake teased as she placed a peck on Jaune’s lips. He smiled, more than willing to take up the challenge. Once more trailing down her body with soft kisses, making sure to smooch as much of her alabaster skin as possible. Going down her collarbone, in between her breasts, going painfully slow at her stomach. His hands all the while caressed her legs, going up and down sides. Brushing just under her pert nipples and diving down to trace her sex lines.

A heavy scent of excitement reached Jaune’s nostrils as he lowered himself further, his chin touching the hem of her underwear. Blake sighed in content, the way he ran his hands across her body making her feel special in all kind of ways. More special than anyone had ever made her feel. His every move, his every touch sent tingles through her entire being.

Without a word, his hands snaked down under her panties, silken and black, and pulled them down her legs at a steady pace. Soon they were tossed to the wayside, leaving her entirely bare before his eyes. A short strip of dark hair and flush, swollen vulva greeted him. Letting out a heated breath, Jaune went back to kissing her toned stomach. Hands now tracing around her sex, painfully close to her entrance.

“I-is the first time you’ve done something like this? Y-you’re-surprisingly good at it.” Blake stuttered, his hand brushing ever so close to her labia, sending a shiver through her system. It was only a hair’s breadth away, yet even that felt like torture at this point. His tongue doing nothing to alleviate her pain, the way it lapped at her skin, his caring and loving kisses around her thighs were making her arousal skyrocket.

“Believe me, not a lot of people are willing to date an audio porn star.” Was all Jaune said before getting back to work. He didn’t want to admit that he researched on the subject more than once, or that he practiced with one or two toys when he knew he was alone. Regardless, he still refused to even touch her core, and she was just about fed up with it.

“Come on, just…just a little lower, please. D-don’t make me-oh~.” Blake nearly went cross-eyed as she felt the first lick upon her quivering pussy. Jaune’s hands now tracing along her lips as he slowly worked her entrance, licking deliberately and with purpose. His azure eyes staring up to her face, making sure to see what she enjoyed the most as to bring as much pleasure to his partner as possible.

Keeping his pace slow and meticulous, Blake was beginning to build up a sweat. A few strands of hair sticking to her forehead. One of her hands detached themselves from Jaune’s hair and instead went up to tweak her nipple, her breathing beginning to deepen. Her half-lidded gaze locked onto his own deep sapphire pools, boring into her very soul. All she could see was affection and lust for her. If she was one to believe in love at first sight, she’d say this was a very convincing argument for it.

Though Blake had been more than happy he had begun to properly start licking at her, she wanted more. She wanted him to put his mouth on her proper, use his tongue to explore her insides and taste her in her entirety. She wanted him to take her to heights she’d never before experienced. She wanted all that and more.

“Jaune~.” She moaned, biting her lip and thrusting her hips into his face, trying to convey what she wanted from him. He backed away in response, stopping in his ministrations. Blake paused at that, wondering if something happened or if she had done something wrong.

“You taste divine. I can’t get enough.” Jaune admitted, giving her a warm smile before latching himself to her hot sex, his lips sealed around her most private area. Blake’s legs instinctually tried to close shut, but only succeeded in locking Jaune in place. A huge shiver ran through Blake’s body as she nearly came right then and there. Feeling herself still close to the edge as he began to work his tongue inside of her.

“Gods. You…y-you’re too good at that.” Blake pseudo-complained, whining at how close she was to release, but was only ever kept at the brink. Even as her breath picked up more and more, and her own attempts to force pleasure from him, she couldn’t get over that last wall. He refused to get any more intense, or even so much as increase his speed.

At some point, time seemed to lose it’s meaning, Blake almost beginning to believe this was all some elaborate ruse from her enemies to break her will by edging her for eternity. Even losing herself in the pleasure wasn’t an option, as every so often Jaune would hit that one spot, that one insufferable spot that would make her thrash and quiver any time he touched it. Yet, he would only ever graze that spot for but a moment before slowing down considerably.

“J-Jaune. Please.” Blake begged, sweat permeating her skin, giving her a sheen that glistened in the dim light. Jaune looked up at her, realizing that he’d been at this for longer than he intended. He’d been so focused on learning every nook and cranny of her cavern that he’d forgotten there was meant to be an end to the foreplay.

‘My bad. Here’s hoping she’s still got some steam after this.’ Jaune thought as he decided to give her the release he’d been denying her all this time. Using the knowledge he’d accumulated until now, he reached his tongue in deep, far enough that he could feel that rough spot at the top of her canal and began massaging it with his tongue, all while making sure to suck on the nub hidden by its hood.

“O-oh gods. What are you-w-waitwaitwait, I’m not-It’s too-you’re going to make me-…I’m cumming!!!” Blake screamed with a choked breath. What was a simmering heat of pleasure on the cusp of boiling had suddenly turned into an explosion of passion that sent the Faunus reeling. Her toes curled, legs all but collapsing in on themselves as she spasmed out of control. Stars dancing in her vision as she tried to get her breathing back in order. The constant stimulus of her g-spot and her clit were too much, forcing her to try and pry him off her with her arms, as weak as they were.

“Stopstopstopstop, I can’t take any moreeee~.” Blake almost cried, feeling all motor function begin to shut down. Ever still, Jaune continued, a bit of a sadistic streak rising within him, stemming from the pride in his chest at making a future Huntress cum this hard under his own ministrations.

“Jaune-youhavetostop-Hah hah hah­-Please! Oh Fuck! Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck-OH FUCK I’M CUMMING AGaiN~.” Blake exclaimed as her body locked up entirely, tiny quivers of her legs the only movement her body allowed. At this point, Jaune decided he would relent. A few moments later, he hummed and retracted his tongue from her nether region, forcing one last shiver from her before detaching from her entirely. Her entire body twitching with aftershocks, tears streaming down her face with how intense it was.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I went overboard. Are you okay?” Jaune apologized, darting up to her and cupping her face, worry and concerned stricken across his features. It took a few moments, but she was able to get her bearings back together and nod, albeit shakily.

“I-I’m okay. It was just…It was too much. What did you do to me?” She asked with a somewhat playful smile. Jaune shared the look, shrugging.

“I was only trying to do what felt good for you. I’m guessing it worked?” Jaune said, grazing a hand down her side. Her body shivered again, Blake biting back another moan as she eyed him with more lust than he’d ever seen on anyone ever in his life.

“How about I return the favor? I need a bit of time to recover, and I can think of a few things I can do to pass the time~.” Blake breathed out, her hand reaching down to his pants. He was far too overdressed for her liking. The fact his belt was still perfectly intact was nothing short of criminal.

‘Is she…pawing at my pants?’ Jaune thought to himself as he sat up and watched her rub his crotch up and down. The observation had some merit, as her playful way of teasing him seemed awfully similar to when a cat would paw at something. Even going so far as to say he could hear a slight purr come from her throat.

“I’m more than convinced that tea was some kind of aphrodisiac now.” Blake told him, looking up at his face as she came closer to his pelvis, already working on his belt buckle. With deft hands, she was able to undo the leather quickly, now working on his button and zipper.

“Would you be mad if I said I was happy I bought it now?” Jaune questioned as she slid his pants down. It was a small matter to get them off his person entirely, but it was something else when he noticed Blake’s cat-like eyes focus on his very prominent bulge.

“Not even a little. But I’m more interested in this~.” She cooed, placing her face flush against his clothed erection and sniffed.

Freaky.

“Your scent is so virile. It’s honestly making my head spin. I want to put it in my mouth~. Can I put it in my mouth? Please~?” She said in a sort of drunk stupor. At this point, Jaune was almost certain that the tea was illegally traced with some type of aphrodisiac. Or at the very least, he was falsely sold it when all he wanted was some calming tea. However, at the same time, if she -a fourth year at Beacon Academy- was willing to go through with this and has given him her express consent…he didn’t see anything stopping him from seeing it through.

“If I ever said no, I’d have no business being here.” Jaune agreed, nodding his head and placing a hand on top of her scalp. His thumb grazed one of her cat ears, causing a very intense shiver to run across her body. It made Jaune blink once or twice in surprise. He knew Faunus extremities were sensitive, but he didn’t know they were this sensitive.

Rubbing her face against his crotch and looking up at him with a gaze so heated it would have melted a lesser man. Her hands came up, just a tiny bit shaky with lust and began to tug at his waistband. At first showing smooth, hairless skin before giving way to his girth. Thick, veiny, hot and seemingly endless. The more she pulled down, the more of his dick she revealed. Until finally, the head of his member slipped free of its confines, springing up and smacking Blake in the chin with a solid thwap.

“It’s already so hard for me~.” Blake said in awe. Getting under it and feeling the hot hardness rest across her forehead. The soft skin almost a direct contradiction from just how rigid his member was. Feeling the steady beat of his heart through it also furthering her own arousal.

Nuzzling his dick a bit more, Blake made sure to take in as much of his scent as possible. Her sensitive sense of smell making the clean but musky odor become an almost overwhelming aroma that sent her mind into a tizzy. Even if normally she’s able to null her own enhanced senses, she let herself go this one time. She could tell from feeling his soul that he didn’t have malicious intent to harm her.

“So juicy~. I wanna…” Blake trailed off as she began to lick his length, each lick accompanied by a kiss to his sensitive skin. He sighed in bliss, feeling such a unique texture upon him nearly caused him to flinch. Her tongue a bit rougher than he’d expected, but he chalked it up to her being a cat Faunus. Regardless, it wasn’t outright unpleasant. Only enough that it was more stimulating, rather than harmful. Her hands came up to glide across his base, almost worshiping it.

“Blake…fuck.” Jaune cursed, feeling his date’s hands and tongue explore every inch of his phallus.  Her striking yellow eyes staring into his own blue ones for a moment before focusing back down onto her current task. His own eyes drifted from her face, to her animal features before being drawn to the bare flesh of her rotund ass. He couldn’t help but admire it, the shape, the firmness of the skin, and the subtle jiggles it would make at her every move.

His hand atop her head once again glanced her ears, and another shiver went across her body. Jaune wanted to caress them more, but stopped himself. He let out another moan as Blake gently kissed the tip of his dick, flicking her tongue against the head.

“Is…Is it okay if I caress your ears?” Jaune asked, keeping himself from doing so absently. Blake only paused for a moment before nodding, getting back to her task, even taking a bit more of his cock into her mouth, gently suckling on the head.

His hands tentatively grazed over her ears once more, this time a vocal moan coming from Blake. He took deep breaths as he stroked her ears with care, each time causing Blake to let out a moan, taking him deeper and deeper into her mouth.

“That feels so good.” Jaune breathed out, giving a small thrust into her face. Blake didn’t let up, only looking up at him with those beautiful eyes. She looked so demure, alluring.

‘Oh my Oum, he’s looking down at me so intently. His hips are thrusting into my mouth, but he’s being so gentle. And my ears~. I-I think I’m going to…!!!’ Blake’s eyes shut closed as she came again, moaning around Jaune’s dick. He briefly wondered why she had stopped so suddenly, but noticed a small spray of liquid splash onto the bed. Pulling himself out of her mouth, Blake panting slightly, he lowered his hand to hold her cheek.

“Blake, are you sure you’re okay?” Jaune wanted to confirm. Despite it spiking his arousal levels and massively inflating his ego, he still worried that she might be hurt if she went any longer. Despite this, she still smiled up at him, her hair starting to stick to her forehead, making her look even sexier.

“You just made me cum just by sucking you off. Do you really think I’d want to stop now?” Blake countered, reaching up and cupping his face with her hands. Still, Jaune didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“Jaune, I want you inside me. I want that big, thick cock in me. Please, give it to me? Please?” She begged. Begged. It was here that Jaune’s doubts went out the window. His libido won out and forced him to nod, grabbing hold of her waist and gently pushing her onto her back. She hummed in appreciation, gazing lovingly up at him.

“Let me just…” Jaune trailed off, reaching over to the nightstand, pulling open a drawer and pulling out a condom. Blake seemed almost confused at what he was holding before remembering that pregnancy was indeed a very bad thing at this stage in her life. Even if a more perverse part of her brain…

“Are you ready?” Jaune asked, breaking her out of her spiral. Looking down, she could see his girth laying atop her pelvis. The fact that it was resting up to her belly button caused a shiver to run across her body.

Now, Blake didn’t take herself as a ‘Size Queen’. Her own toys weren’t extremely large in any capacity. Not to mention she hadn’t even gone this far with anyone before, but in this moment, with Jaune leaning over her, staring down with those stunningly beautiful blue eyes of his, she had never been more turned on.

“I’ve never been more ready in my life. Please, take me.” She pleaded, reaching up to his face again. He smiled, leaning down to kiss at the nape of her neck again. His hips pulled back for a moment, using his hand to guide himself to her dripping entrance, while his other hand kept next to her head to stabilize himself. Thrusting, he missed his mark, grazing along her folds. She took a sharp inhale of air, feeling him slide against her clit. Another attempt and his tip penetrated, successfully shedding his previous title as a virgin. With a gorgeous Huntress, no less.

“It’s so warm.” Jaune shuddered, only an inch or two in and already feeling nirvana. He made sure to keep kissing her collarbone, leaving marks along her otherwise pristine skin.

“Deeper, keep going~.” Blake begged, grabbing his face and forcing him to kiss her again. All the while, Jaune gently thrusted back and forth, going deeper and deeper into her depths with each rock of his hips. Feeling her walls clench whenever he thrust forward, her shivers and moans like music to his ears. Breaking away from her lips to reposition his hips, he inched forward, pushing even deeper. His chin atop her head for a moment, his hot breaths tickling the ears upon her scalp. She clenched around him harder, Jaune watching as her ears quivered and twitched. He found it curious, and thought to whisper into them.

“You feel so good around me.” Jaune complimented, low and sensual. Blake moaned and her ears twitched again, followed by another squeeze from her sopping wetness. He grunted in pleasure, thrusting especially deep, almost getting his entire length within her.

“Oh~!” Blake moaned, feeling him hit an especially sensitive spot. She buried her face in his collar, taking in his scent. Proceeding to suck upon his skin, licking where she’d kiss and leave marks as he had for her.

“Hm, do you like it when I talk to you like this?” Jaune asked, using slow and methodical thrusts. Blake shivered a bit more, goosebumps appearing upon her skin. She nodded, hands roaming across his body, aching for more sensation.

“Yes~. Do it more, please~.” Blake asked, nodding against him. Here, Jaune brought a hand up to run a hand through her hair, playing with it. It would figure that she’d want to receive a personalized version of his videos. He wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it in the moment, but he saw no reason to refuse.

“Of course, my Beauté de Minuit.” Jaune agreed, using a bit of his knowledge of Old Mantle to add a bit of spice. It worked like a charm, as Blake tightened around him even more, her moans coming out in droves. He himself moaning into her ears, breathing heavy. He focused as much as he could on making this bliss last, feeling her nails dig into his back. His Aura flaring up ever so slightly to keep her from breaking skin.

“Oh gods. Oh gods. OH GODS!” Blake moaned out as she tensed up, cumming all over him again. Feeling his Aura against hers had sent her over the edge, curling up against his frame as Jaune let her ride out her orgasm. Her breath was ragged as she looked up at him again, even more of her hair sticking to her face as she flipped them over, allowing her to be on top.

“More~.” Blake breathed out as she began to rock her hips back and forth, laying on his chest as she rode him. Jaune put his hands on her hips, helping her move as he kissed her neck once more. Blake whimpered as she felt his hips thrust up to meet her own slow and sensual rocking of hips.

“You feel so tight around me.” Jaune complimented, rubbing his hands up and down her back. Blake bit her lower lip before nuzzling against his cheek, whispering into his ear.

“Please, use your Aura again. I want to feel it.” She asked before focusing on rocking her hips again. Jaune nodded, focusing on his Aura and letting it envelop the both of them. Blake moaned a bit louder now, and rode him harder.

“Fuck! Yes!” She exclaimed, bouncing her ass against his hips. Jaune grunted, picking up the pace of his own thrusts upwards, now gripping her cheeks to bring her down harder.

‘Holy shit, so it was true. Huntresses are freaks under the sheets!’ Jaune thought to himself as he felt rather hard impacts upon his pelvis. He was sure that if he didn’t have Aura, he’d be bruised by now. His bed was starting to creak in exertion. Even so, he didn’t cower away from the challenge. Instead, he rose to meet it.

“Oh~!” Blake slammed her hips down upon him one last time before her walls clenched down on him and her body quivered, her legs locking up and instinctively lifting herself off his dick. She took deep breaths, trying to recover. Jaune felt like he should let her catch her breath, but he had been getting really close when she got off him. Instead, he got up behind her as she rested her head on the sheets, her ass sticking up and her legs locked together.

“Jaune? What are you-OH FUCK!” Blake almost screamed as he gripped her ass and rammed himself back in and began pounding away at her sensitive quim. Her eyes rolled up into her head as she forced her face into the sheets to muffle her pleasured screams. Her fingers dug into the bed, tearing away entire strips of cloth as she felt herself cum again and again at his relentless assault.

“This ass is criminal. It’s every man’s wet dream!” Jaune exclaimed as he raised a hand and brought it down to slap her rear. He felt her clench hard as he did, and he gained a bit of a sadistic smirk.

“Do you like that? You like it when I smack your ass, huh?” Jaune asked as he squeezed the soft and supple flesh between his fingers. Blake could do nothing except nod against the bed, moaning weakly. Jaune chuckled as he slapped her again.

“Such a naughty girl. What would your friends say if they saw you being reduced to a moaning mess by a civilian?” Jaune taunted, once again smacking her ass, leaving a red mark upon her pristine skin. Blake moaned louder, barely able to form coherent thoughts anymore.

“OH GODS! YOU’RE BREAKING ME! YOU’RE BREAKING ME SO GOOD!” Blake yelled out, moving her head to the side so she could breathe, her moans now out in the open. Jaune let out a grunt as he felt her seizing up again, now feeling his own climax approaching.

“Shit, I’m going to cum. I’m going to cum!” Jaune moaned out as he chased after his climax, thrusting faster and faster, using his Aura to increase his speed even more. Blake’s eyes widened, tears streaming from the sheer pleasure of it all as she felt him pound her into a prone bone position before one final thrust sent them both over the edge one final time. Balls deep, Jaune released his load into the condom, filling it up completely. The warmth from it being felt by the twitching mess that was once Blake Belladonna. He pulled out slowly, her legs spasming slightly for every inch he retracted before the walnut sized balloon plopped out of her sore pussy. After a few seconds, Jaune realized that she still hadn’t moved and quickly moved next to her, embracing her in a hug.

“Crap. Blake, are you okay? Did I go too far?” Jaune asked, worried that he’d hurt her somehow. She didn’t respond for a few more seconds, but eventually raised her arms up, albeit weakly, and placed her hands on his cheeks. She gave him a smile before answering.

“Thank…you. So…good.” She voiced her approval. Jaune blushed a bit, smiling at her. Still, he was worried about her wellbeing.

“You were really good too, Blake. Now let’s sleep, I think we’ve earned it.” He suggested, idly getting up to take the condom off. As he sat at the edge of his bed, tying up the condom and throwing it across the room and into the trashcan, he felt arms wrap around his torso. Surprised, he saw the face of a lustful Blake rest itself on his shoulder.

“But I don’t want to sleep yet. We still have so much time left in the night. Don’t you want to make the most of it?” She asked, her dark purple Aura flaring on her skin. His own azure Aura came forth in response. He raised a hand to meet one of hers, concern on his face.

“Are you sure?” Jaune asked after a brief silence, wanting to make absolutely sure she was ready to continue. Here, Blake closed her eyes and bit her lip, caressing his chest some more as their Auras continued to mingle.

“Jaune, I’m a Huntress. It’s going to take a lot more than that to keep me down.” She said with heated breaths. Here, Jaune felt a spark ignite within himself, one of competitiveness no less.

“Is that a challenge?” Jaune asked, remembering that this was indeed a Huntress, and that Aura could help with things like longevity. So, theoretically, they could go at it until they ran out of Aura.

A tingle went up his spine at the thought.

“Maybe~. Are you up for it?”

It only took a moment before he found his answer.

“I’m not stopping until we’re out of condoms.”

“Good~.”

For the remainder of the night, they’d go at it over and over and over again. Trying all manners of different positions. Eventually, they even found themselves outside of the bedroom, fucking all over the house and on every solid surface they could find before they rounded right back around to his bed. With one final thrust, Jaune not only used up the last condom he had, but Blake’s Aura also ran out, breaking and leaving her exhausted.

“Wow.” Jaune breathed out, laying next to a nearly comatose Blake. He smiled as he looked over to her, feeling pride swell in his chest as he looked at his handiwork. She crawled up to his face, kissing his skin lovingly as she did.

“That was amazing.” She complimented breathlessly. Placing one last kiss upon his lips before resting her head upon his chest. She had well and truly been exhausted, more than happy that Jaune had been the one to do it to her. His hand rubbing soothing circles on her back as he kissed the top of her head, whispering into one of her cat ears as he spoke.

“You’re amazing, my Beauté de Minuit. Now rest. We still have to get you back to your friends later.” He spoke quietly. She groaned lightly, hiding her face deeper into his embrace.

“Don’t remind me. They’re going to start asking why I stayed out all night.” She complained. A moment later, her legs tensed on reflex and another groan left her lips.

“And why I have a limp.” She added, closing her eyes as she readied herself to sleep, not wanting to worry about it at the moment. Jaune chuckled lightly as he hugged her closer.

“Why so worried? You’ll have your Aura back by then, and you’ll be good as new. Besides, you’re your own woman. You don’t have to answer to any of their questions.” Jaune tried to consol. Blake hummed, a sly smile gracing her lips.

“But what if I want them to see me limping. Oum knows they don’t shut up about wanting me to find someone. This way, they’ll stop trying to set me up with someone.” Blake said, wanting to see Jaune’s reaction. He didn’t disappoint, as he hummed in approval.

“Don’t let me stop you. Just know that they’ll probably have a whole new set of questions for you if that’s the case.” Jaune warned, also getting ready for sleep. They’d been at it for a while, and he was more than ready for a nice long rest.

“That’s a problem for future me. Let’s just sleep in for now.” She shifted one last time before slipping into a deep slumber. Jaune doing the same, his thought on only one thing as his consciousness slipped from him.

‘Life can’t get better than this.’

He was right, it was only downhill from here.

“Do you want to explain yourself, you whore!?”

Standing at his door were three very upset women. All of them color coded. One red, another yellow and the last one white. He’d gotten up not too long ago, leaving Blake in bed to rest a bit more and made himself another cup of tea, making sure this one wasn’t some kind of aphrodisiac before he heard a rather aggressive knock at his door. At first, he thought it might just be some upset neighbors complaining about the noise last night. Turns out he was wrong.

“I-I’m sorry…aren’t you the rest of Blake’s team?” Jaune asked, waving his cup of tea at them. Ruby seemed to be the least upset out of them all, seeming more embarrassed than anything. She couldn’t even muster the courage to look into his eyes when he turned to her. However, the yellow one, the one he recognized as Yang from his boxing class, and the partner of Blake he just remembered, got up in his face holding her phone for him to see.

“Don’t try to change the subject, you bastard! How do you want to explain this!?” Yang exclaimed, her crimson eyes boring into his own blue.

He could have sworn they were lilac the last time he saw her.

“…That’s my Scrollhub account.” He answered blandly. He understood that it was a bit embarrassing, and that they’d found out about it so soon before he could break it to them himself, but he had no idea why they were so upset about it.

“Do you really think you’re worthy enough to be dating Blake when you make this filth!?” The white one exclaimed as she stepped forward, her face red. He didn’t know if it was from anger or embarrassment, but he found her cute.

“Hey now, I would think you’d trust her enough to make that decision on her own. Besides, she already knows. I told her about it on our date. She’s more than okay with what I do. She’s paid for some of my videos, even.” Jaune countered, leaning against his door frame as he took another sip of his tea. The white one seemed to step back a bit, surprised at the information, however Yang still persisted.

“Oh yeah? Then where is she? She didn’t come back last night, and she hasn’t even given us a text since then. So, Where Is She?”  She growled out, the air distorting as she began to heat up, quite literally. Jaune frowned lightly, not liking the insinuations she was making. He was going to answer, but a voice behind him spoke up from atop his stairs.

“Jaune~. Where are you? Come back to bed~. I want my favorite cuddling pillow~.” Came the almost whinny voice of Blake as she called for him to come back to her.

“I’ll be up in a moment, my Beauté de Minuit. Just dealing with the neighbors.” Jaune called back turning his back to the three women. He heard a giggle come from her before she spoke up again.

“Don’t keep me waiting, Jaune~.” Blake sang before the sound of a door shutting reached his ears. He smiled, happy that he’d found someone like her, just standing there for a moment. Until he remembered he was dealing with the rest of her team, to which that smile dimmed a small bit. It dimmed even more when he felt a considerable heat source behind him and turned to it.

There, standing at his door was one very pissed off and on fire woman. Next to her, Ruby seemed scared, with the white one that he didn’t even know the name of sighing in annoyance. He stared at Yang for a moment before clearing his throat.

“Okay, hear me out-”

Chapter Text

"Are you sure they're not going to leave, I don't know, a pipe bomb in my mailbox or something? They seemed pretty miffed." Jaune asked as he nursed a bruise on his cheek. That Yang girl certainly packed a punch. Then again, he should have already known that from his spar with her. Could he have pressed charges against her for assaulting him unprovoked? Absolutely. Did he though?

"I'm really sorry about her. I know she's prone to anger, but she usually doesn't go off like that." Blake apologized as she came back from his fridge with a pack of frozen peas. Jaune took it gratefully and gently placed it on his bruise with a wince. Blake really didn't know what came over her partner, she would be set off if you tried to mess with her hair, sure, but this felt so out of left field for her.

"I'd be concerned that you didn't refute they'd put a bomb in my mail, but I get you implied it. Still, thanks for stopping her before she came in and wrecked my house. Even when all you had on was one of my bathrobes." Jaune tried to smile at her with his swollen cheek. He was coaxing his Aura to heal the area as fast as possible, but it'd still take a few more seconds before the swelling would die down.

"Be glad that Ruby and Weiss were there too. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to stop her even If I wanted to. I'm just surprised you didn't want to call the police. You'd have been well within your right to do so." Blake questioned, sitting at the dining room chair with him, placing her hand on top of his.

"I won't lie, I was tempted, but she's your partner; I'll let it pass this once. I'm hoping she won't do it again though. Gotta protect the merchandise, right?" Jaune joked, laughing even when doing so aggravated the injury. Blake smiled at him, giving a gentle squeeze of his hand.

"Don't worry, Jaune. I'll make sure to have a long, hard talk with her about it. The headmaster of Beacon even sent her down to that class you were in because she wasn't meeting standards of the school. They told her if she doesn't meet the benchmark by the end of the school year, she might have to be held back." Blake revealed, knowing her partner was rather stubborn with her fighting style. It didn't help that her Semblance allowed her to trade technique for overwhelming strength and speed. She was lucky she hadn't met anyone that could match her at her strongest yet.

"That bad, huh? Well, I'd give my sympathies, but as it stands right now…" Jaune trailed off, wanting to be courteous for the partner of Blake, but found it difficult all things considered.

"She's the cause of that bruise, I get it. I really am sorry about her. She's usually very nice; I don't know what came over her today." Blake sighed as she went to hold the pack of peas to his face when she noticed he was shifting it in his hand due to the coldness.

"I'll get over it eventually. Don't really believe in grudges. No point in going to the grave with hate, you know?" Jaune gave a small chuckle, looking into her eyes with a gaze of affection. Blake's cheeks became red, breaking eye contact with him. She really hated that he had that sort of effect on her. From the moment she'd met him, he'd been so genuine in everything he said and did; It was so very different than what she'd known before.

"You don't know how refreshing it is to hear that." Blake admitted to him, smiling at her romantic partner. Jaune simply tilted his head at her, as though unable to figure out why she'd be relieved at what he said.

"Hm?" His general noise of cluelessness along with his expression and body language, it almost made Blake think of him as a Golden Retriever. Certainly, it gave her a few conflicting feelings, but she pushed the thought aside and shook her head at him.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Now, since I'm not in the mood to talk with the rest of my team for tracking you down and assaulting you in your own home, I want to accompany you in whatever you do from day to day." Blake moved her chair to sit next to him as she propositioned him. Jaune took away the peas from his face, feeling the bruise having been healed enough that he could let it recover passively now.

"Like I said, water under the bridge…eventually. I wouldn't mind having you with me today, though. Honestly, the idea is kind of getting me a little giddy. S-sorry, if that sounds a bit much." Jaune stuttered as he realized how overzealous he sounded. He's never had a girlfriend before, alright? He was excited to explore all kinds of new things now that he and Blake were an item now. Can you blame him? Blake was absolutely stunning!

"No, no, it's okay. I'm just glad I'm not the only one." Blake revealed as she placed her head on his shoulder. If she were being completely honest, she wasn't sure what it was that made her feel this way. Whether it was because she could feel such a genuine connection with him from his Aura, her own gut telling her he was one she could be vulnerable around, or simply because she felt the big L-word, she had no problem being happy in his embrace.

"You are a danger to my heart, you know that?" Jaune laughed, bringing his hand up and only hesitating for a moment before stroking her hair. He thought to stroke her ears as well, but thought against it. Unless he was given express permission to do so, he figured it wasn't something he could do. Not yet, at least.

"On the contrary, they do say owning a cat significantly increases your mental health. Studies have proven it." Blake teased as she enjoyed the feeling of his fingers running through her hair while also idly listening to how it sounded to her cat ears. Of course, it would feel better if he'd pet them directly, but…

"Oh, you're going to making jokes like that? Really? And here I was worried about making any comments that'd offend you." Jaune shook his head, lightly amused that Blake would make such a joke at her own expense. Blake simply rolled her eyes and scoffed at him.

"I get to make those jokes. You can too, so long as they're funny. If not, you will be put under full scrutiny of my ire on behalf of the Faunus community." Blake claimed, giving him a snarky smirk as she stared up at him. Jaune raised an eyebrow, mulling over her words for a moment before looking to her again.

"…So, what you're saying is, I get the Neko Pass?"

Smacking him on the arm with a pseudo-offended expression, she began to laugh at his rather crude 'joke' before getting up and walking over to his bedroom. She'd left her things up there last night.

"You're lucky that was funny, Jaune Arc. But yes, you do indeed get the 'Neko Pass'. Oum that sounds so bad!" She laughed again, walking up the stairs towards him room.

"If that's you letting me make the joke, then I'd hate to see what the actual 'wrath of the Faunus people' is like. That hurt." Jaune paraphrased as he got up from his chair and placed the peas back into his freezer. Her light punch on his arm left it sore, but nothing too major. Really had to hand it to her, she was solidly built. In any case, he was pretty much ready for his day, being dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans. He could get his shoes on at the door, so there was no need to go up to his room.

Moving to his cupboards and looking into them, he took down a jar of tea, pushing the now labeled jar of aphrodisiac tea further back before closing it again. He still couldn't believe he'd forgotten about such a thing. The only time he remembered buying in bulk was from his first purchase. Back when he'd been given a good deal on…

"Of course. My own idiocy is to blame…again." Jaune lamented as he put a small pot of water to boil. The shop he used for tea had a sale on a particular tea, and he just had to take advantage of it. He should have found it weird that part of the shop looked more…sensual than the rest of it. Didn't matter at this point, he supposed. He did get it for pretty cheap.

"So, what's first on the agenda?" Blake asked as she came back down the stairs. Jaune turned back to her, watching her come closer to him. The light that came in from the windows shining down on her like an angel. Though, her dark beauty enhanced it further. He was enjoying this phase of the relationship so far. Getting to know her and her character even more, learning new things. However, he didn't think he'd ever get tired of looking at her.

"I was going to get some more tea, seeing as how I, uh…ran out of chamomile-in any case! After that I planned on going to the gym. Real nice place. I could lend you some gym clothes if you wanted to come with?" Jaune offered, Blake nodded at him as she took a mug from him.

"I think I would. Even if I don't want to be around my team today, I'd still like to get a good workout in." Blake agreed, holding her cup out as Jaune poured the boiling water into her mug and into his own. Sitting down to allow their tea to mix before getting their day truly started, Jaune looked at her with an anticipation she only ever saw in Ruby whenever they were going to a gun show. In essence, she felt very…cared for on a personal level she hadn't felt from even her own team.

"Alright! It'll be good to have a spotter for my heavier sets without having to ask anyone else. I try to be mindful of their own workout, you know?" Jaune celebrated, hating to bother people during their workout just to benefit himself. He'd spot someone else if they asked, of course, but he didn't simply assume the same of others.

"I wouldn't get too excited. I'm not a heavy lifter by any means. I try to be more…flexible~." Blake said, a very suggestive tone to her voice as she took a sip of her tea. Jaune paused mid-drink to look over at her before slowly nodding, putting his mug down.

"Duly noted! I'll keep that in mind for…later-anyway, I'm just about ready. You want to head out?" Jaune stumbled a bit over his words as he drank the last of his beverage, his face a beet-red thanks to his imagination running wild. Blake chuckled at his reaction before nodding, getting up to set her own mug in the sink.

Making their way back to his car, Jaune pulled out of his driveway and began to drive them to the tea shop he'd mentioned the other day.

"About this tea shop you mentioned. Did you know they sold…" Blake trailed off, wanting to believe he'd at least get what she was hinting at here. Jaune blushed as he merged into the main roads. He should have figured she'd bring it up sooner or later.

"No, I really didn't. It was on sale for a reasonable price, I was buying in bulk and basically…I really should have asked more questions." Jaune sighed, unable to make any credible excuses for himself. There was nothing he could say that'd make him seem less like a dumbass. Who buys something they know nothing about?

"Do you hear me complaining? I think last night is testament enough for you to gauge what my opinion on the stuff is. But leaning away from that for now, I want to know more about you. Though, considering we sort of went about this backwards, I think it should be easier now. Don't you?" Blake asked as she watched the buildings pass her by outside the window.

"Well…I guess so. What did you have in mind? I've only got a few things to know before you pretty much have everything you need about me." Jaune laughed in slight nervousness as he remembered exactly how she reacted to the tea he'd served her the night before. At the very least, it let him know she wasn't averse to the idea of having it again in the future, if only after he asks her if she wants it in the first place of course. Mutual consent and communication is a big thing for these kinds of things. It only made sense after all.

"Maybe tell me a bit more about your younger years. We only got a bit into it at the diner, but I'd like to know more about it. If I remember correctly, you said you had a big family?" Blake prodded, trying to remember if he gave any specific number of siblings.

"Ah, yeah, I did tell you that. Though, I don't think I told you I had seven sisters." Jaune revealed, glancing at her with a knowing smile. That little fact always got to people. Didn't matter who they were, it always warranted some kind of jerk reaction. He didn't blame them. Considering most families only ever have two or three kids, with four being a rare occurrence, it's no wonder Blake would look back at him with wide eyes.

"Wait…seriously? Seven sisters?" She echoed, wishing to confirm that is indeed what she had been told. Jaune simply nodded, remembering all of his sisters and what he's had to endure in the past. He looked back at the memories fondly, no doubt, but it was quite unfortunate at the time for him. He still can't forgive his sisters for entering him into a beauty pageant.

Or for the fact that he'd won that beauty pageant either.

"Yep. Seven sisters. From oldest to youngest; There's Rouge, Bleue, and Saphron who's the oldest before me. The twins Verte and Violette, then Mandarine and finally Brun." Jaune listed off, taking one hand off the wheel to count them off. He had to fold two of them in to do so properly, but it was no real issue. Even as he placed his hand back to assist him in turning to the street the tea shop resided, he couldn't help but remember each of their faces.

"Wow, I…wait, why was Saphron named differently than the rest of you?" Blake asked, finding it strange that Jaune's mother would suddenly break from the color naming convention before just as suddenly going back to it. There was a case to say 'Saphron' was a color, but no one really thought of the color before the herb. Here, Jaune gave a hearty chuckle before giving her a cheeky smile.

"I'm more than happy you caught on to that, and I'm more than happy to tell you! It's because she was the biggest baby our mom had ever given birth to, and the delivery process had taken so much out of her, that she simply named her after the last thing she remembered craving." Jaune said through small bits of laughter. It had Blake chuckling a bit at the end too, thinking of how absurd such a situation must have been. After a few seconds, Jaune's laughter died down enough for him to continue.

"And by the time she realized what she'd done, she decided to simply stick with it. And you had best believe we bring it up with her every chance we get!" Jaune finished, once again laughing at the memory of Saphron's face whenever the topic was brought up again. Thankfully, he was now pulling into the parking lot of the tea shop and didn't have to focus too hard on driving anymore. Blake for her part was struggling not to start openly laughing at the familial bullying of her date's older sister. She was almost jealous in a way. She did always wonder what it would be like to have siblings.

"Forget about Grimm bothering you, I'm sure your family alone made it impossible to find any peace and quiet." Blake corrected herself in her previous assessment of his home life from the other night. Where she had been curious as to how his family was able to defend a single village for so long, she now could see just a small glimpse into the near army that was Jaune's family.

"Unfortunately, those two were mutually exclusive. You could not have both peace and quiet in that house. Either find peace in how noisy it was, or dread how horrifically quiet the house became. I learned to live with that long before I left home." Jaune chuckled as he left his car in park. They both left the vehicle and Jaune absently locked it before they began to head for the tea shop.

"'Herb Your Enthusiasm'. Well, if there's one thing you can count on in this city, it's that every business has to be some kind of word play." Blake shook her head, thinking about every shop she's been to being named by the first pun the owner could think of off the top of their head.

"And you didn't say anything about the name when I told you because?" Jaune asked, remembering very vividly that he'd told her about where exactly he'd gotten that tea from. Even before she'd ingested the stuff.

"I believe I was a bit busy trying to get into your pants, I think." Blake said in a pseudo contemplative tone, her face exaggerated. If her freshman year self could see her now, she'd damn near have a heart attack at what she was doing. At how carefree she'd become. She used to think so much about how she looked and presented herself to the world. Always looking around every corner, at every alley she passed, head constantly on a swivel. Now though, she can let her hair down when she wants, where she wants. Didn't even care if people saw her cat ears either. She just hoped they never reared their heads again.

Jaune said nothing, conceding to the point and simply entering the shop. When both parties involved were heading towards a direction they were both looking forward to, anything that might 'dampen the mood' usually was left alone for the time being.

"Welcome to Herb Your Enthusiasm! How can I help you today?"

"Hey, yeah, do you have any chamomile by any chance?" Jaune asked the clerk as he walked up to the counter. Most things in this shop were served to you from behind the counter, but there were a few things that you could bag yourself. The place smelled awfully aromatic, he'd admit, but their tea was of good quality, so he didn't think much of it. He turned to Blake to see if she was bothered by it at all, but found her looking around with not much care. Made him realize that she wasn't lying when she said she's trained her senses to not be bothered by things of this nature anymore.

"Chamomile? I believe so…let me check. In the meantime, help yourselves to look around. I'm sure you'll find something to match your mood."

Jaune and Blake were left alone for the moment as the cashier went to the back, presumably to see if they had any. The blonde turned his attention to his girlfriend to see her eyeing a particular shelf with a tea set. It looked awfully nice, with a stamp of 'authenticity', whatever that meant.

"Were you looking to buy a tea set soon, Blake?" He asked, figuring that if she did enjoy tea as much as he did, she either already had a set of her own, or was looking to buy one for herself. Blake turned to him with a contemplative expression, not thinking she would be caught staring at the item.

"Partially. The set I have now is fine, it was a gift from my parents a few years ago, but I'm only down to the last cup from my original four. My team can be blamed for that." Blake said dryly, remembering how each of her teammates had broken their own cups. Weiss was the last one to break hers, that happening just two months ago. It was an honest accident, she knew that, but the other two had been clinking theirs together far too roughly, and far too often.

"Do you want me to buy it for you?" Jaune offered, eyeing the price tag only briefly before deciding that he was willing to buy it no problem. Blake chuckled a small bit, shaking her head as though it were funny. He tilted his head in confusion at her response. She continued to laugh until she saw his face again, doubt rising onto her face and her laughter dying down.

"…You'd actually do that?" She asked, starting to feel a little ashamed that she would find humor in his attempt at generosity. Even more so when he gave her a bright smile and nodded. Damn her for thinking something like that would be a simple joke. From him of all people no less.

"Sure! I'd be more than happy to get it for you…on the condition that your team isn't allowed to use them. I don't hold a grudge, sure, but I'm not really thrilled at the idea that they somehow not only figured out where I lived, but also what my job was without my ever telling them." Jaune explained, having thought it over between his initial encounter with them at his home and now. He didn't want to assume anything, but there were only a select few ways they could have gotten that information.

"No, no. You don't have to do that, Jaune. I'm perfectly happy with my current tea set. I only need the one cup anyway. Not that I'd let the rest of my team ever use one of them again. As for how they found out about your information…well, let's just say one of them has a lot of connections." Blake laid out, remembering how Weiss offered to give her Jaune's personal info right from the start. Everything from his name, his family members, his lineage, his previous and current address along with several other things she was sure she shouldn't have access to.

"You don't say. Well, if you ever change your mind, just let me know." He clarified, dropping the subject for now as the cashier came back with a jar of tea. He could only assume it was the chamomile he'd requested.

"Here it is. The last we have, actually. I can sell it to you at a discount. Only if you buy the whole jar though."

A bit of a dirty marketing tactic, but Jaune wasn't that bothered by it. It's not like the tea itself is that expensive.

"Sure. When do you think you'll get your next shipment, by the way?" Jaune asked, wanting to think ahead of time to make sure nothing like last night ever happened again.

Hmm, or maybe he shouldn't? Bah, let that be Future Jaune's problem.

Blake...liked Jaune. A lot. Like, a lot a lot.

'Ugh, listen to yourself, Belladonna. You get goo-goo eyes for a guy and suddenly you're reverting to the vocabulary of a three-year-old.' Blake chastised herself, looking at Jaune as they went back to his car, his tea placed in the back and the man himself giving her a smile as bright as the morning sun before dipping down to get into the driver's seat. It made Blake blush as she got into the car, right next to him.

'And I'm acting like when I first...no, you're better now. This is different. He's different. He's Jaune.' Blake stopped herself from remembering too much about her past with the White Fang. Not fun times, but it was behind her now, as the past normally is. How it should be. She's been trying to keep herself from going down that spiral time and time again, being mostly successful, but this was the furthest she had gotten before she stopped it in its tracks.

Usually meant she found something far better than she thought she deserved.

"What'cha thinkin' about?" Jaune asked, glancing over to her and seeing her eyes so focused on him. Looked like her mind was preoccupied with something. Blake pursed her lips before shaking her head lightly. That same feeling in her chest from earlier helping her forget about everything else and just enjoy the moment right here, smiling at him as she leaned back in her chair.

"You." She answered simply. Her response caused Jaune to blush now. He let out a nervous chuckle, giving her another glance as he tried to stay focused on the road. He wasn't sure what it was about her, whether it was because this was his first official girlfriend or even if Blake was simply that dazzling, Jaune could feel himself get flush when she spoke like that. A part of him wondered if that 'Aura Sense' thing she talked about had a part in it, but it didn't particularly matter, he supposed.

"Heh, it's funny, you know? Not even two nights ago, I was pretty sure I was a dog person..." Jaune began, taking a turn down the street toward his gym. He knew she mentioned not being able to lift as much as some others, but she was a Huntress. The 'normal' for them was so far beyond superhuman it wasn't even funny. Still, he did wonder...

"Well, I'm glad I was able to convince you over to the correct side." Blake joked as she patted his leg, feeling really happy just to spend time with him and talk to him so casually. With her own team, there was always the expectation their talks would turn to school, or training, or missions or even some combination of the three. Here though, She found herself wanting to talk to Jaune about anything and everything. About his life, about her life, about their life...

"Yep. I certainly have a taste for pussy now, that's for sure." Jaune decided to be a little cheeky, figuring he'd try to get some mileage out of that 'Neko Pass' he'd been given. It caused the response he wanted, at least. Blake had to choke back a laugh as she tried to glare at him. The blush on her face told him everything he needed to know, though. Might need to brush up on his lip service again.

Nothing but zingers!

"Okay, you need to calm down. You're starting to sound a little too much like Yang now." Blake scolded him, suppressing her own laughs to hopefully get them away from cracking terrible puns. Admittedly, no one would ever be able to even trip over the bar set by the girl when it came to comedy, but she was warry of anyone trying it regardless. That, and also Yang might have made a few comments along those lines in the past that Blake wasn't entirely sure were just jokes.

"Ah, nothing kills the mood quite like family, hmm? I thought you were trying not to think about them today? Surely a woman of your caliber has hobbies completely detached from her team, right?" Jaune asked, feeling like despite her contempt for what they did this morning, Blake simply couldn't find it in her to truly keep them off the mind. Sure, he could be the same with his own family at times, thinking about them when he has nothing else to occupy his mind, but even he made time for just himself. A fairly crucial part to his mental health journey.

Now, if he could just stop himself from looking up to those cliffs...

"You know, that's one of the few things I don't really like about Beacon. Not a lot of time to have to yourself. We're 'encouraged' to make sure everything we do is accompanied by at least one of our teammates. I get it, it's supposed to make sure we have each other's backs when we're out on missions, but..." Blake relented, thinking about what little she really had that was truly her own. She'd get more of that freedom once she along with the rest of her team graduated, but that wasn't for a good few months from now.

"But they're not here now, right? I know it's not exactly just yourself here, but It's something you're doing without them getting involved, isn't it?" Jaune asked, getting the feeling this was something she'd been having issues with for a while. He could understand the sentiment, if in a different way. Also one of the downsides of having such a big family, you couldn't do anything by yourself. Secrecy and isolation were impossible when there were enough people in your family to occupy every room in the house at a time.

Made puberty really difficult, lets put it that way.

"I guess so." Blake replied in a resigned tone, her thoughts beginning to spiral again. Why was it so difficult for her to just enjoy the moment as it was? That there was someone that cared for her outside of her team? She only got used to them because she was forced to live in the same room as them. It was far more than that now, but if she had the choice, she wouldn't have ever wanted to be associated with Weiss way back when. So, now that she's met someone else who seemed to care for her deeply, she didn't feel right in accepting such a thing. Why must she be this way?

"...Let's head back to my place. I'll whip us up something to eat and we'll decide if we want to go to the gym later. It's not good to work out on an empty stomach, you know?" Jaune tried to ease, feeling her mood begin to dampen. When she didn't respond, he frowned, wishing there was something he could do to make her feel better. It was then that he remembered how she responded to feeling his Aura on hers. Granted, it was a situation where they were both...heated let's say, but he figured it would at least help her not feel out of sorts. So, he focused on bringing his Aura out, slowly as to both not startle her and also so he could still keep his focus on the road.

"That sounds nice." She responded after a moment. Feeling him essentially reach out with his own soul to sooth her, it reminded her that no, life wasn't suffering and that it wasn't all meant to be a trial or meaningless without point. Maybe it was because she could feel his intent and the utter warmth it gave her, but life seemed to look a lot brighter now.

"We'll need to make a stop at a Dust station. The tank's getting pretty low here." Jaune added, turning into said station. It was a small one, kind of run down, but it would have to do. Still, he looked around to make sure nothing too suspicious was lingering. Vale was many things; vibrant, diverse, quiet at times and mostly clean. What it wasn't however, was crime-free. Especially in the area they just so happened to stop by, it was known for it's particularly high crime-rate.

"I can stay in the car, if you'd like?" Blake suggested, seeing the hesitation in his eye. Jaune turned to her with mild surprise, as though he hadn't anticipated her to practically see through his uncertainty. Though, he had to remember once more that her ability to read his soul was fairly versatile for mundane day-to-day interactions like this. Jaune had to admit, he was glad for it. Maybe he could give her some of those good vibes he'd been working on for himself.

"You don't have to. Come on, I'll get you something that's ridiculously overpriced." Jaune shook his head, laughing a bit. Whatever he was doing, it at least made her give her own breath of amusement. Which was good. He didn't like seeing her sad.

"No, really. I don't mind. Besides, if you keep trying to give me free access to your wallet, you might find I take you for everything you have." She joked back, a small genuine smile on her features. She was okay, she had to remind herself. She's been okay for a long time at this point. Just needed to shed those doubts that had plagued her for a better part of her life. Jaune at least wasn't going to press her on it. Start off small, get to know her a bit better before trying to pry into her personal affairs.

Then again, how do you 'start small' when you've banged each other's brains out barely a week after meeting?

"I can live with a bad kitty. It's my second favorite type of pussy, right behind a wet one." Jaune winked as he got out of the car, cringing at his own terrible pun. He was milking that damn Neko Pass for as much as he could!

"Stop! Don't make me come after you!" Blake yelled after him, an equally pained, yet amused smile on her features as he continued to jog into the store proper. She had to shake her head, palming her face into her hand as she tried to beat down the second hand embarrassment from his joke. Quite honestly, they were indeed quite terrible. She didn't even know why she laughed at them.

"You're lucky you're hot." Blake whispered to herself as she settled into her seat again, simply looking around the station. She couldn't quit help it if her Huntress training compelled her to be on the look out for possible exits, vantage points and some random passerby. It also didn't help that she was the designated scout on her team. The one before she came to Beacon...

"This is getting ridiculous. I should probably go see the school councilor about this." Blake sighed as she was starting to realize that her past had much more sway over her present self than she thought. Truly, she probably should have seen this coming, seeing as she'd never sought out proper help for things that clearly stuck with her after her departure of her old life. As it turns out, Weiss really was being honest about her thoughts on Blake's mental health and not just being petty over the 'import incident'. She'd have to apologize when she got back.

All of this would have to come later, unfortunately, as there was a knock on her window. It appeared she let herself be distracted again. That was happening a lot since she met Jaune.

"Hey there, you mind rolling it down?" The muffled voice on the other side of the window asked. He was a fellow Faunus, if the blue feathers in his hair weren't already an indication. She would be cautious about this, but she was a Huntress after all. Well, a Huntress In training if you wanted to go there, but she was only a year away from her license, so it wasn't much of a difference. Add that on top of her already good reflexes, her Aura and her rather useful Semblance...look, the point was, she'd be able to react far quicker than any two-bit thug on the street. So...she rolled down the window.

"Yes? Did you need something?" She asked, trying to remain nonchalant about the interaction. By all accounts, this could just be someone looking for directions and whatnot. Part of being a Huntress also meant being something of a public servant. Not necessarily at the behest of whoever would come up to her, but more or less she had to have some form of relationship with the general public. Luckily for her, the guy who knocked simply gave her an easy going smile and leaned upon the car.

"Not much, just that I knew I needed to try getting your number."

Did she say lucky? She meant to use the word Unfortunately.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry, but I'm already with someone. They just went in to pay for Dust. There he is right there." She answered calmly, spotting the blonde already heading over. Even despite that, though, this guy...had to have seen their car pull up, right? If he did, then he had to have seen Jaune already. It was true their relationship could have been anything, but...

"Ah, well, sorry about that. Didn't mean to step on any toes. Just wanted to try my hand. Have a good one." The bird Faunus relented, backing off the vehicle and nodding to her before giving a mock salute to her boyfriend still across the way before walking off.

"That was...weird." Blake said to herself as she watched the guy move to his own car. She supposed she would need to get used to interactions like that if she was going to be down in Vale more often like this, especially if she was caught 'alone' as it were. Still, it felt awkward to have to reject him as she did. She was just glad he didn't get offended or anything. There would be people down the road, surely, that wouldn't take it so easily. Which was a lovely thought.

"Hey, Blake. Sorry I took so long. Who was that?" Jaune asked as he approached the car again, attaching the hose from the dispenser to the vehicle's fuel tank. He looked over in the direction of the other guy, only mildly concerned as to the altercation that went down. It didn't look like either of them were upset or anything, but still...

"No clue. Just someone who wanted to try asking me out. Told him I was taken, though." Blake said, giving him a playful smile to get over the event. Jaune smiled back, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he took those words in.

"Gosh, I'm not sure if it's just because it's recent or anything, but I still get goosebumps when you say stuff like that." Jaune admitted as he finished up fueling his car and putting the hose back. Getting into the driver's seat, he saw Blake giving him a smile of her own.

"I would be lying if I said it didn't send a sort of tingle up my spine too." Blake admitted as they began to head back out to the street, intent on heading back to his home to eat. Felt a bit like a waste of time to leave his home, get a spot of tea, fuel up, head back to his house only to leave it again, but she wasn't exactly complaining. Nor was she exactly tight on time either. She cleared plenty of her schedule after the whole debacle from this morning. She was still quite frustrated with them. Clearly, if she were in danger or in any way needing assistance, she would have told them. Honestly, it felt more and more like they didn't trust her as much as she thought they did the longer she thought about it.

"You sure that isn't just you feeling hungry? I've been meaning to try out this recipe for a pasta dish for the longest time. Would you mind helping me with prep?" Jaune asked, wanting to keep this nice atmosphere they had to keep going. Certainly, he could tell there were some issues she was still going through, but he would be lying if he said he didn't have any of his own. Still, what was a good boyfriend if not willing to help her along the way?

"Depends. Can you add tuna to it?" She asked with a playfully inquisitive glance to him. Jaune had to take a moment to remember the recipe he'd seen from the cookbook his mother gave him last year. He was trying to get through the different dishes in it, see what he liked. This one in particular was a very nice sounding fettuccini with white sauce. From what he could recall, it was used with shrimp, but he didn't see the harm in a substitute.

"Pretty sure, yeah." He agreed, making his way back to his house, mentally making sure he had all the ingredients before he passed the grocery. He could just get it from the convenience store if he didn't have enough of a particular item, but he still made it a point to be frugal where he could. One didn't stay rich by being reckless with money.

"Then yes, I'd be more than happy to help you." Blake laughed, finding the idea of cooking with someone other than her team or sister team to be rather exciting. Her own mother was quite good behind the stove, so she figured it was natural that she would at least take an interest in it as well. Couldn't quite 'flex her muscles' in that regard, though. Not in the way she would have hoped, at least. They were expected to be efficient in their caloric intake as Huntresses. That was especially being drilled into their heads because they were in their last year before graduation. Which basically meant they weren't doing much cooking beyond the necessary amount, preplanning meals for an upcoming mission and the like.

Ugh, she was thinking about Beacon again. Man, she really needed to get out more.

"You know, I just realized I've been making today a lot about me. Was there anything you wanted to do while you're in Vale?" Jaune asked, suddenly feeling like he was being rather selfish in their plans for the day. It was a bit strange to suddenly have to share his days with a significant other. Still, he caught himself before they spent too much of the day on just his schedule. It seemed like Blake was surprised by his consideration, as though she forgot there were things she enjoyed doing while in the city as well.

"Oh, I don't really mind. It's honestly a nice change of pace from my daily life. Maybe just a visit to Tukson's, if it's not too much. I seem to find hidden gems there, after all." She winked, making Jaune give a laugh. Honestly, she found it quite easy to flirt with him. She wondered if that had anything to do with her genuine attraction to him, or if she just found she was naturally good at it now that she found a reason to try. It didn't matter in the end, she supposed. She really liked having back and forth banter with him without it devolving into a pun fest she would grow tired of after the first three. It also helped there wasn't a pressure to give any answer from him either. Unlike some other blondes she knew.

"It was a pretty big coincidence we met when we did, actually. I usually only help Tukson later on in the day, before closing. If he didn't call me as early as he did, I don't think we'd have met." Jaune explained, finding it funny how life worked sometimes.

"Are you saying we're some kind of destined lovers? Like Kura and Gai?" Blake asked, curious as to what Jaune was trying to insinuate, if anything at all. She was known to look too much into things, but she couldn't help but latch onto the idea. The idea that they were meant to be together much like the two characters she'd named from Ninjas of Love, was something she once dreamed of when she was a little girl. Especially once her mother told her an old folktale from Menagerie. It was a romantic coincidence if nothing else, but Belladonnas didn't exactly like believing in coincidences.

"Now, I didn't say that. I don't buy into superstitions like that, or Oum forbid destiny. That just makes you blind to the fact that things can change. I mean, if I believed in destiny, then I would have still been-" Jaune stopped himself before blurting out something he was supposed to have buried years ago at this point. He'd moved past it, he was over the idea, he was happy where he was.

"Look, all I'm saying is that the future is constantly changing, and life's unpredictable. It's up to us to make the best of what we're given. For what it's worth, though, I am very fortunate that out of all the different outcomes I could have had that day, I met you." Jaune finished, finding he'd been rambling far more than he intended to. Destiny was a...nice idea, if only in books, but it was far from what he believed to be true for real life.

Blake still looked at him with intrigue, finding his unexpected philosophical rant to be...refreshing. It actually lined up to be quite the opposite of her other friend's beliefs.

"That was a very long winded compliment, but I think I got the message. I'm glad I met you too." Blake agreed with a warm tone. Jaune glanced to her with a happy smile. Truthfully, he thought his expression hadn't changed much since he left the house this morning. He didn't know how many times he could say to himself how happy he was to meet Blake before he got tired of it, but he didn't quite care to figure it out.

It was a pleasantly quiet ride after that. Saying anything more on the matter felt unnecessary for the both of them. It helped that she reached out with her Aura to feel his again. Especially when he reciprocated the gesture. If ever there were a moment of true peace in Vale, they were pretty sure they'd found it.

"So...was it her?"

"Positive, sir. However..."

"If there is any more info you have, spit it out."

"She was with someone else. A human male. She seems to be...romantically involved with him."

"...I see. That will be all, dismissed."

He hung up the small phone calmly before promptly crushing the device between his fingers, the only sound in the area other than the small fire before him. For years, he gave her the chance to recollect her thoughts, come to her senses. Realize where her place was. Yet, it would seem she had chosen to forsaken the cause. He remembered fonder times, working together. She was a good agent, it was a shame she had become disillusioned.

"Lieutenant." He called. The large man who stood across from him stepped forward. This was a soldier who was loyal to the end. The one he'd trust for this next leg of his plan.

"Head to Vale. Begin gathering however many men will be needed to begin operations. I will meet you shortly." He ordered, intent on setting his vision into motion. Regardless of his frustrations, he wished to meet her in person. Perhaps a personal reminder would be able to sway her back to the correct side. For her sake, she would be wise to do so.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" His lieutenant asked, the most miniscule of agitation in his voice. Admittedly, most would assume he was aggravated most of the time, but over the years, he'd come to notice the difference.

"Permission granted." He allowed, still looking down to the flames at his feet.

"Do you truly believe she'll change her mind? That we should allow her to? Your eye-"

"I'm more than certain. Just as she had to prove her conviction in leaving, we shall see her conviction in wishing to remain 'free'. She is one of us, regardless of her past actions." He spoke suddenly. While these doubts were well placed, he was not blind to the friction between his Lieutenant and Blake before she left. Still, he felt the scar underneath his mask burn slightly.

He let out a breath.

"In any case, I will give her one last chance. What happens after that will be on her. Now, leave me." He finished, moving over to his blade, his expression unreadable in the light of the fire before him.

"...Of course, sir. I'll prepare our troops for deployment." The lieutenant nodding before turning and heading off further into the camp, leaving him alone. Pulling the instrument from it's scabbard, he peered his reflection upon the weapon, the flames offering the feintest of light against the night. His mind idly reminded him it would have already been morning where she currently made her hiding hole.

"Freedom does not come without cost. I'm sure you remember. But in case you've forgotten..." He spoke aloud. In a moment, the campfire and bedroll he used had been destroyed, scattered to the winds. Remnants littered the ground as his chest heaved a bit heavier, a scowl on his face. His knuckles were stark-white, grip shaking as he held his weapon.

"I'll gladly remind you."

He then turned and made to follow after his lieutenant, wishing to expedite the trip to Vale. There was much to be done.

"Okay wow, this is actually really good. When did you learn to cook like this?"

"Oh, I don't know. Could be that I'm living on my own, or having ample free time thanks to my work, or maybe even having seven sisters. It could be anything."

"Alright, smart guy. just because you have a lot of sisters doesn't automatically mean you have to be really good at cooking."

"It does if your parents are busy most of the time with work and they'd burn down the house if said sisters happen to even approach the stove."

"...That bad, huh?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Love 'em to death, though."

Blake had a blast cooking with Jaune. It was nice to have someone else who knew their way around a kitchen as well. Though, she would admit she wasn't nearly as good as he was. She was able to help plenty, as the dish they were cooking wasn't especially difficult, but he made the whole process look so effortless. Seeing him dice the asparagus was quite entertaining in and of itself with how fast he did it. Add onto the small talk they had, and it felt like a very quick and fun activity for them to do together.

"I would love to meet them some day. They sound great." Blake commented, the allure of having siblings to call her own a nice idea. Of course, that was to say, she might have gotten a bit ahead of herself to think they'd be together for that long. Or that they'd get to that point in the first place. One could hope.

"That could definitely be arranged. It'd probably be unavoidable anyway. They tend to try prying into my personal life, so they'll inevitably find out I'm dating you, and then they'll demand to meet you. Then it'll devolve into interrogating you-they're a lot, is what I'm trying to say. The main reason I haven't had a lot of successful relationships before now." Jaune warned her, lightly grimacing at the memories of talking to a girl before they'd be scared off by his sisters who were 'looking out for him', as they put it. Never before had he been so angry at them for making him go to a school dance alone.

"Tell me about it. My parents were-still are pretty protective of me. I wasn't particularly interested in relationships when I was younger, but my parents made sure I wouldn't have the chance to even entertain the idea even if I did. Kind of wish I'd listened to them about my last relationship though..." She sighed, figuring it was pure karma that she was punished for doing something so foolish as to curse out her parents for only trying to protect her and running off when she did. It was very telling that the moment she was no longer in her parent's care that things started to go down hill fast for her. It was also pretty telling that the moment she went to apologize to them and shed her former affiliations that things started to get better.

"Kind of the job of family, huh? Being overbearing and scrutinizing every decision you make for the sake of making sure you're living a happy and fulfilled life. It's just how they show they care. I mean, if your own family isn't willing to tell you that you're fucking up, who will? Am I right?" Jaune laughed, looking back on his various talks with his sisters, mother and especially father about how he'd been going about his life before he settled into Vale. He'd been chasing a dream he'd only been running after with nary a hope and a wish that he'd achieve it, not bothering to try studying or training for the privilege. Clearly, if the Huntress-in-training before him was any indication, he simply wasn't cut out for it.

Now if he could just quiet that voice in the back of his head for good...

"You know, the more you talk, the more I realize I could have used someone like you in my life before I decided to be reckless." Blake sighed, staring at him as she finished her plate. It was quite honestly how baffling it was how put together Jaune seemed to be. Was this what it looked like to have a family that loved you and you didn't decide to just throw it away for the sake of rebellious angst? Gosh, if this went any further, she truly was going to find herself wrapped entirely around his fingers. Those big, strong, dexterous fingers of his...

"Everything happens for a reason, hmm? Wouldn't be who you are if things in your past didn't come to pass. And look on the bright side, you can at least look back and realize that you were reckless. Part of becoming a better person is recognizing where you went wrong and working on it." Jaune imparted, also finishing with his food. It wasn't the best he's done, but it was a good start considering it was a dish he wasn't entirely familiar with. It was fun regardless, and he enjoyed the time it allowed him to have with Blake. He could certainly tell there were a few issues she had before, especially with this past relationship she mentioned. He just hoped he could help her through them if she ever felt comfortable enough to talk to him about it.

"How do you do that?" She suddenly asked, placing her head upon her palm, staring into his eyes with a curious gaze. Jaune just tilted his head. There were a few things he could infer from her inquiry, but assuming was usually where he made a fool of himself.

"Do what? You're going to have to be specific. There's a lot of things I seem to do that not even I realize I'm doing." Jaune asked back. He's been told by his sisters that his oblivious nature was sometimes infuriating for them. Especially when it came to picking up 'hints', or 'clues' as they called them. Truthfully, he blamed his father for his inability to read body language properly and general social ineptitude. He was getting better at it, of course, but he still wasn't the best.

"You...you seem so centered. Like you have everything figured out, barely a care in the world. At peace." She clarified, feeling like she was looking at possibly the only person she'd met who didn't have some kind of major issue in their life. He had a good relationship with his whole family, he was financially well off, he enjoyed his work, he owned a good home, took care of himself both physically and mentally, and on top of all that, he was conscious enough to be the best partner she's had to date by far. Be it romantically or otherwise. She genuinely didn't understand what she did to find someone like him, and she felt lucky to even be his girlfriend. It almost felt unfair to have him all to herself.

"A-ah, well, thank you, I-I think? I know I still have a few things to work through, but I'm glad you think so highly of me. It's honestly taken me a lot of time to get to where I am now, I'll admit. I'm not sure if I'd be the same person I am today if I were in your shoes...hypothetically speaking of course." Jaune quickly added, as though he'd made a slip of the tongue. It was curious, but nothing to note, Blake surmised. In any case, she counted herself fortunate enough that he found just as much joy in being with her as she did with him.

"And hey, if you ever need an ear to talk off for hours on end, I'm your guy. I'm your personal judgement free zone." Jaune offered, getting up and taking both their plates. Before he could move toward the sink, however, Blake suddenly reached up and kissed him on the cheek, a soft smile on her features.

"Thank you. For everything." She told him, giving his arm a gentle squeeze and her eyes sincere. Jaune returned it, nodding in understanding.

"Don't mention it. It's what a good boyfriend does." He shrugged before heading to the kitchen again, humming a small tune. She watched him go with an expression she didn't think she'd make, not before she graduated at least. It was one she expected to make at the person she would be with for most of her life, if not the rest of it. A feeling in her chest told her what this emotion was, the heat in her cheeks and the fluttering in her stomach. All the same, her more logical and cautious brain was telling her not to jump the gun yet, as it were. They had just started dating, and it was far too soon to be making such claims. She'd mull over it later tonight, if she had the time. For now, she was just content to watch him dreamily as he washed whatever dishes and pots he used to cook their meal, happy she'd found a partner so caring.

It also helped he had a great ass of his own.

'Dear Oum, that isn't fair.'

Jaune was currently struggling to look anywhere other than his girlfriend's rear end as she was stretching for their workout. They'd gone to the gym not long after finishing eating, he'd even lent her a pair of his sweatpants. He was sure the drawstring on that particular pair was never going to recover from having to be pulled so taught against her waist. That compact shirt she borrowed was more or less rather loose. Still, it conformed to her figure in all the right ways. Her toned arms were accentuated while the fabric hung off her chest, somehow taking what would normally be a conservative look and making it tantalizing. All that being said, it did nothing to hide the fucking DUMP TRUCK she was lugging around! Fuck, it was distracting!

"Calm down sailor, I can take care of that later. Come on, I'll spot you." Blake laughed over her shoulder, seeing him not-looking-but-still-totally-looking at her ass. She had to admit, his own figure was very attractive in its own right. It took a very particular kind of person to pull off a white shirt like he does. Probably not the most practical of choices since it was going to stain terribly in a minute. Still, his shorts were looking mighty tight despite the fact they were supposed to be loose.

"Huh? Oh, s-sorry. Hey, did you do something with your hair?" Jaune tried to deflect, his gait attempting its damned best to hide the tent he was pitching. It failed horribly, in fact only making it more obvious, but he did finally notice she'd put her hair up in a ponytail. He found he liked that hairstyle. A lot.

"Focus, Jaune. How do you start your workout normally? The gym is pretty empty today, so we can do whatever." Blake smiled at him, tapping him on the cheek. A rather big confidence boost washing over her at seeing him ogle her. At the very least, he snapped out of his stupor and nodded, pointing at a machine across the way.

"Right. I'm doing arms today, so I usually start with a few sets of Dips. What do you normally...uh, focus on?" Jaune asked, his eyes flicking down to her legs, his mind coming to the answer mid-sentence. Rightfully so, she would think. One didn't get legs like these by accident. She worked hard for her figure.

"I think you already know, but it wouldn't hurt to work on my arms too. It'll help me with my ribbons." Blake commented, getting on the machine next to him and joining him in his workout. Neither of them needed the counterweight, obviously, and they were able to continue their conversation at the same time.

"Ribbons? Do you do some kind of ribbon ballet?" Jaune asked, confused at her statement. The idea that she would be in a tight bodysuit demonstrating her acrobatics and how flexible she was did nothing to help him calm down. It wasn't his fault, alright!? Once his libido got going, it couldn't rightly stop. Add on his blood was pumping more testosterone because of his pre-workout and protein shake and her, he couldn't be blamed for having a raging hard on!

"Oh, no. It's my weapon, Gambol Shroud. It has a carbon fiber silk ribbon attached to it so I can throw it around for mobility. Comes in handy when I'm moving all over the place." Blake explained, remembering that normal people wouldn't really know about how ridiculous some weapons could be. Her own pistol-machete-knife hybrid was on the higher end of complexity. At the same time, there were people like Ruby, who had her scythe sniper rifle. The one who took the cake, she'd admit, was Pyrrha. How she was able to cram a xiphos, spear, rifle and shotgun into the one weapon was beyond her.

"Huh, no kidding? And here I was thinking I could have made it in with just a sword and shield." Jaune shook his head absently, finding it to be amazing how creative the students were in their combat. Still, he would have liked to think he would have brought some variety, as ironic as it sounds, if he had the classics.

"Ha ha. I'm sure you would have fit right in at Beacon. Honestly, I'm kind of sad no one there is like you. I definitely would have loved having you around when I was going through some things." Blake played along with the joke. While she was exaggerating a bit, the only one that came close to being normal would have been Ren, but even he was pretty far from it, considering his own quirks and misgivings. There was also Nora to think about, so the idea of romance with him would have been shot down before it was even a question.

"Heh, yeah..." Jaune trailed off, the statement hitting a particularly deep nerve. It shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did. He'd been spending the better part of two and a half years getting over it. He didn't need to start thinking he could have a chance now just from the banter of his new girlfriend. The girlfriend who was also a Beacon student, a traitorous part of his brain reminded him.

"Hey, are you alright? I didn't make you lose track of your reps, did I?" Blake asked, concern bleeding into her otherwise joking tone. She had to watch as Jaune slowed down his workout, staying silent for a moment before he perked up just as quickly.

"Almost! I usually like to round down my numbers if I lose track. I'd normally round up if my arms were feeling tired, but this is just the warmup, so it's fine. Now, we've still got a good number of sets to go. You down?" Jaune offered, wishing to change subjects. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear more or less of her life up on the cliffs. One moment he's excited to hear about her daily life, the other he's dreading any real details. A real pickle, figuring out the complexities of human behavior.

"Of course. I assume you're going to do Wings, or maybe incline reps next?" She asked, vaguely aware of a few workouts one would use for their arms simply by being around Yang. She often liked to boast about PBs or other such breakthroughs. The girl was a real gym rat sometimes. Everyone used the gyms and training rooms, of course, but Yang seemed to actually find joy in being in there. For what reason, she didn't know. It was pretty obvious that she had some anger issues, and she was glad she was starting to work through them.

At least, she thought she was, until she tracked down her boyfriend and assaulted him in his own home.

'Hmm, that title's not going to get old any time soon.' Blake thought to herself as she followed Jaune into another section of the gym. Away from the machines themselves and into another room separated by glass. She wondered briefly why that was, but figured it was just a strange quirk of the establishment.

"Yep, and because you're here to spot me and because I'm feeling confident today, I'm going to try pushing myself a bit. I'll try spotting you next after I'm done. Sound good?" Jaune asked, wanting to put the idea of Beacon behind him for a moment and focus on exerting that anxious energy into his workout. No better motivation than past failures, as they say!

Or was that spite? No, no, it was breakups... he was pretty sure...maybe...

"Oh wow, I think I know why this area is separate from the rest of the gym now." Blake commented a she saw him pick from the higher weights on the rack. Even the lower end had weights higher than she would have anticipated from a normal gym. She had to blush a bit as she saw his arm tense a bit as he picked up the seventy kilogram dumbbell with relative ease. She had to swallow when he put it back down, only to take the eighty kilogram weight instead.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he got into position on a bench to do inclined reps. He'd do skull crushers, but he wanted to make sure he was comfortable with this weight first. He'd gotten too comfortable with the seventy set, so this would be the first time he'd try to jump two weights over. If you ask him if it had something to do with having a pretty lady to show off for, he wouldn't know what you were trying to insinuate.

"I mean this is a gym for people in Academy prep schools. Did you really not know?" Blake asked as she took a few sixty-five weights for herself. She wasn't physically strong in the upper half department, and she knew that. It's why she didn't particularly try to go beyond the minimum for said prep schools in that regard. She obviously had other strengths. Still, for someone like Jaune to be that strong on his own was very impressive.

"...No, I didn't." Jaune spoke as he continued his reps. It's here that Blake finally noted he was being particularly quiet. For what reason, she wanted to know. All this morning he had been the one wanting to cheer her up when she was starting to feel down. Even when he'd been nearly knocked out by Yang and confronted by the rest of her team, he hadn't so much as showed anger. He'd been annoyed, yes, but he'd never been as upset as he sounded right now. She didn't understand.

"Jaune, are you feeling alright? Did...I do something wrong?" She inquired, fearful that she might have said something, or made a statement that might have upset her boyfriend. Jaune realized his blunder again and tried to laugh it off, getting up before placing the weight down on the floor.

"No, of course not. I was just trying to get the end of my set. Sorry if I got quiet." He tried to excuse, looking anywhere but her, pursing his lips. Out of all the things for him to get hung up on, it had to be this. Not the fact he was making audio porn, no. Not the fact he ran away from home, straining his already rocky relationship with his parents even more, that would have been too easy. No, it had to be his inability to move on from the fact he couldn't get into Beacon despite it being his one and only dream since he was four.

"...Jaune, did you try becoming a Huntsman?" Blake asked, something finally starting to click for her. The way he talked about his family ancestry and how he looked up to them. Along with his apparent talent in combat, being able to even contest with Yang in that regard. The fact he was in a boxing course meant for those who were trying to apply as well. Then there were these moments where he seemed to elude to something he tried pursuing before his current occupation. Each of them being proceeded by a conversation about her time up on the cliffs, or just about Beacon itself.

There was a long silence before Jaune sighed, finally answering.

"Yeah. I did. Didn't make the cut, obviously. Ended up settling here in Vale." He nodded, summarizing what happened quickly, still not willing to look into her eyes. It kind of felt like he was betraying who he presented himself as to her. Not even two hours ago she was praising him for being someone who was 'well put together'. Now it felt like he was disappointing her for not being that person. The one thing he was ashamed of himself for, the part he wished she didn't figure out, had already made itself known.

"Oh, Jaune...I didn't mean to-" She tried to apologize, realizing how most of those conversations were recontextualized with this revelation. Still, Jaune held a hand up, shaking his head with a tired expression.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You couldn't have known. Besides, I gave it my best, and my best wasn't enough. No point in crying over spilt milk, you know?" Jaune saod with a shrug. He only had the one shot at getting in, and he'd been rejected. Whether they saw through his fake transcripts or if he made the info too grounded, he didn't know. All he did know, was that the chance came and went. There was no do-overs or appeals for his case. He'd have to live with that fact. He'd get over it eventually. Even if it took another two years. He'd be able to pull through.

Especially if he had Blake by his side.

.

..

...

"Wait, you know you can apply whenever, right?"

"Huh?"

"Jaune, don't tell me no one ever told you you couldn't reapply the next year? If you still want to be a Huntsman, you absolutely can! Oh my gosh, I thought there was some kind of injury you had o-or you just lost your drive. If you want, I can even help you!" Blake laughed in relief, happy that the person that's given her so much happiness in such a short amount of time had a problem she could actually help with. At this point, she had to remind herself that they'd only known each other for a bit over a week. There were still so many things she needed to figure out about him, despite his insistence of the opposite.

"Are you serious? Don't...but my parents..." Jaune trailed off, unsure how to take this information. This whole time, he'd just resigned himself to living a life wondering 'what if'. It didn't make sense, his mind told him. Even when his heart wanted to leap at the chance. His parents, his sisters, they'd all told him...

"Hey, look at me." She said softly, taking his face in her hands and gently turning him so he looked into her eyes. Blake wasn't too good at emotional heart-to-hearts normally. But she's come a long way since her freshman year. She knew when someone felt like they couldn't or even shouldn't reach for what they wanted. She was there herself. Back then, she had so many regrets and doubts, she doubted she'd ever be able to move past them and make up for them. She saw it in his eyes, feel it in his soul that he was the same. It wouldn't do. No, not for the man who she...

"If you still want to be a Huntsman, I am more than happy to train with you. You've already given me someone to talk about my hobbies and guilty pleasures with, an opportunity to not have to worry about my problems, and you're the first person I've trusted enough to make love to me." Blake began, feeling her skin flush and her heart drum. She knew the her of two years ago, or even of two months ago, would have been appalled at the sight of her being so open and vulnerable to someone like this. Yet, she didn't care. When she looked at him, when she felt his Aura flare up in response to their close proximity, she couldn't help but want to be vulnerable with him. She'd been closed off for far too long.

"Let me be the one to help you achieve your dream." She finished, giving him a light kiss. Jaune only stared at her in silence for a moment longer before taking a breath, briefly closing his eyes. When he opened them again, it looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, a new light in his gaze.

"You're the best thing to happen to me, you know that? You're already so amazing, being able to juggle both school life, training and missions. Now you're willing to add me to the list? I wish there was something I could do for you too." He responded, bringing up his hands to hold her wrists, leaning into her touch. Despite everything, he was sure he couldn't have found someone better than Blake Belladonna. He wasn't one to believe in destiny, that much was true, but in this case, he was leaning quite heavily into the idea he had found 'Mrs. Right'.

"I'm pretty sure the point of being in a relationship is to raise each other up, and believe me when I say you have more than done your share. But, if you really want...I'd like a bit of a 'workout' from you when we're done here." Blake teased as she slid her arms around his neck, bringing herself closer. Jaune returned her smile with his own, arms wrapping around her waist as they embraced each other.

"You know, I don't think It'd hurt to skip one day of working out. Especially if you're going to be putting me through the wringer by training me." Jaune shot back, more than willing to call it early just to take her home right then and there. His arousal was making a shocking return as he felt her body press up against his. The thought of her sweaty, naked skin against his again, her form wriggling beneath his touch sent tingles up his spine.

"Then I think we'll be even. So long as you can do a repeat of last night." Blake bit her lip, the anticipation beginning to get to her as well. She absently wondered if they would have enough time to use that special tea again. Then, the memory of the fact they'd already gone through his whole collection of condoms also raced through her mind.

'I guess we shouldn't. If he doesn't have protection, and I'm not on the pill, It would be too risky for us to have sex...or, if we get some lube, I suppose he could go up my-'

"Hey, get a room! This is a gym for crying out loud! Some of us are trying to get a workout in!"

And the mood had been ruined. Because they forgot the fact they were in a public space, with nothing hiding their intimate moment. They looked to each other, frozen, before quickly breaking away from each other and putting away the equipment they were using. Gathering the rest of their things, they walked out as fast as they could, eyes pointed downward in embarrassment and shame.

Once again making their way down the street in his car, they rode in relative silence. The awkward atmosphere still hanging over them from the gym. They didn't quite know how they thought they wouldn't be called out for getting so into their PDA, but it was definitely warranted. Jaune at least didn't know what he'd try doing if they weren't interrupted. Maybe try to get her into the locker rooms. Or the showers. Or both! Hmm, actually, this gave him some inspiration for another script of his. Definitely gave him more reference material.

"Sorry about earlier. I think I almost got you banned from your gym." Blake apologized finally, feeling a bit responsible for nearly getting nasty with him right there in the middle of the building. Jaune really was dangerous for her. Whenever she gets that close to him, he makes her feel all kinds of tingly, and she forgets everything around them.

"Don't worry too much about it. I was just as much to blame for it too. Besides, I wouldn't mind that too much. If you're serious about helping me train and work out for Beacon, it probably won't be super helpful to me in the long run. You were serious about that, weren't you?" Jaune waved off, that doubt in his mind still making him unsure whether to fully believe her at the moment. He wanted too, believe him he did, but that idea had been nearly uprooted from his heart. It was difficult to try and let it sink in again.

"Of course I am. We can talk about the specifics later, if you want. For now, though, I'm more than certain I'm not the only one who's still in the mood." Blake reassured him, her tone dipping low as she gave him a half-lidded gaze. Her hand brushed against his thigh, Jaune's own heartrate increasing as she began to feel up his erection. He had to look around to make sure no one else was looking in. They were on a public road, after all.

"I mean, you're not wrong, but I don't think we should be doing stuff out here." Jaune said nervously. He wasn't opposed, per se, to the idea of going at it again, but he wasn't a voyeur by any stretch of the word. Reluctant would be a pretty weak word to describe how he felt about it.

"Hmm, probably not. But a little foreplay before we get back to your place shouldn't hurt, right?" She suggested, eyes still glued to his crotch. Jaune had to play with the idea in his head a bit. He wasn't entirely sure what kind of foreplay they could do while he was still driving. The only reason he was even entertaining the idea was because the workout got his blood pumping and testosterone flowing. Even now he was hard pressed to refuse her.

He didn't even mean to make that pun, he was so horny!

"What did you have in mind-"

"Let me suck your dick."

"...You're pretty straight forward, I'll give you that." Jaune relented, feeling himself pulse at her suggestion. It wasn't even just that she wanted to suck him off, it was just how quick she'd been with her demands. Like she's been waiting for the opportunity to go down on him again since last night. The thought alone was hot.

"I've been meaning to try my hand at it seriously this time. We sort of brushed through it, and I want to make you feel as good as you make me~." Blake breathed out, undoing her seat buckle, raising the arm rest between them and bringing her head down close to his lap. Jaune felt his pulse quicken, finding himself needing to refocus on the road to not hit someone. He heard a sensual chuckle bellow him as he felt her press her face down into his shorts.

Ah, so she still did that sniffing thing normally. Good to know.

"I can't lie, I think I'm really starting to like being down here already." Blake teased him as she rubbed her face up and down the bulge, finding a weird comfort in the act. She wasn't going to complain, especially when she felt him reach a hand down and stroke her hair, gentle as could be.

"You don't have to, you know. I can wait until we get to my place." Jaune said, more for her sake than his. No, really, it was one thing if he got caught doing something like this in public, but if she got caught, it might cause trouble for her back up at Beacon. Blake just rolled her eyes as she began to tug his shorts down.

"You might, but I don't want to. Now, are you really going to keep trying to stop me, or are you going to lift your hips so I can try taking you down my throat?" She asked, feeling him freeze up for a moment before hastily doing as she told. It brought a smile to her face, excitement building in her core. She briefly wondered if she herself was into the thrill of potentially being caught, or if it was just that she couldn't control herself around him. Questions for another time, she figured, as she finally was able to whip out his cock. It was just as girthy and big as she remembered it. Pressing her face down at the base, she took a long, deep whiff of him.

"Whatever body wash you're using, I love it." She commented as she began to kiss and lick up and down his shaft. Jaune had to bite his tongue, unable to both focus on the road and speak to her when she was stimulating him. His eyes darted around, keenly aware of the other cars around them, trying to see if any of the other drivers or passengers were looking over to his. How he wished he bought tinted windows right about now. In fact, that was going into his personal shopping list for whenever he decided to get his car checked out again.

"Careful there, if you're not careful, I might have to make use of that ponytail." Jaune swallowed, that same confidence from last night beginning to come out once more. He wasn't sure what it was that made him feel so domineering while in the sheets, but right now, it didn't really-

"I hope you do. That's why I put it up in the first place." Blake looked up at him with a playful smirk, suckling upon the underside of his rod. However, as she tried to focus back on worshipping the slab of meat between his legs, she suddenly felt his hand roughly grab the base of her ponytail. He pulled it back with a harsh tug, forcing her to look up into his eyes, which were now glazed over. The sensation of her hair being pulled making her let out an involuntary moan, feeling her nether regions clench.

"Open up." His voice was husky, steam nearly puffing out of his mouth as he spoke, his arousal through the roof. Blake was going to say something, but the moment she parted her lips, she was shoved back down onto him, his length quickly making it to the back of her throat. Just when she thought he was going to force her down further, he suddenly pulled her back to the tip and stopped there. Finding her breath quickening from the sudden change and increase in intensity from the normally mild mannered man, she couldn't help but wait patiently for what he was going to do next.

"Start sucking. You're going to get me ready for when we get back." Jaune demanded, gripping her hair a bit harder one more time before letting her go. The light had turned green, he couldn't afford to divert any more attention to her. Blake nodded obediently, whining as she got to work. Between his callousness and commanding voice, the cat Faunus felt compelled to start properly blowing him. She'd barely started to last night before they moved on to wild love-making, but she felt more than gleeful to jump to something so raunchy as road head.

"Fuck, yeah. Just like that." Jaune moaned, gritting his teeth to remain focused. They were almost to his home now. Still, he could feel her going to town. Despite her inexperience, he could feel it, she more than made up for it with eagerness. Even still, she said she wanted to try getting him into her throat, but she hadn't made any real attempt for it. The closest she got was when he first forced her mouth down onto him. It was almost like...

"You bad kitty. You wanted me to take control earlier, didn't you? Alright then, let me show you how to do it." Jaune growled out, just now pulling into his garage. He'd nearly crashed a few times getting here, and he was pretty sure he swerved a bit, turned without signaling on top of ignoring a light that just turned red, but he didn't really care about that right now.

"Pleashe. I need it." Blake begged, his cock still in her mouth, slobbering all over it. At this point, both her shirt and his shorts were drenched in her saliva. A smug smile forced its way onto his face as he gripped her hair again and slowly pushed her down.

"Looks like I've got the cat by the tongue, hmm?" Jaune taunted, feeling a sense of morbid satisfaction as he felt her gag and struggle to take him in. Even so, she never made a move to tell him she wanted to come back up. So, Jaune instead began to slowly pull her up and down on his dick, thrusting up as well to make sure she made more and more progress in her goal of meeting her hips with his pelvis.

Looking over, he could see her wriggling her hips back and forth. Using his other hand, he very quickly gave her ass a swat over her pants. Even with the thick cloth and baggy design, he could see it jiggle. Fuck, he'd never get tired of that.

"You liked this too, didn't you?" Jaune asked, bringing forth his Aura again to envelop the both of them. Blake moaned around him, more so when the hand atop her head moved to rub her feline ears. Her legs tensed, doubling her efforts with his encouragement. His free hand slid under her waistband, his fingers digging into the flesh he'd struck a moment before. Her body trembled, a silent hope he would spank her again. Feeling him slowly slide his fingers up and down her sopping wet entrance would have to do for now, though.

"Mhm~." She mewled, feeling herself be enveloped by all of him. He penetrated every bit of her. Her body, her mind, her soul. She'd never felt so cared for in her life. Well, other than the night before, but it hadn't lost its luster the second time around. The way he treated her so tender, even despite his aggressive attitude, the care and gentle undertone of his Aura told her everything she needed to know about him. He'd never want to hurt her, and he only wanted to make her happy. The main reason she decided to train herself into reading people's Aura was to make sure she was never deceived again. Yet, in this instance, it was becoming more and more clear that it had an alternate effect when she did find someone she genuinely had a connection with.

"There you go. That's right, keep it just like this. You're doing so good, my Beauté de Minuit." Jaune praised as he continued to thrust into her mouth. At this point, he wasn't sure if they would be moving anywhere outside of this car. Having raunchy car sex was pretty arousing, he'd admit. Though, he had to remind himself that he ran out of condoms last night. A twinge of annoyance and agitation flashed across his features as he put more effort into pushing her down onto him. She was almost down to the base, the feeling of her constricting throat damn near addicting. The sounds of her moans mixed with her gagging and sloppy sucking made for a cacophony of noises he was sure he'd want to be hearing for a very long time.

"Yaune...Yaune!" Blake moaned around his cock as she felt his fingers plunge in and out of her wet pussy. The combination of his hand on her head gently pushing her down while stroking her ears, his hands rubbing the sensitive spots they found last night along with his Aura acting as its own sort of aphrodisiac, it was a wonder that she found herself nearly cumming already. The one good thing about him not wearing a rubber, her subconscious mind told her, was that she would have the opportunity to taste his seed for the first time. The moment that clicked in her mind, she vigorously began to bob her head up and down. She was determined to get him all the way down her gullet. Despite the tears and the lack of air, she needed to feel him cum right down into her stomach.

"Oh fuck. I'm going to cum, Blake." Jaune grunted, his climax beginning to encroach. He went to pull her off him, but she gave a quick shake of her head, a frantic noise coming from her as she pushed herself back down, the needy sounds she was making as she continued to force herself down onto his dick, gargling and gagging on it. Her moans were a direct encouragement for him to finish in her mouth. Jaune's brain didn't need much more convincing than that, so he grabbed the back of her head and began to assist in shoving her down while also thrusting up into her open jaw. His other hand redoubled its efforts, his Aura flaring a bit more as he subconsciously used it to enhance his movements. His balls began to tense up, cock throbbing and enlarging as it prepared to paint her throat white.

"Oh FUCK." Jaune growled out through grit teeth as he buried himself as deep as possible, his cock feeling her wet, slimy throat constrict around him as she tried to swallow him whole. His white, hot cum flooded out into her gullet. The moment she could taste it, her pussy clamped down on his fingers, spasming. Her legs lightly kicked as her orgasm washed over her at the same time as his. Her mind was in a haze, her senses overloaded with him. Her tongue weakly swirling around his still spewing cock.

He could only breath heavily as he finally came down from his high. Sweat dotted his forehead as he leaned back in his chair. He had to grunt as he felt her bob back and forth on him a few more times to get the last of his cum out. Her cute mewls and moans making his chest swell with both pride and arousal again. His Aura continued to mingle with hers as he stroked the back of her head, his thumb gently rubbing at her cat ears every other move. Blake slowly retracted her head from his lap, sounding sloppy as she finally let go with a pop. Her own breathing was labored as she immediately went back to worshiping his rod, licking and kissing along his shaft to clean him off.

"Brothers above, I'm going to have to pay you back for that." Jaune said with a small smile on his face, feeling his libido be stoked as her lips traced along his length, taking deep breaths of his scent. He was starting to wonder if this was some kind of fetish for her, but it's not like he was going to stop her or anything. Especially not when he heard a purr come from her throat as she looked up at him.

"Even after you gave me all that 'milk'? You spoil me~." She asked playfully. Now Jaune definitely knew this was some sort of roleplay kink she had going on. He didn't know if he should enjoy letting her act more feline-like or not, but...well, she did start it, so...

"Well, I for one am still hungry. And I think I've got a taste for something...exotic-"

*It's okay to be gay! Let's rejoice with the Girls in the gay way!*

Jaune's eyes widened as he heard his phone go off, the distinct tone he set for his sister piercing through the atmosphere. Even as he went to try and silence it, he could see Blake reigning herself back in, sitting up and looking at him strangely. No doubt for the...interesting choice in song.

"Ugh, it's my sister. She's-the ringtone speaks for itself." Jaune sighed, upset that his sister had unintentionally killed the mood. The moment in the gym was salvageable only due to the fact they were people who they'd probably never meet again. This was his sister that he couldn't so easily brush off. Even when he wanted to punt her into the sun at the moment.

"H-hey, Saph. What's-"

"Hey, Jaune. Just wanted to let you know I'm on my way over."

.

..

...

"wat."

"Yeah, just wanted to check in on you, considering you seemed to be in a creative slump last time we talked. And don't start complaining about me not giving you a heads up, you always find an excuse not to be home otherwise. I'm pulling up to your street now. See you in a few!"

*Click*

.

..

...

"Oh Fuck."

Immediately, Jaune began to fix his pants, full panic flooding his system as he realized he only had a minute at most to clean both himself up along with Blake before she would arrive. She was right, he did always make sure he wasn't home when she or the rest of his family came over. Because he wanted to make sure they didn't see anything they weren't supposed to.

"Jaune, what's-" Blake tried to ask, wondering what had him in such a fuss so suddenly if it was just his sister calling. True, she could have just listened in with her advanced hearing, but she's more or less kept herself from doing that on instinct at this point. Her team got really upset with her when she revealed she knew of their plans to throw her a surprise birthday party weeks in advance. It was a funny story, really. See, she was-

"My sister is literally right up the road."

"...Oh fuck."

Saphron laughed to herself as she drove down the street she knew her little brother lived on, feeling fairly mischievous for dropping by so suddenly. She knew he wouldn't be too bothered by it, seeing as they were so close, but he would probably be a little annoyed at her, at least for an hour or two. He was always such a reserved guy, wanted to keep his things to himself most of the time. Probably had something to do with the fact he lived in such a large family. Love or no, privacy was very scarce in the Arc household growing up. Led to some awkward moments when they were entering puberty.

Real awkward.

"Hm? Oh, looks like he just got home too." She thought aloud as she saw his garage door closing. Though, something else caught her eye too. She could have sworn she saw two figures enter his home before it shut completely. Of course, her eyesight wasn't exactly the best, so it might have just been the trick of the light. Or, dark, she should say. The silhouette was awfully...dark, for a lack of a better term, so it might have just been his shadow being casted weird.

"Whatever, It's time for ol' Saph to bother her baby brother for a bit. Maybe get a solid answer why he hasn't gotten over his 'writer's slump' yet." Saphron rolled her eyes as she parked in his driveway, turning off her car and stepping out. She was glad Terra agreed to watch Adrian for the time being. One of the many perks of being able to work from home, she supposed. Also that she had such generous benefits from her job as well, being so high in the IT Priority Employee list. She couldn't understand a lick of what her wife would say about her job most of the time, but that was neither here nor there.

"Gotta wonder where he got the money for this place, though." She asked herself as she walked up to his door. She was always jealous of what her little brother was able to bag for himself here. It was damn near smack in the center of Vale, with a yard both at the front and the back, two stories, close to some of the more popular areas of the city. Not to mention, it was just a gorgeous house altogether. The place Terra was able to buy for them was wonderful, of course, but that was because her job was so high paying. It made her question exactly what kind of job Jaune had that let him buy something like this? He'd never give a straight answer any time it was brought up in conversation.

"Well, he always spoils Adrian whenever he can, so I guess I shouldn't pry too much." She relented, figuring that she didn't really care that much about how he earned money. So long as he wasn't on the streets dealing in drugs, weapons, or -Oum forbid- prostitution, it didn't really matter. He was his own man, and he seemed to be happy here. A long shot from what he was three years ago.

"Now if only we could help him in landing a date..."

"Really? Wipes?"

"It's the only thing I have that doesn't take more than a few seconds."

"I know I said I wanted to meet your family, but they have a really bad sense of timing."

"Tell me about it." Jaune whispered back to Blake as both of them cleaned themselves off with a few sanitation wipes. It wasn't ideal, but it was the only thing he had on hand that could get rid of the distinct stench of...well, them off each other. Jaune took one more sniff of his fingers to make sure they didn't have any lingering scent on them before they both heard the doorbell.

"..." Both of them froze in place, as though doing nothing would make the issue vanish on its own. Though, after hearing a knocking instead of the doorbell now, they both smoothened themselves out, glancing to each other and hoping their efforts paid off. He then moved forward to let the devil into his home.

Alright, that was being a bit mean, but come on.

"Jaune! I know you're in there! I just saw you come in through your garage! So help me if I have to use my emergency key, I- Oh. Hey." Saphron greeted after the door finally opened, revealing Jaune standing there in his gym outfit.

"Ah, I guess I came just in time after the gym. Have you eaten anything yet? I can whip something up for you if your too tired to cook." Saphron offered as she moved into the home, wanting to at least give some sort of peace offering for coming unannounced. Though, she could tell he was particularly miffed, considering he hadn't even said a word to her yet. He usually gave her a hug and a welcome when she came over. Hopefully he wouldn't be too mad that she-

"No, actually. We already ate."

One blink.

Two blinks.

"Huh?" Saphron's attention snapped to the other voice in the house, turning to see a gorgeous woman standing across the way. She was so badly caught off guard that she couldn't muster the words to ask 'who', 'what', 'how' or 'why'. Jaune sighed behind her, closing the door before moving across to stand next to the dark beauty, rubbing the back of his neck as he chose his next words carefully.

"Yeah, so...this is Blake." Jaune introduced, unable to look at his sister for the time being. Even if he hadn't just been getting the best road head he's ever had in his life only five minutes ago, having to introduce a henceforth never before mentioned girlfriend to his sister so suddenly made him revert back to his seventeen year old self. A socially awkward little boy telling his family he was having a girl over. Especially when he talked to Saphron not much longer than a week ago.

"...Hey." Was all Saphron could get out as she stared into the yellow eyes of the new girl. Blake herself was stuck trying to decide if she wanted to give a wave or not, and had her hand looking like it was having a major muscle cramp. Really, she shouldn't be this caught up with introducing herself to the sister of her boyfriend. For Oum's sake, she was able to stare down Jacques just fine with the confidence of a thousand suns; why did this force her fight or flight instinct to kick in!?

'There's still a bit in my mouth.' Blake thought to herself as her tongue swiped over her teeth, the taste of Jaune's seed still very much prominent on her taste buds. Maybe that was why she was nervous, because she feared that if Jaune's sister got too close, she'd be able to smell the cum in her mouth.

Ignoring the small chill that went up her spine, Blake swallowed and took a step forward.

"Sorry about the sudden introduction. I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna. It's nice to finally meet one of his sisters. Jaune's told me a lot about you." She spoke properly this time, holding a hand out with a small smile on her face. She had to remember this was going to be a woman she'd have to get along with if she was going to be staying with Jaune for any length of time. Which she fully planned to, so it was a must. She just counted herself lucky it was only one of his sisters. She was sure this would be a lot more daunting if all seven of them were here.

"Right...hold on a second." Saphron nodded, shaking her hand, finding her grip to be surprisingly strong. Though, she quickly patted her on the shoulder as she passed her and walked right up to Jaune before grabbing his ear and dragging him toward the kitchen, leaving Blake to stare after them

"Wha-ow ow ow ow ow! Saph, what was that for!?" Jaune exclaimed as he was forcefully moved into the other room. Though, before he could make a move to get her to let go, she did it herself. Of course, the glare she was giving him made him shrivel up into himself. Leave it up to his sister to leave him feeling like a seven year old again.

"What was that-are you kidding!? Last time I checked, the Jaune Arc I knew couldn't pull to save his life!" Saphron whispered -more yelled, but who was paying attention- as she pointed back to the living room where Blake was currently waiting patiently for them to return. It was clearly a 'family moment', and she didn't want to intrude. Didn't mean she wasn't going to be eavesdropping, though.

"Alright first off, that wasn't necessary. But second, how are you mad at me? I thought you'd be happy that I've found someone! It's not like I have to report everything to you as they happen. Remember when you fucked off after you left home and suddenly came back married? I don't think you have much room to talk, Saph." Jaune shot back, wanting to kill whatever this was immediately. Saphron, on her part, took a breath before sighing.

"Right, right. Sorry, I just-I should have called first." She relented, taking a step back and turning away from him. She supposed it was a bit of a overreaction. Still, she would have to be forgiven for being so caught off guard that she resorted to scolding him for hiding something like this when he was younger. Jaune at least understood that his sister was just worried about him keeping things from her, considering the last time he tried doing that.

The Audio porn notwithstanding, of course.

"You're fine, Saph. I really was going to tell you eventually. Honestly, I'm glad it was you who came over instead of...any of the others. You remember how they reacted when you brought Terra home, right?" Jaune told her, still rubbing his ear. If he was going to be entirely truthful, this sort of reaction from his sister was actually fairly tame when considering the rest of his family. Saphron had to nod in agreement, still feeling a twinge of annoyance when the rest of their sisters dragged Terra away like they were pulling her to hell. Some serious talks were had that day after they were done. Not that it really stuck, though. 'We're family, it's our job' and other such bullshit.

"Yeah, I guess. So, how long have you two..." She trailed off, now wanting to know the details of this relationship and how it blossomed. Now that Jaune had -rightfully- put her back in place, she was actually kind of excited to know her baby brother had finally found himself a girl. A pretty one at that!

"It's been almost a week, I think. A week and some change, if you count when we first met." Blake interrupted as she found her chance to come back into the conversation. Saphron felt a bit startled, not sure where the Faunus woman came from. She didn't even hear her come in! Then again, it wasn't like she was being very quiet in the first place.

"Oh, so this was recent, recent. Well, I'm surprised you're already comfortable bringing her to your home." Saphron commented, turning to Jaune with a new concern blossoming in her chest. It wasn't a matter of him trying to hide something from her and the family now, it was worry that he may be attaching himself to this woman far too quickly than what was healthy. She didn't want to see her little brother be hurt because he fell too quickly.

"I guess you could say that. We just came back from the gym together, talked about a few things." Jaune nodded, already knowing that from an outsider's perspective that his and Blake's relationship was moving rather fast. Even without knowing how she stayed the night, being so comfortable as to have her over his home in the first place could have been seen as a cause for caution. Regardless, he knew what he had with Blake was special, and he wasn't going to give that up.

"Is that why It smells kind of funky in here?"

Blake and Jaune both froze at the claim for a moment before Blake coughed into her fist and looked away.

"Sorry about that. We haven't been able to shower yet." Blake tried to explain away. Saphron almost thought it was meant as a we weren't able to shower yet, as in together, but she shook the idea away. Even if this woman and her brother were moving rather fast, there was no way Jaune would pull the moves that good. For Oum's sake, even she didn't secure the bag that fast. Keep in mind, at the time she was being fueled by prime tan lesbian shy IT girl. So...she worked fast, alright!?

"Yeah, and the showers at the gym were being used already, so...yeah. Anyway, want to talk some more over tea? I just got some chamomile-which I forgot in the car. Hold on, I'll be right back." Jaune said as he realized the jar he bought was still in the garage. He moved to go get it, but stopped in the doorway of the kitchen and turned to the two women again, realizing he was going to leave his sister alone with his girlfriend and how that was probably not a good idea.

"Jaune, go. You know me, I'm not going to do anything like Rouge or Bleue; I don't want to put anyone through that again. It'll give us girls a chance to chat, maybe get a good read on who's got my little brother wrapped around their finger." Saphron shoed him away, wanting to assure him that she wasn't like the rest of their sisters. Certainly, she wanted to get to know this 'Blake', but she wasn't going to use any 'Advanced Interrogation' tactics like Rouge tried doing to Terra. Besides, she didn't even bring a Dust battery or jumper cables with her.

"O...kay, then." Jaune relented, slowly stepping away again, still looking over his shoulder to keep an eye on them until he had to turn a corner. Here, Saphron turned to Blake with a smile, curiosity clear on her face.

"Well, sorry about barging in like that. I'm Saphron, and I look forward to getting to know you." She greeted again, feeling like she needed to reintroduce herself after the rather lackluster one she gave initially. Blake nodded to her in good nature and smiled in turn.

"Blake Belladonna. And I look forward to learning more about you as well."