( closed; ) all she wants is a little piece of his dreams

[metalist]

Who: Sweet Valley High's favourite starcrossed lovers (Jaune Arc beaconed and Pyrrha Nikos metalist)
When: 8/10 and beyond; late night
Where: Residential district, a familiar apartment
What: FEELINGS
Rating/Warning: Jaune



[ It had been deceptively easy to get her feet to move in time with the routine she so well remembered. Once home, she had gravitated to what she had known; had reclaimed a measure of normalcy. His room, her room. The common area, the kitchen. The balcony where she had used to sit and do her take-home work, overlooking the route where she had used to take her twenty kilometre runs after dinner.

The days are almost easy, because even though she had declined all the instant-offer jobs and has yet to find anything else, she has some semblance of life and routine. As long as she's in this city, she's determined to live as part of it.

The nights are a little tougher, because sleep still eludes her. She lies awake for hours, either eventually giving up or nodding off for a fitful, restless few hours of dream-filled sleep. It's enough to function, but not enough to function well.

Tonight is one of the former! So, guess what she's doing.

Dressed in her favourite pajamas, she's playing Kill or be Killed Gaiden 3: The Vacation on Sunset Island.

At two in the morning.

With the volume at "rudely high for two in the goddamn morning". Whoops? - In her defense, it was 10pm only five minutes ago! Honest! ]

Comments

[beaconed]

[ Yeah, like that's gonna happen now. Still groggy, Jaune slowly drags himself out of his room. ]

Pyrrha, I know we agreed on taking care of the dishes first thing in the morning, but I didn't think it would be that literally...

[metalist]

[ She picks up the bowl and sets it back into the sink. After falling on the floor, it's going to need to be rewashed, which is fine. Pyrrha doesn't mind chores nearly as much as she minds disturbing his sleep for the millionth time. ]

Yeah... I guess I wasn't thinking clearly.

[ In comparison to him, she looks wide awake, but clearly tired. Please don't say anything, partner. ]

[beaconed]

Oh. What... are you thinking about?

[ He can likely guess what's plaguing her mind, but asking directly is also an opportunity to see if Pyrrha is still insisting that everything is fine. ]

[metalist]

[ A lot of things, in truth. Too many things, with a mind that wanders on its own, forcing her to confront at night what she sets aside during the day. Her mouth opens with a click, but it's another moment before she actually answers him. ]

- my mother, actually.

[beaconed]

[ Her answer is perfectly understandable, even moreso for Pyrrha who never really mentioned any other family members. After everything that happened in Remnant, Jaune would dread the day he meets Mrs. Nikos, to be the one to tell her that he failed her daughter. Her only family.

In some ways, he's still going to have to have that conversation, he feels. ]

Yeah... I guess that would keep me up at night, too.

[ ....... ]

I mean-- n-not your mom, that would be-- my mom! Okay, no, that still sounds weird. What am I doing? Forget everything I just said in the past ten seconds! [ He pulls out his CereVice, activating the strobe light feature as he flashes it in front of Pyrrha. ] Forgeeeeet.

[ ........You're being Men In Black'd. ]

[metalist]

[ That is... definitely blinding, yup. Pyrrha squints in defense as she catches his wrist, gently easing his hand away from her face before she is legitimately crippled by his weird actions. She didn't forget, but she does take his remarks in stride. In fact, her lips quirk in half a smile for the first time that evening. ]

Nice try.

[ She taps his CereVice, turning the strobe light off. ]

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your -- mother thing.

[ Achievement Unlocked: Relentless Teasing. You brought this on yourself, partner. ]

[beaconed]

G'ahhHH!! S-Stop! [ He strobes her one more time, but turns it off on his own now. ]

It's not a thing, it's totally not! Gross!! Oh, man...

[metalist]

[ His righteous indignation startles a giggle out of her. ]

You're right, I'm sorry.

[ Although he did kind of deserve it for flashing a strobe light right in her eyes, Pyrrha's content to let the matter go. Likewise with his brief career as an exotic male dancer, mentions of this in the future will be few and far between. ]

[beaconed]

[ Weird mental images aside, Jaune can't help but follow her reaction with a laugh of his own. ]

... Hey. You know you can talk to me about whatever is on your mind, right? Unless... you don't wanna talk about it at all. In which case, I grant you full teasing amnesty! [ Making fun of Jaune seems to be an effective distraction, at least... ]

[metalist]

[ Making fun of Jaune is always an effective distraction, but she can't resort to it forever. If nothing else, she'll run out of material eventually. More importantly, it would likely devolve into a lovingly spoken tribute to the colour of his eyes. In iambic pentameter. ]

I know.

[ Her expression grows somewhat more serious, and tentative besides. ]

Actually, I'm - [ not sure our living arrangement is working out, because every night she goes back to being a mess and he's the one who suffers for it, ] I was thinking of looking for my own place.

[beaconed]

Huh? W-Whoa... I... o-okay, totally didn't see that coming.

[ Really, after everything that happened with the train, Pyrrha's answer comes rather unexpected. Jaune frowns, once again thinking he's responsible for this.

Perhaps she's having second thoughts about their plans... ]

Are you... are you unhappy here?

[metalist]

No! That's not it.

[ Her voice pitches as it does in her more vehement moments of insistence. Definitely no seconds thoughts, and no regrets about the moment they shared on the train.

But, truthfully? Part of her is still waiting for that shoe to drop, for him to turn around and decide he is angry at her after all. For the locker, for abandoning her partner, for a million little different things she's thought about again and again and wishes, in the way of perfect hindsight, that she could do differently. ]

When we shared a room at Beacon, it wasn't like this. I don't want to keep disturbing you night after night.

[beaconed]

[ Two weeks ago, he was still mourning her. He's hardly in a position to find her disruptive over something like this. ]

So, what, I'm supposed to just... kick my partner out? It doesn't seem right...!

[metalist]

... [ A flash of surprise crosses her face. ]

I'm still your partner?

[ It was meant to be a combat and strategy partnership after all. Quietly, she had assumed her death - and the underwhelming circumstances surrounding her return - had ended that. Months passed, he moved on, but.

Does he still need her? Faint hope shines within her, the same colour as her aura. ]

[beaconed]

... No one else will have me.

[ It's not entirely true. Others, like Shiho, Rapunzel and Athena have all offered to work as partners in the past, but Jaune has made it clear every time that the spot was already taken. It would be a disservice to Pyrrha and everything she had done for him if he just replaced her that easily.

However, it hasn't occurred to him until now that perhaps Pyrrha doesn't want to be partners anymore. She does still consider herself retired, after all... ]

[metalist]

[ Pyrrha doesn't know enough about his life here to take it as anything but the truth, or a version of the truth. Even if no one else believes in him, she knows him and knows what he's capable of. These past two weeks have only amplified that feeling. If anything, he's endeared himself to her more than ever.

With a faint smile, she says, ] They don't know what they're missing.

[beaconed]

I don't care about that, I'll keep doing this either with you or on my own. ...No matter what.

[ No replacements. Besides, in his mind, he was the loser and she was the star when they first met, and as far as he's concerned, that's still the case. ]

[metalist]

[ She doesn't want to leave him now, just as she hadn't wanted to leave him then. Her hands tense at her sides. ]

Do you... have any spots left on your team?

[ It's said with a lot less teasing certainty than it had been that day in the Emerald Forest, but there's a lot more purpose and meaning behind it. She's chosen so little since fighting with, and losing to, Cinder. This is something she wants to choose: this apartment, these jobs, him, him, him.

Slowly, her eyes meet his and she hates herself, a little, for making him say what he just said—that he'll continue without her if he has to. ]

[beaconed]

No, not my team. [ He shakes his head, then continues... ] JNPR is our team, Pyrrha. It'll always be yours as much as it's mine.

[ Including Ren and Nora's, but that goes without saying. For as much as Pyrrha hates herself, Jaune also blames himself for allowing her to think she's not welcome. Had he known sooner this is how she felt... ]

[metalist]

[ It hurts to think of Team JNPR that way - something hers, something that she was a part of, something that will continue on after her - as she continues to occupy this bizarre little epilogue in her life, technically dead but still standing. If Ren and Nora come here, they'll be trapped. If they don't, she'll never see them again.

Her arms cross over her chest, hands protectively splayed over her bare forearms. He's being so nice, he's done nothing but be so nice despite everything she's done to him...

Eventually, she'll have to stop being afraid of his kindness and start accepting it.

Why not now? ]

I do want to stay here, with you. [ With her best friend, and - whatever else they're beginning. ] You'll probably have a few more sleepless nights in store.

[beaconed]

[ Jaune breathes out a sigh of relief, smiling to himself. ]

Y'know... Yang lost an arm when she saved her partner. Injuries aside, I never understood why she just... felt like she lost everything. I'd have given up a lot more for the chance to save you.

[ And here she is now, after all those sleepless nights he already had to endure before he found himself again. He steps forward, maintaining eye contact and gentle as ever. ]

What I'm trying to say is - I don't mind losing sleep as long as you're here. [ He only wishes he could help her sleep somehow, she needs it more than him at this point. ]

[metalist]

[ Although a fair bit more subtle about it, Pyrrha shifts to minimize the distance between them as well. The space between is small enough to be suggestive. ]

... Jaune?

[beaconed]

[ He's not sure where he was specifically going with this when he stepped closer, but Pyrrha's body language in return has already given him the answer he needs. His CereVice still in hand, Jaune suddenly strobes her once more, but this time when she flinches, he tries to be Cute AF by following it up with a kiss. He does it so fast that his lips end up somewhere on her forehead/temple area, and he pressed hard enough that he may have bumped his nose a little. Ow. ]

But you gotta stop doing the dishes so late unless I'm there to help!

[metalist]

[ Her closeness is answered by having the strobe light blasted into her eyes and then being smacked in the forehead by his mouth and nose, and yet Pyrrha doesn't regret a moment of it. She does make a point of catching his wrist, of forcibly removing his CereVice from his grasp and setting it on the counter behind them, and then still not letting go of said wrist. Just in case. ]

Okay, deal.

[beaconed]

[ Thank you for being the mature one here, Pyrrha. As for Jaune, he wonders if he perhaps misread the cue. Or was it the atmosphere? He doesn't know the appropriate way to describe what appears to be a mistake, but he does know that she feels better whenever he can make her laugh. She didn't laugh. ]

Good. I think I broke my nose trying to make a point here.

[ It's said lightheartedly. The nose is fine. ]