( 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

[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. ]

[metalist]

[ Well, she laughs a little now, but it's more in her tone of voice. ] My head isn't that hard.

[ But - okay, fine. She'll play nurse for a second, because he absolutely did not misread the atmosphere and she's not quite ready to let the moment end. Pyrrha's hand curls around his neck, thumb resting in the space below his ear, and she tilts his head gently, maneuvering her own head around to properly examine the affected area.

And then, she gives his nose a lighthearted, dismissive little nudge. ]

Are you ready for my diagnosis?

[beaconed]

[ He might be ready. He's not sure if he's experiencing fever or something else, but playing doctor and patient is something he didn't know he could get into.

He nods, and tries to keep up with the witty banter despite the wide eyes. LET'S DO THIS, ARC-- ]

W-Will I-- will, will I-I-uh, w... w-will I ever walk again? Hahaa-a-a...

[ THE FUCK?! That's the worst improv anyone has ever done. COME ON MAN. ]

[metalist]

[ ............ ah.




This is the worst foreplay ever. She gives him an odd look but doesn't move her hands, not yet. ]

I thought the problem was your nose.

[beaconed]

[ ............ ]

I'm ready for my diagnosis. Your diagnosis.

[ If only the strobe light thing was real. ]

Doc. Doctor Nikos. Or is it nurse? Wait-- nurses don't... diagnose... I think...

[metalist]

[ Laughing a little now, she does let go of him. Her hands, now empty, are left wanting almost immediately. ]

I think you need some sleep.

[beaconed]

[ T E A S E ]

Oh. Ha! Very funny. [ Can he even go to sleep after what just happened?? ]

Do you do self-diagnoses, too?

[metalist]

[ Look, if he wanted to make out, he should have been a more charming patient! ]

No. Doctors always make terrible patients.

[beaconed]

It's a good thing you're not a doctor. Now, to sleep with you! [ what ] I mean-- off to sleep you go! [ better ]

Leader's orders.

[ He's pulling rank on you for once!! ]

[metalist]

[ Setting aside now, to sleep with you! for now, even if it did make her heart jump in stark, unbidden anticipation. Her response is plaintively said, ]

I don't think I'm going to have any luck tonight.

[beaconed]

You didn't think you could stop that train either. C'mon, Pyrrha... I'd feel better if you tried at least...

[ Though, he's not so sure he'll have much luck himself. ]

[metalist]

[ Later, she'll realise that her little game had been what left him rather worked up, and she'll be pleased, in the way of young women growing into the power they have over young men. For now, Pyrrha's simply guilt ridden at having kept him up this long.

When he puts it that way, how could she do anything else? Sighing, she relents, although not without some warmth in her tone. ]

As you wish.

[ -- and, later, he'll find her curled up on the couch and not her bed, sleeping the sleep of the dead someone who's crashing in the repayment of significant debt. He will also find his lunch for the day has already been packed and dinner for the week has been prepped and left in the fridge.

Funny, that. ]