sparkstrikes | empatheias IC contact. (archive)

[He doesn't need to react for her to know, but as soon as he goes on, Lightning lifts her head and moves back, keeping her hands on his shoulders. Solidarity, support, whatever it is he wants to take from the gesture, that's what it can be.]

No, she wasn't. Remember when you asked me if I believed everything I said? About changing fate?

[She shakes her head.]

It might be that, it might not be, but you keep telling yourself that you can't, and you won't. Just means you'll have to train harder, and fight harder.

Edited 2018-03-12 12:50 (UTC)

[ He nods, deliberately hiding his eyes under his fringe. He knows if he tries to speak now, he'll just cry like a baby. He doesn't want to dismiss Lightning's kind words, even though he has heard it many times before. Even Pyrrha says that she never met anyone who works so hard to get better, and yet he's always out of his league when it counts.

If Lightning and so many others believe in him, then why is it so hard for him to focus on the overwhelming encouragement, and instead keeps tripping up over what one person said about him being a failure? It shouldn't work that way. ]

... Y-Yeah.

[ No, if his friends believe in him, then he should do the same. Lightning is right. ]

[ He shakes his head quickly, shaking a rogue tear out of his eye. Once that's been taken care of, he looks at Lightning directly, drawing on his confidence as a leader. He may not fight as well as others, but he knows what he needs to do. And if not, he knows he'll figure it out eventually. ]

I'll do it. I'll train even harder... I'll push myself--

I'll become like you.

[ Oddly enough, the sentiment echoes Lightning's own self-confessed wish to be more like Jaune. Why can't these warriors ever just be happy with themselves? ]

[His declaration takes her completely off-guard, and her fingers squeeze his shoulders a little tighter. She would argue that, if she was ever in any place to do so, because she had said those same words once. So, her expression softens and so does her grip, but her hands don't lower yet. Instead, she gives him a nudge.]

Don't get too over your head.

[Joking, of course, but he should know better by now, even without the suggestion of her smile – she has more unwavering faith in him than she was probably ever ready to give. This is just her own strange way of trying to lessen the tension, even if she isn't a natural at it... not like he is.]

You know you can come to me for anything. I don't want you to be afraid to ask.

[There will be no more of this 'too many burdens to shoulder' crap.]

N-No, I know... I know I can count on you.

[ She's the first person he's sought out, apart from his fellow friends from Remnant, to tell her about his Semblance. Furthermore, he doubts he's going to tell anybody else about Cinder, they can't help with that kind of thing the way Lightning can.

It also occurs to him now just how much he missed her, now that his new memories are settling in. It feels like it had been two months... ]

It's just that-- I worry about you, too. [ As he should. Lightning isn't his hero; she's his friend, and that's what he does for his friends. ]

But, uh... since you're offering... is it okay if we trained more regularly?

[ He's got some new moves to show off, too! Ozpin bootcamp will do that to you. ]

[There's something of a low chuckle under her breath as she spins back on her stool to set her elbows on the counter again. Jaune has every right to worry about her, but no reason to – things may be shaky right now but it's nothing she can't handle given some time, and if things do go south, Lightning is learning (slowly) that there are people she can lean on, him included, should she ever need it.

His question makes her smile to herself, because honestly, she's been waiting for it.]

Thought you'd never ask.

[About time!]

How regular are you thinking?

[ Preferably, all the time? He knows he's got a lot of catching up to do. The amount of time he dedicates to training now has been cut in half, now that he's in an actual relationship plus working full-time. Of course, all of those things have been his choice, so no regrets there.

It just means he'll have to be a little smarter about his time management. ]

Hmm... either we can go one full day a week, where you push me to my limits and I cry tears of pain and occasionally wonder if it would be better to just die, or we spread them out to slightly less extreme sessions over the course of a week.

[ And since she's still sitting in his seat, he makes his way around the counter, pacing slowly as he thinks about it. Eventually, he ends up sitting on her original seat across from her. ]

...I choose hard mode.

[That's quite the elaborate battle plan he's come up with... and Lightning quirks a brow while her eyes follow him as he paces, all the way up until he stops.]

Hm.

[Is all she says at first while he takes a seat. She has no problem with either of his ideas and will find a way to squeeze it into her schedule somehow. She did promise him, after all, and she intends to keep it.]

Hard mode being the one where you wanna die? I can work with that.

[Those four years in the Guardian Corps with their military training wasn't for nothing!]

[ He's well aware of her military background -- or rather, as much as she chose to share with him up until now. If he's going to follow in her footsteps, then he wants the same type of training that she had. ]

I just don't wanna keep taking it easy, you know? I'm already so far behind, I need to push myself twice as much. And then some.

[ His training with Ozpin at Haven was pretty relentless, but it was also brief. It didn't even help him much in the end, even if he learned some things. ]

I... I promise I won't waste your time, Light.

[ ...and that's the other reason he rarely asks people he respects to spar with him. Why should they train him when there are more promising students out there? ]

[If that's what he wants, then that's what he'll get. When it comes to things like training and learning how to hold one's own, nothing good ever came from "taking it easy". If it weren't for Amodar pushing her past her limits, Lightning would never have made it as far as she did.

"Waste your time", huh? Her tone takes a shift into a more serious one again and, if she had it in her, she'd respond with a sigh.]

You planning on learning anything from this?

[The only thing that'll waste anyone's time is if he comes out with nothing to show for it, and Lightning isn't going to let that happen.]

These aren't going to be just sparring sessions. You wanna get tough, then we're gonna have to toughen you up. Mind and body.

Mind and body...

[ Jaune definitely wants to learn something-- anything from this. It took him a long time, but he eventually discovered his Semblance. If he can overcome step one, he can do the 99 others. He really doesn't want to disappoint Lightning, because he knows he'll be letting himself down, too... but for the first time in his life, he actually believes that he can achieve his dreams.

He nods at her, indicating that he's not afraid of whatever she'll throw at him at some point in the future.

Unless-- ]

--wait, you're not gonna have me sitting underneath a cold waterfall, right?! 'Cause I tried that once, and-- well... I tried it once. S-So. Yeah. I tried it.

[ and he screamed like a wuss ]

[Wrong muse! If it's ice cold waterfalls he wants to stand under, he needs to go talk to Maya Fey and she can hook him up. That isn't really Lightning's style, and she chuckles under her breath at the mere thought of it because what kind of person does that? Maybe it's good for endurance, but she has her own methods that don't involve water. Besides, he's made it abundantly clear that he's already tried it, and it doesn't sound like it went all that well?]

No. Nothing like that.

[Lightning leans over the counter like she's about to tell him a secret.]

Here's your first lesson: stop thinking that way. You're not wasting my time.

[She's upset that he even went there...]

[ When she leans over the counter, his eyes dart elsewhere again. ... And he holds his drink super protectively! ]

I know, I know... [ Damn it, she's right, why does he keep being so self-deprecating? ]

I-It's just... I realize I'm asking a lot from you. I ask a lot from myself, too. Sometimes so much that I don't even see the progress I make. [ Which makes him think he's wasting his own time on some days, but he's stubborn if nothing else. He'll keep hitting his head against that wall until it either kills him or the wall itself comes down. It's going to take a lot of hits for either of those things to happen, though...]

...I won't think that way anymore.

[ At least when it comes to her as a teacher. He has already learned quite a bit. ]

[Don't worry, she's not going to steal the drink. Although, she can use one of her own now that her coffee has gone to waste...

She accepts his answer and sits back in her chair again.]

Better to ask for more and have too much, than to not have enough. Keep asking, it's what I'm here for.

[And she isn't the only one, either. She hasn't met a lot of his friends from Remnant, nor does she know many of them well, but she has no doubt that they'd be there for him just as much as she's willing to be, if he asked. She appreciates them for it.]

And if you still have trouble seeing your own progress, then I'll make sure to show you.

[At least he can admit that weakness to her... not a lot of people can, and knowing it now, she can help him see it to the best of her ability.]

[ He doesn't realize how much he missed her until now, as his new memories slowly start to settle. Has it really been two months? ]

That sounds fair, heh. ...Thanks, Light. [ He would apologize for even disappointing her like that in the first place, with the way he thinks of himself, but he knows that would just take them further down the rabbit hole. Instead, he smiles appreciatively.

And now, trying to be cool like her, he leans back on his stool as he looks at her, and brings the glass up to his face so he can finish the delicious drink.

Unfortunately, the straw from the glass gets shoved right in his nose as he brings it up, and he freaks out as he pulls away from the glass. When he looks down at the glass, the straw is nowhere to be found??

(It's still in his nostril...) ]

[Her eyes narrow while she watches him and she bites back a smile, and somehow – somehow – she manages to keep her face as straight as possible when the straw gets lodged in his nose.

She scratches at the bridge of her own with a finger.]

You've got something on your face.

[ Tapping his own nose leads to him discovering the lodged straw, and he immediately pulls it out and turns on the stool so that his back is facing her. The last thing she needs to witness is his horrified red face after that display of... uncoolness?! ]

Oookay, well, that's enough catch-up!! Back to work now!

[ Just in time, too! The Hearth is starting to fill up with its first round of visitors, and things are only going to get busier as the day goes on. ]

[Not sure there's anything worse than her seeing a straw up his nose, but she lets him have his moment of privacy, although Jaune will be able to hear her snort from behind him. And while he's turned away? She steals his drink and finally throws back a stolen sip for herself before she hops off the stool at the sight of the customers.]

Right. [At least he's being a responsible employee. She's proud. :) ] Try not to cause too much trouble out here today.

[Or, you know, get more straws stuck up his nose.

Jaune gets a super cool farewell to top it all off – she saunters off in the direction of the kitchen, giving him a wave over her shoulder. Seeya later!]

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