Episode 1: Chapter 8: Lazy Afternoons

Chapter 8 of Episode 1 of Order of Seasons

Miles was just sitting at the local pastry café out on the patio in downtown Vale waiting for everybody to show up. Yang had suggested that after the long battle, everybody should try and have some fun since they were going to have the next day off. Jacob declined because he was still recovering a bit as did Jaune, Pyrrha, and Brooklyn opting to just relax and hang out with Jacob during the day. Miles just sipped his cup of tea contently with waiting for everyone in the warm breeze.

            “What flavor is your tea if you don’t mind my asking?” Miles looked up and saw Blake smiling with a cup of tea in her hands having just exited the inside of the café.

            “Constant Comment with a dash of honey. How about you?”

            “Green Tea with a pinch of sugar. Anybody else shown up yet?”

            “Nope. Pull up a chair. Looks like nobody’s going to show up for a while.” Blake set her tea down on the table and sat down across from Miles. The two of them sat there in silence just simply sipping tea.

            “So how’s the team been doing since yesterday?”

            “Pretty good. It went a lot better than it could have turned out. You and everybody else who provided backup were a huge part of that. If Team CFVY didn’t show up when they did, we would have had our backs up against the wall with Grimm.”

            “Yeah, Coco seems to just tear through Grimm with her Gatling Gun.”

            “Why doesn’t she do that more consistently?”

            “If I remember right, the super powerful cartridges she buys for her weapon aren’t that easy to manufacture so she only pulls them out in emergencies if she has time. If not, then we have a situation similar to the Cinder Fall incident a while back.”

            “Fair point. What exactly did happen during that incident if you don’t mind my asking?”

            “Better get comfortable. It’s a long story.”

            “Eh. Hopefully some of the others will show up during the story.”

 

 

 

 

Yang, Ruby, and the two Grover siblings were hiding out around the corner from the café. They were trying their best not to giggle at Blake and Miles any more than they already were.

            “Oh man, this is just perfect!”

            “I swear, they had better at least hold hands or something by the end of the day.”

            “Relax Yang. Given the scenarios we have planned today, I think this will work out just perfectly.”

            “Nathan’s right. Plus, the day is still young. The two of them could go out and do their own thing and that could still work out great.”

            “All right then, smart guy, lets shut up and see if this works out or not.”

            “I’m not averting my gaze for any reason Yang.”

            “What are you doing?” Everybody jumped and turned to see Weiss, Ren, Nora, Christy and Evan all standing behind them with confused looks on their faces. Quickly, each of them grabbed somebody and quickly ran away around the corner.

            “You guys, what are you doing here?!” Yang whispered angrily.

            “Uh…. Blake told me that we were all getting together at the café today for some much deserved rest after what happened yesterday” Weiss said.

            “Yeah, Miles told us the same thing when he went to check in on Jacob last night” Evan added.

            “Gosh dangit. Ruby, I told you to make sure they were in on the plan!”

            “Well Blake was in the room when I was about to tell Weiss and I wasn’t going to see anybody from Team JCTB or JNPR anytime soon!”

            “Can you please tell us what’s going on?”

            “Okay fine Weiss. The plan was that we were going to see what would happen if we left Miles and Blake alone for the day and maybe try to see if it evolves into a date.”

            “…Our only free day for a while and you planned on us spending it with causing Miles and Blake even more grief?”

            “Come on!” Nathan chimed in. “It’s funny to watch them!”

            “Well if that’s it, then I’m going to go enjoy my day off.”

            “Wait Weiss! Could you please go someplace other than the café? We would really like to see this go through.” Weiss pondered the drummer’s request, shrugged her shoulders and turned to leave in the opposite direction of the café.

            “Smooth moves purple pants.” Yang commented. “Not even I can charm Weiss that easily.”

            “There’s a difference between negotiations and just simply punching somebody in the face Yang.”

            “Careful, I may not have my gauntlets activated, but I can still knock your block off.”

            “Yeah. I get that. You are the best. Plus, you’ve got a nice….”

            “VEST!!!” Natalie jumped in between the two and interjected before Nathan could finish his sentence.

            “Oh come on Natls!”

            “I’ve heard you practicing that one, and I say thee nay!”

            “Aw, you’re no fun Natls!” Yang cracked a big smile and put her in a chokehold, leaving Natalie gasping for breath.

            “Sis, I hardly survive that now, what chance do you think Natls has?” Ruby said nervously.

            “Ah, she can take it.” Yang said releasing Natalie from her clutches. “Besides, Nathan, my eyes are up here.” Nathan started getting nervous, fully expecting Yang to punch him for his attempted innuendo. “Stop staring at my gauntlets please.” As soon as Yang said this, Nathan relaxed, leaving him wide open for Yang to punch him lightly on the shoulder. Ruby got a bit of a smirk on her face as soon as she saw this and grabbed Natalie by the hood.

            “You know, I think four people spying on those two is a bit much. Why don’t me and Natalie go join Weiss and the others while you two just continue to have some fun!”

            “Wait, what?” Ruby started dragging Natalie away from Yang and Nathan despite her complaints. As soon as they were away, Ruby let Natalie go.

            “What was that about Ruby? I want to see what happens!”

            “I know, I do too, but the way Yang’s been acting around your brother, I feel like a third and fourth wheel are a bit too much.”

            “Huh? What do you mean?”

            “Let’s just say I think my sister is actually going to have somebody other than Blake to share a dance with next month.”

            “Oh. I get it now. Maybe we should try to do what we did with Miles and Blake to Nathan and Yang?”

            “Nah. They’d spot us a mile away.”

            “True enough. All right then. Where did everybody go for lunch again?”

            “Follow me. I think I saw them go this way.”

 

 

 

 

            “So they haven’t found Mercury or Emerald yet?” Miles said sipping his tea.

            “No. After Ruby caught Cinder by surprise on top of Beacon Tower, everything started falling apart for the enemy. Cinder had her leg cut off, the Grimm she and the White Fang led started losing focus and became easier to fight, and Mercury and Emerald just ran off, not sure where to go. The White Fang didn’t take them, and they didn’t want to surrender. So now we have no idea where they might be, and we have no idea what their next move is.”

            “I wouldn’t worry about them too much Blake. Those two are more like mercenaries than people who actually believed in Cinder’s vision. Besides, if they were such loose cannons, I’m sure the White Fang would have dealt with them already. So what did they do with Cinder?”

            “With her leg gone, she passed out from the shock, leaving her vulnerable. So Atlas used a technology to take the power she had absorbed from the Fall Maiden and stored it in a vessel to give to somebody they will deem worthy in time.”

            “Pyrrha didn’t accept the offer to be the new maiden?”

            “No. After she nearly died at Cinder’s hands, she decided she still needed to improve her own skills before she could accept ultimate power like that of a maiden.”

            “Interesting. And did anybody slay that giant dragon Grimm thing?”

            “Yang and Velvet wounded it. After that, it flew out of the city and crashed into the mountains. But for some reason, the task force they sent out to finish it off never found it.”

            “Maybe it dissipated at a different rate than normal Grimm?”

            “Who knows? I sleep better at night knowing it hasn’t come back since then.”

            “Fair point.” Suddenly, the nearby bell tower started chiming for three in the afternoon. Miles groaned and poured himself another cup from his teapot.

            “It’s been almost an hour since we were supposed to meet up with everybody. Did something happen?”

            “Beats me. I haven’t gotten any texts from anybody saying anything. Maybe we should just head back to Beacon.”

            “Sounds good to me.” The two of them got up, placed their silverware in the collection bin, and started heading back up Main Street. But all of a sudden, a large parade turned the corner.

            “Oh nuts, was that today? I could have sworn it was next week!”

            “What the flip is this thing Blake?” Before she could answer his question, he saw what it was. A giant parade celebrating dogs, cats, and many different animals heading right for them.

            “Vale does this thing every other year. Supposed to be some kind of “celebration of our animal brethren” or something stupid like that.”

            “Isn’t that kind of a racist thing to do?”

            “Depends on the context. I think there was only one time where I did a picket protesting the parade with the White Fang.  But that was all the way back when the parade was still a young idea.”

            “Either way, I am not getting stuck in that mess.”

            “Ditto. Maybe we can hang out here until it passes?” Suddenly, a pair of servers with big glasses quickly placed feeding bowls for the animals that would be passing by soon.

            “Apparently not. I think there’s an arcade down the road from here. That should keep us clear of this parade.” Blake said with a sigh.

            “Suddenly the Grimm horde from yesterday seems a lot more inviting.”

 

 

 

 

            “Oof. That was too close.” Yang pulled off her waitress outfit and took off her big glasses.

            “Can’t believe that worked” Nathan said as he pulled off his big glasses as well. “I would have figured Miles would have just walked up over the buildings away from everything or something.”

            “Not with Blake around, and you see therein lies the game” Yang said with an evil smile. “I’ve seen the arcade they’re going to. That place will be better for something to happen than them just sitting around a café. Lame! Now let’s stay close behind them before we get swept into that parade ourselves!” The two of them took off after the unsuspecting duo, staying far enough behind they wouldn’t be seen.

            “Hey Yang?”

            “Yeah what’s up Nathan?”

            “Why did you decide to do this today? And why just those two?”

            “Because I love messing with people, and who better to mess with than the most serious members of both my team and your team!”

            “Look, I know you’re a prankster, but I know you aren’t that slaphappy. Back when we first met, you made things funny, but kept them serious at the same time. So what’s the real reason for this “date” we’re having Miles and Blake have?” Yang sighed, as she was clearly not going to fool him whatsoever.

            “After yesterday, I feel like if we just try to have some fun, it would be better for everybody. Especially given the appearance of Adam yesterday.” Nathan clenched his fist at the mention of his name.

            “I thought I had him, but he ran off like a coward.”

            “You know, something like that happened back during the Cinder Fall incident, just the other way around.”

            “How so?”

            “Well, when the White Fang attacked the school, that was the first time Blake had seen Adam since she left their group. That shook her up pretty bad, so she just ran off as soon as the battle was over.”

            “Why did she do that?”

 

 

 

 

            “Because I was scared.”

            “You? Blake Belladonna, were scared? Of what?”

            “Of everything I had done coming back again to haunt me. Adam represents everything I hate about who I am. He wants a revolution for my people, but at the expense of human lives. And the worst part was, I followed him for many years. It wasn’t until he attacked an innocent transport that I opened my eyes to the monster he was. And when he came back, I didn’t know what to do, so I ran off and tried to figure out what I stood for.”

 

           

 

 

            “So Blake ran off because she was scared of her past?”

            “Yeah. Me, Ruby and Weiss started looking for her despite the fact that every major political figure in Remnant wanted to question us about how we did what we did against Cinder that night. I managed to find her, holed up in some old cave out by Mountain Glenn. She had been going about destroying Grimm and doing whatever she could to just hide from her problems.”

            “So how did you convince her to come back?”

 

 

 

 

            “She told me to grow up.” Blake said, clenching her arm.

            “I wouldn’t think that the situation being described wouldn’t have warranted that response.”

            “But they did. I couldn’t handle something from my past and I just ran. That was the second time I had run away from my problems. First from the White Fang, and then from my friends because I was too afraid to face what I ran away from in the first place. Yang reminded me that we don’t have to face our fears alone. It was just like when I thought I was the only one who could fight back against them about a year ago now. Yang reminded me that people care about me and I can’t just throw their good intentions for the sake of my own personal weakness. Besides, we are strongest together.”

            “I guess that makes sense. After what happened in Aequo, I felt like I was the only one who could bring Adam to justice. And even before I came to this school when I was working with Ty, I thought this would be my fight to finish and no one else’s. But now that I’ve been working with a team, it’s pretty clear I can’t do everything by myself. I might be able to one day, but not right now. Not in the state I’m in.”

            “You’ll be fine. Your past doesn’t have to define who you are now. It doesn’t with me.”

            “But it does for me though. And you as well. We might be fighting for what is right now, but the chains of memories in our hearts keep reminding us that these events happened and shaped who we are today. I guess, I just have to find out a way to do what’s right in the present while honoring the past decisions I’ve made.” Blake grabbed Miles’ hand and said,

            “That’s fair. Just remember, you don’t have to do all that alone.”

            “Yeah. I guess not.”

 

 

 

 

            “So yeah. I guess Blake just found a way to deal with the fact that she did the things she did back then while still moving forward.” Yang said putting her hands behind her head.

            “Huh. I guess that makes sense given her background.”

            “That’s why I’ve been bugging Miles and Blake so much. I think those two really can work together to overcome some of their biggest hurdles. And with a day like today after yesterday, I think it’s exactly what they need to keep their minds off things. Now let’s see if anything has change….OH MY GOSH THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS!” Nathan looked ahead to see that she was right. Blake and Miles just walking down the street towards the arcade hand in hand.

            “Well, it looks like you poking fun at them so much has finally paid off.”

            “Hey, you played a role in that too! Yesterday you helped drive them both nuts by just mocking the fact they were talking to each other! You learn quickly young padawan.”

            “I learned from the best. Now then, shall we continue?”

            “Please.”

 

 

 

 

As the two of them continued down the way, they finally reached the arcade. They walked in, Miles put a few Lien cards into the change machine, and got smaller cards in return.

            “You have a favorite game around here Miles?”

            “I personally prefer the racing games around here, but I dabble in some fighters. You?”

            “I don’t play many cabinets, but I do enjoy some of the crane games.”

            “Really? All you play are rigged games?”

            “Hey, some of the merch they got in there cost a ton of money on the CCT store. Better to try and spend a Lien or two on something rather than pay 30 Lien for it outright.”

            “Yeesh. Never took you for a cheapskate.”

            “I prefer the term chance taker.”

            “Yeah, whatever. How about this, we play a round of Soaring Ninja 2 Turbo Edition, and add a few stakes to the game?”

            “What do you have in mind?”

            “You win, I’ll get you whatever you want out of that crane machine.”

            “And if I lose?”

            “You pay for every arcade game I play in here for the rest of the afternoon.”

            “Oh come on, really?”

            “Hey, you’re so willing to gamble your money on little trinkets, why not take a chance?”

            “Fine.” Blake put a few Lien bills into the machine and selected two players.

            “Who’s your main in this game Blake?”

            “I prefer Roxanne, the main female character from Ninja’s of Love. You?”

            “Really? Ninja’s of Love? You do know that’s a total rip off of Naruto right? Speaking of which…” Miles selected the orange ninja as his main character.

            “Since when was he in the game?”

            “This is the turbo edition. They added a lot of third party characters to appease the fans that thought the game was getting too big in the competitive scene.”

            “Huh. I think Ruby only has the original version, so I guess that makes sense. Shall we begin?”

            “Let’s get started.”

 

 

 

 

Yang and Nathan were busy playing a rhythm game off to the side of the fighting game Miles and Blake were playing, but far enough away they couldn’t be spotted. Yang played the guitar while Nathan was on drums, and two of them were doing extremely well.

            “Man, this is one of the hardest songs in the game and you’re crushing it.” Yang said looking at Nathan's score

            “Well that’s what happens when you train to be a drummer as a profession for the first good chunk of your youth.”

            “Good point. Is it just me or do both Miles and Blake seem to be smiling a lot more than they usually do?”

            “Yeah. Usually when Miles smiles, it’s more like an evil or calculating grin. I’ve never seen such warmth ever since I met him.”

            “Yeah. I’ve seen it from Blake several times before, mainly around Sun and sometimes when we would do some fun stuff as a team, but not really this much.”

            “Who knows? At least they’re enjoying themselves.”

            “Yeah they are, but that’s not getting me enough entertainment! I want something to humiliate the two of them!”

            “Is my presence not worth thy time milady?” Nathan said in a bit of a joking snooty voice.

            “Careful how you use that voice Nathan. I think that’s the majority of Weiss’ friends back in Atlas.” They two of them laughed and continued to press onward in the song.

 

 

 

 

Miles was in complete control. He had unleashed a ranged move that knocked Blake’s health down to the red. He moved his character in to land the finishing combo, but Blake’s character managed to dodge the initial attack and hit him instead. Miles’ character recovered and started guarding, but Blake had unleashed a giant combo of punches that caused his character to get dizzy.

            “Stupid shield breaking combos!” And before Miles’ character had a chance to recover, Blake twisted the fight stick and double tapped the punch button and the game started flashing colors.

            “SUPER POWER NINJA TURBO NEO ULTRA HYPER MEGA MULTI ALPHA META EXTRA COMBO! ROXANNE WINS!” Miles bashed his head on the fightstick platform.

            “I win! Now then, which claw machine has something I want?” Blake started wandering around the arcade looking for a claw machine with something she didn’t have yet. Then her eyes caught sight of something and she motioned Miles over and pointed at what she saw in the machine. Miles tilted his head at an angle in confusion.

            “Is that…?”

            “A stuffed dango with little black slits as eyes? Yes. These things are extremely rare collectors items and I have no idea why it’s in a mid-price claw machine.”

            “Isn’t that from an anime?”

            “Yeah. It’s one of my favorites.”

            “What a coincidence. Mine too.”

            “Gee, haven’t had that happen at all today.”

            “Nope. Anyways, how much is the machine?”

            “It’s two Lien a play, so expect to spend about 100 Lien just simply trying to get the dango to move.” Blake said confidently.

            “I’ll just pay two and be done with it.” Miles put the cards into the machine, and maneuvered the claw over the giant plushie. As the claw dropped down, teeth slipped right over the dango, clamping down on thin air. Blake started laughing out loud as Miles missed.

            “Two Lien huh?  Better luck next time!”

            “Careful, you’re starting to sound like Yang.”  As the claw started retracting back up, Miles raised one of his hands, and all of a sudden, the dango started floating along with the claw. The claw moved over to the drop zone, and then opened up the teeth. Simultaneously, Miles lowered his hand and the dango dropped into the prize zone. He pulled it out and handed the giant plushie to Blake, completely surprised.

            “Did you just steal to get me a rare collectors item?”

            “No, I used a cheat code. Stealing would have been if I didn’t even pay the machine for the thing. This way, I pay the system, and I beat a system that was rigged to begin with.  In short, I cheated a cheater.”

            “That’s confusing, hilariously cheesy, and sweet at the same time.”

            “Well at least two out of three ain’t bad.”

            “Let me guess, you don’t count the cheesy part.”

            “I was going for the sweet part, but whatever floats your boat.”

            “Well, it was nice. I mean, it just reminded me of a friend of mine from a year ago.”
            “Who?”
            “A monkey faunus from Vacuo.  His name was Sun.”

            “Sun Wukong? I saw the tapes of his fight during the Vytal Festival. You two were a thing? What happened to that?”

            “Well apart from the legal issues of his stay in Vale, we also found we had different ideals. Especially when I ran off after the Cinder Fall incident.”

            “Did he feel like you were too weak or did he not like what happened….”

            “Look, I’d be more than happy to go into it with you sometime, but we don’t need to spill our entire life stories in one single day. The short version is we had a bad day and we saw things a bit differently after said day.”

            “Okay. Sorry I asked.”

            “It’s all right. We’ve both had our share of conversations today. Besides, it looks like the parade has passed. Want to try and head back to Beacon?”

            “Actually, it’s such a nice day and I don’t know when we’re going to get one like this again. Want to swing by the book store or something?”

            “I’d love that.” The two of them then walked out of the arcade, Blake hugging her new plushie tightly while Miles grabbed a plastic bag just in case they needed it. As they turned the corner to head to the bookstore, Yang and Nathan peeked out from behind the corner of the rhythm game, smiled, and gave each other a fist bump.

 

 

 

 

As the sun set over the city, Miles and Blake were walking back towards the school in the courtyard. Nathan and Yang were right behind them trying their best to wait until they were back in the dorms to surprise them with all the pictures and footage they managed to get of their day together.

            “Oh hey sis! How was the rest of your day?” Yang jumped and turned to see Ruby and everybody else standing right behind them.”

            “Hey, don’t blow our cover just yet! We’re almost done here!”

            “Um, Yang? They’re gone.” Yang looked up and realized that her sister was right. In the split second that her sister got her attention, the two of them had gotten away.

            “Man, wonder if they knew the whole time.” Yang said as she stood up.

            “Given the fact that we were trying to prank/get together the two most serious students in this school, it’s a possibility.” Nathan said with a smirk.

            “That’s great and all Nathan,” Weiss said walking towards him with an annoyed look, “but that still doesn’t help me whatsoever!”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “YOU DIDN’T TELL ME THAT YOUR SISTER EATS ABOUT AS MUCH SEAFOOD AS BLAKE DOES IN A SINGLE SITTING!”

            “Natls, did you convince Weiss to go to that expensive seafood joint you’ve been wanting to try for the last few months?” Natalie scratched the back of her head with a guilty look on her face as she stifled a burp. Weiss placed her palm on her forehead and sighed.

            “Look, since my family is stupid rich and this will probably be a one time only event, I’ll let it slide.”

            “Besides, you were going to spend a lot of money no matter where we went today Weiss.” Christy said. “That much was unavoidable.”

            “Yeah. Besides, you did give us a great day today.” Evan added. “Thanks for that.”

            “Yeah, I think we all really needed this.” Ren added.

            “I had a good time.” Nora smiled.

            “Yeah. It was a good day.” Everybody jumped to see Miles and Blake standing off to the side where nobody could see them unless they really looked hard enough. Yang and Nathan both got a bit nervous and started backing away. Blake and Miles walked right up to both of them before they could run off.

            “You know, I thought something like this would have happened today Yang, but seriously? Giant glasses, were you trying to draw attention to yourself?!” Yang smiled sheepishly as Blake chewed her out.

            “Normally, this is the part where I would go into a hissy fit and threaten to kill you, say you sullied my honor, etcetera." Miles said as he got in Nathan and Yang's faces.  "But in all honesty, I had a good day. So I’ll let it slide. I’m going to bed. We have team practices tomorrow morning in the battle dome. Natalie, I talked with Ruby the other day and I’ve got some new things I want to work with you on."

            “Wait, where did this come from?!”

            “Just do it. If we want a chance in the qualifying tournament in a few months, I need to work better with the lot of you. See you tomorrow.” Miles walked off and left everybody confused.

            “Was my turnaround from snooty princess to team player this crazy fast?” Weiss asked leaning over to Ruby.

            “Eh…. not as fast, but still a lot quicker than I expected.”

            “It’s fine.” Blake said with a smile as she held her stuffed dango. “I think he’s really like this at heart. He’s just had too many bad things happen to him. We all have. Plus, despite all that, we still have a good future to look forward to. And today really showed me that. Thanks Yang. Although, I think you might need to find somebody else to share a dance with in a few months.”

            “I figured. Good thing I’ve got a list of candidates ready to go!” Yang said with a smile.

            “Who’s on your list?” Nathan asked.

            “Can’t give away all my secrets big guy.”

            “Fair enough.”

            “Hey, does anybody want to run some food in to Jacob’s room and see how they’re all doing?” Ruby asked.

            “I’ve got it Ruby.”

            “Thanks Brooklyn.”

 

 

 

 

            “And, that’s checkmate.”

            “Nicely done Jacob.”

            “Thanks Jaune.”

            “So what’s that make it now, 23 wins for you and 12 for me?”

            “I think so. I must admit, I’m impressed by your tactical skills.”

            “He does try.” Pyrrha smiled as she gave Jaune a hug.

            “Got any plans for the qualifying rounds of the tournament?” Jacob asked Jaune.

            “At this point, we qualified last year, so why not go for it again this year?  What’s your team strategy?”

            “I was hoping we could figure that out together.”

            “That’s a smart way of going about it." Pyrrha said.  "That’s what Jaune had us do last year and it worked wonders.”

            “In that case, would you be willing to work with us tomorrow?  We’ve got the battle dome for practice during the lunch period.”

            “I’m in."

Author's Note

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Reviews

[Shep]

Ah, a sweet chapter as the two love birds spend the day together, I loved reading it and it was lots of fun. Now I am ready to dive into the next one and see what mystery awaits me there. Please be kind and return the love.