Playing For Keeps - Ch 59 (Adv) - Perfect Is the Enemy of Good (Patreon)

Amber hung up around the time I finished cooking, and Bia promised she’d be right over. Sure enough, I had just enough time to track down a vase, trim the flowers, and arrange the candy box in front of it before a knock came at the door. Sensing Bia’s Aura behind it, I quickly used my [Inventory] to change into clean, loose jeans and a plain white tee-shirt that showed off the gains my STR and CON had made, and then pulled the door open. “Hey, come in.”

“Hello again.”

I hadn’t been able to tell on the call, but Bia also was dressed extremely casually for her day off, wearing a soft grey top that came down to mid-thigh and had long, baggy sleeves. It would have completely concealed her build if it weren’t for the neck being wide enough to hang off one shoulder. Instead, she was showing off her calves and quads in a pair of leggings that looked painted on, and I swallowed against a suddenly dry throat.

Forcing my gaze back to her face in time to see her also finish looking me up and down, I declared, “Unfair.”

Bia blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“You can’t look this cute in every outfit I see you in,” I clarified, belatedly appreciating that she’d attached a flower from last night’s bouquet to the clip holding her hair back. “It’s unfair.”

“There you go again with your compliments,” she tried to brush it off, but her smile still widened.

“As I’ve said, it’s not difficult when it’s true,” I smiled, closing the door behind her.

Bia paused to take off her shoes, and once she was done I caught her baggy sleeve to get her attention.

“It’s not too soon to ask for a ‘hello’ kiss, is it?”

There was the red in her cheeks I’d been looking for. “I’d like that,” she said quietly.

I stepped into her space again, just like the night before. With both of us barefoot, I was barely two centimeters taler than her, so neither of us needed to strain our necks… but I still made a show of lifting her chin with the knuckle of my index finger, pressing noticeably upward so I could steal a kiss.

As Bia happily kissed me back, my other hand crept around to the small of her back and pulled her firmly against me. Her arms wrapped around me in turn, unbothered by my arm being trapped between us, so I ran my thumb across her chin to direct her and took to tapping my pinky finger against her pulse point.

While I kept it fairly chaste once again… I couldn’t tell you exactly how long we stood there before I pulled away. Fortunately, judging by the beaming smile on Bia’s flushed face, she didn’t consider the time wasted at all.

I couldn’t help the smirk that grew on my own face. “I was going to tell you dinner is ready… but suddenly I’m tempted to have dessert first.”

Still grinning, Bia took a deep breath. “Tempting, but I think we’d better have one more conversation about expectations and preferences. Particularly since we’re going to have to deal with long distance. Have you done that before?”

“Not in a serious capacity,” I replied, leading her over to the table and pulling out her chair.

She smiled happily at the vase, reaching up to touch the matching flower in her hair. “I didn’t tell you last night, but I can’t remember the last time someone bought me flowers.”

“Really?”

“Really,” she insisted. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten flowers from a date.”

As I headed back into the kitchen to ‘retrieve’ the food, I mentally shook my head at, apparently, everyone else she’d dated. Flowers are a slam-dunk. Bending over, I opened the empty oven and deposited the skillet and bowls of potatoes and tempura vegetables from my [Inventory] onto the rack before picking them up and carrying them to the table, careful to lay down a towel under the skillet.

“Pan’s hot,” I warned her, heading back to repeat the process with the pitas and yakitori sauce.

“This smells wonderful, Jaune,” Bia praised me immediately. “It’s a very clever way of making souvlákia kotópoulou without a grill.”

“I can’t take full credit, but I hope it came out good,” I deflected humbly.

[Cooking has increased by 1!]

Or maybe I don’t need to be humble… Just as long as I’m not a dick about it.

Finally, I opened the fridge to retrieve the sesame dressing, as well as grab the tzatziki and the wine bottle which were actually inside. Carefully setting it all down, I took the seat next to Bia rather than across the square table. The risk of bumping elbows is by far worth sitting closer together.

“And you picked an excellent wine, to boot!” she added when I set the bottle down.

“I claim zero credit for that one either,” I laughed. “I once again just asked someone who knows about wine pairing.” Pulling a corkscrew from my [Inventory] concealed by a little [Sleight of Hand] Pouring us each a glass, I lifted mine for a toast. “To us?”

“And to staying friends whatever the future holds,” Bia promised, clinking.

The wine was a rather acidic white, which would offset the heavily savory dish with a brighter taste. Hats off to the guy who recommended this, it’s good on its own. After a sip, we each grabbed a pita and filled them with cubes of chicken, bell pepper, onion, and cheese. Bia went straight for the tzatziki while I opted to try the yakitori glaze, which I’d always been fond of.

I took a bite for myself and chewed thoughtfully. The shoyu chicken was pretty tasty, and the onions had caramelized nicely. The peppers were a bit forward for my personal taste, but experience told me that I was in the minority there. Souvlaki generally called for tiny tomatoes on the skewer as well… I could have added those to the skillet, but I wasn’t the biggest fan, so I skipped them. At least I was confident in the yakitori glaze… benefits of having made it before. I was a little nervous about it being too much soy when put over the shoyu chicken, but my habit of oversweetening the glaze seems to have helped.

“Mmm!”

Well, it wasn’t quite as evocative as the sound she’d let out when I made her galaktoboureko in Atlas, but it definitely let me know Bia appreciated the meal, and that the twists I’d made hadn’t ruined it. The tempura veggies also went over well, and I thought the potatoes had come out particularly well. They’re kinda-sorta like battered fries… not an everyday treat, but damn tasty.

I paused mentally, turning that thought over. Well, I guess that really only goes for people with a normal metabolism. I’m actually pretty sure at this point that my Semblance only cares that I’m eating, not what I’m eating. To my surprise, it actually made it easier not to overeat, since I didn’t need to think about it at all.

Bia asked me about the prep I’d done for the meal, and seemed genuinely interested when I walked her through the steps. “I’m rather pedestrian as a cook,” she admitted, before stifling a giggle and adding, “Although that still places me above both Sienna and Winter. But I’m always interested in the thought process of people who cook well.”

“I’m just an enthusiastic amateur,” I deflected automatically, causing Bia to frown.

“You’re doing it again, Jaune,” she pointed out. “And in spite of having a rather delicious meal I can point to for evidence, I might add.”

“Touché.” I guess I did say having something to point to helped me take compliments, huh.

“So as sincerely as I can ask, why does being praised bother you?” Bia probed. “Is there more to it than what you told me and Amber earlier?”

“I don’t think so?” My gaze dropped to my plate of potatoes, and I picked one up idly. “I can still point to flaws in this meal, and only some of them are deliberate. The cheese softened a bit too much, and I’m not very practiced with tempura so quite a few of these are overdone. I’m also not sure the goma-ae works with either part of this meal, but at least I can store it for later…” I trailed off as I noticed my own rambling.

“Amber is right,” said Bia. “You’re worrying a little too much about being perfect, and forgetting that perfect is the enemy of good. The confidence you project to civilians in a crisis doesn’t need to infect every aspect of your life. Being ‘on display’ all the time is awful for your psyche.”

“It sounds like you’re speaking from experience?”

Bia’s smile was wry. “I may not be in the line of succession, but I still grew up in a Familia with rather high expectations. Not to mention, I couldn’t tell you how frequently I’ve had this conversation with Winter.”

Is that what I’ve been doing? I took a moment to consider that. I suppose it is… Getting isekai’d here definitely predisposed me to holding my cards close to the vest and trying to look in-control at all times. It’s part of what got me so far so fast, but she’s right that it’s equally important to give myself a break from high expectations and enjoy myself where I can.

As soon as I acknowledged that, it felt like a weight I hadn’t noticed lifted off my shoulders, and my Semblance flickered up a notification.

[Recognizing how to better embody your Oath caused your WIS to increase by 1!]

I suppressed a huff. Yeah, I guess being serious all the time is neglecting my tenet of Joy. Aloud, I said, “Well, I hope you aren’t too aggravated by that similarity. I’m already working on it, but I’ll probably need to be reminded again.”

“As long as you’re honestly trying to keep it in mind, I’ll be happy to keep reminding you,” said Bia. “If anything, I suppose it shows I have a type,” she added drily.

That forced an honest laugh out of me, and I had to put down my pita for risk of dropping it in my lap. Wiping my eyes, I grinned at her. “I’m not sure why, but that was not at all what I was expecting you to say.”

“Happy to surprise you, then,” Bia’s return smile was radiant. “I can’t say how often that might occur, but–”

Half-rising from my seat, I interrupted her with another kiss, then sat back to enjoy how flushed she got as a result. “I’m sorry, was that not the thanks you were expecting?” I teased. “I got the impression that you preferred a partner to be direct.”

Bia ducked her head, brushing back a stray lock of hair. “You’re not wrong…” she muttered. Taking a deep breath, she straightened up again, reaching for her wineglass.

I let her take her time gathering herself. Teasing was fun, but if I didn’t want to step over any lines I needed her to tell me where they were… particularly since I’d already, to put it charitably, made some mistakes in starting our relationship. In the meantime, I went back to work on my pita.

After draining her glass and picking up her chopsticks to eat some tempura zucchini, Bia repeated, “You’re not wrong. I do appreciate directness, both in general and particularly from a partner. It’s actually how Winter and I got together.”

“Oh?” I offered her a refill, which she accepted.

“She hates when I tell this story,” Bia confided. “But I happen to think it’s cute. We were trainees at the same time under Sienna, as I think I’ve told you. The Specialist Program is very selective, so there were only five of us at the start, and even that didn’t last long. One dropped back to the Huntsman track, and another washed out entirely, both in our first six months.

“We’d been living at close quarters all that time, and while I got along well enough with Viola, I was much more at ease with Winter. She was already planning on joining the officer track after the Program, so I was already accustomed to listening when she gave instructions, as long as Sienna didn’t countermand her. The more time we spent together over the years, the more I could see that there was a genuinely kind, caring soul under the mask she presented to the world, and the more glimpses I saw of it the more I started to fall for her. Of course, the military has a fraternization policy for a reason, and I didn’t want to risk either of our careers, so I kept it to myself. And, I’ll admit, part of me was unsure how she would respond to my feelings, considering her extremely Atlesian upbringing.

“Then one night during our final year, Viola was out, and Winter told me to sit down a moment before I headed to the gym. When I did, she informed me quite matter-of-factly that when we graduated and she officially joined the officer track, we would celebrate it with ‘an evening of dining and dancing with an eye toward determining our compatibility for romantic pursuits’.”

I had to stifle a laugh at that, but I didn’t even have time to feel guilty before Bia was giggling as well.

“It was so unexpected I had to ask her to repeat it!” she continued. “And that disrupted her momentum, so she stumbled over her words on the next attempt, before finally just grabbing my collar and kissing me.” A dreamy smile washed over her face. “After that, we were able to agree that we should respect the fraternization policy and wait for that date… but we were both very much looking forward to it.”

“I can imagine.”

We were both done eating by that point, so after stowing the leftovers ‘in the fridge’, I carried the wine and chocolates over to the couch. Bia opened the candy happily, selecting one before offering the box my way.

Selecting a dark chocolate piece, I sat down right next to her, stretching my arm out along the back of the couch behind her and letting my fingertips rest on her exposed shoulder. From the way she set down her wine and promptly leaned into me, I took it as a good sign, and started tracing patterns against her skin.

“I suppose the best way to address this is to ask openly,” I said after a moment contemplating my own wine glass. “Given my relative lack of experience… and my issues with perfectionism… How would you like to proceed?”

Bia smiled and leaned into me further, worming her own free arm behind my back to pull herself even closer. “Asking is the usually the best way when you’re not sure,” she confirmed. “Like I told you on Saturday night, communication is key for any healthy relationship. For the moment, I believe we have amply demonstrated our compatibility in conversation as well as combat.”

“Always important,” I quipped, setting my drink down, and Bia laughed. Then, despite her face reddening, she went on.

“Therefore, I would suggest we next explore our compatibility in… other areas.” Though still blushing, her voice was steady and certain as she looked me in the eye from maybe a dozen centimeters away. “Rather than stress yourself about making mistakes, just promise me, and yourself, that you’ll stop if and when I ask you to.”

“I can promise that without hesitation.”

“In that case,” Bia breathed, inching closer to me. “I would like it if you would continue being… direct with me.”

Yeah… I think I can handle that. Instead of leaning forward myself, I used both arms to scoop her into my lap. Then, before she could do more than squeak in surprise, I reached up to pull her head down for a searing kiss on my own terms.

Judging by her… enthusiastic response, it seemed I was on the right track.

Back up at Haven Academy, a rather different rendezvous was taking place.

“Well, Mercury?” Cinder prompted her subordinate. “What can you tell us about Jaune Arc?”

Mercury, reclining on his own bed and fiddling with his Scroll, made a noncommittal sound. “He seems all right. Better than most of the trash here, at least.”

He didn’t seem inclined to continue, but Cinder suspected that was less out of insubordination and more to bait Emerald — who, sure enough, spoke up before Cinder herself needed to prompt him.

“Cinder asked you a question, asshole! Answer her properly!”

The tiny smirk on Mercury’s face revealed that had indeed been his goal, but he did elaborate, so Cinder didn’t feel the need to reprimand him.

“In terms of outright combat skill, he’s mostly just okay. Around par for Academy students; maybe a little better, but not by much. Not sure why, since he allegedly comes from a family of Hunters, but maybe they got lazy training him?”

“From what I’ve been able to find, both here and through our contacts in Vale, he never attended combat school at all,” Emerald reported. “His killing of Krios went unreported at the time, probably to protect his privacy since he wasn’t yet a student at Beacon, but following that with Samiri was too much to hide, and he seems to be on a roll because in the last month he got himself assigned as the leader of his team, assisted with killing Amphivena, and secured an apprenticeship with Qrow Branwen.”

“Back to what I noticed… His combat awareness is already much better than most, which that three-on-one demonstrated,” Mercury offered. “He never lost track of any of his opponents, even when they were behind him, and if I had to guess, it also looked like I didn’t trick him at all with my finisher. Hardly anyone manages to track that in the middle of a fight, even if they know it’s coming — much less the first time, which was the entire reason my dad came up with it in the first place — and managing to turn it around on me took quick thinking and very precise timing. That’s much more difficult to learn, or teach, than how to swing a sword. So overall, he’s pretty good, and if this is where he stands when his apprenticeship has only just started, I’d expect him to get better fast.”

“Should we consider him a high-priority target, then?” Cinder prompted.

“Probably,” he said lazily. “The other thing that stands out about him compared to other students is that his Aura’s dense. Like, the kind of density you don’t usually see outside of veterans or monks. By the end of the fight I wasn’t pulling my kicks at all, and he powered through like it was nothing. He’s genuinely tough.”

“Cinder wants to hear your combat analysis, not your man-crush,” Emerald needled him.

Mercury rolled his eyes and continued. “I’m sure you could tell he’s got fairly impressive reserves as well, but what actually got my attention is that there’s an extra… shell over top of it. Like that chocolate syrup you pour over ice cream, and it gets all hard? If you can’t hit hard enough to crack that, you won’t even touch his actual Aura to start depleting it. Not an issue for you, of course, but something to keep in mind.”

“Interesting,” Cinder mused. “So that’s how he ignored the Vasilias boy’s gunfire. But that’s not his Semblance?” She directed that question at Emerald, who straightened up.

“No, ma’am,” she replied, like the dutiful girl she was. “This… publicity stunt at the hospital seems to be legitimate, and there’s definitely precedent for him having a healing Semblance. Multiple survivors from the Flight 1387 crash reported him fixing injuries as severe as tetraplegia just by touching the victim for a few minutes.”

“I see…” Cinder closed her amber eyes in consideration.

“Should we deal with him now, ma’am?” Emerald asked. Mercury shifted, but didn’t comment.

“No,” Cinder decided. “I’d rather we stay clear of him entirely. I don’t doubt your competence, but assassinating him in the middle of a political play by the Familias is an unnecessary risk considering we’ll have ready access to him at Beacon along with the rest of the targets.” Her eyes opened once more, and from the way Emerald swallowed Cinder knew her burning hunger was visible.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I hate waiting,” Mercury groaned, even as he waved an acknowledgment.

“Until then, add him to the list, and continue researching what you can.”

Name: Jaune ArcLevel: 62 (Next: 13.79%)Title: InitiateRace: HumanAge: 18Job: Journeyman HuntsmanClass: PaladinSemblance: The GamerHP: 8431/8431MP: 4619/4619STR: 229 (100)CON: 293 (105)DEX: 165 (54)INT: 139 (51)WIS: 113 (52)CHA: 162 (53)Points: 117Money: 965,025LStatus: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]

A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

Hopefully I’m not overplaying Jaune’s anxieties; despite his development he’s still somewhat a reflection of me (as through a glass darkly, anyway), and the more slice of life approach means more time to self-reflect.

Dinner is an approximation of souvlákia kotópoulou (Greek, Σουβλάκια κοτόπουλου), which literally means ‘chicken skewers’ but adapted for cooking the chicken, onion, peppers, and cheese in a skillet instead of on actual skewers. This variant is eaten off pita (Greek, πίτα) instead of directly off the skewer.Side dishes are tempura (or ‘tenpura’; Japanese, 天麩羅 or てんぷら), meaning battered and fried, potato wedges and vegetable slices. Tempura vegetables are usually served with dipping sauces; in this case with tzatzíki (Greek, τζατζίκι), a yogurt sauce; yakitori (Japanese, 焼き鳥 or やきとり) a sweetened and smoky soy glaze; and goma-ae (Japanese, 胡麻和え or ごまあえ), a sesame dressing.

I debated with myself on exactly when to fade to black after dinner… I think this is a bit less spicy than the scene between Jaune and Amber back in Vacuo though, and admittedly the story is rated Mature, so it’s probably fine?

I also always second-guess myself when it comes to cutting away from Jaune’s POV, but I think this works okay to show what CSM are up to.

Discussion prompt: Should we have more cutaways like this to see the world outside of Jaune?