The dance hall Pyrrha and Jaune arrived at wasn't like some of the other places that were scattered around Vale. It lacked a lot of the facets that most people associated with the 'nightclub' scene. The lighting was dim, and there were strobe lights flashing and sweeping over the room. Colors varied, flashes and movements in time with the music. And there was most certainly music, it was quite loud, booming from speakers mounted to the walls, and a far corner booth. She assumed that's where the DJ was. She could also admit that the place was at least clean. Granted, she would also admit she'd never spent much time inside of the club to begin with. But it was clean, and it was meeting the standard she associated with such places.

It was the appearance of the place that had her questioning things. The club had been set inside a brick and mortar building, with most of the wiring and plumbing exposed. The building was almost more akin to a structural skeleton than what most people pictured when they thought of a night club. She assumed that perhaps it was a matter of style and taste, but she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was just being lost on her. Mercifully, it seemed she wasn't the only one, since Jaune also didn't seem to have much experience with this sort of place.

But, so far, outside of a light ringing in her ears, they'd gotten nothing for being there.

"Isn't this place kind of loud?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha felt her brow knit, she was having a hard time hearing him. But he seemed to notice that, and leaned in closer to her, repeating himself.

She nodded. "It is!" She shouted over the music. "I don't know if we'll actually find anything!"

Especially, she noted, with the constantly shifting lights and shadows.

Jaune nodded, and motioned towards the back of the club. Away from the dance floor and the speakers. Though it didn't help Pyrrha much, given how small the building was, she would take what relief she could.

"Thirsty?" Jaune asked.

"Getting there." Pyrrha said, subconsciously licking her lips at the word. The two of them hadn't had much chance for rest, and the air in the club was stifling.

With a nod, Jaune headed off to a side of the room, one with an open, and fairly busy, bar. It wasn't far from her, but Pyrrha kept her eyes open all the same. After the earlier events of the evening, she'd rather not get caught off-guard again. Though she couldn't help but watch him, as he walked up to the bar. The boy who couldn't help but think that she was on a pedestal over him, but still didn't see her as any different for it. The boy who admitted he wouldn't be afraid to try and climb up onto it with her.

The boy she very much wished was doing that right now instead of swooning over a mutual friend.

But what could she do about it? Should she do anything about it? Did she want to-

Yes, yes she did. That was a stupid question and she kicked it out of her head as quickly as it appeared.

It also came with a sad, unfortunate reality: He didn't see her that way.

Yet, he'd grabbed her hand. Led her sprinting away from exactly the kind of situation she despised most in the world. Did it because he knew how uncomfortable it made it her, or at least could see it. In the back of her mind, she was also hoping the whole thing wouldn't somehow come back to bite them either. She'd been in the tournament scene long enough to know, once the rumor mill began to turn, it didn't stop. Especially when you're a fire-haired young woman, who's more focused on her fighting career than the gossip of your competition. It was only by some miracle she'd avoided the worst of it.

Now though?...

She continued to watch Jaune as he spoke to the bartender, who looked at him strangely. After a moment, he nodded, and set a pair of glasses down on the counter. He filled them with a hose of some kind, threw in ice, stirred in some neon red-colored syrup, then threw a cherry in for measure. Jaune then produced some lien, nodded his thanks and strode back over to her, a drink in either hand.

"What's that?" Pyrrha asked, as he held a glass out to her.

"A Ginger Temple." Jaune answered, smiling boyishly. "Saph has a drink she likes called a Black Temple that's kinda the same, but it's good even without rum."

Pyrrha smiled, as she looked at the red-tinged drink. She looked back at him. "You didn't need to do that, water would've been fine."

"Yeah, but what's a little extra sugar, once in a while?" Jaune answered, shrugging but not losing that smile that made her want to drop her drink and drag him back out onto the dance floor. She didn't know what she'd do once they were out there. But if it kept her from doing anything more embarrassing, it was worth it.

Instead, she merely nodded, sipping the drink through a thin black straw as she swept a lock of red hair away from her face. It was good. A touch too sweet for her taste, but pleasant, and a little refreshing.

"Thank you." Pyrrha said, returning Jaune's smile.

"No problem." Jaune said, his smile getting even bigger. "Might as well try to enjoy the moment, right? Besides, I'm sure I'm not the first guy to buy you a drink."

"Hm." Pyrrha hummed, mouthing the straw. She'd never been to a club until tonight.

The pair sidled off to one of the walls and posted themselves there, using it as a chance to observe the club in relative peace. Pyrrha was still giving the room cursory glances, as they stood, but she was beginning to doubt they'd find anything here either. She was wondering how the Courier had managed to find what he had, or if he even had. Though, perhaps they weren't doing things the way he had… Perhaps that would've been a worthwhile question to ask.

So instead she took her partner's advice, and enjoyed the moment. The music wasn't her taste, the flashing lights gave her a headache, and the air was sickeningly humid. But she enjoyed it anyway. After all, she had the right person with her to try and enjoy it with. Maybe it was crazy for her to be as… attached as she'd become to Jaune, in so short a time. But who would blame her? She'd never had much of a social circle. It was hard to have one in her circumstances. Even after they changed, it never got any easier.

In perhaps the most comical of ways, Jaune made it easier.

If nothing else, he was the first person to do something as simple as buying her a drink.

"… Hey, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha looked towards her partner, and found him looking at her, his golden bangs hanging slightly over his eyes.

"… Do you really think I've got a chance with Weiss?" Jaune asked.

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"…" Pyrrha tried to get herself to say something. But the only words that wanted to leap from her mouth rhymed with dough.

Before she could articulate the words in a way that sounded nicer, Jaune continued. "I know that probably came out of nowhere, given how much we talked about it earlier… but that brush with the reporters got me thinking." He explained. "You and Weiss are, like, on the same level."

Pyrrha would be lying to say she didn't find that comparison flattering.

"-and, well, after that one reporter said you were out of my league, and then you asked me… well, now it's got me thinking." Jaune explained, pausing to sip his drink. "I mean… if I'm not in your league, then that means I'm not in Weiss's either, right?"

"Well…" Pyrrha managed to say, but found herself struggling to say more than that.

"I mean, it explains a lot, now that I'm actually thinking about it." Jaune said, beginning to frown. "Maybe… maybe she has noticed that I'm trying to get her attention but just… isn't interested."

"…" Pyrrha didn't know whether to start cheering, or start consoling her partner for his sudden bout of self-awareness.

"It's just… I don't know." Jaune said, shaking his head. "Should I even keep trying, if she really is?"

Silence fell back between the two. One Pyrrha knew was a poignant and important one. He was asking her for advice, as he had so many times before. But this time was different, far more important than the numerous times past. This wasn't a question about how to conduct his business, the one she'd heard so many times before. It was the one she'd been waiting to hear: 'should he?'.

In that moment every part of her screamed 'no!'. It was so obvious an answer it hurt her to think about. If Jaune's feelings weren't reciprocated, might never be reciprocated, why should he torture himself doing so? It was a chance that she thought would never come, and one that she knew would likely never come again.

"…"

So why couldn't she make herself say what she wanted?

As the silence dragged on, she saw the way Jaune's face began to resolve itself, the way the light changed in his eyes. The moment was ending, her silence an answer that didn't need to be spoken. One that she didn't want, or agree with.

She didn't want or agree with the one she was going to give either.

But it was one she knew she needed to. She cursed herself even more for it.

"… You know, this is my first time doing something like this?" Pyrrha asked, swirling her drink, watching it fizz. "Going out for a night on the town, visiting a club…" She lowered her voice. "Having a boy buy me a drink."

Jaune's countenance changed, as he turned to look at her.

"No one's ever done this sort of thing with me before." She said, giving him a sad smile.

"… What?" Jaune asked, bewildered. "But that's crazy, you're-"

"Pyrrha Nikos." She said, nodding. "The invincible girl. The People's Champion. The four time consecutive champion…" She felt her smile falter. "… The girl everyone puts on a pedestal."

Jaune watched her now. He was studying her closely. Somehow, she wished he'd bothered to do so at any other time. Paid as much attention to her as he was trying to now. She'd have loved it then. It only made her feel embarrassed now.

"I've been blessed with incredible talents, and the opportunities they afford." She went on, looking down into her drink. "I'm constantly surrounded by love, and praise, and adoration… but the longer you remain up there, on that pedestal, the more separated you become from everyone who put you there." As she spoke, the words tasted bitter in her mouth. "Everyone… assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm out of their league… It's made it impossible to form meaningful relationships with people- because they assume I'm too good for them…"

Pyrrha looked up at Jaune, still studying her, but she could see the way his face was softening. A look of compassion she knew he meant all too well. She felt her own smile redouble.

"Then I met you." She said. "You had no idea who I was, and even when you found out, you didn't care. You still saw me for who I was, who I am. Not the girl everyone champions."

"Of course I would." Jaune said. "You're Pyrrha Nikos, my partner and closest friend. Why would I treat you any different?"

Gods help her, she wanted to kiss him for that.

"It's because of you, that I've made the relationships I have." She said, her face growing warm. "Ones that will last a lifetime, and mean more to me than being on some pedestal ever has…" She felt expression begin to sour, but she stayed strong and put an end to that. "If Weiss is in the same 'league' as me, don't you think she might wish something the same?"

Pyrrha observed Jaune as he listened to her, saw the way he seemed to take her words in like a sponge to water. Internalizing and holding everything she said. She wasn't sure what he was going to say, but she knew she had to stay strong, whatever he said next.

Which was: "But what if I'm not the kind of guy Weiss wants?"

Pyrrha thought on it for a moment, tried to think of what to say. She was herself caught in the moment, saying the things she felt in her heart. If she were to say what she felt in her heart, she would say: "If I were Weiss, then you'd be exactly the kind of guy I'd want. Someone who'd see me, for me."

Her mouth betrayed her by saying it.

The words hung in the air, birthing a new silence. The bewildered look in Jaune's eyes redoubled. Pyrrha felt the warmth in her face burst forth in a fiery wave that suddenly left her heart pounding. Had she really just said those words aloud? There was no way she could've been so caught in the moment as to let that happen. Yet now she felt her face beginning to burn, heard her heart pounding in her ears, louder and reverberating more heavily than the music bouncing and pounding off the walls of the club. She could only hope that the dim light of the club made it harder for Jaune to see how she looked. She could only barely see his face, after all.

But she could see the look on his face. The saddened, melancholic look was gone. His blue eyes seemed to glow and glitter in the gloom of the club.

"… You're right." Jaune said, a grin breaking out on his face. "I guess… I guess there's nothing I can do but try, right?" He shrugged, pushing away from the wall. "Maybe… maybe she doesn't want me. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try, right?"

"… Right." Pyrrha said, feeling her heart begin to calm.

Then feeling it like a lead weight.

It was the outcome she knew would happen. She'd chosen this path. She wanted him to be happy, and that encouraging him wouldn't ease her own feelings. They would only hurt worse. She could've chosen different, tried harder.

But she wouldn't force him to see her differently. That wouldn't be fair to him. She might have been a hopeless romantic, in the fictional sense, but it taught her something. That feelings and attraction weren't something you could force to exist. They could only blossom of their own time and accord. If they never did, then that was the end of it. But that didn't mean you shouldn't see if they could bloom.

It was a mess.

It left her a mess.

She hated it. But it was what Jaune wanted, even if it hurt her to do so.

Jaune took a step away, finishing his drink. He looked back at her with a grin and motioned towards the bar. "Let's go drop these off and keep moving, we've got a lot to do."

"…Yes." Pyrrha agreed, nodding, giving a small smile of her own.

As he led the way for her, Pyrrha took some small contentment. If nothing else, failing her own interests, she kept that smile of his from dimming. Though small a victory, she would take it as one.

…

Jaune's thoughts raced a thousand miles a minute. His heart was hammering so fast he swore it was going to explode.

Pyrrha was right. He couldn't give up, not yet. If what she said was true, then he had to try, at least one more time, to ask Weiss out. He'd been doing it for the wrong reasons. He realized that now. He wished Pyrrha had talked with him sooner about it. This wasn't about his feelings. Weiss… Weiss probably didn't return them. Even if she thought he was cute, that didn't mean she felt the way he did, did it?

He'd made a mistake. He'd done what everyone else did with Pyrrha, and put Weiss on a pedestal. The Heiress who could do it all. He hadn't thought about her as he should've from the start. She was his friend, and he'd made a terrible error in judgment. One, the longer he thought about it, he knew his sisters would tear him a new one for if they ever found out.

Weiss and he were friends, first and foremost.

If he lost sight of that, then he'd be no different than every other jerk out there.

So what did that mean then? He wanted to try, one more time. See if there couldn't be something more between them. He felt it, in his chest, and maybe his gut, that it was a futile effort. Nothing he'd done so far had worked. There was a chance that ship had fully sailed… But he knew who he was as well. He needed to try, one more time. Even if it blew up in his face again.

But it would only be the one.

After that…

'Why, she's Pyrrha Nikos!'

'Because she's way out of his league!'

'-Then you'd be exactly the kind of guy I'd want. Someone who'd see me, for me.'

After that… Maybe he should ask Pyrrha what he was supposed to do.

It only began to hit him then, as they left their glasses at the bar and left. All the things he admired about Weiss. Her intelligence, her bravery, her grace and fortitude. He didn't know if she could sing, but…

Didn't he admire that about Pyrrha too?

Try as he might not to, he lingered on that thought as they left the club behind them.