Work Text:
Jaune Arc didn't like to think that he was lonely, it was just that he was really lonely and very much in denial about it.
Beacon was almost ten years behind him and now that he was approaching his thirties he was suddenly becoming quite aware of the fact that he hadn't been in love for a very long time. In fact, the last (and really only) person he could say he had truly loved was Pyrrha and that had been so long ago now. They had burned bright all too quickly and when that fire was finally quenched Jaune had been forced to move on by himself. He wondered if that was one of the reasons he'd stayed single for so long. Could anybody ever compare against a goddess like Pyrrha Nikos? It seemed unlikely but now, years on, he realized that he at least had to try before he ended up as a miserable old man with a drinking problem and nobody to call his love.
The years had been fairly kind to him in most aspects (love life aside, that was). His skill as a fighter had improved, his strength had built up over time and he even managed to grow some stubble which Nora had referred to as "pretty damn rockin'" the last time they had encountered each other. Team JNPR had split apart fairly soon after graduation and Jaune had found himself floating through teams after that in a desperate attempt to find a new home. Nothing had ever lasted more than two years but he didn't feel too sad. He'd been able to travel all across Remnant in his search for a new team and along the way he'd gotten to see old friends as well as make new ones along the journey. He felt like he'd grown up a lot and at the end of the day, wasn't that what life was all about? Improving yourself as a person? Even now Jaune couldn't help but groan as he thought about what he'd been like during his freshman year at Beacon Academy.
It had been Neptune of all people that had suggested he start using this new dating app that had become widely available just a few months ago. At the time Jaune had regarded it with disdain but with Christmas approaching yet again and no prospect of spending it with anybody for the ninth year in a row, he was beginning to think that maybe it was worth listening to his friend's advice for once. The app took your profile and randomly matched you up with somebody their highly-specialized systems predicted you would match well with and then set up a blind date for you which seemed both simple and incredibly daunting. Sure, Neptune was using it to hook up with new people all throughout Remnant but Jaune was going into it with much more honest desires. He'd received a bit of teasing for that but he had developed thick skin by now and it honestly didn't bother him anymore. He could give as good as he got, especially when it came to Neptune who hadn't matured at all over the past ten years.
With some hesitancy, Jaune found himself following the app's tutorial and letting it scan his body measurements before having to answer a personality quiz of all things. Suddenly he felt like he was back at school doing tests that required him to over-think every single answer. Was it really that big of a deal? No, not really, but he also felt like he had a lot riding on this. Even with how much he traveled around, he still hadn't met anybody he felt compatible with or returned his feelings should he develop any. He'd learned not to take it personally after a while.
The app managed to find a match for him barely an hour after he'd finished getting his profile set up and Jaune wasn't sure whether he should be happy or nervous about that so he settled for a mix of both. He had an actual date - his first one in years and suddenly he didn't feel very ready for it at all. Luckily he had a few days to prepare and research the restaurant venue that the app had sent him. It was an expensive place which meant he couldn't exactly rock up in his hunting gear, he'd have to wear something nice and oh god, did he even own anything suitable?
After days of over-thinking every little thing, Jaune finally found himself sitting down at a table in a restaurant that felt far too impressive to be anywhere he'd eat. It wasn't as if he was poor or anything, he just didn't go out of the way to do anything that would bring unwanted attention to himself. He was an ordinary guy who liked having a simple life. Big, flashy restaurants didn't exactly appear often in his line of work so maybe this would end up as a special treat no matter what happened.
What with all of his muted panic about the blind date, Jaune thought he had considered every possibility of who might sit down across the table from him. The app had asked him for a gender preference and he had neglected to give one because yeah, Weiss was beautiful but so was Sun. He wasn't a total prude, he could recognize masculine beauty and maybe he just needed to embrace that. He wasn't sure if his date was a guy or a girl, if they would be a Hunter or in another line of work, perhaps they were even a Faunus! He had thought about all of that, making up a thousand faces in his mind for who might possibly be his date, he just didn't stop to consider that it might be somebody he already knew.
He definitely didn't consider that it might be one Cardin Winchester.
To tell the truth Jaune hadn't really thought about the other male all that much since graduation. Cardin's bullying had stopped a long time before then as Jaune started to become more sure of himself and more talented as a fighter and eventually he'd stopped viewing himself as weak which had made him such an easy target in the first place. Why would he ever stop to think about his school bully when he had moved on to having so many great things in his life?
The years had been kind to Cardin. He was still tall and muscular but the years had made his features even more rugged. There were a number of scars through his right eyebrow that hadn't completely healed and his stubble was a little more grown out than Jaune's was. For a moment the blond boy almost hadn't recognized the man sitting down opposite him but he could tell that it took Cardin a lot longer to work out who he was. Cutting his hair short, growing a beard and putting a little bit of muscle on had really changed Jaune's whole look and while he'd never really been insecure about his appearance, he genuinely liked how he looked now. He didn't exactly go around boasting about how handsome he was and he still blushed whenever Yang flirtatiously told him that he'd "leveled up into total hotness" but he didn't go around thinking he was a sight for sore eyes either.
"Holy crap, Jaune?" Cardin gasped, finally catching on to who was sat opposite him. The blond just smiled back at him even though he had a thousand questions running through his head like when the hell did Cardin start liking guys? Was that a recent development? Had he been in the closet back in Beacon? Had Neptune ever flirted with him? Oh god, had Neptune awoken his bisexual side? Jaune was able to sympathize with that one, even if Sun was definitely his choice between the best friends. Blond boys stuck together, after all.
"Hey Cardin," he replied in a carefree tone, not at all worried about who had sat down opposite him. Maybe a few years ago he would have felt hesitant but the animosity between them was from so long ago that he couldn't really bring himself to care anymore. Had he been hurt by it? Of course. Had Cardin been a pretty terrible person? Oh yes. That had been almost ten years ago though and if Jaune had changed as much as he thought he had then there was nothing to say this his former classmate hadn't too. Jaune was more than happy and prepared to give the man a chance. (Maybe he'd gloat about being the better person to Ruby later. He was sure she'd get a good chuckle out of this whole situation.)
"You're... my blind date?" Cardin sounded like he honestly couldn't believe it and to tell the truth, neither could Jaune. Had the app somehow worked out that they had a shared history and matched them accordingly? It seemed more likely than it having come down to simple chance.
"Looks like it!" The blond paused, choosing to tread carefully. He knew how he felt about the whole situation but Cardin was still a mystery. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"No!" the other boy said surprisingly quickly. "I mean... do you?" Jaune just shook his head. Apparently Cardin still wasn't convinced. "We weren't exactly friends though so believe me, if you walk out I won't feel bad at all. Hell, I'd deserve it."
Interesting. That had probably been the most civil thing Jaune had ever heard Cardin say and he couldn't help but smile. It looked like the other guy had grown up after all. "I'm not walking out, don't worry," he assured the other man, waving a waiter over as if to prove his point. Besides, it would be pretty dumb for him to walk out of a date after waiting so long for one. Okay so he hadn't expected it being with Cardin but a date was a date at the end of the day. "How have you been?"
Cardin blinked as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing or hearing. Maybe both. "I've been good. How about you? You look great," he replied before blushing. That alone was enough to make Jaune raise his eyebrows because he never thought he'd see a guy like Cardin actually blush. He had been so used to seeing the other man act all cocky and like he was the king of the school that any sign of vulnerability seemed almost alien on him. "I mean, you look well. Really well." Jaune just grinned. He looked great, did he? He'd definitely keep that information in mind. Cardin Winchester thought he looked great. Oh he was so telling his former teammates that. They'd have a field day with it.
"I've been... great. Yeah, things have been pretty awesome actually," he admit, finding himself grinning without even realizing. The waiter appeared and Jaune was quick to order them both drinks. "Are you still hunting?" he asked, turning back to his blind date.
"Nope. I'm in the security business now. I work for the F.H.U.S," Cardin explained, catching Jaune by surprise once again. He worked for the Faunus-Human Unity Society? Jaune could remember the days when Cardin had teased the Faunus students at Beacon like Amber just for being different and now he was working to protect some of the most important Faunus politicians, public speakers and personalities. It was a long cry from the boy Cardin had once been, that was for sure. "Yeah, it's probably not what you were expecting," Cardin said quickly, as if he'd been reading Jaune's mind at that very moment. There was a grin on his face as he continued with his explanation. "It took a while but I finally wised up and I thought maybe I could help make up for all those times I pushed the Faunus kids around and... I'm still trying to change, you know?"
Jaune had barely even registered that the drinks had arrived at their table, he found himself lost in the other man's eyes. He liked to think that after his years of wising up he was a pretty good judge of character and he could tell that there was nothing but sincerity in Cardin's words. "Very noble of you," he said finally, snapping himself back to reality. Okay, maybe it had been a little too easy to get lost in the other man's eyes. It was definitely no secret that Cardin looked good and Jaune could easily recognize the man's appealing physical attributes.
"Nah, it's not noble," Cardin brushed him off. "What about you, still hunting?"
"Yeah. Not with Juniper anymore though. I mostly go solo."
"Brave of you," the other commented with some amazement clear in his voice. "How's that been going?"
Jaune just grinned, rather bowled over by receiving another compliment from Cardin. It was still a bizarre experience but one he could find himself getting rather used to. It did feel quite nice. "Business as usual. The Grimm never know when to quit," he replied casually, amazed at just how easy he found the conversation.
In fact conversation flowed so easily between them that forty-five minutes passed before they even remembered to order food. Everything was written in some foreign language that Jaune didn't speak using fancy terms in translation that he still didn't understand and Cardin had eventually just translated each individual item to him in 'simple speak'. The conversation continued just as easily after that and Jaune honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd ever laughed that much. They each shared stories of their post-Beacon adventures and gossiped about where their old classmates had ended up. Most of Team CRDL had ended up washing out in the Hunting business and were getting by doing odd jobs. Only Cardin seemed to have made anything of himself. At least JNPR could all hold their heads up high and say that they were all individually proud of themselves. Jaune was willing to take that as a minor victory, even if it was slightly petty after all those years.
After hours, the conversation turned serious again rather unexpectedly. They'd each had a few glasses of wine and Jaune felt more relaxed than he'd been in a long time. That was why it was such a surprise when he heard Cardin say "I'm so fucking sorry."
"What?" Jaune gasped, totally caught off guard.
"You should hate me, you really should. I was a jackass." There was no denying that but it was in the distant past. Jaune had learned to let things go after a few weeks at most because what was the point of holding on to negativity? It was only going to drag him down. "Seriously, you should have just walked out on my ass already. I don't deserve you being nice to me," Cardin continued, only shutting up when Jaune raised a hand.
"I don't hate you, Cardin--"
"But you should!"
"I won't," Jaune said firmly, fixing the other boy was a sharp look. "I hated you back at school, of course I did. Yeah, you were the worst to me. To a lot of people. I'm not denying that and I'm not forgetting it either but that was then. Look at you now. You're a totally different person and so am I and-- are you crying?" Cardin hastily wiped at his eyes. "Holy snickerdoodles, you were crying!"
"I so wasn't!" Cardin fired back quickly, pouting at him.
A broad smile spread across the blond boy's face. "Hey, hey, I'm not judging you! It's nice that you're in touch with your emotions!" He was only teasing just a little bit.
"I'm just a little bit drunk."
"Trust me, I know," Jaune laughed. He'd definitely had more than his fair share of wine that night too. "How about you say we do this sometime without the alcohol? Getting all emotional and serious really brings down the vibe, huh?" Cardin laughed as he nodded in agreement.
"I think I'd like that a lot, Jaune. I think I like you a lot."
"Oh stop, I'll blush!" Jaune replied, well aware of the fact he was already blushing. He couldn't help it, okay!
Leaving the date some twenty minutes later after Cardin insisted that he cover the full bill by himself, Jaune felt strangely buzzed for what the immediate future might hold in store for them both. He hadn't realized that a part of him had needed closure for his experiences with the other boy back at Beacon but he also felt like a whole new chapter of their relationship had just started. The years had made Cardin into a kind man who was both aware of his former mistakes and willing to make up for them - not to mention he was still pretty much perfect eye candy and Jaune really wasn't immune to that. It was the first time he'd felt anything more than a platonic fondness for another person in a long time and it felt overwhelmingly exciting.
Would it really be too soon if he arranged a second date with Cardin for the next day? Was that too eager? Oh god he'd have to ask Nora. No, she'd laugh. Neptune? God no. Ruby? Nope, she'd be even more useless than he was.
Oh god, he was going to have to ask Weiss, wasn't he?