Today has been weird. I had to take a horse trophy to have my mother's stud's name written into it – which is typically in Welsh, i.e. incomprehensible and probably a world-record score in Scrabble – and I went to pick it up today to find out that the trophy we brought in, which the show gave us to sign our name on, etc, is NOT the one that was given back to me.
In fact, the big-ass trophy I gave has now become a small one with a boot on it. It's a football trophy, and I'm like "Uh, I don't think this is right."
They actually tried to argue it, too. Seriously.
I have a horse stud as the winner of a football competition?
So yeah, now the trophy is missing and that's not good because it doesn't belong to us, and has something like 20 years of history, even if we won it for the last three in a row, and they're not going to be pleased if it's missing, any more than I'm pleased that it is.
Fun day chasing it down. No success so far.
Cover Art: Jack Wayne
Chapter 21
Business returned to normal the day after Café Prime's opening. Jaune breathed a sigh of relief when it did, and when familiar faces came back – Yang's looking guilty as Ruby angrily reported her sister had actually gone to Café Prime to listen to Olly Firs.
"But he's famous," Yang protested, looking between an offended Ruby and a blank-faced Jaune. "It's not like I actually boughtanything there. I was just listening."
"Silence traitor! You have betrayed the sacred trust! How do you plead?"
"What is this, a trial?" Yang nudged Weiss. "Come on, Weiss-cream. Defend me."
Weiss sighed and looked up from her cappuccino, obviously bored. "She pleads guilty, your honour."
"What? I do not!"
"The court hears your plea," Ruby said. "What does the jury say?"
"Death," Blake said, not even looking up from her book.
"I didn't say anything – and since when does a jury decide sentencing, anyway!?" When it was obvious Ruby wasn't going to give in, Yang turned to him. "Come on, Jaune, back me up. It's okay if it was just to listen, right?"
Jaune hummed. "I don't know…"
"Jaune!"
"Alright, alright, I'll forgive you." Not like he could do anything else and he wasn't that upset, anyway. "Like you say, it's not as if you actually did any custom with them." It didn't look like Ruby was going to be as forgiving, so Jaune distracted her by sliding a slice of cake in front of her. It worked like a charm. "Isn't it a little early for you girls to be out here? It's still lesson time Friday, isn't it?"
"Lessons were cut short because of the Vytal Festival coming up," Yang said. "Hey, you doing anything for that?"
"Me…? Are you asking me-?"
"The coffee shop," she amended. Jaune's mouth clicked shut even as Yang laughed awkwardly. "I mean are you doing anything business-related with it. There's going to be a lot of people coming to Vale, not to mention the festival itself. I'd have thought that would be a big thing for someone like you."
"To my absolute shock, Yang is right," Weiss said.
"Damn right- hey, what do you mean shock?"
"The festival is going to attract a lot more footfall to the city," Weiss said, ignoring Yang's indignant splutters. "Even beyond simply taking advantage of that for increased footfall, there are other opportunities to get involved in the festival itself. Something like this doesn't happen often."
"Isn't it every two years?"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "I mean it doesn't happen here often."
"Oh." He rubbed his head. "Well, yeah, it's going to be good if there are more people in Vale, but I'm not sure I can really do anything more than what I'm already doing." He trailed off as he noticed Weiss' irritated expression. "Or is there something I should be doing?"
"You should be taking advantage of it. Every opportunity must be exploited."
"Spoken like a true Schnee," Blake said, turning a page in what he was fairly sure was some rather hardcore smut. He'd seen one of his sisters read it.
"Every humane opportunity," Weiss growled. "I'm not suggesting he mistreats or works his employees to death, but rather he be prepared for more people and for what that might mean. For a start, the diner might not be large enough."
"I can't exactly afford to buy another place, Weiss."
"No, but you could apply to have seating outside, or rent a little room off next door or something similar."
That was a fair point. He wasn't sure how exactly to go about doing that, but there were plenty of other diners that had tables outside their premises, and so there had to be rules he could follow to do the same. The main problem would be splitting Velvet and Russel up to handle it, as they didn't want to offer poor service to those outside.
"Will it really be that busy?" he asked.
"Potentially. Amity Colosseum alone hosts tens of thousands and there will be all the competitors and more coming to Vale, along with their supporters, dignitaries, VIPs and the general public. Every hotel in Vale will be booked up. They might even be booked up now, well in advance. The Vytal Festival isn't just about diplomacy and peace," Weiss said. "It's a huge economic boon to the city it's held in. Before the rotation system was implemented, each city would practically fight for the right to host the festival."
"Wow," Ruby whispered. "I didn't realise it was that important…"
"Ruby, I'm repeating the exact same information Doctor Oobleck gave us not two hours ago!"
"Heh. I, uh, think I might have fallen asleep in that lesson." Ruby winced as Weiss' teeth began to grate together. "Sorry?"
Weiss let out a long, aggravated sigh. "Never mind." She turned back to him. "You'll need to be on your toes, though, Jaune. Café Prime's decision to open up a new shop isn't just to try and force you out of business. It's also to take advantage of the festival. They'll be pushing with everything they have to get as much of the money as possible. What happened the other day, with that singer, might just be the start."
"Great," he groaned. "What am I supposed to do? I don't know any famous singers."
Blake coughed meaningfully.
Jaune stared at her. "You can sing? YOU!?"
"What? No, I-" Blake sighed and put her book down. "Weiss is a famous singer."
Jaune gaped at Weiss. "You are?"
She raised an eyebrow. "What's with that immediate disbelief?"
"Nothing, nothing, I was just surprised. You, uh, never mentioned that you were a singer." It wasn't that he couldn't imagine a girl so snappy on a stage, nor could he imagine her singing any romantic or gentle lyrics.
Weiss' frown fell and she poked her spoon around her cappuccino, disturbing the cream. "It's not something I bring up all that often. I did sing, and in a few concerts, but being a huntress was always my main goal. The concerts were something my father liked me to do."
"Because he liked to hear you sing?"
"Not quite," Weiss snorted bitterly. "More like he enjoyed the singing of the lien that fell into his bank account. Regardless, I'm out of practice at this point."
"Ah." He winced. "I see."
Weiss held his gaze for a few seconds, before she sighed and leaned her chin on the back of her hand. "But I suppose I could give it a go…"
Jaune perked up. "Really?"
"Seriously?" Ruby spluttered. "When I asked you to sing you said over your dead body!"
"This is a little more important than you asking me to sing in our dorm, Ruby, or were you at risk of being run into bankruptcy if I didn't? I still have my fair share of fans, many of which were upset when I retired."
Jaune couldn't believe his luck, nor could he keep the smile off his face. The only thing that stopped him gushing was the fact he knew Weiss would hate it, and probably retract her offer just to make him stop.
"I'll contact you when I'm ready," Weiss said. "It should wait until more people come to Vale anyway, and I can have my agent spread the word closer to the time."
"I understand," he said, hiding his excitement. "Thanks, Weiss. This means a lot to me."
"Well, I am your business advisor. Helping an independent diner like yours defeat Café Prime would be a rather large boost for my reputation."
"Can't you just admit you want to help because you like it here?" Yang teased.
"The traitor offers her opinion?" Weiss drawled. "How adorable. Why don't you go back to Café Prime, Yang? Your kind isn't welcome here."
"H-Hey, I told you I just went to listen to Olly Firs!"
Jaune took the chance to slip away while he could and serve a few other customers. They weren't bustling, but with Beacon cutting off a little earlier than normal, he had his fair share of students here – many of which were probably planning to go off clubbing or having a night on the town later. It was Friday afternoon, after all.
Among them were a few familiar faces, Ren and Nora included.
"Jaune!" Nora yelled happily on seeing him. She bounced up and down in her seat, which caused other parts of her to bounce, too. Combined with the fact she'd remembered his name and looked happy to see him, and Jaune's cheeks flushed.
"H-Hi Nora."
"You remembered my name?" He winced. Was that too forward? "That's great!" she yelled, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him down to sit next to her. He wasn't sure if she'd realised they were flush on the chair, literally hip to hip, but he certainly did. "Renny and I were thinking of things to do and I remembered that we hadn't come by for a while," she said.
His heart fell a little. "Are you on a date?"
"No," Ren chuckled.
"We're together, but not together-together," Nora said.
So, he wasn't interrupting a date? Jaune shot the man opposite him a longer look, trying to see if Ren was upset or annoyed at his presence. He didn't look to be. In fact, he looked completely at ease with Jaune being there, and being sat closer to Nora than he was.
Maybe they really weren't an item. They might just be friends in the same way he and Ruby were, just a lot closer. Then did that mean…? Well, she had remembered him. Heat crept up Jaune's neck and he became painfully aware of just how soft and warm Nora felt sitting next to him.
It didn't help when she hooked an arm around his shoulders and started to tell him a story of how she'd fought and killed fifty Beowolves on her own. It sounded incredible and he listened intently, barely paying attention to Ren correcting some of the numbers.
He'd always liked friendly girls; his sisters said it was because he was too much of a wimp for any other kind, but he didn't think that was the case. Nora was always smiling and he couldn't quite keep his eyes off that, except when she made an over-exaggerated motion and his treacherous gaze dipped a little lower. Damn it. She had a love heart cut into her cloth right at the top of her cleavage. It felt like a trap designed specifically to ensnare him.
"Will you be competing in the tournament?" he eventually asked, tearing his eyes up to hers – just in time to see Nora watching him watching her breasts. His breath caught, but against all odds she didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
"You bet I will," she cheered. "We're going to kick butt, even I have to drag Cardin through the mud to do it." Her face twisted a little when she mentioned her team leader's name, but she recovered quickly and grabbed his hands. "Hey, you'll cheer for us, right?" She'd said `us`, but all he heard was `her`.
"O-Of course I will. I'll be rooting for you."
"Yeah!" She threw her arms around him in a quick hug. "Thanks, Jauney!"
A nickname, already? And she was hugging him? Jaune swallowed and placed his hands on the small of her back, wanting but not daring to do any more. The hug ended long before he was ready for it to and Nora went back to talking rapidly about her plans for the tournament and how awesome it was going to be. Jaune did his best to keep up with her.
Eventually, they had to go – Ren commenting that the dust store would close soon if they didn't. He still sounded okay with Jaune interfering in their not-date, which was a relief for him. As thanks – and maybe a little more – Jaune handed them a hastily-wrapped cake slice each before they went.
"It's on the house," he said, trying not to stammer.
Ren smiled and pocketed it. "Thank you."
Nora was much more enthusiastic in her thanks, practically lifting him off the floor and spinning him around. They left a second later with Nora waving back at him. Jaune echoed the sentiment, even if his eyes were glued a little lower.
"Smooth," Russel whispered into his ear from behind. "Very smooth."
Jaune jumped in shock, nearly banging into a customer's table before the teen behind caught him. "Russel," he gasped. "Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Sneak? I've been stood behind you for a full minute." He looked in the direction Nora and Ren had departed. "You know, she's a friendly girl."
"I know," Jaune said, a little dreamily.
"No, I mean she's a very friendly girl. As in, she's friendly to everyone."
Jaune wasn't quite sure what Russel was trying to say but ignored it entirely. It wasn't like there was anything wrong about him liking someone, nor in him thinking about maybe, somewhere down the line, asking her if she'd want to go out somewhere. If he managed to scrounge up some confidence, that was.
"Maybe you should look a little closer to home," Russel drawled.
"You!?"
"Not me, you-" Russel sighed and shook his head. "Velvet was right, you really are hopeless."
"Should you really be talking about your boss behind his back?"
"I'm talking right to you."
That felt fairly semantic and he rolled his eyes. It was probably a good thing the two felt comfortable enough to chat like this anyway, and it wasn't like he was going to give them any hassle. Still, he wasn't sure what they were talking about. The Malachites didn't like him – not seriously. Oh, they flirted, but they did it because they enjoyed the reaction it got out of him, and he allowed it because he enjoyed the attention.
Ruby and him? No way. Ruby was awesome and cute and a wonderful person, but even he could see she had zero interest in anything romance-related, and that wasn't just in regards to him. He doubted she had a crush on anyone, let alone a desire to explore it. She was just too focused on becoming a huntress.
Yang, Blake and Weiss were out of the question, too. Weiss was helping him and thus too important to bridge that gap with, while Yang was several miles out of his league and Blake and he just didn't click. There was no way Russel meant Velvet. For one, Velvet would kill Russel if he just came out and said that to him, and secondly, she was his employee. That would be pretty unethical of him.
Russel seemed to realise Jaune's mental computations had reached a big, fat zero and sighed once more. "Absolutely hopeless. Well, it's none of my business. I heard you managed to convince the Schnee to sing for you."
"You were eavesdropping?"
Russel raised an eyebrow and pointed behind him, just in time to see – and hear – Ruby loudly protest that Weiss was being cruel for agreeing to sing for Jaune and not her. Practically everyone in the diner could hear her.
Jaune laughed. "Oh."
"Yeah. Well, having her sing wouldn't be a bad idea. There are actually quite a few well-known people at Beacon who could have helped." Russel's eyes strayed over the customers, but whoever it was he meant he apparently didn't find. "But at least someone is willing to actually help."
"What do you mean?"
"Ugh." Russel sighed. "It's not really my place to say. It's fancy dress tomorrow. Do you need me to stay late and help you decorate?"
"Not tonight." Though it would have helped. "I've got something on."
/-/
Russel sighed as he reached his room and entered, noticing that only one person was present. He ignored her and turned, removing his jacket and hanging it up on the hook beside the door, alongside four or five other coats. It had been a long day, relatively speaking, and seeing as it was Saturday tomorrow, it was about to get even busier.
"Didn't see you today," he said to no one.
"Huh?" The sole girl in the room looked up and then down. "Ah. Uh, no…"
The clock on the wall ticked on, heedless of Russel as he kicked off his shoes and knocked them under his bed, collapsing down to massage his sore feet.
"Busy day. Going to be busier with Vytal coming up."
"I… I see…"
Russel tsked and stood once more. He moved over to his dresser and pulled out some fresh pyjamas, along with a warm towel and some bathing supplies. A good bath was nice after a day's work, but a shower would have to do.
"Not sure if we can compete with Prime, though. Trying, but they have resources. This job might not last forever, especially if they draw in another big-name celebrity to help out."
The girl in the room breathed softly. She didn't look up as Russel walked by.
"Of course, that'll mean the end of his business." He saw her wince. "Weiss Schnee offered to help there. She's going to do a performance to help out. Good of her," he remarked. "Better than I'd have thought to look at her, or what I'd expect from her reputation. She's not as much a bitch as she lets on." He huffed and piled his fresh clothes in one hand. "Guess it goes to show you don't know a person until you get to know 'em."
"Yeah… I guess so…"
"It's not like she's the only one who could have helped out, who still could help out. The Schnee is going out of her way to help someone just because she wants them to succeed, no questions asked. Velvet and I are, too." Russel, for once, turned to look at his partner.
Pyrrha didn't meet his eyes. She picked at the linen of her blanket, looking as dejected as she had the night before. She hadn't visited the diner today, and that marked the first time in what felt like ages.
Enough so that even he noticed.
"I guess that's what friends are for, huh? They have your back when you need 'em most."
"Yes. I suppose it is…"
The clock on the wall ticked for a full minute.
Russel turned away with a snort of disgust. "You're fucking useless. Don't know why I even bothered."
The bathroom door slammed shut behind him.
Back in the room, Pyrrha's head fell into her hands. No tears, no sniffles, just an overwhelming sense of disappointment, mixed with frustration and fear. Her fingers gripped her hair and wished she could pull it out. More than that, she wanted to run to Vale on foot and offer her help, her support, and her identity.
But she didn't. She continued to sit in her room and hide away, as she had for the past two days.
"I'm such a coward…"
/-/
The last time he'd tried to host Cinder and Roman, the attack had disturbed it. There was a certain thrill of panic that ran through him this time, too, more by association than anything, but it dwindled into nothingness when a familiar pair appeared at the store front. He wasn't sure why. Roman looked fairly effeminate, and Neo was so small – totally unable to defend herself if some nasty men came by to try and hurt him again, but for whatever reason, something told him that wouldn't be an issue with them around.
"Hey kiddo," Roman said, waving as he stepped in. "Is she here yet?"
"Cinder hasn't arrived, no." Jaune backed up as Neo came up in front of him with the speed of a missile. He almost thought she'd hit him, but she halted at the last possible second. Her eyes trailed up and down his body and he instantly knew why. "I'm okay, Neo. All better now – thanks to you guys, anyway."
Neo didn't believe him, of course. Much like his sisters and mom would have, she hopped around him, checking from all angles as if to see whether he was hiding a knife stabbed into his back from her or something. Only when she was fully content that he was telling the truth did she smile and bounce on her feet. She pointed behind him.
"Yes, you can help yourself to some ice-" He didn't get any further. She was already gone.
"She cares in her own way," Roman said, patting his shoulder. "This is about the nicest you can expect from her."
"I dread to imagine what she's like when she's angry," Jaune joked.
Roman laughed nervously. Very nervously. "So, you're doing better, yeah? That's good. Sorry we haven't been down lately, but we've been busy."
"Work?"
"Something like that."
"I didn't realise the removals industry was so busy."
"Ah well, there's a lot of trash that needs dealing with. It's been murder recently." Roman paused. "I mean the workload has been murder," he clarified.
"Well yeah, I didn't actually think you meant literal murder."
"Good. Perfect, in fact. Let's stick with that." Roman laughed again and sat down on one of the new and comfier seats. He pulled out a cigar but put it away when Jaune shot him a pointed look. "You wound me, kid. We're paying well to rent this place for the night."
"I am paying well," a new voice teased. "You, Roman, are freeloading, as usual. I, for one, would prefer not having to suffer your second-hand smoke."
Cinder Fall let herself into the diner with her two companions behind, the silver-haired of which turned and locked the door behind him, while the girl went and lowered the blinds, obscuring them all from view. It felt like the precursor to a horror scene but Jaune didn't make a run for it. His over-active imagination wouldn't ruin this, and Cinder and Roman were just normal people having a business meeting.
"It's good to see you up, Jaune," Cinder said, stepping past Roman so that she was stood before Jaune. "How is your arm?"
"Better, thank you." He moved it a little, and though it was stiff, he actually had more freedom now than he had before. "I hear I've got you unlocking my aura to thank for that. Thank you, Cinder. I, uh, made sure not to tell anyone it was you."
One perfect brow rose. "Oh?"
"One of my employees warned me not to," he explained. "He said it was something about huntresses and huntsmen not really being allowed to unlock the aura of everyday people. I told the police it unlocked itself due to the stress."
"I appreciate that, Jaune. You should try a few exercises to control it in your own time. If you can flood your shoulder with aura, it will heal faster."
"How do I do that?"
Cinder opened her mouth to explain, but seemingly thought better of it after a quick glance at Roman. "Perhaps Emerald could teach you while Roman and I have our little meeting. We really have delayed this enough already."
Jaune caught the hint for what it was and agreed, quickly serving drinks, cake and a few sandwiches he'd prepared on the table between them. It was poor fare for a corporate meeting but neither seemed to mind and he got the feeling they appreciated the privacy more than anything else.
Once they were seated, Emerald came and took Jaune aside, sitting him down in a seat by the window. "Cinder asked me to teach you a little about aura and I will," she said. "Look into my eyes for a moment."
"Why?" Even as he asked the question he instinctively met her gaze, and for a second – barely noticeable, really, but still there – everything seemed to become… muted. It was over as soon as he realised it and suddenly everything was back to normal. Behind him, he could hear Roman talk loudly about a block of apartments he had to help move things out of. Cinder was apparently providing help in the form of transport and trucks to transport it with.
"Aura isn't that hard to understand," Emerald said, drawing his attention back to her. Roman and Cinder's conversation was too boring to grasp onto. "If it wasn't easy, no one would be able to control it in the heat of battle. You need to understand that aura is the energy of the soul but it's also a part of our bodies. You don't have to tell your heart to beat or your lungs to expand, and you don't need to tell your aura how to do its job, either. You just need to direct it."
"I understand. I think…"
"You will in time," she said. "Let's try some breathing exercises first. I want you to focus on relaxing."
Meditation was fairly difficult as it turned out, not least of all because Neo hopped into the seat next to him, apparently bored with Roman and Cinder. A bored Neo was not a peaceful one, however, and like an attention-starved puppy, she made it her mission to complicate his attempts to relax and forget the world around him.
He had a feeling if she'd been able to talk, she'd have told him it was better training this way – after all, she was just teaching him to relax under pressure.
"You can't grab hold of something inside your body and tell it to do what it doesn't want to." Emerald's voice was lilting and captivated his attention. His eyes were closed as per her instruction. It would apparently make it easier for him – less visual distractions. "What you can do, however, is push it to the right area. I want you to imagine doing that now. Imagine your hand pushing something up from your core to your injured shoulder."
"Push?"
"Without moving." He tensed his muscles and she slapped his arm lightly. "I said without moving. I don't need you pushing so hard you soil yourself. Aura is the soul. Stop trying to push with your muscles and start doing it with your mind."
Jaune tried, and failed a few times while he was at it. The instructions weren't just vague, they were hard to understand. Emerald assured him there was no better way to explain it, however, and he kept at it. Eventually, after a good fifteen minutes of strain, something moved.
His eyes shot open and he gasped. "Ah!"
"You have it? Don't let go."
"I already did," he admitted glumly. "It surprised me."
Emerald grumbled and told him to find it again and this time, thanks to him knowing what to look for, it only took a minute or two. It was hard to understand or explain and Emerald was right to say there were no better words than `push` that could be applied. It felt like a cool sensation in his body, and yet it wasn't cool in his body at all, but rather in his mind. Conceptually, that was. Or maybe metaphysically.
It really was hard to explain. There was no visible change in his temperature and the cool, refreshing feeling was imagined more than felt. Even so, there was no mistaking that it felt real.
"Push it to your shoulder," Emerald whispered. "Keep it there."
He wanted to ask how but knew what the response would be by now. Instead, he closed his eyes and started to imagine his shoulder, thinking of it, the cast, the sling, even the skin beneath. He imagined the cool feeling being there, and when that didn't work he imagined it rushing through his body and traversing to his shoulder.
It didn't work out.
"This isn't working," Mercury scowled. He grabbed Jaune by the shoulder, earning a gasp of pain. "Look, I'm going to hit it real hard, and if you don't stop me with your aura, it's going to hurt like a bitch."
"Mercury!" Emerald hissed.
"W-Wait," Jaune stammered.
"Three, two, one and go!" Mercury raced down the countdown and brought his other hand crashing down toward him. Jaune yelped and waited for the pain, knowing it would rocket from his shoulder as it was struck, potentially dislocating it again. He didn't want to feel that pain another time. He didn't want his shoulder to be hit.
Something within him stirred to life.
It was a heady feeling – like an avalanche rushing through his body, up his body, to congregate in his abused shoulder. Through muscle, bone, tendons and more the ice ran, and yet it soothedinstead of burned and the pain he'd felt a moment ago vanished entirely. His eyes snapped open and he could see a faint shimmer, a white hue, around and over his body.
"Aura," he whispered, shocked. It took him a second to realise Mercury's hand had neither hit him nor was it still coming. "Wait, was this all just a trick to-"
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Mercury cried, face flat on the table and his arm – the one that had been coming down – bent painfully behind his back. "I give, I give. Fuck, Neo, it was just a joke, I swear. Argh. You're going to dislocate my shoulder if you keep pulling."
Neo didn't seem to upset at the possibility, oddly enough. She stood behind the much taller, stronger and heavier teen with one knee dug into his spine, right above his rear end. Her other was on the floor but she had a hand on his wrist twisting it, and the other gripping a silver blade to Mercury's face, right below his eyeball.
Jaune blinked. "Wait, is that one of my dessert spoons?"
Neo blinked, looked down at it, and then nodded happily. She made a scooping motion with it, and it being so close to Mercury's exposed eyeball, the action didn't do much to calm the guy down.
"Hey, call her off already," he yelped. "It was just a trick to help you unlock your aura. I wasn't actually going to go through with it!"
"Knowing you, you were," Emerald scoffed.
"Oi! Whose side are you on?"
Jaune moved quickly, snatching the spoon from Neo's hands and untangling her from Mercury. She seemed surprised enough that she let him do it, though the surprise might have had something to do with the fact he'd used both hands to do so.
"Stupid brat," Mercury growled. "I'll get you back for that."
Jaune stepped between them before Mercury could follow through with that threat. He crossed his arms, only marginally aware of how he could even use his second. "Isn't it a little petty for a huntsman like you to threaten someone as defenceless as her? I won't let you hurt her."
Mercury stared at him, wide-eyed.
"What?"
"You heard me."
He had, but his eyes trailed down. "Her?" he choked. "Defenceless…?"
Neo fluttered her eyelashes and clasped both hands before her. She was so small and diminutive that Jaune couldn't help but glare at Mercury some more.
For some reason, Emerald found it hilarious.
/-/
"Looks like the peanut gallery are having a good time," Roman commented.
"Let them have their fun. If it keeps them busy and out my hair, I'll pay him to become my babysitter."
Roman chuckled at the thought and the look on Neo's face if he actually said that and left her here. It might be worth it, even if he would get a horrible meeting with Mr Stabby for his trouble. Yet again he regretted showing off Melodic Cudgel and telling Neo how every good weapon needed a name. She was like one of those irritating girls who called a cat "Mr Cat" or something.
"What does he hear us saying?" he asked.
"Whatever Emerald imagines we should say," Cinder replied. "He won't have heard any of the things we just discussed."
"Your girl is a convenient one."
"As is yours."
"Neo comes with her own brand of sass."
"And Emerald argues with Mercury all night long," Cinder said. The two criminals gave each other a quick look and a commiserating sigh. It really was hard, sometimes. "Well, I suppose that wraps up business, Roman. How goes your other efforts?"
"Other-? Oh, you mean the kid's sword. It's going. Not had much luck tracking it down yet, but I guess that's a good thing. It means the idiot in charge hasn't tried to pawn it off, which means they're not in it for the lien."
"You hope to track it down and find the one responsible red-handed."
"Oh, he'll be red-handed once Neo gets hold of him," Roman quipped. "There'll be red everywhere. I've got some twins helping out. They're playing bait tonight in the area the idiots have been seen."
"Bait?"
"Two girls looking soft, alone and vulnerable."
"I was under the impression bait was best delivered with a trap," Cinder pointed out. "If they are the bait, why are you here? What happens if someone takes it?"
Roman stared at Cinder as if he'd never seen anything quite so stupid before. A moment later he laughed. "Right, I forgot you've not met those two."
He pitied whatever fool tried.
/-/
"How much for a night?"
Miltia Malachite stared at the greasy, overweight and cheese-smelling man. She held his gaze as sweat beaded on his brow and ran down to his third chin. She continued to stare as he trembled, looked around for help and finally wilted in front of her.
She stared even longer, until the man whimpered and fled, likely gaining more exercise than he had in the past few weeks alone. She vaguely heard him crying "I'm sorry" over and over as he ran down the street and away.
"You know, I don't think anyone is going to bite if you keep acting like that," Melanie said. Her sister stepped out from a nearby alleyway, her white outfit dusted somewhat from the general grime in the area. "Can't you look, I don't know, a little more vulnerable?"
"I don't know. Can I?"
"Imagine someone is trying to molest you," Melanie suggested.
Miltia's claws came out and her eyes flashed. It was not a very vulnerable look. Someone who had been walking down the street suddenly did a one-eighty turn and went the other way.
"Okay, don't do that. Sheesh, sis."
"This is harder than it looks," Miltia whined, sheathing her weapons once more. They'd both been vulnerable once, but that was long before Junior had taken them in and provided for them. They were certified badasses now, one loss with an annoying big-breasted cow notwithstanding. Miltia sighed and pushed her sister out from the alley. "You try it if you think you're so smart."
Melanie huffed but wasn't one to back down from a challenge. She coughed into one fist, shook her body loose, and then adopted what a very generous person might have called a nervous stance. "Oh no, I'm out after curfew and daddy will be so upset. I hope no scary men try to take advantage of me."
In the distance, a dog started barking.
"Is that it?"
"What? It's better than your attempt."
"At least I got a response."
Yeah, and he thought you were a hooker."
"No one would even pay lien for you."
"We have the same face, idiot!"
"Beauty goes beyond the skin," Miltia said, wafting some hair away from her face. "But I wouldn't expect a shallow woman like you to understand."
"Do you want me to cut you?"
"Try it, bitch."
Both stepped back as their tempers flared, but Miltia bumped into someone – or several someones, as it turned out. She glared back, ready to bite the head off whomever had interrupted their argument, only to pause as she realised they were surrounded.
"Hey there," an unsavoury man said, his bald head covered in tattoos that went down the side of his face. To any normal person it might have looked intimidating, to Miltia it made him look like a child had doodled on his skull. "What's two nice girls like you doing walking round here late at night, huh?"
"I win," Melanie mouthed, not at all in distress.
Miltia glared back. This totally wasn't Melanie's shit acting that won the day. She refused to believe it.
"Oh, we were just waiting for some friends," Melanie simpered – and Miltia gagged at the tone. "Our big, strong friends said they'd take us to a party, but now they're not here." The men – six in all – shared some loud laughs, as if they'd found Melanie's words the height of humour.
It was hard to resist the urge to cut them down now, but even a cursory glance revealed that none of them had Jaune's sword or were armed. Well, she saw a knife or two and a club, but come on. They lived in Vale. You weren't armed unless your knife was also a tactical missile or some shit. Still, they'd need to see if these guys didn't have the sword at their place. Which meant playing along, much to Miltia's horror.
"Why don't you come and party with the Crimson Devils instead," another said, hooking an arm over Miltia's shoulder. It smelled of cigarette smoke and cheap booze – the kind of trash Junior would rather commit suicide than serve in his club. On his arm was a tattoo that might have been a demon-Grimm with red skin holding a knife in one hand and a gun in the other.
Crimson Devils, seriously? Roman had told them there was some kind of gang involved, but that was the kind of name some edgy teen in his room came up with, along with some lyrics to go with it and a lot of crying. It was an affront to all legitimate – well, sort of legitimate – criminals gangs in Vale. It was a stain on their honour especially, since these idiots had stepped onto their turf and hurt someone under their protection.
Worse, they'd dared to try and cut off the gang's coffee supply.
Not. Fucking. Happening.
Junior would go to war before he gave up on his midday double-cream latte with sprinkles. He'd been without it for the one day Jaune was recovering and that alone had led to several of their goons hiding in the toilets to escape his rage.
Well, on the bright side that meant these were actual gangers and not just some idiots trying to pick up two girls capable of eviscerating them. That would make her feel a little better about what they were going to do.
"What do you say, babe? I promise I can show you a good time."
"Can you?" Miltia asked sarcastically. She ignored the warning look Melanie shot her. These guys weren't worth the effort. "And call me `babe` again and I'll give you a first-person view of your own colon."
"Ignore her," Melanie giggled. "She's shy."
"You fuc-" Miltia grumbled as Melanie's hand covered her mouth.
"Oh, this one's got a mouth on her," someone laughed hoarsely. A hand touched Miltia's backside through her skirt. That one died first, she decided. Or maybe last. It depended which was crueller. A shame Neo wasn't here, since that psycho would have known for sure. "I like girls like you. It's fun to see how long it takes to replace your cusses with moans and screams."
"Like you've made anyone do that," she spat out past her sister's fingers. "I can smell a virgin a mile off." The man flushed, proving her words true and earning the raucous laughter of his fellows. Miltia smiled cruelly. "But you know what, fine. It would be a shame to keep living as a virgin, so take us back to whatever you lot call home and I'll take care of that for you."
The man looked hopeful. "Yeah…?"
Miltia's eyes glinted viciously.
"Yeah..."
Oh dear, Jaune, don't fall for Nora. I do remember being in those shoes, though, reacting to any girl who showed you kindness as if it were a sign of them having deeper feelings. Ah, teen idiocy. On the other side of things, Weiss is going to sing, Jaune gets understanding and a little training on how to actually use his aura – which grants him back the use of his arm – and the Malachites are out scouting for corpses. Oh, and Jaune is convinced Neo needs his protection. Adorable.
Meanwhile, can Russel get through to Pyrrha with some tough love?
And yes, although some people still seem reluctant to believe it (and I know, shock, right?) Pyrrha is playing a much larger part in this story than she has in many of my others. To those still upset at what they see as bashing, you might want to note that if I'm taking the time to highlight a character, it's probably because they're going to be major players!
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur