A/N: Well, that was a nice little hiatus. Hopefully you all didn't miss me too much. I won't make you wait any longer, enjoy.
Jaune took a breath, hands gripped tightly on his steering wheel. For what felt like the twentieth time that night, he thought about heading back to his rinky-dink apartment and passing out on his couch. It would be so easy and his boss Cinder would understand… right? No, of course she wouldn't, Cinder was a taskmaster when he was doing things the right way. If he were to skip out on a gig like this for any reason short of dying, she would fire him on the spot. No, sadly he had to do it.
To make matters worse, the evening's "uniform" was thinner than his desire to wear it and it was the end of February, not exactly a time of year known for its abundance of warm weather in East Vale. The deep navy-blue shirt was awkwardly long and aggravated the razor burn on his freshly shaven chest. The pants of a matching color were snug, pulling on all the parts he didn't want pulled by fabric. Top it all off with a pair of black boots that were very clearly meant for someone with smaller feet, and a stupid hat that never sat right on his head, and it made for the most uncomfortable outfit he'd worn since wearing a dress to senior prom because of a promise.
Taking one last breath, he turned his car off and slipped the keys into his pocket. He snatched up the hat from the passenger seat as well as the boombox, which only had one functional speaker, and trotted up to the door of the house. It was a more appealing one than he normally saw, usually only being called out to seedy hotel rooms and semi-renovated former drug dens. By comparison, this place was like heaven.
A decently manicured lawn, some pretty flowers in the garden (daisies if he remembered correctly), a well-lit front porch, and even a pink flamingo standing ever vigilant to the immediate right of the door. With a huff, he slung the boombox upon his shoulder, leaned against the doorway, put on his best (or worst, depending on who you asked) smirk, and knocked on the door. He heard someone shushing on the other side before feet padded over and opened the door.
He was greeted by one of the hottest girls he'd ever seen outside of a movie. She had to have had the biggest mane of golden blonde hair on earth, each falling down well past her back. A set of stunning purple (lilac?) eyes met his and he spied a glint of a mischief within them. In the periphery of his vision, he could see all of the wonderful curves she had, not that they were hidden all the well considering she answered the door in a pair of black sleep shorts and a tank top. A tank top that seemed to be working overtime…. Jaune gave a small head shake, trying to push down those thoughts. The girl smirked at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What seems to be the problem, "Officer"?"
"Got a couple of noise complaints from this address earlier this evening." She placed both hands on her cheeks, feigning fear.
"Oh no, Officer. Are you gonna have to give us a fine?" Jaune took a step into the main foyer, taking in the expertly painted walls adorned with family photos of a massive blonde man and two little girls. He set the boombox down on the floor right inside the doorway.
"I'm sorry to say ladies, but the only "fine" coming out tonight," He gave a half-hearted tug on his shirt, pulling it completely off and letting it fall to the ground. "Is me." If there was one part of the job he didn't completely hate, it was getting to show off his body. He'd spent months with a personal trainer, who was also a dear family friend, to go from a fairly skinny boy into a hard-bodied man. The attention was nice and it did wonders for his confidence, something he still struggled with.
As the hooting and hollering of what sounded like at least ten girls kicked in and he made a show of tearing off the obnoxious pants, a voice called out. One he was intimately familiar with.
"Jaune?" In an instant, the fantasy crumbled. The wall between work and his personal life turned to dust, swept away by some cosmic broom. Coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream in hand, was the last person he expected to see. Midway through his pelvic thrust, he turned to see his trainer, friend, and crush, Pyrrha Nikos.
Oh no.
"You know the stripper, P-money?" She sputtered out what can only be called a response if you were being absurdly generous.
"How do you know the stripper, Pyrrha? Something you're not telling us?" That came from a girl dressed in a flowy brown shirt, a beret, and sunglasses in spite of them being inside and it being night time. Pyrrha's face turned as red as her hair and before anything more could be said, the blonde girl that answered the door had looped and arm around Jaune's and dragged him to the couch.
"Hope we were your last customers for the night pal, cause you're gonna be here for a while." At this point, Jaune was an observer in his own life. It's true. His soul had exited his body and was watching from above. I've died. This night has been so ungodly embarrassing, that I actually died and my soul is now going to float off into the heavens. It wasn't until the group of girls sat Pyrrha down right beside him that his soul committed the ultimate act of betrayal by returning to his body instead of ascending to the afterlife.
"Spill it blondie, how do you know P-money?" He opened his mouth, only to be overlapped by a short girl with a shock of bright orange hair and lively turquoise eyes.
"Are you two together-together?" Talking was never something Jaune was especially good at. Talking to a girl was something he was even worse at. Talking to six girls, five of them strangers no less, while eighty percent naked, in front of his crush, with pumping synth music still blaring from a half-broken boombox was something he may have been the worst in recorded history at. It seemed that Pyrrha wasn't much better, if her silence was anything to go by.
"No way Nora, she wouldn't have been so surprised if they were dating. He'd have told her. No, these two are something else." Kill me. Please kill me. God, Satan, Allah, Buddha, someone just please kill me. Take me away from this awful nightmare.
A girl with snow white hair and icy blue eyes narrowed her gaze at Jaune.
"Pyrrha, I assume this is the same Jaune you were tel-" The red headed trainer moved faster than Jaune thought a human being could, clamping her hand over the girl's mouth. She mumbled something and the white-haired girl sighed, nodding her head. Thankfully, the girl in the sunglasses moved the conversation forward, plopping down in the seat Pyrrha had been in. She traced her hands up his bicep, looking over the top of the glasses.
"So, tell us about yourself, "Officer." Jaune laughed nervously, inching away from the girl.
"Can I- can I have my shirt back at least? It's cold in here and-"
"NO!" Their stringent declaration caused him to wince. He took a breath, trying to collect himself. While this was easily the most embarrassing night of his life, answering questions was preferable to some of the… other requests some of the women asked him to do. He shuddered at the memory.
"Well, I uh-" He cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. "I'm uh, twenty-four, and an entertainer, as you all can see." He let out an awkward half-laugh half-breath thing as Sunglasses Girl moved closer, devouring him with her eyes. She reminded him of a hungry lioness deciding the best way to devour an injured gazelle.
"Uh- I've been doing this for about four months. It pays the rent well enough. I have a cat back at my apartment named Tyrian, he's really funny sometimes. One time, he tried to attack this crow on the windowsill outside the window in the kitchen. As soon as he leapt up to paw at the glass, the wood broke and Tyrian fell into a pot of mac and cheese. Took forever to get the stains out of his fur." The tale earned him a chorus of "awws" from the group, Pyrrha followed up his story with one of her own, having released the white-haired girl and taken a seat on the adjacent chair.
"Do you remember when he attacked my toes during movie night?" She said with a giggle. Jaune felt a smile form at the memory.
"And you were so shocked that you threw the whole bowl of popcorn all over the couch?" The two shared a laugh at that, only to remember a moment later that they had guests listening in. Five pairs of eyes flicked back and forth between the two. The orange haired girl, Nora if he remembered correctly, was the first to break the silence.
"Movie night, huh?" Pyrrha and Jaune both shot forward in their chairs.
"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" All the while, their faces turning a deep crimson.
"Guys, we really should stop this." It was the last girl, a lanky brunette who seemed to be wearing a pair of... bunny ears? Subconsciously, he made a note to ask Pyrrha about that later. Now though, he was thankful for her speaking up. The white-haired girl nodded her head.
"I agree with Velvet, it's none of our business what these two do in private." The boisterous blonde groaned.
"Don't be party poopers you two, we're just having a bit of fun."
"Not very fun for me." Said Jaune as he grumbled to himself. Sunglasses girl sighed.
"Fine, fine." She peered over the top of the glasses at him, a mischievous glint forming in her eye. "If you're not going to answer questions… you're going to dance for us like you're supposed to." It was the only time in Jaune's life he remembered being thankful for being a stripper. At least they won't ask me any more personal questions. I can dance for a couple of hours, get my stuff, and retire with the biggest bowl of ice cream that's in the apartment.
Unfortunately for Jaune, he didn't catch the look that Sunglasses sent to the blonde ringleader or the smile that crept onto her face.
"Don't think you're out of the woods yet, cutie. Your first dance is going to be for Pyrrha." It was like the air had been sucked out of his lungs by a vacuum into another dimension. Maybe it took his blood too, it would explain how pale he'd gotten.
His gaze turned to his redheaded friend who seemed to have been struck by the same vacuum. He turned to the blonde, hands shaking.
"Wh- what did you say?" She smirked.
"You heard me. You can either answer invasive questions about your past with our favorite redhead, or you can grind on her and the rest of us." She mimed the motion and he made a concerted effort for not watch the things it did to her chest. Instead, he looked to Pyrrha, his eyes begging her for help. Her gaze seemed to be saying the same thing.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do!? I really don't wanna go into any more details about us. We're just friends! Sure, sometimes we get a bit drunk and make out but what friends don't do that? Under no circumstances can they know about any of that though! On the other hand, can I really get back into character and strut my stuff like I'm supposed to in her lap? What happens if I say no? Will they call Cinder? If they do, will Cinder fire me?
She probably would. Thoughts of the things he'd done previously trickled into his mind. All of the spanking, licking, and biting… No, there'd be no going back after doing any of that with Pyrrha. Kissing while drunk was one thing but dancing naked and… other lewd things? That was a very different matter.
"Wait, wait. Just wait." He took a deep breath. "I'll answer more of your questions." A trio of joyous shouts were given along with a groan from the white-haired girl. "You still have to pay me though for the hours." The blonde nodded.
"Don't worry about lover boy, I've got your bag." She flicked a lock of hair behind her ear. "And because I'm so nice, you'll get a nice little bonus for your trouble. Sound good?" He nodded.
"Can I at least put my pants on? It's kinda cold in here and-"
"NO!" The chorus shouted much louder than they needed to, he even heard Pyrrha's voice in there. So, he did the only thing he could do. He got as comfy as he could on the couch and took one last deep breath.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
A/N: Poor Jaune, I can't just let him live can I? As Volume 6 continues, I'll more than likely be doing more one shots and I'm not above taking requests into consideration. Until next time, give this a review so I can make even better stuff, give it a favorite if you really liked, and maybe show it to a friend. As always, may Fortune favor you all.