Hey guys,
This was actually a story seed from back when I was still in high school (which I found while rummaging through my old notes), and I just though of how perfect it was considering Weiss' recent financial predicament.
If you've read 'Free Runner' by Demeter Fenir (and let's face it - you should if you haven't), feel free to think of this as a reversal-of-roles between Weiss and Ruby - only not as good, and with a slightly episodic plot, so I might take me a while to get to the really good parts.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story...
~~The Story Starts Here~~
"How embarrassing…" Winter Schnee played along with her little sister's anecdote of shame.
"I know, right?" Weiss Schnee realized that her sister was shaking her head. "Well, it was! Imagine promising to buy everyone lunch; only it turns out you can't afford it!"
"So what are going to about it?" Winter took another bite of her salad.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Weiss absentmindedly poked at her own.
Winter thought about for a second, then tried to soften the blow with a smile. "Well considering I joined the army, I figure you have two choices: either grovel to father, and beg him to cut you in again - though that means design school is off the table…"
The blow wasn't softened, if the frown on Weiss' face was any indication. "So what option doesn't destroy my childhood dreams and aspirations?"
"That's the second option: get a part time job."
The frown didn't leave the younger sister's face for the rest of the evening.
~~Line Break~~
"And then she says - 'get a part time job'!" Weiss griped to her best friend, Pyrrha Nickos, while the latter wiped her face with a towel and bended to drink from the cooler. "Would you get a part time job?"
"I don't know," Pyrrha said after a couple of gulps and a second to think about it. "You mean - if it doesn't clash with my cram school, volunteering at the free clinic, or fencing practices?"
"Exactly," Weiss felt kinship with her overworked friend, even if the latter didn't feel it back.
Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow at that response. "So are you going to do it? Get a job, that is?"
"I guess I've got to…" Weiss poked Pyrrha's foil at the ground absentmindedly. "What would I even do?"
"You've got good grades," the fencing hall burst into applause; there were only two things that could set the fencing team into clapping like that: either Pyrrha scored a point, because she is an olympic candidate and captain of the team - or her boyfriend Jaune did, because he was probably the worst member who joined this passed decade (he was getting better though, if slowly). "Why don't you tutor someone?"
"Cardin..." Weiss reminded the redhead of a short yet eventful stint last year. "Never doing that again."
"Oh, right. So how do you plan on funding your next shopping spree?"
"Hey - even a little money can go a long way, if you know what you're doing. The real problem is -"
"That you have no money; I get you."
"It's like the first time I took you to the mall - you just stood there and looked at all the people. I don't know what I'd do at the mall now."
"Well, it was my first time at the mall, ever; my mom always paid someone to buy my clothes."
"I wish someone would pay me to shop for them."
"Man, I'm not cut out for this." Jaune came over, took off his helmet to reveal his sweat dripping blond set of hair, and started drinking from the cooler like a man stranded in a desert.
"Well, as long as you stick around and keep saying that…" Pyrrha smiled at her boyfriend. "You may as well tryout for varsity next year."
"Nah," Jaune finally finished chugging down water and smiled his pearly white smile back at Pyrrha. "You just want me around because I turn you on."
"Well, it's either that or the swimming team," Pyrrha blushed - she was probably trying to imagine it right now.
"And have you pant like that in the bleachers?" Jaune closed in for a kiss. "No thanks."
Pyrrha kissed Jaune back, and Weiss felt a chill run down her spine - it wasn't that Jaune didn't have some looks to him - especially now that Pyrrha was calling the shots on his body, and how he took care of it - it was just that he couldn't shake off this utterly nerdy vibe he kept giving off. Besides, Jaune wasn't her type in the first place.
"So what's Ice tirading about this time?" Jaune asked after he took a deep breath.
"Behave, Jaune." Pyrrha chided him before Weiss could react.
"Sorry, so what are you two talking about?"
"Weiss was imagining a world where someone would pay her to shop for clothes."
"Yeah," Weiss almost pined at the thought. "But who in the world prefers paying someone to shop for them when they can just do it themselves?"
"I know someone," both Pyrrha's and Weiss' jaw dropped. "What? My guild leader's been complaining about for a while now - if I'd know that it wasn't beneath a Schnee to do errands for money, I'd have mentioned it weeks ago."
"Guild leader?" Weiss asked what Pyrrha was thinking.
"Yeah, on 'Grimm Hunters'." Jaune replied as if it was common knowledge - though seeing as neither of the girls' faces lost the look of confusion, he expanded. "You know Pyrrha: that video game I've been playing on the weekends?"
A dawn of understanding came to the redhead, but Weiss remained confused. "You want me to ask some gamer for a job?"
"I'll have you know, Weiss," Jaune said defensively. "That e-sports are always 'in season' - and that some competitions can raise tens of thousands in cash prizes."
"Still," Weiss didn't know what to think about that piece of trivia. "Asking some professional gamer guy for a job, does he even live around here?"
"Well, not exactly a professional gamer," Jaune shrugged. "Besides, I've met her - she's good peeps."
Neither girl knew where to even begin with the problems in that sentence.
"Come on, Jaune." Pyrrha grabbed her boyfriend by his protective shirt, and dragged him away. "We need to cool down before the acid sets."
"Wait, Pyrrha… What did I say?"
~~Line Break~~
Weiss couldn't believe she took Jaune up on his offer to set her up. Sure, she could find work on her own - but she was a Schnee, and Schnees don't pass out on opportunities.
Weiss did like the fact that the address he gave her was two blocks from the train station, and she did like that it was a 32 floor building with a doorman at the entrance; what she didn't like were the furrowed eyebrows said doorman gave her when she told him the apartment number she was here to see.
Apartment 2309, labeled Miss Rose. That was the one, the door even looked like all the other doors - Weiss was sure that it would be more noticeable, though she wasn't sure in exactly what way or for exactly what reason. Still, she took two deep breaths pressed the doorbell.
The decidedly normal doorbell rang. What wasn't exactly normal was the whole minute that Weiss waited for an answer.
She checked her phone - which told her that the time was 'a quarter to six' on a Saturday evening - exactly the time Jaune told her to be here.
She decided to press the doorbell again - and was already extending her arm when a weak reply preempted the attempt. "Coming…"
The ivory haired girl waiting thought - or hoped, might be more accurate - that the woman she was about to meet was actually doing some last minute attempts at tidying the room or powdering her nose or whatever somesuch attempt people do when trying create a first impression.
But no.
The girl, perhaps even kid, that took her sweet time opening the door was a 5'2" crimsonette, wearing nothing but a horrendously large red hoodie, a pair of black knee socks, and the tired expression of someone who obviously shouldn't be operating heavy machinery.
Miss Rose took one unfocused look at Weiss, said "no solicitors," and tried to close the door.
The much more alert Weiss held it open. "Excuse me, is Ruby Rose here?"
"That's me…" The crimsonette yawned. "Who are you?"
"Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc set up this meeting?" She tried to make it sound like a statement, but failed.
"Don't know any Jaune," the girl weakly tried to close the door again, but Weiss still held it open.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but…" Weiss face palmed. "Didn't 'ArK_KnighT_Da3rD' tell you I was coming?"
"Ohh, why didn't you say so…" Ruby eyes finally found their focus on the girl before her, but she still yawned again and just left Weiss holding the door open, before eventually telling Weiss to follow her inside.
The white haired girl closed the door on the stock corridor and walked into a room she could describe not as a living room - but as a crossbreed between a display exhibit and a large storage locker: there was a different musical instrument for each cardinal direction (each with their own amp), half a dozen half-dismantled objects that she hoped were toy guns and related paraphernalia, three works of art that Weiss could admit to recognizing (and even appreciate) without losing face, a suite of armor, two empty bird cages, and for some odd reason - a life sized poster of a medieval scythe hanging on one a wall. Weiss was sure there was more to be admired, but her examination was cut short by the crimsonette who had already walked into the kitchen. "In here…"
Weiss followed her into the kitchen, though this time around she couldn't examine the room - her eyes fixated on the upside down skateboard laying on the kitchen counter.
"You don't mind if I eat, do you?" Ruby asked rhetorically, a bowl and box of cereal already in hand.
"No, of course." Weiss relinquished the image of the skateboard and refocused on the crimsonette for whom she was supposed to work for.
The girl - probably about 15 years old, Weiss estimated - filled the bowl and walked over to the fridge, which was stock full of takeout remains and not a fresh grocery in sight.
"Out of milk again…" Ruby said after a few seconds so instead she took out an already open can of energy drink, smelled it, and drained its contents into her food. "Where are my manners, you want any?"
Weiss felt her stomach make a back-flip. "No… Thank you."
"Good, because I'm out of soda too." Ruby started slowly spooning the concoction and chewing.
Weiss figured this would be a good time to talk business, so she took out her sketchbook and a colored pencils, quickly starting a sketch of Ruby's silhouette in an outfit she thought would look cute on her. "I might be getting ahead of myself - but from where I'm standing: a fashionable - yet modular - wardrobe is what you want. Once we decide on a cohesive style and color palette, a couple of dozen tops with five of six skirts - or pants, if they make you look taller - will basically ensure you won't ever be seen wearing the same outfit twice, despite very little prep time each morning.
"The SBD - that's 'Simple Black Dress' if you need me to spell it out, and every girl should own one - should really show off as much of that great skin of your's as possible, nothing skanky though, obviously. What I really think would give you edge in partywear is the 'Gothic Lolita' style - it's a bit niche but between your stature, hair color, and I must admit: awesome contacts - you'll really be the heart of -"
"Stop."
"You don't like that idea? Then I guess something more tra-"
"What are you doing?"
"What do you mean, 'what am I doing'?" Weiss looked away from her almost complete silhouette of Ruby to the real version staring at her with a look of concern - she even had a spoon suspended midway to her mouth. "You don't like my ideas?"
"I don't need you to buy me clothes," Ruby finally ate the contents of the spoon, then another spoon.
"Then what do you need me to buy you, exactly?"
Ruby shrugged. "All of the shit I'm too busy - or can't be bothered - to get myself, right?"
Weiss really tried to smile - this entire encounter was just too surreal to be true, and she wandered if this was what a psychotic episode was supposed to feel like. Maybe she was so weak that she driven insane by as simple a fact of being cut off from the family fortune.
That would suck.
"Besides, I haven't even hired you yet - oh, that reminds me!" Ruby gulped some of the soda from the bowl - she was obviously feeling better now that she a had a mixture of caffeine and sugar in her stomach - and left the kitchen. "Wait here just a sec."
She came back 10 seconds later and dropped a magazine - open to the center feature already - onto the upside down skateboard, and got back to her cereal. "Consider this your audition: it's simple, but urgent enough that I'll pay you extra for it, too."
Weiss carefully took possession of the magazine - half expecting it to explode, or bite her hand off, or do something else that wasn't normal - and flipped to the cover that claimed a simple title - 'PCMag', Weiss also noted that it was a month old. "What is it?" She flipped back to the center feature.
"That - my dear prospective employee - is the next generation of server-class CPUs." Weiss didn't know what that meant, so Ruby tried to explain. "How do I explain this? You know what a 'cloud' is?"
"You mean the internet?" Weiss shrugged - the question seemed deceptively simple, and she figure they were talking about computers now - not that Weiss knew much of anything about computers.
"Not really," Ruby was disappointed at the ignorant answer, but pressed on. "But that will do for now. Imagine that in two years, half of the entire internet will be running on that chip."
Weiss still didn't get it, so she felt that feigning comprehension would be the betting route. "Okay, so you need this chip to stay with the times?"
"Something like that: some of the equipment my company uses is still the second hand stuff we bought when we first founded and besides, we need to think about designing a fourth site so we can serve our customers better." She prepared a spoon for consumption. "Now here is the issue: the US launch is tomorrow, and the Chinese bargatstradeongigotquanhdredi-"
"What?"
Ruby forced herself to swallow, and coughed a bit. "The dudes that import this chip only brought about a thousand of them for the free market - my company wasn't slated for the preorder, which makes sense considering you'd need to buy, like, a hundred units for them to even bat an eyelash your way - and the only way I can legitimize an order like that for the next shipment, is if I get my hands on one of them and test it - make sure it's worth all that money. Does this make any sense to you?"
It took her a while, but Weiss eventually figured it out - or at least she thought she did. "So it's, like, when you spray a bit of the tester to see how it smells on you, so you can decide whether or not you like the perfume enough to buy it?"
"Exactly!" Ruby gave her an awkward yet highly contagious smile.
"And you need me to get it for you tomorrow? Why not wait for the next shipment, or get it yourself?"
"Because some people don't believe in the sanctity of Sunday mornings, so they schedule international conference calls and threaten me into attendance." Ruby shrugged. "And the next shipment will just be more of the same - I'll be stuck trying to get one chip to test out, unless I order ahead of time - which I can't, because…?"
"You can't order enough of them, unless you've already tested one?" Weiss felt like she was being school by a middle-school student, but at least she understood the importance of it now.
"So we're on the same page? I need you to be the first in line for me when 'KSP' opens tomorrow morning to get this part before they run out." Ruby pointed at the picture in the magazine. "Then bring it over tomorrow evening, about now is a good time. All in all should be about an hour's worth of work? I'll give you 300 bucks and the job."
They talked some more, and eventually shook hands.
~~Line Break~~
After dinner, Weiss thought about her encounter with the girl, and the job. She would be the first to admit that her sense for money was out whack - there was always some form of platinum or business credit in her wallet, ever since she was old enough to bully her drive into giving it to her. But still, even a small time online was enough to confirm to Weiss that she really would be willing to get on her knees and grovel to avoid the nightmare of the minimum wage - and this job thankfully didn't look like it would come to that - so she was definitely on board.
Now all she has to do was get to the store by 11 tomorrow morning - with the credit card the crimsonette gave her to pay with, the magazine clipping with the part number and description, and a note that said 'Crescent Orbits Inc.' (the name Ruby asked Weiss to put on the bill) - and then she was home free to go shop on her advance.
Weiss even started sketching herself in the top she planned to get tomorrow when her cell rang. "What do you want, Melanie?"
"Guess who's playing at the club tonight?"
"I don't feel like playing these games with you right now." Weiss was already mentally drained.
"Not a game," the white Malachite said with a sharp edge in her words. "I'm doing you a favor - guess who Junior got to play at the club tonight."
Weiss stopped sketching and looked around her room, Melanie and Weiss both shared their taste in music - so whoever it was, he or she had a poster on one of Weiss' walls. She had a about a dozen posters, each of different musicians and groups - except for one band, that has two. "No way!" Weiss gasped when she realized. "When did SSSN return to the country?"
"I couldn't care less when they got back - all I know is that I'm looking at the hunk with blue hair himself connecting his guitar to to an amp right now!"
Weiss gasped again. "When do they come on?"
"Around 11, some no name band is warming them up. Anyway, just be here."
The white haired girl looked at the clock on her phone. "I'm coming - I can't stay till the end, though."
~~Line Break~~
Weiss groaned at the phone.
Because it was ringing.
Phones shouldn't be ringing on Sunday mornings.
Yet her's did.
She hated that phone.
Because it was ringing on a Sunday morning.
She groaned again, but this time out of exertion to pick it up. "Nyeah…?" Weiss slurred.
"So, how was it?" The girl on the other side asked.
"Id… Was… Wawwesome…"
"I'm so happy to hear that! He's gonna be ecstatic when you find out you hit it off with her!"
"Who wis... gonna be wha?"
"Weiss? When did you go to sleep last night?"
"Don' know… who is this?" Weiss eventually got herself to a seated position. "An' why... is there… so much… noise?"
"Noise? Oh I'm at the clinic - you know how busy we get in the afternoons."
"Clinic… Pyrrha?" Weiss rubbed the sand out of her eyes.
"Yeah - so what exactly happened last night that you're so tired?"
"You won't believe it," Weiss finally felt her words straighten. "SSSN played at Junior's club last night, and it was so awesome… we got, like, five encores!"
"Wish I could be there."
"Me too, but you never go anywhere on Saturday nights with me." Weiss slowly shuffled out of her room towards the kitchen - you couldn't expect her to operate with out her morning coffee - could you?
"Only early Sundays for me, you know? So anyway, how was your meeting with Jaune's contact? I mean, before the party…"
"It was good, I guess." Weiss started preparing her coffee. "She gave me some sort of audition."
"Audition? How do you audition someone to be a 'shopping assistant' - or whatever you call it?"
"Not sure; she just told me to get this really important computer part she needs, before it runs out of stock." Weiss shrugged, yawned and pressed the button to heat up more water - because there was no hot water for some reason. "Figured I'll just go to the store at eleven, get the part, and I'm home free."
"Weiss, what time do you think it is right now?"
"About ten?" She yawned. "You're about to start you shift at the clinic."
"It's one-thirty - Weiss, I'm calling you in my lunch break."
"Can't be…" All tiredness left the ivory haired girl's eyes as she moved the phone away from her ear and it's clock into view. "Dust it! Sorry Pyrrha, I'm gonna call you back tonight."
"Weiss, wait a -" Pyrrha was cut off by Weiss' hangup.
~~Line Break~~
Saying that Weiss was in a frenzy was an understatement. She was out of the door in five minutes - having already changed into her track suit because she couldn't afford a cab anymore. It wasn't that she'd spent all her money on booze (Junior was surprisingly strict when it came to not serving alcohol to minors, even if he was perfectly happy to see them waste their inheritance on soft drinks - and she'd only gotten a couple of those) it was that she was growing increasingly nervous that Ruby was going to demand a refund.
This job was seriously going to make or break Weiss' sanity.
She ran two blocks to the nearest computer store and asked the salesman if they had the part.
"Sorry Miss, we've been out of them since the morning."
"Thanks anyway."
She ran to another store: "You'll have to join the waiting list, Missy."
By the third store Weiss realized just how much of a problem this was going to be: The clerk actually laughed at her, hysterically.
Too tired to run by now, Weiss took the subway to the mall - you can find anything at the mall.
Except for this computer part, apparently: "Hey, you should have seen the line for this thing…"
~~Line Break ~~
Her phone rang. "Hey Pyrrha…"
"Wow, you sound worse then when I woke you up."
"It's been two hours and nobody has this thing! I've been running all over the city…"
"That computer part?"
"Yeah, it's like getting tickets to an NDGO concert, only - it's not an NDGO concert."
"If only someone told you that this might happen…" Pyrrha quipped, but Weiss was too tired to appreciate it.
"I'm not in the mood for patronization, Pyrrha. I wasn't responsible - I get it."
"Sorry, didn't mean it like that."
"I know, don't worry about it."
"Listen - I finished work; you want me to call the computer stores ahead of you?"
"That would be, like, awesome!"
"I'll rope Jaune into helping too, we were supposed to meet up anyway."
"Thanks, Pyrrha; I'll send you the details."
"we'll do our best."
"Weiss?" Someone called her name on the street, so she looked around.
"Coco?"
"Wow, it's been ages." Weiss thought about the chances of meeting Coco just out on the street, what a small world it was - but then again, she's been running around the city like a headless chicken for two hours.
"Pyrrha, I just met Coco on the street; tell your boyfriend I said thanks…"
"Tell Coco I said 'hey'. We'll call you if we find it…"
~~Line Break~~
"So why do you look like hell?" Coco asked, and Weiss didn't even try to defend herself - her hair was a mess, she was still had last night's makeup on, and the worst of it all - she had been sweating, a lot, in the track suit. By contrast, Coco looked like she just walked out of fashion shoot - and if anyone could bring beatnik back from the dead, that would be Coco.
"Because I'm about to get fired from my job - hell, it's not even my job yet!" She gestured her desperation as they sat down at a cafe - Weiss certainly needed a break. "I don't know what to do…" Weiss let her head fall onto the table.
"We'll have two mocha lattes." Coco told the waiter, who was obviously all too eager to wait on her.
"Add a double espresso to that order," Yatsuhashi said as he sat down, followed closely by a very loud grumbling from Weiss' stomach.
"And a plate of biscotti," Coco finished the order.
"Sorry, I haven't eaten since last night." Weiss was already imagining the cookies.
"Don't worry about it; so why are you running around - and really by the looks of it: since last night?" Coco asked.
"I'm supposed to find this…" Weiss took out the crumpled up magazine page that heralded the arrival of the component in question. "And it's, like, impossible to find."
"Oh yeah, that new processor." Yatsuhashi accepted the paper and skimmed through the article. "Good luck finding one - everyone's gone nuts over this thing."
"I don't get it - why?"
"Because:" Coco was the one who answered. "A lot of startups who weren't around for the previous upgrade cycle want it because they think that because it's the latest and greatest, it's also the most future proof; the early adopters want it because of some feature that won't be relevant for at least five years; and the gamers want it because they think that having the most expensive hardware will magically improve their skills."
"That was hot, Coco." Complimented Yatsuhashi. "You did forget the wannabes, though."
"You're right, and lastly: the wannabes want it because they think spending too much money on their computer will make them cool for some reason."
"Still hot."
"Shut up, you…" Coco smiled shyly.
Weiss was just stunned. "How do you know all that?"
"My boyfriend works at tech blog, I'm expected to know this stuff." She shrugged.
"But I thought -"
"Yes, and yes." Yatsuhashi answered, grinning gloriously. "Coco just summed up all of our demographics - so you can imagine that when our editor made the mistake of telling everyone that he got his hands on one, fists were raised."
The waiter came and brought their order, and Weiss was already choking on the third cookie by the time Yatsuhashi continued.
"So eventually he said 'whichever department comes up with the best - and most original - idea, can have the dusting thing!'"
"So you had a bad day too?"
"I wouldn't say bad, but the best idea my department came up with, was to let some company have a go and do the tests they think are the most important - but let's face it, what sort of company would let themselves be desperate enough to let us hang around their servers and publish their results?"
"I'm desperate enough…" Weiss said despairingly, between a cookie and a large sip of her coffee.
"I thought you barely had a job, not to mention your own company?" Coco sipped from her own cup.
That's when it hit Weiss, like plate of cookies in the face. "Yeah - but the girl who sent me on this stupid quest does."
"Girl?" Eyebrows were furrowed on both Coco's and Yatsuhashi's face.
~~Line Break~~
"I'll admit," Coco mused as they reached their destination - apartment 2309. "I expected it to be different, somehow…"
"I know, right?" Weiss pressed the doorbell: she felt much better now - fed, showered, and dressed accordingly.
A few seconds later they could hear Ruby arguing on the phone. "I'm telling you, Roman - that was my doorbell… No, I'm not evading the question…" She opened the door for the waiting trio.
Ruby moved the microphone away from her mouth. "Weiss, you should've just walked in. Yes Roman - I'm talking to actual people…"
The crimsonette walked back inside without waiting for her company to follow up - which they did anyway, each finding a place to sit in her living room-slash-museum.
"The same guests I told you I was expecting when we started talking, hours ago." Ruby carried in a few glasses and a five pint jug of water from the kitchen. "Seriously, if I was going to run, I'd have done it the second you started that stupid speech about marketing… Fine - and screw you too, by the way."
Ruby finally hung up, and slumped onto the couch, holding a large bag of cookies - probably forgetting she brought them in for her guests. "I hate that man." She brooded.
"Ahh, Ruby?" Weiss startled the girl, who now wore the face of someone caught with their hand in the cookie jar - it was only fitting considering she actually did have her hand in a bag of cookies.
"Sorry, you wanted some?" She offered to the trio.
"Ruby Rose," Weiss took the introductions upon herself. "This is Coco Adel, and Yatsuhashi Daichi - they were both students at Signal Prep last year."
"Nice to meet you," Ruby cordially extended her hand to shake theirs.
"Nice to meet you too," Coco shook.
"I'm a big fan," Yatsuhashi admitted, earning himself a round of cocked eyebrows from the three girls. "What? I'm a tech journalist - what did you expect?"
Ruby broke the awkward silence a couple of seconds later. "You didn't bring these guys to bully me into giving you more money, did you?"
"Nope," Weiss almost beamed, despite the deadpan. "But Yatsuhashi does have a proposition for you."
"I'm not doing it, this was your dusting idea…" Yatsuhashi crossed his arms indignantly. Despite being all for meeting the Ruby Rose, he wasn't going to tell his department head know that he was the one who failed to get the crimsonette on board.
"I'll do it," Coco took the initiative. "Yatsuhashi's blog has the computer part you wanted to test - and they'll let you use it, if you let them publish the results."
"I'd also love to get an interview, if that's possible." The man felt a need to add.
Ruby just furrowed her brows, trying to decide whether she liked these events or not.
Seeing Ruby's reaction, Weiss took the reins. "And the best thing about this deal, is that your credit card goes untouched." She placed it on the table to get the point across/
Ruby thought about it for a bit longer, and sighed eventually. "You know, I'd really prefer to just own the processor myself - but you did just save me 8000 dollars, so I guess I don't mind giving the job."
"8000 dollars!?" Weiss' jaw dropped.
~~Afterword~~
"This is pointless!" Jaune hung up the phone angrily - having just argued with a shopkeeper for no apparent reason. "This is seriously just doing Weiss' job, for her."
"Relax, Jaune." Pyrrha scratched another shop off the list, having called them herself. "Any second, we'll find the part, and all will be right in the world."
"It's a Sunday evening, for Oum's sake - can't we do something normal - like bicker over which movie we want to see?"
"Jaune," Pyrrha grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "A friend needs our help - and Weiss is my friend."
Jaune wasn't sure whether Pyrrha was looking at him with determination, or if it was desperation. Either way, her face was right up against his, so he took the opportunity and kissed her, deeply.
The redhead was blushing by the time they parted for air. "Does this mean you'll continue helping?"
"I guess there's no helping it, babe." He sighed. "So once we finish with the east coast we'll start calling shops in the west one?"
"It's a different time zone too - I think they might even overnight it, if we ask nicely..."
~~The End~~
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it (despite all the issues.)
Feel free to review honestly and ask question (or tell me about something that needs fixing.)
Have a nice year everyone,
~~localschor
Edit: forgot to mention, that this is not a oneshot - there will be more.