A/N: I'm hoping to reveal most things about this AU in the writing rather than explaining it here so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask via review or PM.
All criticism is welcomed.
Weiss let out a huff of frustration at the squeal of tires that grated against her ear drums and sliced through the previously silent parking lot. She cursed herself for choosing this late night shift to avoid the meal time rushes and reduce the possibility of being recognised by someone she knew. Of course she hadn't countered in the fact that the only people craving greasy fast food at this hour would be evening workers or drunks.
She straightened her posture and adjusted the entirely unflattering uniform as she heard the automatic doors slide open, the new customers bringing a harsh breeze with them.
She witnessed what had to be the oddest group of tipsy people she had ever laid her eyes on.
They were a trio, two males and one woman who stood between them. On the right was the shorter man with sandy blond hair, which seemed to follow the premise that messier was better, and an unbuttoned white shirt which revealed toned abs. His entire appearance and body language seemed to scream 'laid back', something that Weiss didn't appreciate in the slightest.
The tallest of the three had vibrant blue hair in which rested a pair of yellow goggles, although he seemed to have more practical fashion sense for the chilly winter air with his jacket. As her eyes met his he flashed his shiny teeth in what he must have believed was a dazzling smile, Weiss simply rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the last of the group.
It wasn't the flowing mass of golden hair or the minimal clothing- which revealed a toned body accompanied by feminine curves- that made Weiss instantly dislike this woman, it was the sunglasses. Obnoxious aviators that she must have thought made her look cool were donned by the stunning female who approached the counter with confident strides.
Weiss wondered what kind of idiot wore sunglasses at night and indoors, it seemed she was about to find out.
As the blonde rested her elbows against the counter, her breasts, barely covered by the tank top she wore beneath her leather jacket, seemed to take up more space than they had any right to and Weiss struggled to stop herself from staring.
"Hey princess." Weiss bristled at the nickname and the all too low tone it was uttered in.
"Welcome to Schnee's, what can I get you?"
"I'll have a cheeseburger and fries, what about you guys?" She turned to her companions who stepped up next to her and Weiss could smell the alcohol that clung to their clothes.
"Do you have any bananas?" The boy with the abs asked as Weiss scrunched her face at the odd request.
"No, we have what is on the boards above me." Weiss replied curtly as she gestured to the lit up menus over her head.
"Sun stop monkeying around." Yang elbowed him in the ribs and received loud snorts in reply. Weiss now had no doubts as to their inebriation.
"Alright I'll have the same as her."
"Me three! Thanks snow angel, names Neptune by the way." The blue haired one piped up with a wink. Weiss glanced at him under her lashes, perhaps he was cute in a dorky way she mused.
"And we'll have a kid's chicken nugget meal for my darling sister as a treat for being designated driver." The blonde interrupted, giggling at herself.
"And what drinks would you like with each of the meals?"
"Schnee cola for all."
"Is that everything for you?"
"Could I get a side order of that booty?" Weiss felt her face burn bright at the finger pointed towards her and the arrogant, self-satisfied smirk that now graced the blonde's features. She almost growled when the two men either side of the brute in question merely burst into childish giggles, Sun actually clutching onto the counter for support.
"Only if you're willing to lose some fingers." Weiss replied icily as the blonde lifted up her arms apologetically.
"Woah okay, sorry princess." Weiss merely glared in reply as her co-worker shouted that the order was ready to package and she hurriedly got to work, the sooner she could prepare their order the sooner they would leave her in peace again. She caught the end of some tale involving a bar fight, in which Sun had received the scar he was currently showing off, as she lifted their bags onto the counter.
"Thank you for visiting Schnee's burgers today." Weiss stated robotically as the three idiots in front of her attempted what looked like a three person high five which resulted in Neptune receiving a slap to each cheek.
"It was a pleasure." The woman replied as she took off her sunglasses to reveal the most intriguing eyes Weiss had ever seen. "Just in case you change your mind about cutting off my fingers here's my number." She grabbed a nearby napkin and scribbled on it momentarily before pushing it towards Weiss who scoffed at the very notion. "See ya around." And with that Weiss received a bright, lilac-eyed wink before the food was promptly snatched up and carried outside.
As soon as the automatic doors closed behind them they began loudly discussing her, as if they didn't realise that noise travelled through glass.
"Neptune you totally suck at picking up girls." Sun announced through a mouthful of burger, apparently unable to wait till he reached the car to begin eating.
"Yeah I told you I had more game." The woman mocked as she punched him on his bicep, making him stumble slightly with her heavy-handedness.
"She threatened to remove your fingers."
"But she'll totally text me, no one can resist this! Anyway she might be into rough stuff, you don't know her life."
"She won't text you."
"Probably not but it was worth a try right? She had really pretty eyes…" Weiss strained to hear more of their conversation but they hopped into a red sports car and before Weiss' cheeks had managed to lose their blush they were already on their way out.
Weiss gingerly pulled the napkin towards her, as if making too much contact with it would infect her, and cast her gaze across the messy scrawl of digits. There was a mobile number then underneath the simple word 'Yang', presumably the blonde's name.
She was about to scrunch up the napkin when a flash of silver caught her eye and she zeroed in on the sunglasses that had been carelessly left on the counter.
She glowered at them.
They glared back.
She looked away, at the almost empty parking lot which was lit by three streetlamps, until she could feel their gaze on her. She cursed under her breath and picked up the aviators, examining them as if they would crack under her pressure and reveal the secrets of their mysterious owner. With a quick glance around the now empty seating area she hesitantly raised the sunglasses to her face and put them over her eyes, darkening her view.
"Look at me wearing sunglasses indoors and saying stupid things and thinking I can get away with it just because I'm good looking and have amazing hair." She mocked in an imitation of Yang's cheery voice.
"Uh… Weiss?" Forgetting that she wasn't entirely alone Weiss yelped in shock and immediately removed the sunglasses as she span on her heel to face the manager of Vale's Schnee's burgers store.
"P-pyrrha! Uh… I was just-"
"I came to tell you that your shift is over, so I'll see you the same time tomorrow night?"
"Yes! Bye!" Weiss could barely string together more than one word sentences in her mortifying embarrassment as she scooped up the napkin and hastily exited the diner.
Towelling through her just washed hair Weiss re-entered her bedroom and commenced her staring contest with Yang's sunglasses. It was merely seconds before she sighed loudly and grabbed her phone to write up a text. Her fingers delicately tapped the screen as she wrote, and re-wrote several times, the message she was going to send.
Hello, this is Weiss from Schnee's Burgers. You left your sunglasses in store, if you visit during one of my shifts sometime soon you can collect them.
She hovered over the send button before biting her lip and resigning herself to being a good person, it's not like she would ever be seen in such a trashy accessory so she was really doing herself a favour in getting rid of them.
She attempted to focus on some schoolwork then, she wanted to be ahead when they returned after the holidays, but her eyes kept wandering to her phone. She checked the time and realised that most normal humans would be asleep at such an early hour of the morning, nevertheless she hated to be kept waiting.
Weiss breathed in deeply as she let her eyes drift closed and her forehead rest on her desk, math equations tended to make her drowsy after a tiring work shift. Her phone buzzed on the grainy wood and she snapped awake as the screen lit up with a message from the contact 'blonde idiot'.
Thanks princess! Ur the best. Can I come tomorrow at 9? I guess its actually today now tho?
Weiss gritted her teeth at 'princess' but tapped out a quick reply.
I am working evenings (from 6pm) til Friday this week.
After hitting send she collapsed onto her bed, feeling her phone buzz again merely seconds later.
Awesome. I'll see ya tonite then x
Weiss frowned at the little 'x' at the end of the message as she wondered how someone could have as much confidence as Yang.
The time on her phone read past two am when she fell into a deep sleep.
The first three hours of her shift dragged by mercilessly and she found herself periodically checking the clock between watching customers file out after their dinner. She was reading through a book her English teacher had assigned her class under the counter when she heard heavy boots against the tiled floor.
"Hey." It was a decidedly more proper greeting than the night before.
"Hello." Weiss looked up into wide lilac eyes.
"Listen, I wanted to say that I'm sorry about speaking to you like that last night. I do like to flirt but I know what it's like when you're just trying to do your job and pervy idiots keep trying to hit on you. You definitely didn't have to do this for me but you did so er… thanks again." Yang definitely didn't possess any form of eloquence but Weiss could tell she was sincere.
"Ok. They're in my locker, follow me." Weiss instructed as she turned to the new worker who had started a couple of days ago. "I'm taking my break now."
"Uh o-okay Weiss." Jaune smiled eagerly and looked shyly at Yang who had chosen that moment to wink at him.
"Don't." Weiss warned Yang who looked at her sheepishly.
"That guy off limits then?" The blonde asked as they left Jaune and began walking through the kitchen.
"Don't say anything but I think my boss has a crush on him."
"He's not really my type anyway. Who's your boss?"
"Would you know them if I told you?"
"I do actually live in Vale ya know. I could've gone to school with them or something."
"How old are you?" Weiss asked, looking Yang up and down and trying to determine some round about guess.
"You should know better than to ask a woman her age princess, take my advice."
"Do you hand out a lot of this 'advice'?"
"Not usually for free but you can have that one on me." Yang grinned and then continued. "I'm twenty, what about you? Please tell me I didn't drunk hit on a baby."
"I am not a baby! I'm eighteen actually."
"Woah we got a proper adult right here! Do you go to Signal high then? I left a couple of years ago."
"Yes. I moved here for my senior year. My father thought it would be beneficial for me to spend some time in Vale seeing as I plan to go to Beacon University."
"Woah! No way? I go there!" Yang exclaimed excitedly before laughing at the horrified look on Weiss' face.
"How did you get into Beacon?"
"Hey! Looks can be deceiving; I could be a total science nerd for all you know."
"You wear sunglasses at night."
"You make a good point. I got a sports scholarship." Weiss nodded, accepting the fact that Beacon celebrated physical success just as much as more academic pursuits.
"We're here." She announced before knocking on the staffroom door.
"Who is it?" The call came from behind the wooden door.
"It's Weiss, I have a fr- er… someone with me. Is it ok to come in?"
"Of course." Before Weiss could clasp the metal door knob the room was revealed to them as the door swung open and Pyrrha smiled warmly at them.
"Yang?!"
"Pyrrha?! No way! You look amazing! How have you been?"
"I've been great thanks, just saving up some more money for my final semester of college. How about you? You're in your second year now right?"
"Yeah it's been great, I'm getting loads of hours of coaching a week and apparently Beacon have the best contacts for getting me a manager when I've finished my course. My dad's still making sure I get a degree as a back up plan even though I'm certain I want to make it professionally." Weiss tapped her toe as the two exchanged pleasantries, the curiosity was biting at her but she couldn't interrupt.
"Well I've got to get back to work but we should organise a proper catch up sometime maybe coffee or something, I never see you at Beacon."
"It's a big campus I guess, I'll hold you to that coffee offer." Yang grinned again as Pyrrha waltzed back towards the kitchen, Weiss wondered if she'd ever met anyone who smiled as often as Yang did.
"That was my boss." Weiss reluctantly supplied as she entered the staff room and made her way over to her locker.
"You're so lucky to have Pyrrha as a boss! She's so nice and hot and cool and down to earth, did I mention hot?"
"Yes, you may have just mentioned it." Weiss supplied sarcastically.
"Man I used to have a bit of a crush on her in high school; she was basically my first personal trainer and queen of the school. She was really sporty until she got a few injuries that just stopped her from going pro."
"What was she good at?"
"I know it sounds strange but javelin was her speciality." Weiss was taken aback by that but she twisted the lock and began rooting around for Yang's sunglasses.
"What about you?"
"Me? I'm a boxer. Couldn't you tell?" With a mischievous wink Yang flexed her biceps and Weiss would've been lying if she was to say she wasn't just a little bit impressed, not that she'd ever let Yang know.
"Shouldn't you be on a no alcohol, no fast food diet then?"
"Nah. I'm still in college so I can get away with it for another year as long as I keep working out everyday. When I start competing professionally I'll be stricter."
"Here you go." Weiss handed her the aviators and let out a 'tut' of disapproval when Yang immediately put them on.
"Don't like them?"
"No. You look like an idiot."
"I like your honesty princess."
"Don't call me that."
"You got it, your majesty." Weiss growled but Yang barrelled on nonetheless. "So I was thinking…"
"Don't hurt yourself."
"Your concern touches me."
"I am most certainly not touching you in any way."
"Alright. Anyway if you want to get to know Vale better I have lived here all my life so you've met the right person, I could take you on a tour sometime if you like? It's really important to know the city you're going to live and study in and I'm sure your father would agree."
"My father would never agree to anything to do with me being around you."
"Okay… maybe that makes me even more appealing? I know all the places that daddy won't want to take his daughter."
"Don't try to psychoanalyse me, I don't have daddy issues."
"But you're a teenager! And teens need to rebel. I could tell you loads of stuff about Beacon if you wanted to hang out sometime?"
"I don't need to rebel."
"Sure, if you really don't want to see me any more than necessary then that's okay. Just text me if you want to do anything, I'll see ya later, thanks again for the sunglasses." Before Weiss could form a reply Yang was strutting away, still with that stupid grin on her face and a spring in her step.
"W-weiss?"
"What is it Jaune?" She snapped, being pulled from her comfortable reading session and back into the harsh reality that was a late night shift with the bumbling new recruit.
"That g-girl you were with the other day told me t-to give you this."
"What are you talking about?" In the last hour he had gotten a total of three orders wrong and she had taken up ignoring him as if he would somehow disappear if she refused to believe he was there.
"Here." He held a wobbly hand out with a petite, poorly wrapped gift in it. It was clearly left over Christmas giftwrap which was terribly creased and made a throbbing begin at Weiss' temple.
"What is that?"
"The blonde girl came in before your shift and asked me to give it to you. So… here you go…?"
"Isn't it the end of your shift now?" She nodded towards the clock on the far wall as she gingerly accepted the gift as if it may explode if she were too rough.
"Y-yeah. Bye Weiss!" He gave her a hopeful smile which she was delighted to not return before she focused on the particularly light package between her slender fingers.
Checking to make sure nobody was observing her she daintily tore away the paper to reveal a white glasses case. A crease formed between her brows as she unzipped the case, finding her curiosity pushing her hands to work faster.
She was firstly met with a roughly folded note, the edges of the paper not lining up, another crime that Weiss dearly wanted Yang to be held accountable for, but she hastily held it out and recognised that messy scribble.
I'm back at college next week.
I thought you'd appreciate a small gift for the favour you did for me.
Enjoy!
Yang X. L.
Being a female herself Weiss would have thought that she may have a chance of understanding Yang but she was left more perplexed after every interaction. Did Weiss need to know Yang's college timetable? And what did the 'X' and 'L' stand for? Extra large? The boxer certainly wouldn't need extra large clothes and she hadn't ordered an extra large meal the other day. If they were initials Weiss couldn't think of a name beginning with 'x'.
Weiss ceased her puzzling and returned her attention to the gift which she presently discovered was a pair of aviator sunglasses. The sigh she let out was heard by the only customer in the store who sent her a questioning glance to which she simply shook her head.
Weiss smacked her forehead against her desk; she couldn't believe she'd caved.
She hadn't lasted two days.
She picked up her phone and re-read the text she'd just sent Yang, having had a night of sleep to mull over the offer she had received the previous evening.
I'm not working this Saturday.
She laughed at her own mysteriousness until the buzz drove her eyes to the screen to check the reply.
I'll pick u up at 2pm. We'll be out L8
Weiss rolled her eyes at the idiot she was now arranging to meet up with for some unknown reason and typed up a response.
And where are you intending to pick me up from? Is there a dress code?
The reply was almost instantaneous and made Weiss smirk.
Tell me where u want picking up from (not ur house if you don't want daddy to kno) and wear clothes? Unless u don't want to… I'm cool with either
Weiss wondered what her father would think if Yang came to their house and ruled that it may involve some sort of negative coronary reaction induced by shock. The thought made Weiss shiver and glance over her shoulder; she was going to be playing a dangerous game.
How about the library? (If you even know where that is) And I will most assuredly be wearing clothes the entire time I am in your presence.
The library was a good idea, she could get some extra studying in before Yang undoubtedly became a distraction that lasted a good few hours, and it was quite a way from her house.
I kno where the library is I have a friend who reads books
Weiss wasn't sure whether Yang was joking or if she really didn't ever do any reading.
How did you graduate from high school?
It was a legitimate concern.
With audiobooks, coffee, my good looks and a bit of luck. So I'll pick u up at 2pm on Sat from the library?
If they were going to be associating with each other Weiss considered asking Yang for her exact high school grades, she needed to be certain that she actually had managed to pass her senior year.
That sounds acceptable.
Now she had two whole days and work shifts to wait.
That's a bit harsh don'tcha think? Almost 'Weiss' cold.
Perhaps she would make Yang wait for her on Saturday.
That was appalling.
Weiss glared at her phone as if Yang would be able to see it through her text.
Awww don't h8 me cuz I'm beautiful! gtg I have training see ya Sat x
The grammar and spelling made Weiss' skin crawl as she wondered if she'd eventually need to take a class in comprehending text talk, did Beacon offer a 'common text slang' elective?
She stepped over to her walk in closet and began the pursuit of planning an outfit for Saturday which was absolutely not a date.
A/N: Thanks for reading- this story isn't going to be ridiculously slow burn and it's just a bit of something different and fun to write when I'm stuck on my other project The Rise Of Vale.
Let me know what you think- updates will aim to be about weekly possibly bi-weekly.