The storm had raged for days. The wind howled and thunder clapped. Lightning flashed and lit the sky every few seconds. The rain pelted down like a barrage of bullets, keeping everyone in Vale in their houses or shops. Well almost everyone. Jay was walking down the high street in his oversized hooded coat and admiring the feeling of the rain.
Jay ducked into the back door of 'his' bookshop and sighed at having to get out of the rain, but taking solace in the presence of the books that filled his favourite place in Vale. The store had officially shut down since its owner Tucson had been murdered but no one had bought it since, and the books had just been left on the shelves. As far as Jay knew, no one else in Vale had noticed the bookstore hadn't really closed, but then again no one had tried to enter to buy a book. Tucson's Book Trade had just been abandoned.
But Jay liked it this way. It was his own little corner of Vale. He kept it clean and tidy, and in return it gave him a place to escape the anxiety and confusion that came with social interactions. Here he could live a thousand lives and escape the one he had, and the best part was he never had to pay for it.
He had come here hundreds of times, but this time something was different. There was a presence that shouldn't be there. A feeling that came with someone hiding. Trusting his instincts, Jay slowly crept around the front desk and edged behind the bookshelves. Looking through a gap in the shelves he saw a girl sitting by the front window, curled up and shivering.
Jay snuck closer and found the girl to be asleep. She wore a black vest over a white shirt and pair of shorts, as well as a black leggings that faded to purple as they approached her boots. He decided that he couldn't just leave her like that so he snuck out back once more and returned with a thick blanket that he had left there several weeks ago. Placing it over the sleeping girl he took the book she had obviously been reading from her hand and examined it.
Ninja's of Love. Interesting. Placing the book down next to her Jay found a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Since the girl was in the only chair in the book shop, Jay lay on the floor and read.
After a few hours of reading, and really wishing he had gotten around to either getting more blankets or putting in a fireplace, though the more he thought about the latter the worse an idea it seemed, he heard the girl start to stir. Looking back over to her he saw her eyelids begin to flutter, and for some reason, her bow begin to twitch.
Making a mental note to ask her about it Jay got up and walked over to the drowsy girl. "Hey there. I'm Jay. May I ask you what you are doing here?" Jay asked as cheerily as he could. The girl blinked several times. "Oh… um… Hi. I sort of got caught in the storm on my way to the library" she said, looking slightly embarrassed "the door was unlocked so I thought I would take shelter here. I'm sorry." Now it was Jay's turn to feel embarrassed. "No. No. Don't be. To be honest I don't even work here. No one does. The old owner was killed and no one moved in. I just come here to get away sometimes." Jay apologised. "Feel free to come here whenever." "Oh err… thanks." The girl looked pleased that she hadn't done anything wrong. "Sorry for asking this, but I never caught your name. What was it again?" "I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna" she replied.
The storm raged on as the two chatted. Jay asked about the bow and though Blake first discarded it as his eyes playing tricks after pressing she admitted she was a faunus. She seemed baffled that Jay didn't seem to care that she was a faunus and actually thought the ears suited her. After putting the bow back on, they talked about Blake's friends and her role as a huntress in training. They talked about her classes and they talked about her favourite books, though she blushed bright red at the mention of Ninja's of Love. It wasn't long until the storm that had lasted almost an entire week blew its course, but still the new friends just sat and talked. By the end Blake apologised that she had to leave and tried to return the blanket, but Jay refused to accept it. "You should keep it. It's still cold outside." "thanks." She replied "you should come by Beacon sometime. I could introduce you to my friends." Jay smiled. "I think I would like that. I'll see you then."
Blake waved as she slipped out the door, the thick woollen blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Jay smiled. He always struggled to make friends and now he had one who was funny, and smart, and non-judgmental.
Several weeks went by and Blake stopped by several times. They exchanged numbers and often talked about books they had read. Almost a month after their first meeting Jay decided he would swing by Beacon to meet Blake's friends. And so he did.
Jay hated flying, but he didn't really notice it too much. He was too busy worrying about how he would come off to Blake's friends. He didn't like her. Well he did, but not romantically. He liked her like a sister. And he wanted to make a good impression with her friends. They sounded cool.
When the airship landed he was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't look where he was going and walked into a rather attractive blonde. Hitting the pavement hard he let out a sharp gasp of pain. He quickly sat up and looked around to see what it was he had hit. His eyes came to rest on the blonde girl who had sat up and was rubbing the back of her head. "Owww. Watch where you are going. Who are you anyway?" she asked, looking rather annoyed. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm Jay."
Her look of annoyance faltered as a look of recognition replaced it. "Jay? As in Blake's friend Jay? That one?" Jay grinned. "Yep, well, as far as I know. You must be Yang." Climbing gracefully to her feet Yang offered Jay her hand. "What makes you think that?" Jay grasped the offered extremity and clambered, much less gracefully, to his feet. "Cause you are just as beautiful as I pictured. Annnnnnd I just said that out loud, didn't I?" Jay replied his face going bright red. "Yeah, you kinda did" Yang laughed, her face lighting up with pleasure at the compliment. "Really sorry about that. I didn't mean to. Blake told me about you, and she said you were pretty, but I never guessed you were this pretty and then I was trying to say nothing but instead I said you were beautiful because you are, and I'm going to shut up now" Jay stumbled, the red of his face deepening. "Oh don't stop now" Yang flipped her hair flirtatiously, her lilac eyes sparkling with glee at the uncomfortable position she put him in "you were on a roll."
As if to answer Jay's payers Blake appeared. "Oh hey Jay. It's great to see you. What are you doing here?" she asked, embracing her friend in a hug. "He was just telling me how beautiful I am" Yang giggled clearly loving the awkwardness of the situation. "Yang, stop teasing him. Aren't you supposed to be at the gym at the moment" Blake scolded, glaring at the tall blonde "Of course Kitty Cat, I'll see you two later" Yang laughed, her grin never dropping. Walking away she seductively swayed her hips. As she rounded a corner she turned back and blew Jay a kiss, before laughing her head off as she stepped out of sight.
"Don't mind her. She's just playing. She's not usually that bad, though her puns are terrible." Jay gave an audible sigh of relief. "Thanks for the save. I owe you big time." Blake smiled "what are friends for?" she asked rhetorically "come on. Let's find Ruby, ice queen, and team JNPR. I think they will like you." "Really?" Jay asked, failing to completely mask his surprise. "Yeah" Blake reassured him, "just as a word of advice. Don't touch any cookies or pancakes you see. I'm rather fond of you and I don't really want to explain the bloodstains to Goodwitch"
"What!?" "Relax. It was a joke." Blake laughed "But seriously leave the cookies and pancakes."
The rest of the day went in a blur. Jay was introduced to each of Blake's friends and Sun, her boyfriend. Sun took an immediate liking to Jay, as did Ruby, Nora, Pyrrha, and Jaune. Weiss seemed to be somewhat suspicious, and it was difficult to tell how Ren felt since he never really said much, and spent most of his time trying to make sure that Nora didn't drink all the syrup. All in all it was a fun day, until Yang came back from her workout. The blonde bombshell took every opportunity to rub up against Jay or to touch his hand, making him blush. When it was finally time for him to leave he was both relieved and disappointed. Before he left he took down almost everyone's numbers, except for Weiss, who still didn't trust or like him, and Yang. In the case of the well-endowed brawler she snatched his scroll and entered her number for him. When he eventually looked at the contact name she had entered he found it read 3 YANG 3.
The next few days were chaotic. He finally decided to make his ownership of Tucson's Book Trade legal, and bought the shop with the money he had saved for the past thirteen years. He decided that he would live there, and so his time was filled with moving in.
What he didn't realise was that Yang had caught wind of his move and had planned a party with Blake's help. Exactly one week after he had moved in Blake and Sun took him out shopping, while Yang, who had really set her sights on him, and with the with the help of the others broke in and began her preparations.
Making their way back the three were engaged in gentle conversation until they were stood outside the shop turned house. Sensing something was wrong Jay carefully entered the shop, prepared to deal with any threat that could jump out at him. Except the one that actually did.
The moment he stepped through the door he was assaulted by an explosion of noise and light. Reeling with shock he slumped to the floor, only to be helped back to his feet and have a drink shoved into his hand. That was the last thing he remembered that night. But that morning was a completely different matter.