Terrible Jobs and an Amazing Relief
"I'll take two cappuccinos, one espresso, and a large regular coffee to go" a customer listed off a notepad he was reading from.
With very little enthusiasm, Blake quoted from the poster hanging above her without looking "would you like to sign up as a rewards member and save 10% today?" She didn't want to bother the man, as he was here every other day with the same order, and he always been nice to her. Her boss just used the information to learn what customers bought and then raise the prices of those drinks anyway. However, she didn't want her boss to bitch at her even more, and she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her shirt, just hoping she would slip up.
"No thank you" the man replied politely. When he smiled, Blake would have sworn that his canines were too sharp and long, and she suspected his faunus bloodline. She couldn't be sure though, and she would never ask something that personal. Assuming he was though, Blake envied the man, who couldn't have been older than twenty five, as she would have loved having an easily hidden animal feature, instead of the two large cat ears that protruded from the top of her head. Up until recently Blake had attempted to keep them hidden, under bows and hats. That had become difficult as she attempted to get a job.
When she began applying for jobs across the city, Blake found that most questionnaires had a check box at the top directly at the top: are you a faunus? Hide her nature, yes, but deliberately lie about it and take the risk of whatever repercussions lying on the application was a chance she wasn't willing to take. Whenever she saw one of these, it pretty much meant that the job was unavailable. And if it was, you weren't going to make a fair wage.
Her boss had decided that she would be a great source of cheap labor, and after a week of jerking her around, and making her come in for multiple interviews just to waste her time, the old racist decided that keeping her around would allow him the opportunity to torment her on a daily basis. With terrible pay and very few hours, he gave her the job, and made it clear that she was just there because the idea amused him. She would have rather worked almost anywhere else than where this man would be tormenting her, but she had come down to the wire, and the school aid programs would only supply her so much. If she didn't find a source of income, no matter how bad it was, she would soon have to leave Beacon. Begrudgingly she accepted.
"That will be $14.43, would you like to pay cash or credit" Blake asked, silently hoping he would pay cash. The tip jar was bone dry, and people were more likely to tip if they pay with cash. With how little she made, she would be happy to receive just the left over change.
"Cash is good," he replied, and handed her a twenty. She smiled, accepted the money, and attempted to put the bill into the cash register. The old machine was so rusted and worn that it was almost impossible to open with just the click of a button, and there had been many times when Blake had had to use a knife from the pastry section to pry the drawer open. Luckily, today the machine seemed to have loosened up with the heat, and the drawer opened up without too much shaking.
Without looking up, she counted out his change and handed it to him, and turned around to the machines behind her. She was pleased when she heard the sound of change bouncing off of glass, as some amount of change was put into the tip jar. The machines were just as old and busted as the register, and it wasn't uncommon for Blake to have to grind the beans for coffee by hand. Luck was with her today, as it seemed as though all of the machines she needed were working fine, and she quickly made the man's order. As she worked the man behind her asked "so, how is this place working out for you, you always seem like you're in a good mood when I come in and order".
"It's good, the pay is nice, and the work is interesting" she lied smoothly. She was paid $5.25 an hour, and she never received more than 30 hours a week. The store was also too big for how few employees worked there. Most days when Blake worked it was just her and her boss, and he said his main responsibility was to 'supervise'. Because the store was both a coffee shop and a reasonably large book store, Blake spent most of her day running between the two sides of the store, and unintentionally making customers wait on either side. It was obvious that stocking both sides with only a single employee wasn't possible, but her boss liked to place the blame on Blake being lazy, instead of her not being able to physically work both jobs.
As she turned around to hand the man his order in a cup holder, she was surprised to see that the entire 5 dollars and the extra change had been placed in the jar. She handed him the cardboard holder, smiling, and told him to have a nice day.
Her boss decided to walk up at this point, just as the man was walking way. Once he was barely out of earshot, he said to her "You didn't ask that man to write a review for us online."
"You said we should only do that for orders over twenty" Blake replied earnestly, already knowing that this wasn't going to be good. Her boss was in a foul mood today, which he was in almost every day, and had already snapped at her for multiple petty things, things that weren't even her fault. Her shift wasn't even half over.
He came up to around Blake's shoulder in height, and was already beginning to go bald, even though he was only around 45. He was a fat man, who took no pride in his appearance, constantly showing mustard stains on his bowling shirts and slacks. Worse though than his appearance was his personality.
Blake considered the man purely evil, and he enjoyed watching Blake's misery at her job. He was an old police officer, who viewed the faunus community as evil, unintelligent, brutish monsters. In his moments of 'glory' as he put it, while the raven haired girl though the stories were horribly wicked, he had been a riot shield during some of the faunus rebellions. He sighed happily as he remembered pepper spraying peaceful protesters, and hung souvenirs from his work across the store, from canes he had confiscated from the elderly, to pictures of his handiwork with animal children crying in the background. Most customers didn't notice the memorabilia, and those who did were often disgusted at the displays. When a customer complained, he would just call them turncoats and a myriad of other insults as soon as their backs were turned.
"You should be able to think for yourself, you ungrateful mongrel" her boss snapped back. Looking around, he got a cruel smile on his face. "I should fire you for something like that, as he is a regular, but I'm feeling generous today. I'm feeling so nice, that I am only going to dock your pay." Reaching up to the tip jar, as it rested on the counter higher than he stood tall, he plucked out the five and one of the quarters. Looking down back into the jar, he smirked at her and said "nice tips. And remember who is so kind to even give you this job". He tossed the jar back at Blake, hoping she would miss and jet clocked in the face. Unfortunately the faunus, who had begun to contemplate murder, caught it, and placed the now pitiful tip jar back on the counter.
"Take care, as I'll be going out on business for a bit" he smiled at her as he started to walk away. Blake couldn't care less what business it was, as she would find out when he returned, whatever new stains he would receive on his shirt.
"Next" Blake called, waiting for her day to be over.
"Blake, how have you been? And don't just shrug us away like you usually do." Weiss was sitting across from Blake at one of the café's three chaired tables, with Yang leaning her elbows on the table between the two of them. Her concern was evident in her pale blue eyes, and while Yang hadn't asked the question herself, she was just as worried.
"I'm fine" Blake mumbled, although she wasn't that convincing. It was her break, and her two friends had been close by, doing summer errands for their 3 day vacation they were planning next week. Ruby would have come along as well, but she was pulling a shift at the mechanic shop. And while the other three would never admit it, shopping with Ruby could be difficult, as everything on the isle was something they could use, want, or need, even if the rest of the group couldn't understand the need for a blender on a trip to the beach.
"No you're not, don't tell us that" Yang spoke up. She hated seeing her partner here, how Blake always seemed as though she was unhappy. "You don't have to work here; you can surf on my couch as long as you need to until you can get your own place". Yang was pleading with her, begging her.
"I can't, the second Beacon saw that I wasn't able to keep my own residence they would ask me to leave" Blake responded. Beacon's policy wasn't meant to harm their students, but instead an attempt to not force students to ruin their lives with enormous amounts of debt. Unfortunately, sometimes unique cases like Blake's would create issues for a student, and Beacon couldn't alter the way it was run just to give a single student a break.
"Then let me give you a residence" Weiss began to plead. "I have more money than I could ever use in a lifetime. A hundred lifetimes! I'll even charge you interest on the loan if you really need to pay me back!" That last part was a lie; she would never take the money of a teammate, and would find some way to give it back to Blake eventually.
Blake just shook her head this time. Unfortunately, she should have shaken her head 2 minutes ago, as her boss stormed up angrily and shouted at her "what are you doing here!? We have customers, and your break ended a minute ago!"
"Sorry", Blake replied simply, afraid of what might happen if she tried to say something else.
Weiss and Yang just sat there, speechless. They both knew that Blake's boss was horrible, but to be this disproportionally mean was completely uncalled for, as only one man stood by counter waiting for coffee, and he was obviously in no hurry, as he had picked up a book nearby the counter and begun reading the story. Blake recognized the man as her regular, who had always left large tips. He looked up, realizing that Blake was getting in trouble because of him and said "please, I'm fine, I'm in no hurry."
The owner simply glowered at Blake, without even acknowledging the man's comment and said "we don't make customers wait" in the most menacing voice he could make.
Blake had quickly gotten up, shooting her friends a look of goodbye as she jogged up to the register. Neither of them moved however, as if they were both staying to observe. She was so flustered that she made the only mistake that could have made everything worse; Blake returned to the counter without putting on her uniform. It shouldn't have been a big deal, as Blake was already wearing the black store brand collared shirt, but in her rush to get to the counter she forgot to throw on the purple apron. That was the match that lit the powder keg.
"YOU STUPID ANIMAL!" The store owner yelled the across the 10 foot distance. In all truth, he was just trying to embarrass Blake in front of her friends, and thought that this would be a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, he had made a terrible miscalculation, believing that Blake's friends would ever stand for such cruelty.
Yang, fire in her eyes, had stood up so fast that she had knocked over the chair that she had been sitting in, both of her gauntlets enveloping her fists. Her hair was on fire, and the flaming strands danced across the blonde's vision. And while Weiss hadn't moved, the temperature in the store, in the burning sun of mid-June, had suddenly dropped what must have been thirty degrees. It seemed as though all the heat in the store had disappeared, and the only source being a miniature sun stalking up towards the counter, where the store's owner had stooped behind, cowering from the approaching inferno.
Blake, unsure and not caring if this was the end of her job, wasn't going to let her friends go to prison over something like an ignorant human. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around Yang's waist, pressing her shoulder against Yang's collar bone. She attempted to push Yang out of the store, the fire in Yang's hair making it hard to see, as her vision was soon covered with purple streaks. While anyone else would have been burned, Blake had trained herself long ago to not be affected by her partners semblance. In the infancy of their partnership, Blake was constantly getting minor burns while she worked with Yang on training mission. Over time, and through a lot of trial and error, she had learned that the opposite emotion of whatever was setting off Yang's fire made herself invulnerable to the heat. It was obvious that rage was what was setting off her partner's flames, and sadness was the emotion that Blake needed to draw out. Blake was a little depressed how easily and fully she was blocking Yang's flames, as she usually could feel some portion of the heat emanating off of Yang. Right now however, all she could feel was the cold Weiss had placed on the store.
Getting Yang out of the store was difficult for Blake, especially since her partner was still swinging and screaming at her boss to "come and face me, not just hide behind the counter like some bitch!" Blake for a moment thought that might have prioritized wrong, and that she should be more worried about what Weiss would do. Weiss had never looked the part, being so small and appearing so innocent. Blake new better, and she understood that Weiss was probably the meanest and most hardcore out of any of them. Weiss hadn't moved more than an inch, but her anger was obviously growing, as now the breath coming out of their mouths was visible, and frost had started snaking its way across the floor and up the windows, as if spider legs were growing out from where the heiress was still sitting. The only movement she had made was to place her left hand on the grip of her rapier, as if preparing to rip it from the loop on her belt and stab the owner.
Finally getting Yang out of the store, she let go of her partner and placed herself in front of the door. Weiss still hadn't moved at this point, but Blake would have to deal with that in a moment, after the miniature sun in front of her would extinguish itself. Instead, it seemed as though Yang was only getting madder, the wires of sunlight swirling around Yang's head at a greater speed. Yang's voice also changed slightly whenever she was angry, as if the fire also migrated into her throat. In a crackly voice, as though a volcano was speaking to her, not her best friend, Yang said "I can't help you if you won't let me Blake". Breathing in deeply, as though the fire was also consuming all the oxygen she needed to even speak, she huffed out "and I won't watch while you let him torture you." Walking over to her motorcycle, which had been parked in one of the parking spaces along the street, she kicked up the stand and drove off wildly, causing two cars to have to swerve out of the way to avoid being hit.
Just as Yang had turned out of view, Blake heard the store doorbell tinkle. Blake turned behind her and saw Weiss looking off into the distance after the bike. Weiss sighed and said "She was my ride, although I probably didn't want to get singed on my way home anyway". Looking up at Blake she said in a matter of fact tone "you shouldn't work here." Giving Blake's arm a squeeze, Weiss walked off down the street, a small web of frost forming wherever her feet touched the pavement.
Blake walked back into the store, ignored the curious and sympathetic looks of the mid-day patrons who had heard everything that transpired in and out of the shop, and the one furious burning gaze from behind the counter. Without raising her head, she walked over to the bathroom, and locked the door behind her. In her entire life, she had cried twice outside of her own home. That day the number rose to three.
"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite half breed" Blake's boss leered down at her from atop a ladder that led to the higher shelves where the store stocked its extra books. "Did you get stuck up in a tree?"
Blake walked into the store, and looked around the place carefully, with an air of peace that she had never possessed while in the store. It was early in the morning, and the shop was mostly empty, save for one person. Siting at one of the cafe's tables was the man who had always been nice to her, whose order was so consistent that she was never surprised to see him every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Her regular. She felt sorry that she had never asked what he did for a living; she wasn't sure if she would ever see him again. That wasn't the only reason she was scanning the place however. She was also checking for cops, as she didn't want to be interrupted. She hadn't planned for what she would do if any were present, but luckily there were none.
"I'm docking your pay for giving me such short notice when your friend called and said that you wouldn't be here yesterday. And I was so close to giving you a raise too. I thought that you might deserve $5.30 for all the work you do around here. I guess we will just have to wait until next quarter" the man jested, trying to get under her skin. Ever since he had gotten her to cry in the store last month, or at least ever since he thought that he had gotten her to, he had been trying to replicate the event. To see Blake with her blood shot eyes, working with the slight tremble in her hands, trying to hide the fact that she had been broken for the entire day, he had found so much happiness in her obvious distress. Her pain was his pleasure, and he was dying to see it again.
All of his taunts fell on two pairs of deaf ears, as Blake stood at the bottom of the ladder looking up at him.
Actually taking in her appearance for the first time, he squinted at her and snapped "why are you not in your uniform?" To him, she was wearing a ridiculous shirt with a cat hanging off a tree on it. To her, it was her favorite shirt she owned now, even though she had had it for less than two days.
"Sir, I've been thinking…" Blake began, and then in one swift motion, she used her leg and hit the ladder as hard as she could with her shin. Knocked off of its tracks, the ladder came tumbling down, with Blake's boss landing on top of it painfully. Leaning over the ladder, she placed a foot on her boss's leg. While the wind had been knocked out of him, and he posed no threat, she wanted to make sure he heard what she had to say. "…That if you had been one of us you would have landed on your feet".
"I'll… I'll fire you for this!" Her boss was astounded that Blake had acted out with violence. Part of the reason that he enjoyed poking at Blake was that he thought she would never lash back at him. He had equated her to a jaguar with no teeth or claws, and he had assumed that she was no threat. He hadn't realized that a panther with no weapons could still crush your rib cage under its weight. Blake was meant for big things in this world, and this grimy old man was nothing more than a pest she had finally been able to crush under her foot.
"I'll do it for you, I quit".
Looking out the store to the window, hoping to find help, he saw three girls blocking the view looking in. Two of the girls he recognized as friends of Blake, and one he didn't. The ones dressed on red and yellow were cheering silently, although they were actually making a lot of noise on the other side of the glass. The one in pure white however simply stared him down, and he knew that this wasn't the end of her wrath, not by a long shot. Whatever he received here wouldn't be the end of his torment, and as he felt the power behind her gaze, he felt as though every pound that had been lifted off of Blake's shoulders now rested on his.
"I hope you rot here." Standing, Blake looked over at the man sitting at the café, expecting some kind of reproachful look. Instead, she saw from him a large smile, large enough that she could see what could only ever be lupine teeth. "Good for you" he laughed, not caring that his favorite coffee place had lost its best barista. He had only continued coming to this store hoping that he would one day see this. The man couldn't believe his luck that he had.
Without a glance back after that, she walked out of the store and onto the busy street. Her friends all peeled away from the window at this point, and Weiss asked her "feel better?"
"I think I actually do" Blake responded, feeling as though a vice was removed from her chest, and that she could breathe easily again.
"I sure am" Yang exclaimed, swinging off of Blake and landing in front of them. "So now where are we heading?"
"Anywhere" Blake replied, feeling as though her horizons were finally opening fully, and that she could finally do whatever she wanted.
I am going to be writing these chapters as a parallel to my other stories. While they are both taking place in the same world, and at the same time, and are both important to each other, these stories will be more focused on one particular issue. These chapters are mostly going to be about Blake and Weiss, with the other members of team RWBY and the characters from the RWBY universe showing up here and there. I don't know how many there are going to be, but I would assume around five or so. All of my other stories are going to go under the other main overhead, unless they too need their own story.
Leave a review, tell me what you think (I CAN TAKE WHAT YOU DISH OUT!). But seriously, I want to get better, and negative feedback is just as, if not more important than positive reviews. Thanks for reading!