Disclaimer: I own nothing. Don't know how far this will go. Just short little tumblr things.
Blake stood behind the bar as she always did, cleaning a glass while scanning the smoke filled room. It was filled with the usuals- mostly working stiffs too poor to afford being busted by the feds- all grumbling as they came in and laughing the longer they stayed, lulled into a softer mood by the music and the liquor sloshing inside their glasses. It was easy to forget the stakes once the drink took hold, easy to ignore the oddities that a place like Beacon had to offer, and she relished the position she had to see it unfold. After all, not many places would willingly employ a woman behind the bar, and a Faunus besides. Then again, given who the owners were, remaining within the confines of any law or social convention was never in the plan, so she couldn't even feign surprise. Neither could their customers.
"Hey, how 'bout another?" A patron called from the far end of the bar, lifting his glass. Setting aside the one she'd cleaned, Blake collected the used one and refilled it; as much as she loved the job, she hated doing the dishes.
It was a steady gig, even if it stepped over the bounds of legality- something she used to be apprehensive about, considering the tensions between Humans and Faunus still rampant across the country. All that stuff was checked at the door, though, a policy strictly enforced by the owners.
Here, she could leave her ears unbound, flick them around to hear orders or whispers, listen for trouble before it came bursting in to disrupt their good time. Her raven hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back, a gentle contrast with the dark grey vest and black slacks she wore. Her black sleeve garters kept the cuffs of her pristine white shirt from falling victim to the occasional spill, though her steady hand usually did that well enough.
There were, of course, exceptions.
"Blake!" A hand clapped her on the shoulder, nearly causing her to spill the bottle of bourbon in her hand. Luckily, she was accustomed to such interruptions, smoothly following the pour with the glass in her other hand until it was full and set back on the counter.
She made a mental note to add another drink to the man's tab before turning her amber eyed gaze to the interloper, who seemed even more cheery than usual. "Yang, we've talked about this-"
"Ah, c'mon! A few drops here and there won't kill us." The blonde shrugged, the sharp shoulders of her nigh garishly yellow zoot suit exaggerating the motion. She straightened the matching yellow tie, a nervous tick that belied her wide smile. "We're doin' pretty well for ourselves here. Just got a new shipment in yesterday."
"I saw," The Faunus said slowly, narrowing her eyes as she collected another dirty glass and dunked it in lukewarm water to begin washing it. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"What, I can't just come and say hi?"
"When you want to say 'hi', you say 'hi'. You don't remind me of our comfortable if precarious position unless there's a reason."
Apparently accepting that she'd been found out, Yang leaned her hip against the bar, taking off the matching yellow hat to examine it. "Alright, ya got me; there is something I wanted to talk to you about." The Faunus remained silent, waiting. "Ruby and I talked it over, first, and we think it's a good idea."
The sisters owned Beacon outright, seeing as the building was built by their father and Yang's uncle. The little section tucked away and hidden was transformed into a bar the minute the feds passed their prohibition act, abolishing the sale of alcohol out in the open. Theirs was one of the few establishments to exist in the city of Vale, mainly because Yang was just as convincing with her charm as she was with her fists. The local coppers backed off pretty early on, provided they could slip in after a long shift without raising any brows. Truthfully, as long as the feds stayed unaware of their little slice of heaven, they were made.
Still, they liked to run things by Blake before making a big decision. The guys in the band weren't privy to the inner workings of the bar, though they were trustworthy enough to guard the secret, but the bartender had lucked both into her position and the sisters' favor. She didn't regret that, but sometimes she wondered if the trouble was really worth it.
"What did you do?" Her ears flattened as she studied the blonde, grip tightening on the glass. Yang had a tendency to help out whoever asked- picking up strays, Blake had once described it as, unironically- and, while it hadn't backfired on them yet, it was only a matter of time.
"I figured we could use a little… musical accompaniment. Y'know, liven the place up a bit." She set her cap back on her head, tilting the brim down and leaning her head back. "So, I got us a singer."
She nearly slammed the glass when she set it down on the counter. "A singer?"
"Yep."
"That is literally the single stupidest-"
"Gentlemen, and our esteemed ladies," the trumpeter on stage said, his voice carrying over the din with practiced ease, seeing as they lacked any form of microphone; the fewer wires, the better. Flint's eyes scanned the crowd briefly before he tipped his hat towards the bar, polite as ever to his employers. "We've got a special treat for all of you tonight. Please welcome to the stage our mysterious siren, here to enchant you all with her lovely song."
Blake glowered at the other woman briefly before rolling her eyes. Whatever fool notion had taken hold of Yang, it was too late to stop it entirely. She snatched up the glass she'd abandoned and began cleaning it vigorously, all the while imagining how she was going to convince the blonde to think before she pulled ridiculous stunts like this.
Her internal monologue quickly sputtered out, however, when a woman took the stage dressed in a long, dark blue dress that swirled around her ankles, the high heels doing little to increase her short stature. Yet, when piercing blue eyes swept over the room, long white hair pulled back into a ponytail sent swaying with the motion, there was no doubt she commanded the attention of every person in it, mutterings dying out as the band started up.
Coco started up a smooth, flowing rhythm on her saxophone, Flint joining in a few beats later with the drummer and bass.
"My last night here for you, same old songs just once more." Without the aid of a microphone, her voice soared over the music and crowd, sweet and pure as it rang out. With the slow rhythm, the woman had plenty of time to actually perform as well, not standing up on stage stiff as a board but instead swaying to the music. "My last night here with you?"She tilted her head slightly. "Maybe yes, maybe no." Her chin tilted up, the low lights overhead making her eyes shine like sapphires. "I kind of liked it your way, how you shyly placed your eyes on me. Did you ever know that I had mine on you?"
Blake would swear- from that moment until she was dead and gone- that the moment those words rang out, on any holy book or bottle, they made eye contact. Across the room in a smoked filled bar, hiding in plain sight from the law, this woman looked at her and saw her. Not in the way that the patrons usually did- most with a hint of begrudging acceptance or, at worst, outright disdain- but as if they were part of something bigger, together.
This woman was stunningly beautiful, especially when she sang, and that became a literal observation a moment later when she felt the hard jab of glass behind tapping into her shoulder.
"Ya dropped somethin', Blake." Yang was smug, lilac eyes twinkling as she held up the glass the Faunus thought she'd been cleaning, only to realize her fingers had gone numb the moment the singing started.
"Shut up," she tersely replied, smoothing out her expression as she reclaimed the glass and returned to cleaning it. Her ears, though, traitorous appendages that they were, flicked forward to drink up more of that wonderful voice. She'd already missed half of the following voice as the woman swept her gaze across the room once more, everyone within sitting at the edges of their seat and paying rapt attention.
The song wore on, a bittersweet melody that drew Blake deeper into those shining eyes every time they looked her way. Maybe it was foolish of her, mooning over some singer Yang had found who-knew-where, but suddenly those silly stories she'd managed to read after stealing them away from libraries and private collections seemed to be taking their toll. If love at first sight existed, this was surely what it felt like.
But, she was at least versed in maintaining an appearance, her face betraying none of the sticky sweet sensations being brought out by the woman's lovely voice and striking beauty. She dutifully cleaned the glass in her hand as if it was the only thing keeping her from floating away, staunchly ignoring the butterflies in her stomach to appear unaffected by the song.
Subconsciously, she reached under the bar, quickly grabbing her own glass and taking a draught of the amber liquid within to steady herself.
She was not prepared when she looked back up, suddenly trapped in that hypnotic gaze.
"Darling so there you are! With that look on your face." Pale lips curled into a soft smile, her left hand reaching out as if Blake could take it into her own despite the distance, and it was only the glass and rag in her hands preventing her from doing so and looking like a fool. "As if you're never hurt. As if you're never down. Shall I be the one for you, Who pinches you softly but sure? If a frown is shown then, I will know that you are no dreamer."
The band tapered off, a few characteristic flourishes from Flint and Coco nearly drowned out by the applause of the crowd. The noise was sudden and annoying to her heightened sense of hearing but Blake couldn't be motivated to care about that when she had something far more aggravating focused her way: namely, a trademarked Xiao Long grin of victory.
"So... we hired a singer." It was better to just forfeit this battle rather than attempt any more objections; it would be immediately thrown in her face that she didn't mean any of them.
"Technically, we're still trying." Her expression fell, idly scratching at the side of her face. "And I need your help to seal the deal."
"My help?"
"You're better at reading people." They both glanced towards the stage as the woman dismounted, heading straight for the bar. Gone was the soft smile she'd worn as the song concluded, replaced by an ice cold expression meant to freeze her target in place. "Bring your best, Blakey; we'll need it."
When the woman reached the bar, she focused solely on Yang, voice crisp and clipped. "I assume this is the end of our arrangement."
"Not necessarily." The blonde jerked her chin towards the stage. "You could stay on a little longer; the band could use a singer."
"That's not my problem." She crossed her arms over her chest, expression pinching into one of annoyance. "You requested a single song as repayment for my debt."
The Faunus didn't bother inquiring about whatever situation brought about this 'arrangement', instead focusing on the woman's body language out of the corner of her eye. She was being pointedly ignored, that much was certain, but the rigid way the singer was holding herself- back straight, shoulders back, chin tilted up in superiority- coupled with the scar marring her left eye that Blake could only spot up close thanks to make-up… well, it didn't take a detective to figure this one out. But she also had a sneaking suspicion that the woman was as in the dark as Yang, though about different things.
"Afraid Daddy will find out?" She offered nonchalantly, moving over to the icebox to grab a few cubes even as the woman's piercing gaze shot her way. Yang was in charge of keeping people in line and the feds off their scent, Ruby held the purse strings and moved the money around to avoid suspicion, but it was Blake who had two fingers on the pulse of Vale, and she knew of everyone even if she hadn't met them. She certainly had an idea of what the Governor's daughter looked like, though the descriptions she was given hardly stacked up to reality. "I imagine Weiss Schnee wouldn't want her father learning she has a bit of a rebellious streak. He's not too happy you like to sing, from what I hear."
Emotions flashed in her eyes even if they never crossed her face- fear, chiefly, with a healthy dose of surprise added in- before she set her jaw, ignoring the sheer shock in Yang's expression. "I'll not be blackmailed."
"Not what I was suggesting," the Faunus replied, pouring some bourbon into the glass under the bar- the same one she'd spent the entire song cleaning- and set it on the bar. "Instead, a trade."
"You think a glass of cola is a suitable trade?" Weiss raised a brow but grabbed the glass all the same, no doubt parched from her performance. However, the moment she raised it to her lips, she raised, sniffing at aroma wafting from the liquid. Blue eyes darted between them before she took a cautious sip, and then a larger one. There was a grimace at first, but after the taste had settled on her tongue, she nodded in contemplation. "Alcohol."
"You seriously didn't know?" Yang blinked, earning a sharp look from the bartender that clearly said 'look who's talking' before raising her hands in surrender.
"So, this… trade you mentioned." The white haired woman swirled the liquid around her glass, lips quirking into a small grin.
"The most dangerous kind there is: a trade of secrets." Blake reached under the bar, fixing herself a new drink. The blonde was right in saying she had a knack for reading people and, if she was reading correctly, she was about to corner the woman before her. "We know yours; you know ours. If one is compromised, so is the other." She gestured with her glass, favoring Weiss with a smirk. "Seems the best way to keep them both is to work together."
And there it was- the little surge of thrill, the allure of the dangerous, the freedom of an easy choice. But the woman had more self restraint than to jump at the first sign of an adventure she so desperately craved. "And what if I refuse? It seems the stakes are much higher for a bunch of criminals than for myself." She pointedly took another sip of the bourbon. "Even if I do partake."
Weiss briefly glanced at the Faunus ears atop her head, a barely suppressed wince causing her expression to twitch from its haughty mask. That was another thing she'd heard- that the youngest daughter had questioned her father's wisdom, his practices and policies- but some habits were perhaps a bit harder to drop, even if the invocation was unintentional. Blake set her glass on the bar in response, setting her hands atop the polished wood and leaning forward.
"The cost to us if we were found out may be material- because you're crazy if you think we'll get arrested-" Yang oh-so-helpfully chimed in with a 'she's right' "-but the cost to you will be personal." She tilted her head to the side, purposefully rotating her cat ears to draw those blue eyes up. "Would you really pass up a chance to be exactly who you want to be, no judgments." When she saw hesitation lingering in the woman's eyes, she went for the kill. "A chance to be just a beautiful singer in an illicit bar, not the next in line to inherit a name more stained than the 'criminals' in this room?"
Perhaps it was a low blow, or it just hit too close to home, Weiss initially recoiling in surprise. However, she recovered quickly, the honest compliments perhaps softening the rhetorical question, and she leaned forward to rest her elbows on the bar, offering her free hand. "And you are?"
"Blake," she replied, taking the slim fingers in hers and brushing her lips against the woman's knuckles, smirk growing wider at the light blush she could see rising in pale cheeks. "Blake Belladonna, the bartender."
"It seems I'm the singer, now." Without hesitation, Weiss raised her glass. "A toast, then, to a beautiful partnership."
The Faunus quickly scooped up her drink, curious to find out what, exactly, the term 'partnership' meant to the woman. "Cheers."
Clink.
A/N: During dashingicecream's stream on 10/17, someone- I'm pretty sure it was Duwang- brought up a jazz/Prohibition Era AU. Immediately, "Eyes on Me" popped into my head, even though I'm pretty sure it's not jazz, but I figured it fit Weiss as a character close enough. Had to get the scene out of my head.
And yes, damnit, I know full well zoot suits weren't big until the 1940′s. I think they're cool and I'm fresh out of fucks to give regarding historical accuracy. Bite me.