Chapter 4 Slight Delay
"words" 'thoughts'
I do not own RWBY or any characters. So far only Cole and the Bianco family is mine
For our hero, things… did not go exactly as planned
Signal was easy.
Cole saw and met Yang, her dad, and Qrow. Tai-yang was a good teacher. He helped build up Cole's hand-to-hand to near fully trained huntsman levels. And Qrow wasn't entirely drunk either. 'Guess even 'Drunky Qrow' can have a professional side too.'
He even met with Ruby a few times too. 'When I have to use the school forge to hand make most of my arrows, I should have figured that I would eventually meet the weapon nut.'
She is as adorable as one would expect she'd be. Cole didn't want to formally introduce himself just yet, but it was nice to be able to put a friendly face for her to look for at Beacon.
Yeah, but that was before his first mission in Beacon…where everything went wrong. He didn't want to remember it, but he could sum it up in 5 words.
Four man mission. One survivor.
Everything went wrong on that mission, and the recovery…well he wouldn't say he's recovered. He doubted he'll ever 'fully' recover. They were his team. 4 months or not. He couldn't tell you why he survived. To him, his story should have ended there.
But it didn't, so his story must keep going…Without team: MSTC (Mystic)
His physical recovery took long enough to force him to repeat the year, so He used the free time he had to pick up a job. It was his attempt to help speed up his recovery. Between that and double training, he keeps himself busy
Then fate decides to walk through the door of his restaurant two months in.
"Good Morning, welcome to Café le Coffee, table for one?" the words were out of his mouth before he could think, which was a good thing as all conscious thought left as soon as he noticed exactly who he was talking to.
"That remains to be seen" said Weiss Schnee as she walked in. The last of team RWBY Cole had yet to meet, and she walks into his café. 'Fate you annoying prick'.
She said her order (simple Valien Black, cream on side) and Cole turned to his barista to get it started…if only he stopped staring at her and to actually get his work done.
Cole glared at him till he noticed, "Take a break, come back when you can form a sentence"
Was it wrong for Cole to berate him in front of a guest? Yes. Did he care? No. Cole's demand for quality does not include star struck idiots.
He rushed to pour her coffee. If the server couldn't handle it, he would. However, he was surprised when she pulled back in shock. "this isn't Valien"
Our huntsman took a quick look at the coffee urn and paled. That was the urn he had brought from his apartment.
"I am so sorry, I'll be right back with your order"
"Don't bother" she said, taking another sip, "What is this?"
Cole couldn't hide his proud smile, "The Bianco custom, beans straight from my Mother's farm. She grows the best in Anima" Yes Cole was biased, but when his mother is one of the main supplier to all of Beacon, he had a right to be
"It's not on the menu" she noted.
"It wouldn't be" he said, "It's my personal brew, I may have grabbed the wrong urn when I…when you…I'll stop talking now" he stopped talking before he made more of a fool of himself, 'great, now I'm and idiot and I have to apologize to our barista.'
She looked at her now empty mug and half-filled urn and before she can say anything, "I'm about to get another shipment this weekend. If you want, I could put some aside for you?"
She gives Cole a wary look, "and exactly how much would this…Bianco custom be?"
He thought for a minute and sighed, "technically I'm not allowed to sell you coffee from home. Even the urn I gave you has to be comped off the check". Cole gave her a quick smile, "that said, shipping is usually 50 lien. Split it, and I wouldn't mind splitting the shipment."
She glared at him, and while Cole tried to figure out what he did, "so is that what you're trying to do? Get me to pay for your shipping?"
"Nope" He says quickly. 'If she thinks I'm after her money, I'll never get close to her, and that'd make working with the team harder'. "I got my own funding. Even this job is more hobby. Just till I go to Beacon next year"
She gives me a look, "You're going to Beacon?"
"Yep" He smiled again. Gotta keep cool. "I got a spot saved for me next year, guaranteed by Headmaster Ozpin himself. Are you going there too?" he asked gesturing to the sword to her side.
"As a matter of fact, I am" ah, there's that smug attitude. "I passed the entrance exam with flying colors".
"I'll admit I wasn't sure you could fight, I only ever saw your concert online once" He admitted, returning her smugness. "Care for a spar sometime?"
"Think a waiter can keep up with an heiress?" she teased.
"I'm a Host", He said, "and the name is Cole, Cole Bianco".
"Weiss Schnee, the pleasure is yours".
He left a moment later to see to his other duties ('and apologize to the damn barista who earned that smugness') and she left by the time he got back, and he thought he'd have a smooth week. 'I have 5 months until Beacon, plenty of time to train.'
Then a certain Faunus walked in a day later. Fuck you Fate!
She already had her bow on, so she left the Fang by now. 'I wondered if she remembers me from before.'
"Good Evening, welcome to Café le Coffee, table for one?"
She nodded and walked in, book in hand. He couldn't tell what book it was, but I what I could tell was that was definitely Gambol Shroud on her back. 'why the hell does everyone have their weapons with them?' "would you like to see our selection of teas Ma'am?"
She nodded and thanked him for the menu. She really doesn't talk much to strangers, huh?
It's not as nerve racking as Weiss, truth be told. But he couldn't help it, he really couldn't:
"So, did things change for you?"
She stopped, gapping at me confused and Cole gave her a sad smile, "I told you a while ago we'll change things. Things did for me, admittedly not in the way I wanted, but it's change…I suppose."
She just stared at me, it's been about 9 years, so he wasn't surprised.
Still, he had to make an impression.
As she put her cup down, he motioned to her weapon, "Beacon? Or do you have an apprenticeship?"
"Beacon, in a few months" she says, she puts her book down and he could tell she's still tense.
"I won't tell" she looks at him, confused, so he motions to her head. "You didn't have your bow when we first met. If you don't want me to, I won't mention it if we see each other there"
"You're going to Beacon too?" she said. He kinda felt sorry for her. 'I'm giving her one turn after another.'
He smiled at the hidden Faunus, an actual smile too, "yeah, my weapons are stored away though. Boss has a thing against employees keeping deadly things out in the open."
She nods and finished her cup. He looks straight at it, "did you want a pot? On me since I gave you a bit of a scare"
She nods and accepts my apology pot. Cole darts around to his other tables before coming back and she had finished her first cup of the fresh pot. "thank you" she said.
"For the pot?" he asked. 17 years and he is still a smart ass
"For keeping my secret" she corrects.
"While I'm sad you feel the need to hide such a big part of you, I won't question why. Faunas go through way too much bull from the stupid half of the human population. I won't add to it"
She pauses "what about the White Fang? You used to support them"
He felt himself go still, the latter half of her sentence died out, probably because she saw the look on Cole's face as she said it.
"I do not support the White Fang. They've changed from what they were, from the movement with believers to a bunch of extremists' terrorists that make Faunas look bad.". He barely got those words out with a grimace and looked away from Blake. He waited a moment and turn back. "I know they aren't all that, but that's what they've become"
She looks shocked and he gave her a sad look. "I hate the White Fang" he lowered his voice and scooted in. He had to make his point just right. "But the Faunas are not defined by the actions of their worse half".
"The White Fang are not the worse half" she defends. Though she gives him a surprised look when he gave her a dry chuckle.
"You didn't say anything when I mention human's worse half, but you do defend those that kill and steal over those who show prejudice and narrow mindedness". She opens her mouth and Cole waved his hand to stop her. "I can name multiple times when White Fang do this ma'am. From stealing train cars" (this gets her to stop) "to wiping out whole teams of huntsmen"
This stuns her, and he barely held back a shudder. "I've also seen Humans that do the same" he looked away and look towards his other tables. He rocketed away as he left to go tend to their needs. She's still there by the time he returned, and the pot is empty.
"I am sorry if I upset you" he said as he walked up. "please consider the pot on the house"
She nods again as she gets up to leave. Right before she does though, He calls out to her, "I refuse to blame Faunas for what the Fang has done, miss"
"It's Blake." She says.
"Ms. Blake. I don't blame them. Faunas are not evil. Not even most of the Fang is evil. But they have named themselves as enemies to anyone who fights for peace, Human and Faunus alike. Maybe they had a right to, maybe they should have stepped up from peaceful protests. But even you can't justify their actions when they take lives"
"Even if it's self-defense?" she asks.
He looks her dead in the eye.
"It's not self-defense when they kill three out of four first-years on their first mission, Ms. Blake."
She was stunned as he turned his back. His shift wasn't over, but the boss would understand him leaving a bit early. Might not hit overtime this week ('freaking miracle considering my track record') but before he could leave she stopped him.
"Wait, what's your name?"
'Ah, thank you Blake'. Now he got to make his dramatic exit: "It's Cole Bianco. If you want more tea, I'll be happy to serve you, but if not, I'll see you at Beacon"
I gotta admit, I only planned to formally meet one of Team RWBY this chapter. You may thank Hurricane Irma for Blake's part.
I can't update till my WIFI is back up (I have power, but no WIFI. Makes perfect sense) admittedly that part kinda wrote itself, making this my longest chapter!
Is anyone else going to the Volume 5 Premier? I am! I saw the tickets and my lack of WIFI made me desperate enough to cave nearly immediately…worth it. See some of you there
Café la Coffee is from the Director commentary from Volume 2 which I had playing in the background while typing this so blame them. It's the same café Blake takes Sun to in Volume 1.
The shipping price is what it would cost to ship 10 pounds to my Mother's home country. It's a rough estimate without any deals or free shipping nonsense. I'll give a name drop to anyone who can guess what country that is.
I'm a Server, not a Waiter, a Server. I mean no offense to any Waiters, I don't really know the difference, it's just what I am (could someone tell me please?)
I'm still not sure if there will be a ship of Cole and anyone else, but I'll try to find out soon
I need someone to bounce idea, message me if you want the job (I have no RWBY fans near me, which makes me sad)
Thank you all for the Favorite and Follow and Thank you for the Reviews.
