Chapter five: Candidates and Crooks
I reached up, placing the old 'help wanted' sign on the front of the door. It was becoming incredibly obvious that I would need more help around here soon enough. The animals needed more constant attention, Weiss required a lot of mine, and I wasn't spending as much time with the pets as I needed too. I looked back, thinking about Weiss in that little filing cabinet/crib Yatsuhashi built, and I just smiled. "Hopefully I can keep you hidden during all this." I thought. It'd only been a week since he'd built it, but I already knew it was a good idea asking him to. I didn't have to go into the backroom now to check on Weiss, I could just look down at her. Worst case scenario I could always shut the drawer her crib was in and hide her for a few moments. There were air holes in it, so that wasn't the problem. I just didn't want her to be cooped up inside of it all day.
I flipped the closed sign to open before I walked over behind the counter, sitting down in the stool I'd moved behind it. Pyrrha was lying near the entrance, like always, with Yang laying down at her side. I saw Ruby dash over, bounding up into my lap as I smiled down at her, rubbing behind her ears. Then I reached over, grabbing out the giggling Weiss from her crib. I held her in my arms, deep blue eyes meeting icy blue one's. "Did you sleep well?" I asked quietly, smiling down at her. She just let go of her bear, making little grabbing motions towards me. I reached a finger down, gently running it down her stomach as she giggled. I snapped out of it and slowly laid her back in her crib with her bear as I heard the door chime. When I looked up, I saw two women walking towards me. Both of them looked rather… familiar.
One of them was dressed in a simple, long sleeve black shirt, skinny jeans stretching down to her ankles and simple black shoes. She had long, black hair, her eyes piercing amber and a little black bow on top of her head. "Isn't that the woman from the store the day I found Weiss?" I thought to myself. Then I looked at the other woman, finding that, while I'd never seen her before, I could easily see Weiss growing up to look like her. She had long, white hair, pulled back into a ponytail behind her head. She was dressed in a light blue cashmere sweater, with a pair of looser jeans than the other girl. She also had on what looked to be brown boots. Both walked up to the counter, and both laid down a piece of paper on it.
"I'm here about the job."
The two of them looked at one another, seeming surprised. Both of them had spoken in unison, both of them here about the job I'd just put out. I found it odd that they were both already carrying resumes. What? Did they have them just in case a job suddenly revealed itself and they were nearby? I reached up, picking up both of the resumes and reading over them. The white haired girl's was the first one I grabbed. "Maria Long. Seventeen, prior experience working as a park ranger huh? Okay, has some decent references too." I thought. Then I grabbed the other girls. Hers wasn't as nicely formatted, but it was a fair bit longer than the other's. "Blake Belladonna. Seventeen, prior experience working with animals as a vet's assistant huh? Okay, I could see why that would be useful to have around the place." I thought.
When I looked up, I saw the two women glaring at one another, and if it were a cartoon I could honestly imagine a beam of electricity going between their foreheads. "What're you doing here?" Maria asked, looking down slightly towards the shorter Blake. Said girl glared right back, taking a step closer. "The same thing you are, applying for a job. One I plan to get." she said. I could tell they were both gritting their teeth. I held up my hands, standing up as I laid Ruby on the counter, grabbing their resumes before I waved my hands slightly. "Girls girls! Calm down! I don't want Pyrrha to think you're a threat." I said. As soon as I said it Pyrrha's head shot up from the ground, her walking over and growling towards the two girls. Blake stepped back, her face paling, and Maria did the same, her eyes widening a bit.
I saw Yang get up as well, heading towards Blake and nudging against her hand. When Blake looked down, she just smiled, gently running her hand through Yang's fur. "Hey there girl." she said softly, leaning down and petting Yang almost like I would. Yang seemed to like her. When I looked back, I saw Ruby barking up at Maria, who just smiled. "Well aren't you just the cutest little thing~" she said, smiling as she picked up Ruby, cradling and petting her. Ruby seemed to like Maria. Now, normally when it came to people I trusted my own judgement, as well as the judgement of my animals. Though, whereas Pyrrha didn't like either of them, Yang liked Blake and Ruby liked Maria, it seemed as if it was up to me this time around. I didn't get a good vibe off of either of them, but neither seemed to be better than the other.
I stood, placing my hands on the counter. "Look, leave the resumes here and I'll get back to you. I'll… look into this as well as I can." I said, hoping to avoid an all out brawl in the middle of my store. It would be bad for business. Blake nodded, standing back up before she reached down, rubbing behind Yang's ear. Maria, on the other hand, set Ruby on the counter, smiling over at her. "Bye little puppy!" she said, turning around and walking away. Blake, on the other hand, kept petting behind Yang's ear for a beat longer. Then she stood, smiling down at the dhole. "Don't worry, I'll be back." she said. She was confident, that was for sure. Maria did seem to have a more sociable personality though. I sighed once the two of them left, the doors shutting as I looked down at Ruby, who had taken up residence in my lap once again.
"One seems better with animals, one seems better with people… what should I do?" I muttered to myself, looking towards my pets as I hoped one of them could give me an answer. Pyrrha just laid back down, sitting her face on her paws as Yang slid up next to her, laying the same way next to the larger dog. Ruby laid in my lap, rubbing against my stomach as I pet her. I sighed as I reached over picking up Weiss and cradling her in my arms. "You have an answer for me Weiss?" I asked, smiling slightly as Weiss just curled up to her little stuffed bear. I knew she wouldn't answer, so I just sat there, watching her as I pet Ruby with my other hand… until an idea hit me. "What if I give both of them a chance? Set them on a trial run and see which one does better? Yeah… yeah that could work." I thought to myself as I laid the resumes down in the filing cabinet that housed Weiss's crib, nestling them right next to the bottles of formula I'd gotten.
The rest of the day seemed to fly by, alternating between feeding, changing, and cradling Weiss to dealing the customers, and of course dealing with the animals in the adoption center when it neared time to close. When it neared night-time, I stood, leaving Weiss in her crib as I walked over to the door, flipping the closed sign over, taking down the help wanted sign for the moment, and then of course locking the door. I set the sign off to the right before I saw someone knocking on the glass. I looked over, seeing it was a man I'd never seen walk in before. I unlocked the door, smiling at him. "Welcome to the Beacon pet center! We were about to close but, I suppose I can help you before we do." I said. The next thing I knew I felt a sharp pain against my cheek. I fell to the ground, and felt a stinging and cold presence against my neck. I gulped as I looked down, seeing a blade to my neck, a gun in the man's other hand, aimed at Pyrrha. "Call your animals off or you all die." he said. The gun was shaking, he was afraid of Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha, heel." I said. Pyrrha growled at the man, but didn't rush him. Yang didn't either, with Ruby just behind the counter. I felt the man guide me, slowly standing me up as he pointed his gun at the back of my head, his knife moving away from my neck. "Go over to the cash register." he said. I complied, slowly walking over there as I tried to think of a way out of this. I didn't have my blade on me, and the gun was still behind the register. I couldn't really call the cops either. When I got behind the counter, I moved myself so that I was at least between the gun and Weiss. The man wouldn't see her if I could help it. I walked over to the counter, "Now give me the money!" the man said, glaring at me. When I looked, I noticed a strange fear in his eyes. He didn't look like the robbing type really. It seemed like he was desperate. I slowly opened the register, only to feel his gun prod the back of my head. "I said GIVE ME THE MONEY!" he yelled.
"THIS IS THE POLICE! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"
The man moved around, pulling my arms behind my back and pointing the gun at the side of my head. I tried to remain calm about it, but inside I was panicking. He didn't move an inch, his eyes focused on the sirens and cop cars that were right outside. "How did they get here so fast?" I thought. I didn't even call the cops yet they got here. The alarm hadn't been set or tripped yet, so it didn't make any sense that they would have known he was here. I felt the gun nearly jammed into my skull as the man shouted. "I'LL KILL 'EM! I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL DO IT!" he yelled. I saw the police officers walk forwards, into the store, guns drawn and aimed at the man. The man's eyes widened as I felt myself pushed down slightly, pressing against the glass counter. "THAT'S CLOSE ENOUGH!" he yelled. The cops stopped, standing still just a few feet from the counter, the four of them aiming at me and the criminal behind me.
"Sir, please. Put the gun down." one of the officers, this one female, said, slowly holstering her own pistol and walking forwards. The man moved the gun away from my head for a split second. "GAH!" and that's when Pyrrha struck. I dove to the floor as I saw Pyrrha biting the man's elbow, keeping him from shooting. I heard what sounded like men (and women) rushing forwards. The man fell to the ground, convulsing as the officers swarmed. Tasered. I looked over, smiling slightly when I saw that Weiss's crib was closed. I saw the man get handcuffed as two of the officers moved him out away from me. The female officer that had spoken held out a hand, "Are you alright sir?" she asked. I nodded, taking her hand and pulling myself up. I dusted myself off as I pet behind Pyrrha's ear, knowing that she and the officers had likely saved my life. "Thanks to you and Pyrrha I am." I said, smiling slightly at her.
She looked down, smiling at my pet. "One helluva guard you got there." she said, no doubt seeing Pyrrha's teeth. I nodded, then I looked over at the door to my room, finding it was cracked open. I hadn't done that, I knew I hadn't. "How did you know he was here?" I asked, looking over at the other officers as they handcuffed the man. She nodded to me, "We got a call from someone saying they saw Jaune getting held up at gunpoint at the BPC. Guessing that's you." she said, lightly flicking my name tag. I nodded, letting out a slightly nervous laugh as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Good to know. Thank's for saving me miss…" I said, leaving it hanging. She gave me a curt nod before she started walking away, and I actually got a good look at her. She had bright green hair that seemed to stick up every direction, with similarly colored eyes. Her skin was pale, maybe a bit more tan than mine though. She just nodded, holding out a hand to me. "Officer Chloris Mr. Arc. Have a nice night now." she said. I shook her hand before she walked away with the other officers, escorting the would-be robber to their cruisers.
I waited a few minutes, until I saw the officers driving down the road, before I moved, walking back over to the door and locking it, setting the alarm this time. I didn't want two burglary attempts in one night. Then I shut off the lights, heading towards the back room. I picked up Weiss, cradling her as I slowly pushed open the door. When I did open it, I noticed that Ruby was lying down in the middle of the room, my scroll sitting right in front of her. She let out a little bark as I walked over, setting Weiss down in her little crib. "Did you call the cops girl?" I asked, not really believing it. Sure enough, when I checked over my scrolls call history I saw no calls, outgoing or incoming. I rubbed behind Ruby's head, pulling her into my arms before I walked back out into the main room. "Bed time girls." I said, smiling at them. Yang walked over to her own cage as Pyrrha laid down on her dog bed. I locked Yang's cage, knowing that Ruby would open it in the morning like she always seemed to. "Maybe Ren had a point about you, you are really smart of a puppy… nah." I thought, smiling down at Ruby as I rubbed behind her ear.
What was I thinking? Ruby, a faunus? As if. I laid her down on the ground, her walking over and laying down in her own cage as I shut the door. I looked over at Weiss, smiling when I found her sleeping soundly, cuddling up to her stuffed bear. Then I stripped off my own clothes, down to my boxers as always, and fell back in bed, glad to sleep after a surprisingly eventful day.
(a/n- … you get the idea.)
I heard the high pitched barking as I opened my eyes, quickly shifting into my human state as I opened Yang's cage. She walked out, changing into her human form and quickly flipping her hair back over her shoulders. "How'd that guy's elbow taste huh Pyrrha?" Yang asked, giving me a familiar smirk as she hopped up onto the counter, something she normally didn't do. I just shrugged, giving her a slight smile, "Tasted like polyester. I only tasted his clothes, not his blood Yang." I said. Yang just shrugged, walking over and wrapping an arm around my shoulder, pulling me towards the familiar back room where Ruby was barking her head off.
When we walked in we found Ruby quiet, pulling the lock open to her cage and getting out herself for a change. Normally she just waited on me to open it for her, so she must have been incredibly impatient. When she got out, morphing into her human form as she always did, she was smiling over at us. "Ruby… did you call the cops?" Yang asked, looking over at her little sister. Ruby looked away from her, gazing at the sleeping Jaune's scroll for a few seconds with a somewhat guilty look on her face. "Ummm… no?" she said, giving what was likely the least convincing smile I'd ever seen her give… and she'd given a lot of unconvincing smiles over the past few months. "Ruby… did you at least delete the call from his scroll?" Yang asked.
Ruby nodded, smiling at her sister and shutting her eyes, her tail wagging back and forth. "Yep! He was none the wiser!" she said, opening her eyes and looking back at Jaune. Thankfully she managed to keep her excitement semi quiet. I heard what sounded like soft crying and looked over, seeing Weiss starting to move around. Ruby frowned, her tail going lower. "I may as well go back in my cage tonight…" She said, crouching down. I frowned towards her, but then my expression hardened. I walked over to Weiss, slowly lifting her up and feeling her diaper. She wasn't soaked and she didn't have a mess, she didn't even seem awake. "Nightmares huh?" I thought as I cradled her against my chest, leaning down. I whispered into her ear, meaningless sounds meant to calm the troubled child.
It seemed to work, as after I did so she slowly started to calm down, laying against my chest and drifting back into a peaceful sleep. I smiled down at the little girl before I crouched, gently laying her back in her crib. "Ruby, I know how much you've missed it. You can sleep with Jaune tonight." I said, smiling over at her. She nearly squealed, rushing over and wrapping her arms around me. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she said, nuzzling her head into my chest. Without a second to spare she dashed over, gently crawling behind Jaune and nuzzling into his back like she always did. I saw Jaune unconsciously move over, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Ruby's face was red, which was normal for her, but I also saw her tail seeming to wag. I guess she missed it more than I thought.
Yang walked over, placing a hand on my shoulder and smiling at me, "Hey… thanks Pyrrha." she said, giving me a little smile. I looked away from her, my face tinted slightly red at the compliment. "It was nothing really. Ruby hasn't slept with Jaune in awhile, she deserves to at least once." I said, looking back towards the baby in the crib. My eyes widened as I held back a yelp, feeling Yang somewhat roughly grab my tail. I looked back, seeing Yang smiling at me as she set on the floor, pulling on my tail. To keep from actual pain happening to me I just followed her, until I felt her drag me to the floor. "Yang, what're yoooooaaaah." I said, feeling my muscles relax as Yang's hand trailed down my tail. I laid down, content to just sit there as Yang pet me with one hand, her other hand moving around on my back. "This is my way of saying thanks, I know you like it when I pet your tail~" she said, smirking down at me.
I turned around, feeling my face flush slightly. I never understood how Yang could make something so innocent and comforting feel like something so perverted and dirty. It was almost as if when we were eating dog food she would somehow manage to make me blush just by the way she ate it. "She's really good at this… then again, maybe this is how she calmed Ruby down." I thought, feeling Yang's hands trailing up and down my tail, her using both now. If what I gathered from Yang was right, both she and Ruby had nightmares, Ruby more often, so both of them would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night in a panic. Ruby showed me how she could calm Yang and, sometimes, even Nora down just by petting their ears. She'd even shown me how to do it. Of course, Yang was showing me right now how skilled she was at peting faunus tails to calm them down.
"Now I know why Jaune doesn't pet you as often, one pull on your tail and you're as helpless as a pup~" she said, smirking down at me again. I felt my face flush as bright as my hair as I just buried it in the carpet. Honestly the way she was talking I wouldn't be surprised if she leaned down and started kissing my neck next. "You wouldn't mind that though, would you?" I heard a voice in my head say. I blushed brighter, trying to ignore it and keep Yang from seeing my rosy cheeks. I was rather familiar with that voice, and if Yang's old stories were right, almost all faunus were. Two sides to every coin I guessed, our human half, and our 'wild side'. The wild side was instinct, the human side was reasoning. Yang had said that she'd nearly been exposed when she 'gave into the wild side' when she saw some really handsome human.
"Just don't think about it. Think about anything but the hot, naked blonde chick rubbing your tail, don't think about how her soft, beautiful… NO! BAD BRAIN!" I yelled at myself, trying to keep the voice at bay as I suddenly became very aware of Yang's body against mine. She was hot, temperature wise anyway. Her skin seemed hotter than normal, it was comforting almost, the reason we always tended to sleep in the same dog bed. In the cold of the store, she was the closest thing to a heated blanket I had. I was saved from further awkwardness when I heard Weiss started to cry again. Yang stopped petting my tail, and I quickly stood, looking back at her with a flushed face. I found that hers wasn't flushed, but she had a strange look of disappointment on her face. Though I could've imagined it, as it was gone a second later when she stood, walking over the the crying kid.
I picked Weiss up, cradling her as I did a diaper check. Her front felt warmer than normal, as well as squishy. I looked back at Yang, "She needs a diaper change." I whispered, looking over at her. Her eyes widened as she walked into the bathroom, with me following behind. She shut the door, quickly stuffing a towel beneath the door crack as to minimize the amount of noise we made. I looked over at her, "Do you know how to change a baby's diaper?" "I thought you knew!" Yang said, looking up at me. I looked down at the baby in my arms, sighing as I laid her on the table. Yang grabbed the baby supplies, setting them on the nearby counter as I undid Weiss's little blue onesie that Jaune had bought just yesterday, quickly laying it to the side as I undid her diaper I pulled it aside, grabbing some wipes and gently running them along her privates, the way I'd seen Jaune do it.
"Now what?" Yang said, looking over at the clean but still naked baby in front of us. I shrugged, grabbing the diapers and the strange powder. It was usually at this point that I couldn't see what Jaune was doing, as he'd notice my head on the counter and shoo me back outside the room. I looked down at the diaper, finding that there were defined seams within it. I took a wild guess and laid Weiss down on the diaper, powdering her rear as I guessed Jaune did. Then I reached down, sealing up the diaper around the little girl. When I looked down, I found that she had opened her eyes, gazing up at me in what I guessed was wonder. I picked her up, gently fitting her back into the little onesie before I cradled her in my arms again, smiling down at her. "You're okay Weiss, now go back to sleep." I said simply, putting on a motherly tone to my voice.
I laid Weiss back in her crib, and nearly jumped up when I felt Yang slap my lower back, just above my tail. Thankfully she hadn't slapped it, as doing so would've been ridiculously painful for me. She smiled at me, grabbing my hand, "I think you'll make a great mother Pyrrha." she said, patting a hand on my stomach. I felt my own face blush as, for a brief second, I saw me and Yang standing together, a little girl with orange hair, dhole ears and a dog tail standing between us, my stomach slightly inflated. I shook my head, getting the image out of my head. "That's not possible anyway, we're both girls." I thought to myself. Still, even the biologically impossible nature of them didn't stop the strange visions as I followed Yang back outside the room, heading back in front of the counter. Yang laid down first this time, smirking up at me. "You coming?" She asked, patting the bed behind her.
I tried to keep from blushing as I complied, getting in bed behind her and curling around her, letting my tail slip between her legs. "Mind moving that tail up a little?" she asked, looking back at me. I raised my eyebrows, but complied anyway, blushing bright red as I realized that her hands clasped my tail, pulling it up as far as it would go, right between her legs. I moved my hands back over her, but she surprisingly took them in hers this time, pulling them over her breasts. "I'm just gonna cut out the middleman and leave your breasts there early on. You can't keep your hands off me in your sleep anyway." she said, smirking back at me as I buried my face in her hair, trying to keep that 'wild side' voice at bay. Right now it was almost shouting at me. The words it was saying… no I didn't want to think about them. Only one thought ran through my head as Yang grabbed my hands, curling into her normal fetal position.
"It's gonna be a long night isn't it?"