Author's Notes:

Like in the game, I'll continuously be switching between Weiss' POV and Blake's.

Strangers: Become Lovers

Act I

BL4K3

12:20

MONDAY

The first thing Blake noticed about the pub was how quaint it was.

And, on her first day of working here, she could say for sure that she'd enjoy working here. Many people came in and out throughout the day, but never to the point of it being crowded.

It was a humble abode.

She could see why her owner never sold this place.

Her job was relatively simple as well. Sure, it went against her model of being a family caretaker, but it wasn't as if she had to learn a new set of skills.

In fact, her temporary job as a bartender wasn't that different from her actual job. All she had to do was pour - and sometimes make - drinks for the human and clean the counter and the glasses when they got a little dirty.

All in all, everything was going well.

Until it went more than well.

She swiveled her head around when she detected the sound of boots clashing against the wooden-tiled floor of the place, already wearing a small, practiced smile to welcome the patron.

Her eyebrow rose slightly at the sight of this human.

She had a wild, blonde hair that reminded the android of a lion's mane, wearing a brown vest with short, puffy sleeves that hugged her features tightly, underneath it was a low cut yellow tank top that didn't cover her midriff, showing an applauding view of a toned stomach. A brown belt snaked around her hips, and she wore a very short mini-short. A pair of knee-high boots completed her bizarre outfit.

Blake wished she was one of the newer models. She'd heard they had a face-recognition function so she could use it on this woman.

If Blake didn't know any better, she'd have thought that this blonde was an android of some sort.

Was she a human who happened to be a model?... Could humans still be models in this kind of world?

The human looked at her and gave her a warm smile, which she returned with a polite nod.

When she sat on the stool right in front of her, the android introduced herself as instructed by her owner. "Hi, welcome to Kali's Pub. I am a BL4K3, and I'll be your bartender. What would you like to have?"

The girl leaned towards her as she grinned in triumph. "Strawberry sunrise with no ice, please. Oh, and can you put it in a plastic cup? I'm planning to pick my sister up in… about an hour." The request was unusual, but still something she was allowed to do - they did have plastic cups in the back if she wasn't wrong - and the android was never wrong, for she had a perfectly-functional memory processor.

Blake nodded before turning to get the large cup. When retreating it, the human muttered, "Guess they really kicked him out."

"I'm sorry?" Blake looked at her, wondering if, perhaps, the human only now remembered more requests regarding their drinks. Humans were complicated creatures, after all. And the android had always found their tendencies to forget essential details amusing.

The blonde shook her head. "Junior, the previous bartender. He won't be coming back again… right?"

Junior, the name her owner gave him, mostly because he had no idea what else he was supposed to call the android.

Blake found it odd that this human knew who their previous bartender's name was.

Was this human a regular?

The android explained the odd circumstances as best she could. "No. After a customer filed a complaint about the H31 model being too physical with them, my owner decided he was no longer fit to run the place." She then added as an afterthought, "Also, when we found him, he was broken. His… lower area was damaged beyond repair."

Much to her surprise, the blonde snorted. "Ha! Serves him right for messing with me!" Upon seeing the android's face again, she threw her arms up wide, frowning. "What?! He was being a dick! So what if I'm only seventeen!? It's not like I was gonna get wasted! He was being too handsy with me!"

Blake could only stare at this… odd human.

"Oh, don't give me that look! I can handle my alcohol just fine, thank you very much!" The blonde crossed her arms, pouting and looking away in an almost childish manner.

Did she not know the dangers of underage drinking…? Or was she a mentally-damaged human?

But if so, then why was she here and not in a mental institution?

This human was already on a first-name basis with the previous android - which was odd itself since, other than by their owners, androids were never called by their names. The first-name basis indicated familiarity, suggesting she frequented the establishment.

This girl was going to kill herself if she kept this up.

Blake looked at the tequila bottle she was about to open…

-[SERVE COCKTAIL]-

-[...]-

She put the bottle of alcohol away, grabbing the other ingredients instead.

"... I suppose it is better for you to come here than a bar," she muttered. Bars were never a safe place for young women or anyone for that matter. The people that usually went there were always people who wanted to party or… people who wanted to do something other than partying.

Compare that to the people who came to this little pub…

Bars and clubs were hells.

Yang faced her again, wearing that winning grin, snapping her fingers before pointing at her. "See! That right there is logic! Oh, right, the name's Yang. What's yours?"

The android blinked.

A human was asking for her name.

A human. Who she had only met today.

It was... strange.

-[TELL NAME]-

-[KEEP QUIET]-

It was a good kind of strange.

"... Blake."

The human's grin - Yang's grin - widened. "Blake, ey? That's a nice name." Her head sloped to the side. "Who gave it to ya?"

She hesitated. "My owner."

"Oh yeah? What's he like?"

The android didn't sense any malice coming from the girl. Then again, she was a domestic android, not a detective android.

She talked as she worked on the blonde's drink, grabbing the soda. "He's an… eccentric man. A painter." One of the most famous and successful painters, really, but the android wisely chose to left that part out. "His name is Ghira," she gazed at Yang, gauging for a reaction. "You might've heard of him."

But Yang kept on smiling, unsurprised by what she said, seemingly not caring that her owner owned this pub - amongst many things. "Go on."

The android closed the cup with the lid and began shaking the drink. Blake frowned as she tried to choose the details of her owner appropriate for her to tell a stranger.

Things such as his address or his credit card number were out of the question, for obvious reasons.

"He's… a wonderful owner. He allows me to do as I freely. He even buys me books to read."

"Oh, you like reading?"

Blake smirked at the understatement. "Of course. Reading lets me… feel as if I'm more than just what I am. Sometimes the characters there… make decisions. Of their own will. And I really want that."

She'd finished making the 'cocktail' and began pouring it to the large plastic cup, per Yang's request.

She slid it over to the human and the human took it gingerly, taking a small sip, her face twisting into a frown in an instant. "Wait a minute, this is a mocktail!" she complained after letting out a huge gasp. "There's no alcohol here!"

Blake bit her lip to hide her snicker. This human was amusing.

"You are still underage," she gently chastised. Then, her face hardened. "You either drink that, or I report the police that you've been drinking."

It was a bluff. Her owner never liked violence and would prefer not to make a big deal out of this.

But Yang didn't need to know that.

The blonde's face paled. "Don't call the cops on me, please."

-[REASSURE]-

-[ACT COLD]-

She did have to make sure the blonde wouldn't consume alcohol…

"Then take that drink and don't complain."

She gave her a mock salute. "Yes, Ma'am." She took small sips of her drink, choosing to enjoy it. From the small smile gracing her lips, it appeared that Yang truly enjoyed this particular drink. Blake took note of this.

This Yang human certainly was an odd one, which in itself was a feat because, being the android of an eccentric painter, Blake tended to see various people.

Yang… treated her like she was more than just an android.

The android might even go so far as to state she treated her like a human.

Did she forget Blake was an android?... No. That couldn't be. She'd made it explicitly clear that she was, in fact, an android. Plus, there was no way the blonde could've missed the LED flashing on the side of her head; the universal signal of an android.

This human knew she was an android… and yet she chose to treat her like she was more than that…

It made her feel something… different.

A scary kind of different.

A good kind of different.

"What about you?"

"Huh?" answered the articulate human.

"Where do you live? What school do you go to? How's… How's your life?"

Bartenders were supposed to be the one asking questions and listen as their customers talk, were they not?

At first, she was a little fearful that the human wouldn't appreciate her asking questions about her life - after all, most humans didn't appreciate her saying anything at all and preferred to treat her like a machine… which she was - but Yang simply looked up in thought as she hummed.

"Let's see. I live with my uncle and sister; she's this short stack who's really into mechanics and weapons, for some reason." She met the android's eyes, excitement filling her features. "You'll love her, I'm sure! And, umm, oh!" She snapped her fingers. "I'm in my last year of Signal. I plan to go to Beacon but… eh, who knows? I'm still waiting for my old man to give me the thumbs-up. Blessings are important and all, you know."

Beacon…

The name itself brought many unsettling, overwhelming sensations within her chest. Her LED flashed yellow for one brief second before she willed it to turn back to the normal, calm blue.

"Why Beacon?"

"Well…" Blake heard buzzing, and then Yang pulled out her phone from her pockets, reading her message. The android watched as panic began to form on the human's features. "Oh shit, my sister's involved in an attempted robbery!"

It took her approximately one point three seconds to fully grasp what kind of news this bizarre human had announced.

"Is she okay!?" asked the now panicked android.

However, instead of the normal reaction which was to panic… Yang reacted by both panicking… and getting angry… for reasons the android simply could not comprehend.

Yang growled, already fishing out for money, dropping in a few dollars and jumping out of the stool without bothering to check "She won't be when I whoop her butt! See ya, Blake!"

And with that…

Her day went from being mundane, to interesting, before going back to mundane again.

What an amusing human…

Blake looked down, frowning when she saw five dollars.

The mocktail was seven dollars…

An odd, infuriating human…

But an amusing human, nonetheless.

Author's Notes:

So, already, you can tell that I based her off of Markus. Hooray. That begs the question: Which RWBY character do I base off of Kara in this story?

LET THE THEORIES BEGIN!1!1 :D

Also, Beacon. Can anyone tell me what that is in this universe?