Of Dark Skies and Shining Stars

Chapter Three: Birthday Bashed

Monochrome


"Yes, yes, I'm on my way!"

A silver-white haired girl switched her cell phone from her left ear to her right as she scurried toward the front door of her house, reaching up to put her key ring in her mouth as she bent down to grab at her shoes.

"No, seriously Ruby, I'm like, halfway there already. It's just traffic slowing me-no-" The girl sighed as she was cut off by a high pitched excited voice in her ear, and she ground her teeth against her key ring impatiently. After a moment, there was a break in the one-sided conversation, and the short-statured girl kicked into her high top purple Supras.

Pulling the keys from her mouth so she could speak more clearly, she pressed the phone to her ear with her shoulder so she could run her fingers through her unbound hair.

"Yeah, yeah, gotta go Ruby. Illegal to drive while on the phone and all that, okay hanging up now byeeeeee."

Sighing in mild exasperation, the girl straightened up as she released the phone from her ear. As it dropped from her shoulder, she deftly caught it in her right hand as she spun her ring of keys around her left finger.

"Okay, make sure I'm not forgetting anything... " She mumbled softly to herself. Looking around, she patted her jeans pockets.

"Wallet, yes." She looked down at the keys in her hand. "Keys, yes." Sharp slate blue eyes slid to the phone clutched tightly in her other.

"Phone, yes. Okay, time to leave."

Putting a hand on the front door's handle, she twisted it and pulled the door open. Twisting the lock, she closed the door firmly behind her before bounding excitedly down the front walk toward her car.

Stopping in front of her car, she took a moment to examine herself in the reflection of her tinted glass.

Her shoulder length silvery-white hair hung razor straight down her back, only a few shades darker than the brilliant white V-necked t-shirt that clung tightly to her upper body. Around her slender neck was a thin silver chain, and the edges of a tattoo could be seen peeking out from her shirt near her right shoulder.

Tight black skinny jeans hugged her legs, complimenting her thin frame and tight, firm behind. Around her slender left wrist was a shiny silver watch, ornate in it's design but not overbearing or gaudy. On her right hand, two silver rings adorned her pointer and middle fingers.

Unlocking her door, she pulled it open and slipped into the driver's seat with all the impatience and excitement of a girl celebrating her eighteenth birthday.

Pushing the clutch to the floor, she slipped her key into the ignition and turned it, listening to the motor crank for a second before it caught. Glancing in her rear view mirror, she dropped the parking brake, and let herself roll backward out of her driveway. Shifting into first, she feathered the clutch as she pulled away, accelerating hard toward Ruby's house.


"Ugh, what the hell is taking her so long!?" A girl with messy brown hair impatiently tapped her foot against the tiled entryway near the front door as she stared out at the street.

From the adjacent living room, a girl a few years older broke out into laughter.

"Chill, sis. She will get here when she gets here."

A frustrated look overtook the features of the younger girl, and she sighed.

"She said she was on her way like ten minutes ago. She lives just up the road!"

"Ruby, relax. Seriously." The older girl shook her head, her blonde mane of unruly, slightly curly hair dangling down to her lower back.

"I will do no such thi-oh, she's here, see ya later Yang!"

And with that, before Yang could respond, the younger girl was off like a shot.

Yang smiled, before getting up and walking over to the front entrance. Closing the door that was left wide open, she smirked as she remembered her own eighteenth birthday.

What a time...

Outside, Ruby practically leaped for the passenger side door before Weiss had even finished pulling into the driveway.

As Ruby approached the side of the vehicle and grasped for the door handle, Weiss slammed on the brakes and jerked the car to a stop lest she run the over-excited girl down.

"Ruby!" Weiss chastised, as Ruby dropped down into the passenger seat with a grin on her face.

"Hey Weiss! How are you?" The girl brushed her shaggy brown hair out of her face as she grinned happily at her friend.

Weiss eyed her friend for a moment, then sighed, deciding to forego her lecture on account of what day it was today.

"I'm fine, and you?" Was her crisp reply.

Ruby turned away for a moment to reach over her shoulder and grasp her seat belt as Weiss put the car into reverse.

"Clearly better than you, Mrs. Grumpy-Pants." Ruby replied, fastening her seat belt with a resounding 'click!'.

Weiss knew better than to respond by now, having spent many an evening descending into circular arguments she couldn't find her way out of. Instead. she focused on driving as she glanced sideways at her ever-excited friend.

"So we're heading straight to Pyrrha's, no stops for anything?" Weiss asked, kicking the clutch as she grabbed third gear.

Ruby nodded, pulling her phone out of her pocket and placing it in her lap. "Yeah, I'll text her and let her know we are on our way."

Weiss nodded. She was quiet for a moment, before speaking up again.

"Say, is she still pining after that Jaune fellow?" Weiss asked, gearing down for a red light.

Ruby nodded, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her eyes.

"Yeah, she's crushing on him pretty hard. Why?"

Weiss shrugged, contemplating confiding in her longest friend of nine years.

"Because if she wasn't, I'd definitely attempt to hit that so hard she'd be seeing stars."

Beside her, Ruby made fake gagging sounds.

"Jeez, Weiss, keep it in your pants! That's our friend, you know!"

Weiss turned to Ruby, a rare grin spreading across her face.

"Yeah, but she's so goddamn hot!"

Ruby sighed.

"I have a feeling tonight is going to be a disaster." She deadpanned.

Weiss shrugged once more. "Whatever. I'm the birthday girl, I'd better get at least a kiss or a boob grab or something."

"Gross." Ruby stuck her tongue out, feigning disgust.

Weiss glanced at Ruby, then leaned forward to grab a pair of black Oakley sunglasses off her dash. Slipping them on, she grinned a white, toothy grin.

"Come on, lighten up. We're gonna have a good time!"

This time it was Ruby's turn to shrug.

"If you say so."


The next morning...

Weiss half sighed, half groaned in pain. Her head hurt like hell, her stomach was doing flip-flops, and she felt like she had ran a marathon without a drop to drink. And she had been beaten by a truckload of phone books afterward.

In short, she had had a fantastic birthday party.

Slowly she opened her eyes. It was early morning, the sun having not quite risen yet. Despite having partied until late, Weiss' internal alarm clock refused to let her sleep in.

Silently she cursed her inability to sleep in. Reaching up with her left hand, she brushed her silver hair back out of her eyes. Looking around, she was disoriented for a moment until she realized she vaguely recognized the room she was in.

Pyrrha's bedroom.

Her eyes widened, and she looked around the bedroom, realizing that she was nestled quite comfortably in Pyrrha's bed. A glance to her right revealed a passed out girl beside her, her back to Weiss, but a quick glance at her hair color indicated that it was not Pyrrha.

Weiss sighed quietly, then turned over onto her right side, wincing as the movement sent her stomach into fluttering waves of queasiness.

Scooting closer to the girl in bed beside her, she wrapped her left arm around the mystery girl's waist, unconcerned at the moment with who it might be.

Closing her eyes, she nestled her forehead against the girl's dark brown hair, inhaling slowly as she attempted to calm her upset stomach and go back to sleep for a few more hours.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she recognized the familiar scent, even as her mind was focused on how terrible she felt. Another deep inhale, and Weiss froze up, not daring to breathe as it dawned on her just who she was pressing up against.

Ruby...

Exhaling slowly, Weiss gently pulled up the blanket covering the girl, risking a peek underneath as she cracked open an eye.

A sigh of relief as she realized that they were both fully clothed. Apparently all they had done last night was share a bed.

Satisfied that she hadn't reached a new level of awkward uncomfortable-ness with her long-time friend, Weiss dropped the blanket and closed her eyes. Wrapping her arm around Ruby once more, she feigned unconsciousness as the girl stirred lightly in her arms.

"Weiss? You awake?" Ruby whispered quietly, raising her head up off her pillow as she rubbed sleep from her eyes.

Weiss was silent, mentally pleading for a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep as the girl shifted lightly in her arms. Keeping her eyes tightly shut, Weiss made sure her breathing was soft and even as possible.

Ruby seemed satisfied that Weiss was still asleep, laying back down as she yawned greatly. Resting her head back on her pillow, Ruby seemed content to let Weiss spoon her for a little while longer.


Weiss closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat as her car idled patiently in the driveway of Pyrrha's house. She had only managed to sneak another short hour of sleep before her mind had awoken her, insistently screaming at her that it was time to get up.

Ruby had been totally unconscious as Weiss carefully extracted herself from the tangle of blankets and limbs, thankful once more that they were both fully clothed and she wouldn't be forced to answer any awkward questions.

Creeping down the stairs to the main floor had resulted in instantly locating Pyrrha. The red-headed girl was passed out on one of her black leather couches in the living room, a thin blanket covering her lower body as her feet hung over the edge of the couch.

On the floor beside the couch was Jaune, the blonde-haired boy that Pyrrha had taken an inexplicable interest in.

Weiss had raised her eyebrow at that, wondering if the thick-headed boy had recognized any of the ill-concealed flirtations Pyrrha had made on him the night before.

Feeling her stomach twist uncomfortably, Weiss spared them no further thought as she kicked into her shoes at the front door.

Her keys were sitting in a large bowl near the front door, and she fished them out amongst the rest of the keys of the other guests.

It was a silent exit from the house, making sure to close the door quietly behind her.

Now, she raised her head up off the headrest of her seat, glancing down at the temperature gauge of her car. A shiver passed through her, and she saw the needle slowly creeping up the face of the gauge.

It should be warm enough now...

Weiss leaned forward with some difficulty, pressing a button on her dash. Instantly, lukewarm air began emanating from her heat vents.

Better than nothing.

Weiss winced as she expended a great deal of effort to release her parking brake, glancing briefly in her rear view mirror as she let her car begin rolling backward down the driveway.

Half-lidded eyes glanced left to her side mirror, and she saw that her path was clear. Glancing in her rear view mirror, she caught a glimpse of something disappearing from view in the corner of her mirror.

Eyes widening, her foot reached for the brake as she glanced toward her right side mirror, but it was too late as her car came lurching to a sudden stop, jerking her roughly in her seat as a soft crunch reached her ears.

Glancing in her right side mirror, she saw the edge of a vehicle filling her vision.

"Ugh, you've got to be joking... "

Setting her park brake, Weiss hopped out of her car, stopping for a moment as she caught her balance, reaching out to steady herself with her hand on her car.

When the moment of nausea had passed, she slowly moved around to the rear of her car.

It was just her luck, she thought, examining the damage. Her car had suffered a cracked rear bumper and broken tail light cover, and the vehicle she had backed into - Ren's truck - seemed to suffer no damage, as she had managed to back into the edge of his bull bar on the front of his truck.

Sighing in exasperation, she shook her head and moved back to her car.

All she wanted to do was go home and sleep in her own bed, but no. Now she was stuck finding a repair shop to fix her car. No way she would submit it through insurance, her rates would skyrocket!

She winced at the sound of crunching plastic as she pulled forward, separating her car from Ren's truck.

Twisting around in her seat this time to look out her back window, she reversed around Ren's truck and onto the street.

Grabbing her phone from the passenger seat beside her, she quickly looked up the nearest autobody repair shop.

Her wallet was already feeling lighter as she imagined what this was going to cost her, if not more if there turned out to be any sort of damage to Ren's vehicle.

Shaking her head, then immediately regretting the motion, she slowly put her car into gear and took off, following her GPS.


It was about twenty minutes later when she pulled up to an automotive shop. The parking lot was littered with broken and busted cars, trucks missing body parts and some taped up with tarps in place of where glass should be.

The disarray of the parking lot was offset somewhat by the seemingly clean and modern building that proudly proclaimed to be "Brayden's Bodyshop" in bold black letters, and as Weiss parked hesitantly out front, she could see that off to the left side of the main entrance was a large three-bay shop, currently filled with cars.

Weiss shut her car off, then removed her keys from the ignition as she pushed open her door. Stepping out into the morning sun, she felt her headache flare up mildly.

Gritting her teeth against the agitation building in her nerves, she reached into her car and pulled out a pack of gum from her door pocket. Popping a piece into her mouth, she straightened up and closed the door as she pocketed her keys.

As she strode toward the front entrance to the shop, she caught a glimpse of herself reflected in a window pane. Stopping, she examined her reflection for a moment before smoothing the wrinkles out of her clothing and running her fingers through her hair, pushing it all back out of her face and letting it hang down to her shoulders.

Deeming herself as acceptable as she could be given the circumstances, she moved toward the front door and pulled it open.

Stepping inside the darkened, cool building lent her some relief from her pounding hangover, and she heard a gentle bell ringing overhead to signal the arrival of a customer.

As she moved toward the front desk, a large tanned man stepped out of a doorway, approaching the computer behind the desk.

As Weiss approached him slowly, she took a moment to study him.

He was physically large, and if it weren't for the professional setting Weiss found herself in, she would have been intimidated by him. His short black hair was cut close to his head, and his eyes were small and slanted, a deep piercing green that seemed to cut through her in a matter of seconds. He bore a dark scruffy beard that contrasted against his dark, leathery skin, but all of his sharp features were offset slightly by his wide grin and perfectly set white teeth.

"Welcome to Brayden's Bodyshop, where we meet customers by accident." He greeted, unfolding his arms from across his chest as he sat down upon a stool.

"What can I help you with?"

Weiss bit her lip, a bit embarrassed to tell him what had happened. It only lasted a second though, as she realized that he had probably heard and seen every foolish incident under the sun.

"I uh... I backed into my friend's car this morning. I cracked my bumper and taillight cover." She said. "And maybe something else. I don't know. I think that's it though."

He hummed softly. "What is the year, make, and model of the car?"

Weiss pulled her registration from her pocket, passing it across the counter to him. She wasn't actually sure exactly what kind of car she drove; it had never interested her, as long as it started and ran.

He opened the small folder and glanced at the printed piece of paper, before passing it back to her and entering some information on the computer.

"Okay, " He said after a moment, glancing up at her, "I'm going to pass you off to my apprentice, seeing as it sounds mostly cosmetic. She'll take care of you for the duration of your time in our shop. If at any time you have any questions she can't answer, or you're not happy with your level of service, come see me immediately and I'll have you taken care of."

Weiss nodded, and the man grinned in return. Lifting himself off the stool, he extended his hand toward Weiss.

She dutifully shook his hand, before he turned around and entered the office behind the desk.

A minute later, and she could faintly hear him calling someone's name.

Weiss sighed somewhat impatiently, tapping her foot against the clean white tile of the shop.

The last thing she wanted was to leave her car in the hands of an apprentice...

"Sorry for the wait. My name is Blake, and I'll be taking care of your car." A soft voice reached her ears, and Weiss looked up from where she was examining her nails to see a raven-haired girl step into view.

Weiss' eyes widened slightly as she took in the girl.

The girl was a bit taller than Weiss, and was wearing a black pullover hoodie with the hood up. Her long black hair was pulled over her right shoulder, nearly coming down to the pocket on the front of her hoodie.

Mmm waist length hair... Weiss found herself eyeing the girl with concealed interest, softening her features to remove the glare that had beset her at having been passed off to someone else.

The girl's face was gorgeous, sharp yellow-green eyes scanning the computer, her soft looking cherry red lips moving silently as she read the information on the screen. Her skin complexion was pale and flawless, and Weiss found herself admiring what little of the girl that she could see.

"So, you believe it's mostly cosmetic damage, then?" The girl asked, fixing her gaze on Weiss expectantly.

Weiss blinked a few times to get her thoughts straight, then nodded. "I wasn't going very fast when I reversed into the truck, so I'm going to assume so." She replied. Almost against her will, her eyes left the gaze of the girl in front of her, flitting up to look at the two tiny cat ears sewn into the hood of the sweater.

"Okay, is the vehicle here? I'd like to take a look at it."

Weiss brought her gaze back to the girl before her and nodded.

"It's just outside." Weiss pulled her left hand from her pocket to gesture over her shoulder with her thumb.

The raven-haired girl smiled, before reaching up to lock out the computer on the desk separating them.

"Let's go take a look!" The girl stepped out around the counter, gesturing for Weiss to walk ahead of her.

Weiss led the way, pushing open the door that she had come through and holding it for the girl behind her. The girl grinned her thanks, before following Weiss over to her car.

Moving to the rear, Weiss wordlessly pointed at the rear of her car, where her right hand taillight cover was broken, and a large jagged crack ran through her rear bumper.

The girl beside her made a sympathetic sound, clucking her tongue softly.

"Okay, right off the bat you're gonna need a new bumper cover and taillight housing, as the cover and housing is made as one unit, but that's not something we carry in stock. I know offhand from our warehouse we could probably have it in in a few days."

Weiss pursed her lips, unsatisfied with the answer.

"There's no way you could have it done sooner- today, even?"

The girl glanced at her apologetically.

"Not realistically, no. Our shop is full up as it is with other customers, and we can't physically get the parts any sooner than a day or two."

Weiss hummed softly.

"The taillight isn't something you can pick up from a local parts store either; the dealership might have the taillight assembly in stock, but you're going to be paying way more than we can get it for, and you'll still need someone to install it."

Weiss sighed irritatedly, clearly not pleased with the answer she had received.

"So what, then, do I leave my car with you until it's fixed?"

"Nope!" The girl said, somewhat cheerier now that Weiss wasn't pressing to have the repairs done sooner than was possible.

"You take your car, I'll order the parts, and when they come in and I have free shop time, I'll give you a call to schedule an appointment."

Weiss glanced around at the lineup of vehicles parked inside and outside the shop.

"It looks like I'll be waiting at least a week, if not longer."

The girl beside her shrugged.

"Most likely, yeah. But this seems like an easy, straightforward fix. If you like, I can probably knock it out after hours one night when the parts come in."

Weiss glanced sideways at the taller girl, not trusting herself to stare openly at her. She was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"I really don't mind." The girl offered. "This won't be a complicated repair by any means, and I could really use the extra experience."

Reluctantly, Weiss nodded. "If you don't mind."

The girl nodded, slipping her hands into her hoodie before she turned to face Weiss, a large grin on her face.

"Awesome! Just come inside and give me your phone number, and I'll have you taken care of."

Weiss started at that, glancing up at the girl as a warm feeling began spreading up the back of her neck.

"M-my number?"

The grin slowly faded from the girl's face, her bright white teeth and slightly elongated canines disappearing behind those soft looking lips.

"So I can call you when your parts come in?" The girl said, raising her eyebrow inquisitively.

"Oh!" Weiss exclaimed. Quickly, she regained her composure. "Oh. Of course."

Feeling more than slightly embarrassed, Weiss lowered her head as she followed the girl back into the shop. Seemingly against her will, but not really, her eyes followed the girl's toned legs up to her curved, enticing, perfectly round behind. The girl was wearing black yoga pants, and Weiss was vaguely aware of the way her pulse quickened at the sight of that perfect looking ass jiggling slightly with each bouncy step the girl took.

Weiss groaned softly as the taller girl stepped through the doorway, becoming painfully aware that the girl possessed her greatest weakness, a modest thigh gap.

"You okay?" The raven haired girl glanced over her shoulder, mild concern softening her features as she glanced at Weiss.

Weiss whipped her head up to meet the girl's gaze so quick that a thudding pain lanced through her head, and she closed her eyes for a moment as she grimaced.

"Yeah, sorry, just... a bit hungover from my birthday party."

The girl hummed softly, her fang poking over her lip as she bit her lip teasingly.

"Oh, happy birthday then. Sounds like it would have been a fantastic event to attend."

Weiss wondered if she was imagining the mischief sparkling in the beautiful raven-haired girl's eyes, but before she could think about it, the girl had slipped behind the desk and taken a seat upon the stool.

"Alright, how about we start with your name and phone number?"


Author's note: This will be multi-chaptered, although with no set updating schedule. Thanks for taking the time to read, reviews are appreciated.