A/N: Lemme tell ya, this chapter almost ran away from me. There's so much I wanted to add into the chapter, but then I realized that it was getting hard to decipher what I was writing, so I ended it there. I'm pretty sure a few of y'all were looking forward to this chapter so... Lemme know what y'all think XD Enjoy.
Oh, and major, major thanks to Hanisu93 for drawing another cover for me. Visit her DeviantArt guys! She's amazing!
D: Thanks!
Guest: Aw, you're too sweet. Thanks!
This had been the fourth time that Pyrrha had walked past the bar.
She glanced at the inconspicuous entrance, biting her lip. With all the stories that she had heard from everyone else at Beacon, the bar seemed like a good place to go when you needed to unwind. When the going got worse, it seemed like everyone went here to… what was it that Yang called it? Talk and get hammered. Yeah.
With a quiet sigh, Pyrrha made up her mind to get this over with as soon as possible, and bravely pushed through the doorway, walking into the bar with as much serene confidence as she could muster.
And in doing so, she was treated to the image of a man being thrown across the room, crashing into one of the tables. The red-haired Amazon stood there, shocked at the scene that was placed in front of her.
"You bitch!" The man who was thrown roared, staggering back up onto his feet. He wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth, glowering at the petite girl standing on the opposite side of the bar looking at her fingernails. With a snarl of rage, the man charged at the woman, only to suddenly trip over his own feet, as if stumbling onto something invisible. The strawberry-chocolate haired girl clutched her belly, pointing at the man and laughing, although she made no sound.
"That's enough!"
Order seemed to fall in the bar as a man—a boy actually, appearing to be around the same age as Pyrrha was—walked out of the bathroom and scowled at the sight.
"I leave for five minutes," The boy sighed, rolling his eyes. "And this is what happens. Children, I swear." He slid over the broken wreckage of tables and chairs and glared at the girl and her compatriot, both of whom actually had the grace to look a little sheepish. With a tired exhale, the boy pinched the bridge of his nose, staving away the incoming headache.
"I think it might be best if you and your friend leave for the night, Neo." There was no objection there from the girl or her green-haired friend, and they stood up to leave, but not before Neo got the parting word, or gesture, and stuck her tongue out mockingly towards the enraged man.
That certainly didn't help the situation, and the man decided to charge again, intent on harming the girl, not caring if Jaune was standing in the way or not.
Pyrrha decided that now was the best time to step in, fluidly getting in front of the brute and reaching out with her semblance, causing it to latch onto his wristwatch and chain necklace, wrenching him subtly backwards, enough to slow down his momentum. This allowed her to grab the man and flip him, slamming him hard onto the ground below.
There wasn't a single sound in the bar when Pyrrha looked up, everyone completely silent. She cast her eyes around for the girl and her friend, who seemed to have disappeared from the premises. Turning to the boy who she assumed was an employee in the bar, she saw him straining to hide a smile, covering his lips with a hand.
"I think you need to take a night off too, Al." The employee said firmly, lips twitching. The man picked himself up, looking at the boy with a complicated expression before grumbling something under his breath, leaving with a slight limp. With the matter calmly sorted out, the patrons in the bar started to move, some paying their bills, some going back to their drinks and others having the generosity to offer help clean the place up for the boy.
"It's a real mess he made there, Jaune." Said one of the customers, who was clasping his hands. "Maybe we can give you a hand." The boy smiled, nodding gratefully.
"Thanks. I thought I would need to close the place down for the night to get this all sorted out." The boy turned his attention towards Pyrrha, smiling invitingly. "Which would be a terrible disservice to our hero right here." Pyrrha felt a little wilting in her chest, thinking that Jaune had figured out who she was.
"Thanks for helping me out there Miss. I'm Jaune, the bartender." He held out his hand, which she gratefully took.
"Pyrra Nikos." She said, before she winced, so caught up in the mood that she forgot to give out an alias. Now she could only wait for the inevitable raising of the eyebrows, and the sparkle in his eyes as he started to gush about who she was.
Instead, she was treated with a nod of the head. "It's nice to meet you Miss Nikos. What'll you have?" Pyrrha blinked in confusion.
"You don't know who I am?" She blurted out, not comprehending. This was when she received her eyebrow raise, except this one was of the questioning kind.
"Should I?" Jaune asked, before continuing, "Even if I did, it wouldn't change anything. Everyone's treated equally in this bar." Jaune frowned. "Would that be a problem?" Pyrrha was quick to shake her head.
"No. No! That's not a problem, in fact, that's wonderful!" Pyrrha said in a rush, a big smile adorned on her face. Now that she had the opportunity, she looked around the bar, noticing that there were no television sets on hand, or anything that was considered technology for that matter, except the lights and the ceiling fans. Other than that, it looked like any typical bar, except maybe a little more worn down than most.
"Yeah, there's no tech around here." Jaune said, catching Pyrrha off-guard by how observant he was. "We like to do things old school around here. If you're coming with a group, talk. If you're here alone, well. At least you've got me for company." Jaune pointed at himself, grinning. "Now, what'll you have?" Pyrrha hesitated.
This was the first time she'd ever been in a bar. She'd never really been the drinking type before so… she had to admit she was sort of lost. She should've brought someone over, like Yang, who was very good with her drinks. Struggling to think of anything, she remembered something that Yang had talked to them about, something that made every girl perk their ears up to listen about.
"Can I have a, um, body shot?"
Jaune's jaw dropped, his eyes wide, surprise evident on his face. Pyrrha blushed, having a feeling that wasn't something she was supposed to be ordering.
"I'm sorry." She blurted out. "That was… not the right choice, was it?" Jaune slowly shook his head, mouth still open. This made the girl uncomfortable, caused her to resort to uncomfortably fidgeting while waiting for Jaune to come to. Finally he did, by bending over and bursting out laughing.
"Oh man, you probably don't even know what that means, do you?" He breathed out, tears in his eyes. Pyrrha meekly shook her head, shrinking into herself form the attention that she was getting. Jaune noticed, and collected himself, waving away any questioning glances thrown their way.
"Oh I'm sorry for making a scene Miss Nikos. That was just too funny. Let me tell you what a body shot is, so that you won't make that mistake again."
"Thank you. And please, call me Pyrrha." She said in relief. Jaune smiled and nodded, before leaning over and whispering into her ear, making them warm up, along with her cheeks. When she finally heard what a body shot was however, she warmed up real fast, face completely red.
"I. Ah. Oh."
Jaune simply nodded, smiling. "Yeah." He walked over towards the bar, gesturing her to take a seat at the counter, which she did numbly, mortified that she had tried to order something like that.
"Now that all of your strange wants have been put away," Jaune said with a hint of laughter in his voice. "How about something a little more sane to drink?" Pyrrha nodded.
"I've never really drank before." Pyrrha admitted.
"That much I gathered."
Pyrrha winced, but carried on, knowing that Jaune was just teasing her. "So could you just… get me something? Anything's fine." Jaune looked at the girl intently, before nodding, turning around.
"Alright then. One 'anything's fine' for the lovely lady in the front." Jaune was used to playful dialogue between his female (and some male) customers, but Pyrrha had never been treated that way, so she blushed hard again, her heart beating fast. She might not even need that drink at this point.
"I'm guessing you don't want anything too hard for your first time, and probably nothing too bitter either." Pyrrha nodded along with what Jaune said as he pulled out a mug and grabbed a tap, filling it with dark yellow liquid, frothing at the top. "This should do it. It's a good beer for people just getting into alcohol. Moderate on the kick, and tastes more like lemonade than beer. Try it out."
Pyrrha nodded gratefully, before primly lifting the cup up to her lips, taking a small sip. It wasn't too bad. It's not as bitter as she thought it would be, seeing as how everyone always complained about how their first beer was always something that made their faces scrunch up. She liked it.
"This is good." Pyrrha assented, making Jaune smile and nod.
The bartender excused himself, leaving the counter for a second to deal with the other guests, chatting them up and serving them drinks, laughing and going along with their antics as well as thanking the guys who helped him sort the place back into proper shape. Pyrrha's eyes continued to follow him, both hands on her mug and periodically lifting it up to her lips, gradually taking bigger and bigger drafts.
When he returned back in front of Pyrrha, she had finished her beer, setting it down and politely requesting another. Jaune nodded, grabbing the mug and placing it into a nearby sink and grabbing a fresh glass, filling the mug back up.
"So, what brings you here to this part of town?" Jaune asked, grinning. "You did say this is your first time coming to a bar. Must be quite the occasion."
Pyrrha sighed, accepting the drink with a thank you. "Not exactly. I've been… having troubles. With my team. I'm a student at Beacon." She explained to him, to which he nodded, smiling gently.
"I seem to be getting a lot of people from Beacon. The school must be really tough to drive everyone there to drink." Jaune joked, making Pyrrha laugh.
"Well, it is quite the school." Pyrrha conceded. "But sometimes it's just the students there making it harder on ourselves." She sighed again, staring at the mug, which had about half of its drink left in it. With a quick decision, Pyrrha brought the mug up all the way, finishing the rest of it in one go. Jaune nodded his head, impressed by the feat as she placed the glass down, exhaling in a cathartic manner.
"Mmm. Sounds like it. What's bothering you?" Jaune asked, grabbing the mug and repeating what he did minutes ago, handing her a fresh glass. Pyrrha frowned, looking into the beer.
"No one seems to get me for who I am. Everyone seems to look at me like—like Pyrrha, the four-time champion of the Mistral Tournament, and not Pyrrha, the girl who just wants to make some real friends." Pyrrha quickly raised her glass up to her face, shielding Jaune from the sight of her tearing up. She was surprised to feel a hand on her shoulder, and a soft smile on Jaune's face when she met his eyes.
"I'm guessing that your teammates don't help with the problem either?" Jaune continued to coax out Pyrrha's troubles, so that she would them, instead of wallowing in the memories. Pyrrha nodded, eyes downcast.
"Yes. I mean, they aren't gushing fans towards me," Pyrrha was quick to correct. "But they have this sort of… look. In their eyes, like they expect more of me, and it just feels like they don't see me for who I am." A heavy sigh. "Like my partner. I mean, I like my partner." Pyrrha said, shaking her head. "She's nice, polite. But she seems to be quite the fan, despite her appearance."
"Her appearance?"
Pyrrha nodded. "She looks regal and refined, but she's almost hyper when she talks to me. Like she's nervous, or something. She's quite the Huntress though, handy with the spear." Jaune nodded, and they both fell silent, as Pyrrha discovered her glass empty once again. Jaune, not one to waste time, gently pried her fingers from the handle and replaced the drink with another one, where Pyrrha robotically lifted it up to her mouth.
"Sounds rough." Jaune said sincerely. Pyrrha nodded.
"It is. I mean, I'm sure there are teams out there that can't stand each other. I just…" Pyrrha struggled to find the right words to express herself.
"Hey no, I get it I really do." Jaune pat her hand, smiling reassuringly. "Don't ever compare your problems to everyone else's. Every problem is different, and different people have different ways of experiencing it and dealing with it. The only thing that matters if it it's a problem to you." Jaune pointed at her. "And if it is, then it is important." Jaune shook his head. "Never marginalize your problems." There was a pregnant pause before Jaune hurriedly added to his statement.
"It's a given of course, that no one likes someone who constantly complains about their problems too, so… don't do that either." Pyrrha snorted in amusement, before groggily remembering that she was the one complaining right now.
"Am I… is that what I'm doing right now?" She asked meekly. Jaune barked a laugh in response, shaking his head.
"Absolutely not. Besides, I have a feeling that you don't talk much about your problems in the first place." Pyrrha shook her head as a no.
"That's the first step."
"Huh?" Pyrrha squinted, trying to understand what he was saying.
"That's the first step." Jaune repeated. "Communication kills. Or I guess lack of communication kills." Jaune gently laid his hands on hers, bringing blood into her head, and causing her to look up at him.
"Have you ever sat down with your partner… your team, and I don't know, talked with them?"
"Well," Pyrrha started uncertainly. "We have talked about things before. Like missions and homework… and stuff…" Jaune shook his head.
"No, I mean like getting to know each other. Personal problems and insecurities. Hopes and dreams?" Jaune knew from the blank look that Pyrrha was giving him that her team hadn't done any of that. "What I'm trying to say is that this is your team. People you'll be spending years with, people you're going to have to trust with your life. How are you going to do that if you guys don't even know where your favorite place to go get a drink is?" Pyrrha laughed a little at that, but still listened very closely to Jaune.
"You guys need to talk to each other. Tell each other what makes you uncomfortable. Like say, being treated like an idol when you want to be treated like a normal person." Jaune pointed out. Pyrrha took a second to understand, but she did, opening her mouth a little and making a sound that meant she understood. Jaune nodded.
"Exactly. So when you get back to Beacon—or tomorrow morning when you're sober and have a clear mind—make sure to sit your team down and talk to them. You'd probably be surprised about how much their willing to go to bring the team together. They're probably all thinking the same thing you're thinking."
Pyrrha looked into Jaune's eyes, smiling hopefully. "Really?" Jaune shrugged.
"Probably. I'm not the one that actually knows the team though. The question here is if you think they'll do the same."
The lonely girl thought about her teammates, about the energetic carefree girl and about her quiet childhood friend, about her own partner, who greatly respected her, even if she fawned over Pyrrha a tad too much. Pyrrha nodded.
"Yes, I believe they would listen to me." Jaune exhaled in faint amusement.
"I haven't known you for a long time Pyrrha, but I have a feeling they'll do more than just listen."
Another blush from the girl as she lifted the glass into her mouth, smiling while she finished the last bits of her drink. Placing the mug down, she shuffled around in her seat, before procuring the right amount of lien for the drinks, as well as a hefty tip.
"Thank you, Jaune. You're quite wise, you know that?"
Jaune gave a sad smile, nodding. "Have to help people out somehow." He said, shrugging dismissively as he took the money with a nod of thanks. Pyrrha couldn't help but feel a little warm inside, looking at the boy in front of her. If only he was her partner, a voice in the back of her mind said. If only we had known him sooner, said a more rational part of her mind.
"Well, would you won't mind if I come again every once in a while? I do enjoy talking to you Jaune."
The bartender laughed at that, nodding his head.
"Hey, how about this. You can come in whenever the bar's open, so long as you bring lien with you. Maybe a drinking partner or two. I hate to see someone like you so alone. How's that sound?"
Pyrrha's smile couldn't get any wider than at that moment, nodding eagerly.
"That sounds grand."