A/N: I have my eye on a new graphics card. O.o. Hoo boy, more money to fork up. Sigh. Huge thanks to Kegi Springfield who also drew fanart for the story! Woo hoo! It's goin' big boiz! XD This week's drink: Lumumba!
I should make a game and release the name for who Jaune's taking care of this week, so that I get a bunch of PMs guessing what drink Jaune'd make for them. Eh, but that would spoil half the fun ;)
These chapters keep getting longer and longer. By chapter 10, I'll probably be writing like 10k words or something. Smh. THERE ISN'T EVEN PLOT HERE GODAMMIT. -.- Anyways, Enjoy!
BLANKET STATEMENT: I really appreciate that you guys like this enough to request for specific chapters. But the overall answer will be no. I have a plan for how this story will go, and I don't need to worry about fitting in requests either. I'm not trying to be mean, I just… can't. Sorry!
Guest: The Breach will be… interesting to write.
flowslikepixelz: He… didn't make it past initiation. He wasn't even admitted in.
aLamePunster: Yeah it's a typo XD And right, I'm not focusing on plot too much exactly for that reason. This is more like a character study than a story if I'm completely honest XD
Guest 2: Well, I wasn't planning on stopping my updates any time soon.
If Jaune hadn't seen her around her before, he would've told her politely, but firmly to leave the bar. However, he did know her. It's just, well, usually she was with someone else.
"Hello there Yang's little sister." Jaune greeted, drawing out a small frown from the brunette girl.
"Hey there Jaune. You do know my name's Ruby, right?" Jaune nodded, face drawn into a serious expression, but his eye shining with mirth.
"Of course. Ruby Xiao-Long."
"Ruby Rose!"
"Ah, right, right. How could I forget?" Jaune raised his head to the heavens, gesturing semi-dramatically to the ceiling. It wasn't much, but it made the girl snicker, and Jaune knew that she wasn't really mad at him for teasing her. With the small show finished, Jaune returned to his duties, grabbing a small washcloth and focusing on a stain from yesterday night, where he had spilled some whiskey.
Even Jaune made mistakes, sometimes.
"So little lady, what brings you here?" He knew she wasn't the type that liked it when he gave her nicknames like that, so he didn't even need to look up to see Ruby's pout, and the whine that came after.
"I'm only two years younger than you Jaune! I'm practically a grown woman!"
"Right, right, of course there, Miss Rose." Jaune adopted the tone he had when treating more posh customers, adding in a little bow as he said the words. "Now, how may this humble bartender aid you?" Jaune could see Ruby fighting down the urge to jump at him, banging against his chest and whining some more, instead drawing in a breath, mentally counting to ten, and raising her chin in an almost pompous way.
Huh. Wonder where she learnt that.
"Today, I will have a real grown-up drink." Ruby said, nodding with pride. Jaune raised an eyebrow at her.
"I don't think so, little Rose." Ruby slumped instantly, back to whining.
"Why not?" She said, drawing the last word out. Jaune held up a hand, briefly excusing himself from her company, having seen one of the men occupying the tables gesture to him. It didn't take long to take care of the gruff looking man, who nodding in silent thanks as he went back to his drink.
When Jaune returned, Ruby had procured several lien cards and placed them on the table, sorted by color.
"I have money!" She declared, as if that would solve any problem she came across. Hm. Someone seemed to be teaching her all the wrong ways of handling a conversation.
"It's not the money that I'm worried about Ruby." Jaune said gently, gathering the lien up and pushing it back to her. Ruby looked as if she was on the brink of throwing a tantrum.
"Then what is it!?" She cried out. Jaune shook his head shrugging at her.
"Well for one, people who try to order a drink by calling it a 'grown-up drink' is still a few years away from being able to drink anything besides milk and water. Second of all, the more you whine, the more likely it is that you're going to be absolutely unbearable when you're drunk. And I am not dealing with that by myself. No thanks." Jaune said, shaking his head. "If you want a 'real grown-up drink', then I suggest you come back with your big sister and order one."
Ruby looked away, fists clenched as she mumbled something. Jaune leaned a little closer, not catching what she had said.
"Say that again kiddo?"
Ruby drew in a harsh breath, before shouting out, "Yang won't let me drink!" Which caused Jaune to nod understandingly, leaning back from the force of the shout.
"Well then, if Yang won't let you drink, I'll be the last person to give you one. I, for one, like my spine exactly where it is, thank you very much."
There was silence as Ruby didn't say anything, face obscured as her head was tilted downwards, her gaze focused on her lap. Jaune tried not to feel too bad, knowing that it was for the greater good of his self-preservation, and went back to rubbing the damned stain out of his counter. It wasn't until he heard the first sniffle that he looked back up again, finding a few tears dripping from her face.
Oh.
Well now he felt like a real heel.
It didn't take much longer for Jaune to crumble, and having seven sisters pulling the same tricks on him didn't help whatsoever. With a sigh filled with regret, Jaune finally relented.
"Fine. Don't cry there Rubes, I'll make you a drink."
Her head snapped up, eyes completely clear of any sign of redness, her smile beaming. "Really? You already said so, so you can't go back on your promise!" Again Jaune sighed, nodding to her. Played like a fiddle, like always. He always had a soft spot for the girl.
"Alright, alright. One drink. And one drink only." Jaune said, holding up the solitary finger, eyes serious. Ruby nodded eagerly, almost vibrating off of her seat in excitement. Jaune couldn't help it. He smiled at the display, not able to force it down with how cute the girl was being. It'll almost make insuring his spine against angry older sisters worth it.
Almost.
"Alright then Ruby, what'll you have?" Jaune asked, slipping into his bartender mode. A customer was a customer after all. Ruby puffed up her chest, mouth open, inhaling to call out the drink of all her 'grown-up' and 'adultly' desires… before deflating again, looking a little sheepish.
"Uh, actually, I don't know."
A single eyebrow rose on Jaune's face, arms crossed sternly. "You don't. Know?" Ruby giggled nervously, scratching the back of her head, eyes casting an innocence that was almost blinding to Jaune. Exhaling from his nose, Jaune tried not to just drop the act and make Ruby leave, so that Jaune could tell Yang that this was just a harmless joke, that he actually wasn't planning to give her little innocent sister alcohol. But alas.
A promise was a promise.
"Alright then. I guess we're going to have to start from scratch. Anything you would particularly like in your drink? Cherries, strawberries, ice cream—"
"Milk!"
Jaune paused, mouth open halfway, stopping his recitation of things that went well with drinks. "Milk?" Came the incredulous question, a confused look on his face. Ruby simply nodded, swinging her feet back and forth, as if wanting to remind him of how young she was.
"Let me get this straight. You want… milk. In your… 'adult' beverage." Ruby nodded again, not understanding why Jaune had to repeat that. She was pretty sure she didn't stutter when she said that. Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself.
"Right. Hold on a sec." He said to her, before turning around and crouching to grab a glass, as well as opening the small fridge underneath of him, grabbing a container. Ruby turned and twisted, trying to see what he was making, but couldn't see past his upper body, blocking the drink. Finally he turned around, handing Ruby an almost pearly white drink, with a large piece of ice in the middle.
Ruby stared at it with something akin to reverence, hands reaching out to grab the drink. Jaune didn't say a word, letting her throw the liquid in the glass back quickly, emptying the contents in seconds. Placing the glass down, a loud sigh of satisfaction left her lips, as well as leaving a cute little milk mustache on her lips.
"Wow, this tastes just like milk! I knew it wasn't as bad as it sounded! What is it?" Ruby asked, beaming at her accomplishment. Jaune didn't say anything for a second, letting her bask in her achievements before metaphorically taking a needle to her bubble.
"It's milk." Came the amused response.
A pause filled the air before Ruby looked back at Jaune, a look of bemusement set on her face. "Milk?" She asked, hoping that Jaune was joking. The bartending boy nodded, looking at the glass.
"With ice." He added in helpfully, smiling at her.
Then came the pout, before Ruby turned it into a glare that reminded Jaune of when Yang had decided to take the beat down to a rude customer, all fire and fury. Jaune's spine suddenly cried out, not wanting to leave its owner so early in life.
"Uh. I'll go make you that drink now." Jaune said quickly, turning around to grab a bottle of cognac from the shelves. Ruby muttered angrily behind him, something about 'stupid Jaune' and how she wished Yang had taught her the family secret technique of 'tearing spines out of bodies', something he rightly ignored.
With a shot of chocolate liquor and the cognac into the mixer and some fresh ice, Jaune topped the rest of it with milk and went to shaking, turning the shaker over and over with practiced hands. Ruby's gloomy expression cleared up, awe filling her face as she watched him work, as if he was performing a dance. Like always, with such practiced motions came the freedom of conversation for Jaune.
"So little one, why'd you choose now of all times to order this drink? You've been here half a dozen times now, with no complaints."
Ruby sank into her seat a little, before she rested her head against the bar counter, the pout on her face more noticeable than ever.
"I got into a fight with my partner."
"Your partner?" Jaune asked, opening the shaker up and pouring it into the ready glass. Ruby nodded, dejected.
"Yeah. Her name's Weiss Schnee, and she comes from this big fancy-pantsy family in Atlas. She always acts so grown-up and stuffy, like her name makes her older and wiser or something." Jaune nodded, pushing the glass towards Ruby after placing it under a coaster.
"Oh thank you!" Ruby said, about to tilt the glass up and down it like she did the last one, before Jaune laid a hand on her wrist, looking at her with a serious face. He's probably being a bad friend to Yang for letting Ruby drink, but by Dust he was going to make sure she did it responsibly.
"Drink this slowly. In sips." He said firmly, making sure Ruby understood before letting go of her wrist. With the gentle command in mind, Ruby lifted the glass up, sipping tentatively. Placing the glass down, Ruby's face twisted in a horrified grimace, before swallowing the rest of the drink.
"That was… so good." Ruby managed to say, struggling to put the taste of the drink past her taste buds. Jaune hid a smile behind his hand for a moment, before he could completely collect himself.
"Good, I'm glad you liked it. Make sure to finish it all in small sips now. Don't want to waste drinks here." Jaune nodded, face serious. It was true that he hated seeing drinks still half-full, but he didn't hate it as much as he implied to Ruby, who assumed that Jaune really hated it.
"Right. Of course. Can't waste this… delicious drink? What's the name of it, by the way?" So that she would never order it again, she added in the back of her mind. Jaune nodded, tapping the glass.
"It's called Lumumba. Interesting drink. Picked it up a while back from reading an exotic drinks book. Fun stuff."
"Yeah. Fun. Cool." Ruby lifted the drink again, taking another sip, almost gagging at the strange taste. "Delicious." She managed to croak out. Jaune was so close to losing it at the moment, dying on the inside from laughter.
"Hm. Well, I didn't realize you would like it so much. Maybe I will make you another one, two's certainly not going to get you all that drunk."
"That's fine!" Came the hurried reply, Ruby's silver eyes wide and frantic. "That's, like, totally fine Jaune! I, uh, don't want to get into any more trouble than I already am with Yang, so one drink will be enough!" Jaune pretended to look put down, nodding his assent. Yang should be thanking me for convincing Ruby not to drink for another few years, he thought with a mischievous grin.
Ruby tried to gather up the courage to take another sip, before remembering that she had a story to tell, to her immense relief.
"I was telling you about my argument with Weiss!" Jaune nodded, letting her stall for a bit. At the very least, the ice should help diffuse the bitterness of the drink enough for her to stomach the rest later.
"Well, I was trying to lead the team in a team building exercise, and I uh, accidentally got Weiss and Blake trapped between a lot of Grimm. Like, a whole ton." Ruby said in emphasis. Jaune nodded, eyebrows high.
"Wow, a whole ton huh? How many's that?"
Ruby shrugged, trying to remember. "Like, sixty to a hundred of them." Jaune nodded, slightly disappointed that she didn't just spread her arms wide and go 'like thiiiiis many'.
"Well, Me and Yang—er, Yang and I bailed them out, but when we got back to Beacon, Weiss instantly started yelling at me!" Ruby's eyes got a little watery. "She said that I had called it out wrong, and I was too much of a kid to see the big picture! And the worst part is," Ruby sniffled a little, making Jaune's heart tug. "Yang and Blake didn't even say anything to defend me! It was almost like they were siding with Weiss!"
Jaune looked at Ruby, who hadn't looked more like a little girl than at this moment, sniffling, her legs barely touching the ground when she sat on the bar stool, a drink that looked more like milk than anything else in her hand. It reminded him of an image that made him chuckle, to Ruby's horror.
"You agree with them!" She accused, tears threatening to fall. Jaune was quick to correct himself, shaking his head.
"No, that's not it Ruby. You just reminded me of one of my little sisters is all. She always wanted to act all grown-up, and any time you tried to criticize her, she always accused the person of treating her as a child, even though she was one." Jaune ended up saying, laughing at the long gone memory of the little girl, caked in his mom's makeup, crying because she was being scolded.
Ruby didn't see this memory of course, and frowned at Jaune. "It still sounds to me like you think I'm a kid." Jaune sighed, nodding.
"That's because you are a kid Ruby. We all are." Jaune looked around the room quickly, making sure there wasn't anyone that needed him for the next few minutes before returning to his conversation with Ruby. "You have to remember that we're young. Everyone, from Yang to your partner Weiss, and even me. We've got a lot to learn, and a lot more to develop before we're all 'grown-ups'." Ruby was still frowning, unsure what Jaune was trying to say.
"What's going to make you more 'grown-up' than everyone else at this point is how you act." Jaune said seriously, eyes looking straight at hers. "When someone whines and pouts and argues over pointless things—they're kids, no matter how old the person actually is. Weiss… when she criticizes you and points out your mistakes, that's something you should take to heart, something you should use to improve yourself, not something to argue about. Given though, Weiss doesn't sound very mature either if she has to bring up your age and how much of a kid you are."
Ruby was starting to get it, nodding along .
"So what you're saying is that… I shouldn't have argued?" Jaune nodded.
"Exactly that. The mature thing to do would be to acknowledge the flaws that she pointed out, and reassure her that you'll work on them in the future. Not only is that the right thing to do to avoid an argument, it's also going to surprise her enough that she'll really respect you for it. If she's anything like her bigger sister that is." Jaune said the last part quietly under his breath.
Ruby nodded again, face filled with thought at the advice given to her.
"Wow Jaune. That's… a good idea." Ruby admitted, making Jaune grin, and lean onto the counter in a self-confident manner.
"Of course it is. It's one of my ideas, isn't it?" Jaune said jokingly, bringing Ruby to another giggling fit. After she calmed down, she took another, more proper swig of her drink, appreciating the taste a little more.
"So, is that what your sister did? Did she learn how to be mature from you?" Ruby said teasingly. Jaune's smile dropped from his face for a second, before a smaller, sadder smile replaced it.
"She's, ah. No. She never had the chance to do so." Jaune looked at the girl's eyes, which held confusion at his words. "She's dead." Jaune said flatly, ignoring the pain in his chest when he said so. Ruby's eyes went wide and her hands traveled upwards to cover her mouth.
"Oh. I'm so sorry Jaune." Ruby said hurriedly, something Jaune was quick to reassure was alright. They fell into an awkward silence, which Ruby desperately tried to fill with another question.
"So. You're uh, other sisters must've been pretty devastated huh?" Ruby winced, knowing that wasn't going help either. Jaune's body completely froze, cloth in his hand, expression stuck. Finally he moved, more robot than human, the dance-like grace he had replaced with wooden movement.
"They're… gone too. My whole family in fact. Dead." Jaune finally let out, forcing a harsh chuckle, trying to play it off as nonchalantly as possible, which didn't work when he stood frozen there, moving nothing but his mouth.
It was clear that Ruby felt terrible. Jaune went out of his way to help her and there she was, bringing up painful memories. She deflated, fingers messing with the coaster in front of her.
"I'm sorry I brought it up." Came the meek apology, which was enough to snap Jaune out of his spiral of self-loathing and despair. When he turned, for a brief moment he saw the little girl that he used to protect, take care of. The one that demanded he teach her how to act like him, the girl who hugged him goodnight every evening.
Hazel.
"It's alright Ruby." Jaune said, a realer smile on his face at this point. There wasn't a use crying now. That was later. He still had a bottle of whisky tucked away somewhere. "I've moved on." Lie. "I'm learning to be happy without… without my family." Lie. "It's fine." Lie.
Ruby looked closely at the boy, and through a shining intuition, she frowned. She knew in her heart that he was lying. To her and to himself. But, as she remembered his advice earlier on, she didn't try to weedle it out of him. She didn't want to force him to relive a past he wasn't ready for. The best she could do… the best she could do was…
"I… know what it's like to lose someone you love." Ruby started. "My mom died when I was young. It… it was hard. I can't imagine what it's like to lose everyone in your family." Her sister Yang. Her dad Taiyang. That would crush her, and yet, Jaune still carried about like nothing ever happened. He was so strong, Ruby thought. "But if you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here. And I know that Yang would say the exact same thing."
Jaune smiled at the girl who tried her very hardest for the people around her. Jaune reached out and ruffled her hair, making her cry out in indignation.
"Thanks Rubes." Jaune said with a heartfelt tone, making Ruby stop her struggling, smiling at him.
When he pulled his hand back, the spell that bound them close broke, the easygoing smile back on Jaune's face, Ruby's feet back to swinging back and forth below the bar stool. Jaune pointed at the half full glass, the ice having long melted already .
"How about you finish your glass now and get back to your teammates, talk it out amongst yourselves? Maybe be the bigger woman and apologize first?" Ruby didn't seem very keen on that idea, but nodded anyways, knowing that Jaune was just looking out the her. She reached for the glass before wincing, looking up at Jaune hopefully.
"Actually, could I just have a glass of milk instead?"
Jaune smiled wide, nodding.
"Glass of milk, coming up."