A/N: Writing supporting and minor characters is probably going to be the hardest thing to do in this story. There's just not enough about them to really… expand upon. Makes me feel like I'm just pulling out problems that aren't there to make Jaune address them. This chapter probably took the longest for me to write. I pretty much spent a whole day on this one, with like, 12 breaks in between. Sigh. It's weird. One moment it'll take hours to write 400 words… then I'll write 2,500 words in half an hour. Oh well. Let me know what y'all think! Enjoy!

On an Important Note: Next week'll be Thanksgiving, and I won't be uploading any chapters during that week. I'll start uploading again the week after, starting with chapter 31 for As I Shout on the 28th. Hope everyone that's, uh, American enjoys their break!

Guest: Thanks!

Guest 2: NO! There are no ships sailing anywhere in this story. Yet.

D: Yeah, it's like I'm trying to make a complicated character or something.

Guest 3: I am planning on doing a chapter for everybody eventually. It'll be interesting to write about Nora and Ren.

Guest 4: Thanks!

If there was one thing that Atlas wasn't known for, it would definitely be subtlety.

Just the resounding noise of boots on pavement was loud enough to shake Jaune awake, who was having a slow day behind the bar. Opening his eyes blearily, Jaune winced, clutching his head and straightening up, wondering what was happening outside of the bar. When the doors opened and revealed General Ironwood, Jaune was quick to hide the open bottle of whiskey on his counter, and smiled wide, trying not to throw up from the glaring lights.

"General Ironwood. I uh, I didn't realize you were coming today." Jaune said weakly, coughing a little into his hands and straightening his tie. The Atlas man stood rigidly, an orange-haired girl almost hiding behind him as James turned to the soldiers that accompanied him, nodding to the group. With a quick salute, they turned and marched out, making everything inside the bar rattle under the pressure of their rhythm.

"Jaune," the General said seriously, looking at the unkempt boy with a bit of surprise. It wasn't often that anyone could describe the bartender behind the counter as anything but immaculate, always dressed perfectly and ready to serve the next customer.

This Jaune, however, had his hair rumpled, eyes bloodshot, and missing his vest, which was thrown haphazardly onto a nearby bar stool.

"Is everything alright Jaune? You don't look so well."

The boy nodded, keeping the smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." Moving to the side, Jaune grabbed a bottle of vodka, pouring it into a waiting cup. Looking at the glass, Jaune paused, frowning at the glass. This went on for almost a good minute, until General Ironwood was tempted to simply grab the glass and drink out of it.

Jaune suddenly shook his head, grabbing the drink and putting it under the counter, muttering something about 'forgetting to clean the glasses' and shuffling off to find a new shot glass for the man standing in front of him, who looked bemused.

"There you go. Sorry, it's been a… busy day." Jaune said halfheartedly, waving around at the bar. James turned to look around, spotting literally no one around except for him and the girl he came with.

"I can see that."

Jaune nodded listlessly, shoving the glass forward so quickly that some of the liquid sloshed out. "I'll clean that later." Jaune automatically responded, before the general could actually comment. The man decided not to say anything, raising the drink to his lips and taking a sip, before his eyes widened, placing the drink back down and looking at Jaune.

"Are you sure… this is vodka?" The man asked carefully, looking at the boy. Jaune stared at him in confusion, before taking the glass and sniffing it. Realizing that he had messed up on the drink, his cheeks grew a faint red as he turned away from the customer and grabbed another glass.

"Sorry," He said sheepishly, "Mistralian vodka isn't what you wanted is it? I'll uh, go get the right one."

General Ironwood reached out to take a hold of Jaune's hand, stopping him in his tracks. Jaune turned to face the concerned look on the General, Jaune's calm mask cracking a little under his sight.

"Jaune. You know that you can tell me if there's something going on with you, right?"

The boy froze, looking at the man with an expression of reluctance, a touch of anger, and… maybe a splash of vulnerability. The look disappeared quickly though, and Jaune smiled, shaking his head and firmly pulling his hand out of the James's grip.

"Thank you, James." Jaune said, for once not addressing the customer, but a friend who he bonded with months ago. "I… visited… my—" Jaune looked like he was having a hard time speaking, and actually gave up, twisting out another smile. "I'm having a rough day is all." He finally managed. James frowned at the overt backtracking that Jaune had just done, but didn't want to push, simply nodding and accepting the new drink from Jaune, taking a sip to make sure it was actually Atlas vodka this time. Jaune stood there, eyeing James to make sure that everything was up to par, breathing a sigh of relief when the man nodded affirmatively, placing the drink back down. With that hurdle out of the way, and everything starting to feel a little normal to Jaune again, he focused his attention towards the girl standing behind the general, who was looking at him with curious eyes.

"And who's this?" Jaune said warmly, smiling a more natural smile for the girl. General Ironwood clapped his hands once, nodding as he stepped aside, almost displaying the girl to Jaune.

"This is Penny. Penny Polendina." James almost seemed to puff his chest out in pride when he said that. "She's going to be participating in the Vytal Tournament in a few months, and I wanted to introduce her to you." Jaune nodded, holding out his hand.

"Hey there Miss Polendina. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The girl looked at him curiously, eyes shining before turning to the general with curious eyes.

"I did not realize that bartenders also had to be intoxicated when they were doing their jobs." She said, making Jaune wince in surprise. General Ironwood turned his gaze to the guilty looking boy, finally starting to put more pieces together.

"They don't, Penny. At least, they aren't supposed to."

Jaune seemed to shrink into himself a little bit, but was quick to defend himself. "I was about to close up anyways. There wasn't anyone coming in today anyways so, I mean… what's the harm?" The general wasn't going to put up with that, shaking his head, ready to reprimand the boy.

"What's the harm? Well, here's an example," James said, pointing to his drink, then the drink that Jaune had taken back from him earlier. "You messed up on an order. You don't ever do that. And it might not seem all that major, but you could give someone something that might kill them. And would you want someone's death to be on your conscious?" Jaune lowered his head, eyes downcast, but angry.

"It's a little too late for that." He muttered quietly. James didn't hear him, but Penny did, frowning noticeably at him.

"Not to mention the fact that it's highly disrespectful to be drunk on a job! Especially if you're a bartender." James wagged a finger sternly at him. "You could be fired for something like this! Or maybe even worse! In fact," James said as something dawned on him. "You're still underage, and you of all people should know that only Hunters and Huntresses are allowed to drink if they're under the age of eighteen."

Jaune held out his hands, trying to stop the flow of words coming out of the man's mouth. "Yes, alright, I get it! I made a mistake. It won't happen again." While I'm on duty, Jaune added in his mind. James still looked a little doubtful, still wanting to scold the boy, but reminded himself that while he thought of them as friends, that didn't mean he should involve himself in Jaune's job.

"Alright then. So long as you don't do it again."

Jaune rolled his eyes, nodding. "Yes dad." Came the sarcastic reply, before he grabbed the shot glass and replaced it with another. It seemed that the lecturing was just enough to bring Jaune out of his hung-over haze, his mind working a little clearer now. James smiled at the snarky reply, glad to know that Jaune was getting back in his groove.

With a bottle of water and some painkillers, it was almost as if Jaune was never drunk, except for the fact that his eyes were still a little red, and his hair was still a mess.

"Alright then, what would the pretty lady want to drink?" Jaune asked, smiling at Penny. The girl looked at General Ironwood, who just shrugged and threw back his shot.

"Give her something strong." Jaune looked up and down at the girl doubtfully.

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked, not moving. The girl looked back at him with a blank expression, before nodding.

"Please give me something strong, Bartender Jaune." Jaune still looked doubtful, before nodded, pulling out his special Hunter brand bottle of alcohol, pouring a glass for the girl. Handing it to her, she smiled, bringing the expressionless face to life. Jaune couldn't help but smile back, nodding.

"You know, you look much prettier when you smile." Jaune said to her. The girl's facial expression froze, before nodding, looking strangely at the drink in front of her. Looking once more at the general, the girl lifted the drink and tasted it, before finishing the rest quickly.

"Amazing! The feeling that my body is reacting to must be the feeling of the alcohol!" She squirmed a bit, her face thoughtful. "The effect is quite stronger than what I would have imagined it to be. After all, shouldn't my Aura have dulled the effects?" Jaune smiled at her, feeling a bit of pride swell.

"Well, that's a good question Miss Polendina." Jaune raised a finger. "Actually, this drink was made specifically for people with Aura. The drink is special in that it fools your Aura into thinking that it's beneficial to the body, and your Aura helps spread it faster, causing for a quicker, stronger buzz that no other drink will give a Hunter." Jaune explained.

"That is very interesting, Bartender Jaune. If I was a regular human being, I'm sure I would be appropriately 'buzzed' at this point."

Jaune opened his mouth, before closing it, nodding. The girl held out her glass, which Jaune refilled, watching her down the drink with gusto.

It was strange, Jaune thought. Usually, anyone that wasn't a complete alcoholic would be red-faced by the first drink, slurring by the second one. Penny on the other hand, simply smiled, holding out her glass for another one.

Jaune gave it to her, but looked uncertainly at General Ironwood, who simply smiled patiently at the girl. Turning back to Penny, Jaune was left gaping when he say her hand him the third empty glass, smiling patiently.

"Wh- what?" Jaune didn't know what to say, just holding the glass and looking back and forth at the girl and the general. He rubbed his eyes, making sure that he still wasn't asleep.

It didn't take much longer before General Ironwood burst into laughter, something Jaune hadn't seen much before.

"Oh, the look on your face Jaune. I've never seen you so lost for words." The general put a hand on Penny's shoulder, patting it gently.

"Penny is an android that Atlas developed, one of the first to be able to generate her own Aura."

"General Ironwood!" Penny protested, her face lined with shock, and a little betrayal. "You promised not to tell anyone about it!" General Ironwood shook his head and continued to pat her shoulder comfortingly, pointing at Jaune, who had an inquisitive look on his face. His expression cleared up and Jaune nodded, smiling.

"That's pretty cool Miss Polendina. I'm guessing that's how you figured out I had been drinking?" The girl looked a little uncertain, looking at Jaune as if waiting for him to recoil in disgust.

Instead, Jaune kept a simple smile on his face, patiently waiting for Penny to reply.

"…Yes. I was able to detect the level of intoxication from a simple body scan. Did you know that you also have a large scar reaching from your shoulder to your—"

"That's pretty cool!" Jaune quickly interjected, placing a hand on hers. With a quick glance over at the general, it was obvious that the overt attempt at stopping Penny from talking was enough to attract his attention. Luckily, General Ironwood's scroll started to ring, causing him to frown when he looked at the contact number.

"I'm going to need to step outside for a bit." The general said, nodding to Jaune, before turning his attention towards Penny. "Do you mind staying with Jaune for a bit?" The girl shook her head, saluting at the man with a smile on her face. With the reassurance that she would be fine with Jaune, General Ironwood stepped out of the bar, talking quickly into his scroll.

With the two of them alone, Jaune decided to press for more information about Penny, his curiosity still not sated.

"So, I'm guessing that even though you're a, uh, not a human, you can still eat and drink?" It was a reasonable assumption, seeing as how he literally saw her drinking something a few minutes back. Penny nodded timidly, eyes flickering back and forth from the ground to his eyes, something surprisingly human-like, compared to how robotic she had seemed before.

"Yes. I have… functions that allow me to do so. To blend in with… the real humans." Each word she said seemed to make her talk quieter and quieter, until the last two words were barely a whisper. Jaune leaned forward, a frown noticeable on his face. Ah. It didn't take much guessing to know that Penny was insecure about her… artificial-ness.

"You don't think you're a real person." Jaune said, bluntly laying it out for her. She jolted at the words, her gaze snapping up to his, fear and nervousness evident in her eyes. They looked at each other for a second, before Penny nodded, her eyes sliding back towards the ground.

Jaune stayed silent for a while, fingers tapping against the countertop.

"Did you like it?" Jaune suddenly asked, causing Penny to look up in confusion. Jaune pointed to the three glasses sitting side by side, the drinks that Penny had drank just moments before. "The drinks that I made. Did you… enjoy them?" Jaune said, clarifying. Penny nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. Jaune nodded, looking through the windows outside at James, who seemed to be arguing about something over on his scroll.

"What do you think of General Ironwood?" Continuing on with his random questioning, Jaune turned back to look at Penny, smiling in an encouraging manner. The girl on the other hand, still couldn't understand why he was asking these questions, but decided to answer him anyways.

"General Ironwood is a strong man. Decisive. Popular in Atlas as someone who can get things done." Jaune shook his head, reaching over to tap her on the nose, making her jerk back in surprise, unused to someone doing something like that to her.

"That's not what I meant." Jaune said, pointing at the man. "How do you feel about him?" Penny opened her mouth, struggling to think of what to say.

"He's… nice."

Jaune nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly at her. "He's a nice guy. Hard sometimes, but only looking out for people because he wants to." With a pause for Penny to absorb what he's saying, Jaune crouched and searched for a glass, pulling one out and pouring some soda into it.

"Here, drink this." Without question, the girl took it and consumed the drink, even giving out a burp in the end.

"How does that taste?"

Penny scrunched up her nose, trying to identify the flavor. "Like… carbonated lemon juice?" Jaune shrugged as if to tell her 'close enough'.

"Good. Great, actually. One last question," Jaune said, pointing at the girl. "How're you feeling right now?"

The girl tilted her head to the side, thinking.

"Nervous." She finally said, looking straight at him. "Confused. A little scared."

Jaune nodded, smiling. "Why?"

"Because I… I've seen how people have treated me when they found out I wasn't… like you." Penny shook her head, the frown growing deeper on her face. "It… it wasn't a good feeling."

The girl sat there, eyes on the ground as she thought about the looks of disgust and horror that some people have given her, something that made her chest twinge in pain. So preoccupied in the feeling, Penny didn't realize that Jaune had stepped away from his bar and had approached her, wrapping her in his embrace. She sat there lifelessly for a second, unsure of what to do before remembering that this was a hug, something that humans did to comfort other humans. Her hands rose up and she gripped onto his shirt, burying her face into him. It felt nice. Warm. Comforting.

"Penny." Jaune started, whispering into her ear. "You are a real person." Penny wanted to object, but Jaune steamrolled over her, continuing to talk. "Sure, you aren't made of flesh and bones, but that's not what's important about being… human. You know what's important?" Jaune drew himself back, looking at the girl in front of him. Penny could feel the sudden loss of warmth as Jaune moved away from the embrace.

"Feelings. Feelings are important." Jaune said, taking a hand and pointing to her chest, where her heart lay. "Concerns. Concerns are important." Jaune lifted his hand and tilted her chin up so that she could see his eyes, warm and accepting. "And of course, opinions are important. Very important." Jaune finally tapped her forehead, smiling. "These are the things that make people human, Penny. You might've been made in a laboratory, but that doesn't make you any less of a person that me or General Ironwood." Jaune pointed a finger at her, face stern, but eyes sparkling with humor. "I mean, you express joy, confusion, hesitation… I can't think of anyone who could do those things and not be called human." Grabbing her by the shoulders, Jaune looked her in the eyes. "Penny, I need you to know something." The girl sat there, transfixed at Jaune. He leaned over again, whispering his words into her ear.

"The most important thing to remember Penny? If you believe you're human, you are."

When Jaune withdrew, Penny did something that she never thought she would have done, or even thought was possible for her. She started to cry.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and the tight feeling in her chest loosened up, letting her breathe again. It was a strange feeling, something that she couldn't place in her memory banks. Crying should have meant sadness, but she didn't feel sad. In fact, she felt happy. Very happy.

"Oh no." She said in a small voice, wiping away the tears. "It seems my tear ducts are malfunctioning."

Jaune stepped forwards and embraced her again, resting his head on hers. "No Penny. They're working just fine."

Penny didn't say anything, simply gripping Jaune's shirt again, shaking a little as she let the tears pour out of her.

"I'm sorry Jaune, but I need to leave, Penny—" General Ironwood stopped, looking at the two hugging figures. Jaune pulled away first, looking at the general. Penny simply sat there, rubbing her eyes.

"Is… everything alright?" James asked, concern evident in his voice. Jaune smiled confidently at him, nodding once. Penny also responded, looking up with a teary smile.

"Everything is good, General Ironwood. I am… happy." She turned to look at Jaune with a dazzling real smile and hugged him once more.

"Thank you friend Jaune, for consoling me. I will cherish this moment forever." Jaune laughed sheepishly, holding her gently.

"Anything to help." He said softly.

It didn't take much longer for them to separate and for James to pay the bills, the two of them waving goodbye. Jaune sat on the stool, watching them disappear into the distance before turning back around, facing the shelves of drinks in front of him. Reaching over the bar to grab the open bottle he had hid earlier, he poured a drink for himself, toasting to the invisible bartender in front of him.

"Anything to help." Jaune repeated, downing the whiskey quickly.