A/N: I am sad to say that I will be abandoning all of my works and going off to a monastary to... NAH I'm just kidding, all of my stories should be back on their regular schedules by next week. :3

I am pleased to announce that the more I write about this, the more knowledgeable I get about alcohol and bartending. Who knew there were so many types of glasses for different types of alcohols? On that note, I tried my hand at another cheerful chapter and.. uh. Hm. Well, it's something XD Slightly shorter than the last few, but just as poignant, I'd like to think. Hope y'all enjoy!

Observer: Hahaha XD It would be interesting to see them all together, wouldn't it? :3 Honestly, Amber might just be the one character that I can't feasibly put into this story. If I was trying to make the story make sense that is.

Guest 1: Jaune Arc's the type of guy that'll gather up the two player's chess pieces and put them down randomly on the board and go 'I'm playing now'

Guest 2: Asking? Psh, Salem doesn't ask. She takes. :)

Guest 3: Cute Raven is Best Raven

That guy: Yeee, Thanks!

Guest 4: Thanks!

Marshmallow: Yeah, people seem to react a lot to that sentence :P

And uh, no actually. Remember that I published this a few weeks before V.4 even came out. Didn't even realize that I could draw parallels to it. Huh. XD

Guest 5: No. Qrow's just asking 'cause he's curious. XD

"Another drink, my good bartender?"

Jaune rolled his eyes as he walked up to the monkey faunus, grabbing the offered lien and procuring his bottle of Vale Light Beer, which the faunus grabbed with both hands, chugging down half the bottle in one go. Neptune sat beside him, face in his hands as he pretended not to know the mischievous boy.

Finishing yet another bottle, the boy slammed the glass onto the counter, making Jaune wince in sympathy for his nice wooden countertop.

"Whoo hoo! Too easy!" Sun exclaimed, grinning at the bartender. "I don't know why people can't just put 'em away like I can. Guess it's just something in my blood." The boy brushed some imaginary dust off of his clothing, looking way too cocky.

"It's probably because most people don't choose to drink tap water to try and get drunk." Jaune replied, twitching an eyebrow upwards as Sun paused in his celebration.

"Wait, what?"

Jaune sighed and tapped at the twelve empty beer bottles laying next to them, directing Sun's confused look towards them.

"Well, this type of beer barely has a 3% alcoholic content. I'm pretty sure anyone could tuck away a few of these without worrying about getting drunk. It also doesn't help that someone with an Aura, like you two," Jaune said, gesturing to the pair of friends, "your Aura can probably work to diffuse the alcohol that these beers are giving to you faster than you can drink them."

Sun sat there for a moment, before turning to look behind him, finding either people who were silently laughing at him or looking annoyed at how loud he was being. The faunus slid a little lower into his seat, face turning a little red.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Jaune said, a grin tugging at his lips as he looked at the abashed boy. "Oh." Neptune sent a silent thank you to the bartender, glad that he was able to calm his partner down so quickly. It didn't last long though, as Sun surged back up, fire in his eyes, ready to redeem himself.

"Alright then. Give me something stronger. No. The strongest thing you've got for me!" Sun slammed his hands on the table, smiling with a fire burning in his eyes. "Lay it on me!"

Jaune winced again, whimpering at the thought of having to Hunter-proof his countertop again after closing time. Jaune could remember how long that took last time. With a sigh, Jaune shook his head, doubt evident on his face.

"You sure about that? I've got some pretty strong stuff, and moving from kiddie beer to this stuff might be a little... much." Sun flushed at the mention of 'kiddie beer' and nodded vigorously, eager to prove himself. Jaune shrugged, secretly glad that he got to serve something stronger. Hopefully it would put the rowdy boy into submission a little sooner.

As Jaune moved away to grab something a tad bit stronger, his mind decided that now would be a good time to wander, thinking back to the other night.

Now listen here kid, there are something things in the world that you would never believe are true, hidden in plain sight. Fairy tales are a good example. Have you ever heard of the four maidens?

Jaune shivered as he recalled the conversation that he and Qrow had, revealing secrets that honestly, Jaune should have never known in the first place. It was true what they said, Jaune supposed, that ignorance was bliss.

If anyone got their hands on the Maidens...

Again Jaune shivered, trying to cast the thought out of his mind. He already had enough trouble sleeping without booze inside of him, he didn't need something else to keep him up at night. With his bottle of Hunter's liquor in hand, Jaune poured out about a third of a shot's worth of liquid, handing the glass to Sun before saying, "Sip this slowly." Making sure that the boy nodded before letting go of the shot glass.

Sun looked confused, his eyes expressing the doubt that so little of the drink would affect him in any way. Shrugging to himself, Sun sipped about half of it under Jaune's watchful gaze before his eyes bulged wide, his body shaking as he struggled to keep his drink down. Placing the glass down gingerly, Sun turned to the side, coughing into his fist, eyes watering.

"Wow," He said hoarsely. "That is... that is something, let me tell you." Sun bent over, coughs wracking his body. Neptune sat beside him with a smile on his face, struggling not to laugh at the display. When Sun was finally able to gasp another breath of air, Jaune handed him a glass of water, which the monkey faunus downed quickly, before coughing again and spitting some of the water on Jaune. "Dust, sorry about that!" Sun said, hacking up a lung.

Jaune sighed and grabbed his washcloth, dabbing himself. Oh well. It was technically his fault for serving the drink anyways. After a few more moments of struggling with the cough, Sun excused himself towards the bathroom, blushing bright red when some of the patrons there couldn't help but laugh at his helpless display.

"…Sorry about that." Jaune said to Neptune, feeling a little guilty. The blue-haired boy waved his hand dismissively, a smile on his face.

"Nah, that's nothing. Sun needs something to humble him every once in a while or he just gets unbearable." Jaune laughed at that, nodding to himself. Neptune was a lot more reserved, at least with his drinking habits, than Sun was, and had steadily tucked away a few more refined beers, going on his seventh one now. Jaune could see him glancing at the drink Sun had abandoned, his eyes showing how curious, and slightly fearful, he was with the drink.

"You know, I don't think Sun would care if you tried it out a little…" Jaune pushed the glass towards Neptune's side of the table with his gloved finger. The Hunter looked up at the bartender, his brief indecision quickly disappearing as he lifted the glass up and took a much more moderate sip compared to Sun's. The boy took it a lot better than his partner did, only flushing a little and coughing once, very lightly into his palm.

"Sun's right," As little of a sip as that was, Jaune could still hear the faint hoarseness in the back of Neptune's throat, a sign of someone not used to strong drinks. "That is a wow drink. Do you give that to people to try and knock them out or something?" Jaune chuckled and shrugged, taking the glass back and putting it below the counter, out of anyone else's line of sight before they fell casualty to the last bit still resting inside the cup.

"Only when they get too rowdy."

Neptune nodded, knowing exactly how his partner had been behaving. "Pretty smart thing to have with you then. Especially when you're serving so many of… us." Hunters, he meant.

"It's one of my better ideas." Jaune agreed, a smile on his face as the bathroom doors swung open, revealing the monkey faunus, who had seemed to recover enough that he had stopped uncontrollably coughing, now only bright red in the face. As he made his way back to his seat, his eyes glanced around the table to look for the drink of the devil, appearing visibly relieved when he couldn't find it anywhere.

"Man, there's no way anyone can actually take that drink. You carry it around just to see those kind of reactions, don't you?" Sun said accusingly. He didn't sound very angry, but was probably trying to salvage some of his 'manliness', blustering and showing the room that he wasn't some… milk-drinker. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

Jaune gave an almost lazy smile, chin resting on one of his hands. "Actually, there are several people who come here just for this drink. You know Team RWBY?"

Neptune nodded. "Yeah, met them a few days ago. They threw like, the craziest food fight I've seen in a long time." Sun jumped up, a smile on his face as he put his two lien in.

"And I fought with one of them too! Blake? You know, cat faunus with the black hair, average height, moody, and has a problem with the White Fang?" He asked excitedly. Jaune raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, an amused smile appearing on his face.

"Didn't realize Blake was alright with people knowing she's a faunus." He said idly, making Sun pale in realization that he had just revealed something that was supposed to be a pretty big secret. Well, for most people anyway. Jaune had noticed the seemingly animate bow on Blake's head since the first time she visited him.

"I-I meant, that she… has really good reflexes! Almost like a… a cat… faunus—Look man, keep it a secret alright?" Sun was practically on his knees, eyes wide and pleading. "I'm trying to get on her good side and I'm pretty sure this won't help."

Jaune looked at the boy begging in front of him, and something mischievous rose in the bartender's chest. Nodding solemnly, Jaune kept his face somber.

"You're right. That won't help at all." Jaune said seriously. There was an audible sigh that came from the blonde boy before he turned around. "Such a shame. Such a shame."

"W-what's a shame?" Sun said nervously, eyes flickering back and forth in nervousness. Jaune kept his back turned, hiding the smirk on his face. Continuing on as casually as he could, Jaune shrugged, fingers trailing against the rims of some of his drying glasses.

"Well, I mean, I'm sure Blake would just feel absolutely betrayed when she finds out that you exposed one of her greatest secrets. And you know, I'm quite forgetful myself. It's only a matter of time before I let it slip that you told me. Such a shame." Jaune repeated, giggling maniacally to himself. "And I'm sure you guys would've looked so good together too."

Sun whimpered a little 'no' quietly before deciding to prostrate on the ground, hands clapped together. There weren't any comprehensible words coming out of his mouth, but it was enough to break Jaune's composure, the bartender bent over with hysterical laughter. The monkey faunus raised his head up in confusion, looking at the laughing boy before realization dawned on his face, a huge blush appearing. Covering his face, Sun didn't say anything, letting Jaune laugh and laugh and laugh, while Neptune just pat Sun's back in sympathy.

Sun wasn't sure which one was worse.

"Alright, I get it!" He finally said, throwing up his hands. "You got me! Now, can you stop behaving like a five year old for a second?" Jaune struggled to keep his laughter under control, giggles breaking out every time he remembered Sun almost lying on the ground.

"Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help it." Jaune said in between chuckles. Sun, embarrassed as he was, looked a little hopeful.

"So you're not going to tell Blake then?"

"I already know." The bartender replied, waving a hand dismissively, another laugh slipping out as he saw Sun's betrayed face. "But don't worry, I'll make sure I won't tell her that you let it slip out." The monkey faunus slid a little lower in his seat, relief visible on his face.

Things started to calm down a little more as everything started to fall back to normal, Sun requesting, politely this time, for another bottle of beer. Jaune grabbed one and popped the cap, handing it to Sun, who looked at the unfamiliar bottle with raised eyebrows.

"Try this one instead of the water you were having a while ago. Drink it slowly. I think you'll enjoy it, and it'll be a good step up from the light beer you had a while ago. Don't worry, it's nowhere near as strong as the shot I gave you." Jaune reassured, smiling at Sun, who muttered something about 'the Grimm's Drink' and tilting the bottle towards his lips.

A second passed by before Sun nodded, a big grin on his face as he drank again.

"This isn't so bad, man!"

Jaune just nodded his head, puffing out his chest as he once again found the right drink for the right person. With all the shenanigans aside, the bartender relaxed and slipped into chat mode, asking the two Hunters-in-training where they were from.

"Haven Academy," Neptune answered, "We came over for the tournament." Jaune nodded, knowing all about the tournament from his other patrons, what with the girls talking excitedly about it to Professor Goodwitch moaning about how much work had to be put in to make sure everything, well, worked.

"Came a little early, didn't you?"

Neptune pointed at his partner, who scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"This guy decided that he couldn't wait, and snuck into a ship to get here."

"Snuck into a ship?" Jaune repeated, raising an eyebrow at the faunus before shaking his head. "Knew I had to keep a close eye on you."

"'Cause I'm a faunus?" Sun challenged, surging up suddenly, before being put back down at the unperturbed expression on Jaune's face, a solitary eyebrow hovering.

"Because you nearly broke the hinges off the door frame when you came in." Jaune said dryly, making Sun wince and turn, looking to see the damage he caused.

"Don't bother," The bartender sighed. "I already reinforced the doors against Hunters when… someone decided she really needed that Sunrise." Moving on before the two could question him, Jaune asked, "So what brought you guys here? Closest place to the harbor? Do I have to report Sun to the nearest station?" The faunus snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Cops." He didn't say anything else, his tone making it apparent what he thought about them. Neptune, as always, decided to answer for the two of them.

"After Sun, uh, helped Blake out with a… problem, Team RWBY suggested this place for him to wind down. He waited for me to get here before coming though."

"'Cause we're bros." Sun grinned, knuckle bumping his partner. Jaune smiled wistfully at the display, his heart panging silently when he tried to imagine himself doing that to a friend. There weren't any, so his next question came quickly.

"So how do you like it here?"

"Vale or Beacon?" Sun asked, sipping his drink after the question. Jaune shrugged, not caring which question was answered, just wanting to know an answer. Sun leaned back, thoughtful look on his face.

"Vale's alright. Lots more cops than back in Mistral, but whatever. The people here're nice."

"Beacon," Neptune added in, "is… impressive. I mean, Haven is better," obviously, Sun added in, "but it's cool. And the, ahem, students are cool too." Neptune said, his smile showing a bit of teeth. Jaune put two and two together and leaned forward.

"Weiss?"

Neptune's face flushed a bit as he coughed into his hand. "W-what about her?" He asked, trying to play it off as casually as he possibly could. Jaune exhaled a breath in amusement, looking as innocent as possible. Jaune thought about it for a second before snapping his fingers.

"That's right, isn't the dance coming up sometime soon?" The more Jaune spoke, the redder Neptune seemed to get, fidgeting uncomfortably around in his chair. The bartender looked at the boy, thinking quietly to himself. The two partners seemed like they were very... comfortable around women. Not sure if that was really a good thing, Jaune thought to himself. For a second he felt a surge of protectiveness, wanting to warn Neptune about hurting Weiss...

But that's really none of his business, was it?

"Anyways," Neptune said, moving onto another subject as speedily as possible. "It's kind of cool to see someone younger do all the bartending at a bar and, you know, be good at it." Jaune nodded in thanks to what he assumed was a compliment. "How old are you man? You can't be much older than us. Twenty? Twenty one?"

"Seventeen." Jaune replied, the two guys in front of him jerking back slightly in surprise. He laughed at that and nodded, "Yeah, I know. Pretty young."

"Pretty young? You're our age!" Sun turned to Neptune, asking, "Can you imagine us trying to serve beers to people? Ugh, we'd be so fired." The blue-haired boy nodded in agreement, curiosity in his eyes.

"How'd you get to working here?" Neptune asked. "I mean, you couldn't have gotten this job the normal way… right?" Jaune shook his head.

"I… needed a job." He said. "I met the owner and he gave me the job." There was a lot he wasn't saying, but even boys like Sun and Neptune could tell there were some painful things that he was trying to tuck away.

"Must've been hard." Sun said quietly, glancing at Neptune, who nodded in agreement. Jaune felt uncomfortable at the display and tried to play it off, a smile plastered on his face.

"Things got better." The bartender said vaguely. "Refill?" The partners nodded, allowing Jaune to walk away to grab two new bottles. When he placed the bottles down, Sun decided to speak up.

"What's your favorite drink Jaune?"

Blue eyes blinked rapidly in confusion. "My favorite drink?" That wasn't a question that he got asked a lot. Not many people cared, as long as he knew what their favorite drink was.

Sun nodded, his expression showing nothing as he did so. "Favorite drink." Jaune turned to look at Neptune, who had the same kind of look on his face, before he turned back to the other boy.

"Whiskey." Jaune said simply.

Sun nodded, before tapping his fingers on his chin, snapping his fingers as he smiled devilishly. "Can you get me one of those?" He asked.

"Get you a… whiskey?"

"Yeah. In a glass, or however you serve them."

"O… kay." Jaune said uncertainly, kneeling down to grab his favorite brand of whiskey and poured some into a glass, making it the way he liked it. Pushing it forwards, he was surprised to find the glass pushed right back towards him, the grin on both of their faces growing wider. Raising their glasses, they looked at Jaune, who had a blank look on his face.

"Drink with us." They said, urging him to do so. "Come on. Think of it as an apology for bringing up bad memories." Jaune didn't say anything, nor did he do anything, only staring at the drink in front of him, which still had ripples in it as the liquid tried to settle into the tumbler. The Hunters-in-training saw his indecision and misread it, assuming that he wasn't taking it because he was on the job.

"Don't worry, we won't tell." Sun said brightly. "Come on man. Sometimes it's good to have a drink. What's the harm?"

What's the harm?

Jaune's fingers twitched, and his head started to hurt. After a whole two weeks of not having anything, after two weeks of working to the bone, of trying to rid his mind of the demons… he realized something.

He was moretired than he ever expected.

"You okay there man?" Neptune asked, concern visible on his face. Jaune's head snapped up, eyes wide for a second before he was able to collect himself, a polite smile on his face. What's the harm?

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about… about the past." Jaune said quietly. What's the harm?

"I'm telling you, this'll help! Come on man, no need to be shy around us!" Sun nearly shouted, his boisterous demeanor pushing its way through to Jaune. The bartender's will seemed to wilt away at that point, his hand already gripping the glass, the caster that contained his relief calling out to him.

Don't do it…

The voice whispering to him was the last straw that helped him make up his mind, and Jaune smiled tightly, lifting the glass up to the air and touching it with the bottles.

"To the future." Sun said, probably thinking the phrase sounded cool or something. Jaune and Neptune repeated the phrase anyways, the bartender a little more hollowly than the other two, and they all threw their drinks back, letting the alcohol flow through them.

Bartender included.

What's the harm?

Jaune continued to sit on those words, contemplating them all while relaxing and smiling again, happy to be in the company of the other two. His mind and body seemed a little less coiled, and Jaune reveled in that feeling, so much that he didn't even hesitate when the pair told him to pour another glass for himself.

It was good, and in that moment, Jaune couldn't think of a reason why he tried to quit drinking. It felt good. It felt free. It felt right.

There were some people who would disapprove, but the one that kept whispering in his ear had stopped after Jaune downed the first glass, and that was already a plus one for the drinking side of things.

He should thank Sun and Neptune actually, and Jaune was pretty sure he did, between laughter and conversation. The two of them looked proud actually, for helping him with his problem, and actually tipped nicely when they decided that it was time to leave. Jaune was even able to get a fist bump from the two of them, which was wicked awesome.

There's wasn't a problem with drinking, Jaune concluded, deciding that there wasn't any harm taking a bottle of whiskey home with him after closing time.

And when he popped the top off of the bottle upended the contents into his mouth, those were the last words on his mind as he drifted off into a blissful sleep.

What's the harm?