A/N: Wow. So. Time for me to give some excuses I guess. Long story short, money is tight, I'm working a crap ton and not making much so… Not much time to write, unfortunately. TBH, I'm pretty stressed out right now XD Don't worry though, I'll continue writing, even if it takes forever for me to get the next chapters out XP Hope y'all enjoy, and sorry if it's not up to standard.
That Guy: I'm glad that you're so excited that I came back XD
"Crap."
Jaune unsuccessfully held in a giggle as he watched Yang drop the jigger for the third time in the last minute, spilling whatever she was trying to measure out of the container. With a bit of quick thinking, the blond boy was also able to duck as Yang chucked a metal tumbler at him, the metal object pinging as it hit the wall behind him.
"Oh come on Yang," Jaune said, stopping all pretenses of trying not to laugh, "I'm sure you can pick it up sooner or later."
The girl crossed her arms, scowling at the boy who would dare try and reassure her. The desk in front of her held several bottles, all labeled different things. There was also a cocktail glass—still empty—and a spot for the tumbler that she had just thrown straight at Jaune.
The boy bent over and picked up the silvery glass, placing it back onto the table before shaking his head, grabbing the jigger from its spot and pushing it back into Yang's hand, an encouraging smile still on his face. Yang directly contrasted him with her sharp gaze, initially refusing to hold the measuring object until Jaune raised an eyebrow at her, the girl finally relenting.
"You know, for someone who was insistent in wanting to learn how to make your favorite drink, I don't feel like you're all that eager to learn," Jaune commented, sliding a half-empty jug of orange juice jug towards Yang. Her lips grew into a pout as she grabbed the juice, and plopped a measuring cup in front of her, carefully pouring in the exact amount that was needed for the Strawberry Sunrise.
"I didn't realize that this was going to be so difficult." Yang said slowly, stopping for a second as she eyed the dark line on the cup, pouring a little more into the container before nodding in satisfaction. "I didn't realize that there was so much... measuring going on to make a drink."
Jaune nodded as he watched her dump the juice into a nearby blender, shaking the cup to make sure that everything had been emptied out. As Yang turned to the strawberries, Jaune shrugged, a slight smile appearing on his face.
"Yeah, I thought the same thing when I first started out. Made a lot of bad drinks," Jaune said, chuckling as he recalled the one time the owner ended up gagging on one of Jaune's experimental drinks. "Don't worry though," Jaune said soothingly, patting Yang on the head, "As you practice, you'll get better." Yang swatted his hand away, rolling her eyes as she dropped a few strawberries into the blender, which Jaune quickly retrieved again, shaking his head at the girl. "Slice the strawberries before you drop them in."
"Is there even a difference?" Yang objected, staring at the orange-juice dripping strawberries that Jaune had placed on the cutting board in front of her.
"There is." This time it wasn't Jaune speaking, the two of them turning to find Scarlet leaning against the doorframe, a smirk on his face. "Trust me, Jaune wouldn't tell you otherwise if there wasn't." The blond boy nodded in thanks to Scarlet, before turning back to Yang, who still had her arms crossed, looking at both of the boys. It took another second, but she finally relented, taking the knife set aside for her and cutting up the strawberries, muttering something under her breath.
Jaune just shook his head, amused, before turning to Scarlet, who nodded a greeting towards him.
"How're you feeling buddy?" Scarlet asked, nodding to the bandages Jaune were sporting. Without thinking Jaune lifted his hand up towards his cheek, rubbing the bandage softly, the places where the witch sunk her nails in tingling as his fingers glided over them. Sleeping was still a little difficult for him, but after he was moved to his own room, at least waking up in the cold of night didn't disturb anyone else's rest. When he was rooming with Pyrrha's team, the only thing that he could really do after a bad nightmare was lay there alone in the darkness. Now, when he woke up, he had another purpose.
To shine up on his drink making.
Sure, he wasn't a bartender anymore, but it didn't hurt to relearn and master the ways of bartending. It also gave him time to create different drinks, refine his own spirits, and allow him to think upon his life.
In a way, his nightmares were a blessing to him, something that allowed him to grow into more of a man than he was before.
It was refreshing, in a way.
Well it was, until one day team RWBY had to bust in through the doors of his room because he had overslept, finding him dead asleep with tumblers and opened alcohol strewn across his room.
That had been a fun conversation that everyone had to go through.
After convincing everyone that he hadn't relapsed back into the life of an extreme alcoholic, curiosity overcame them, and they all started to talk about the way of the bartender, and how Jaune made the drinks that they've come to absolutely love. That devolved into Jaune showing a step by step demonstration of some of the cocktails that he poured, which then devolved even further into Jaune trying to teach one or two drinks to the few people that were interested.
Most of Jaune's friends that he taught had either found it too difficult and quickly decided against it, or were happy to retain how to make their favorites, albeit to a lesser degree than how Jaune could make it.
The last person to still be at it was Yang, because she quickly grew to love trying to make the drinks, and well...
Because Jaune quickly found out how bad she was at making them.
By the time Jaune had finished teaching Yang the correct proportions to a simple gin and tonic, he had found a tempo that was almost relaxing to get into. Teach, demonstrate, watch Yang attempt, then duck quickly as she threw tumbler after tumbler in frustration.
It was needless to say that Jaune bought steel glasses with him the next time Yang came for her lesson.
As they neared the end of the break, Jaune found Yang appearing in front of his doorstep more and more often, either a saccharine smile on her face, or a deadly scowl, intent on learning and improving more and more. After more trial and error than anything else, Yang was able to learn a few recipes, which to Jaune's horror, sparked her thirst to learn more and more, which turned Jaune's surprisingly busy days into even busier days, filled with training, spending time with friends, and creating lesson plans for Yang to go through.
It was more fun than Jaune thought it would be.
"I'm feeling a lot better." Jaune finally said, grinning at Scarlet. He unfolded his arms and hugged the red-haired boy, warmth suffusing him.
Scarlet wasn't much of a friend at first, but somehow, annoyingly so, the boy was consistent in showing up and making sure that Jaune was okay. It was hard to dislike anyone who was so devoted in making sure that you were alright.
As they separated, they found Yang standing in front of them, arms crossed, a finger tapping an impatient beat against her forearm. Besides her was a cocktail of swirling red, topped with a strawberry on the rim, a hint of a mint leaf floating. The sight of it was enough to draw a surprised noise out of Jaune's throat, his eyebrows rising slightly. He didn't say anything though, making it difficult for the blonde girl to gauge whether or not she was successful or not.
"So?" She finally said, frustration building around the edges of her voice, eager to know what Jaune thought of her umpteenth try at making her favorite drink. "What do you think?"
The question brought Jaune's head to the side, as if a different perspective would change his opinion of the drink.
"It's missing something." Jaune said, getting closer and tracing the rim of the glass with his gloves, circling around it carefully, almost delicately to make sure not to touch the garnish on top. Without a word, he knelt down under the desk and rummaged around, opening the shelves haphazardly, bringing confused looks between the other two occupants in the room.
"What's he doing?" Yang mouthed to Scarlet, who shrugged and held up his hands, already knowing that it was useless to really guess what Jaune was doing. The blond waiter was one of the most unpredictable and mysterious people Scarlet had ever known, and that was counting all of the professors that he's met in his lifetime of being a Huntsmen in training.
Their silent conversation was interrupted when Jaune poked his head above the shelf, rising up with a pen in hand and a grin on his face. He pointed over the shoulder of Yang, making her turn. "Grab that for me?" He asked politely, gesturing towards the notebook lying close to his bedside. Wordlessly, the bemused girl grabbed the composition book and tossed it towards Jaune. She got a nod of thanks from him, before he set the book down on the table, flipping through the pages. She didn't get to see much from it, a few scribbles here and there, before Jaune found an empty page, tearing it out of the book quickly, making Yang jump at the unexpected action. Uncapping the pen with his teeth, Jaune let the pen touch the sheet of paper, before letting the pen go down, then up, flipping it around and placing the piece of paper in front of the drink, grinning up at Yang, who groaned and covered her face with her right hand as she quickly realized what he had drawn.
"Congratulations Yang, you've managed to make a Strawberry Sunrise." Jaune nodded, humming contentedly at the checkmark that he had drawn laying in front of the red drink. Taking off his gloves, Jaune dipped his finger in, placing the appendage in his mouth to taste it, a small sound of happiness escaping. "And delicious too." When he opened his eyes again, he saw a small disapproving frown on Yang's face. Blue eyes rolled as Jaune scoffed, knowing what that face was for.
"Come on Yang. That wasn't even like, one sip." Scarlet shook his head quickly, making a cutting motion with his hands.
"A little is still too much." Yang said firmly, grabbing the drink and pulling it over to her side. Jaune sighed, running a hand through his hair, his lips reflecting the frown on Yang's face.
"I'm pretty sure this much wouldn't get Ruby drunk, let alone me."
"Well sure, but what about the second time? And the third time?" Yang surged forwards, her expression changing from upset to pissed. "And when you decide that the whole bottle isn't bad for you, and you end up getting yourself killed again, will it be alright then?" Each accusation made Jaune's teeth grit more and more, his hands turning into fists.
"It won't get to that point." He said, eyes shooting daggers.
"And the past two times that you've put your neck on the chopping block proves that?"
Out of the corner of Jaune's eyes, he could see Scarlet wince, taking a step back. Seeing that only made Jaune's heart beat a little faster, the beating of his heart rising and pounding in between his ears.
"I've changed." Jaune whispered, his voice lowering to a deadly quiet volume. To anyone else, the tone of voice might have caused them to balk, but Yang was just as hard-headed as Jaune, and there wasn't even a question in her mind to continue to challenge Jaune.
"And even this would prove that you haven't." Yang said slowly, her finger bringing emphasis into each of the words that escaped her lips, the lone appendage hitting the desk right next to the cocktail in a deadly rhythm.
The air around them was electric, and definitely not in a good way. It felt as if they were going to go to arms against each other, and Jaune knew that would end badly for him. Unfortunately, his brain still hadn't thought of why he should care. All that mattered was that Yang wasn't the boss of him, and if she was going to try and force him to do something, or in this instance, not do something, then she better not expect him to just fold over and let it happen.
The brittle air shattered when Scarlet went in between them, a nervous chuckle drawing both of their attentions toward the red-haired boy, who quickly went pale underneath the two enraged glares that he was receiving.
"How about we try and not start a fight here, yeah?" Scarlet offered nervously, spinning in between the two of them, before picking up the object of passion that sat ominously on the desk, pushing it into Yang's hands, who blinked rapidly at the beverage. "Maybe Yang should have a bit of drink, to calm herself down," Scarlet said. It was still obvious that he didn't want to be the one voluntarily involving himself in the two warring factions set beside him, but he was still able to manage a stern enough voice, which was enough to convince Yang to drink from the cocktail, albeit slowly. Her eyebrows shot up as she was surprised by how good she had actually made the drink. Her lips curled into a smile as she lowered the drink down, her eyes glancing towards Jaune, her expression showing that it was obvious she wasn't completely done with arguing with the blond boy. Finally she sighed, brushing some of her hair to the side as she let go of the topic.
"This one is pretty good." Yang finally said, raising the glass up and forcing a small grin on her face. Jaune saw the olive branch for what it was and smiled back, his shoulders relaxing just a tiny fraction.
"I told you that was the case," Jaune nodded, leaning back against the wall. Yang snorted and continued to sip at the drink, closing her eyes and humming in appreciation to the drink. She made this drink. Her. And it was delicious.
"I'd say this one might even be better than the ones you make." The girl smiled teasingly, causing Jaune to bark out a laugh.
"Let's not get too far ahead there." Jaune waggled his finger, the spark in his eyes dancing in amusement. "Just because that drink was passably good, doesn't mean you're a bartender." Yang shrugged, pretending to ignore what the boy had just said, looking down at her body.
"I don't know about that one." Yang said uncertainly, hands brushing her body. "I'm sure I would look awesome wearing your suit. Don't you think so Scarlet?" She made sure to bat her eyelashes as she asked, her fingers lingering on her thighs.
"Uh." Scarlet said, any smart remark hidden behind the overt appreciation that he was showing towards Yang's body. Jaune rolled his eyes and tapped the other boy on the nose, snapping him out of his reverie before the blond crossed his arms. Yang was still grinning at him, a single eyebrow raised at him.
"I think that was a yes from Scarlet."
"I think that was cheating from you." Jaune shot back. "I never realized that you would try and take advantage of someone so weak-willed just to make a point." He shook his head mockingly, ignoring the small 'hey!' of protest that came out of Scarlet's mouth.
"I'll take advantage of whoever I want to." Yang replied back, tossing her head of hair to the said pompously, taking on a brief resemblance of Weiss, except that the blonde was having a difficult time keeping a straight face while doing so. "All's fair in love and... bartending."
Jaune didn't even bother correcting her botched saying, simply sighing. Anything else that would have been said was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, cutting their playful argument short. The door slid open to reveal a short, stocky man with a glorious mustache, who started to laugh boisterously the moment he saw the three of them.
"Ho ho! I thought that you would be here!" Professor Port said, throwing back his head as he laughed.
"...This is my room, professor." Jaune said, sharing a few looks between the other two people in the room. The big man paused, before coughing into his fist.
"Never mind that. Professor Goodwitch would like to talk with you Jaune. If you don't mind, I was sent to escort you to her."
Another few glances were exchanged between the three in the room before Jaune uncrossed his arms, looking carefully at the Professor.
"Thank you Professor Port. But I do know the way to Professor Goodwitch's office."
In a rare moment of seriousness, the man in front of them shook his head, a stern look on his face as he did so.
"She is not in her office right now, Jaune. So if you don't mind, I would like to escort you to her."
It was clear from the way that Professor Port was talking that escorting Jaune was something important that needed to be done. With that in mind, Jaune wordlessly walked towards the man, glancing back at Scarlet and Yang, who both of varying degrees of the same look. Whatever happens, they had Jaune's back, either when he got back, or when he called them.
It was a nice feeling, which contrasted to the small pit that was starting to form in Jaune's belly.
"Very good. Let us leave."
It was strange seeing the normally carefree man so serious, but the blond boy didn't comment on it, following the man outside of Beacon silently, his heart beat slowly rising the further he got away from the grand buildings.
As they boarded a Bullhead and took off towards Vale, Jaune had a difficult time pinpointing whether his queasiness was from the airship or from the paranoid feeling of impending doom. The boy normally never talked while in an airship, but this time it was too much, and he couldn't help but ask a question, catching the attention of Professor Port, who had been staring out of a window the whole time.
"Where are we going, Professor?"
The man turned slowly, eyebrows obscuring his eyes, making it nearly impossible for Jaune to decipher what the older man was thinking.
"It's a surprise Jaune."
And that was all he got from Professor Port.
And so the two of them landed, and the man led the boy into the deep city, where the streets blended together, the world seeming to grow darker even though the sun was nowhere close to the horizon.
Jaune's mind was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice where they were going, his eyes cast downwards as he followed behind Professor Port, his eyes hearing nothing except the echoes of their footsteps. It was only when Jaune finally looked up to see what road they were on that his heartbeat started to slow, and a relieved sigh escape from his mouth.
He knew exactly what road this was.
Professor Port stopped moving, a smile on his face when he turned around to look at the gaping boy.
"Welcome home, Jaune."
The boy moved past the mustached man, swallowing the lump that had lodged itself in his throat. It had felt like forever since he had seen the bar, and it looked better than it ever did before. The bricks looked brand new, the wooden frames around the doorways and windows shined with polish, and if Jaune squinted a little, he could see the circular tables gleaming in the low light. Looking at the place made Jaune's chest tight, and his breathing uneven. A hand touched his back, and he turned, rapidly blinking, to find Professor Port giving him a grandfatherly smile.
"I hope it's to your liking." The man said, in a voice quieter than he was used to hearing from the usually boisterous teacher. Jaune nodded quickly, not able to trust his voice to express his feelings. The blond boy took another few steps towards the building, laying a hand on the door, glancing back at Professor Port, silently asking for permission to enter. With Professor Port's silent nod, Jaune pushed past the wooden door and stepped into the bar, his head slowly turning to take in the sights.
As a bartender, Jaune had a lot of experience seeing people cry and tear up. He'd seen guys and girls cover their mouths and bend over, trying to hide their tears. He had always thought that it was a little silly to try and hide your crying.
Jaune found out that it wasn't something that you consciously did.
Almost kneeling on the ground, the bartender/waiter found himself lost in his own tears. It wasn't until he felt a firm hand on his shoulder that he was able to start pulling himself together, wiping the tears away from his cheeks, sniffling hard and blinking rapidly to make sure that he could see the person who had touched him. Turning, he found another kind face at the ready. He turned towards Professor Goodwitch and circled his arms around her, burying his head into her stomach. There were no more tears, but something still flowed through him. Glynda didn't comment on it, only rubbing his back, fingers tracing circles as she leaned down, kissing the top of his head.
"... Thank you." Jaune muttered, his voice muffled as he refused to lift his head off of Glynda's shirt. Glynda was never a woman of many words, so she decided not to say anything, instead tightening her grip around the boy. Jaune felt the embrace tighten, and sighed, a small note of happiness escaping.
Both of them felt as if they could've stayed like that forever, comforting each other.
Unfortunately, Professor Port knew no such thing as subtlety, coughing loudly into his hand and bringing the two of them apart, Professor Goodwitch making sure to give the man a measured glare as she rose to her feet. Peter shrugged, unaffected by the menacing undertones that the woman was showing, already used to them after working so long with her.
"Well, it looks like my job here is done." The portly man said, patting his own belly. "I'll be heading out now. I'm sure I can leave Jaune in your hands, Glynda." The woman nodded in agreement as the Professor Port strode out, a hearty chuckle echoing throughout the bar as he left.
After an exasperated shake of her head, Professor Goodwitch turned to Jaune, who was still turning around to look at the bar.
"I hope I've done a good job with the reparations." The professor said, a small smile on her face as Jaune whipped his head around, a guilty expression on his face as he realized that he had fallen into his own amazement again.
"Sorry." Jaune blurted out, before backtracking. "I mean, thank you. Yes. It's wonderful." Jaune laughed nervously, red starting to tinge his cheeks as he realized how erratic his talking was. Taking a deep breath, the boy tried again, mirroring Glynda's smile. "It's even better than it was before. Thank you for bringing my home back to me." There was a jolt of surprise from Professor Goodwitch when she felt him take her hand, but she eventually relaxed.
"Better than it was before? Something wrong with the way it was before?"
Another interruption caused them to separate again, Jaune turning to find an older, grizzled man standing in between them, furrowing his brow. The look was supposed to be a stern one, but it only made Jaune laugh a little bit, before he ducked his head down.
"Sorry sir. It was perfect the way it was before." Jaune said, apologizing to his boss. "I guess now it's just... more perfect, I suppose." It didn't make much sense, but it was enough to allay the man's facade of injury, the old man lowering his arms and snorting.
"Well, so long as you mean it I suppose." The man sniffed, one of his hands rubbing against his nose. "We're opening next Monday, so I hope you're ready, brat."
"Monday?" Jaune said, blinking in surprise. "So soon?"
"Soon?" Again the man snorted, shaking his head at Jaune. "I'd say not soon enough! Once the Vytal Tournament begins, we're gonna get a lot of business, sonny. I'm gonna need all hands on deck." A cough. "Especially my best bartender."
"Bar-" Jaune's heart soared, and once again he had a problem with his breathing. The man didn't see any of this, having already started to hobble into the backroom, waving a hand at Jaune. Instead, the blond boy turned to Glynda, mouth gaping at her.
"D-did you hear what he just said?" Jaune asked the woman, making sure that he hadn't hallucinated or misheard or anything. Professor Goodwitch nodded, a certain look in her eyes.
"I did."
The two words were enough to make Jaune jump into the air, both hands raised into the sky. "Yes! I'm back, baby!" The howling was enough to make the construction workers stop what they were doing for a second and glance at the boy in amusement, before they went back to work. "This is awesome." Jaune gushed, pacing and turning around, mind racing. "I-I have so many drinks that I've been thinking of making, and getting behind the counter again? Oh man, that'll be so awesome. I can't wait to tell the others..." He trailed off when he turned back towards Glynda, who still had the same expression on her face as before. Gears turned inside Jaune's head.
"You don't want me to work behind the bar again."
"No." Professor Goodwitch said quickly. A little too quickly. "That's not what I'm thinking at all." Jaune had a hard time believing that, when she looked so uncertain when she had said it. Glynda could see that she wasn't convincing anyone and her shoulders slumped down a little, a sigh escaping. One of her hands rose and brushed some hair out of her face, her eyebrows scrunching up. "I… am happy that you're happy to be working again."
That wasn't the point Jaune had been making.
"You're scared I'll start to… drink again."
"I'm scared you'll start to over drink again." She raised a hand to stop Jaune from protesting. "I know you've got aura now. I know that you have a larger tolerance to alcohol. But that's not a good thing either."
Jaune's head drooped a little, before it's downwards progress was stopped by Glynda.
"You know what alcohol can do to the body. What it can do to the mind." Her grip tightened around his shoulders. "When your body wants to… to feel the feeling that alcohol gave it again, your body will want more. A dangerous amount more than before." Jaune stared into Glynda's eyes, seeing the pain in them. "And I don't want to see you in a worse position than you were before. Please."
Jaune's heart felt like it was tearing in half, unsure of what it wanted. No, more like it knew what it wanted, and wasn't sure how to explain it to another person.
"No."
Glynda's eyes widened in shock at the blatant refusal coming from Jaune. Hands rose up and clasped onto her wrists, pulling them away firmly, but not harshly. Glynda could see in his eyes that he wasn't trying to be unnecessarily cruel. He just wanted to show her that he was serious about the matter.
"Pro-… Glynda." Jaune made sure to pronounce every syllable, eyes pointed with laser focus. "I respect your opinion. Out of… all of the Huntsmen and Huntresses out there, you're the one I look up to the most." The blond shook his head. "But I can't leave this place. I love it."
"You wouldn't have to leave it." She protested, but was quickly cut off.
"I would." Jaune said firmly. "And you know it. I… I hate being a waiter. I mean, it's not the worst but…" Jaune's eyes made their way towards the bar counter, a wistful look on his face. "It just reminds me of what I used to be. And it hurts knowing that I'm not where I could be. Where I should be."
Glynda looked carefully at the boy, her teeth deciding to gnaw on her lower lip as she thought about what Jaune had said. There was a small noise that escaped her, something of a mix between a sigh and a chuckle before she shook her head, a tired smile appearing on her face.
"Your life never gets simpler, does it?"
Jaune gave her a heartfelt shrug. "At this point, I wouldn't know what to do with my life if it got simpler." The teacher rolled her eyes at him.
"I don't know. Be happy? Pursue hobbies that won't get you involved in Huntsmen problems and Grimm?"
"I think we both know exactly how that'll turn out." Jaune said, raising an eyebrow at Glynda's suggestions.
"That doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try." Jaune hid a snort of amusement, having never seen a grown woman pout like she just had.
Maybe she was right. But then again, if Jaune had decided to keep his nose out of everything, things would be a lot different. He definitely wouldn't have faced near death two or three times now at this point. Wouldn't have faced off with that otherworldly witch, wouldn't have been traumatized to the point of being unable to handle prolonged physical contact with anyone.
Jaune also wouldn't have found all of the friends that he had today, from grumpy, drunk Qrow to tsundere Weiss.
Yeah. He didn't always make the right choices, but the choices he made were his, and in the end, he was happy with the choices he made.