Preview: It wasn't a big deal that Blake hadn't been showing up until she missed a shift and Yang had to come in to cover for her. (Weiss is upset. Ruby is worried. Nora is loud.)
Yang hadn't been herself when she came home from work, which had Ruby worried.
The younger sister had stopped hanging out at the cafe during shifts because it was first of all a huge waste of her summer break, and second of all becoming annoying. Weiss wouldn't stop talking about Blake. At this point everyone had had enough of her ranting, and even sweet and collected Pyrrha had shouted "It was just a phone call, okay?" loudly enough for everyone to stare.
Blake hadn't been coming to the cafe, which was understandable during other people's shifts, but she hadn't even been showing up in the mornings when everyone gathered in the back room.
Yang was in a bad mood, and Ruby could tell by the way she did everything. Usually Yang was a tornado of happiness and upbeat rock music, barrelling around the apartment whenever Ruby was there. When she came home this time, she didn't say a word to Ruby before disappearing into the bathroom for a twenty minute shower.
Okay, so Yang's in a bad mood.
Ruby really knew something was wrong when Yang didn't dry her hair before she went to bed. Yang was very protective of her hair, so much so that even if Ruby accidentally touched her mane of gold by mistake, her older sister would whirl around and hiss at her.
She was not one to sleep on wet hair, the consequences of bunches and wrinkles were too painful for her.
And Ruby, at that moment, knew that something was wrong.
She couldn't fall asleep, worried for her sister. She also had six voicemails from her father that she listened to, and was horrified to realize she hadn't been back to his house for a week. She left him a text explaining that things were busy at the cafe and that she's probably be home this weekend before flipping open an old book and reading until she drifted off.
She couldn't help but feel that that was something Blake would do.
The next day, Ruby not only learned how bad the problem actually was, but was forced to endure WEISS learning how bad the problem actually was.
"She said she'd come! She PROMISED! What a child! What an idiot! How incredibly irresponsible! To just NOT show up for a shift! How CHILDISH!" The heiress went on and on. Ruby and Yang shared an exasperated glance, and Ren, the fourth person on the shift, excused himself to start up the drinks.
"Weiss, it's okay, I don't mind taking an extra shift," Yang sighed, trying to calm down the fuming ivory-haired drama queen.
Weiss did not want to be calmed down. "We've had to sub for her for nearly a week now, and now she doesn't even come to shift she promised she would?" She shot Ruby a pleading glance, like take my side please take my side.
Ruby took her opportunity to leave, knocking over her plastic deck chair as she followed Ren into the cafe to escape Weiss's wrath. The two quietly prepared drinks for a couple minutes (Ruby not wanting to start a conversation and Ren not caring) before Weiss stormed angrily out of the back room, Yang following in defeat.
The shift went by quickly, mainly dominated by silence. Yang and Ruby weren't in the mood for conversation, Weiss wasn't stupid enough to speak to customers while she was this angry, and Ren… never spoke anyway.
Afterwards, they gathered in the back to listen to Weiss rant a little more. Ruby had had enough.
"Listen, Weiss, maybe she has her own side of things and we can go look for her or something and maybe Yang has her number?" The words all came out in a jumble and Ruby cursed her voice for sounding so squeaky.
Weiss sighed. "Alright, but I'm sure you'll see that I've been right this whole time."
Yang flipped open her phone and dialed Blake's number dejectedly. She was taking Blake's disappearance rather hard, which was understandable. If Blake was Ruby's girlfriend she would be down as well.
Everyone listened in a suspenseful silence at the quiet rings coming from Yang's phone. And then…
"Hello?"
"BLAKE!" All occupants of the room except Ren all screamed at the same time.
"I'm not here right now. Please leave a message at the tone and call back."
Yang swore loudly, as did Weiss, earning a gasp from Ruby.
"End the call!" the black haired girl squeaked.
Yang pressed the pound key, which would delete the message.
"Hey, Blake, we're worried about you. If you show up for afternoon shift I'll buy you something. And convince Weiss to not be angry." Yang's voice was quiet. Ruby debated adding to the message, but decided it would be better if it were just Yang.
"Well, now what?" Weiss asked exasperatedly.
"I guess we just wait and see if she shows. Who's got the afternoon shift?" Ruby tilted her head at her sister in question.
"Pyrrha, Blake, me, and Nora," she replied calmly, but her voice cracked on Blake's name.
Ruby sighed.
Although it wasn't her shift and Weiss was subbing for Blake, Ruby stuck around during the shift. She was curious to see if Blake would show up, and had Yang's phone on hand, anxiously awaiting any texts.
Somebody gave a shriek in the cafe and Ruby sighed for the third time in the hour. She was really starting to sigh a lot.
"Nora," came Weiss's annoyed chastising, but she stopped, the silence heavy.
Then Yang: "Blake?"
Nora again: "WOW, Blake! You look like a ZOMBIE!"
And Penny: "Friend Nora is unfortunately correct! You do not appear to be healthy, Blake. Is anything the matter?"
Ruby's ears perked in curiosity. Blake! That was good! But, Blake as a zombie was less good. She peered around the corner into the cafe. There were a few customers, namely Neptune and Neo, who were minding their own business, and the cafe was thankfully relatively empty. But there was Blake, standing in the doorway. She had dark circles under her eyes, which were giving her face a sunken look, and her hair was scruffy. Her bow was half tied. Yang didn't really seem to care. She enveloped Blake into a hug. The black haired girl's arms remained stiffly at her sides.
"Blake, where've you been? Is that a starbucks cup?" Weiss gestured angrily to the cup sticking out of Blake's bag.
"I just needed my own time, okay? And yes, it's a Starbucks cup." Blake looked at her feet.
"What's that all about? Are you becoming a Starbucks supporter?"
"WEISS!" Yang gently shoved the heiress. "Give her time to breathe. It's just a cup."
"Just a CUP?" Weiss literally seemed to inflate with rage. "Listen, Blake, the Starbucks company is PURE EVIL!"
"They're just a bunch of misguided employees!"
Ruby glanced nervously at Neo, who had tuned in to the argument and was listening with an amused smile. "Guys, can we not have this argument right now?"
Nobody paid any attention.
"MISGUIDED? They want to wipe small businesses off the face of the planet!"
"They're horrible! They even managed to put my uncle's company out of business, and he's a Schnee. Anyone who works there must be evil!"
Blake threw her hands up. "WELL, MAYBE SOME OF US JUST NEEDED THE MONEY!"
There was a long silence as Blake realized what she said. She tried to quietly slip off, but tripped over the welcome rug.
Ruby wasn't worried. So what if Blake had worked at Starbucks? She understood the need for a job too.
What she didn't realize was that a paper had slipped out of Blake's bag. And Weiss had snapped it up before Blake could grab it. As her eyes scanned the sheet her expression, which was already horrified, twisted into one of rage. Blake watched like a car collision she couldn't take her eyes off of.
"All along," Weiss murmured in a frighteningly calm voice. Neo and Neptune had realized what was going on and left before the heiress went into Hulk Smash mode. "All along, we had one of them right under our noses. Hiding in plain sight."
Blake grabbed the paper and looked at the ground. "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer working with Starbucks. I quit last-"
"Oh, my GOSH, WEISS! GUESS WHAT I JUST DID!" Nora's voice echoed through the restaurant. Weiss's concentration was not deterred from her anger at Blake.
"Don't you think we're making a big deal out of this? I mean, as long as she quit-"
Yang was also cut off by Nora.
"WEIISSSS, SERIOUSLY, LOOK AT THIS!"
"Look, Blake, if you can prove that you quit and-"
"WEISS!"
Weiss whirled around. Nora tapped her foot impatiently, wearing a not-quite-innocent expression.
"If you can prove that you aren't with Starbucks, I'm prepared to let this go. Also if you can shut Nora up." Weiss added the last part with a hint of humor, and Ruby smiled, relieved. Maybe Weiss wasn't a psycho. But that was some serious overreacting.
"Okay, if we're all good, then-" Yang glanced at the two cheerily, but was cut off by Weiss.
"Oh, we are so far from 'all good.' I only said I'm prepared to forgive her. This won't be resolved without a long discussion or two."
"WEISS!" Nora slammed her hands down. "TASTE THIS AWESOME DRINK I ACCIDENTALLY MADE!"
Yang sighed. "Is it wrong to hope Nora poisons her?"
WOW this was maybe the worst chapter I've ever written I am deeply sorry man this sucked. I thought the whole White Fang/Starbucks thing was gonna be really fun but then I realized there's not much depth to it and I kinda got bored. Well, hope you enjoyed at least a little. Next up: We get to learn why such a rich heiress would stoop as low as to work in a cafe!