Chapter 16: (Not So) Happy Hour

Heyoooo, reader! I, The Draigg, got us a booth near the corner! How've ya been? Have you read my story thoroughly yet? Yeah, yeah, those were some good times. Hey, how about we get some drinks, my treat! Diet Cola, right? Oh, and before I go get some, I should let you know that I don't own RWBY. See that guy sitting over there? That's Monty Oum. He owns RWBY. Anyway, let me just get out of your hair for a minute here.

xxx

After leaving the Vale City branch of the Schnee Dust Company, Mr. Brass drove over to the nearest bar. Unfortunately for him and his wallet, it was one for higher-class business people. But, the look on Ms. Han's face told him that she needed a drink, regardless of how much it cost him. He knew that feeling well, since he was feeling pretty much the same way. Working on D.U.M. was, well… dumb. This trip had been as unfortunate as the project's name.

The corporate drones were beginning to file in through the door as Mr. Brass found an open booth. He beckoned for Ms. Han to follow him, and she silently did so. The pair sat at the booth for a few tense, silent minutes.

"So… what do you want?" Mr. Brass asked, breaking the silence. He picked up the nearby drink list, and he scanned for something she might have wanted. "There's some good drinks here… appletinis, gin and tonic, honey whiskey…" he listed off.

"Schnapps. S'more schnapps." Ms. Han finally said. Of course her drink order would be something like that.

Mr. Brass furrowed his brow as he looked for the requested drink. "It… doesn't look like they have that one specifically… would a plum one work for you?" he asked. Ms. Han looked more disappointed than she did a minute ago.

"Sure. Whatever. I guess I can't even have my favorite drink now," Ms. Han sighed rather bitterly.

Mr. Brass shot Ms. Han a glowering look as he closed the drink list. "You know, mopping about isn't going to get you anywhere," he flatly observed.

"Just get the drinks," Ms. Han ordered.

Seeing that arguing with her would be pointless, Mr. Brass walked over to the bar and placed their drink order: plum schnapps for Ms. Han, and a glass of bourbon for himself. Upon making his order, the bartender asked, "Is that lady over there with you?". She then nodded in the direction of his booth.

"She sure is," Mr. Brass mumbled.

"Better make that two orders of whatever she's having," the bartender advised. Ms. Han, depression was readable even from this distance.

Mr. Brass agreed with the bartender's assessment. "Good idea. Two plum schnapps, then," he ordered. The bartender poured the ordered drinks and slid them over to Mr. Brass. The weary business man slipped the bartender thirty lien.

"Keep the change as a tip," he said, grabbing the drinks. The bartender nodded as she put the lien into the register, and slipped the change into her vest pocket.

Carefully balancing the three drinks, Mr. Brass sat down at the table, only to find Ms. Han typing furiously on her scroll.

"Who are you talking to there?" Mr. Brass asked as he placed Ms. Han's drinks in front of her.

"My boss. I'm seeing if he can get me off suspension," Ms. Han replied. The tone of her voice indicated she was now felling pretty desperate.

Sighing, Mr. Brass took a sip of his bourbon. That burn felt nice as the flaming liquid traveled down his throat. However, his buzz was quickly dampened as he saw Ms. Han suddenly slam her phone down on the table.

Mr. Brass didn't even need to ask for an explanation to what happened, as Ms. Han began to explain. "He blocked my number," she grumbled dejectedly. She then grabbed a glass of the plum schnapps and took a sip. And another. And another. By the time she put the glass down, half of the glass was finished. So much for nursing it.

"Slow down there," Mr. Brass advised before taking another sip of his drink.

Ms. Han shot Mr. Brass a glare. "Everyone else has told me that before. I'm glad to see you're a member of the club," she spat.

"Don't take it so hard. Just… enjoy it while you can," said Mr. Brass in his defense.

Ms. Han sighed and slumped back into her seat. "I know, I just… this is a lot, you know?" she moaned while rubbing her temples. Mr. Brass nodded as he quickly finished his drink. He was going to need to focus on her, otherwise she might do something stupid (again).

"I just don't understand how they could do that to me," Ms. Han said, keeping the complaint train rolling.

"Maybe it had to do with the racism," Mr. Brass snarked. Ms. Han shot him a glare. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say to her right now.

"Like I said earlier, it's just a matter of perspective," she said, attempting to justify her decision. Then, she finished her first glass before starting on the second one. She only took a sip out of that one.

"Oh, enlighten me on what perspective I should have," Mr. Brass asked of her.

"Look at it from my point of view. When I wrote the script, I didn't think it was racist at all," Ms. Han explained.

"You know, just because you understand it, that doesn't mean others do," pointed out Mr. Brass.

"Well, they should just get degrees like me. It isn't all that hard," deflected Ms. Han, before taking a swig of her drink.

Mr. Brass sighed as watched Ms. Han drink her sorrows away. It sank in that he was going to have to deal with her as she became more and more inebriated. This wasn't a very good idea in hindsight. Oh well, someone needed to look out for Ms. Han. The universe just happened to choose Mr. Brass.

xxx

Rejoining Team RWBY at the condo, a few hours had passed since the wholly unnecessary training session and the ensuing emotional reaction. By now, Blake had finished writing the first draft of the script. So, now the team was focusing on trying to make the cop uniforms safe for children.

The huntresses sat around the living room, with the television on but at a low volume. Right now, Weiss was suspiciously eying the pants of what was to be Yang's costume. More specifically, she was wondering why there needed to be a zipper that wrapped all the way around to the rear.

"Why does this even need to exist?" Weiss asked herself in disbelief.

Blake overheard her comment and replied, "Some of us like FUN in our private time,".

"And this isn't even that bad," jumped in Yang, "… Unless you want Officer Hotpants up on stage instead,". Weiss visibly shuddered at the thought.

"Never mind…" Weiss said, dropping the subject. She didn't need to know about what lewd activities they regularly practiced. At least she and Ruby weren't like that. Weiss had thoroughly repressed any deviancy within her desires… probably. She still had those dreams about being with Ruby in front of everyone at Beacon's cafeteria. Weiss shook her head, clearing her mind of that horrible, deviant, lewd, wondrous thought. She needed to focus right now.

Ruby, meanwhile, was trying to think of a way to close up the low-cut uniform shirt. If she had some spare buttons, she could just add a few and make new button holes.

"Hey, do any of you have buttons to spare?" she asked to the room. Everyone shook their heads. For what reason would they need to bring the components of a sewing kit?

"Then what can we use to close up this shirt?" Ruby then asked, holding up the clothing for everyone to see.

"Tape?" suggested Yang.

"That wouldn't work for a number of reasons," Weiss immediately replied.

"How about some pins? We probably have those somewhere," Blake said.

"That's not a bad idea…" Ruby mused, tapping her chin in thought.

"Do you think some are around here?" asked Weiss.

"I'd have to look," Ruby said.

"Okay the—" Blake tried to say before being interrupted by the door being kicked open.

To everyone's surprise, Mr. Brass dragged a limp Ms. Han through the door, before closing it with his foot. He looked absolutely drained of any life.

"What happened?" Ruby immediately asked.

"Well… Jade here isn't going to be with us for much longer, I'm afraid," Mr. Brass answered. He quickly added, "But I'm not very surprised,".

"Did she… get fired?" asked Yang.

"Not exactly. More like suspended," Mr. Brass said as he dragged the completely wasted Ms. Han towards her room.

"Ess awl boolshietttt…" Ms. Han slurred. Team RWBY could smell the booze radiating from Ms. Han's breath.

"Why did you let her drink…" Weiss groaned as she shook her head.

"Hey, it looked like she needed it. Wait, why am I explaining myself to you? I'm, like, twice your age," Mr. Brass realized as he shuffled down the hallway.

"We're still people, too!" Ruby cried after him.

"Just work on your play!" Mr. Brass yelled from Ms. Han's room.

Mr. Brass dumped Jade on her bed. To describe how inebriated how Ms. Han was right now, let's say that Nora had nothing on how hammered Jade was. As she tried to remove her shoes, the business lady said, "Whyyyy don' ya stchayyy wiff me 'night?".

Mr. Brass raised an eyebrow at her proposition. It just wouldn't be right for him to take advantage of Ms. Han in her current state. That, and he had no real reason to accept her offer anyway. So, he decided to leave her room instead.

"Hope you feel better tomorrow," he wished as he turned out the lights.

"Ya studddd, why not—" Ms. Han's pleas were cut off by Mr. Brass closing the door to her room. Damn, he really needed a vacation after this. Maybe he could try and convince Mr. Schnee to give him more vacation hours when this trip blew over.

Walking back into the living room, he briefly shot a look at the cop uniforms, but decided that it wasn't worth asking why they were here. Instead, he said to Team RWBY, "I hope you can explain this in the morning," while walking into the kitchen.

"Trust me, it makes sense in context," Ruby said.

When Mr. Brass walked back into the living room, he was carrying the carton of orange juice. "Don't say anything about context. I've heard enough of that word today," he said before drinking straight out of the carton.

"Hey, we drink that stuff too!" Weiss complained.

"Really?!" Mr. Brass asked in false amazement. "I thought I only bought three cartons for myself!". But then he dryly added, "Don't throw a fit. Oh, and your dad says hello,".

Weiss briefly froze, before composing herself and saying, "I see you spoke to him as well,".

Walking over into the hallway, Mr. Brass replied over his shoulder, "You bet. He brought you up specifically, talking about how smart you are,".

That sparked a little bit of hope in Weiss' heart. Maybe there was something left of the father she knew when she was little! But then, she pushed that idea away. Knowing her father, Mr. Schnee was talking more about the family name than anything. But, it was a nice thought while it lasted.

As Mr. Brass disappeared into his room, Team RWBY turned to each other.

"She's leaving? I guess we shouldn't be all that surprised…" Blake thought out loud.

"Right. Any company being run properly would take care of this issue almost immediately," Weiss chimed in.

"Still, it must be a lot for her," Ruby said, her voice full of pity. Seeing Ms. Han drunk made her feel bad about her current state of mind. She must have been very depressed.

"No kidding," Yang said, agreeing with her sister.

"There's not much we could have done about it, though. This stuff just happens," mused Blake.

"If anything, she probably knew what she was getting into," supported Weiss.

"I guess…" Ruby sighed.

The group sat in silence as what happened today began to sink in. Man, how could this trip turn so quickly? And what the hell was going to happen to them? Everything was so murky and unclear. Hopefully, they could work to make the future a positive one.

So, Team RWBY did the only thing they could do: they kept on working, far into the night.

xxx

There you have it! Another chapter guzzled down, just like the other ones! And the plot keeps on chugging onwards! So, if you could perhaps leave me a review to tell me what you think, I would really appreciate it. And keep on tuning in! This is The Draigg, signing off for now.