Clickbait
Chapter One
BumbleBY
SK: So, I had a vision for the theme of this story when I wrote it, and a very rough outline, subject to change, of how it would go, yet I had no conflict resolution planned out because I didn't know how deeply I wanted the conflict to go. That being said, this was originally planned to be a BumbleBY fic, and perhaps six chapters long, at most. However, I struggle to find appropriate character development with such short stories, so this has expanded, and taken on a bit more angst than I'd originally planned for. Not a lot, mind you, but the original amount of angst I'd had planned was zero. Right now it's roughly one-sided BumbleBY and one-sided Monochrome, two of my favourite pairings, so, if you like that, dive on in!
'This is it.'
The young girl stared glumly at her bank account, the negative balance seemingly jumping off the screen and assaulting her eyes.
For months, her expenses had been greater than her income, and last night she'd finally gone broke. Her paycheck had hit her account, laughably small after missing two days of work, and a much larger rent payment had gone out, leaving her in overdraft and feeling more frustrated and hopeless than ever.
Her stomach growled loudly, and she rolled over onto her stomach. Reaching out toward the bedside table, she picked up a large plastic cup. Giving it a shake, she could hear ice cubes clashing together, and the cup was still about half full with a thick, syrupy, sugary drink.
Bringing the straw to her lips, she took a long, slow drink as she contemplated her options.
She could become homeless, she thought. She didn't particularly like the idea, but rent was a huge part of her monthly expenses.
Glancing down at her phone once more, she again entertained the thought of cancelling her contract, but being on call for work meant having a phone was a necessary evil.
Wavy raven hair fell over her shoulder, partially obscuring her phone, and she reached up to brush it over her shoulder as she closed the mobile banking app that was responsible for displaying such dismal numbers.
'What the hell do I do now?' Blake asked herself, tapping lightly on one of the many social media apps on her phone.
It took a second to load, but once it did, she was bombarded with pictures of cosplayers, mostly girls from some of her favourite shows. Scrolling blankly through her feed, she let herself be overwhelmed with exposed skin, barely reading captions as the pictures blurred by.
She needed a second job, she knew. The problem was, her first job had long, time-consuming hours. She worked from early morning well into the afternoon, and sometimes picked up evening shifts as well. There was no way she could find something else with set hours; there was too much risk that her second job would overlap with her first job. She needed to find something that she could do on her own time, that had minimal up front costs, and that paid really well.
Her thumb stopped scrolling as she lost herself in thought, and she just so happened to land on a post by one of her favourite cosplayers. Blinking herself out of her thoughts and into the present, she tapped on the video to unmute it.
Soft music began playing from her speakers as tantalizing, teasing shots of a voluptuous red-head flashed across her screen, barely clad in enough clothing to keep her account from being banned.
A slow pan down to the girl's backside revealed a black thong, the girls fingers teasing the waistband, and Blake bit her lip as she found herself entranced by the well put-together video. Eyes narrowing slightly as she took in every minute detail she could, she touched the screen with her thumb to pause the video as it panned over the girl's face.
'Absolutely gorgeous... ' Blake thought to herself, releasing the screen and allowing the video to play.
No matter how many times she laid eyes on this girl, she was never disappointed. Swiping over to the next post from the same girl, Blake's eyes caught sight of the time in the top right corner of her screen, and she sighed tiredly. It would be best if she got some rest, she knew, but with the way her mind was racing, she wasn't sure that was going to be a possibility tonight. Still, she would try.
Humming softly to herself, Blake pulled back the covers and kicked her way underneath, pulling them up to her chin as she readied herself for sleep. As she sunk down into her soft inviting mattress, she inhaled deeply, holding her breath for a moment before exhaling slowly. A wave of exhaustion warred with the restlessness in her mind, and she briefly considered putting her phone away for the night, before temptation got the best of her. Glancing once more at the screen, she turned down the brightness a bit before letting her gaze return to the beautiful girl on her screen.
When morning came, Blake awoke with a start. Sharply jolting awake, her first reaction was to grab her phone from the bedside table, heart hammering in her chest as she wiped the sleepiness from her eyes.
What time was it!?
Her phone screen lit up, displaying 6:45 AM in bright white numbers.
"Fuuuck... " Blake breathed quietly, closing her eyes and willing her heart to stop pounding frantically in her chest. She had forgotten to set an alarm last night, but in a cruel twist of fate that had worked out in her favor, she'd slept poorly, the stresses of her financial situation preventing her from getting a deep sleep. Awaking every few hours, she'd glanced at the time on her phone before closing her eyes once more, falling into a fitful, restless sleep that almost made her feel more exhausted than before she'd laid down.
Throwing back the covers, Blake groaned quietly to herself as she threw her legs over the edge of the bed. She'd rather have been awake fifteen minutes earlier, but this was better than being late, she supposed. Pushing herself to her feet, she made her way toward the bathroom, intending on burning her exhaustion away with the hottest water her shower could put out.
Her clothes fell from her body in a trail from her bedroom to the bathroom. Her shirt was the first to go, lifted over her head and dropped from lazy fingertips even as her other hand rose to run through her hair. A few steps later and her fingers found her hips, tucking into the waistband of her shorts. Slipping them down to her ankles, she deftly stepped out of them before crossing from carpet to linoleum.
Leaving the bathroom door wide open, she stood completely nude in front of the mirror above the sink, staring at her reflection. It wasn't a bad reflection, she thought idly, leaning forward to get a better look at a small blemish on her cheek. Reaching up, she rubbed at the dark smudge on her cheek, an eyebrow lifting in confusion as it disappeared beneath her fingertips.
Some dirt? Makeup, probably?
She didn't know.
Soft honey eyes lifted uncertainly to stare at the peak of her reflection. Two furry triangles with a life of their own sat perched upon her head, her left appendage dipping slightly in concern as her right swiveled behind her, listening to the noise from the street outside the bathroom window. A common faunus trait, her ears were the subject of much adoration, appreciation, and unbridled curiosity from those who didn't possess them. Soft black fur the same color as her hair adorned her ears, lending them a soft, fuzzy appearance.
Neatly trimmed eyebrows furrowed slightly over slitted irises, her small, sharp nose wrinkling slightly as she took in the rest of her appearance.
Her frame was petite. Lithe, even, if she had to put a word to it.
Along her ribcage, faintly rippling serratus muscles rose and fell before blending into a slender waist and wide hips. With lightly protruding hipbones arching into a smooth navel, Blake was thinner than she would have liked, but a proclivity for physical activity and a meager budget for food found her still wanting more often than not.
Long, wavy raven hair fell down to her lower back. Gathering it up in a loose ponytail, she pulled it over her right shoulder before moving away from the mirror and stepping over the edge of the tub. Reaching down, she twisted the handle of the faucet, moving it solidly into the HOT area, before pulling the tab to activate the shower. Instantly the shower head erupted into a cacophony of noise, shattering the otherwise quiet, peaceful morning. Water rained down, spattering noisily against the floor of the tub, an errant spray splashing sharply against the plastic shower curtain that divided the shower from the rest of the bathroom.
The water was cold at first, and Blake closed her eyes against the onslaught, standing as far outside the range of the shower head as she could for the few moments it took for the water to warm up.
Once it did, however, she eagerly pushed her head underneath the steaming stream of water, soaking up the heat as the liquid washed over her fair skin.
Putting her palms against the cold tile wall, she leaned into the shower and sighed heavily.
Today was going to be a long day.
"You're lucky you're not late. We've got someone coming into pick up an attachment first thing and it needs to be inspected before it can be loaded out."
Blake let the door swing closed behind her, using her heel to slow the door before it could bang shut.
"Good morning to you too, Weiss." Blake's tone was dry, both of her hands occupied with hot coffees. All the better for Weiss, Blake thought, else her greeting would have been met with a stern, slender middle finger.
Weiss smirked wryly, walking up to Blake to relieve her of one of her cups. Blake pulled her left hand out of Weiss' reach, extending her right and indicating for Weiss to take that one.
"Hazelnut cappuccino, as you requested." Blake relinquished the beverage, raising an eyebrow as Weiss paused, lifting the cup to her lips and taking a slow sip.
"Thank you, Blake." Weiss spoke softly as she licked her lips slowly, savoring the flavor and warmth first thing in the morning.
"What time did you get here?" Blake stepped around Weiss, and made for Weiss' office, to the left of the main entrance to their building. Stepping inside, Blake dropped into a swivel leather-backed office chair, raising her own tea to her lips and taking a careful sip.
Weiss followed her in, stepping around her desk and taking a seat behind it. Setting her cappuccino down, Weiss smoothed out her sharp black dress pants before lowing herself into her seat, smoothing out some imagined wrinkles in her crisp white shirt before straightening her tie. When that was done, Weiss raised her hands to her hair, running her fingers through her high bound ponytail.
"Half hour ago, or so." Weiss straightened some papers on her desk, then pulled a yellow legal pad closer to herself, glancing down at it as Blake kicked her feet up on the edge of Weiss' desk.
"What did you say about an inspection first thing this morning?"
Weiss huffed quietly.
"I forgot to forward you an e-mail regarding the shear for TerraCorp. The maintenance work is done on it, it was completed last week actually, but they're coming by with a truck and trailer first thing this morning to pick it up. I just need you to give it a once-over before you load it out for them."
Blake hummed quietly, bringing her tea to her lips and taking a slow sip as she contemplated her morning.
"Incredible how your incompetence becomes my problem." Blake teased lightly, grinning to show that her words had no bite.
Weiss rolled her eyes, a short huff of breath escaping her as she slapped her keyboard to wake up her computer.
"That's the way it works around here, and don't you forget it." Weiss shot back.
"Well, if that's what we have on the agenda this morning, I'll go get it taken care of before they show." Blake pushed herself to her feet, cup in hand, and made for the door.
Weiss glanced up from her computer, an appreciative look on her face.
"Thanks, Blake!"
Blake waved over her shoulder, closing Weiss' office door behind her as she made her way to the shop.
Stepping into the shop was a breath of fresh air, figuratively speaking. In reality, the shop was a breath of air that smelled like oil-stained concrete, hydraulic oil, grease, welding smoke and chemicals.
Inhaling deeply, Blake sighed softly, making her way over to her toolbox that stood against one wall of the shop. Upon the closed lid sat a laptop, and she powered it on, impatiently taking a sip of tea as she waited for it to boot up.
As soon as it loaded, her work e-mail automatically signed on to the server and began downloading her e-mails from the day previous. Sharp golden eyes flicked through several she deemed important, and when she didn't see what she was looking for, she set her tea down and pulled out her phone. Opening up her text message history, she found Weiss' name, and typed out a quick message.
Forward me the e-mail, dummy.
No sooner had the message been sent, did her laptop ding with the arrival of a new e-mail. Seeing that it was the one she wanted, Blake clicked on it, and skimmed it until she found the relevant information she wanted. DXS-12000. A twelve thousand pound demolition shear, which meant, if she remembered correctly, that she'd need a T-60.
Pulling open one of the drawers of her tool box, she grabbed a T-60 torx bit while her other hand found her torque wrench. Snapping the two together, she adjusted the torque spec on her wrench as she made her way over to the attachment taking up the majority of her shop space on the floor, and she made a quick visual inspection of it before using the torque wrench to check final torque settings on the bolts that held the blades on. As she worked her way around, her torque wrench emitting a satisfying click! from each fastener, she made sure to triple check every square inch of the attachment before deeming herself satisfied.
She wasn't the one who had performed the blade maintenance on this shear, but she had every confidence in the ones who did, so she wasn't surprised when she found no outstanding issues. Returning her tools back to her toolbox, she reached into her pocket to ensure that the key for the loader was still there.
They still had another fifteen minutes or so until they were actually open, and she doubted anyone would show up before then. So for the next fifteen minutes, she was going to drink tea and relax, and try not to think about how little money she had.