"YOU FOOLS! I'M A AURA GOD!"
"Once again, this is bullshit, Jaune ." Cardin shouted from the end of the alley.
"I WILL CRACK YOUR SKULLS AND DRINK YOUR BLOOD!" The crazed man screamed as blood leaked from his eyes.
"How was I supposed to know he was gonna shoot up dust?" Jaune complained from the other end of the alley.
"I'M UNSTOPPABLE!"" Their mark continued to scream.
At 5" 9', skinny, and dressed in baggy clothes that Jaune would associate with the kind of douchebag that punched drywall and spent too much time at clubs, he wouldn't have pegged this guy as much of a threat. Kinda the reason he had chosen the guy as an easy bounty to bag. Cardin had reached out to some contacts on the street that Jaune still was murky to ,and within an hour they had a location. Not shockingly a shitty club. The kind of guy who thought clubbing at midday on a Monday definitely fit the bill of their mark. His gesture of grabbing his crotch as intimidation when he approached hadn't exactly done any favors to Jaune's opinion of the guy either.
The thing about clubbing so much, it turned out, was that you knew where the exit was. Slowed by, in his opinion, the way too many club goers of the hour, he'd been too slow to grab the guy after a sucker punch had caught him in the jaw. More surprisingly had been the fact that this low-life had been packing aura with that hook. Feeling his sore jaw Jaune figured that worked both ways as his own unexpected aura had sent the guy bolting. Thankfully things going bad were the normal for him and he'd posted Cardin out back. Now they had him pinned in the alley behind the club.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" the gun screamed as he punched a wall; his fist clearly going through the brick.
"My luck." Jaune grumbled. He guessed he'd just have to plan for worse he supposed. Seriously though, who was dumb enough to shoot up dust. It gave aura users a rush and a massive boost to their power, but it did serious damage to the internals of the user, and judging by the unhinged behavior of the guy it must have been cut with some serious narcotics.
"I'm thinking we play some tennis on this one." Cardin casually remarked to Jaune as he pulled his mace from his hip.
"Sounds good." He confirmed.
"RAAAAAAWWW!" The man screamed as he charged Jaune, a terrifying sight of blood and pure unhinged rage hurtling at him.
Flesh, aura, and that drug fueled rage connected with Jaune full force. More specifically his foot. Aura met aura as Jaune caught the psycho square in the chest. Less of a strike, Jaune kicked the man like he was kicking down a door. It sent the guy backwards a step or two and threw him off balance. Not the greatest serve but Cardin proved a good enough batter as he slammed his mace into the back of the monster's skull. Flying forward he met Jaune's fist only to be sent back into Cardin's mace again. They volleyed the guy's skull for another two hits of Cardin's mace before the guy managed to rub enough brain cells to duck Jaune and step past him.
"Your fowl Arc." Cardin commented as he stood beside Jaune, both now facing the monster that was still up.
"PUSSIES!" the beast raged. "FIGHT ME LIKE MEN!"
"Soccer" Jaune ordered.
"Golf with a kickoff?" Cardin asked.
"Sounds good." he confirmed.
Screaming in rage and getting ready to charge, their mark's brain was slow to change into a defensive posture when Jaune and Cardin rushed him instead. Raising his hands to defend the drug addled man was confused when, instead of a blow, he found himself without solid ground beneath him as the two bounty hunters kicked his legs out from under him.
Crashing to the ground a ear piercing shriek punctuated the air as Cardin golfed; more accurately swinging his mace into the bastard's testicles. White pain enveloped the rage and narcotics in the mark's mind. Sucking in air the horrendous aftershock caused a gulp that caused blood to gurgle past his lips. He didn't suffer much longer before Jaune punted his head with all his might; pain and force finally enough to send him into blissful unconsciousness.
"Alright." Cardin whooped as he sent Jaune a high five.
"Fuck that guy." Jaune cheered as he met Cardin's palm with his own.
"That time training paid off." Cardin remarked.
"Yeah." Jaune agreed.
It'd been a week sense they bagged Velvet's stalker and they hadn't been idle. Cases on the PI side of things still weren't coming in yet, so they'd kept to bounty hunting to avoid working with the more unsavory people they knew. It'd been a no-brainer for the two to decide to get a membership to a nearby hunter-style gym with their small surplus of cash from their last job. They might have been the worst of their grade but both knew the effectiveness of fighting as a unit. So the pair had focused on quick drills to work together and practiced them every moment they hadn't been tracking leads
For his part Cardin had been impressed at Jaune's new found aggression in spars. Back in school he hid behind his shield and made ineffective probes with his sword. An immobile target that's defensive capabilities were worthless with a clumsy offensive paired with a fear of getting hit. Now he had to admit that Jaune was picking up the same hard lesson he'd learned on the streets that had carried him into Beacon, you fucked the other guy before he fucked you up. With no armor or shield to hide behind, Cardin was thankful to see Jaune throw himself into fights with naked aggression; with knees, elbows, and bloody fists. It was the way he came up and how people threw down on the streets. Of course the people on the streets that they fought hadn't been tempered by losses to the fastest, most tactical proficient, and strongest fighters Beacon produced. He knew they weren't the best by any stretch of imagination, but they were a cut above most out here.
He was surprised how easy he got on with Arc, now that he thought about it. He wouldn't have called them good friends, but Jaune was a solid guy in his book. A far cry from when he'd first met Jaune. In his mind he had him pegged as some no nothing lazy punk who had lucked his way into Beacon. The fear he'd shown in fights; unable to take a punch. Wrong or right he'd fixed that. For a moment he thought back on when he found out Jaune had faked his transcript. At first he had been infuriated, here was this guy who skipped all the training of others and the painful lessons he'd had to learn. All while acting like this high and mighty righteous guy while being so weak and putting everyone in danger. It sickened him.
Now that they'd been out here for a bit he had a different perspective on it. Jaune was a guy starting out in this hard world;a country bumpkin shielded from it all. Cardin had seen enough guys like that get crushed by this city every day. Much as it hurt his pride though, he had to admit that Jaune was proving himself a survivor. Another hard guy forged on the harder streets of the bad side of Vale. Their argument in the van last week did make him think though. His whole life it'd been kill or be killed. The people in this world always tried to fuck you as hard as they could and you just had to fuck them harder if you wanted to survive. That was how he lived his life, but for some damn reason he couldn't get Jaune's words about being a kicked dog out of his head. He really was the kind of person he feared in every interaction when he thought about it, willing to dominate just because you could. That was people though, he assured himself. Maybe some people went through this world weak because they couldn't be anything else, hiding behind that weakness to cry injustice when people who fought to be strong came along.
"Hey sleeping beauty." Jaune sneered as their mark stirred.
"Ugggh" the broken man groaned. "Let me go man." he begged. "Please"
Face hard as steel Jaune, rolled the defenseless man over pulling out zip-ties, cuffing the man's hands behind his back. "Please!? Wonder how many women said that when you ruffied them. How many guys you beat down back here cause you could?"
Sensing the indifference of the bounty hunter the creep managed to spit blood onto Jaunes trench coat in a final sad act of defiance. Cardin watched as Jauen's face hardened and his hands curled into fists. He waited for Jaune to lay a much deserved beating but instead watched as Jaune took a breath before relaxing.
"Not gonna fuck him up?" Cardin questioned. He knew he'd have beat the guy blue for that.
"Nahh, not my place." He said as he took out a cig and lit it up. "Send it up to the cops."
A quick call to the police later, Cardin started on a cig of his own as they waited. His mind wandered back to his partner's methods. He knew Jaune got off somewhere on being the guy dealing the pain out. He'd seen those cracks in his goody-two shoes hero routine, but he held back. Something he hadn't found much value in his life, but uncomfortable patterns of late were pushing on that idea.
Looking back to the now sobbing mess cuffed on the ground, he wondered if maybe he did go too far. Beating the shit out of that guy wouldn't have done much except let him blow off some steam. It was a sentiment that had led him to try to apologize to Velvet. Not that apologizing to an unconscious woman had much merit, he supposed. Sure 99% of the Fanus he met had cried about racial injustice while robbing and beating his neiborhood, and they could get fucked for that, but he'd rolled up into Beacon and had fucked with people just cause he was scared they would come for him just the same. Maybe those people he pushed in Beacon could have been solid guys like Jaune and helped him out.
Angrily he puffed away on his cig, and tried to take his mind off such troublesome thoughts. A few hits of nicotine and cacogenic goodness later he found himself unable to. Deciding that talking to Jaune was better than the crap in his head he spoke up. "So what are you doing today?"
Jaune looked at his partner with confusion. "Aren't we gonna work out?"
"Nahhh, we gotta take a rest day." Muscular recovery was important.
"No other leads?" Jaune asked,
"None on my end. Besides, we've bagged enough pieces of shit this week we don't need to worry about the lights this month." He grinned at finally being able to say that. "We actually have some spending money now."
Jaune searched his head for something he should be doing. Something he should be doing to stay alive. It was all he had been doing since he had been kicked out. To his surprise he couldn't really think of anything. It left him with a problem he hadn't had in awhile. What was he gonna do with free-time? "I don't know. What are you doing?"
"Stuff." Cardin answered dismissively. He really had some stuff to do.
"Cool." Jaune said, taking the hint that he was on his own. A small smile grew on his face. How silly it was that his biggest problem right now was what to do with free time and extra cash. Definitely wasn't what he thought he'd have to worry about, probably why he had no idea what he was gonna do.
"Drop me off at the apartment." He settled on. Not that he had anything to do at their place.
"Cab?" Cardin asked sheepishly.
He shot him an unimpressed look. "I'm not getting stuck with a weird barista because of another gunfight."
"Fine." Cardin surrendered in annoyance.
Blood dripped to the floor, pooling on the cement ground. The steady drip flowed from the unconscious and broken figure of Sandman, a swollen and cut-up face the primary contributor to the increasing pool.
"Think that's all we are getting, LT." Dan commented as he whipped blood from his bruised knuckles.
"Quite the story he gave." the lieutenant commented as he puffed on a cigar. He didn't dirty his own hands with barbaric action such as this, he'd done his time already.
"Ex-Atlas special forces turned White Fang sent to find Beacon students sympathetic to their cause." Dan summed up.
"Almost unbelievable." The lieutenant said as he stretched a tired leg from his spot on a cheap motel chair. The interrogation had taken longer than he'd , but worth the effort.
"Want me to go another round with the guy to confirm?" Dan offered. He knew it was unhealthy to leave work posed by the LT unfinished.
"You've done that twice now." The LT calmly spoke with another puff of his cigar. "I assure you, I'm well acquainted with the sound of a man screaming the truth and can differentiate it from the lies of a man that thinks concealment is in his interest."
"Understood." Dan replied, suppressing a shiver. The Lt was not a man you second guessed in his book. "So should we contact Beacon or pass this up."
The LT, a lean man in his mid thirties with unassuming features, raised his eyebrow. "All information gets passed up to the chief."
"Y-yes sir, I know that." Dan backpedaled. "I jus-"
"Calm yourself SGT. Your caution in handling sensitive information is admirable." The LT said with a dismissive wave. "Just remember who you speak honestly to."
"Sir" Dan acknowledged.
"We will not tell Beacon, however. At least not me. The political connotation of this situation is better handled by those above us." The Lt informed. "The threat has passed and poses no impact on our noble endeavor to maintain order on Vale's sullied streets. We can mark this as closed at this time."
For a moment Dan considered ending his line of conversation with the LT, it wasn't an activity that helped his stress much, but a more personal reason had words spilling from his mouth non the less. "And Jaune?"
"Mr. Arc?' The LT questioned.
"These guys just so happened to arrive when we were going to bury him. Not many people willing to shoot it out with us to kill one guy." Dan pushed. It wasn't something he usually did with his superiors, being bad for his career at best, but that bastard Jaune was a problem. He was a mistake that was on his own hands.
"These men aren't the usual ilk we see day to day SGT. Each fought to the death when they could. We were lucky Arc's Agency bagged this one alive."
"It was lucky." Dan admitted begrudgingly.
"Sgt. Dan, I can see your disdain for Mr. Arc as plain as day. Being a rat under your command, I'd trust your judgment to terminate or incarcerate him under any other condition, but the situation has changed. These terrorists were convinced he was Atlas intelligence or at minimum a threat so grievous they risked open warfare with us to eliminate. Now while you are a fine officer that has served the department well in its defense of Vale against the evils that fester within, this has evolved outside your abilities. I will personally handle Arc."
"I-Thank you sir. Apologies sir." Dan relented, annoyed at what he was sure was a black mark on his unofficial police career.
A laugh, cold and devoid of mirth, came from the LT. "Dan, I've seen that look of irritation from many an officer when told to turn over a case. It always fills me with happiness to see my men so hungry to close issues personally. That spark to bite down and never let up, rather than the punch in punch out mentality of some of your less devoted brothers through the force retain." The LT explained between puffs. " I'd be more than happy to tell my purview on this if wish,"
"It'd be appreciated." Dan admitted, surprised at the openness of his boss.
"From where I sit Jaune Arc is an opportunity." The LT explained. "On the one hand he could possibly be Atlas intelligence and well aware of the departments off the book tactics. At first this might seem to be a breach of security, but I can assure you Atlas intelligence already has enough moles in Vale to be aware of that already. We are but the humble soldiers on the street and our leaders above have made sure to insulate us of political fallout with their politicking. If Mr. Arc is Atlas, this is an opportunity to build a better working relationship with an organization that understands legality is irrelevant to the preservation of society."
"And if Jaune isn't with them?" Dan asked, still processing the fact that Atlas was in some part aware of their activities.
"That would be the other hand." The Lt said with a sigh. "It certainly leaves more questions to Mr. Arc's future. In a matter of weeks he has uncovered a major threat to Vale that would have been undiscovered for an untold amount of time. His propensity for discretion and results is notable. A bit of a loose cannon with us but only in matters of his well being. He was smart enough to sense imminent misfortune under you as a run of the mill rat, and how he coordinated the terristots intersection with your own plans is yet unknown to me. Despite it all he still seems resolute in his determination to dispense justice to the criminal element of our streets. I'd imagine a competent young man could find success in another line of work."
For a moment the LT paused in his assessment, or at least the overly rosy version as Dan saw it. To Dan it seemed as if the LT was mulling over what the actual future of Jaune was to be as he spoke to him. Personally he hoped it was decided to end Jaune.
"Regardless is to not be harmed by this department at this time." The Lt finally decided. Obviously choosing the option less preferred by Dan. As painful as that was, he knew better than to question.
"Report any new activity or arrest Mr. Arc makes. I think a personal meeting is in order."
Five hours later Jaune found himself at a bar. Turned out throwing a bouncy ball at his apartment wall wasn't gonna cut it for his day off. Not that he thought the strong drink in his hand was the best choice, but most things he did in life fell in that category anyways he supposed.
Knocking back a swig of whiskey he worked to suppress his grimace. How was he supposed to know whiskey on the rocks was just straight whiskey, anyhow? It was what every guy ordered in the movie. Too bad he had chosen a bar that wasn't the kind to give a shit about you ordering the wrong thing. He couldn't bring himself to buy another though, cheap as he had become with a previous net worth in the single digits.
He certainly wasn't drinking at Hei's club. Way too much insane bullshit happening to his life because of it. Thankfully bars were in no short supply in his neighborhood so he hadn't needed to walk far. Why he was in the dingiest bar didn't have anything to do with it being the closest bar that allowed smoking. He didn't have that kind problem he thought as he took a hit off his cig. He was here for the secluded ambiance he supposed.
Why he went out for a drink at all, outside of boredom itself, was that boredom gave him time to think; too much time. Memories of his close calls and less morally righteous actions replayed at nauseam to be over analyzed again and again. It made him twitchy and anxious just sitting around. He figured a bit of liquor could get him out of his head at the very least. Even those thoughts had him taking another gulp of the burning liquid.
Shaking his head he knew what was going on. The pressure of survival, and the adrenaline hits that came with it, was wearing off. Beacon had explained it in some class he half listen half slept through. It was just the natural process of processing stressful events. Didn't mean he could stop his hands from tapping nonstop.
A part of him, a part that he equally knew was unhealthy in its own way, wanted that adrenaline high back. He wanted to fight, to hunt, especially if he didn't have to replay his dumb life another damn wasn't exactly fun to replay every mistake and see what he could have done differently. With another gulp, larger than the others, he chuckled darkly thinking that at least with so many fuck ups under his belt he got a decent amount of time before replays.
Weirdly enough it seemed that his mistakes were lessening in recent weeks. Sure, he made mistakes chasing marks and dumb luck had saved his ass a bit too much for his liking, but he'd actually managed some stuff he felt uncharacteristically proud of. He knew he was doing pretty well as a bounty hunter, surviving the police wasn't a small feat, and standing up to Cardin was definitely something that gave him some of that uncharacteristic confidence. Hell, sitting here with a drink and nothing to do was a victory in itself.
Looking at his drink, he saw it had somehow become empty. For a second he debated if he should just go home, but he decided another wouldn't hurt as he was apparently going to look at his life decisions again anyways. A wave to the bartender and an order of whiskey with cola later he got back to his thoughts again.
With another sip, tempered with the sweetened cola, he thought back to Cardin's outlook on life. You pushed people before they pushed you down. He hadn't found fault in it yet. Was everyone really just a potential threat that had to be managed? It certainly suited the violent and dark world that he was stuck in.
Before he could lament more on his position the sound of the front door had him glancing over. If he expected anything good his hope was dashed as five rough looking men entered the bar. He knew well enough that the rowdy conversation and cocky attitude that radiated from them was a mark of people looking for dark leather, assorted camo fatigues, and shaved heads tipped him to them being part of the same faunus hating gang he'd encountered a few weeks back.
Lowering his head and fixing his gaze to his drink he made himself unobtrusive. Making eye contact with them would have been a certain way to invite trouble. He had enough of that in his life already.
His hand tensed on his glass as they walked towards him. For a moment he got ready to throw down thinking they may have been here to get revenge for their comrades he'd had a hand in killing. Thankfully he knew he'd been right pegging them as guys out on the town instead of a hit team as they passed him by. From the edge of his vision he tracked them till they took a table in the far corner of the bar, continuing their rowdy conversation as they ordered copus amounts of liquor.
Part of him knew it'd be a good time to leave. Another part, bolstered by alcohol and his foul mood, didn't give a shit. He was having a drink and he wasn't gonna be cowed by some punk ass racists. In fact, it kinda pissed him off that this type of scum thought they could just go out in public wearing their hate like a badge of honor.
Putting it aside he went back to nursing his drink. It wasn't like any of them were doing anything illegal, and as far as he knew he had never seen any of their mugs on the bounty site he religiously checked now. Of course there were five, more than likely armed, violent men. So that put a bit of a damper on any idea of doing anything about his anger. He was intoxicated and sour, not suicidal.
One mysteriously emptied glass later, his numb mind decided straight whiskey wasn't as hard as he remembered from his first sip. It did make his problems somehow start to fade away. A lifetime of parental and sibling disappointment, self hatred, and the life threatening realities of his life became more and more obscured from the forefront of his mind as another glass of whiskey somehow morphed into a bottle in his hand.
"Body pillow leave you?" Someone sneered.
Looking to his right Jaune saw one of the gang members leaning on the bar as he waited for another round of drinks for his crew. In his clouded mind he put two and two together to understand the crack at his trench coat. Funny as most of the others were wearing their own leather coats, but he wasn't putting a lot of faith in these guys' understanding of irony.
"Yep." he answered automatically. It came easy enough to him, passively agreeing to barbs was the default to most bullying in his life.
The gang member laughed at his expense before getting his drinks and returning to his table. A successful de-escalation it seemed. Jaune wondered why it left such a bitter taste in his mouth then. Another pussy ass cop-out his mind told him. Another bully cowing him.
Growling he took another swig of his bottle as self hatred forced its way back up. Internally he tried to reason his loathing with the fact of the danger in the situation. This wasn't some school yard bully.
The sound of the door swinging open again pulled him from his pity party. Thankfully it was just an older guy stumbling in drunk as hell. He cut an interesting figure with a red, tattered cloak, a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and black dress shoes with stubble and messy spiked hair. Course, the scent of booze that somehow drowned out the actual bar, clinging to the guy was the most defining feature of him.
He shuffled forward, and whether by choice or because his legs gave out from his inebriation, he took the seat next to Jaune. "Shitty bar." he spoke, his voice like gravel.
"Yeah." Jaune agreed. Wasn't like it was untrue.
"Thanks, Tai." The man agreed, clearly mistaking Jaune for someone else. "It's always so hard for you to agree with anything I say nowadays."
"I'm not Tai." Jaune declared.
"See, there you go again." The man complained. "Always messing with me."
"Sure." Jaune relented. It seemed he wasn't gonna dissuade the alcoholic. As long as it didn't interrupt his drinking he figured it would be a bigger hassle to convince the guy otherwise.
"I'm so glad you're finally going out man." The stranger droned on. "You were so beat up by Raven and well… Rose. Excuse me." He said before he snatched Jaunes bottle and started to chug it like water.
"Hey!" he shouted as he moved to grab his bottle back from the drunk. Just before he laid his hands on him he shouted in surprise as he found himself falling towards the ground.
"What the?" he wondered, confused how he had fallen only to see his bar stool had broken. Bad luck he supposed.
"My bad man." The drunk apologized for some reason. As he placed the half empty bottle on the bar Jaune watched as the stool under the man cracked for no reason, splaying the guy out on the floor. Instead of acknowledging the fall or getting up, the drunk instead started snoring, the copious amount of booze the guy must have consumed finally taking its toll.
Standing up Jaune looked to the table of skinheads to see that one of them was looking at them with a greedy look. The others were too engrossed in a conversation but he knew that could change. Casually brushing aside his coat he placed his hand on his hip as if he had a piece to draw, his eyes hardened and locked on the scavenger. Whether the gesture or his hard scowl, the young man broke his eye contact and joined his companions' conversation. Staring a moment more Jaune let out a sigh, thankful that the man had been alone in his ambition. He knew well enough that numbers and peer pressure inspired a dangerous bravery.
Looking down to the sleeping man he let out a frustrated grunt. He couldn't well enough leave the guy like this here. Taking some random drunk in wasn't exactly the first thing he wanted to do. Weighing his options he finally settled on taking his scroll from the guy's pocket hoping it had somebody on the contact list to call to pick him up.
Thanking his fucked up luck he found the scroll unlocked. Flipping to the contacts and scrolling through nothing jumped out at him at first. Some girls under niece one and two and a contact labeled boss popped out to him first, but each seemed inconsiderate to call. It wouldn't reflect well on the guy to be dragged out by kids or an employer. Past that most were labeled under titles like blonde bastard. If he had a choice Tai would have been who he'd call but his name must have been under a title. Scrolling a bit more, a title finally seemed suitable to the kind of person to pick up a drunk. A number labeled sister.
"What do you want?" An angry female voice answered on the second ring.
"Sorry miss, I'm not your brother. He's currently passed out on the ground being eyed up by some unsavory types. Could you pick him up?"
"Ha, that idiot." the woman laughed at the other end. Judging by the venom in her voice he was beginning to think that this wasn't the greatest person to contact.
"So you gonna pick him up?" He pushed. It wasn't like he'd lose anything if he had to call someone else if she told him to piss off.
"Yeah, I guess." She answered with an annoyed huff. "Everyone gets one favor. Suppose if Qrow is gonna waste it on being a bitch with his liquor that's his fuck up."
"Great, he's a-" Any words he had about their location died on his lips as a red and black portal suddenly appeared in the bar. From it stepped a woman draped in armor with a wicked sword strapped to her hip, wild black hair framing an annoyed face. As she stalked forward his eyes locked on her almost feral red ones. In his head he knew two things, this was probably one of the most dangerous people he'd ever met and that this was probably the worst person for him to phone.
"You one of Tai's brats?" She asked as she stepped up to him.
"I have no clue who that is."
"Just checking."
"Yeah, your brother wouldn't leave me alone thinking I was whoever Tai is." He complained.
"Idiot." She mumbled as she grabbed her brother by his belt and collar before chucking him into the portal face first.
Hearing a thud from the portal he winced. "He gonna be good?"
She shrugged as the portal disappeared. "Probably."
"Ok, well I'll just- hey!" He shouted as she took his bottle.
"My bottle now." She said without looking at him.
Now, Jaune was sure this was the most dangerous person he'd meet. He knew he could just get another drink, or better yet just call it a night. He was approaching drunk as it was. Just let it go and he'd be ok. Just like Beacon.
Raven felt the bottle pulled from her. Looking over she saw the blonde idiot in possession of it. Raising an eyebrow she eye'd him up as her hand lazily went to rest on her sword's handle. "You got my bottle." She threatened.
A part of Jaune was just as surprised that he had it. Another, drunker, more angry part, knew damn well why he had his bottle. You didn't let people take your shit. People started small before they took what really mattered. "Only yours if you can take it." He shot back "And it'd be impolite of me.".
Raven's face twisted into a smile at his words. At least he knew how ownership worked. Maybe she would let him keep his limbs after she beat him bloody for her bottle she mused as she stood up.
Glass and amber liquid shattered and dripped down Jaune's hand as he used his aura to crack the bottle into a million pieces. "Oh no, My drink." He whined in mock disappointment. "Ah well. Hey miss, I notice you don't have a drink and I'm too dry for my liking. You mind if I buy you a drink?"
The smile and curious face didn't leave Raven's face as she looked at what she hadn't decided was a complete moron or someone with some actual balls. For a moment she debated killing him anyways but she'd gotten bored without a raid to sate her for a few weeks so said sat down next to him. "Bourbon."
"Figured you for a fruity type of dame." He joked, the humor more for his nerves than anything else he figured as he waved down the bartender.
"Watch it, I'm still debating if I'm gonna kick your ass."
Dammit can this lady just let it go, he seethed. He was too damn drunk and pissed to lose this dick measuring competition. That skin-heads crack at his expense had already pushed him, and with his foul mood he wasn't going to back down, beating or otherwise. "I'll lay it out plain lady, you may be able to beat me senseless or take my life," His cold eyes met hers. "But I swear to god I'll make you remember it. Whether I tear an ear from your head, bite your nose off, or just spit my blood in your eye I'm gonna make you pay for it." It seemed alcohol had stolen any sense or filter from him. He had no idea how he'd gotten here, but he'd be damned if he was cowed back into being the weakling he'd been when he came to this city. Now fully convinced he'd be in a world of pain, or potentially in the other one, he took out a cig.
The stick of tobacco disappeared from his hands and materialized in the woman's mouth. "You gonna stake your life on this too?" She asked with a bit of mischievous mirth in her tone.
Taking a lighter out he lit her smoke. "Cancer is equal opportunity in my book."
She took a drag. He half expected her to blow it in his face, it seemed she was bent on testing him till this came to blows. Fine by his drunken angry mind, but instead she puffed it to the side. The closest thing to a truce in his book.
She turned her body to face him, relaxing her poster. Red eyes roved over every inch of him, judging every second sense he'd met her. He was a cornered animal, with a feral look in his eyes that she saw in the mirror every morning. It was the look of someone that knew that the world was looking to take until you had nothing left. A man that knew that strength was the law of the land.
Another drag of tobacco left her lips before she spoke. "You look like a guy I used to fuck." She finally replied, a challenge in its own right.
Now it was his turn to take stock. She was dangerous, he was drunk and pissed, adrenaline had coursed through his veins the second he'd eyed her. Every fiber in his common sense told him to run away from this. Before he opened his mouth to respond, one thing finally decided it for him.
"You look like somebody I jerked off to."
What decided it for him was the fact that she killed the anxiety that had his hands tapping.
"Again, I'm sorry for acting like a jackass." Cardin apologized as he opened the door to his apartment.
"I gotta say, I didn't expect this from you, Cardin." Velvet remarked as he held the door open for her.
"I've been rethinking some things as of late." He admitted.
She giggled a bit at the irony of the situation. "I certainly wouldn't have expected to be having coffee with you of all people a week ago."
"Yeah, this isn't exactly something I'd have seen myself doing."
"When you asked me to explain things from a faunus perspective I thought you were pulling something. Considering you saved my life though I figured I owed you that at least." She smiled a bit thinking back to earlier today. "It didn't hurt that you snuck into Beacon to apologize either."
Cardin rubbed the back of his neck. "I really wondered who was going to pound me worse, Goodwich or Coco, when they found me knocking on your door. Kinda embarrassing actually."
"You had it coming." She joked.
"Probably." He admitted.
Stepping into the kitchen that was attached to the living area Cardin got to work making coffee as Velvet took a seat on the couch. For a moment he considered the odd turn of events. Initially he'd only come to apologize to Velvet properly, but why he'd asked to hear more about faunus life was still unknown to himself.
"Is Jaune here?" Velvet politely asked.
"He may be in his room." Cardin answered. "He didn't seem like he had anything to do. Honestly, the guys been a machine working. It's good that he's getting some down time."
"That's good to hear. I didn't know Jaune well in Beacon, but I'm glad to see he isn't doing anything self destructive. I've known a few classmates that had trouble after leaving Beacon, one way or another." Velvet commented.
As luck would have it Jaune was in his room, or was as he swung his door open to reveal himself. "Hey fuckers!" He drunkenly shouted.
"Jaune! What the fuck!?" Cardin shouted surprised he hadn't dropped the pot of coffee he was about to pour.
"What?" Jaune asked, confused.
"YOU'RE NAKED!" Cardin screamed.
"Oh." Jaune said as he looked down as if this was news to him. "Hold that thought."
Cardin watched in shock as Jaune ran up to him and grabbed the coffee pot. Any protest he had, or the million questions about his partner, didn't have time to be said before Jaune puked his guts out into the pot.
"Ahhhhh, that's better." Jaune said with a content sigh, puke and coffee dripping from the pot onto the floor. "Oh, hey Velvet." he casually greeted, finally seeing his roommates guest.
"Hey." She politely greeted without looking from whatever was so interesting on the ground.
"Tai, tell me that your not too much of a bitch to tap out at round three." A feminine voice came from his doorway. A feminine voice attached to a very nude older woman leaning on his door frame in a sultry manner.
"Raven, I'm gonna make you scream the right name." Jaune promised. "No matter what round it takes." he growled, a crazed look in his eye.
Raven for her part moved her hand in the universal sign of bring it.
"Hold the fuck on." Cardin objected. He needed an explanation on what the hell was going on.
"Nope." Jaune remarked as he tossed the coffee pot behind him for it to explode on the floor, his feet moving him towards his bedroom. The two nude figures crashed back into the room, mercifully slamming the door between them.
Cardin for his part could only stare in shock as he tried to process what exactly had just happened.
"So…." Velvet awkwardly loitered. "Ummm, what were we talking about?'
"Jaune taking things well with Beacon." Cardin deadpanned.
"RAIL THAT ASS HARD YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
"Yeah, he seems to be taking it well." Velvet lied.
Isn't a noir story without a good helping of self-pity and questionable sexual partners. Heads up though this isn't going to harem territory. On the other hand this probably isn't gonna be the last bad decision Jaune makes either. Glad everyone liked the last chapter btw, I thought it went pretty good. Always apricate hearing what you like or thing you think could be improved. Anyways, see ya next chapter, thanks for the feedback yall.