A/N: Alright so update time. This would have been out a little sooner but crap really hit the fan irl. I got sick with covid/flu, something, and it was really draining me. Mix in the fact that I work from home so I was still working and sprinkle in the fact that I was out looking for a dog all week, creating posters and driving around for 2-4 hours a day after work and longer on the weekends I got literally no rest so I still feel meh and I'm still going because that damn dog is still nowhere to be found. I don't know what else I can do at this point though besides maybe hang more posters.
Anyway story wise, this chapter I had to break it up because holy crap this just expanded. For what I wanted out of this chapter I was looking at a pace of about 15k-18k words so smaller chapters and more update is the choice I made. Secondly, yes the story has been lacking the Jaune/Willow interaction for a few chapters. Remember, she is still the CEO of the largest company on the planet and he is a student at essentially a college. On top of that major world altering events were addressed and I really don't think handwaving them and background mention just didn't feel right. With Cinder out of the way now this basically changes everything. Like literally everything, we've gone full divergence from the cannon here. No Cinder to muck up the dance, kill Pyrrha, initiate a destruction of Beacon, etc. Like I said major implications. Anyway that review aside, this chapter we will get back to them as they start to house hunt. Next chapter update will hopefully be first week of April, as that is my goal. Enjoy the chapter.
VNN studio, Vale
"We're live in 3, 2,-" The man behind the camera said before pointing towards the purple haired news anchor.
"Good evening Vale, this is Lisa Lavender with what surely promises to be a bombshell breaking news report. For the past several weeks crime has been rampant as the criminal thief known as Roman Torchwick has been seen and caught on camera robbing every dust store within the city, taking thousands of lien's worth of precious dust. Recently he was caught trying to steal entire cargo containers from the docks alongside the terrorist organization the White Fang. Ultimately the endeavor was foiled by a group of students from Beacon Academy."
"The White Fang certainly isn't known for their willingness to work with humans to say the least, so what drove Torchwick to ditch whatever morals he had and agree to work with fanatical terrorists? We investigated and discovered this." Lisa finished as she turned and the camera panned to the screen behind her where the videochat began playing.
As the picture came into focus a shadowy silhouette of a person was all that could be seen and a voice came through that had obviously been translated.
"I was there that night." The voice began, "The night it all went south. Me, Roman, and a few others were all having a nice night off and having some fun with some friendly matches of poker. Then she walked in." The gravelly voice said ominously before continuing.
"There were five of us that night when we started after she got done, there was only me, Roman, and three corpses. She came in all stoic and haughty, said she wanted to acquire our services." The man said as Lisa took her queue.
"What did she want?" Lisa asked despite already knowing the answer.
"She wanted dust, LOTS of dust. Said she was going to leave a mark on the city of Vale that no one would ever forget. Now we might be criminal elements but we happen to like this city. I'm just as much a citizen as the guy next to everyone of you out there. I got a house here, friends, family, business, the whole nine yards. So naturally we didn't appreciate that kind of thinking. Only had one issue though, this wasn't just some criminal with a bloodthirst as big as a Mcschnee big gulp. No, this was bigger than that, this was a power crazy huntress with insane abilities and semblance who just wanted to burn the world for power."
"I see, so she didn't take this well then?" Lisa asked.
"Pfft, to say she took it well is to say the grimm are good babysitters. She was ruthless in how she executed the other three. No regard for anything except instilling fear in all of us. No quick honorable death like a shot to the heart. No this was torture, literally right before our eyes. Trying to instill fear in us, that this is how we'd go if we refused. When that didn't happen from the other three and it got down to the two of us, me and Roman, it was a literal do or die moment. So we promised we'd do as she asked. It was pretty clear from Roman's eyes though after she left he was thinking the same thing I was."
"And that was?" Lisa asked.
"No way in hell we were going down without a fight. Sabotage, subterfuge, anything we could do to hamper or delay this lunatics' plans. I have a feeling that's when she brought in the White Fang. They want to see the humans burn just as much to "prove they're strong" or some such nonsense. They give all faunus a bad name, the morons."
"You seem pretty passionate about that, are you a faunus?" Lisa asked knowing that would make the story even better.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." The shadowed man said in reply before continuing on. "Anyway if any of you out there pay attention to the news, that psycho got captured, and upon hearing the news we immediately turned on the Fang. We raided the warehouses we knew about and took back as much as dust as we could. Unfortunately it appears quite a lofty sum had already been taken." The man said with a sigh before continuing.
"Look me, my boys, and Roman, we might be criminals but Vale is our home too. If any of you see anything, ANYTHING, related to those damn Fang lunatics, tell someone. Hell, go tell Beacon. They're the ones that caught that psycho, they'll be able to handle the rest of this." The man said before Lisa took over.
"You don't think reporting this and giving the information will pardon you of your crimes do you?"
"Well Lisa, I'm a career criminal and Roman's on that path too so no, I don't think this will pardon us. And to be completely honest, I don't want a pardon from that grubby council that kills its own citizens anyway. I accept something from them and I'm sure they'll leave me trapped in a tunnel with grimm to hunt me down and no way out. No, what I want, what Roman wants, is for our information to get to the people it should so that we can stop the Fang before they attack the city. Secondly we want all to know we are not terrorists, and we stand against them on the side of Vale!" The man finished with a shout before the video feed went dead.
"Well that was certainly the impassioned speech there at the end. What does this mean for Vale's population? Is this "psycho" that got mentioned by the mystery man related to the criminals captured by Beacon at the airport not too long ago? Does your insurance cover terrorist attacks? All this and more, when we come back." Lisa said as the camera panned out and the channel went to commercial."
Beacon Academy, Headmaster's office
"Well Oz, that was certainly something, but can we trust the informant Lisa has and the information she has given us?" Ironwood asked his old friend.
"I don't know James." Ozpin said as he turned his chair from the general around to face the group behind him.
"Tell me team RWBY, what do you think of this whole interview?" Ozpin asked of the nervous girls seated on the other side of the desk.
"Um well, the bad guys certainly need to be stopped so we should definitely investigate?" Ruby half said, half asked.
"My thoughts exactly Ms. Rose. Maybe you can shed some light on some well educated guesses about their activities Ms. Belladonna?" Ozpin said as he turned to the bow wearing girl.
"Me? I, I-" Blake stammered as the nervousness was painstakingly present and Ozpin jumped in.
"Ms. Belladonna with your history, you should be aptly knowledgeable about possible areas of operation for the terrorist organization. The fact that I know these things and still let you into my school should be enough for you to realize you aren't in trouble." Ozpin said in a reassuring tone.
"Well sir, we know the White Fang have been amassing dust, like what was just mentioned on the tv interview, but there has been no bombings yet so logic would say that they were planning one big bomb or several smaller ones at the same time." Blake said as Yang decided to add her own two cents to the conversation.
"Terrorists are judged by the amount of terror they cause, right? So wouldn't it make sense to go after the Amity festival? That would cause the most panic, right?"
"Indeed it would miss Xiao Long, however the logistical issue would be getting that much dust not only through Vale but through security at the festival itself. I'm sure they could do some bombings before that checkpoint but I doubt the White Fang are the type to resort to suicide bombings." Ozpin replied.
"No, that's not something they would do. At least not under Sienna or Adam's command anyway." Blake said as she thought upon the matter at hand.
"Then what would they do instead?" Ozpin asked aloud as he sipped some more coffee from his mug.
"Look Oz, we already know the White Fang are in the Mountain Glenn area, let's get to the chase with this. The longer we spend here the less time we spend hunting down those terrorists." General Ironwood said as he showed his increasingly frustrated demeanor.
"I understand how you feel James, believe me I do, but if we just mass drop your battle bots all willy-nilly all over the ruins of Mountain Glenn don't you think the White Fang will just scatter before reconvening in the near future to do this all over again and that time we'll have no idea where or when?" Ozpin pressed as he tried to speak some reason and/or caution into his over eager friend.
"I don't like this Ozpin, I don't like waiting here like sitting ducks and just wondering when they're going to attack." General Ironwood as he looked off to the side and out the window towards the numerous ships he had brought with him.
"Which is why we are done waiting." Ozpin said bluntly as he turned to face the team of huntresses in training he had called to his office.
"Team RWBY, you will not be getting to pick the upcoming mission for yourselves, you are going to Mountain Glenn. You are going to be accompanied by Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port, along with another team selected by Atlas. You are dismissed to begin preparations for the mission. You have the rest of the weekend to get ready and stock up on anything you all might need. Enjoy the rest of your weekend girls." Ozpin said as the girls nodded and began filing out of his office.
As the elevator door closed, Ozpin turned to address the man that still remained. "Likewise James, you have the rest of the weekend to pick and brief your own team. I need not tell you the importance of this mission. Do not get into your "outcome over morals" way of thinking." Ozpin said as he took another drink from his mug.
"When have I ever-" Ironwood began before seeing the raised eyebrow of his fellow headmaster. "Fine point taken, I'll have them selected, briefed, prepped, and ready for deployment at 0800 on Monday."
"That's all I ask," Ozpin said as he turned and gazed out the window as the general began making his way to the elevator to go do his part.
Meanwhile down in Vale a certain white haired matriarch was busy making business deals and signing contracts / leases alongside a sharply dressed man in a suit who had a briefcase next to him.
Across from them was Councilors Noir and Grayson, the former of which appeared to be a little upset but was mostly masking it.
After reading over what appeared to be the last one, Willow looked to the suited man on her right, who nodded back, before Willow began signing along the lines. After signing on the lines for all the required spots, Willow handed the final form to the lawyer who looked over it and nodded.
After laying down the form on the stack of the rest of them on the table, the SDC CEO and lawyer stood up and shook hands with the two council members across the table.
"Well Miss. Noir, Mr. Grayson, it's been a pleasure working with you both. I thank you both for accommodating our newest clauses to help sate our worries about the rampant dust crime here in Vale. Mrs. Ar- er I mean Willow," The suited man corrected before continuing, " A pleasure as always. I will head back to Atlas now, do take care on your house hunting / apartment hunting trip. Feel free to send those documents to me as well, I am your lawyer as well as the SDC's so the employee accommodations as well as your own are well within my purview." The man finished with a slight bow.
"Thank you as always Richard." Willow said with a smile.
Willow watched as Richard nodded back and made his way out of the room before she turned to the two council members who were still in the room with her.
"So, looking for some living accommodations are we?" Councilwoman Noir said as she eyed the white haired woman across the table.
"Indeed we are. Something nice and respectable for our head IT department person but it'll need to be in their budget as well. As for me, I'm thinking of a house or apartment to buy, so that I have a nice place to stay while I'm here on business. Preferably one with some quality soundproofing, it wouldn't be ideal for a neighboring person to overhear company plans should I be on calls with anyone while I'm here." Willow explained.
"I'm sure, and it definitely doesn't have anything to do with the group out in the hall?" Noir said with a small smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"Whatever the married couple and their relatives do at their own living space is none of my concern so long as it falls within the boundaries of the law." Willow stated bluntly.
"Well we happen to have a realtor on call for things like this. If you want, I can call them and have them send you a few listings and the codes to get you in if you want a more privacy focused day or they can come and show you if you'd prefer that." Noir said as she gave the white haired woman some options for the day.
"If you could get in contact with them and have them send me some listing for the things I'm looking for we can go and tour a few of them and then meet up with them after lunch."
"Well that definitely sounds like something we can do Willow. I'll call them now and have them send over a few listings to your number." Noir said with a smile as she pulled out her scroll and exited the room.
Seeing his fellow councilmember exit the room, Grayson gave a nod of his head and wished Willow the best of luck in the house hunt and followed after Councilwoman Noir.
As Grayson caught up to Noir he asked the question that had been burning since the meeting began.
"Did we really have to accept their demands like that? They basically strong-armed us."
"Well Grayson that's because they did, and yes we essentially had to agree to the terms. Nothing will come of it unless the various criminal elements go after the SDC. After all no changes will be made or damages will be paid unless those fools try something. Now I'm off, I'll be back in a bit." Councilwoman Noir said with a wave over her shoulder.
"Where are you going?" Grayson responded.
"I'm going to ensure that if anyone is foolish enough to move against the SDC, the full force of every single can of ass whooping gets opened on them. And I'm going to go tell them exactly that after I guarantee it."
Meanwhile back in the conference room, Willow turned and walked towards and out the other door to where Jaune, Terra, Saphron, and Adrian were waiting in the hallway on one of the couches.
"Did it go well, Willow?" Jaune asked upon seeing his wife return.
"Indeed it did Jaune. I even got a realtor from the councilwoman so we should be receiving some listings to go look at here shortly. We'll receive the codes for some and get to look at them then the realtor will be able to show us around after we get lunch." Willow said as she spoke to the group.
"Cool, so when do you expect to get those listings?" Jaune asked upon not hearing any mention of the timeframe.
"Soon, I hope. Every good realtor in this city, especially one recommended by the city council, should be able to quickly pick a few listings to occupy us, and then be able to sift through them to find the better matches while we occupy ourselves." Willow said as she looked over the group.
"Well we might as well go get back in the car. Who knows by the time we get there the listings might have come through." Saphron suggested.
Saphron's words proved prophetic as upon the group entering the car, Willow's scroll buzzed. When she pulled it out to check on it she saw it was a message from the realtor with a few addresses to check out over in the nicer part of Vale. Something she instantly appreciated.
Looking at the first one on the list, she relayed the address to Klein who inputted it into the gps and began to drive to the location.
As he did that Willow decided to fill in her sister in law and her wife on their next stop.
"That was the realtor and the first one on the list is in the nicer part of vale and one you two could afford to purchase if you chose not rent based on your new salary Terra."
"I'm really going to be able to buy an apartment in the nice part of Vale with my salary?" Terra asked in disbelief.
"Well you are going to be the head IT person for the Vale branch. It wouldn't do to pay you to where you could only afford the slums. After all, we want you to stay and ensure things will all run smoothly. It'll be difficult but the pay will match the tall order. That being said you probably can't afford something grandiose but it would still be a good fit for your growing family."
"I could get a job too." Saphron said as she tried to help assure her wife.
"But who would take care of Adrian then dear?"
"Terra I never said where I'd work. I can go work at a daycare for a bit. They'll pay me and we'll get a discount on Adrian's childcare too. That way the extra income can help build up our nest egg and pay for the mortgage."
"If you say so dear." Terra said in a tone that did not sound confident.
"Don't forget you two, Terra does still have her signing bonus that she'll receive as well."
"I'm getting a signing bonus?" asked a surprised Terra.
"Well of course. All SDC employees do now matter what level. The bonus just differs by employment level. You will have to pay it back should you leave before the allotted time though. That's our way of saying "don't jump ship before the second year after getting your bonus." It should be in your contract." Willow explained.
"I guess we should probably get that to her then." Klein said from the front. "Oh and by the way we're almost there. Seems it wasn't too far from the city hall."
"Well this one seems like it's well enough though, maybe too much for you three now that I think about it though. It's a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath for 5,900 lien a month. The realtor says 7,500 a month if you want to buy it though."
"Ouch." Terra and Saphron said together.
"Yeah, like I said at 90,000 lien a year for 15 years, it is one heck of a mortgage and apparently it's a special offer for us because of the new business we're bringing in. Otherwise that figure bumps up to 96,500 lien a year, and that's without closing costs, fees, etc."
"Double ouch." The married couple responded again.
"Yeah it's definitely not cheap to live in one of the few safe remaining cities in the world. Especially the nice parts." Willow replied.
"Seems like it. I guess we got spoiled because Argus is a bit cheaper due to the situation with it not technically being in a city but still having some protection." Terra said as she looked at her blonde haired wife.
"You could always move back and go back to your old job." Willow teased.
"Are you kidding me? I'm never going back, got it?" Terra said with an amused smirk of her own.
"Good to know we're on the same page Mrs. Cotta-Arc." Willow said as the car came to a halt.
"Looks like we're here." Jaune said as Klein got out and opened the door for them. Upon exiting the car what the group saw wasn't too much of a surprise. A well maintained mid-rise apartment building that Jaune thought probably had nine or ten floors to it.
"So what floor is the listing on?" Terra asked as she looked up at the building.
"The listing says it's unit 702." Willow said as she looked at her scroll.
"Well then let's go." Saphron said as she walked towards the building holding Adrian in her arms, as the rest of the group began to follow her.
After walking inside and talking to the on-site manager, the group got the okay to head on up. So up they went, as the group all crowded into one of the elevators and Saphron let Adrian push the button that had the number 7 on it.
She congratulated the toddler and praised him for that. Left unsaid was that Adrian also hit the button for the 6th, 3rd, and 4th floors but oh well.
So after three quick stops on the floors leading up to the seventh floor the elevator doors finally opened to reveal their destination floor.
After stepping off the elevator and doing a little bit of wandering the group found themselves at unit 702. After a quick glance to her scroll, Willow inputted a code into the electronic keypad for the door.
After she pushed the enter button an electronic whirring was heard as the light on the door flashed green. Willow opened the door and stepped inside first. "Wow." Jaune said as he followed Willow inside the apartment.
"Wow this interior is definitely something." Saphron said as she stepped inside and looked around.
"That's one way to put it." Terra said as she followed her wife inside and closed the door behind her and looked around at the over the top modern interior.
"That's a lot of black and white." Jaune said as he took in the sights of the apartment.
"It's a little too much white even for me, and I'm a Schnee." Willow said before amending her statement. "Well an Arc-Schnee now but you get the point."
"I'm more concerned about all the angular furnishments. That's a lot of edges Adrian could hurt himself on." Saphron said as she looked over the furniture she could see from the entryway.
"Well girls," Willow said. "The good news is you don't have to pick here. There are others after all. Since we are here though you both should look around and get a feel for the layout. See what you like and dislike. What you really want to see in an apartment, townhome, or house so we can tell the realtor that when we see him."
"That's not a bad idea, Saph." Terra said as she started walking down the hall, inspecting everything and looking everywhere.
Saphron appeared to think on it for a moment before giving a nod and following Terra down the hall.
As Jaune watched his sister and sister-in-law, along with Adrian, walk down the hall he too began to look at the various things around the apartment.
From the entry way they had walked into after stepping through the front door, to the kitchen and living room, Jaune looked over everything with a curious eye as he took it all in. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Willow as she observed her husband.
"This is your first time seeing an apartment in downtown Vale isn't it?"
"Yeah, I've only ever lived in the dorms since I came to Beacon so this is a new experience."
"Well do you see anything you like, or would like to see in the apartment we get?" Willow said as she came up behind Jaune and wrapped her arms around his torso.
"Well the kitchen is nice." Jaune said as he brought a hand to his blushing face.
"Oh?"
"Yeah the overhead vent for the stove is something really nice. My parent's house back in Ansel had one. It certainly made cooking much easier compared to just a microwave blowing the stuff above your head." Jaune said with a little laugh.
"Well if you're going to be cooking for me when I'm in Vale, I may as well
get a kitchen to your liking. Who knows how much time we might be spending in it. " Willow said in a whispered tone next to his ear causing Jaune to slightly jump.
"I-i'll happily cook whatever I can for you." Jaune stammered out as Willow let out an amused laugh.
"There will be time for that dear, believe me there will be." Willow said as she leaned into him. "Can you promise me we'll do some more dancing in the kitchen at our own place? I enjoyed that a lot that morning you surprised me with breakfast."
"I think I can do that." Jaune said as he turned around and wrapped his arms around his wife before giving Willow a quick peck on the lips.
"You big ol softie, but I like that about you." Willow said with a hum as she stood their content to stay wrapped in Jaune's arms.
A minute or so passed before Willow spoke again. "Well I guess we should keep exploring some. There will be time for this later dear. Come along now, we should probably look at the rest of the apartment before your Terra and Saphron get done and notice us standing here." Willow said as she removed her arms from Jaune's body and began to walk down the hallway adding a little extra sway to her steps and knowing exactly what it did, based on the garbled sound behind her.
As Jaune walked down the halls he looked in the different rooms on each side of the hallway. The few bedrooms were the first he spotted. One on the left and two on the right side, all three near identical in size and paint/décor at what Jaune would probably guess was like 11 feet x 11 feet. Spotting the bathroom wasn't too hard as it was on the left where the bedroom sat on the right.
Down towards the end of the hall Jaune noticed the master bedroom. It was a bit bigger in his estimation, maybe 13 or 14 feet by 12 feet? As he stepped inside he saw the bathroom was pretty nice as well. With 2 sink vanity and a nice mirror spanning the whole vanity. Behind the vanity was a bathtub, off to the side was a toilet and in between the bathtub and the toilet was a walk in shower.
"Pretty nice master bath." Jaune said as he turned and walked out of the ensuite to see Willow.
"Agreed. I like the big tub too. For ours I think a two person tub would be nice." Willow said with a teasing grin.
Jaune was going to respond but he heard his sister's voice beat him to it. "Hey Willow, I think we're done here. Time to move on to the next listing."
Willow and Jaune walked out of the room and began making their way to the main entryway to find Terra and Saphron seated at the kitchen table.
"So you two are ready to go?" Willow asked as her and Jaune approached the kitchen.
"Yeah this place is nice," Terra said before Saphron continued for her.
"But it's boring, dangerous for little children, and the taste in furniture is definitely not our style." Saphron said as Terra let out a laugh.
"Well on the brightside at least the two of you know the basic layout of an apartment now and what to expect. We do too." Jaune said as he added his own input.
"Hey Willow, is the next listing a bit smaller than this? I really don't think we need 4 bedrooms, plus it would be a bit cheaper and would let us have a little extra disposable income."
"Well let's see." Willow said as she pulled out her scroll and opened the list of listings she was sent.
"Well you're in luck. The next listing on the list isn't a 3 bedroom but the one after it is. It appears to be in this building too. On the fifth floor to be specific. Unit 508." Willow said as she looked up from her scroll.
"Well let's go." Terra said as she made her way to the door.
One short walk later the group hopped on the elevator as Adrian once again pushed the button. Thankfully it was button this time and not buttons. Something Saphron and Terra seemed very proud of.
"I wonder if you'll be that proud when we have our children." Willow said in a tone that wasn't quite clear if it was full teasing or not. Regardless, it caused Jaune to blush something that didn't go unnoticed by the three women in the elevator.
"Relax dear, I'm only teasing." Willow said with a grin.
"Ok good, because I'm too young to be a father right now." Jaune said with a laugh as the group stepped off the elevator.
"I'm sure you'd be fine, Jaune." Terra said.
"Yeah you did a great job helping out with Lavender and Amber." Saphron said.
"Yeah I guess I did. Still don't think I'm ready though."
"No one is Jaune. No one ever truly is. Now come on you three we got an apartment to tour." Terra said as she stopped at the door of unit 508.
"Alright if you move aside I can open it. Hopefully this one will be more child friendly for Adrian." Willow said as she looked down at her scroll before inputting the code after Terra moved off to the side a bit.
With six beeps and a seventh for the unlock the door handle turned downward as the door opened inward to reveal a non modern styled apartment to Saphron's and Terra's delight.
Cozy was the word that came to mind when Jaune saw the interior of the apartment and he knew that unless something big was wrong with it, this would probably be the one Saphron and Terra chose.
Upon opening the door you walked into what was essentially the living room as there was a couch and a recliner in front of a flat screen mounted on the wall.
Behind the living room was the light brown cabinet kitchen that appeared to have a gas stove and an overhead vent system. To the left of the kitchen was a dining area where a wooden table with four chairs was arranged.
"Oh wow." Terra and Saphron said in unison as they walked through the doorway and into the apartment.
"Well this definitely is an upgrade from the last one. I've never been a fan of that modern design stuff." Willow said as she looked around.
"I'll say." Saphron said as she looked around the apartment as the eyes of the toddler in her arms began rapidly examining everything around him.
As Jaune took in more of the place he really did feel the cozy aspect this place was trying to create. The warm cream colored walls, the light shade hardwood floor. It all just, well it just worked.
As Jaune looked to his left from the kitchen/dining area the hallway stretched out showing what appeared to be doors 4 bedroom/bathroom doors and maybe closets?
As he walked down the hallway he looked into the rooms showing three fairly typically styled for what was the front area. Warm colored walls, double beds in the two bedrooms with similar colored wooden furniture as he saw in the kitchen.
In each room was a smaller tv, and a little desk area for schoolwork or work. Along with a small nightstand by each bed.
As Jaune turned he looked into the room across from the two and saw a fairly nice bathroom. It had a single vanity and a shower tub combo. Nothing extravagant, but nice.
As he continued walking down the hallway he opened the two doors he wasn't sure of and looked inside. In one was the air condition/heating unit and water heater. In the other was in fact a closet as he had guessed.
Closing that door, he continued on to find Terra and Saphron sprawled out on the king bed in the master bedroom.
"This is soooooo nice." Saphron moaned out as Adrian mimicked her, letting out a groan of his own as he flopped backwards from his upright position.
"I take it you two like it here then?" Jaune said with a laugh as he looked at the three of them.
"This place is great." Terra said as Saphron let out a grunt of agreement.
"Well I guess we should contact them to put an offer on the place then for you all. I'm guessing you want to try and buy rather than rent?" Willow said as she appeared behind Jaune in the doorway.
"Yeah, I think that would be the smartest financial decision. Building equity and all." Terra said as Saphron let out another grunt of agreement.
"Well looking at the listing it says here rent should be 5,000 lien a month and the listing price if you were to buy it would be 6,400 lien a month. So that would be roughly 1.15 million lien price? We could probably negotiate down to 6,000 a month mark though and save you girls some change. Closing costs and fees might chip away at some of that though."
"Well hopefully the realtor the council has will minimize those." Jaune said as Willow looked up from her scroll.
"Hopefully." Willow said as she put away her scroll. "Come on now lazy bones, let's go get some lunch so we can meet the realtor." Willow said as she spun around to leave the room only to stumble and catch herself from completely falling into the wall to her right.
"Willow, are you alright?" Jaune said as he quickly made his way behind her.
"Yeah I think I'm fine. I might've just spun around too quickly."
"Could be blood sugar or food too." Terra said as she, Saphron, and Adrian had moved from the bed to the doorway after hearing the commotion.
"Yes, it could be that too. I guess we better go and get that lunch." Saphron said as Jaune moved he was walking next to Willow to support her in case she stumbled again.
After walking out the door and stopping to make sure it was locked after entering the code on the keypad, the group went to the elevator where a very frustrated Adrian didn't get to push the button this time, and consequently didn't push any other buttons either.
After the elevator came to a halt on the ground floor, the group walked out as the door opened and told the worker at the front desk they were leaving and thanked them for letting them up for their tours.
After exiting the building the group saw Klein was conveniently already parked and waiting for them as he leaned against the car reading a book. When he looked up and saw the group he stowed the book before realizing the state of Willow and how she was almost leaning on Jaune, and not in the romantic way but instead in the way one might see a footballer lean on a training staff member as he's helped off from midfield.
He turned and made sure the door was opened so Willow could get in and after she got in he turned to Jaune who stood nearby as the others got in as well.
"Alright, what happened?"
"I don't know." Jaune said as began to explain the context knowing full well that Klein was going to ask that.
"She was in the doorway of the master bedroom reading off the listing details and financials from her scroll and when she turned to leave she stumbled. She had to catch herself on the wall and she said she got dizzy. We think it could be from spinning or the fact that we haven't eaten any food yet."
"Hmm maybe." Klein said he rubbed his mustache. "Very well I suppose some food will be the first objective then, but please do keep an eye on the missus in case this is a recurring event. I"d hate for her to be sick and we did not realize it."
"Maybe we should get her a checkup somewhere soon just to be safe?" Jaune suggested.
"Hmm you might be right with that. After all, better safe than sorry. I'll make arrangements for a later date whilst you all tour the next location. It won't be immediate but I think I know about when to schedule it so that we can cancel if needed." Klein said.
"Great, thanks Klein, I appreciate it." Jaune said as he got in the car and closed the door.
"Not a problem lad." Klein said even though Jaune couldn't hear him and went around to the driver's side and got in so he could fire up the car.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen I found a lovely diner for us to eat at and chat about your findings from the house hunting. It's about five to ten minutes away too so not too far so we can easily hop over to see the next listing." Klein said as he put the car in drive.
"Well let's go then Klein, come on." Willow said.
"Well this is certainly shaping up to be an eventful trip." Klein thought as he let out a chuckle and gave the car some gas to begin their journey to the diner.
A/N: There ya go, there's the chapter. Tune in next time to see if the offer is accepted. What will Willow and Jaune choose for living accommodations in Vale? Is Willow coming down with an illness much like the author of the story? And just what is Klein thinking? Find out all this and more next time on A Royal Knight's Drunken Marriage!