Blonde Roast, Pt. 3

"And then, we broke his legs!" Nora cried, standing precariously on the bench where she sat and thrusting her arms into the air in a gesture of undeniable jubilation and excitement at the conclusion of her story. Jaune looked up only briefly from his breakfast before returning his gaze to the plate of waffles with a barely audible sigh. Ren's eyes narrowed at this before his gaze flitted to Pyrrha, who looked how Jaune must have felt. The normally chipper (or at least pleasant) Mistrali girl hadn't been herself for days now; the dark circles under her eyes and the vacant look in the deep emerald pools themselves attested to her fatigue.

Nora looked irked at the lack of a response to her bombastic story and pouted at the group before Jaune finally spoke up. "Yeah, great story Nora. This dream, heh, never gets old. Especially after the fifth time you tell us about it." With the ginger girl at least somewhat placated, he checked his watch and stood, taking his plate and beginning to head off in the direction of the kitchen before a word from Ren stopped him.

"Jaune, are you certain you're alright? You haven't been yourself recently…" Jaune chuckled nervously and looked sheepishly at his teammate, past him to a semi-comatose Pyrrha and then to Nora, who seemed so absorbed in her pancakes that a bomb could go off and she wouldn't notice.

And to be honest, if a bomb did go off in the mess hall it was most likely Nora's doing anyway.

"Well, uh, yeah, sure, of course I'm ok Ren; why wouldn't I be alright? I mean, what reason would I have to be not alright? Heh…" His eyes darted back and forth again before he cleared his throat awkwardly and meandered off in the direction of the kitchen, nearly tripping several times along the way as he continuously shot backwards glances at his team. Ren's eyes narrowed again and he turned to Pyrrha, whose steady, soft breathing told him she was fast asleep.

He looked to Nora, silently asking what to do next and sighed when he saw that she had arrayed several small pancakes in makeshift battlelines and was personally providing sound effects as the warring sides clashed with syrup bombs from afar and lines of interlocked forks up close. He rubbed his own eyes tiredly.

Things were going on all around him, but it seemed as though he'd have no aid in finding answers.

Jaune made his way back to his dorm, grabbed the duffel bag containing his work clothes and made his way down to the bus stop at the edge of campus, just as he had on his first day a few weeks earlier. His mind was racing the whole time as he recounted his encounter with Ren.

How much has he figured out? Does he know that I'm working at "The Three Bears?" Has he told anyone else? Oh God… has he told Pyrrha?! He shook his head as the bus made its way into the city and checked his watch. 8:41. His shift didn't start until nine; plenty of time to change and get ready.

The bus pulled up in front of the coffee shop at exactly ten minutes until the hour, so Jaune hastily thanked the driver and hurried inside the shop. A few patrons lounged about, but most of the Sunday rush hadn't arrived yet. Jaune nodded to the barista working the counter at the time and made his way into the bathroom and changed out of his casual clothes and into his work outfit.

He opened the door and nearly screamed as he came face to the most creepily adorable being on the planet.

The woman was a few years older than Jaune, but by her youthful features and petite size she could have been a child. Her outfit was comprised of a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants, and gray boots with very high heels; which did little to aid in her vertical challenge. Under her jacket she wore a black corset, curved in the middle of the bottom, exposing her sides. She also wore a multitude of necklaces, which hung haphazardly around her neck. Her hair hung down the middle of her back and was colored like her outfit and split down the middle; chocolate brown on one side, light pink on the other.

By far her strangest feature though were her eyes, which were opposing colors. While both matched her hair, the pink eye sat beneath the brown side of her hair and vice versa for the brown eye. Both eyes looked up at him (and boy, did she look up at him) from a face wearing an amused smile; like the look one gets when a dog does an especially cute trick.

He apologized quietly and the small girl made no response except to make her way past Jaune, closing the bathroom door behind her. Jaune scratched the back of his head before shrugging. He saw plenty of strange folks come and go in the shop, and as he made his way to the bar he couldn't help but notice the door to the back room where Junior conducted his business was ajar.

Peeking inside for only a moment, he saw an exquisite black bowler hat and a white suit jacket hanging on the coatrack, before his feet carried him to his normal spot behind the counter. He nodded goodbye to the other barista as she made her way out of the shop and got to work almost immediately, as the Sunday morning rush began promptly at nine.

He took, prepared and served orders with his usual efficiency, occasionally scanning the familiar part of the room for any sign of team CFVY. The team of upperclassmen was nowhere to be seen and Jaune felt a small twang of disappointment inside himself, despite his reluctance to feel such. A noise behind him caught his eye and he turned to see Junior and a tall, red haired man in an unusual amount of makeup (for a man) stepping out of the back room. The strange man was speaking as he shrugged the white coat Jaune had seen onto his shoulders and donned the black bowler as well, sweeping his hair to one side and gently settling the headwear into place.

"This information had better be good, Xiong. You still owe me for those mooks you lent me on your assurance that 'they could handle any job I could throw at them.' Look how long that lasted," he said with a sneer. Junior grimaced.

"Well maybe if I had known you were going to have them fighting Huntsmen, I would have reconsidered!" he replied and the shorter man chuckled maliciously.

"And turned down good lien? Come now Junior, you and I both know better than that." He smirked and turned to the crowded coffee shop, obviously searching for something. Spotting it, he called out across the space, unheeding of the other people occupying it. "Neo! We're leaving." Jaune followed his eyes and spotted the short girl he had seen earlier admiring a painting on the wall. She turned at the sound of the man's voice and strode across the space in surprisingly short time for someone with such short legs. She stopped in front of the man and looked up at him with her usual creepy cheer. The sight of the girl standing next to Junior's massive bulk would have made Jaune laugh if he wasn't so terrified of the potential consequences.

The girl looked up at her partner mutely and he took on an exasperated look, despite her not saying anything.

"Why are you being like this? We have to get going, you know that." The girl pouted in silence, but Jaune saw her eyes flick towards him. The orange-haired man looked at her again and she gave an expression Jaune knew only too well from growing up with seven sisters. It was the "Give me what I want or I'll murder you in your sleep please," look, and this man was obviously similar to Jaune's parents in at least one way, seeing as how he cracked like an egg under that gaze.

"Oh for— Fine. But after this, we're leaving, got it?" The girl nodded and skipped along happily as the man strode to the counter where Jaune stood, twirling his ornate cane in a way that was somehow both corny and menacing. Jaune gulped despite himself and hoped the overly cheerful girl and the intimidating man in the tailored suit didn't notice. He smiled sheepishly as the man reigned in and leaned on his cane, the petite girl practically bouncing up and down behind him. Jaune's mind subconsciously went to the twenty-gauge under the bar as he contemplated his potential escape routes. The look in the man's eyes told Jaune he was about to do something thoroughly unpleasant; the small girl's enthusiasm was matched only by the manic gleam in her eyes and out of his periphery, Jaune saw Junior dabbing his heavy brow with a handkerchief. He gave his best smile as the well-dressed man looked him up and down with a mixture of disinterest and distaste. Finally, realizing that Jaune would not initiate, the man spoke.

"Do you, good God, I can't believe I'm doing this… Do you serve ice cream?"

Jaune stood for a moment, trying to comprehend what he had just been asked. After a few seconds, he realized his mouth was hanging open and quickly opened and closed it several times, looking for all the world like a scraggly blonde goldfish. Finally, he scratched the back of his head and slowly shook it "no," his most apologetic look on his face. The man turned to the girl who looked both saddened and maddened by the answer.

"Well? You happy now?" the man asked. There was a short pause before he cried out again and Jaune realized after a moment that he was still talking to her. "I don't care if you think you've earned it; we're on a timetable and we can't waste any more time! Now, are you coming or not?" The girl stamped her foot in protest and the man would have no doubt continued his tirade had Jaune not chosen that moment to break one of his cardinal rules.

"Um, excuse me," he said and all eyes involved swiveled to him. Junior seemed most amazed of all at seeing his star barista use his voice for a change. As the group waited expectantly he reached out and pointed in the direction of another shop down the street. "Julio's, just at the end of the block, uh, they serve ice cream."

That was all they needed to hear, as the girl looked pointedly at the man and he sighed exasperatedly. "I swear to God, Neo. One of these days, we're going to have a serious chat about this little obsession of yours." He shot Jaune a glance as he turned to leave. "Thanks a lot," he muttered grudgingly as he walked out of the coffeeshop, heels clicking as he made his way out. Neo for her part ran up, hopped onto the counter, leaned in and before Jaune could react gave him a minute peck on the cheek. Jaune's face burned and Junior's mouth hung agape as the miniscule girl chased her friend out, turning at the door and winking her pink eye at Jaune before disappearing down the street towards Julio's.

Jaune's hand reached up toward the spot where the petite girl had kissed him and Junior shook his head incredulously as he withdrew a whiskey flask from inside his vest and took a hearty swig. He muttered something about the kids getting weirder and disappeared once more into the back room. Jaune, for his part shook his head for a moment as he looked to the door, still wondering if that had all just happened.

He looked down for a moment and picked up a polished mug, preparing to settle back into his pastime routine when the bell over the door jingled. He looked up, expecting a customer come for a late-morning cup of java. A part of him even sort of expected Neo and her well-dressed friend to come back; but no, what he saw was much, much worse.

Standing in the coffeeshop's doorway, silhouetted by the morning light outside, was Lie Ren.

AN – Boom! Cliffhanger! Plus, a little gelato action for all you folks, hope you enjoyed. I managed to get this one out a lot quicker than expected, but that's what happens when Christmas for your family is basically just sleeping in and chilling out all day with two fingers of Christian Brothers and the RWBY V.2 soundtrack. Oh wait, that's every day on holiday break for me ;)

Story is picking up now; the whole story behind Roman and Neo's visit to Junior will come into play later on and will factor into the grand scheme regarding Jaune's financial struggle. More on that to come in the next issue.

Until then, thank you guys again for the massive and hugely appreciated support and feedback from this story: 50 favorites in four days? If that isn't a testament to an awesome fanbase, I don't know what is. As always, follows, favs and feedback is appreciated; thanks for reading!