"A fish with his mouth closed never gets caught." ~ Carlo Gambino.
With my apartment having been blown to smithereens, and my one and only means of contact with Ozpin gone with it I did the only thing I really could do. I carried on with my business.
Believe me I considered running. But if Lil Miss could find out who and where my family was then I knew that tucking my tail between my legs and disappearing would quite possibly be disastrous. What's more I couldn't leave Cardin and the rest of my crew behind to face those potential consequences.
I moved in with the twins like they had offered. Sure enough they kept their word and had me pay my rent in home cooked meals. Almost the minute I arrived they asked me to start cooking them something in their meagerly stocked kitchen. Melanie teased me by saying that I could be paying my way with favors. They were more than happy to pay for whatever groceries or utensils I needed so in a way I was also eating for free. I was certainly grateful that I had memorized all of mom's family recipes.
A couple of days after I had been blasted out of my second story window I was allowed to return and collect whatever hadn't been destroyed in the fire. Hana's youngest son Kohi accompanied me since he was hoping to collect some things that hadn't been destroyed in the blast and accompanying blaze. Mostly I helped him collect Hana's belongings since her apartment wasn't as badly damaged as mine. But even then there wasn't a lot that made it out that could be scavenged.
I lost everything I valued in the blast. My suits mainly, I had several that were at the dry cleaners so I wasn't left without anything to wear. My Pumpkin Pete hoodie had also been a casualty of the fire, I hadn't worn it in forever but some nostalgic part of myself couldn't help but lament the loss. It might have been a cheap simple hoodie with a cartoon bunny on it, but I felt like I lost something more.
My safe on the other hand had survived the blast. I had made sure that when I bought a safe to keep all my cash in that it was tough and resistant to heat. So thankfully I hadn't taken a serious financial blow. I did give Hana's son a nice stack of bills to help her out and ordered some flowers to be sent to her. Some of the jewelry had also survived as well, but that was mostly it. Almost everything else in that apartment was cheap and disposable to begin with, it wasn't like I had any actual intention of making that place a home.
But I still felt a little bad losing it all the same. It was a cramped little shithole sure but I had come to appreciate it. And I certainly liked having Hana as a landlady.
I made sure her son knew that Hana could contact me if she ever needed something.
With my cash recovered I ordered a fresh batch of suits from Marcello who had readied those gloves for me to fit properly over my severed finger. I told him that I hadn't gotten to talk to anyone yet about getting him some dust but I swore again that I would get to it the moment the opportunity presented itself.
But even with everything happening I had work to do. Particularly in regards to getting ready for that dust heist on the docks. Apparently Roman was planning on using some bullheads in the operation but he didn't have the proper equipment for lifting the shipping containers which meant that he needed to "borrow" some specialty equipment. Which brought me to one of Bruce's union warehouses.
"Mr. White," I greeted him with a handshake as I exited my car along the docks. The smell of the ocean was thick in the air and the breeze coming off of the sea was chilling despite the fact that summer was practically here.
"Mr. Arc," he said, shaking my hand and leading me down the line of union warehouses. I watched as various faunus members worked around us hauling crates or operating forklifts. All of them spotted Mr. White and gave him a polite nod or wave. "Roman told me to expect you to come by," he said to me as we walked together. "I already have those winches ready for you."
"Thank you," I said to him. "We uh… might need someone to install them for us." I explained, apparently the White Fang was short handed on skillful mechanics and since we were expecting to haul away dust Roman didn't want to take any risks that we could drop one of the containers because of shoddy workmanship. That could certainly be disastrous.
Mr. White raised an eyebrow at that. "You want me to lend one of my guys?" He asked me.
I shrugged. "It'd be appreciated," I told him.
"Supplying you with all of this equipment is risky enough," Bruce told me. "The last thing I need after this job is the cops asking around and some of my guys actually know a few things."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going to report this as stolen right?" I asked him, a little confused why he was having cold feet about this particular heist. We were taking precautions to see that the unions were not being linked to the robberies.
He stopped and looked me square in the eyes. "Don't treat me like I'm stupid Mr. Arc," he said suppressing a growl. "I know that the White Fang is going to be the muscle on this little job and the minute that happens these docks are going to be crawling with government and SDC agents." He explained to me in a low voice. "And where do you think they're going to look hardest? At my union, which is filled with faunus, they're going to assume that we're in league with those fear mongering terrorists."
I hadn't really thought of that. "I… I see your concern." I told him holding my hands up defensively to show him that I was on his side.
"No you're just seeing the tip of the fucking iceberg," he told me bitterly as we began walking into another one of his warehouses. "Thanks to this little business arrangement of Roman's we're also getting plenty of visits down here from those radicals. Just last week they tried getting some of my guys to attend a rally. How do you think that would look?"
"I take it you're not a fan of the White Fang?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.
He sighed and bared his sharp rows of shark teeth. "Those bastards give my kind a bad name," he explained to me. "Believe it or not I used to be a member back when it was all protests and boycotts, the union was behind them one hundred percent. But since they decided that union strikes and boycotts weren't enough we've gone our separate ways. And I say good riddance."
"Listen I can relay your concerns to Roman," I assured him, wanting for things to go smoothly for this job and in the future. "We can arrange for something."
Bruce waved one of his massive hands dismissively. "Roman has heard it all before," he said with a sigh of defeat.
"I'm sorry," I said to him. "I'll talk to the Fang about easing up on their recruitment of your people, I might be able to convince them not to ask your guys to attend those rallies."
"You're a human!" he told me pointedly. "You try telling them what to do and they'll skin you alive."
"That'd certainly put a damper on Roman's business relations with them," I commented with a smirk. "That might solve your problem."
Bruce cracked a smile and laughed at my little joke. "Well that's an idea," he said, baring his teeth at me.
"Anything else you want me to tell them?" I asked him, continuing the joke, I had lifted his spirits somewhat so I just pushed on.
"Yeah while they're tearing you apart try telling them that my union has done more good for the faunus cause than they ever fucking did?" He told me. "And they can fucking take that to the bank."
"You really think so?" I asked him. I got the feeling that he was more in the mood to bitch to me than anything else. And since I was still waiting for Cardin and Dove to arrive to pick up the equipment I saw no reason not to fill this time indulging him.
"Those radicals need a history lesson," Bruce told me. "Money and influence is what changed this fucking county, not bombs. We gave our people work and helped build this city, we became a part of it. Now they'd prefer to burn it all down in the name of "equality" ; it's fucking juvenile."
"Really?" I asked him. "I didn't know the unions had that kind of influence."
"Do you know Mountain Glenn?" Bruce asked me.
"I'm a little familiar with that bit of history," I told him.
"Yeah well since the city was using plenty of faunus construction and shipping unions the city passed a number of anti-segregation laws to attract us to live there." He explained to me as I pulled out and lit a cigarette. "Vale's faunus couldn't leave for Mountain Glenn fast enough and since so many of us were left working service jobs or in the factories a lot of places were shutting down, in a few months almost a twelfth of the city's population was leaving for Mountain Glenn. So the Vale Council decided to pull back on a number of their segregation laws. That was progress, real fucking progress."
"Wow," I said to him. "So you're telling me as the power of those unions grew the faunus prospered."
"Exactly, and the unions were key in elections. Whenever some hot shot politician wanted to win an election he'd come to us and we'd make sure that he was on our side, and we'd make sure that everyone in our union voted for them." He explained to me. "Those animals in the Fang think violence is strength, it's not. Business is strength, it's money and power and that's what the faunus need, not fear."
"I'll try to see if I can say all of that before they execute me," I joked, getting a chuckle from him.
"Sorry to rant Gentleman, but I'm a little weary with the Family being in business with the Fang," he explained to me.
"Don't worry about it," I told him as I blew a cloud of smoke. "I'll tell you what Pearly, I know a few mechanics that work for a chop shop. I'll see if they're able to attach these cable winches to a bullhead so you don't have to worry about using any of your guys and having them rub elbows with the Fang."
Mr. White nodded to me. "I appreciate that Mr. Arc," he said.
Cardin and Dove showed up with a truck and we loaded up the winches. I thanked Mr. White for his cooperation before taking Cardin aside and handing him a fat roll of twenties. "Take these over to Kenzo's shop and ask if any of the mechanics there can attach them to a bullhead," I instructed him. "Pay them with this, if they can do it and see that they get them attached to those bullheads, and make sure they know to keep quiet about it all."
He nodded to me and took the money. "I'll be sure to give Kenzo a cut directly so he knows to keep his guy quiet for us," Cardin said, counting out the twenties and dividing the cut so Kenzo specifically would have a share of the cash.
"Good thinking," I complimented, feeling a bit better at the idea of Kenzo personally seeing that his guys didn't gossip about being around a bunch of faunus terrorists. I patted him on the shoulder and saw him off with Dove before I walked back to my car and checked the time.
Four o'clock. I still needed to pick up groceries for tonight's dinner and get ready for a night out with the twins. True to my word I was going to go out with them to see that DJ they liked so much. Neo was going to be joining us too and somehow I had gotten roped into cooking a meal before we went out. I honestly would have preferred a restaurant but it seemed that I didn't have a choice in the matter.
I stopped by a grocery store and picked up everything I needed for mom's recipe of spaghetti and meatballs along with a decent bottle of red wine. I drove back to the twin's apartment and took the elevator up with an arm full of groceries. I fished the key the twins gave me out of my pocket and unlocked the door and stepped inside.
"I'm home," I said looking to the couch where I saw that Neo was already here.
Her lips were locked with Miltia's. She broke the kiss turned to me, her half lidded eyes turned wide at seeing me. Then I noticed that Melanie was also on the couch laying on her belly with her head between Neo's spread legs while her sister's hand played with her breasts.
I turned away feeling all my blood rush to my face, turning me tomato red. "Oh shit!" I said realizing that I had just walked in on the three of them getting busy together on the living room couch.
"Sorry Jaune," I heard Miltia say with a little giggle. "We weren't expecting you back home quite so soon."
"A little warning next time!" I said as I stared intensively at a blank wall like it was the only think I could look at in the apartment.
"Warning?" Melanie asked me coyly. "What should we have done? Put a sock on the doorknob like we're in a college dorm?"
"Something," I growled at her, keeping my gaze fixed firmly on the wall. I could hear the three of them moving on the couch and a rustle of clothing. "Or I mean… you both have your own bedroom, take it in there."
"Oh please!" Melanie scoffed at me. "Don't pretend you didn't see anything you didn't like! People would pay good money for a show like this!"
"No! I… that's not the point," I stammered, I was far too flustered to be dealing with that kind of accusation. "If you're going to have your fuckbuddies over while I'm staying here there's got to be some boundaries."
"We'll be more mindful next time," Miltia assured me.
"Ugh.. fine," Melanie relented. "If you're going to be such a prude about this I'll hang a "fucking inside" sign on the doorknob."
My scroll beeped off in my pocket with the special ding I had assigned to her number and I fished it out and looked at the screen.
I'm decent now. You can turn around. Neo's message read. Thankfully she wasn't teasing me about this.
I turned around and indeed saw that Neo had put her pants back on and was sitting against the arm of the couch. She looked away when my eyes met hers. Was she embarrassed? It wasn't a state that I was used to seeing her in. Usually her antics with the Malachite twins was something she seemed proud of but it seemed catching them in the throes of passion was just over the line for her. It was actually relaxing to think that she was also a little uncomfortable with the situation.
"What's - for - dinner?" She signed to me clearly wanting to move past the awkwardness.
"Spaghetti and meatballs," I answered her, moving towards the kitchen and setting down the paper sack and taking out all my ingredients.
"All of that for spaghetti and meatballs?" Militia asked me.
"It's my mother's recipe," I explained to them as I began readying everything. "Sauce and everything, and I wouldn't have needed to buy so much stuff if you actually kept this kitchen stocked." I explained as I took out the various pots and pans that I knew they never used themselves. It was a mystery who had even bought them for their seldom used kitchen.
Melanie moved over and pulled a large bottle from the paper sack inspecting it. "Like what would we need with… olive oil? Did you really need this much just for one meal?"
"No," I said, setting out a cutting board so I could slice the garlic cloves. "But it has a million uses in the kitchen and it's a must for this recipe."
"Well I'll leave that to the chef," Melanie said watching as I peeled the garlic cloves and set them down on the cutting board.
"Could you open that bottle of wine?" I asked her, feeling like a drink would help cut any residual tension that lingered from walking in on the three of them.
Miltia pulled out the chianti I had purchased for the meal and looked at it. "I don't think we have a screw for this."
"Look in the bag," I told her.
Neo fished the corkscrew out and took the bottle from Miltia to open herself.
We idly chatted with one another as the girls watched me. Neo offered to stir the marinara sauce for me so I could focus on dicing the vegetables. We all had a laugh as the onion made us all tear up.
"How did you come to remember all these recipes?" Miltia asked me.
"As I told you once before I cooked for my siblings a lot growing up,'' I explained to them as I opened the package of ground beef for the meatballs. "And mom always insisted that I help her in the kitchen, she didn't want me to leave home and rely on microwave food."
Melanie chuckled at that, "Mission accomplished." She said, making me smirk with a bit of pride. I wish mom had also mentioned that cooking would help me with the ladies.
Neo picked up her scroll and tapped out a message in one hand while she stirred the sauce with another. My own scroll vibrated on the counter with her message.
What does your mom think you do for a living? She asked me.
I stared at the scroll and thought about it. "I suppose she still thinks I'm training to be a huntsman," I told her, realizing that I hadn't spoken to her or anyone in my family in months. The first semester of Beacon was about to end and they weren't going to get so much as a text from me.
Are you ever going to tell her the truth? She asked me.
"I'd rather brag to Nicky about shooting Michail than do that, it'd be safer," I told her truthfully.
Melanie giggled and I heard her scroll go off with some club music. I looked over and watched as she picked up the call.
"Hey Junior," she said into the scroll. "What's up?"
I watched her as I mixed the ground beef with the herbs and other ingredients before rolling them into balls.
"Fuck, is anyone hurt!?" I heard her ask.
I snapped my attention to her and listened attentively.
"Shit!" She cursed. "We'll be right there!?" She assured him before hanging up.
"What happened!?" Miltia asked her.
"Someone got a little rowdy at the club and stabbed a bouncer with a beer bottle and broke another guy's nose," she explained to us. "Junior wants us there to watch the place and teach the guy a lesson."
"We'll give you two a rain check for dancing," Miltia sighed with frustration.
"Doesn't Junior have an army of guys that could fill in for some club bouncers?" I asked them, finding the idea a little strange.
"You don't get it," Melanie said with a snarl. "Someone put a bomb in your apartment and now Junior is paranoid that something bad is going to happen to him or someone else. So every little sign of trouble has him calling us to watch his back."
I nodded to show that I understood. It certainly was a troubling time for the Clan, and just after we had smoothed things over with a sit down. Not that we expected anything to last. "Did Junior find out anything about the bomb?" I asked them, I had to assume that Junior's contacts in the police department had at least told him something.
"The badges are stumped," Miltia told me. "They didn't find anything left of whatever they planted in your couch, no bomb fragments or explosive residue. Whatever they tried to kill you with wasn't normal."
"Nothing?" I asked them.
"They found some pieces of an old scroll," Melanie explained. "It could have been used to detonate whatever they used, but from what Junior explained there's usually some chemical trace of whatever blew up."
I shrugged. Those scroll pieces were probably from the burner I kept in the wall for Ozpin. But knowing that there was no prominent trace of any bomb made me worry all the same. Mysterious cats and bombs were certainly enough to make anyone in this business to be more paranoid than usual.
"What - about - dinner?" Neo asked, signing to me so I could translate for the twins.
"Stay here and enjoy it for us," Miltia said with a disappointed sigh. "Hell you can both hit up the nightclub without us, no need for all of us to have a dull night."
"Yeah," Melanie said, giving me a wink before moving close and giving me and Neo a kiss goodbye both. I tried not to think about the taste on her lips. I think she probably did that on purpose.
"Don't have too much fun without us," Miltia said before they closed the door behind them and left.
I looked at the closed door and back to Neo as we continued to finish cooking dinner. "What do you think?" I asked her as I picked up my wineglass and took a sip.
"I'd - hate - to - miss - this - dinner - after - helping - cooking - it." She said to me with a friendly smile.
"And I'd hate for most of this to be leftovers," I agreed, returning her smile. I was pretty happy to have her company. I couldn't remember any time we were together that wasn't business related in some way, shape or form.
"So - let's - finish - up," She told me, picking up the wooden spoon to stir the sauce.
I set the meatballs in the oven and filled a pot of water for the spaghetti. "So dinner is still on," I said to her. "But uh… I think I'd be a lot happier if I skipped the nightclub. No offence to Mel and Mil but that's not really my scene and a night in sounds good and relaxing."
"That's - not - my - kind - of - dancing - either," Neo signed to me. "I - just - like - going - out - for - a - drink - and - having - them - bump - and - grind - against - me." She gave me a sultry little smirk and a wink.
I turned a little red. "Yeah, I like that part too." I admitted to her with a smirk of my own.
She laughed, her strangely alluring silent laugh. "There's - no - point - going - to - a - club - alone. Mind - if - I - join - you - for - that - night - in?"
I hadn't expected her to ask me to stick around with me for the rest of the night. I was a little flattered that she was actually asking me to stick around. Cardin's drunken words about Neo having an eye for me echoed in my brain so I stupidly smiled and nodded my head. "Sure why not?" I asked her, feeling like a giddy kid getting to sit next to a pretty girl.
She smiled and nodded as I put in the spaghetti to loosen in the boiling water. "I can handle the rest of this on my own," I told her, watching as tonight's meal came together. All that was left was to finish the noodles and wait for the meatballs to finish baking. "How about you… I don't know, pick out a movie for us to watch with dinner?" I suggested to her as I stirred the noodles.
She shrugged and nodded to me. "What - do - you - want - to - watch?" She asked me.
"I don't know," I told her. "I like my action movies but I'm not picky, I'm sure that I'll be up to watch anything you pick out."
She nodded and picked up her wineglass before moving into the living room. I finished up with the noodles and tried not to think too hard about what Cardin had said. He was drunk when he told me that and I was silly to even think about it. And even if he was right then I'd be flirting with disaster, I was a spy and she was a criminal, she was on the wrong side of the law.
Like I was suddenly on the right side of the law? I scolded myself. Nothing about what Ozpin was doing with me was even remotely legal, we were just criminals on the right side of the law. I thought to myself bitterly. It wasn't like I was operating here with some badge or license to my name that could justify any of this.
I grabbed two plates and loaded them up with the spaghetti before putting the meatballs and marinara sauce on and taking the plates into the living room where Neo was perched on the couch with the remote in hand searching Schneeflix for a movie to watch.
"Find anything?" I asked her, setting her plate down on the coffee table in front of her before taking my own seat.
She pointed to an old movie named The Band Wagon. It was a musical about a down on his luck Wideway theater producer and a prima ballet dancer. I wasn't surprised that she wanted to watch a musical given her interest in dancing but an old black and white movie wasn't what I expected to be watching.
"Do - you - mind - watching - a - musical?" She asked me.
I chuckled, "I grew up with a mom and seven sisters. I don't mind at all." I told her as I picked up my fork and gathered a bunch of spaghetti while she pressed play. I watched her attentively as she had her first bite, gathering a bunch of noodles up before skewering a meatball and eating it all in one bit bite.
She looked at me as she chewed the food, giving me a smile and a nod of approval.
"You got some marinara on you," I told her, motioning to the corner of my mouth. She wiped it up and watched the movie. I was glad to see that she ate up my cooking with gusto.
Once we had cleaned our plates we settled back onto the couch with our wine glasses sipping as we watched and listened to the old catchy music and dancing. We laughed at the jokes and before the movie had even ended we stole what was left of Mel and Mil's wine glasses, finishing the rest of the bottle by ourselves.
Settling back with strong and giddy buzz I watched as the main lady on screen danced elegantly atop a table.
"I'm surprised you're willing to watch old movies like this." I commented to her. "I thought I was the only one my age who even remotely enjoyed old back and whites."
"This - was - one - of - my - aunt's - favorites," She told me with a proud little smile. "She - used - to - have - me - imitate - the - dance - moves."
"Really?" I asked her, earning a smug little nod.
Without me even having to ask she stood up from the couch and stepped barefoot onto the coffee table and struck a ballerina pose. I watched her dainty little feet as she raised herself up to balance on her toes and do a little spin.
I was impressed for about a second. The wine had made her bold but also a little tipsy as she quickly lost balance in the spin and quickly came tumbling down into my lap. I laughed at her expense and I watched as her cheeks puffed out in embarrassment.
"Maybe show me sometime when you're not tipsy on a half bottle of chianti," I laughed, patting her shoulder. She was very petite and a hundred pounds soaking wet. She shrugged in defeat.
"Say what we will about Mel and Mil's so-called dancing," I mused aloud. "At least you can do it right while you're sloshed."
She smiled at that and to my surprise she turned her attention back to the movie and settled in my lap instead of getting off. I didn't protest to her making herself comfortable since I was actually enjoying it myself and instead did what I could to make myself comfortable. All the while I was trying to ignore any presumptuous thoughts and keep my imagination in check. The last thing I needed was my body to do anything incriminating.
She leaned her back against my chest and I got a breathful of her strawberry scented shampoo. It really wasn't fair how wonderful she smelled. I watched the movie over the top of her neapolitan colored hair.
"Would you like me to make some popcorn?" I asked her innocently enough as the movie was reaching its musical climax.
She just shook her head and I felt a few stray strands of her hair tickle my nose. I remained still as I watched the finale of the movie ending with the two leads sharing a romantic kiss on stage. The credits began rolling but Neo showed no signs of leaving my lap as the movie ended. Instead she picked up the controller and chose another movie off of Schneeflix.
"You want me to get you another drink?" I asked her as another dance themed romantic comedy started playing.
She shook her head once more and leaned forward to grab her scroll off the coffee table. She tapped a message on the screen and since my scroll was in my pocket and inaccessible thanks to her ass she just flashed me the screen herself.
You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm comfy sitting right here.
I read the words. Read them again and let the slow moving cogs in my brain realize what was happening. She was flirting with me. A part of me wondered if maybe she was just teasing me like she enjoyed doing but I realized that the difference between teasing and flirting is paper thin. And like the idiot I am with women I was completely stumped on what to do or say.
"Well uh… alright then," I told her nervously. She turned her head and gave me a sly little smirk before flashing her scroll at me once more.
Is that a problem, gent?
Yeah definitely flirting. Even my clueless brain was able to realize what that smirk of hers meant.
"I uh…" I stammered as I tried to reason between the fact that I actually liked Neopolitian and the simple fact that I was here as Ozpin's spy.
To my relief my scroll began vibrating in my pocket with a catchy song stating that there was no business like show business. "That's Mr. Fontane's ringtone," I told her.
She looked at me for a long moment as my scroll rang before deciding to slide her rear off my lap so I could fish my scroll out of my pocket.
"Hey Mr. Fontane… What can I do for you?" I asked him as I put him on speakerphone.
"Well you can give me a big ole kiss Jaune. Believe me you're going to want to after what I just did for you." He said confidently to me.
"Oh yeah?" I asked him, looking up and meeting Neo's eyes with curiosity. "What did you do for me?"
"I just had dinner with a good old friend and when I mentioned that we were reopening the Moonstone Club he couldn't resist. He wants in on the action." He told me.
"Well don't leave me hanging," I said to him. "Who was it?"
"It was Franky," Fontane explained to me. "Opening night of the Moonstone Club you're going to have Franky Martin singing there just like in the old days, before he became a star."
"Y-you're joking!" I said to him, realizing what that meant. Franky Martin might not have been particularly popular with people my age but he was one of the biggest singers from the last fifty years. And now he was apparently going to be singing in my club.
I didn't believe it.
"He's retired! Has been for quite some time now!" I protested still thinking that this was somehow a joke being played at my expense.
"Yeah well he's going to suspend his retirement on opening night," he explained to me. "Franky wants to relive the old days and sing one last time at the Moonstone."
"Really?" I asked him. I looked up at Neo and she grinned at me. She didn't seem to think this was a joke.
"I'm dead serious," Fontane bragged. "Your club is going to be packed to the rafters like it was in the old days. First thing tomorrow I'm going to spread the word all over town, and with people coming from all over for the Vytal Festival you're going to have people fighting to get in and listen to that velvety voice of his."
I stared down at my scroll trying to find the words. "I uh… yeah Mr. Fontane I think I might kiss you the next time we meet."
"Pay for dinner next time and I might let ya," he teased me.
"You got a deal," I said to him.
I ended the call and grinned at Neo. "Well how about that," I said trying to imagine Franky Martin singing at my club.
She gave me a congratulatory grin and a nod in agreement. "I think this deserves a drink," I said to her, standing up and moving to the kitchen to find a bottle of Neo's preferred brand of rum, thankfully kept here by the twins just for her. I poured us each a glass and moved back to the living room where Neo was seated.
I sat back down and handed her one of the glasses. "To Franky Martin," I said, raising my glass of the gold colored liquid.
I tipped my glass back for a sip of the sweet fiery drink. When I lowered my glass and turned back to Neo she struck.
Her lips came to mine. It wasn't fair how a single kiss was able to just make all my apprehensions disappear. But that's exactly what happened. I kissed her back as my hand went up and ran through her hair running my fingers through her silky strands before cupping the back of her head to pull her into me.
Her mouth opened and released a bit of the fiery sweet drink into my own. Her tongue playfully glided against mine. One hand grabbed my tie and tugged on it possessively while her other ran over my stomach, her fingers probing at the hard muscles underneath.
She slid onto my lap, and this time there was no hiding just how excited I was by her, and at that moment I didn't really care. I ran one hand up her slender leg and side to settle on the curve of her back.
We broke the kiss and were left staring into each other's eyes. Hers were half lidded and lustful and as enchanting as ever. We were both breathing heavy and in tandem,I felt her cool breath against my moist lips that still burned from the strong drink.
I didn't know what to say. What could I say? It wasn't like she could talk back in our current predicament. But I supposed that we had just moved past the point of words. My apprehensions towards all of this were slowly starting to return but before they could make me think twice or say something stupid I craned my head up and captured her lips to begin another kiss.
She accepted it happily. She pulled at my shirt untucking it and baring my chest to run her fingers over as her hips rolled making her grind against me in a most pleasing way, I released a pleased groan from the movement.
"We're home!"
I heard the twins announce their arrival in unison and looked over to see them looking at us both with clear amusement on their faces.
"Damn Gent I thought we needed to have some boundaries in here," Melanie said with a laugh. "If Mil and I can't fuck Neo on the couch then I don't think it's very fair that you get to."
"It-it's not like that!" I lied. I had no idea where that could have led to if we were left to our own devices. I had no doubt that it could have very well led that far if allowed.
"Oh please," Miltia said with an eye roll. "We know the gun in your pants isn't that big." She said pointing to my crotch.
I turned scarlet as Neo slid off my lap. I crossed my leg to hide what had already been seen and commented on. I didn't really know what to say to them so I just stayed as silent as the grave.
Melanie just laughed at my embarrassment and I felt the tension Neo and I just shared slip away from me. I was not just left feeling awkward and frustrated.
"I knew you were going to try bumping uglies with him," Melanie bragged to Neo, shrugging off her coat and throwing it over her shoulder. "No need for you two to stop on our account Neo, you can both just carry on as you were. But feel free to tag Mil and I in if ya want."
Neo shot her a death glare but Mel seemed immune, if anything she seemed more smug under her intense gaze.
The moment was certainly ruined now for the both of us.
Neo turned to me and gave me a wry little smile. "Goodnight - Jaune." She signed to me as she gathered her shoes and coat leaving out the door.
Melanie shrugged at the closed door and turned back to me. "If you try to catch her now I'm sure she'll be up for getting a hotel room or something."
"Will you just stop!" I demanded of her. "I feel awkward enough already about this."
"What's to feel awkward about Jaune? You like her, and as I suspected she likes you. Go fuck, I'm happy for the two of you." She told me noncommittally as she walked over to the coffee table and stole Neo's glass of rum.
"That was a mistake," I told them. "We work together, we shouldn't do anything like that."
"You work with us." Miltia commented, taking a seat in a chair and crossing her arms. "That didn't exactly stop you from fooling around with the two of us."
I looked away knowing that of course they were perfectly right about that. My lame little excuse had no power here. "That… that's different," I told them quietly.
I couldn't exactly tell them why I was so worried about having any sort of relationship with Neo despite the fact that I found the idea quite appealing.
"I don't see how," Melanie scoffed. "It's just fucking, I'm sure you'll both have a wonderful time."
"Can you stop saying that!" I barked at her.
"Oh I'm so sorry Jaune," Melanie said, feigning sympathy. "I'm sure the two of you will have a blast "making love." She said putting her fingers up in air quotes to add to the mockery. That cut me even deeper.
I scowled at her and held my tongue. I picked up and down the rest of my rum in a single gulp without anything to say. I looked back up to see that Miltia was studying me.
"What!?" I asked her pointedly.
"You're worried that it's going to be about more than just sex aren't you?" She asked me calmly.
I sat there stunned and unable to deny that she had hit the nail right on the head. After another long moment of silence I stood up. "I need another drink," I answered noncommittally.
"So she's right!" Melanie said, covering her mouth with shock. "You really like her, like really like her."
I didn't say anything as I uncorked the bottle of rum and poured myself another couple fingers of the sweet liquor.
"Well that's even better," Melanie said triumphantly. "Take her out, have a roll in the sheets and if things lead to something more than great. Neo's been needing to find a good guy, one that actually likes her is all the better. Go for it!"
I still didn't say anything as I sipped my drink. I had a feeling that anything I said would somehow only deepen this pit.
"Jaune," Miltia said a lot more carefully than her sister. "What Mel is trying to say is… Neo's not like us, she doesn't have a long list of friends with benefits. She hardly has any normal friends to begin with, she's got trust issues. That she's willing to open up to you is good… she's not that way with a lot of people."
Then I'm the last person she should be shacking up with. I thought to myself. She had every reason to be distrustful of me, even if she didn't know it.
"Because of that I was planning on getting the two of you together with Mil and I," Melanie explained. "Neo trusts us and feels safe with us, I figured that'd help things. I wasn't expecting the two of you to get that ball rolling on your own."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean it wasn't just because you wanted a foursome?" I asked her bitterly, trying to throw her own desires back in her face.
Melanie gave me a sultry little grin and a wag of her eyebrows. "That's just a perk of being such a good friend," she told me slyly.
"Hedonist," I called her with a shake of my head.
"Hey! Don't call it like that, I just wanted all of us to have fun and help out a good friend. Nothing wrong with that." She commented.
I could see her logic behind that, but in my frustration I just scowled and downed the rest of my drink before walking away.
"Where are you going?" Miltia asked me.
"To take a cold shower and go to bed," I answered her.
"If you're feeling blue balled I know what can help," Melanie offered.
"No thanks," I told her.
"Are you sure? I could turn out the lights and stay completely quiet so you can imagine-."
"Goodnight," I said, shutting down the idea again.
I was honestly a lot more frustrated at myself than the twins. For all of Melanie's teasing and lewd comments I knew that she was just trying to be helpful to Neo and I in her own twisted way. Miltia was the same but in a much more civil manner. I was just frustrated that I was so weak kneed about Neo that I couldn't even draw a line in the sand. I was angry that I was letting my own attraction cloud the fact that I was here as a spy.
I felt my mission slipping away. Without making any calls to Ozpin I was actually thinking about that fact less and less with every passing day. I had even tried calling Ozpin's number but apparently he wasn't taking calls on that scroll anymore. I thought about calling Beacon itself but I didn't know how that would go.
What would I say?
Hi this is Jaune Arc, disgraced former student of your academy. I need to talk to Headmaster Ozpin, I'm on a secret mission to spy on this city's criminals for him. Can I schedule a meeting for two o'clock?
Trying to contact Ozpin through normal channels wasn't a good option. And besides he had told me to only contact him with the burner scroll so going out of my way to talk to him wouldn't be following his strict instruction.
Plus I wasn't exactly thrilled about the guy or the mission at this point.
The night passed without anything else of note happening and the next day the twins didn't bother to bring up Neo to me. They at least had enough sense to leave me stew in my own thoughts about that subject.
With the SDC shipment scheduled to arrive that night I spent the rest of the day getting ready for the job. I made sure that my crew was properly armed with our customary shotguns loaded with nonlethal rounds and special shells loaded with dust courtesy of Kaiu's skilled hand.
With my personal crew ready I drove with them across town to some warehouse the White Fang had readied as some improvisational base of operations.
"Did Kenzo's guys attach the winches to the bullheads?" I asked Cardin.
He nodded. "Yeah he lent us a few mechanics, they'd never worked on any aircraft before but they were confident with their work. Those Fang guys weren't exactly happy to have a couple of Mistrali humans working on their bullheads."
"They'll live, and Kenzo will keep those guys quiet," I commented, opening the door and stepping into the warehouse where said bullheads were waiting already fueled and ready for tonight's job. I stepped in and approached a couple of the White Fang members who eyed me through their masks.
"Is this that Jaune guy we were told to expect?" The biggest guy asked another sporting a familiar set of dog ears.
"Yeah that's him and his crew," George confirmed for him.
"How are you doing man?" I asked the dog faunus, trying to be friendly. I was at least grateful that he had told Adam and Roman the truth.
George just shrugged at me and turned, leaving me to deal with his superior.
"You don't need to know my name," he told me flatly.
"Fine," I said simply. "Do you know the plan?"
He shrugged. "There's not much of one, we go in, we take out any security and attach the cables before taking off with the dust."
An oversimplification to be sure but that was the bare bones of the plan. Dock security was handled by Tony's union and they were going to be strangely absent once we flew over in the bullheads. We expected the rest of the SDC employees and dockworkers to flee at the first sign of trouble, if anyone tried anything I insisted that my crew and I handle it. We had nonlethal shells loaded up for a reason.
"Leave any security to me," I told him. "I don't need you and guys causing a massacre."
"Just do your job right human and we won't have to cause any bloodshed," he said in a way that suggested that he hoped that things would in fact get violent.
Fucking terrorists.
"It'll be fine," Cardin said, stepping to him to let his height do the talking. "Just make sure you and the rest of your guys are quick getting those shipping containers attached. We want things to go smoothly tonight."
The leader just glared at Cardin.
"Don't tell me you're fighting already," A familiar voice boomed from across the warehouse. I turned and greeted Roman as he approached us all with his cane in hand and a confident spring in his step.
"Not at all sir," I told him with a respectful nod of my head. "I'm just seeing that we all understand how things are before we get underway."
The nameless White Fang leader just shrugged and walked away.
"Are you all ready?" Roman asked me, walking around as we gave the bullheads and the White Fang crews an idle inspection.
"About as ready as I can be," I told him confidently. "My crew and I are armed and ready for action."
"Good," he said with a nod. "I just got word that they finished offloading the ship so we're going to move in right now. The SDC is itching to get that dust off the docks so we're going to swoop in right now."
As he explained this I watched as the large doors of the warehouses were opened and the bullheads rolled out into the open air for takeout.
"Don't worry we're ready," I assured him. "My crew knows how to do their jobs."
"At least you do," Roman said, giving the rest of the White Fang members a dubious look. "Did you know that half these pilots only have a dozen hours of flight time between them?" He asked me.
"No I didn't," I said, giving one of the aircraft a dubious look as I watched the pilot inside flip a bunch of switches as his craft rolled out of the warehouse to assemble. "Do you think they can keep them in the air?"
"Apparently they have so far," he told me with an encouraging pat on my shoulder. "And they've apparently the best on the simulators."
"That's not very comforting," I mentioned to Roman nervously.
"I know," he said, giving me a grin before moving off to board the lead craft. I joined him with the rest of my Crew as we all piled into the aircraft along with the rest of the White Fang members. We pulled on the white grimm masks as the side doors closed and the craft took to the sky.
The bullhead ascended and lowered quickly before taking several turns that made my sensitive stomach churn. I was very grateful that I hadn't eaten since breakfast that day because I was sure that this bonehead's flying would have made me lose everything out in this cramped little cockpit with everyone packed in like sardines. I just tried to focus on the blank wall of the bullhead as I felt the craft rise and fall randomly beneath my feet.
"You alright?" Cardin asked me quietly, standing to my side gripping the top rail since it was standing room only here. It wasn't like those luxury padded seat bullheads Beacon students used to ferry themselves to and from the Academy to Beacon.
"Motion sickness," I said to him as I tried to keep myself from hurling the bile in my stomach. "I've always struggled with it while flying."
"With this guy's flying I think we're all at risk of losing our lunch," he said bitterly.
"Do me a favor," I said to him. "Go up to the cockpit and put a gun to the pilot's head, if that won't make him fly straight I don't know what will."
Cardin chuckled at my little half joke. "I'm pretty sure they lock the cockup just in case of people trying to do just that."
I sighed and tried to endure the rest of the flight with my dignity intact.
"Deery?" I heard Russel ask behind me.
I turned and saw him looking at one of the White Fang members crowded into a corner. The small white antlers that protruded from her head of ginger hair showed me what a white grimm mask couldn't hide. I saw that indeed she was the faunus girl I had met with Russel about the bootleg operation. Apparently aside from stealing dust I was helping provide flight simulators to the White Fang so they could train inept bullhead pilots.
"Deery is that you?" Russel asked again, seemingly a little excited to see the little faunus girl. She on the other hand didn't so much as give Russel so much as a glance.
"Rus!" I said to him quietly. "Leave her alone, we're working," I reminded him. Even if it was her then she had no plans looking chummy with a human while surrounded with her extremist comrades. He was probably better pretending that she was a complete stranger.
The bullhead suddenly dropped and my stomach flipped during the descent and I could only assume that we were now going down to land at the docks. Nausea or not it was show time.
The craft set down with a jolt and the side door slid open. I breathed in the salty air of the ocean. The mechanical ramp lowered and several of the terrorists stepped out. I was close behind.
The leader who had abstained to give me a name to call him held up a rifle as he looked at his men.
"Alright, grab the tow cables!" He ordered them as Cardin and my crew began spreading out along the docks to see that indeed the security had cleared out as planned. I slung my shotgun over my shoulder and waved to the leader that everything was looking clear so far.
I watched as the terrorists fumbled with the cables and winches of the bullhead as they tried prepping it to haul away entire containers.
"Hey! What's the hold up?" Roman asked, descending the bullhead's ramp seeing them all struggling with the cables and other equipment that they weren't exactly familiar with.
"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment," he told them. "So why don't you animals try to pick up the pace!" He barked at them. I moved over to stand by him as he walked the docks.
"I think we're in the clear for now," I told him. "Security cleared out like planned and I'm not even seeing the workers." I reported to him.
"All the more reason we want this finished up quick," he told me. "We need this to go smoothly, keep close just in case."
I nodded and turned away as another Fang member approached Roman with a cable bundled in his arms. I heard him ask Roman something to which he replied that the cable wasn't a leash. Whatever that had been about.
"What the!" I heard Roman exclaim suddenly.
Sensing danger I turned around and drew my .38 from it's holster, leveling it at a newcomer.
"Oh for f-!" Roman said as a black curved blade was pressed against his throat.
"Nobody move!" The feminine voice of the mysterious newcomer cried.
I was stunned, staring through the sight of my revolver which was pointed between the amber eyes of Blake Belladonna.