"Yeah, and you could have one or two on top as well. You could do hot chocolate, ooh, and cookies. What about hot cakes mixed with cold ice-cream?"
"Hot chocolate fudge cake with vanilla?"
They both salivated at the idea.
"Okay, I think that's definitely the right choice. I'll set this place up for sweets, cakes, ice-cream and coffee. I guess it can be a place people stop at for a little bit, rather than a restaurant. Thanks for the help, Ruby."
"No problem, I-" Ruby cut off as her scroll rang. She looked down at it and noticed she had a message from Yang. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god…"
"What?"
"Ugh, it's my sister." Ruby slapped a hand to her forehead. "Apparently, she's been thrown out of a club because she started a fight and trashed the entire place. I can't believe her!" She stood up with a sigh. "I have to go. She's going to take me home." She paused, and then reached for her purse. "How much do I owe you for the food?"
"Nah, don't worry about it," Jaune said. "It's on the house. You're my first ever customer."
She was about to cheer, but paused and frowned instead. Free food was free food, but this was her new friend's life on the line. Or well, his life in Vale as a businessman. She couldn't bring herself to tread on that, or to be even slightly responsible for it failing. "Nope!"
"Huh?"
"I said nope. You said I was your first customer, well that means you need to charge me for the food." She smiled. "Think of it as practice for all the people you'll need to charge."
"But you're a friend…"
"And I'm going to come back for more of that coffee, and you can't keep giving it away." Ruby crossed her arms and stomped one foot on the floor. Her smile gave her mood away, however. "I would like the bill, sir. How much do I owe?"
"Uh… ah…" Jaune's eyes widened, and he quickly dived for a box, drawing out a long receipt as he checked how much he'd paid. "How does ten lien sound?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow. It was five lien for a can of soda.
"Okay, too low… how about, maybe ten for the coffee and ten for the ice-cream. Does twenty sound okay?"
"Hmm, it sounds about right," she said. Out came her purse, and she pulled out some lien. "Here's twenty-five."
"Oh, I have some change somewhere."
"No, silly…" She laughed and curled his fingers closed around it. "It's a tip. Now I'm your first customer, and also your first tipper."
Ruby wasn't sure when paying for food had become so fulfilling, but she backed away with a wide smile. Maybe it was because she'd made a friend too, or because it was her friend she was paying, or just the fact she was proud of him in the first place.
Jaune looked up at her happily. "Thanks, Ruby. I won't forget this."
"You better not! And don't forget how to make that coffee too. Once I get into Beacon and get a team, I'm going to drag them here so they can try some as well." She'd bring Yang, too. "W-Well that is if I make friends with anyone at Beacon… heh…"
"I'm sure you will, Ruby." Jaune said. "Remember, you made friends with me, right? Just do what you did here."
"Run into and injure them?"
"Eh?" He paused, and then poked his bruise with a wince. "Well it worked, right?"
It did, and she got what he was trying to say. Ruby smiled widely, and then gave him a quick hug. In a weird way, he'd already helped her feel a little more confident. When she backed away towards the door, it was with her hands linked behind her back and a huge smile on her face. She'd made a friend. She'd talked to a complete stranger and made friends with them, and yeah it was one who was as shy as her – but wouldn't she find people like that in Beacon, too?
It gave her hope, and that was something she'd been lacking before. In that way, this had been a great night, and totally worth the twenty-five lien she'd lost. She could do this. She could go to Beacon, and she could make friends. How could she not, when she'd managed to make one with some guy she'd just bumped into?
"I'll see you again, Jaune," she waved, opening the door, which chimed the bell above it. "I promise!"
/-/
Jaune watched the door slam shut with another jingle, and let out a soft sigh as he was left alone once more. It was followed by a slow inhale, and then a relieved exhale. He leaned back in his seat, arms slack at his side. The plain ceiling taunted him.
"Cool, huh?"
He sighed.
"What a joke."
Running a diner wasn't cool, even if he was young. This was just his desperate attempt to convince himself he wasn't somehow a failure. Maybe things would have been different if this had been his dream from the start, but it wasn't. He wanted to be a huntsman. He was too weak to be a huntsman. He still had the letter from Ozpin in the back office, though nowadays he couldn't get past the `We regret to inform you` part.
Listening to Ruby talk about being accepted hurt. It was a dull pain, but she'd torn the bandage straight off and rubbed salt in the wound. Not that he'd told her, of course. He'd hidden it all and smiled for her – as a good waiter ought to. To her credit, she seemed to realise quickly enough and looked suitably horrified. She seemed like a good person. The kind of girl he'd have loved to be friends with if he'd been accepted as well. Despite his raging jealousy… he hoped she'd make it as a huntress.
At least one of them should.
With exhausted muscles, and a tired sigh, he pushed himself to his feet. The furniture wouldn't set itself up, and there was work to be done if he didn't want to crawl back home with his tail tucked between his legs. Maybe this wasn't what he wanted, but it would let him stay in Vale. If he couldn't be a huntsman himself, then he could at least pretend, right? Maybe even live through Ruby if she ever came back. Hopefully, she would come and visit again. Doing something like this might become boring otherwise. How exciting could a life like this even be?
He had no idea why he felt a shiver run down his spine.
It was probably just the ice-cream.