"Like I said, stop worrying." Jaune pushed past Weiss and paused with his good arm on the doorjamb. "The only ones blaming you girls are yourselves. I'm on track to make a profit today, so who cares if it's not as high as usual? You probably wouldn't expect me to hold my own if you took me out against Grimm, and I don't expect you to be as good as me at what is basically my job." He ducked away a second later, shaking his head as he laughed to himself. He left four girls in complete silence. It was Blake who broke it. "Maybe he has a point," she said. "I guess it was arrogant to think we'd be better at this job than someone used to it."
"Is it?" Weiss asked. "There are four of us, even if we're inexperienced."
"I want to do better, but how can we fake passion?" Ruby asked.
"You can't," Yang answered. "At least, I don't think you can." She sighed and ran a hand down her face. "Like he said, no matter how hard we try, we don't actually care about this place – at least not as much as he does. We'll work ourselves to the bone to help him out because he's a friend, but we get our satisfaction from knowing we helped."
Weiss sighed. "And he gets it every time a customer is happy. I suppose that's why this place is so popular. Maybe that's why we come here."
"Jaune's good at what he does," Ruby agreed, smiling at the praise for her friend. It fell away a second later, however. "And we're not."
"We're not right now," Yang corrected. "Are we really willing to just let this stand? He might be all for saying it's fine for us to do worse, but I don't think I like the idea of us four losing out to a single over-worked civilian. Come on, we're supposed to be the best team in Beacon!"
"That's a big claim," Weiss warned. Her frown transformed into a small smile, however. "But no, I'm not willing to admit defeat. Weiss Schnee is not going to be beaten at money-making, and certainly not by some first-time café owner. My grandfather would roll over in his grave." "I want to help him," Ruby agreed. "I want to do better."
"And I'll be dragged along for the ride as usual," Blake chuckled. "Very well, I'm game. What's the plan?"
"We can't fake passion, but I think we can do something better," Yang said. "We just need to be more natural, right? Instead of trying to be things we're not – let's try and take advantage of what we do have, even if it's not normal waitress stuff."
Yang held both arms out beside her, raising an eyebrow when Weiss and Blake didn't seem to know what to do. It took Ruby joining her in the huddle for them to catch on, and soon the four of them were crouched together, whispering ideas back and forth. Jaune might have been the better barista, but he was way off the mark if he thought they'd just roll over and accept defeat.
Not. A. Chance.
/-/
"Welcome to Jaune's," Blake greeted as a middle-aged huntsman entered. She held her hands cupped before her and tilted her head to the side, smiling enigmatically. "Would you like a table for one, or are you waiting for someone?"
He seemed caught off-guard by her appearance, or maybe just her demeanour. "O-Oh, just the one, please. I didn't realise Jaune had hired help."
"He had a little accident and hurt his arm," she explained, walking away and trusting the man to follow. He did. "We're helping him out for today so he doesn't hurt himself trying to handle everything." "That's very kind of you." The man smiled as he accepted the menu, but placed it down without looking. "I'll have a coffee black with one sweeter, please, and an orange cake."
Blake nodded. "Coming right up, sir." She made her way to the counter, but instead of asking Weiss for help, slipped behind instead and fished out the cake on her own, cutting it gently into place. By the time Weiss had the coffee ready, having read it off a note she'd subtly slipped her, Blake was able to take both back and offer them to the man. "Here you go. The cake's a little warm, so please be careful."
"I will, thank you." The man seemed intrigued by her air, or perhaps just the fact she hadn't once tried to smile out of place, or act like some kind of air-headed waitress. His eyes dipped a little lower, funnily enough to her arms. "You look like a huntress yourself. Are you in training?"
She nodded, impressed that he'd been able to tell just from her corded muscle. "I am. I'm studying at Beacon with my team. That's them, by the way. We're here helping Jaune today."
"Nice to see the next generation keeping up our trends," the man said with a chuckle. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some change. "Here, and a little for yourself as well."
Her eyes widened, and the first smile she'd shown appeared. "Thank you."
"I think you've earned it. Run along, missy."
On her way back to the counter, Blake flashed Yang a victorious smirk. Yang took it in stride, nodding back as she danced her way between two tables, bending over to slide a tray onto both at the same time in a display of acrobatics that looked a lot harder than it was for some like her. "Orders are served," she cheered, shooting the guy who'd ordered a saucy wink.
He laughed and blushed in return, scratching the back of his head. Beside him, his partner – or at least she assumed it was – seemed all too amused. "Don't get too excited, buster. You're dating my sister."
"D-Dude, what the hell!?" the first cried, humiliated. "Don't say things like that!"
"Forgive him," the second said, smirking at her. "He's a sucker for a pretty smile."
"Oh my, are you calling me pretty?" Yang fluttered her lashes and giggled flirtatiously. "I'll have to be careful. No touching, mister." She leaned over to tap a finger against his nose, and was rewarded by his partner bursting into laughter.
"Oh, this is too good. I liked this place before, but it's nice to see it getting livelier."
"Well, make sure to show our boss how much you like it and maybe he'll hire more like us."
"Oh, I'll be sure to."
The doorbell rang, and Ruby darted back in sporting an empty tray. She'd been selling sweets outside, both to make a little extra and to lure people inside for more. It looked like it had gone well. Yang reached the counter just as Weiss finished stacking the tray back up.
"Hey, Yang," Ruby grinned. "Things are going good!" "Looks like it," she replied. Something caught her eye on Ruby's face and she chuckled and wet her thumb. "Hang on. You've got a little flour on your face."
Ruby squirmed and flushed as Yang wiped it clean. "Yaaang," she complained. "Not while I'm working…"
Yang grinned, and then grinned even more when she heard some of the nearby customers `aww` at the little display. That would be more tips, maybe. Like Jaune said, they weren't passionate about the job, but they were competitive, and if there was one thing Ruby was good at it was looking adorable.
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