88Aye! What's up? It's NeoShadows here for a special treat for all my fans and new readers!
So, while I was busy working on the next Chapter of Multiplayer, I felt bad that I wouldn't be able to upload just yet. It's a big one that has been going over edits and introduces a few new things. Not to mention I'm also working on the Players abilities and quirks too. Which is why I've decided to publish this little story for all of ya.
This is Arc Works. A series of one-shots for stories in the making. Every story here will eventually be published in the future, with two of them planned for release in 2017 during Multiplayer's break. I've already finished two one-shots and plan on finished the third one shortly. For now, I've decided to release this one chapter as an example of what's to come. Hope you enjoy the little piece. I plan on editing the second one-shot shortly and publishing it later tomorrow.
Now, let's get on to scrolling!
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to RWBY, they belong to RoosterTeeth. A new year, and same old problems. I have too many games in my library, it makes me groan in pain. I just bought BlazBlue fully knowing I have to finish my writing. Eh, at least I got some more eye candy to drool over. Love me some Noel, rawr!
Chapter 1: Daily Life of a Freelancer(All Trades of Jaune).
Life for one Jaune Arc was. . .interesting to say the least. He could remember a time when he lived a simple life; went to school, studied late at night with friends, constantly worried about passing the next exam, partied late at night with his best buds, and tried to work up the courage to ask out his high school crush. Simpler times, how he missed them.
"Get out the road, jackass!"
Jaune's brow twitched as another car driver flipped him off, passing him by with a loud angry horn blare. The road belonged to everyone, even bicyclist. And he was obeying the speed limit like a good Samaritan. Did that deserve a big old 'Fuck You'?
Where was he again? Right, normal life. How missed those days where he was just a teenager going through high school. But there laid the problem; every high schooler eventually graduates. Well, not all of them, he was actually very lucky to have just passed by a hair's breath. And the happy day had come where he stood with all his classmates, accepting his diploma with tears in his eyes. Finally, after years of hard work, he had passed and was ready to make his first steps to his future caree-
At the time, his face had frozen still in an expression of 'Oh, shit' that could still be seen in his graduation photo. Right, he had almost forgotten. He had no idea what he was going to be doing with his life after school. Shit, that would have been useful to remember when he had been talking with his counselor.
The blonde haired teen sighed in exasperation, sweat rolling past his blue baseball hat as he swerved to the right to move out of the way of another car. His blue sweatshirt was sticking to his chest from all the bicycling, the brisk weather doing little to soothe his sweating. He was wearing a simple blue sweatshirt with a bunny symbol on the back, black sweatpants, a baseball hat a friend has given to him as gift a month ago, and blue sneakers with a cross-hair logo on the sides.
Graduated from high school, four years of hard work and studying, all so that he would leave with no idea with what he wanted to with the rest of his life. All his friends had plans that they were already working towards to; Ren and Nora were going steady and planning on earning enough money to open up their own diner, Pyrrha was training abroad to become the first ever all gold Olympian in sports, Ruby was on her third year in high school, Yang was working as a waitress while training to become a heavy weight champion in boxing, his sweet Weiss was in college so that she could takeover her families company, and Blake was working as a librarian. They understood what they wanted to do with their lives, all except him.
He did know that he liked helping people. If anything, he wanted to join the military like his father, but lacked the training and qualifications to join. He did try faking some transcripts to be accepted, but they saw through them like that. Not to mention his own parents didn't want him to join, they worried about his safety.
Stopping at the red light up ahead, Jaune moved his backpack to his side, rummaging through to make sure its contents were safe and secure. He nodded with a relieved smile, glad to find the lunchboxes in good condition. Good, didn't want to lose his pay, needed all his pay to make rent on time this month.
Once high school was over with, he knew he wanted to move out. He'd been living with two of his friends and their mother for the last year when he had no where to go. He was a grown up now, working a decent paying job. It was about time he unburdened himself from them and got his life together. Too bad the very day he moved out to find a place, he had been fired from his pizza delivery job from a delivery gone bad, and lost all the money he had been saving in his piggybank to a mugger. Safe to say, he had a very bad day. Ashamed to walk back when he had just left, Jaune wandered the streets, cursing his bad luck and lack of thinking, praying for a miracle.
And it was on that day, that Jaune had stumbled upon an odd worn down shop and its owner. A dusty old crow with a drinking habit took one look at him and grinned.
A series of events later, and Jaune Arc had found himself owner of the Crow's Nest, a freelance service where anyone could stop by for services of any kind. At least he had job now, and a roof over his head. Too bad he had no idea how to properly run a business, especially one so diverse.
11:13a.m winked at him from his watch, making the blonde grit his teeth as he glared at the stop light. Damn, he needed to get these lunches to his client! He literally couldn't afford to be late, the landlord was already on his ass about his late payments! Green flicked onto the traffic light. Taking a deep breath, Jaune put his all into pedaling, blasting off on full gear and ignoring the blaring horns from the drivers. Fuck speed limits, he had a fucking job to do!
Now here he was, bicycling past traffic in the middle of the day with hot lunches, on the verge of losing his shop and home because of late payments. And he still had several jobs to do today before he closed up. Simple life was gone, he was a working man trying to make ends meat now.
'I should have thought about my future better. Stupid eighteen year old Jaune.'
A line of yellow school buses met his eyes as he slowed down a bit. Sweet, he wasn't too late. He was going to make it! He could already see the fresh cut, dew slick grass field in front of his old high school and a few students walking about.
"Heads up!"
"Eh?" Blue eyes snapped wide open as he turned his head to origin of the voice, finding a spiraling brown projectile flying towards him. Next thing he knew, he was knocked off his new red bike by the football slamming into his face and kissing the wet grassy ground.
Despite the pain and the bruising face, Jaune grinned in victory, the backpack of lunches safe and sound his arms.
"You know, you're still late."
Wincing as he stood back up, Jaune cursed as he read his watch. Damn, he was late by a minute. Stupid football! He grumbled, wishing death upon the bastard who knocked him off his precious bike as he handed the backpack to his client, their silver eye's looking at him in amusement.
"Sorry about that, Ruby. As per our rules, if you're dissatisfied with our service, its on the house." he said weakly.
Ruby Rose giggled at her longtime best friend's grumpy expression. Like all the other students walking by grassy field near the buses, she was wearing her school uniform blazer and short skirt. Despite his loss of payment, Jaune couldn't help but smile at the short dark redhead girl. She was growing up to be quite a young lady compared to the hyper active, nerdy little girl always hanging out with the old gang. Her hair was even growing to the point she had to tie in it back in a short braided ponytail. Still, despite her growth she was still a foot shorter.
"Don't worry about it, Jaune. You know that even if you're late, I'll still pay for your work." Ruby winked as she patted the blonde's shoulder. Unzipping the bag, she carefully took out the six lunches from the bag.
"Yeah, but it's about trust. If Qrow ever found out that I wasn't abiding by his rules, he'd come back from his trip and smack me around with his flask. Even when he's not around, he's still a slave driver."
"That's Uncle Qrow for ya. Besides, he left you his shop, you should be following your own rules instead of the one's he left behind." Ruby frowned as she took out her wallet. Finding the 50L she owed, she shoved the colorful cards against his chest along with his backpack.
"Now take it. If you don't, I'll call Yang and have her pun you to death. Don't make me go with that route."
Jaune shivered as he nodded stiffly, pocketing the cash. Why did she have to pull the Yang card? He'd rather spar with her for an hour then go a minute listening to her puns. Turning his eyes around the old school campus, he couldn't help but be wistful. Man, it had been a year since he walked these grounds.
"I'm guessing Professor Oobleck's taking his classes to the old museum? I was wondering why you ordered so many boxed lunches today, you must have ordered them for you and your friends. I was worried you might have a problem." he teased as he ruffled the redhead's short hair. Ruby pouted with a scowl, her cheeks red at his close contact.
"Are you calling me fat?"
"No, but you do eat more cookies than your little body should be able to handle. Where does it all go? I'm starting to think they might be stunting your growth."
"I'll have you know I drink milk." she huffed, inwardly sighing in disappointment when he moved back his hand. With that over with, she watched curiously as he crossed off something from the notepad inside his bag, "So, what's the next job? Hopefully your day's packed, or else you're going to be short on cash again. Which would suck, I guess. I mean, worst comes to worst you can always move back in with us?" she smiled shyly as she shifted her feet around.
"Sorry, Ruby, but I ain't going back to burdening you girls again. I know Yang must be happy to have a room to herself again instead of having to share it with you." Even if it was the blonde girl's suggestion that he move in with them when he had been looking for a place, she wasn't exactly happy to be bunking with her little sister again when she enrolled in Beacon.
Ruby groaned at the blonde's stubborn attitude. If it wasn't for that, he would have come back home and continued living with them. She missed having him greet her every time she came back from school, his warm smile always making her heart skip. She wanted her blonde teddy bear back, god damn it!
"I'm sure she'd be fine with it. I know Aunt Raven misses you a lot. She's always asking how you're doing and if you ever lose your place, that she always has a spot for you back home. Even says she'd be willing to share her room with you! Isn't that nice?" she smiled.
Right, how kind of her. Jaune stared flatly at the young high school girl, remembering the last four years he spent living with her, her big sister Yang, and her aunt, Raven Branwen. Their family was complicated. Yang's mother left when she was born due to her. . .sketchy work and their father's busy work schedule taking him away from home. Eventually, he was able to move past it, and even found love again with his friend, Summer Rose. Years later, Yang's mother came back into their lives, wanting to start over with her daughter only for the blonde brawler to turn her away, not wanting to get hurt by the woman who had abandoned them.
But once Yang had been accepted to her dream school in Vale, she had no choice but to bunk with her mother seeing as she lived in the city, close to said school. Eventually even Ruby had been accepted and brought in to live with them; Jaune had been welcomed to Branwen/Xiao Long family two year before Ruby by Yang.
In the final two years of highschool, he had somehow helped the stubborn mother and daughter reconnect. Yang had finally come around to calling her mother instead of Raven, and Raven had finally begun to act like a proper mother. And the dark haired, red eyed woman had been beyond grateful to Jaune for helping her make amend with her daughter and neice and always being there for them despite how rocky things had been at first. Very grateful.
He shivered again, recalling the alluring glint in her eyes as she licked her lips, her deadly fingers grazing against his chest and free hand moving to undue the buttons of her business jacket and blouse underneath.
MILF, that was the first word that had popped into his head. And it had taken every ounce of his being to resist the woman's flirting and trickery. How Ruby and Yang never noticed what their mother/aunt was trying to do with him, he'd never know. Knowing Raven, she'd be more then elated that Jaune moved back in, giving her more chances to whittle down his resistance and sink her teeth into him.
"Well tell her I appreciate the offer, but I got a packed schedule today." he deadpanned, chuckling as he watched his young buddy slump. Ruby must really miss having him around. Must have seen him as an older brother. How nice.
'Boo! And here I was hoping to drag his homeless butt home. He would be so grateful, he would hug me close to his body, running his fingers through my hair and ask me what he could do to pay me back for my kindness. Then I would coyly say that a small kiss would be a nice way to start, and from there, we'd fall into a hot passionate make out session before dropping his pants and shoving my head down to suck his-'
Right, she saw him as an older brother alright. And god wore tight spandex.
Shaking away her naughty thoughts, Ruby hid her blush as she went back to talking with her crush, "What's on your list today? Any catering jobs? Because I would love it if you brought back some extras." she said as smacked her lips hungrily. Another thing she missed was his cooking.
"Well, I got to head over to Ms. Schnee's to clean out her pool at one, help Tukson with his Monday order of textbooks dropping off the truck, walk some dogs around for an hour at the dog park, buy some groceries for the old lady two blocks from my place, and then finish things off with helping Mrs. Belladona with her housework. Looks like I won't be bringing anything back to ya today." he smiled in apology.
Today's odd jobs were pretty simple. For once. Jaune thanked god for finally allowing him a day of normality instead of the craziness he had recently had to deal with.
Ruby pouted, "Aww! I wanted some of your old chocolate chip cookies. Taste just like the one's mom makes at Patch."
Patting the girl's head affectionately, Jaune gave her one last smile before hopping onto his bike. Didn't want to be late for his next job. The life of a freelancer was always busy, when he could find work. He was at least doing a lot better then when he had first started the hand me down business.
"How about I make some for you tomorrow when I see you again? Same old same old, right? Omelet Ham with Chedder cheese, chilled milk bottle, and a small cookie platter, the Ruby Special Breakfast!" he grinned.
Ruby nodded feverishly with stars in her silver eyes, already drooling at the thought. "You know just what a girl wants!"
Jaune chuckled at the girl, fixing his hat back into place before waving good-bye and pedaling to his next job. How he envied Ruby, actually studying for her future with a job in mind. Even if weapons design was an odd choice for a girl like her to pursue.
"Who was that?" One of Ruby's friend's asked as they walked over to her. Ruby could only sigh dreamily as she watched him dodge traffic skillfully on his bike, her blush coming back to life as she answered.
"That's my future waifu."
Jaune panted, his breath ragged as he stopped at the large snow white front gates to the Schnee manor. The whole place had recently been built onto the open grounds, bought by the now owner of the Schnee Dust Corporation, Eis Schnee.
In the past, her husband, Jacques Schnee, had been in charge of the family business, but due to the events of the last month, he was now behind bars and she was now in charge of her father's company. The whole thing had been messy, Jaune should know, he had a hand in helping exposing the man's dirty deeds and even nearly died because of it all. The things he did to keep his shop open.
Buzzing into the gates intercom, he waited for the guards to answer. By now, they knew his face when they saw it in their camera feed, and opened the gates for him to enter the manor. Waving at the guards through the camera's, Jaune rolled his bike in before making his way past the sculpted hedges, water fountains, and expensive lawn ornaments to the front door. He gave it a few knocks and stood by for them to open up.
A jolly laugh passed through the door, bringing a smile to Jaune's.
"Master Jaune! Good to see you on time, as always." Opening the doors, the family butler, Klein Seiben greeted the sweaty blonde with a cheery smile.
"Good to see you too, Klein. I was worried I'd be late, but it looks like I beat traffic yet again! Whoever says you can't beat a car with a bike has never seen my skills on the road!" he grinned proudly. Maybe he should have gone into BMX racing?
"Yes, but I still believe it would be a good idea to buy yourself a car. What's the point in having a license if you don't even drive?" the heavy set gentleman asked as he lead Jaune in.
Jaune shrugged, "I don't have the Lien for a maintaining a car, let alone buying one. I try to save money for four things; Rent, Food, Paychecks, and Comics. Adding a car into that mix would simply be impossible." he nodded sagely.
Klein quirked his brow, "You know, you could save a lot of money for a car if you simply cut back on your comic books. I believe young Weiss once recounted to me a time you spent two hundred Lien on one comic. For a cheap man, you have expensive taste in silly habits."
"Wait, Weiss talks about me?" Jaune blinked, inwardly gushing with joy that his Snow Angel talked about him. And they said he didn't make any progress with her. "And it's not a silly habit! It's adult fiction!" he grumbled as he crossed his arms.
"Yes, yes." Klein chuckled with amusement, "I believe we are all entitled to our own forms of entertainment." Walking by the white, snow colored halls decorated with vases of beautiful flowers and vases, the jolly butler smiled as he caught eye of one of his master's at the end.
"Master Whitley! How are you?"
Stopping still, a young cleanly combed boy dressed in a gray blazer and buttoned white shirt, grays slacks, and loafers, turned with a smile at the older man. The boy's eyes were icy blue and hair white as snow, just like the rest of his family. The smile on his face tweaked a bit, noticing who was accompanying the friendly butler.
"I'm doing well, Klein. I was simply coming back from talking with mother about how things are going in Atlas. It's been a while since I heard of how things are going since we left. Just wanted to make sure they were holding down the fort in our absence." he said with a bow, eyes shut as the two came up to him.
"Ah, I'm sure things are fine. General Ironwood has promised to watch over the mansion in our stay. By the way, have you greeted Master Jaune? It's impolite to not greet your guests." he chided lightly, causing the smile on Whitley's face to twitch.
"Of course, how silly of me. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Arc." Whitley politely greeted Jaune, his icy blue eyes narrowing slightly with his smile.
Jaune smiled back, his own twitching as he held out his hand, "Nice to see ya, Whitley. Hope you're doing well in your studies?"
Whitely shook the blonde's hand, gripping it tightly with a crack, "Always am. Wouldn't want to fall behind and become an unproductive member of society. Right?"
Klein sighed in content at his young master's friendly attitude. My, how he had changed in this last month. It was good to see him acting proper and respectful; the absence of his father and his teachings already doing wonders.
"Well, young masters, I must be off. Afternoon tea doesn't make itself. Well, it does, but where's the love?" he said brightly before heading off towards the kitchen. Jaune already knew the way to the pool, he would be fine by himself and was well trusted.
With the kind hefty man gone out of sight, the teen's smiles dropped, glares replacing them as Whitely snatched his hand back.
"Here to clean the pool, poolboy? Tch, can't you find a real job? Out of high school and still doing work unfit for even a peasant." Whitley scoffed as he sanitized his hands with a bottle of sanitizer in the pocket of his blazer.
"I'm more then just a pool-boy, and it's pool-man! Besides, I do more then just cleaning the pool. I can also chauffeur and act as a bodyguard. You've seen my work, so don't go dissing me." Jaune scowled as the young Schnee heir gave him a flat stare.
"Trust me, I've seen your handy work. We're lucky to be alive after that disaster. The only reason we employ you is because mother is grateful for all that you've done for our family."
"Yeah, yeah. Wouldn't be the first time you've said that to me." Jaune sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared ahead, "So, how's Weiss been doing? It's been a while since I last saw her."
Whitley crossed his arms, looking away from the blonde as he answered, "She's doing fine. Still wonder why she chose to attend a community college of all things when her grades could have gotten her accepted into a high class college. She stops by for breakfast and usually returns late in the afternoon from classes. If you really want to know how she's doing, you should work up the courage to actually ask her some time."
"Snow Angel's got better things to do then waste her time with a loser like me." Jaune smiled bitterly. Someone who still hadn't gotten their life together wasn't worthy of her companionship. Even after helping her family out and having her accept him into her home, he still didn't feel like she would ever give him a chance. She deserved better.
Whitley's flat stare didn't leave as he stared at the blonde teen who had saved their lives. Was he really that dense? He felt his eye twitch again. What the hell was it about him that had his sisters and mother interested in him? He refused to believe the man was this dense.
"If you keep thinking like that, then I agree. I don't understand how the same man who put his life on the life to save this families name is the same one who can't even grow a spine to see how a friend is doing. It's baffling." he sighed as he walked past the blonde before speaking up again.
"Just to let you know, I'm watching you. You may have everyone else fooled, but I know what you're trying to pull. If you so much as wink your eyes at them, I will personally gouge them out with my very fingers."
That was. . .new. From what he recalled of the young Schnee, he wasn't as protective of his family before. Jaune shrugged it off as he turned back to making his way to the manor's pool. It was good that Whitley was showing concern for them, just wished he would stop glaring at him like he slept with his mother on his birthday before they cut the cake.
Which brought him to another problem.
Finding the patio door leading to the outside of the manor, Jaune was greeted by blinding sunlight as he stepped onto the large rock plated pool deck. It was designed half a mile wide; never understood why they needed a pool that big. The pool itself glistened in the sunlight, its once clear waters littered by the drifting leaves swimming about. He could make out the Schnee family crest snowflake tiled masterfully at the bottom of the pool.
"I'll never understand how leaves get into this pool. I don't see a tree even close to the gates of this place." Jaune sighed as he took off his cap to scratch his hair.
"You know how it works, sweetheart. The wind loves to carry them miles away to our little home to drop them off out of spite. Thank god we have you here to fix it." a silky voice purred close to his ears, causing his body to freeze up. Dainty pale white arms wrapped around his chest, hugging him close to their owners body. He gulped, feeling the all too familiar firm breasts covered by what he believed was a bikini pressing against his back.
Eis Schnee, only daughter to Nicholas Schnee, mother of Winter, Weiss, and Whitley Schnee, and recently divorced, greeted Jaune with a hug in her two piece swimsuit. The woman stood an inch shorter then Jaune, her long locks of snow white hair falling over shoulders along with a cowlick atop her head, and her sharp blue eyes were filled with adoration for the man in her arms. Her skin was pale as the moon, smooth and free of any blemishes. And despite having had three kids, the woman looked as young as ever, despite the light faint stretch marks due to birth.
Jaune chuckled nervously as the mature woman's hot breath tickled his neck, "Hello, Mrs. Schnee. It's good to see you again. I trust you're sober?" he asked, concerned when he caught the slightest whiff of alcohol in her breath.
Eis pouted as she released the blonde pool-boy, looking away as she played with her hair. She stood in a tight two piece bikini, her breasts fighting their restraints, "Yes, I am. I'll have you know I've been two weeks sober. I'll still enjoy a drink here and there, but I haven't fallen back into my old habits since the divorce. And do remember," she leaned over provocatively, crossing her arms across her chest to accent them more, "It's Ms. Schnee now, okay?"
"Ms. Schnee, got it. I'm just happy that you're following through with your promise. I know Weiss must be a lot happier to have you around the manor. She's missed having a mom." he said warmly.
The pout remained as the Ice Queen nodded. She had to agree, it was nice to be around her kids again. For once, she was able to have a normal conversation with them that wasn't made up of single sentences. Even Whitley was opening up to her! And it was all due to the incredible man standing before her eyes.
"Well that's all because of you, sweetheart. If you hadn't saved me from that life with Jacques, I would have lost any hope of ever connecting with my children again. Which is why I can only trust your services." she smiled softly as her hand caressed his cheek. Seeing him squirm at her touch only made her smile grow wider. Slowly pulling her hand back, she sashayed to her reclining beach seat, her hips swinging in Jaune's vision. Thank god he wasn't wearing his pool trunks yet.
At the thought, he turned away from the alluring sight as he undid the button of his tracksuit pants. Eis pretended to read a magazine as he slipped them off, biting her lips as her eyes peeked over the pages before groaning in disappointment at the dark blue tropical trunks. Tease. Taking off his sweatshirt and shirt next, Jaune walked over to the shed for the tools he needed to clean the pool.
"Oh! Before you start working, do you mind doing me a favor?" Eis asked sweetly as Jaune walked out with large pool net.
Jaune shrugged as he laid the net down and walked over to the white beauty, "Sure. What can I help you with, Ms. Schnee?" he grinned brightly.
"Well, I just need an extra set of hands to rub my suntan lotion on my skin. You wouldn't want me to wake up with lobster skin, would you?" she pouted with a quivering lip, squeezing her breasts with her crossed arms.
He couldn't say no to that face. . .or that chest. Jaune nodded stiffly as the white haired woman laid face down on her seat and handed him the bottle of lotion. He gulped, his eyes trailing Eis's flawless skin from her exposed neck to her lower back. Should have kept his pants on. Squeezing the white cream in his hands, he lowered them hesitantly to her back.
"Wait! Almost forgot." Eis giggled, stopping Jaune inches from making contact. Her hands went to her back, fingers grazing the knot of her bikini before freeing her girls. She sighed at the freedom, throwing her bikini top to the side, "Don't want any bikini lines. I want every inch of my skin lathered in your hot white cream." she breathed hotly.
'Stay down! Stay down, dammit!' Jaune blushed madly as he felt him member stand at attention. She was doing this on purpose! Fighting down his arousal, Jaune breathed in deep before rubbing his creamed hands over the back of the woman. Eis moaned at the contact, her breath coming out in small gasps as she felt his fingers knead her shoulders. Her fingers clenched, squeezing her thighs together as he moved to her lower back and thighs. She groaned, shutting her eyes tightly.
All the while Jaune's expression was flat, other then the slight twitch in his brow and the blush on his cheeks. Yup, she was doing it on purpose.
"Don't forget my front~!"
It was going to be a long, hard day.
After the torturous effort of fighting an erection while rubbing lotion on Ms. Schnee's soft, subtle body, Jaune was able to finish up his work in the Schnee manor. Eis was grateful and even added an extra tip, so long as he reached for it from between her cleavage. Money was money, and he needed to pay rent.
The blush on his face wouldn't leave him as he went on to his other odd jobs. The kind old woman he was delivering groceries for poked fun at him, pinching his already red cheeks as she asked about the lucky woman swooping him off his feet. They weren't swooping him, they were dragging him off his feet like hungry animals.
At least the work day was almost over. All that was left was the final hurdle, the final boss, a being that made the others pale in comparison to their strength and abilities.
Kali Belladonna smiled happily as she greeted stiff blonde freelancer into her home, "Good afternoon, Jaune! So happy you could fit me into your busy schedule. Cleaning our manor always such a chore for my lonesome self." she sighed as she lead Jaune into her home.
Wife of the late High Leader of The White Fang, Kali Belladonna. She was a simple housewife, and ambassador of the people and faunus of Menagerie along with being Blake's mother. With her husband, Ghira Belladonna having passed away during a peace rally by some unknown assailant years ago, she was left to raise her daughter all by herself during the strife. And with the death of her father, Blake grew up wanting to bring equality like her father, which lead her down a dark road under the new leadership. It wasn't until she had hit her teens that she realized what they had been doing was wrong and eventually ran back home into her mother's arms.
Safe to say, Kali had it rough with all the pressure of her people baring down on her, her husband dying for peace, and her daughter running away from home to leave her by herself. She thanked Oum above though for returning her daughter back to her in one piece.
The Belladonna's were a good family. Jaune himself had gotten to know Blake in high school as an English Partner, eventually finding her as friend he could trust. They weren't the closest, but they were friends in his mind.
Nowadays though, they had gotten a lot closer then they were in school. Most likely due to the events from the past three months that had started from a simple request of helping out with some house work that had somehow lead into stopping a plot from a high member of the White Fang planning on igniting a civil war while taking Blake and her mother hostage in a burning building. He still had scars from that day on his chest from the red haired man's blade. He was lucky to have survived.
Jaune was starting to see a pattern here. Every time he wound up helping his friends reconnect with their broken family, their lonely, single mother's would turn their eyes onto him. There was just something about a young blonde man with carefree blue eyes fixing their problems that turned them on.
And out of all of them, Kali was the boldest.
The door shut behind Jaune once he stepped inside, shaking its frame as he found the cat faunus woman's arms wrapping around his neck. The woman was dressed in a her white hakama, black shrug, and wooden sandals. Her yellow eyes leered as she rubbed her hands over his chest.
"You know, we could always skip our chores. Blake's visiting her friend Yang and is planning on going to the movies with that boy, Sun. And I've been feeling very dirty lately." she purred into his neck, grinning when she saw Jaune try to ignore her advances. His face was stone, not showing a glimpse of emotion other then the red dusting his cheeks.
"I think it would be better if we got started on your chores. After all, you're not paying me to stand around and look pretty, right?" he chuckled nervously.
Kali eye's widened in shock, reminding him of a cat's expression, "I can do that?"
Jaune gave her a flat stare, shaking his head, "No, no you can't. Besides, I'm pretty sure you have something else in mind."
He wasn't wrong. Kali's mind wandered to having the teen all to herself for a day. Running her hands across that muscled chest as he laid her down, spreading her legs apart with a cocky grin on his boy handsome face. She could feel his hot member teasing her before thrusting into her-
"Mrs. Belladonna? You're drooling again."
Blinking, Kali slapped her cheeks to snap out of her fantasy. Couldn't have that right now. They still had plenty of work to be doing before she could have any fun.
She apologized as she cleaned her lips of the drool, "Sorry, my little mind tends to wander. We do have to get to those chores before my little kitty comes home. Not to mention dinner has to be prepared. We can always fool around when we're done." she winked.
'Resist. Must. Resist.'
"You know, you can always hire some people to maintain this place." Jaune suggested as he followed the mature cat faunus to the living room for their cleaning supplies, "It's a big manor, close to the Schnee's place. Keeping this place clean is more of a pain then a chore by yourself."
"Yes, but I grew up without relying on the help of others. Not to mention I wouldn't have much else to do other then my gardening and decorating. Besides, that's why I have you here." she smiled, "You're the only one I can trust with such chores. I also like having someone to talk to about the little things while I clean around the house. It reminds me of when Ghira was alive."
The sad drop of her voice stabbed at Jaune's heart. Kali did a very good job hiding the pain of her husband, but even after all these years, she was still reeling from his death. It hurt to see the kind, gentle woman with such a sadness in her eyes.
Laying his hand on her shoulder, Jaune gave Kali a warm smile as she blinked away the tears.
"I'm sure he's happy to know you still think about him after all this time. He was a lucky guy to have you. And I can't lie and say I don't also enjoy doing these small chores with you. And as long as you need me, I'll always be here for you and Blake."
'I'll do whatever it takes to protect you! Even if it costs me my life, I WON'T LE THEM HURT YOU ANYMORE!'
Shutting her eyes at the old memory, Kali couldn't help the feeling of her racing heart due from the blonde freelancer. So gentle, yet so fierce. In the fires of that crumbling building, she could see the image of his battered and beaten back standing between them and the red horned man ready to gut him like an animal. Since that day, she couldn't fight the guilty pull she felt at the sight of him. It had been so long since someone had been able to capture her heart.
It was at that moment Jaune was taken back as he was pushed back into the sofa, flinching as his head hit the seat, "Ow! Mrs. Belladonna, what are you doing?" he groaned, only to gasp as the woman jumped onto his lap. His eyes flew open, finding the woman grinding against his crotch with a Cheshire grin.
"I've just remembered that there are some gutters in need of cleaning. And I can't do it myself any longer! I need your special tool to get deep in there and clean it off with your hot liquid soap!" she moaned as her fingers flew for his belt.
"Aw, come on! What about Blake?! She won't be happy to find her mother sleeping with her friend!" he tried to argue.
At that, the cat faunus mother stopped, staring off blankly just as she had taken off her hakama, leaving her in her lacy white top.
"You're saying, that because my daughter would be upset at finding out her mother is screwing her friend behind her back, we can't fool around?" she said slowly, getting a nod from Jaune.
Well, that was one of many reasons why. Even if he himself really, really, wanted to throw it all out the window.
Jaune sighed in relief as Kali nodded in understanding, "Okay, then I guess we must do what we must do." she said simply before taking out her scroll. Blake's number was displayed on the screen, making Jaune's face pale as the mature woman grinned widely.
Dear god, no.
"Hello? Mother, is that you? Is everything alright?"
"Yes, my little kitty. I'm just calling to let you know that Jaune and I are slee-"
"Give me that!"
Wrestling the woman onto the ground, Jaune struggled to end the call as he pinned the woman on her back. Kali giggled, wrapping her legs around his waist while using her free hand to undue her bottom robes. With her legs, she began to slowly ease his pants off, dragging them between his ankles as she pressed harder against him.
"Mom? What is it you're trying to say? Is Jaune there? Hello?"
"Call you back, honey! There's some spring cleaning that's been long overdue."
"It's Spring!"
Nightfall descended onto the dirty, haggard, worn out Jaune as he dragged himself home for the day. It had taken some effort and sweet words, but he had been able to stop Kali from slipping of his briefs and doing the dead on the floor. He'd never felt less of a man after turning her down. Damn chivalry!
With that out of the way, they were able to return to their chores, cleaning up the living spaces and rooms, tending the garden, finish up laundry, and prepare dinner for when Blake arrived. Along with all the work, he had to deal with the cat faunus woman's flirty ways and grabby hands. Made sense that by the end of the day, he was tired to the bone. He got paid his works due, was given a nice little boxed lunch Kali had prepared for him, and had his ass smacked as he left the door. Exhaustion was an understatement after all the work he had gone through.
He was still wondering where the hell she could have gotten that sexy maid's uniform from.
Dragging his feet through the streets, Jaune's weary blue eyes came upon his little slice of heaven. Broke down heaven, but paradise was paradise.
Crow's Nest. A weathered three floor shop in the middle of two apartment complexes; a basement for all their stocked items and supplies, the shop where they did business and negotiated prices with clients, and the top floor where they lived and hung out after a long day like today. The outside had wooden display shelves where they sold candy treats and newspapers along with posters telling of their many services inside. The sign was faded, the 'r' in Crow's slanting like it was ready to fall off any day now. The inside wasn't as bad, but was in need of an update and repairs. One of these days he was going to have to stop procrastinating and fix the place up.
Walking up to the beaten wooden door, he was glad to see they had hung the old closed sign up. After 8PM they were done for the day. He walked around the shop to the alley separating it from the other building before climbing up the metal stairway to his home. Cracking his back, he raised his hand for the door handle, ready to open up till he felt the drain of the days work hit him at once. Jaune groaned as he fell forward, smacking his head against the door with a thud.
"This is nice. I think I'll just sleep out here with the racoons again. Little Satan won't scratch my eyes out again now that I've left my trashcan's open. Besides, the cold steel of the stairwell is just as fine as a cold shower after all the teasing I've had to go through."
The sound of locks unbolting and door handle twisting turned Jaune's head up as the door opened. Red eyes found his own, confused at the sight before crinkling up in amusement.
Emerald smirked at her boss, "Long day of work? Told you it would have been a better idea to reschedule. Didn't the doctor say you should be taking it easy after all the work you've been through?"
"Doctor Marco can shove one of his instruments of torture up his ass for all I care. How else are we going to make rent?" Jaune grumbled as he rested his chin on the cool steel of the stairwell.
The dark skinned thief sighed, resting her hands on her impressive hips. She wore a simple dark green spaghetti shirt and brown pajama bottoms with little jewels. Her short green hair was undone, leaving it to fall back.
For a weak spined blonde, he sure could be stubborn.
"Come on, Em! What's the hold up? Just pay the pizza guy and get your ass in here! May wants us to start the movie already!"
"Man, chill. We should wait for the boss to come back first. Poor bastard's probably laying in a ditch somewhere. I bet the Schnee's finally got him."
Emerald rolled her eyes as she turned her head back to shout, "Who do you think knocked on the door? Jaune's back, and the idiot's too tired to even knock properly."
Walking up to the doorway, a gray haired teen with dark eyes wearing a gray t-shirt and black pajama bottoms turned his eyes down, snorting at the sight of the blonde, "Sup, boss? The housewives giving you a hard time?" he wiggled his brows.
"You've been hanging around Yang too much, Mercury." Jaune glared flatly as the ex-assassin shrugged.
"Did you get enough to pay off the rent for the month? Landlady was threatening to snap off our fingers, one by one, if we missed it again. Said she was going to use a spoon for the deed."
"Why a spoon?" That was the least threatening weapon out there.
Chuckling, a dark skinned toned teen wearing a dark vest over a dress shirt, fedora with a blue trim, black slacks, and sunglasses budged in between Emerald and Mercury.
"You might not think it, but a spoon's one of the deadliest weapons out there. My old man use to threaten his men with a rusty old kiddy spoon when they stepped out of line. Lord have mercy, you should seen them cower." Flynt grinned as he helped his boss up on his feet.
"I don't think seeing a room of hard faced men with scars trembling before a crappy spoon is an assuring sight." Jaune sighed, thanking his friend as he helped inside. "At least you're kind enough to help your boss when you see him on the ground. Unlike some people." he lightly glared as Emerald and Mercury turned away with innocent whistling.
"Course, that's what it means to be in a familia. You got to help your boss out, 1or eat a bullet!" Flynt laughed before dumping the blonde on their wide scarlet sofa.
Jaune's brow twitched, "For the last time, we're not some kind of mob family. We're just a shop of odd jobs, not a hit squad." What part of him looked like he was a Don? He couldn't even handle a gun properly!
Flynt nodded his head with a grin and a thumbs up, "Exactly, the perfect cover!"
Forget it, Jaune slumped back against the cushions of the seat with a tired sigh and shut eyes. The jazz player was better off in his own little world of crime then having him try to explain to him that they were a legit business. Some habits seemed to die hard for Flynt. At least they guy offered more services to the business since joining as of last month.
Right now, Jaune just wanted to relax for the rest of the night. Feeling another body fall beside him, he couldn't help but ease up his muscles and smile as he felt a smaller body hug his arm close to their chests and snuggle up to him. Slowly, he opened his eyes to the passive face of a little girl, around fourteen to fifteen years old, with short dusty rose hair, light tan skin, and gray blue eyes. She was dressed in a smaller version of his Pumpkin Pete's onsie and a night cap that covered her left eye.
"So, what we watching tonight, May?" he asked the always cool faced redhead. She tilted her head up, frowning lightly in thought.
"I think it's called, Dead Hard? Mercury rented it from BlueBox."
"I don't think that's an appropriate movie for someone your age." Jaune said as he glared at the gray haired teen.
Mercury scoffed as he sat back on the family sofa, "Someone her age?" he laughed, "She's done worst things in her life then the main character and villains combined. And seen worse. An R-rated action movie shouldn't affect her any less. If anything, it ought to make her laugh at all the crappy action and overdone plot."
"He's right." Emerald nodded as she and Flynt sat back, "An ex-sniper girl trained in assassination and covert ops will do just fine watching a movie as tame as this."
"It's the principal, darn it!"
"Really? You know she herself has said worse then 'darn it'. Say damn like a man."
Watching her blonde caretaker grumble about disrespectful employee's and morals, May smiled, snuggling closer for warmth. They were right, the things she had done months ago would make the most hardened criminal squirm, but it was nice to have someone still think of her like a normal child.
"Fine, but we're watching something family friendly after this." Jaune said firmly, getting a groan from everyone.
"Soooo, we still waiting on the pizza?" Flynt asked as his finger hovered over the play button on the remote.
Mercury shrugged, "Meh, the boss is here, might as well start the movie. We'll just pause it when the food gets here. Now, hurry up and press play! We've all had a long day of work, it's about time we relax with a good movie."
Jaune couldn't agree more. Playing the movie, the five freelancers eased back into their seats as they waited for the movie to start. Looking around at his odd little crew he had gathered this half year, Jaune smiled.
So much had happened since he had taken over Qrow's odd jobs shop. Earned his fair share of scars and enemies, nearly died by psychopaths and mobsters, got roped into crazy schemes for power, earned the attractions of his friends single mother's who couldn't take no for an answer, and fixed his fair share of messes just to pay rent. But in that time, he had also fixed families, saved lives, made others see the wrong of their actions, freed others of their imprisonment, and gave a home to those with no where to go. And because of that, he now had his own little family made up of a thief that once worked for an evil mafia family, an ex-sniper girl once part of an orphanage that trained soldiers, an assassin for hire, and an ex-mobster that once belonged to a mafia family that ran the streets.
The carefree, simple life Jaune had long ago was gone. In its place was a life of odd jobs, working to make rent, evading the sexy temptations of older woman, and an unclear future.
And if Jaune had to say, he didn't miss the simple life all that much anymore. Not as long as he had friends like this around.
All Trades of Jaune. A future story born from the oddest of news, I kid you not. Remember when Volume 4 came out and we found out about Blake having a mother? Well, that took by surprise seeing as I, as many others did too, thought that she was an orphan. Then we also find out in the second episode that Weiss still has a mother too. And my brain wracking mind with the knowledge bouncing around it had thought it would be funny that instead of team RWBY falling for Jaune that their mothers did. From there, I began picturing a story revolving around the idea in a modern like setting for shits and giggles. Not to mention to feed my pervy mind.
And around that time, a plot began to weirdly pan out involving an odd jobs Jaune attracting a harem of older woman as he found himself dragged into these plots involving saving others and stopping mobsters. Thus, we have All Trades of Jaune! Name still under consideration. A mix of Gintama and oddly enough, Hitman Reborn! And let me tell you, it's quite an interesting story in the works. Weird how an idea like that is born.
This little one-shot isn't exactly canon with the story under works. Think of it like a regular one-shot that a manga writer would publish before writing the first chapter. Some things might change, and others won't. It's all still under development.
The story is under works and will be published in the future, around the time that Multiplayer goes into break. Let me know how the one-shot came out and feel free to give me some ideas for inspiration. If it does get enough popularity, it might even make an early release. Hell, if you got a better name for the story, I'd love to hear it. Might even replace the original if it's good enough and credit 'ya.
The next one-shot will be published tomorrow to welcome in the new year. And next week the final one for the moment will be released as well. The third one is my favorite, only because of the dirty scenes I've written. Might have to PM SpookyNoodles or Maxaro for advice in lemons as I edit it.
I hope you enjoyed the sneak preview! Now, I must get back to working on my main story. Going to be up all night if I'm going to try and publish it on Thursday to make up for it not being ready today.
Read and Review! It's common courtesy.
NeoShadows fading in and out.
