3Author's Note
Yo, what's poppin' everybody? A New Username here, inglorious bastard responsible for 90% of yuri fics in this fandom. Today, I bring to you the latest addition to my lineup, from the Federal Reserve of Fluff, another collab with Xera Stark!
In all seriousness though, Xera wrote most of this chapter, since it's from their character's perspective the whole way through. It's actually been done for a while, as has the second chapter, we just haven't posted because… priorities, amirite?
This one was made for two main reasons: Xera wanted to write Argo, and I wanted something in my repertoire where Argo doesn't get done dirty. Dunno how apparent SW made this, but I have a bad habit of doing terrible things to Argo despite her being almost my favorite character ever. So, I decided to make another story where she gets a happy ending, to balance it out a little.
That's about all you need to know that isn't a story tag. Have fun reading~
Star Catcher
Oblivious
A dress? No, that would be pretentious. Maybe a tight jacket?
No, she'd abandon it on a chair at some point for the majority of the night.
Argo looked at herself in the tall mirror again, hands holding up the two full outfits on their hangers. Her short blonde hair was still damp from a hot shower, drops of water trickling from the curls at the ends of her hanging strands.
"Why am I trying so hard…?" Her lips curled into a frown, lowering the two nice sets of clothes.
An amber gaze turned away from herself as she pivoted on her bare heel, tossing the two sets onto her bed. Next to her white towel.
She needed something less. Maybe even simple, but not too simple. She didn't want to come across like she didn't care or anything.
"God I'm still slaving over this, aren't I…?" Argo's voice fell soft as she took in a breath, digging back through her closet. She'd find something eventually.
Silica always told her she had too many clothes. For an idol like her, that really stung. Argo always assumed she had closets and closets full of varying outfits and footwear. All made of the finest materials and the most vibrant of colors.
Argo actually grimaced at the sudden thought of wearing anything pink. Or red.
The point still stood, but the blonde never liked wearing anything outside her comfortable neutral pallet.
Brown. Black. And white. Mostly brown. It complimented her hair and eyes.
Still… "Maybe I do have a tad too many, after all."
Considering she was still digging around for one pair of shorts and a nice shirt to throw her casual jacket over. She could wear that denim thing anywhere, inside and out. Everyone always commented on how she never seemed to take it off.
It wasn't her fault she loved it so much. It was comfortable. Thin and light.
And it was a soft brown. That was very important.
Cutting her train of thought there, Argo finally decided on a pair of dark gray denim shorts and a white t-shirt. Her favorite high-cut low heeled boots were always a complimentary and color match to her brown jacket, so she never had to worry about them.
They made her taller, too. By just an inch.
It was a very important inch.
The volume of her hair helped hide away her real height on top of that, too.
Anything to close that distance…
"Okay." Argo gave a sure nod, standing before herself in the mirror again in her socks. Clothes all in place.
It'd have to do.
Before she left, her eyes turned back to the gold dress she left on her bed. It was formal wear, but to her, it just looked like a fancy sundress.
She always wanted a reason to wear it, considering it was never worn. But every time she picked it up, she could never think of a good enough occasion to throw it on.
The same thing happened tonight.
"Huh, who knew the cat could drag something so pretty in."
Argo laughed at the goofy voice. Ordinarily, a pickup line like that would fall flat on its face. Hard. But the smile Klein flashed at her and the lift of a drink made the line shine in that jokey kind of way.
"Yeah, yeah, like a cat could actually catch me," Argo said with a grin. Her bright eyes flashed to the club's bar at the back, and part of the meaning in her words fell away.
"Heh, I guess maybe you just haven't met a cat quick enough for you," Klein offered, a tipsy expression drawn on his face. His cheeks were flushed in a rosy tint under the dim, flashing lights of the overhead beams and open dancefloor. They seemed to match his red hair, but were only just a tell of how long he's been here.
And Argo thought she was early, too. The club only opened an hour ago.
He didn't seem to be thinking too hard about his joke, but Argo took a moment to wonder if he even knew himself whether or not he had a deeper reason to saying it.
A cat quick enough, huh?
"You know, now that you ask, I think I have met one." Her amber eyes glanced to the bar again, trying to find a familiar face. It wasn't where it usually was. "She tends to be a little busy, nowadays."
Klein's look after that was almost unreadable, and Argo's confusion masked the annoyed side of herself at not being able to read what he was thinking. He was drunk, that should've made it easier!
"Are we talking about the same cat?" he asked.
Were they? Argo thought they were. "… Yes?"
She watched his lips curl, just faintly, before they shot up in a wide smile. Right before bursting out in a drunken laugh.
Argo huffed at that. "Hey, shouldn't you be working or something? You're not even in your waiter garb."
The blonde swiveled in the seat she stole on Klein's right and poked at his long shirt sleeve, using her palm to flatten out some of the rinkling he'd built up from sitting like this for an hour. Or what she presumed to be an hour, anyway.
"On break," he replied. To his credit, he actually sounded sober right there.
"How? Kimiko and Suguha just opened the place." Argo finished with her prodding and brought her hand back, resting it on the table.
"Well…" Klein swirled his clear drink around as he touched at his scruffy chin, tossing a side glance to Argo. His eyes then caught something just over the blonde's shoulder, and his posture suddenly straightened.
It wasn't obvious, but it was there.
"Hours changed as of today, actually," a deep, clear voice spoke out from the dance floor. Argo moved her chin onto her other hand, resting her cheek into her palm to follow that glance to Kimiko's voice. "We open in an hour now because I refuse to get up any earlier than I already did before just because of a promotion."
"Promotion?" Argo's chin instinctively lifted from her hand as her eyes widened a little, sitting up in her seat. So that's why she wasn't at the bar… "I didn't know you were lined up for that so soon! Are you a manager now?"
Kimiko nodded, flashing a peace sign as she walked over without her expression changing. "Nailed it. Sugu too."
"That's good! You two were basically running it anyway with your parents being so vagrant," Argo stood herself up with a hop. But nothing would change the distance of their startling heights.
Kimiko wasn't even trying, and she was easily a head taller than her. Argo, on the other hand, was trying to be taller.
But only by a little.
"Hey, wait a minute." Argo's face contorted into a teasing frown as she shot Kimiko a look of hurt, an excuse just to stare into her obsidian irises. "Does this mean you won't be serving me drinks anymore? Kimiko, I feel betrayed! You can't just leave a girl hanging dry like that~"
Kimiko, completely unmoved by this dramatic approach, shook her head. "Just because I'm a manager doesn't mean I won't be tending the bar. I'm pretty much just doing the same thing as before, but with a higher paygrade. I'll check on the other employees at times, but the bar is where I'll stick around at."
Argo's lips curled into a wide grin as she fixed Kimiko with a weak glare. "Don't scare me like that. I thought I lost my favorite bartender right there."
"Well, considering there are only two of us," Kimiko replied before sliding into a seat across from Argo, long raven hair swaying in her wake. "And the other one's a dude, I'm pretty sure I win by default."
"Ouch." Argo faked a grimace as she slid back into her seat, getting a big roll of the eyes from the silent Klein next to her. "Hey, you can't blame me. I have nothing against Agil, I just like a cute face."
"And Agil doesn't have a cute face?" Klein butted in with an amused smile.
A glass set down in front of Argo with a hard thunk from a tall arm, a voice coming with it. "Don't even start, Klein."
"Hey! You know I meant nothing by it!" Klein reared back from Argo's giggling as the girl clasped her hands around the chilled glass Agil dropped off for her.
"Thank you, Agil!" she simpered, looking up from her favorite drink to the man's neutral face, chocolate brown skin dark in the low light of the open room. "I'm sure 'cute' is more of an insult for you. Unless you like that kind of thing, of course."
Like usual, his face didn't seem to change. But he somehow glared at her despite that. "And you don't start either."
Argo smiled up at him and nodded. That seemed to pry away the indifferent shell he liked to play with, and a friendly smile came over his face.
"Good to see you, Argo. Let me know when your ale's low so I can keep it topped off." His deep, resonating voice didn't fall in volume as he turned away, giving her a short wave over his shoulder. "Even if Kimiko's your favorite."
"But you're my second favorite!" Argo called after him, smiling behind her lifted glass.
Kimiko playfully retorted right away. "Of two."
"Hey, a favorite is a favorite," the blonde shot back, bringing the rim of her clear glass to her lips to steal away her first sip. "Anyway, why don't we talk about the real reason for the change of hours? You're never one to slack off like that, night shift or not."
"Fair enough. Caught me," Kimiko answered with a shrug. "It's for Sugu. I don't value my sleep, but she does hers… she's still out right now, probably."
Argo kept her smile, hiding her sting of worry behind her glass. "Sugu? Shoving her work off on such a hard worker like you?"
She set her glass down and leaned forward, pressing her crossed arms into the table to gain a little height in her seat. "You should worry about yourself more, Kimiko. You can be sleeping too. Klein's got the club handled."
"No I don't," Klein cut in through the top of his drink.
"You heard hopeless exhibit B," Kimiko replied, pointing at Klein before flashing a thumbs down.
Klein's dejected "hey!" went ignored.
"But regardless, I knew someone didn't get the memo about the change in hours," Kimiko continued undeterred, a warm smile making its way onto her lips. "And I didn't want to be catching Zs when she got here. That's all there is to it, really."
Argo prided herself on being able to mask the true extent of her emotions. But the urge to smile widely at that took her before she could even try.
She just hoped she could pass off her lightweightedness and the alcohol as the reason for the sudden fluster in her cheeks.
"And here I thought I was the only one who missed the memo," Argo replied out of instinct. She never liked to assume, but she also wanted Kimiko to come out and say it. "Who's the lucky girl you're pushing off sleep for?"
She caught a quiet mutter from Klein at her side at that. "Definitely not you if that's what you're wondering."
Kimiko ignored him, as usual, and continued smiling at Argo. "Well, you're not the only one, Sachi and Yui weren't brought up to speed either… but literally any other employee could bring them up to speed when they get here. I'm staring right at the one who matters."
The fluster grew, even if that was exactly what Argo was wanting to hear. It was just different… hearing it.
Might as well just play it off before her heart skips a few too many beats.
"Aww, Kimiko! You're making me blush!" Argo teased, giving the raven-haired girl the cutest, most awestruck face she could muster. Admittedly, she made her own cheeks redden more, but hopefully that wasn't noticeable.
She really hoped that wasn't noticeable. Kimiko was dense, oblivious even, but she couldn't miss something this obvious, right? Could she?
Kimiko was notorious for missing things like this… if all the times she was hit on in the past and didn't even notice tallied up to anything. So Argo was starting to wonder why she was even worrying so much about it.
It wasn't like Kimiko would actually notice.
"Not gonna lie," Klein's voice spoke up. Argo turned to see him shift in his seat and stand, taking his drink with him. "I thought being drunk would make this less awkward. I was wrong."
He lifted his drink humorously to his lips as he took a deep, drowning sip. Like he was trying to erase something from his mind.
Then he stumbled off. "Get a room, Argo. And take Kimiko with you."
Kimiko called out to him as he walked away. "Go eat something and drink some water to sober up! Bar opens in fifty-five, can't have our waiter drunk off his ass!"
"Yeah, and change into that lady-killer suit of yours!" Argo tacked on for good measure. "You would not believe all the compliments I hear when your back's turned!"
"W-Wait!" Klein's stumble stopped and he whirled around, fixing Argo with an alarmed, hopeful stare. Argo just thought it looked desperate. "Really?! You're not pulling my leg or anything, are you?"
"I am." Argo's reply popped, just like the bombshell of a smile crossing her lips.
Klein deflated.
"But I'm sure someone thinks you're handsome in that thing. Have you talked with Agil yet? He's pretty cute!" Argo smiled even wider as Klein waved her off and trudged away.
"Heard that!" a reverberating voice echoed from the bar across the room.
Argo gave the big scary bartender a little wave and turned back to Kimiko. The heat in her cheeks seemed to have cooled, thankfully.
"Well anyway," Kiriko replied, turning back to Argo and flashing another peace sign. "Now that you're up to speed, I'm gonna go see if I can wake Sugu up. Be back in a bit. Don't miss me too much, will you?"
"Sorry, no promises," Argo said, waving Kimiko off as she took a distracted sip from her ale. "If you take too long, I don't know what I'd do without my Kimiko."
"Guess I'll try and be quick, then. Later!" And with that, Kimiko got up and walked off, heading up for the stairs to the Kirigaya living quarters on the second floor.
Argo watched her walk off, stealing a last sip from her ale. She couldn't help but whisper something after Kimiko, a part of her wondering if the girl would catch the quiet words being muttered.
"You really are oblivious, Kimiko…"
Co-Author: Xera Stark (writes Argo's character and the majority of this chapter)
Author's Note
If you liked this chapter, I suggest checking Xera's other works out sometime. They mostly write RWBY stuff which is OC-centric, but their stuff features some of the most interesting OCs I've ever read. OCs I actually like at all are a rarity among rarities, but theirs really take the cake. You can find a link to his profile on my favorite authors tab of my profile, so if you're interested, pop over and show them some love, kay?
Unrelated side note, but I've kind of wanted to write a barkeep Kiriko for a while now, so I'm actually glad to be able to tick that off the bucket list I have for my time as a fanfiction author. And no, I'm not planning on stopping anytime soon, don't get nervous. SW alone is gonna take me like ten years to finish, so I'll be sticking around a good while yet.
Anyway, expect chapter two to drop relatively soon. It's already more or less done, but I'd rather space out the releases a smidge to give us time to finish chapter three.
Till then, I'll see you next time!
