Arclight Foundries - Chapter 12

"Yes, sir, I can have them ready inside a day." He said quickly, scratching out an order for three dozen small caliber rounds and nodding to his side where Ruby was waiting with a small, tired smile. "My associate will take your contact details and you will receive a message when the order is finished. Thanks for coming to Arclight."

"Best-friend-Jaune, I have returned with the standard ammunition stock." he looked over his shoulder at Penny, carrying a crate of rounds that had to weigh as much as she did under one arm while her guards milled about in the break area anxiously. "I will see to restocking the shelves and then take the next batch of orders upstairs to Miss Coco. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, stock up the shelves and grab the list from Ruby. And keep an eye on Coco, alright? She's not allowed to work too hard, and if she is… I dunno, I'd say make her stop, but..."

"Miss Coco is not one to stop because she was told to, even by her lover." He flushed at being called that hard enough he expected Coco to sense it through some magical psychic connection or something. But he didn't say anything, and Penny was already moving by him, "I will monitor her health, however, and relegate the easier tasks to her as you have asked me too. I promise, Best-friend-Jaune."

"Got you, thanks, Pen." He turned to the next person waiting in line, an impatient looking Huntress with bright green hair and caramel skin, and smiled. "Sorry for the wait, Ma'am, Amity brought a lot of business in and I have to keep on top of things. What can I do for you?"

"I need a couple hundred rounds chambered for this," she set a small submachine gun in front of him and he picked it up, looking it over while she went on, "with some more down the line, probably. And I need them sooner rather than later. I'm in the Tournament, so…"

"I'll put a rush order on it, Miss?"

"Sustrai." She pulled her Huntress card out, edged in the brown and red of Mistral and Haven Academy. "Emerald Sustrai. And how much is a rush order, and how soon will it get done? I'm kind of in a rush, my teammate was supposed to get these ordered days ago but didn't bother with it."

"It'll be done by tomorrow afternoon, or I'll do it over that night and for free. Arclight guarantee." He winked at her the way his teacher had taught him and she blinked, at the brazenness of the wink or the guarantee he couldn't tell. "And an Arc never breaks his word, Miss Sustrai."

"E-Emerald is fine, actually." She relaxed after a second, looking him up and down and then adding, "I, uh, also wanted to know if you filled orders for explosives? I have the licensing, when you check into it you'll find them, I'm just curious. My team's leader needs some shaped charges and concussives for something she has planned for the tournament."

"Oh, mind sharing the plan with me? I love watching the fights."

"Trade secret, sorry. Cinder would probably actually kill me if I told everyone about all her awesome plans." She smiled apologetically and he shrugged, he'd not really thought she'd tell him anyway. He was just making small talk while he ran her card to check into it like always before finalizing her order. "So since I know that your i.d. check will come back fine, do you make explosives?"

"I do, but when it comes to shaped charges I have to know the relative use." He gave her a look, his brow raised and smiling slightly. "And since you passed the check and told me what you needed it for, go ahead and lay it on me. What do you need?"

"Ten shaped charges that can break up rock, and twenty small, concussive ones that can stun through Aura. And I need that rushed, too, if you can." She pulled a dozen Lien cards from her pocket and reached across to take his hand, palming the black cards - way more than the job would cost - into his hands. "Keep the rest as a tip, a bit of… Incentive, to put me at the head of your list?"

"S-Sure!" He waved at Ruby, smiling excitedly at the Lien and putting it behind the counter in a small tray for anyone that paid up front. "Just, uh, tell my associate, Ruby Rose, to put you at the head of the list and when penny comes down I'll put her and Coco right on top of it."

"Not a problem, Jaune." He blinked at the familiar name, but she turned to wave a hand at Ruby and call out cheerily as she moved towards her, "Hey, Ruby, how are you doing? Working hard, looks like. I gotta say, Jaune is just as nice as you said he was. I am so glad that you suggested him to me!"

"Emerald, hey, how are you? Yeah, no, Jaune is awesome! I met Penny because of him, did I tell you about her?" He politely tuned out the rest of their conversation, handing the identification card to Ruby when she asked for it and turning to the next customer.

At this rate, with the recommendations Ruby kept heaping out and the ludicrous amount of business it brought in, he'd have to start paying her commission or something. She was a ridiculously good spokesperson, which was… Interesting, considering her age and the generally poor skills she'd had coming in at dealing with people. Though, as he looked at her smiling and chatting with Emerald and another customer, he supposed that had changed rather remarkably.

And he was happy for it, too.

"Hello, Sir." He said, turning back to the line as someone stepped forward, most of the couple dozen other people following an oblivious Penny around and raiding shelves as she went. Several people gave up on getting anything good for cheaper out on the shelves and moved to his line instead. "Welcome to Arclight Foundries, where as long as Grimm exist and Hunters hunt them, our forges will stay hot and our rounds will burn even hotter. How can I help you today?"

"Can you tune up my grenade-rifle for me? Normally I would, but the Vytal festival… You know how it is, right?"

"I need a sword that can carry an electric charge for a friend of mine's Semblance. Can you handle something like that?"

"Some Grimm wrecked my breastplate a week back, I need a replacement one. Something plated, with a cape off the back colored black with my emblem on the chest and cape?"

"Can you make a leather bandolier with space for thirty stiletto knives? Oh, and, uh, thirty stiletto knives? I-I have the money for it, and some raw metal too, if you want it! It's Seer-Steel from Atlas, I figured it would make some awesome knives."

Ten hours passed, with few breaks or time to do anything but thank Penny for what she finished and then levy her with more, taking orders and talking through each one in almost literally painful details as the day wore on, and a couple short breaks to cram food into his and Ruby's mouths while Penny flailed desperately at maintaining the store-front. Or they just hung a sign telling custom orders to hold until break ended, whichever was the easiest at the time or seemed reasonable given the incoming.

And whichever seemed to aggravate the Atlesian soldiers the least, which was… Important to Jaune for purely rational reasons that were not currently rather rectangular and held in their arms and had nothing to do with the badges on their hips either. And the fact that their reports could, according to Penny at least, effect any chance of licensing things to or from Atlesian territories or manufacturers.

Definitely not.

"I'm exhausted…" Ruby complained, laid across the break table with Penny in a chair beside her, massaging slow circles into her back beneath herher shoulders Which, while she still glared weakly at Jaune across the table from her, she seemed more than content with. "That had to be a hundred people. Ridiculous! Absolutely ludeonicrous!"

"I don't think that's a word..." He gave Penny a look, but the android elected to ignore his questioning gaze and instead pay attention to Ruby's needs, reaching behind herself unnaturally easily and grabbing a drink for her to replace the one the Rose had finished only a second before. "Anyways, yeah, it was hectic. I know. Kinda crazy, actually, I got so many orders I'll have to make a sign to say I'm closed for custom work tomorrow, which… Eh, kinda sucks, but I'll live with it."

"Tournament starts tomorrow, so my team and I are gonna be busy. So, uh, yeah. I can't help out much, between that and getting Crescent Rose modded out and kitted up for everything." Not that Ruby sounded particularly upset about that, she sounded more relieved if anything… "Maybe Coco can help you, since…" She waved an arm in the air with a grimace, as though to explain her point. "You know."

"She's gonna be spending time here anyways, won't hurt to-"

"Maybe for a proper reward~!" The voice chimed in his ear and he stiffened, jerking so hard his bottle of water went flying high into the air and smacked against the armored chest of one of the two guards who sighed and walked across the room to retrieve some paper towels from a small wire-rack Jaune had made, dabbing at the water trickling down his armor without complaint. "Sorry, big guy, Jaune's just too easy to spook sometimes. I can't not sneak up on him."

"Hm." The answer didn't seem to impress the soldier and instead he turned to Penny and spoke to her, ignoring Coco's raised brow and crossed arms at being so casually dismissed. "Your… Father has an appointment scheduled for one hour from now. Specialist-Adjunct Soleil is on her way there now and we should leave soon if we don't want to be late."

"But…" She gave Ruby a glance and the young Huntress waved her off, Penny smiling at whatever kind of message they'd passed and looking back to the soldier. "Very well, let us go. I would not wish to be late. My partner said she would be most upset if I were, after all, and girlfriend-Ruby is alright with my departure."

"Right, I'll radio into command and let them know we're en route." His hand reached up to flick invisibly at something that had to be on his visor, and then sighed after a few seconds. "Actually, your father wishes us to… Escort your 'girlfriend' to him. He wishes to meet her and ask her a few things."

"B-B-But, I-I… I-I'm not ready to- He can't- I don't have to..." Ruby's eyes closed after a few seconds of nervous stammering and wide eyes, and then she took a long breath. Grabbing her drink, she downed it all in one go and crushed the can with red flares of Aura where the edges caught at her skin dangerously enough. "O-Okay, let's go."

"Girlfriend-Ruby, you do not have to-"

"Kinda do, kinda got asked for, so kinda going even if you try to say I don't need to. Better now than never, r-right?" She shrugged, smiling in that strained but chipper way only Ruby really managed to pull off and pulling at her cloak nervously. "So, uh, grab your shoes and let's…" She waved her hands at the door, dragging out the word, "Let's gooo before your, uh, friends arrest me or-or something."

"We can't actually-"

"Very well, Girlfriend-Ruby." Penny nodded, giving the guard a smile and a nod and then turning to Jaune. "I hope you have a good evening, Best-friend-Jaune. Good luck finishing your forty-three orders on time, I know you can do it. You have excellent work ethic and skills."

"Well," Jaune sighed, nibbling on a chip from a bowl on the table and giving Coco a look, "I have a lot of work to do before bed tonight. You can stay and hang out if you want, or-"

"I'll make the bullets and the grenades, you suit up and get to work on that electric-sword or whatever the hell." She waved him off, standing from her chair and turning in the same motion. Too sharply, he guessed when she hissed through her teeth and clutched her side, grabbing the top of her chair hard enough he heard the metal creak in protest. Jaune stood, reaching a hand out, and she grunted, "Don't. I'm fine, Jaune. Just… Turned too sharp for one of my ribs, some bruising… Don't worry."

"But, you-"

"I don't treat you like glass, Jaune, so don't treat me like it either." Coco asked simply, turning to give him a flat stare that spoke volumes for how agitated it made her. Her face relaxed slightly in a force kind of way and she smiled slightly to try and ease what she'd said. "Honest, Jaune, I'm fine. I just… Not done healin', I guess, and I don't want you stressin' over nothin'."

"But you're hurt, Coco..." He said nervously, glancing at her side worriedly and then meeting her hard brown eyes again. "What if your injuries get worse, or your bones rebreak, or something? I-I know that can happen, and-"

"Then they get worse, they rebreak, I go to the hospital, Yatsuhashi treats me like a kid… That kind of stuff." She gave him a look, eyebrow raising and lips quirking in one of her more pointed smirks. "But if it happens, 'that would make me happier than being treated like glass.' You get me?"

"I…" He sighed, smiling and nodding, "Turn about is fair play. Just take it easy, okay? 'No being a badass', right?"

"Oh, fuck you, Jaune. Friggin' stealin' my lines like that? Cheap!" She laughed, the tension snapping out of the air faster than it had come, shaking her head and waving a hand over her shoulder. "Come on, tall, blonde and nerdy. Let's get to work. Every project, I'll take off something, and you get to piiick~!"

"C-Coco!"

"Fine, fine, we'll just play tonsil hockey~!" He threw a wad of paper towel at her head and she laughed, climbing his stairs and gesturing for him to follow her with a wave of a hand. "Come on, got shit to do. And if you're a good boy I'll be one of theeeeem~ I'll let you pound me on an anvil~!"

"I don't have an anvil!" At least not one like that, and when he saw Coco's shit eating grin he realized the mistake he'd made. "Dust damn it- That wasn't consent! Coco!" She didn't say anything, instead vanishing upstairs with a sway in her step and his voice cracked, "C-Coco? I, uh, I don't wanna die tonight!"

All he got back was laughter, smiling and shaking his head as he followed her up the stairs. They had a lot of work to do before the first rounds of the Vytal Tournament in a couple days, and needed to get to it soon or-

When he crested the steps, hands grabbed him by his lapel and turned, pushing him against the wall gently. Soft, hot lips pressed against his own and, without thinking, his eyes closed and his hands sought out Coco's hips and hair to pull her to him. After a second that stretched on to eternity, they parted and she smiled at him warmly.

"That was to show our little spat isn't in the air. Kay?" He nodded and she smirked, patting his shoulder and turning. "Let's get to work, babe. Like I said, shit to do."