That was why Weiss had sent her outside. Less chance of any clumsiness causing problems and she was so cute she was luring people to the diner like a magnet. The clientele was much more varied as a result, with a wide range of people from every profession. That had been the plan, really. They'd utterly failed at conforming to what seemed like Jaune's method of working, but they were their own people, so maybe it was doomed from the start.
If Blake couldn't fake a bubbly personality, then why try and make her? It would never work. Better to play on her as some kind of enigmatic and mysterious maid instead. The formal and beautiful type with a hidden personality and a secretive smirk. It seemed to be working well. Ruby had the cuteness down, hence being their bait, while she could flirt with the best of them, and Weiss had her own appeal.
The door opened, and Yang twirled about to face the newcomer.
"Welcome to Jaune's." She crossed her arms and gave the customer a challenging smile. "Hope you're prepared for the best coffee ever."
/-/
"And that's the last of it," Jaune said, closing the book with a bemused expression. The diner had closed for the night, two hours earlier than expected, but there had been a sign warning of that. They had to get back to Beacon at some point, after all. There were arrayed in the foyer, back in their casual outfits and nursing drinks of their own.
"Well?" Yang asked, "Did we make it?"
"See for yourself."
He pushed the ledger over the counter and they all leaned forward to inspect the final figure. Yang's heart beat a little faster as she did, but she was the first to let out a whoop when she saw it.
"We did it!" Ruby cheered, echoing Yang's excitement.
"You more than did it," Jaune said, still a little surprised. "You absolutely smashed what I normally make. I'm… I honestly don't know what to say. This is like a day and a half. I should break my arm more often." "Dislocated," Yang countered, and was about to give him a light punch for that comment but thought better of it. "As for us, well, you know what it's like. We are pretty awesome when we put our minds to it."
In the end they hadn't been able to fake passion – not real passion, but they'd come damn close and that effort had been rewarded by the generous people visiting. They'd played on what they knew, her with flirting, Ruby with looking cute, Blake with being mysterious and Weiss even breaking out in a little song to enchant their audience. What Jaune had in quality of service, they made up for in quantity. They'd made it work.
"You're all amazing," he said, earning a squeak from Ruby, and even a hint of colour from Yang herself.
"H-Hey, no need to go that far," she said. "We were just paying you back. Or I was. I did that damage to you, so picking up here was the least I could do. The others deserve more praise than me. They helped just because they could."
"I'll admit it was a new experience," Blake agreed. "I do feel a little pleased that we managed it in the end."
"The same for myself," Weiss said. "I have new appreciation for those in such careers. I'll have to make sure my future employees are enabled to exceed in such a manner as well."
"It was fun," Ruby simply said.
Jaune laughed and put the book away. "Then how about trying it again sometime?" he suggested. "I'd be happy to hire you all part-time."
Yang snorted. "Not a chance."
"No way," Ruby agreed. "I'm fine, thanks," Blake deflected.
"I have a previous appointment," Weiss lied. "I'll be occupied for the next eighty years or so."
Jaune blinked. "Eh?"
"It was fun," Ruby explained, "but… well… how do I put this?"
"How the hell do you do this for a living?" Yang cried, throwing her arms in the air. "How do you do this and not kill yourself? Or kill someone else!?"
Ruby nodded and slammed a fist into her palm. "Ah yeah, that's a good way of saying it."
"I agree," Blake sighed. "I've never smiled so much in my life, and I had to fake giggles at some terrible conversation and jokes, even worse than Yang's. I feel like I've broken my face. I'm not going to smile for a month."
"My feet are killing me," Weiss agreed. "I'm actually looking forward to detention with Miss Goodwitch because it will be a chance to sit down. I think I'm going to sleep in the bathroom tonight with my feet in the sink."
"And the customers," Yang growled. "Gods, I've never wanted to punch someone so bad before."
"They're so demanding," Ruby whined. "How do you put up with it?"
Jaune opened his mouth to try and explain, but Blake cut him off before he had a chance. "If one more person comments about how there was too much milk or not enough sugar, I'll snap. If it's that big of a deal, pour it yourself."
"Um…" Jaune tried. He went ignored. "I'm actually sick of cakes too," Ruby said, with the kind of expression normally reserved for someone going through severe PTSD. "I… I actually looked at a cake a few minutes ago and felt ill. I don't want to so much as smell a cup of coffee for a week!"
"Agreed," Yang, Blake and Weiss said in perfect unison.
Jaune chuckled nervously in the silence that followed. "So… I'm guessing my chances of hiring you are pretty slim?"
"Anorexic," Yang said with a little grin. "Sorry but not sorry."
Far from being offended, Jaune looked amused, and shook his head. "I guess I deserve that. It's not like this kind of work was easy for me at first, either. I just kept going because I kind of didn't have a choice. Thanks for all your help anyway and I mean it. This means a lot."
"Happy to help," Weiss said. "But we're still never doing this again."
"I won't try and force you," Jaune said, laughing when he saw their wary expressions. He reached behind him instead, and brought out several sheets of paper he'd kept off to one side. "Could you do me a favour back in Beacon and put some of these up? I'm not sure if there are notice boards you're allowed to use, but it would help me out."
Yang took the posters and had a look at them. "Recruitment? You're hiring part-timers?"
"After seeing what you were capable of, yes."
"I feel nothing but pity for the unfortunate soul who applies." She held them under her arm nonetheless. "Yeah, sure, I'll pin them around. There are some boards in the common rooms. I'm sure someone will be interested."
"More fool them," Blake mumbled.
"Thanks," Jaune said, rolling his eyes at Blake. "I appreciate it."
The four of them slipped out of the diner, still half-leaning on one another for support. Their earlier doldrums were replaced with laughter, teasing, and good-natured ranting about the horrors of working in food service.
Yang paused to wave one final time to him, and felt a rush of relief when he waved back. She still regretted the damage she'd caused, but it didn't hurt quite so much. Maybe she'd come to accept it really was nothing more than an accident, or maybe it was just the way he never brought it up. Either way, she felt the weight on her shoulders lessen a little.
They'd done good work and passion or not… she felt satisfied with it.
Jaune leaned against the counter as the girls left, his eyes closed and a small, serene smile on his face. The day had been eye opening to say the least. They'd done about as well as he'd expected initially, plenty of effort but their hearts not quite in it. That they'd managed to turn it around in the afternoon had come as a surprise, but maybe it shouldn't have.
They were pretty incredible people, after all. He'd be lucky if he could find a part-time with even a fraction of their indomitable will. The strangest part was more the fact he didn't feel exhausted himself. It was the first time in what felt like forever since he hadn't handled everything, and his legs still had a strange tension to them, like they were waiting for agony but weren't quite sure why it hadn't occurred already.
"I guess a day to rest isn't so bad every now and then." He chuckled and hung up his apron, making his way over to the till to store the money safely away for the night. As he was collecting it, he reached over the ledger and quickly amended the figure by a couple of hundred lien. Downwards, of course. You couldn't fake passion, but they'd worked their hearts out, and genuinely earned twice as much in the afternoon as they had the morning.
For that, he was willing to fudge things a little.
The smiles on their faces had been worth it.
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