Chapter 7

After a few hours of following the crowds and seeing the sights of the city come to life before his eyes, Xavier decided that the start of the setting sun was a proper indication that he should get into contact with his prospective date for the evening. After finding an alleyway close to the station where he could pause and have a smoke, he would light up and message Yang.

hey, i'm here in the city lol :b

The reply was nearly instant. He had to wonder to an extent if she had been waiting for him or if he was just lucky...

Heyyyy! Where are u? Cuz I can be there in 30

He checked the time, the second ship from Beacon was departing soon. Perfect timing as it turned out. Xavier chuckled a bit as he took a long drag before responding.

i'll see you when you get off,

Well duh, but we've got all night ;p

Aaaaand he choked a bit on it. With his face flushed bright red he had to consider his response very, very carefully...

you know what i meant - -'

And YOU know what I meant. ;P

Well that sealed it, didn't it? Xavier sighed and hung around long enough to finish his smoke before heading to the station. The place wasn't exactly packed, though he could see why. Not many people would be coming to this section of the city on a Friday evening apart from the few that took a bulkhead too and from work. The lack of populace made spotting the blonde bombshell that much easier as she strolled towards him with a noticeable swagger. Yang was wearing a very... special outfit, just for this trip. A bright yellow crop-top alongside tight black booty shorts, thigh-high orange striped socks, and black canvas sneakers. She would have been showing off much more if it wasn't for the long, brown leather coat she was wearing on top, without a doubt only because it was colder outside than anticipated.

Xavier couldn't help but stare, his voice catching in his throat as he tried to find the words, especially when she latched onto his arm. The slightly taller girl leaning her head against his as they started to walk. She was waiting for a response, obviously, and Xavier found one when they were outside. "don't think i don't appreciate the effort, but i can't exactly spoil you on my salary"

Yang snickered a bit. "That's cool! I don't drink or... y'know, anything more than that, so I usually get out pretty cheap." She smiled brightly. "I'll admit, it's a liiitle embarrassing wearing this while the sun's still up, but i'll get over it." She smiled brightly. He felt a little... overdressed, for this occasion, if that's what she was wearing. Admittedly he found it hard to look away, and quite frankly he wasn't sure if he wanted to... Though caught himself peering a bit close and would quickly look straight forward. She caught onto that pretty quickly, though something else came to mind. "Ooooh yeah, we'll get you a little more party-ready with the extra time." She giggled, leaning back to show off the goods a bit, catching quite a few stares from others that were on the ship... Peeking one eye open to look at him, wondering if he was jealous or wanted to defend her...

Xavier knew he caught a few of the stares and shot back with a look that silently asked if they were jealous, especially when he placed an arm around her shoulders. Admittedly, he had to float up a couple of inches to do that, but it was a trick he could pull off fairly easily. "...i don't mind getting into something that looks better, but it's gonna be hard to focus if you're gonna be a tease,"

"Hehehe, you love me for it~" She stuck her tongue out a bit, snuggling riiight up to him. Absolutely loving the possessiveness she'd fished for.

Xavier raised a brow and shot back with a smile. "...you're funny, thinking that's why," As naturally as that response came, in the back of his mind... He wondered why he could just... Talk to her while it seemed more difficult with others.

"Okay, let's see..." Her voice got Xavier out of his own head, he shook it a bit before turning to Yang as she continued. "We want to shop first, definitely want to eat something before we go in, but not like crazy much... uh... Anything you wanna do to kill time? Game stores or sports shops, like uh... Boy stuff?"

That got a genuine laugh out of him as Xavier dropped back to the ground from his light floating. "you don't really know what i like aside from shitty movies huh?" He joked before pondering for a moment, an idea did come with the limited money he had. "actually... do they have any music shops around here?"

"Yeah!" Yang perked up at the idea, but had to stop and consider it. "Well... Maybe." She laughed a bit. "There's this one hole in the wall place I like, but it might not be there anymore. We can give it a shot."

He nods and gives a small smile. "i'd really appreciate it... might get to show you something good if this works out~" What was he teasing?

She laughed, gently patting him on the back. "I dunno what you're thinking, but... they probably won't have the sorts of Music you're used to, alright?" That caught Xavier a bit off guard, wondering if Blake She led him to the place. A small shop owned by one guy. Posters covered the front windows with the largest advertising the big hit for the season. "Shine" by a band he had never heard of.

"you're not wrong..." Once they were inside, the surroundings looked familiar. Similar to any music shop one would find back home He began to look at the wall racks. Guitars, keyboards, even a few brass instruments. All were in various states of ware and prior use, maintained certainly, but not anything that was new. Upon further examination, quite a few guitars seemed to have custom work done, from alterations made to the fretboards to multiple additional and/or different widths to the strings. One thing was glaringly obvious, and that was this shop saw business from hobbyists and professionals, or just the eccentric. He smiled, Yang had found the perfect pick. She seemed to be awaiting a response, as did a man who eyed the two from behind a counter, to describe the blond's appearance as hippie-like in nature with his cut off denim vest, ripped jeans and tie-dye headband seemed an accurate assessment. Finally, Xavier spoke. "it doesn't have to be made for what i'm used to i just need..." After trailing off, he spotted something. He approached a short-neck guitar with a missing string, it had a body made of varnished wood, a strangely spaced fretboard and a couple more switches than expected. The clerk would approach, without a doubt following Xavier's line of thought. Though before he got a word out, Xavier posed a question. "do you have anything with 4 strings? deeper sound?"

"Heh, you know what you need." He nodded a bit, having been prepared to suggest just that were he to ask for anything different... "And so do I, got one that was a trade-in some time back. Poor guy put a ton of work into it but couldn't keep it." He walked off, leaving the two to their own devices for a moment. Yang was more quiet than he had seen her before as she curiously awaited the result. When the clerk did return, he brought with him a short-neck bass that likewise had a wooden body, albeit painted over with an electric blue while pearlescent was present in most other areas.

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Aside from a second switch and a whammy bar that was engraved with the initials 'A.O.N.', Xavier couldn't see anything too out of place. "hmm..." This certainly had some character, a few twangs and it seemed any restoration work needed was purely cosmetic. "...mind if i try before i buy?" He asked as he was already prepped to play, tuning just a bit, a wide smile on his face.

"Not every day someone comes in here who even can!" He laughed, patting the counter to invite Yang, who hopped up to sit. "All you want, kid."

"don't mind if i do..." He seemed hesitant, a few practice riffs, nothing outrageous, in fact he messed up a few times but... Once he started to find his footing, his movements gradually grew in complexity, he seemed to be cycling through familiar songs that neither of them had ever heard. Xavier paused, having shaken off some of the rust, he smiled wide, shut his eyes and began to strum out something far more impressive, and would even begin singing, in fact it was pretty difficult to follow until he opened his eyes and looked at Yang. "say baby do you wanna lay down with me, say baby do you wanna lay down by my side a baby do you wanna lay down with me say baby," a few more notes and he'd come to a stop. "...say baby~?"

She was definitely impressed, smiling a little bit as she watched him, a tiny blush on her face. She hummed along a little when she got the rhythm and when he finished... Giggled a bit and replied. "Well duh~"

Xavier laughed and turned to the clerk. "...i'll take it, a case too," He was more than happy to cough up the lien for this, being able to play again was something else. Bass wasn't the flashiest thing, but he loved it, and had since he was young. A small flood of memories came back when his fingers were busy playing, though the nostalgic feeling would have to wait as there was something more important right in front of him. After paying and saying their goodbyes to the shop owner, they walked outside the store, upon which he captchalogued the case as to not have to carry the guitar around.

Yang clung to him a little tighter after that stunt, more than a little convinced. "Whoa, where'd it go?" Oh, yeah he hadn't explained that part to anyone yet.

He stopped, trying to find a convincing enough explanation, Ozpin's lecture about not showing off too much came to mind though now wasn't exactly the time. "well... ever played an rpg with an inventory system?" He asked kind of casually.

"Well, yeah. Not all the way through though." She smiled a bit, Yang never had the attention span for long fantasy games that dragged on for hours.

"works like that, just... part of my semblance, i can hold items and grab 'em at any time," It was the easiest explanation as the inventory system was just... natural to him. To anyone really that had grown up on earth in his time. "so, you said i needed something more appropriate for a club?" A quick change of subject may have been better to

She narrowed her eyes a bit, feeling like he was keeping something from her, but didn't pry just yet. "Yeah, definitely. I know a place." Her suspicion waned as she smiled, Xavier found himself dragged along as she walked faster, leading him to a sort of... run down looking store that more resembled a Spencer's Gifts than anything. Once they walk inside, the shelves and displays drew attention as they were filled with frankly vulgar merch, everything from punk bands and violent animations to flat out branded (and unbranded) sex toys. Xavier looked around the shop, then at Yang, then back to the shop, and again a few times before giving a look that asked the obvious three word question of 'what the fuck?' Yang laughed a bit at his expression. "It's not all they sell! C'mon." She laughed a bit, dragging him further in... "We only need a couple things, it'll be fine!" He... Pulled his hood up, being seen at this place with Yang dressed how she was would have made for some rumors and then some. Though he was willing to find out what the hell she was after...

She gave a wave to the tattooed girl behind the counter, and proceeded to pick out an outfit for him that was similar in style to the one she was wearing... A tight fitting white tank top with a big loose open hawaiian style shirt that was black with golden flowers over top, cutoff denim shorts and bright neon blue shoes that resembled crocs would finish the ensemble. After the outfit was assembled, Xavier looked it over with a raised brow and gave a small laugh, adding a pair of bright blue shutter shades to the pile. It seemed 'modern' style was fairly similar, how convenient. "...i don't do shorts, but i'll humor you," He teased, though hesitated before actually buying the outfit, he knew full well that this would be awkward to explain, but still. He didn't really have to ask if this kind of place had a dressing room. He would leave Yang for the moment with a light tease about further merchandise before coming back out looking practically like someone else.

The clerk seemed to stifle a laugh at how awkward Xavier looked in this fit, but Yang was more than enthusiastic. "Awesome~!" She giggled, clapping her hands when she saw him. She would take him around the shelves one last time for a few more things of vital importance for the kind of party they were about to attend... some lolipops, SEVERAL glow sticks, a bit of Body paint, and a pacifier necklace...

He never understood the pacifier thing, but everything seemed to be the style of the kind of party they were getting ready for. The sun would start going down soon when they got checked out. "...guess dinner before we go isn't a bad idea,"

Once they stepped out, she forced the bag into his arms. "Here, hang onto this crap for a bit." She stretched, though seemed to have a brief realization as she quickly added: "And don't do the whole disappearing thing, those glow sticks don't last as long as you'd think!" Yang would get a few whistles as they walked, now that the sun was down people seemed more bold. More eager to fool around. Xavier felt more out of his element than he had all night.

And so he kept her close as they walked, an arm around her, waist. Xavier was content giving the ones who whistled or stared too long knowing looks, they could be jealous all they wanted. "...you're pretty popular, half of them are probably thinking 'wow that guy must be rich'"

She laughed a bit. "I dunno, do I look that much like an escort?" She giggled at her own joke, despite the... somewhat terrible thought. Eventually they would pause in their long walk as she lead him to a small food cart. "You don't want to eat too much because we're going to get crazy, but if you don't eat anything you'll pass out."

"right, just a snack..." He said with a nod of understanding, and then proceeded to order what would have been considered a full course meal. Having no trouble devouring it, now it was Xavier who was getting eyes from random strangers on him, including the vendor. Yang seemed more than a little concerned, both with how much he had ordered, and just how quickly he seemed to devour it all. Xavier would blush a bit and awkwardly rub the back of his neck before answering the concern. "...you uh ...don't know how many calories you burn training like i do,"

Yang smiled sheepishly. "I get my energy from working, so..." Watching him eat, she suddenly getting cold feet and ordered something a bit lighter than she intended, not wanting to eat in front of him while on a date... So she had a salad.

There was an awkward silence Street vendors always had the best stuff. But once he finished, he felt... Nervous. "i... should probably tell you, i've never been to a party like this, like, not even at school,"

"It's alright, there's nothing to really worry about or anything! Just like... Usual stuff. Don't let people touch you weirdly, but also try not to make a scene. Don't accept drinks from strangers, since that goes both ways at parties like this, and watch out for any drugs being passed around. We're not gonna do that tonight, alright?"

"i uh... also can't dance, ...worth shit," He admitted sheepishly, a heavy blush on his face. Something maybe to have been said earlier.

She hesitated, then laughed a bit. "Oh, it's not that kind of dancing, don't worry!" She smiled, bumping him with her hip and wiggling her arms a little bit. "It's just sorta like this! Just feel your emotions with your body and get together with people!"

"that sounds like the opposite of me in every way... okay, let's try it," He checked his scroll for the time, though was grabbed by the hand rather quickly and led towards the party.