Chapter Text
“You need to expand your horizons,” Oz had said, and, “Change will be good for you,” and, “You can’t just keep stagnating like this,” and, “You know I’m right, James.”
That last one was most annoying because, of course, he was right. Oz was always right, eventually, and James knew it and more annoyingly Oz knew it, too.
Which is how James found himself outside of a tiny little building that smelled strongly of cake batter and alcohol, dressed in a full suit and tie while he watched a billow of smoke pouring out through the open front door.
There was a fire alarm going off inside, and he could hear shouting from at least three people and barking from a dog, as well as the clatter of many metal things- presumably metal baking things- and already he was questioning the sanity of actually going through with this. But Oz was there in the back of his mind, that annoyingly calm look on his face, urging him forward- so he stepped inside and called a greeting, because if he didn’t, he’d never hear the end of it.
The first person to respond to his call was a tiny girl in a red hoodie, who threw open the door with a wide, overly-cheerful greeting of her own. He could just about make out words that sounded like ‘WELCOME TO BATTER UP WHERE WE HAVE CAKES AND ALSO ADDITIONAL CAKES, HOW CAN I HELP YOU’, but between the noise and how high the girl’s voice was, he couldn’t be entirely sure.
He stared down at the girl, grinning up at him with her arms outstretched, and frowned. “Do you work here?”
“Yep!”
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
Fifteen. Not quite as young as she looked. “You know there are child labor laws, right?”
Her grin just got bigger. “Yeah, but Uncle Qrow says that would only apply if I was an employee, and I’m not an employee because he’s not paying m-mmmphhhhh?”
This last bit was cut off by a rather unkempt man grabbing her around the middle and clamping a hand over her mouth. He stared over the top of her head at James, scrutinizing him closely. Up close, James could tell that this was the source of the strong alcohol smell surrounding the place. He made a mental note to have a few words with Oz about not warning him of things later.
“What Ruby here meant to say,” he said, taking his hand off the girl’s mouth so he could noogie her instead, “Is that she and her sister- seventeen, by the way- are only helping me out while I get things going. I’ve been so busy getting set up I haven’t had time to hire anyone yet. Isn’t that what you meant to say, Ruby?”
The girl- Ruby- just nodded cheerily. Her uncle set her down carefully. “Why don’t you go back and help Yang get that mess cleaned up so we can get our stock out for the day, okay? I’ll deal with this guy.”
He ruffled her hair fondly and gave her a small wave as she headed back into the back, then turned back to James. He scrutinized him a bit more for a moment, before his shoulders sagged.
“…You’re the guy, aren’t you? The one Oz sent me?”
James nodded, and held out his left hand to shake. “James Ironwood,” he said. “It’s Qrow, right?”
“Qrow Branwen, yeah.” Qrow gave James’ hand an odd look before taking it with his own left, squeezing briefly before letting it fall. “So you’re going to help me run my business, huh?”
“That’s Ozpin’s idea,” James said. “He told me you decided to follow your dream and open a cakery, but needed someone with a good head for business to handle the more, ah, business aspects of it.”
“That’s pretty much it.” Qrow gestured for James to follow him into a room set off the far wall, which turned out to be a tiny office. “I’ve got a good head for a lot of things, but business isn’t one of them. So, I’m hiring a manager. Hopefully one that won’t do me dirty, but Oz says you’re trustworthy and I put a lot of store in what Oz says. He’s usually right-”
“-eventually,” James finishes for him. “Yes. I brought my credentials-”
o/o
Forty-five minutes later, the two men shook hands again, having just signed a deal that boiled down to James running the business side of Batter Up while Qrow ran the store and made the cakes.
“You also can’t employ underage teenagers anymore,” James added, as they left the office. “Even if they’re not ‘technically’ employees.”
“You mean the kid? Nah, Ruby’s a sport. She and Yang just volunteered to help me out while I got everything going. I don’t mean to keep ‘em on more than a couple weeks, at a stretch.”
James glanced back at the kitchen, where he could see Ruby and another girl- Yang, presumably- diligently cleaning up whatever mess they were making when he arrived. The fire alarm had also been cut off and the smell of smoke was dissipating, and the presumed source of the barking- a huskie/corgie mix- was flopped out on his side in a corner of the store, legs twitching a little in his sleep.
James unconsciously folded his hands behind his back while he surveyed the new domain, taking in everything about the shop. It was very… disorganized. He could see why Qrow needed a manager, if this was how he kept shop.
Well, James could fix that. He was very good at organizing things.