Employment

It has been three days since that impromptu dinner date, and Xing Tian got down her daily life pattern at this point. She would wake up around 8 a.m. during the weekdays to prepare herself for the day. Once the day is ready, she would either leave for the Faunus Police Department, if she is called, or look for a part-time job.

Today, she is doing the latter as Aquila hasn't called her for duty yet. The past days have been rather calm, which she is glad for because of the hangover she suffered last time. At the very least she gets to ride a motorcycle with a man… even if he looks feminine.

Just as she is about to take a quick shower, her phone rings out to get her attention which gets her ire. She is hoping the streak of peaceful days continues but it seems fate has something else for her.

Oh well, she can only face the day's challenge with a positive mind! She picks up the call and greets whoever is the one called her. It turns out to be a familiar voice who calls her right now.

"Hello Xing Tian, it's me Noelle. Sorry for calling you this early in the morning." Xing Tian quickly assures the girl that she didn't disturb her morning and asks what is her agenda.

"As I am aware, you are looking for work during your stay in the city right?" That is true, despite working for the Faunus Anti-Glitch Squad, she is technically serving her sentence of stealing a military weapon. That means she is technically doing voluntary work.

"Yeah, I was planning to do it later actually." She didn't feel any ill will towards the girl, so she wouldn't say anything that insinuates her plans being possibly ruined. She could do this the next day if necessary.

"Then I suppose you don't have to worry about it anymore." What did she mean by that? "We figured that it is better to let you work for us full time so that you can serve your sentence while earning enough to survive."

This surprises Xing Tian, who is so stunt that Noelle continues without hesitation. "This is a decision made by the Commander and other officers during Sunday" Afterwards, the strict girl speaks in an annoyed tone, "And I was informed of this just a few hours ago."

"Do I have a say in this?" The girl nervously asks, hoping she is not forced into this.

The other line becomes silent for a moment, most likely she is dumbfound by her question. It takes a few seconds for her to finally speak. "Yes, you still have a say in this." Xing Tian lets out a sigh of relief.

"Then I am coming to the station today." Noelle acknowledges the answer before asking her when she will be arriving at the station. The girl requests to give her at least an hour to arrive since she hasn't got her breakfast yet.

When the line breaks, Xing Tian quickly takes her shower to start the day. When she is done, she takes a few minutes to finally leave her room for breakfast. All these actions take her half an hour, leaving her scrambling for time to arrive at her destination.

Thankfully, there is a taxi nearby for her to take a ride and leave for the station soon. The journey to the station is fairly peaceful despite being a rush hour for work. The population of the city is not much, which contributes to the lack of traffic jams.

When Xing Tian finally arrives at Faunus Police Station she still has 5 minutes to space. She quickly enters the building before finding Noelle is talking to a desk officer.

"When a girl named Xing Tian looks for me, bring her to Commander Aquila's office." The desk officer nods while saying "Yes madam" before Xing Tian lets her presence known.

"I don't think that is needed Miss Noelle." The bespectacled woman turns to the girl in surprise. "I guess I am early or just in time." Xing Tian rubs the back of her head embarrassingly.

Noelle shakes her head with a small, approving smile. "Not at all, you come just in time. Now please follow me to the Commander's office." Without a word, Xing Tian begins to follow the woman.

On the way, the asian girl notices Jace in the hallway happily chatting with a woman. The woman seems to enjoy the man's presence and whatever he is talking about. 'I guess I will greet him later.' Xing Tian thought to herself, wishing not to interrupt him.

The world seems to conspire against her since Noelle marches forward to her brother and speaks to him. "I see you are busy flirting."

Jace and the woman freezes for a moment before turning to Noelle. Before Jace could speak, the woman quickly speaks up. "Uhm, Noelle. We were just chatting about how my weekend date had gone."

Noelle just raises her eyebrow in skepticism. Her gaze bears into the woman's soul to discern her words before huffing in exasperation. "Next time use lunch time to chat. Right now we still have work to do."

The woman nods before saying goodbye to Jace and leaves the hallway. When the woman is out of sight, Jace grumbles before facing his sister. "You just have to ruin her good mood. She was having fun talking about-"

"Like I said earlier," Noelle cuts him off coolly. "If you have time to chat, not during break, then you have time for work." Without a reply, she continues her way through the hallway and leaves Jace behind.

The man merely sighs before noticing Xing Tian looking between him and his sister. "We see each other during lunch?" She asks him. The man smiles warmly and nods before urging her to follow his sister.

Finally catching up to Noelle, the girl couldn't help but ask her a question. "Why did you stop them from talking more? Aren't they on stand-by?" She is met with a glare which causes her to freeze. The woman didn't say anything but continued to lead the Asian girl to the office.

Figuring it is a bad idea to antagonize the woman further, she silently follows her to avoid further complications. With nothing to chat, the girl looks around the hallway and notices a pattern.

Many fellow officers seem to tense when Noelle is in their field of vision. Those who are chatting quickly become silent before continuing their chat when she is far away enough. Sometimes she can hear some people call Noelle in deregorative terms or saying she is too strict.

The girl frowns. Why would people call her in a less than positive light? Despite the woman being scary, she could tell that she takes her work very seriously. While she still feels she needs to loosen up during work, perhaps there is a reason behind her action.

"Ignore them." Noelle suddenly speaks up without turning around. "I earned this reputation over the years for a reason, and I want to keep it that way." Xing Tian's frown didn't leave her face, but now she can't help but wanting to ask her what had she done.

Maybe Jace can tell her? But will Jace trust her such information despite bonding over the weekend? Perhaps she can only know later once she finalizes her employment.

Noelle breaks the young girl out of her musing when Noelle tells her to enter the office. Thanking Noelle for escorting her before entering the office. Aquila seems to be waiting for the girl for a while as she is finger tenting. Xing Tian greets the older woman before being told to sit down.

"I am sure you have heard from Noelle about our agenda, correct?" Xing Tian nods in confirmation. "Good," the Commander suddenly pulls out a stack of intimidating papers and places them on the table with a tud. "Then we will go over the terms and what you will be doing before you tell us about your decision."

The Asian girl can only nod under the mercy of the paperwork, silently praying she could finish this soon. For the next few hours, Xing Tian examines the content of the paperwork as efficiently as possible. While she can easily skim through the papers, she wouldn't dare to do so when there is someone watching her.

When she is finally done, the girl dares herself to look at the clock only to see it is 1 o'clock. Just as lunch time is rolling around. She turns to Aquila with a smile and hands her the paperwork. She has made her decision now.

"I will work full time in the Faunus Police Department." Since she is offered this opportunity, there is no way she is willing to let it go. Plus, she can get the chance to talk to Jace and Noelle!

Well, aside from those, she wishes to help in protecting more people and get a clue of the ruins. 'Step by step first,' Xing Tian tells herself in her mind.

Aquila smiles before giving her a contract paper for her to sign. The girl looks through the terms before willingly signs it and thanking the Commander for hiring her.

The commander speaks with a warmer smile. "I am actually glad you choose to join us full time. That way we can work better in the current circumstance." The woman held out her hand for a handshake.

With a toothy grin the girl returns the handshake. "I am happy to make you happy." Once they have finished their business, the girl leaves the room.

'Hopefully I can find Jace or Noelle for lunch.' She thinks to herself as she looks for the siblings.