Notes: unrelated Ruby & Yang, real world AU, possibly a one-shot unless I get some inspiration to continue working on it.
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Ruby wouldn't normally find herself down at the bar of Juniors club as the night continued to pass, since it wasn't really the kind of scene for a socially awkward and geeky teen that did lighting and sound tech for the eccentric owner of the club, but found herself in an unusual situation after her shift ended for the night and she was all but kicked out of the sound booth by her fellow worker Nora.
She couldn't put her finger on why exactly she had come down to the bar, when the same thing happened almost every time her shifts came around. Ruby would do her job until it was time to leave, occasionally changing the lighting effects and dimming or brightening the lights that shone onto the dance floor, and usually busied herself with one of her textbooks or something.
Tonight she had wandered over to the bar after she was left blinking outside the booth and overheard the insane cackling of Nora through the relatively thin walls, and shared a small nod with Junior before he returned to serving his customers for the night as a sign of minor camaraderie.
Nursing a small glass of soda as she watched people dance and grind against one another, Ruby could feel her cheeks reddening as she saw people move lewdly in some sick form of dance that she couldn't wrap her head around, and shrunk further into the oversized pullover hoodie that she had put on that night to combat the rapidly cooling temperatures of autumn.
Catching an odd sound and the flash of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye, Ruby turned to find a tall and very well-built blonde haired girl that she recognized only through sight as one of the club regulars saunter up to the bar and share a look with Junior, before ordering "The strongest thing that you have on-tap tonight."
Lifting a brow at the odd order from a girl that she couldn't guess to be much older then Ruby's own 17 years, the older girl leaned against the bar and started people watching as she waited for her order, and things remained silent at the bar for a few minutes.
Ruby was snapped from her thoughts of slipping out of the club and going home to her equally eccentric room mate Penny when the blonde girl spoke up again, obviously not towards Junior judging by the teasing tone in her voice "I don't thin that I've seen you around here before Red, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"
Feeling her nerves rising Ruby could only hope that the blonde was trying to converse with someone else at the bar and wasn't trying to strike up a conversation with her, but this was dashed when she barely turned her head and caught sight of the violet eyes staring directly at her, making her blood freeze in her veins momentarily.
Blubbering out words without any meaning to them, Ruby tried her best to regain her composure as the blonde continued looking at her, and breathed a sigh of relief when the violet eyes turned away to stare out at the crowd on the dance floor once again, making Ruby wonder if the older girl had lost interest with a small amount of hope.
This was immediately dashed when the blonde leaned in closer to Ruby and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling the two girls shoulder to shoulder as she smiled down at the much smaller girl "you must be a shy girl then" The blonde stated more than guessed.
Trying to form words to respond was failing spectacularly for Ruby as she did her best not to melt on the spot from her anxiety as the blonde gave her a cocky smile before letting the younger girl go and turn back to the bar, where Ruby could see Junior coming back with a dark-colored liquid in a fancy wine glass.
Taking the drink with a bright grin the blonde girl thanked Junior "You're the best scruffy man" before leaning back and downing the drink in a single gulp that made Ruby gape in disbelief at this girl's bravado.
Junior turned away from the two girls with no reaction to the girl's rapid inhalation of her drink, before muttering over his shoulder to the girl "just don't go doing anything too crazy this time Yang, I don't want to have to pay for repairs again" before walking away to serve another customer without waiting for the girl's response.
Shaking her hand at the departing bartender and owner dismissively, the now recognized girl named Yang didn't seem all that bothered by the warning as she turned back to Ruby, who squeaked and tried to shy away from the taller blonde girl nervously.
Grabbing the girl's shoulder again and pulling them together once more, Yang wasted no time in pulling Ruby from her seat on the bar stool and starting to pull her towards the dance floor without even trying to offer Ruby a choice in the matter, and Ruby noticed that she still had a wide grin across her face.
"Well, now that I'm suitably buzzed up for the night, how about the two of us go out and show all those posers how you really dance at a club?" She offered to Ruby, though she didn't seem to be expecting a response as she wiggled her hips from side to side without releasing Ruby's much smaller hand from her firm grip as she tugged Ruby along behind her.
Ruby had to admit that Yang certainly was dressed to party in a tight brown tank top that accentuated her generous assets, and a pair of jean shorts that hung from her slim hips. She did momentarily question how Yang expected to dance in what looked like a pair of combat boots, but wasn't given much time to think about it before the two were engulfed by the mob on the dance floor and it was only the fact that she could still feel Yang's hand holding her own that allowed her to know that the blonde was still there.
Unused to anyone being so forceful with her when she tended to melt into the background, Ruby was feeling overwhelmed amongst the crowded dance floor but took an odd amount of comfort from the warmth of Yang's hand holding hers as the stranger led her to a more open part of the dance floor.
Once the two broke through the almost impassable wall of people dancing Ruby took a deep breath not unlike if she'd been underwater for too long, and only had a moment to regain her bearings before she found Yang turning to face her and reaching down to take her other hand.
"Can you dance little Red?" Yang finally thought to ask the younger girl after dragging her without consent onto the dance floor, and Ruby had to look up to meet the older girl's eyes as the two stood there under the blistering lights that illuminated the gyrating bodies around them.
Kicking her feet in worn out trainers since she hadn't expected to get involved with the dancing tonight after her shift ended, Ruby was barely able to work up the nerve to respond to Yang, but managed to finally squeak out a meek "no."
This earned laughter from Yang at the shy response from the much smaller girl, but Ruby noticed it wasn't the kind of judgemental laughter that she was used to hearing from people when they looked at her. It was more like a laugh shared between friends when told a good joke, and despite herself Ruby actually felt warmth blossoming in her chest as she heard the noise coming from this complete stranger.
Yang began moving before Ruby could think much more about what was happening, though calling it dancing was a bit of a misnomer, as the girl was simply shaking her hips from side to side as she swayed along with the music blasting from the speakers overhead. Ruby tried to follow what the blonde was doing, but she didn't think that she was doing a very good job since she was sure that she was offbeat, and didn't look nearly as good doing it as Yang did.
Daring to take a look up at the older girl's face made Ruby's cheeks burn once again as she saw an oddly motherly smile on Yang's face as she looked down and watched Ruby sway in time with her own movements, and there was no judgement in Yang's eyes that Ruby would expect from an older girl like Yang.
The pair continued to move along with the music as Ruby tried to imitate what Yang was doing, but she was thrown for a loop as Yang released her hands and started to swing them along to the beat as well, making Ruby pause as she tried to will down the embarrassment she felt just from watching what Yang was doing.
Meekly trying to match what Yang was doing now, Ruby couldn't hold back her own nerves and stopped almost immediately as her face went red and she felt foolish for even trying something like that in public.
Hearing another of Yang's laughs and turning to look at the older girl allowed Ruby to see that she still wasn't being judged for her awkward attempts to imitate what Yang was doing, and if anything it looked like Yang was enjoying watching what Ruby was trying.
"You're not doing bad little Red, but you should really stop thinking so hard about this and just let your body flow with the music" Yang offered her advice to Ruby, making her blush as the blonde spun on her heels, causing her long hair to twirl along with her to Ruby's amazement at the older girl's beauty.
"I'm not as pretty and naturally talented as you are" Ruby managed to squeak out under her breath to Yang, but paused when she saw that the girl's expression had changed to a harder look as she stared down at Ruby.
Tensing as Yang grabbed her hands once more it was all Ruby could do not to react by pulling away and trying to run from the admittedly scary look that the blonde was giving her, but thought her heart was going to stop when she watched Yang lean in towards her face and whisper to her "You're perfectly fine just the way you are Ruby Rose."
Ruby wasn't inclined to believe the older girl at first until she realized that Yang had just used her full name when she hadn't revealed it to the blonde, or heard anyone else say it since the two had met at the bar. This raised several more questions for Ruby to puzzle through, but for the moment she was trapped with her mind frozen as Yang started to once more pull her around back in the direction of the bar.
Breathing a sigh of relief once she was safely perched upon one of the bar stools once more as she ordered a new drink from Junior, Ruby turned to look at Yang once more as the blonde was being oddly quiet since they broke through the crowd again and took their seats, other than ordering another round from the bartender.
"Hey little Red, I don't suppose you've ever thought to trying to perform before, have you?" Yang asked suddenly as she stared down at the younger girl, making Ruby tense up from the serious look on her face and the fact that it seemed like her eyes had changed color from a soft violet to a violent red.
"Not really, I'm more so one of those girls that just disappear into the background and take care of sound and lighting" Ruby admitted to the older girl simply, not thinking much of her lack of presence or whatever crazy thoughts might be going through this girls mind at the moment.
Ruby was surprised when Junior returned to deliver their drinks but remained standing in front of the two girls as he struck up a conversation with Yang "Ruby here is mighty shy Yang, I don't think she's what you're looking for when it comes to spicing up your little routine" he told the blonde girl honestly.
Yang waved her hand at the owner dismissively once more before turning to face Ruby "Blake didn't seem like that kind of girl when we first got the idea to form our group either, but you know how popular we became Scruffy" She reminded the man eagerly, earning a confused look from Ruby as she tried to figure out what Yang could possibly be talking about.
Junior sighed at the girl's point before turning away once more from the two girls, and offered a parting opinion to Yang as he moved to attend to other customers "do what you like blondie, I can't talk you out of whatever crazy scheme you have up your sleeves this time. Just be careful with her, Ruby is more fragile than you might think."
Rolling her eyes at the warning the departing owner offered as if it didn't really matter to her Yang turned back to face the cowering younger girl who was unsure of what was going to happen.
Squeaking as Yang forcefully grabbed her hand once more, Ruby's mind could only lock onto the thought of where Yang had pulled a blue pen from while the blonde began writing something on the back of Ruby's hand in a particularly messy scrawl.
Once she was finished writing whatever it was down Yang pulled away, allowing Ruby to regain control of her arm and try to read what the older girl had jotted down on her hand. From an initial glance it looked like an address to somewhere in town, but Ruby had never heard of anywhere named Oum street in the city she had lived in for her entire life.
Looking up at the practically beaming blonde girl as she slid her pen back into her pocket, Yang shoved her finger in Ruby's face a moment later and began to speak at the younger girl in a tone that refused any type of argument "come to that address next Monday and let's see what kind of stuff you have to show us."
Ruby was left spluttering in a weak attempt at trying to talk sense into this maniac as Yang turned and jumped from her bar stool and finished off her drink in a single gulp once again, before starting to walk away without letting Ruby even try to argue.
After Yang was out of sight Ruby turned to face the bar completely and groaned as she brought her head down onto the cool and smooth stone of the counter as she tried to figure out just what she had been drafted into.
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Somehow both Penny and Nora had managed to talk themselves into coming along with Ruby to wherever this meeting was supposed to take place as the three girls climbed aboard the city bus and rode to the designated address that Ruby had ended up transcribing onto a piece of paper once she got back to the dorm that she shared with Penny after her eventful night at the bar.
Nora was ever the ball of energy as she bounced off the walls and spoke a mile a minute about Ruby's offer from the older girl, pointedly ignoring the few people that shot dirty looks in her direction for making too much noise on the bus.
The pink-haired girl was quite the contrast to Ruby's meek personality as she was bright and loud, and even her clothing reflected this as she wore a tie-dyed shirt in a variety of colors and a pair of black shorts.
The red-haired Penny was more reserved but nonetheless excited about wherever the girls were going as her green eyes shone as she tried to grill Ruby for any information she could about the girl Ruby had met at the bar last week.
Penny wasn't known for conforming to society, and wore a pair of jean suspenders over an orange shirt, with a pair of bright pink scrunchies on both of her wrists, an odd combination of clothing that most people would stop and take a second look at, but Ruby had grown used to after practically growing up with the eccentric ginger.
"I'm telling you that she was totally trying to hit on you Ruby" Nora tried to convince her friend as she leaned forward towards Ruby with a bright smile on her face "what kind of girl you just met at the bar asks you to come to some unknown place on the far side of town after pulling you onto the dance floor?"
"Perhaps this is some manner of Romeo and Juliet scenario where the two fell madly in love with one another at first glance" Penny offered to the two girls with a smile on her face, making Ruby groan aloud as Nora's face lit up.
"I've told you to stop reading so many romance novels Penny, that kind of thing doesn't actually happen in real life" Ruby scolded her friend, though this appeared to go unheeded as the ginger continued to smile.
"You think that this Yang girl is going to confess to Ruby once we get to this place that she was invited to Penny?" Nora theorized cheerfully to Penny, uncaring of the way Ruby's face went bright red at the idea.
"That's enough you two, I'm already super nervous about this whole thing, and I can't believe that you managed to talk me into going to meet Yang at all after she came into my life like a tornado" Ruby shouted at the two girls, who smiled conspiratorially to one another from either side of Ruby as the bus continued to roll through town.
Their stop wasn't much farther after that, and the three were left gawking outside of a respectable-looking dance studio with the name Beacon scrawled across the sign in fancy cursive letters. Ruby could feel herself becoming even more nervous as she looked up at the sign with Penny and Nora, but wasn't given a chance to rethink her plans when a familiar blonde came barrelling out through the front doors of the building and grabbing Ruby's hand.
"I was starting to wonder if you weren't going to show up after all little Red" Yang informed the younger girl with a bright smile on her face. She wasted little time before starting to pull Ruby back towards the building, and both of the girl's friends followed obediently as they entered.
A swirling image of halls and corridors was all that Ruby could recall as Yang dragged her along, until finally the four girls were in a comfortable looking room together with another black-haired girl and a very tall Amazonian with bright red hair.
"This is the girl that you claimed to have met at Juniors last Friday?" The black-haired girl asked in a bored tone as she looked up from the book that she had been reading, while Ruby was still trying to regain her bearings.
"Little Red here might have lacked a little when it comes to dance moves, but I'm absolutely sure that she's exactly what we need for our next performance!" Yang replied loudly and proudly to her friend without any of Ruby's input on the matter.
Showing a bit more tact in the situation that Yang had pulled the younger girl into, the tall red-haired girl stepped over to the gathered teens and offered a small smile to the three newcomers "hello there, I feel like I should apologize for Yang's forcefulness, I'm Pyrrha and I act as a manager for these two and their idol group."
"Idol?" Ruby, Penny and Nora echoed what Pyrrha had said in disbelief before taking a second look at Yang, who was still smiling brightly at the girls as though nothing was out of the ordinary.
Sighing as she obviously realized that Yang hadn't explained anything to them when they last met, the black-haired girl climbed to her feet and crossed the room to the other girls so she could begin to explain "I'm Blake, this ones partner in our group, and the only one crazy enough to have put up with all of her flights of fancy since we were children" Blake introduced herself.
"Aww you know that you love me Blakey, why else would you have stuck around or agreed to become an idol with me?" Yang reasoned with a bright smile as she folded her hands behind her head.
"It was more like you didn't give me the choice to refuse, and who knows what kind of trouble you might have gotten into if I wasn't here to monitor you" Blake replied in a dull voice as she stared at Yang, who tried to feign indignation at the girl's claims.
"Regardless, Yang said that she met you at Juniors and told you to come here, so I suppose based on your surprise that she didn't tell you anything about what would be going on today" Blake said as she turned to face Ruby, who was still trying to come to terms with what was going on.
"This is why I should have gone with her on Friday, but unfortunately Jaune needed my help with a few errands" Pyrrha said quietly, though the fact that the smile never left her face allowed Ruby to guess that it wasn't a problem for the older girl.
"Anyways, that's enough getting to know one another, let's get down to the real business and get you inducted into By" Yang announced happily, thrusting a hand into the air as the new girls looked at her in confusion.
"Bye?" The three repeated once more as they tried to figure out what Yang was possibly talking about. Ruby had a feeling that whatever it might be couldn't be good, but she also noticed a small amount of excitement bubbling up in her chest that she tried to rapidly push down once more.
"The name that Yang and Blake agreed on when they formed their idol group" Pyrrha clarified to the younger girls helpfully "Yang had a bunch of different ideas in her head, but Blake refused all of them, so they agreed to form the band name on their initials."
"But if Ruby joined the band, wouldn't they become Byr?" Penny pointed out from behind Ruby as the girl stared Yang down to no effect.
"How about RBY?" Yang chimed in as she ignored Ruby's staring for the moment and turned to look at Pyrrha "it has a nice ring to it now that I think about it, but first we have to teach this little cutie how to sing and dance" she claimed, before jumping at Ruby and pulling the smaller girl into a hug.
"What exactly does you group do?" Nora inquired since Ruby was unable to respond with her face smothered in Yang's hug. It seemed like the kind of question that Ruby would ask, and Nora was not one to be a bad friend.
"We've performed at a few nightclubs and bars in the city before, though Junior refuses to let us play at his club after this one nearly set his bar on fire" Blake explained as she shot a withering glare at Yang. "Most of the time we sing our own composed songs and perform dances that we practice beforehand."
Laughing nervously at the reminder of that particular incident Pyrrha tried her best to redirect the conversation "it's not incredibly taxing to your schedule, and we try not to overwork or interfere with other plans that you might have, so we try not to book too many performances in the same month."
"It sounds like fun to me" Penny claimed with a bright smile as she did a quick spin on her heel "I've always said that Ruby needed to let her hair down more and try to be more outgoing"
"I think that it's a great idea too" Nora added with a matching smile to Penny's "She's always too meek and hardly ever leaves her dorm room except for the days when she has to work at Junior's, so it ought to be great for her."
"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Ruby squawked as she managed to push herself away from Yang long enough to get a word in edgewise. She was promptly ignored as Yang pulled the smaller girl back into her generous assets and resume hugging the life out of her body.
"I'm not going to let you go until you say yes little red!" Yang threatened the younger girl with a wink that the red-haired girl likely wasn't able to see, and squeezed a bit harder for emphasis.
Mumbling against Yang's body as she tried to breathe Ruby grew tired enough of fighting against the surprisingly strong girl to shout, "fine!" just before her air flow was cut off once more.
"Excellent, then I'll go and collect what we need to fit Ruby into our performances, and start thinking about what outfit to make for her to wear on stage" Pyrrha informed her friends before turning to go.
"I'll come with you, since I need to try and find a few forms and such that we need to get back into one of the clubs that this one managed to get us kicked out of" Blake offered as she paused a moment to glare at Yang, who was entirely unaffected before the two departed.
Ruby was left in Yang's embrace wondering just what she had managed to be roped into, and sighed to herself about her life becoming so much more difficult all of a sudden.