A/N: If you haven't read Laws of Attraction (my retelling of RWBY vol 1-3 through the eyes of Pyrrha), all you need to know is: Nora 100% supports Pyrrha's quest to win Jaune's heart to a comical degree (she was their number one fangirl), Pyrrha adores Jaune but she's shy and has no self-esteem in the romance department, and Jaune is clueless, although he's starting to recognize that Pyrrha's a lot prettier/sweeter than he ever really realized. Also, the Beacon Academy dance is a huge hit and Pyrrha and Jaune dance all night long.
I love how some of you are surprised by how silly some of these oneshots have been compared to LoA. I swear I know how to differentiate tone- that story was serious and tragic, which is why I couldn't put all of these silly moments in it. Let me know what you think!
Petticoats
It wasn't the first time Jaune had worn a petticoat, sadly enough.
He admitted this fact to Pyrrha, leaving the girl in stitches as he pouted, red-faced and exhausted. He was hunched over on a desk chair, sitting criss-crossed as he desperately attempted to undo the corset holding his dress against his ribs. "Don't laugh at me, my sisters were mean," the boy grumbled when she finally took pity on him and began unlacing the ribbons for him. However, even when the corset had been opened, the strapless, sweetheart cut still hung against his painfully-flat chest, refusing to fall away.
Pyrrha raised a brow, inspecting the dress. "Why won't it…?" Then, she saw the thin, clear straps which had been forced over Jaune's biceps without her noticing, holding the top in place, and she doubled over, giggling relentlessly.
Jaune immediately pushed her away, light despite his annoyance. "What is it?" he moaned, pulling the plastic straps hanging down his arms to no avail. Every attempt to remove the straps pulled dangerously against the stitching of the dress itself, threatening a tear.
"You realize that those straps are meant to help you hang up the dress, and not for when you wear it, right?" she stumbled through another fit of giggles. "Why would you even-"
"Just 'cause I've worn dresses before, it doesn't mean that I know everything about them!" he squealed, much to her amusement.
She wiped a few tears of laughter away, reaching over to her desk where her stationary sat. Picking up a pair of scissors, she murmured, "I'll just cut you out. It won't destroy the dress, don't worry- I just don't want you to accidentally rip the bodice by stretching too much."
The blond crossed his arms and scowled childishly as she snipped the plastic restraints away, freeing him at last. "I don't even know what a bodice is," he sulked, but he allowed her to manoeuvre the straps around his arms anyways. When he finally moved his arms away from his chest, the top half of the dress crumpled down his broad, defined torso, bunching up around his waist.
Pyrrha took a step back, surveying her work. "Why did you even have a dress your size, anyway?" she asked gently, trying to fight back another wave of chuckles.
The blond sighed, running fingers through sweat-soaked hair. "I, ugh… one of my sisters packed it for me as a joke," he explained at last. "I was gonna get rid of it, but then it was buried under my stuff so I didn't think about it all year, and then I remembered our bet tonight and Fox let me borrow his ironing board and-"
The girl clutched her sides, giving into the urge to laugh once again. "I still can't believe you did that." Her eyes drifted down from his pouty expression, and for the first time, she actually looked at the picture before her. The blond was still seated, cross-legged (and highly unladylike) on his chair, with the bodice of his dress falling down around his waist, revealing a toned torso and defined muscles. She could see basketball shorts peeking up from under his ruffled skirt and petticoat, but even through the chiffon she could see how built his figure had become over their months of training. Other than his uniform, the boy was usually either wearing his hoodie, his armour, or his silly onesie, which made seeing what he really looked like underneath those baggy, concealing clothes practically impossible. And yet, here he was, vulnerable and exposed and looking much stronger than Pyrrha could've ever imagined him to be.
Immediately, she turned on her heel, biting down her own blushes. "I-I should wash up," she murmured, slipping off her heels. She let out a tiny sigh of relief as she felt her feet hit the ground, level once more. Then, she shuffled into the closet she shared with Nora, pyjamas in hand, closing the door behind her. I'll just hang this dress back up, then go wash off this makeup- As she formulated her plan, each word deliberate and focused in her mind to prevent her thoughts from slipping back to the decidedly-shirtless blond still sitting innocently outside, she tugged the dress up and over her head-
Only for her head to get yanked up with it.
Oh no. Carefully, she straightened the dress back up, feeling the tug on her circlet as she tried to undo the zipper holding the dress up. Somehow, it had gotten caught onto the chain of her circlet when she pulled her dress up past her head, and now she couldn't remove one without tightening and dragging on the other. She was stuck.
Sighing, she bit her lip and stumbled back out into the room. Her head was forced to tilt upwards due to the tangle. "Hey Jaune," she called, "would you mind giving me a hand?" She kept her eyes fixed on the ceiling, only allowing herself one peek to ascertain whether- Oh, okay, yes he's still almost naked. Great- and immediately dragging her gaze back up to the heavens, praying he wouldn't sense her shyness.
Thankfully, the blond had never been very good at tact. "Sure, let me help," the boy offered, immediately standing up. The dress sagged at his waist, but thanks to the lift from the fluffy petticoat still hiked up around narrow hips, the white piece continued to hang limply off his figure as he stood. Pyrrha gulped as the boy approached, still very shirtless and now very much in her close proximity. Due to the tilt of her head, she was forced to angle her face upwards towards him, close enough to see the light blond stubble dotting his chin. Although she had been this close to him for practically half the night- they had danced the night away together, after all- now that they were alone in their room, everything was just so much more… intimate.
Completely unaware of the effect he was having on her and her palpitating heart, Jaune reached up and brushed her hair away from her circlet, dragging his finger down the chain in question. She winced at the pull, but it was more in reaction to his presence than out of discomfort. "Ah," he hummed, "I see where it got tangled. Leave it to me!"
So, of course, as he reached his arms up around her shoulders to gently untangle the chain from her hair (mussed from when she tried removing the dress) and unwittingly drew her in close (it was just to reach farther back, although Pyrrha wanted to melt in embarrassment on the spot when he didn't just stand behind her to fix it, since the tangle was nearer to the back of her head), Nora and Ren walked into their bedroom, already washed up, with a tray of tea delicately balanced in Ren's hand.
"Your hair really got tangled up in this, huh?" he murmured lightly in her ear, causing a bolt of lightning to shoot straight up her spine, her entire body tensing at the closeness. Her gaze was transfixed in horror on the pair standing by the door, their eyes fixed on the duo inside.
Ren almost walked into Nora's frozen back, a slight frown on his face when he had to readjust his grip on the tray. The orange-haired girl, on the other hand, openly grinned at the redhead, pale blue eyes glittering evilly as she took in the sight of a half-naked Jaune standing mere inches from Pyrrha, his back mostly to the door, his arms reaching around the hold the back of her head.
Catching Pyrrha's eye over Jaune's shoulder, the shorter girl mouthed silently, "I knew you could do it! Be safe, don't do anything you can't tell Ruby!" and grabbed Ren's arm. The confused boy yelped quietly as she dragged him back out of the room, closing the door behind them. Unfortunately, Pyrrha saw the leering wink the other girl sent her through the crack in the door just before it shut completely.
Enough was enough. Pyrrha stepped away from Jaune, covering her burning face with one hand as she blindly reached for Jaune's bed with the other. Finding what she was looking for, she shifted to hide her face from the blond and tossed the boy's pyjamas into his face, leaving him confused and disoriented.
"Pyrrha, what are you doing?!" the boy cried, stumbling backwards onto his chair. The petticoat finally slipped down, letting the entire cocktail dress pool around his ankles as he took a seat clumsily. The girl simply stared at his face, eyes drifting down- No!
"Jaune, get dressed, please," the girl pleaded, keeping her voice as calm as possible. It… wasn't very calm.
"Why are you mad?" Jaune spluttered, pulling his onesie off his face. Pyrrha didn't reply- refusing to let him see her embarrassment, she instead bolted out of the room as quickly as she could, grabbing her pyjamas and toiletries on the way out.
As she sprinted down the hall in her slippers, her Scroll buzzed in her pocket. Taking refuge in the girls' bathroom, she ran into a shower stall and pulled out the buzzing device. Her eyes ran over the messages, and all she could do was choke down her indignant, mortified cries as Nora flooded their private text chat with thumbs-ups, flames, confetti and winking faces over and over again.
Nothing happened, Nora, she texted weakly.
The girl immediately replied, I didn't know you were so good at undressing him, Pyrrha!
The redhead groaned, tossing her Scroll into her bag. Having roommates is painful, she thought wearily. As she sighed, she attempted to pull the collar of her dress over her head, then paused, feeling the tug of her circlet's chain stick upon the zipper. …I'm still stuck, aren't I?
She untangled herself eventually- it just wasn't very graceful. Jaune had a way of making her clumsier than usual.