A/N: Hey all! Got a big dumb dance based fanfic here. I had a lot of fun writing this and gotta give some shout-outs to Marie, Kris, Ash, and everyone else from the Skype group for gushing over rave dances and stuff; you guys helped out more than you could ever know.
I do not own RWBY or anything canonically within it. That's all RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.
Comments and criticism welcome and invited.
"No, Weiss. You gotta go step, step, spin."
"That's what I'm doing, you incompetent knob! I want to do those big slides now!"
Jaune sighed as he suffered the insults being launched at him from his icy friend. Walking back towards the boombox, he looked at his fellow instructor. Ren just softly shook his head and Jaune groaned. The blond sat down next to the music player and hovered his finger over the play button, while the pale girl they were training prepared herself and glared at him.
"Alright, from the top, Weiss. One, two, three, go."
One day earlier…
Ruby playfully tugged on Weiss's arm as they made their way through the crowd. Weiss's silver-eyed girlfriend had dragged her to the event, sputtering something about supporting their friends. The heiress had resisted, but only enough to make her team leader push a little harder. A smile played on her lips as she watched the bobbing head of her closest friend as they approached the front row of the venue.
The venue was a small dance club in Vale called Dances with Beowolves, packed with students from Beacon as well as a few of the feeder schools and some students who were in town for the rapidly approaching tournament. The reason it was so packed tonight was for the highly anticipated dance-off. Not in the elegant ballroom style Weiss was familiar with, but rather a more gritty and freestyle form of mobile self-expression.
The place was clean enough, Weiss supposed, although she hated how close everyone was. With the bumping and jostling, the heiress could have sworn someone had tried to smack her butt. Luckily, her combat skirt protected her. The sooner this whole event was over and Ruby was happy to go home the better.
"Who are we even here to see?" yelled Weiss over the blaring dance music. While she was curious, she had only voiced the question to have her adorable girlfriend turn to her with those big shimmering silver eyes and smile.
"That's a surprise, Weiss!" she squeaked back, pulling the heiress faster as they finally broke through the crowd and got a clear view of the stage. Some student from Vacuo was just getting off the stage to a mixed reception from the audience as a lanky dancing man in dressed in a horribly garish purple leotard. His enormous white and red afro must've been half as tall as he was and his face was covered with a sparkling gold Domino mask.
"Thank you, Clay for your… interesting moves," he cried out into his microphone, his high-pitched voice as dreadful to Weiss as his lack of fashion sense. "And last, but not least, we have, dancing to a little ditty called Killin' It…" The bizarre looking announcer consulted his cue cards for a moment. "…Golden Lotus!" Who strolled onto the stage only left Weiss flabbergasted. The two young men smiled at the crowd, with only a hint of nervousness on their lips. Both were wearing tanktops which illustrated their lean yet muscular physique and jeans that were designed to allow for a great deal of manoeuverability.
As the crowd's catcalls and whistles died down, the song began. The futuristic synth started slowly at first but quickly grew in speed and volume as the two male dancers began to work their magic. And even Weiss had to admit those two had some mystifying moves. How they managed to slide across the floor while barely moving their feet… How their bodies moved in an astonishingly precise and robotic manner… All it took was one look at Ruby and the heiress knew that she too found the display enchanting, more so even. As the song continued, she caught the eye of one of the boys, his own magenta orbs staring back unflinchingly. The sweat from the exhaustive performance intensified as he recognized the look she gave him but he carried on with the dance as did his blond haired partner, oblivious to the threat.
As the song drew to a close, the duo went for their big finish, with the blond sliding across the floor and forming a 'J' with his body while his partner flipped into a handstand, spelling out an 'R' with his legs and arms. The ensuing applause was near deafening as the crowd roared their approval, with Ruby being a very vocal participant. Weiss settled for polite applause, still eying the teen in green while he desperately looked away.
"Are… Are you checking Ren out, Weiss?"
Spinning around, the white-haired teen found herself face-to-face with a grinning Nora, although there certainly was a dangerous glint in those childish turquoise eyes. Gently pushing the taller girl off her, Weiss almost let out a nervous chuckle but stood her ground and huffed indignantly. "As if! I'm here with my girlfriend, I'll have you know!"
As if on cue, Ruby slid up behind Weiss. "Yeah!" The younger girl did look confused after her affirmation. "Wait what are we talking about?"
"Nothing!" said Weiss, eager to avoid any possible insinuations that might get played. Instead, she turned back to Nora and the approaching figure of a smiling Pyrrha. "I didn't know Ren and your dork of a team leader were dancers."
Nora laughed while Pyrrha rolled her eyes; she was not fond of how the shorter girl spoke of her boyfriend but she knew she meant nothing by it. "Yes, it came as quite a surprise to us too…" she spoke softly, as the club's music came back on but quieter than before.
"Not me!" beamed the hyperactive member of Team JNPR, bouncing in time with the music. "Ren's dad would drive me and him together to our dance classes after school."
"You too, Nora?" asked Ruby, following in time with Nora's own movements, aiming to dance as well.
"Oh, no," she laughed, now swaying side to side. "I got kicked out after a week but we'd still go together." She noticed the knowing glances of the other three girls and the realization hit her. "Not together-together; I just liked hanging out with him and watching."
A chorus of uh-huhs rose up as a suddenly flustered Nora shook her head furiously. The music quieted down again as the bizarre host took the stage once more. "Everybody having a good time tonight?!" he cooed, to uproarious applause. He grinned and Weiss swore she saw a piece of spinach stuck between some of his teeth and gagged. "Well, now it's the moment you've all been waiting: The winners of tonight's Dance-Off with Beowolves!" Again, the crowd launched into roars of approval. "Now, as much as I'd love to play with the suspense here, I don't think there was too much of a contest, now was there? Give it up for Jaune Arc and Lie Ren: The Gold Lotus!"
The two walked back onto the stage, noticeably flushed and with towels around their necks. In addition to the loud applause, the sounds of a few girls whistling and screaming could be heard. Neither Nora nor Pyrrha seemed all too pleased about that development, Weiss noted. Both were clearly more nervous now that they were expected to accept their award and talk rather than simply dance. "Any advice to your crushed competition, boys?" prodded the afro-bearing MC, thrusting his microphone at both members of The Gold Lotus.
Ren stepped back, clearly uncomfortable speaking to such a large crowd, which left Jaune to take the mic and nervously chuckle. "Uhh… Better luck next time…?" Laughter rose up from crowd, both due to Jaune's stuttering and his rather half-hearted attempt at modesty. The MC quickly stole the mic and went about concluding the event with thanks to the all the participants and finally handing the boys their oversized check.
As the duo made their way off the stage, they were quickly greeted by their four female classmates. "That was… so cool!" shouted Ruby, hugging the two older boys tightly. "When you guys were shuffling… And then the tectoniks… And then the finale! It was so awesome!" The dancing duo merely laughed softly as Ruby finally relinquished them from her grasp.
Despite his laughter and euphoria of performing onstage still lingering in his mind, Jaune couldn't help but feel as if today was the start of a downhill spiral. He assumed this might be due to the girls who had been calling out to him and Ren and how Pyrrha might look upon such advances. What he hadn't been expecting, however, was that a certain snowy princess would be the problematic one.
It wasn't until the next day when they were back at Beacon that Jaune got cornered by Weiss. The two hadn't talked much since the Emerald Forest. Not out of any particular fight or anything; they simply didn't have much to talk about once the blond found out he had far deeper feelings for his guardian angel than the heiress. So when his white-haired peer pulled him aside in secret, he was worried he had accidentally offended her in some way. Maybe she was upset at having been dragged along by her girlfriend to see him dance, especially with how much praise Ruby had heaped on Jaune and Ren. While he hadn't insisted on her bringing Weiss along, he had convinced the younger girl to come support The Gold Lotus.
"Let me begin my three-part apology for whatever this is about by saying that I haven't called you snow angel for like a good two months now."
One quick glare from the heiress shut him up as she then rolled her eyes. "As much as it pains me to say this, I need your help."
"Wait, Weiss Schnee needs my help?!" Jaune was astonished; Weiss was better than him at just about everything he could think of. She was a straight A student, an exceptional Huntress, and a famed singer. Hell, even relationship-wise, her and Ruby were a far bigger power couple than Jaune and Pyrrha, regardless of his girlfriend's own level of fame.
"If you're going to be sarcastic and infuriating about it, then forget it," snarled Weiss, embarrassed as is that she had to turn to this dork for assistance. But if she was going to learn, she would settle for nothing but the best. Even if this loser was 'the best'.
"No, that's not what I…" Jaune sighed. "Look, what's this about?"
"Teach me how to dance."
Jaune blinked, confused. "Uhh, Weiss, we both have girlfriends and…"
Weiss turned deep crimson as she silenced him with another furious glare. "Not what I mean, Arc. That dancing you did last night at the club. The… Truffling?"
"Shuffling," he corrected, getting punched in the gut for his reward.
"Yes, that. You and Ren are going to teach me how to do it."
"…Why…?" wheezed the blond, holding the place where the eventual bruise would show itself.
"Because Ruby found your performance…" Weiss sighed and rubbed her forehead. "'Awesometacular'. And if she enjoys it that much, she can get it from me rather than you. Besides…" The icy blue eyes looked down at the crouching boy's own azure eyes with a mocking shimmer. "If you can master such a vulgar style of dancing, it should only require minimal effort from me."
Jaune groaned loudly; partly from the pain of the sucker punch and partly from the realization that Weiss would be an insufferable student. Ren's advice during the return from the club suddenly made much more sense.
"We should invest in some warmer clothes; winter's coming and she looks angry."
"You clearly are just a terrible teacher then," concluded the heiress with her signature Schnee Schneer, as Jaune rested his head in his hands and Ren did his best to look anywhere but at their 'student'.
The soundproof room which was normally reserved for the Study of Grimm Mating Calls course was empty but for the trio and a boombox. Jaune wasn't sure how but his dancing partner had managed to convince Professor Port to let them use it for the day, since that particular course now had no students in it after mass drop-outs and transfers out of it. The blond had bigger issues to deal with than ask his friend what possible lie he could have come up with to cover their tracks. And this bigger issue was mouthing off far too much for someone of such small stature, both physically and skill-wise in terms of learning.
"Look, Weiss, maybe you're just not cut out for this," he suggested calmly, as he sat up against the wall. "You can't possibly be exceptional at everything you try, especially not this fast."
Before he had a chance to blink, the white-haired girl was far too close for comfort and her current expression did not help Jaune's confidence on his continued survival. "Oh yeah? And just how on Remnant did a chump like you get good, huh? You're holding out on me, Arc."
Jaune considered himself a patient person. He had put up with Cardin and his incessant bullying for quite some time. Even the constant belittling from his friends, though in jest, was often just water off a duck's back. But his patience wasn't eternal.
"I put a lot of time and effort into it, Weiss. There, that's the secret. I don't magically get good at anything; I sweat and I bleed for it. Now if you honestly want to get good at this, you're going to shut up and do what Ren and I say, okay?"
Weiss was gobsmacked. "How dare you—"
"How dare I what, Weiss? Fight back? Now you either start from the top or Ren and I will pack up and leave." Jaune attempted a glare at the girl but it didn't quite make it. "Those are your options. Take it or leave it."
Ren smiled thinly from the corner but wiped it from his face when both Jaune and Weiss shot him simultaneous nasty looks. He sighed and went back to polishing StormFlower.
As the silence stretched to about a minute, the blond grinned, resting his finger above the play button of the boombox. "Good. Now, from the top. One, two, three, go."
Ruby was worried about her girlfriend. Weiss, who had been almost smothering her, had grown sparce over the last week. She asked the rest of her team as well as Pyrrha if they saw what she was up to. Not that Ruby suspected that the heiress was cheating on her or anything, but the last time few times a friend had grown distant, they often found themselves in trouble.
With Jaune in mind, Ruby realized she didn't see much of him either. She had pressed him about it but he simply joked about getting lost on campus or doing more training in the forest with Pyrrha. She knew he was lying but decided not to keep pushing him about it; if it was something serious he would open up to her like he did when he was hanging around Cardin.
As she retired to her room after an exhausting solo training session, she slowly opened the door to find a bizarrely flushed Weiss lying on her bed, fingers swinging around. Curious, Ruby continued silently and saw that her girlfriend was listening to an MP3 player of some kind. Quietly backing out of the room and closing the door behind her, she knocked loudly. "Anyone in there?" she shouted, hearing the sound of Weiss jumping out of the bed and, presumably, hiding the MP3 player.
The door flung open to reveal a smiling Weiss, who hugged her team leader and girlfriend. "How was practice?" she softly spoke into Ruby's ear.
"It was great but I'm going to rest for a bit, okay?"
"Sure," said the white-haired teen. "I'll probably head out for a bit later to study with Blake for Oobleck's test later."
"Oh, right we have a test," muttered the silver-eyed girl, which made Weiss pout.
"C'mon, you dork; you need to pay more attention in class. Weiss Schnee can't date a failure…" The heiress suddenly chuckled. "If I was dating a failure, I'd be dating Jaune." She kissed Ruby on the forehead and grinned. "Get some rest and we'll study later, okay?"
It's now or never, Weiss thought, as she sat backstage. It had been just about two weeks since Ren and Jaune had begun to teach her how to freestyle dancing. And her she was, waiting to go on-stage for the female Dance-Off with Beowolves. The heiress wasn't frightened by crowds; she had sung for packed ballrooms so public performance wasn't one of her fears. There was just one person she really wanted to impress in the crowd tonight.
She was interrupted from her thoughts as stage handler motioned for her to be ready to go on-stage. Adjusting her pristine black fedora, Weiss walked over to examine her look in the body-sized mirror. Sure, she had done her best to focus on maintaining her colours but it felt odd to be wearing a dress shirt. She did like the bright red flower rising from her breast pocket. And the suspenders… As she pulled back on the crimson straps, she let go and they snapped back into place. For some reason, the sound and feel of it made Weiss smile. Maybe she would get used to an outfit like this… Maybe after she left Beacon she'd wear stuff like this more often.
"You're on," came the call of the stage handler and the white-haired teen took a deep breath before walking on-stage.
Ruby stood amongst the crowd, a dumb grin plastered across her face. She couldn't believe that Weiss had gone through with this idea. She wasn't exactly opposed but she couldn't help but laugh at aggressive for attention her girlfriend could be.
"Is she on yet?" asked Yang, bouncing around to try and get a better view with her Scroll in hand. "I totally need to get this on film. Our own princess doing such a scandalous thing, oh my!" Ruby playfully jabbed her older sister in the shoulder as she adopted a horrifically awful '50s accent.
"She's gonna be on any minute. If you want to record it, I suggest not standing next to me because that's where she'll be looking." Ruby almost felt bad about letting Yang record her girlfriend dancing but, on the other hand, it would give her a video she could always watch if Weiss wasn't there. Also, having a potential blackmailing tool could come in handy in the future.
As one blonde charged off into the crowd in order to get a good shot for her filming, another blond joined the younger girl. "Did you get my funeral arrangements in order?"
Ruby just laughed in response and slapped him on the back. "Oh c'mon, she won't be that mad. After all, she wanted to do this, right?"
"Yeah, but still…" Jaune did not like his chances in this matter. Especially if Weiss found out that Ruby wasn't the only person from her team in attendance. And that it wasn't a surprise anymore. He flinched a bit from guilt. He wasn't even sure how Ruby and Yang had managed to jump to the right conclusion, but they had. "Doesn't hurt to be prepared, right?"
Ruby rolled her eyes at the overdramatic tone but before she could deliver the witty one-liner she totally had for this situation, DJ Miror Miror was on-stage and announcing the final competitor. "And tonight, making her debut on the Schneene, Weiss Schnee!"
Admist a sea of groans, some cheers erupted as the heiress strut onto the stage as the bass started pumping. As Ruby stared, slack jawed, Ren slapped her on the back and out of her daze. "You're welcome," the two male dancers said, grinning like a pair of buffoons. The silver-eyed girl took maybe a second to scowl at the two before turning back to watch her girlfriend who was looking nice in her new masculine attire.
As Weiss effortlessly strolled across the stage with deceptively short steps, she spun and kept beat to a tee. However, the beat suddenly slowed down, which made her grin as she caught the silver eyes of the most important person in the crowd.
Blake, who had tagged along but would not associate herself with Yang and Ruby's mischievous plot, walked up to Ren and Jaune as the crowd roared in applause and cheers. "Is she…?"
"Yup," said Jaune proudly, watching as Weiss was basically grinding on stage.
"Did you teach…?"
"Nah, this bit was all Ren's teachings."
As Blake looked at the magenta-eyed boy, he turned away, flushed. Raising an eyebrow, she decided she would be content with not asking any more questions on the matter.
Slowly the music sped up once again and grew in volume as the finale to the dance approached. Weiss laughed as she tossed her hat into the sky in preparation for her favourite part of the dance. Sliding back, she jumped, flipped, spun, grabbed the hat and landed perfectly in time with the beat.
The unfortunate part was she landed on her face.
The crowd gasped and the end notes of the song were cut-off. Jaune and Ren winced, knowing from experience how painful missing the finale could be on a multitude of levels. Ruby screeched and immediately hurried to the stage to make sure Weiss was okay. She was conscious but decided it would be better for her pride if she just pretended she wasn't.
As all of Team RWBY and Team JNPR gathered in the infirmary, Weiss wished that maybe there would've been a few loose splinters in the ground to poke out her eyes so she would be blind. She couldn't bear to look at them and see the embarrassment on her face. The entire school was talking about how the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company had made a fool out of herself at the dance-off. Worst of all, she couldn't bear to imagine the disappointment in Ruby's silver eyes.
Before she could vocalize these thoughts, Ruby squeezed the air out of her lungs with a tight hug. "You were so amazing, Weiss! You did all those moves and then you looked so hot and oh my Dust it was so cool!"
After she released the white-haired teen, she looked at her girlfriend incredulously. "But I messed up…"
"It was your first time performing on stage," interjected Jaune, smiling softly at his student. "Not to mention that manoeuver was completely insane…"
"And you only practiced for two weeks!" added Yang, smiling widely at Weiss.
Weiss had to admit they all made good points. As Ruby hugged her again, she allowed herself a small smile. But then Yang's words clicked. "Wait, how do you know I was only practicing for two weeks?"
Yang chuckled and clapped Jaune on the shoulder as she and everyone but Weiss and Jaune left the room. "Be prepared, right?"
"Right," was his resigned reply as the heiress ascended from her bed, seemingly held aloft by pure fury.
"Jaune, you dim-witted, simple-minded, ill-conceived chump! I'll break every bone in your scraggily little body, you foolish, useless excuse for a buffoon!"
