Author's Note: Hey all, this is the response to a prompt sent to me not too long ago. I was accepting Bumbleby and Elsanna prompts as a celebration of getting 100 followers on tumblr. Hope you enjoy.
Rated T for an innuendo.
The bell made a tinny jangle upon the entrance of two customers. A moment later the glass door swung closed, locking them in. Blake glanced around the store and narrowed her eyes.
"Yang, why did you take me here?"
"Because we need to get you some new hats."
A hand went on Blake's hip. "I don't have any hats."
"All the more reason to get you new ones." Yang started down the middle aisle. Blake sighed and followed.
"I mean, what is the purpose of getting me hats? I'm not that concerned about fashion."
Yang was feeling the brim of a tan panama. "Because you refuse to take off that bow." She pointed at it without looking.
"There's a reason for it."
Yang lifted the panama off its hook. "And you should have options to switch things up once in a while. That bow is a pretty one-note thing, you know what I mean?"
"No," said Blake. "I don't know what you mean."
Yang took her by the wrist and steered them toward the dressing rooms. "Just one for now," she told the assistant, and she waited for the door to click before turning back to Blake. "This isn't like Weiss and her tiara. You should have the freedom to choose other things to cover yourself with." Blake was giving her a deadpan stare. "And…" Yang ran a hand through her hair. "It's not as if you like wearing that bow all the time."
Blake sighed again, with a hint of sadness. After a hesitation she lowered her head and took off the bow. Her Faunus ears reflected in the mirror on the wall—small, pointy, and exposed.
"Don't look so down." Yang went to her, but she curled into herself. "This is exactly the sort of thing shopping will help you with," Yang continued. "You get to cover your ears and look trendy while doing it. It'll even make you feel better about yourself, when we find good ones."
Blake's voice was a mutter. "I hate clothes shopping."
"The good thing is, changing here doesn't take any effort at all."
Blake still wasn't looking up. Yang pulled her close. "It'll be all right, Blake. Besides, I'm sure those ears are just screaming to be aired out from time to time." She curled her fingers around the appendages and rubbed them, hard. Blake's shoulders went limp and she fell into Yang, her eyes glossing over.
"All right." Yang stepped back. "Try this on."
The panama wasn't bad, per se, but it didn't fit Blake's usual look. "Hang on," said Yang as Blake stood awkwardly in front of the mirror. "I'll be back." She left the girl picking at the tag above her head.
She'd been sitting on the bench for about a minute when Yang came back. "Okay, I think if I get one more handful after this, that'll be the last trip."
"I think you mean armful," said Blake.
Her eyebrows rose at the mass of color Yang held. Yang set the pile on the bench. "Try this one."
The knitted peak hat was gray and fit snugly over her head. The tip curved nicely into a V. "It's not ugly," said Blake. "But I don't hear as well."
"A maybe for quiet days, then." Yang held out her arm to swap the beanie for something else. "These cloche hats were really popular back in the day," she told Blake, giving her a dark blue one tied with a pink ribbon. "I see them coming back into style, too."
"I told you, I don't care about style." Blake put it on anyway. When her gaze went to the mirror, her eyes changed. It really wasn't a bad hat; it concealed her ears perfectly and curved neatly around her head. The pink she wasn't crazy about, but the ribbon split into two cute ends at the knot and it worked with the blue.
Blake's fingers trailed in front of her face as she tilted the hat into place. It did go with most of her wardrobe.
Yang leaned into the mirror behind her. "See, that confidence is already boosting up."
Blake spun around. "This one's a yes," she said, throwing the cloche at her.
She shoved into the pile. "A cowboy hat, really?"
"I couldn't help it," said Yang. "It's a joke. Besides." Her eyes flashed with mischief. "Given a sort of thing you like to do, it only seemed fitting that you try one on."
"No, Yang," said Blake, turning redder and jabbing the hat firmly on the rack above their heads.
In the end they had four hats picked out among a mountain of discards. Blake had decided her ears poked out too much from the peak, and that along with the soundproofed hearing led to it being tossed on top with an unceremonious whump. "One more, Blake," said Yang as the other girl stared at everything she'd catalogued in the past half hour. Yang raised a hat the size of Vale.
"Are you serious?" said Blake. "Everyone will stare at me!"
"In jealousy of your great taste." Yang formed a gun with her fingers and clicked it off.
"I don't even wear sun hats, Yang! And it's green!"
"Not too light, not too dark." Before Blake knew it the straw was on her head. The drooping brim took a moment to settle. "Look at the mirror." Yang turned Blake around, and to her great surprise she found herself rather fond of it. The direction of the brim was smooth and ladling, rounding back to its high end in an undeniably nice way. It dipped enough to cover part of Blake's face. Blake looked up to observe the details of the stitching. Maybe this color and this trim weren't completely in line with that she kept in her closet, but she'd only wear this on days so bright no one would even notice…
"I take that as a yes," said Yang, grinning smugly when Blake touched the tip of the brim.
Blake rolled her eyes. "Yes," she said. "It is."
She kept it on at the register, keeping hold of the front when the cashier scanned its tag. "Already going to show the world the new you," said Yang, leaning on the counter. She motioned with the hand that held Blake's bow. "You can't wait to start strutting around with the trendiest hats in the land."
"I'm still the same, Yang," said Blake, adjusting the hat after it was scanned.
She held the bag, squeezing alongside Yang down the aisles. A second from the door she stopped. She looked once more into a full-body mirror.
"Am I really going to go outside wearing this?"
"Yes," said Yang. "And it'll be great."
Blake paused. "And you'll beat up anyone who laughs at me?"
"Absolutely."
"Well…" Blake tipped the hat once more, and her ears nestled in beneath, "I guess it's all right then."
Under the straw of the floppy brim Yang kissed her on the cheek.