A/N: Yeah, I have no explanation for this. It's just a fluffy, low-effort work while I deal with some writer's block on my other story. My apologies to Glynda Goodwitch fans, but I needed a pretty specific evil character archetype and she fit the role best; I like the character and am deliberately presenting her as a horrible person in a manner that has very little to do with her canon characterization. Enjoy!
"I'm not a lesbian," Weiss insists. "Why do you keep saying that?"
Her father frowns at her, straightening his glasses.
"Weiss, you've been engaging in suspicious behavior."
Winter is clearly just as uncomfortable here as Weiss is, but she wordlessly holds up a plastic bag containing a poster. It's Weiss's poster, the one she got from a Maria Callas concert Winter took her to, years ago. Weiss remembers the warm glow of the lights on the stage as Callas stood alone, her voice reaching the farthest corners of the auditorium. Her eyes swept across Weiss's seat for a moment, and Weiss felt, for a moment, like she was the only one in that enormous concert hall, and she decided right then and there that she was going to be a singer like that some day.
"Winter, that's just a poster!"
"Of a very attractive woman," Winter says, shifting slightly in her chair. "Weiss, you don't have to deny it."
Oh, Winter's one to talk. Weiss knows all about her ROTC girlfriend, and would never mention it to their father, because that's not what a sister would do, but now she's seriously considering it. Weiss isn't even a lesbian! She likes –
"You've never had a boyfriend," Whitley says smugly. "I even checked through your phone to see if you had one you were keeping secret."
Weiss is going to murder him.
"And despite your claims that you don't like sports, you watch WNBA games," Winter says, folding her arms.
WNBA games are a tradition for her and Winter; they've been watching them together since Weiss was four. And it was Winter's idea to start that in the first place. None of that means Weiss is some kind of – deviant.
Then again, Winter's not deviant. Her girlfriend is disreputable, with bleached hair and Che Guevara t-shirts, but not some kind of pervert like those lesbian biker gangs Weiss sees on the news. Some of the lesbians are all right, at least.
That doesn't make Weiss one of them.
"Some resistance to the idea is natural," the tall woman, who was a complete stranger to Weiss until five minutes ago and Weiss still has no idea what she's doing in her family's house, adds. "But acceptance is the first step to recovery."
"Homosexuals Anonymous," Winter mutters. Her father glares at her and she instantly returns to a calculated neutral expression.
"Weiss, this camp, True Directions, has promised to cure your unnatural impulses. You'll be attending starting today. Klein has already packed your suitcases."
"I'm not a lesbian," Weiss repeats, because nobody seems to be listening to her. And Weiss is used to people listening to her, particularly commoners like this woman.
"There's no need to worry," the tall woman says, patting a few nonexistent hairs back into her pristine bun. "All of our staff are ex-gays, who are trained to help you through the process of overcoming sin and becoming your true self."
And that's the end of the discussion. Weiss's father doesn't tolerate disagreement with his decisions, although Weiss is a bit hurt that not even Winter stood up to him.
…
Jaune has made a lot of stupid decisions in his life that have led to complete disaster, but honestly he's not even sure how this one happened.
It was simple enough to use the same strategy as Saphron: just don't mention you're bisexual and move out the second you turn eighteen. Or it would have been if it weren't for a few bad decisions.
Namely, cheerleading. Yes, Jaune joined the cheerleading squad. That's a very reasonable decision; shouting and gymnastics are fun. And, mainly, it's the only chance he has to get close to Pyrrha Nikos. She's a soccer star, and Jaune has a bit of a hopeless crush on her, and he doesn't actually play soccer and would probably break his neck if he tried, so cheerleading seemed like a sensible way to get close to her.
But no, clearly joining a team full of attractive girls to get close to another girl is the gayest thing he could possibly have done. It turned into a shouting match with his parents, stuff got admitted in a fit of rage, and now he's getting sent to a camp to turn him straight. It's been two days since he tried out (and got in, with flying colors, not to brag or anything), and now he's tossing pompoms he'll probably never get to use into a duffle bag.
He's not even sure what Camp True Directions is actually going to do. The brochure has a few photos of girls in identical hideous magenta dresses scrubbing floors, or proudly displaying baked goods, but no specifics beyond "newly heterosexual". So this should be fun.
…
"Let's do this," Yang says, shoving open the door of the van and scrambling out.
"Good luck, girls," Tai says, voice faint. "Remember, it's just for eight weeks. You girls will do fine. Qrow will check up on you regularly."
"I know, Dad," Ruby says, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "We'll be fine; all we need to do is save lives."
She picks up her bag, and Yang's, since that obviously got forgotten, and jumps out.
The house in front of them is a sprawling ranch house painted in pastel pink and blue. Ruby doesn't hate the colors, but she doesn't like them, either. She steps across the pristine Astroturf, peering at the identical flowers in rows along the side of the house. They aren't even decent-looking fake flowers. Ruby self-consciously adjusts her brooch, a red felt rose with gold detailing. Qrow warned them about the uniforms, but a little piece of jewelry has to be okay. Ruby wasn't going to leave it behind.
A tall man and a girl with bouncy orange hair are in the doorway of the house. Ruby heads toward them, since her time here will be a bit easier if she befriends whoever's in charge.
"Ruby Rose, currently struggling with homosexual tendencies and here to be cured," she says cheerfully. At least the name part is true.
The tall man frowns at her and extends one hand. Ruby takes his hand and shakes it enthusiastically, remembering to let go after three seconds.
"I am James. Pleased to see you're willing to be cured," he says. "This is Penny. She's a former graduate of the program."
"Salutations!" Penny says cheerfully, but her grin doesn't quite reach her eyes.
Penny looks Ruby's age or younger. Ruby can't even imagine what it would be like to get brainwashed that thoroughly at that age, and then be forced to put other people through that same torture. She doesn't really know what to say to that.
On the bright side, she might even be able to get through to Penny and convince her to leave the camp, if she befriends her now, which would be incredible. And Ruby's going to stay hopeful, because that's the only option here.