"I beg your pardon? Braces?"
Weiss stares up at the dentist incredulously with slightly widened eyes, her expression quickly souring. General Ironwood and her sister Winter had instructed everyone to visit the resident military doctors and dentists for the day in order to have their health gauged, given the large gap in time between now and the last time any of them had seen a doctor, and save for Ruby needing a few fillings thanks to poor brushing habits, everyone had near pristine dental health. Everyone but Weiss, that is.
"Yes, Ms. Schnee, I'm afraid to say. According to your records, you've had braces before, so it seems you've been neglecting to wear your retainers." The dentist's words make Weiss pale quite a bit, her gaze drifting off to the side before she slowly nods.
"R... Right, apparently I have..." She mutters, electing to look anywhere but at the dentist for the time being. The dentist taps at his computer for a few moments, then clears her throat before speaking.
"Our resident orthodontist has an opening right now, I think it would be prudent to get you started with them immediately. I'll let her know you're ready." With nothing more needing to be said she steps out of the room, leaving Weiss alone, Weiss immediately beginning to mutter and mentally berate herself for not caring for her health as much as she should have. Before she can mull over her fate for long the orthodontist enters the room flanked by an assistant, Weiss's frown softening the moment she notices who the woman is.
"Dr. Savoy?" She questions, being immediately met with a slightly toothy smile from the older fox faunus, "I... I wasn't expecting to see you again, it's... Certainly been far too long." Dr. Savoy chuckles slightly before nodding, then raises Weiss up into a seated position while her assistant begins to prep materials.
"It certainly has been. I wasn't expecting to see you again either, but I'm slightly disappointed that it has to be here." Weiss seems to shrink slightly upon hearing that Dr. Savoy is disappointed, a hesitant nod being given before she glances down at the floor.
"Now now, there's no need to feel bad, Weiss, you're not the first patient I've had that I've seen again, and you'll certainly not be the last, sad to say. If you're ready, let's begin. Please open up." Weiss does as asked and opens her mouth wide, exposing her pearly white teeth in all their crooked splendor, and almost immediately has to stop herself from gagging as a big chunk of putty on a tray is pushed into her mouth and she's asked to bite down. After close to a minute she's allowed to open her mouth and the putty is pried out, only for a second glob to be pushed in over her bottom teeth for another minute.
"Ugh... I hate that stuff..." She mutters once the putty is removed and she's no longer at risk of gagging, her downward gaze leaving her unaware of Dr. Savoy's slight grin.
"No one likes it, but you did very good sweetie, now comes the hard part." Once Weiss nods in response Savoy lowers her down, then she and her assistant set out to work. With calm music playing in the background, a long hour and a half passes, with brackets being cemented onto teeth, elastic tie colors selected, and wires secured onto brackets, the final part joined by pained noises escaping Weiss. Finally, she is raised up once more and given a hand mirror, lips parting enough so she can inspect her teeth, the sight of her new train tracks drawing out a whine and a frown.
"I look like a dork... Ow..." She mutters before pressing her right hand against her respective cheek, a slight wince joined by the firm press.
"Not true, you look lovely, Ms. Schnee, as pretty now as you were when you first saw me at eleven." Savoy's compliment draws a slight, uneasy smile onto Weiss's face, the mirror being handed back before she unwraps her scarf from around her neck and instead bundles it around her mouth. "I'd like you to come back in two weeks, once the pain has died off we can get you started on elastics."
With her scarf hiding her newly remade frown, Weiss nods, then slowly swings her legs off the seat before pushing herself up to her feet and picking up her backpack. After giving Savoy and her assistant a goodbye she stops by the front desk and sets up an appointment, then departs to meet up with the others, but not before making a stop by the nearest grocery store to pick up a few things she can eat that are soft enough to not bother her teeth.
Approaching the meeting area, her gaze falls on Ruby, Yang, and Blake, stood not far from Winter, who is escorting everyone for the day. Ruby looks to be somewhat distraught, while Yang and Blake are alternating between comforting her and pointing out that she has no one to blame but herself. As she approaches the three they glance over at her, Ruby's expression brightening up slightly before she speaks.
"Weiiiiss!" She cries out, unable to resist whining in that childish way she does at times, "I need fillings, ugh, this suuuuucks." Yang can't help but snicker a bit in response to Ruby's whining, earning her a glare from her younger sister and an amused chuckle from Blake.
"Fillings? I see, that's... Um... Unfortunate, I suppose." Weiss murmurs, hardly loud enough to be heard, especially with her scarf slightly muffling her words. The drastic difference in her usual tone draws curious expressions from her three teammates, all three gazes falling on the scarf around her mouth before long.
"What's up, Weiss? You're not usually so, y'know, this." Yang questions, Weiss just giving a non-committal shrug in response, clearly not what was expected. Blake speaks up before either Yang or Ruby can, and decides to pose a question more harmless than what the others might ask.
"How did your appointments go Weiss? Aside from Ruby finding out she needs fillings, ours went well." She asks before speaking idly about their own appointments, Weiss glancing down at the ground before tugging her scarf around her more firmly.
"Fine, fine. They went fine." She says in a half truth, not admitting how her second appointment just yet. Before anything further can be asked to try getting Weiss to open up about what's going on, Ren, Nora, Oscar, and Qrow make their way over, and Winter signals for their transport to come, everyone boarding with Weiss electing to sit closest to the door. Upon arriving back at Atlas Academy everyone files back to their respective dorms, and once inside their room Weiss is advanced upon by Ruby and Yang, Blake electing to settle onto her bed and watch them.
"Alright Weiss, what gives? You're never this... This moody. You were in a better mood this morning, so something happened at your appointments." Yang pushes, frowning slightly in contrast to Ruby's worried expression. "And what's with your scarf? You never wear it around your face, what, did you get braces or something? Are you trying to hide something from us?" Weiss freezes up when Yang mentions braces, startling both Yang and Ruby before they suddenly begin to grin like mad women.
"AWW! YOU GOT BRACES! SHOW US SHOW US!" They exclaim, Weiss almost immediately taking a pillow off her bed and hitting them both with it lightly.
"I will not, I refuse." She fiercely says, Yang and Ruby suddenly glancing at each other for a few moments before looking at Weiss again. Before she's given a chance to question what they're doing Ruby pounces on her and knocks her back onto her bed while Yang begins wrestling with her scarf, Weiss emitting a startled squeak before attempting to push Ruby off her.
"Get off me you buffoons! I refuse!" She declares before whacking the two in the sides with balled fists, but the might of Ruby and Yang can't be beat and they prevail in pulling her scarf away, revealing her firmly closed mouth. Not to be stopped, Ruby begins to tickle Weiss's sides, making her squeal in surprise while her mouth opens wide, laughter erupting while her braces are put on display.
"Aww! They're cute Weiss! I never pegged you for liking pink." Yang teases as Ruby stops tickling Weiss, allowing her to catch her breath while her braces remain on display. Once she recovers, she begins to firmly hit Ruby and Yang with her pillow for a few moments, then flops down onto her side and buries her face against it.
"You guys are jerks, I hate you." She mutters before groaning, the two sisters glancing over at Blake who continues to watch with an amused smile.
"Aww, don't be like that Weiss, you look cute with braces." Ruby cheerfully says before attempting to seat herself on the edge of Weiss's bed, only to be roughly shoved off by a hand and fall to the floor. "Oof!" Weiss pulls her pillow down just enough so that she can glare at Ruby and Yang, keeping her mouth hidden while using the pillow to apply a slightly comforting pressure.
"Do not tell anyone, especially my sister. She would be disappointed if she found out I need braces again." Hearing Weiss mention this not being the first time she's had braces, Ruby and Yang open their mouths to ask a question, only to receive a pillow to the face each. "Don't you dare. No, you cannot and will not see me when I had them the first time." Yang flashes her a thumbs up and Ruby nods, Weiss afterwards getting up, gathering her pillows, and settling back onto her bed before hiding her face against one of them again.
"Will do Ice Queen, your secret's safe with us." Yang says, Ruby nodding before Yang whispers to her. "We'll leave you alone for a while, wanna come with, Blake?" Blake voices her agreement before getting up off her bed, and the three depart the dorm, leaving Weiss to her own devices, Weiss just sighing and pulling out her scroll after a little.
"Ow..."