Serene came back from the library after lunch a few days later, her notebook and copy ofWorld of Remnant; Valein her arms. As soon as she closed the door she was grabbed by the arm and led to the bathroom. "You need to showernow," Nyla commanded, taking her bag and books from her.
"I don't smell that bad, do I?" Serene asked, sniffing her sleeve.
"The dance is tonight," Nyla reminded her. "Andyou're half an hour late to get ready." Serene rolled her eyes and took the robe Nyla gave her, closing the door and getting out of her uniform, showering quickly lest she annoy her usually calm, now agitated team mate. She came out drying her hair and grabbed her underwear and some shorts. She grabbed her outfit for the dance and pulled it out of the bag, before Nyla grabbed it from her and laid it down on the bed. "Makeup and hair first." They commanded, dragging her over to their desk where their makeup and hair products were set up. Jazz was to the side sticking on fake eyelashes; a process that looked annoying and complicated.
"You're not going to do that to me are you?" She asked Nyla. "No; your eyelashes are beautiful. Your brows are great too." "Thanks?" Serene replied, unsure. She'd never been complimented on those before.
Jazz moved over to her own desk to do Maizie's makeup and Nyla blow dried her hair before wrapping her in a towel and cutting it again. her dark locks always grew back so quickly – something she had been grateful for after Raven had her hack it off. Unfortunately, after her last little check in, Raven had told her she'd have to cut it as soon as she got back to Haven, so Serene took the chance to have it braided and done up with beads and pins.
Makeup came next and Serene had to sit as Nyla did whatever look they had come up with when Serene gave them free reign. Serene and Maizie kept themselves amused by making faes at each other in the mirrors, getting told off by Nyla and Jazz as they did their teammates.
"Done," Nyla muttered, putting away the lipstick.
"Thanks." Serene muttered, looking at her reflection in the mirror. It was a mostly natural look, with the accent of the gold, shimmering eyeliner.
"You look good. Now get dressed."
"Yes sir," Serene gave a lazy salute and grabbed her clothes, changing into it.
"Are you wearing heels or flats?" Jazz asked, slipping into her white high heels.
Serene held up the shoes she had picked out. "Uh, slightly heeled." She put them on and grabbed the cloak, pinning it to her shoulders.
"Are we ready?" Jazz asked, moving to the middle of the room in her pink dress, her pearly white eyeshadow matching her jewellery and clips in her tight blonde curls.
"I am," Maizie agreed, jumping to her feet in her gold and ultramarine blue wrap dress and thick heels.
"I am not…" Nyla muttered, staring at the two outfits, laid out neatly on their bed.
"What's wrong?" Jazz asked as the three others joined them.
"I… I don't know how I feel." They said, twisting their sleeve anxiously. "Neither outfit feels right."
"Well you're more comfortable in boy clothes, right?" Maizie asked. "You could wear that and then duck out and change if you feel more girly later on?" "Maybe," They muttered, eyes darting between the two options.
"We don't have to go right now, right?" Jazz said, trying to take some of the pressure off. "We can wait a bit until you decide." "No, you guys go. I'll meet you there." "No way." Maizie said. "Just take your time." "Why don't you try them on again?" Jazz suggested.
Nyla thought for a minute before picking both outfits up and going to the bathroom to change. They were gone for a few minutes before coming out in the black jeans, dark red dress shirt and navy jacket. Their hair was shorter and features more masculine.
"It looks good," Jazz assured them.
"Thanks. It just feels a bit," Nyla gestured vaguely, "much." "Let's try something," Maizie stood from where she'd sat on Jazz's bed, walking over to her partner and pulling off the jacket. She took of their tie and undid the top button, rolling up their sleeves to their forearms and loosening the shirt in the belt, giving them a French tuck.
"There. How's that?" Nyla looked at themselves in the mirror, assessing the new look. "It's… better." "Make your hair a bit longer," Serene said, and watched the dark blue locks grow before her eyes. She wished she could do that with her hair.
Maizie styled it in a casual yet hot, slightly tousled look. They tried a few combinations of jewellery and hair clips.
"How does that feel?"
"Better." Nyla smiled softly. The final look was more androgynous, and Serene could see how much more physically comfortable they were, the tension falling away from their shoulders.
"Let's go then!" Jazz said excitedly, grabbing Serene and Nyla's hands and pulling them out of the room and towards the Hall.
They were almost there when she saw Sun puttering to the hall, his tie around his neck as he tried to tie it. She rolled her eyes and told her teammates she would meet them in there and headed over to him.
"What are you doing?" She asked as she approached. He looked up, smiling sheepishly.
"I don't know how to do this." He admitted. Serene rolled her eyes, trying to hide an amused smile and undid the mess he had twisted the fabric into, redoing it around his neck and straightening it, the heat from her fingers ironing out the creases. "You know, you're supposed to wear these around your collar?" She said, straightening but not fixing his popped collar.
"I'm kinda surprised you know how to do a tie," He admitted. "It's more of a knot really." She admitted, loosening it for him.
"Thanks." "Um, hello," Sun and Serene turned to see a girl standing a few metres away in a pretty black dress, a dark bow in her even darker hair.
"Blake!" Sun cried. "You came! Hi." "Hi." The girl, Blake's, eyes flickered to Serene, and Sun looked between the two. "Oh, uh, Blake, this is Sera; we go to school together." "I was just fixing his tie," Serene said casually, picking up on the situation. "The guy's hopeless. So, you're the super amazing girl he won't stop talking about?" "Dude shut up!" Sun whispered harshly, pinching her arm.
"Well I'm gonna head inside; I'll see you around," She started to walk off, catching Sun's eye and subtly pointing to the tie, Blake, and then her eyes.
"I knew you'd look better in a tie," She heard Blake say.
"Yeah, it uh, matches your eyes!" Sun responded, then complimented her dress.
She walked into the hall and felt… surprisingly good that she'd done something nice for a friend.
The dance wasn't quite as boring as Serene had thought it would be. She received a lot of compliments for her outfit, which did make her uncomfortable since she didn't know how to respond, but it was still kinda nice.
"So, do you have any friends here?" Jazz asked, looking around at all the students dancing.
"No." Serene said bluntly, refilling her glass.
"Oh. Do you want to dance?" "No." "Come on," Jazz rolled her eyes. "Dance with me." "I don't know how." "I'll teach you." "I'm a slow learner." "I'm patient." Jazz took her hand and led her to the floor. Serene went along with it, not wanting to cause a scene.
Dancing wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be, but she didn't particularly enjoy the waltz. After they changed to free dancing it was a bit more fun, and, much to her annoyance, she found herself enjoying the Ball.
After dancing for a while, Serene checked out the refreshments table, seeing Maizie tossing pieces of candy up and catching them in her mouth.
"You look like an idiot." "Shut up; I've almost beat Sun's record."
Serene snorted, grabbing a cup and filling it with punch.
"Having fun children?" Serene looked up and almost snorted the drink out her nose when she saw Professor Ozpin addressing herself and Maizie.
"Yeah," Maizie said, coughing slightly as she swallowed her mouthful of candy, "You guys know how to throw a party." "All the work was done by our own first years students, actually," He gestured over to two girls standing by the door, both in white; one with long white hair Serene recognised as Weiss Schnee, and the other with thick blonde hair that made Serene slightly jealous. Her own hair had been like that not long ago, and she ran her hand subconsciously through her shorter locks.
"Cool." "You young ladies are from Haven, yes?" "Yep," Maizie answered as Serene tried to look anywhere but at the headmaster. She hadn't really seen the man around much, but Raven's clear hatred for him didn't make her want to change that anytime soon.
"Well I hope you're enjoying all Beacon has to offer." "Sure," Maizie nodded, not sure how to act. Apparently Serene wasn't the only one uncomfortable around him. She was about to slip away when he spoke again.
"You're from Haven as well?" He asked. "A first year?"
Serene nodded, having trouble meeting his eyes. "Yeah,"
"Hmm. Anyway, I'll let you get back to your evening. Have a good night ladies," "Night," Serene said shortly, pulling Maizie back into the crowd.
"What was that about?" Maizie asked once they were clear on the other side.
"I… I'm not great with authority figures." "You were never that weird with Lionheart." "A half dead rabbit wouldn't be intimidated by Lionheart." She shot back.
"Fair point. I'm gonna go ask that blonde girl if she wants to dance." "Why?"
"She's top heavy and smart; just my type of woman." Serene rolled her eyes and walked off, trying to avoid any of the teachers lining the walls of the hall.
"What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Sun asked, taking a seat beside her near the end of the night. "This is a nice place." "Exactly." Serene shoved him, laughing slightly.
"Hey, sorry for ditching you." Serene shrugged off his apology. "Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have danced with you anyway. Not in those sneakers." "What's wrong with my sneakers?" "They're ugly, man." "No they're not! They suit me." "Did your mum tell you that?" "Shut up," he laughed and nudged her with his elbow.
"How's Blake?" "Great! Man, she's amazing. And she looks so pretty in her dress." He said dreamily, "I'm so glad she decided to come."
"Why wasn't she coming?" "Some personal stuff." He brushed off the question casually. "Why didn't you want to come?" Serene shrugged. "I don't like this stuff. A whole bunch of teenagers in one place, interacting." "So, like… school?" "Exactly." Sun chuckled, putting his arms behind his neck and kicked the chair back, leaning against the wall.
"Well, either way I'm glad you came. You look really nice." "Thanks." "Do you want to dance?" "No." "Come on!" He jumped to his feet. "It'll be fun." "I can't dance."
"You were just dancing with Jazz." "That wasn't me. I don't know what you're talking about." "You were going to dance with me." "That was before you ditched me for another girl. I'm heartbroken," She deadpanned, leaning back against the wall.
"Let's dance." He took her hand, dragging her out onto the floor as the music kicked up.
Dancing was actually kind of fun, not that she would admit it, and she enjoyed watching Sun dance like an idiot.
After dancing, Sun dragged her back over to the punch bowl and she watched him try to pour punch with his tail.
"I hope this shit is spiked." Serene said, taking a drink. It wasn't.
"I should find Blake," Sun said, looking around the room. "Oh! You should meet her teammates. They're really cool. They started the food fight in the hall the other day," He grinned. He took her arm and led her around until they found the small group of girls chatting by the window.
"Hey guys!"
"Hi Sun," They greeted with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
"You're all looking lovely, as usual." They rolled their eyes, most of them smiling.
"Where did you go?" The tall blonde Maizie had had danced with asked.
"Dancing with my friend from Haven." he said, gesturing to her with a flourish. "This is Sera."
Hi's and Hello's were thrown out and Serene waved half-heartedly.
"Hi." "Sera, this is Blake who you met earlier." "Hi," Blake said with a tentative smile.
"Ruby," He gestured to the short girl who has her hand on the wall to steady herself. "Nice to meet you," The girl with short dark hair smiled. She looked too young to be in a Huntsmen academy.
"Weiss," Sun gestured to the other, shorter girl in white.
"Pleasure to meet you," Weiss said, sounding slightly deflated. She kept glancing out to the dance floor.
"And Yang," He finished.
"Hi!" The tall blonde smiled, waving. "It's nice to meet you." "Yeah, you too," Serene tried to sound like a normal human being who interacted with other people regularly. "I love your hair." She said, "Did you do it yourself?" "Yeah." "It's so nice." "Thanks. I like yours too." She coveted the days her own hair was so long.
"Thank you!" Yang beamed. "Where did you get your beads?" "Just… everywhere. All over Mistral. I made some." "Wow really?" Yang stepped closer to her side to get a better look. "Just out of metal?"
"Yeah, titanium and wires mostly."
"That's so cool!" "Thanks. I like your dress." "Iloveyour jumpsuit." Yang fawned. "Is that your colour scheme?" "Pretty much." "It looks so good on you." "It's just gonna be an endless loop of this isn't it?" Serene heard Ruby ask.
"Probably," Sun chuckled.
"Shut up," Serene and Yang said, both smacking his arms.
"Sera!" Serene turned to see Maizie coming over, throwing an arm over her shoulders. "Jazz and Nyla left, come dance with me." "What?" "I don't have anyone else to dance with." "So?" "So dance with me." "Well maybe we'll see you around," Yang said. "Sure. Goodnight," She followed Maizie back to the dance floor and they made idiots out of themselves for a bit longer before making the walk back to the dorm in the refreshingly cool night air.
Maizie helped her take all the beads out of her hair and they showered, easier to get all the makeup off that way than scrubbing off the layers of makeup.
By the time she got out of the shower Jazz and Nyla were tucked into bed and Maizie was on her scroll.
Serene and Maizie got into their beds and threw bits of candy at each other, giggling, until Nyla snapped and told them to go the fuck to sleep.