Big Issues
AN: Not much to say here, sorry I didn't upload sooner, had family things to take care of. Still kinda do but it's been toned down now. But if anyone was worried, yes, the girls and everyone who was affected by the chemical attack will be losing weight soon enough. If anyone was paying attention in the last chapter the 'cure' is looking close to being found and tested. For those of you who are worried about their health as they are gaining weight, I should remind you about chapters one and two that all of the students, teachers, and staff undergo full physical tests and examinations, including blood tests. That and they are rather active by necessity of their chosen profession, even the advise for those who want to bulk up in a softer sense is to remain as active as possible to stay healthy and strong. They have that covered along with their medical exams. Plus their aura's help to heal them to an extent. So please, enjoy the story.
watch?v=DKfcOUm3Ig8&list=PLepqd3h1a7o3VpKDzM3uJZn4G5OhgnBi_&index=39
A little rant from someone on Youtube for those who have issues with bigger girls.
Time to Dance
"I see you're hiding by the punch bowl too." Jaune states the obvious as he slides next to the shorter team leader.
"Yep!" Ruby responds, drawing out the word and popping the 'p', for her own amusement if nothing else.
Jaune lifts his glass towards the younger girl. "To the socially awkward." Ruby giggles as she taps her glass to his, causing them to ring a bit on contact.
"Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss." She was sincere when she looked at him, though he barely gave her a glance, favoring watching the party instead.
He shrugs off her words before speaking. "Meh, it's fine. Neptune's pretty cool." For whatever reason, he emphasized the 'cool' with a little hop. "I get why she went with him."
The comment really got Ruby's attention as she turned to him. "What do you mean?"
Jaune faces Ruby to look her in the eyes. "Well come on! Not many people can pull off blue hair." He tries to dismiss the subject before taking a drink from his cup.
Ruby was confused, feeling like they were talking past each other. "No, I mean. Weiss came to the dance alone."
That comment was enough to make the blonde choke on his drink as some went down the wrong pipe. "What?"
"Yeah, she said she had too much to focus on to worry about boys." Ruby explains as they watch the girl in question at a nearby unoccupied table trying to make a flower stay upright and failing, her head drooping as much as the plant. A small burst of laughter to the side drew the attention of the three to where Neptune was telling some kind of joke, complete with visual gags, to Sun and Blake who were laughing during their break from the dancing.
To Ruby, this was probably the happiest she ever saw Blake. The dark-haired girl was openly laughing and having a good time, not a sign of her usual small and satisfied smirk from a little quip at her friends, but a true smile that showed her amusement, made even better that she was laughing loudly enough to be heard. Seeing her staying by Sun's side for the whole party so far was interesting and heartening for the young reaper, a drastic change from how the girl would almost always keep some distance from others, even her own team, when she could help it.
To Weiss, she felt annoyance the boy from Mistral. They had gotten to know each other well enough over the weeks, mostly thanks to Sun coming by to talk to Blake, and she had a 'not so small' crush on him as he carried himself well, dressed well, looked good, and was intelligent. But last night when she had worked up the nerves to ask him to the dance… he had shot her down. Since then, she'd been doing her best to keep herself occupied and away from him, lest she vent her frustrations on him verbally. If they were both lucky, she'd calm down by the time classes resumed and she wouldn't try 'sparing' him.
But for Jaune, anger grew, expressing itself in a growling grunt. "Hold my punch." He hands off his cup to Ruby, not bothering to look back at her as he marches away. The girl simply took the cup wordlessly and watched him push his way through the crowd of teens… then took a sip from his cup rather than her own.
The blondes' anger was quashed as he saw a familiar head of red hair in a long ponytail and bronze circlet pass in front of him. The girl didn't seem to notice him as she had her head down as she weaved her way through the dancers to a stairway that lead to an outside balcony. A brief glance at his original target and closing his eyes, he made his decision as to who to go after.
"Hey Pyrrha." Jaune greets the young woman in a long red dress that reached her ankles with a slit that ran to her hip to expose her right leg and show her black heels as she turned to face him.
"Hello Jaune." She simply says as she stands by the stone railing of the balcony.
Jaune walks towards her slowly. "You, okay? I haven't seen you tonight."
Pyrrha turns away to look out into the night sky. "Arrived late I'm afraid."
He stands next to her now. "Well, you look really nice." That may have been one of the most understated things he's said yet this year. Her dress clung to her soft curves, her widened hips, her larger chest, the rounding belly that she trained hard to keep as trim as possible. The result of that training was obvious as while she had maintained her strength, maybe increased it to compensate for the slight loss of running speed, her toned muscles were softened by the layer of adipose that doubled her weight. Yet her grace and skill had yet to suffer.
"Thank you."
Jaune stands straight with his hands behind his back as he rocks on his feet as a nervous tick. "Your uh, date, isn't going to beat me up for saying that, is he?"
Pyrrha refused to meet his eyes. "I think you're safe for tonight." She assures him.
Jaune was still nervous as he rubs his hands together and looking around. "So, where is the guy."
She turns to face him but looks down as she shakes her head. "There is no guy."
Jaune flinches back a bit in surprise with his eyes wide. "W-what?"
Pyrrha couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye, shaking her head slightly as if in disbelief. "Nobody asked me."
"But that's…" Jaune begins but loses his words, even as he raises his hands and the warrior woman in front of him finally looks him in the eyes. "You're Pyrrha Nikos!" He gestures towards her before throwing his hands out in disbelief. "How could nobody ask you?"
Once again, Pyrrha tuns away and looks down towards the ground as if ashamed. "I've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities." She begins, looking up towards the sky but sounding as though this was rehearsed. Then she looked down again. "I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise." She briefly looks back at him before looking away as she continues. "But when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people who put you there in the first place." She turns to face him fully. "Everyone assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm at a level that they simply can't attain."
She looks to the sky and raises her hands briefly to show her frustration as her tone did, "It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people." Her arms drop to her sides, creating a small ripple that traveled up her bare arms and across her soft torso. Then her full attention went to him. "That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you," She pauses to look out into the distance. "I've made friendships that will last a lifetime." She concludes by looking Jaune in the eyes once more.
"I guess… You're the kind of guy that I was here with." Something in her tone almost sounded accusatory before she looked away. "Someone who just saw me for me." She briefly looks back at Jaune and notes his silence before drooping her head as she walks back inside.
Jaune needed some time to process what his teammate had just told him. How she had poured out her heart to him, revealing her frustrations with the how the world treated her, the slight aggravation she held for being so good at what she does, her disappointment that he never asked her to the dance. He had no idea that she was bottling up so much. He knew that she was quick to turn away from any magazine or television program that was about her. He had seen that she was apprehensive about going into Vale, worried about people recognizing her, though if and when they did, she'd don a mask that was glad to see her fans and she'd sign a few autographs, hoping that things would be quick and she could go back to Beacon. Nora came in handy when things got a little too crowded, Ren would help the shorter girl while Jaune would help to escort the champion to the nearest airship back to school as quickly as possible. Twice so far, he'd been forced to use his shield to plow through people when things got really heated.
They had only gone to Vale once since the Issue had begun… he recalled that many of the questions she and the other girls had received weren't exactly what he'd call tactful or respectful. Thankfully, having the backing of a Schnee, Nora's big hammer crushing a trashcan flat, Ruby's massive scythe, and Yang's temper flaring- literally- had made the crowd disperse quickly enough. At least the rudest of them anyway. There were still plenty of others who didn't mind that they had gained weight and more than a few who were vocal in their support of them gaining more.
But he had tonight to worry about. "Uh, wait- "Was all the further he could get with his hand up in the air as he turned in time to see Pyrrha walk around the corner and vanish at the same time that Neptune walked outside.
"Hey, uh… Jaune, right?" The blue-haired teen greets the blond with a small wave.
He lets out a sigh, "Yeah." Jaune looks over the balcony as Neptune stops a few feet away.
"This party's kinda lame, huh?" He begins, pointing over his shoulder with a thumb. "I mean, ballroom dancing? Pfft!"
"Yeah."
Neptune looks over his shoulder where Pyrrha had walked earlier. "Cute girls though, huh?" He emphasizes with a small wave towards the door despite his conversation partner wasn't even facing him.
That comment got Jaune to whip around with a grunt and points an accusing hand at the other boy. "Is that all you think about?"
"Huh?"
Jaune now had a slight glare. "D-do you even think about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about you?"
"Whoa! Where's this coming from?" Neptune lifts his hands in surrender in an attempt to calm the blonde.
Jaune began to wave his arms in frustration. "How could you just turn her down like that?"
"W-wait, who?"
"Weiss!"
The mere mentioning of the heiress got the boy turning away and rubbing the back of his head. "I, uh…" He finally turned around to face Jaune. "It, uh… just didn't work out. Y'know?"
That lame response only fired up the blonde a bit more. "What? Think you're too cool? Too many other options?" Now he points at the other boy. "Weiss Schnee asked you to the dance." He waves his arms to the sides. "What in the world could possibly keep you from go- "
"I can't dance." Neptune admits quickly as he turns his head away.
Jaune's anger fizzled out as his confusion rose to replace it. "I beg your pardon?"
Neptune turned even more. "I can't dance, man." He even sounded strained to admit that.
"But you're…so…cool." Jaune was searching to lift the boy up or find some way to comprehend what was just said.
Neptune faces him once more, maybe the compliment worked? "Thank you. I try really, really hard."
The blonde was silent for a few moments as he tried to think of his next words. "You would rather break a girl's heart, and go to a dance alone, than… just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?"
Neptune gives a small shrug and glances away. "That about sums it up, yeah." He certainly looked ashamed of himself for his actions.
"Well," Jaune begins as he turns around to lean against the balcony wall. "I certainly feel a lot better about myself."
Behind him, Neptune waved his hands in an attempt to placate the blonde. "Please don't tell anybody. Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours, I don't want to get in your way."
Jaune sighs as he turns around to lean on the railing, facing Neptune fully. "Do you like her?"
"Yeah, I mean, I don't know her too well yet, but she seems pretty cool."
A smaller sigh escaped his lips as the blonde raised a hand to wave vaguely towards the door. "Then just go talk to her." He set his hand back on the stone. "No pick-up lines, no suave moves. Just be yourself." He crosses his arms as his tone becomes a bit more confident. "I've heard that's the way to go."
Neptune raises his hand as he objects. "Yeah, but that isn't- "
Jaune cut him off, gesturing with his left hand for emphasis. "Hey, you don't have to look cool all the time." He crosses his arms again, keeping his firm tone. "In all honesty, if you could be a little less cool, I'd really appreciate it."
The Mistral boy was silent for a few moments as he comprehended the blonde's words of advice. Then he nods. "Yeah, okay."
Jaune smiles as he gestures with his chin. "Go talk to her. I guarantee that it'll make her night." He unfolds his arms to set his hands on the cool stone again.
"Thanks, you're a really cool guy, Jaune." Neptune was sincere as he walks forwards and raising his hand for a fist-bump.
"Alright, don't lie to my face." Despite his words, Jaune met him halfway with his own fist. Neptune walks back into the ballroom without another word, leaving the blonde knight alone.
He let's out a sigh, something that was becoming a habit tonight. "Alright. Only one thing left to do." He says to himself as he straightens his shoulders and adopts a determined expression.
The pairs of Blake and Sun and Yang and Denko had taken a seat to rest from the dancing they've been doing, opting to sit out for a few songs. Just because many of them were slower paced songs didn't mean that they would provide much of a rest if that required them to stay moving on their feet.
"Anyone else hungry?" Denko asks as he sips from his cup of sweet tea, he was wary of the punch bowl due to bad memories from his past.
"Yeah, all of this dancing has been giving me an appetite." Yang pats her stomach and causing a few ripples to move across the white cloth covered orb.
A growl made itself heard over the music and talking. Eyes at the table snapped over to Blake where she blushed profusely. "Sorry, I haven't really eaten since last night."
"That's not good for your figure." Yang teases, poking the Faunus in her padded ribs. "Remember what happened to Weiss when she tried to diet?"
"I remember… I just wonder if she bought all of that extra food for us to make herself feel better."
"Maybe, but she paid for it with both her wallet and her waistline, more than we did anyway." Yang laughs at the memory, Blake following suit.
"Well… if you ladies would like to get your dance in, we'll get you something to eat while you're busy." Sun offers as he stands up, tail swishing behind him.
"What do you think?" Blake turns to her teammate. It would be the first time that she would be 'alone' with Yang since their discussion the day before and despite things seeming fine now, she was still worried.
"Go for it, boys, we'll stay nearby to give you a show if you get back before we're done." Yang shoos the blondes off with a laugh, Denko shaking his head at her antics.
The pair waited for the current song to near its end before making their way to the dancefloor. "Yang… are we okay?" Blake quietly asks, not looking at her friend.
"What do you mean? 'Are we okay?'" Yang was surprised at the question.
"After last night…"
"Don't worry about it." Yang dismisses quickly. "You're here, you finally got some sleep, and you came with the guy who' crazy for you. Everyone's happy."
"But- "
"Nope! We're here to have fun. We can do the serious talk later if we have to."
Blake's eyes opened wide at the ease that Yang had apparently forgiven her. "Okay." She gives in with a small smile.
The next song began to play with a small burst of what sounded like brass instruments before a steady rhythm of low guitar went on for a few seconds, prompting the plump girls to start moving to the beat.
Your butt is wide,
well mine is too.
Just watch your mouth
Or I'll sit on you.
The word is out,
Better treat me right
'cause I'm the king of cellulite!
The two girls heard the lyrics and couldn't stop laughing as they danced, they were having too much fun with the music that was apparently coming from Talon.
Because I'm fat,
I'm fat, come on
(Fat, fat, really really fat!)
You know I'm fat, I'm fat,
You know it.
(Fat, fat, really really fat!)
Some of the crowd began singing along, making the situation all the funnier.
Don't you call me pudgy,
portly, or stout.
Just now tell me once again
Who's fat?
Yang and Blake bumped hips a few times as they danced and laughed. They saw their dates sitting back at their table watching them, almost encouraging them to dance more.
And the whole world knows
I'm fat and I'm proud
Just tell me once again
Who's fat?
"What do you think about that song?" Talon asks the boys as she eats some chicken.
Weiss sat next to her eating her own herb-crusted chicken and let out a huff in response.
"I gotta admit, that song is pretty funny." Sun laughs, though his eyes were locked on Blake as she and Yang pranced back to the table with wide smiles.
"How many songs like that do you have in your collection?" Denko asks his teammate.
"Just a few." The willingly chubby girl shrugs.
"I hope you enjoyed the show!" Yang drops into her chair, nearly toppling off the other side if Denko didn't hold her up. "Thanks!"
Blake sat down more gently, though she also had more padding to make it seem that way. "Got ya some fish." Sun slides her plate in front of her, the sight of various fishes, shellfish, and odd bits of fruit made the feline faunus start to drool a little. With her attention locked on the seafood, Sun had some concerns when she didn't answer him. "Um… Blake?"
He didn't get any verbal response, just a quick look of extreme gratitude before she attacked her plate. He rubs the back of his head with the tip of his tail. "I guess I did pretty good then." He says to himself before taking a bite of some brisket.
Likewise, Yang and Denko were fairly silent as they enjoyed their BBQ chicken, though part of that may be because they were watching the normally reserved girl literally tearing into the food on her plate. Talon, who had been enjoying the flavors of her own meal, stopped eating in shock. Weiss excused herself, having eaten enough and needing to get away from the carnage, opting to take a seat under a window along the wall to watch the dancers.
"Wanna get another dance or two in?" Yang asks Denko. They had eaten enough to stop their hunger but Blake had asked for a third plate of seafood from Sun. At least she was slowing down, though it may have been from the boy insisting that they could come back for more later.
"I guess." He really wasn't in the mood for dancing but the 'dancing' he did with Yang was acceptable for him. He let himself be led back to the corner they used earlier where they danced to a few slower songs.
"What's wrong with you?" Yang asks softly as they leaned against the wall to rest.
He sighs. "It's just… I'm not much of a social person, you know that." He shrugs.
"There's more to it than that." She nudges him both physically and verbally.
He shrugs again. "It's just… all of this. The stuffy clothes, the rules and schedules… the crowds, people talking over each other. It's not really something I'm comfortable with."
"Need some air?"
Denko nods before leading Yang out the nearest door, taking a deep breath of the fresh night air and relaxes. Beside him, Yang does the same as if she realized just now how stuffy the room was. The moon was fairly bright tonight though that was somewhat drowned out by the lights of the ballroom coming through the large glass windows and doors.
"You really can smell the forest from here." Denko sighs as he rests his arms on the stone railing.
"You can notice that?" Yang was curious. A deep breath through her nose let her smell it but having grown up surrounded by forest she was rather used to it.
"Hard not to tell the sharp difference between desert and forest." He chuckles, looking more relaxed than he had all evening. "I had to learn that the hard way when I went to Shade."
"And now that you're back in Vale?"
"It's kinda funny how much you can miss the smell of rotting leaves after not being around them for a few years."
"Really? You missed rot?" Yang crosses her arms as she leans back against the railing.
"You say that now. How about I drag you off to the wastelands for a bit and see how much you find yourself missing it?" He smirks at his own challenge.
Yang huffs out a laugh at the concept. "What makes you think you can?"
That got his attention. He stands upright and takes the two steps needed to be in front of the grinning young woman. "Given that you've yet to beat me in a spar, I think my chances are pretty good." He teases her with a poke to her stomach, noting how far the digit sinks into the pliable flesh… easily second knuckle and he wasn't pushing hard.
"Hey! That tickles." Yang giggles as she swats at his hand away and rubs the spot.
"C'mon, that felt like a plushy." Denko laughs as he raises his hands with index fingers, ready to poke her gain.
Yang's eyes went wide at the implication and what he was about to do. "Oh, no no no no." She raised her hands, ready to ward his fingers off but the grin on her face practically screamed that she was game.
"You don't have to look cool all the time!" A familiar voice drifted down from the balcony above them, whatever else he was saying was indistinguishable over the sound of the music drifting through the open doors.
"Um… was that Jaune?" Yang asks as she looks to the 'ceiling'.
"Sounded like it." Denko shrugs as he strained his ears to hear, but being closer to the door made it harder and he wasn't a faunus with ears.
Yang looks down and grabs her friend to drag him back inside. "We shouldn't listen." Denko just nods as he allows himself to be lead away.
Nora Valkyrie was enjoying herself tonight. She had her dress that fit well. She had Ren by her side dressed in a sharp suit. She had plenty of food and drink around her to keep her satisfied, this was the first time since the Issue began that their food wasn't rationed. Sure, plenty of students had learned to sneak a few extra snacks into their dorms and school bags but that was only to hold them over until the next meal. Who heard of teenagers without bottomless pits for stomachs or not having a rebellious streak of some degree?
But she had been able to get as many dances in with her best friend as she could, eat as much as she wanted, sat back and relaxed between that. The music has been amusing at times, she had seen her friends dancing, much to her own amusement. But she hadn't seen her teammates Pyrrha or Jaune.
She knew that they had gotten dressed, she'd helped Pyrrha smooth out any wrinkles back in their room. When waiting for Ren, she had seen Jaune in his suit leaving the room before her date. So, it was no wonder why she was concerned about her friends.
Then she saw Pyrrha standing off to the side and all but hiding in a corner and looking depressed and watching the other dancers with longing. An empty plate and a cup of some drink sat on a nearby window sill, indicating that she was eating and likely to stick around for a while yet.
But where was their fearless leader?
"Feeling better?" Sun asks with a smirk to the cat girl in his arms as they danced.
Said girl blushed as she buried her face into his shoulder to hide it. "Shut up." He grinned as there was no heat to her words. It was even harder to take her seriously when she refused to let him go.
"Alright, I know when to let it drop. Still kinda funny to see you obsess over something other than your investigation."
Blake said nothing to that, knowing it was true she was a bit of a seafood fanatic. The only time it was available and she didn't stuff herself to the max was when there wasn't enough to do so. One thing that she was both embarrassed and proud of. At the same time, her dance partner had just made a dig at her actions involving the White Fang…
"Eep!" He yelps and shifts his weight to his left foot. Blake smiles as she removes her heel from his right foot, the sneakers doing little in the way of protection and her own weight didn't soften the 'attack'.
"Hey, look at Weiss." Yang had popped up nearby and pointed by the wall where the heiress sat in one of the chairs. Neptune had just walked up to her and seemed to be nervous and apologizing, complete with rubbing the back of his head. The plump rich girl seemed to be trying to keep things civil as she waved her hand as an invitation to sit next to her.
"Better late than never." Blake gave a small smile at the sight, though Sun seemed far more subdued as he had heard from his best friend about having to turn her invitation to be her date tonight. Something must have gotten into Neptune but he could wait, he had his own date to enjoy.
"I'm really sorry about last night, Weiss." Neptune couldn't meet her eyes.
"You look like it. But could you at least tell me why you turned me down? Asking wasn't exactly easy for me." Weiss had no problem with letting some ice creep into her voice as she kept watch on the dancers more so than the once potential date next to her.
Neptune sighs as he rubs his hands together nervously. "Honestly… a good part of it was that I panicked."
"You panicked?"
"I know, not the best excuse. I'm more used to being the one to ask but…"
"But?"
"It's really embarrassing to admit, but I'm usually turned down." He hung his head to avoid looking at the girl as well as taking his gaze from the happy couples dancing in front of him, a constant reminder of what could have been just as much as a tease involving his inability to dance.
Weiss turned her head to look at him. The much taller boy certainly looked repentant as he sat there with his head bowed so deeply. "You're used to being turned down?"
"Yeah. I'm kinda lame like that." He admits, surprising her. The boy almost exuded an air of confidence and coolness, though there were a few times he seemed to falter. She recalled how stiff he got when he was pushed into pairing up with Yang when they split up to do their investigations. And how nervous he was when she had asked him to the dance.
"Well… at least you are sorry and apologizing for it. That's better than doing nothing or just using me for your own gain." Weiss let's out a huff at the end and crosses her arms, remembering the boys that she had to dance with at various parties for her father's own ego.
"Did you know that my weapon's name is Tri-Hard?" Neptune asks, barely looking her in the eye.
"You've never brought that up before. Why do you ask?"
"Sun named it because I could never come up with a name for it on my own. I took a liking to it but apparently he made it a joke at my expense." He dropped his head again and shook it ruefully.
Weiss took the break in the conversation to think about what he had said. She found herself trying to hold back a snort of laughter. "He made a pun about your weapon and dating attempts?"
Neptune nods his head in acceptance before sitting up but now leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Yeah, as cool as I try to be I can be pretty lame." He quietly admits but Weiss heard him.
"Maybe, but as I said before, at least you are here and genuinely apologizing." She gives the blue-haired Mistral teen a small smile that he saw, the sight of which made him brighten up considerably and returned to more of his regular 'cool' self.
"Um, thanks. I guess." For the first time since he came over to talk, he met her eyes fully, even if he rubbed the back of his head at the same time.
Weiss took some time to look out across the dance floor where she saw two of her teammates next to each other with their dates next to them. They appeared to be talking about something but then she noticed Ruby weaving her way through the crowd towards her.
"What made you change your mind?" Weiss asks the boy next to her but Ruby stopped in front of her before he could answer.
"Weiss! Come with me now!" Ruby whines loudly as she grabs her friends' hands and uses her significant weight to hoist the older girl to her feet before she could object.
"What's going on?" Neptune was confused.
Ruby simply pulled her teammate out towards the dancefloor where the other half of their team stood waiting and watching with smiles.
"Ruby Rose! You better have a good reason for this!" Weiss was reluctant but allowed herself to be dragged along. Her team leader wouldn't do anything too embarrassing… would she?
By now they were close enough for Yang to throw an arm over the heiress' shoulder to keep her from running away. "Don't worry Ice Queen, it's just for one little dance."
"What?"
"Don't worry, it's a simple dance and Itazura is getting it set up now." Blake's words didn't exactly assure the shorter girl.
"C'mon! Think of it as a team bonding exercise!" Ruby was certainly excited before she suddenly became bashful and poked her fingers together. "Besides, it's the only dance I know."
"Trust me, it is." Yang agrees with her sister. "At least both of you will be able to say you danced at the dance."
"Is this really happening?" Weiss complains to herself.
"Like I said, don't worry about it. It's simple. Just follow along with Ruby and Yang." Blake rubbed Weiss' shoulder a bit before backing away a step to create some distance. Now they were lined up as they had been when their team was made official at the beginning of the year.
The current song faded out only to be replaced a few moments later with electronic tones and beats. Immediately, Ruby and Yang raised their right hands to point to the ceiling with their left on their hip as they swung to that side. Blake and Weiss quickly followed suit as they watched carefully. A few beats later, they reversed their positions so their left was in the air and right on their hips.
Somehow, someway, the crowd of teens knew to back away and give them room, opening a hole that extended to the edge of the dancefloor where those at the tables could watch the team dance. In that time, Sun and Denko joined Neptune on the chairs along the wall, though they said nothing, simply content to sit back and watch.
"Do-do-do-oo, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!"
At that point of the song, the girls raised both arms and crossed their wrists with hands splayed before placing their fists on their hips as the line ended. The music began to pick up in both pace and volume and the sisters led their friends through the motions.
"We wonder are you ready to join us now?
Hands in the air, we will show you how
Come and try
Caramell will be your guide!
So come and move your hips, sing woa-o-oah
Look at your two hips, do it, la la
You and me, can sing this melody!"
Weiss had to admit that the song was catchy and the dance seemed a bit erratic, the turning around and shaking of her hips was rather embarrassing since there were fewer people in that direction, Neptune and the other boys had clear lines of sight.
If Ruby had any apprehension about dancing like she was showing before, it was gone now. How many times must she have played this song at home and learned the choreography to do it without missing a beat? Yang was keeping time with her sister, so it may have been something the two had bonded over at some point. At the same time, Yang was the one who enjoyed dancing the most of the team, much the same as Weiss enjoyed singing for herself. Blake was keeping up well, though the slight blush showed her nerves while her smile revealed that she liked this.
"Dance to the beat
Wave your hands together
Come feel the heat
Forever and forever
Listen and learn, it's time for prancing
Now we are here with
Caramelldansen!"
The lyrics may have been a bit repetitive but the song was catchy, Weiss didn't know how to feel about having her hands on her head as if they were ears and waving them there as she wiggled her hips. The latter move was emphasized most by her over the rest of her team due to much of her new weight settling on her hips and making them much wider than normal and causing her skirt to flare more.
Blake may have been lucky to have a long dress as when she shook her hips, her much larger rear wasn't exposed to the world as a skirt would have done to her. Though the dress was tight enough that it wasn't hard to see the twin masses under the cloth shaking and causing a certain monkey to maintain a balancing act of watching his date while averting his eyes so he didn't seem like a pervert for staring at her rear.
Ruby was probably the happiest any of them had seen her all night. All smiles with a bounce in her steps even as her doughy body bounced with her. She had no problems with her movements as she shook, spun, and waved her arms, she was lost in the music and forgot about the crowd that would have normally would have made her quail.
Yang was almost as lost in the music as her sister but kept enough awareness to watch the reactions of the people around her and her team. She was a woman of action, had a love for attention… this was fulfilling that. Yet her eyes found her best friend sitting along the wall, watching her dance. It didn't matter if her belly was shaking like jelly, it had been doing that all night and for a few weeks so she was used to it. But maybe it was that she was most interested in having one specific person watching her because she wanted it.
But the song finally came to an end, almost seemingly too soon. The girls stopped and giggled together as the room applauded their act. The act of doing so suddenly reminded Ruby of her dislike of crowds and she quickly made her to a stairway leading to the upper balcony overlooking the ballroom, followed by Yang as her sisterly instincts kicked in. As much as Weiss had liked their 'team bonding exercise' she wasn't one for dancing, combat style notwithstanding. She passed a blushing Sun on her way back to her seat next to Neptune.
"Enjoy the show?" Blake was still in a good mood as she took hold of her dance partner once more. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled so much; her face was starting to hurt but there was no way she could bring herself to stop. She truly needed this.
"Yes?" Sun wasn't sure how to answer her teasing question. He may not have had much of a care for most cultural norms but he was still respectful towards women, his cousin Star had beaten that into him quite literally when he first started training to be a Huntsman.
Blake giggled as she lay her head on his shoulder to muffle it as they began to dance again. She knew that her legs would likely be sore by the time the night was through but she didn't care, she was having fun for what seemed to be the first time in years. True fun, where she didn't have to worry about anything but the moment. Something that she began to realize she hadn't had since she was still with her parents… before she really began to learn to fight. How her father could toss her high in the air and catch her safely. Indulging her pleads to spin and flip her in the process. Helping her mother with things around the house or wherever they were staying at the time. Her best friend Ilia with them as they would decorate and sing, playing games, try their hands at cooking- that didn't go too well for either of the young girls- but they loved her mother's cooking.
There was nothing but a Grimm attack on the school that was going to stop her from having her fun tonight. It was what the team leader ordered.
"Y'know, I think we really needed this." Yang comments as she leans on the balcony railing next to Ruby. They were watching the party from above, a surprisingly few people were up here, making it perfect to relax and have privacy. Though if the girls down the way continued the way she thought they were, they'd need a lot more privacy.
Below, the sisters watched as Blake and Sun smoothly danced together to a slower song with Ren and Nora nearby, the perky redhead adding a few extra bounces to her steps and not just because of the thunder thighs she was so proud of. Standing near a pillar, Penny was flanked by a pair of Atlas soldiers in full armor and carrying their weapons. The ginger girl dancing by herself and the guard on her left tapping his foot in time to the music, his way of enjoying himself while fulfilling his duty at the same time.
"Yeah. And you did a great job planning it too!" Ruby was proud of her sisters' handiwork as she leaned over the rail to see more.
Yang reached out an arm and pulled her sister in for a one-armed hug- around her neck- with a wide cheesy grin. "Aww, thanks!" She ignored Ruby's groans and flailing arms as she maintained her hold with ease. "It wasn't all me though. Weiss did a lot too."
The mentioning of their teammate stopped Ruby from struggling as they both looked down and easily found the long white hair that was so distinctly her, back in her seat next to Neptune as they seemed to be making idle talk.
Ruby was released from the hold and both girls rested their hands on the rail again. Yang sighs, though she had a smile. "Tomorrow it's back to work."
Ruby shrugs at the comment. "Well, I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us."
A burst of laughter that swept through and infected everyone like the chemicals that made them gain weight, made the crowd below drown out the music that was playing. Looking down as the crowd parted to allow whatever was making them laugh so hard through, Yang and Ruby saw Jaune.
"Except for that." Ruby amends herself as the laughter only grew and the crowd continued to part as Jaune strode through the ballroom with a purposeful step.
AN: The songs used here are Fat by Weird Al Yankovic and Caramelldansen. I do hope you all enjoy that I'm fleshing out the scenes that RT had skipped over largely for runtime reasons. It's my hope that I'm doing them justice and keeping everyone in character as they do what they can to make the best of their weight issues while keeping up with their classes.