This is a fill for a fic request that I received on AO3. Written for the prompt by TheAce: I have an idea, during the Beacon dance Yang catches Ruby attempting to leave, and wanting her little sister to have a good time, decides to be Ruby's date for the rest of the evening (Not in the romantic sense, but more like bringing your mom to the prom). After dragging her onto the dance floor, Ruby worries she would embarrass herself because of the 'lady stilts', Yang tells her to take them off and just dance in her stockinged feet, even taking her own shoes off to make Ruby feel less awkward. (Sure, it means Ruby doesn't see Cinder sneaking into the tower, but really did her interference do anything to disrupt Cinder's plan at all?)

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Glancing nervously over her shoulder to ensure that no one is looking in her direction, Ruby breathes a sigh of relief and starts to make her way out the door. The dance is too loud, too crowded, and her feet are killing her. Ruby just wants to head back to the dorms, take off her shoes, and collapse into bed. All she has to do is get out of here without anyone seeing her, and—

She's stopped by a hand on her arm. "Where do you think you're going, little sis?"

Crap! Of course Yang spotted her trying to leave. "Oh, y'know, just getting some air," she says, smiling nervously.

Unconvinced, Yang sighs. "You're not enjoying this at all, are you."

Ruby immediately feels guilty. Her sister and Weiss put so much work into this event, and here she is trying to ditch. "No, no, of course not! That's not—" She tries and fails to come up with an excuse that won't hurt her sister's feelings.

"Look, I know that this sort of event isn't really your thing," Yang says, sighing again. "But you've been working really hard lately. We all have. So, please, just try to relax and have fun for a few hours? It won't kill you to take a night off, you know."

It's impossible to argue with Yang when her sister has her heart set on something like this. She nods, trying not to scowl. "Ok. I'll try." Out of the corner of her eye, she spots General Ironwood walking away from Professor Goodwitch. She tries (and fails) not to feel too jealous as he passes through the doors behind them and makes his escape.

"That's the spirit," Yang says, looping her arm through Ruby's. The motion throws her off balance, causing her to wobble unsteadily in her heels. Stupid shoes. "And I'll make sure that you're having a good time. Consider yourself my date for the night, sis."

"No, wait, you don't have to do that, Yang!" Ruby tries to protest, but Yang pays her no mind, dragging her over to a group of her friends. Ruby gives up on trying to talk her sister out of it in favor of focusing on not tripping over her feet and falling on her face. She promises to whoever is listening that she'll never zone out in Professor Port's class again if she can just get through tonight without embarrassing herself.

Yang introduces Ruby to a few people, and she finds herself trapped once again attempting to make small talk and socialize. She recognizes a couple people from her classes, but she doesn't really know any of them well enough to know much about them or if they have anything in common. And this time she can't even escape to the punch bowl to hide. Wonderful.

Ruby can feel Yang's eyes on her, so she tries her best to hide her anxiety and discomfort and talk about normal-people things—whatever that means—not weapons and combat strategies and the weaknesses of different types of Grimm.

Still, she tries her best to actively participate in the conversation, asking questions and making sure to laugh in the right places. It's exhausting, and her feet are killing her, but she thinks that she's doing a decent job—at least, until someone pulls her aside.

Ruby spins around—carefully, mindful of the heels she's wearing—to see who's tugging on her arm. She finds herself facing Yang, who has her arms folded across her chest and an unimpressed look on her face. "You're not having fun at all." It isn't a question.

"No, no, this is great!" Ruby says, shooting her sister a reassuring smile. The effort falls flat; Yang is obviously unconvinced. "Ok, yeah, you're right. It's just, you know small talk and getting-to-know-you's aren't really my thing."

"Well, if you don't want to stand around and chat, how about we dance, instead?" Yang offers, gesturing to the crowd of their classmates and professors, swaying in time to the music. "Weiss and I made the playlist, so the music is perfect to move to."

Dancing certainly sounds more fun than standing around trying to chat—but Ruby can't. Not in these shoes. "I don't think that's a good idea, Yang."

"Why not? If you're worried about looking silly, I don't think that anyone is going to notice after what Jaune did earlier."

"It's not that," Ruby says, although a small part of her is thinking about that. "It's just—I can barely walk in these stupid lady stilts. If I try to dance I'm just going to fall on my face and embarrass myself."

"I'm not going to let you fall," Yang reassures her. "But if the shoes are bothering you that much, just take them off."

Ruby stares at her sister in disbelief. Escaping these heels sounds absolutely wonderful, but she's pretty sure that not wearing shoes goes against all those "social etiquette rules" that Weiss has been trying to make her memorize. "I can't do that! Besides, you and Weiss picked these out for me."

"Why not? I've seen you go barefoot in way weirder places." Yang points out, shrugging. "And trust me, you having a good time is way more important to us than what you're wearing." When Ruby still looks reluctant, she sighs. "Here, I'll take my shoes off as well."

And she does. Without even waiting for Ruby to say anything, Yang bends down and starts to undo the straps of her heels, carefully sliding them off. "What—Yang, you don't have to do that!"

"No, but I want to. I told you that I was going to make sure that you had a good time tonight. So take your shoes off already and let's dance. You used to love this kind of thing when we were little."

So Ruby carefully leans over to take off her own death traps disguised as footwear, bracing herself on Yang's arm so she doesn't fall. As soon as her stockinged feet hit the floor, she can feel the cramped muscles in her feet start to relax. It's the best thing she's felt all evening.

"You ready?" Yang asks. When Ruby nods, she grabs her arm and drags her over to the dance floor.

Remembering what Yang said earlier, Ruby does her best to ignore the curious stares from the people around her. She lets herself relax and concentrates on the music, closing her eyes to try to find her rhythm.

Her eyes fly open when Yang grabs her arm and twirls her, before pulling her in closer for a dip. She lets out a little gasp in surprise and then giggles. Her sister's grin widens at Ruby's laughter, and Ruby finds herself smiling as well. Yang's enthusiasm is contagious.

Maybe dancing isn't so bad after all.

Outside, the clock strikes midnight. In the morning they'll be back on duty as huntresses, and even if Ruby is more comfortable on the battlefield than in a ballroom, she can still enjoy this moment.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it.

Reminder that I do take fic requests, so if you happen to have an idea that you'd like to see me write, feel free to shoot me a message and if I like your idea I might end up writing something for it. I'm on winter break so I've got lots of time to write right now.