It was a busy night in the RAVN dorm room. The air was a mix of perfume, shampoo, cologne, and hairspray. Broken hair ties lay on the counter next to stray hairs and towels.
"You do plan on cleaning this all up right Tasha?" Vivian asked as Natasha worked at a knot in her hair.
"Umf churse."
"What?"
"Blech. I said of course." Natasha replied, taking the bobby pins out of her mouth. "And that will do it!" Natasha said proudly, turning Vivian around to look into the mirror. "Ta da!"
Though she would have been fine with just going with her natural look, Vivian did have to admit Natasha did a great job. She managed to tame her fly-aways by making small, tight braids that perfectly hid into her natural curl and volume. The dark plum lipstick perfectly complimented her brighter purple one-sleeve dress and made her eyes pop. She smiled remembering when Tasha first saw her bring it out. It was more body fitting than her friend had expected and only went to her down to where her fingertips touched her thighs.
"Not a bad look on you ladies." Aero casually commented.
"Not so bad yourself." Natasha joked. Vivian had to admit, Aero did know how to spruce up. With him normally wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, it was strange seeing him in formal wear. He had a speckled grey suit with a navy blue tie and white shirt and she couldn't even smell the cologne he had applied. The mark of a man and not a boy.
"All that's left is Ravus." Tasha said, letting Vivian get up. "Ravus! Do you have your outfit ready? It'd probably be best if you where it first." Natasha called
"What about you?" She asked, glancing over at Tasha's dress as it hung on the shower rod. It was a one shoulder tee-length dress with a stark dark to deep red transition from the shoulder to hem. However it had an elegance to it, courtesy of the soft flowing fabric.
"Oh, I'll have enough time." She said casually, rinsing off her comb and digging through Ravus' things. "Ravus! Where is your deodorant? We can't have you smelling like the gym!" She called as Vivian stepped out of the bathroom. She looked around and saw no obvious signs of their leader though. If it was possible, he had been even more reclusive since they found out about Blake and the dance.
"Ravus!" Natasha called for a third time.
Vivian looked over and spotted a pile of blankets on Ravus' bed.
He's so down he can't even try to make his bed. Vivian shook her head and carefully bent over to pull the bedding off. However, the bedding didn't budge.
"Ravus?" Vivian asked, getting closer to the pile. Sticking out between the sheets was a small clump of black hair.
"Bed burrito?" Aero asked as he joined Vivian.
"Looks like it." She sighed. With one arm she grabbed the blankets and with a sound yank, unraveled the entire bundle. This sent Ravus into a mid-air spin where he landed with a thump on his bed.
"Not cool Viv!" Ravus complained, grabbing the blanket that had fallen by him and attempted to bury himself again.
"He lives!" Natasha joked, coming out of the bathroom. "Are we having a blanket fort?" She smiled, looking over at Vivian. She had not let go over her part of the blanket, making more of a tent rather than a blanket wad around Ravus.
"Ravus you can't hide in your room forever. Not from Blake and especially not from your enemies." Aero said, going to the other side of the bed where Ravus was. "Besides, I think your sister's would be pretty annoyed if you didn't show up."
"Why? Ruby hates dressing up, same as me." Ravus grumbled. "And Yang will be too distracted by being hostess or by you to even notice." Aero ignored the look that Natasha gave him and stooped down close to Ravus' ear.
"Would you rather have us drag you out of bed or your sisters?" With no reply, Aero signaled Vivian and Natasha who gave another pull of the blanket. Aero then tackled Ravus, easily pinning him to the ground. "You're going to the dance." He said. Ravus simply groaned, on the floor.
"Do I have to wear a suit?" Aero smiled in response and let him up.
"Nope. But you will need to wear a tie."
"Ooohh, don't you two look handsome!" Yang fawned as Aero and Ravus walked into the dance. Ravus now wore a dark blue button up shirt and dark tie that matched his pants. The team couldn't convince him to wear dress pants so they opted for extremely dark stained jeans. "Who knew a gentleman was hiding under that hood." Yang said with a giggle as Ravus rolled his eyes.
As Yang began talking to Aero, Ravus made his quick escape to the side of the room. He still had no interest in being there but decided it was easier to play along than fight his whole team and potentially his sisters too. He found a corner to lean into and watch the dance go by him. He was surprised that there weren't more people there. Half of the teams that Natasha had rattled off to be coming weren't there. Even Ruby isn't here!
As he looked, everyone's faces seemed to meld into one. All ladies' outfits were either shades of white or were white with only an accent of color. Nearly all boys wore dark suits. As he looked around he spotted Ruby walking in the door, a striking contrast to the sea of light colors. She teetered on her heels but was quickly helped by Natasha and Vivian. Ravus couldn't help but smile at them helping Ruby. He honestly now felt he had four sisters rather than two. Maybe I should try hanging out with Jaune or Ren more, get some more guys in.
As Ravus resumed his scan he noticed each face had some form of a smile: smitten, joyous, nervous, anxious. It gave him a little comfort realizing he wasn't totally alone. But the most striking thing was they all were having fun. Even though as more people joined in they all blended with the crowd, each person seemed to be having a good time. Maybe I am being dramatic. It's just a dance. How bad can it- Ravus' thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Blake dancing Sun. When did they show up! She too had a smile on her face and Sun, true to his name, beamed from ear to ear. Ravus looked away, his own smile long gone. Who am I kidding? Blake liking me? I'm an idiot. An idiot in love who would have no chance-
"Hey! Ravus!" The sound of his name made Ravus lift his head to see Sun and Blake walking over toward him. Oh gosh, what do they want? Ravus returned his gaze toward the wall away from them.
"Blake. Sun." He calmly addressed them, trying to appear uninterested.
"Do you wanna dance?" Blake asked. Ravus's head spun so fast he thought it might have snapped.
"What?" Ravus looked at Blake, now getting a better look at her outfit. It was elegant but modest, with two straps that turned into a black choker around her neck that lay overtop a shear material that covered her shoulders. Gosh is she pretty…
"Wanna dance with us?" Sun asked again, his signature grin across his face. This time however, Ravus didn't get mad at it. He looked back over at Blake who gently smiled at him.
"Um, well…" He drew out, scratching his head and at a loss for words. After what I did earlier, is this a good idea?
"Come on." He looked down at his hand that Blake now held and let her lead him to the dance floor.
"Look who decided to join the party!" Yang said excitedly as she danced next to Aero. "You ready to rave Ravus?" He responded with an eye roll as Yang took his free hand and started dancing. She was grinning widely, pretending to send a wave from her left arm to him. Blake was actually the one who continued the movement, sending it to Sun who sent it back. He grinned and winked at Ravus and he found himself smiling back. Music came and went, some of the songs slow, some of them fast. He even enjoyed seeing Jaune in a dress.
"I've got to get a video of that." Ravus chuckled, excusing himself to get punch for him and Blake. As he made his way he spotted Sun, getting some punch for himself.
"Thirsty man?" Sun joked, noticing Ravus poring himself two cups.
"One's for Blake." Ravus explained, gazing over at her.
"So, how are you enjoying it?" Sun asked. Ravus returned his look to Sun but shuffled slightly. Yeah, maybe he isn't so bad. Ravus thought. But why is he talking to me? Blake came with him. And he's got to know what I said… "Dude?" Ravus lifted his head, not having realized he had been looking down.
"Sorry man, didn't mean to surprise ya."
"No, you didn't surprise me." Ravus quickly countered, more conscious of his actions. "The real surprise is this dance."
"Oh, yeah." Sun agreed calmly. "Tonight has been something. First I nearly gave Neptune a heart attack when I told him I didn't have a tie, which apparently is required at these sort of events."
"Yeah, I know that feeling." Ravus laughed, imagining of Neptune, probably the second coolest guy visiting Beacon, trying to convince Sun to wear a tie.
"And then Blake ends up coming to the dance even when she said that was the last thing she'd do."
"What?" Ravus inquired, dropping his cup. The cup had thankfully been empty but that didn't stop his hands from getting sweaty. "I mean," Ravus said, attempting to regain his composure, "I don't quite follow?"
"There's not much to follow." Sun joked, passively looking onto the dance floor. "I asked her if she wanted to come and shot me down pretty hard."
"But, she came with you to the dance?" Ravus asked, still confused.
"As friends." Sun explained. "I could really care less about the dance too. But I know it's a fun place to be and I just wanted Blake to enjoy herself a bit. Not be under so much stress to fix everything. Be perfect." Sun sighed with a smile, and took a sip of his punch. "I'm glad Yang talked with her though."
Ravus looked over at Blake who was with Yang and Aero. She didn't come with Sun. And she smiled at me. I might just have a chance. Ravus took a moment to refill both cups but as he was about to walk, he saw something. Something on the roof. Someone on the roof. Why is there a person on a roof?
"You ok man?" Sun asked, distracting Ravus.
"Oh, yeah." But when Ravus returned his attention to the window, the figure was gone. Someone climbing the roof when the most powerful currently in Atlas are in a single location away... He internally groaned. Why does this have to happen tonight? "And, actually," he said, turning to Sun, "I have a favor to ask."
"Uh, alright." Sun smiled. Ravus swallowed and held out the cup he had gotten for Blake.
"Can you look after Blake? I just realized, something." He finished awkwardly, glancing at the windows. They might be gone now but that doesn't mean someone else could be coming back...
"Yeah, sure. I think she's fine now but I'll hang out with her." Sun laughed. Ravus quickly left the punch table, feeling his cheeks flush. He probably thinks I'm an idiot. "Look after Blake"? "Something"? The cool evening air snapped him out of his thoughts, the change in temperature a welcoming refresher. After a deep breath he started making his way downtown, where he guessed the mysterious figure would most likely cause problems.