Blood of The Rose
Chapter 12: Fashion Sense
Beverly Hills
Rodero Boulevard

When Ruby had awoken, or perhaps risen would be the better term for it, Weiss had given her a once-over as if she'd just truly looked at her for the first time. And subsequently declared that she was in no shape or form fit to be representing the Camarilla upon her first meeting with Therese.

Hence, a shopping trip.

They took a cab over to an inconspicuous shop tucked in just behind the more upscale Rodero Boulevard, with the tongue-in-cheek name of From Dusk Til Dawn.

"Obviously, a business interest of Kindred," Weiss explained as they pulled up in front. "It remains open exactly as the name advertises."

"Well, that's handy," Ruby murmured, sliding out of the cab behind her partner. As the white-clad woman paid the driver, she looked up at the imposing facade. It was brick, with no windows on the second floor, but the street level had several window displays with mannequins set into poses and displaying a dizzying array of clothing styles and types.

Weiss stepped up to her side and tucked Ruby's arm into her own. "The owner, Tukson, is a Toreador. He also owns a nearby book shop with a cafe attached, also open all night and run by Kindred, though he prefers to remain here."

They entered through the glass doors, a melodic chime sounding. It was spacious inside, brightly lit with numerous racks of clothing spread out. Some sections seems to be organized by color palette, while others by function or style. As soon as they entered, four women appeared seemingly as if by magic.

"Miss Schnee!" the vampire on the right, displaying long brick-red hair and a turquoise gown, exclaimed happily. "So good to see you again!"

"And you brought… company," the one next to her, dark grey hair pulled back into ringlets, said with barely suppressed disdain. She adjusted the cuff of her grey and purple pantsuit and sniffed.

On the far left, a vampire with natural-seeming indigo hair and wearing a smart-looking deep purple skirt and pale grey blouse stepped forward. "How may we help you today, Miss Schnee?"

Weiss smiled at the four, including the vampire with long dark-blonde hair in the middle who had yet to speak. "Ladies, a pleasure as always. This is my charge, Ruby Rose, and as you can see, we have a bit of an… emergency."

"That's putting it lightly," the blonde finally murmured with a slight smile. Her dark green dress was sleeveless and form-fitting, and like the others she wore it with confidence and grace.

The platinum-haired fledgeling turned once more. "Ruby, this is Nebula Violette, " gesturing to the indigo-haired woman, who offered a gracious bow, "Dew Gayl," the blonde widened her smile in a friendly manner, "Gwen Darcy," the grey-haired girl nodded curtly, "and Octavia Ember." The last vampire in the group tilted her red-maned head to the side, her long tresses falling slightly across her face as she regarded Ruby with a smile.

"Um, hi," she greeted them awkwardly. "Pleasure to meet you."

"As it is ours to serve you this evening," Nebula stated with another bow. "Is this for a special occasion?"

"Not overly, but I do believe she would benefit from your wisdom, dear," Weiss smiled.

"Of course!" Nebula's green eyes lit up with excitement. "It has been so long since I've had a worthy challenge!"

"Weiss," the brunette moaned softly. "What have you gotten me into?"

"Don't fret, young fledgling," a friendly male voice spoke up from the side. Ruby turned to spy a broad-shouldered man with anachronistic lambchop sideburns move up. He wore a finely-tailored suit, that to Ruby's inexperienced eye looked to be black silk, with a crisp white shirt and a maroon tie. "This isn't a torturous event, by any means," he continued jovially. "Nebula is the best at what she does, and that is to find the outfit that you truly desire, even if you are not aware of it yet."

The four girls curtseyed slightly in the presence of the male vampire.

"Hello, Tukson," Weiss smiled warmly, stepping forward. The pair shared a quick kiss on opposite cheeks that vaguely reminded Ruby of something from Europe or some such place. "You are looking well."

"That's kind of you to say, Weiss," the man laughed heartily, "but I'd be worried if anything were to actually change! And did I hear the name right, young fledgling? You are Ruby Rose, yes, the survivor of that unfortunate incident at the theater?"

"Yeah, heh, that's me," the brunette replied, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "Famous without even trying."

"Well, then, I shall keep my eye out for when you become famous by your own merits!" Tukson grinned. "Now then, Nebula, I assume you have our young fashion disaster under your wing?"

"Oh, yes," the indigo-haired woman smiled eagerly. "Octavia, will you assist?"

"Love to," the redhead smirked.

"Have fun!" Dew giggled, while Gayle simply turned and wordlessly walked away.

"Keep an ear out for the front, Octavia," Tukson reminded the vampire as the small group began to head towards the rear changing rooms.

"One of these days, Tukson, you will have to learn to work a register!"

"A paper ledger has always worked just fine for me!" he retorted humorously.

The four vampires strolled through the various racks of mercantiles. Ruby noticed a small section dedicated to linens other than clothing, such as towels and sheets. And I'm sure they're something like ten-million count thread or the like, she snorted to herself.

"So, um, Nebula," the brunette began hesitantly as they passed a display of elegant ballroom gowns she'd never be caught dead in (which almost made her lose her train of thought at the humor in such a saying for her now). "How long have you been working here?"

"Oh, quite a few years, really," the indigo-haired woman laughed lightly. "I think you misunderstand our status, though, dear. Myself and the others are Tukson's childer."

"Oh!" Ruby blinked her eyes. "Huh, how about that."

Nebula nodded genially. "We were all at one time or another at the top or showing extraordinary promise in the field of fashion, though I was perhaps a bit ahead of my time. I was Sired first, and Octavia here is the baby of the family."

The redhead sighed and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Sixty-four years later and still I get reminded of this," she groused humorously.

"Well, at least you are able to relate to current events," the other vampire stated cheerfully. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial level and leaned in towards Ruby. "Honestly, just when I'm becoming used to electricity, all these computers and gadgets and such nonsense come pouring out of the walls. Small ones that fit into the palm of your hand, even!"

"They're called cell phones, Nebula," her blood-sister stated gently with an air of someone who had to remind her of the same things each day.

"Yes, precisely! Honestly, things were so much easier by lamplight." Nebula giggled lightly with her hand over her mouth. "Admirably covered up blemishes and imperfections in an outfit as well!"

"But you are able to keep your historical knowledge updated, now," Octavia snickered, along with both Ruby and Weiss who were finding the whole conversation immensely humorous. "I swear, we had the longest argument about the loss of the library in Alexandria."

"I simply wasn't in the Mediterranean region at the time!" Nebula exclaimed. "There were expeditions to the Far East, to the North… It was such an exciting time to be undead! And then those blasted barbarians had to come along and ruin everything. Everything, I tell you!"

Octavia leaned over towards Ruby. "Fair warning, she could go on like this all evening."

"And Rome!" Nebula threw her hands into the air in outrage. "What did Rome ever do to the Visigoths? Well, I mean, true, there were the oppressions and wars and… But still! Rome was a beacon of light, as debauched and corrupt as it could be at times!"

"Oh, oh! Tell them the joke, they might get it!" Octavia grinned widely.

Nebula smirked slightly and paused in their walk to face the pair of fledglings. She held up her closed fist. "A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers," she demonstrated this on her hand with her index and middle finger spread apart, "and orders five beers."

Ruby just looked at her blankly. "I don't… Yeah, I don't get it. Weiss?"

"No, sorry," the platinum haired woman shook her head with a regretful smile.

"It was still funny half a century ago," Nebula complained musingly as she resumed her walk. "I wonder what changed?"

"Well, they no longer teach latin in the schools anymore," Octavia returned seriously.

"They don't? What on earth do they teach children, then?"

"Um, excuse me?" Ruby offered weakly, her hand raised. "Just how old are you, Nebula?"

The indigo-haired girl calmed and gave her a warm smile. "Now, dear, it's terribly rude to ask a woman her age."

"She and Gwen go on and on at times," Octavia confided with a twinkle in her eyes. "Gwen was a pirate on the South China Sea during the fourteenth century, so she had to have the whole concept of the black plague explained to her." She sighed with feigned moroseness. "Even dear Dew was from Colonial times. I am surrounded by luddites."

"Ugh, and don't get me started on all these so-called 'World Wars'," Nebula scoffed lightly as they finally arrived at the back room, ignoring Octavia's jibe. "How is it a 'World War' when I never noticed either one?"

"That's because you were touring the Amazon, dear," the redhead chuckled.

"Yes, well…" Nebula sighed as she stood with her hands on her hips and in front of a series of floor-to-ceiling mirrors that bordered several changing room doors. "Enough of such frivolities. In any case, Tukson called all of us together a half century ago for the purpose of opening this new enterprise, and we've been more than happy to serve him here ever since. So, then, have a seat please, Miss Rose, I have some questions for you."

"O- Okay," Ruby mumbled, sitting down. She was not ashamed to admit that she was more than a little intimidated by this seemingly ancient vampire who was about to clothe her.

"Relax," Weiss murmured, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze before sitting in a comfortable chair in the rear of the room.

Nebula proceeded to bombard Ruby with a veritable deluge of queries, Octavia standing by attentively with a clipboard and jotting down the occasional note. Everything from the colors she liked, to the music she'd listened to, to the sports she'd participated in. Even, oddly enough, the breed of her childhood dog.

"Hmm…" The indigo-haired woman paced in a tight circle, her arms crossed and head lowered in thought. She would occasionally glance consideringly over towards Ruby, causing her to sit upright each time when under scrutiny.

"Very well." Nebula finally came to a halt in front of the brunette, her hands behind her back. "Goth, but not too much black. Good amount of red, but with a street punk vibe… And a cloak."

"A cloak?" Ruby squeaked.

"Yes. A cloak. Octavia!"

"Ma'am," the redhead reported crisply, the clipboard at her side.

Nebula proceeded to rattle off a series of numbers and colors, along with a few odd terms like 'micro-mini' and 'armscye'. Eventually the two woman departed towards opposite ends of the store.

"So, um… I guess that went… well?" Ruby hesitantly opined.

"Trust me, Nebula is the best there is. Quite likely in the entire world." Weiss smirked slightly. "Tukson is rather lucky he was the one to Sire her, as the bond makes her quite unwilling to jump ship. Not that other clothiers in New York and London and Paris haven't tried to recruit her with ludicrous sums of money."

Before Ruby could respond to that, the indigo-haired woman showed up with Octavia on her heels. A dizzying array of clothing was thrown at her and, much to her embarrassment, the redhead dragged her into the spacious changing room to help her assemble her outfit.

A short while later, Ruby walked out of the room to face Nebula, Weiss, and the mirrors. She stared in awe at her reflection.

The designer combat boots came up to just below her knee, with plenty of straps both functionally and for style. Tucked into them were a pair of tights that came up mid-thigh, with a set of garters holding them up in place under the black boy shorts that covered her rear. And over that was a frilly skirt, black on the outside but with red underneath. A wide black belt, with a special compartment in the small of her back for concealing a firearm, separated that from the corset that laced up the front with red ribbons. The white blouse she wore under it showed enough cleavage that, along with the effect of the corset, made her look as if she actually had a decently-sized bust for a change. Her blouse came up over her shoulders and then down to her wrists, loose and flowy except for her forearms which were covered with black leather bracers. And the crowning glory of it all was a red cloak that billowed when she turned, hanging down just to her knees.

It was a renaissance faire outfit crossed with biker gothic chic, rolled up into a costume that some sort of anime heroine might wear.

And it was, without a doubt, undeniably her in a way that she never knew an outfit could define her.

"Nebula?" the brunette finally breathed after a few moments of silence.

"Yes, dear?"

"Marry me?"

The other girls broke out into delighted giggles at that. "I take it you like it, then?" the indigo-haired woman inquired humorously.

"I never should have doubted you," Ruby stated wonderingly, turning this way and that to catch her outfit from all sides. "I just… It's… It's perfect."

"Yes, it is," Weiss smiled widely.

Once they'd settled on a few additional less-flashy outfits, such as another couple pairs of jeans, one faded blue and the other black, along with a new half-sleeved red hoodie that left the shoulders bare, Ruby stood behind Weiss as Dew rang up the purchases.

"Do I even wanna know how much all this is costing?" the brunette whispered fearfully.

"Honestly… No, you don't," Weiss murmured humorously.

"But Weiss-"

"Ruby." The platinum-haired woman turned to her with a glint on her pale blue eyes. "Don't concern yourself with such trivialities, you are representing the Camarilla and the clan."

"Oh." Ruby glanced down at the floor. "Well, still… thank you. I mean, this was really, really nice of you to do for me."

Weiss cleared her throat. "I bought us a set of sheets as well, but… I wanted to do this for you in any case."

Ruby let out a high-pitched squeal as she leapt forward, wrapping Weiss up in a tight hug. "I knew it! See, we're besties after all!"

Her partner squirmed fruitlessly to escape the smothering embrace. "Ack! Stop touching me!"

Santa Monica Haven

They returned to the apartment in Santa Monica a few hours past sunset. Ruby and Weiss both were carrying bags as they trudged up the stairs and let themselves into the Haven.

"Okay, so I should be good to go, yeah?" the brunette asked, giving herself an experimental twirl. She'd left her new badass vampire-heroine outfit on, and would likely sleep in it given the chance, even though her new clothing included a nice long sleepshirt with a picture of the Count from Sesame Street on it, which she thought beyond hilarious.

"I do believe so," Weiss replied with a slight smile, placing her bags alongside Ruby's. "You should leave your bat, but do take your gun along just in case."

"Yeah, I suppose I can't really go anywhere unarmed anymore," she grumbled quietly. The fledgling pulled her little revolver out from one shopping bag where she'd rescued it from her now-discarded (and likely burned) old red hoodie. She paused and grinned for a moment at the sight of her new, more fashionable one inside.

"I do like my new outfits," she murmured as she tucked her gun behind her back. "Thanks again, really."

Weiss paused in riffling through her shopping bag. "Are you going to hug me again?" she asked with only a trace of asperity.

"Maybe," Ruby grinned in reply, plopping down at the desk. "Lemme just check email really quick… Oh! Got one, looks like the Prince was happy with last night's work…"

(Subject) Nicely done

(From) La Croix

Your assistance was much appreciated in regards to the werewolf blood. Please find your payment in the mailbox, if you haven't already done so. - SL

"Sweet, I'll pick up the payment on the way out… Uh, hey, Weiss?"

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Um… don't be insulted or anything, but…" Ruby squirmed slightly in her seat. "Are you doing okay for money? I mean, I dunno if you have a job for Ozpin or anything that I'm taking you away from…"

"I'm fine, but thank you for your concern." The platinum-haired Kindred gave her a soft smile. "I receive a stipend from the Camarilla for duties performed, and this counts as such. Now you had better get going."

"Right." Ruby blew out a breath as she got to her feet, tugging the skirt down into place. "Whelp, guess I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"Do try to be back before sunrise," her partner replied dryly. "And good luck."

Ruby stopped by her mailbox where, sure enough, an envelope with $150 was waiting for her. "Eh, better than nothing I suppose," she shrugged, tucking it into a large pocket sewed into her skirt.

As she slowly made her way through the alley once more and towards The Asylum, she only paid half of her attention to her surroundings and potential threats. The rest of her was pondering Rosa's words from the previous evening regarding who the fledgling could trust.

Okay, so the man on the couch is Mercurio, that definitely makes me feel even better about helping him out. It'll be good to have someone who can help me out in turn if I need it. And Weiss, the queen of ice, her I can trust too. I know that, really, she's been nothing but helpful, even if we got off to a rocky start, I think we're actually kinda becoming friends. What about the other ones… Who is only half mine? I don't own anybody. And a lone wolf or an anxious cat, gotta be metaphors for people, I guess I'll know when I meet them, maybe? And then the smiling one…

She stopped with one foot on the steps of the porch in front of the dance club, where the throbbing music pulsed against her body even through the closed doors. She was suddenly hit by inspiration, and smacked herself on the forehead for not thinking of it sooner.

Owie, she thought, rubbing at her now-sore forehead before continuing with her epiphany. The smiling man! Smiling Jack! Of course, Ruby you big dummy, you know you can trust Jack, so that just confirms it!

With a happy grin on her face, Ruby pulled the doors open and slipped inside to the familiar gothic tableau of The Asylum.


A/N: So, yep, Ruby's new outfit is the Season 4 getup. I really like it, personally. Some of the humorous bits interacting with Nebula and Octavia are from a series of absolutely hysterical Tumblr posts I came across. I swore I had to work them into my story somehow. And honestly, is there a more perfect name for a shop owned by vampires than From Dusk Til Dawn? I had such a fun time with the first half of this chapter, I really need to bring the NDGO ladies back in again. At least here I can treat them nicer than I do in Ember Legacy… Also, this is another theme I want to use. These incredibly old vampires, outside of the Ventrue clan, who want nothing to do with politics anymore because it just bores them. Vampires like Tukson who just want to operate the best damn fashion boutique in the world.

Much love for my talented Beta and collaborator, Live to anger the World. Speaking of whom… here's a short little omake taken straight from her comments (I'm sneaky like that), while Ruby is still hugging Weiss at the clothing store:


The fashionistas quietly laughed in the background. "I never thought I'd see the day she got along with someone."

"What makes you so sure they get along?"

"Dear, she hasn't stabbed Ms. Rose yet. That is all the proof I need."


Eh, I thought it was funny.

And finally, bountiful hugs to my wonderful reviewers: Sharkdude5, AntonSlavik020, shandromand (welcome!), kaiju62, Mossblomma, Kinnix Wolf, zerosabers, TacoKing23.

One last note - I was supposed to take the Monday holiday to write all day. Instead, I played Dead by Daylight all day. (I'm so ashamed.) The end result it that I don't have Ember Legacy done for this week, but I do still have another Blood to post the next week. I think I'm going to put both stories on a mini-hiatus while I finish up Pearls on a String, I really owe it to those girls to close out the last volume. It's only three chapters, and I'm most of the way through one of them. So for readers of my other updating stories, be patient, we'll get back on track soon (-ish).

Stay shiny!