Max stood in the entryway of her apartment playing idly with the floofy skirts of her beautiful new costume. The moment they had been invited to a party by some of their art school friends, Victoria had the perfect idea for a group costume. Because of course she did. And naturally, her secret nerd side came out as she sat everyone down for a marathon of the show RWBY, explaining who everyone would be dressed as when they showed up.
Max was, of course, the leader Ruby with her short hair and beautiful battle dress. She was, perhaps, a little too delighted by the fluffiness of the skirts, especially for someone who never got dolled up. Chloe stepped out of her room all decked out in yellow with a blonde wig and impressive-looking gauntlets. She had even managed to find a pair of goggles that were hanging loosely around her neck. "Damn, it's a fucking shame we're sisters, Max."
She gave a nervous, embarrassed laugh and rubbed the back of her neck, looking down at her feet. "Way to make it awkward as hell, Chloe. Besides, you heard Victoria. Kate is your love interest for tonight." As if on cue, Kate emerged all in black and white looking incredibly awkward about her character. She looked pretty good with the dark hair, and Max could understand why showing so much skin wasn't normally Kate's thing. But she did look good, and now she was feeling a little bit jealous of Chloe.
"A-Are you sure I'm not... I-I don't know, showing off this much? Am I giving people the wrong idea?"
Chloe instantly wrapped an arm possessively around Kate's shoulders and kissed her cheek lovingly. "Awwww, Blakie! It doesn't matter, you're all mine. And I think you look dashing."
As if on cue to help Max deal with her slight jealousy, Victoria appeared, looking every bit the part of the heiress. Max tried to keep her jaw from dropping, admiring the dedication Victoria put to getting her Weiss costume right, even bleaching her hair silver and pulling it into the side ponytail. "Well well, I do good work if I do say so myself! Combat skirts for the win~" She stepped up to Max, taking her hand and kissing her cheek as well. "I just wish we had a puppy to play the part of Zwei. Oooh! Let's get a corgi some day!"
"We have Alice!" Kate piped up eagerly, causing Chloe to laugh and flick her fake ears.
"Alice can barely handle being in the same room as all of us sometimes. How well do you think she would do being taken to a party with a bunch of drunk college students?"
The party wasn't all that far away, so the girl's opted to walk over and enjoy the chilly October air. As was dictated by Victoria's hearty fandom rules, she was to stick with Max and Kate would be with Chloe. Max found it more than a little entertaining, just how passionately she held to these 'ships' of hers. "You know, we watched all three seasons together, and I don't see any reason is has to be the way you say..." Not that she disapproved, but occasionally the girls liked to poke fun at Victoria's obsessions.
"You're just saying that because you want an excuse to hang on Chloe like you always do! You incestuous weirdo~" Clearly Victoria wasn't opposed to fighting back. "Besides, it's obvious you weren't watching the same show I was! How does their partnership start? Eye contact. Practically from day one they've been literally eyeing each other!"
Walking a few steps behind them, Katie was clinging to Chloe's arm with a small sigh. "What's the matter, Katie-baby?"
"I guess I just don't see myself as being that much like Blake. The rest of you all have costumes that make sense. But I'm nothing like her." She knew she was probably overdoing it just a little, but the sentiment was still an honest one.
Naturally, Chloe was right on the ball with her response. Unlike Kate, she seemed to be constantly filled with confidence. "You're smart, a serious reader. You can be moody but you still have a good sense of humor about things. You're an outcast split between various groups and you want them to live in harmony. You're beautiful. You're badass. I think Blake fits you perfectly." Chloe snickered and nudged her again. "Besides, I saw how hard you cried during the end of season 3. You have it bad for Yang. Like a certain black cat. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'." Kate beamed and blushed, continuing to walk alongside her in a contented, embarrassed silence. But it was obvious she appreciated what Chloe had to say.
In many ways, the party itself wasn't much to write home about. It was at a friend's apartment, there were only 20 or so other people around. The music was a variety of spooky-scary pop stuff and the occasional tune from Nightmare Before Christmas or whatever. The drinks were decent, the company was nice, and even Kate was having a pleasant time. The girls actually didn't have to explain their costumes to nearly as many people as they expected.
Somehow they eventually found themselves out on the back porch sharing one last drink before stumbling their way back home. It wasn't exactly stargazing, but you could look up and see some vaguely blinky lights. Not a bad way to finish a party.
"Remember where we were this time last year...?" Max was the first one to break the comfortable silence, naturally.
Chloe scoffed and looked over at her, pulling the wig from her head and scratching her scalp. "Uh, yeah. Vicky was yelling at me because shit was about to get complicated." Everyone else immediately began laughing as well, with various degrees of awkwardness and embarrassment.
"Can you blame me? Everyone was crushing on everyone else and it was threatening to blow up in our faces. I... may have been a little heavy-handed about it. I can admit that..." Even after a year, Victoria still had a hard time letting her pride go completely.
"Hah, I had it pretty bad, didn't I? At the time I would have said it was my fault that things were so tense." Kate was giggling softly and nudged into Max and Victoria alternately. "But it all worked out."
Pushing herself off the porch bannister, Max gave a little stretch causing her back to pop slightly. "C'mon team RWBY, let's get outta here before we have to carry someone home."
Whether it was Victoria's influence with the costumes or sheer happenstance, the girls remained in their 'canon' pairings as they made their way to bed.
Kate was presently laying there with her head on Chloe's bare chest as the punk toyed with her hair, marveling at just how long she had been keeping the undercut. "You... really think I'm badass?"
Ah shit... Chloe had always had a habit of just saying stuff as it popped into her head. As a consequence, occasionally she said things that were true even if she herself didn't know why. Case in point, she would absolutely agree that Kate was quite a badass. But with the girl looking at her all wide-eyed and curious, she was slightly stumped for a decent explanation.
"Well... Yeah! You dealt with some of the darkest, most disgusting parts of life in a small town. You went to the deepest depths and came back out the other side stronger and more beautiful than ever. You cleaned up Victoria and were brave enough to love Max even when she was dating me. You left the safety of your familiar church and found a place that would actually respect you."
Chloe could swear she saw Kate tearing up a little, but she wasn't going to rub it in or anything. "That's badass?"
"Way more badass than my faux-punk bullshit, Katie. You're the realest motherfucker I've ever met."
"Language, Chloe..." she said lovingly as she nuzzled into her chest.
Across the hall in Victoria's lavish bed, Max lay snuggled up to her other girlfriend, practically purring in delight. "Is there a way for me to tell you how much I love what a nerd you are without it sounding like teasing? Because tonight was so much fun and your idea was really perfect. We looked so cute! And I felt like such a boss in that battle skirt."
"I wish we'd had time for weapons! Though that probably would have been kind of difficult, hauling them around and all. But yeah, Chloe and Kate looked amazing." She looked up at the ceiling with a contented smile on her face.
True to form, Max gave a dramatic pout and leaned up to look into her eyes. "What about me?"
"Let's just say I would have been staring at your ass all night if the poofy skirts didn't make it impossible."