Wow, a LOT has happened since the last update for us RWBY fans. A preview of the first episode? Sweet. The small White Rose moment at the end of the clip? Awesome. The entire opening animation for Volume 3? Freaking amazing. I was astonished by the amount of fan theories that could be made by that minute and a half opening. Things are looking to be a bit darker from here on out, but let's hope everything goes well.

So anyway, I didn't exactly know what I wanted to do with this. I kept switching who I wanted to get caught with the cosplay, but I ultimately made my choice. Considering half of this chapter doesn't even have much to do with the topic, I should probably think of shortening my chapters to maybe less than a thousand if I can't think of much material.

07. Cosplaying

Ruby was glad that she could stretch out of bed without worrying that she would fall out of it for once. Sleeping on her childhood bed for the first time since last time she visited Patch on break felt wonderful, but what truly made her giddy was the fact that Weiss was right next door to her room.

Well, so was Blake, but both she and Yang thought it would be better to include the raven-haired girl in their summer activities.

She had so much planned. They could go to the beach and play in the ocean until the sun sets. She could meet up with her old friends back in Signal. And of course, the summer festival she and Yang always attended as children.

However, the prospect of Weiss being there made it all the better. Heck, Ruby would probably even forego everything and just spend time at home if Weiss was with her.

"But…" Ruby grinned mischievously.

There was another event happening later in Patch that she would always be excited for. Something that took careful preparation and precious time that she made many months before. Now, she wanted Weiss in on the action.

Ruby crept over to her closet, taking out a box and opening it.

This was gonna be fun.

Waking up, Weiss was surprised how comfortable the Xiao Long guest room was considering she usually slept in beds made to her own specifications. She was a bit apprehensive at first as she had to compete with Blake to see who would get the room only for Taiyang to suggest that Yang sleep on the couch. Fortunately for Weiss, she won their game of rock-paper-scissors and she didn't have to even imagine what horrors that could go on in a room that belong solely to the blonde oaf she called her teammate.

Weiss had been nervous meeting the older Xiao Long, for someone who had to father both Yang and Ruby had to have been equally as if not more crazy than them. Though after meeting him, she found Taiyang to be more down-to-earth and quite wise in spite of any groan-inducing dad joke he could muster up. And though Weiss wouldn't say it out loud, she was quite grateful to see him gushing over some of Ruby's baby pictures.

She should ask if she could photocopy a few for herself.

Weiss yawned, got out of bed, and left the room to meet everyone in the dining room for breakfast.

"Wake up, Yang." Weiss saw that Blake, still in her black night yukata, had hit her partner with a pillow. "Keep sleeping like that and you're gonna hurt your back."

"Five more minutes…" the blonde groaned. Yang's golden hair had completely covered her face, leaving only small openings for her nostrils and mouth to allow her to breathe. Her limbs were either hanging down from the couch or twisted in a way that even yoga trainers would deem uncomfortable.

Weiss sighed. How she managed to survive these last couple of years living with these idiots, she would never know. But, she could not imagine spending her time at Beacon any other way.

Glancing towards the kitchen, she saw Taiyang already dressed and preparing breakfast for six people. Sitting at the table was Yang and Ruby's Uncle Qrow reading a newspaper. Taiyang had told them all that they needed to finish some grades back at Signal, so the fact that they were dressed came to no surprise to Weiss. And even if it did, she was too dazed and hungry to care. The aroma of the food didn't exactly help either.

Looking up from his newspaper, Qrow noticed Weiss approaching and smiled. "Ah, Weiss. You're awake. Good morning."

"Good morning, Mr. Branwen." Weiss said with a slight bow.

Qrow gave a hearty chuckle. "Please, just call me Qrow. Only my students call me that."

"O-Of course."

"So I heard from Taiyang that you and Ruby are dating. Am I correct?"

Weiss froze. She could practically hear Taiyang's face creak into a mischievous grin from behind the counter. "Y-Yes, sir."

"Splendid! I've heard from Ruby that she's been getting along well with her partner back at Beacon. I guess she just didn't tell me how well."

At that point, Weiss's face turned beet red, Taiyang bursted out laughing whilst frying the eggs, and Yang roused up just in time to join in on the bellowing laughter. Even Blake struggled to keep in her giggles. Honestly, these insufferable…

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation and scowled. "I can see where Yang gets her sense of humor."

Casting a glare at Taiyang, Qrow scoffed. "If you want to make it in this family, you're gonna have to get used to it. Honestly, I could never tell how the mothers of your two children were able to deal with you."

The other man rubbed his finger under his nose, showing off his false modesty. "When you've got my great looks, you can get away with a lame joke or two."

"Try two life time's worth." Qrow retorted. "And don't get me started on that bowl cut you had when we went to school. How those two women found you attractive, I will never know."

"As much as I enjoy you two reminiscing, has anyone seen Ruby?" Weiss asked.

The two stopped their bickering to look around, now noticing the youngest girl was not there.

"She might still in her room." Taiyang answered. "Knowing her, she's probably just sleeping in. Would you mind getting her, Weiss? I believe I have to teach a dusty old crow a lesson."

"Oh, we'll see about that." Qrow smirked, rising up from his chair.

Weiss – deciding that she'd rather see her cute sleeping girlfriend than two adult men fighting each other first thing in the morning – ascended back up the stairs to Ruby's room.

"Ruby?" Weiss knocked on the door. "Your dad told me to come get you." She opened it slowly as to not disturb the red-head. "It's time for… breakfast."

Weiss walked into many bizarre situations before when it came to her teammates. One time, she had saw Zwei walk between the two top bunks using a man-made bridge made of Ruby and Yang while Blake was hissing in the closet. Another time, Ruby and Yang had somehow manage to sneak in a band's worth of musical instruments to practice some song they wrote when they were kids. And one time, she had heard a rather… sensual conversation between Blake and Ruby, only to find out that they had been reenacting an explicit scene from Blake's new book.

Blake often stood away from Weiss whenever Ruby was nearby from that moment on.

However, this time, she was not expecting what she was witnessing.

Ruby was wearing a maid outfit and a really cute one at that.

Weiss had seen her share of maid outfits over the years, but nothing could compare to the one she was looking at now. This one exemplified the already adorable Ruby to levels that she could not even fathom prior to that moment.

"Ruby…? What are you wearing?" Weiss was surprised she even could even make out her own sentence. As far as she could tell, the pounding in her chest was the loudest thing in the house right now.

Finally noticing Weiss, Ruby shot out her goofy grin. "Oh this? It's a cosplay!" She held her wrist outward and pulled one of her legs back, posing similar to one of those cute cartoon girl characters. "What do you think?"

"Well... it looks nice," Weiss replied, struggling to find the right response. "But why are you wearing it?"

"I wanted to see if it still fit me, and it does!" Ruby twirled to further show off the outfit, only to trip and fall down on her rear.

"Ow…" Shaking off the pain, Ruby looked back up at Weiss, who was still trying to make sense of the situation.

"Well, I also wanted to see if you could join me later this summer." Ruby said sheepishly.

"Join you? To do what?"

"There's a convention coming up and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me in cosplay!"

"Uh…" Weiss didn't know how to respond. Sure, she went to conventions before. But those were business conventions. Nothing but black tie events that were supposed to benefit the SDC. She wasn't sure how these cosplay conventions were supposed to be like.

"I got plenty of costumes here if you need any. We're pretty much the same size anyway."

Weiss wasn't going to lie to herself. She wanted to go with Ruby. And she wouldn't mind dressing up either. She remembered how much fun she used to have when she played dress up with Winter when they were little.

She crossed her arms and sighed. "Alright. I supposed one time wouldn't hurt. You've yet to disappoint me, Ruby Rose." She smirked. "Let's see how long you can keep up your streak."

Ruby squealed and jumped up to squeeze Weiss. "Oh my gosh, Weiss! You won't regret this!"

"I… think… I'm… starting… to…"

Ruby ran back to the box of costumes she had in her closet, allowing Weiss some time to breathe.

"Oh oh! There's this cute warrior princess character I'm sure you'd like! Or maybe you could try for the mysterious robed character! Or maybe…"

Weiss chuckled. "Okay, Ruby. We can talk about this later. Now get changed and have some breakfast with us."

"Oh right! I guess it's a little too early for this, huh? I'll meet you guys there!"

The heiress subsequently left the room and the younger girl to her own devices. She sighed, but it certainly didn't make the smile on her face disappear.

"Honestly, the things I do for that dolt."

And that's that! The romance here wasn't exactly strong, but hey. I'll take what I can get. So, I kinda started my own RWBY/Fire Emblem art project and if I'm satisfied with my work, I'll post a link to it. Unfortunately, this means that I won't have much time to work on chapters considering I also have college to focus on. On the bright side, Volume 3 is premiering this weekend and Rooster Teeth are sure as hell doing their best to hype the fans for it!

So when I come back, the next chapter shall be shopping. Please leave a review because they always inspire me!