Thank you for all the support from chapter 1! Please enjoy!
For Ami~!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
Chapter 2. Trying On Clothes
"Weiss, where are we going?"
"Perhaps you could stop asking and just figure it out for yourself when we get there?"
Weiss strode a pace ahead of her as Ruby trotted to catch up. After cleaning up the bathroom following their nail-painting antics, she had been promptly led by Weiss out of the room, out of the Academy, and into the streets of Vale.
Ruby blinked as she watched Weiss strut along, her flowing, alabaster hair swaying slightly from side to side, the edges of her skirt bouncing with every step, the occasional flash of blue from the tips of her fingers shining in the sunlight...
Ruby knew she had been focusing too much of her energy on worrying about trivial things, so much so that she had neglected to enjoy her time with Weiss; it did not matter whether the heiress felt the same way about her. Ruby just wanted to be by her side.
Feeling a bit more rejuvenated, Ruby cracked a smile as she bounded up to walk alongside her partner. But as she did so, her hand unintentionally brushed against Weiss's, and despite her desires to hold on, Ruby recoiled.
Weiss sucked in a sharp breath as she felt yet another blush coming on, but she pretended to ignore the contact. "Just a little further..." She muttered, quickening her pace.
However, what Weiss intended to be a cover-up for embarrassment, Ruby took as a rejection. But I knew all along things couldn't be like that between us... She reminded herself yet again in an attempt to cheer up.
The confusing thoughts dissipated when Weiss called back to her. "Here we are!" She placed her hands on her hips triumphantly. Ruby slid up to peek around her shoulder.
It was a fairly new shop, and judging by the displays in the windows, it was clear that it was a clothing store. Just the initial glimpse alone was enough to leave Ruby's mouth slightly ajar.
"Whoa..."
"Trying on clothes was the second thing on our list, if you recall." Weiss reminded her. "Although I can't promise I won't end up buying something at the end of it all..."
"Wow..." Ruby mumbled again. Her uncertainties were pushed to the back of her mind for now, smothered by excitement and anticipation. "Wow, wow! I can't believe this!" I get to go shopping with Weiss! "Let's go!"
All previous doubts and troubles drifted away and Ruby did not hesitate to reach for Weiss's hand this time. The heiress made no moves to shake her off as Ruby led her into the shop.
Before them were aisles of various clothing; formal wear, casual clothes, sleepwear, combat attire... The walls were lined with shelves of accessories and trinkets, and Ruby immediately began mentally dressing Weiss in everything she saw. Aside from her school uniform and sleepwear, Ruby could not remember ever seeing Weiss dressed in anything but her combat skirt.
"Ahem." Weiss cleared her throat meaningfully to get her attention. "Well then... where should we start?"
Ruby's eyes were gleaming with delight, and Weiss knew that any amount of pointless dress-up was worth that reward.
"L... Let's go to the casual clothes first!"
Still holding Weiss's hand, Ruby charged down the aisle with her partner in tow.
Ruby contented herself with browsing through every rack of clothing in her path while Weiss's eyes silently scoured the selection, trying to see if anything matched her sophisticated pallet. Ruby grabbed piece after piece of clothing, unable to remember the last time she had actually gone shopping.
As her leader eagerly collected her garments, Weiss pawed through the selection more slowly, calculating. She did happen to find a dress that was an appealing shade of red, but she clicked her tongue in annoyance when she saw how short it was. However, as she was putting it back, Ruby crept up beside her.
"You should try it on!" She said encouragingly. "Look, I already have all of these for you to wear!"
"Wha-?! Those are for me?" Weiss's jaw hung slack.
"Yeah! I know you'll look great in anything!" As soon as Ruby realized that what she had said was slightly embarrassing and hinted at her feelings, her smile faltered. Weiss also blushed, but she covered it up with a cough.
"Well... I supposed if you've already gone through the trouble of picking them out... I'll wear them."
"Wow, really?"
"Just... ugh, hurry up before I change my mind!" Grabbing Ruby's sleeve, Weiss dragged her over to the changing rooms. "You've got to change into something, too, got it?"
"Of course!" Ruby nodded.
She then handed Weiss one of the outfits she had selected for her and pushed her into the nearest changing room. Weiss grumbled under her breath but went in nonetheless.
She made absolutely sure to lock the door before she unraveled the outfit Ruby had handed to her. It was simple enough, a white blouse dress-shirt with frills all down the front, along with a light blue... miniskirt.
Weiss slammed the door open as she exited the changing room, muttering under her breath all the while.
"Weiss?" Ruby called from her room. "Wait, Weiss, don't leave without me!" Ruby quickly hurried to dress herself into the outfit she had chosen - a black top and red mini skirt with black knee socks.
She then hastily burst out of the room to scour the store for her partner, and was surprised when she realized Weiss had not deserted her as she had anticipated. Ruby could hear grumblings and mutterings from the changing room beside her own and stepped back as she waited patiently for her partner to emerge.
When she finally did, Ruby could not hope to suppress the blush that spread across her cheeks.
Weiss wore the same white top and skirt Ruby had selected for her, but had apparently disliked the length of the skirt and gone out to retrieve some black tights as well.
"This feels so strange..." The heiress mumbled, fiddling with the sleeves. The blouse was a perfect fit for Weiss's slim torso, the ruffles flowing in all the right places to show off her humble figure. Her hair reached down her side to the ends of the blue miniskirt which swayed ever so slightly as she walked into view.
Of course, Ruby was smitten, even more so than usual, but there was something about Weiss wearing those black tights that sent a shiver up her spine.
"I think it... looks really good on you..." Ruby forced her voice to stay still.
"What was that pause for?" Weiss narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"It's not what you think!" Ruby quickly threw her hands up. The exact opposite, actually! It was not that Ruby did not like Weiss's current appearance, but rather she could hardly keep herself from squealing and throwing her arms around the heiress and twirling her around to kiss her.
"Whatever..." The heiress huffed. "I won't be buying it anyway." She then took a second to appreciate Ruby's outfit. "...I think that suits you." She commented carefully. In truth, she was rather enjoying seeing Ruby in casual clothes, the knee socks and skirt in particular bringing out her childish charm.
"Y-You really think so?" Ruby looked up hopefully.
"Why would I lie about something like that?" Weiss huffed. She slipped away for a second to pull a dress out from one of the clothing racks. "I think this would look great on you, too." Ruby gave a bounce of cheer as she dashed off to select Weiss's next outfit.
They exchanged the clothes before returning to the changing rooms. "I'll wait for you first." Weiss decided, taking a seat on a small bench outside the changing rooms; she wanted all of the focus to be on Ruby, and did not want her partner's attention to be distracted by Weiss's own change of clothes.
"But, are you gonna-"
"Yes, I'll go next." Weiss waved her hand dismissively. "Just go change. I want to see how it looks on you."
Ruby felt a blush coming on and quickly ducked away behind the changing room door. She fought the blood rush the entire time as she slipped into the dress, peeking at herself in the full-body mirror. She thinks I look good in this? It was a short-sleeved pink dress that puffed out about the waist with white socks to accompany it. Ruby grimaced as she slowly creaked open the door.
Weiss perked up when she heard the sound and straightened her posture as Ruby emerged.
"Uh, Weiss?" She was mumbling. "I don't really think-" But she cut off instantly when Weiss quickly stood up and hurried over to her. Weiss gave her partner a thorough inspection, muttering under her breath as she turned Ruby around at every angle. "Uh, Weiss-"
"Something's definitely missing..." The heiress said to herself. She swooped around Ruby again before stepping back to take in her appearance from afar. She stared long enough for Ruby's blush to return, her face matching her dress.
At last, Weiss's thoughtful expression changed when her eyes widened."Aha!" She dashed off through the aisles, leaving her partner confused and nervous. But the heiress returned not a moment later with a white and pink polka-dotted headband, complete with a red rose on the side. She brushed Ruby's think brown hair back as her cool fingers slipped the piece onto her head, Ruby holding her breath the entire time due to the minimum distance between them.
"There." Weiss stepped back to admire the final product of her superb fashion senses. The dress, socks, and headband were all complimented by Ruby's temporary red nail polish and naturally rouge-tinged hair. Her silver eyes fit quite nicely with the color scheme as well, and Weiss felt rather satisfied with the end result.
"S-So... how does it look?" Ruby was still waiting for her to say something.
"Wonderful!" Weiss nearly sang the word. "The colors are balanced so perfectly! Plus, it's a bit of a childish look, so it suits you just fine." Ruby puffed out one cheek into a pout, but more than anything was happy the heiress felt that way. "I daresay I did a splendid job in selecting your outfit!" Weiss smiled.
"Okay..." Ruby picked up the clothes she had chosen for Weiss. "Then it's your turn."
"Fine, fine." Weiss accepted the articles of clothing from Ruby before retreating to her changing room.
Ruby debated taking off the dress, but decided she wanted to make sure she saw Weiss the second she emerged. It took a little longer than she assumed it would, but when the door finally opened, Ruby jumped up eagerly to glimpse her partner.
"This isn't exactly the most... flattering attire..." Weiss huffed slightly as she glanced down at herself.
Ruby had selected a black blazer and purple blouse for her, which tucked into an ankle-length gray pencil skirt that beautifully accented her slim figure. Her white hair spilling slightly over her right shoulder only accented the darker colors more.
Ruby swallowed back the squeal she felt coming on.
"Wow, that's... that's really nice on you." She coughed.
Weiss was thankful she had not chosen anything that fell above knee-length, but she tilted her head to one side as Ruby brought her fingers to her chin.
"Hmm... it needs something more, though..." Her leader mumbled. "Oh! Oh! I've got it! Wait here!" After bouncing up and down a few times, it was Ruby's turn to dash off down the aisles, leaving a spray of rose petals in her wake. She was back within the blink of an eye, and Weiss was still brushing parts of flowers off her shoulders.
"Here!"
When Weiss looked up to see what it was Ruby had brought for her, she very nearly lost an eye when Ruby slid the red-rimmed glasses onto her nose.
"What the-?" Weiss took a step back. "Everything's so blurry." Squinting in order to adjust her vision, it took the heiress a minute to get her bearings.
During that minute, Ruby was biting her tongue extremely hard in order to prevent herself from squealing; the professional look fit so well with Weiss it was almost a crime.
"Oh, wait, wait! Let me just try one last thing!" Ruby jumped up and down again.
"What else can you do to me?"
"Just wait for a second!" Ruby zipped behind her partner and removed her ponytail with one swift motion, causing alabaster tresses to cascade all down her back.
"Ruby!" Weiss barked. "What in the world-"
"Hold on! It'll take two seconds!" Ruby carefully gathered Weiss's hair before twisting it all up into a messy bun and securing it. At last, she stepped back to take in this view of her partner.
"Ah, Ruby?"
"Y...Yes?"
"Your nose is bleeding."
"Is it? That's nice..."
"You dunce! Come here!" Weiss dragged her to the restrooms and wetted a paper towel before cleaning off her partner's face, all the while lecturing her about her carelessness. But Ruby was on cloud nine, too airily amused to care about any of the scolding. "Ruby, are you even listening to me?"
"Hah- wha-?" Ruby snorted as she woke herself up from her reverie.
"I said you should take better care of yourself, you dunce." Weiss repeated herself. "How did you even manage to get a nosebleed in the first place?"
"Oh, I think I have an idea..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
Weiss gave her a short glare before leading her back to the changing rooms. As much as Ruby hated to see Weiss change out of her present outfit, there were several others she needed to see her wear; unbeknownst to her, Weiss felt the same way.
They spent two hours in the store, picking out clothes for the other to try on.
At one point, Ruby had given Weiss an extremely short dress, and the heiress had stomped out of the dressing room having refused to put it on. She punished Ruby by forcing her to wear a one-piece pajama set that looked like a puppy.
However, one of Ruby's more successful choices for Weiss had been a white blazer and similar dress pants. Weiss had not liked the restricting material, but Ruby could not get enough of it, especially after she took Weiss's hair down.
As for the heiress, she was proud of every piece she had Ruby wear. However, she was undoubtedly most fond of her final selection which Ruby was wearing at present. The last theme was party-wear, and while Weiss was taking quite a liking to her own long, white dress, she truly fancied Ruby's much more.
Her partner had a very mature figure when dressed in the correct clothes, and the long crimson dress did her taller figure much justice. Weiss finished wrapping a loose, black scarf about her partner's shoulders, clutching her own silver shawl to her chest as she felt her heart rate quicken.
"Well, Ruby," she sighed. "I think I can officially say this is the finest you've ever looked." If Ruby had not been so utterly smitten with Weiss's appearance, she would have said the same to her. "Then, I guess we should be heading back for now."
Weiss took care to step slowly as she disappeared into her changing room, Ruby watching her all the while until she disappeared. It certainly was not easy seeing the heiress dressed up in so many adorable and befitting outfits and not being able to do anything more than smile.
Ruby let out a long sigh, happy with the results of their shopping adventures, even though her chest was still knotted with unrequited emotions. She slunk back to change to her usual attire, unaware of Weiss who was suffering similar troubles on the other side of the wall.
Okay. The heiress said to herself. Was it just me, or did she look gorgeous in all of those clothes? And she was sure it was not because Weiss herself had chosen the outfits; Ruby simply looked great in anything and everything. Or is that just because she's Ruby...?
Weiss shook the confusing thoughts away as she felt her heart acting up again. She managed to change back into her own clothes as she pushed the images of Ruby in those dresses and skirts to the back of her mind.
The two girls exited their respective changing rooms at the same time, both gathering their clothes and spreading out to different parts of the store to put them back. However, both of them ended up walking out of the store with a small bag in their hands.
"You bought something, too?" Weiss asked curiously.
"Yeah. What did you buy?"
"It's nothing." How was she supposed to tell Ruby she had bought her partner's favorite outfit for her behind her back?
Likewise, Ruby held off on telling Weiss about what she had bought for the heiress; surely she would find the appropriate time eventually.
The two partners then began their walk back toward Beacon Academy. Ruby was absolutely astounded at how lucky she was, getting to do such fun things with Weiss all day long, and she could not help but think the proximity between them had lessened, if only just a bit.
First we painted our nails, then tried on clothes...
Then, as if reading her thoughts, Weiss spoke up.
"There's still one more thing we have to do."
A/N: Oh, how lame this is, am I right? But I think you'll like the final chapter so I'll let it slide.
Please review!