Chapter 8: Play, Sets, Match Part 1
The Draigg is here again! Before I get started, my loyal readers, I should point out a few things: First of all, Monty Oum owns RWBY, not I. Plus, I also don't own any other media mentioned, since they also belong to their creators. With that out of the way, let's do this thing! Chapter 8, launch!
That Saturday morning wasn't very good to a certain person. Velvet had woken up sprawled over her desk in the club office. She had no idea how she had gotten there. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time she had fallen asleep in there. She had pulled off a few all night work sessions before. However, they usually didn't end up in a raging headache. What was the deal with that? Velvet tried to remember the haze that was Friday evening,
Oh. OHHH. Velvet wished that she couldn't remember what had happened. Showing up drunk to practice was bad enough. But trying to rope two of your friends into a threesome? She wasn't sure if she could show her face around them again. She had really screwed the pooch on this one. It would have been Jaune and Pyrrha instead of the pooch if she had succeeded. It still would have been just as bad. Regardless, she was hoping not to see anyone today. Unfortunately, the universe had different ideas in store for her. It had a weird sense of humor like that.
There was a loud knock at the door. Great, that's JUST what her hangover needed. Having that pair of sensitive rabbit ears really made things worse. It really did suck to be a hung-over Faunus. Trying to hide her bloodshot eyes, she put on her pair of decorative glasses. "Come in.", she said in response to the knocking.
Ruby stepped into the office. "What happened to your eyes?", she asked. Velvet should have realized that her glasses had clear lenses. They didn't hide a thing. Brushing off the previous question, Ruby then said, "Never mind. Just come to the theater when you're ready, okay? We can start practice early today.". With that being said, she walked out and headed to the theater.
Velvet sighed and moved to follow Ruby. Trying to straighten her winkled shirt, she couldn't help but think that this was going to be a long day.
"For the last time Nora, we DON'T need a tree person.", Ren said evenly.
"Come on! How could we NOT need one! This is a good costume!", pleaded Nora.
Ren tried not to shove his palm all the way through his head. Nora could be a lot like Ruby when it came to not letting things go. It was bad enough that Ruby insisted on keeping that abomination of a hat. But a tree with a hole cut out for someone's face? This was just getting absurd.
"Wait, why are we arguing about costumes? We work on sets.", said Ren as the thought clicked in his head.
Ignoring him, Nora shouted to get Pyrrha's attention. "Hey, Pyrrha! What do you think about the tree costume?".
"I think we should keep it.", replied Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha, you're just saying that to see Jaune half-naked again. Don't try to pretend that isn't it.". Ren rolled his eyes at his (correct) statement. If they rolled any harder, he would have discovered the secret to perpetual motion..
"What about me?", asked Jaune as he walked in with a bundle of marker tape.
"Nothing, honey.", was Pyrrha's quick reply. "Just go work on the markers, please?".
Jaune walked over to the stage and started to place markers. Before Nora could try to get his opinion on the tree, Ren stopped her.
"It's a no, Nora. Go put it back.", Ren said in the voice of a parent telling a child to put away candy. Giving a small huff in protest, Nora dragged the tree costume away with a frown. "Why am I always the responsible one?", Ren thought.
Oh well, it couldn't be helped, he decided. He guessed it was just the role the universe wanted him to play. Resigning himself to his fate, Ren started to think of ways to get rid of the tree. Maybe he could borrow some fire dust from Weiss and burn it. If he was lucky, he could burn Ruby's hat too. Fire was always a good solution to ugly problems. Hell, it worked for Yang, didn't it?
"I'm just saying, it would look better with some damage. Pretty good, in fact.".
Yang was with Weiss and Ruby backstage, helping them try on their costumes. Pyrrha was too busy repairing the ones Yang decided to put some holes in. Apparently, Ruby's 'starving musician' costume didn't look too realistic to her, in her opinion.
"Uhh, I don't think that's a good idea, sis.", said a nervous Ruby. She was afraid of being lit on fire.
"Be reasonable, Yang. Just because her character's poor, doesn't mean she should wear something filled with holes.", Weiss' voice drifted over the changing booth. To be honest, she was a little embarrassed to come out. It wasn't that it wasn't a good costume, far from it, in fact. It was that Weiss was worried that Yang and Ruby would strangle her in an Ursa hug after seeing how cute it looked. It was a simple cream colored turtleneck, with a light pink gardening apron and acid washed mom jeans. Weiss was bothered that small flowers were embroidered all over her apron. It seemed a little much, even if it was 'her' job.
Ruby, on the other hand, already endured her sister's hugs. To put it simply, she looked like an adorable ragamuffin. After forcing her to wear a flat cap instead of her other hat (Which many considered the scourge of humanity.), Ruby looked cute. She was wearing dark red overalls, a tan tee shirt, and a brown corduroy coat. Ruby thought the coat felt soft, so she really didn't want Yang to damage it. And hopefully not her too, in the process.
"I wouldn't damage it, if you'd just come out already. You're holding us up.", pleaded Yang.
"Now that I know that it fits, I don't need to wear it until we actually start the play. I'm fine.". Weiss thought that it was a good enough of an excuse, so she started to take off her shirt. Yang thought otherwise.
"If you don't come out in the ten seconds, I'll open that curtain. Now make a choice!", called out Yang.
"Crap!", thought Weiss. She tried to put her top back on, but the apron kept on getting in the way. Oh no!
"Your time's up!", Yang said as she yanked (More like Yanged!) back the curtain. Ruby couldn't stop staring at the sight. Weiss was tangled up in the apron over her head. Her bra was covered in little blue snowflakes. "Of course I had to wear this one today.", Weiss thought, her face deep red with embarrassment. It took her a good two minutes to regain her composure. "Ahh… ackk… You DOLT!", she finally managed to yell at Yang.
Yang was too busy hunched over with laughter to listen to Weiss. Shoving her top back on, she stomped over to Yang, only to land ineffectual blows on her. Weiss continued to yell, "Pervert! Lewd! Dunce! Moron!". Her insults grew lamer as she continued to yell at Yang, who by now crawled over to a chair to support her laughter. "Meanie! Jerk-face! Dumb-head! Dummy! Dummy face! POOP! You're POOP!".
"So… cute…", Ruby thought. She wasn't just talking about the costume or her (Kinda childish) bra. For some reason, Weiss was really cute when she got flustered. It was like pissing off a hamster. No matter how flustered she got, it couldn't take over the fact she made the most adorable faces when embarrassed enough. If she were that type of person, Ruby would have tried to get her to make those faces all the time.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Ruby tried to hold back Weiss. It wasn't very hard, since Weiss was actually lighter than you'd think. Weiss continued to thrash in her grasp. Ruby tried to calm her down in same way she calmed down small animals: petting. She put her hand on Weiss' head and started to move it in small circles. Weiss immediately melted in her arms, her shouting falling away. It felt nice to pet her, Ruby thought. Her hair was really soft, no doubt because she spent a small fortune on shampoo and conditioner trying to take care of it. She didn't use as much chemicals as Yang, so it felt a little more natural too. It felt good.
"Ahhh…", thought Weiss, "This feels nice.". Ruby's impromptu petting felt really relaxing. Weiss let out a small purr in enjoyment. Then, she suddenly realized what she did. Yang did too, and she laughed even harder. She was lying on the ground, banging her fist against the wood flooring. A few splinters started to fly up, she was hitting it so hard.
"It's not FUNNY!", Weiss shouted. She crossed her arms and tried to summon her best glare. If looks could kill, Weiss would be the equivalent of a dust enhanced thermonuclear bomb. Yang started to sit up.
Chuckling, she said, "I'm sorry, but SNOWFLAKES? It's priceless! The Ice Princess and snowflakes! It's SO good!". Yang started to stand up. All of the sudden, she heard a tear. Apparently, her shorts had caught on the wooden splinters of the floor she damaged. Looking down, she saw a chunk of her shorts on the ground. She felt a small breeze on her rear. "Okay, NOW I know how Weiss feels.", thought Yang.
Now it was Weiss' and Ruby's turn to laugh. They supported each other as they nearly collapsed in laughter. Blushing, Yang lowered her belt and tried to cover up the rather large hole. "Okay guys, it's not really that funny…", she mumbled. Damn, that was her favorite pair shorts, too. If there was an upside to all of this, Blake might get a thrill out of it. That would at least be enough to cover her embarrassment to her. Yet again, most things were kinky to Blake. It was a good thing she covered up that part of her personality well. Well, for the most part. Her fan fiction was a dead giveaway if anyone read it.
Speaking of Blake, she stuck her head through the stage curtain. "What's with all the noise? We need to start some of your line readsssssssss—". Her mind cracked as she saw the huge hole in the back of Yang's shorts. Exhibitionism was one of her many kinks (Big surprise). Shaking her head free of some thoughts that the narrator can't describe because of the T rating, Blake refocused. "Come on, let's go.". Ruby and Weiss moved through the curtain. Blake tried to sneak a peek at Yang as she tried to put on some pants, but Weiss dragged her by the arm through the curtain.
Velvet's day was going as well as her morning. With Nora keeping on poking Ren in the face, complaining about the tree, the set painting ground to a halt. Jaune was avoiding her and Pyrrha kept on growling when she laid eyes on her. And what was taking Weiss and Ruby so long? She sighed. One thing was certain in her mind: The universe was a straight up DICK. She just wanted to get today over with.
To be honest, she was feeling nearly as bad as the time the curtains closed on her last play, 'Swords In Sheaths'. That safe sex PSA was an absolute nightmare. It was a good thing Jaune was working the back stage, otherwise he would have gotten the brunt of the damage. Velvet couldn't help but remember where it all went wrong.
Velvet put on the helmet of her snake costume. Her ears poked through, giving the costume an odd look. Jaune was looking nervous, his nails digging into his clipboard. He said:
"Uhh, Velvet? I don't think you should go out there. The audience is starting to turn, and it's starting to get a little scary.".
Velvet patted Jaune's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I can GUARANTEE that this song will turn the audience around. Sure, we had a rough start, but can't be all TOO bad! Now, please roll me out.".
She stepped into a cage on wheels. Sighing, Jaune gave the cage a light push. It rolled into the middle of the stage.
By now, the audience was pissed. This easily had to be the most patronizing and cringe worthy play anyone had ever seen. Reactions to all of this were all negative kinds of mixed. Blake felt insulted at the way the play handled romance. Yang couldn't believe that this was real. Weiss, for some reason, couldn't stop staring at the stage. Ruby had her hood pulled over her head, trying to block out the horror. Team CRDL made a small fortune selling fruit to throw at the stage. So, when the cage rolled up, the audience was at their breaking point.
"Sssssalutaions! I'm Mr. Sssssnake! And I really like to stay in my cage!", said Velvet with a fake lisp. She could hear a snake Faunus shout, "This is racist!". She tried to ignore the audience, hoping her song could improve things.
"Oh, I really like staying in the cage/
Cage staying for most of my days."
The audience started to boo at her. Velvet tried to keep on doing her routine. So, she danced while singing.
"I'd much rather eat some rack of lamb/
Instead of shoving my face in some clams."
Maybe doing the worm at that moment wasn't the best idea. Regardless, she kept on singing, avoiding the rain of thrown fruit.
"Man, I really love my cage/
And I know for certain, it isn't a phase."
When the apple hit her in the face, her microphone got knocked off. "Ow!", she yelped. Blinking away tears, she ran off stage. It was a good thing, too. Some students started to rip apart chairs and toss the pieces at the stage. Ultimately, just replacing the chairs cost roughly 30,000 lien. That was nearly the end of the Theater Club that night.
Depressed at the memory, Velvet sighed. At least it couldn't get any worse. This play actually had some promise to be good. She noticed Ruby and Weiss walk into position. "Well, let's do this.", she thought.
And there goes Part One of this two part chapter! I hope you guys keep on sending in reviews, since I love hearing feedback. Stay tuned for the next part, coming soon! This is The Draigg, signing off.