Chapter 39: J-Poppin' Two: Electric Boogaloo
Hey, it's The Draigg here again, but I figure that you people already know that by know. If I'm replaced by The Fraigg, I'm pretty sure you could figure that out quickly. Before my evil twin shows up, since I said his name, I need to tell you something. Hey, pal, I don't own anything. That includes RWBY and anything else I write about. Now, I need to get out of here quickly, before The Fraigg shows up. Enjoy the chapter!
The students of Beacon Academy were trained in many arts and skills. They were trained to fight, to heal, and to take advantage of their environment to neutralize the enemy at hand. All of this was studied in the hopes of pushing back the darkness of Grimm. Unfortunately, the one thing that Beacon didn't teach, however, was interpersonal conflict resolution. If it did, then the argument taking place wouldn't be happening right now.
"Weiss, I really respect you as a friend. Really, I do. But, don't you think you're being a tad dumb on this decision?', Velvet asked, questioning Weiss' decision making skills.
Weiss gasped at Velvet's statement. How DARE she call her ideas dumb?! Velvet was the dumb one here! Dumb! DUMB!
"No, YOU'RE the one making bad decisions! 'Rhythm Emotion' is clearly the better option to have!", Weiss spat back angrily. Why couldn't Velvet just accept that Weiss was right about this! Her song was better than 'Just Communication'!
Everyone else sat around in Team RWBY's dorm room, watching this petty argument go on. Since the meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday was dedicated to music choice, this fight sprung up rather quickly.
"Can you just please calm down?", Blake asked, standing up to get in-between the two. She had enough of this by now. Really, this choice shouldn't be blown out of proportion. They had other things to work on.
"Not until she says I'm right!", Weiss huffed as she crossed her arms. A childish pout formed on her face.
"Look, I just want to get my opinion out there. And, as Theater Club President, I feel that my opinion carries weight.", justified Velvet. Her reasons made perfect sense to her. Why was Weiss being so difficult?
Blake sighed. Of course they would come to blows during this project. They both had roughly the same amount of drive to get the music show completed. Blake just hoped that they could just agree on this quickly. It was getting annoying listening to the argument.
"Do I have to put you in the corner?", Blake asked to Weiss semi-seriously. Weiss was smaller than her, so Blake could easily pick her up and put her in a corner. The same went for Velvet, too.
"Yeah, does she?", Velvet said, backing up Blake. She hoped that this would push the debate in her favor.
Unfortunately, Blake didn't feel the same way. All she was to them was a neutral mediator. Thus, she leered over at Velvet, menacingly.
"Don't think that makes you any better.", Blake scolded in a low voice.
Velvet's ears lowered, and held her hands to her chest, now feeling afraid. "S-sorry…", Velvet squeaked out. Cats made for good predators against rabbits. It was the rules of nature, after all.
"How about we settle this outside?", Ruby suggested. It was upsetting her that two of her finest friends were fighting right in front of her eyes.
"Good idea. Ruby, can you help?", Blake asked. She grabbed Velvet by the waist and started to carry her out of the door. Velvet was whimpering in Blake's grasp. Blake was going to eat her!
Ruby took the lead with her girlfriend. She grabbed Weiss by the hands and started pulling. Weiss looked annoyed as she was dragged on her heels out of the door as well. This was degrading. If Ruby wasn't her girlfriend, she would have started screaming in anger by now.
Team Nature and Team White Rose left the others in the dorm room. Yang and Team JNPR looked on with a mixture of mirth and confusion. This would be interesting.
Team Ladybug sat Velvet and Weiss down in the hallway. Weiss refused to look at Velvet, while Velvet picking at her fingers. She was feeling rather nervous. Velvet had never been scolded before like this (she was usually too quiet to cause a stir), so she didn't know what to expect.
"Now, I want you to look each other in the eyes. That means you, Weiss.", Blake said firmly. I response, Weiss turned her head farther away.
"I said look at Velvet, missy.", ordered Blake, her voice growing harder.
"No!", Weiss pouted. She folded her arms in defiance.
"Weiss, honey, could you just do it for me?", Ruby asked, putting on her best 'disappointed in you' eyes. Guilt tripping usually worked.
Hearing Ruby's voice, Weiss turned her head to look at Ruby. Seeing the expression in her eyes, Weiss suddenly felt very bad. It was mean of her to make Ruby feel this way. Sighing, Weiss turned to Velvet, in order to make Ruby feel better in her.
"Now Velvet, I want you to shake hands with Weiss, okay?", Blake then asked, sounding a bit more patient. Velvet stuck out her hand to Weiss. Weiss hesitated to shake it, but then she remembered Ruby's sad face. Sighing in annoyance, Weiss begrudgingly shook Velvet's hand.
"Good! I'm proud of you two!", Ruby cheered, clapping her hands. However, Blake held her hand up to Ruby. She stopped clapping and tried to look serious.
"Now, I want you two to come to an agreement. 'Just Communication', or 'Rhythm Emotion'?", Blake said, taking on the role of the stern parent again.
"But Velvet is wrong!", Weiss protested. Why couldn't they see that?
Velvet also complained, "But my choice is better!".
"I don't care! Now make a decision! Or do I have to bring Yang out here?", threatened Blake.
"No ma'am..", Velvet and Weiss mumbled.
"Now, when Ruby and I come back out here, you better have agreed on something.", Blake said, walking back into the dorm room.
Before Ruby left the two, she said, "Don't worry, I'll love you both either way.". She tried to sound like a good person, who supported them equally. Ruby just couldn't bring herself to be stern and mean.
Both Weiss and Velvet gave weak smiles, before turning to face each other. Their eyes steeled over. Closing the door, Ruby hoped that they wouldn't hurt each other. She still needed their help.
So, Team Ladybug left Team Snow Hare to pound out a compromise.
After twenty minutes, Ruby was starting to get a little worried. They hadn't come back in yet. Did something go wrong? Or did they just leave everyone? Oh god, what was happening?! Ruby was playing with her fingers, trying not to worry too much. But, her nerves were fraying by now.
"They sure are taking a long time…", Nora thought out loud. She had been keeping herself busy by reading the tag on the bed blankets over and over again.
"Yeah, no kidding.", Jaune said, agreeing.
"Should we check on them?", asked Pyrrha, a little concerned now, too.
Ruby couldn't stand it anymore. She stood up and walked over to the door. But then she was stopped by Blake grabbing her arm.
"Wait, don't go out yet.", Blake advised, "You might interrupt them.".
"My friends are out there! I'm going!", Ruby declared, shaking off Blake's hand. Storming out of the door, she didn't really expect to see much. But, to her surprise, Ruby saw Weiss and Velvet leaning against each other, with Weiss patting Velvet on the back.
"You just needed to come out and say it! It does no good to hide what you think!", Weiss said in a soothing voice. Clearly, she was comforting Velvet on something.
"B-but… what if people think less of me because of it?", asked a fearful Velvet. She was clutching her knees against her chest.
"I think it would be brave of you just to say it.", Weiss encouraged.
"A-am I interrupting something?", Ruby asked, making her presence known.
"Oh, Ruby! Velvet has something important to tell you!", Weiss said, perking up. She figured this would be a good way have Velvet get her secret off her chest.
Now Ruby was a bit curious. "What do you want to tell me?", Ruby asked, sounding supportive.
"I… I… I like… to…", Velvet started, nervous to say what she was thinking.
Ruby leaned forward in anticipation. Clearly, this was something big for Velvet to announce.
"I like to write fan fiction!", she then declared, finding her voice.
Ruby arched her eyebrow. That was her secret? She thought it would be something like 'I'm secretly a man' or something. Not that that she would like Velvet less. But it would be a small shock if that was true.
"That's good, Velvet! It's nice to be creative like that!", Ruby said, patting Velvet's head. Velvet smiled a little at her friend's touch.
"I mean, all kinds of fan fiction.", Velvet then clarified.
"Oh? Like what?", Ruby asked, a little curious.
Now Velvet looked embarrassed again. But, she knew she had to get it out there.
"Boy love…", she mumbled, looking at the ground. The carpeting was rather nice.
An awkward silence fell over Ruby. She guessed that Blake must have rubbed off on Velvet (not in that way) in some way. Well, at least Velvet's stories couldn't possibly be as bad as Blake's.
Ruby decided to quickly change subjects, trying to avoid this awkward situation. "So, did you guys decided on a song?", she asked.
Weiss and Velvet stopped in place. They had completely forgotten about choosing a song. "We… uh… didn't get around to it, no.", Weiss said, now feeling embarrassed. How could she have forgotten about something so important?
Ruby's face froze in a smile. How could they forget? So now, listening to that whole argument earlier and worrying about the two came to absolutely nothing. Her eye twitched a little. "…No, huh?", Ruby asked, trying not to let her stress to freak her out. They only had a few days to get this right, darn it!
"N-no…", stuttered Velvet. She and Weiss stood up, and started to edge towards the dorm room door. Ruby's face was starting to scare them a little.
Ruby's fists were starting to clench and un-clench. Breathing heavily, she could feel her emotions start to run rampant. Her mental house of cards was starting to fall apart now.
"Ruby… honeybun… calm down…", Weiss said slowly, starting to walk towards Ruby. Hopefully, she could be calmed down before she could do anything stupid.
"No… no….nononono…", Ruby began to mumble to herself. Her eyes were darting in-between Velvet and Weiss. Weiss had some serious lady balls to keep on moving towards Ruby.
"I love you, Ruby. Just calm down…", Weiss kept on trying to soothe Ruby. She looked out of the corner of her vision. Velvet had taken the opportunity to flee back into the dorm room. That coward! She needed back up here!
"Calm down? I should calm down? How can I be calm if all I do is think about you?! The music show?! Calm?! CALM?!", Ruby cried out, her worry finally catching up to her. She had done an admirable job keeping it in check for the past week or so, but it was only a matter of time before it came to the surface.
Weiss took this as a chance to tackle Ruby in a hug. She had learned a thing or two from her girlfriend. Ruby was breathing deeply on Weiss' embrace. Weiss had to admit that Ruby had done a good job helping her out. It was about time Weiss was able to return the favor.
"Slow down… slow down…", Weiss whispered in Ruby's ear. She was rubbing her hand on Ruby's back in small circles.
Feeling Ruby's breathing slow down a little, Weiss looked into Ruby's eyes. They were still darting around, still unfocused. "You don't have to worry so much.", Weiss said. "You've got me, after all.".
"I know… but… oh man… I'm tired. So tired…", Ruby managed to say in response. Weiss wasn't to surprised that Ruby was feeling stressed. With all the work she put into her friends and the music show, Weiss was surprised that Ruby's hair wasn't as white as hers by now.
"We can rest, don't worry. I've got this.", Weiss reassured to her girlfriend. With Ruby in her arms, Weiss helped her back through the door.
The door kicked open, and Ruby was dragged into the room by Weiss.
"Did you guys decide on a song?", Yang asked, looking up from her scroll. She hadn't been involved in this meeting too much.
Weiss took this an opportunity to get this whole foreign pop issue out of the way. "Yes. We decided on 'Rhythm Emotion' as the song.", she declared firmly.
Velvet wanted to speak up in protest, but then she saw the look in Weiss' eyes. Clearly, this wasn't the time to start arguing again. She could let Weiss have this one. Both Ruby and Weiss deserved it.
"It's about time.", Blake noted, not looking up from the book she was reading. At least this issue was finally resolved.
"I think we're done for today.", Weiss declared, looking around at everyone. Everyone could clearly see how ragged Ruby looked in Weiss' arms.
Filing out of the room, Team JNPR wondered why they were brought here if they didn't have anything to add to the decisions. Oh well, it wasn't like they wouldn't have anything to do later. Velvet was the last to leave, giving Weiss and Ruby an apologetic look on the way out. Weiss simply nodded at her.
Placing Ruby on the bed, Weiss sat next to her, running her hand through Ruby's hair. It felt a little rough, since she didn't regularly condition it. But, Weiss didn't care. It still felt nice to her.
"Thanks… Weiss…", Ruby mumbled as she drifted into the land of sleep.
"For what?", Weiss asked, confused. Why was she thanking her? However, she didn't get an answer, since Ruby had fallen asleep so quickly. Oh well, she would tell her tomorrow.
A lot of stuff was certainly happening now that Task Force Musical was closer to their goal. Maybe it was the stress catching up to them. Maybe it was their emotions boiling to the surface all at once. Or maybe, it was the universe playing with everyone once more.
As if the reasons why really mattered. All that mattered was that their real emotions were dealt with. As long they were out in the open and addressed in the proper manner, all the involved peoples could be free to be who they really were.
Oh god, he's breaking in! I have to make this quick! Those Two-Mix songs (Just Communication and Rhythm Emotion) are pretty good, check them out! And drop me a kind word in the reviews section! Wait, he's coming through the walls! This is The Draigg, signing off to hold off The Fraigg!