Chapter 18: Out And About
R-reader… I… I don't have much time… Here, take up my sword and shield. Oh, and take this chapter, I hear it's a favorite amongst the fanfic reading crowd. And r-remember, Monty Oum is RWBY's master. You must… you must carry that in your heart, always. Now go! Go! Fight on in the name of The Draigg!
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Wednesday had gone slightly better for Team RWBY than it did for Velvet Scarlatina. And by that, at least they didn't get water dumped on them. But, what was almost equally annoying was that Ms. Han had to be physically dragged out to the van so that Mr. Brass could drop her off at the airport. All the while, she alternated between apologizing profusely for letting her new friends down, and fuming that this shouldn't be happening.
So, after leaving their (ex)manager at the airport, Team RWBY and Mr. Brass didn't do much for the rest of the day. Blake specifically was waiting for a response from the person she sent the script to for editing. And, by the time she got an e-mail back, it was already too late to get much ready, other than looking over the edits.
However, now that it was Thursday, they hoped that they could get something done. With Yang behind the wheel of the van (she got her license suspension lifted recently), Team RWBY had left the condo that morning to go shopping for costume supplies. There was no way in hell that they could use uniform pants with huge holes in them in front of children.
Ruby was annoying Weiss by playing car games, while Blake sat up in the front of the van with Yang.
"I spy with my little eye… something with wheels," Ruby said to Weiss.
Sighing, Weiss guessed, "Is it a car?".
"Nope!" Ruby cheerfully replied.
"A motorcycle?" Weiss guessed again. Her interest was draining by the minute.
"You're right!" Ruby said as she patted Weiss on the shoulder. It was almost as if Ruby didn't notice that her answer was the third time she used 'motorcycle'.
"Can we play something else? Or nothing at all?" wearily asked Weiss. Sure, she loved Ruby's energy, but damn, it could be a lot to handle sometimes.
Ruby, instead punched Weiss in the shoulder hard. "What the hell?!" she yelped in pain. As she rubbed her shoulder, Weiss bitterly thought that it would leave a bruise.
"Slug bug!" Ruby cried, pointing to a small car in front of them. It certainly did resemble an insect slightly. Still, that was no justification to hit her!
"Yang! Your sister is hitting me!" Weiss complained. She always was a bit of a tattle-tale.
"Come on, just sit still back there," Yang said offhandedly. She was more focused on driving. This van wasn't exactly as maneuverable as the Bumblebee.
All that did was give Ruby more initiative to pester Weiss some more. So, she poked the heiress on the shoulder. Now that stung a little.
"She touched me again!" Weiss declared loudly.
"No I didn't!" Ruby protested, even though that was a blatant lie.
"Yes you did!" shot back Weiss through gritted teeth.
"Don't make me come back there!" Blake threatened as she turned in her seat to look at the pair. After shooting them a cautionary glare, she turned back around with a frustrated huff.
"Weiss is lying!" Ruby said behind a sly grin. This was reminding her of all the times she did this with Yang when they were little.
Weiss jerked back, aghast at the accusation. Now, she was plenty of things. An heiress, a girlfriend, a huntress (in training), but a liar she was not. That turned her blood into boiling vinegar.
"You're lying!" Weiss growled as she began to pinch Ruby's cheeks for a punishment. However, with her arms now up, Ruby took the opportunity to tickle Weiss' armpits, her one weakness.
"Pffft HAHAHAHAHAHAH R-Ruby! St-stop! HEHEHEHEHEEE!" Weiss involuntarily laughed. Damn Ruby for knowing her weak spots! She let go of her grip on Ruby's cheeks to try and swat away the tickling fingers.
"Be quiet back there!" Yang told over her shoulder. Blake, however, decided to take the more proactive approach.
"Damn it, if you don't stop, we're not getting ice cream later!" Blake roared at the pair. They were just going to the shopping district for the day! There was no reason for the pair to act this way at all!
Ruby's tickling immediately ceased. "I-ice cream? You never said anything about ice cream," she said, a glint of hunger in her eyes. Her mouth salivated a little, as the thought of birthday cake ice cream made her stomach growl.
"What're you saying? We never talked about ice cream," Yang whispered to Blake.
"It made them quiet, didn't it?" Blake whispered back before returning her attention to Weiss and Ruby.
"If the both of you are good and stay still, we'll get a treat later. Alright?" she bargained. Ruby vigorously nodded her head and sat perfectly still. Weiss glared daggers at Ruby, but she didn't act out on her looks.
The car ride over to the shopping district was pretty quiet after that.
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The first place Team RWBY had in mind to visit was a department store. After all, they were always advertised to have everything one could possibly need, so why wouldn't they go there? As the group walked in, Yang read off from the list she had made of items to get.
"Okay, me and Blake will look for the pants, and you two should go pick out what you want to wear on stage," Yang said, turning around to look at the others. Weiss and Ruby had already walked off as soon as Yang finished talking, so she was just left with Blake.
"Man, they left quick," Yang observed.
"Well, at least that means we'll leave quicker," replied Blake. With that, the dynamic do walked off to find some good pants.
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Weiss and Ruby were browsing the petite women's clothing section, because that was roughly the two of them shared. Right then, the question remained of what they would wear as a costume on stage.
"What about this for you?" Ruby asked as she held up a sundress for Weiss to see. The heiress scanned over it with a trained eye. While it had a nice shape, especially around the (combat) skirt area, she felt that it wouldn't exactly work on stage.
"No, but it was a nice find," Weiss sighed as she took the dress from Ruby's hand and put it on the rack. "We need something that regular people can identify with," she continued.
"Then why are we looking at the dresses? We need t-shirts and jeans if we want to look somewhat normal," Ruby wondered. Weiss had to somewhat agree on that point. But, she was still hesitant to dress in the may most people did. She was very proud of her fashion sense.
But before Weiss could come up with a reason to not wear what Ruby suggested, the younger girl had already dragged the heiress over to where the more casual clothes were. Weiss eyed the shirts available with some disdain. Nobody would see her as a powerful, important person wearing these clothes!
Her thoughts were interrupted when Ruby tossed a shirt in Weiss' direction. "Try this on!" she suggested.
Weiss looked at the shirt she was given. Well, at least Ruby had used her mind in picking it. It was a simple white t-shirt with a large snowflake design on it. Now that seemed a little familiar. Curious, Weiss checked the tag. Yep, just as she suspected. It was made by the Schnee Dust Company. Given that the company also made toothpaste, pens, and everything in between, it wasn't much of a surprise.
"Ruby, maybe you should just look for yourself right now. I can find my own clothes," Weiss said, handing the shirt back to Ruby. Ruby shrugged and turned back to the t-shirt rack. Weiss decided to walk over to the more business casual clothes, and selected a simple light blue blouse and white slacks. Those clothes were respectable enough.
While Weiss walked off to try on the clothes, Ruby grabbed a shirt on the rack that she liked. It was a shade of red, which was good. But, she wished it had a rose on it. Oh well, you couldn't get everything you wanted. Now all she needed to do was grab a pair of jeans. Those dark grey ones over there would do nicely.
Gathering the clothes she wanted, Ruby thought absent-mindedly, "I hope Weiss looks nice in what she picked. Yet again, she looks good in everything. And that includes nothing,". Ruby blushed slightly at the thought. No, now wasn't the time for stuff like that. Maybe they could do it later, but not now. She had a costume to fit!
Changing into the shirt and jeans in the changing room, Ruby thought she looked pretty good. But, something like this always needed a second opinion. So, she took a picture of herself in the mirror and sent it to Weiss' scroll.
Weiss received the message as she walked out of her changing booth. Yes, she was going with this outfit. It was classy enough, but still unimposing. A perfect combination. Seeing that she got a message from Ruby, Weiss opened it and saw the picture.
Under the picture of a smiling Ruby wearing jeans and a t-shirt, the words, "Do I lok gud?" were spelled. Another thing that Weiss noticed was that Ruby completely forgot to zip up her pants fly. Weiss heavily blushed at the sight of Ruby's plain underwear. Her hormones were acting up again.
Quickly typing up a message, Weiss replied with, "I like what I see there. I've got my things, so we're good,". Weiss couldn't help but feel clever for her double-entendre.
Ruby walked out of the changing area a minute later, in her regular combat dress. "I texted Yang. They'll pay for everything up at the front," she reported to Weiss. Weiss gave a curt nod, and the pair of them headed to the front of the store. This was a surprisingly quick shopping trip.
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At the cashier line Yang and Blake were at, the bumblebee pair was chatting when Weiss and Ruby walked up. Blake and Yang shared a brief look of panic, before Blake discreetly covering a DVD with the pairs of pants she was buying.
"So, you got what you wanted?" Blake asked, hoping to distract them from the cashier ringing up the items on the counter. Weiss and Ruby nodded and put their clothes one the counter as well.
Blake thought she had dodged a bullet with the DVD, but that was ruined when the cashier asked, "Do you want the insurance policy on this?" as he held up the case for everyone to see. The cover of the DVD read 'Diary of a Love Addict'. Yang and Blake blushed as their secret was revealed.
"No thanks…" Blake muttered to the cashier.
"Is it a good movie?" Ruby innocently asked.
"… In certain ways," Blake replied, clearly embarrassed at being caught.
"We're not watching it, Ruby," Weiss intervened, clearly seeing what the movie was about.
"Aww… oh well, we've got other movies," Ruby said as she brushed that concern behind her.
"That'll be 45/3 lien," the cashier announced. Yang paid him with the proper amount and grabbed the bag of the purchased items. The others took that as a sign to walk out of the store. Overall, that was a pretty quick trip.
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Ruby was humming happily as the van drove down the street, away from the department store. Now it was time to get the ice cream Blake promised them!
"So, where are we going to get the ice cream?" Ruby asked in a sing-song voice.
Blake groaned on the inside. She just wanted to go back to the condo. Blake had hoped that Ruby would forget about the promise she made earlier. In hindsight, she really should have expected Ruby to remember the promise of ice cream. That girl loved sugar as much as Weiss loved coffee.
"Uhh… I don't think we brought enough cash with us, Ruby," Blake said as an excuse. However, her heart sank as she saw Ruby's face turn into a completely crushed look.
"N-no ice cream?" Ruby asked in a barely perceptible whisper. Her breath hitched a little, as if she was going to tear up any moment.
Weiss put her arm around Ruby and plead to Blake, "Come on, I'm sure we have enough lien left. Can we just get some for her?".
Blake looked to Yang, since she was the one driving the van. "I'm all for it," Yang said to everyone. She didn't want her sister to feel disappointed. Seeing a sad Ruby was like watching a legless puppy trying to win a race.
So, the van began the hunt for an ice cream joint. Unknown to everyone else in the car, Ruby was trying to suppress a smile. "It's just too easy," she thought.
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When Team RWBY pulled back into the driveway, they saw Mr. Brass walking out of the door to meet them. As Yang climbed out of the front seat, Mr. Brass asked, "Did you get everything you needed?".
"Yeah, and a little extra," Yang replied while walking over to the trunk.
Mr. Brass was about to ask what she meant by that when he saw Ruby and Weiss hop out of the van. Ruby had the remains of what was probably several ice cream cones on her face, which Weiss was furiously trying to clean off.
"Seriously, Ruby, you shouldn't have had that much. Now your dinner is ruined!" Weiss scolded as the pair walked to the front door.
"Don't care, got ice cream out of it," Ruby simply, cheerfully stated.
Although Mr. Brass hoped that his daughter would one day grow up to be as strong and willful as Ruby, he also wished that she wouldn't go that far. If she did, then she would eat nothing but junk food for the next decade.
Pushing that thought out of mind, he decided to help Blake and Yang carry the bags of stuff they had bought. Hopefully, this could be the start of some actually good work.
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And… there, another chapter, down on paper! Well, that's only an expression. It's more like the pixels that make up your computer/phone/tablet/handheld game device screen. Bah, look at me, going on a tangent. Whatever. Well, before I go, I feel that I should remind you to leave me a review down below. After all, it's feedback that improves my writing. This is The Draigg, signing off on this collection of pixels.