Ruby and Blake were out on a date when Blake's heeled boots started acting up...

Today was Ruby and Blake's day out.

Winter was a good time for a break from Beacon's classes. It was a little cold out, and snow would come within a week, so to compensate, the two wore something warm for the day. Ruby wore a black-and-red hoodie with a fancy color pattern and black skinny jeans with red lining. Her boots were taken from her Huntress outfit, pant legs tucked into them.

"Where do you wanna go?" Blake asked.

"Easy; we're getting ice cream!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Alright, ice cream it is."

Ruby pulled out her Scroll and looked up the nearest ice cream parlor. Luckily for them, it was only several feet away in walking distance.

'Sweet.' Ruby began her way to the ice cream parlor with Blake following behind. Already she had two ideas on what to get; chocolate chip or strawberry.

Ruby looked to see what Blake was wearing; the latter had opted for a yellow bowtie to go with a long-sleeved dress shirt; itself shaded in a light purple. She also wore a similarly shaded button-up cummerbund and a black pleated skirt. Completing her look were her black-and-purple stockings and a pair of knee-length block heeled boots with a purple sole.

"Hey," Ruby said, "you look nice."

Blake was somewhat flattered. "Thank you."

Eventually, they made it, but the line for ice cream had grown long enough to stretch into the sidewalk.

"Um," complained Blake, "can't we just go somewhere else?"

"Wait!" Ruby watched as another couple walked by with their ice cream. "It looks long, and maybe it is, but not for long."

Blake watched as the line moved, stayed put for a couple seconds, and then moved once again, this time with a man walking away, eating his ice cream. She said, "Alright, I trust you."

"Good, because we might be up soon!"

Ruby and Blake then waited in line as they moved quickly to the front, one by one. As they waited, Ruby was reminded of the showdown at the port and how quickly Penny settled it.

"So," Ruby began, "remember when Penny showed up to kick some butt back at that pier? That was awesome."

"And terrifying." Blake shuddered. "Sun and I remember running as soon as I saw that giant laser destroy Bullheads."

Now Ruby knew why Blake and Sun disappeared for a bit; it was becoming too dangerous to even watch.

"Oh, yeah..." Ruby awkwardly chuckled. "Might have to tell Penny about that."

"Tell me about it."

Finally, they were up. Blake ordered a blueberry-flavored waffle cone, while Ruby got strawberry-flavored. Originally, Ruby was going to order chocolate chip ice cream, but Blake quickly shut that down. Not that she regretted it, though.

"Mmmmm!"

"Mmm?"

"Mm!" Ruby held her ice cream toward Blake. "Want some?"

Blake raised a hand. "No, thanks."

"Alright, lemme know if you change your mind."

Blake nodded. However, as she licked her ice cream, she felt a little wobble with her left foot, so she stopped to lift it, feeling her hand around her boot. The heel was loosening, but that was to be expected when buying boots of that style for only a couple of Lien. Still, it was the style that she thought fit for her dress, so she was dismayed about it.

Anyway, Blake continued on, eventually finishing her ice cream.

"How was it?" Blake asked.

Ruby smiled, looking at Blake. "It was good! It melted in my mouth, and it was sweet! I almost got brain freeze, though." Ruby then laughed with her hand on her chest. Blake followed, chuckling.

Suddenly, as she was getting into a good mood—

SNAP!

"Ah—!"

Blake suddenly tipped to her left, holding onto a streetlamp for balance. Her breathing suddenly sharp, she looked down while she pressed on a side of her skirt to better see what happened.

The heel on her left boot snapped off.

"Shit," she muttered, "I just bought them."

"Blake, are you okay?" Ruby asked, to which Blake sighed.

"Shoes, sometimes." Blake picked up the heel that had decoupled from her boot. The boots she had bought were black and knee-length, zipped up at the front. "This is why you don't cheap out."

Ruby giggled. "Sucks to be you, sometimes."

"...Right."

Ruby and Blake continued on as the latter stumbled awkwardly. With Blake holding her arms out to the sides a couple inches behind, Ruby stopped to look back. She couldn't help but barely hold laughter.

"Need help?"

"Yeah, sure."

As if right on cue, Blake leaned on her, lightly holding her hand. The gesture not only surprised her but also made her blush. Her face turned red, and she was at a loss for words, a soft shudder escaping her mouth.

She then breathed through her nose, smiling.

. . .

"Hey," said Blake. "I want to sit down. Is that fine with you?"

"Sure!" Ruby looked for somewhere to sit. There was nothing much, save for a nearby wooden bench. Perfect place to rest.

"Let's go there," Ruby said, helping Blake towards it.

"Sure." Blake limped towards the spot where she and Ruby sat down. Blake took a deep breath as she took off her broken left boot. There were no nails that might've kept the heel in place—only glue residue and some once-hidden excess suede.

There were a couple options: put up, take off the other heel, go barefoot, or shop around.

She and Ruby only had enough Lien for food, so risking it with another cheap pair of shoes was out of the question. Going barefoot would mean ruining the stockings she usually wears with her Huntress outfit. Putting up wasn't really in her cards since she'd be limping some more and giving herself sore legs.

Thus, breaking the other heel was the only other option. However, Blake, being the other one to wear heels into combat than Weiss, was a little conflicted. She knew the boots were cheap, but they had a style she wasn't willing to ruin.

Ruby, though, had different ideas.

"Hey," Ruby began, standing up and walking up to Blake. "Need a little heel help?"

"I, um..." Blake wasn't sure what to think, but she really had no other choice. "Yeah," she said, resigned to her fate.

Ruby nodded, then kneeled down as Blake showed her the intact right boot. Ruby wrapped her left hand around the heel and held her foot with the other before twisting and pulling the heel.

SNAP! Now, neither of Blake's boots had heels.

"There we go! Now stand up?" Ruby watched Blake stand up. "How does it feel now?"

"Awkward," Blake said. "Like my toes are pointing up."

"Hey, those lady stilts won't hurt your legs anymore." Ruby winked.

"Yeah, yeah." Blake's eyes widened as she realized: Where did the other heel go? "Wait, where's—"

Ruby pulled out the other heel from her hoodie. "Don't worry, I saved this one."

"Oh, good," Blake let out a sigh of relief, "I was wondering if someone could save them."

Ruby thought to herself. Her, fixing lady stilts? She was a weapons enthusiast, not a shoe repair freak! Granted, she had to fix a previous version of Crescent Rose by hammering in more nails before she made the current version, but it's not like she could fix shoes that way.

Unless...

"I can save them if you want," Ruby said, curious.

Blake was surprised. She thought she was going to get a new pair or go to a cobbler, but did Ruby offer to fix her pair at no extra cost? "Really?"

"Yeah, really!"

"That's... quite optimistic of you." Blake's smile faded. She was unsure of Ruby's ability to fix her shoes when the latter snapped her fingers.

"It'll take a while, but I'll fix it!" Ruby smiled.

Blake pondered for a bit before accepting her offer. "Alright, I trust you."

"Yay!" Ruby jumped into the air in celebration. "Alright, let's keep going."

"Alright."

Blake held Ruby's hand as the two continued walking. She couldn't really place a finger on how Ruby was so different from a certain someone from her past, but whatever it was, there was a reason she enjoyed her presence.

AN: And that was my first time writing longer-form fluff! I might write more down the line when I'm not busy writing AUs, OC, or other fanfics, but for now here it is!