Chapter 9: Summer Rose, Fashionista

Summer waltzed through the entrance to one of Vale's trendy downtown fashion boutiques. There was a huge grin on her face and excitement shining in her eyes. Raven walked into the store behind her, looking considerably less enthusiastic. Summer, however, was too exuberant to care. She'd spotted this particular fashion outlet long before her first semester at Beacon had begun when she'd accompanied her father on one of his numerous business trips to the city of Vale. Back then there hadn't been enough time for her to actually check the place out. Now, she had all the time in the world. Even better, she had someone to shop for.

The simple black dress that Summer was wearing belied the fact that she absolutely loved fashion in all its forms. She loved putting together new outfits. She loved choosing the right colors and styles for someone. And she loved hunting for that last, perfect piece to finish off a look. She frequently thought about updating her own wardrobe. She could certainly afford it—her father's business was very lucrative—but she'd never felt right spending so much money on herself. Her friends, however, were another matter entirely. She'd practically begged each and every one of her classmates back at Crier Academy to let her treat them to a shopping spree. Unfortunately, very few of them had ever taken her up on her offer. She'd understood, even if she'd been disappointed. Ever since the Great War had ended sixty-some-odd years ago, personal expression had become an ingrained, sacred right in the world's eyes. And a big part of that was picking a bold and colorful look for yourself. Very few people were willing to entrust someone else with something so important.

Fortunately for Summer, today she finally had a willing subject. And not just any subject. Today she was going to get to dress up the beautiful Raven Branwen. But as eager as she was to simply go wild, she still wanted to respect Raven's opinions. She turned to Raven and asked, "Well, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that this place is worse than Beacon," Raven said.

"No, silly," Summer said. "What kind of color? Cut? Style? Any brands you prefer?"

"I…don't know," Raven said.

Summer grinned. That was the best answer Raven could've given her. She grabbed Raven's hand and said, "Good thing you have me then! Come on!"

Summer led Raven deeper into the boutique, practically jogging past shelves and racks of clothing in every color imaginable. Summer's eyes darted this way and that as she searched for what she had in mind. She'd already done a lot of brainstorming yesterday about what kind of outfit would best complement Raven's natural beauty, so she already had a very good idea of what she was looking for. Now she just needed to find it.

Summer spent the next several minutes flitting about from spot to spot, dragging poor Raven along for the ride.

"Ah ha!" Summer finally said. She ran up to a rack of mostly red outfits and abruptly let go of Raven's hand. She started sifting through the garments.

"What size are you?" Summer asked Raven. Her eyes were still focused on the rack in front of her.

"Size?" Raven asked.

"Don't worry about it. It's a meaningless number. I just didn't want to offend you," Summer said.

"Sunshine, what are you talking about?" Raven asked.

Summer didn't answer. Instead, she whipped an outfit off the rack and held it up to Raven's body. She nodded to herself, satisfied with her selection. Then she spun the garment around so Raven could look at it from the front and asked her, "What about this?"

Raven stared at what Summer was holding. It was a red and black kimono with an accompanying red obi sash that had a decorative black pattern on it. Raven reached out and ran her fingers across the silky fabric. But then she asked, "How is this any different from what I'm wearing now?"

"Well it's…nicer," Summer said. Many adjectives that could describe the old kimono that Raven was currently wearing ran through Summer's head. None of them were flattering.

"Nicer?" Raven asked, sounding a little offended.

"Newer!" Summer said, trying to course correct. "This is a good brand too! It'll last you a long time."

Raven sighed. But then she reached out again and let the kimono drape over her hand. She looked like she was at least considering what Summer had said.

Summer added, "This is just the base layer anyway. We've got to accessorize too! That's what really makes an outfit pop!"

Raven pulled her hand back. She gave Summer an incredulous look. Then she asked, "So we're going to be stealing everything?"

"What? No!" Summer said. "Why would you think that?!"

"Because I can't afford this," Raven said, pointing at the kimono. "Much less anything else."

"But you don't need to," Summer said. "I'm paying for everything."

Raven suddenly looked upset. She said, "I don't need your charity."

Now Summer was perplexed. She slipped the kimono back onto the rack and said, "Charity? That's not…. We're here to have fun, Raven! Remember?"

No sooner had Summer spoken then she suddenly recalled what Raven had originally wanted to do today. In her excitement, she'd forgotten. She said, "Wait. That's why you're so mad. We were supposed to go on a date today. Not just hang out like this."

Raven stared at Summer for a moment with an impenetrable expression on her face. Summer started to grow nervous, but then something extraordinary happened. Raven started laughing. And it wasn't a fake laugh; it was genuinely mirthful.

Summer was even more confused now. She asked, "Did I say something funny?"

Eventually Raven calmed down. She asked, "Sunshine, what do you think a date is?"

"You get taken out to dinner. Maybe see a show. Get kissed afterward," Summer said.

"Well I'm hoping we do at least one of those things," Raven mumbled.

Summer hadn't actually heard what Raven had just said. Her mind was suddenly churning away as she considered the ramifications of her shopping trip with Raven actually being a date. She worriedly blurted out, "If this is a date, and I'm paying, does that make me the guy?!"

"There doesn't need to be a guy," Raven said exasperatedly. "That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time."

"Okay…" Summer slowly said, still trying to wrap her head around the concept.

"You're paying because you're…trying to be nice…" Raven said.

Summer glanced up and saw a very out-of-place expression on Raven's face. She looked like she'd just realized something terrible.

Raven said, "You're trying to be nice, and I'm being a jerk about it."

"It's okay," Summer said.

"No, I'm…I'm…sorry," Raven said. She struggled with the last word, like it didn't fit her mouth.

Summer went a little wide-eyed. The significance of Raven actually apologizing for something wasn't lost on her. She felt her heart skip a beat or two. She blindly reached over to the clothing rack again, not daring to look away from Raven lest she somehow turn into a bird and fly away.

Summer's hand found the kimono, and she pulled it off the rack. She said, "So…. I think a combat skirt and some arm guards would go great with this."

"Arm guards?" Raven asked, suddenly sounding both surprised and a bit excited. "They sell arm guards here?"

"Yeah," Summer said. "This place mostly caters to huntsmen and huntresses. That's why I wanted to come here."

"And you're going to buy me arm guards?" Raven asked.

"Only if you want me to," Summer said.

Raven stood there for a minute, shifting back and forth on her feet. The faintest hint of a blush colored her cheeks. She quietly said, "I do."

An hour or two later, Raven was standing by herself in one of the boutique's changing rooms. She was staring at her own reflection in the mirror, but she almost didn't recognize herself. She was wearing the outfit Summer had picked out for her, the red kimono, a black combat skirt, detached black pants legs, black boots, and of course some red segmented arm guards. She turned this way and that, surprised each time her reflection followed along. She looked elegant. She looked powerful. She looked like the bandit queen she aspired to be.

Raven's emotions were running absolutely wild inside of her to the point that she was afraid she might pass out. She didn't understand at all how something as simple as new clothes could make her feel this way. Was it just the outfit, or did Summer being involved have something to do with it? Raven didn't know.

Summer's voice drifted into the changing room, saying, "Raven? How's it looking?"

Raven closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It wouldn't do to have Summer see her as a simpering wreck. She gathered her wits and pushed her feelings back down inside. Then she opened her eyes again and strolled out of the changing room as regally as she could.

Summer was waiting for Raven outside, and the moment she saw her, she smiled and bounced excitedly on her feet. Then she walked over to Raven and held out a red scarf that she'd been holding in her hand. She said, "While you were in there I found one more thing for you."

"I'm not sure I want anything around my neck," Raven said.

"That's not where it goes," Summer said. "May I?"

Raven wasn't sure what Summer was asking, but she still said, "Sure."

Summer walked around behind Raven. Then she reached for Raven's ponytail and pulled the tie that held it together loose.

Raven's hair cascaded down her back. At the same time her heart rate, and her anxiety, shot sky-high. Her instincts were screaming at her that she was exposing herself to danger. Summer was too close and in her blind spot. She wouldn't be able to defend herself if Summer attacked her. Then things suddenly got much worse. Summer began combing her fingers through Raven's hair, and Raven went into a near total panic. Images of Summer doing something horrible, like pulling out a knife and slitting her throat, danced in Raven's mind. Fortunately, Raven managed to only freeze with fear rather than attack Summer.

As calmly as she could, Raven said, "Hey, Sunshine?"

Summer paused. Her head popped out from behind Raven's back. She asked, "Yes?"

Seconds ticked by, giving Raven the time she needed to calm down somewhat. She turned just far enough so she could see Summer's face. It was the picture of sweetness and innocence.

Eventually, Raven worked up the nerve to say, "Keep doing that."

"Okay," Summer said with a smile. She disappeared behind Raven and began to stroke her hair again. This time Raven didn't panic because this time she was ostensively in control. This time Summer had been invited to do what she was doing, and that made all the difference. Raven had never met a loophole she wasn't willing to exploit, even against herself.

Raven's lingering fear slowly subsided, and she was finally able to properly take in the moment. The feeling of Summer's fingers gently tugging through her hair turned out to be soothing, incredibly soothing. Raven began to wonder how Summer was even doing that.

After what felt like only a second or two Summer stopped, although in reality it had been much longer. Summer gathered up Raven's hair. She must have still been holding onto the scarf she'd found because Raven felt Summer tying it in place so that it held her hair out of the way but still allowed it to hang loose.

Summer slowly circled around until she was standing in front of Raven again. Her eyes ran up and down Raven's body. Then she smiled and said, "You look beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself," Raven said, trying to sound suave rather than giving into the giddy feelings that were bubbling inside of her.

Summer giggled. She said, "Thanks."

"Has this been a fun date so far?" Raven asked.

"You know, I'd say it has been," Summer responded.

Raven took a step forward. She said, "Good. Although according to you, we still need to kiss to officially make it a date."

A shocked expression crossed Summer's face at first. Then she brought her finger to her lips and looked like she was thinking up a storm. Eventually, she said, "I suppose we…could. It wouldn't hurt anything, would it?"

"It wouldn't hurt anything at all," Raven said. She stepped in even closer to Summer and leaned forward.

Summer's eyes rapidly oscillated between holding Raven's gaze and staring at her lips. All the while, she herself was drifting nearer to Raven.

Raven got so close that she was hovering a hair's breadth away from Summer, but she wanted Summer to be the one to finally commit to the kiss. She felt that would prove her point better, even if she couldn't remember what exactly her point was supposed to be. She asked Summer, "What are you waiting for?"

Raven had expected Summer to hesitate, but she didn't. Summer's lips found Raven's and they softly lingered there. It was about the tamest kiss Raven had ever experienced in her entire life, and yet there was something thrilling about it. Her eyes slid closed as the moment started to overtake her. She was just about to deepen the kiss, but Summer suddenly pulled away.

In the absence of Summer's lips, Raven's eyes opened. She saw Summer standing there. There was a smile on Summer's face, but she also looked like she was lost in thought, analyzing what had just happened.

Raven felt flustered. That plain, simple kiss had really whetted her appetite, and at that exact moment she wanted nothing more than to press Summer up against the nearest wall and ravish her with her lips.

"Hmm," Summer said, indifferent to the burning desire she'd inflicted on Raven. "Maybe you can like both."

Summer turned on her heels and clasped her hands behind her back. She said, "Well, we'd better go pay for your new outfit."

Behind Summer, Raven's mouth twisted into a frown. It seemed things had gone as far as they were going to go today, and she would just have to deal with her pent-up yearning for a while longer. She briefly regretted choosing to seduce Summer instead of Taiyang. This was already harder than she'd ever had to work to get someone in bed. But amazingly, she didn't want to stop. Surely it would all be worth it in the end.

Raven said, "Alright, Sunshine."

Summer started walking in the direction of the boutique's cash register, and Raven followed behind her. As they made their way through the store, something suddenly caught Raven's eye. There was a mannequin on display with a white hooded cloak draped over it.

Raven said, "Hold up!"

"Something wrong?" Summer asked, pausing.

Raven stood there for a second, staring at the mannequin. Then she walked over to it and pulled the cloak off, noticing that the cloak had a red lining. She carried the garment over to Summer and threw it around her shoulders. Then she fastened it closed at the neck.

Summer looked amazed. She splayed her arms out under the cloak and turned about, letting the fabric spin around her.

"We should get it," Raven said. "It looks good on you."

"It really does!" Summer said. "But this trip was supposed to be about you."

"So?" Raven asked defensively. "You deserve nice things too."

Summer smiled, lowering her arms. She said, "Okay. But let's get out of here before we find anything else!"

"Right," Raven said.

Summer and Raven finally made their way over to the cash register where a cashier was waiting for them. The cashier said, "Looks like you've made your selections."

"Sure did!" Summer said, reaching for her wallet.

Behind Summer, Raven put her hand into one of the pockets sewn into her new combat skirt. She pulled out a fistful of lien, all that she had. Then she reached past Summer and slammed the cash cards down on the counter, saying, "I'm paying for the cloak!"

"Raven!" Summer said. "You don't need to do that."

"Of course I don't. But I want to," Raven said. And she did, although she had absolutely no idea why.

"Um…wow. Thank you!" Summer said.

"Don't mention it," Raven said. "I mean it. Especially not to Blondie or Qrow. I don't want my brother finding out."

Summer giggled. She said, "My lips are sealed."

As Summer proceeded to check out with the cashier, Raven was left standing there, utterly baffled as to why she'd just done what she'd done. Rather than thinking about it, she tried to distract herself by idly glancing around the boutique. By pure coincidence, Raven just happened to be looking in the direction of the front entrance when a man walked inside. He was wearing a white dress shirt, a red tie, a black vest, and black slacks. He also had red-tinted sunglasses on over his eyes, and there was something about his demeanor that reeked of someone who would've been a lot happier if he'd had something to punch.

At first, Raven thought the man looked out of place at the boutique from his attitude alone, but she readily admitted that the same could've been said about her when she'd first walked inside. However, her suspicions were raised when the man's attention seemed to be drawn to her and Summer. Even more concerning, he then tried to pretend like he hadn't noticed them. He started casually walking an oblique path through the store that was slowly bringing him closer to where Raven and Summer were standing.

The cashier said to Summer, "Thank you. You're all set."

Raven said, "Hey, Sunshine. How about we take a shortcut back to Beacon?"

"A shortcut?" Summer asked.

Raven turned to the nearest bit of empty floor. She lifted her hand up and chopped the air in front of her. There was a brief spark of red, but nothing else happened.

The cashier said, "Um…ma'am?"

Raven ignored the cashier and concentrated harder. It had always been more difficult for her to use her semblance without a weapon. She honestly wasn't sure why. She chopped the air again. This time a swirling disk of red energy sprang into existence.

"Ma'am! Please!" the cashier said. "No semblances on the sales floor!"

Raven again ignored the cashier and turned to Summer. She gestured to the portal she'd created and said, "After you."

"Is it safe?" Summer asked, although she sounded excited.

"Perfectly safe," Raven said.

"Okay!" Summer said. She only hesitated for a second before stepping through the portal.

Raven glanced over to where she'd last seen the suspicious man. He'd dropped all pretense now and was running in her direction, weaving through the various racks of clothing as best he could.

Raven deliberately waited for the man to get closer. Then she mockingly stuck out her tongue at him and stepped backward through her own portal. She was suddenly standing in Team STRQ's dorm room, and her portal vanished with a pop.

Raven spotted Summer again right away. She looked like she'd been posing to show off her new cloak.

Summer dropped her pose when she saw Raven and said, "There you are! It took you a few seconds. I was starting to wonder."

Qrow, who was obviously in the room, muttered, "Good thing I wasn't peeing."

Summer said, "One, gross. Two, why would that matter?"

Raven answered for Qrow, saying, "I can't just make a portal to wherever I want. They can only appear near someone I'm bonded with."

"Oh," Summer said. "That's still really useful though."

Taiyang, who was apparently in the room too, said, "Whoa, Raven! Looking great!"

Summer said, "Isn't she?"

"You do good work," Taiyang said like he was complimenting a fellow professional.

"You didn't do so bad yourself," Summer said. "Qrow, you look very handsome."

Raven finally turned away from Summer and immediately noticed several things. Qrow and Taiyang were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the edge of Qrow's bed, and Qrow's hair was mussed, almost as if someone had been running their fingers through it. But much more noticeably, Qrow had an entirely new outfit on. He was wearing an untucked gray button-up shirt with a long tail, a dark pair of slacks, and a red cape fastened to his shirt under its collar. Raven hated to admit it, but he did look leagues better.

Taiyang stood and playfully smiled at Summer. He asked, "So who do you think won?"

Raven asked, "Won what?"

Summer and Taiyang both glanced at Raven. Summer scratched the back of her head in an embarrassed manner. She said, "Yang and me kind of had a friendly wager going about who could do a better job of dressing you two up."

Raven just stood there. She wasn't sure how to process what Summer had just said. She wasn't upset; she just hadn't thought Summer had something like that in her.

Taiyang said, "I'd say I did a slightly better job. But it's close enough that I'm willing to call it a draw."

"I—" Summer started to say. She was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Summer grinned. She said, "I would've accepted a draw. But if that's what I think it is then I definitely won."

All eyes followed Summer as she walked over to the door. When she opened it up, no one was on the other side, but there was a large cardboard box sitting on the floor out in the hallway.

"Yes!" Summer said. She grabbed the box and dragged it into the room, closing the door behind her.

Raven asked, "What's that?"

"Remember how I said Papa is a weapon smith?" Summer asked.

"Yeah?" Raven said, not seeing why Summer's question was relevant.

Without another word, Summer tore away the tape holding the box closed. She grinned even wider when she saw what was inside.

Summer reached into the box and pulled out a large sword with a broad, single-edged blade. She walked over to Qrow and held it out for him, saying, "This is Harbinger. It's for you."

Qrow's mouth hung open. He hesitantly reached out like he wasn't sure if the sword was real or not. But then he took it and hefted its weight a few times.

Summer said, "It's also a gun of course. And since you're a fan of the Grimm Reaper, I had Papa put something extra in it, just for you. Twist that nob on the hilt there."

Qrow did as Summer had instructed. Harbinger's hilt started to lengthen and the blade began to unfold until the weapon took on the shape of a scythe.

Qrow looked the weapon in his hand up and down. He breathlessly said, "It's perfect."

Summer smiled. Then she walked back over to the box and pulled something else out. It was another sword resting in an unusually thick sheath. She turned to Raven and presented the sword to her. She said, "This is Omen. It's yours."

Raven, who had been watching the proceedings with an air of disbelief, was absolutely speechless. She didn't know what else to do but take the sword from Summer.

Summer said, "The sheath can hold up to two dozen blades made out of solid Dust in whatever colors you want. You can connect the hilt to any one of them and even swap them out in a fight!"

Raven drew the sword. It was longer than she'd expected, and the hilt presently had a thin, red-colored blade attached to it. She swung the sword once, careful to not hit anything. She could hear the razor-sharp edge slicing cleanly through the air. The sound, although soft, was absolutely exhilarating, and the sword already felt familiar in her hand.

"Okay," Taiyang said to Summer. "You're right. You won."

Author's Note: If I may paraphrase a meme: I got that lady some arm guards. Ladies love arm guards.

Raven, could you please chill out a little? I swear I can't handle the emotional roller coaster that's being inside your head when you're with Summer.

Well, Raven, Qrow, and Summer are now in their canon outfits. And they even have their canon weapons too! Very exciting!

As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Please feel free to leave a review. And if you like what you've read, taking the time to favorite and/or follow really helps me out. You can also find me on tumblr (electronicyarn) if you want to send me a message or be notified of updates.