25

"No, no, no!" Weiss stomped over to Yang, "If we put the tables there, where will people dance?!"

Yang looked at her with confusion, pointing down at the simple diagram she had dawn up, "Uh, right here?"

"Absolutely not! That may be enough space for the grinding in those insipid clubs but it's not nearly enough room for proper dancing. Not with the amount of attendees."

"This isn't some ball, Weiss. It's just a school dance." Yang rolled her eyes.

"Maybe so but I'm sure even the professors will agree they want a more traditional experience on the dance floor. No one wants to see a bunch of hormonal teenagers undulating in a mob."

The two had been at each other's throats for the past few days. Each time they sat down to work on the planning and organization they met with nothing but creative differences. It was trying Weiss' patience to attempt compromise, especially when Yang was always so very wrong.

"There's more than enough room to dance with this setup." Yang gestured around to the large dance hall they were in. It had a vaulted ceiling and easily a few hundred square feet of polished, wooden flooring.

"While that is true, the dancers need room to breathe. Have you never danced properly before?" Her critical gaze died down as Yang shuffled awkwardly, an embarrassed smile blossoming on her face.

"Not really." She pulled some of her hair forward, messing with it in a way that Weiss was beginning to realize she only did when she was nervous, "Didn't really have that kind of education growing up."

And now Weiss felt terrible. She sighed and held her arms out, "I will show you then."

"Uh, 'kay?" Yang went along with it, stepping forward and wiping her hands on her pleated skirt, "So, uh…. How do I?"

"Here." Weisstook Yang's hands in her own, placing her right hand on her waist and taking the other in her hand, "Follow my lead."

With her arm on her teammate's back she slowly guided Yang through a waltz, softly correcting the girl when she threatened to step on her toes. She slowly picked up the pace, treading through the hall to the beat of music that was not playing, until they were soon swirling around each other. She had to give Yang some credit, the woman was a fast learner, and she had to remind herself that despite how she let on, the blond was not stupid. She just was content to let everyone else think it.

Eventually Yang could remember the steps of their small dance herself, no longer content to simply follow Weiss' lead she instead kept pace with her. She could see the glint of competition and fierceness in Yang's lilac eyes as the dancehall blurred around them. Unbidden, she felt a small smirk of her own come to her face, she had not had a chance to let loose and dance in… forever. It was never appropriate to do so in a public setting but here where it was just the two of them?

Soon she realized she had been caught up in the moment, how long had they been dancing? Minutes? She couldn't tell, but brought them to a stop. Weiss marveled at it, it had been fun, something she hadn't associated with dance in so long. It was a feeling that she missed and her heart ached for it.

"Hey guys!" Ruby popped her head through the double doors with a broad smile, "Am I interrupting anything?"

Interrupting? Weiss looked around in confusion, eyes settling on Yang's collarbone which was not even a foot away from her. She looked down, only realzing that Yang had her arm around her, hand in hand, and that they were very close to each other. Weiss felt the heat creep up her neck as she released Yang with a blush.

"Nah, Weiss was just showing me some moves. What's up Rubes? Need something?" Yang chuckled, not even looking at Weiss as she addressed her sister.

Weiss saw the look her partner shot at her, it was a skeptical and curious one that she met with an arched eyebrow, as if daring Ruby to mention it.

She wisely didn't, turning instead to her sister, "Blake's being super annoying, so I came to hide."

"What? Did Blake see some news about the White Fang?"

"Last I saw, she was reading one of her books." Weiss added.

"Ugh, yeah she was. Or was pretending to. She was stuck on the same page for forty-five minutes and kept staring at me. I know something's wrong because even I caught her looking. She's been sneaking glances at me all day and it's driving me crazy."

"That's weird, even for her, maybe I should go check up on her?"

"I tried, Yang. She wouldn't tell me anything."

"Perhaps this has to do with the topic she spoke of with Carmine about Ruby's eyes?" Weiss suggested, crossing her arms under her chest, "What else could it be?"

"I dunno but it sounds like she needs a distraction." Weiss didn't like the look in Yang's eyes.

"What are you planning, Xiao-Long?" Her eyes narrowed but the blonde just skipped away from her with a teasing smile.

"Nothing much, Weiss-cream. The dance is coming up so maybe we should head into the city to pick out dresses." Her eyes slid over to Ruby, "And no, Ruby, you can't wear your cape to the dance. And you need heels!"

"NEVER!" The smaller girl shouted.

"Too late, Rubes. I'm gonna go get Blake, meet us at the docks in like thirty, okay?" Yang disappeared out the hall while ignoring the protests of her leader, leaving the two partners alone.

"You can wear heels for one night, Ruby."

"But Weiss!" The girl whined, "They're so uncomfortable!"

"It's just a single night and it will make your sister happy."

"Fiiine." Ruby relented before her expression shifted, a smug look crossing her face as she turned to Weiss, "Speaking of making my sister happy…"

"What?" Weiss leaned back.

"What was that? You and Yang dancing?"

"I was simply demonstrating proper dancing to her to win a disagreement."

"Gosh, Weiss, you can make anything sound boring." She studied Weiss' face for a moment, "It looked like you were having fun."

That gave her pause as she thought about it. It had been fun. As much as they tended to but head, Yang was one of those people that it was becoming easier and easier to cut loose around, the wild girl constantly pushing her team to have fun. In a way, Yang was the polar opposite of Winter, but that wasn't a bad thing.

"I suppose I did." She looked over to Ruby, who had grown still, considering her with a serious look on her face, "What? I can have fun."

"Weiss." There was a nervous lilt there as Ruby hesitated, "Do you like Yang?"

Weiss blinked, "Of course I do."

She shook her head, dark hair flying to and fro, "No, I mean do you like her… you know…. More than that.

Oh….Oh.

"Ruby!" She hissed, "Why would you suggest-"

"It's okay!" Her partner interrupted her, throwing her hands out in front to stop the heiress in her tracks, "I mean if you do or don't it's okay. Sorry if I'm assuming. I don't even know if you…. Uh… are into that."

Weiss felt her face heat up and she covered it with her hand, "I… can say I have no real preference either way."

"Oh! Okay, cool…" Ruby trailed off, the awkward silence stretching out between them as both tried not to look at the other.

"Ruby, what makes you think that I may have feelings for Yang?" Weiss finally asked, still unable to look at her partner.

"Well you looked like you were having fun-"

"I have fun with other people!"

"-and you were also giving Yang this look when I came in."

Weiss froze in place, "What look?"

"I dunno. But you didn't look at anyone else that way…" She paused, mumbling, "And it kind of reminded me of the look Dad got when talking about Mom."

"Well I don't!" Weiss insisted rather forcefully, looking away from Ruby to hide her face from the girl as she crossed her arms, "We should start making our way to the bullhead docks if we don't want to annoy your sister."

"Sorry Weiss." Ruby apologized, shrinking in on herself, "I won't bring it up again."

"Let's…. Let's just go."

-SY-

Blake loved her team, she really did, even WWeiss, but not so much when Yang shows up and drags her out to Vale with everyone to go shopping. Sure she needed a dress for the dance, but still she could have asked! Not to mention she could tell something was up with her team, kind of obvious when her partner busted through their dorm door and hauled her out of there.

She wasn't one to go shopping for dresses, more likely to get any old dress to throw on for the night. However Yang wasn't going to take no for an answer and so she resigned herself to the evening out on the town. Hopefully Yang or Weiss wouldn't take long to pick out their dresses. It was a relatively nice shop that they walked into that catered to more formal functions. Not something quite up to Qeiss' standards but definitely not cheap from the average person's perspective. It wasn't a very busy place, most likely seeing some traffic thanks to Beacon's dance but there must have been dozens of similar shops in Vale.

There was a single person working the storefront, a middle-aged woman with brown hair pulled into a bun that watched them with a critical eye as they entered. Yang disappeared into the stacks, dragging Ruby along to make sure she could pick something out for her sister. That left her to browse through the various dresses on display. Many of them came in standard colors and styles, mostly black, white, and red though with some more exotic shades thrown in every once in a while.

She ended up in front of a simple black dress, pulling it towards her and feeling the fabric with her fingers. Weiss was nearby, giving a critical eye to a pale blue dress though she didn't look satisfied.

"Excuse me."

Blake looked over to see that the woman behind the counter had come over to her, a fake smile plastered on her face, "Yes?"

"If you are looking to try a dress on, I'm afraid I will have to ask you to remove your bow."

What? Blake narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "Why?"

"Store policy is that we can't allow faunus customers to try on clothes, I just need to make sure you are not trying to subvert policy."

There was a look in the woman's eyes, a sort of tell she had grown used to long ago. It was just a way humans tended to look at faunus, a way they looked down on others. Even with that simpering smile on her face, it didn't reach her eyes and she could tell that it was more than just 'policy'. That was just an excuse, a justification to make themselves feel better about being bigots.

"What makes you think I might be a faunus?" Her stomach dropped as a foreboding feeling took it's place in her gut.

"Well," The woman blustered, "I am paid to watch out for such things and I couldn't help but notice how… unnatural your fashion seemed. You don't have to completely remove the bow, just show me what's underneath."

Now she was stuck, she supposed it was only a matter of time until someone became suspicious of her. Why did it have to be a random woman in a dress shop? It was an embarrassing situation to be in because no matter what she did it was going to cause some kind of scene. At least if she was on her own, she would have left or sought out a faunus owned shop to give her business to. Instead now she had to worry about her team.

"We will do no such thing!" Came the forceful his o Weiss, who had stalked up behind the woman, making her jump. And it was now too late, because her teammate had involved herself.

"We-" But she was cut off, her teammate in a righteous rage.

"How do you know I am not a faunus? Hmm? Perhaps I have scales underneath my clothes?"

"Well, Miss Schnee, you are quite the known quantity. There's no need to prove your identity."

It was the wrong thing to say as Weiss' scowl deepened. The smaller girl drew herself up to her full height, wrath in her eyes, and opened her mouth to speak. She stopped when she felt Blake grab her by the wrist, looking at her and her furious expression softening.

"If this is how you do business then we will have no part in it." She turned on her heel, shouting out as she dragged Blake away, "Ruby! Yang! Let us go find a better shop!"

The other two members poked their heads out in confusion, Ruby looking like she had been saved until they saw the heiress stamping out of the store. They quickly followed, quickly catching up with Weiss who let go once they were a good distance from the shop.

"Weiss?" Yang asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

"Nothing-" Blake began but was cut off.

"That person," Weiss seethed, "Tried to discriminate against Blake."

Yang blinked, her expression shifting from confused to angry and Blake was a little touched that they all looked angry about it. If someone had told her, six months ago, that a Schnee would stick up for her she would have laughed in their face. But now she could see the emotion on Weiss' face. It also made her feel ashamed of painting her with the same brush as her father. She'd known, intellectually, that it was wrong to do but having how different Weiss was slammed into her face drove it home.

"Shit." Yang's eyes shifted to a glaring red, a sign of her temper, "Screw that place then. I'll put the word out with everyone I know. I'm not gonna be friends with people who shop there."

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked her, rather than being angry for her sake, she was more worried about if she was upset.

"I'm fine, Ruby." Blake flashed her a weak smile, "I'm used to it, just wasn't expecting to be confronted like that."

"Where should we go now?" Yang already had her scroll out, searching for another shop, "Do we know a place that isn't full of assholes?"

"We could go to a faunus owned shop." Blake suggested.

"Is that a good idea?" Weiss asked, gesturing to herself, "I am not sure that I will be welcome."

"Weiss, you're about to go to Menagerie in, like, a week. I don't think getting cold feet over being welcome should be worrying you." Yang pointed out.

"Please don't remind me." Weiss rubbed her forehead before giving Blake a long look, "Very well. Let us find a faunus owned tailor to give our patronage to. Though I do have a condition." She stepped forward to Blake, pointing her finger at her, "I will go if you remove your bow."

"What?!" Blake recoiled..

"Remove your bow." She repeated with a shrug, "The fact is you should not be ashamed of who you are or feel a desire to hide it."

"I'm not ashamed, Weiss." She rushed to explain, "I hide my ears because it is easier to do so. I don't have to deal with human after human calling out to me, insulting me on the street, or trying to pet me or grab my ears."

"They'd better not." Yang growled darkly.

"And yet you can't be around to protect me all the time, can you?" Blake shook her head as Yang wilted, "I have to be the one to deal with this."

"And yet you aren't dealing with it." It was their leader, Ruby, who spoke up, her silver eyes locking onto hers, "You're just hiding away from it. Running. Blake you once told us you wanted to change Remnant. To bring actual equality to it. Has that changed?"

Faced with her younger leader Blake could only look away and bite her lip. She wasn't running away, was she? And yet a part of her realized that Ruby was right. Slowly she nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Well you can't do that while hiding who you are, Blake. Take the bow off? Please?"

She looked at Ruby, so young and supportive, then to Yang. Her partner was waiting for her decision, neither reproachful or judgemental, simply accepting what she would do. Weiss was the hardest, there was a hope there, a passionate one that was antithesis to her nickname as Ice Queen.

Just a short while ago she hadn't been sure how Weiss would react to her, had seen her fear and known it was justified. She had been a terrorist and they had done what they did best; instill terror. She'd realized that night how wrong she had been to stay with the White Fang, how wrong she had been to judge Weiss. And yet in the time to come Weiss had warmed up to her, letting that icy wall down and showing that she actually cared about all of them. And in turn Blake had grown to truly love her team as well.

She really did.

Slowly she reached up and tugged on the fabric adorning her head, pulling it loose as she felt the bow scrape against her ears. It came free, leaving her ears exposed to the evening air, flicking about.

Weiss smiled and nodded at her before they took off to find another tailor. The one they ended up going to was a small one, a custom tailor run by, of all people, the Scarlatina family. The older woman behind the desk had brown rabbit ears and long brown hair that was tied up into a braided bun.

"Welcome to Scarlatina Sewing, we-" She paused as she saw Weiss walk in following Blake, "Welcome. What can I help you with today?"

"Missus Scarlatina." Weiss spoke up with a respectful nod, "We are looking to get dresses made for the Beacon dance, would that be okay?"

The older faunus blinked a few times, "Beacon? Then do you by chance know Velvet?"

"Yeah." Yang grinned, "She's a bit of a friend. Kind of acquaintance."

A broad smile broke out over the woman's face, "Well far be it from me to turn down work for Beacon. What are you looking for? I have a few ready made dresses if you want to take a look. I can have them custom tailored by the dance. Speaking of which, Velvet hasn't contacted me for her dress yet, is she okay?"

"Oh I'm sure she's fine." Yang answered with an easy smile, "Team CFVY is still out on a mission. They may not make it back in time. But no worries, they still have a professional huntsman with them."

Despite being told not to, the woman still looked somewhat worried, "Well she'll have to tell me about it when she gets back."

"Missus Scarlatina." Weiss spoke up, "I was wondering if it would be possible to place a rush on the dresses and get some made from scratch?"

She tilted her head, "Well I suppose. It's going to be expensive though. It's not like there's all that much work at the moment. Most of it will come when the Festival starts. I'll need your measurements and to talk about what you want with all of you, in that case."

Weiss smiled, "Excellent. Yang? Why don't you and Ruby go first? I need some time to think about mine."

"Sure." Yang yelped as she was grabbed by a broadly smiling woman and dragged into the back, the woman looked manic.

"Thanks Weiss." Blake whispered to her friend.

"It's my pleasure, Blake." She appeared deep in thought for a moment, "You want to change the world right?" She waited for her nod, "Well then I shall help. I already wanted to fix the SDC after what my father has done with it. This way we can work from both sides."

Tears threatened her eyes and she had to look away to hide them. It was a strange feeling, the feeling of not being alone in her dream. Long ago she thought her parents had given up and the White Fang had been twisted. It felt like equality was no longer the goal.

"Thank you." She whispered.