#i really wish tumblr would let you double-tap tags on mobile and let you edit tags :( | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rwbyremnants · 6 years

Link

Happy New Year!

And that's about it so far. Thanks for all the reviews, and the beta applications! We have a team of betas working on this stuff now, so hopefully (HOPEFULLY) that means it's going to start coming out much faster. Enjoyyyyy!

=Chapter 2

The bus was on its steady journey to the first tour location: LA. It was a two-hour ride, with nothing really to do other than look out at the various scenery – an activity that quickly grew tiresome. In truth, Yang was trying anything she possibly could to stay out of the diva's way. She did request that, after all. But when her only entertainment she had left, her phone, was at ten percent battery, she had no choice but to try and engage in conversation.

"So what's special about LA? You seemed really eager about this first stop."

“Excuse me?” But then the fact that the question was mostly innocent seemed to catch up to Weiss, and she shrugged, looking back down at her laptop screen. The only mobile outlet in the back that wasn’t in the bathroom was already taken up by her MacBook charger. “Oh. Well… it’s the first big show of this tour; isn’t that reason enough?”

It seemed far more than that, considering Weiss's face lit up when they first mentioned LA, but not when they mentioned any other locations. Not even the later dates, when they were headed north to perform with Neptune, seemed to be as exciting to her.

"You sure there isn’t someone you wanna meet there or something?"

“Wh-why should that matter?” she asked guardedly, folding her arms across her chest. “Even if there is, it’s still Los Angeles, the biggest city on the west coast! I can’t believe you’re interrogating me this way!”

"I'm not even- ugh, you know what? Forget I said anything." Sitting down on the nearest available seat, she took a quick glance at her phone again, mainly for something to do. They really weren't getting along after all. At least they were talking; maybe she could adapt the conversation a little. "Well, I'm looking forward to getting to Berkley. My sis at a university there; we could grab some coffee or whatever."

“We weren't stopping at Berkeley.” But her voice was devoid of her usual vinegar, and she looked contemplative. “At least, it’s not a tour stop… but we did just leave Sacramento. Do you see your sister much?”

"Not in the flesh, but we talk all the time. Sometimes even Skype if we can make the time. Last time we video chatted, she was introducing me to her dorky new roommate, Penny, but… that was a while ago." Such memories were already making her smile, and even compelled her to put her phone away entirely.

Fidgeting for a second, Weiss turned her attention back to the laptop screen. For about a minute, it seemed as if she had simply lost interest in their conversation as she messed around on her laptop, but then she suddenly stood up and said, “I need to speak to the driver for a moment,” before sweeping from the plushly-decorated “sitting room” of the bus.

"I-I... Okay." In that instant, she thought she had found a stepping stone to talk to Weiss, then had lost it again. Maybe this was going to be a solitary job, after all. With that thought in mind, she took her phone back out again, sighing as she idly browsed and resigned herself to waiting for it to die.

Or so she expected. Weiss sighed as if she had just accomplished one of the Labours of Hercules as she returned to the main room. “Alright. Hopefully your sister will be free for a coffee in about an hour, because we won’t have much time; we have to get back on the road within two hours of reaching Berkeley. Better double-check right now.”

"Oh. Well, that’s- what?"

It had barely registered just what Weiss said. Not until she suddenly blinked a couple of times, raising her eyebrows. Weiss had altered the travel path, only by a tiny fraction. But even then, she didn't have to do it for all.

"For real? You actually did this for me?"

Pursing her lips, the girl turned to look out the window instead of looking back at Yang. “Hey, do you think I want to be responsible for more family strife - especially when it’s not even my family?”

"Thanks, Weiss." No sarcasm this time. This was the first nice thing Weiss had done for her that didn't benefit herself in some way. Even if it was something as small as making an extra hour to get coffee with her sister – which when dealing with a tight touring schedule, wasn’t so small after all. Maybe that streak would continue.

After messaging her sister, she looked back over to her principal. "So… you got any siblings?"

“Hm?” She waved a hand as if it were a trivial matter, but still answered. “Yeah. Older sister. She’s completely impossible sometimes but hey, that’s a sibling for you.”

Even if it was trivial to Weiss, Yang wasn't going to give up. "What's her name?"

Weiss pinned the blonde brute down with a stare for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether or not it was worth telling her, or if she were being teased somehow. Adjusting herself in her seat, she sighed, “Winter. She inherited most of the business sense from my father, but I got the natural vocal talent from my mother. So we both resent each other for different reasons. It happens, right?”

"You hate your own sister?" Such a thing was completely alien to Yang. She'd grown up in a close family unit, herself; her sister and her father. And she kept in contact with both of them. Yet Weiss seemed to hate her sister now, as well as her dad, from what she gathered earlier at least.

“I don’t hate her, per se.” Then her brows knit. “And where do you get off passing judgment on our relationship?! You haven’t even met her; you don’t know what she’s like!”

"You know every single question I ask you isn't an attack, right? I might actually want to get to know you?" She didn't know what else to say apart from that. It seemed the subject was a touchy one, at least, not one Yang could ask about just yet. At the very least, she wanted to get to know Weiss from Weiss's own perspective, rather than her father's. But the diva was making that impossible.

“Well, who says I want to get to know you?” However, the instant it was out of her mouth, she looked down at the table on which her laptop was perched, squirming. “I apologise, that was… ruder than I intended. But you do seem to be making a lot of assumptions!”

Trying not to roll her eyes too hard, Yang simply folded her arms, turning on her chair to face fully in her direction, raising one of her eyebrows. "Well I can only assume because you're hardly saying a word to me. So do you wanna at least try and make this journey speed up a little by making conversation, or not?"

“Perhaps if you can rub both of your brain cells together to spark an interesting topic! I don’t really want to talk about my sister, she’s a pain in the posterior and we don’t get along!” Sighing, she followed up quickly with, “Tell me about yours instead.”

Insult notwithstanding, this was better than nothing. Even if the diva remained a complete mystery to her, at least she wasn't telling her to sit there in silence. Shrugging her shoulders, she obliged. "Her name's Ruby, she's eighteen. Small fry with black hair with a red fringe. She’s studying engineering since she's quite the little mechanic." Then she let out a small chuckle. "Actually, she's a huge fan of yours. Posters, shirts, limited edition vinyl – pretty sure she's even got a Tumblr blog dedicated to you."

Weiss smiled, partly bemused and partly weary. “Really? That’s fun, I suppose. I mean, sometimes the fame gets to me, but at least I’m ensuring my financial future.” After a second or two, she smoothed out her skirt and asked, “Does… Ruby like it at Berkeley? Have many friends there?”

"Oh, yeah. She has a fair few from what I remember. Um… a guy called John is one, I think? Then there's Nora, but Nora seems really hyper and a lot to take from what I hear. And of course her roommate, Penny, who she talks about all the time. I swear, if she's not fangirling over you, she's fangirling over her."

The pop princess’s smile had become slowly more earnest as she listened to Yang speak, until she finally said, “That’s so sweet. Makes me wish I hadn’t missed out on the typical ‘college experience’… oh well. I’m glad she’s found some people to hang out with there.”

"Yeah, she’s setting up a great little group of friends. It's nice to hear her talk about them. Sometimes I wonder if she talks about me, y'know? Like, tells them about what we did as kids, that kinda junk. But I’m probably not on her mind that mu-" But before Yang could continue with that tale, her phone buzzed. After taking a quick glance, the small smile she had only grew even more. "And speak of the devil, she says she's free for coffee. Nice!"

“Ah, perfect; that means I won’t have to undo the change in our route. And don’t worry, I won’t tag along; you and your sister must have all sorts of bonding rituals to attend.”

She was doing a good job of acting nonchalant, but one of her feet was tapping quite rapidly. Yang had a suspicion, and decided to act upon it. "Aww, you're welcome to come with, if you want. You changed the route just so I could see my sister; the least I can do is get you a latte or something." It seemed only fair to offer such an exchange. Even if Weiss was going to sit with them in silence, at least it would show she was making an effort.

“Well...” She glanced over at Yang again, and for the first time, she looked like she wasn’t sure of herself. Not momentarily, but overall. “Only if you’re sure. I could just as easily stay on the bus.”

"I'm more than sure. So long as your order doesn't come to above ten bucks; until I get your dad's first cheque I’m pretty much broke. Bike maintenance, all that stuff."

Laughing, Weiss tossed her hair and said, “I’ll order light, but… honestly, you don’t have to pay for my coffee. I have a black AmEx, you know.”

"Yeah, but I’m the one inviting you out; seems like I ought to spring for it." But to sweeten the deal even more, she began to smirk. "You know… If we have a spare minute or two to get it outta the trailer, I could show you my bike afterwards."

“The VFR Eight-hundred?!” Then she cleared her throat and smiled more casually. “Sounds interesting, yes. Perhaps I can convince the driver to follow us up the road for a while. I’ll pay for gas, of course, since you are on the clock.”

"That's actually what I was thinking; we could finish the drive down on the bike and be there early, then you can do anything you need to before the bus even gets there. See? More practical, and I get you up close and personal."

Of course the latter part was a flirtatious comment, and she waggled her eyebrows to make it even more over-the-top. Yang never did allow Weiss to live the lesbian comment down. Every given moment over their past week of preparations, she found a way to make an innuendo of some kind whenever possible.

“Get me up close and p-” Sighing in irritation, she got up and brushed past her as she walked through the room toward the lavatory. “I’m going to powder my nose. Try not to look through the keyhole while I’m in there, if you can manage that! Gosh, make one mistaken assumption and you never live it down…”

More eyebrow-waggles was her only response to that, until she disappeared into the lavatory. Leaving Yang to her own devices again. Finding herself shaking her head, she peered back at her phone again to check the time.

"It's gonna be a looooong trip…"

The small coffee house near campus was relatively packed, and Weiss was quite uncomfortable. The large sun hat and Jackie O. shades helped conceal her identity - a necessity for her that she wished she could afford to do without - but it was a pain remembering not to take them off.

Apparently, Ruby would be there in a few minutes, or so the text she had sent informed Yang. So the big sister was hanging out by the door, waiting to spot her, while Weiss held their table and looked after the iced mocha Yang had left behind. Part of her was tempted to steal a sip, but that would be both rude and disgusting. Drinking after her bodyguard… what on earth was she thinking?

A part of Yang was both excited and terrified for how the meeting would go down. On the plus side, she'd see her sister again, sit down, catch up properly with her. On the other, Weiss possibly would ruin the atmosphere for them entirely, sitting and making snide comments every chance. Whether or not she would tell Ruby who Weiss was or not was still up in the air. After all, this was her icon, someone she looked up to and was even inspired by. If she were to find out that Weiss was really just a diva who was mean to everyone, what would it do to her?

But she had no more time to think, since she saw the mess of black and red hair on its way. "There you are!"

“SIS!” The younger girl’s footsteps picked up in speed until she ploughed into Yang, nearly knocking her backward into another couple who were lingering near the doorway. Squeezing her tight around the middle, she grunted, “Ohhhh my GOD, I missed you so much!”

"Whoooaaaa there, demolish half the place while you're at it, why don't you?” she laughed, immediately bringing a hand up to pet her hair as she hugged her back eagerly. She hadn't even glanced back at the table yet. "How have you been? I mean, I know we text pretty often, but still!"

“Then you know I’m fine,” Ruby laughed as she readjusted her glasses, both cheeks bunched up from the force of her enormous grin. “You’re the one with all the news! Bodyguard to the rich and famous?! What’s that like?”

"Well it's..." Then she began to peer back toward the table, particularly the one where said person was sitting. Maybe she could pass Weiss off as someone else until they were ready to tell her. "It's got its ups and downs, like all jobs. C'mon - I'll get you a drink and we can all hang out for a while."

Nodding, Ruby followed her into the shop and toward the counter. Only when they were waiting in line behind some hipster in a newsboy hat did she think to ask, “Wait... who is ‘we all’?”

"Oh, just someone from the bus. She wanted coffee, too, so I brought her along." At least that would stall for time for a while before she decided whether to reveal Weiss or not. Just as a drink would. "So, what'cha having? I'll buy."

“Ooh! They have an iced hot chocolate here that I love so so SOOOO much!”

Which she ordered the instant the man moved on to wait for his drink, surprising the cashier. Shortly thereafter, they got the drink and proceeded over to the table.

“There you are,” Weiss sighed quietly. “Hello, I’m-”

“Nice to meet you!” Ruby burst out excitedly, grabbing her hand and shaking it up and down. Yang was glad; it meant her plan to have her meet her idol without knowing she was her idol was still intact. “You work with my sister, right?! Oh man, you guys must have so many stories!”

Blinking at the sudden burst of energy that seemed to make up Ruby entirely, Weiss smiled and said, “Um, yes, I do. Ruby, right? Yang’s told me so much about you.”

"Sure have. Take a seat, sis!" She didn't even wait for her sister to sit down before taking her own drink back again, immediately taking a sip. It was no longer as cold as she'd have liked, but still quite good. "Yeah, I've told her about your college and Penny and that kinda stuff; lots of time to kill on the bus, amirite?”

“What about Penny? I mean, why would you tell your friends about anything I’m doing? It’s so boring. I mean, to other people!” Laughing, she took a drink of her chocolate before starting and turning back to Weiss. “Oh! Sorry, I’ll shut up - what is it you do with my sister?”

The bemused smile spoke volumes. Glancing at Yang, a coy smile came into her features when she saw Yang wink. She was catching on. After a moment, she turned back and said, “Well, mostly I just help her with navigation. I was the one who navigated this little detour.”

“Cool, cool! So you’re like a navigator person? Do you drive the bus sometimes?!”

"Now Ruby, why would she drive the bus when she can relax in the back with me?" The flirting never stopped, even right there in front of her sister! And what only made it worse was the immediate wink that followed, aimed at Weiss yet again. Of course, by now Weiss’s reaction was merely to purse her lips and go back to sipping her half-caff latte with a hint of pumpkin spice.

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good point,” Ruby laughed, scratching the back of her head. “So tell me - Yang kinda tried, but she just started, so I think you’re the better person to ask. What’s it like... working with THE Weiss?”

THE Weiss in question nearly spit her drink across the table but managed to maintain composure. Seemed she hadn’t been expecting that their “ruse” would actually work. “Oh, it’s horrible. She’s kind of a priss, always ordering everybody around and snapping at people for no reason. You do know she made your sister punch someone out on her first day, right?”

Smile turning a bit more earnest at the diva’s self-assessment, she laughed, "I already told you a thousand times –and you even saw what happened –he spanked my ass, alright? Touch the junk, get dunked, and that's all I'll say about it."

In truth, Weiss regretted that first day even then, especially knowing it was a ply to try and get her new employee fired. Nonetheless, she took another sip of her drink to appear busy.

“Yeah, Yang told me about that,” Ruby growled under her breath, hunching over her beverage. “Boy, if I could get that guard in a room by myself, I’d... well I couldn’t beat him up much, but I could at least kick him in the shins!”

Giggling, Weiss said, “I’m sure you would. But by all accounts, your sister can take care of herself. She’s earned this job.”

“But I just can’t believe that Weiss is like that,” Ruby went on as if she hadn’t spoken, and not noticing the smile on her sister’s face getting wider. “She’s so nice in all her interviews, and she’s always doing charity work and junk like that! I mean, did you see the thing she recorded to help homeless kittens?!”

Weiss glanced over at Yang. Her employer’s expression was hard to read behind those sunglasses, but she seemed to be staring right at her. “I don’t know, what do you think of her? Isn’t she a real grouch, always snapping at you?”

Was this a challenge? It was like Weiss was daring her to reveal her to the world. That or say just enough to make the journey on the bike one of the most awkward ever if she chose to speak of her in a bad light with her right there.

Playing it safe, she sighed, "She's… a handful. But I think I’m starting to understand her better. Big baby that she is."

“I can’t believe you guys!” Ruby burst out, even while Weiss was covering her mouth and trying her best not to laugh out loud. “She’s the coolest ever, and you’re talking about her like she’s a jerk! This is- Sis, I’m really disappointed in you!”

Finally, she'd tolerated enough. She couldn't allow Weiss to win, whatever game they had ended up playing. Taking a quick glance around the room to check no one was listening, she leant toward Ruby closely, looking between her and Weiss.

"Ruby, I’m disappointed in you – didn’t even ask who this is with me! Dad raises us better than that!"

“Who she is? She’s your co-worker, um... Stacy! Or something!” Then her eyes squinted slightly at Weiss. “Wait... you never did tell me your name, did you? And even if you did, it’s probably not Stacy at all.”

“I didn’t,” Weiss chuckled, still hiding behind her hand. “But I’m glad to know I look like a ‘Stacy’.”

"Ruby..." Yang began in a hushed tone, now scratching the top of her head to try hide her secondhand embarrassment. "White hair? Shades we still couldn’t afford if we sold our house? I mean, I know she has a big hat on, but geeze…"

“Shades w.... what? I mean, what are you trying to s…” But Weiss was pushing the shades down her nose so Ruby could see her eyes. That seemed to be enough. “Wha... whatwhATWHAAAAAT?!?!”

“Wow, you okay?” Weiss laughed good-naturedly. But then when Ruby began to slide off her stool in Yang’s direction, she stood up and asked more urgently, “HEY, are you okay?!”

"Hooold up there, little Rose!" Immediately Yang slid her hands over to support Ruby, keeping her as upright as she could on the stool, even managing to balance her back upright. "See, this is why I couldn't say anything!"

“Gosh, I can’t believe she fainted! Really fainted - people still do that?!” Turning to a neighbouring table, she snatched up a glass of water with a vague “Mind if I borrow this?” and turned back, splashing it into the young girl’s face.

“AGHGHBLKHH!” Ruby burst out, flailing all her limbs and accidentally elbowing Yang in the forehead. Wincing at the sudden hit, she immediately went to rub her head once she was sure Ruby could sit up on her own, groaning out in mild pain. She could barely believe her reaction, either.

"I did say she’s a big fan…"

"THIS IS THE BIGGEST THING EVER!" Ruby half-squealed. When a half-dozen patrons turned around to raise their eyebrows at her, she came back to herself enough to duck her head and whisper, "I mean... you're really here, in this random coffee shop, talking to me and my sister!"

Still amused at all of her reactions, even though she had looked like she was about to panic when she squealed, the pop star shrugged. "You do understand that I drink coffee, right? It's not that abnormal."

"I hardly call that half-caff thing 'coffee'," Yang teased, looking back to the completely shell-shocked fangirl, she could only begin to laugh at her again, shaking her shoulder to try and get her back to reality. "Yo, she's still a person, Rubes. Maybe not like you and me, but still human!"

"No, she's a goddess," Ruby breathed weakly. Then she pressed both hands down on the tabletop and leaned in, eyes looming even wider behind the lenses of her glasses. "Your first mainstream album changed my LIFE! Before that, all I listened to was chiptune music - and yeah that's great and I still love it, but you drew me out of that world and into pop, which I always kind of thought was lame, but yours is SO not lame! The EP you released before that first album touched me in special places inside, the lyrics were so heartfelt and sad, and I still don't know what 'Broken Mirror' is about but it felt like you were ME, like you were telling ME you understood all my weird feelings of self-doubt! And that's probably stupid, but I don't know, maybe I needed that, and there it was, and just.... AHHHH!"

The table was silent for a few seconds as Ruby tried to regain her breath, finally sinking back down into her chair. Weiss took a sip of her latte to give them all time to think, then cleared her throat.

"Do you promise to keep a secret?" The vigorous nod from Ruby was encouragement enough. "Alright. 'Broken Mirror' was about my friends from before I went mainstream, about how I saw myself when they abandoned me because my new lyrics were ‘too sinful’. It's hard for some people to accept that you want to sing about ALL of life… and not just fluffy love songs or the stuff from my early years."

Although she mostly let the two chatter to one another, Yang couldn't help but take in that part of the conversation. She was so used to Weiss being a pop star that she never gave much mental consideration to what things were like for her before she was mainstream. Or even that she had friends! She seemed to just have assumed that Weiss had always been Weiss, and probably didn't want or need anyone in her life.

How wrong she was. She needed to learn more about her client yet.

"That's not cool!" Ruby snapped, clenching her hands into fists - both of excitement and righteous fury. "You're allowed to sing about more than Jesus! And you still sing about good things, like protecting people from domestic violence, and enjoying life instead of just worrying all the time, and- and OH! What about 'Daily Drama,' were you're warning people not to gossip and stuff? How many people wouldn't hear that if you were still religious?"

"Very true," Weiss laughed. Apparently, she was quite adept at handling "super fans", and Ruby was the very personification of that term. "You're a pretty smart girl."

"That's what my professors say," Ruby said with modest dismissal.

Weiss was a Christian singer before all this? That completely shocked Yang, especially since the songs she had heard about by Weiss were about boys, and some of the music videos were highly 'un-Christian' to say the least. And this never came up in the interviews at all – including Yang’s interview for her job. But maybe her father didn’t mention it because it no longer applied.

She agreed with Ruby, though. "Yeah, those guys are jerks if they left you behind just for that. Surely they should have been happy for your success."

"Yeah, you'd think," Weiss sighed, her shrug very casual. Practiced and measured to give the impression she didn't care. "Oh well, their loss, right? If they were willing to shun me because - GOD forbid, except He doesn't, really - I actually find the opposite sex attractive, then hey, I didn't need that kind of negativity in my life."

Did Weiss still have Christian beliefs at heart? Something about that made Yang oddly uncomfortable. Even if she had joked about being a lesbian at the start, the idea of it actually being something she was deeply against seemed to make her grow awfully quiet. Maybe that wasn't the best joke to keep going after all. And there were other things that began to make her even more worried. How would that go when the topic came up in conversation?

As best she could, she tried to keep to the subject at hand. "Well... yeah, exactly. I mean, I don't know if you're still a Holy Roller or not, but you're not exactly doing a Neon Katt and dropping f-bombs and thrusting at the camera."

That had Ruby snorting with laughter. "Neon WISHES she was Weiss! And she's so gross, her music is good but I can't handle watching her videos!"

"If you've seen one pelvic thrust, you've seen them all," Weiss agreed. "But she's actually a pretty cool person. Really intense, and sometimes she says insensitive things, but cool."

"What?" Ruby gasped, eyes wide. "You've met her? You've TALKED to her?!" Then she nodded. "Oh right, the VMAs - you were both there, but I never saw you together!"

"Backstage," she confirmed with a nod as she picked up her latte again. "I mean, it's hard NOT to rub elbows back there; I'm not a 'making the connections' kind of girl, but I try to at least be personable."

"Unless it's Neptune Vasilias, then she'd want to do more than rub elbows," Yang leant in to whisper to Ruby, only just loud enough so Weiss could hear as well. But on that subject… "Didn't you say we're gonna do with a show with him when we get to the Midwest or something? I think one of my old pals still lives up that way."

"Oh? Yes, we're supposed to meet up in Chicago." The tiniest bit of excitement bled into her voice as she added, "My father also said there might be something happening in New York later on, but I can't confirm that. Also, you didn't hear any of this!"

"Got it!" Ruby said with a salute. "But you bet the minute I see anything official online about it, I'm reblogging the hell out of the post!"

Grinning bemusedly, Weiss answered, "Good to know. Thanks for your dedication - seriously, I still can't believe people actually dedicate entire blogs to me!"

"Like I said to you on the bus, if she wasn't talking about Penny, she's talking about you. Her blog mainly consists of gif-sets of your videos and interviews with the odd theories on what the songs mean. Although there is… The Text Post."

Without context, Weiss would have no clue what that meant at all. But Yang was very aware that it was the ramblings of a teenager with a huge crush, hinting at something particularly raunchy. Ruby's eyes got a lot rounder behind her glasses - as if that was even possible - and her cheeks began to match the sporty red streaks in her hair.

"Yaaaang, you can't!"

"Can't what?" Weiss asked, glancing between the two of them. "What text post is this?"

"What was it again, Ruby? ‘I dream of a day when life won't screw me but Weiss wi-’"

Both of the younger girl's hands slapped over Yang's mouth, cutting off the rest of the sentence into a jumble of muffled grunts. "TH-THAT WASN'T ME WHO WROTE THAT! I only reblogged it, I was… don't take it out of context!"

Weiss's eyebrows were knitted together in confusion and she innocently asked, "What? What's the rest of it?"

That question remained unanswered, as every time she tried to pry Ruby's hands away from her mouth, Ruby covered it again. It wasn't until she reached for her drink instead that Ruby stopped.

"Seriously, it was just a dumb text post, god. If I remember when we get to LA, I'll show you." And then her eyes snapped open wide. "Shit, what time is it even?!"

"Oh, it's..." When Weiss glanced at her phone, she looked up with a shrug. "We have about ten more minutes if we want to maintain our schedule. If it were up to me, I could push it back more, but my crew would be irritated."

Wincing, Yang looked back to Ruby. If it were up to her, she would stay, as well. But she had her job to do, to make sure Weiss got to her tour location undisturbed. Even if that meant she was the disturbance. "We can't really do that the first night; it'd look bad on the crew and on us. Sorry, Ruby."

Watching her for a moment, Weiss thought about their situation. She thumbed through a few screens on her phone, sent a text, and then gasped theatrically. "Oh, wait - I misread the time! We have an hour and ten minutes. Do you think Ruby would like to hit the mall? We still have to upgrade your wardrobe a little."

Suddenly the saddened expression in the younger girl’s features seemed to light back up. She could spend longer with her sister, after all – and her idol! Grateful, Yang looked back over to Weiss, eagerly nodding. "Sure! I mean, I think my current wardrobe is fine, but if it means a little more time with my li’l sis, I'm in!"

Only then did Ruby seem to find her voice again. “WE'RE GOING SHOPPING? TOGETHER?!"

"Hope you know she's not gonna shut up about this for weeks," Yang commented, finishing the last of her drink and plopping the cup back down on a nearby tray before she got to her feet. But Weiss was smiling; something like a genuine smile, only just tinged with the weary patience of a celebrity.

"If that's the least I can do for your sister, I'm glad to do it. Now, chop chop!"

"What do you mean, we can't go to Spencer's?!" Ruby groaned in annoyance.

Shopping with her idol was going extremely well. So far, Yang and Weiss had gotten more entertainment for their bus trips, including a few books and magazines – and a power strip so they could both charge their devices at once. Ruby got a new pair of sneakers with light-up soles from Yang. The only stores left were what Weiss insisted upon the most: clothes.

Yang could only continue to laugh at her sister, patting her shoulder as they walked and her little feet lit up with each step. "Because I'm not about to take 'The Weiss' to the same building where there's buttplugs and naughty greeting cards, no matter how much you try and convince me you'll stay in the front half!"

"They have what kind of plugs?!" Weiss squealed - before collecting herself and clearing her throat. A few shoppers had already turned to look at her, and creating any more of a scene would spell a media disaster. "Uhhh, I mean… honestly, we don't have time to go in there anyway, even if I was in the market for such… accessories."

"Hmm… I never pegged you for backdoor hijinks,” she punned. Not that she expected Weiss to get it, sheltered as she seemed to be. “Guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Anyway, there's way better places to go for stuff for that."

But before Weiss could glare at her any longer than what would be comfortable, Ruby was rushing over to yet another clothes store, pointing it out to Weiss immediately. "How about this for Yang's new look?"

The glare turned into a look of alarm. "Hot Topic? Oh, no no NO, that is not the look - we want her to blend in, not look like my pet." She turned to look further down the hallway, all the way to the end. "I see a Macy's in the distance; I suppose that will do, since we're a long, long way from Barneys."

"Now hold on, I'm not about to blow my entire budget on clothes I'm only gonna wear once. I at least wanna get something I like rather than something with a label." Even if Weiss had insisted on paying over and over, she didn't want her to, nor did she want to parade around in clothes too expensive and girly for herself.

Reluctantly sighing, Ruby began to think, tapping her chin with one of her fingers before snapping them as she landed on a possibility. "Old Navy! That's a good compromise, right?"

Again, a sigh from the diva, but what she said was, "Suppose it is. They should have something palatable."

The inside of the store was full of patrons between the ages of eight and twenty, with a person over that demographic here and there. It wasn't terribly busy, but they did have to elbow around a body or two to get to the back.

"No, no clearance racks," Weiss snapped at them when they turned in their direction. "We don't have time to go hunting – and finding something good there is like finding a needle in a bowl of other needles. You'll usually get stung no matter what." Flicking through a nearby rack of "distressed" jeans, she asked, "What's your size? About a... ten? Fourteen?"

"A twelve, usually. Thanks for not calling me chubby, or whatever." Having wandered around finding other much nicer tops, she found one that was relatively low cut, with the odd couple of frills down its front. "Oooh, that's nice..."

"Hmm." Glancing at Ruby, Weiss snatched a size twelve from her rack as she asked, "Should we at least try Yang's shirt, or look for something more tasteful? What do you think?"

"The slightly frilly one? Um…" She looked over the other shirt rails very quickly, spotting another low-cut top instead. A yellow one, that featured a fiery heart emblem on the left-hand side. "What about this? And then something for your neck to go with, like a scarf?"

Weiss's eyes lit up. "Perfect! This with a snood!"

"Snood?"

"Infinity scarf." Snorting at Ruby's still-confused expression, she nipped one of said tubes of orange fabric from a nearby rack. "This – or one in black, maybe? We'll try a few."

"Hey, what about some shorts, as well? If your tour's going into the summer months, she'll need to keep herself cool."

As soon as she said it, she pulled out a pair of black spandex shorts, only venturing very slightly down the thigh. Considering what Yang wore usually, it was slightly more adventurous, but the blonde seemed to grin at the prospect.

"I like your thinking! Shall I go try them on?"

"Might as well. If these don't work out, we can always do more browsing."

Carrying the two shirts, shorts, jeans and infinity scarves, they made their way to the changing rooms. Yang nipped inside by herself, so Weiss seated herself on the nearby bench to wait.

And Ruby sat next to her. For a moment or two, she sat perfectly still, twiddling her thumbs to try and give herself something to do. But Weiss didn't protest, so she shuffled closer. Still no protest. So she shuffled over yet again, more or less ending up by her side. Her head was still buzzing. The woman who was her idol was sat right there, helping her sister buy clothes!

"You know... She probably won't say it, but I'm pretty sure Yang really enjoyed today. She never got to do much girly shopping when she was younger."

"Oh?" Weiss asked off-handily. Though she wasn't trying to be rude, without a task in front of her, all of her mind was already focused back on the tour. "Why not?"

"Well, Mom died while we were really young. Too young to be concerned about what we were wearing, at least. And dad was kinda the 'go in, grab whatever, get out' kinda shopper. So she never got to try on anything like dresses or skirts till she was way older. But I mean, you know why that is, anyway. Wait – here, hang on."

Weiss was still trying to figure out why she should know “why that is” when Ruby yanked out her phone, flicking through various menus until she found one particular picture of two children. One resembled Ruby down to a T, the hair, the red-and-black clothes, a small hood half-covering her head. The other, who seemed a little older, had much shorter hair, and far more masculine and baggy clothes.

"I mean, look at us! Dad totally dressed us like dorks."

"Look at those two little tomboys!" Weiss laughed as she took the phone with her other hand to get a better angle with the screen. And then she grinned even wider. True, they did look like dorks, but Yang was undeniably already cute back then. "You're right, though; her fashion sense has only marginally improved."

"Well, it's a hell of a lot better than this…" Scrolling through a few more photos, she eventually got to one of Yang and a small Corgi. Yet again, her hair was very short. It looked as though it was barely allowed to grow out at all. The clothing choice, some combat-print pants and a bright yellow shirt with a Tonka truck on it. Unless Ruby had said it was Yang, it would have appeared to be a small boy. “This is when we first got Zwei, our dog. About a year before that first one."

"Awwww, what an adorable puppy!" she cried out. The clothing choices did strike Weiss as strange - but then again, Ruby had explained their father's inability to shop for girls. It seemed the two of them had only adjusted to it when they got older, and eschewed the ungodly camo print.

Then something else suddenly seemed more important for her to mention. "About... your mom. I know what that's like." Then she caught herself. "Then again, you've probably read my bio, haven't you?"

"Y-Yeah... I did. It's really hard, huh?" Ruby tucked the phone back into her pocket in order to pay full attention to Weiss. She knew from online that Weiss's mother had died in her younger years, but an online profile only told so much. It couldn't tell her how that made her feel.

"Well... what else can you do? Just pick up your head and move on. That's... that's it." This was one of the pop star's least favourite subjects; she always felt bad when she thought about her mother. Not because she was sad, but because she never felt like she was sad enough. "But... I am really sorry about yours, that you lost her. No little girl should have to go through what you did."

"Oh, trust me, compared to Yang, I'm fine. Right as rain! But the stuff Yang had to go throu-"

"So how do I look?"

They were cut off by Yang’s return. She stood in front of them, hand on her cocked hip. She'd chosen the short shorts and the yellow tank, along with the orange snood. All in all, making a somewhat complete outfit. Save maybe a jacket.

"Cold," Weiss snorted. "But... I think I spotted something that will complete the look."

Weiss returned to the main sales floor and nabbed a leather jacket that had short, capped sleeves and brass buttons. Rushing into the changing rooms again, she handed it over. "It was in the clearance - for obvious reasons. With that look, though... don't ask me why, but my intuition's telling me to go with it."

"You think?" But eager to give it a go, Yang took the jacket from her, trying it on over the top and buttoning it up.

The jacket didn't exactly cover her torso; in fact, if she wasn't wearing a shirt it would be exposed completely! But, just as Weiss thought, it brought the look together. Looking at the nearby mirror, she turned to each side.

"Oh, yeah… I dig this."

"Naturally," Weiss said with a flip of her hair. "Shall we take all of it with us to the checkout? We might also want to pick up a few other tanks, just in case."

"With that stuff, Sis, you look both pretty and ready to kick butt!" To punctuate her point, Ruby began punching back and forth at the air, an action that prompted a giggle from her older sister as she adjusted the shorts to a better fit. She wanted to make sure everything remained situated.

"Yeah, you're right. You think yellow works? Or should I do another colour?"

"We'll do all the colours. And before you say anything," Weiss cut her off, "these are clothes you'll be wearing while you're on duty, so I'm paying for them! And that's final!"

"Ugh, whatever. Least it's better than a suit, I guess." And with that, she turned to get back into the changing room.

Once she was gone, Ruby tapped Weiss's shoulder to get her attention again. As much as she didn't want it to be, there was an obvious red blush on her face. One that couldn't be helped. "L-Listen... I'm sorry I fainted earlier. Y-You just… helped me through a lot. Your music! I mean, you didn't know you did, but you did. And it's been so great to meet and… shop with you today."

This was something Weiss had heard a thousand times, and she heard herself using one of her standard replies: "Honestly, I always love meeting fans." But the earnestness in the girl's voice made her reach out and grip her shoulder as she took off her sunglasses for a moment. "Especially ones as nice as you, with such badass big sisters."

That made her grin like an idiot, even hunch her shoulders in embarrassment. "I probably sound like a real dork, huh? I'll bet Yang will be way better company for you on your travels. She doesn’t lose her mind like me.”

"You sound like a really sweet person who's passionate about what she likes. Nothing wrong with that." Her mouth twitched in amusement as she asked, "If I give you a little hug, can you remain conscious?"

Blinking a couple of times in disbelief, she pinched the skin of her arms a couple of times just to check she wasn't dreaming. Once assured of that, she scratched the top of her head. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try?"

Gently, Weiss brought her in for a hug, still clutching the sunglasses in one hand while the other patted her back. Then she whispered into her hair, "Your mother is proud of both of you, I'm sure. Smiling down on you from Heaven."

Although she remained more or less calm externally, internally Ruby was screaming. But that comment brought her straight back to earth – and in the best possible way. Her idol really was as nice and caring as she thought. She knew Yang was only winding her up with those comments about her being so cruel.

"Thanks, Weiss. And I'm sure your mom's proud of you, too! And she will be especially proud while you're out on tour, I'm sure!"

"Oh god, is she gonna faint again?" Yang asked as she emerged with her new clothes all bundled up, watching the two share a tender moment. Ruby already had gotten further than her, it seemed!

"Perhaps not," Weiss laughed as she stepped back, one of her hands still remaining on Ruby's shoulder. "Your sister was just… oh, never mind. Let's get these in bags so we still have time to go to the music store."

"Sure, so you can look at the CDs and go ‘Not Me, Not Me, Oh Neptune!!!, Not Me’..." Already ahead of them, Yang was making her way toward the checkout, in far lighter spirits than before. Most girls would shrug off a new set of clothes and simply move on to buying more without a second thought. But for Yang it seemed to mean more. Far more.

Just before Weiss could go with her, Ruby quickly held her back a moment, saying in a hushed tone, "Seriously. She won't thank you for this, because she's not that kind of person; but it meant a lot to her after… y’know. She'll find a less obvious way to show it later, I bet."

The knowledge seemed to surprise Weiss a little. "Really? I mean... it's just a few clothes. The money is pocket change to me, I honestly don't mind. She doesn't have to do anything at all."

"It's how they make her feel that she likes. You'll see after spending more time with her."

From that, it just sounded like Yang was proud of her appearance, and therefore proud of how the clothes made her look. But perhaps it was something else. Something more. Either way, the little sister then began to follow Yang, quickly tugging Weiss along with them. She really was going to have to wait and see what the fangirl meant.

#white noise #freezerburn #freezerburn fanfic #weiss x yang #rwby modern au #rwbyremnants

6 notes · View notes