Work Text:
Schnee-tail Therapy
It was ten o'clock in the morning after the heroes arrived at Atlas. Qrow and Oscar were busy briefing General Ironwood and Specialist Schnee, Maria was getting her sorely-needed eye repair, Nora and Ren were on a breakfast date and Jaune wanted to read his X-Ray and Vav comics and keep an eye on the Relic. Therefore, team RWBY elected to undertake some retail therapy.
At present, the four had just arrived at a mall that straddled the residential and military districts. It was quite highbrow and expensive, but Winter allowed them use of her credit card to upgrade their combat garb for the sub-arctic conditions. Weiss had vowed to pay Winter back for her generosity sooner or later.
"So girls," Ruby started upon entering the building, "where should we shop first?"
"Let me check," Weiss said while consulting the map. "Well, there's a few Huntsman shops on the second floor; why not start there?"
"Shouldn't we get something to eat first?" Yang interjected.
"It's only ten in the morning, Yang," Blake replied. "Let's wait until the shopping's done before going to the food court."
Yang slumped. "But I'm tired, and need energy now," she pouted.
Ruby and Weiss both stifled laughter at the childish display, while Blake smirked and responded in kind.
"In that case, may I suggest we fetch something to drink first?"
Yang perked up at that. "Good idea, Blakey."
Fifteen minutes later, the girls had finished their drinks and had ascended to the second floor. True to form, Blake had elected for black Mistralian Afternoon tea, while Weiss had her Vacuan coffee white with two. Yang also had Vacuan coffee, but served black with one, while Ruby opted for a concoction that had even proportions of hot chocolate and marshmallows.
"Damn, that hit the spot," Yang enthused as the Huntsman section of the mall lay before her. Three stores of voluminous size were all sequestered along one of the walls, directly behind the information desk and the escalators.
"Now where to shop ..." Ruby hummed.
"Well, let's see," Weiss said while looking at the stores. "The one on the left deals with the Atlesian specialists exclusively, so that's out. The one in the middle and the one on the right are affiliates, but the store on the right deals with kids attending secondary Academies like Sanctum or Signal."
"So the right-side's perfect for you, Little Miss Flapjacks," Yang ribbed.
"HEY!", Weiss snarled. Ruby was giggling beneath her hands, while Blake made a concerted effort to not smirk.
"I'm just kidding," Yang reassured, while patting Weiss's head like a parent to a kid. "Anyway, let's go for the middle option and see what we can get."
"Sounds fair to me," Blake averred.
Weiss and Ruby simply nodded, and the four waltzed into the store.
Two hours and a burrito lunch later, team RWBY strode out of the mall in style. Ruby had seen the most change; her combat skirt was intact, but she now wore thick black tights underneath her knee-length white socks and grey combat boots. Her cape had been completely repaired, while her corset and blouse were replaced with a thermal singlet beneath a red dress shirt and black combat vest, all of which lay underneath an open black blazer. Weiss hadn't changed her outfit much; she now wore her blue-grey dress over the top of a white silk undershirt, and beneath a form-fitting coat that sat halfway between the colour of her dress and the hue of her hair.
Blake's outfit was different from the waist up. Retaining the thigh-high boots and black pants she'd worn since running away, the cat Faunus had brought back her little black bow and added a black version of her old coat - but without the tails of the original. Blake also added a black undershirt, white dress shirt and a dark purple waistcoat to complete the ensemble. And Yang retained most of her outfit, but with a longer, tail-less version of her duster jacket that reached her hips and a golden-brown shirt beneath it.
As the four waited for the next bus back to their rooms, Yang decided to speak up.
"I've just realised something; you know how Winter paid for our combat clothes?"
"Yes; what about it?" Weiss replied curiously. Much to her mortification, Yang grinned; a joke was surely on the way.
"I guess that was nice of her to help us indulge in Schnee-tail therapy!"
Weiss facepalmed with both hands with a groan, while Yang and Ruby both started laughing and Blake smirked and chuckled.
A/N: Feel free to subscribe to the RWBY Reddit Ramblings series if you want more.