Chapter Text
Shitty Margaritas
“Come on, loosen up!”
“Smile, best friends duo!“
“Weiss, put that down...”
“Where are you hiding these!”
“Mm-mph!”
Weiss awoke, her chest heavy.
Not in a metaphorical sense, it's amazing how carefree you can be when you put an ocean between you and your family. No, it was a literal heaviness, unusual in that area.
Weiss lifted the covers.
Two pink soles greeted her, toes curling against the inflow of chilly air.
Weiss dropped the covers.
Surprisingly, she remained calm. She could comprehend that someone sharing her bed and using her as a footrest was outrageous. Yet the fuse of her anger refused to light. She considered the feeling of her brain being shucked from her head like an oyster may have something to do with it.
At least this cool breeze feels nice, Weiss thought. Wait, breeze?
Holding her head so it didn't roll away, Weiss turned to the hole that used to be their window, the curtains fluttering in the unimpeded draft. Movement above pulled her attention upwards; tattered remains of ropes swayed, the bed they held curiously absent.
“...” she said.
Or at least tried to. She was pretty sure the Vacuo desert wasn't entirely localised on her tongue, but it sure felt like it. Working her jaw, she managed to squeeze a few drops of saliva into the dustbowl of her mouth.
She gagged.
Her desiccated taste buds sprung back into action at the hint of moisture, gleefully announcing she had thrown up. Or been back to that kebab stall in the fairgrounds Ruby insisted on trying.
The reactivation of her tongue started a cascade effect on her other senses. Her eyes snapped closed, wondering why light decided to be sharp now. Smoke clung inside her nostrils, pungent and unwelcome. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears, like bass reverberating from cars low with the weight of their owner's crippling apprehension over their penis size. Everything else was too damn hot.
Something cold bounced against her head, setting off fireworks. The sensation returned, pressed into her temple and rocked her head back and forth.
Okay, I officially hate this person.
Weiss cracked an eyelid open to the sight of Blake holding a bottle of water dripping with condensation.
Scratch that, she's wonderful and I love her.
Scrabbling onto her elbows, Weiss greedily snatched the water bottle. Popping the cap off with her thumb, she gulped it down, crushing the bottle in her hand when gravity failed to keep up.
“How do you feel?” Blake asked.
“Like my body is two sizes too small,” Weiss gasped.
Blake raised an eyebrow. “That was... oddly poetic.”
“Tell me about it,” Weiss replied between swigs. “My brain has been spitting out metaphors since I woke up. I don't even know how to shuck an oyster. What happened?”
“What do you remember?”
Weiss' brow furrowed. “We went out to celebrate our first round win, had a nice meal, then Yang suggested we go dancing?” she said.
“I regret even mentioning that.”
Blake stepped aside to reveal Yang sitting on the bunk opposite, hunched over with her head in hands. A memory slithered out of the murky bog in Weiss' head.
“I didn't want to go, but you said the stick up my butt had a stick up it's butt!” she said.
“I wasn't the only one,” Yang said, looking up at Blake. “ Someone said you outsource fun because it's beneath you.”
“It was Ruby's fault,” Blake shot back. “She weaponised pleading!”
“Ugh, words hurt.” Weiss moaned, flopping back down.
“Er, sorry. We may have been a bit harsh on you,” Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck.
“No, I meant they physically hurt. Can you turn the volume down a notch,” Weiss said, draping an arm over her eyes.
Memories of last night slowly sharpened as Weiss focused. They had goaded her to go to a club, her sensible objections falling on deaf ears. It lived up to her expectations – muggy, noisy, and reeking of sweat. Even several hours in her father's company hadn't left her with such an urgent need to shower than five minutes in that place. Then Yang ordered drinks; a soda for Ruby, and three cocktail glasses filled with a pale green liquid that was...
“Salty and sour?” she said out loud.
“What is?” Blake asked.
“Those drinks that Yang brought,” Weiss said, letting her arm slide off her face. “They were disgusting, what did you make me drink?”
“Margaritas,” Yang piped up. “I said they were pretty strong and to go easy.”
Weiss grimaced. “How many did I have? And why did I keep drinking?”
“Three. And the salt on the rim increases thirst while the tart lime stimulates the palate and reduces the bitterness of the alcohol,” Blake said with a shrug.
Weiss stared at her teammate.
“What? I read,” Blake protested.
“Right... So I had a few drinks then passed out?”
“Nah, you relaxed and let your hair down. Started dancing with Ruby,” Yang said.
Weiss rolled her eyes. Or thought she did, it was hard to tell with the room spinning.
“Nonsense, I wouldn't do...that...” she trailed off.
Best friends dance together!
Her face grew hot as she recalled jerking Ruby out of her seat, forcing her onto the dance floor.
“I waltzed. With Ruby. People cheered, ” she said, mortified.
Yang nodded. “Yep, that whole best friends duo kicked off from there. You spent a good part of night introducing Ruby to everyone as–“
“ This is Ruby, my best friend. We're official now!”
Weiss lunged for Blake's scroll. “You recorded me!” she squawked.
“Naturally. It was cute at first,” Blake said, holding her scroll out of reach. Her face darkened. “Then it got dangerously adorable.”
“While somewhat embarrassing, I don't see how it could be dangerous,” Weiss scoffed.
Standing up, Yang moved to the former window, gesturing with a flourish.
“Well, it's not like we haven't destroyed part of the campus before,” Weiss said uncertainly.
Blake thumbed through her scroll then held it up. In the video Weiss staggered into shot and waved at the camera, almost spilling the contents of the cocktail glass she was holding.
“Best friends duo! Whoo!”
Ruby came into view, carefully prying the glass from her hands.
“Okay, Weiss. That's enough.”
“Ruby! Let's go skating!”
“Sure, sure. But first – wait, what is that? Weiss, put that down...”
There was a flash and the video abruptly cut off. Weiss looked at Blake.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You froze half the club with a pure ice dust crystal.”
“Then ran off with Ruby while we're frozen to the floor,” Yang added. “The owner lectured us, the police questioned us–”
“–we had to clean up your mess,” Blake chimed in.
“–then we looked for you for hours because neither of you were picking up your scrolls. We eventually found you here, passed out after making a few renovations it seems.”
“Perhaps you can explain?” Blake finished.
Poking around in the dregs of last night, Weiss tried to recall what happened after the club. Fragments of memories flashed by; running down the street, the fairgrounds, a bar? She shook her head, stopping when part of her threatened to slosh over.
“No, I don't know what happened,” Weiss said. “Maybe Ruby knows?”
“Well, wake her up then,” Yang said, tilting her head at the lump at the end of Weiss' bed.
“Oh, that's Ruby? Thank the gods!” Weiss said with a sigh of relief.
Blake arched an eyebrow. “Who did you think it was?” she asked.
Weiss paused. “I was hoping for a bad dream?”
A groan issued from under the covers, and Ruby popped her head out, Weiss' tiara caught in her bird's nest of bed hair.
“Ick, was I eating kebabs and Vacuo?” she grumbled.
“Morning, Ruby!” Yang said with alarming cheerfulness. She leaned down and narrowed her eyes. “My little sister wasn't drinking, was she?”
Ruby frowned. “No, why would you think that?”
“Because you reek like the floor of a dive bar. I've poured uncle Qrow into bed enough times to recognise that stink.”
“I wasn't! Weiss just puked on me!”
“I did not!” Weiss said, horrified.
“You did!” Ruby accused. “We were on the ferris wheel and it stopped at the top. The swaying made you vomit.”
“Well that seems highly implausible. Ferris wheels are for–“
“Children and people who enjoy knitting for cats. I know . But we needed somewhere to hide after you blew out the back of the shooting gallery with light dust projectiles,” Ruby continued.
“She did what? Why?” Yang asked.
“Because she thought they were cheating. And we were only in the fairground to hide from Qrow, after Weiss found him in a bar, drank his whiskey, and mouthed off at him!”
Another memory trickled into place in Weiss' mind.
“He deserved it, and it was only one glass,” she said with a sniff.
“Yeah, a Qrow sized glass!”
“So you brought her home after the ferris wheel?” Blake asked.
“Not before she tried to clean the vomit off my tights with fire dust.”
“She didn't!” Yang gasped.
“She did!” Ruby said, rolling onto her back and throwing her arms up. “I still don't know where she was keeping the dust crystals, I searched her after the club!”
“Well, what about the window, and your bed?” Blake asked.
Ruby blushed. “Best friends only need one bed,” she muttered.
Weiss pulled the covers over her head to muffle Yang's howling laughter.
This can't get any worse , she thought.
Her eyes widened as the fog of alcohol evaporated to reveal another splinter of the night before.
Best friends can kiss...
Weiss yanked the covers down and stared at her partner. Ruby refused to meet her gaze, the blush deepening on her cheeks. Weiss sought the safety of her covers again.
I'm never drinking again!
A smile crept onto her lips.
But I don't regret everything...