Carry You

They came into town and Blake pulled her to a somewhat small shop. "This is where more modest fae get their swimsuits, at least around here." Weiss nodded and they entered the shop which was a lot smaller than a lot of the ones they'd visited before. But there were racks of clothes around. However, they were obviouslyverythin and Weiss felt heat creep into cheeks. Yeah, this was definitely going to be mortifying. "Feel free to look around and such. I'll wait here for you." "Okay..." Weiss walked into the store and started looking through the racks. A woman approached and smiled at Weiss. "Can I help you, young lady?" she asked. "Um, I need a swimsuit that covers a lot... Preferably wrist to ankle." Fae clothes made her feel like an overstuffed holiday hen, but they were at least modest. They covered essentially everything which she was glad for. Not too much was shown off other than the face, neck, and hands. It was a more familiar style of dress aside from all the layers. She was glad she didn't have to go to Vale where she would most likely have to wear much shorter clothing... Granted, she had known she would have to do that in due time because of what Winter had said to her to want to send her to Beacon… "We can do that here. Do you have a preferred color?" The woman continued to smile warmly and placidly. "I'm used to white mostly... Maybe some pastel blues or purples." There wasn't a whole lot of color in her wardrobe back at Schnee manor. It was all white or light greys to show off how they could easily keep their clothes clean. It was just yet another demonstration of wealth... Even she could see through it. President Jacques could be crafty, but some things were incredibly obvious. She was just glad that he'd never gotten a bird like a macaw because it would be so cruel to the bird to keep it caged all the time... Vona had been full-feathered and glossy from when she'd seen her. "White's not so great for swimsuits, but we can do some pastels." The woman continued to smile and motioned for Weiss to follow. She did so, going over to a corner rack. The woman hummed a bit as she dug through the racks, then pulled out a pastel purple outfit that had a short skirt and very tight pants (though not quite as tight as riding pants) and sleeves. It went from wrist to wrist and ankle to ankle. "Here, this should work for you. It's within your color range and should fit you pretty well." "Um, thank you." She wasn't sure what else to say. Getting off all the fae clothes to try something on would be a bit of a headache... She would trust the woman's judgment that it would fit her. It was very pretty though. It had a small, tight, repeating floral pattern that was pastel purple and pink set across the light blue background. It would hopefully not look too harsh against her skin. There were small, black dots at the center of the flowers, but that was as dark as it got. It was really nice. Blake came over and paid the woman for the swimsuit and smiled. "Okay, let's head back!" And so it wasn't too long until Weiss found herself back at the Belladonna manor home, following behind Blake as they wove through the hallways to a slightly secluded room in one of the wings. Blake knocked on the door. "Yes, who is it?" A woman's voice came from inside the room. "It's me, Blake. Can we come in?" "We? But yes." Blake opened the door and a room opened up in front of them unlike any Weiss had seen before. Sinks and a bunch of other things sat in the room. A giant mirror stationed itself above a counter and chair unlike any Weiss had seen before. This room was definitely strange. They didn't have a room like it in Schnee manor. But she supposed maybe it was a room for a cosmetologist... It would make sense she had never seen anything like it before since she had never been to a traditional beauty salon. "Oh, is this the changeling girl you brought here?" the woman asked. Blake nodded. "This is Weiss. She wants to try out some shorter hair, Angie." Angie smiled and clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! Would you prefer to have it cut off traditionally or have it done through magic?" she asked, looking at Weiss. "Um... I've never really had a proper haircut, so maybe traditionally?" Even if it took some time, it seemed like it'd be a fun experience. Or at least different. She only ever got the ends of her hair snipped and had never had anyone chop it off. Plus... She kinda wondered what it would be like to have her hair completely chopped off. She could always have it fixed with magic if she ended up not liking it. There were no downsides here. And it wasn't like anybody was going to get upset at her for having shorter hair... Kali's hair was incredibly short and close-cropped. Blake had waist-length hair though Weiss' was still much longer than that. "That'll take a while, but if it's what you want. How short were you thinking?" Weiss grimaced internally. She hadn't really gotten that far. "I'm not sure. Would you have a suggestion?" "Well, what are you looking for in haircare? Easy to take care of? Length? Something else?" Weiss shrugged. "I just wanna try shorter hair." That was all there was to it. "How about we try mid-back first, then if you don't like that, we can go shorter still?" Weiss nodded. That sounded like a good compromise. "Did you wash your hair this morning?" Weiss shook her head. "No. I only wash it every couple of days." Washing it everyday was just way too much of a pain and she knew it wasn't good for the natural oils in her hair to strip them everyday. She avoided things like sulfates because they were harsh and would strip oils even more than necessary. She only used sulfate-free stuff. Thankfully, it didn't seem like the fae even had chemicals like sulfates based on what was said at her appointment with the shampoo specialist… "Well, I'll need to wash it if you don't want a magical cut. Come on." Angie motioned and Weiss nodded, sitting down in a chair in front of a sink. "My my, your hair really is long..." Angie started gathering it up in the sink and rinsed water over it. "I've never seen a fae with hair as long as yours. Why cut it now?" There was no aggression or anything in Angie's tone, just sheer curiosity. "It wasn't really my choice to have it this long. Atlas forces women to keep long hair. Though, usually, it's notthislong." Maybe waist length like Blake's or mid back, but not almost down to the knees. It was honestly such a pain to take care of. It was heavy even without the weight of water in it. It bogged her down in the shower so much. She really was terrified of what would happen if she got into the water with this. She was pretty sure no showcap that wasn't custom made couldn't keep all of her hair in it at once. She had shower caps, but they were entirely custom made like so many other things for the Schnee family. She had never worn mass-produced clothes before. She knew they existed, but she doubted she had ever evenseenmass-produced clothing… "So I see. Well, sometimes cutting hair off can be a way to start a new leg of life. Also, tell me if the water's too hot, okay?" Weiss gave a tiny nod, trying not to disrupt Angie's work. Honestly, it was always kind of soothing to have somebodyelsedo her hair. She struggled with it a fair bit even in everyday life... Her ponytail was so incredibly heavy which was why she tended to wear it in a braid when being active. "I'm really only doing this because Blake suggested it, but it seems like a good idea especially if I'm going to learn to swim." Even just in the shower, it got so unreasonably heavy that holding her head up could be difficult. She couldn't imagine how much worse it would be if she were completely immersed in water. Even cut off to mid-back would be a lot better than how long it currently was. It wouldn't be anywhere near as heavy and cause anywhere near as much drag. They had gotten her a swim cap in the bathing suit store since she was getting her haircut, so it ought to be able to fit into a more standard swimcap… Angie nodded. "Yeah, this would definitely cause some problems in the water. Hair gets so heavy when wet." Weiss gave a small nod, not denying it. She knew too well from washing her hair just how heavy it did get. But she was glad that she could get it cut... It was another way to cut ties with her former life and leave President Jacques and Schnee manor behind. "It's pretty bad even just in the shower," she agreed. Angie finished up with washing and had her sit up, squeezing her hair dry with a towel, then ran her fingers through it a bit. It felt a lot lighter after that. "What did you do?" "I used some magic to dry your hair a bit. It's still damp but it's not sodden anymore. I need it a little wet to cut it." Weiss nodded. "Now let's get over to the chair." Angie led her over to the chair and Weiss felt it boost up. Huh, she never knew a chair could be raised like that if it wasn't a computer chair. She was used to adjusting computer chairs and such, but she didn't know anything else like that could be adjusted. Interesting. "So mid back." Weiss nodded. Angie got the scissors and ran a straight line across her back. Weiss blinked at how much suddenly lighter her head felt. "Wow." She knew her hair was heavy especially when wet, but she hadn't known it was justthatheavy. It was light night and day. It was crazy how much lighter she felt. "Honestly... Go to shoulder length." The less weight, the better. She was now finding she didnotlike all the extra weight her hair put on her head and neck. She wondered how much strain the sheer amount of weight had put on her joints... "Are you sure? I'm not even quite done with this." "Please," Weiss requested. She wanted it to be as light as possible. She didn't mindsomelength, but she didn't wantthatamount of length. Let alone the weight. "All right then." Angie took the scissors and moved up to Weiss' shoulders, cutting a little bit below them. It felt honestly quite amazing to not have all that extra weight bogging her head and neck down. She was glad to have it gone. "I cut a little below because it'll shrink as it dries, and I'll need to clean up the cut line. It's very rough right now." Weiss gave the tinies nod, to let Angie know she got what she was saying. Even if it was a little past her shoulders, she didn't really mind. She wasnevergoing back to having super-long hair again. Maybe shoulder length or even shorter... She definitely wasn't doing that again out of choice. She felt so much lighter and freer... Honestly, she wondered how her fighting style had been affected because of the strange weight of her hair. She sat in silence while Angie cut, the rhythm of the scissors somehow comforting to her. She watched Angine in the mirror, seeing her hair growing ever so shorter as Angie worked. She was really glad to have done this, though President Jacques never would've allowed it... She had some level of bodily autonomy. Yes, Blake had suggested it, but she could've said no if she wanted to. This was her choice in the end. She and Angie had made an agreement and she'd stuck by it... She would never,evergo back to super long hair. Maybe she'd let it grow out a bit more in the future, but for now, she was more than happy with the length. Eventually, Angie finished and smiled at Weiss. "Tell me what you think." Weiss looked in the mirror since she hadn't really been able to follow with her head tilted and she stared a little bit. "Woah." She looked the same, but almost entirely different at the same time. Her hair wassoshort. It would be absolutely scandalous by Atlassian upper-class standards. Way too short and not feminine enough. Mid-back length was about the shortest an upper-class woman was allowed. This was well beyond what would've been acceptable in Atlas. But she wasn't in Atlas anymore. She was in Koiria. There could be no scandal. Kali wore her hair incredibly short cropped and they kept a cosmetologist on hand at all times. Why do that if not to keep hair short and trimmed? Even President Jacques hadn't kept a cosmetologist in their house at all times. Then again, he was all about money... Keeping someone on premises that would only work once in a while wasn't smart. Fae apparently had other thoughts about it… "I don't think I'm gonna go back," she said. "Maybe I'll let it grow out a bit more in the future, but for now... Wow. I feel like a different person." It was crazy just how much she felt different. Like a major connection to her old life had been severed. This really did feel like a new beginning now. She was tentative but kind of excited to see where her new life took her... Though she still wasn't fond of the idea of living for nearly a millennium... Even a couple hundred years sounded detestable... She didn't want to outlive Winter by centuries. "Well, that's up to you. Feel free to visit whenever you want." Angie smiled. "And if you ever want your hair colored somehow, I can do that too. No need for harsh dyes, though... I can easily just do it with magic. Your hair is theperfectcolor for dyeing." Weiss flushed a bit but nodded. She wasn't sure if shewouldtake her up on that offer or not but...she'd stick a pin in it, so to speak. Maybe she should do something crazy and radical with her hair... It sounded like nobody was going to stop her. She would need to see what options were available before she did anything. "Would you have any photos or anything that I could look at? I'm not going to make a change like that immediately but...to see if I want to do it." She was all about studying and learning. She wanted to scout her options before making any decisions. She was at least trying to think about things she could do. The only real body modification she had was earrings which she'd had since she was a child. As usual, not her decision. Most if not all young upper-class girls had their ears pierced. She hadn't brought any earrings with her though... Not enough time to think to grab. Now that she thought about it, it felt strange to not have anything in her ears. Angie nodded and went over to a bookshelf, then placed a book in Weiss' hands. "This shows you a lot of different options. From flat dyes to ombre dyes... There are a lot of options and potential color combinations." "Okay, thank you." Angie took the little tarp thing off Weiss and she hopped out of the chair, going over to Blake. "We should probably drop this off in my room first." "Sounds good." Blake smiled and they headed off to Weiss' room. She sat the book on her end table and they left. "You've already heard it, but I'll warn you again that Vona can beincrediblyloud. Keep in mind that macaws and other parrots are designed to be in large areas with dense vegetation. Their cries are meant to carry for miles and miles. She's learned to be quieter, but she still screams sometimes." "Doesn't that hurt your ears? It hurt mine last time..." No, she didn't forget how loud the macaw's cries had been now that her memory about the bird had been jogged. Blake had cat ears and no doubt catlike hearing. Wouldn't it hurt evenmoreto hear the macaw's screams with Faunus hearing? Blake nodded. "Oh yeah, it definitely hurts to hear her scream. We have more than enough space for her to roam around in a safe environment and pick and play at whatever she wants. But she still requires a lot of attention. I keep her with me when I'm doing my studies but I haven't been spending quite as much time around her since I haven't been in lessons..." Blake's ears drooped a bit. Weiss could only guess she felt guilty about it... She wondered why. It wasn't like she spent a lot of time with Winter and she knew Winter loved her beyond words. People didn't need to spend a ton of time around each other to know that they loved each other. "What's the big deal? It's not like you need to spend a ton of time with her to know you love her." Blake shook her head. "That's not how it is with parrots. They're flock animals. Theyneedtime with either another bird or their people in order to stay mentally well. You coming just upset my schedule a lot... You should start lessons pretty soon at least." Weiss nodded a bit. Yeah, it wasn't like she'dchosento come here, so it wasn't like she couldfeelguilty about it. Blake had essentially kidnapped her which... Well. She was grateful for to some degree. She wasn't being abused and mistreated anymore, let alone betrothed to a man ten years her senior. She was glad to have escaped that particular fate. She didn't want to bear a bunch of children, die young, and then be forced to the afterlife... That sounded like a terrible life. "Ah." She didn't really know what to say. Again, it wasn't like she had chosen to come here. Why feel guilty when it had been against her will? "Honestly, it might not be a bad idea to get another macaw of some sort... I'm going to need to spend a lot of time with you and I don't want Vona to feel lonely. She's still a baby, only eight months old, so it should be easy enough to introduce her to a new companion." Weiss didn't respond since it sounded like Blake was more talking to herself out loud than to Weiss directly. She had no real input on this conversation, so she just remained quiet. They eventually reached a slightly secluded room and Blake knocked on the door. "Vona, it's me." Blake looked at Weiss. "Like with people, it's just polite to knock." Not like she'd ever really had anybody be 'polite' in Schnee manor aside from servants. Winter and President Jacques just entered her room whenever they wanted to. But, with Winter, it did make sense that she wouldn't knock. Any upset to their nightly meetings that would tip the president off... Yeah. They both would've gotten in alotof trouble had he ever known about their meetings. An unearthly screech greeted them and Blake’s ears went down before she opened the door. Within a fraction of a second, something large launched itself at Blake and landed on her hand. The beautiful bird from before stood there and nuzzled its head against Blake’s cheek. “Sorry I haven’t been around as much, girl… I didn’t expect spending so much time with Weiss would happen… I’m sorry I’ve left you alone so much.” The macaw made a sound that Weiss didn’t understand, so it couldn’t have been a sound that meantanything.The bird was clearly attached to Blake quite a bit and Weiss couldn’t help but feel bad now. But it wasn’t like she had chosen to come here. Blake had made the executive decision to bring her here. “Would you like to free fly a bit?” The bird squawked and flapped her wings a bit. Blake smiled. “Let’s go then.” Blake looked at Weiss and they started to walk, heading back outside. Blake held her hand out and the bird started to fly laps around the open area near the house. “You really shouldn’t do this with any random bird… Freeflight training takes a considerable amount of time and effort. She already came trained which is good. Most parrot breeders here in Koiria won’t clip the birds’ wings, though I didn’t get her here.” “Clip?” She tilted her head to the side a bit. She knew nothing about birds, so she couldn’t fathom what clipping evenwas.She really was at a loss of what to say. She was learning about falconry, sure, but parrots were a far cry from falcons and hawks and such. They were flocking animals that she was pretty sure were prey animals, so it wasn’t like she could really expect them to behave remotely similarly to a raptor. She was learning from Lilyana, sure, but learning about parrots wasn’t high on her list of things to do. Blake nodded. “Basically they cut the wing feathers to make sure the bird can’t fly much if at all.” Weiss frowned. “Why would they do that?” “Because babies are clumsy and can hurt themselves when fledging. Have you ever seen a child learn to walk?” Weiss shook her head. “I didn’t even know I had a brother until after my sister left… I didn’t even know I had asisteruntil I was six.” She still wasn’t exactly sure why President Jacques chose to allow her to interact with Whitley when he’d kept them separate for so long. There had to besomethingbehind it, but she had no idea what. But she also didn’t reallycare.Whitley was nothing but a mini-me of her father and that wasn’t exactly something she wanted to deal with. But he pestered her every chance he could get, rubbing plenty in her face. She hated him. He was nothing more than a scoundrel that was no better than any other Atlassian man. Blake’s ears twitched. “That’s…sad. I’ll probably have siblings atsomepoint, but for now, I’m an only child. But yeah, a child is clumsy when learning to walk. They fall down constantly and often hurt themselves on furniture and such. In that regard, baby parrots are no different. They often crash, fall, and bump into things when they’re learning to fly. So breeders will clip their wings when they’re babies to make sure they don’t hurt themselves.” She frowned. “But the thing is that they’re essentially cutting off a child’s legs just because they’re hurting themselves. Ofcoursethey’re clumsy; they’rebabies.They don’t know any better. You’re not good at things the first time you try them, are you?” She looked at Weiss. “Uh… It can take me a while, yeah. But I do tend to understand things pretty quickly.” It took time to build skill but she usually understood the theory behind things pretty well. She’d gone from not understanding anything about math and science to reading top-tier dust journals within a year. And that had been with pretty much no guidance whatsoever. Klein just brought her books and left her to her own devices to figure it out. “But I think I get what you mean.” “There are medical cases where clipping a birdcanbe necessary, like a bird that is blind. A flighted, blind bird will never learn where stopping places are in a wide-open room. It’d also be unable to learn to free fly like Vona here because they can’t see threats coming or see where trees are. So, in a case like that, clippingisnecessary. But to clip a baby bird just because it’s clumsy? It’s considered cruelty here.” She shook her head. Well, that was something at least. Granted, Atlas didn’t have high opinions on animals that weren’t meant for just showing off… She was surprised there wasn’t a falconry community as far as she was aware. It seemed like the sort of thing the upper-class wouldreallyenjoy doing. Having an aura golden eagle to show off their wealth seemed like something they’d really want to do… “I see.” She really didn’t have much to input into the conversation. It wasn’t like she knew a lot about birds yet… And, again, parrots were something completely separate from raptors. She was learning about raptors, their diet, and body language, but she was just a novice when it came to that. She was trying her best, but she definitely still had a lot to learn… She would honestly probably never be done learning. There was such a deep well of knowledge. She wanted to learn it all but that would just come with time and experience. Blake held her hand out and Vona landed on it. Blake offered Vona to Weiss. “Would you like to hold her?” “Is it anything like falconry or…?” Blake shook her head. She showed Weiss how to hold the bird and Weiss picked it up pretty quickly. “Youarequick to pick things up. Then again, this is pretty simple… Remember, just keep your thumb over her feet. It’ll really clue you in to how she’s feeling.” Weiss nodded a bit and the bird hesitantly stepped over to Weiss’ hand. Evenshecould tell it was hesitant despite her general lack of knowledge on animals. Vona took a few moments to raise her foot and step over. Weiss placed her thumb over Vona’s feet and she could feel tension there. The bird’s feathers were also close to her body and she kept one eye on Blake. “Vona, it’s fine. She’s not going to hurt you.” The bird looked unconvinced. Weiss handed her back after a few minutes and the bird gleefully hopped over to Blake. Blake kissed her head. “Sorry. She’s not great with people outside of me and my parents… A lot of parrots are one-person birds. She’s best with me because she wasmybirthday present and I spend the most time with her. I’ll have to look into getting a hyacinth or some other macaw friend for her… Hopefully around the same age and also free-flight trained.” Blake smiled. “It could beyourbird.” Weiss shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea… You said you put months of research into her. I don’t know the firstthingabout parrots or parrot body language. That really sounds like a recipe for disaster… Plus, I’m more interested in raptors.” The bird was beautiful, sure, but she really didn’t want to have to care for a needy, high-maintenance bird. Well. She was pretty sure the raptors would be high maintenance, but in a different way. Not as needy socially since they were relatively solitary birds. But aura breeds did change the dynamic… “Fair enough. My parentsreallydid want to make sure I put my time and effort into learning about macaws before settling on one. It’s a lifelong commitment. They can live around eighty years.” Weiss nodded a bit. “Thatisa lifelong commitment, especially for people on Remnant.” She couldn’t imagine having a bird that would likely last her entire lifetime, maybe even outlive her, depending on when she got it. But, for fae, it did make sense that they could have parrot companions. The birds wouldn’t outlive them by any means, not with their exceptionally long lifespans. Though she had to imagine how lifestyles would change… Could one even have a parrot if they were working eight to twelve hours per day? Blake was young now, but what of sixty years from now? Then again, she was still considered basically a baby by fae standards from what Blake had told her. Blake petted Vona’s head. “Oh, another thing… If you want to pet a parrot, don’t go below the neck. It’s literally making the bird sexually stimulated. Vona’s too young to have hormonal problemsyetbut if you start when they’re a baby, they’ll expect it when they get older…and you’ll have a sexually frustrated parrot which isn’t good. It can lead to allsortsof behavioral problems.” Weiss nodded a bit, filing that away. “Duly noted.” “Youshouldbe able to hold their wings and such for medical exams, but that’s different than petting them on the wings and underneath. I’ve done alotof non-coercive training with her for things like medications, vet visits, and nail trims and such. I had to study animal training before getting her to make sure I could handle her properly and I wouldn’t stress her too much for vet visits and such.” “Makes sense.” Again, just not much to add here. The bird was cuddled up against Blake, but Blake was only petting her head and neck. “Iscuddlinga problem?” Blake blinked and looked down at Vona. “Not like this, no. If she’s just leaning up against you, that’s no big deal. But petting her is where the problems happen.” Weiss nodded a bit. That did make sense. Well, at least Blake knew what she was doing… She had spent alotof time training and dealing with the bird. She was glad Vona had a good home… She’d seenwaytoo many naked birds shoved into tiny cages in Atlas. Being able to get fresh air like this and stretch her wings and fly… Vona did have it pretty good here. “Shall we go to the pool now?” “Might as well. Are you going to bring Vona?” Blake shook her head. “Birds and open water usually ends in disaster… Let’s go.” She smiled. Weiss still had the bag from shopping for her bathing suit. “Oh, I’ll need to go get my bathing suit first. Have Sayaka take you to the pool. You can change there, then get in the shallow end if you want to. But don’t go to the deep end. You don’t know how to swim, so you’ll probably drown if you do that.” Weiss frowned at the dramatic image. It was true, but to be outrighttoldshe’d drown… That wasn’t unnerving at all or anything. “Okay.” She looked at the little bird on her shoulder and, with the directions being given to her, she started heading off. She really had no idea what to expect, but she hoped it wouldn’t be bad… She just couldn’t get it out of her mind that water brought death. Hopefully, hopefully she won’t drown…