Disclaimer: Don't own RWBY in any way.
Rating: T
Takes place after the dance, but before our various teams do their field trips - keep that in mind ;) And if you haven't seen Episodes 8 + 9, a certain character's appearance isn't gonna make any sense lol.
Morning, Team JNPR's room
The moment his eyes opened slowly, the first sensation he got was that of heaviness, even more the normal sleep aspect of it. When seconds passed and it didn't go away, he slowly looked up a little. A bundle of orange hair and soft curves lay on his chest, her head particularly near his heart - the ever crazy-adorable Nora. For a moment, his lip curved, laying his head back on the bed. Somehow, he simply couldn't bring himself to be annoyed over this, even though they hadn't fallen asleep like this. So, despite himself, he chuckled a little.
Nora stirred as soon as he did, lifting her head slowly, where she soon met his eyes. He quickly noted she looked wide awake.
Then she grinned. "Finally you're up" she said, at normal volume... well, her normal volume.
He barely minded. "You thought I wouldn't?" he asked, mild.
She giggled, quite loudly as he expected, before giving him a kiss - while surprised, he returned it, mouth only. And before Nora could get any ideas, he pulled away after three seconds, sitting himself up. "Well, you're a lazy sleeper guy" she teased, not minding, still holding onto him from his lap.
"By your standards" he pointed out, to which she just grinned, and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Uhh..."
He glanced around, as did Nora; Jaune just sheepishly waved from his bed, though clearly he was still waking up - Pyrrha also quickly looked away, cheeks red.
...well, he knew it'd be awkward at first. Still, that dance had done them a lot of good; he'd told his team that he and Nora were together now, and Jaune and Pyrrha had gone to the next level afterward. Well, Pyrrha had to get really close to Jaune to coax him into kissing her, as Nora went on and on about last night, but it still happened. And he was pretty sure that due to Nora's mouth and energy, Team RWBY would be aware of this soon, if they didn't already.
Still, he had to do something about the awkward.
"Nothing's changed, guys" he merely said, to Jaune and Pyrrha's surprise. "We're still a team, and still good friends."
"Yeah" Jaune breathed, before nodding. "Yeah, it's cool, Ren... just uh, surprising. I-I mean, Nora said that you two weren't uh, well, together-together, didn't you?"
"I did!" Nora said cheerfully, still holding onto him. "Ren's reaction before that was so funny!"
He made a small groan, but Nora just giggled.
"Sure, but uh... why hide it, guys?" Jaune continued, standing up.
"Well, we're weren't together-together from the start" Nora said cheekily. "I wanted to be, but couldn't stand driving Ren away, so I did nothing, and always said we weren't together-together no matter what. Then Ren did this really smart thing and figured it out (he slowly reacted to this with a raised eyebrow), and proved to me that he was okay with it! Now I like him, he likes me, and we go on as normal!"
"Almost" he added mildly, shrugging. "I just wasn't sure about telling people, at first."
"That's understandable, Ren" Pyrrha added, slowly standing up from her own bed. "You're naturally composed, and it might seem embarrassing... so you'd need a little time to adjust" she continued, slowly sharing a glance with Jaune.
Jaune was a little nervous, but he slowly nodded. "Right, and uh, we'll all need that time now, for us to adjust."
"Well until then-!"
Oh great, the bullhorn again... he managed not to react much, but Jaune instinctively blanched from shock, complete with noise and hands to his ears. Pyrrha also flinched from surprise, but she was less affected than Jaune.
"-what's say we four guys and gals, as a Team, go and get ready!?" she broadcast happily, before she made a sound. "Wait, what's the schedule for today?"
"School, Nora" he said, looking up at her. "It's monday."
"Ahhhh, boo!" she pouted, now spinning the bullhorn upon her finger, yet again.
"Pancakes" he deadpanned.
"I'm coming!" she said, over beside him in a flash, the bullhorn audibly thudding to the ground - he merely playfully rolled his eyes, standing up with her attached to him, near literally. "I'll see you two later" he said to his teammates, heading toward the kitchen. Luckily, no student had ever questioned when he walked into the kitchen wearing pajamas and Nora; they'd long since chalked it up to Nora being herself, and him dragged into it.
"What kind, Ren?" she breathed in his ear, doing something with his hair while she was at it.
"Depends on what they have today."
"And syrup?"
"We'll see" he said mildly, knowing she could suck up a barrel of that stuff. Still, aside from the class incident, he kinda liked the way it splattered against her face - and her sheepish grin upon someone staring at her for inhumanly doing so. In response to his words, Nora just giggled, almost trying to climb up higher on him... he just hoped she wouldn't ask for a piggyback ride. His back throbbed from the memory of the last one.
"Or perhaps-" she whispered low, really breathy against his neck.
"Don't even think about it, Nora" he said, despite the fact that he found himself really liking that.
"Ahhh, you're no fun!"
"We have classes-"
"So?"
He just groaned, but Nora giggled anyway - sometimes she just playfully annoyed him to make herself laugh. What was he gonna do with her?
Lunchtime, Beacon cafeteria
"So there we were, in the middle of a highway-" she said to her captive audience.
"It was a forest."
"Cars and mecha coming at us at impossible speeds-"
"White Fang members."
"-AND WE DESTROYED THEM ALL IN A GLORIOUS EXPLOSION!" she yelled for dramatic effect, arms up.
"She sent them running" Ren said beside her, unconcerned, eating. Ah, it never got old - she told her story version, and Ren told the truth, and thus made things interesting! And unlike the first time she told such a story to her new friends/teammates, this time she had all of their attentions, rather than just her Ren. Yup, that was an improvement! Still, she'd have to work harder to make sure the stories stayed entertaining... oh, and of course she was perfecting that 'be entertaining by spinning a watermelon on her finger' act at the same time!
Still, shame Team RWBY wasn't here for her story.
"Does she ever run out of-?" Jaune started to ask, fork in some kind of meat.
"No" her Ren answered, mild as usual. "Sorry, Jaune."
"Why are you saying sorry?" she asked of him, but not offended, giggling. "You love it!"
"Uh-huh, sure."
She merely laughed, oh he's playing hard to get! Most everyone else started to laugh/giggle/chuckle or whatever too at this quirk.
"OH!" she breathed, standing up quickly.
Must have been louder than even she thought, because even Ren was startled; "Nora?"
"Something furry just licked my leg!"
There was a lull at the table, then all four of them looked underneath the table, hair hanging and everything. Their culprit was a foot-tall dog, panting excitedly as he looked up at them. "Bark! Bark!" he exclaimed in a friendly way.
"A dog?" Jaune asked, surprised. "Who does he belong to?"
"I don't know, but-"
"He's so cute!" she finished for Pyrrha, taking him in her hands and standing up with him, the little guy not minding one bit; in fact, he was excited. "Isn't he adorable?" she asked of the world, her teammates standing up with her.
"Sure, Nora, but-"
"Don't say he has an owner, Ren" she pleaded. "I want to have some fun first!"
"Zwei!"
They all turned at the sound, as did the rest of the cafeteria somewhat - and in walked Team RWBY, obviously looking around for something. Wait, no Blake wasn't with them, so it was just Team RWY. They called things like "Zwei! Where are you!?" - "Anyone seen a dog around here? About yeah high-" - "Where did you run off to!?"
"Ahhhh" she breathed, sad; clearly they were looking for this little guy. And the little guy, Zwei, had perked up as soon as he heard their voices... oh well, so she couldn't keep him, but they'd still have fun later now that she knew who he belonged to!
"Bark! Bark!" Zwei called, still panting excitedly, as if that was normal.
All three of Team RWY turned at the noise - and just like that, Ruby was over in a burst of motion and rose petals. "Zwei!" she squeed, taking him and spinning him fast, complete with Zwei background. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou guys! I was so worried!"
"He came to us, but you're welcome, Ruby" Pyrrha answered, polite as usual.
She quickly popped in: "And licked my leg in the process!" she said cheerfully, getting up close to the puppy, who didn't mind, licking her nose. "I like him for that! Oh, and that of course!"
"Well, perhaps you'd do well on a playdate later" Yang offered, having now come up along with Weiss. "Zwei would love company."
"But right now, this little guy is in trouble" Weiss added, getting really close to the puppy... until: "I was so worried about you! Yes I was, yes I wa-!"
She found everyone staring at her... well, not Team RY, but still. Then she quickly pointed around at all of them (Team JNPR): "That never happened" she said crossly. "You heard nothing!"
"W-We heard nothing, Weiss" Jaune blathered a bit, sheepish.
Just like that, Weiss walked off with her usual 'hmph!', Yang and Ruby just shrugging - Zwei barked at them as they walked away, but entirely happy. "See you guys later" Yang called after them, Ruby adding in 'Yeah, bye!", then they were really gone.
"Well that was weird" she noted, arms crossed.
The rest of her team and Ren slowly looked at her, both at the fact that she was weird all the time (duh), and that they couldn't argue at the same time.
Late Dinnertime, Dorm kitchen
Now, let's see... Jaune, Pyrrha and his own appetites he could handle easily - Nora however, he never could tell where she put everything, or how it never went to her thighs or something.
Still, he had his suspicions as to what burned up those calories... in particular, his memory of touching his finger to her pulse while she slept.
"Under those conditions, her hunger would make sense, but it still isn't logical" he thought to himself. "But with Nora, nothing really is."
Creak
He slowly prepared himself... three, two, one-
"Gotcha!"
The hug-from-behind he was prepared for, so he barely flinched at all, hearing a stream of giggling in his ear. "Hey" he said, as if nothing had happened, though he did like her pressed against his back.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she drew out. "You never act surprised, Ren! That's no fun!"
"Oh no" he said, as if badly reading off a script, otherwise working on the food. "How did you ever escape your shackles, Nora?"
At that, she just laughed her butt off, the sounds echoing off the kitchen wall - inside joke, and didn't make total sense to him either, but she got a kick out of it.
"Oh that was classic, Ren!" she said cheerfully, holding him closer, even that he distinctly felt her rapid heartbeat against his back - rapid meaning normal, in her case. "You're getting good at being spontaneous, my little sloth."
He smiled a little, least to himself. "But I'll never fully be spontaneous" he answered mildly, flipping this batch of pancakes, which compiled all of Nora's food preferences.
"Duh! You're you, and you'll always be you, just like I'll always be me" she said, actually quite gentle, even touching a kiss to his neck. "But I can never surprise you like I just tried to."
"My instincts are fairly top-notch, Nora."
"Oh I know; you use them and 'precision' to make up for your lack of stamina-"
"Anyway" he cut in, sighing a bit. "No syrup, unfortunately."
The lack of any 'Ahhh' thoroughly surprised him, and he glanced back to see Nora just resting against his back, with a content little grin. Much as he found the image cute, and the sensation good, did she even hear him?
"Mmm" she hummed. "It doesn't matter; I'm not that hungry anyway."
"...what?"
"Not for food, I mean."
He was left nonplussed... then just as suddenly, he heard her voice in his head: "You know, when you say soon, you 'really' don't mean it!"
Oh.
It was awhile before he spoke: "Well" he said, a little awkward, before he turned off the heat. "Okay, Nora, but, there is one problem-"
"Our teammates - I know."
Again surprised, he turned against her grip, which she subconsciously adjusted to, leaning against his chest now. He didn't know what to say, mostly because he was surprised she was ahead of him.
"In the same room, being together-together all of us, awkward and all that - it'd be hard to find time to 'do it' at all" she spoke, very faint, almost sad. "Pyrrha and Jaune may train every night, but they're never gone for too long, and you don't want to rush things... right, Ren?"
"...no, I don't" he admitted, slowly holding her back, one hand toying with the ends of her hair.
Nora didn't say anything else, least for now, so he tried to think.
She really did want them to become 'extremely' close, even badly, but she'd been holding back her urges - just like the fear of ruining their friendship, he realized. And until it happened, it would remain with her like a dark spot among her otherwise cheerful, wacky self. Maybe it wouldn't take over her being, or turn her usual self into a mask for that dark spot, but it would still remain.
He slowly breathed out, not wanting to see her this sad, or restrained, whichever was stronger. He had to do something about this-
-but how?
"Anyway-"
He glanced down, Nora picking herself up out of their hug, signature grin in place (a genuine one too). "Maybe I'm not the 'normal' kind of hungry, but I won't say no to pancakes!" she said cheerfully, before moving in a blur to the door, the entire large stack in her hands. "Whoever invented them as a GENIUS!" she continued, before in a blur of motion, she was gone.
He slowly shook his head, bemused, before he followed.
Near Dorm room
Oh, with this many pancakes, she'd be set for the night! Normally, it was just for a few hours you know - if only they were all for her!
"Nora-"
"Oh, so nice of you to join me!" she said cheerfully, Ren catching up to her. "Shall we eat together?"
"Maybe, but how are you gonna get in?"
"With my-!" she started to say, cheerful before she went 'Oh!', looking over her hands. "Oh right, I'm holding pancakes - I'll do it with my feet then!"
"I'll do it, Nora" he said, playfully exasperated, his Scroll out already - hehe, he was sometimes a step ahead of her. Well, not sometimes, more like all the times, but still it was so cute! So, the moment the door clicked open via Ren's Scroll, she walked through the door sideways. "We're back! How missed us!?" she asked with a big grin, only to be surprised. Jaune and Pyrrha were standing far apart, entirely awkward and nervous, and apparently trying to look anywhere but at them. "Did I miss something?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Uh-uh, we were just- gah, I mean-!" Jaune blathered.
"It isn't what it looks like-" Pyrrha tried to say at the same time.
"Stop, stop."
Really surprised, all of them, she looked at Ren.
He slowly breathed out. "Look, we're both couples here" he said carefully. "This is gonna happen, and it's okay - so long as things stay decent."
"Ooooohhhh, you guys were kissing!" she said cheerfully, giggling at their embarrassed reactions. "Ren's right you know; it's gonna happen. But boo on him for keeping things decent!"
He gave her a look, partly of exasperation hehe, but still turned his attention back to their team. "Hand-holding, short kisses... those are acceptable in this room. Anything else, of any kind, is not starting tomorrow."
"Ah, that's mean, Ren!" she said, tossing her stack of pancakes (which sent Jaune and Pyrrha scrambling) as she got closer, looking at him really close. "Jaune and Pyrrha are gonna get closer; why limit them!?"
He slowly looked back at her. His expression said little outwardly, but she saw something more in his eyes... what was it? Oh yeah, that though she said Jaune and Pyrrha, she was also talking about them.
"I said tomorrow, Nora."
It was so low, only she could have heard it, being so close.
But what did he mean? He said tomorrow? Duh, of course he said that, and that meant that both she and the splattered Arkos over there would be bound by the rules, because of common courtesy or something like that. Even she couldn't argue it might be awkward if one day, Arkos were doing it while they were trying to sleep, but still! She was just starting to-
Tomorrow?
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!
That's brilliant!
After that, Ren stepped away from her, but she could have sworn she saw a slight curve on his lip.
Anyway, he helped Jaune and Pyrrha clean up a bit - good news was they'd managed to save a good most of the pancakes, and the 'bad' news was a few had hit the floor/teammates/beds/etc. Now she was sorta glad there wasn't any syrup on those things, because that would have been messy! And much as she liked messy, getting stuff on her teammates while they weren't ready just wasn't fun.
"Come on, Jaune, let's go clean up" Pyrrha breathed, touching a spot of pancake batter fluid on her cheek. "T-Then, we'll eat, and get ready for tonight's training-"
"Oh yeah! And about that, Pyrrha, could we make tonigth longer than usual?" he asked, quickly hurrying after her.
"What for, Jaune?" she asked, surprised, but already out the door.
"Well, we're going on those field trips soon, right? Shadowing Huntsmen and Huntresses? ("Of course.") Well, I gotta be at the top of my game before that happens, so really-"
Then they got too faint to hear, having left.
"Well, well, well, that's good news for them" she said, very sneaky and grinning. "They'll be up there all alone for hours, maybe training, maybe doing more. It's absolutely good stuff!"
"Hehe..."
She looked at him, still cleaning up the pancake splats as best he could - luckily they weren't that bad, and would disappear overnight.
"Soooo" she drew out, almost singing it. "After tonight, it means we'll have to find 'other' places to be alone, my little sloth. Ooo, I'm gonna miss this room and our sessions!"
"It's still our room, Nora" he said mildly, standing up. "But later-"
"But later, things could have turned out 'awkward'" she said with a grin, air-quoting it. "And stuff like that! At best, just awkward, and at worst, REALLY embarrassing that we have an audience for each other's moments! Unless they're into stuff like that-hmm, no I don't think they are. Oh! Wait, I don't think I ever asked you Ren-!"
"No."
"Shame" she said, but having expected that; this was her little sloth Ren after all. "But oh well! Time to enjoy the last batch of intimate happiness in this room!"
Ren took her hand, which immediately got all of her attention, and he was smiling a little. "Then why are you wasting time?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. "
"Oh, good point!" she squealed, before she threw herself at him, near-literally, kissing him hard. A moment later; "There is a little time before they come back, but after that, it's all gonna be good!" she said, then kissed him again. Ren was barely phased, kissing her back right away-
Mmm yes, Ren was by far her favorite flavor that wasn't food!
Somehow I knew I'd have to include Zwei - he's adorable :P