Summary: Team JNPR's day at the aquarium. For the /r/RWBY Monthly Fanfiction Contest: June
Seasick
RWBY
"I feel sick guys…." Nora held a hand to her lips, her cheeks puffed with air in an attempt to suppress the pancakes from seeing light again.
"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, gently patting Nora's back. "I think I'll take her home," Pyrrha said with a smile before guiding Nora to the exit.
"She's seasick," Ren stated flatly.
"Seasick? In an aquarium?" Jaune looked around. They were in the starfish petting exhibit. In open air. The ocean was half a mile away. The closest body of water was being vandalized by Team RWBY in an attempt to tag as many starfish as possible. "How can you get seasick in an aquarium?"
Ren shrugged. "It's a thing."
"Man, the aquarium is so uncool." Jaune began. His eyes drifted towards the pool where a lone starfish was lazing on a rock.
"Totally," Ren agreed.
"Nobody would want to pet a starfish right?"
"Right."
"The aquarium is so uncool… especially a starfish petting exhibit. That's lame right? Totally lame?"
"Yup."
They both continued to eye the idle starfish lazing in the pool.
Ren looked up to the sky. "Jaune."
"Ren." Jaune looked up at the sky.
"I want to pet a starfish," they both admitted simultaneously. They cast each other a millisecond glance before they began tumbling towards to the pool in a ball of frustrating. The lone starfish continued lazing in the sunshine.
"I'm petting it first!" Jaune declared.
"No me! It's been my dream since I was seven!"
"It's been mine since I was four!"
The two tussled with each other in a rampage to reach the lone starfish. Team RWBY began watching on a nearby bench with popcorn.
"I wonder who's going to win," Blake said with some popcorn and butter in her mouth.
"Hey hand me some of that! Where did you get that anyways?"
Blake revealed a hidden popcorn machine behind them along with 'Team Ren' and 'Team Jaune' merchandise. "I was planning a three phase movie franchise but we never got around to the Civil War story line." Blake shrugged. "At least the kids are happy.
Yang looked at Weiss and Ruby.
"Come on Jaune! Rip that pretty boy's hair off!" Weiss screamed at the top of her lungs. A giant yellow foam Jaune #1 pointed furiously into the sky.
"Knock him out Ren! Team Ren! Team Ren!"
"Well I didn't almost drown in the penguin exhibit!"
Jaune gasped. "You promised not to tell anyone! That was our secret. I trusted you like a brother." Tears began welling in Jaune's eyes.
"You nearly drowned in like four inches of water!"
"Okay. For the record it was five and that's deep for a seven year old, okay!?"
"You're not worthy to be the leader of this team…"
Jaune gasp. "Is this… mutiny!?"
Ren lunged at Jaune with the strength of raging fire as Jaune dodged with the swiftness of a coursing river before Ren landed a punch on Jaune's nose with the force of a great typhoon.
"That… that hurt!" Jaune began crying. Ren sighed, closed his eyes, and raised his fist in victory.
"I get to pet that starfish first… heh…"
Weiss and Ruby ran over.
"Uh… Jaune, you okay?"
Ruby looked at the pool. "You realize there's more than one starfish right?"
Ren's eyes opened.
"Oh."
Watching Jaune and Ren make their apologies to one another were Pyrrha and Nora. They were seated themselves a fair distance, watching the spectacle to see how the males of their team behaved without them all the while enjoying some shaved ice (mango orange for Nora and strawberry pink for Pyrrha).
"Like a bunch of monkeys without bananas," they both agreed.
They both giggled, amused at the coincidence.
"Hey, did you vote to go to the aquarium?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah, did you?" Nora chugged the contents of the white foam cup down her throat.
"Strange." Pyrrha nursed her shaved ice. "I thought it was strange someone voted to go to the amusement park. I wanted to go but I've always been so busy. Plus those two monkeys over there would never admit they want to go to something as childish as an aquarium."
Nora laughed in agreement. "Same! Still, I didn't think anyone would vote for the Pancakes Expo. I thought nobody else had even heard of it."
Pyrrha smiled. "You talk about it in your sleep. Well, that and I saw some magazine clippings."
Nora returned the smile. "Thanks for voting for the Pancake Expo."
"Thanks for voting for the amusement park."
They continued to watch their male teammates as they began wading in the shallow pool petting starfish. Jaune slipped on a rock and fell into thirteen inches of water.
"Help! Help! I can't swim!" His screamed echoed throughout the sky.
As Ren pulled him out, Pyrrha turned to Nora. "May I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Why did you pretend to be seasick?"
Nora rested a cheek on her hand. "Ren wanted to go to the aquarium but he would never be happy if he went here with me."
Pyrrha tilted her head curious. "Why is that? Wouldn't it be better to go someone together?"
Nora closed her eyes. "Because if we went to the aquarium, he'd want to go to the Pancake Expo and he'd refuse to have any fun while I'm around." Nora opened her eyes and looked at the flock of seagulls flying together. "He's the sort of dumb-dumb who'd feel guilty for having fun. So it's best if I stepped aside for a while."
Pyrrha brought her knees to her chest.
"Love is sacrifice isn't it?" Pyrrha gently touched her heart, as if an arrow had been struck by it.
"Well, aren't we family?" Nora asked brightly.
Pyrrha' eyes perked up. "That we are!"
"Come on. Let's see if the idiots want to get dinner."
"I'm in the mood for pancakes."
"You hate pancakes, Pyrrha… I'd rather have some seafood."
"You hate seafood…"
"Jaune likes meat and Ren likes rice…" Nora cupped her chin in thought.
Pyrrha's eyes widened when an answer came to her. "We should go to a buffet!"
Nora's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
"And let's invite Team RWBY!"
"Just what-" Pyrrha began.
"-I was thinking," Nora finished before the two stepped off the bench and headed down to starfish petting exhibit beneath the yellow-orange sunset.
Seasick Fin