Author's Note: I'm a bit rusty because I haven't written much in a long time, so excuse me if my prose or portrayal of the characters suck. This takes place just after Volume 2 Chapter 7, the dance episode.

Warm streetlamp light brushed upon two figures walking to their dorms after a heavy night of dancing, partying-

"... and I never knew Jaune- *hic* Jaune's dress size was so small! I'm almost jealous!", one giggled as if she'd had too much of a brandy someone had covertly snuck into the ball, which she had.

-and watching their team leader flirt with their teammate by dancing in a skimpy dress. The other, taller figure pulled the shorter one closer, both to support her stumbling weight and to restrain her from doing anything unwise in her stupor.

"I confess I did not expect such… femininity to exude from him. I mean, good for him that it worked, but…"

"But what, Ren?"

He turned to the smaller girl who'd linked arms with him at the end of the dance and had not let go since, his voice jokingly conspiratorial. "Do you think everything he wore was feminine?"

Nora's brow furrowed, then shot up in understanding. "Euughh!", she giggled harder, imagining the flimsy, nervous boy buying women's underwear to complete the outfit. "Dust, I hope not! Although you have t- *hic* to admit he'd make a great lady."

Ren's quiet laughter died down as he cringed, avoiding the image of Jaune batting his eyelashes seductively, clad in a skimpy silk blouse. "I decline to comment, and you're terrible for putting that into my head." But Ren wasn't one to crack jokes too often, and Nora was determined to capitalize on it.

"Oh, I'm awful," she sneered into Ren's coat. "Imagine him, spread-eagle-"

"-Aaaaand that's the end of that conversation." Ren grinned as he smothered her laughs with his other hand. "Why not talk about something less… less that. Hey, the weather's been somewhat odd these last few weeks. It looks light it might even start raining tonight."

Nora pulled herself from her gag with a pout. "Boo. Not cool. Weather conversation doesn't count as conversation, unless you're a meteralalagous *hic* mereotolist *hic* mibbity-hibbity-hip-hop-bibbity-" The ginger swayed as she walked, each step (and word) more nonsensical than the last.

Ren wrapped his arm around her waist from the side and held her arm to steady her. "Meteorologist. Dust, how much alcohol did you have?", he asked as he pulled her close again.

"Yeah, that." Nora ignored the question. "You know what's really important right now, though?"

"Hmm?"

"That guy who runs the Dust store in town, I think he's the same guy we saw running that noodle shop in town. So which one is it? How is he doing both? Are they twins? Does he just run really really fast between- *hic* between the stores? Personally, my theory is that…."

The boy listened without speaking, as he knew the signs of an oncoming rant. This was good, he thought. He had to keep her busy talking. For one, it would keep her awake, as he would dread having to carry her all the way back to bed. Not that he minded carrying her, but he did mind being sore before morning training. For another, it kept her distracted from doing anything rash. Previous instances of Nora getting tipsy- not always on accident- often resulted in damaged property and damaged bones. Keeping her close and keeping her talking would keep her from destroying a lamppost for looking at her funny. And for another, he did like to hear her talk to him and only him. No matter how many years they'd been friends, he'd never get tired of it and would, more often than not, humour her topic, provided it wasn't excessively inappropriate. Maybe it was the chipper lilt of her voice, or the way she could talk to him about things she wouldn't dare mention to anyone else. Maybe it was her convoluted train of thought that always kept things interesting, or that it kept him from having to put too much effort into speaking. Maybe it was that it was a comforting staple of his life. Maybe it was that she was passionate about anything and everything. Maybe it was her lips-

Ren blinked, and made a point to look anywhere but her lips, like straight ahead. Into the lip-less distance. Where their lip-less dorm stood proudly. And lip-lessly. How much did I have to drink? He'd had more experience with alcohol than his partner and held his alcohol well, but even Ren had his limits.

"... so basically, Dust stocks have gone down, and noodle stocks are rising fast. We gotta buy, *hic* Ren. Shit, we gotta buy so many noodles. We'll be so rich, dude, I swear. We'll be up to our necks in noodles."

"And how many noodles would that be?", Ren smiled, still staring at the dorms.

"Like…" Nora counted on her fingers. "... at least ten noodle."

"Damn, that's a lot of noodle. Really though, how much did you have to drink?" Ren turned again to the girl. Her weight on him had gotten heavier; Nora was finally getting sleepy.

"I had about... ten noodle…" She held up four fingers. "...don't judge me… I'm my own noodle…" Ren stifled a laugh at her drooping head.

"That is quite a lot of noodle." His gaze shifted to her soft, shining face once more. She really did look beautiful tonight.

Nora's eyelids were weighed down by the night. "...don't judgemmme...you'on know m'storymmm."

Maybe it was her lips. But maybe it was all of her.

By the time they'd reached the doorstep of the dorm building, Nora was practically falling all over him. Supporting her frame with one arm, he pulled out his scroll with the other and ran it over the pad on the door, which slid open with a whish. Just in time as well, as the willow trees began to flap in new night rain, glistening in the warm glow of the streetlamps. Ren and Nora step-dragged into the elevator and ascended in silence, apart from the whir of the machinery and Nora's occasional mumble. She hadn't stopped her noodle discourse, and had quietly transitioned from noodles to poodles, from poodles to Zwei, to Oobleck, then to Ozpin, then to- what was she on now?

"...and all the students ship it so hard, but like, Glynda and Oz...nnncan't see their own chemistry*hic*"

Ah yes, talking about their headmaster and their professor's relationship. Admittedly, it did sound much more boring when phrased as such. However, Ren had to agree, the chemistry was there, and it did pain him to watch the two hold excessively prolonged passing glances and awkward silences. How could they not see it, right in front of them?

Ren and Nora were getting home much later than the rest of their classmates on account of helping clean up at the dance for a short while, so Ren focused on getting Nora back to their room as quietly as possible. He had a low tolerance for anyone who disturbed his sleep (except for maybe Nora), and respectfully showed the tact he would like to be treated with while unconscious. Nora, on the other hand, was suddenly and unexpectedly punctuating words and phrases in her mumble with a sharp rise in volume.

"...and if they could just SEE what everyone ELSE sees…"

"Nora, hush.", Ren whispered softly, not entirely paying attention anymore.

"...and YOU saw them dancing behin-*hic* the- the- the column on the balcony, ALONE!"

"Nora." He fumbled with his scroll to unlock their dorm, in which Jaune and Pyrrha were no doubt fast asleep.

"...and it was so ROMANTIC and EVERYONE saw it and they ALL wanted to be them and I wanted to be them-"

"Nora, please!" Ren hissed as the door clicked open and they all but tumbled in. "Everyone's asleep, we need to be quie-"

"Ren, did you*hic* hear me?" With all her drunken, sleepy effort, she broke from his arms, stepped in front of him, and looked up at him, right in the eyes. Ren paused, mildly taken aback at her sudden clarity.

The girl searched his pink eyes longingly, illuminated by silent moonlight. Nora buried her face in Ren's chest, sighing into the soft, enveloping fabric. "I wanted to be them. I wanted to be them. I don't know if they know it yet, but even they can see that something's gonna happen be*hic*between them. I want to know that that could happen to- to- to- to me*hic*"

Ren's brow wrinkled in concerned recognition. How much DID she have to drink tonight? From previous experiences with drunk Nora, she was usually only silly-drunk or fighty-drunk, neither of which were optimal states of being. But on occasion- Ren could count only twice out of six times- Nora would progress to emotional-drunk, which was a seriously nonoptimal state of being. If Nora stayed conscious any longer, she would surely say or do something even more regrettable than her usual property damage.

He glanced to the still fabric mounds of Jaune and Pyrrha, fast asleep under heavy blankets. If Nora stayed conscious any longer, she might wake them up as well. Ren threw subtlety to the wind and picked the girl up in his embrace, waddling to her bed. Their beds, really- growing up as fellow orphans in such a dangerous world, they'd never felt comfortable sleeping unless it was in arm-length proximity of each other. The habit had never broken, and Ren and Nora had pushed their beds together to form a single, larger bed on the first day they'd moved in. Yeah, that's it. We're fellow orphans, Ren reminded himself internally. Ignore what she's saying, she's drunk, and you're not too sober yourself, and even if she was being accidentally honest- Ren glanced down at the shock of ginger hair taking up his field of view- she couldn't mean… you. We're best friends. Always together. Friends to the end. But a deeper, more familiar internal voice, full of implications, piped up.

So don't get your hopes up.

But once he'd set (flung) Nora on her bed, her hand drifted gently to his wrist, with an uncommon delicacy that sent a chill down his spine. "I want to know that it could happen to us."

Shit shit shit

Ren shakily returned her hand to her side and drew up her duvet around her shoulders. "Um, good night, Nora, I will be… going. Over here. To my side of the bed. And you should stay on your side tonight, probably, as that would be, um… highly beneficial to your...health." Slightly off-kilter but too tired to change into sleep clothes, Ren pulled off his shoes, coat, and suit, and shambled into his own covers.

"Oh don't be such a *hic* prude," mumbled Nora under her duvet. "You know I get like this. It doesn't even matter...nh...I don't remember it in the morning anyways."

Ren was suddenly wide awake.She doesn't? He thought back to the previous two times she'd gotten emotional-drunk. Both had been on accident, and both had not ended well. The first had been when she'd mistaken a 40 for juice at 10 years old and downed nearly a fifth of the bottle before Ren smacked it out of her hands. They'd had to walk the last mile home, because she screamed at the bus driver for a solid three minutes for "not understanding my needs, Greg". The second time had been a shot of Hennessey on a dare she'd taken behind their Academy's gym at 15. She'd gotten kicked out of calculus later that day by drawing hearts instead of integral symbols, and calling cross-eyed Mrs. Carlson a "heartless bitch whose eyes converged as x approaches infinity according to the nth root test" when told to stop. As she left for detention, Ren couldn't help but be impressed at her wit and inebriated knowledge of infinite. But now that Ren thought back, she really didn't remember any of those events. It must have felt awful being punished for something she had no clue she did.

But this wasn't what woke Ren up. Rather, the bit about not remembering caught his attention. If Nora can't remember anything from the times she gets emotional-drunk, could he say… anything he wanted? But first, a test.

Ren paused for a second before saying, "I… I want to know, too."

Silence. Then, Nora turned to face him, making droopy eye contact. "Hmm?"

"I…. I think I do know. That it could happen. Us, I mean.", Ren finished warily.

"Mmm? How so?"

"Well, we've lasted this long, haven't we? We've been better friends than most best friends, and I think Jaune and Pyrrha and team RWBY are all behind the idea. They can't all be wrong."

The shock of ginger hair smiled sweetly, faintly. "I'm too drunk to refute any *hic* logical fallacy you may have made there. Continue." Alright, so it is safe.

Ren went on, inching closer. "I think it's… obvious that we work well together, and that we make each other happy, and risk significant bodily harm for each other." Nora laughed weakly, a mere exhale through the nose and a smile.

"And every time you clarify that we're not 'together-together', it does… hurt, a little." Nora remained silent, drowsily watchful.

"Because I think it could happen. I… I want it to happen. Us."

"Ren… why are you telling me all this now?"

Before he spoke, Ren opened his arms in a gesture of welcome. On cue, Nora rolled into him, her back to his chest, as he wrapped around her. It felt like home, home for them both. As per routine, Ren buried his face in the hair above her nape, inhaling her gently. They hadn't slept like this before they'd come to Beacon; it was a new development that Ren was not displeased with. Without a word or warning to him, Nora had just rolled into him one night and stayed. Ren simply accepted it as her familiar nature, but deep down, he knew something was changing between them. Ren held his breath for a few seconds, calculating his words.

"Because you won't remember that I really do love you in the morning."

Nora's breath hitched, on the brink of laughter or tears. Ren watched the shadow of the rain on the window pane flow down her face, and couldn't tell which one it was. It could have been both.

She paused. "Yeah. I won't." Ren couldn't read her face from this angle.

Ren spoke quickly, as if to do damage control. "I know saying the "L-word" isn't very smart early in a relationship. But I couldn't pass up the chance to tell you something I never had the guts to before. I'd say there won't be any consequences, but I know that even if you don't remember it, I will. I'll know. So I guess... this is really more of me talking to myself than actually talking to you." Ren knew he was a coward. But things were changing, and he had to know where he was in all of it. He had to know how he felt about Nora now, about the most important thing in his life by far. And talking to himself in this… convoluted manner seemed to be working. "And I'll be a coward until I finally tell you when you're sober. But I promise I'll tell you."

Ren felt her body shake in a small, dry laugh. "And how sober are you right now?"

"More than you."

"Fair enough."

"...Do you... think it could happen, too?"

"...do I… love you, you mean?" Nora's voice was barely a whisper.

Ren remained silent. Nora wrapped his hands in hers as if they were precious jewels.

"...drunk me is *hic* self aware, and wayyyyyyyy more honest than sober me. You gotta- you gotta take me seriously when *hic* I tell you that I do. I'm sober me's subconscious, bitch!" Nora giggled, then burped. Take her seriously, she says. Ren grinned into her hair, and she felt it. "That's why you can't leave me *hic* waiting, Ren. I assure you I've been aaaaagonizing over this loooonng before you di- *hic* did. Little hint: I tell you every time I touch your nose. So tell me in the morning, Ren."

"I-"

"And if you ca- *hic* can't, then at least try to start changing something. We can't stay hiding this forrevvvverrr…" Ren propped himself up on one arm; Nora's eyes were already closed, but she was grinning wide.

"Nora?"

"*snort*...but I'll give you tonight. I'll give you tonight."

"...okay."

1 AM saw them fall into the deepest slumber, in the tightest embrace yet, a desperate clinging-on to each other, their only cornerstone in this change and their only shelter from the rain outside.

Nora woke to a tickling in her ear and turned ever so slightly. Her mouth opened in mild surprise as she saw Ren holding on to her for dear life. He never sleeps later than me. Was last night so bad? And true to tradition, not a single memory of the previous night could be recalled. Her last memory was of sipping a golden liquid while watching two people dancing on a balcony. It was if everything since then had not happened, and she'd simply teleported to her bed with a massive headache the next morning.

She pushed her messy hair out of bleary eyes and yawned, "Ren… get up. We've got Oobleck in an hour." Nora sat up at the edge of the bed and looked down at herself, in full formal wear. Shit, better get changed. But before she could get up, she heard from behind her:

"Mmph." Ren was face down into his own pillow, reaching for her.

"What is it?", she asked, now standing, facing the bed.

The boy pulled himself up with incredible effort and knelt so that he and his partner were face to face, somewhat closer than she was used to.

"Uhhh… Ren?" He gazed past her eyes and into her soul, as if afraid of something within. "Is something wrong?"

"...No.", Ren sighed in relief. "Nothing's wrong, Nora."

"Cool beans. Boop!." She punctuated her sentence with an offhand poke to Ren's nose as she turned and gathered her towel to go take a shower. Love you.

"Wait, Nora." The girl in question turned around inquisitively to her partner, now standing tall above her.

Slowly, carefully, he prodded her nose with his own finger. "You too." Ren smiled awkwardly, picked up his own towel, and speedwalked out the door as fast as he possibly could.

Nora stood stunned and a little confused. You too? What does that mean? He… he couldn't know what that means, could he? Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip around her bright pink towel and sped out the door in his wake. Maybe some hot water would hide her growing blush.

Jaune and Pyrrha, who had actually been pretending to sleep all of last night and had heard everything, sat up in their beds and shared a knowing grin.

Author's Note: TreesofPaper here, and it's been a while since I've written anything for this community. Don't get committed to this story, as I don't know how many chapters I'll be putting out, or when I'll be putting them out. Just appreciate the Renora, and leave a review if you feel like it. See you next time.