Summary: Planning a wedding isn't easy, but today's errand was supposed to be simple. Unfortunately for Lie Ren, life had other plans.
Main characters: Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie
Chronology: One day before Vacuo's attack on Beacon.
Lie Ren considered himself to be a simple man. He knew what he liked, and he knew what he didn't like. And this morning, Ren was quite fond of his sleep. His pillow was soft; his blankets were warm. He had to admit, Beacon spared no expense when it came to its students. Ren pulled his blanket closer around him as he turned over in bed to further enjoy the comforts of his bed. But as he rolled over onto his back, Ren was suddenly and worryingly aware that his fiancée was not in her usual position at his side. This did not bode well.
"Ren!" A loud voice sang from above him. Ren was able to deduce that because the voice came from a spot directly above him and not to his side that Nora Valkyrie was currently in the air and rapidly falling towards him after leaping into the air. He opened his eyes just in time to see Nora's smiling face as she crashed down onto his stomach with an impact that shook the entire bed frame. "Time to wake up!" She said, full of morning cheer as she straddled her fiancé. Any other person would've had the air knocked out of them from the impact, but Ren was so used to this behavior at this point that his body had tensed the appropriate muscles reflexively to prepare for the inevitable impact, even as he was half asleep.
"Good morning, Nora." Ren groaned sleepily. He looked to his left, at the clock on their dorm room nightstand. "What are you doing up so early?" He managed to say through a yawn, closing his eyes. Nora was normally an early riser who also doubled as Ren's personal alarm clock, but today she seemed to have awoken particularly early. The sun was only halfway up over the horizon, from what he could see through a small opening in their curtains.
"We're going cake tasting today!" Nora yelled giddily. Ren's eyes shot open in a panic. "I can't believe you forgot to tell me!" Nora chided playfully before leaning down and kissing Ren on the lips. Ren was barely able to retain the presence of mind to return the kiss for a moment before Nora broke it off and sat up straight again, literally wiggling in excitement. "We get cake!"
"…Yeah. Sorry I forgot to tell you, it must've slipped my mind." Ren shrugged apologetically. "Did you clean up yet?" Nora nodded enthusiastically. Ren looked down from Nora's face to her body to see that she had indeed cleaned up, but only barely. She was only wearing a wet white towel as she sat on Ren's bare stomach with her hair still damp and hanging limp. And if the feeling of her skin on his bare stomach was any indication, Nora had neglected to even put on any undergarments as well. "Well, you didn't finish cleaning up yet. "Why don't you go finish drying off and get dressed in the bathroom?"
"Okay, Ren!" Nora sang again, hopping off of Ren and skipping into the bathroom merrily. Nora turned around as she reached the door, smiling and waving at Ren. He returned the smile from his spot in their bed as Nora closed the door.
As soon as the door closed, Ren's smile fell off his face. He slowly rose from bed and he pulled off his blanket, revealing his well toned, muscular form. Ren had no preference for what clothes he slept in, but Nora preferred that he only wore shorts and stayed shirtless when they slept, so that's what he did. And this morning the lack of shirt only served to make his presence more imposing as he stalked over to the bed on the opposite side of the room.
The occupants of said bed were currently hiding under the covers, trying to avoid eye contact with Ren. Ren simply glared down at the head shaped bulges in the blanket until his other two teammates peeked over the edge of the covers nervously. They flinched back as they saw Ren's smoldering glare, recoiling from the angry magenta eyes that seemed to be glowing in the morning light. "Which one of you told her?" The statement was phrased as a question, but stated in such a way that there was no doubt in Jaune and Pyrrha's minds that Ren wasn't asking them so much as ordering them to answer.
Neither of the two said anything, but Pyrrha's eyes shifted to look over at Jaune for just a second, which was enough explanation for Ren. Pyrrha's betrayal was not missed by Jaune, either. "Hey! You didn't tell me that Nora wasn't supposed to know!" Jaune explained in a panic.
Pyrrha looked back and forth between Jaune and Ren, her love for Jaune and her fear of Ren's retribution coming into conflict. "I thought it was obvious! Why else would Ren ask me to go cake tasting with him for his and Nora's wedding without Nora?"
"I thought it was going to be a team thing!" Jaune quickly explained.
Ren just squeezed the bridge of his nose and he closed his eyes. He just wanted to go back to sleep. He missed it already. He could feel the bed calling out to him. Glancing at the clock, Ren was disappointed to see that there were still nearly three hours until he would have actually had to have woken up without Nora's antics. He looked back down at the couple in front of him who were stiff with a mix of fear and worry. Ren was normally a very quiet, very calm, and very easy going teammate and friend. But if you happened to agitate him by offending or infringing upon something he cared about, such as Nora or his sleep, then he turned into a vengeful spirit of destruction. Or so they thought, because this was the first time they had done something like this and been on the receiving end of his ire. "Okay." Jaune and Pyrrha flinched, expecting the worst. "You're both coming with us today now."
"… What?" Jaune was baffled, and Pyrrha was in the same boat. "You aren't mad?"
"I'm furious." Ren grumbled. "But I'm going to need help dealing with Nora on a sugar high." He sighed, turning away to go grab some clothes from the wardrobe he shared with Jaune.
"It's only a tasting; she won't be eating whole cakes… right?" Pyrrha asked, suddenly unsure if Nora would deign to follow the conventional rules of food tasting, given her insatiable appetite.
"No. But she'll want to try every cake. And there are a lot of cakes." Ren said as he pulled out a pair of black slacks and a forest green button down shirt. He looked over his shoulder at the other two with a hint of annoyance before letting out yet another sigh. He had asked Pyrrha to go cake tasting with him because he already knew what Nora liked, and wanted someone else's opinion on the cakes out of the ones he knew that both he and Nora would've liked. It was supposed to be a simple matter. It was supposed to have taken only a few hours at most, including travel time. But now it looked like he would have a full scale operation on his hands.
It was at this point that Nora burst out of the bathroom, now dry and fully clothed in a pink sundress that Ren had treated her to a few weeks earlier. "Ready to go!" She announced to her roommates as she bounced from foot to foot with excitement.
Ren placed a hand on Nora's shoulder and pulled her into a one armed hug to calm her as he passed by her into the bathroom. "We don't need to leave for another couple hours, Nora." Ren told her. "Why don't you go grab us some milk or juice for breakfast? We'll treat the cake as our meals." He suggested innocently in an attempt to at least minimize her sugar intake.
"Okay!" Nora said, skipping towards the door out into the hallway. She paused upon reaching the door though, turning back to look at Ren. "What if we're hungry after?"
Ren sincerely hoped that Nora would not still be hungry after the cake tasting, but figured he'd oblige her with an answer to keep her satisfied. "I'll treat everyone to lunch if we're still hungry." He answered with a smile.
"Yes, Ren!" Nora sang, her voice receding as she disappeared down the hallway towards the school cafeteria.
Ren looked back at his teammates. "You will not be hungry later." He grumbled before going into the bathroom and turning on the shower to clean up for the morning. Ren was already a generally tired person, but planning the wedding had made him even more so. Nora tried to help, but she generally did more damage instead of helping, so Ren had taken over planning everything while letting Nora just enjoy the simpler things, like picking color themes and some of the dessert choices.
Jaune and Pyrrha just looked at each other, glad that they escaped the wrath of Ren. "I guess we should get ready so we don't make them wait and give Ren more reason to get mad at us." Jaune finally said, a nervous giggle escaping his mouth.
"I'm just surprised you're still his best man after spilling the beans to Nora like that." Pyrrha added as she nuzzled into comfortable crook where Jaune's shoulder and chest met.
"Well, if that happens then I'll tell Nora that her maid of honor was planning on going cake tasting with Ren without her." Jaune countered with a grin.
Pyrrha's face visibly paled at the thought. "You wouldn't." Pyrrha said as she thought about what Nora would do if she found out.
"I-" Jaune stopped as the two of them suddenly felt a menacing aura from the bathroom. Jaune changed his voice to a whisper. "Never mind, I won't do it. I think Ren can hear us."
Two hours later, Nora was sitting behind Ren on their bed as Pyrrha and Jaune finished the last of their morning preparations. Nora was humming contentedly as she pulled Ren's long hair back into his usual ponytail, using her other hand to place the hair tie snuggly on his thick hair. "All done." Nora said. "My turn!" She announced as she rolled on the bed around Ren so she was sitting on the edge of the bed next to Ren. She handed him a bright pink hairbrush that she had just used to brush his hair, which he took and wordlessly began using to brush Nora's hair in return. She closed her eyes and hummed a song as Ren brushed her hair, letting herself enjoy the feeling of Ren running his fingers through her hair while he brushed it.
"What are you humming?" Ren asked absently as he brushed Nora's hair, more to make conversation rather than actual curiosity.
"I don't know. It's just something I heard Yang singing a couple times." Nora answered. "I don't know all the words, but it sounds very sweet." Nora continued her humming once she finished answering.
"I think I've heard her sing it, too." Pyrrha chipped in as she sat in front of the mirror on the dresser, tying her own hair back into its ponytail. "I asked her about it, she said she used to sing it to Ruby when they were younger."
"Mm." Ren answered automatically. "All done, Nora." He set the hair brush back on the dresser as Nora sprang to her feet.
"Let's go!" She cheered before hopping up onto Ren's shoulders, sitting on them as he wrapped his hands around Nora's ankles to support her. This sort of behavior was as natural as breathing for Ren at this point, though someone who didn't know the engaged couple might think that their behavior was strange.
Ren led the team out of the dorm room, Nora ducking her head under the door frame so she wouldn't hit her head as Jaune closed and locked the door behind them. They stopped in the hallway though, as it appeared team RWBY was leaving their own dorm room at the same time. "Greetings, team RWBY!" Nora greeted enthusiastically.
"Greetings, team JNPR!" Ruby Rose greeted with just as much enthusiasm, much to Weiss Schnee's annoyance, if her rolling her eyes was any indication.
"Good morning." Weiss greeted in a more subdued manner.
"Well you guys are sure dressed up all nice." Yang observed from the side. "Where you goin?"
"Cake tasting!" Nora answered happily.
Ruby gasped. "Cake tasting?! Can I come with you?" Ruby put on her best puppy dog expression and looked at Ren and Nora pleadingly.
"Sure you-" Nora started.
"No." Weiss interrupted, glaring at Ruby. "We need to go study today. You're falling behind."
Ruby turned her puppy dog eyes on Weiss. "But-" Ruby began.
"No." Weiss interrupted again. Rather than argue further and risk giving in to her partner's pleading gaze, Weiss turned away from Ruby, grabbing her wrist and dragging her down the hall towards the library. Ruby looked back at Ren and Nora with great sorrow in her eyes and she stumbled along behind Weiss as team JNPR chuckled and waved a goodbye.
Yang had laughed along with them as Blake exited team RWBY's dorm room and locked it behind her, joining her partner. "Poor Ruby." Blake chuckled. She turned to team JNPR. "Which bakery are you going to?" Ren told her the name of the place. "Oh, that one's nice. I've had some of their products before."
Yang looked at Blake in astonishment. "You went to a wedding cake shop? Why?"
"They make more than just wedding cakes, Yang." Blake assured her. "And the cream they used in their frosting is amazing."
"You know, you say you want equal rights as a faunus, but then you say something like loving cream or eating mostly fish. You're perpetuating the stereotype, kitten." Yang joked.
"Oh, shut it." Blake rolled her eyes as she punched Yang's shoulder. "I have that reference book you wanted, by the way." Blake told Ren. "Just come get it from our room when you get back."
"Thank you, Blake." Ren nodded his appreciation.
"Well, you guys enjoy yourselves. Have fun!" Blake took Yang's hand and intertwined their fingers as she walked off to follow Ruby and Weiss to the library.
Team JNPR could hear Yang protesting as Blake led her away. "Hey wait a minute, we don't need to go study too, where are we going? Blake! You said we were going shopping!" Yang's protests drifted away as Blake led her away from them. JNPR again laughed, always glad that they could count on their classmates and friends for a good laugh.
"Let's go guys." Ren said once their bout of laughter subsided.
"Yeah!" Nora punched her fist into the air.
"Oooooooh!" Nora exclaimed as she walked into the bakery hand in hand with Ren. "Look at all the cakes! I want to try them all!" Nora decided and she broke away from Ren and ran off towards the store clerk.
"You weren't kidding." Jaune said as he stared off at Nora. "She really does want to try all of them."
"Even though she's going to pick a White Strawberry cake anyways." Ren sighed. "Here's the plan." He said pointedly, making sure he had Jaune and Pyrrha's attention. "I'm going to be placing our orders while Nora does her thing with the cake samples." Behind Ren, Pyrrha could see that Nora had already used her unending cheer to startle the clerk into bringing her tray after tray of samples. "You two take over while I get the formalities done. Just keep her from breaking anything while I sort everything else out."
"Yes, sir." Pyrrha said as she saluted Ren playfully, already caught up in Nora's wake of happiness.
Ren turned around to see that Nora had already gone through two trays of various cake samples, amounting to about twenty four bites of cake already in less than two minutes. "You better be glad you're worth all this trouble, Nora." Ren grumbled to himself as he walked over to the clerk, who was only now beginning to realize the mistake he had made in agreeing to let this energetic young woman sample all the available cake flavors. Ren extended his hand as he approached the unfortunate clerk. "I'm Lie Ren, I have an appointment." The clerk shook Ren's hand distractedly as he looked back and forth between Nora, who was sitting at a table eating cake at an alarming rate, and Ren, who was standing calmly in front of him. "Yes, I'm her fiancé." Ren answered in response to the unspoken question.
"Ahem." The clerk cleared his throat. "Yes. My name is Kevin, my father owns this establishment." He looked over at Nora nervously, who was now being served by a different clerk now, clearly glad to be dealing with Ren instead of her. "What can I do for you, sir?"
"I'd like to take a look at some designs while my fiancée… investigates… the samples." Ren said. "Is there a catalog or album I could take a look at?"
"Yes, right here sir." Kevin said, reaching over the counter to pull a thick binder off of a stack to the side. "Is there a particular theme you'd like for the cake?" The next two hours were spent searching through the catalogue as Ren pointed out various designs and themes that he liked while Kevin flipped to the appropriate images that matched Ren's requests. Eventually Ren and Kevin narrowed them down to a few designs that Ren requested be combined into a special order with some custom designs on it. "Okay, this shouldn't be difficult." Kevin said as he put the finishing touches on the sketch that he had drawn up based their discussion. "How's this?" He held up the sketch for Ren to see.
"Look's great." Ren answered.
Any further comment Ren might've had was cut short as Nora poked her head out from under his arm, forcing her way between Ren's right arm and his body so that his arm was draped across her shoulders. "I wanna see!" Nora said, craning her head up to look at the drawing. "How pretty!"
"And have you decided on what flavor you would like the cake to be, ma'am?" Kevin asked nervously, hoping with all his heart that Nora didn't request any more samples than she already had. The poor woman who had taken over bringing Nora samples for Kevin was sitting down in a chair and fanning herself with her hand, exhausted at running back and forth to grab trays of samples. Ren counted thirteen trays stacked to the side of where Nora was sitting, and at twelve samples per tray, Nora had to have eaten around a hundred and fifty different cake samples.
"White strawberry with vanilla frosting and extra strawberries inside." Nora and Ren answered at the exact same time.
Kevin looked back and forth between Nora and Ren in amazement. "Um. Okay, yeah. No problem." He scribbled down the order on the notepad.
"Can I add something to the design?" Nora asked Ren.
Ren cocked an eyebrow curiously. "Oh? What's your idea?"
"I want them to write 'Together-together' around the edge." Nora said, suddenly a little bashful.
Ren smiled. "Already told him, Nora."
Nora looked at Kevin, who nodded and held up the notepad and pointed to a little note on the side that said that exact thing. "Oh, yay!" Nora said, bouncing on her toes. "Are you done now?"
"I just have to pay." Ren said as he followed Kevin to the register, Nora close behind. Ren put the down payment on the cake and put the receipt in his wallet while Nora hovered around him, moving around curiously but never drifting too far away from Ren. "Done now. Ready to go back to Beacon?"
"What about lunch?" Nora asked hopefully. "Let's go out to eat since we're in town!"
"You did say you would treat us if we got hungry." Pyrrha said from behind as she and Jaune approached after apologizing profusely to the young woman clerk and tipping generously for her trouble.
Ren glared at her, but Pyrrha knew that he wouldn't retaliate in front of Nora. It was her own little form of payback for leaving Nora with them for two hours while Nora was on a sugar high. "Fine. You can pick, Nora." Ren sighed in resignation.
"Yay! Let's go to the fancy tea house!" Nora decided.
"Yeah!" Jaune and Pyrrha agreed.
Ren silently groaned at Nora's decision, the tea house she was referring to had great food but was also quite expensive. While Ren did have a large amount of money thanks to the success of his parents, he was not fond of spending large amounts of money needlessly. But he did tell Nora that he would treat them, so he conceded. "Fine, lead the way."
Jaune and Pyrrha laughed at Ren's resignation as they led the way down the sidewalk in the afternoon air. They walked hand in hand as they chatted with each other about something Ren couldn't hear, smiles on their faces. Ren and Nora followed a ways behind them as Nora wound her arm around Ren's so they were walking arm in arm.
"Hey, Ren?" Nora called quietly as she smoothed out her sundress.
"Yes?"
"We're together-together." She smiled. To Nora, marrying Ren was like a dream come true, so she occasionally felt the need to reaffirm that fact.
Ren smiled as he leaned over and gently placed a quick kiss on the tip of Nora's nose. "Together-together forever."