"What do you think that was about?" Blake said tightening her bow over her cat ears as she sat down next to Yang who had witnessed the approach of Nora as well as her dramatic departure.
"I think that Nora isn't her usual giddy self lately and apparently it has something to do with Ren," Yang responded, sitting up after stuffing her books back in her bag. "And you." She continued, causing Blake to snap her head back towards Yang instead of the direction of Ren's departure.
"That's preposterous." Blake said in her usual monotone, glaring intently at Yang while she processed the information. Ren had been talking to her a lot and she did think it was strange that Nora hadn't been around. "I don't even think Ren is capable of human emotion." She said, taking a shot at the apathy radiated by Ren at all times.
"Why is that so unbelievable?" Yang asked, standing and crossing her arms, a little smirk on her face as usual, "We are all teenagers here and I know that I'm not immune to the love bug." Yang punched Blake's arm playfully, still grinning, "And apparently neither is Ren."
"He's a mysterious one, that's for sure." Blake said, standing up with Yang and walking towards the same entrance Nora had stood at only minutes before. "I always got the vibe that he and Nora were involved in some kind of playful relationship where she made sloth noises and he pretended not to care."
"I got the same feeling too, but I also know when people like each other and that was definitely a crush at its finest!"
"I don't know how to process this." Blake said, pushing her way into the team room and tossing her books on the bed.
"I do." Yang said, still in the hallway. Blake walked back to the door and watched alarmed as Yang pounded a fist on the door across the hall labled "JNPR."
"Are you crazy?!" Blake whispered viciously before Yang darted down the hallway leaving Blake face to face with Ren and at a loss of words.
"I don't know what you expect me to say, Ren!" Blake said harshly to Ren whose face, usually emotionless, now bore an aggressive and antagonistic expression.
"What do you expect me to say?" he retorted, "That I am sorry I like you, that I purposely rejected Nora in hopes of getting to know you better? Because I didn't. Nora just…." He sighed, "She doesn't get it…"
"And you think I do?" Blake said, her arms crossed defensively as she looked at Ren, now sitting on the bed looking almost defeated.
"Yes, actually, that's exactly what I think." Ren responded. "Fuck me, right? Fuck me for even thinking that you could like me and relate to me like no one ever has. I made the mistake of thinking you understood me and understood how I felt about this school and about life in general."
"Why? Because I am a little apathetic? Because I am quiet? Does that automatically make me the poster child for introverted teenagers?" Blake was at this point getting more and more irritated.
"You need to leave," Ren said, standing up defensively. His magenta eyes glowed with irritation and as he stared Blake down in an attempt to intimidate her, he found his hand wandering up to his chest where the lotus was. "Nora…" he thought, and that thought alone caused his face to soften.
"I really hurt her…didn't I…" he said, eyes and face softening into a remorseful manner and this in turn allowed Blake to soften up as well.
"Look Ren," she said, her hand moving up to grasp his as it sat on his leg in an attempt to comfort him. "You are probably the most down to earth guy here and that speaks a lot to your character, but I'm not here to find love. I'm here to become a huntress and that alone." She squeezed his hand gently, causing him to look up at her. "But, that's just me. Maybe you need someone more than I do. Maybe you already have that someone and you just don't know it yet." Blake ran her hand that was not occupied with his down over the quilted bead. They were sitting on Nora's bed, ironically, and Blake's hand fell on one of the hot pink squares among other assorted shades of pink. Ren's face hardened a little, back to its normal emotionless and unreadable state.
"And you believe that's Nora?" he asked Blake, their hands still intertwined.
"Don't you?" Blake said back quickly.
The sun broke through the single window in the JNPR team room the next morning, bringing with it a strange cool breeze that carried the smell of the sweet red sap out of Forever Fall. It was this smell that woke Nora from a restless sleep, she sat up and looked at the clock which read 6:45. She sighed and set it down before looking up and around the team room. Pyrrha layed gracefully in bed, almost like a princess, and slept quietly with the blankets pulled all the way up to her chin. Next to her lay Jaune, one leg bent at an angle and the other straight out with a foot hanging off the bed. His covers had somehow made it up to the top of the bed next to his head and were now being used as a kind of pillow. He snored lightly and murmured things in his sleep. Of the dozen or so things he was saying, Nora could only make out the words "ursi," "cabbage," and "Weiss," which was most likely making for a very interesting dream.
There was one thing missing though, it was Ren. For the first time in months Ren had woken up even before Nora and it wasn't just that he had woken up. His bed was made, his pajamas folded and set on the bed and his bag was gone along with his weapons. Nora stood up and walked quietly over to where he slept, trying not to disturb the other occupants. There was no indication of where he had gone and although that was very much like Ren, Nora couldn't help but feel that there was something out of the ordinary going on. It was then that she looked out the window and her eyes narrowed in on Ren, walking in the distance towards Forever Fall, bag across his body and weapons in hand.
What is he doing going there by himself? She thought.
Nora stepped away from the window and got dressed.
He can handle himself just fine in Forever Fall….
Fully dressed she opened the top of the dresser the four of them shared, the top two drawers being hers and Pyrrha's. She reached in for her brush, but her hand touched something else first. She pulled the drawer out further and saw the silver necklace she had been wearing the day before. This was the first time she had taken it off since Ren gave it to her. She picked it up and let the cool metal rest in her palm before she closed her fingers around the hammer charm, looking up and turning her head so that she was facing the window. A small breeze brushed her cheek, her hair tickling her jawline.
"Damnit Ren," she said, grabbing her hammer and swiftly leaving the room to follow him into the woods.