Author's Note: Thank you for all the kind reviews on the first entry! As a confession: I have a habit of using my own life experiences when writing Weiss, since I can identify as an obnoxiously-intellectual, hopelessly awkward, spoiled, scarred girl. So that part in the last entry when she started panicking over Adrian trying to nurse off of her? Yeah, that happened to me when I was watching a baby at fifteen and didn't know how lactation worked. Yes, I'm aware of just how ridiculous I must have seemed. Well, my humiliation apparently makes for fanfic gold, so hey, some good came of it.
Now I just need to make sure that the rest of these entries don't disappoint my readership, so, you know, no pressure. Same deal as always, I own zilch.
Entry 2: A Question at Tea
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It wasn't that Ren and Nora didn't like owning things, so much as it was that, as itinerant orphans, most anything they did happen to own could be lost to them at any moment. While their lives had become more stable since enrolling in a combat academy, the habits of their childhood were hard to break. As a consequence, having escaped Beacon Academy with nothing but the clothes on their backs, their Huntsmen weapons, and the dagger that Ren's father had given to him, had less of an impact than it might have had on other young people their age.
As far as Nora was concerned, as long as Ren was there with her, everything would be okay. Well, not okay-okay, because Pyrrha had died, and Jaune was heartbroken about it and kept trying to commit suicide by enemy, and Ruby was trying to hold it all together with her magical eyeball laser powers, while Yang had been disarmed (it was okay to make that pun, she had checked-and then Yang had "given her a hand" by literally throwing it at her) and Flakey Blakey's Flakey Blakey-ness had reached critical mass and Weiss's dad was a dink, and Ozpin was a cute little boy now, and people could be birds and birds could be people and people could be drunks, which meant that drunks could be birds and people could be wizards, which meant that there could be drunk bird wizards flying around!
The point was, as long as she had Ren by her side, things would eventually be okay. If they knew what was good for them. She had a sodding big hammer, and right now, all of her friends' problems were looking an awful lot like nails.
But! Those problems were for later! For today!
Was!
Renny's!
Birthday!
Which brought Nora back around to the concept of ownership. See, while they had let go of the loss of most of their worldly possessions with a metaphorical shrug, there was one thing that Nora knew that Ren had lost and that she could get that would make her Ren super happy! Ren took his tea very seriously. Like, his hair levels of seriously. And if you ever saw his hair, all smooth and silky like a warm summer night, than you'd know that that was serious business indeed.
Eat your heart out, Yang: her man had the prettiest hair out of anyone.
So pretty. Just like him.
Anyway, Ren loved tea, and Nora loved Ren, which is why for his birthday, she got him an authentic Anima tea set! She hadn't known exactly what to get, which is why she had asked the nice old lady at the tea store.
"And your young man is a scholar?" the old lady had asked, clearly amused in her old lady kind of way.
"Well, yeah! Ren is super smart! He can totally be a teacher one day, because he can explain things so well that even Jaune can get it in one go. The world only makes sense when he's around, you know?"
"Is that so? Sounds like quite the extraordinary boy. Is he a gentleman?"
"Only the most gentle man ever! He's always sweet and kind, and he never loses patience with me when I get all zippy, and he's super polite too! He taught me how to be polite. Uh, ma'am. I don't have any parents, but if I did, he was the type of man that I would be proud to bring home and brag about to them. But since I can't, I'll have to brag about him to everyone else instead!"
"Oh, to be young again. How did you meet such a catch?"
"When we were kids, Grimm came and destroyed our village. Well, his village. I don't really know where I'm from. I was hiding all alone, when he found me, and said that we have to be brave. He's always brave, so I have to be brave too, or else he'd be brave all alone, and we can't have that! We'll keep each other safe. Always have! So when he went to become a Huntsman, I went too, and now we keep other people safe from the Grimm too!"
"...Tell you what. This set would normally sell for five thousand lien, but since you're such a darling girl, I'll let it go for fifteen hundred. Oh, and here's a packet of oolong tea leaves to go with it; he'll know what to do with them. Do be sure to bring him by before you leave town, would you?"
Okay, sure thing! Thanks, Nice Tea Lady!
And that is how Nora found the perfect birthday gift for her Ren.
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Ren had been delighted with the gift, in his own understated way, and had immediately invited her to share the first use with him. Ren had always been soothing to her, even when he wasn't using his Semblance, but watching him make tea was one of her favorite things ever. She rarely found herself able to really focus as much as she could when watching him in action, and their tea time was the only time she could find that focus without anyone she loved being in danger. She loved the calm peace that she felt watching him.
Nora may or may not have been completely, hopelessly, and utterly in love with Lie Ren. Best to keep an eye on him to make sure.
Ren had set out a thick tray and carefully measured out a pinch of fire Dust, using it to heat the kettle of water. When he judged the temperature just right, he poured some into a kind of covered bowl, which he called a gaiwan. From there, he poured the water from the gaiwan into a decanter, a chahai. He then poured the water from the chahai into both cups, carefully dripping some water between them. From there, he smoothly grabbed a pair of tongs, and poured one cup into the other cup, and that cup onto the tray.
With effortless grace, Ren then scooped a precise amount of the dark oolong tea leaves into the gaiwan, before repeating the process of rinsing each part of the tea. Rinsing the leaves not only prepared them for a solid infusion, but it made sure that the chahai and the cups would carry the aroma of the tea in them, to make for a fuller experience.
Upon the next pouring of water, Ren allowed the tea to steep before pouring it into the chahai, making sure that no leaves got into the decanter. From there, he poured the tea into both cups, alternating as the chahai ran low to make sure every drop got into the cups. With his tongs, he lifted a cup into the air, deftly running a cloth underneath it and swiping it dry in one fluid movement, before placing it in front of Nora.
She maintained that sense of calm focus as she sipped her tea, smiling gently at her Ren, who returned her look with one of his own. They repeated the tea process until the leaves ran out of flavor, at which point Ren turned off the boiler.
"Thank you, Nora. It's been too long since we've been able to do this."
Nora sighed happily. "It's as much a gift for me as for you anyway. I like watching you."
Ren hid a grin. "I take it you had help picking out the set?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, this really nice old lady showed me what I needed. Sold it to me at a steep discount, too. Why do you ask?"
"Do you see how the outside of each piece is red? That's for good fortune."
"Well, okay, that's a good thing, right?"
"And do you see how each flower on the pattern is paired with another?"
"...Yes?"
"Nora, this is a wedding set."
Nora's eyes were bigger than the saucers. "I mean, um, I might have sort of gone on and on about how great you are, and how much you mean to me, and how long we've been together, and I might have kind of said that the world only makes sense when you're around and-"
"Nora."
"Ren?"
"It's okay. I know I'm not the best at expressing how I feel, and I know that that has caused you heartache in the past. I may not show emotions the way you do, but that doesn't mean I don't feel them."
He held her gaze.
"I love you too."
Nora melted into a happy puddle of Nora-goo.
"So," he continued, "while you were out getting that, I had Jaune help me pick out this for you." And with that, he held out his hand.
It was a box.
A small box.
A small box with an open hinged lid.
A small box with an open hinged lid and felt lining.
A small box with an open hinged lid and felt lining, in which rested a ring.
A gold band with a single, modest stone in it.
She looked up at Ren, her jaw hanging open. For once, she nothing to say.
"Nora Valkyrie, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"
Oh look, her words were back.
"ALL OF THE YES!"
She dove into a flying tackle, knocking her new fiancee to the ground and doing her best to smother him in kisses.
Calm was nice. Chaos was good too.
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Jaune watched from a corner of the inn's common room as Ren and Nora made their way to the table where the rest of their team was dining. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the unmistakable sound of a group of young women discovering that one of their own was betrothed erupted through the room, sounding something between a cheer and a shriek. Nora was mobbed by her friends, as Ren, Qrow, and Oscar quietly slipped from the feminine madness to join Jaune.
"She said yes," Ren helpfully reported.
"As if there was any doubt," Jaune smirked.
"Best man?"
"You know it."
"Congratulations, Ninja Kid," Qrow said. "Man, I'm getting old. The damn kids are getting hitched."
Jaune paused as he saw a certain red-haired reaper send him a sliver-eyed wink from the crowd. "Uh, about that," he said, suddenly nervous. "Should I be concerned that Ruby invited me to tea?"
Qrow's red gaze instantly narrowed on the knight.
"Nope," Ren deadpanned as he headed for the bar.
"Ren, you know something. Ren? Ren!"
Ren ignored him with the same effortless grace with which he brewed tea.
"Ren!"
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Nora bounded into the tea shop, giddy as the day is long. The elderly shopkeeper noticed that the young girl was practically glowing with joy. Or maybe she was actually glowing? It was hard to tell these days, what with the kids and their whacky Semblances. Soon enough, the orange-haired young lady was followed by a young man, relatively tall, muscled in the right places. Oh, to be young again. Forty or fifty years ago, she might have chased this boy around the shop a few times and pinned him to a wall. Oh well.
"Hello again. Is this the young man you were telling me about the other day?"
"Uh-uh! This is Lie Ren! He knew all about the tea, and the set. He also knew it was a wedding set, but that's okay, because guess what? WE'RE GETTING MARRIED! I'm going to be his wife and he's going to be my husband, and we'll travel the world fighting monsters and then we'll have lots and lots of babies!"
Ren shrugged. The young man seemed unphaseable.
"Well," the old lady said. "I'm just glad to see that there are still some young people around who know the old ways of tea. As a wedding present, please allow me to gift you these rare tea leaves. They came from Kuroyuri, before it was destroyed."
That got Ren to pause. "They came from Kuroyuri, before it was destroyed," he echoed. "As did I."
"Then you must take them," the shopkeeper said. "Such a happy young couple, and Hunters to boot."
Ren's eyes widened as he read the inscription on the bag of tea leaves. "Ma'am, these are worth a lot of money, I couldn't-"
"Young man, if my husband were still alive, he'd practically tie them to you and demand you take them. It's a gift. But, if your conscience still feels bad about it, you can repay me be teaching those 'lots and lots of babies' your bride is planning about the old ways of tea."
Ren hesitated, then nodded. "As you say, ma'am. Thank you for this gift."
"No, thank you for giving an old woman with too much tea on her hands hope for the future."
They left soon after that. They didn't, couldn't, know what they might face in the future, but Ren and Nora knew that, whatever it was, they would face it as they always had.
Together.
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Entry Endnote: Writing from Nora's perspective is both exhilarating and terrifying. I've never had to try and wrench control of the story back from a character before. Just… wow. At any rate, I hope I didn't mangle the Chinese tea ceremony too badly. I just wanted to find some way to illustrate how Ren can affect Nora, and going from her ADHD stream of consciousness to hyper focus seemed like a good way to do that.
Renora is the most canon thing to have ever happened. Oh, and my tablet autocorrect adds "and Nora" after typing in "Ren," which, metawise, is the most disgustingly romantic thing ever.