Here's a more general #JustChatting chapter, with a few Nora bits thrown in. Updates might slow down in a bit as the FGO summer 2 rerun just started…
I'll be honest here, guys: just play Boop or Boop (Acoustic) over this chapter, specifically the Nora-focused parts, and you're getting the same general experience.
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Volume 1.5 (Thursday): you haven't lived until you see Ren sweat
Nora Valkyrie hated breakfast. She hated having to wake up with that feeling of absolute nothing in the pit of her stomach, the humid air enveloping her, the days-old sweat that had accumulated on her body, knowing that she had to move fast and be alert if she wanted to eat that day. She hated that the body required breakfast – why couldn't humans and faunus live on just water and leftover scraps random eateries throw out at night? But most of all, she hated that she had to eat breakfast alone. How long had it been since she had eaten anything with anyone else, without having to worry about her food being stolen or other people mocking her and her strange attire? Nora Valkyrie was just tired of it all, having to wake up and having to look for breakfast.
Well, Ren had changed all that, but even so, she hated having breakfast when Ren wasn't around.
Still… all things considered, entering Beacon was probably the best choice Ren and Nora ever made. Because Beacon was seriously making her reconsider her opinions on breakfast.
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Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
Cereal Girl: So I said:
Cereal Girl: "Now that's a xiphos!"
SunnyLittleDragon: …
Big Kitty Goth GF: …
Snow Angel: Well, at least now we know why he never talked to you again.
RedLikeStrawberries: i don't get it
Cereal Girl: I'm not sure what you mean Weiss?
Cereal Girl uploaded a video!
SunnyLittleDragon: is this… a training video? you're doing vlogs now?
Big Kitty Goth GF: jaune's suggestion. Also, it could use some editing pyr
Cereal Girl: I'm sorry!
Cereal Girl: I actually wanted to upload a photo of my opponent's sword.
Cereal Girl: See, it can't compare to my Miló, but it was of respectable quality. Unfortunately, it was slightly on the smaller side, even for a xiphos. I wasn't satisfied handling it, but I'm sure it fit his hands well.
Cereal Girl: Didn't stop me from beating him, unfortunately. He relied too much on excessively thrusting his sword with little variety to his rhythm. No finesse whatsoever.
RedLikeStrawberries: why would you do that with a xiphos? theyre so flexible you have so many attack vectors with a well-made one, esp if you have a shield to cover your blind spots
Cereal Girl: Exactly! That's what I said!
Cereal Girl: Um… I hope you're not all bored by the weapon talk.
RedLikeStrawberries: no they're just laughing really hard at some dumb thing. yang fell on the floor like a dum-dum
RedLikeStrawberries: blake's trying to pretend she isn't laughing but we can see her cat ears twitching and she's covering her mouth which she only does when she's giggling
Someone is typing…
SunnyLittleDragon: hey p-money
SunnyLittleDragon: quick question
Cereal Girl: Yes?
SunnyLittleDragon: what do you think about VB's sword?
Cereal Girl: Oh, Crocea Mors?
Cereal Girl: I think it's a wonderful sword. A true classic.
Cereal Girl: The length is just perfect. Not too long and unwieldly, not too short and lacking in penetrating power. The width also makes it very satisfying to swing around. There's a real sense of weight and power when you grip it tight.
RedLikeStrawberries: really good quality too! Its definitely seen its fair share of use even if jaune isnt very good at it.
Cereal Girl: Don't worry about that too much, Ruby. I've been making sure to teach Jaune how to handle his sword better.
SunnyLittleDragon: dsdasfadfdfsad
Someone is typing…
RedLikeStrawberries: pyrrha blake n yang are laughing again and im not sure why
Big Kitty Goth GF: pyr
Big Kitty Goth GF: do you polish jaune's sword for him
Cereal Girl: Oh, I've offered to do maintenance for it, but Jaune is very protective of his sword.
Cereal Girl: He's allowed me to handle it a few times, and I must admit, I may need to use both hands to hold it properly. But the sword never lasts in my hands.
RedLikeStrawberries: man jaune never lets me hold his sword. i just wanna check out that handle and pommel! i wanna wrap my hands around that beautiful grip!
Snow Angel: Oh my Gods make it stop
Cereal Girl: ?
Queen of the Castle: Oh, are we talking about Fearless Leader's sword?
Queen of the Castle: Because he never lets anyone but Ren hold it for long.
SunnyLittleDragon: pfft
Big Kitty Goth GF: …go on.
Queen of the Castle: Oh, yeah, sometimes I get back to the dorms and Jaune-Jaune and Ren are off huddled in the corner all shirtless and Jaune goes "Hey Ren, hold my sheathe, I need to check something with my sword" and Ren just nods and grabs Jaune's sheathe, but Jaune grunts and realizes his sword is stuck, so he asks Ren to pull harder, and oh boy you haven't lived until you see Ren sweat a lot while pulling out our Fearless Leader's sword.
Queen of the Castle: And then Ren takes out the oil!
Queen of the Castle is muted for one hour!
Vomit Boy: nora!
Big Kitty Goth GF: jaune
Big Kitty Goth GF: we were just getting to the good parts
SunnyLittleDragon: yeah VB we wanna hear more about your sword and how ren handles it
Snow Angel: I think that this is a disgusting conversation and you are both immature children.
RedLikeStrawberries: still not sure what is happening
Cereal Girl: ?
Cereal Girl: OH
Cereal Girl: You're terrible, Yang!
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Nora, despite being muted, could still observe the chat, and so she stuck around to chuckle at the direction the conversation had taken. Honestly, her Fearless Leader made it too easy for everyone, and Nora felt that sometimes he was making it too obvious, but it didn't seem like most of them caught on to his harmless displays of buffoonery. (Well, Nora suspected Blake knew, but Blake could keep a secret. Nora liked Blake for that reason. She was certainly glad Blake and Pyrrha found each other!)
She was currently at team JNPR's dorm room, choosing to retreat there after learning that most of their last classes for the day were cancelled and the training rooms were closed down for some special, optional assembly, most likely about the Atlesian fleet arriving at Beacon in a few weeks' time to act as security for the Vytal Festival. (The sister teams had known about this because, well, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Blake were, at one point, involved in doing the paperwork for the various reservations for airship hangers, lodgings for the Atlesian contingent, and other such bureaucratic nonsense. Blake had mentioned something about how much information they could gather just by offering to do the staff paperwork.) Consequently, detention was also cancelled (a surprise to the eight when they had arrived at the teacher's lounge only to find a frazzled Oobleck telling them they were free for the day), which meant the sister teams had a lot more free time for that day.
Weiss immediately decided that it would be a good idea to see to the announcement – perhaps they were instructions on how to receive the Atlesian dignitaries? Proper etiquette lessons to ensure they received proper Beacon hospitality? Maybe Winter was coming? Whatever the reason, Weiss decided she wanted to attend, although the rest of team RWBY didn't want to sit through some boring speeches and decided to head to their dorms, along with Nora. Ren shared a knowing look with Weiss, nodded, and sighed before he made his way to his locker to deposit some objects. (Which was strange, Nora thought, since she could have sworn Ren had mentioned he was planning on heading to Vale today, so why the sudden change of plans?) Jaune had wanted to check if he could still train despite the training rooms being closed, but Pyrrha dissuaded him from doing so, instead suggesting he go with her to the library to work on their homework. To Pyrrha's surprise, Jaune had revealed that he was all caught up with their schoolwork for the week. (Pyrrha didn't know, but sometimes Nora would catch Jaune sneak out early in the mornings to catch up on his studies and reading, or that he would ask Blake for help to deal with difficult-to-parse textbooks. She also knew that he and Ruby would, at least once a week, meet to study together, usually after their Leadership class. How he still had any energy left for training after all that, Nora didn't know.) Instead, Jaune excused himself and headed elsewhere. Pyrrha, dejected, went to the library alone.
The mystery of Jaune's afternoon plans were quickly revealed when Pyrrha, Nora and the RWBY girls, wasting away the hours before dinner just chatting (Pyrrha, ever the responsible student, got her homework out of the way quickly and had decided to use the rest of her library time to relax and just chat with everyone, and Weiss had joined in, evidently bored by what the assembly in the hall turned out to be), decided to steer their idle conversation onto the topic of Jaune's sword, which (Nora assumed) prompted the blonde leader's return to the online conversation. Nora chuckled at her leader's timing.
Nora found herself neck-deep in her thoughts, workshopping all the jokes she and Yang could throw at Jaune's way at dinner later tonight, looking back at all the things she had discovered were fun ever since entering Beacon, that she almost didn't notice when her scroll buzzed with a notification from team JNPR's group chat.
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Welcome to juniper berries!
Mom: guys the pantry is nearly empty, how come nobody told me?
Mom: im probably gonna do a food run down at vale since we have some free time
Mom: pyr is it ok if we put off tonight's training?
Dad: That's quite alright, Jaune. We all need a break.
Someone is typing…
Mom: i made the grocery list already so just tell me what else you all want
Mom uploaded a file!
Mom: whoops that's the team tactics document i was drafting. oh well, its p much done. don't forget to read it!
Dad: Jaune?
Mom: Yes, Pyrrha?
Dad: Is the document… two hundred pages long?
Dad: Yeah, but most of it is illustrations and charts and tables so we can visualize our team attacks! i also added some one liners i brainstormed over the weekened. i figured we could workshop em, try em out n see what works.
Daughter: Oh, man, TL;DR.
Son: You don't expect us to read the entire thing now, do you, Jaune?
Mom: well, not now, but we gotta be ready for the vytal tournament
Mom: anw, heres the shopping list
Mom uploaded a file!
Mom: that good?
Dad: If you can get some of that bread I really like, that would be grand.
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(Nora Valkyrie hated bread. Bread was rock-hard, tasteless, and sometimes had weird, green mold growing out of the side if you didn't get to where the garbage was collected quickly enough. Sure, Ren tried to convince her not all bread was like that, but Nora knew better! That was why she loved Ren's pancakes: they were soft, sweet, and didn't look like they were going to rot anytime soon.)
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Welcome to juniper berries!
Son: I'm good.
Son: Although, I'm with Weiss at the assembly, and she mentioned that Team RWBY's own supplies are dwindling as well.
Mom: yeah i checked over their stuff n i think the only thing left here is blake's tuna
Mom: did we eat all the food the other night?
Mom: Also, is it just me, or do the other teams not… use the common room pantry?
Mom: i think its just us and RWBY keeping stuff in here
Dad: Come to think of it, I don't see the other teams use the common room either.
Dad: You would think at least CRDL would, but, well…
Daughter: That's because they know you can kick their ass, Pyrrha!
Son: I think Weiss and Yang scared them off after that time Russel tried to hit on both that one time.
Mom: well, i should prolly ask RWBY if they need anything too
Mom: pyr, can you cover all that for now?
Dad: Of course, Jaune.
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Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
Ren-sensei: …and that is why your King Taijitu tactics are inferior to mine.
SunnyLittleDragon: still think mine is better
Ren-sensei: Which one of us fought a King Taijitu on their own?
Big Kitty Goth GF: he has you there, yang
SunnyLittleDragon: blake stop siding with literally everyone else besides your partner
Big Kitty Goth GF: only if you stop talking to me in chat when im literally below you
Vomit Boy: guys
Vomit Boy: im gonna go on a food run since classes ended early. also other daily essentials you might need
Vomit Boy: anyone want/need anything?
RedLikeStrawberries: oh! oh, me!
Vomit Boy: yeah yeah ill pick up the strawberries at the farmers mart
RedLikeStrawberries pouts at Vomit Boy!
Vomit Boy: yeah, and the ice cream
RedLikeStrawberries: ice creams. not until jen n berrys agrees to my strawberry cookies n cream proposal
Snow Angel: Your mangling of grammar is atrocious. What is the point of tutoring you if you won't apply anything I teach?
Snow Angel: Also, just you, Jaune? Why are you handling your entire team's shopping?
Cereal Girl: Oh, he's the one regularly doing this for us.
Vomit Boy: yeah, sometimes someone goes w me but today ren and nora dont feel like heading out to vale and pyr cant go too often bc the paparazzi and the fans mob her.
Vomit Boy: we were so lucky nobody noticed pyr last weekend
Snow Angel: I see. Can you even carry everything?
Vomit Boy: probably? what, you worried, snow angel?
Snow Angel: stop calling me that
Snow Angel: How do you plan on paying for all our stuff, anyway? Our stipends don't come in until the end of the month, and I'm pretty sure you're not exactly flush with lien, considering things like your… wardrobe choices.
Snow Angel: …no offense.
Vomit Boy: none taken
Vomit Boy: altho ill have you know my hoodie is a limited edition collector's item so its gonna sell for so much when i outgrow it
RedLikeStrawberries: you cut off the sleeves and made your mom alter it like three times to fit you
Vomit Boy: it still has some value!
Vomit Boy: also, im bringing pyr's lien cards with me. not all the stores we buy stuff from accepts credit cards, so online delivery is out.
Snow Angel: Wait – Pyrrha lets you handle her lien?
Snow Angel: Why?
Cereal Girl: Yes? I'm not sure what the concern is.
Cereal Girl: Back in Mistral, my manager convinced me to get a… personal shopper… once my fame started to snowball.
Cereal Girl: I didn't want one when I got to Beacon, but Jaune offered to help, and honestly, the rest of our team just went along with it…
Cereal Girl: Plus… it would be bad for my popularity if I were caught buying things… unbecoming of my image.
Vomit Boy: Plus this way her sponsors can track if she actually is buying all those things her contract requires. Just as long as we turn in the receipts and her credit card transactions.
Snow Angel: Is THAT why you refuse to purchase your dust rounds from the Schnee Dust Company?
Cereal Girl: I'm sorry! But my manager arranged most of the sponsorship deals!
SunnyLittleDragon: that sounds rough p-money
Cereal Girl: Yes, I can't even enjoy most junk food considering my sponsorships. And Pumpkin Pete's is bad for you. Jaune.
Vomit Boy: its a force of habit at this point! you cant just eat like fifty of those in a few months and not develop a taste for it
Snow Angel: Still, you can't expect Jaune to get all the stuff we need. And I've been telling someone to stock up on supplies and daily necessities for the team already. Yang.
SunnyLittleDragon: hey we've been busy
SunnyLittleDragon: also not my fault you guys need loads of stuff and im the one with the motorcycle
Snow Angel: We aren't the ones clogging the bathroom with a million hair products!
RedLikeStrawberries: guys focus
Vomit Boy: guys focus
RedLikeStrawberries: jinx
Vomit Boy: jinx
Snow Angel: the two of you shut up right now
Vomit Boy: look ill manage
Vomit Boy: worst case scenario ill get your stuff sent up first on a bullhead and just try to catch the last air bus back to Beacon
Snow Angel: I wouldn't want to impose. You'd have to go all over Vale for some of our things.
SunnyLittleDragon: meh, what the hell
SunnyLittleDragon: yo VB im tagging along, ill bring bumblebee so we can go to more places and carry more stuff. plus we can grab some pizza
SunnyLittleDragon: your treat
Vomit Boy: uhhhh
Someone is typing…
Vomit Boy: sure?
SunnyLittleDragon: sweet
SunnyLittleDragon: its a date then 😉
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Nora could already imagine their respective partners' frustrations at the two dense blondes and how casually they were setting a not-date. Blake hid hers well, but Nora wasn't blind or deaf to Blake's unsubtle attempts to connect better with Yang despite her Blake-yness, and Pyrrha, well, she probably hadn't realized it, but you didn't invest all that time and energy into their leader and not develop some feelings… not Nora's fault they talked about these things even in the JNPR dorm when they assumed Nora was just listening to music on her headphones!
Nora could also imagine Ruby and Jaune's private conversation, having a habit of sneaking a peek at Jaune's scroll every now and then. Bless their leader, but he was so bad at keeping the unimportant stuff private…
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Welcome to Lancaster!
Vomit Boy: c-face! we have a problem! code yellow-white dragonslayer!
Crater Face: that sounds serious, vomit boy. whats the issue?
Vomit Boy: is my life in danger if i let yang go with me?
Crater Face: depends. last guy codename: dragonslayer went out with back at signal ended up in a full-body cast
Crater Face: something about him being handsy and super macho
Crater Face: there was also this girl once, i thought it was cute but it turns out she and her posse just wanted to pull a mean prank on yang for being cooler than them or whatever
Crater Face: last i heard she had to move to vacuo. court-mandated.
Crater Face: that got all the people to stay away from Yang at least
Crater Face: but you'll be fine, i think yang likes you
Vomit Boy: are you sure?
Crater Face: she let you braid her hair, hasnt she?
Vomit Boy: just once!
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Well, Nora could imagine that was how things went.
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Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
Vomit Boy: ok…?
Vomit Boy: guess ill drop by the dorms to pick you up then
SunnyLittleDragon: aight ill get everyone's shopping list
SunnyLittleDragon: yo Snow Angel you getting back to the dorms soon?
Snow Angel: No.
SunnyLittleDragon: send me what you need ill make a list. ruby and blake are listing stuff down now.
SunnyLittleDragon: btw you should be honored VB you get to ride my bike
Vomit Boy: ill do my best not to throw up on your shoes?
SunnyLittleDragon: dont you dare
RedLikeStrawberries: oh yeah jaune
RedLikeStrawberries: make sure yang doesnt sweet talk you into buying her stuff
RedLikeStrawberries: also always check your basket she always sneaks in little things to try and get you to pay for them
SunnyLittleDragon: lies! you were the one who grabbed that magazine
Snow Angel: Also, don't ever loan Yang any money. She always "forgets" to pay.
Big Kitty Goth GF: yeah, Yang still owes me for the other week
Snow Angel: Considering she drags us to Vale every other week the least she could do is cover some of the expenses.
SunnyLittleDragon: dammit weiss cream whats a little lien between friends?
SunnyLittleDragon: besides why arent we doing that thing jnpr's doing with their expenses?
Snow Angel: Do you honestly expect me to trust a Schnee Dust Company credit card to any of you? A literal fifteen-year-old, little miss xiao long time debtor, and miss spent half her childhood attacking SDC property?
Big Kitty Goth GF: dude i thought we were cool
Snow Angel: My apologies! I still have some leftover resentment!
Big Kitty Goth GF: …fine
Cereal Girl: Don't worry, everyone. Jaune makes sure to gather all the receipts and charges everyone appropriately. My manager, for all her bad sponsorship choices, is at least competent at teaching me proper fiscal management. And Jaune is a very quick study.
Vomit Boy: yeah, so just make sure you pay up to pyr
Snow Angel: I'm surprised you know anything about accounting and fiscal responsibility.
Cereal Girl: Actually, Nora does all our accounting. Apparently, Ren's bad with money? Something about wasting five hundred lien on alcohol…
SunnyLittleDragon: what
SunnyLittleDragon: nora?
RedLikeStrawberries: i think you broke yang pyrrha
Snow Angel: Nora? No offense, but how?
Snow Angel: I don't intend to demean your… apparent accounting skills, but I simply have a hard time wrapping the idea around my head.
Snow Angel: Nora? Dear? Explain?
Vomit Boy: still muted
Vomit Boy: try again in forty minutes.
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Nora chuckled at that. It wasn't like she did taxes. But it was true that Nora liked to be organized when it came to matters like this. Whether it be lien, her personal belongings, her trusty Magnhild… you couldn't afford to tout a large warhammer/grenade launcher without having some ability to be organized and meticulous about the little details. Otherwise, one wrong press could cause her beloved weapon to explode, and while Nora was tough, a full complement of dust grenades exploding on you was kind of a bad idea…
This organizational aptitude extended even to how Nora dealt with people, and Nora prided herself on having a fairly simple way to organize the people in her life. Nora Valkyrie, after all, wasn't a complicated person. She evaluated people through a series of very simple, uncomplicated questions, which could be boiled down to one, if in a rush: were they, or were they not, boop-worthy?
If they weren't, then Nora either simply didn't care for them or wanted to hurt them. This applied to people like that terrible Cardin Winchester, who Nora was determined to, one day, hopefully break the legs of. She respected her leader! After all, she considered her leader boop-worthy! But it was so hard to listen to his orders when Cardin was just so… un-boop-able! But, well, her Fearless Leader expressly forbade her from breaking his legs, so she just gritted her teeth, even if not doing anything for the person she was seeing more and more as the big brother she wished she had growing up (not that she didn't appreciate Ren's efforts, but Ren was in a special boop category of his own, even if nowadays she was considering inducting a whole mess of people in that place…) made her tremble in frustration. What even was the point of getting stronger and overcoming her fear of thunder and lightning if she couldn't use that power? Why did she lug around the huge hammer if she couldn't help the people that made her feel safe and secure in who she was?
(It didn't matter, of course, that he cheated his way in. What even did forged transcripts mean in a school like this?)
In any case, it was easy for Nora not to care for most people since most people weren't boop-worthy. She didn't have anything bad to say about most people, but it was hard to care for them when you know that they wouldn't care about you in return. And she knew what that felt like, for most people to just shun you just because you wanted to survive, or worst, to hate you for trying to eke out an existence, even when you were born into a life you never asked for.
That was why team JNPR was at the top of her boop-worthy list. Ren occupied the top spot, obviously, but Nora had long learned that she didn't have to hold back on the boops. For the longest time, Ren was the only one who was boop-worthy, and Nora had spent almost all her childhood holding back on what she wanted, simply because she couldn't afford to. Even when Ren took her in and the two moved from place to place, orphanage to distant relative to their own, she was always mindful of Ren and his needs, and she didn't want to be a burden on the boy, but that all changed the day he learned how to make pancakes and told her she could eat as much as she wanted, that she was allowed to be a little selfish. That was the day she decided her little mallet was going to be bigger and would double as a grenade launcher.
(Nora believed she wasn't a selfish person, but when it came to boop-worthy people, she decided that, yes, she wanted it all. For the longest time, Ren was the only one, but when you live your whole life being hungry, it was natural you would refuse to starve.)
Pyrrha and Jaune were obviously on her boop-worthy list as well. Jaune was like an older brother, watching out for her if she went too far, giving her direction and channeling her energies somewhere productive, and Pyrrha was like the older sister that Nora always wanted: hypercompetent, always watched out for her, always indulged her whims… she also liked how the two were early risers but never interrupted her own sleep until it was time for breakfast and class. She liked that they watched over her as she enjoyed her breakfast pancakes, liked that they made sure she was well-fed before they went to class.
(If she had one criticism of the two of them, it was that Pyrrha could be too passive for her own good and Jaune put himself down too much. Pyrrha tried, bless her, to restrain Nora when she was in one of her particular moods, and Nora always felt bad when she went too far, but she wished that sometimes Pyrrha's assertiveness in the battlefield translated itself to normal life. Jaune would throw out his back to be of service of his team, but it hurt Nora every time he downplayed his own accomplishments, because in a way it was downplaying the positive impact Jaune had on her life. If Pyrrha could learn to be more selfish with her desires, Nora felt, she'd be much happier, and as a result, Nora would be happy for her as well. If Jaune could have some confidence in himself, because besides combat Jaune was a pretty good guy, Nora would be much happier. Because Pyrrha and Jaune accepted her, and she wished they could accept themselves as well.)
So that was her team sorted out. Nora didn't know what to think about the other students – not much data to judge them properly – and was certain most of the professors were safely in the not-Boop worthy category. Ozpin always drank hot chocolate and pretended it was coffee, Glynda always yelled at her, Oobleck… was alright, she loved the way he talked, but he always gave difficult homework, Peach was never around… well, she supposed Professor Port was funny. Maybe half a boop?
(When she heard the knock on the door, signalling the arrival of Ruby, sheepishly asking if she could hang out with Nora since Blake sneaked off to the library to hang out with Pyrrha, Yang and Jaune had started their Vale shopping trip, and Weiss and Ren were probably off having their secret little meetings they thought nobody was aware of, Nora acquiesced. She needed to classify team RWBY anyway.)
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Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
SunnyLittleDragon: man this is good pizza
SunnyLittleDragon uploaded a photo!
RedLikeStrawberries: pfft
Snow Angel: Please try to eat like a civilized person Jaune.
RedLikeStrawberries: nora's laughing like a maniac
Cereal Girl: That much meat and carbs cannot be healthy for you, Yang.
SunnyLittleDragon: meh i can sweat it off with some training and sparring.
SunnyLittleDragon: hey VB wanna spar sometime? i wanna see how your training w p-money is going
Vomit Boy: Yang i am literally eating in front of you
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Yang fell under the boop category. She never judged Nora for her habits, and she always paid attention to Nora's stories over breakfast or lunch, even if Nora herself felt she was overdoing the storytelling sometimes. Plus, Yang was never afraid to throw down with Nora, and Nora appreciated that kind of straightforwardness. (Still, she owed Yang one fight, considering what Yang did to Ren last week…)
Plus, like Jaune, Yang's sibling instincts extended even to her, Nora could tell. She knew Yang wasn't fully committed to listening to her admittedly outlandish stories, but she always made it look like she was paying attention, always made sure to respond to Nora, always checked up on her after every spar to see if she was alright… too many people saw Yang the brawler, saw Yang the loud punster who teased people mercilessly, saw Yang as the kind of person who would go to a bar to get drunk and start fights. Nora saw the young girl who had to grow up with nothing but her fists to fend away predatory boys and girls from her and her sister, saw the sensitive girl who forged connections with others through her bad puns and friendly ribbing to overcome the overwhelming loneliness in her heart, saw the young girl who couldn't handle her drinks, ordered non-alcoholic Strawberry Sunrises when she thought nobody was paying attention, who had a goal she sought out with a drive and determination Nora understood, even if she didn't know what exactly the goal was.
It was very easy to misunderstand Yang Xiao Long, Nora concluded, but she wasn't about to make that mistake. Yang was worth the boop.
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Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
Big Kitty Goth GF: look weiss nobody is saying you're actively being discriminatory
Big Kitty Goth GF: but even you have to admit some of the things you say abt mistralians and faunus can be very hurtful without you realizing it
Cereal Girl: I've also encountered Atlesians in Argus who exhibit similar tendencies. Generally good people who mean well, just…some ingrained attitudes passed down Atlas' own history that are very hard to erase.
Cereal Girl: It's a very touchy subject in Argus, as both Mistralians and Atlesians mingle there. The tensions can arise sometimes from the culture clash, especially after the fallout from the Great War and the ensuing tensions between different settlers.
Snow Angel: Look, I get it. I'm sorry for speaking out of turn!
Snow Angel: But you can't expect me to look at that photo Pyrrha accidentally uploaded from her cartoons and not think that Mistralians… have strange fantasies towards the Faunus!
Big Kitty Goth GF: oh boy thats sth we used to argue about back in the Fang
Big Kitty Goth GF: its a whole other can of worms
Ren-sensei: You know, Weiss.
Ren-sensei: Technically, I'm Mistralian as well.
Ren-sensei: I should probably be offended by your statement.
Ren-sensei: But it's not your fault these two enjoy watching lowbrow Mistralian entertainment aimed at kids and created by lesser... Mistralian… creators, shall we say. Unfortunately, some Mistralians give the rest of us a bad name.
Cereal Girl: Ren, you are a good friend, but please do not try to imply that you are inherently more Mistralian than I am. We both come from the same continent!
Ren-sensei: Yes, and everyone knows how varied culture is in Mistral. Northern Mistral is a much different beast from Southern Mistral.
Ren-sensei: It's just very disconcerting that people from Northern Mistral would dare produce works based on Southern Mistral iconography and themes, often without a proper understanding of said iconography.
Snow Angel: Okay, now I'm lost.
Big Kitty Goth GF: thats ok, ren always has this argument with me and pyr
Snow Angel: "Pyrrha and I."
RedLikeStrawberries: gesundheit
Big Kitty Goth GF: no one ever really wins these arguments, but pyr likes competing and ren can be very passionate about the weirdest things, so here we are
Vomit Boy: guys
Vomit Boy: help
Vomit Boy: yang started a fight with some weirdo twins
Vomit Boy uploaded a video!
Snow Angel: Jaune, why are you taking a video instead of helping?
Cereal Girl: I didn't know ravens flew around Vale…
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By the time Jaune had uploaded the video, Ruby had already taken Jaune's desk chair and dragged it over to Nora's bed, not wanting to get on Ren's bed and ruining the immaculate, well-made bed sheets, a clear sign of Ren's discipline and proper rooming habits, and now the two had settled into a routine of watching over their scrolls while Ruby looked over Nora's Magnhild to perform some quick maintenance.
(There were things Nora and Ruby wanted to do to the release mechanism of Nora's grenade launcher, something about shooting all her grenades together to form a heart shape, and Ruby was eager to modify the valkyrie's weapon to accommodate to request, but their recent schedules prevented any extended period of maintenance at the school's weapon workshop.)
Ruby moved to the floor, the better to fiddle with the mechashift components of Magnhild's handle. She was aiming to make the transition from hammer to grenade launcher faster, but Jaune's uploaded video distracted them. Not that Nora was in any rush – it was turning out to be a lazy day, and she quite liked the peaceful nature of the JNPR dorm, with just her and Ruby passing the time with no particular pressing issue in mind besides Magnhild's potential new upgrade. Nora took the seat Ruby had abandoned and was idly messing with Ruby's hair, trying to see if she could style it somehow, but she had to admit that she had the weakest hairstyling skills out of everyone on team JNPR.
Still, the act gave Nora time to consider the rest of team RWBY's boop status, so she focused on that instead as her fingers caressed Ruby's locks. (Ruby would keep quiet about how good it felt, how much it reminded her of the way Yang would mess with her hair when they were young.)
She first thought of Weiss, who she had instinctually placed in the not-boop category because of how mean the girl was to her Fearless Leader, as well as her brazen attempts to suck up to Pyrrha. Weiss was either not very observant or willfully ignored how uncomfortable Pyrrha was with her hero-worship, and in the beginning it annoyed Nora how little attention Weiss seemed to pay attention to everyone else at the table when they gathered for breakfast. (What was so fascinating about filing her nails, Nora wanted to scream once, but Ren somehow sensed her thoughts and put a stop to it.) Still, her Fearless Leader and her Unofficial Big Sister were cordial to Weiss, so she might as well be.
What had changed her opinions was Ren, of all people, who found something akin to a friendship to the heiress. That had forced Nora to look past the iciness, past the acerbic barbs and the grandiose view the heiress held of herself, until it clicked for Nora that Weiss wasn't going out of her way to be mean. And Weiss truly seemed to regret it when she said terrible things to people, like when she finally backed off from trying to appease Pyrrha (Nora suspected Ren's influence) or when she apologized to Nora one time at breakfast for being, well, herself. (Again, she felt, Ren's doing.)
Nowadays Nora considered Weiss very much deserving of a boop, and she felt a little guilty about only seeing the surface on the SDC heiress. Every now and then she would notice Weiss talking to her, admonishing her to take her studies more seriously, or worrying about her diet, or the lack of variety in her diet, or simply raising concerns about her reckless fighting style and general demeanor. It was easy to assume that it was Weiss simply offering her disdain for Nora, but Nora understood it for what it was: she genuinely was concerned for well-being... she was just supremely bad at expressing herself. She was honest, in her own Weiss way. And Nora appreciated that.
Blake was a simpler matter: after she revealed her secret, Nora could finally confirm that she was boop-worthy. She was still a little shady, especially in the way she watched over Jaune and Pyrrha during the stressful times that Jaune was distancing himself in the team, but Nora knew she meant well. Plus, Blake wasn't dismissive of her, even if her personality suggested she would have wanted to stay as far away from Nora. Plus, Pyrrha was just so happy to have a normal friend that wasn't her teammates, especially someone she shared similar hobbies with. Plus her ears were so cute…! She hoped for the day she could let her ears out in public! Nora had hoped to convince her to do it someday, preferably over breakfast.
Well, she was almost done sorting everyone into her internal boop tracker. The only one left was Ruby…
-0-
Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
SunnyLittleDragon: guess who won her big fight?
Cereal Girl: What about Jaune?
RedLikeStrawberries: is jaune ok?
SunnyLittleDragon: wow p-money, wow sis, way to show concern for your big sister and your good pal
RedLikeStrawberries: oh you're fine, you can beat whoever. jaune's in danger!
Snow Angel: Yang Xiao Long, please do not tell me that you caused any major damage to that… dining establishment.
SunnyLittleDragon: nah, me and the wonder twins took it outside after jaune begged me not to trash his favorite pizza place.
SunnyLittleDragon: plus, he paid for everything, including the tables i accidentally broke. total gentleman i tell you
RedLikeStrawberries: yang!
SunnyLittleDragon: oh come on he offered!
SunnyLittleDragon: besides, he convinced the owner not to call the cops, plus he talked to the customers so we wouldnt get reported. so my criminal record's still somewhat clean!
Big Kitty Goth GF: Somewhat?
SunnyLittleDragon: it's a Long story.
Big Kitty Goth GF: of course it is.
RedLikeStrawberries: So where are you two now?
SunnyLittleDragon: picking up your dumb strawberries and like half the things off p-money's list. we're gonna hit up a few more places to get the stuff weiss asked for. also, wow p-money, you make jaune buy that for you?
Cereal Girl: He has seven sisters, he's used to it.
Snow Angel: …what?
SunnyLittleDragon: don't mind that weiss cream
RedLikeStrawberries: please don't get into any more fights! im worried about jaune
SunnyLittleDragon: dw we should be back before curfew. also get off my back, they started it!
-0-
Ruby was easy, Nora thought as first. She was a good friend to her Fearless Leader. She was polite and friendly to team JNPR and didn't make fun of Ren's standoffish nature or her own personal quirks. She also treated Pyrrha normally, even if she was a little bit starstruck at how good Pyrrha was at combat, as well as a bit more obsessed with Pyrrha's javelin-and-shield combo. But Ruby was harmless.
Except for those dust-damned silver eyes.
Nora couldn't trust it, nope! Clearly those were important eyes. Very few people in Remnant had silver eyes – Nora and Ren had spent too much time wandering around, and silver eyes were astonishingly rare wherever they went. Clearly, those eyes held great power. What if Ruby was descended from a great and powerful lineage of magical warriors? What if Ozpin recruited her early to his school to be part of some grand plot to combat the forces of evil? What if her eyes were plot-important, whatever that meant?
Nora considered the possibilities for a second before concluding, nope! Too silly! Too outlandish!
(Ren always admonished Nora's tendency to let her imagination wander off.)
Besides, silver eyes or not, Ruby was a smaller, more honest soul. There simply was no malice there, and even if a part of Nora suspected deep, intricate plots involving Ruby's silver eyes, the larger part of Nora, the part that wanted to give boops to the worthy, screamed out to her that Ruby deserved all the boops in the world. Even if she was knee-deep in Grimm blood, or testing out an incredibly dangerous warhammer/grenade launcher hybrid, she still looked like a kind and optimistic girl who couldn't hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.
Plus, Ruby brought together a team of people who, along with her own team, comprised some of the most boop-worthy people in all of Remnant. She united them through her endless optimism and kindness, and in return, they responded with their trust and loyalty. Those kinds of people were precious and rare, in Nora's opinion. They were the kinds of people she wouldn't mind having breakfast with.
See, Nora Valkyrie hated breakfast. She had thought, for the longest time, that only Ren could make her appreciate it. But entering Beacon proved to be the best choice Ren and Nora made in a long, long, long, long time, because it was easier to look forward to breakfast when she knew she would get to see these wonderful people that she would never have met otherwise. Breakfast tasted better when she spent it with people she loved.
So she turned to Ruby, and in her most serious voice, implored:
"Ruby, I need a favor."
-0-
Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
Vomit Boy: SunnyLittleDragon where the heck are you?
Vomit Boy: im abt to pay for everything already
SunnyLittleDragon: hang on VB im looking for some ladies stuff
Vomit Boy: i keep telling you, theres a place a few blocks away that sells everything you guys need
SunnyLittleDragon: how do you know this
SunnyLittleDragon: you know what, never mind VB, I don't wanna know how you know
Vomit Boy: did you at least get the stuff i asked you to get? thats mostly weiss and blake stuff
SunnyLittleDragon: uhhhhhhh
SunnyLittleDragon: this is the tuna blake likes, right?
SunnyLittleDragon uploaded a photo!
Big Kitty Goth GF: yang, not that stuff! that stuff's bad!
SunnyLittleDragon: why are you even making me buy more tuna? jaune said the pantry was still full of it!
Big Kitty Goth GF: that's emergency tuna! this is the good stuff!
Snow Angel: Yang, what even is the point of you going with Jaune if you won't contribute to the actual work?
RedLikeStrawberries: yeah, maybe i should have gone with you guys to keep an eye on you
Ren-sensei: I apologize, Jaune. Perhaps I should have made the time to go with you instead.
SunnyLittleDragon: screw you guys, im a great shopping buddy!
SunnyLittleDragon: at least i let VB ride bitch on my bike
Cereal Girl: Now, now, everyone, I'm sure Yang is contributing something to all of this.
SunnyLittleDragon: thank you p-money
Cereal Girl: …even if it's taking Jaune considerably more time to finish this little grocery run.
SunnyLittleDragon: rude
Queen of the Castle's mute has expired!
Queen of the Castle: HA! I'M FREE!
Queen of the Castle: And for my next proclamation…
Queen of the Castle played a video over the chat!
Snow Angel: What the…
Big Kitty Goth GF: why cant I pause the video
Cereal Girl: Why can't I lower the volume?
Big Kitty Goth GF: nora we're in the library
Snow Angel: Nora, please, now is not the time!
Snow Angel: Ruby, do something!
RedLikeStrawberries: cant, im fixing Magnhild
Queen of the Castle booped Ren-sensei!
Queen of the Castle: boop boop
Queen of the Castle: boop boop
Ren-sensei: Nora, were the additional sound effects necessary?
Queen of the Castle: That makes them special!
Queen of the Castle booped Vomit Boy!
Queen of the Castle booped Cereal Girl!
Cereal Girl: Nora, not that I appreciate the gesture, but our scrolls are making too much noise!
Big Kitty Goth GF: why cant I silence my scroll
Queen of the Castle booped SunnyLittleDragon!
SunnyLittleDragon: ok what the hell
Queen of the Castle booped Snow Angel!
Queen of the Castle booped Big Kitty Goth GF!
Queen of the Castle: boop boop
Queen of the Castle: boop boop
Queen of the Castle is now muted!
Vomit Boy stopped playing the video!
Vomit Boy: ruby, stop letting Nora mess with the chat settings!
-0-
Nora and Ruby shared a quick laugh as everyone in the chat screamed expletives and panicked at the general chaos of Nora's (technically Ruby's) new additions to the chat commands. Ruby had actually started laughing so hard at everyone's panic that she began rolling on the floor. Nora saw this as her opportunity.
Nora reached out to touch Ruby's nose.
boop
She was looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast.
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Personally, I fucking love Nora as a character, but it's so easy to turn her into a one-dimensional joke. Hence why I like writing her with these details. Anything to differentiate her from other Nora depictions! The best versions of Nora are like Boop: the sudden shifts in tempo, mood, and style capture her complexity well. And all throughout, her overwhelming ability to just love people shines through.
On an unrelated note, I don't get why some people like writing Jaune and Yang as barely acquaintances from their time in Beacon. I get it sometimes for Dragonslayer fics, because it's a good excuse for either to initiate contact with the other post the Fall of Beacon, but something about their dynamic just makes me feel like they swap the older sibling role in the group around depending on who needs to be babied more at any particular time. (Incidentally, I love that small panel from the DC comic where Yang braids Jaune's hair). Maybe I'm just being weird?