Author's Note:
Obviously there'll be some drabbles (such as the one below) where I'll take some artistic liberty with the timeline gaps.
Suggested by: Author's Original Creation
Drabble location in R.W.B.Y. timeline: Between Volume 1, Episode 14: Forever Fall Pt. 2 and Episode 15: The Stray
Basic Scenario: How Ren got his apron
*BOOP*
Nora stared at her notebook, not seeing the homework for Professor Port's class. She was instead trying to think of a solution to an important problem.
"What's up Nora?" Yang sat across from the redhead, putting her elbows on the table and propping her chin against her hands, "Missing your study buddy: Tall, Dark and Handsome?"
Nora sighed. While she did miss having Ren help her out with the boring subjects, he was actually the source of her current dilemma, "Yang... I need help."
"Oh?" Yang smirked, "Boy trouble, Miss Valkyrie?"
"Yeah..." Nora looked away before catching herself, "Er... I mean, not like that sort of boy trouble -um- it's... it's Ren."
Yang quirked an eyebrow, "You sure it's not that sort of boy trouble?" She leaned towards Nora, "it sure sounds like it from here."
"Ren's birthday's coming up and I have no idea what to get him!" Nora blurted out, holding her head in her hands, "I only have a few days left."
"Oh," Yang was taken aback by the information, "I dunno if I can help with that, Nora, you're the one that knows Ren the best..."
"I know," Nora groaned into her hands, "and that's the problem." She looked up, "I can't think of anything he needs or wants... and I don't know who to ask."
"Hmm..." Yang rubbed her chin, "well... what does he like?"
Nora looked around the library, making sure that she was still in the 'all-clear' zone that Pyrrha and Jaune had promised her. They had taken Ren to sparring practice in hopes of getting Jaune warmed up before Goodwitch's class. Nora flipped to the back of her notebook, where she had complied a list for such an occasion and pushed it towards Yang.
"Wow." Yang leaned to look over the list, surprised how long it was, "I'm sure we could get something from this."
Over the next few minutes, Yang found out quite a bit about the mysterious Lie Ren.
Naps, lotis flowers, Samurai Shampoo, the colours pink and green, classical music...
The closest thing he had to a vice in his love for tea; particularly aquilegia as a medicinal brew, though that was very hard to come by.
He wasn't the "long walks on the beach" or "the smell of Dust in the morning" kind of guy, but his interests in literature and quiet meditation instantly reminded Yang of Blake.
Yang could tell from the amount of time that Nora put into compiling the list that she cared deeply for Ren, even if she adamantly claimed that they weren't "together-together".
"He likes cooking for you, right?" Yang pointed to the doodle of a frying pan on the list.
"Well, he likes cooking in general," Nora shrugged, "I just like eating."
Yang folded her hands together, "maybe see if he needs anything to help with cooking? Try watching him the next time he makes you something and not the food."
"Yang!" Ruby called from across the library, "we're gonna be late for class!"
"Aww shoot! Didn't even pay attention to the time," Yang jumped up from her chair.
Nora snapped upright, realizing that she also had the same class. Scrambling to grab all of her stuff, she hurried after Yang and Ruby.
The class flew by without incident -Goodwitch only yelled at Nora twice to settle down- and soon Team JNPR had reconvened in the dormitory for their weekly pancakes and battle strategy dinner.
Nora followed Ren into the kitchenette room of their dorm. Seating herself at the table, she carefully watched Ren cook with practised ease.
His eyes narrowed with intense focus as if he were facing a deadly foe. Nora fiddled with her fingers, trying to pay attention to what Ren was doing and not what he was cooking... or the very tempting bottle of syrup just within arm's reach.
"Pancakes done yet?" Jaune interrupted from the other room.
Ren's focus snapped at the noise, and he fumbled to catch the pancake he was currently flipping. His ninja reflexes ensured that the fluffy pancake had not met an unfortunate fate, though Nora could see that Ren was noticeably tenser.
"They won't cook faster if you ask them, Jaune!" Ren responded curtly, flipping another stack onto a plate.
Nora gripped the edge of the table, forcing herself to look at Ren and not the pancakes. Anything but the pancakes... the ceiling, the floor, the table, the strange pattern on Ren's shirt... no wait, that was just batter.
"You've been quiet... is everything all right, Nora?" Ren turned to his best friend.
Nora could see more batter and flour caked on Ren's shirt and her eyes lit up. "Yes!" She smiled, "I mean, it is now."
Ren smirked, turning back to the frying pan, "Well, they're not done yet. But if you could help me carry them out..."
"Of course!" Nora interjected, "anything to help my bestest friend in the whole wide world..."
Ren chuckled, flipping the last of the pancakes onto a heaping stack. He turned off the burners, setting aside the frying pan and bowls for later washing. Sighing through his nose, he grabbed a towel hanging by the sink and worked at getting the batter and flour off of his shirt.
Nora's smile widened, she knew exactly what to get him. Bouncing up from the table, she grabbed two stacks of pancakes in each hand and balanced them out into the main dorm room.
"Nora!" Ren nearly dropped his towel, "careful! Don't drop them!"
"You grab the syrup, Ren." Nora responded without looking back. "Two bottles please!"
Jaune and Pyrrha rushed to grab their plates of pancakes off of Nora's arms before they could tip over.
It took a couple of days and a bit of sneaking around, but Nora managed to get into Vale without Ren to complete her purchase. It was more than worth it when Ren opened up the colourfully-wrapped box and pulled out a pink apron that read: "Please Do Nothing to the Cook".