So… long absence. I'm sorry, things have gotten… well, crazy, and my friend's lending me her PS3 so… that's the main excuse. I'm all caught up on RWBY now though, and RWBY Chibi has made me reevaluate some of my headcanons… which came into effect with this! Plus, I wanted this finished before Halloween was done, and it's 11:43 as I type this, so I succeeded. Yay! Anyway, I don't own anything, but I hope you guys enjoy!

Halloween AU: Spooky Treats and Sweet Tricks

"All Hallows Eve was an important tradition, one that…"

"Ren! No history! Let go of the extra credit for one minute! It's Halloween! It's the day of free candy! Plus, we got invited to the biggest, most exclusive party on campus! So let's go, let's go, let's gooooooo!" Nora tugged on her friend's hand, grinning as big as she could. "We have to get dressed! And I wanna see Jaune and Pyrrha in the costumes I picked for them! It's going to be awesome!"

"…How exactly is a ketchup and mustard set 'awesome'?"

"Uh, because they go perfectly together, just like Jaune and Pyrrha do! Duh!" Nora acted as if it was obvious, although of course she had a more devious plan in mind as well. "Plus, Pyrrha's reaction is bound to be priceless!"

"Do I want to know?"

"Of course you do! That's why we're going back home to change, instead of going to hang out with Ruby and everyone else!" Nora chattered easily, linking her fingers with Ren's with a laugh. "But you know, we've got the coolest costumes! Not just because I made them -and I'm a whiz at that sewing machine- but they're sloths!"

Ren scratched his head with his free hand, not even trying to pull his hand free. Nora was touchy enough that he didn't even think about it anymore, even if other people thought they looked like a couple. "Why exactly are we going as sloths again? I thought you had decided on being a giant pancake."

"Because sloths! Sloths! They're awesome!" Nora's grin grew the longer her hand was in Ren's, although she doubted he noticed. He never noticed. She had heard of someone being dense, and she'd heard of the friendzone, but geez, Nora hadn't realized how much they both sucked until recently! "But don't worry, I didn't go too overboard with yours! I mean, you might have a hard time with the gloves, but it's pretty much a cool, sloth-like suit for you! And I made sure it was comfortable and you'd be able to sit and move and eat and pretty much everything you do normally! I mean, it's not too tight or anything… and the fabric is soft! It's super huggable!"

"Nora."

"Yes Ren?"

"You realize I'd wear it anyway, don't you?"

A piece of Nora died inside out of joy at the words, because yes, Ren would do pretty much anything for her, including wearing costumes he hadn't even seen yet. But that was a piece of her that Ren absolutely could never see because he was too dense, plus Nora liked their friendship.

Mostly.

The rest of Nora aimed a giant grin at her best friend, squeezing his hand tightly in appreciation. "Well, I do manage to make some good costumes! Besides, it isn't like you sew! I almost had to sew up your finger last time you tried to use my machine!"

"It malfunctioned."

"You were just threading the needle!" Laughing, Nora leaned into Ren's arm before skipping a few steps forward, keeping his hand in hers. "But don't worry, I have your back! I make clothes, and you make me pancakes and cookies and sweets! It's totally even!"

Ren raised an eyebrow at the girl, keeping pace easily. "I make far more pancakes than you make clothes."

"Yes, but cutting patterns and fabric and actually sewing takes far more time than making pancakes done! We're so even!" Nora giggled, tugging on Ren's hand impatiently. "Now hurry up! We need to get dressed and make sure Pyrrha doesn't try to find a different costume!"

"…It's a ketchup bottle. Why would she…"

"Not important, not important at all! What's important is that Pyrrha and Jaune wear these costumes together! Like they should be. Togetheerrrrrr!" Nora was a firm believer in the love between the other two, much like the rest of their friends; it was really the best -and worst- kept secret among the friends that everyone was trying to get Jaune and Pyrrha together.

Well, either together or in the most embarrassing or compromising position possible. Either way was a win.

"Nora… what did you do?"

"Nothing much! I just found a cute costume for Pyrrha, and it's red, and you know how she likes the red! I mean, she always wears red! Oh, and I got Jaune yellow, for his hair! They totally…"

"Nora!" An arm appeared from behind their door, grabbing onto the girl with surprising accuracy. "Ren… please stay there. Nora…"

"Huh? Pyrrha, you're ready already? Well, you're not allowed to leave without us, so I'll just get changed…" Nora dug through her bag to pull out Ren's costume, taking only one extra second before letting go of his hand. "Ren, we'll be right out! Let's meet up at the statue and we'll all head to the party!"

Ren looked at the bundle of clothes in his hand, having a bad feeling about what had happened to their mutual friend. "Nora…"

"Oh, we'll be real quick! Promise!" Feeling the insistent tug from Pyrrha, Nora grinned and edged through the door, calling out behind her. "Just go get dressed and let me know what you think! See you in a… yikes Pyrrha, don't yank my arm off!"

"What is this?" Pyrrha's face was almost as red as her hair as she gestured at her outfit -a rather difficult move as she was also trying to tug on the skirt in the process.

"It's a ketchup costume! Super cute on you too!" Nora, absurdly pleased at Pyrrha's embarrassment, pulled off her own shoes with a laugh. "Come on Pyrrha, it's not that bad! You show more skin in your normal clothes!"

"That doesn't mean that… Nora, this is lingerie. People don't wear lingerie in public." Pyrrha, far too used to her friend's antics, tried logic. Sometimes Nora would respond to logic and take it back… or she'd admit it was a horrible prank and fix the situation. "I don't remember seeing a dress this high up in the store… or one this… this…"

"Low?" Nora paused for a second, grabbing at the strings on her own costume. "Pyrrha, you might not realize this, but you do have boobs. I mean, not as big as Yang, but…"

"Nora!"

Nora shrugged, tying the ties on her corset instead of looking at her increasingly-agitated friend. "Pyrrha, you're gorgeous. Don't know why that needs to be a thing I need to say, but I take offense when my absolutely drop-dead gorgeous friend wants to be some camp counselor in a boring uniform for Halloween. I mean, get into the Halloween spirit and jump into the oldest tradition!"

"…Disguising myself as a monster so the spirits won't…"

"Not that old history tradition! The sexy costume tradition!" Wriggling into a brown skirt, Nora pouted at Pyrrha dramatically. "It's a time-honored tradition to have sexy costumes on Halloween! And as you've never participated, it is way past your time! Plus, you match with Jaaaaauuuuuune!"

"That… I mean, Jaune and I aren't…" Pyrrha unbelievably turned even more red, much to the amusement of her friend, who proceeded to sit down and shove her feet into thigh-high brown boots. "Nora, you know that we're not… what are you wearing?"

Pulling on her hat, as well as the gloves she'd only spent four hours making, Nora grinned at Pyrrha cheerfully. "I'm a sloth, most awesome animal of them all! And you know, I've never been part of the whole sexy costume tradition either! So we can do this together!"

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

"Reeeeeeeeeeeeen! Jaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuune!" Nora darted towards the statue, dragging Pyrrha along behind her. "We're heeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrre! And look, I got Pyrrha to keep the costume on!"

"Nora, you're too…" Ren was probably going to say something about being too loud, but froze instead at the sight of the two girls. "…Nora?"

"Yes Ren, it is a costume. See, same fabric as you, except I have much less of it! Less is more, right Pyrrha?" Nora felt the words becoming a babble, sending an overly bright grin at the other girl, who was in the middle of a staring contest with Jaune. "Pyrrha? Pyrrhaaaaaaa? Pyrrha!"

"Huh? Oh yes, whatever she said!" Tugging on the bottom of her dress, Pyrrha sent an uneasy smile towards the boys. "Should we get going? I think Coco would be upset if we're late."

"Which we will be if we don't get moving! Let's go, let's go!" Nora, sensing there wouldn't be movement anytime soon unless she did something, grabbed Pyrrha's hand and started tugging her along. "Come on Pyrrha, we can leave these two slowpokes behind and have ourselves some fun! Plus, I want to see everyone's costume! I heard Neptune is going to be Poseidon, which is kind of ironic since he, you know… hates water? Oh, but Blake's supposedly going as Nami, because Sun wanted to be Luffy, which is cute, because that's totally a couple costume, and they totally like each other! And did you hear? Ruby managed to get Weiss into an Elsa costume! What do you bet Ruby's going to be Anna?"

"Um… a lot, as Ruby started showing off the wig last week?" Pyrrha murmured, glancing back towards Jaune for help.

"Oh, that's right! Well, who else is there? Well, there's Sun's friends -what are their names again? Oh, and I heard Cinder and everyone will be there too, because what's a party without bad boys and girls? Even Roman will be there!"

"Roman's coming?" There were bad memories of Roman for all of them, but Jaune was the one who voiced the thought in all their heads.

"Oh yeah, I heard he roped himself in with Neo. Harley and the Joker for costumes I think, which is fine for Neo, but there's no way Roman pulls off Joker!" Nora glanced back at the boys, raising an eyebrow at the distance growing between them. "But you'll never see if you don't hurry up slowpokes! We'll miss all of the party!"

Nora was about to dash off and drag Pyrrha when, much to the other girl's relief, Ren seemed to teleport and link his fingers with Nora's. "We'll go ahead if you want to walk slower," he offered easily to Pyrrha.

"That would be great," Pyrrha smiled at Nora's disappointment, then up at Jaune as he approached, the mustard to her ketchup. "Jaune and I will catch up."

"But… okay, fine!" Squeezing Ren's hand, Nora skipped forward, jumping when Ren didn't move quite fast enough. "We'll let everyone know you're on the way! Come on Ren, I want to get candy!"

"Coming, coming…" Ren, not hindered by his sloth-inspired suit in any way, managed to keep up with Nora easily, even quieter than he normally was. As attuned to Ren's moods as she was, Nora caught onto the change quickly.

"Ren? Is something the matter?" Nora's eyes flicked up to Ren's face, frowning a little when Ren avoided her eyes. "Ren? Is something too tight? I wondered a bit about the collar but…"

"Collar's fine…" Contradicting his own words, Ren tugged on his collar lightly with his free hand, tightening his grip on Nora's hand slightly. "Just a little warm."

"Oh… well, it's going to get warmer at the party! All those people, and dancing, and hey, do you think Coco's got drinks? Fox is a surprisingly good bartender!" Nora noticed the grip change, beaming up at Ren reassuringly. "I mean, I know you're not exactly fond of parties, but we'll go, socialize, maybe dance a little, and the alcohol will make everything better! And then we can go find a quiet place so you can relax too!"

"…When did you get drinks from Fox?" They were almost always together, and Ren would have remembered something like that. Nora was bad enough with coffee, no one wanted to risk her with alcohol… no one except risk-takers and adrenaline junkies who wanted a laugh.

"Oh, remember that one time we had girl's night, and then you and Jaune hung out with Sun and Neptune? Yeah, well, Fox is like… an honorary girl, because he's really good at keeping secrets and making drinks, so he got to be part of girl's night! He's also surprisingly good at massages too…" Nora had to bring herself back on track as she started to get distracted, scratching at her head carefully. "Anyway, he made some drinks that had ice cream in them! And they were super yummy, but I was only allowed to have the one, on Yang's orders. Apparently, I'd be a bad influence if I had anymore!"

Ren didn't say anything for a long moment, long enough that Nora started dissecting her words to see what she'd said wrong. Was he mad about the girl's night? They'd planned it in advance and he'd had plenty of warning though! Plus, that was almost two months ago! Oh, maybe it was the alcohol… Ren didn't even approve of coffee. She'd had to promise that she wouldn't make it anymore, and Nora had to trick other people to do it for her now. But that was a completely different drink altogether and…

"…You never told me Fox was there."

"Huh?" Was that why he was upset? "Well, I kinda forgot about it when it happened too! I mean, Fox is really really quiet and kind of just disappears in the background a lot! Actually, besides the drinks he made -oh, and the massages for Coco- he kinda… wasn't there? I mean, it was like he teleported in and then teleported away again!"

Nora beamed up at Ren, skipping cheerfully next to him. "Honestly, there wasn't much to tell! I guess I thought I had already said something, because it didn't matter all that much to me, not as much as the other good stuff! But next time, I'll tell you everything, no matter how small, I promise!"

There was another moment of silence as Ren thought, a moment of concern for Nora -whose main goal in life was to interact happily with Ren- before he sighed quietly. "If it didn't matter, you don't have to tell me."

"You sure? I don't keep secrets from my best friend Ren!" Well, except for the one where the best friend was also a love interest; he definitely did not need to know that. Nope, no sir, that was a secret she could take to the grave! "Whatever you want to know, just ask and I'll tell you!"

She was grinning again as she looked up at Ren, tilting her head to the side when he opened his mouth to say something. "Nora, why did…"

"Nora! You look amazing!" Velvet appeared out of nowhere, leaning to hug the other girl with an easy laugh. "Hi Ren!"

The moment was broken as Nora freed her hand, hugging Velvet and hopping in place. Velvet had admitted once that it wasn't easy to think of a costume, especially with her ears, but she had found a perfect one this year… Judy Hopps, bunny cop extraordinaire! "Same for you! Where's Yatsuhashi? I thought he'd be with you!"

"Coco has him at the door, keeping out the really shady people. She was hoping he'd keep Roman and the others out, but…" Velvet shrugged, shaking her head. "They're tricky. Which can be fine if they don't break any laws and break up a party, but…"

"They like to break laws and explode things!" Nora finished, not quite convinced of the problems it caused. If no one was hurt and the damage wasn't permanent, surely a few explosions and broken things weren't a problem?

"Explosions are only good on a tv screen Nora," Ren read her mind, shaking his head once at her dismayed look. "Real explosions bring cops and kill your parties."

"Oh right! Hey, have Ruby and the others gotten here? And what did Coco dress up as? She's been keeping it a secret forever!" Nora started to skip down to the party, catching sight of a few inebriated partygoers. "And Halloween is no fun with costume secrets!"

"Actually… no one's seen Coco at all today. Fox either. Yatsuhashi just assumed they're doing something together, but no one knows what." Velvet looked around for her friends, tugging nervously at a lock of her hair. "I'm going to go mingle, see if someone's caught sight of her yet. She had some big plan for the party that she was keeping a secret too, so…"

"Go!" Nora gave the command easily, and without any real pressure. "Discover secret plans! Find the missing party planner! Find our best bartender Fox!"

Nora waved at Velvet's retreating form before grinning over at Ren again. "Are you ready to face the crowds of frivolity and drunken good humor?"

"…Was that meant to be funny, or was that rhetorical?"

"Whatever the word for, 'question you don't need to answer' is!" Nora chirped in response and, unable to resist, linked arms with Ren, pressed to his side to avoid stepping on someone throwing up in the bushes. "And don't worry, I definitely won't end up like that tonight! Promise!"

Without giving him a chance to respond, because Nora knew that she'd end up babbling if he said something like she kept doing, she pulled him forward with her, doing exactly what she was trying not to do: babble. "I don't know how Coco got this creepy abandoned building for her party, but look! Do you think that cobweb is real or just a decoration? And look! A creepy skeleton with a mannequin next to… oh my god, it moved, it moved, let's just go away and find the dancing spot!"

"I don't…"

"Don't say you don't dance; we all know you can dance! You just like to choreograph your dance first! I mean, you're a good dancer; you can definitely dance, you've got moves, but you need to be spontaneous about it! Come here!" Nora grabbed at his hands, dragging him further into the crowd where people were dancing to the Monster Mash. "You just need to move!"

Giggling at the look on his face, Nora spun around cheerfully. She might not be the greatest dancer, but she was very enthusiastic, jumping and spinning without a second thought. For a moment, she thought she saw people watching her, but then Ren was in front of her, and why would she think of random people in the crowd when Ren was dancing with her?

Actually, that was weird. Ren didn't really dance much without having thought out the steps first; if he did, it was mostly copying Nora, or swaying. But this… this was full dancing, and he had his hand on her arm, and he was actually dancing like normal people at a party, and if Nora didn't know better, she would have thought he had a few drinks before they got here.

And why was she thinking of stupid things like that, when she could just enjoy the moment, because moments end and Ren would go back to being her semi-distant best friend and Nora would be a completely hyperactive fool with her unrequited feelings that no one would ever know about? No, tonight, she would show a different -very different- side of her style in her 'sexy sloth' and take advantage of the Halloween spirit to relax and possibly have Ren see her in a different light. Leaning closer, Nora grinned up at the boy, loosening up in her dancing as Ren relaxed enough to smile.

From the corner of her eye, Nora saw Jaune and Pyrrha come in, but that was something to put away for another time. Again, there was Ren in front of her, so what else was there to focus on?

The lights flickered before going completely out, screams breaking out as the music cut out into static.

Well, that's an issue. "Hey, what's going on? Ren?" Nora reached out, colliding with Ren's chest as he pulled her towards him, narrowly avoiding being hit by a panicking girl behind her.

"I've got you," Ren murmured, one hand resting gently on the small of Nora's back, supporting her so that she wouldn't topple over as the panic continued, the lights flickering on and off repeatedly.

"Ren! Nora!" Jaune made his way to their side, Pyrrha leading the way. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah!" Nora called back over the noise, squinting to try to see. "Hey Jaune, the mustard was a good idea; that yellow practically glows in the dark!"

"Not funny Nora. Any idea what happened?" Jaune was keeping himself still, though it was obviously an effort. His instincts practically drove him to jump in and try to help the others around them, but in this light, they'd end up hurting each other.

"No, but…" Ren stopped as the lights finally stopped flickering, deciding to stay on a dim glow, just enough to see their surroundings. Nothing had changed, but in the darker lights, everything seemed just a little more ominous. "Maybe the electricity?"

"Causing flickers and static music?" Nora clung to Ren's shirt, not needing the support, but enjoying the closeness anyway. "That just screams something supernatural, not normal! Maybe it's a ghost!"

"Ghost?" Pyrrha paled slightly, getting a look from Nora. She had forgotten Pyrrha's aversion to the supernatural; despite Pyrrha's disbelief in magic and the like, the idea of it still unnerved the typically unshakable girl.

"Or maybe the electricity! Who knows?" There was no point in teasing Pyrrha; something crazy had just happened after all! Besides, it wasn't fun to tease someone who was actually scared!

"There should be a generator or fuse box downstairs, shouldn't there?" Ren suggested, looking around. There were girls crying, either sitting with their friends or leaning into their boyfriends… Reminded of their current position, Ren glanced down at Nora. She wasn't crying, but she certainly didn't seem ready to let go anytime soon.

He was okay with that.

"You want to go into the basement?" Nora's voice was incredulous at the best… ridiculing at the worst. "Ren, that's how people die in horror movies. They go into basements and die horribly!"

"Yeah, but they don't go in groups!" Ruby appeared, earning a terrified squeak from Jaune in her appearance.

"Ruby, don't just jump out at people!"

"Yeah yeah, we're all here! Hey Pyrrha, glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of sexy ketchup!" Yang appeared, resting an arm on her sister's shoulder. Blake was right behind her, as well as a very offended looking Weiss.

"Besides, if anyone died first, it wouldn't be you Nora," Weiss brushed her hands on her dress dismissively. "It would be whoever ran the slowest."

"Or whoever went off on their own."

"Or the blonde!"

Everyone looked over at Jaune, who at the best of times, fit at least two of the three criteria. "Hey!"

Nora nodded before gasping. "Oh, but he's got Pyrrha with him all the time! And Pyrrha's a match for any killer!"

"H-hey…" Pyrrha interrupted before an argument could break out between the group, waving her arms by her face. "We don't know that anything dangerous is anywhere; why don't we just go outside and get to light?"

"Uh, because the party's just getting started?" Yang shrugged her shoulders easily. "Besides, we're still looking for Coco and Fox, right? Velvet was saying they'd disappeared earlier."

"It's probably a prank from Roman anyway," Blake reminded them all simply, stretching her arms in the air. "So why don't we all just go down together to fix it? Just like we normally do."

"I'm cool with that!" Nora chirped in agreement, taking a deep breath before reaching down for Ren's hand. "But I'm staying with Ren! He's practically a ninja, so if something bad happens, he'll work some ninja magic and get us out!"

"I call Blake!" Yang raised a hand. "Same reasons."

"Let's just… go," Pyrrha suggested, although she had a hand on Jaune's arm in her own claim. "I'm sure it's nothing but a malfunction. We'll be fine, get the music and lights going, and then everyone can go back to partying."

The group nodded, making their slow way back to the main hall, where there were two options: the left stairwell where there were inviting candles, or the right, where it was dark and there were strange sounds.

"We'll take the left side," Weiss offered, grabbing Ruby by the collar to drag her off. "If we haven't seen anything in ten minutes, we'll just come back and meet up, deal?"

"See you!" Blake followed her friends after a moment, offering the others a sympathetic glance. "Just have Jaune scream really loud if something happens and we'll come find you."

"Why me?" Jaune didn't even wait for a response before shaking his head. "Never mind."

"Aw, it's okay Jaune!" Nora patted Jaune on the shoulder, nudging him forward. "We all believe in you! I mean, you might not survive a serial killer, or crazy possessed dolls, but you make a good distraction for the rest of us!"

"That's not helpful Nora!" Jaune looked ready to just leave the house now and return to the apartments, except Ren moved forward, squeezing Nora's hand in warning.

"Let's go find a breaker or something, see if we can't figure out the problem," Ren offered as a peace treaty, pulling out his phone for the flashlight. "The sooner we move, the sooner we're done."

"It won't be too bad," Pyrrha sighed quietly, patting Jaune on the back. "You know Nora's just trying to lighten the mood."

Jaune sighed heavily, walking forward slowly. "She wasn't wrong though."

"Oh come on, I didn't mean it!" Nora followed behind, pretending not to notice how close Ren was walking to her. She wasn't even making it happen this time, Ren was just walking like right next to her, but this was not the right time to have butterflies in her stomach because of Ren! "Let's face it, we'd all die in a horror movie! Except maybe Pyrrha. And I don't even think you'd be the first!"

"What?"

"Yeah, the first person to die would totally be Weiss! Well, maybe Ruby… but probably Weiss! She'd get grumpy and storm off and get killed super quick!" Nora continued her train of thought down the stairs, stumbling over her own feet occasionally. "You'd probably get some cool monologue about sticking together but people wouldn't listen and you'd have a cool death! So it wouldn't be too bad!"

"Nora."

"Yes Ren?" Nora glanced at Ren, tilting her head in confusion.

"Can we not talk about death and murder as we're walking into a dark basement?" Ren's eyebrows were raised as he spoke. "That just seems like you're asking for trouble."

"Alright, fine, fine… how about we sing a song? 'Let's do the time warp agaaaaaaain!'"

"No!" There had been enough of that particular movie in the past week, where Nora would watch it three times in a day… every day… and sometimes just play the songs in the times she wasn't watching it.

"Awwwww… yikes!" On the last step -the last step- Nora felt herself falling forward, reacting quickly enough to throw her hands out in front of her. That would hurt, but not nearly as bad as whacking her face on the ground and…

"Nora!"

She found herself tugged backwards into a hard chest, one arm wrapping around her stomach as the light fell to the ground and turned off. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Nora touched the arm around her as a sign she was alright. "See? Ninja reflexes! This is why I stick with Ren!"

Well, that, and he was just the greatest person in the world. But she'd just stick with the ninja reflexes as a reason… the other one was a little too close to the whole 'liking more than a friend' thing.

"You alright?" Ren's voice was so close to her ear there, close enough that it took Nora a moment to realize what he'd even asked.

"Uh… yeah! I'm good! But now it's dark! Let's get light and make sure Jaune didn't run into a box and crack something open, like an urn with a crazy spirit inside! That would be horrible!" Nora wriggled until Ren let her go, taking advantage of the darkness to bring herself back to normal. The last thing she needed was Ren to see her as red as Pyrrha got around Jaune… that would ruin everything! "Hey… where are they?"

The couple blinked at the now empty space in front of them for a moment before Nora freaked out.

"Jaune? Pyrrha? Oh my gosh, I was joking about a serial killer or a monster or crazy ghost! Ren, they got kidnapped or killed or something! We have to find them! We have to avenge them and break legs and… eeek!" Nora nearly jumped out of her skin, feeling a hand on her shoulder.

"It's just me," Ren murmured, looking closely at the girl. The light was harsh from his phone, but Nora looked paler than normal… and was also blushing, but that was probably because she was embarrassed about getting scared, nothing else. "They're fine, they probably just moved further in."

"Without light?" Nora squeaked, eyes growing wide. The only thing that could send her into this state was worrying about her friends… and with Jaune, she had a lot to worry about. Snakes, spiders, the occasional rock he'd trip on… "Ren, they're not that crazy!"

"No, but…" Ren hesitated before giving into the urge to wrap an arm over Nora's shoulder. "It makes more sense than your theories, doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah…" Nora took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "Okay, let's look around and find them! And then beat them up for scaring us like this! Let's start this wa-aaaaah!"

Again? There wasn't anything to trip on you idiot! Screaming at herself, Nora caught herself, wincing at the scratches on her hands. "Ouchie… what even was… did you hear scraping?"

Ren looked around, catching a movement by the wall -or was that in the wall? Nora followed his gaze and blinked. "You've got to be kidding me. You've got to be joking!"

The girl got herself up and darted off before Ren could stop her, waving her arms by the wall. "I get this place is old and all, but a secret passageway? That just belongs to a horror movie! There's bound to be some creepy dude in the wall that wants someone to be his wife or caretaker and he's going to be some weirdo! Jaune and Pyrrha must have gone this way! We have to save them!"

"Nora, that passageway is probably… Nora!" The girl dashed into the passageway, leaving Ren no choice but to follow her, both relieved and confused to find that she was in much more light than she had been before.

"Look Ren, someone wrote on here! There's arrows! But it's like a Sharpie, so it's not Pyrrha; I only gave her those tiny ketchup bottles to write on. But look, there's initials under… C and F… Coco and Fox!" Nora's eyes lit up, her fear overridden by her excitement. "Maybe it's not a serial killer freak… it's an adventure Ren! An adventure!"

Ren sighed at Nora's change of heart, shaking his head. Her mood swings could be dramatic, but rarely were they were like this… Normally there was some clue. Then again, it was Halloween, and Nora's excitement only tripled on this date.

"Come on." Ren reached down and took Nora's hand, already worried she'd trip again and hurt herself. "Let's find our friends and get out of here."

Nora blinked, looking down at their hands before biting her lip to hold back a grin. Ren rarely ever took her hand himself; it was always her doing most of the touching in their relationship… in a totally platonic way. "Yeah… let's go find them! And then we can get candy!"

"No candy." It came out on reflex, but Nora took it as a real refusal of sugar.

"What? But it's Halloween! We need candy! Chocolate and gummies and jellies and caramels and sugary goodness Ren! It's the one time it's socially acceptable to eat as much of an assortment of candies as I could possibly want! And it's the time I can bully the bully kids to give me the candy they don't deserve!" Nora bounced excitedly as they walked, not even noticing herself starting to shiver. As cute as it was, a corset top and skirt was not very warm. But there were more important things to care about than the temperature… like candy!

"You shouldn't steal candy from kids," Ren warned, although it meant nothing. He always ended up dragged along to keep an eye out for parents or authorities, so he really was part of the candy stealing.

"It's not stealing! It's liberating! I'm liberating the candy from cruel bully tyrants!" Absently, Nora rubbed at her arm with her free hand, shaking her head dramatically. "They don't deserve the sugary goodness like we do! So we take what we deserve!"

Ren watched Nora, stopping in his tracks, ignoring her annoyed look as it tugged on her arm. "Ren, come on, we can't just stop; we have to follow this mysterious passage to our friends! Huh?"

The boy shrugged out of his jacket, handing it over to Nora. When she didn't move to take it, Ren merely wrapped it over her shoulders, figuring that she would get the point and keep herself warm.

"Ah… thank you." Nora ducked her head as she pulled the jacket on, marveling over how big it was on her. Granted, she had made the thing, but there was a different if seeing that it was big and knowing how much bigger it was a completely different experience. "But won't you be cold?"

"…I'll be fine." Ren watched Nora, amused by how much the jacket hung on her. They'd been friends for so long that he rarely noticed how much smaller Nora was, especially with how big her presence was wherever she went. "I wasn't the one shivering."

"I wasn't!" The fact that she was made the denial even stronger. "I was not cold, not in the slightest!"

"Really?" Only with Nora, away from the rest of the world, did Ren allow himself to relax enough to joke. "Then I suppose I could have the jacket back then."

"No!" Nora protested, wrapping her arms around herself protectively, her hands buried in the sleeves. The image was amusing enough that Ren smiled to himself, shaking his head.

"How you kept warm this long is a surprise to me," Ren murmured quietly, taking Nora's arm gently to keep her steady. "Why girls wear just… small costumes on Halloween confounds me."

Nora paused to send Ren a steady look before sighing and moving on slowly. "Well, it's one day that we can without people getting all upset. And that's what costume stores sell. I mean, not an issue for me, because I can just make mine myself! But it's a chance to be more open, and exposed and find something cute to wear in front of the people you care about! Or, in Pyrrha's case, to match with a special someone and maybe go somewhere with it. Or you just want to wear clothes that emphasize what you think is attractive and is good for self-esteem! There's lots and lots and lots of reasons! None of them are bad!"

"You've put a lot of thought into this," Ren noted, taking care not to look at Nora as she got more excited about her topic. Humming, she agreed with his statement, continuing with what sounded like 'I Want Candy' until his question froze her in her tracks. "Did you dress up for someone?"

"…Huh?" Her voice came out weak, even to her. Nora stared, dumbfounded as Ren waited patiently for an answer, knowing her silence was out of shock and not out of any attempt at secrecy. "Did I… huh? I…"

"Nora!" A distinctly female voice interrupted Nora's surprise as a red blur dashed forward and grabbed Nora's hands. "Thank goodness you're here! Did you close the door behind you?"

"The door? Oh, the secret door?" Nora shook her head, relieved for the distraction. "No… no, why would we close a secret door that nobody knows about? That sounds like a good way to get trapped!"

Pyrrha looked backwards at the three who were appearing from further down the passage, raising her eyebrows. "You mean trapped so that the only way of getting a message out is messing with the electricity?"

"Oh yeah, trapped like… Coco and Fox got trapped and messed up the party? Was that the big surprise?" Nora stared at the couple, not flinching when Coco sent her a glare.

"No, that wasn't the surprise. You would have liked it. Raining candy and everything."

"Candy? I can help you with the surprise!" Nora offered easily, eyes widening as Jaune went back to Pyrrha's side. She wasn't going to react, she wasn't going to react, but he was holding Pyrrha's hand, he was holding Pyrrha's hand, Jaune was so grown-up now!

"Nora, I think most people left the party… and I think Ruby and the others probably went looking for us when we didn't go back," Ren noted quietly, standing a little away from the rest of the group. "They said ten minutes; it's been almost double that."

"What? Oh my gosh, Weiss will totally kill us!"

"And we have to head back," Coco noted, pushing Fox ahead of everyone, moving forward. "Velvet's probably organized an entire search party for us right now."

"She did!" Nora called after them, moving up to Ren's side. "She was telling pretty much everyone at the party to look for you!"

Coco didn't respond with anything more than a wave, leaving the four alone in the passageway. There was a moment of silence before Nora nodded towards Jaune and Pyrrha.

"So… having fun? This party wasn't so bad. There was dancing and adventure and just a little bit of terror, but it's Halloween, so…"

"We'll see you at home," Pyrrha interrupted, tugging Jaune forward as he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Good night Nora."

"Niiiiiight!" Nora waved, letting the two get a head start before looking at Ren. "You ready to head out? It's been kinda crazy; I'm down to go home."

"Ah… yes, it's been a crazy night," Ren agreed, gesturing towards the exit calmly. Despite his calm, he seemed… distant. Even more so than he normally was towards everyone else.

"Ah, Ren?" Nora reached halfway before dropping her hand. What if she ruined everything? She wanted Ren to notice her, but not if it was going to ruin a perfectly good friendship that nothing could destroy, except her own stupid feelings. She wanted Ren to notice her, but she wasn't doing anything to make him do so. She… Nora reached out and tugged Ren's hand, looking right at him as he glanced down at her. "The costume… I did dress up for someone special."

Ren blinked, looking surprised at Nora's straightforwardness about it, and curious. "…"

"Ah, but I think I'll keep who a secret!" Nora grinned, rocking side to side easily as she felt herself relaxing. It was Ren; she didn't have to be afraid of Ren. She did however, want to see exactly how dense he could be. After all, who else shares a connection to sloths and me? "Now come on, let's head home! I want to see if we can catch Jaune and Pyrrha being romantic!"

Without waiting for Ren's response, and too shy to grab Ren's hand after that near-confession, Nora dashed off ahead in the passage, giggling quietly. Oh, she'd wait at the end for Ren; Nora would wait for Ren no matter how long it took for him to get where she was.

After all, Ren was the best… and like anything else that was amazing -just like a pancake or candy- he was definitely worth the wait!

There we go guys! I hope you guys enjoyed this! Now, I do need to get some sleep, so I can get to the library tomorrow morning… plus, I'm recovering from some horrible illness, so I should probably actually rest. But that's not as fun as this! If you have a particular AU you want, let me know and I'll fight the writer's block… but in the meantime, feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think!

Thanks so much for reading guys, and I'll see you in the next chapter!