Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.
After Yang made her decision to speak with Nora about the other night, it seemed as if a large weight had been lifted from her shoulder. She had the ability to think clearly about things, and to think of things other than Nora. She knew this clear headed state might not last and so buckled down to get some school work done. There was a report due in Dr. Oobleck's regarding the use of fire and other passive methods of destruction against Grimm nests and an essay in Professor Port's class regarding the exploits of various Huntresses and the effects these expeditions had on the standing of Huntresses in the hunting community, their contribution to the rise in popularity of hunting among women as a profession and the acceptance of women by the previously male dominated occupation.
Their dorm was an incredibly quiet place to study when Ruby wasn't around and when Yang was being quiet. She and Blake both kept to themselves for the rest of the evening, Blake quietly reading a book on her bed and Yang plowing through the research necessary for the two assignments. She would still catch herself occasionally though, hearing a door handle click or the sound of heavy footfalls padding down the hallway. She would cock her head towards the door and listen, again hoping and dreading that it may be Nora. She had made up her mind to speak with the other girl about what had happened but she wanted to do it on her own terms, and definitely wanted to have the conversation in some sort of privacy.
After an hour or two of work Yang was beginning to tire of schoolwork, having made significant headway she decided it might be time to head down for some food. She had skipped lunch after all. She pushed back from the desk slightly and stretched her arms above her head with an exaggerated yawn.
"Hey Blake, wanna head down for some food? I never ate earlier." Yang twisted her chair about to glance at her partner.
"Hmm?" Blake took a moment to mark her place in her book and looked up, "Oh no thank you. I was actually getting lunch when I ran into Pyrrha. I've already eaten." with that she returned to her novel.
"Okay, I'll see you when I get back up then." Yang swung her legs down and practically jumped to her feet. She really was feeling better now that she had made a decision. She turned to the mirror and corrected her shorts and blouse slightly, they had been pushed into odd positions while she studied. She ran a quick hand under her hair, ensuring it was all falling in the right places and headed out the door with a quick wave to her partner who was again deeply engrossed in her book.
She twisted through the door as she waved, backing into the hallway and spinning about as she closed the door. As she turned she was met with a sight which very much threw her off her current good mood. Nora was headed down the hallway, most likely also going to grab a bite to eat. Yang quickly considered darting back into her room, her hand still on the knob but hesitated, not wanting to run from a problem. Nora stopped and turned at the noise of Yang's door closing.
"Yang, oh my Oum, where have you been?" the redheaded girl waved from her end of the hallway, only a couple yards away. Yang forced out a good natured laugh and smiled, she headed down the hallway to meet up with her.
"Oh you know me, at the gym mostly. I've been getting in some bag work." Yang caught up with her and they matched pace going down the hallway.
"You should have told me. I've been wanting to spar with someone outside my team." Nora delivered a playful jab to Yang's shoulder as they reached the stairs, Yang turned to retaliate but Nora stuck out her tongue and jumped on the railing, sliding down the whole flight and far out Yang's reach, "Catch me if you can, slowpoke." Nora but her thumbs in her ears and waggled her fingers about, shaking her tongue at Yang. She then went sprinting out of the dorm building's front doors. Yang looked after her for a second, feeling that warmth again that she was having such trouble explaining and then went tearing down the steps.
She took the first six steps two at a time, then grew frustrated with that pace and leapt the rest of the way down in a single bound. She blew through the door and stopped outside to see where Nora had gone. She saw her hair bobbing away off towards the dining hall and went tearing after her. Yang pushed hard, doing her best to close the gap between the two, but found that without her gauntlets to speed her along the smaller girl was much faster than her. When Yang thought she was catching up, Nora glanced back, stuck her tongue out and just ran faster than Yang could and disappeared around the side of a building. Yang knew where she was headed though and so came barrelling into the dining hall. The doors slammed open as she skidded to a stop in the roughly half-full lunch area.
Yang scanned the crowds, trying to find a patch of bright red hair moving amongst the crowd. She finally found her amongst the other students waiting in line. Nora was holding two trays, bouncing slightly from side to side on her heels, as if listening to music. Yang jogged lightly over and tapped her on the shoulder. Nora turned quickly and gave a yang a cool stare.
"Oh. Now you decide to show up. You took so long I thought you had decided not to follow me. I was so hurt Yang." Nora turned her head up and away with a huff. Yang was taken aback at first, but saw Nora open one eye slightly and a grin start to spread on her lips, "Hah! I got you didn't I?" Nora started laughing and handed Yang one of the trays. Yang took the tray and laughed too, happy the tension had broken. Why was she so worried about what Nora thought of her?
"Where did that come from?" they stepped forward and Yang was hit with delicious smell of cooking meat, she hadn't realized how hungry she was.
"Well," Nora leaned in close to Yang and glanced around warily, "You can't tell anyone, but I've been practicing my Weiss impression for a while. How did I do?" Yang lurched her head away, she realized that Nora had sounded just like her sister's partner, not in tone of voice, but definitely in what she said.
"I'd say you've got it spot on." they stepped forward again and Yang could see the food past Nora's shoulder, "Oum I'm starving. I don't think I've eaten all day."
"Really?" Nora tsked and shook her head side to side, "Well that just won't do." She grabbed Yang by the shoulders with both hands, pinching the still empty tray between her arm and torso and spun Yang so she was in front, "There, now you are one person closer to food." Yang mocked a deep bow.
"Oh thank you, you've saved me from starvation." she looked up from her bow, grinning at her laughing friend. Just then the line slid forward again and gave Yang and Nora access to the food. Yang began piling plates of red meat and breads on her tray. She grabbed some bread and began eating it right there in line. Nora stacked a very similar meal on her plate and then added a small boxed salad. Yang saw the salad and quirked an eyebrow.
"Salad Nora? Really trying to maintain that girlish figure aren't you?" Yang laughed and took another bite of the roll she had started as they waited for the line to slide forward again.
"Pfft no." Nora waved a dismissive hand at Yang, "Ren told me I have to eat at least one vegetable thing with every meal or he will make me drink that terrible juice stuff he makes."
"Ahh I see. Well then let me suffer with you," Yang grabbed another of the salad boxes and crammed it into place alongside her other food. The line slid forward and Nora lit up, seeing the chef put down a fresh slab of meat, cut into thin slices. She and Yang hungrily took most of the new piece, leaving an exasperated cook trying to keep up with the voracious appetites most students at Beacon sported. The two girls flashed him uneasy smiles and he just shook his head, returning to the kitchen.
"At least we get steak too." Nora set the tongs down and looked at her tray. There was a healthy amount of meat, nearly half the slices of steak, four large pork chops, a pile of cut and buttered bread, a mass of dinner rolls and her salad. Yang realized Nora had about as much food as she did and smiled, the girl could eat too. They looked about the cafeteria and found an empty section of benches. They made their way over and plopped down across the table from each other. Nora immediately began digging in and Yang followed suit. They tore at the food hungrily, only stopping really to cut the pork chops, everything else being manageable the way it was. For a while they just ate, not stopping to speak. Yang finally stopped as she finished a roll and swallowed to clear her throat.
"So Nora, what's the deal with you and Ren?" Yang quickly took another piece of steak into her mouth, using it as an easy excuse to not have to explain her question. Nora didn't hesitate in her answer though.
"Ren's great. He's been like an older brother ever since we met. Every part of it too, he's fun and nice but also makes me eat things like this salad," Nora poked the unopened plastic container with her fork and returned to stuffing herself with porkchop.
"So you've been together a long time?" Yang was running out of food now and wanted to get through the tough part of this now. Nora swallowed hard and looked off to the side to think for a moment.
"Yeah, it seems like we've known each other like forever. I can't imagine not having him around. We're like family." Nora smiled and then looked down at her plate, her smile dropped a little as she saw how little was left.
"So it's like you're already married?" Yang didn't take another bite, this was the big question and she waited on edge for Nora's response which didn't take long. The girl's head shot up and she locked eyes with a very nervous Yang.
"What?" a deep red blush filled her freckled cheeks, "Umm, no, no way. We're not like together like that. I don't - he doesn't - we aren't 'together-together'," she looked at the table in front of her and mumbled under her breath a little, "Why does everyone think that?" Yang smiled and immediately hid it under another bite of pork chops. If they weren't together then there was still a chance at something else here. Yang would have to tread the next few steps very carefully.
"Oh I'm sorry," she swallowed most of her food, trying to seem nonchalant about the whole deal, "I didn't mean anything. I guess I just, well everyone just kinda figured you two were a couple."
"That's okay. Like you said, basically everyone thinks we are." Nora lifted and dropped her shoulders with a heavy sigh, "Oh well, there's only one thing left to do." Yang's face fell a little, worried that Nora felt the sudden need to dispel these rumors about her and Ren, she went to speak but caught herself when she heard a distinct plastic popping noise. She looked down and saw Nora had opened her salad. The redhead was staring forlornly down at the pile of green leaves and veggies. There were a few croutons and a smattering of thin slices of ham sprinkled throughout. Yang smiled, relieved and slid her salad over and opened it as well. Nora heard her box open and looked up, "You're really gonna eat a salad with me? You don't have to."
"Nope, we're in this together. Come one, gotta get to it or we never will." Nora smiled as Yang plunged her fork into the crisp greens and began eating. She dove in as well, obviously not wanting to be outdone by the blonde across from her. In just a few moments the two had cleaned the little clear containers out, there wasn't a lot to them to begin with. The salad had been fine, a varied assortment of crisp greens, a few cherry tomatoes, even croutons and ham to liven it up for those like Yang and Nora who weren't the biggest fans of salad. Yang left her plastic fork in the box and pushed it away. Nora threw her arms up in the air with a giggle.
"Hurray we finished!" She then lowered her eyes on Yang and got very serious, "Now we can get ice cream." Yang's face split into a grin and she stood, Nora followed suit, jumping up onto her bench, she put one foot on the table and pointed heroically off into the distance, To ice cream!" The two girls then made their way, laughing, across the dining hall to a soft serve machine in the corner by the other desserts. Beacon's cafeteria usually had a pretty decent spread of deserts, seasonal pies or little sweets, lots of baked goods which Ruby was absolutely in love with, but one thing that never changed was the soft serve machine. Just vanilla or chocolate and a nozzle in the middle that swirled the two together. You could get it in cones or bowls depending on your preference and there was a small collection of toppings off to the side. Nora darted in and grabbed two cones, handing one to Yang, "Alright Yang. This is a test."
"Oh it's a test? What kind of test is that?" Yang stepped forward and pulled the lever for chocolate, letting a neat swirl fall into the cone, spinning and twisting her wrist slowly so it fell in an even pile on top of her cone. Nora leaned over and held her head close to the machine, intently watching Yang's process, flitting her eyes between the descending ice cream and Yang's face. Yang stopped when the ice cream came to a point and looked to Nora, the girl's face was unreadable, she stared intently at Yang, waiting. Yang slowly moved over to the toppings, which would Nora expect her to use? She saw sprinkles, chocolate chips, little bits of cookie dough; did Ruby know they had those here? She had no way of knowing what Nora expected of her and so she just went for what she would like and put a very small amount of sprinkles on top of her pile of ice cream, adding a dash of color to the otherwise brown tower. She turned and saw Nora still watching her, "Hey, I know I'm gorgeous and all but are you gonna get any or just stare at me all day?"
Nora failed to stifle a loud giggle and managed to gasp out just the word 'gorgeous' between bursts of laughter. She turned to the machine and started making her own ice cream much the same way Yang had but she was able to bring the pile of ice cream much higher, keeping her spiral tight and clean. Then she moved to the toppings, still laughing slightly, she shook her head a little and muttered again 'gorgeous' and then dumped an undeniably unhealthy amount of sprinkles on her ice cream. The surface now looked like a tie dye mess, barely any ice cream was visible under the shell of multicolored sprinkles. Then Nora reached down and grabbed a spoonful of cookie dough bits and dropped them in her mouth.
"You haf to lif a litle" Nora pushed the words out around a mouth full of unbaked cookies. Yang watched the entire scene unfold in amazement, the girl may have a bigger sweet tooth than her sister, and that was a feat, Yang wasn't sure if it was something Nora should be proud of but it was impressive either way. They started to walk again, headed back towards their table when Yang had an idea that just might get her where she wanted to be.
"Nora, we got 'em in cones and everything. Wanna go outside? It's not that hot." Yang motioned with her head towards the open doors and the mostly empty courtyard outside the cafeteria. Nora nodded and continued devouring her ice cream, she would have to maintain that pace if she had any intention of finishing it before it all melted. They walked outside and started down one of the many stone lined paths leading to and from the cafeteria. It had a central location on campus and so this path could lead anywhere but Yang didn't particularly care where that was. The pair made their way through their ice cream quickly, it wasn't that hot outside but it was plenty hot enough to melt their treat. Yang was most of the way done, confident that it would not make a mess anymore and turned her head to see Nora tonguing the bottom of her cone, desperately trying to get a few sprinkles which had sunk to the bottom. Yang laughed.
"You know you can just eat the cone right?" Nora turned to her, a look of shock on her face. Then she smiled and the cone was gone in three bites.
"Yeah I know. I just really wanted the sprinkles." Nora smiled and began licking some stray ice cream off her fingers, putting them in her mouth and sucking on them, making a little popping noise when she pulled them out. Yang ran her finger over the side of her cone, now was the time to do this, she couldn't delay any longer or Nora might go running off somewhere.
"Hey, can I ask you a question." Nora popped another finger out of her mouth and looked at Yang, waiting for her question.
"Of course. I hope it isn't hard though. I'm not really ready for a test." Yang chuckled nervously, trying to dispel a little of her own tension.
"Sooo, the other night at Junior's. When those two guys tried to pick us up." Nora interrupted and Yang took the opportunity to eat what little of her ice cream remained, hoping it might cool the heat in her cheeks.
"Oh my Oum, they were so rude right? At least it gave us an excuse to hit something." she clenched her fists and a devilish gleam shone in her eyes.
"Yeah," Yang laughed again and looked at her empty ice cream cone, "but before that, when you tried to get them to go away. You," she paused, this was the point of no return, "you kissed me and put your arm around me like we were dating or something." Yang saw a trash can and tossed her cone in it, her stomach was suddenly very unwilling to accept anything else.
"Oh yeah, well they were all over us and I just thought that might get them to leave. I mean if it was obvious we weren't looking for what they had." Yang shoved her hands in her pockets, that was the same answer she had gotten before. She looked over at Nora though and saw something that had been missing the other night, a deep red blush. Nora had her hands clenched behind her back and was kicking at a loose pebble with one foot, "I'm sorry if it was weird. I was a little drunk from that awesome drink you got us. I usually don't do that, Ren tells me I'm really touchy-feely, but I didn't really think about it." Yang put a hand to the back of her head and rubbed, she really wasn't sure still but she needed to keep Nora talking.
"Yeah, no it wasn't weird for me. Well not when you did it. It was later when I started thinking about it. It just felt like, really natural for you. You did it so quick." Yang turned and looked away, she couldn't stand to let Nora see her face now, it was almost as Red as Ruby's clothes.
"Well, I guess it was kinda natural. You really are gorgeous you know. I don't know if you're like me, but I just figured it couldn't hurt. The guys trying to hit on us was a good excuse. I'm really sorry if it was wrong. I guess Ren's right, I have to check before I do things like that. I didn't mean to-" Nora was cut short as Yang spun around and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. She squeezed hard and buried her head in her shoulder, Nora was shocked but quickly returned the hug, resting her head on Yang's shoulder and letting a grin stupid enough to put Jaune to shame caress her face. After a moment Yang pulled completely away and folded her arms, grabbing her own elbows.
"Nora, I don't know. I'm really confused about the whole thing. But when you kissed my cheek. It didn't feel wrong or weird or anything. I've never been attracted to a girl." Nora's smile faded a little. "But now, I don't know. I have a lot of fun with you, and there's something else too." Nora's smile returned full force and she tried to control her voice, not letting it break into high pitched squeals.
"Yang, okay. Okay Yang. uhh well, what do you want to do then? Do you wanna keep hanging out or talk to someone? I, well I wish I could say I could help you figure it out. But like, I don't know if I'm the right person because it's me you're confused about. But, if you want to talk to me about it I totally will, I will really really try and be helpful. I just." Nora let out a little scream and darted forward, giving Yang a quick hug and then pulling back, "I'm sorry. I just. I really meant it when I said I thought you were really pretty. I didn't even think that- Oh, now I'm just pressuring you. I think I should go." Nora darted in for another quick hug, lingering a moment longer this time and then went running off. Yang was left in the middle of the walkway, harboring a deep embarrassment and an even deeper confusion over what had just happened.
What she had learned is that Nora was definitely into girls, or at least into her. She was pretty sure from everything she said and the way she reacted to her comments that Nora was a lesbian, which explained the whole Ren business. Of course the two weren't together if she wasn't into guys, that made it make perfect sense. Then Yang felt kind of bad because she realized that Ren might have feelings for Nora and that was probably a really awkward situation for them. Then again, he never seemed awkward and the two got along just fine so they had probably figured it out. So what was that little episode with Nora at the end and why had she gone running off like that? Yang shook her head and sighed openly, she had done this to get an answer, but now it seemed like she was even more confused than before. Now that she was certain Nora liked her, and that the kiss the other night had meant something. How did she feel?
A/N - Alright, things begin to move forward for Yang. But now she's all confused over her own emotions.
Thanks for reading as far as you have into my story here. I still don't know how long this will be, every chapter I write is super fun and I'm really enjoying the response it's getting. I'm still shooting for a chapter every other day and I'm finally out ahead of the curve so I should have Sunday's chapter up without issue.
Thoughts or ideas on the piece are always welcome, put it in a review or just PM me. Either way I love to hear the good and the bad opinions. If you don't like something I did tell me so. I'm always growing as a writer and the only way to do that is through constructive criticism.
Thanks for Reading!