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Yang inhaled deeply and released her breath in a hurried huff, trying desperately to calm herself. She should not be so nervous about something like this but surprises were so hard to do when you live across the hallway from someone and Nora absolutely loved surprises so she didn't want to mess this up. She checked her scroll again, not thirty seconds ago Nora had told her she was gonna be out with Pyrrha for another hour or so. That gave Yang plenty of time to get in there and talk to Ren, plenty of time before Nora got back. She knocked on the door gently.
"Yes?" she heard Ren's gentle voice echo out from behind the door.
"Oh, uhh hey it's Yang. Can I come in?" Yang tried to keep her voice even but looked nervously up and down the hallway, expecting a redheaded bundle of joy and smiles to come bounding up the stairs at any moment.
"Of course, you know you don't have to ask." Yang quickly opened the door and darted inside, closing it and locking it behind her, "But Nora isn't here right now." Ren finished perfectly evenly, although he did cock his head to the side in confusion.
"Sorry Ren, I just. I need to talk to you and I don't want Nora to know." Yang pressed her back to the door as if she could use her immense muscles to put off Nora's arrival a little while longer.
"Is there something the matter? If anything is wrong you really should discuss it with Nora directly." Ren stated flatly, leaning forward with concern and Yang breathed a short laugh of relief.
"No, no nothing like that. We are doing really really awesome, really." Yang tried her best to convince Ren with a nod of her head, "I actually just sort of need your advice, or maybe your help with something to surprise her." Ren tilted his head back and sat ramrod straight again as usual, a warm smile gracing his sharp features.
"Ahh of course. I would be more than happy to help." Ren rested his hands gently on his lap and regarded her patiently.
"Okay, so on our first date, I maybe, kinda, sorta way exaggerated my cooking skills to Nora and promised to make her really awesome pancakes because you know, she loves pancakes." Ren nodded his head in simple affirmation of this well known fact. "Well, I told her I used to cook pancakes for Ruby growing up and I did, it's just that cooking for Ruby is really easy, make 'em sweet and don't burn anything and she just devours it. I tried making a few for Blake and Weiss to test them out, make sure I hadn't lost my touch." Yang laughed nervously, "Weiss said there was no way I ever had a touch at all." Ren nodded in understanding and folded his hands.
"I see, well I could show you how I make them. But, you would have to add some flair of your own to make it special for her." Ren tilted his head forward slightly, requesting a response of Yang.
"Oh yeah, I've got a great idea. But I really don't wanna say it out loud. I know she loves surprises so I'm trying to keep the whole thing a really big secret. Seriously." Yang pleaded with him, she knew the two were far beyond best friends and wanted Ren to understand that it would be better for Nora as a surprise. The quiet boy nodded his head with a slow blink of his eyes, confirming that he would not let Nora know, "You're an amazing guy you know that Ren." Yang gave him a wide smile, happy that her girlfriend had such an amazing best friend.
"Thank you Yang," Ren took a deep breath as if preparing himself for something, "I actually wanted to thank you for the other day at the fair. I had a wonderful time. Like I haven't had in quite some time." He looked back up and his purple eyes met hers, "Truly thank you."
"Oh yeah of course Ren. It was a blast. I had no idea you liked roller coasters and stuff so much." Yang planted her hands on her hips, relaxing more now that the topic had left the dangerous area of her surprise for Nora.
"I," he paused again, "I haven't had many friends outside of Nora and it meant a lot to be brought along like that with all of you and made a part of the group so easily. I know it was my team, but you are like Nora in that you easily fit in with people. I guess I was concerned that there would be tension." he looked out the window at a bird which had lighted on the edge of the building. For a moment he was quiet, just watching the bird flit about the ledge. He turned back to Yang only once it had taken wing once more, "You made a constant effort to include me and ensure I was comfortable and enjoying myself. It was incredibly considerate."
Yang didn't know how to respond to that. She knew Ren was sort of a recluse and not very outgoing but he was an attractive guy, very talented and put together, incredibly focused. She had never seen him as having social anxieties like that, had always figured he chose the nearly solitary existence voluntarily and preferred it.
"I'm glad you had a good time Ren. You ever need help with stuff, or even just wanna hang, just let me know." Yang gave him a winning smile, "I know some cute girls too if you're interested." Ren chuckled lightly at that, closing his eyes at even this gentle expression of mirth, "I mean I know some cute boys too, if that's more your speed." Yang cocked a playful eyebrow at him and though he continued to chuckle he raised a defensive hand.
"No, no, I am interested in women. It's just, I've never really pursued one before." Ren regained control of himself and locked eyes with Yang again.
"Well I'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble if you ever did. You're a good looking guy Ren." Yang moved off to the side and leaned against one of the bedposts in the room. It appeared their conversation was going to carry on for some time now.
"I thank you for the compliment. I believe my largest problem has always been finding a partner that I actually desired enough to make some sort of advance." Ren tilted his head to the side and the single fluorescent pink lock of hair fell across his face, "Not that I believe myself to be deserving of someone remarkable," Yang went to smash his self-deprecation but he raised a hand gently and she stopped, "I just have a very particular taste and I don't see the point in pursuing anyone else." Yang snapped her mouth shut and thought for a moment.
"Well, then I guess I just have to know what your type is? Do you want someone shorter or taller than you? Do you like ample proportions?" Yang made a suggestive motion around her own 'ample proportions, "Or someone more slender?" Yang had more traits to rattle off but stopped as Ren chuckled again.
"You misunderstand. I did not mean physical appearance. I meant their personality. I am rather timid in conversation," Yang suppressed a bark of laughter at the understatement, "So I would like someone reserved, but at the same time I want someone livelier than I and with a calm sense of humor." Ren looked down at his folded hands, "Not as quiet as Blake, or as reserved as Weiss, but not as energetic as Ruby or as much of a comedian as yourself," he gave her a small smile and Yang grinned at the description.
"I can't really think of anyone off the top of my head, but if it was that easy you wouldn't be telling me would you?" Yang watched as Ren again nodded his head in affirmation and then swung it back with just enough force to flick the strand of pink hair back out of his face, "I'll keep my eyes out for you though and let you know if someone comes to mind." She gave him a big reassuring smirk.
"Please don't put yourself out over it, I'm not sure why I even brought it up. But, thank you Yang, again." Ren's grin grew slightly and Yang saw the very slightest hint of redness in his always placid cheeks but said nothing about her observation.
"Well I better get out of here before Nora shows back up. Still wanna keep it a secret and all." Yang pushed off of the bedpost and sauntered towards the door but spared one last glance back at the slender young man, "Maybe someone a little older, more mature?" she shrugged her shoulders and swung through the door, closing it with a gentle thud behind her.
Yang emerged into the hallway and did a quick glance each direction to ensure Nora hadn't been lurking in wait and seen her emerge. She was relieved to see that the hallway was empty and her secret was safe and then heard a definitely familiar pounding on the stairs to their floor. She quickly moved to the center of the hallway and headed towards the stairs, so as to appear as if she had been on her way out of the building. Nora appeared at the top of the stairs, landing in a deep crouch, Yang could tell she had jumped past the last few steps in excitement.
"Hey there blondie, you lookin' for a good time?" Nora tried to sound sultry which was extremely difficult given that she was crouched like a bullfrog at the top of the stairs. Yang laughed and jogged easily over to her. Nora extended her legs like pistons and launched herself directly at the bigger girl, Yang caught her up in her arms and Nora wrapped her legs around Yang's thickly muscled torso.
"I think I just found one," Yang kissed Nora deeply and pulled away just in time to see Pyrrha ascending the stairs calmly. Nora caught Yang's upraised eyebrow and hung off her side, the blonde easily supporting the weight of the shorter girl against her hip, "Hey Pyrrha, have fun shopping?" Pyrrha gave Yang a genuine smile and lifted a large bag hanging off her right arm.
"Oh yes it was splendid. The styles offered here are very different from what we have in Mistral." Pyrrha crested the staircase and stood across from the couple.
"We're no Atlas but we have some good stuff." Yang shifted Nora's weight so she hung a little closer to her and Nora cinched her legs tighter around Yang, leaving one arm over her neck and letting the other hang loosely so she could also speak with Pyrrha, "You two are back earlier than I thought though.
"Well yeah, when I messaged you we had like a bunch of clothes and I thought we'd have to sort through them all but Pyrrha just bought every single outfit she had picked out," Nora chuckled, "I've never seen someone throw around money like that." Pyrrha blushed brightly and looked away.
"I didn't mean to.. I just rather liked some of the more expensive clothing." she coughed and raised her eyes back to them, "Tournament winnings are very generous." she gave them a gentle smile.
"Don't worry Pyrrha, you'll still never compare to Weiss. She bought this one dress that cost a couple hundred Lien. Then she never even wore it, she said it didn't hang right once she got it home. It's just sitting in her closet now." Yang laughed uproariously and Nora joined her, Pyrrha's laugh was a little more restrained but equally jovial.
"Now she's got all kinds of stuff to wear when she and Jaune go out though." Nora gave Yang a big grin, "Some really cute stuff too, show off her hips some." Pyrrha blushed and Nora gave Yang a very suggestive eyebrow wiggle.
"Oh boy, Jaune is in for a treat." Yang turned back to Pyrrha, "Those legs just don't quit."
"Please, please stop," Pyrrha face was as red as her hair and she was looking directly at the ground. "Really, you're embarrassing me." Yang and Nora both relented.
"Well I just hope the boy dresses himself to match." Yang stifled the last of her laughter.
"Don't worry, I told Ren to make sure he was ready to play the part whenever they go out." Nora grinned triumphantly, "He knows what he's doing."
"I must be going." Pyrrha bowed her head slightly and made for the Team JNPR door, "Jaune and I are meeting for training and I don't want to be late." She tried to duck past the two without further incident but they hollered at her as she tried to slip through the door.
"Don't kick his ass too hard." Nora quipped.
"Yeah, you might scare the poor boy off." Yang laughed as Pyrrha disappeared into the relative safety of her dorm and Ren's presence.
"So what's up?" Nora swung back around to put both arms around Yang's neck again.
"Well," she pulled Nora up and gave her a brief kiss, "I was thinking," another kiss, "that we could grab some dinner," another slightly longer kiss. Nora pulled away from the latest contact with a grin.
"Is anyone home?" she motioned with her head towards the Team RWBY dorm.
"Yes," Yang huffed, "Everyone is home." her shoulders fell in exasperation.
"Then dinner it is." Nora gave her another kiss and plopped down on her feet.
Yang kicked the pan quickly forward and back, throwing the battery deliciousness lightly into the air and over in a tight arc to land on the less cooked side back in the pan. Nora clapped her hands happily.
"Ooh very nice." She giggled merrily and rocked back and forth on her stool.
"Alright, you've gotta close your eyes for a second," Yang gave Nora a devious smirk across the stove top and she quickly closed her eyes.
"Aye, aye captain. Eyes shut." Nora drummed her fingers happily on the countertop in front of her, rocking her head back and forth with uncontainable energy.
Yang quickly reached under the counter and grabbed her specially prepared bottle of strawberry flavored batter. She twisted the nozzle open slightly and flipped it over carefully. She gently but quickly drew a large pink heart on the pancake and then the message "NV + YX" in crude but legible letters inside the heart. She set the bottle back down in its hiding place and grabbed a spatula, flipping the pancake back over and being careful not to damage the design, just as she had practiced with Ren.
"Alright, you can open 'em" Nora's eyes flew open the moment Yang gave her permission and she darted her gaze all around the counter, in the pan, over the counter top and then scattered around the room, trying desperately to see what Yang had done.
"You." she regarded Yang playfully, "You are a sneaky one you know that?" Yang laughed and blew a kiss at the redhead.
"She isn't that sneaky!" a high pitched voice yelled from the doorway to the shared student kitchen. Yang swung her head around to the one thing she had feared interrupting she and Nora's pancake date, her little sister. "Yang's making pancakes!" Ruby ran full tilt towards the oven and Yang swiveled to position herself between the stovetop and her careless sister's charge. Luckily for her, Nora bellowed out and leapt from her stool, clear across the counter and directly into Ruby.
"They're mine." she shouted playfully and tackled the little brunette to the ground. The two went to the floor giggling and Yang sighed despite herself. At least if she and Nora stayed together for really long time there would never be any issue with her girlfriend and sister getting along. Yang watched on happily as the two fumbled about on the ground with each other and continued cooking pancakes. She started a fresh batch and then spun around to the fridge and removed a bag of chocolate chips she had prepared just in case. She poured an unhealthy amount of the sweet little confections into the most recent batch of batter and returned the chocolate to the fridge so Ruby wouldn't devour it all and go on a sugar fueled rampage.
The two petite girls sprang from the floor and Yang gave them a cautious glance. If they had stopped fighting it could mean only one thing, they had formed an alliance and planned to team up against her.
"Oh no no no." Yang held out a very maternal finger, "You come after me and these delicious pancakes are gonna burn." Yang titled the pan slightly so Ruby could see the enormous quantity of chocolate resting in the batter. The little brunette's eyes lit up and then her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Okay Yang, you win." She drug herself over to the stools where Nora had been sitting, "Some of those are for me though right?" She lifted a flawless puppydog pout from her forlorn slump. Yang knew it was coming and stared pointedly at the pancakes, not willing to let the powerful stare have even a chance of winning her over.
"Of course they are Rubes. How could I make 'em and not have some for you?" She raised her eyes cautiously, hoping the pout had evaporated in a grin of anticipatory glee. She did indeed find Ruby beaming over the pan, eyes shining with happiness.
"Wooooohoooo, best big sister ever." Ruby threw her arms in the air and leaned back in her stool, immediately tumbling backwards and returning to the floor in a bundle of cloak and overexcited teenager. Yang shook her head again but perked up when she felt a loving pair of lips pressed against her cheek.
"Yeah, best big sister and best girlfriend ever." Nora whispered in a low husky voice that made Yang weak in the knees.
"Shoo, shoo, get outta here." she smacked at Nora's perky little butt with the spatula and she playfully danced back around the counter and leaned over to help Ruby off the ground.
"Oh thanks Nora. I got a little excited there." Ruby bounced to her feet and shook her short hair out, dispelling the shock from the fall. Nora grinned and flew back into her stool once Ruby was on her feet and the younger girl joined up next to her.
"Soooooo Ruby," Nora turned slowly on her, "Whatcha been up to lately?"
"Hmm?" Ruby turned innocently to Nora, "Not a lot really. Been studying and training with my sweetheart a whole bunch." Nora giggled.
"You and Weiss are already using pet names for each other? Aww that's adorable." Yang had to stifle a cough and sort of choked on the noise as Nora giggled and Ruby floundered about in confusion.
"Wuh? Huh? No I meant Crescent Rose." Ruby waved her hands desperately back and forth in between herself and Nora, "I've been practicing a lot with my scythe." she enunciated overly carefully as if one slip of the tongue and she would lead Nora to believe she was speaking of her platinum haired partner again.
"Okay, yeah sure." Nora mocked, "And you're adorable little partner just happened to be there the whole time right?" Ruby looked very blatantly at a blank spot of ceiling.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." she cleared her throat with an audible grumble, "We're uhh, we're partners so we train together a lot. Yeah."
"You know Rubes. Nora and I train together a lot too." Yang tossed another pancake in the air and dropped the comment nonchalantly as if it carried no more than its absolute literal meaning.
"We really got some good work in in the forest just the other day. Killed some Grimm too." Nora chuckled and Yang hid a blush by turning around to look through the fridge even though she was nearly done and needed nothing else.
"Yeah, it's great. I'm really proud of you two. Very professional." Ruby seemed to be studying the blank spot of ceiling, tilting her head to the side and trying to glean some unknown secret from it's flat, featureless, tan surface.
"I don't know if we're quite professionals but I'm sure we put on quite a show." Nora smirked and now Ruby blushed as well.
"Hey guess what, pancakes are ready." Yang slid two plates in front of each girl, first Nora and then Ruby. Both girls now had two massive stacks of steaming hotcakes each. Then Yang reached beneath the counter again and grabbed the strawberry syrup for Nora and chocolate syrup for Ruby, putting the bottles in front of each of them, "Sorry Nora I couldn't get any fresh strawberries to put in them for you." Yang gave her an apologetic grin and shrugged, "I guess this'll have to do." she snaked her arm back to the shelf and grabbed a fifth plate with a single pancake on it and placed the monogrammed dish in front of her girlfriend. Nora's eyes lit up instantly upon seeing it.
"Oh my Oum Yang. It's incredible," she dropped her silverware with a clatter and clutched her hands together beneath her chin. Ruby craned her neck over Nora's shoulder to get a better look at the decorated pancake.
"Wow Yang, when did you learn to do that?" she chirped from behind the redhead and Yang ran a quick hand across her throat and then put her finger to her lips, begging her little sister to shut up. Ruby closed her mouth with a pop and quickly returned completely to her own seat.
"Can I? I mean can I eat it?" Nora lifted her eyes to Yang, "It's so pretty, I don't wanna."
"No you have to. I made this strawberry batter for you special with a recipe I found." Yang gave her a wide grin. Nora's pleased face broke into an open mouthed hungry stare and she grabbed her silverware back up and dug in without a second of further hesitation.
Yang watched happily as the two girls devoured the food, barely making a noise besides munching, chewing and pleased little hums of happiness.
"I take it you two are enjoying them?" Yang asked as Nora polished off the first plate, running the last bite around the ceramic surface to scoop the last vestiges of syrup up.
"Oh yeah Yang, they're amazing." Nora smiled and shoved the bite in her waiting mouth.
"They're even better than I remember." Ruby shot Yang a knowing smirk and took another bite, impressively nearly keeping up with Nora's pace.
"So are you and Weiss like secretly dating now or what?" Yang asked, again maintaining an even tone as she turned around and got some milk out of the fridge to pour them all a drink. Ruby spit a large chunk of pancake out in surprise, plastering the wad of breading and chocolate against the far wall. Yang closed the door to the fridge and stared at the bit of food slowly oozing its way towards the floor. "You're cleaning that up." she said as she set the milk down and grabbed some cups.
"What's with you two? Me and Weiss are so not dating." Ruby smacked her fists against the countertop in all her pint sized fury. Yang handed out the cups full of milk and laughed as Ruby attempted to both guzzle the milk and maintain her perturbed look.
"Well, I mean Ruby come on. When Blake didn't come to the fair with us, she was with Sun. And I know there's no way you would miss out on all those sweets and getting to try and help with 'Operation: Get Jaune to Notice Pyrrha' just to study." Yang leveled the knowing gaze only an old sister can have at Ruby and then calmly sipped at her chilled cup. Ruby seemed flustered and took another large bite of her pancakes to avoid having to immediately respond.
Yang turned to put the milk away and pulled back from the fridge to see a certain serene white haired glyph caster standing in the entryway.
"Oh hey Weiss. Pancake?" Yang offered and Ruby coughed, again launching a chunk of pancake at the far wall.
"Ughck," Weiss made a guttural noise of disgust somewhere in her throat, "Really Ruby. That is just disgusting." The slender heiress strutted across the kitchen in her ever present heels and grabbed a washcloth from the sink. "I swear if it weren't for me you all would live in absolute squalor." She raised the cloth and began wiping at the smear on the wall. She grabbed a napkin and scooped the two chunks of food up and deposited them in the trashcan and then returned to wiping at the wall, muttering all the while about the different atrocities Yang and Ruby committed against cleanliness on a daily basis and the absolute splendor she tried fruitlessly to uphold. Yang smugly faced her girlfriend and gave her a not so subtle wink. Nora chuckled through a mouth full of pancakes and nodded her head aggressively in agreement.
A/N - So, I may have felt a little bad that yesterday's chapter was so short. I know that as a reader when I am eagerly anticipating a new chapter and it comes out super short I'm always a little bummed. So here's today's 4k+ word piece to try and make amends. Plus, that's back to back so not a lot of waiting in between right?
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed pancake night as much as the girls. Definitely getting a little more into Weiss and Ruby here than before. They haven't made a lot of appearances so far, especially Weiss and that's just unacceptable. Also, Yang and Nora are finally getting around to those promises of shared adventures and delicious pancakes. Lots of great fluff for the two of them.
Finally, I'll address the very beginning of the chapter. What was that with Ren right? Well you'll just have to wait and see, or figure it out for yourself. I didn't try to hide it quite that hard. Either way, I think it'll be great and a lot of fun through the remainder of this little story.
I'm still constantly floored by the response this gets here. Really, I'm brand new at this whole thing and you all are just so great to me. Thank you so much for reading. Also, this Tuesday you will get another chapter of Clubbin' alongside the premier, super amazing, probably not that great opening chapter of "Friends and Loved Ones". Honestly, I've been working on it for a really, really long time and I hope you all enjoy it. But, even if you don't it's already done so oh well.
You're all the best, keep on being awesome.
-Zach