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Requested by : Polemoduke

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"So…" The blonde leaning against the doorway behind her started, sounding more bored than anything. Yang cocked her head and crossed her arms to acknowledge him, but kept her gaze on the cloudy sky. "You and Ren, huh?"

"Yep…"

"How is that, uh, going?"

"Wow you suck at this, don't you?" She chuckled, turning to give Jaune a look. He shrugged sheepishly and she rolled her eyes, turning back to watching for the Bullhead. "It's nice."

"Just nice…?"

"What, you want me to ask how often you mack on Weiss when you head to one of the private study rooms?"

"Sorry, sorry." Jaune chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender and shaking his head. "I didn't mean… I'm just curious, I guess. You're so different, at least from what I can see. And, well… Weiss and I are, too, you know, so- Yeah, I suck at this."

"Why the sudden anxiety…?"

"It's not sudden." He sighed, "Just… Forget it."

"If you're anxious, you should talk to her." Yang rolled her eyes, "But honestly? If you are, you're a dumbass."

"I'm sorry…?"

"You punched her dad out for being a dick to her, dumbass." Yang snorted, shaking her head at the sheer… Obliviousness? Was that what the word would be here? Whatever it was, it was almost adorable in an 'aw, poor little baby' sort of way. "Talk to her. I promise, you're overthinking things."

"Yeah." He sighed, "Probably. Bad habit of mine…"

"Mhm." She nodded, watching a Bullhead coming in and smiling. "There they are…"

"Sis!" Yang called out as the doors opened and Ruby, smiling wide and bright and covered in spots of dirt, hopped out. She spotted Yang just before the blonde reached her, but didn't quite manage to dodge back up into the Bullhead before Yang pulled her into a hug. "Ohhhh, I missed you, baby sis! How was your hunt?"

"It was fine, we did the thing to a lot of Grimm, stooooooop!" Ruby whined, flailing in Yang's arms and reaching desperately for the Mistralian standing on the ship and looking down on them, arms crossed and smiling. "Pyrrha! Heeeeeelp! I need rescue!"

"Somehow," the redhead hummed, giving Yang a nod when the blonde stood tall enough to give her a look over Ruby's head, "I think you will survive, Ruby."

"Treason!" Ruby guffawed into Yang's ribs, "Treason! Betrayal! And, uh… Other words for that!"

"She's a regular Judas." Yang chuckled, letting Ruby go and crinkling her nose. "And you stink, girl. What, they didn't have showers out there?"

"Not really?" Ruby shrugged, looking confused while she straightened her dirty combat skirt and adjusted her cloak. "It's… The woods? Not a ton of, you know, plumbing out there. I rinsed my hair in some rivers and one of those little travel shampoos, but… Not much else we could really, you know, do."

"I packed deodorant, at least…"

"And wouldn't share!"

"No." Pyrrha blinked, shaking her head and flicking Yang a look she understood - Ruby might not understand why that was a bit of a bridge too far, but she and Pyrrha both did. Smiling, Pyrrha hummed and added, "The Nevermore that divebombed you and knocked you into that creek was on its own worth the whole trip."

"Yaaaaaaaang!" Ruby complained, "Jaaaaaaaaaune! Pyrrha is bullying meeee!"

"Yeah, yeah" Yang rolled her eyes, "C'mon, Squirt. You need a shower before the party starts."

"Ugh… Fine." Her sister whined, crossing her arms while Yang lead her off, an arm looped around her shoulders. "I hate parties, though…."

"It's to watch the fights." Yang pointed out, giving her sister a noogie while she flailed, whined and struggled. When Ruby flashed away, rematerializing in a wash of petals a few feet away and glaring, Yang offered, "You can nerd out with Nora~"

"...Fiiiiine." Her sister smiled, "If I have to."

Yang just rolled her eyes and called over her shoulder, "You kids have fun! Party starts in, like, half an hour so be ready!"

"Yeah!" Jaune called after her, "Like Weiss will give me a choice!"

"Fair!"

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Lie Ren smiled, humming to himself while he set the table at the back of the little study room they'd 'borrowed' for the evening. It backed up to a couch with a television they'd rolled in on one of those old school carts, albeit much bigger than the ones he remembered watching cartoons on through store windows in Mistral. The pregame talk-show was already playing, with Atlas' general talking to someone Ren didn't recognize about Dust imports and trade lanes. It was a bit interesting - apparently, Vacuo had found a sizable seam that the SDC was trying to procure - but he was more interested in preparing dinner for everyone.

"Ohhhhh, are those those hand-breaded mango-peppers I love?!" Nora chirped from behind him, throwing herself over his shoulders and reaching for the bowl he was setting out. He swatted her hand and felt her pouting as she kissed his neck, slipping around him to swipe a pepper anyways. He gave her a look but she just shrugged and plopped onto the couch, sighing and stretching those legs he loved out over the arm of the couch in a way he knew meant she was trying to distract him.

Damn Beacon and their uniform skirts….

Smiling when she caught him failing not to look, she whined, "I'm boooooored!"

"Hi, Bored." He quipped, "I'm Lie Ren. A pleasure, truly."

"Smart ass."

"You love my ass." He smirked, setting out the chips and his homemade dips. "Especially when it's smart."

"Someone's in a mood~"

"Perhaps."

"Enjoyed the festival with Yang, then?"

"Perhaps." He repeated playfully, flicking Nora a look for a moment. She wasn't jealous, he knew logically. But even so, he couldn't not check.

She knew it, too, waving him off and snorting without even looking. "Please, Ren. I'm just curious if you had fun. I know I did. Oh, by the way, Blake has a wonderful butt."

"I've… Seen it?" He cocked his head, chuckling.

"But you haven't touuuuuuuched it~!"

He just sighed and pitched Nora another mango-pepper, which she caught and ate with a victorious little smirk before rolling onto her side to watch the television. Now, at least, it was showing an actual fight - albeit only an exhibitionary spar from students not actually in the tournament. They weren't even quite Academy age, not counting Ruby, but Ren knew well enough that an exhibition match meant they were good. The best, though, was a girl in heavy, bronzed armor, carrying a round shield and a spear and with long, red hair braided along her back.

Who she was emulating was no one's guess…

"Heeeeeeeey!" A familiar mop of blonde shouted as the door flew in, bouncing off the knob-stopper and swinging back so hard Yang had to turn to keep it from hitting her. Pushing it in she pouted, "Rude."

"It's a door, Yang." Ren chuckled, "I don't think it can be 'rude'."

"Talking a lot of smack for someone in not-kissing distance…"

"Isn't that any distance?"

"Oh, shut up, smart ass." Yang chuckled, pacing over and shrugging off her pack, paying him a peck on the nose before she started setting out liter-bottles of soda and juice. Standing, she stole a pepper popper for herself and held it up, humming, "Huh. Smells great."

"My smart ass knows how to cook." He chuckled, "Where's Ruby?"

"Definitely not waiting for Pyrrha outside." The blonde rolled her eyes, "Gods, she's such a dork."

"It runs in the family, I assume?"

"Oh you have no idea, believe me." The blonde snorted, turning to wave as the door opened and Blake came in, carrying a couple of books. She gave the blonde a nod and then joined Nora on the couch, sitting when the Mistralian raised her legs and then letting her rest them across the Faunus' lap. "You should see my dad pretending not to know how to flirt back home. The grocery lady is the worst."

"Is she…?"

"She's, like, twenty six." Yang rolled her eyes, "Still drops hints about as subtle as bombs whenever Dad pops in for steak or whatever, though."

"Twenty six…?"

"Hoh, yeah. Maybe twenty seven by now but, eh…" The blonde shrugged, "Ruby and I are all-comers on this, at this point. I'll call a twenty seven year old my step-mom, I don't care. I'll still be hotter than her."

"I feel like that shouldn't matter in this situation…"

"I feel like you should have agreed I was hotter." Yang pointed out, "It's called fishing."

"I don't know what she looks like."

"And…?" He raised his eyebrows meaningfully and Yang scoffed and thumped his chest, "You are such a dick!"

"Am I?" He hummed, "A dick wouldn't share his pepper poppers or dip…"

"He would for another kiss on the cheek~?" Ren rolled his eyes and waved her off and, pouting, Yang bounced away to head over to where the study table rested in the back corner. She dragged a seat out to plop into it and tapped at its empty surface, humming, "Lots more room for snacks, ya know, Ren…"

"Fishing for something else, hm?"

"Come on, gimme a hint."

"He's making breakfast cake!"

"Nora…"

"Breakfast cake?" Yang's brows furrowed as she turned in her seat, laying one arm over the back and resting her head on her bicep. "Like… Okay, so, I'm imagining pancakes?"

Ren sighed and turned to face her, holding up his fingers to count out as he went, "One layer of biscuits on the bottom, two layers bacon, mildly spicy sausage, sliced and shredded cheese, eggs, and a biscuit topper. All in a casserole pan and baked together."

"And sometimes, potatoes!" Nora sat up to add, smiling widely, "And once, mushrooms. But that, uh, that was a day."

"...you didn't know how to tell the poison ones apart, did you?"

"No, we didn't." Ren sighed, "We thought 'brown is fine'. Brown was not fine. Nora spent hours arguing with a tree… And lost."

"He made very compelling arguments." Nora sighed, flopping back down and throwing her hands up in the air dramatically. "I remember that! Even if I… Don't remember them, really."

"Oooookay then." Yang nodded, straightening and sighing, "But if you're here, who is watching the, uh, breakfast cake?"

"Weiss." He answered, turning to make sure the snacks were set up and then, satisfied, heading over to join the blonde at the table while he explained, "Vytal is something of a festival in Atlas, apparently. Even more than anywhere else. Weiss explained it coincided with an older holliday, so it's… Important to her. Jaune is supposed to be helping her."

"Helping…?"

"He's carrying the heavy things." Ren chuckled, just before a knock echoed from the door. Pyrrha stepped through a moment later, Ruby trailing along behind her with a couple folding chairs in hand that she set up at the ends of the couch while Ren nodded. "Hello."

"Hello, again." Pyrrha smiled, slipping by him and sitting across from Yang, who exchanged a little look with her. Smiling, Pyrrha sighed, "And hello again to you, too."

"Ouch!" Nora laughed, pointing at the screen where a spear-wielding man had been bodily hurled through a small boulder. "He's gonna feel that tomorrow, right, Blakey?"

"I'm still not doing bets with you."

"Oh, come oooooon."

"A wise decision." Ren called over, laughing, "Nora bets clothes and food, not money."

"Ah." Blake sighed, "Pervert."

"Hey!" Nora sat up, prodding the Faunus in the shoulder and pouting. "I grew up in the woods! Clothes and food were about all we had."

"I grew up in terrorist camps." Blake shrugged, "We bet bullets, though."

"Ohhh, edgy." Nora smiled, nodding eagerly, "Sexy. Ren, why aren't you this edgy?"

"I'm afraid Blake stole all the edge in Beacon."

"I hate both of you, sometimes." Blake sighed, shaking her head, "When do the real fights happen?"

"About half an hour, just after Weiss' scheduled-"

"Be careful with that, Jaune!" Weiss' voice cut him off as the door was once again pushed open so hard it bounced back. Jaune leaned over the big cafeteria cart Ren elected to believe he definitely did not steal while Weiss slipped past him, putting a hand on the-

"Weiss, is that a keg?"

"And what are you wearing?" Yang chuckled, waving a hand at the blue-strapped dress she was wearing.

"I am wearing a traditional Mantle Dirndl dress in the traditional way, for Festag das Fest and Vytal du Fest." Weiss scoffed, waving at the long dress. It was simple and thin, cut off just past the knees with pleating on the outside edged in a darker white than the rest and a blue-striped sort of blouse with matching shoulders. Frowning, she sighed, "It's not my favored colors, but… Well, it was all I could find in Vale that suited me."

"Yeah." Jaune nodded, "It really does."

"Jaune, I swear, if you keep looking at my legs…"

"What legs?" Blake scoffed, "You're too short to have legs."

"I disagree!" Jaune and Weiss both shouted, flicking each other looks when they realised it. Jaune only shrugged, though, while Weiss sighed and murmured, "Men…"

"I still wanna know if that's a keg!" Nora broke in, hopping up and pacing around to pick up the big cylinder on the bottom of the cart while Jaune rolled his eyes and grabbed the cloth under the casserole to carry it to the table and set it beside the spot Nora picked out for the keg.

"It… Yes, it's a keg." Weiss rolled her eyes, waving Nora off when she turned, eyes practically gleaming and smile manic. "It's low-alcohol content! And it's tradition to drink for Festag and Vytal. At least, up in Atlas."

"You drink?" Pyrrha asked, taking one of the folding chairs and turning towards the Schnee.

"Traditionally."

"You mean socially?" Nora asked, grabbing the cups on the rolling cart and setting them out while Ruby tried to look at the keg from around a very not subtle blonde blocking her path.

"No, traditionally." Weiss dismissed, laying a hand on Yang's shoulder and pushing her back a step so she could turn and scowl down at the Schnee. "Low alcohol content, and… Well, Vytal is all about sharing in cultural experiences. So, if she wants to try a small sip, we can keep an eye on her."

"But Beacon-"

"Traditional celebrations are exempt from the alcohol rules." Weiss rolled her eyes, "How else do you think I got this here?"

"I…" Yang grimaced and sighed and turned towards Ruby, who bounced on her heels, looking… Anxious, excited, curious and like she wanted to run off all at once, somehow. Finally, Yang sighed again and said, "Fine. But only a bit! And you have to stay here, with me, alright?"

"But, Yang-"

"You've never even tried it. Who knows how you'll react to even half a cup? When you had that tooth out, you were high as a kite for a day off just some dentist stuff." Yang cut in, turning to Pyrrha, of all people, and adding. "Back me up, here, Miss Leader?"

"Yang is right." Pyrrha argued, smiling when Ruby deflated. "In Argus, we have the shared tradition. The first drink is usually at fourteen, and, well… Everyone reacts differently. It's best to be careful. And hey, maybe next time we can have a proper Fest-party? If Weiss had told me, I could have gotten a dress too."

Ren watched Ruby blink. Then blink again, start to look down, flinch and nod. "Y-Yep! Got it! Uh, sounds like a plan!"

"...Dweeb."

"Come on!" Weiss called before Ruby could do more than pout at her sister. She handed Ren a cup and smiled, turning to half-fill another. "We have to drink for Fest before we eat! And I am starving, smelling that casserole!"

Ren smiled and slipped back a step to let Yang take a cup for her and Ruby, turning to coach the younger girl on her first sips while Blake and Pyrrha watched. Weiss, meanwhile, simply kept serving drinks until she was done and Jaune pulled her back to rest against his chest. He grimaced at the drink, too, and Weiss laughed and said something to him. He rolled his eyes and kissed the crown of her head and she snorted while Yang went to open the casserole and grabbed the knife to cut into it.

"Hey." Nora murmured, joining him and leaning against him. "You good?"

"Yeah." He smiled, "I'm good."

"Are you sure…?"

"Yeah." He smiled, "It's a good memorial day."

"I'm glad." Nora smiled, leaning her head on his shoulders. He sighed, took a drink, and turned to look out the window at the trees outside. And, far and away, Mistral. And Kuroyuri, from where his parents were smiling on him.

He prayed…

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You know me.

I HAD to add a bit of Sadge at the end there.

Also, Weiss' dress is similar to Penny's, albeit more modest - which is weird to say about fucking Penny lmao - and drinking for German festivals is a thing. I'm drawing on that for this, and don't comment on under-age drinking IN TRADITIONAL SETTINGS.

Just for funsies is bad, obviously, don't me.

XD

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