Tea For Two

A commission for umapmoe who asked for some Renora fluff!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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												Chapter 28. Tea For Two

Team JNPR's dorm room was... oddly quiet that morning.

So quiet, it instantly made three certain occupants quite suspicious.

Normally, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren were roused by energetic shouts and squeals from Nora, who would alternate between jumping next to or directly onto their beds, all the while making announcements about what they'd be having for breakfast.

But today, there were no shouts about syrup or bellows about bacon.

It was just... quiet.

The suspicion woke them before anything else, and all three stood in their sleepwear in a surprised triangle around Nora's bed. She was still fast asleep, snoozing loudly, but something was clearly amiss.

Pyrrha took a tentative step forward and touched her friend's shoulder.

"Nora? This is so odd. Usually she's up at the crack of dawn."

"Or before that," Jaune mumbled. "Wonder what's up with her."

Even after Pyrrha had tapped her shoulder, Nora remained asleep. Ren stepped forward and coaxed her back.

"Don't worry. I've known her long enough to recognize she's caught a bit of a cold."

Pyrrha gasped.

"Oh, no! She's sick?"

"Nothing serious," he assured her. "If she's still snoring and making as much noise as possible even in her sleep, I can guarantee you it's just a passing cold."

Pyrrha was clearly relieved to hear that, but a spark of worry remained in her eyes.

"Will she be able to go to classes today? Maybe it'd be best if she stayed here. I could take care of her."

"But Pyrrha," Jaune cut in. "You've got that test today, remember?"

Ren smiled to them both.

"Don't worry. I can stay behind. I know just how to treat her for it, anyway."

Pyrrha and Jaune were both more than satisfied with that. Everyone at Beacon knew that when it came to Nora, no one knew her better than Ren, and vice versa.

So as Pyrrha and Jaune got ready for classes, Ren changed into some more casual clothes and started to prepare breakfast for the team.

Naturally, the scent of food was what finally woke Nora. She pushed herself up groggily and moaned a little, which was uncharacteristic enough of her to draw Pyrrha's attention.

"Good morning, Nora. Just take it easy today, alright? Ren says you're sick."

Nora blinked hazily, then sniffled once.

"Wha- who? Me? Ppffff nah, I'm fiiiine~ I don't get sick!"

Ren walked over and handed her a tissue.

"Then why is your nose running?"

"Huhh?" Once she realized he was right, Nora grabbed the tissue and blew her nose like a trumpet. The sounds it made nearly caused Jaune to lose his breakfast, and even Pyrrha winced.

"I'm afraid you're definitely sick, Nora."

"Aww fooey..."

The girl pouted and threw her tissue into the nearby trash. Ren smiled sympathetically.

"But that means you get a day off from classes to rest up. Lose some, win some, right?"

"Ooh missing classes? That's a good deal. I'll take it!" Nora decided.

Pyrrha and Jaune finished their meals and grabbed their bags before heading off to class. Pyrrha wished Nora to get well soon. Jaune wished Ren good luck.

Once they'd gone, Ren realized his partner had yet to get out of bed, despite the fact that a plate of fresh warm pancakes drowning in syrup was waiting for her on the table just a few feet away.

She kept clearing her throat and growling like a Beowolf to do it, and whenever she tried to get out of bed, she needed to pause and grab another tissue. Ren smiled in understanding and went to her side.

"Headache?" he guessed.

"Just a little one..."

"I'll get you something."

He retreated to the cupboards and extracted a bottle of pills. With one in-hand, he then headed to the table to get a glass, which he filled with milk from the mini fridge. The finishing touch was a dash of chocolate syrup, which he stirred in before bringing the finished product over to her.

"Alright, take this to help it down." He handed her the glass and the pill, which Nora smiled and grimaced at respectively.

"How many seconds?" she asked.

Ren pondered thoughtfully.

"Eleven."

"Ha! We'll see about that."

Nora prepared herself, then popped the bitter-tasting pill into her mouth. Immediately afterward, she began chugging the chocolate milk.

Ren stood beside her and watched, just in case she ended up sputtering.

This was a routine of theirs, something they'd come up with over the years. Whenever one of them had been sick in the past, they'd always do this for one another, making their favorite drinks to wash down the pills, then placing bets on how quickly they could drink the entire glass.

Ren was always certain to guess a number he knew was too high, so that Nora could win.

Presently, she finished the glass with a satisfied sigh.

"Well? How'd I do?"

"Nine seconds."

"Whoopie, I won!"

"Yes you did. You won the prize of breakfast in bed."

"Ohhh boy!" Nora wiggled in bed a bit before another sneeze cut her off.

As she got to blowing her nose again, Ren took the empty glass and exchanged it at the table for her plate of pancakes and utensils. He sat beside her as she ate, keeping a hand on the plate so it wouldn't topple over onto the bedsheets.

Nora's appetite was as hardy as ever, which was the biggest indication that this cold was a passing sickness that would be gone in a day or so.

Nora finished her pancakes, then licked the remaining syrup from the plate. When she'd finished, Ren took the opportunity to check on her a bit.

"So how are you feeling? Still got the headache?"

"Mm not as bad as before," she reported. "Just a little stuffy." She pinched her nose and stuck out her tongue.

"Well, why don't you go wash your face with hot water while I clean up? Think you'd be up for some tea?"

"Oh yeah! Maybe we could try out that new kind you got?"

"On it."

They set off with their own tasks at hand.

Ren brought all the plates and glasses to the sink to begin washing them while Nora stumbled out of bed and hurried into the bathroom.

By the time she'd finished washing her face and blowing her nose a dozen consecutive times, Ren had started boiling the water for their tea. When Nora emerged, she stretched her arms high up above her head until her shoulders and back popped, then retreated back to her bed.

"Y'know," she hummed as she leaned back against the headboard. "It's nice to be healthy and stuff, but it's kinda important to take a break from all that and be sick every once in a while, right?"

Ren poured the tea from the kettle into their cups.

"I think most people would think differently."

"Aw, but being sick isn't that bad! I mean, not suuuper sick, but like, just a little bit sick! Just sniffles and stuff like that! Because then you get your friends to take care of you and you get to miss classes for a day! But most importantly, it makes you realize how lucky you are when you're not sick."

"I see what you mean." Ren began adding the spoonfuls of sugar to Nora's tea. "Either way, let's try to get you better by tomorrow."

"Mmkaaaay~"

Nora waited with a grin on her face as Ren brought the tea cups over. He handed her the one misted with sugar and kept the darker one for himself.

As was the unspoken ritual of theirs, Nora schooed herself over on the bed and Ren sat down beside her. Together, they carefully took the first few sips of their tea.

This was always something Nora took great care in, knowing it was one of Ren's pastimes. She always made sure to enjoy all the flavors of the food he made, but even more than that, she enjoyed the tea he prepared. He always added just the perfect amount of sugar to make it sweet, but not enough to take the flavors away.

The heat of the liquid unclogged her nose a bit, and Ren held her cup for her as she blew her nose again.

"Do you like it?" he wondered. "I think it's a little mild, but pretty good."

"Yeah! It's great! A bit mild is totally good! No one can make it quite like you can, Ren!"

They enjoyed their tea together, but it wasn't long before Ren realized the pills were beginning to take effect on his partner. With a drawling yawn, Nora slumped against his shoulder, the empty tea cup tipping in her loosened grip. Ren carefully plucked it up for her.

"Tired?"

"Mmm a biiiit..."

"Sleep. I'll stay here."

"Mmkay..."

Ren put their cups aside on the nightstand and did as he'd promised, putting an arm around his childhood friend. Nora yawned again and cuddled up to his side, her heavy eyelids quickly falling shut.

But before she could doze off, she made sure to say one last thing.

"Thanks, Ren."

He smiled to himself and leaned over to press a small kiss to the top of her head.

"Never a problem."

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A/N: I like the idea of only Ren ever knowing/getting to see Nora in her more vulnerable state, and maybe Ren even gets rare bouts of intense anger that only Nora can calm him down from or something like that. Their relationship is somehow more special than siblings or lovers, somewhere in between.