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The holiday season is finally upon the students of Beacon Academy. For a lot of people, it’s a joyous occasion where they can finally go home and rest, spend time with their families, and angst over the new semester. But for some… it’s a more difficult time. It’s not uncommon for students who don’t have families to go home to to stay at the Academy over the break instead. Such students include Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie.
For many years, Ren and Nora have lived their whole lives side by side. Every holiday has been spent together, every injury or illness, every single nightmare, every single joy… They’ve always done it together. Beacon changed that. Because it’s Christmas Eve, and Ren is alone in his dorm. For the first time in his whole life, Lie Ren is alone on Christmas Eve.
He had never thought that would be possible. Nora had always been a constant in his life. Always. She was the one person who he could count on to be there, whenever he needed her. Just as he had promised that he would be there for her whenever she needed him. He thought they would always need each other. When they arrived at Beacon, and managed to stick together and form a new team, maybe even a new family , Ren felt as though this was where he and Nora were always meant to be.
Now… Well, Now he supposes that’s not really the case. Because she’s off spending the whole break with someone they had only met a few months ago. Because she had deemed this person more important than Ren. She had decided that that was more important. Ren could hardly believe it.
But, this is still his reality. He still has to find a way to deal with this. Even if it feels completely impossible.
Ren rests his head on his arm as he stares out the window and upon the grounds of the Academy. It’s not quite cold enough to snow, and there’s no rainy drizzle this evening either.
The Huntsman-in-training sighs, and his reflection sighs back at him. It’s only about 6 p.m. but it’s still pitch black outside now. He can even see the flicker of the candles Pyrrha had lit reflected in the glass.
Speaking of, Ren definitely is not the only one stuck here either. Pyrrha wasn’t able to get back to Argus because of some miscommunications with her family, and the airways always being especially packed this time of year.
He glances over at her to see that she’s still curled up in her bed wearing thick, comfortable looking pajamas, and reading a hefty looking book. She looks up and smiles at him. He smiles back.
Ren knows that they’re both sad and lonely right now. She misses her family. He misses his. He kind of wishes Jaune were here, his team leader is so cheerful and always tries so hard to make sure they’re all comfortable. Maybe that’s a want born of fear, but Ren doesn’t really mind, even if things get awkward sometimes.
“Do you… want to play cards? Watch a movie, maybe?” Pyrrha suggests, startling Ren out of his thoughts. She runs her fingers through her hair, which is currently down, and Ren is instantly entranced by her.
“Cards could be nice,” Ren says, a little hopefully, “I could go get us some tea, or hot chocolate even, if you want.”
“Hot cocoa would be just lovely,” she says, that same gorgeous smile on her face.
“Hot chocolate it is, then,” Ren grins.
He’s quick to go down to the 24/7 refreshment corner, every dorm section has one at the end for all the students to use as they please, since they’re not allowed to keep such things in their rooms. The hot chocolate there isn’t particularly incredible, it’s really only the cheap packets from the grocery store, but he thinks maybe it would be perfect for this kind of evening.
He warms milk in the microwave, drops some marshmallows in each cup, and stirs the powder until he’s certain it's all mixed together inside of the little styrofoam cup. Ren can’t help but think of the time a few years back that an innkeeper let him and Nora spend Christmas inside, in a room with a fireplace and decent beds no less, even though they didn’t have enough money, just because they took care of a Grimm problem for him.
It was incredibly kind of the man, and the two had been snuggly and warm together with mugs of rich cocoa and large bowls full of a thick soup. They had even managed to get gifts for each other that year. It was the best Christmas they had ever had together, and what was once nostalgia over the memory has turned into sourness now that Nora has just… just...
He’s snapped out of the warm, cozy memory by Blake coming up beside him.
“Kind of cold tonight, huh?” the traditionally reserved girl asks quietly, offering Ren a pleasant half-smile.
He nods, still shaking himself out of his thoughts, “Yes, but Christmas Eve is always a good excuse for hot chocolate.”
She giggles and he quietly heads back to the dorm while she continues on. He had almost forgotten about all the other students also stuck here through the break, and suddenly he feels hopeful for the nice meal being prepared for tomorrow. Maybe everyone will be in a good mood for once, and they can all just be civil.
Maybe it’s just too much to hope for.
When he gets back to his dorm, he taps on the door with his foot since his hands are full, and Pyrrha gets up to let him back in.
“Mmm, looks delicious,” she smiles upon seeing the cups. Ren thinks he could bask forever in that smile.
They spread out a deck of cards on Pyrrha’s bed and start a game of War, teasing each other and giggling the whole time. About halfway through their second game, Pyrrha’s cup accidentally gets bumped and it spills all over her and her bed.
She gasps, and jumps up, dropping the cup and spilling the rest over their floors.
“Pyrrha!” Ren shouts, standing up to help her.
“Oh dear…” she sighs, and looks nearly close to tears, “I am just… I’m so sorry, Ren-”
“Are you hurt?” he asks her instead, “Did it burn you? You should get some ice on it anyways, here I’ll go grab some and you can get in a cool shower, okay?”
She nods, looking kind of out of it. Ren pushes her into the bathroom anyways, then immediately runs back out to the refreshments counter is, not caring who sees him basically sprinting. He fills one of the cellophane bags with ice from the mini freezer, ignoring the other student who's staring at him dumbfounded, and Ren runs back to his dorm room.
He curses when he realizes he closed the door and forgot to grab his key, then proceeds to knock as loudly as possible on the door instead.
“Pyrrha? I have some ice and I forgot my car-”
The door is suddenly thrown open, and he is quickly pulled inside by the taller and stronger girl.
“It’s okay, Ren, I’m fine,” she says, now changed into a different set of pajamas, this a long sleeved nightgown that looks heavy and warm, much like her flannel set.
“Oh,” he says dumbfounded, the bag of ice in his hand causing it to start feeling kind of numb, “Are- Are you sure?”
“Yes, it was mostly cooled off and my clothes soaked up a lot of it,” she reassures him quickly, “I still need to clean off the floors though. And I’ll need to go get new sheets from the laundry for my bed.”
Ren frowns and shakes his head, “You don’t have to do all that. I can clean up the floors, and maybe you can just sleep in Jaune’s bed tonight. He won’t mind. I know he changed the sheets and everything before he left. You can just take care of it tomorrow, I know you’re getting tired.”
Pyrrha sighs and her eyes nervously dart back and forth between Ren and the floor, “That’s not a bad idea at all. And I am tired… and hungry. Maybe we should order something for dinner, it’s already almost 8 o’clock, I think.”
Ren glances over at the clock they have hung on the wall, and it’s well past dinner time for sure.
“Ramen sounds good,” he says.
They work quickly to clean up the mess on the floors, using a mix of dry and damp towels from their bathroom. By the end of it, they concede to go get fresh linens for everyone first thing in the morning. Pyrrha moves one of her undamaged blankets and her pillow over to Jaune’s bed, which just so happens to be right next to Ren’s. They smile at each other, but it’s… shy, now. It’s different. Ren doesn’t really think he can complain.
There is an almost heightened level of care and consideration from both of them towards each other now. It’s different. It feels so different. But it’s not bad. Not by a longshot.
Pyrrha orders them both ramen, which they’ll have to pick up from the front of the school soon, but for the meantime they just sit next to each other in Jaune’s bed.
“Are you mad at Nora?” Pyrrha asks him quietly after some time, when the silence has gone from comfortable to just a little too heavy.
“I’m not mad,” Ren argues maybe just a bit too quickly, his shoulders tensing up some.
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
Pyrrha purses her lips, “Ren…”
“Pyrrha,” he whispers, his voice thick and sad, “Please.”
She sighs, “Alright. But for what it’s worth, I am here for you right now.”
“Thank you,” Ren says, but it’s subdued and quiet. Pyrrha guesses that he really doesn’t want to talk about it.
“I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but… I have a gift for you,” Pyrhha says, “I got one for each of you, I just was going to give Jaune and Nora theirs after the break. If you want to open yours now instead of tomorrow I think that could be fun.”
Ren grins shyly, “I have one for you too. I think you’ll like it- I hope you’ll like it.”
“I’m sure it’s great,” she reassures him, “Here, let me just go get mine.”
Pyrrha gets up and out of Jaune’s bed and goes over to her dresser and pulls out one of the drawers, Ren watches as she rifles through it for a few seconds. Then, she turns around with a triumphant, beaming smile and a small, delicately wrapped package in her hands. The paper is a glittery gold tied up in a large, green ribbon, and Ren is simply touched by the effort that his teammate put into it.
Ren goes over to his dresser next, and pulls out a package that is wrapped with plain brown paper, and tied up with some glittery twine Nora had found a month or so ago. He feels bad about giving her something so simple, when she went through so much effort for him.
“Here,” Ren says quickly, pushing the gift into her hands, “It’s not much, but…”
Pyrrha readily accepts the gift though, the softest, warmest smile on her face as she does.
“Oh, Ren… It looks beautiful,” she says, then hands him the absolutely beautiful one that’s meant for him, and looks kind of shy herself, “I may have gone slightly overboard on mine.”
“It looks incredible, Pyrrha, how do you even do that?” Ren replies, looking and sounding genuinely amazed by her gift.
“Oh, I just take it somewhere to get it wrapped,” Pyrrha giggles, a blush on her cheeks.
“Smart,” Ren laughs.
Each of them holds their gifts in their hands for a moment, each staring in some form of amazement at them. Pyrrha opens hers first, undoing the twine and then carefully undoing the tape at either end of the package. What’s revealed is a simple black picture frame, containing the team’s first photo ever taken together.
Pyrrha’s mouth falls open, tears welling up in her eyes as she stares down at the lovely image.
“Oh, Ren…” she whispers, her voice stuck in her throat.
“Do… Do you like it?”
She stares at him then, with those big, pretty green eyes of hers, “Ren, I love it.”
He smiles in return, “I’m so glad.”
Pyrrha makes a shoo-ing motion with her hands, “Open mine, please!”
He throws his head back with laughter, but then does as he’s been asked. He shifts the gift itself out of the tight ribbon, and undoes the paper with slightly less grace than Pyrrha. It's a cardboard box underneath the paper, which he tears open with little patience.
Inside of it, he finds a whole package of incredibly fuzzy, soft, and thick socks, as well as a pack of his favorite hair ties and his favorite brand of chocolate.
“I… I didn’t even realize you knew any of that about me,” he says, completely dumbfounded.
“Well, I noticed you kept getting cold at night, and thought maybe those would help because heat escapes the body through the feet, and I noticed you kept getting low on hair ties surprisingly fast,” she explains as casually as possible, but Ren can tell she’s vibrating under her skin.
“That is… really thoughtful, Pyrrha. Thank you,” he says softly, overwhelmed by her beautiful soul.
Pyrrha leans forward and gives him a tight, comforting bear hug, “You deserve to feel seen, Ren.”
He feels the tears start to rush forward, and presses his face into her neck as he begins to cry, but she just hugs him close. She allows him to just cry out all his pain and his fear against her, she hushes him and simply holds him. Pyrrha Nikos holds Lie Ren, and he cries into her in a way he’s never let himself cry in front of anyone else before.
It’s cathartic. Soothing.
Eventually, the tears and sobs taper off, and he’s left just holding onto this loving, gorgeous girl who may as well be a goddess after everything she’s done for him.
“Ren…” she whispers, so softly, so quietly, “I think… I think I like you a lot.”
“I like you a lot, too, Pyrrha,” he whispers in response.
Tenderly, Ren lifts his lips closer to hers, slowly and softly, nervous as any other teenager going in for their first kiss. Pyrrha is the one to solidify it, though. She closes the small gap between them, and it’s chaste and nervous, but it’s a kiss, and it makes Ren feel warm and loved and it… it's just perfect.
Pyrrha Nikos is perfect.
“You’re amazing, Ren,” she whispers against his lips, and he melts into her.
They stay curled up together the whole night, dinner forgotten and deemed unnecessary at this point. All they care for at the moment is each other, and the solace they were able to find. It’s lovely and warm, in ways both of them craved, and so in one another they find something deep and meaningful. For these two lonely, scared, and sad students, what they really needed for Christmas was this. Was each other.