Hey everyone! I know it's been forever, and I can't promise that there will be regular updates, but I'm finally getting back into writing fanfics again (thanks otterouji!) and the family drama has died down (after getting worse... so much worse) so I'll be around! So, here's a bit moving forward in this; I have plans, it's now a matter of getting there! As always, I own nothing, but I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Blake

"Movie night?" Blake looked up from her book at her teammates. She hadn't been listening, but she caught on when they started talking about inviting more people into their room. "Why?"

"Because we can!" Yang cheered, throwing a fist in the air. "We're going to watch the new It movie!"

"Oh. Saw it." Sun had freaked out; Blake had learned very quickly that he did not do well with horror movies. Her arm still hurt; she was not a teddy bear!

"Okay, but no one else has!" Ruby was bouncing off the walls, cookies in each hand. "And it looks amazing!"

"It looks disgusting. How are people amused by those things?" Weiss was studying -as usual these days- and managed to keep steady when Ruby jumped on her. "Ruby, do not get crumbs in my hair."

Yang threw herself onto her bed, picking up a nearby magazine. "Also, let's be honest, horror movies are classic when getting couples to be a thing. We figured we'd help Ren out!"

"You figured." Weiss replied, completely deadpan; she had made her disbelief of the validity of Ren and Nora's "relationship" clear to the rest of RWBY earlier. She had been the one person in the room to disagree about it, but at least she had waited until Ren was gone to say it out loud… although maybe she just hadn't been able to get a word in through Ruby and Yang.

"I don't think he'd appreciate your… help." Blake flipped a page in her book, shrugging at her partner. "Do we even know if Nora's scared of horror movies?"

Silence was the only response to her question, and Blake looked up to see Yang and Ruby looking at each other as if they hadn't even thought of that before. After a moment, Yang just shrugged back at Blake, grinning easily.

"Even if Nora's not, Pyrrha probably is! Which is one step closer to me winning!"

Winning?

"You never got Blake's bet."

"Bet?"

"Yang started a betting pool to see who in JNPR is going to confess first!" Ruby was hanging from her bed now, her face turning redder the longer she stayed there. "Weiss bet on Jaune, Yang's on Pyrrha, I'm still deciding… Team CFVY placed all their bets too!"

"And the rest of the school." Weiss continued, scribbling down some notes. "Whichever party wins splits the pot. Twenty lien entry."

"…Put me down on Ren." Blake sat up, carefully placing her bookmark where it belonged before closing her book.

"Ren?" Weiss finally turned away from her studying. "That makes no sense. He's smarter than that."

Blake shrugged easily, unconcerned. She had her reasons; her time -forced as it was sometimes- with Team JNPR had given her plenty of time to observe… and she used that information to decide this.

"Now Jaune, he's the one that is likely to do anything. You all saw him when he was trying to ask me out. Why wouldn't he be first?"

Blake eyed Weiss, who was no longer looking at Blake as she talked. If she didn't know better, she'd think Weiss was bored of the subject… which made no sense, considering there was money on the table.

"Alright, that's one on Ren. Why him? Just asking! I'm curious!" Yang pulled a notebook -was that hiding in her pillow?- and wrote it in. Bake thought for a moment before deciding there was no harm in telling her.

"Pyrrha's too shy, Jaune feels he's not good enough, Nora's done nothing this long and has nothing to make her," Blake stretched her arms over her head, recalling everything she knew about the other team… if nothing else, at least Weiss would have something to think about. There were plenty of reasons Jaune wouldn't be first… and Blake was sure Yang wouldn't allow Weiss to change her vote after hearing them. "Ren's at least running on new information."

More silence, and then Ruby leapt over for her wallet. "Put me on Ren too!"

"Is it too late to switch?"

"Got you down Rubes, and yes Weiss, you're stuck with Jaune!" Yang grinned over at the others, shoving her bet book back into its hiding place. "This is going to be awesome!"

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Blake wasn't sure how she had gotten roped into doing the actual inviting. She was just reading her book -safely, because she switched the covers around, so no one would know- and the rest of them had been making plans. They had to, if they wanted a movie night; Ruby would need cookies, Yang would insist on popcorn for an army, Weiss wanted "healthy" chips as a treat, they needed the movie…

As Blake had nothing to contribute, she felt safe just sitting on her bed and reading. It wasn't as if this was the first time they'd arranged a get-together with JNPR. At least she had felt safe, until Ruby and Yang dragged her out when they left, telling her that she had to go invite JNPR, and make sure they would come.

At least Yang had a legitimate excuse, heading down to get the movie. And snacks. Ruby was… well, Blake wasn't sure what Ruby was going to do, besides shove extra cookies in the shopping cart, but she'd gone with it.

Weiss had just refused to do the inviting, insisting that she had more studying to do before the Vytal Festival really started happening.

If Blake was very lucky, JNPR wouldn't be home, and she'd be able to pawn off this particular job back onto Ruby.

By the sound of it -was Nora running into walls? It sounded like something bouncing off the walls… hard- Blake was not lucky.

"Oh, hi Blake." Pyrrha was the one who opened the door, blocking most of the view. What Blake did manage to see were tennis balls flying across the room, and… was that Jaune squealing like that? She could have sworn it was Nora, until she caught a glimpse of the other girl cackling on a bed.

What was wrong with this team?

"Blake?" Pyrrha looked concerned, leaning in slightly. "Did you need something?"

"Oh… movie night. Our room. Friday. Ruby told me to invite you all." That was clear enough, wasn't it? Maybe it was a little… rough around the edges as an invitation, but Blake was distracted by the increasing size of the projectiles flying across JNPR's room. Tennis balls had turned into textbooks... and pillows. And that one looked like the stuffed Ursa Nora had during karaoke. "Is everything alright in there?"

"Oh… Nora thought she should test Jaune's reflexes, and…" Pyrrha looked undisturbed, which was actually disturbing. Was this normal for Team JNPR?

Actually, it was Nora, so this wasn't totally surprising… and it made Blake a lot more grateful for the team she had. Ruby's hyper was a lot more manageable than Nora's seemed to be…

"So… movie night?" Blake was aware that she wasn't… sociable. That was the word for it, one Weiss was fond of using. But this was awkward… and if Ren figured out their ulterior motives for this, it could end very badly.

"I'll… Nora, do not throw anything that will break." Impressive, the way Pyrrha didn't even need to turn around to know what was happening. "I'll let them know."

"Is that Blake? Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake!"

"I should go." Every good Hunter or Huntress knew the value of retreat… Blake doubted even Ozpin would stay if a charging Nora came after him… so she didn't feel any regret in darting back into her own dorm, leaving Pyrrha behind to deal with her teammate alone.

Interactions with Team JNPR were much easier with her talkative teammates around her… but at least with everyone but Weiss gone now, Blake could get back to her book!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Blake had a very good set-up placed for herself. Since she wasn't interested in the movie -it wasn't that interesting or plausible the first time- she had made arrangements not to have to watch it.

What this meant was she made her bed into a blanket tent, complete with cheap string lights to allow her to read… and there was the perfect slit in which to watch over the object of her bet, and keep an eye on the pairs.

She might seem disinterested, but this was all like some cheesy romances brought to life, and that was fascinating. It was just a matter of seeing which story would reach the end first.

Blake settled in against the pillows -more of them stolen from Weiss' side of the room- and absently picked up a book. Regardless of if she won this bet, Blake was pretty sure "Renora", as Ruby had dubbed them, was going to click first. Ren and Nora both had reasons to make a move before Jaune or Pyrrha would. If books had told her anything, childhood friends that fell in love had a variety of ways to move forward. Jealousy, unable to hold feelings back, more jealousy…

Of course, Pyrrha and Jaune were both newer to this, so they had less experience in holding back their feelings…

Blake would never admit it out loud, but she was curious to see what would happen… but apparently so was the rest of the school, if Yang's bet book was any indication, so she didn't feel that bad.

She opened the book, letting the bookmark slip out as the other team sat, Nora's babbling filling up the room easily.

As long as Blake didn't have to interact much, it was comforting to hear Nora -or anyone else- fill up the silence with random thoughts. Background noise, in a way, with just a minimal need for reaction.

She could see how Ren didn't find it annoying.

Ren, for his part, had staked out a place for the two of them… right in Blake's view. Perfect for scouting out evidence that she and Ruby would win the bet… with Pyrrha just barely in sight. Blake leaned discreetly, shifting so she could see both pairs through her sneaky opening.

Was it just her, or did Nora seem… nervous? She was jumping around, same as always, but… something seemed off. Blake didn't know her very well, but Nora didn't normally jump around subjects this much… she hadn't even mentioned the movie once.

And Pyrrha… well, after the haunted house, they'd all heard that Pyrrha did not handle the supernatural very well. It was probably why Yang had chosen this movie, as a way to get a leg up on the bet.

Blake had to hold in the scoff, turned it into an unconvincing cough as she reached a hand out for a snack. Seeing the healthy snack in her hands, she tossed it back out silently to the ground, keeping her hand out for the real snacks.

Weiss could keep her vegetable chips.

"Why's Blake not watching?" Nora was curled up against Ren now, two cookies in each hand. Ruby, taking this as a challenge apparently, had six cookies and two in her mouth.

"Blake saw this with Sun earlier! She said it was scary, right?" Yang was setting up the movie, waving her free hand at Ruby. "Ruby, do not eat all the cookies; it is not an eating contest!"

"But cookies!"

"It's not that bad," Blake replied when she got a moment to break through Ruby's protests, settling the pillows behind her so she could spy and be comfortable. "There's a clown."

"A creepy clown!" Nora started rambling about clowns and balloons and freaky things, but Blake was more focused on the suspicious look Ren was now sending her way.

This was not her fault! This was all Yang's idea! And maybe Ruby's. Blake wasn't completely sure who had actually come up with this plan. But she couldn't say that, not now, or it would end up revealing things Ren didn't want people -Nora- to know.

Blake hoped the apologetic smile and shrug would explain, at least for the moment. Later -in the rare moment Nora wasn't with him- she'd apologize for this.

Unless it worked out well. Then she would just never mention it and enjoy the show.

Blake would never admit it, not even to Yang or Ruby or Weiss… but watching JNPR in their romantic troubles was like living through her favorite books…

And unlike those books, Blake could actually influence what was happening. And she fully planned to.

She would not let Weiss have the satisfaction of winning.

Blake had a bet to win.

And there's that! It's kind of short, I know, but they'll get longer again as I get in the swing of things! Also, things might get chaotic for JNPR because of everyone around them... they've all got something to win based on those relationships! :D

I'm working on the next chapter, which will have the movie and some stuff after, so look forward to that! Thanks for reading guys; I hope to see you in the next chapter soon!