Learning Some Things

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Requested By : Polemoduke

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"Quickly now!" Doctor Oobleck called out before even Weiss was unpacked, "The Grimm, and history, wait for no man! Or woman! Or other assorted sentient being!"

So Jaune flailed, fumbling for his notebook and knocking over Weiss' pen-cup in the process of wrestling his messy notebook out of the wad of papers it had somehow worked itself into. She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything, instead picking her carefully arranged pens back up and scooting her cup a bit further from him. He chuckled as he opened his book with one hand, smoothing out and stacking papers with the other before taking the folder Ruby offered him and sliding them into it.

"S-Sorry…"

"Hmph." The Schnee scoffed as Oobleck cleared his throat. Quietly, she said, "Just take good notes, dolt."

"Y-Yeah."

"I intend to review them."

"Wait, you're going to w-what-"

"Now that I trust we are all settled in and comfortable!" Oobleck called out, gaze lingering on Jaune and Weiss just long enough for them both to shrink down in their seats before he turned to regard the room at large. Smiling, he leaned forward, resting his finger-tips on the cluttered desk in front of him, and asked, "Students! Who would like to tell me the single most important aspect of a society as we understand them?"

For a long while, the room was quiet, until finally it started to get awkward and Cardin raised his hand.

"Yes, Mister Winchester?" Oobleck cocked his head, "And do remember this is, in essence, an Academy first. You can just speak."

"R-Right." The man grunted, "Uh, well… Laws?"

"A rather interesting suggestion, Mister Winchester." Oobleck hummed, turning to his empty, wall spanning chalkboard and zipping to one end to jot the word down in what, to Jaune, was impossibly good handwriting for a chalkboard. "Law! Every nation on Remnant, past, present and maybe even future, has had a robust sense of law! Conduct, protection, punishment- A way to coach the population into properly comporting itself so all can benefit is, indeed, necessary to a state."

"But," Oobleck finished, writing out 'state' beside 'law' and drawing a circle around them, "a nation and a state are separate, at least technically, so laws, while needed, aren't integral to every society."

"How could they not be?" Weiss asked quietly, "Without laws, we're just… Brutes and thugs. Taking what we want and hoping the same does not happen in turn.."

"Savages." Cardin smirked, "Barely even Human."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake snapped from further down their seating area. Jaune blinked at the venom and turned in his seat, but Blake was mostly invisible past Yang's broader form, since she'd turned towards Cardin, too.

"I'm just saying we know plenty of people that do that right now." Cardin said simply, crossing his arms and grinning toothily as he turned to look along the curved seating rows at them.

"And who might you mean, Mister Winchester?"

"Now Professor, come on." The man snorted, tossing his hands up in the air and shooting his snickering friends side-long glances. "I'd hate to break Academy rules, ya know?"

"You racist son-of-a-"

"Miss Xiao Long, I would thank you not to break the rules yourself and force me to punish anyone on your side of this argument rather than his." Oobleck cut in, scowling and shaking his head. "As for you, Mister Winchester…"

"Yes, Teach?"

"I believe you haven't turned in your weekly assignment yet." He said, smiling, "I would like it by tomorrow. From your entire team."

"That's not-"

"Seeing as you have the mental acuity to spare on starting arguments in my class, I'm quite certain you won't mind putting a bit more work in tonight." Oobleck cut him off, "As punishment for derailing the conversation, I mean."

"That's not in the handbook!"

"No, but the handbook does state that professors, of which I am one, can handle looser regulations within their classes regarding decorum and their own assignments." Oobleck argued simply, sounding almost… Bored, somehow, which made Jaune chuckle. "We were discussing nations and what makes them stand, and you derailed us with your words. If you are a third as smart as you assert yourself to be, then you would let it go, do the assignment and be grateful I don't take what you said for the dog-whistle it was. Am I understood?"

"...Yes, Sir." The man finally growled, "Understood, crystal clear."

"Very good." The doctor nodded, turning to regard the rest of the class as the tension finally died out. "The answer, to cut to the point, is not law. Though in some ways it is similarly regarded. Anyone else have a guess?"

"Religion?" The older Faunus, Velvet, offered timidly from the upper class seating above them all. "For those that believe in whatever, u-um, myths that you pick out, the teachings are… Kinda law? And they can be really useful for forming communities."

"A good suggestion!" Oobleck nodded, "But, again, not quite. Historically we do know of some societies that evolved without any sorts of true deities, or in the case of the ancient Valean tribe, the 'Gaetiu', no real myths at all! So again, close but not quite. Anyone else?"

"Not religion, not law…" Jaune murmured, finger tapping on his desk as the class murmured amongst itself. "Close to both, but not quite either…"

"No one?" Oobleck asked, sounding just a bit disappointed, "No one at all? Come on, don't be afraid. There are no wrong answers! Only ideas to be discussed."

Finally, Jaune sighed and raised a hand, calling out, "Uh, culture maybe?"

"Culture! Yes!" Doctor Oobleck clapped, turning and blurring across the chalkboard, jotting out 'religion - not uniform' and then, in bigger words, 'culture - uniform to all nations'. Turning, he pointed at it and explained, "Culture is what defines a nation! Ever changing, ever evolving, with the nation itself, it is how others recognize us in our moment of history! And how we recognize others!"

"Culture is as varied and fascinating as any of the examples any of you previously gave!" Oobleck went on, talking as Jaune rapidly scratched out notes - mostly quoting him, at least for now, while he was talking slow enough Jaune could keep up. "Customs surrounding food, clothing and social interaction are all some of the most visible in person! But art, architecture and even politics reflect it as well. Consider Mistral's crawling buildings, scaling through several levels of the city at once and often providing homes, business, and even government working places, all within, technically, the same construction!"

"Speaking of Mistral," Oobleck turned, smiling, "Miss… Valkyrie!"

"Present!"

"Yes, quite obviously." Oobleck laughed, letting the class around him chuckle quietly at the little spot of humor. "You are Mistrali, yes?"

"Uh, yeah?" She answered, shrugging and leaning forward on her desk. "Least that's what my papers say. Right?"

Another laugh rolled across the room, and Jaune could see the woman smirking a bit for it. Oobleck allowed himself a chuckle, too, and then nodded. "Yes, well, I should hope so! Moving on, why don't you edify the class on a particular aspect of your own culture?"

"Uh… Do you… Have a preference?"

"Nope!" He answered, "Simply pick the first that comes to mind. It is all fascinating, and all will be illustrative of my point."

"Uh, well, um…" She thought for a moment, then flicked her team, scattered around her, a look, shrugged and sat back. "Dating?"

There was a long moment of chuckling before Oobleck clapped his hand for attention, smiled, and said, "Romance! Never something to be overlooked in a society's culture! The various courtship rules, ideals, and overtures throughout history are, truly, fascinating! Very well then, Miss Valkyrie, please, tell us some about that, if you don't mind."

"Well, um, so… I'm from South-Western Mistral. Along the coast, towards the Lesser Sea between Menagerie and Anima." She started, sounding just a little bit… Anxious, suddenly, with so many eyes and ears on her. Something Jaune didn't envy in the least. "Down around there, it's… Rough, you know? So stuff like dating is a bit… Simpler?"

"Rough in what way?"

"Bandits, Grimm, the weather…" She shrugged, sounding a bit more… Wistful, almost, and distant than Jaune had ever heard her. He leaned forward to see her past Yang and Blake and her partner was rubbing his hand on her back, looking… Sympathetic, if absolutely wrecked. She smiled, though, and kept talking, "So far away, my folks always said it was just… Hard for Mistral to protect us."

"Sadly, a plight many frontier settlements face, and have always faced." Oobleck nodded, turning to speak to the class at large, his energy dampened by the words. "Out on the frontier, communications are often spotty. And whether they are or not, well… Getting Hunters out there is expensive and difficult. Many villages can't afford it, and rely on Kingdom Hunters to try. But we are often… Overwhelmed, overworked, and under-supplied."

"My dad was one." Winchester's teammate, Russel, called out. "Always complained 'bout it, too. It sucked…"

"Did he go private?"

"Of course." Russel chuckled, crossing his arms, "Who wouldn't, when it's so shit?"

"Language, Mister Thrush." Oobleck warned him firmly, smiling when the man murmured an apology, "But a good enough contribution that I will overlook it this once. As to your question… Many do not. I didn't, and every other student here works for the Kingdom. Not ourselves, with the exception of Port's competitive Hunting and my archeological endeavours."

"Regardless, I digress." Oobleck chuckled, waving the matter off and clasping his hands behind his waist. "Miss Valkyrie, you were telling us about your culture's courtship norms?"

"I dunno about 'courtship', but…" Nora sighed, "I know it was easy because my mom told me about it. You want to date someone, you offer them a kiss. A proper one, on the lips. If they want to date you, too, they kiss you after. Anytime, as long as it's, you know, their choice and… In a, uh, reasonable period of time."

"How do you mean?"

"You can't, like, wait a few years and do it." Nora scoffed, "Mostly though you just… Kinda ask what they're comfortable with. Or let 'em show you."

"As in, a potential partner who is fine with a longer time will act the part of a partner if you return the gesture. While one who is not, but wishes to couple, will simply return the kiss. And, with the kiss, they agree to court. Or, well, 'date' as you all would likely phrase it." Oobleck nodded, turning to the class and going on, "Intriguing! I had heard about this custom, which is known to exist in the regions of Mistral as well as Menagerie, but only second-hand."

"I'm, uh, glad to provide?"

"And I am grateful!" Oobleck nodded, "To summarise, then- A kiss is a sort of proposal for a relationship. Returning the gesture is acceptance of it. And time between the two can vary from person to person, but is largely irrelevant if someone wants to, ahem, engage then they will simply apply a kiss in turn. Correct?"

"Uh, yeah?" Nora nodded, "Didn't know it was in Menagerie too, though."

"And now you do! Excellent!" Oobleck chirped, "Tell me, how does marriage work, then?"

"My folks, uh…" Nora deflated a bit, voice quieting, "They never…"

"We're orphans." Ren grunted, voice rough and coarse. He coughed to clear his throat and grumbled, "Both of us when we were young."

"Ah. Tragic…" Oobleck bowed his head, "I'm truly sorry to hear this. And not because you can't answer my questions, I hope you know."

"We do, S-" Ren choked and coughed, harder than before, and his partner turned to lean down and pick up a bottled tea he drank.

"Sorry, Sir." Nora chuckled, "Rennie's never been the… Hardiest. Moving here must have brought a bug."

"Perfectly understandable. I often need to drink my herbal teas, or I do the same when travelling far." Oobleck nodded, "If he's well enough to stay, we can move on. If not, please, don't hesitated to take him back to his dorm to rest."

"Rennie?"

"M'fine." He grunted, "Just… Talking."

"Then don't worry about talking." Oobleck smiled, turning and asking, "Would anyone here like to share some more of their own cultural quirks? The class is waiting! And with rapt attention, too, I assure you!"

Somehow, Jaune felt like the doctor was more interested in this than any of them… But it made him smile, for some reason.

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Unlike Humans', whose senses had, through some mysterious quirk of evolution, tailored themselves to the day-time, Faunus' had evolved more inclined to the night. Therefore, Humans tended to be better at seeing further, for longer, than Faunus, owing to their tolerance for the bright sun. But Faunus tended to see better in the dark, and hear better as well - either of which could be made all the more potent by their Faunus heritage. For Blake, this manifested in truly stellar night vision, a tiny bit of light sensitivity, and excellent hearing.

So, when they woke up that morning, she could hear the tiny rattle to Ren's breathing that her Human teammates couldn't. Even asleep, it was… Less than pleasant. And while she knew Aura could help fight it off, she'd slipped off early to buy a few herbal teas out of the cafeteria's vending machines. Not as good as fresh ones made by hand, and some medicine, perhaps - but she could share them and just argue she'd wanted some.

Which she did, passing off several to the lethargic man once he'd come out of the shower.

Even with the tea, though, he'd only gotten worse through Oobleck's lecture and Port's lecture right after, the rattling getting worse until they finally got back to their dorm that evening. As soon as they did, Nora bundled the man into the bathroom and, half an hour later, into bed.

"Nora…"

"He'll be okay tomorrow." Nora answered the blonde, plopping onto the foot of her bed and frowning. "Rennie's… Like I said, he gets sick a lot. Never for long, though."

"Do you know why?"

"Nope." The Mistrali girl answered, popping the 'p' loudly. "Just always been like that."

"Well, I'll help take care of him." Yang shrugged, snorting a laugh when Nora's brows shot up into her hairline. "Relax, sister, I'm not into him like that. He's cute an' all, but you got dibs. I just know how to take care of sick people."

"You do?"

"I kinda helped raise Ruby." Yang shrugged, "Came with the territory."

"Ah, well, okay, um… So, first off, poly." Nora quipped, pointing at herself and him and smirking when Yang blinked in surprise. "Mistrali thing. Second, you don't have to. I can handle him."

"You're gonna sit with him all night?"

"Why not?"

"You need rest, you've been watching him all day." Blake said, feeling for all the world like one of the nannies taking care of a kid for the moment. Shrugging the image off, she said, "And tomorrow's a weekend anyways. We can all crash and burn if we need to."

"But-"

"We're a team, Nora." Yang cut her off, "Let us help, okay? I even have some night time cold meds in my bag, in case Ruby caught something when we came up here."

"...Fine, but only because you're gonna be stubborn." She grumbled, rolling her eyes and sighing. "And I guess a Queen does need her beauty sleep."

"Well if her highness has decided on the evening's plans, I'll take reprieve and enjoy a shower." Blake said, affecting as much of an airy voice as she could manage and paying the chuckling woman a little curtsey as she turned for the bathroom. Over her shoulder, she called back, "Let me know if you need something, Yang. Alright?"

"Sure," the blonde quipped, "I'll hop right in the bathroom and let ya know."

"I hate you!"

"I know!" Yang called back, her loud laugh going quiet as the bathroom door shut.

Locking it behind her, Blake sighed and reached up, untying her bow and laying it on the sink. Turning the faucet for the little standing shower in the corner with one hand, she massaged her sore ears with the other. Scrubbing them always felt nice, especially with the hot water, but the soap the Academy provided was… Well, not very well suited to her ears, so she had to use as little as possible on them. But even so, it felt nice to stretch and massage them, and by the time she was out of the shower she felt much better.

And now, just as she felt better, back on the bow went…

"Can't be helped." She sighed, "Can't be found out."

Not until she was sure she was safe, at least.

In the dorm, the lights were already out, and Nora, at least, was snoring in her bed. Yang, though, was sitting at the foot of Ren's, with a pair of headphones on one ear and her Scroll in her lap. When Blake raised an eyebrow, she shrugged and said, "Music helps."

So Blake shrugged and started getting into her own bed, before-

"Hnng, noooo." Nora moaned from her bed, suddenly rolling over and curling into a tight ball. "Not again… Not my Ren…"

"Nora…?"

"Don't." Blake cut in as Yang tried to stand, peeling off her headphones as she did. She froze and turned, looking at her with confusion etched across her face. When Nora rolled over again, fist swinging through the air at nothing, Blake frowned and explained, "She's having a night terror. If you wake her up, she could panic."

"How do you know that?"

"I… Have some experience with them." From her time in the Fang, she left unsaid for all the obvious reasons. Turning, she stepped over and leaned down to shake the sick man awake and, when he groaned, she asked, "Nora's having a night terror. Is that normal?"

"Mhm. When'ver I'm sick, she can have 'em. Not always, but…" He grunted, trying to sit up and groaning, "Needs… Hugs. Calms her down."

"Hugs…?"

"Can't we just wake her up?"

"Won't wake up." Ren snapped, suddenly angry or… Afraid, somehow. Quietly, groggily, but more awake now he explained, "Sleep walks when you do. Starts swinging. Better to just cuddle and… Let her get through."

"Hugs, got it." Blake nodded, pushing the man back into bed. Still mostly asleep from the medicine Yang had given him. Sighing, Blake tied her Yukata tighter and grumbled, "You take care of him, I'll take care of her."

"But Blake, she's swinging. I should-"

"I can't take good care of sick people." It was a lie, but again, she couldn't give Yang the real reason. Which was that Blake knew how to handle getting beaten up better than most - especially in bed. A dark idea that would have made the night even rougher, on literally everyone, and caused her problems after, too. Instead she said, "I'm a Huntress. I'll handle her, you just… Focus on Ren."

"If you're sure…"

"I am."

"Alright." Yang sighed, clearly unhappy with the idea. Settling back down, she smiled and said, "I trust you, partner. Just lemme know if you need me, kay?"

The very second Blake laid down with the other woman she rolled over, elbow snapping out and cracking her across the brow. Groaning, Blake tugged the blanket up around them and pulled Nora's wriggling form against her, cuddling close the way Ren had suggested. It seemed to work, mostly, the girl easing against her and tucking her head in against her shoulder almost instinctively… But every few minutes she'd groan and wiggle, punching, kicking and headbutting her randomly. Her Aura took it all, of course, but it still meant she wasn't getting any real sleep.

But that was fine enough, she supposed…

Running her fingers through her hair the way Ilia used to do for Blake when she was upset, she started to hum, right behind the woman's ears. That seemed to work wonders, stretching out the times between her sudden groaning and wriggling further. And gave Blake something to do, too, to keep awake.

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Nora groaned as she woke, head aching in a familiar way. But the arms around her told her Ren had come over, at least, and that was… Better. Sighing, she rolled over and pressed her face into his chest- Then froze at the softness there. Her hands moved to 'his' stomach and it was different, too. Wider, softer, and when she touched the sides they twitched. And Ren wasn't ticklish.

Pulling away, she looked up at amber eyes set into a tired face, and Blake sighed, Aura working at a little bruise over one of her eyes, "Awake now?"

"I… Yeah." She blinked, sleepy but waking up as realization pushed through her and she turned. Yang was asleep at the foot of Ren's bed, snoring quietly while Ren lay curled up into a cute little ball. Quietly, she asked, "D-Did I-"

"Have a bad dream?" Blake cut her off irritably, if gently, "No. I just wanted some quality time."

"Ah…"

"Are you feeling better?"

"I am." She nodded, letting the other woman run her fingers through her hair. "W-Why did you…"

"Help?" She asked, "Why wouldn't I?"

"I hurt you."

"I have Aura, and you didn't mean it." Blake chuckled, muttering so quietly she was sure Blake didn't even mean to say it out loud, "Change of pace, really…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be." Blake shrugged, "It's fine, really."

"Did you get any sleep at all…?"

"No, but it's fine. I'll just sleep through the morning." Blake sighed and shrugged, adding off-handedly, "Besides, you're worth losing a night of sleep. It's no big deal."

"No big…" Suddenly, Nora felt an old, familiar little tug in her heart. And, before she could second guess it, pulled herself up, pressing her lips against something soft and warm that wriggled in surprise. Pulling away and rolling over, Nora flushed and said, "T-Thanks, Imma grab a shower now."

As she left she heard Blake groan and murmur, "Fuck- Now I'm wide awake."

Snickering past her embarrassment, Nora shut the door and slid down to sit on the floor, back pressed against it. Then, quietly, she sighed, "Well, that happened…"

And, quietly, she kinda hoped it'd happen again. The dreams themselves she could do without, of course. But after…?

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Dun dun duuuuuuun.

Hope you all like it. The culture ideas, the character interactions, etc. The ships oncoming, like the general 'slice of life' and 'drama' bent to this story, aren't my PARTICULAR skill-set. But hope it all works regardless. Lemme know if you have any tips and tricks~!

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Haldracc :

I hope that remains the case!

Dino Guy :

I may try and steal that line, lmao.

SD Phantom :

Yeah it can be… A trip, lol.

Megnsk :

You're fairly spot on with your observations. I will say, for Jaune's part, not having the pressure to be the best and lead is a lot of this. He's more comfortable because he's more allowed to, well, fuck up. He doesn't have that do or die pressure on him, and that lets him feel more comfortable. And open up a bit more. Which you will continue to see going forward.