Disclaimer: Don't own RWBY or any of it's characters. Those belong to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.

Rating: T

Basically the summary lol, though you might need to read Backrub (in the M section) for this to make full sense. Still, enjoy

"Hmm..."

So he thought, laying on his bed, hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. At the moment, it was nighttime, and the light of the shattered moon came in through the window - however, while Jaune and Pyrrha hadn't returned from training yet, he wasn't alone.

"You sure you can't think faster, Ren?" Nora whispered softly, right along his neck. She lay almost directly on him, neatly snuggled against his body - being together-together had only encouraged this behavior.

He glanced at her, lip curving at the sight of her turquoise eyes blinking cutely at him. "Memory doesn't always work like that, Nora" he merely said.

"Awww" she breathed, sad, tracing a finger or two over his shirt and muscles.

He nearly chuckled, knowing she'd be happy again in a moment, returning his gaze to the ceiling.

What was he trying to figure out? Anything about how/why he reacted the way he did when she licked his fingers - even to the point of mild arousal - and would it happen again? So far he had no idea about it, or how it was any different from the numerous weird/sudden things Nora did on a regular basis, and she didn't know why either. Then again, she had been mostly focused (read: happy) on the fact that this sudden development hadn't stopped him from wanting to be close, or stopped his affection.

"Right now, I'd settle for the smallest hint" he thought, closing his eyes.

This arrangement stayed calm for a few seconds-

"Uh" he breathed, surprised.

He glanced up, Nora smiling at him, sitting on top of his legs now... and his right hand in both of hers. "Maybe we're doing this wrong" she said gently, really breathy. He barely had enough time for a 'What?' expression before: "Come on, you're trying to remember something or anything that started this, but you're not even sure what it is. I think you need a little special treatment" she continued, surprisingly low, grinning as she opened up his fingers.

And her tongue snaked out.

He gasped, heart-rate spiking. "Nora, I-"

"Come oonnn!" she drew out, nearly pouting. "Maybe it'll smash that mental block of yours! Isn't it worth a try, Ren?"

He glanced at his legs, then back up. "But-"

She apparently saw his glance, where it went, and what he was referring to. "Oh don't even bother" she said airily, "a little poke won't bother me!"

He slowly sighed, lowering his head again, then closed his eyes. "Go ahead, Nora" he said wearily, thinking 'what did he have to lose?'. That, and a secret curiosity about the full extent of his own reaction.

"Got it!"

She shifted on him, not weighing more on one leg than the other - without even looking, he knew this meant she was blocking the view from the door.

"Ready! I finally get to say 'Ahhh!'!"

"Just do it."

"Ahhh..."

Her tongue touched his thumb, and he flinched slightly, but only at the anticipation - after that, he tried to keep his reactions under control. Even as Nora continued licking his finger(s), he noticed a strange desire to pant, as a side-effect of his heart-rate spiking. He ignored it, breathing steadily, but the sensations were getting more and more intense. He found himself wanting to like them, and let this go on... but even that desire sent a small rush through his system, particularly around his waist.

So hard as it was, he moved to suppress it... for now anyway.

But just as he did, something else went through his system, and then it hit him:

A much younger Nora Valkyrie licking his fingers, just as her older counterpart was currently doing.

The memory flickered in-and-out of focus, but he furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember the whole thing... then:

"Ah-"

"Hmm?" came from Nora, who was currently 'biting' his fingers, as a playful little tease thing.

That was it!

- Flashback -

12 years ago

"Woohoo hahaha yeah!"

That being the laughter of Nora, a young little girl who's boundless energy surpassed even the adults' patience. And she was still laughing as her little dance turned into a roll down a hill, where he quickly overlooked from the top.

"Don't you ever stop moving?" he called down.

Nora giggled, snuggled amongst a group of crushed flowers. "Where's the fun in that?" she called back, making snow angel prints despite it being summer. "Everything is just so good!"

He could only laugh, even as he skidded down the hill, though not without a hitch or two - the last one made him trip, landing on his back. He shook his head, not hurt, only to turn his head and find-

"Hello" she breathed brightly, with a grin.

He slowly smiled. "Hello, Nora."

"Oh, you know my name" she breathed brightly, before she made a sound. "But I don't know yours!"

"Lie Ren" he said, tilting his head, hands behind it now. "I prefer just Ren."

"I can see why" she said in a conspiracy-whisper, grinning at him. "Who'd want to have a nickname like 'Liar', hmm? I know I wouldn't! Well, actually, that might be fun in some ways..."

"Wow" he thought, seeing how far her mind could wander at a moment's notice, and a little disturbed how easily she'd picked up on that particular nickname...

"Oh" she breathed, looking back at him, turning on her side. "I forgot! When new friends meet, they shake hands, or something like that! Right, don't they?"

"Friends?" he asked, surprised. "Already?"

"Yeah, why not?" she asked brightly, taking a little bit of dirt and balancing it on her nose (which didn't last long).

Despite himself, he laughed at that, which had her giggling as well for whatever reason. "I don't see why not" he answered, holding out his hand.

"Ooo" she breathed, before she put out her own hand... intertwining her fingers through his first, before resting her palm against his.

"...okay" he said slowly, noting the unusual 'handshake', but happy nonetheless that they were friends.

She grinned, mouth open this time. "I can do more than that" she said, which caused him to tilt his head. "I don't believe in normal, so we gotta make this un-normal!"

"Isn't it already?" he asked, blinking.

"Nope!" she cried out, then a devious smile crossed her face before she moved forward-

"Ah!"

She'd bit into his knuckles!

Wait, okay no, she was just biting down on his knuckles, but nowhere near hard enough to cause him pain. It was far more a playful grip, and he was left staring at her, a foot away from him. She giggled, mouth grip still on his knuckles, but still managing to grin somehow: "Surprise!" she called out, entirely happy as she licked his fingers (which he jerked at).

He continued staring at the happy, crazy, really-fast bundle that was now his friend, who loved to grin and make things as 'un-normal' as possible... then he just started laughing again.

- End Flashback -

"...Ren! Ren! Reeeeen! Come on, Ren! Wake up, my little sloth!"

He made a sound, opening his eyes slowly, little at a time... and the blinking turquoise eyes of Nora were inches away from him.

"FINALLY" she breathed in exasperation. "What happened to you, Ren?" she asked intently, sitting on his groin.

He noted this, blinked again, then slowly sighed, "...the memory I was talking about" he finally said, remembering how vivid it seemed. And how strange; back then he'd been the one with short hair, and Nora had the longer hair (very slightly at that though).

"What about?"

"Us, age five, first meeting" he said faintly, looking up at the ceiling. "And after becoming friends, you bit and licked my hand."

She hummed, finger to her lips, glancing up. "That sounds like me" she said brightly, grinning for that moment, before looking back at him. "But it doesn't explain why you reacted so badly the first time I did that. Well, I thought it was the first time a few days ago, obviously it isn't anymore, but really-"

"After that memory though" he interrupted, "it does explain it; I just gotta say it out loud."

"Ooh!" she breathed, quickly going from sitting to snuggled-in, her mouth mere inches away from his. "Tell me" she breathed, excited.

His lip curved, and he touched a hand to her hair and back, both of which made her grin. "Well, I didn't realize it at the time, but that happy, grinning, excited look you gave me after you said 'Surprise'?" he continued, toying slightly with the ends of her hair. "It just made me so... full of energy, I guess."

"Ooo, that's good" she whispered, really breathy against him, with a little grin. "I'm contagious!"

"Yeah" he agreed mildly, tightening his grip, making her go 'Oh!" when it got her closer to him (and liking that). "So when you did that again a few days ago, even without the biting, it unconsciously reminded me of that feeling" he said, wondering if he was saying this right. "Though, how that translated to being mildly aroused, I don't know-"

"Me neither" Nora breathed, surprisingly faint as she traced a muscle, even through his shirt. "But maybe you liked it a lot, and didn't know it?"

Lifting his gaze, he saw her head on his chest, snuggling even closer than before - and he considered her words, remembering himself wanting to like her licking. "Maybe" he said, humming slightly. "Though, it might take awhile before we know for sure."

"But for now, maybe is all I need" she said brightly, popping up by his head, really close (and breathy). "You never know anything until you try it!"

He chuckled a little, then pulled her in a little closer, where she quickly/gleefully got the hint.

He enjoyed the kiss, but mere seconds after they started, Nora practically shoved her tongue into his mouth ("Mmh!") ... and somehow giggled during their kiss.

And his only thought? A semi-serious "How does she do that?"

/

Hours later

He stirred a little, eyes heavy.

Even without looking, he knew it was still nighttime, and he could hear the steady breathing of his teammates... but why was he suddenly half-awake now?

Something shifted directly beside him.

He slowly opened his eyes, trying to blink away the heaviness. "Nora?" he whispered quietly.

When the only response was steady breathing, he was surprised, slowly looking to his right... and there lay Nora, curled near him on top of the blankets, entirely peaceful and still. Even though he knew sleeping was normal, the sight of Nora utterly still never failed to be a weird sight to him. But despite that, his lip curved - Nora hadn't done this since they were kids, when it wasn't weird. And though they were now together-together, she hadn't even tried to do this, until now.

He slowly and carefully reached out, determined not to wake her, but still slowly touching his forefinger to the underside of her jaw. Through this touch, he felt her pulse...

Roughly eighty beats-per-minute, while she was sleeping, and higher when she was awake. He slowly sighed at this, even quieter than normal.

He didn't remember all the details, it being so long ago, but he did remember doctors telling Nora that she had some form of Tachycardia - essentially that her normal heart rate (in all situations) was higher than the human norms. However, it also turned out there was nothing really wrong with her, so she was a rare case, and they couldn't explain it. Nora had taken it in stride: saying that's normal for her, because she's so high energy, and promptly forgot about it after that.

But he never did.

"I promised I'd watch over her" he thought, slowly stroking along her jawline. "Not just to the doctors, but to myself... just in case."

His finger lingered for a few moments, despite knowing Nora was still healthy... then his thoughts started drifting in another direction. His finger slowly moved down from her pulse, then hovered just over the clavicle.

He knew Nora would want the first session to be together, but this wouldn't exactly be a session, more like curiosity. Plus he had his own say in these matters, at least to some degree.

"But if she wakes up, who knows what'll happen" he thought, lip curling.

Slowly, his fingers teased the top of her rib cage - then he steeled himself, moving 'elsewhere'.

Nora stirred at the touch, but after that initial movement, all that really happened was her smiling in her sleep. Good so far.

"She's so soft, even over her clothes..."

Likely cliche, but was there any other way to describe it without being cheesy?

Despite his touch being slow, simple, Nora hummed a little in her sleep. "Ahhh, that's good stuff" she breathed, surprising him, not just that she spoke at all, but it was also the exact same tone he'd heard earlier today: "I think you need a little special treatment...". Was that her aroused tone, or even a sexy one?

He wasn't entirely sure, but her little 'Ah' was helping.

Just as suddenly though, he got a sense that something was off - but as he looked at Nora, he couldn't figure out how or why, except for the little nagging in the back of his head. Eventually, he touched his other hand's finger against her jawline, hoping this would help him determine things.

He focused, counting-

Fifty-five beats-per-minute!?

What the hell-?

"Oh, come on, do that agaaaain" she drew out, pouting, but luckily quiet.

Even as she spoke, her heart rate was steadily climbing back up... and he hadn't done anything further with her chest.

He stared at her, unable to think, and glancing at where his hand was... but it was the only way to be sure.

His hand slowly moved again-

"Ahhhhhhhh..."

Her heart-rate paused, then started lowering again - keeping around fifty-five per minute when he moved, and slowly rising back to 'normal' when he wasn't.

He could not believe this; not only was that the complete opposite of the normal reaction, even to the point that it defied the laws of human body reactions, he was shocked that this (of all things) was calming Nora Valkyrie!

Oblivious to these revelations, Nora simply curled closer to him, wrapping her arms around him as closely as possible. He could only stare at her, then at the ceiling, not sure what to do.

The next morning

"Wake up, team! You lazy bums!"

"Gaahughhh..."

That was the sounds of the rest of the team waking up, in response to Nora's loud morning greeting. They were generally used to this by now... but not when she broadcasts it through a bullhorn.

"Seriously?" he found himself asking, slowly getting up with a groan.

"That's the spirit!" she said gleefully, the overly large bullhorn spinning around on her finger, before it fell with a loud THUD. "Come on, who doesn't love mornings!?"

Jaune groaned, still eagle-spread on his own bed. "How do you deal with this, Ren?" he asked wearily.

"Lots of practice" he answered, rubbing the small specks out of his eyes. "And patience."

"You need it just to stand a chance" Pyrrha agreed, slowly stretching her arms, though with a little yawn.

"Oh, have you always had your hair down like this when you sleep?"

Surprised at yet another sudden-Nora-movement, Pyrrha glanced at the section of hair she was holding. "Well uh, no, I usually like to keep it out of the way" she answered.

"W-W-Well, I like it like that... too, I-I mean."

Pyrrha blushed at their leader's words, Jaune was sheepishly nervous, Nora was simply happy to be standing there - and the entire time, he was looking at Nora. Last night's revelations were still swirling around in his head, though with considerably less shock value this time.

If this development, however defying it was, proved consistent, he might actually be able to slow down Nora enough in certain situations. And if he was sneaky enough, in public ones as well...

"Hmm? Ren? Why are you staring at me like that?"

Aware of the surprised gazes of the others, he didn't panic. "I was just thinking, Nora" he answered mildly. "You were simply in the way."

"Hmm" she breathed, now in front of him, bending over to be level with his expression (he kept it up).

"What?"

A second passed, then: "Okay!" she said brightly. "But what were you thinking about, Ren?"

Even as he thought about that, he knew Nora suspected something - but for now, he'd just rather not say it in front of the others.

For anyone who's wondering, Tachycardia is a real thing, with the majority of the cases being because of issues. It's not likely called this in RWBY's world, if it even existed, but, well you know :P I also wouldn't assume it's the sole cause for Nora's boundless energy level, even though claiming it is would be so like her

But it's still an interesting theory I think, subtly explaining a few things about both of them :) XD