Morning Time Comes

Nora felt something prodding her face and heard the repeated call of her name. Begrudgingly, she opened her eyes to find Ren hunched over her, leaned in close to her. A blush made its way to her cheeks. It took a moment, but she noticed she was laid back on the ground, still wearing her clothes from yesterday.

"You fell asleep on watch duty again," Ren noted.

"Good morning to you too," Nora said, beaming a smile at him.

"You also forgot to put out the campfire." Nora looked toward the campfire. It was still smoldering.

"Oops," Nora said, jumping up to stretch. "Guess I forgot."

"That's dangerous, Nora."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll try harder to stay awake next time... but it's just sooo boring." Nora said, starting her transition into toe-touches and stopping almost immediately when she noticed a bulge in her pocket. What's that? she wondered. In the background, she thought she heard Ren say something, but whatever he said was lost on her. With one eyebrow raised, she straightened her back and stuck her hand in her pocket, trying to get to the figure out what was in it. She grasped it and pulled it out of her pocket, holding it out in front of her. It was a small, colorful ball of fabric. Still not quite sure what she had, she decided to stretch it out in front of her with both hands, and before her very eyes the small ball of fabric unfurled into a pair of cartoon covered panties. Suddenly, Nora remembered.

Ren's cheeks lit up and he averted his eyes. "Why... do you have a pair of your underwear in your pocket?"

"They're not mine," Nora said nonchalantly. Ren's head snapped back in her direction, confusion plain to see on his face. She could almost hear the gears turning in his head. "I found them last night."

"Nora, that's gross," Ren said with an extra emphasis on her name. "You don't know where those have been. You should just put them back and use some of the water to wash your hands." He started walking away, shaking his head. "And while you're doing that... I'm going to scout ahead. You should wake those two up and have them breakdown the campsite. Then when I come back, we can get on our way."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Nora said with a mock salute. Of course, she had no intention of putting the panties back. After all, they were a souvenir, and it wasn't like their owner needed them. Nora stuffed the underwear back into her pocket and began making her way to Ruby's tent, a grin on her face. She peered into Ruby's tent, finding her still asleep and just how she left her. Perfect, Nora thought, quietly making her way over to Jaune's tent.

She found him fast asleep in his Pumpkin Pete pajamas, laying in a puddle of drool with his limbs all strewn around him. He hadn't even bothered to unpack his tent yesterday, opting to just lay on the ground with his stuff in a pile next to him. Nora felt her excitement building. "Hey, Vomit booooyy, it's time to wake up," she called to him. He didn't react. She tried again, leaning her head inside the tent. This time his foot came at her, trying to push the noise away, and he grumbled "five more minute..." Nora shook her head, wondering why he had to make this so difficult, especially considering the treat he was in for once he woke up. But Nora had just the idea to wake him up. She flipped his tent over and shook him awake.

Jaune gave a terrified scream when he woke up, which is why Nora had to clamp her hand over his mouth. "All right, are you done yet?" Nora asked the blond. He nodded slowly, eyes still wild, and she pulled her hand off his mouth and stood back up. He followed her up.

"What the heck, Nora?" Jaune raised his voice. "And where'd my tent go?" She motioned to the heap behind him.

"Why'd you do that for?"

"Ren told me to wake you up," Nora said. "He wants you and Ruby to pack up the camp."

"And you had to wake me up like that?"

"What wrong with waking you up like this way? It seems like it worked."

"It's rude, Nora, that's why." Jaune said, breaking his tent down and putting it with the rest of his stuff. "How would you feel if I flipped your tent over to wake you?"

Nora shrugged. "Who knows, maybe it would be a fun way to start the day?"

"You'd be mad," Jaune argued. "Any one would be mad if you woke them up that way."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, Nora, I do."

"Well, why don't we test it out, then," Nora said, motioning over at Ruby's tent. "Ruby's still sleeping. Try waking her up like this and see if she gets mad."

"No, because then she'll be mad at me," Jaune said. "Why don't you go and do it?"

"Because Ren woke me up, and I woke you up, so it's your turn to wake someone up," Nora said. "Unless you want to pack up camp alone, of course."

"But why can't you just help?" Jaune groaned.

"Because Ren gave me something else to do," Nora said. "And, besides, Ren assigned you and Ruby to clean up duty, not me."

Jaune sighed. "Fine, but when Ruby gets mad, don't say I didn't tell you so," Jaune said, shaking his head and approaching the foot of Ruby's tent.

"How about this," Nora called out to him, stopping him before he could get too far. "You do it, and if she gets mad, then just let her know I'm the one who told you to do it."

"That works for me," Jaune said, nodding. He still wasn't sure it was a good idea, but unless he wanted to clean this all up alone or listen to another lecture on the importance of keeping to a schedule by Ren, he needed to wake her up. So, he turned back around and started for Ruby's tent again. And, unbeknownst to him, behind his back, Nora was beaming, her scroll already in her hand. She backed away from her teammate, moving to get to the best vantage point to record what was about to happen. Thankfully, scrolls are made with an extremely good quality camera. Even at a distance, Nora could record it just as nicely as if she was right up on the action.