Random One Shots

Lie Ren #3 - RWBY

Lie Ren x Reader: Silent Acknowledgement

A/N: It's short, but here's another Lie Ren one for all you RWBY fans. My exams are nearly done, so with any luck I'll be able to post more frequently.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it's characters or anything relating to it.

It was hard to say exactly when you started to notice the quiet boy.

You were so used to him being there, quietly sitting at the table beside you in the library, never speaking and rarely moving until a boisterous girl dragged him away, that you weren't entirely sure of when things changed.

Still, there came a point where you began to steal one too many glances at the boy beside you, noticing his bright and intelligent eyes and raven hair accentuated with a pink streak.

And he began to glance at you too, taking in every detail of your face as you focused on the always-changing book in front of you, the intricacy of your hair when the light struck it, how you would nibble on the end of your pencil eraser when you were lost in your own mind.

And slowly, you, the quiet girl, and he, the quiet boy, began to learn more of each other.

You learned his name was Lie Ren and he was a part of Team JNPR, and that his boisterous friend's name was Nora. You learned that he was as intelligent as you had expected, and that the silence was a part of his nature, much like your own. You learned that he was a skilled fighter, and according to the words of the friends that surrounded him he was a decent cook, which was mildly shocking to you. The final thing you learned was that you were in love with him.

He learned that you were as quiet as he was, preferred not to speak but to listen to the people around you. He learned that you were a skilled fighter, the top on your team, yet you preferred to sit in the library near him and stick your nose into a new book nearly every day. He learned you were intelligent and soft, and found himself endeared to the warmth in your eyes. The final thing he learned was that he was in love with you.

To anyone else, nothing had changed. But to the pair of you it was everything.

Quick glances turned into the lingering stares, which turned into the meeting of eyes and shy smiles being passed. For a different pair things may have been moving too slowly, but for the pair of you it was more than enough.

You two rarely spoke, instead sharing each other's company each day. You began to take more notice in him, noting the types of books he liked to read, what would hold his attention, what he would turn away. He began to notice that your fingers often tapped way at the side of your desk, or twirled a coin between them, or sketched absentmindedly as you read. Your hands and mind always had to be occupied, and he respected that.

Weeks had passed, the pair of you sitting in nearly perpetual yet pleasant silence. It wasn't until spring was beginning that you decided to take a smaller step.

It was routine for you to be there first, and so when you sat down at the table that you had claimed as your own you quietly took out a fresh copy of your favourite book, The Book Thief, and placed it on the quiet boy's table. You knew he would like it, that the depth and heartache of the book would be something that would intrigue him. You knew this despite the lack of words that were spoken between you.

You watched from the corner of your eye as he walked, gracefully as ever, to that table that was claimed as his own. His eyebrows were the only thing that betrayed his confusion at the gift, furrowing as he picked it up and flipped it over to examine the back. His eyes were what betrayed his thrill after discovering exactly what it was, sitting down to open the book for the first time and to immerse himself in it, previous work forgotten. The small crook of a smile that played on his lips were what betrayed his happiness and satisfaction as he continued to read, eyes never once pausing in their constant dance across the words.

That smile, that small, miniscule smile, was all that it took to brighten the rest of your day. Because from the quiet, stoic boy that sat next to you, it was a lot.

The next day came, and you expected it to be the same. It was a shock for you to see him sitting there first, this time nearly done with the present you had given him. It was more of a shock to see something on your table when you got there.

A single flower, one you had drawn many times, one that your mother had given you before you left for Beacon Academy, was sitting there. A single, vibrant, perfect flower.

For someone else it might not be much. For you it meant the world.

No words were exchanged as you pulled out your current read for the day, but Ren admired the bright grin that flitted across your face, and the blinding brightness of your eyes that never once dimmed throughout the day.

And so the pair of you continued to sit there in your silent acknowledgment of each other's feelings, both in peace, yet both wondering what would be to come.