Ruby Fox (love_ruby) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-03-23 13:59:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | #october 2017, greg, greg x ruby, ruby |
Who: Greg and Ruby
Where: School parking lot
When: Wednesday, October 11th, after school
Status: Complete
It wasn't everyone's M.O. to burst into song when spotting a schoolmate but Greg wasn't everyone. Ruby was one of those prime candidates as there happened to be a somewhat popular and recent song with her name in the title and while it wasn't the most singing-without-instruments friendly song that had never stopped Greg before.
He was walking to his car in the school's parking lot when he spotted her out there so of course he had to take a little detour just to bug her about it. She was smoking pretty much right there on the parameter of the school grounds so it was strictly speaking against the rules but who cared.
"Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby," he sang as he approached her. "Do ya, do ya, do ya, do ya!" He grinned as he stopped. "Know what ya doing, doing to me?"
It’d been a long day, so much so that Ruby had bummed a cigarette as she exited the school, wanting one before she headed home. Someday she’d actually buy a pack of her own, but it really wasn’t high priority. She figured she made it up to her friends, occasionally slipping them free milkshakes at Moxie’s, or covering them herself. It wasn’t worth losing her job over.
She looked up when Greg headed her way, brows raising at his singing. He wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t sure why she was receiving a serenade. “What exactly do you think I’m doing to you, Wheeler?” she asked with a little laugh.
"I have no idea," Greg said, tilting his head back as he thought about it. "That's all I know from that lyric." He shrugged and leaned his butt against the car behind him. "You're still working at Moxie's aren't you?" He was pretty sure he'd known that before Sebastian told him, he knew a weird amount of random things about the people he went to school with. Some he didn't particularly want to know but it was all there in his head just ready to pop up whenever he saw them or talked to them.
“Awww, I was hoping to hear the rest!” Ruby grinned, ashing her cigarette and strolling a little closer to Greg. “Can’t come up with anything on the fly?” It wasn't much of a challenge knowing Greg, but she wanted to see if he’d do it. She nodded, tapping her toe on the pavement. “Yep, part time. You should come by. We’ve got these pumpkin shakes right now that are incredible. They have little bits of graham cracker sprinkled over the top.”
Greg was trying to remember the rest of the lyric - or trying to come up with some of his own - when Ruby started talking about pumpkin shakes and he happily let that distract him. "Om-nom-nom," he said with a nod. "Didn't know you smoked," he then added with a nod at her cigarette. "Nasty habit, yo." He was trying to get a read on her but it was hard sometimes, figuring people out. He was never going to sneakily extract information so blunt was probably better. He just needed to try and figure out if he wanted to be blunt with someone like Ruby.
“I know,” Ruby said, scrunching up her nose. “I don’t buy them in an effort to not smoke, but then I just end up mooching off people. It’s a stress thing?” Still, she lifted her foot and stubbed the cigarette out on the sole of her shoe, aware that people who didn’t smoke also didn’t like to be around smoke. Instead she pulled a pack of gum out of her backpack. “Want a piece?” she asked, offering. “Not near as addictive. Sugar-free.”
"You girls and your sugar free," Greg said but accepted a piece anyway. "You should stick to that though, before your lungs get all depressed and sooty." She hadn't reacted badly to being told that. Some people got annoyed and defensive and he supposed that was a good sign, though how it tied into whether she was a gossip or not he had no idea. "So what's going on with you and Cooper? The waves calmed down some?"
“Sugar is more addictive than nicotine,” Ruby pointed out. “People just don’t realize it because they rarely try and give it up completely. Not that I’m recommending it. I’ve got something else if you need a sugar fix,” she teased, giving him a little wink. Then he had to go and bring up Jules. She sighed, hand going to her hip as she gave him a look. “Don’t even start on that. Nothing’s going on. We’re just… not each other’s biggest fan, that’s all.” To put it mildly.
"Clash of the titans," Greg chuckled as he popped the gum in his mouth. "You've both got big character... Always thought she'd destroy Bash when they dated, that girl's not to be trifled with. Guess he got out alive 'cause he's too sweet to be destroyed. Poor sucker." He grinned and quirked a brow at her as he again tried to get a read on her.
“Oh, is that what it is?” Ruby asked, arching a brow. It was a little bit sad. She and Jules used to get along, and then… there was high school. Not that middle school had been much better, but high school was when Ruby really came into herself and decided to break off from Jules as a result. It would have happened anyways. “Yeah, what happened there? She doesn’t really seem like his type at all.” She was pretty sure she knew Bash’s type now, but even before waiting on him at the diner she’d thought it was an odd match. Yes, they ran with the same crowd, but Bash was just so nice. Too nice for Jules, at least.
Greg made a wordless 'I don't know' hum. "Hot footballer dates hot cheerleader, those are the rules, right?" He was more and more becoming to resent those 'rules' and just like Sebastian was finally coming out maybe it was time for him to reconcile some of his own hangups about the culture he lived and breathed in. "Same with me and Heather. It just happened because everyone expected it to." And on the few occasions he'd tried to talk to girls he actually liked they usually thought he was mocking them.
Ruby shook her head, coming to lean against the side of the car with him. “It’s such bullshit,” she said, looking up at him. “I don’t know how you guys do it. I can’t live like that. Tuck myself into a stereotype. I mean, what happens when you run out of cheerleaders? There’s only so many and it’s got to start to feel like sloppy seconds, or third, or fourths.” She made a little face of disgust. At least five members of the football team had dated Tina at one point and Ruby wouldn’t be surprised if she’d slept with all of them.
"Nah, you're a rebel," Greg teased her. "And we all know there's a finite number of cheerleaders in the world. Grab one while you can!" He didn't really like the thought of sloppy seconds, it made it all sound pretty gross, but he wasn't about to get into that. "I heard you met Bash at work on Sunday," he said instead, giving Ruby a sidelong glance. If she knew what he was talking about she'd probably pick up on it pretty quickly.
“Like Pokemon,” Ruby teased. “Gotta catch ‘em all!” Along with whatever they might be carrying. Ew. It made her want to shower. “Yeah, he came in with a friend. Left me a pretty sweet tip,” she said, studying Greg carefully. She didn’t know what Greg knew and wasn’t about to throw Sebastian under the bus. Yes, they seemed inseparable, but everyone had secrets. “You tell him to come back any time he wants.”
"A friend," Greg said with a little nod. "That's all you're telling people?" He gave her a little smile, unsure how else to ask her. Sometimes blunt was best and Ruby was pretty blunt herself. Sebastian had been certain she knew so it wasn't like Greg was spilling secrets or anything. Maybe he should mind his own business but there was something about not being the only one who knew, maybe he just wanted to talk to someone about it, or maybe he really was trying to watch his best friend's back.
“Yeah, if they ask,” Ruby said, giving Greg a little smile back. She wasn’t actually telling anyone anything, in part because it was none of their business, but also because Sebastian had always been nice to her. If something was going on between him and Hunter, which she suspected it definitely was, then she wasn’t going to be the one to out them. “They’re cute though,” she grinned, purposefully not naming names or using revealing pronouns. “Like… watching a couple of pre-teen bunnies.” She’d been unable to help herself, watching them when they didn’t know they were being watched. Even if she couldn’t hear the conversation, the vibe between them had been pretty clear to an observer.
"Shit," Greg whispered and shook his head. "I had no clue until he told me." It still bugged him, like he should have known somehow but all of the 'gay' antics he'd ever seen Sebastian do had seemed no different from the gay jokes all their peers did. Greg did a lot of them himself, posing as a girl, humping his teammates, jokingly-flirting with the guys. It was funny... Or maybe it wasn't? He thought it was harmless and now he just needed Sebastian to tell him if it bothered him. "Pre-teen bunnies though... That's weirdly specific." And not very sexual, so he supposed that was a relief. If she had said just bunnies he'd have imagined Sebastian and Hunter humping all over the place and just no thanks.
“Neither did I until I saw them together,” Ruby said, hoping that might make Greg feel a little better. It sounded like this was a recent development, like either Greg was just now finding out, or that Sebastian had just recently figured it out. Maybe he liked both. It seemed a little personal to ask Greg. “Well… I think the last time I was that wound up about holding a guy’s hand, I was twelve. Like, it was the most exciting thing ever. And bunnies are stupidly cute and fluffy, so yeah, pre-teen bunnies,” she grinned at him. “I could’ve said puppies, but they’re not as fluffy, you know? More cuddly. And bunnies have the potential to become horny really damn fast,” she laughed. Not that she knew for sure, but they were boys. She’d never dated a guy that lasted long in the hand holding stage.
"Huh," Greg said and nodded, pulling an amused face. It did make sense then and he could see it now. He laughed a little and shook his head. The way she described it was kind of cute and he knew exactly what she meant. The fact Sebastian never blushed like that when he talked about girls should have been a dead give away, but then Greg had never seen him blush like that so how could he have known? "You seem cool, Ruby," he said. "So I really hope you don't tell anyone. You could get him in a lot of trouble."
“That’s cause I am cool,” Ruby smirked, but then her expression softened and she shook her head. “I wouldn’t. That’s be really shitty of me, and Bastian’s a pretty decent guy. It’s not like he’s running around saying I tried to pull Jules’ hair out or anything.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. Some people needed to get a life. “But he should be more careful. If he doesn’t want it to get out, they need to stop making googly eyes at each other.”
Greg barked a laugh at that because it was so damn true. "I didn't notice at the party because I was wasted, but then the guys were razzing him about it and I'm like dude, what? He's allowed to be friends with a gay guy, we're not in like segregation era right now, hear? Turns out they're not just friends, like whoa... I feel so stupid not seeing it, you know?" He was laughing about it, but he did feel a bit stupid, like he should have known. Sebastian was his brother from another mother and Greg's mom would adopt him in a heartbeat so they were practically complete brothers in a way. If anyone should have known, it was Greg.
“Well, lucky for him, I think everyone was, at least on some level, so no one’s really sure what they saw,” Ruby pointed out with a smile. This was probably the longest conversation she’d ever had with Greg and she was finding he wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought he might be. And that he cared so much about Sebastian was sweet. “But he’s been dating girls, right? I mean, none of my business, but if this is the first guy he’s ever seen, would you really know? It’s not like he puts off that vibe. And if he wants to hide it, my guess is that he’s really been working at it. Unless he just figured it out. Or he’s bi.”
It was hard to explain why he felt like he should have seen it. Greg didn't exactly believe all gay guys were super flamboyant, but there was usually something there. Like he hadn't been surprised at all to find out Hunter Barrett was gay, he had that vibe. Sebastian... Maybe they were just too damn close for him to see it, that sounded better than him being stupid and oblivious at any rate. "Yeah, he buried it pretty deep but he's definitely gay," he said. "His family's kinda..." He trailed off, realizing he was saying way too much and maybe he was the worst friend ever for it. He just got the feeling Ruby was not going to tell a soul, like he really could trust her. "They wouldn't be cool with it."
“That sucks,” Ruby said with a little frown. She knew what it was like not to have her family believe her, but it would be totally different if they didn’t accept her for who she was. It was something she dealt with at school sometimes, but couldn’t even imagine how much it would hurt if it happened at home. “You’re close though, right? Like, super close from what I can tell. He’ll still have you if they freak out.”
"Yeah my mom will adopt him," Greg said as if it was no big deal. Of course he knew it was but he had no doubts at all that Sebastian would just move in with him until he finished high school if shit hit the fan. "I've known him since I was like four, he's more of a brother to me than my actual brother." Which was why he was a little baffled that he hadn't known. Better to hear it at seventeen than thirty though he supposed, it could have been worse. "It would just crush him, you know? I think he's probably all messed up already thinking they might not accept him. It fucking sucks."
“Okay, so, here’s the thing,” Ruby said, turning to face Greg. “You’ve gotta make it safe for him, right? Because if it’s gonna crush him, it can happen tomorrow. Or in a year. Or five years from now. But it’ll probably always be devastating, you know? And if he’s messed up about it now, it’s probably not gonna get better until it gets worse. I can’t really imagine what he’s going through, but…” She stopped, trying to put into words what she was feeling, not entirely sure why she was feeling it in the first place until it struck her. “Sometimes not knowing is worse. At last if he knows, he can start to heal and move on.”
Everyone knew about Vanessa Fox and how she'd gone missing and the way Ruby was talking it was hard not to think about that. Greg nodded slowly as she spoke, watching her intently. Maybe she was talking about something else, something current - more urgent, but there was no way of knowing. "I told him we'd adopt him if shit hits the fan, he knows he's gotta place to go to." He paused then, sure she wasn't about to spill her troubles to him of all people, but feeling like an ass if he didn't at least ask. "You okay?"
Ruby gave a little nod, glad to hear it for Sebastian’s sake. It made her think a little bit of Jasper and the way he’d hopped around after leaving his mom’s house. He’d stayed with her on occasion, along with a handful of other people before moving in with his dad. If Sebastian could stay with Greg, there were probably other people as well. He could make it work. “Yeah,” she sighed, not sure she wanted to get into it. It was an old wound, but one that never quite healed. “I just know it’s gotta suck. All that wondering. If it was me, I’d want to rip it off like a band-aid. Get it over with, you know?”
"That's a really good point," Greg muttered and made a mental note to self to talk to Sebastian about it. They might need to come up with a plan for the worst case scenario, maybe talk to Greg's mom preemptively and make sure he knew he had a place to go. Greg couldn't imagine his parents going so crazy they wouldn't let him go get his stuff but maybe they needed to plan for that too. Just in case. "Might be harder now that he's actually, you know... Gaying it up." If there was no guy there was no real reason to come out but Sebastian was seriously doing some hearteyes with the Barrett kid so that might push him into action. "I told him to wait until after college," he added with a little huff. "Guess that was kinda shitty."
“Well, he’s secretly seeing someone. That’s not as bad as if he, like, started painting his nails or something crazy,” Ruby said, unable to think of something good enough. As far as she could tell, Sebastian wasn’t “gaying it up” too much, but maybe he had the ability to? It was possible, even likely, that Greg had seen more than she had. “Dude!” she said, eyes widening as she gave him a little shove. “That’s like asking you to pretend not to like girls for years! The whole point of college is for us to find ourselves, right? Not to continue the lie that he’s stuck in here.”
Greg groaned a little at the shove, then rubbed his arm as if she'd really hurt him. "He can go nuts in college, I just meant like don't tell your parents until they've already paid for everything. They don't have to know what he's up to out there. But yeah, I'll make sure he knows I got his back. I just don't want him to lose out on anything just 'cause his parents are dicks, you know? What they don't know won't hurt him."
“You really think they’d do that?” Ruby asked. “Like, let’s say they’re the biggest assholes in Point Pleasant and completely drop him. He moves in with you. They can’t stop people from finding out he’s gay, and then how’s it look to their friends at the country club when they kick him out? How’s it look when they take college away from him? How much do they care about their reputation? Because you can play on that. Hell, your mom can even get in on it.” And, while she would keep her mouth shut now, if Sebastian needed her to spread rumors about how his parents were dicks, she would gladly assist.
"Damn, girl, you're vicious," Greg said with obvious admiration. "You should be a lawyer or some shit, damn. Take no prisoners." He was just glad she seemed to be on Sebastian's side because fuck, he'd need that. Then again Greg didn't really worry about other people shunning his best friend, maybe some of the guys on the team would be dicks about it but most of the people they knew were pretty chill. And if not? They'd make new friends. Friends like Ruby and Mak and Sabrina... Okay, that was going to be a little weird? But he liked all those girls so it wasn't a big deal. There was no way he was letting Sebastian become a social pariah.
“Thanks,” Ruby laughed, taking that as a complement. “I really like the ‘do no harm, but take no shit’ thing. Seems like a good philosophy to live by. But some people really need a swift kick in the ass.” And it sounded like Bastian’s parents might fit the bill. Ruby was all about sticking up for the little guy, she just never imagined a situation where Sebastian McCarthy was the “little guy” until now. “I know he’ll probably have, like, an army of people to support him, but if he needs any help, you let me know. I may be tiny, but I’m fierce.”
"You obviously are," Greg chuckled. "Unless you're all bark and no bite." He grinned at her and even winked, just to make it clear he was joking and he did not need to see her bite. "You should talk to Bash, he'll appreciate knowing you're not ratting him out." It might be weird coming from Greg, like he'd gone out to find Ruby just to ask her... In a way he had but Sebastian didn't need to know that.
“Oh, I definitely bite,” Ruby laughed, then snapped her teeth at him playfully. Not the kind of bite he was referring to, but she didn’t really need to demonstrate her ability to be a bitch when the situation called for it. She was pretty sure he could imagine. “I’ll let ‘em know,” she said with a little nod. “I don’t want him worrying about me. It sounds like he has enough on his plate as it is.”
"He really does," Greg sighed. "Hope he can still play. We've got a big game coming up, got a few birds to destroy, caw caw!" It wasn't a big game as such but every game these days felt like a big deal and Greg hated losing. "You gonna come watch the game? Ride your scooter over to Sanford and cheer for us?" His bet was no so he was mostly joking, though there were a few people who always seemed to show up no matter how far away the game was.
Ruby laughed, amused at what an odd bird Greg was himself. Definitely not what she expected of him. “My scooter?” she asked in mock offense. “Dude, it’s a bike. Show some respect,” she grinned. “I work Friday, but you guys should come by Moxie’s after the game and have victory shakes or something. Fries. Whatever you eat in football celebration.”
"Hell yeah," Greg replied. "And there are no rules, you can get a victory shake or a victory burger, as long as it's a victory." He honestly thought it was kind of shitty to have to work on a Friday night but seeing as she probably had zero interest in the game and more interest in the money she'd make he wasn't going to feel too bad for her.
“No rules, no judging,” Ruby grinned, then pushed off the car. “I’ve gotta head to work, but I’ll try and catch up with your boy and let ‘em know it’s all good. That way he keeps his head in the game and you two can come celebrate.” Normally she wouldn’t suggest a couple jocks drop by for a visit, but they seemed cool, unlike a number of their teammates. “Sound good?”
"Aiiiight," Greg drawled and straightened up, putting his fist out for her to bump if she was thus inclined. "See you later, Ruby Ruby Ruby. Thanks for being cool about everything." It was funny how he'd known her for years without really knowing her, like so many other people at school. "If you ever need a favor just holla."
Ruby smiled and bumped his fist. “Will do, Greggy, Greggy, Greggy,” she grinned. “Catch you later.” Or maybe not. It wasn’t like they were friends, but he seemed cool enough that she didn’t think she’d have a problem considering him one. Funny how that worked.