[Log] Animal Side Who: Kamizuki Izumo, Ruby When: July 14th Where: The grounds What: Ruby is bored. She’s looking for Izumo. But what is that on his head? Warning: Swearing, flirting Open or Closed: Closed Observable: Yes
*
Okay, so this place wasn’t as nice as the original pitch had made it seem. Ruby adapted. She’d died, but she adapted. Besides, it was hard to stay down when death wasn’t a lasting impact over here. Motherfuckers had scary tech, yes they did. And it wasn’t like Ruby was the type of person to overthink this sort of thing. She rarely lingered over anything that wasn’t lasting. If it didn’t impact the current day, then she let it go. It went for death, love, and violence just the same.
She’d barely thought about Hannibal and the crew since she’d come. No point. They weren’t there.Ruby didn’t speculate unless she was aiming for something, either.
So she adapted. Had her nightmares and let them go. End of the story. It was time to move on now.
Finding Izumo was a start. He had connections. Ruby had ambition. Together, they’d go far.
Or, you know, kill each other bloody. One or the other.
Tracking Izumo down proved to be a little harder than advertised, though. Ruby glared up at the sky. This was the fifth tree that she’d climbed up. She hadn’t been able to find Izumo in the cafeteria or the club, and had resorted to climbing up big trees for a better vantage point outside. So far, she hadn’t had any luck. Just gotten dirt on her nice jeans. Her hair was nice and long today, the welding goggles were stuck to her face but people had stopped staring, and she really, really liked climbing trees. So she was mostly good. Except for how she couldn’t find Izumo.
Well, shit. This sucked. How was she supposed to find a ninja?
By letting the ninja find her, of course!
Izumo had heard the commotion and come to see what it was. It was, weirdly enough, Ruby. It took him a moment to recognize her under the goggles, but when he had, he nodded. He waited until she got still in the tree, then neatly translocated onto the branch she was perched on.
“Afternoon, Ruby. What brings your lovely self out here?”
Ruby yelped, grabbing at the tree with both arms so she wouldn’t go tumbling off because Izumo was suddenly right there. Goddamn ninja tricks. And he’d made her yelp like a little girl. Rgg. This was not a good start. She straightened with as much dignity as she could manage. “Lookin’ for you.”
Obviously.
Then Ruby noticed something. Then she narrowed her eyes. “Da fuck happened to your face?”
Head, more like. But the ears were....
Different.
Izumo very carefully did not smile at her surprise. Much. “I got careless,” he admitted, a small sliver of truth. Truth was dangerous, and not to be handed out to the wrong people, but Ruby... A little truth wouldn’t hurt here. He knew the second set of ears, just above his own, was definitely distracting....
“What did you want, sugar?”
“Dude, you got mouse ears.” That was a little excessive on the ‘I got careless’ count. But this place was whacked, that was for sure. Strange shit seemed to be the proper order of things. Ruby complained her fair share. By now she was fucking entitled to it. She’d died, hadn’t she?
Still. Her ears were still normal and all.
Ruby blinked once. Well, this was different. “Wanted ta see you. I got bored. Can I touch ‘em?”
“You and Shisui with the bored...you what?” Izumo blinked, derailed from the start of his rant, taken entirely by surprise.
Ruby pointed. “Your ears. I wanna touch ‘em. Also, Shisui sucks at flirting.”
Well, he wasn’t entirely without promise, but still. Boy needed a lot of work.
“He does...” Izumo said, slowly. “Why do you want to touch them?”
“‘cause they’re mouse ears.”
Obviously.
Ruby gave him her most charming smile.
“Uh. Alright...” Izumo said dubiously, and edged a little closer. He wasn’t sure why but he could probably stab her before she got him.
Yaaay! Ruby did her best not to wiggle and grin like a maniac. It wasn’t every day you got to meet a guy with mouse ears. Or touch them. She wondered if his hearing was any better....
Eh, who cared?
She reached out carefully and tweaked them a little. “Ooh, they’re soft!”
That was so cool!
They were soft and warm and twitched nervously under the touch, delicate thin skin. Izumo shivered because it felt so weird and strange. He watched Ruby carefully, single dark eye wide and wary.
Heee. Oh, this was cool. And different. Really different. Ruby sat back and smiled widely. She couldn’t help the giggle, she really couldn’t. “Seriously, though. How long you got ‘em for?”
“Hell if I know.” Izumo shifted and the ears laid back against his hair again. “As usual, the bastards are not too informative.” He nodded his head towards the buildings, and there was mild irritation in his words.
“Guess not.” But that was the trouble of volunteering for shit like that. Ruby stayed the fuck away from the medical-type places as much as humanly possible. Having grown up in a lab and spent her teenage years dodging Monsters from the Wastes, she knew more than a little about medical experiments and how they could go wrong. She hadn’t gone wrong, of course!
Other things had, though. Ruby thought of it from time to time.
Not very hard, granted, but she thought about it.
Ruby cracked her knuckles. “Whatever, they’re cool. Kinda. Bet there’s folks who’re inta that shit, you know? Anyway, I’m bored. The suggestion box is open, brother.”
Hey, he knew the game. And like Ruby said, she was bored. Up for a challenge.
“There are people who are into it. I’m sure as hell not.” Izumo grimaced a little. He eyed Ruby, then looked around at the trees. “What, do you expect me to pull entertainment out of my pocket? I thought we agreed you weren’t interested in what I’ve got in my pants.”
A sudden grin, the right flirty tone. It was like flipping a switch and in an instant his whole posture shifted.
Ruby snorted. Oh sure, his tricks could impress her, but this was an old game. Besides, she’d already proven herself, hadn’t she? “Eh, whatever. Can’t you ninja-types do illusions and shit? Cover it up right? An’ I’m looking ta step up from poker. Not that it ain’t gettin’ me rich, but I’m need more of a challenge, brother!”
“Illusions are a little trickier than all that, Ruby-red.” Izumo smiled with a hint of teeth. He’d tried, but when the ears twitched the illusion broke. They weren’t entirely under conscious control - it wasn’t like forming one for hair or for eyes. Izumo knew how to do that, but it just wouldn’t stick on the ears.
“Playing with the cut-throats isn’t fun anymore? Got them all whipped?” he purred, sultry-sweet.
Were they now? Well, that was worth knowing. Ruby shrugged, scraping her nails along the bark. It was pretty high up. Not that she was going to fall - she never fell, nuh-uh - but hey, it was a damn good view. Could see damn near everything.
It was almost but not quite like being in a plane. She missed that.
“They’re givin’ me flowers. ‘Cause I died.” Ruby made a face. “You know that crazy guy, Raigon? The one who hangs off the ceiling and talks to his food? Bastard dropped a whole mess ‘o orchids on my head.”
Which was not really good for business. Especially when her marks were either giving her sympathetic looks or trying very hard not to laugh their asses off.
Fuck, Ruby missed flying.
Izumo snorted. “At least they were nice flowers.” And not the deadly poisonous kind. Izumo had run across a few of those. “Do you remember Hester, the chick I told you to keep an eye on? The one with the lavender hair and the little tattoo under her left eye.”
“Hester? Sure. She’s been playin’ quiet, or tyin’ too. But she ain’t too smart, brother.” Ruby puffed her chest. “I know where she’s at.”
Bragging? A little. But it was true.
“Do you, then? Good. Tell her you’ll give the photo to Damien if she doesn’t let you in on the fairy dust.” It was a powerful tip, incredible, and Izumo was handing it over for not-quite-free. He had Ruby solidly in his debt and he knew it - and she was the kind to stay loyal as long as he didn’t abuse that power. He certainly wasn’t, and she’d already gotten him some very nice information - it was an enjoyable partnership so far.
Hmm. Was that so? Of course it was. Izumo had no reason to fuck with her just yet. Therefore, it was true and she was back in business. Ohh, this would be fun. Ruby brightened. “Sure, no problemo, boss.”
Boss. Eh, not exactly. But she said with the cheeky little tone that most folks would recognize instantly as good natured but not entirely serious. Izumo was a smart man; he’d figure it out.
“Right, sugar,” Izumo purred, and winked playfully. An ear twitched. Ruby was fun, all kinds of spark and spice stuffed into a little package tied with a ribbon bow. Even if she could also be whiny, but all brats were now and then.
Those ears were just fucking adorable. Ruby had the sudden and utterly childish urge to tweak them again. Just to see what happened. But poking things with sticks rarely ended well, and Ruby was - in theory, at least - old enough to know better. So she usually left her allies alone. Especially if they seemed a wee bit touchy about the subject at hand.
Izumo wasn’t all that happy about his ears.
Eh, that was his problem. They were totally a conversation starter.
“Oh! Question.” Ruby lowered her head to give Izumo a serious look. She then pointed to her breasts. “It true you got ‘em pierced? Inquiring minds wanna know.”
“Who told you that?” Izumo asked, though with some of the shirts he wore to the club it was pretty easy to tell. He was just curious. “And yes, though they certainly aren’t as good-looking as yours.” He tossed in a cheery leer, though they both knew she was off-limits and would remain so. It didn’t mean Izumo couldn’t appreciate her very lovely figure.
“Lil’ somebody with violet eyes.” Ruby battered her eyelashes at him. Exaggerated flirting. It meant nothing. Just a little game to pass the time and make their conversations more fun. The trick of surviving places like this was to find the fun in them. The interesting questions that needed answers, even if they were pointless in the long run. “You’re breakin’ hearts left and right, aren’t ya?”
Seemed like a hobby of his. But there were worse to have.
Ruby cupped her breasts briefly, eyebrow raised for Izumo’s benefit. “I know, right? They’re awesome. What’s it feel like? Getting the metal. I got ink, but that’s different.”
Also not on her tits, so that was cause for comparison.
“If they’re foolish enough to get their hearts broken, they deserve it,” Izumo declared, with a careless shrug. He wasn’t exclusive and never would be.
He watched with interest as Ruby cradled her breasts. Nice jiggle. Very lovely. “They are truly magnificent. I’ve rarely seen better,” he agreed. “If you ever decide to try the straight side of things, let me know and I’ll be first in line.” He winked, getting in the fun of flirting before answering seriously. Because those boobs were worth it.
“Getting them hurt like hell, but after they healed, well, it was worth it. My nipples hurt more than my tongue, though. Ears, no biggie.” Other piercings....the apadravya had topped all the rest for pain-the-morning-after. Also for ‘dear gods what made me think that was a good idea?!’ and ‘I’m never getting that drunk again!’ though that resolution never lasted. The lorum, though, that one hadn’t hurt too much at all.
If they’re foolish enough to get their hearts broken...
Ruby snorted, though inside she quaked a little. It wasn’t that she was one of the many that Izumo had found or that she wanted anything from him besides the alliance and occasional entertainment, but sometimes Ruby wondered about things. Well. People. She wondered about people. And maybe, sometimes, what it’d be like to meet a nice girl and...
What?
Ruby wasn’t quite sure what she’d do if something like love came around, but she thought about it sometimes. Wasn’t like her job was particularly good for it. Prison was a mood killer, she’d already died once here, and romantics were messy.
Messy was not good for business.
“Izumo, you would make a gorgeous chick and if you were a lady I’d be throwin’ my panties away as we speak.” Ruby grinned brightly. “From the bottom of my heart, it ain’t never gonna happen. But that’s cool, gettin’ all the metal. I think ‘bout it sometimes, but it gets caught up in the scanners. Ink’s better for my line. Doesn’t catch on shit.”
Didn’t mean it wasn’t cool, though. She liked shiny things. And the idea of getting her nose done. That’d be fun. Maybe it’d hurt a little, but it’d look cool.
Shame about all the scanners, though. Some of them were so good they even picked up the little earrings Ruby already had. Too much metal attracted attention. Most of the professional hitters had taken to using glass blades. Or stone, sometimes.
Life was hard.
Izumo watched her think, thoughts clicking behind her dark eyes like stones on a string, but what she said was so unexpected that he laughed, bright and clear.
“You think? Gods, I look horrible in drag, I don’t think I’d make a good girl.” He laughed again, tossing his hair a little, ears flickering up then down. “I hear there’s some metals that scanners won’t pick up...I use clear retainers on missions anyway. They’re plastic, sorta.”
Ruby snickered. “Uh-huh. But that’s drag. ‘s different. I mean I’d bang the hypothetical lady-Izumo. Nobody looks good in drag. ‘cept me.” She straightened her back and thrust her chin up. “I look awesome in drag.”
Real handsome boy she was. Oh yeah. Ruby looked awesome in everything, though. It was a talent. One of the many.
Plastic, though...
That was an idea.
“Have ta think ‘bout that.” Ruby thumbed her nose. “Think I’d look good with a ring?”
His was an informed opinion, after all.
“I don’t think there’s anything you wouldn’t look good in,” Izumo affirmed, though he knew some people who looked fantastic on drag. He was just not one of them. He appraised her face, closed one eye, and then nodded. “A small one, I think. Very exotic. Or a little red stone.” He grinned at that, because after all, what was her name?
“Could test the look for ya,” he offered, generously. He could do that. A little genjutsu wouldn’t hurt.
Right answer there! Ruby flashed Izumo her brightest grin. He was fun, yes he was. Good conversation and good business besides. Not always a common mix. But there were merits to being stuck in this place, and one of them was the wide variety of people to choose from. “Ooh, red, yeah. Test it!”
She wanted to see more of the ninja stuff anyway.
“Alright,” Izumo chuckled, and held his hands up. He folded his hands through signs, one after the other, and pulled at his chakra. His features shimmered and like a mirage the genjutsu settled in place. Ruby stared at Ruby, only Ruby-Izumo had a little ruby nose-stud in place above the curve of the right nostril. He tipped his head, displaying the stone, and grimaced as the mouse-ears broke through the illusion.
“Oh dammit,” he said, and his voice was still very much his and no doubt sounded quite bizarre coming from Ruby’s mouth.
Huh. Well that was different.
Ruby cocked her head, studying the illusion carefully. She was very studious, yes she was. Or at least right up until the mouse ears made a reappearance, and then she was snorting, covering her mouth and the worst of the laughter.
Oh, this was good.
“Very nice,” she managed. “I like.”
“I could give you ears, too,” Izumo threatened, but mildly. He twitched the illusion, hands fluttering. No longer a stud, but a little clear plastic retainer, almost invisible against Ruby’s dark skin. He let her look, then twitched it again, and gave her his original vision of the tiny little ring, gold and bright and delicate-looking, an exotic touch to her looks.
Ruby giggled. Couldn’t help it. This was fun! Kind of like watching a movie, except real and right there in front of her. It would break if she touched it, she was pretty sure, but that was all right. “Nu-uh. No ears. But I’m definitely gonna get my nose done now.”
It looked cool, and the retainer-thing was a good idea. Scanners didn’t go for plastic, usually.
Izumo let the illusions fade away, features shimmering before they settled into his usual. “Just remember, takes a while to heal up, so your nose might be fat for a day or so. And if you blow your nose or bump you’ll bleed like stuck pig.”
“Good ta know.” And it was. Ruby would keep it in mind and pick an appropriate time, when she wasn’t trying to impress or cheat somebody. “Kinda like gettin’ ink.” She pointed to the snake on her arm. “But they all heal up ‘ventually.”
“Yeah. I know how to take care of a piercing, so I can tell you how,” Izumo offered.
That was nice of him. Would he want something in return? Ruby shrugged. “Sure. That’d be good.”
Probably. But it’d be a small favor and she didn’t mind that much. Izumo was all right.
“Yeah, wouldn’t want it to get infected. That gets nasty real fast.” Izumo grimaced. He’d seen the scars from that. It was not very pretty, and Ruby was very pretty. It’d be a damn crying shame if her looks got too scarred up. He nodded to himself, eyeing her, and swung his feet as he sat on the branch, perfectly at ease.
Ruby made a face. “Eww, no. Not happening.”
Infections were a whole mess of disgusting. She’d seen enough. Not in AmbroTech, surprisingly - that place was cleaner than a hospital - but around. People got slow or careless and then bang, what’re you gonna do?
“See? I’ll tell ya how to take care of it.” Izumo nodded again, and grinned “Keep a pretty face pretty, little lovely Ruby.”
All the flattery in the world, but it was fun and they both knew where they stood. Izumo enjoyed Ruby a great deal, honestly.
“Aww, so sweet!” Ruby batted her eyelashes at him. “No wonder you break so many hearts.”
He was interesting. Fun too, though a little dangerous. But Ruby played a knife’s edge sort of game; she’d be alright in the end. She just had to be careful.
“Nope, I told you. They shouldn’t be leaving them out there to break in the first place.” Izumo cocked a grin. “A heart isn’t a thing to throw around so carelessly.”
People could hurt you so badly if you let them in like that. If you let them know the truth, of course they’d break it. Either the silly girls and boys would learn better or they’d go on being foolish with their broken hearts - it wasn’t Izumo’s problem.
That was true, Ruby supposed. She’d never been in love with anybody, though, so she wouldn’t know about heartbreak. Which was probably a good thing, considering everybody said it sucked. “Wouldn’t know. Guess it works, though. Less somebody gets mad an’ tries ta kill ya for it. That happened to my boss once,” Ruby confided. “His wife was crazy.”
And also quite proficient with a rocket launcher.
“Heh,” said Izumo. “I’ve met some like that.” He grinned and nodded, then pulled his shirt up and displayed the scar at his right flank, two inches across in a star, before trailing along his stomach to his navel. (He also displayed one nipple ring but hey, she’d been curious!) “Yup, met the crazies alright.”
Ruby leaned in closer for a better look, whistling. “Damn, brother, that’s just nasty. Bet the sex was awesome, though.”
There had to be some appeal to sticking around with crazy people or it wouldn’t happen at all, right?
“Damn straight. She was a hell of a woman. And then she tried to kill me.” Granted, she’d been an enemy nin, too. Izumo had been pretty sure he hadn’t blown his cover, but either something had tipped her off or she’d just been that paranoid. He shrugged and let his shirt drop again, smoothing a hand over the navy fabric.
“Well, you live and learn.” After you held your guts in with one hand and found a medic post-haste.
“Live and learn,” Ruby agreed. So far, she’d never been stabbed. Shot, burned, and thrown like a sack of rocks, but never stabbed. Ruby thought she’d leave that part of her education blank. It wasn’t an experience she really needed anyway. “Hey, Izumo, can I ask ya something?”
“Sure. Ask away.” Izumo offered her a friendly grin. She could ask, but he wouldn’t promise the answer would be pure truth. He swung his sandaled feet and turned to watch a butterfly, big as his hand and velvety purple, soar by. It twisted through the dappled sunlight on the breeze, light and carefree.
“Do you think we’re crazy? I mean, everybody here. ‘Cause this place is pretty fucked up,” Ruby said, dragging her nails along the bark of the tree. It was nice up here, cool and clear. She could see for a while. That was the beauty of high places. You could see so much. “Sometimes I think I’m crazy. Or dead. ‘Cause this shit shouldn’t really happen, you know?”
There were a lot of explanations. Gin Charlie’s machine, all the other things...
Ruby didn’t know what she believed. Maybe none of it was real.
Then again, maybe it was. Either way she was making a life. But she had to wonder sometimes. Just had to.
Izumo raised his eyebrows, and thought about his answer. “Well, I suppose any of those could be true. But the answer most often given is usually the right one. Besides, if it’s a dream, or a hallucination, what the hell could we do about it anyway?”
He rolled a shrug. He was pretty certain he was wide awake and very alive, at least. Surely he would know if he weren’t.
That was true enough. Wasn’t much they could do. And this was an odd sort of dream to have, as dreams went. Ruby shrugged. “Guess not. But I suppose we oughtta make a decent fuckin’ life, just in case.”
Because it probably was real. She wasn’t sure yet, but it felt solid. Ruby usually trusted what she could see and now there wasn’t much in the way of other options.
“Damn straight, sugar. And fleece these idiots for all they’re worth.” Izumo grinned. “It’s a sweet set-up, after all.”
Why not take advantage of it? They’d landed with their feet on the ground, the both of them.
“Preach it, brother.” And what else were they going to do, really? She and Izumo were the same type. Their lives were different in the details, but boil down the intentions and look where it fell. Ruby didn’t mind. She understood Izumo and the worldview he had. It wasn’t entirely hers, but it was close enough.
And if she was crazy?
Well, there wasn’t much Ruby could do about that. Might as well enjoy the ride.
Ruby shrugged. “Eh. I should get goin’ soon. Got somebody to meet an’ teach me a new card game. You wanna come? They play it with knives, ‘parently. Sounds like fun.”
“I like my fingers where they are, thanks,” Izumo declared, with a wry grin. “You may go play with the psychos if you like.”
Ruby wiggled her fingers at him. “Aww. They’d like your ears, they would. But suit yourself, brother. I’ll be seein’ you ‘round.”
Indeed she would. This was a profitable sort of friendship, and entertaining besides. She liked Izumo. He was fun.
“Want some help getting down, sweet?” Izumo asked, politely, mischief curling his smile into something very lovely and dangerous. It would be a fun and harmless little trick, and he’d get some entertainment out of the bargain.
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Gonna do some ninja magic?"
Hell, that might be fun.
“If you want,” Izumo answered, planting his hands on the branch. He drew his legs up into a crouch, then got to his feet, chakra sticking him firmly. He walked towards her and offered her a hand to stand up, smiling. “C’mon.”
Oh, he was totally going to do some ninja magic. Ruby took his hand eagerly. She wanted to see some ninja magic! Even if it was a little on the crazy side like Shisui’s. Whatever. You only lived once, right? Even if you got your skull knocked in and came back later, it was only one life.
Better make it count.
Izumo drew Ruby to her feet. “Hands around my neck,” he instructed. “And I’m going to put my arms around your back. It can be disorienting the first time,” he instructed, holding loosely and clasping his hands behind Ruby’s back. “Ready?”
He started folding his hands through signs, chakra humming into place, the jutsu easy to cast. He’d try hard to be easy with it, but it was tricky with a partner sometimes.
Ruby raised an eyebrow at him, mouth quipped. All the same, she did as he asked. “First time’s always disorientin’. Fire away.”
No doubt it wouldn’t be as dirty as it sounded in her admittedly twisted little mind, but Ruby thought she’d be in for a thrill either way. And there’d be no dying this time, so that was a bonus.
Izumo laughed. “Not with the right player,” he answered, and pulled the jutsu. Time and space rippled and with a sudden snatch they were on the ground. Izumo had judged the landing perfectly and did not stumble, instead bracing to catch Ruby if she was off-balance. He was used to the wrench and it never felt like he was leaving his stomach behind anymore....
Holy shit!
Ruby hadn’t known what to expect, but she’d braced anyway. And a good thing too, otherwise she might have fallen to her first instinct, which was to throw up. Nobody appreciated being thrown up on. Instead Ruby lurched, grabbing at Izumo to steady herself because whooa.
...actually it wasn’t so bad, considering.
“...you’re better at it than Shisui,” she managed.
Maybe because she wasn’t actively dying or impaled on something sharp, but still.
“Shisui’s got a very special technique he uses,” Izumo answered dryly, and made a note to ask if Shisui could bring someone along with his body-flicker. “You alright?” he asked. And for the record, yes, he was definitely enjoying the feel of Ruby’s breasts pressed up against his chest.
Ruby patted him on the back weakly. “Peachy. Yeah. You can let go now.”
Because. Proximity. Also she kinda felt like throwing up still, so that wouldn’t be good.
“Alright.” Izumo left an arm against Ruby’s back, steadying her just in case. “I guessed good enough about the weight of your arm,” he decided. “That wasn’t too bad.”
“Uh?” Ruby wobbled a little, but steadied herself like a champ. “Oh, my arm! Ya noticed that, huh?”
Most people didn’t, even though it wasn’t exactly hidden. But hey, Izumo was the observant type.
“Yeah. Translocation is about weight and stuff, so I had to figure yours and mine and the energy it’d take to move that much this far.” Izumo shrugged. He’d learned how to do it mathematically, all ninja did, but he was good at judging it by ear, so to speak. He tapped Ruby’s false arm. “It’s in your balance, and how you balance. So yeah, I noticed.”
Oh, kinda like aerodynamics. Ruby could understand that. Mostly she had a computer to calculate it for her back home, when it came to her plane and how much cargo it could take and how fast, but she was the one who took the data and used it. “That’s cool.”
Well, it was. Talent like that always came in handy.
She waved her left hand at him. “Pretty real, huh?”
“Yeah, pretty impressive. Never seen that sort of thing before.” Well, Izumo had seen peg legs and hooks for hands and for some, chakra-string puppet kind of deals, but never anything like Ruby’s arm. Hers worked a hell of a lot better than anything from his world.
“It’s mechanical?” he asked, curiously.
“Uh-huh.” Ruby reached up and grabbed her shoulder tight, made a face and then twisted hard. The arm came off with a mechanical whine. She held it up for Izumo to inspect, waving it a little. It wasn’t heavy, really, though the skin felt...
Weird. Not quite real enough. Not warm.
Not hers.
“I crashed an’ burned awhile back.” Ruby smiled thinly. “Guess you gotta lose some to win some, eh?”
Izumo reached out to touch, fingers dancing over it, pressing hard to get the feel for the contours, the weight, the sensation. His first thought was about bludgeoning people do death with it. Offering Ruby a smile, he said, “Yeah, baby, you know it. Nearly lost a leg a few years back.”
“Damn.” Ruby eyed his legs for a moment, wondering which one had taken the unlucky pain. “Good thing ya didn’t.”
Indeed.
She screwed her arm back in with a wince, fingers spasming. Oww, okay, that still felt nasty. “Worst part was, I had a tat on this arm. Really nice one too. Sun and a dragon. Ain’t never gonna get that one back.”
So it hurt her to do that? Izumo tucked the information away. “You can’t paint it on again?” He asked, curiously. Okay, so that might not work but it was an idea.
“Nah. Skin’s not skin.” Ruby eyed it distastefully. It was better than having no arm at all, sure, but she missed the old one. The old one had been hers. “Shit falls apart after a while. Doesn’t take ink or scars, nothin’.”
It didn’t bleed either, though, so that was a plus. She had complete control over everything too.
Good as new, almost. And she could feel. Mostly.
“Huh.” Izumo’s ears twitched, and shrugged at Ruby. “I don’t have any ink. I wouldn’t know.”
Tattoos involved needles. For a long time. Yeah, no.
Ruby eyed him up and down. “Mhmm. Yeah, you don’t really look the type. ‘s cool, though. You got the metal.”
The metal was pretty awesome. Ruby preferred ink, though. It didn’t get caught on stuff, and it was armor too. Protection against anyone who thought they’d move against her. Folks tended to see the ink first, and then, only then, the girl underneath. And in that delay she could take whatever she needed.
It worked out in the end.
Izumo smiled and nodded. “Yeah. You can go down to the infirmary and they have a guy who’ll pierce your nose for you. All good and clean. I’ve talked with him, he’s good. His name is Antony.” And he had tattoos and piercings enough for them both. His hair was also bright purple and Izumo liked the dye job.
Ah! That right there, that was a plan. Ruby grinned. “Thanks, Izumo. I’ll be doin’ that real soon.”
“I look forward to it. Come see me after, sugar.” Izumo nodded, and looked up after a bird, flitting past. It looked like one of the vividly-coloured songbirds that frequented the Ludus. People left seeds for them, of all things. They did not look edible, unlike the loose chickens, which were very edible.
Ruby laughed a little, hands on her hips and head thrown back just enough to make a gesture. This place...well, it wasn’t perfect, but she was making something here for herself. A life. And maybe she’d gone crazy or died, maybe it wasn’t even real, but there wasn’t much point in thinking along those lines.
Life was what you made it, after all.
“Sure, babe.” She blew a kiss at him. “Stay classy, yeah? Or just alive. I’ll be seeing ya ‘round.”
“Same to you, sweets,” Izumo answered, flirtily, and pretended to catch the kiss in his hand before saucily winking and blowing his own.