Lie Ren (bringstheflour) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-08-05 18:47:00 |
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Ruby was more or less ignoring the fact that Raven was apparently in town. She had her own questions, like what did that mean for her mom, but there wasn’t anything she could do about that and there were other things to focus on. Like her new job at the Agency. Jemma had given her a tour of the labs and to say she was excited at all the different technology she’d get to learn would be an understatement. She wasn’t really supposed to talk about it with anyone - only family and close friends could know and well...that was basically anyone who dreamt of Remnant really and even then only if it came up.
For now though? It was picking up some books. At present, she had her headphones on, music playing as she browsed the aisles. There was nothing specific she was looking for, just some things to read for when she and Blake had their reading picnics.
Or she could run into someone because she was so caught up in what she was doing. Because it was Ruby and that tended to happen. Stumbling back some, she took her headphones off.
“I’m so sorry!” Then she recognized the hair and her expression brightened. She still felt bad but she at least knew she wouldn’t get yelled at and it was always fun running into friends, “Ren, hi! And sorry. Again.”
Ren had come to the bookstore just for something to read. And to get out of the apartment for a while. He liked Jaune, and Nora, but it could be exhausting living with the both of them. Especially in the tiny apartment they were living in, where there was really nowhere to escape for some quiet reading. He was really hoping he’d be able to find an affordable and yet relatively spacious place for the three of them, possibly the four if Jaune asked Pyrrha, soon, but until now, the occasional trip to the library or the bookstore would have to suffice.
He was caught up on his studies for the time being, and he was standing in the aisle reading a book he’d had recommended to him by a classmate. He couldn’t really afford it right now, but for the time being, this would suffice. It was a rather riveting read, right up until someone walked into his back. He turned at the familiar voice, and, with a smile, closed the book. “Ruby,” he said in greeting. “I hadn’t expected to run into you here.”
Introverts unite! In different rooms and not around people all the time. For as friendly as Ruby was, she was definitely more introverted than might be associated with her to those she felt comfortable around. She still needed to get away and tinker on things or read or listen to her music and decompress. A high energy introvert, it was more common than you might think!
Still, this was a bookstore she liked. Sure, there was Barnes and Noble, but there were a lot of fun smaller shops in the area as well. Second hand ones as well. It was just knowing where to look for them.
“Did I interrupt you? I’m sorry.” And that was three sorry’s in….about a minute or two. Given the fact that the temperature was getting warmer, she’d put her hair up in a bun and brushed some loose hair behind her ear.
“Yep. This is one of the bookstores I really like.” There were a number of them really. Variety was important after all.
“No, not at all,” Ren said. Well, she technically had interrupted him, but it was a welcome one. He was always glad to see Ruby, after all. He reshelved the book, running the page he had left off on a couple of times over in his mind so he could remember it when he came back to it.
“Me too,” he agreed. There was something more welcoming about smaller bookstores than the big chain ones, even if the selection could sometimes be lacking. “Did you come for anything in particular?”
She had met Blake in a smaller bookstore as well so of course she preferred that one as well. But really, Ruby tended to find small bookstores in most areas she frequented often. It was always good to know where she could hide in one when it was necessary or she just had some time to spare before a bus or the like.
“Nope. Just browsing to get ideas. Blake and I have these reading picnics and just sit around and read so I need to get some new books. What about you?”
“That sounds nice,” Ren said. He normally did his reading picnics, if they could be called that, by himself. Nora never had been much of a reader. “You must have extra time for them now that you don’t have to study. I had some downtime in my classes, so I thought I’d sneak in some pleasure reading.”
“It is.” And it worked for her and Blake. They often would then talk about what they read or other things. But even just sitting together and reading was nice. It totally counted as being social! Or so she told her dad and sister when they felt she was too caught up in her work or ignoring people. “A bit! I started a new job recently with this organization that focuses on all the weird things doing engineering and research and development type things which is exciting. But definitely more time than when I was also studying. But pleasure reading is always a good thing, especially when you have the time.”
That surprised Ren a little, and his eyebrows rose up a fraction of an inch. He had just been talking to Officer Hopps the other day about the mystery organization that had to be behind the cover-ups of the strange things that were going on. “Is this the same organization responsible for making sure no one outside of this county hears about the weird?” he asked.
Noticing Ren’s reaction, Ruby shifted awkwardly and tensed. She wasn’t sure what to make about it and that made her nervous which...okay that was Ruby for you. Of course…. Then he seemed to know about the Agency and she squeaked and got even more awkward.
“Yes? I mean, okay yes because I’m also going to fight things if need be but I’m not supposed to really talk about it to anyone except family and close friends which you are but it can’t come back to me.”
And cue the rambling and tripping over words. What? Natasha was kind of scary and she didn’t want to lose her job or anything like that. She was excited about the new tech and while Ren was definitely someone she’d consider a close friend as she blurted out, she was still panicking that someone else might know and she didn’t want to get in trouble or anything.
Ren couldn’t quite suppress a smile, not at Ruby’s distress, but more at the idea that she could think, even in her panic, that he’d go spreading around rumours and attaching her name to it. “I won’t say anything,” he said, perhaps unnecessarily. “It sounds like a good job for you, especially if you’ll get to fight.”
“I know, I just…” Not able to find the words, Ruby just waved her arms because flailing. She didn’t see Ren as just talking about it, but she also knew that it could be one of those innocent things where someone was all being suspicious or something and just trying to reassure them and then oops, it’s out and then there would be more questions. While the ability to do science and fight were right up Ruby’s alley, lying was not. She was really bad at lying. “It should be though! I’m really excited about the tech because there’s all this tech that people dreamt of so it’s way beyond what we have. And getting to fight things when they show up because I mean, it’s what we do!”
“It sounds like the perfect job for you,” Ren said. It wasn’t hard to see just how excited Ruby got about weapons, or about fighting monsters. To actually get paid for it… “It doesn’t sound too different than Hunters,” he said after a moment. Hunters maybe had to do less with research and tech, but it was still expected that most of them built their own weapons.
The weapons thing was more about Dream weapons. Here it was just tech in general that was used in engineering and the science of it all. Different worlds so the whole hybrid weapons thing wasn’t as big a deal. But really, Ruby just liked to create and make things that helped people, saw the way the pieces fit. Still the ability to help in the crazy was one she liked. Ruby would help anyway, it was who she was after all, but it was nice to know she could make a job out of it.
“Kinda! I think there are response teams that focus more on the fighting. I’m like...reserve fighting when not needed for the science stuff.”
Ren nodded. It made sense that there would be different divisions in this agency where she worked. With the strange things that came through, it only made sense to have dedicated people to fight the threats and dedicated people to try to learn what they could from it. He wouldn’t doubt that there was another team for keeping everything covered up. “I’m sure you’ll be great at it,” he said.
While Ruby had been anxious and worried, that was all gone by now and she just smiled brightly. “Thanks! What about you? How is school going?” She knew that he worked hard at that and she also knew that he’d be able to do whatever he put his mind to. But school did come first in that.
“It’s going well,” Ren said. “It’s busy, but I enjoy studying so it’s not bad.” Even if it was a little more difficult with the apartment as full as it was lately. Ren had mastered the art of tuning things out after a lifetime spent living with Nora, but even still it wasn’t always easy. He was looking forward to finding a larger apartment.
“See, that’s the thing. If you enjoy it, it definitely makes it go by easier.” Given Ruby had always been awkward and liked to throw herself into projects, studying had always been a bit easier for her. At least when she was interested in the subject or had a specific goal in mind. If that wasn’t the case, that was when studying was more difficult and she was distracting herself with tinkering on things or the like.
Ren nodded his agreement. Out of necessity, he’d had to do jobs and the like that held no interest for him aside from the paycheque that would buy dinner. The work was much easier when he actually enjoyed it, even when it was technically harder work.
“I hope that you enjoy the new job,” he said, smiling easily.
There would always be things that needed to be done that weren’t necessarily something that one wanted to do. But that was life. Ruby might be the type to look for the best in situations and make them work, but she knew that as well. That was when you just focused on how it would help you in the long run.
“Thanks! I think it’ll be a good fit. I hope your studies continue to go well and you get to find a job that you’ll really like too!”
“Thank you,” Ren said, smiling a little. “And I hope that you enjoy your next reading picnic, too.” Though, honestly, he couldn’t see how she wouldn’t.