Elbow Grease
summary: Ruby and Ren geek out over weapons together and have insomnia discussions. For RWBY Relationship week
words: 1,110+
disclaimers: I do not in any way own RWBY or its characters.
A/N: I was really excited when I got Ruby and Ren in the name generator. I literally just whipped this up in an hour, so I apologize if it's a bit sloppy. I hope you enjoy!
"So, how's it work?"
Ren chuckled. Ruby had been pestering him all morning about his weapons. Yang had been worried that her little sister was bothering him, but Ren had assured her that he had gotten used to Nora a long time ago; he could handle it.
It had only just occurred to him that Ruby had never really seen StormFlower in action before. Sure, they had fought together during initiation, but they didn't have any classes together. Ruby was sure curious, something that Ren found to be quite endearing. It reminded him that she was only 15, still full of youthful energy and excitement.
"Basically, StormFlower is two automatic pistols, or SMGs," Ren explained patiently. Ruby put her chin in her hands, elbows placed on the table between them, and leaned forward with wide eyes. He resisted the urge to chuckle. "The Wind and Fire blades are foldable and I can conceal them in my shirt sleeves—"
"And that makes them both a melee and a ranged weapon!" Ruby observed, poking at the one half of StormFlower she delicately held in her hands. "They give off green flashes when fired, but their stopping rate is relatively low which puts you at a disadvantage against heavily armored opponents."
"Yeah." Ren smiled. He had known that Ruby was a weapons nerd, but he had underestimated the extent of her knowledge of weapons. "Where'd you learn all this stuff about weapons?"
"My Uncle Qrow taught me at Signal Academy," Ruby said. "Where'd you learn?"
"Nora and I went to Citadel Academy together—"
"You bet we did!" Nora rammed into the back of Ren's chair like a freight train, nearly knocking him off, but she grabbed onto him from behind and held him in place. "Clumsy Ren tripped and fell down the grand staircase and I had to help him up!"
"You're the one who knocked me down in the first place," Ren grumbled, gripping the table with white knuckles to reassure his balance.
Nora disregarded him and squished her face on the top of Ren's head while he scowled unattractively. Ruby giggled as she watched them, reminded of her own relationship with her sister.
"Ren?"
He looked up at the staircase from where he sat in front of the dim fireplace, StormFlower somehow drawn in a flash. The dark and silent common room was empty aside from him.
"Whoa!" Ruby held up her hands in surrender and offered a peacemaking smile. "It's just me."
"Ruby." Ren relaxed slightly and folded StormFlower back into his sleeves. He sighed. "You surprised me."
"I can see that." Ruby made her way over to where he stood and they sat down together. "What are you doing up so late?" she asked, pulling her knees up to her chest. "It's almost three in the morning."
"I…couldn't sleep," he admitted reluctantly. He caught her concerned gaze and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "It happens sometimes. Don't worry about it."
"Do you have nightmares, too?"
That combined with the sudden popping of the wood in the fireplace made Ren jump. His tired eyes were red and wide open, the dark circles under them making him look several years older. He exhaled deeply, blowing some stray hair out of his face. "I—wait, too?"
Ruby blushed and hid her face behind her knees. "I asked you first."
"Uh…" Ren shook his head as though to wake himself up. He mentally scolded himself to turning the question on her. This was Ruby he was talking to. He needed to exercise a bit more tact. "Um, no," he said. "I don't have nightmares. Not anymore. I did when I was younger, but no. That's not what keeps me up." He glanced at her and she looked as though she wanted to speak, but she was too timid. The corner of his mouth tipped upward. "I just have a lot on my mind."
Ruby nodded and tightened her arms around her knees. Her silver eyes were glassy as she stared at the dying embers in front of them. The orange light flickered in her eyes, making her empty gaze look even more dull. Suddenly, she looked older as well. It was unsettling.
"Why did you decide to come here?"
Ren looked up at the sound of her voice. "What?"
"Why do you want to be a Huntsman?" Ruby asked. The curious spark was back in her eyes. He decided that he liked that much better than the previous look.
"My mother was a huntress," he said. "She retired when I was young due to an injury. It's been a tradition in my family, becoming a Hunter, for many generations. This is what I was born to do." He looked down at her and ruffled her messy bed-head. "What about you? You wanted to follow in your big sis's footsteps?"
Ruby looked down again and Ren immediately knew he had said the wrong thing.
"Are you up to listening to a story?"
He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Sure. I'm tired and all, but it better not put me to sleep."
She laughed a little; Ren smiled.
"So, what's this story about?"
"It's not what. It's who. It's about a woman named Summer Rose…"
Ren cracked open the door to Team RWBY's dorm as silently as he could with Ruby's sleeping form in his arms. Luckily, it didn't creak and he made his way inside, slowly shutting the door behind him. He stared at the room for a moment in shock, as he'd never been inside before. For a moment, he considered putting Ruby down on the floor because those bunks did not look safe.
"Ren?"
He flinched at the quiet call of his name.
Yang rubbed her eyes and sat up in her bed. "What's going on? Is Ruby okay?"
"She's okay," he assured her. "She fell asleep downstairs and I was just putting her to bed."
"What was she doing up?" Yang asked as she hopped down from her top bunk.
He hesitated. "She said something about nightmares." He deposited Ruby in her bed and pulled the covers up over her body. "I didn't ask."
Yang tucked her sister in and stroked some red hair out of her face. "Oh, Ruby…"
"I should go." Ren made his way towards the door. "I could get in trouble for being caught in here so late."
"Ren."
He looked up as he opened the door.
"Thanks for today," Yang said sincerely. "I'm sure it meant a lot to Ruby."
He smiled and nodded. Without another word, he closed the door behind him and made his way back to his dorm. He could rest a lot easier now.
A/N: It's in my headcanon that Ren is based off of Mulan, given the information that Monty's revealed to us at this point. So, that's how 'Ren's reason for becoming a Huntsman' came to be. I hope I'm not too off base. I also hope Ren's not too out of character! Writing for Ruby was surprisingly easy, though.
Thanks for reading! I hope you'll give this fic a favorite/review!