Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. "Ah, c'mon!"

There was a vending machine against the wall, just inside the hotel. A short girl with a vaguely squarish afro and an old red scar on one eye was kicking and growling at it. As the door closed behind her, Jasper bent a little to peer inside the machine; sure enough, a bag of chips was stuck from falling.

"Need some help?"

Ruby looked up, her anger vanishing into surprise. "Oh. Jasper."

Jasper stepped up to the vending machine and gave it a hefty shove with her elbow. It wobbled a little, and the bag fell free.

"Thanks." Ruby grabbed her chips. "Did—did you want something, or—?"

Jasper shrugged and leaned against the machine. "I'm broke."

"Oh. Um—oh, I used my last bit of cash on this. Uh—" After a second of thought, Ruby held out the bag, offering. Jasper lifted a hand to decline. Ruby dipped her head and stood back a little.

"I, um, I saw your final match," Ruby said, popping open the chips. "It was really impressive."

Jasper scoffed. "I lost."

"But you held out for a long time, and the fight was amazing," Ruby insisted.

"Well—thanks." Jasper pushed some hair out of her face. "Yours were pretty good too. And you won most of them."

Ruby chuckled a little. "I don't usually win that much."

For a few moments they stood in silence. Ruby dug through her chips, but didn't eat any.

"Sorry for blowing you off about that date. The art thing," Jasper said. "It's just—stuff came up."

"Oh. Don't worry about it." Ruby waved a dismissive hand, her fingertips already orange with cheesy dust. "I-I didn't really plan much. I didn't even know if you like art or anything, I just saw the flier and thought it might be nice while we're here to do something and I kinda wanted to get to you before my sister did, so—it was more of an impulse ask than anything else, honestly."

"Do you...still want to do something?"

Ruby looked up, blinked a couple times. "When?"

"...Now?" Jasper glanced away, awkward. "I know it's late and there's probably nothing going on, but…"

"Um, I've got some movies and leftovers in my room," Ruby said, heels tapping together. "If you just want to hang out for a little bit."

Jasper smiled, small and sincere. "Sounds perfect."