Author's Note: Commissioned by Lost One
It had been one day since Oscar had shown up in Ruby's life. One day since she'd hidden him away in the shed outside her family home. One day since she'd taken up the responsibility of looking after the poor boy who was just trying to reunite with his aunt here on Patch.
One day since she'd nearly beaten him senseless.
Ruby winced at that last part as she stood in the kitchen, busy making sandwiches on the counter. It was noon, and Oscar was probably hungry. She'd been able to sneak out earlier and give him some breakfast, and she wanted him to be able to come inside and at least live like a normal human being. Or a normal faunus in his case. However, the boy was oddly reluctant to allow his presence to be discovered by the rest of her family.
Ruby knew that her family wasn't racist against the faunus, but Oscar didn't. Furthermore, she knew he had his fears, and maybe rightfully so, that her dad would insist on taking him into town and contacting the police in hopes of reuniting Oscar with his family. While it wouldn't be the worst outcome in the world, she also knew that Oscar had his hesitations about going to the authorities. You never knew who might be prejudiced against the faunus race, and how little or how much they might do as a result.
As Ruby finished spreading some mayonnaise on the turkey sandwich, she nodded to herself with stoic resolve. She'd always wanted to be a hero, just like in the fairy tales. She would be Oscar's hero.
"Okay," she said to herself, looking over the array of food she'd prepared. "We have turkey with mayo. Ham with mustard. Peanut butter and jelly. We have some fun-size bags of chips." She paused, a frown curling on her lips. "Why do they call them fun-size anyway? There's nothing fun about like, two handfuls of chips per bag!"
Ruby may not have been a wizard in the kitchen, but even she could put pieces of meat on bread. Not knowing what Oscar preferred, she'd chosen to make a variety of sandwiches for lunch, as well as grab several different flavors of potato chips from the mixed package. Along with a few granola bars and pieces of fruit, she had a healthy and nutritious lunch prepared for both herself and the boy who she was hiding in the storage shed.
Now she just needed a way to get all of it out there…
Looking around, Ruby found an old grocery bag and snatched it for her own purposes. Placing the heavier fruit in first, she began stuffing her homemade lunch into the bag, with the sandwiches which had been placed in sealable bags going in last. She spun around to face the backdoor, only to stop when she saw that another person stood in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
"Gah!" she shouted in fright, shocked by Yang's presence and dropping the bag to the floor. "When did you get here!?"
"When I heard you muttering your 'sandwich making song'," she smirked, causing Ruby's face to flush with humiliation. "You put the meat on the bread, do-do, do-do. You put the cheese on the meat, do-do, do-do. You put the mustard on the cheese, do-do, do-do…"
"S-shut up!" Ruby whined, looking down to the floor in embarrassment. She bent down to retrieve the food which had spilled from the bag. "It helps me remember the order of operations."
Yang reached down to pick up a stray orange which had rolled over to rest by her foot. "Right, because making sandwiches is like complex math equations," she said sardonically. The blonde girl eyed the fruit before tossing it over to Ruby. "So what are you up to with all this food?"
Ruby wasn't prepared for the airborne orange, and she fumbled it when she attempted to catch it. It bounced back onto the floor, and she reached down to grab it and stuff it back into the bag. "Nothing," she said innocently. Not even Yang could know about her little secret. Emphasis on little, being the short boy that he was. Even shorter than herself.
"Nothing?" Yang asked, taking a step closer. Lilac eyes danced with mischief, and Ruby felt her heart pounding, knowing that her big sister had that stereotypical older sibling torture glint in her eyes. She unconsciously took a step back from the blonde-haired lioness. "Let's see. You have a bag filled with food, and it looked like you were about to head outside. Where are you going, Ruby?"
The redhead found herself backed up against the countertop, and her hands squeezed down as Yang towered over her. Silver eyes darted left to right seeking a suitable escape path. Maybe with her Semblance she could slip past Yang and make it to the door. Yang was unarmed, and thus Ember Celica wouldn't be able to propel her to move any faster than she could normally run. It would be an easy escape, though she would look super guilty in the process. It would only raise more questions from her inquisitive older sister.
"I, um, am going on a picnic," she said, holding up the bag of food as proof of the claim. It was technically true, from a certain point of view. Eating outdoors with a friend and homemade food could be considered a picnic, right?
"A picnic," Yang echoed, her head turning to glance out the kitchen window. "It's a nice day and all, I guess…" Her gaze fell upon Ruby once more, and her lips curled up in a smirk. "And who are you going with? Don't tell me it's that Wesson boy from your class. Is my wittle sister sneaking out to see a boy?" she cooed.
She hated how Yang emphasized 'little' like that. Ruby's face twisted with anger. "No! Me and Wesson are just friends, Yang!"
"Well then who is it? I know you don't have that many friends at Signal. So come on, spill. Who's the lucky guy? Who's my sweet, innocent sister's first crush?"
It was a boy, but Yang didn't need to know that. She wasn't about to betray Oscar's trust in order to save her own skin from Yang's teasing. As her eyes fell down to gaze on her combat boots, Ruby saw the folded form of Crescent Rose hanging from her hip.
Taking a deep breath, Ruby's body trembled as her head snapped back up to Yang. "I'm going with Crescent Rose, okay!" she shouted.
The answer took Yang aback, and she stood there in wide-eyed silence. Seconds passed, and the blonde girl was apparently stunned and dumbfounded by her sister's answer. It was… an awkward answer to say the least. Ruby knew she was a little more socially awkward than her social butterfly of an older sister. Yang was right in that she didn't have too many friends from Signal Academy. Still, to say you were going to have a picnic alone with your weapon was beyond embarrassing.
Finally Yang mustered the ability to speak. Her reaction was just as bad as Ruby had feared. "Crescent Rose," she said, nodding down to the weapon at Ruby's waist.
Ruby's free hand moved to cover her baby up from the blonde's accusing eyes. "Y-yes…"
"You're having a picnic with your weapon," she pressed.
The younger girl swallowed and nodded. "Yes…"
"Alone," Yang frowned. "With your weapon." A breath slipped from her lips, and Yang looked more sad than anything. "Ruby… do you want me to go on a picnic with you? I don't have anything planned today, and, um… I… I would feel kinda bad if you went by yourself…"
There was pity in the normally lively eyes of her sister. She honestly thought that Ruby was so lonely that she had to resort to having a picnic with her weapon rather than another person. Was she really that much of a weapon-nut that such a story was not only plausible, but more believable than sneaking out to see a boy?
Ruby shook her head. "N-no…" she said, grabbing Crescent Rose and detaching it from her hip. She cradled it against her body with one arm, the other holding her bag of food. "Me and my… baby are going to have a nice picnic alone. And then I'm gonna do some training… you know, make a whole day of it…"
Yang nodded in grim understanding. Ruby felt those judgmental yet pitying eyes of her sister boring holes into her. "If… that makes you happy," she smiled weakly. "Sure. But just know that anytime you want to have a picnic with me, I won't say no, okay?" Yang reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I love you, Ruby, and I'm here for you."
Ruby wanted to die. She felt like such a loser right now. Yang was doing the responsible and loving thing, offering her unconditional love and support for her little sister. Yet Ruby turned her away, all because this whole thing was a lie. A lie she had to keep going for Oscar's sake.
She would normally say he owed her big time for this, but, well, she had repeatedly punched him in the face…
Humiliating herself was just one of the many ways she would make it up to him.
"Thanks, Yang," she smiled back. "But if you'll excuse me, I should really get going. It's lunchtime, and we're starving."
Ruby pushed past Yang, and even as she approached the backdoor she felt those pitying eyes staring into her back. Ruby glanced around to see Yang still watching, and waved goodbye. Yang waved back.
She pushed through the door and stepped out into what was beautiful weather. Perfect for a picnic. She hoped that she would be able to shake the humiliation of Yang thinking that she was the only one who would be enjoying such a lovely day.
Oscar never realized how slowly time passed when you were doing nothing. Even running for his life through the forest beat this!
Sitting alone in the dark, dirty shed, he waited. It was all he could do. Sure, he could always risk venturing outside and exploring the woods, but he never knew when Ruby would return with the lunch she'd promised him earlier in the day. He also knew there could be a stray Grimm or two out there, and he wasn't exactly void of negative thoughts. He felt like a prisoner, albeit a willing one. There were worse places to be trapped than in a pretty girl's shed.
A pretty girl who could, and has, kicked my butt… A smile curled on his lips at the thought.
Ruby was amazing. Seriously amazing. A student at Signal Academy right here on Patch, she planned to attend Beacon Academy in Vale once she graduated. She was already incredibly skilled with that scythe of hers. The scythe which had nearly taken his head off on more than one occasion. It amazed him that he could look back on such a horrendous turn of events with such… fondness.
But she didn't take my head off, his mind argued. I'm alive and well. Unless she killed me on the first swipe and this has been the afterlife without me even knowing it.
His stomach growled. No, he couldn't possibly be dead. You shouldn't get hungry if you were dead. Right now he felt as if he could eat an entire buffet out of business. And that was saying something with his small frame.
The sounds of movement outside alerted him, and Oscar moved to hide behind some of the tools and equipment stored in the shed. One occasion it paid to be small. Thankfully the blonde older sister hadn't put her motorcycle back last evening. It would have been awkward to have a second girl beat him up over being an intruder on their property.
The door of the shed opened, and light poured in before he heard the sweetest sound in the world. In more ways than one. "Oscar?" Ruby whispered loudly.
Peeking his head up and over the lawnmower, Oscar saw the girl in red and black standing in the doorway. "Yeah?"
She held up a bag, and his enhanced faunus senses picked up the scent of food. "Come on. We're going on a picnic."
The boy's mood perked up immediately, and he came out from his hiding place to stand before Ruby. It bothered him slightly that he had to look up to meet her warm, silver-eyed gaze, but then again she was a couple years older than him. He'd grow in time. He'd get taller than her, and then she'd be the one to have to look up at him!
Was he really thinking that far ahead? For all he knew he could be gone by tomorrow and he'd never see her again. A pang ate at his stomach, and this time it wasn't caused from hunger.
"Come on," she insisted, still whispering and taking his wrist in her hand and pulling him out from the shed. "We have to hurry!"
Oscar was pulled from his dark but safe hiding spot, but he trusted Ruby. He trusted that she wouldn't lead him astray. That she wouldn't allow him to be spotted by anyone.
Moving quickly through the woods all he could focus on was the fact that she still hadn't let go of his arm. Pulling him with one and carrying their food with the other, she led him away from her house and into a clearing in the woods. With ample tree cover still, the secluded bed of grass was the perfect place to sit down and enjoy a meal. Finally, and a bit disappointingly, Ruby released her hold on him.
"I guess, um, make yourself comfortable," she said, looking around for a place to sit. She blinked, and in an instant her smile inverted into a frown. "Fudge! I didn't bring a blanket or anything!"
Oscar didn't see the problem with it. It wasn't as if the ground was muddy from rainfall or anything. "It's okay. Grass is fine to sit on."
Ruby sank down to her knees, her tall combat boots and black tights preventing the skin of her legs from getting dirty. "I just wanted things to be perfect."
As Oscar stood there looking down upon the girl, her red-black hair hanging down over her gleaming silver eyes, he couldn't imagine anything more perfect. "It already is," he blurted out.
Ruby peered up, his reassuring words bringing a hopefully smile to her lips. "Really?"
He nodded, and settled down next to her to sit cross-legged. "Yeah. Besides, you've already done so much for me. I wouldn't complain about a blanket even if I did care about it."
Her smile persisted, and she nodded in turn. "Thanks. But… we're nowhere close to being even. I could have killed you, Oscar. I'm so, so sorry."
Oscar felt a little embarrassed that Ruby still felt so guilty about yesterday's events. He'd gotten over it already, but he supposed it would be a lot different if he'd been the one who beat up someone littler and younger than himself. And nearly killed them with a super-cool huntsman weapon.
"It's okay, Ruby," he tried to reassure her. "Really. You don't have to make up anything to me. I mean, I did steal your cookies."
Ruby squeezed her lips together, trying to suppress an embarrassed smirk of her own. "Dad always did call me his little cookie monster…" she admitted bashfully.
She certainly had become a monster when she found out her tasty treats had been stolen. The nickname suited her.
All this talk about food made Oscar's stomach growl once more. He stared down at it, while Ruby looked up at him.
"Right, food!" she declared, opening up the bag and putting it between herself and him. "So I made ham, turkey, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," she said, pulling them out one by one. "There's chips. Fruit. And granola bars. Take your pick. Anything you want."
Hazel eyes zeroed in on the turkey sandwich. He picked up that one, and Ruby chose peanut butter and jelly afterward. Opening up the bag it was in, Oscar took a huge bite of it. Flavor exploded in his mouth, and he ravenously began to devour his lunch.
"It's not bad, is it?" Ruby asked worriedly, even as she held her untouched sandwich up before her mouth.
Oscar shook his head wildly. He was already halfway through it. "No," he insisted, talking with a full mouth. Ruby didn't seem like the kind to care about bad manners. He was more concerned with reassuring her. "It's delicious. I love it."
The compliment brought a happy smile to her face. Oscar may not have had much experience with women, but even he knew that you never insulted a girl's cooking to her face. "Thank you," she uttered softly before finally taking a bite of her own sandwich.
They said that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Oscar may not have been a man yet, but the saying still applied to him and his stomach. Taking more ravenous chomps out of the sandwich, he eyed Ruby as she too began to daintily take bites from her own. For all her ability as a warrior, as scary as she was with that massive scythe of hers, she ate a sandwich like a sweet, delicate little flower.
Fitting for someone with the surname Rose.
"So, um, between all the misunderstandings," Ruby said after swallowing some of her food. "And the punching, and the many, many apologies… well, I guess we haven't really gotten to sit down and kinda get to know each other. At least more than the basics."
Oscar nodded as he finished the last of the sandwich. There was a third still available, but his hand reached instead for a granola bar and opened it up. Little nuggets of peanut butter and chocolate dotted it, and he took a bite from the sweet treat. "Yeah," he agreed, not wanting to say too much as he chewed.
"Now would be a pretty okay time, right?" she smiled.
Oscar's heart skipped a beat. What a bright and pretty smile she had. It was completely disarming, and had he not lived through the experience himself, he wouldn't have believed that girl was capable of going on a cookie-rage-fuelled rampage through the forest, felling trees with wild swings of her scythe.
He nodded once more. "Sure. What do you wanna know?"
Ruby frowned, her body squirming a bit uncomfortably as her fingers fidgeted around the sandwich she still held. "Um… I dunno. Can you tell I'm not really good with small talk?"
The question brought a smile to Oscar's face, and he gazed down at his lap. "Yeah. Same here."
"I guess this is why Yang thought I was so pathetic earlier," she sighed. Silver eyes glanced over to where her weapon lay on the grass beside her. "Oh, Yang's my sister. You might have seen her around. Blonde, beautiful, really confident and outgoing. Unlike me…"
While Oscar was happy that the pity party for him seemed to be fading, he didn't like seeing Ruby be so down on herself. No one as kind and generous as her deserved that sort of negative treatment. Not even from herself.
"Hey," he started nervously, not quite knowing how to properly talk to girls his age. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You're really great, okay? Not everyone would help out a total stranger who stole from them."
Ruby's lips pressed together once more, suppressing the desire to smile embarrassedly at his compliment. The attempt failed, and her lips curled upward. "Thanks."
"They wouldn't cook or have a picnic with the thief either. I may not have known you for long, but you're a really nice person."
This time it was Ruby who nodded, unable to meet his eyes as she stared down at the sandwich clenched between her fingers. "You are too."
"So is Yang going to be a huntress too?"
The question seemed to perk Ruby up, and her eyes met his as a full and genuine smile formed on her face. "Yeah! She's actually going to Beacon as soon as she graduates from Signal. I'm so jealous of her. She's actually a really good fighter, and she has these shotgun gauntlets named Ember Celica, and they can shoot when she punches people, or she can load them with projectile rounds and blast people from long range…"
Ruby went on and on, words pouring from her mouth like a fountain when it came to matters of being a huntress. Or weapons in general. In the span of a couple minutes Oscar learned answers to questions he never even asked, and should he ever be quizzed on the fighting abilities and weapons of Yang, he would have been able to ace that test with no problem.
Oscar merely sat in silence, eating more food as Ruby talked and talked. Where had the shy, socially awkward girl gone? The one who had put herself down only minutes before? It seemed that she had a certain trigger which would get her out of her shell and cause an explosion of chatter. Get her talking about weapons or huntsmen, and she could talk for hours.
He had just finished eating an apple by the time Ruby deemed her answer to Oscar's question about Yang answered. "And that's why I chose to make a high-impact sniper rifle scythe as my own weapon." She blinked, glancing down at her sandwich, which had been squeezed to death in her excitement, causing globs of peanut butter and jelly to spill to the ground. "Wait what was your question again?"
Oscar laughed. For the first time since meeting Ruby, he felt completely and totally at ease. She certainly was a character, he had to admit. She'd been so wrapped up in her stories and explanations that she had not only forgotten the original question, but the fact that she was supposed to be eating and enjoying a simple little picnic outdoors.
She pouted, her bottom lip quivering as silver eyes narrowed with all the malice of a puppy who'd just been given an unwanted bath. "What's so funny?"
Taking a few moments to catch his breath, Oscar held up a hand as he wheezed. "Nothing," he lied. "Everything," he said a bit more truthfully. Her eyes narrowed on him even further, causing a new round of amusement for the boy. He clamped his mouth shut, but that couldn't stop the involuntary purring that came from his faunus genes.
"Yang says I'm a bit of a weapon geek," she said softly. Bashfully. Like she realized the tangent she'd just gone on, and was embarrassed over it. "And dad. And Uncle Qrow…" She glanced down at her ruined sandwich and set it aside. "I mean they're not mean about it, but…"
"No, don't be sorry," Oscar insisted. "I thought it was really cool how you kept talking. You must really like that stuff. And you must really want to be a huntress."
"I do," she said, the pout and the frown evaporating instantly. In their place came a dreamy glint in her eyes, accompanied by a girlish smile like she was thinking about her favorite member of the Achieve Men. "It's my dream. The thing I wanna do most in life. I wanna be a hero and save people just like in all the fairy tales I read as a kid…"
An admirable dream and a righteous cause. In a world filled with darkness and cruelty, Ruby was a beacon of light. Of hope. Someone who only wanted to do good for all the right reasons. Oscar couldn't help but respect that and her. He wished he could say he had such noble aspirations.
"What about you? What do you wanna do when you grow up?"
Oscar might have given some sort of answer like 'what I want and what I'm going to do are two different things', but he sadly didn't have any such dreams like Ruby did. Frankly, it made him a little bit sad that she knew what she wanted out of life, and Oscar only knew what was expected of his.
"I guess you could say my path in life is already set," he simply answered vaguely.
A slight tilt in Ruby's head indicated her curiosity. "Ooh that sounds ominous. What does that mean?"
"Right now I'm just a farmer, but I guess you could say that I have some big plans for the future."
"Big plans? Do you wanna be a huntsman too or something?"
Want had very little to do with his future. Being the heir to the research and development company founded by his grandparents gave him little choice on what he actually wanted to do.
Oscar shrugged, a coy little smile curling on his lips as he broke eye contact. "I dunno."
It wasn't that he didn't trust Ruby. Quite the opposite in fact. However, he didn't know her family. Much like his feline faunus heritage, Oscar chose to exercise caution here. If they found out who he was and the potential money that his rescue could bring, his time with Ruby could swift come to an end.
He did not enjoy the thought of that. Not one bit.
"Oh come on tell me!" she insisted. "You can tell me!"
He could tell her. However, he would much rather have her guessing like this. Playing with her, like a cat batting around its captured prey. His lips remained sealed.
"So you're a farmer… big plans…" she thought aloud, wracking her brain trying to figure out what he meant. "Compost! King of compost!"
Oscar blinked. He had no idea how she'd come to that conclusion, but it was no less amusing.
The remainder of their picnic consisted of Ruby trying to guess Oscar's true heritage. She never came close. After all, who could have ever guessed that they were speaking to the heir of Remnant's only company that focused on the research of non-dust related technology?
As Ruby neared the back door to her house, she couldn't help but smile. The picnic incident had started out sour thanks to Yang, but had ended on such an awesome note!
Getting to know more about Oscar was cool, or at least trying to. He had been tight-lipped about his family, though Ruby supposed that maybe with a little more time he'd open up more. Still, they'd been able to talk about weapons. Or rather she did most of the talking about them for a couple hours while they enjoyed her cooking. If one could call making sandwiches cooking.
The day before she'd only been able to provide him with the bare minimum to sleep in the old family shed, so tonight she was on a mission to provide more pillows and blankets in hopes of him being able to craft some sort of makeshift bed out of them. With a mission in mind, she pushed the door to her home open and stepped inside with her empty plastic picnic bag.
Only to see a trio of figures seated at the kitchen table. That would certainly make this a lot trickier.
"Hey, Ruby," Yang greeted, standing up before moving over to envelop her sister in a tight embrace.
Ruby frowned. She hadn't been gone that long. Still, she returned the hug to her big sister. "Hey, Yang."
When the blonde girl released her Ruby nodded to the two men still sitting down. "Hey dad. Uncle Qrow. What's going on?"
Her father smiled at her warmly, but she could tell there was some underlying twinge of sadness pulling at his lips. "Ruby, sweetie," he said softly. Her concern was growing.
"Is Zwei okay!?" she suddenly yelled in a panic.
"He's fine," her dad reassured her. "Ruby, can you sit down?"
At least happy that her dog and family were all safe and sound, Ruby moved to sit in the chair between her sister and dad. She looked back and forth between them, not knowing quite what to expect next.
"Ruby. Yang tells me you had a picnic earlier."
Silver eyes widened, and she gazed over to her sister who merely smiled uncomfortably back at her. Ruby nodded. "Y-yeah?"
"With… your weapon," he continued.
She felt her stomach drop. So this was actually happening. Her family had gathered for some kind of intervention for her because they believed her to be a friendless loser who had to resort to picnicking with an inanimate object.
"Dad, it's really not a big de-"
"You know we love you, right, kiddo?" her uncle interrupted.
She did know that. And she would love it if they just dropped the whole subject. She wasn't a sad, lonely loser! She had a picnic with a boy! Fate had just conspired to prevent her from telling them that!
"I- I know," she stumbled, struggling hard not to explode with excuses over her behavior today.
"So I was thinking," her dad said. "We should all go to the arcade tomorrow. One big family outing. Qrow said he was paying."
"Hey, I said noth-"
His protest was cut short by a sharp elbow courtesy of Yang. Qrow winced and rubbed his ribs from where his niece had struck him.
"Yup. Said he was going to use all that lien he'd saved from his teacher's salary to treat us to a day at the arcade," Yang said happily.
"Clearly you've never been a teacher…" he grumbled.
Her dad smiled sweetly at her. "So what do you say, Ruby? Sound like a plan for tomorrow?"
Caught between three sets of eyes staring at her, all with some degree of pity, Ruby fought against the urge to flee in utter mortification. She couldn't believe that one little lie, one done out of good intentions, had resulted in this. Still, she couldn't avoid this. She couldn't run away. She couldn't protest. The proof was in the empty bag she held. She had gone on a picnic 'alone' today. Because they all believed she had no friends to go with.
Ruby sighed, closing her eyes and remembering that this was all for a good cause. It was for Oscar's safety and happiness. With reluctance, she nodded in agreement to their plans. "Yeah. Sounds… fun."
"Great!" her dad clapped with excitement. "We'll leave tomorrow morning. How does eleven sound? We'll grab some lunch when we get there, and then have a whole day of gaming ahead of us."
Normally that would have sounded like a wonderful time. It still could be. There was, however, and interesting question.
Would she have to leave Oscar all alone here for the whole day? Or could she somehow smuggle him with them so they could enjoy the arcade together?
Author's Note: Writing Ruby is always a treat. She's such a grade-A dork. I adore her.
As always, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it as much as the commissioner himself did!