Well since volume 6 just finished(for free) today I decided to post this early. Chapter 5 is already done, as usual it won't be going up until 6 is close to being finished. I'm really surprised so many people like my garbage story, 73 subs so far is beyond my wildest expectations! Also surprised my shoutout got a response from the story's author, don't know how he found out haha.
Getting Ruby's amusing text she preceded to tell Nathan how her sister and Weiss were asking all kinds of questions about him. Ruby just told them Nathan was just a friend and the guy that spruced up Crescent Rose for her. She said they asked her other things but when Nathan asked what Ruby just answered "girl stuff." After a bit more back and forth Ruby said her goodnights and went to bed.
Nathan got back to the house/shop around 1 in the morning, coming into the living he saw his dad watching TV like he normally does on some nights. "Hey, you were out later than I thought you'd be."
"Yeah, Ruby was kinda drowsy so I escorted her back to her dorm." Answered Nathan locking up behind him.
"Did you get it in?" His dad said with a smirk.
"WHAT! No, she's not that kind of girl." Replied Nathan, his dad's question made him drop his keys.
His dad laughed that was soon followed by his mom coming into the living room. "What's with all the racket? It's one in the morning."
Nathan explained he was out with Ruby, the conversation devolved into an awkward and embarrassing lecture on safe sex from his parents. Nathan left for bed as soon as he could get away.
The next several days were mostly normal fair with some texting between Nathan and Ruby until Thursday afternoon.
"Hey Nate, do you have a lot of reference books? I got a report I'm doing on shifting weapons and I need a source. Teach won't let us use the internets : ("
"Yeah I got plenty in the shop, you coming by?"
"Ya, just have to get my stuff together and I'll be right over 😊"
"Ok, see you in a bit."
Nathan glanced at his neat and organized bookshelf, he suspected it won't stay that way for long. Getting some cookies in case he needed to do some Ruby-wrangling might be a good idea. Securing said sweets he mostly sat on BookofFaces as he waited until Ruby showed up, it was just then he realized he hasn't friended her on there and sent a friend request. He was surprised it was accepted minutes later, Nathan supposed Ruby was sitting on the bullhead already.
He didn't know Ruby had arrived until she knocked on his workshop door before opening it. "Your dad let come back here andddddd SOOO MANY GUNNNSSS!"
She was referring to Nathan's collection of weapons on the wall in the workshop, some he built himself, others he bought. He was somewhat stunned as well since he hasn't seen Ruby in her Beacon uniform before, he had a "thing" for school girls.
Ruby had pretty much forgot why she came to the shop in the first place as she zoomed from weapon to weapon looking at them. Nathan sighed expecting this to happen and then he saw Ruby examining his latest creation. "Be careful with that one, I'm still working on it."
Ruby hefted a chunky black and olive drab rifle with wires hooked to a laptop. "What is it, what does it do?"
"It's a pulse rifle(M41A), it shoots armor-piercing explosive tipped caseless ammunition along with an underbarrel pump-action grenade launcher." He said before picking up a grenade round. "I've only loaded it up with fire dust rounds, haven't tried others yet."
"Hmm, what's its melee attack?" Ruby asked as she sighted down the rifle aiming at something on the wall.
"Well I can probably beat a smaller Grimm to death with it."
"I suppose that's a way." She said with a giggle.
"Now before we nerd out you said you needed some books?"
"Yes! Anything you have on shifting weapons." Said Ruby as she moved towards the bookshelf.
She saw quite a variety of mostly reference books such as Dust for Dolts, The Grimm Encyclopedia and Jane's Smallarms of Remnant. Ruby fingered through a couple mostly looking at the ones with the high gloss color pictures. She finally settled on his beat-up copy of Atlas Mechatronics, that book happened to have a chunky section on the principles of transforming weaponry including some detailed schematics of some of the earliest known examples.
Ruby pulled some paper and a pen out of her pack and started taking notes, Nathan took notice of her rather poor and childlike handwriting including doodles. He let her do her school work on the shop carpet she decided to sit on when she started taking notes not wanting to interrupt her studies. Nathan munched on one of the cookies he brought but the crunching noises drew Ruby's attention. "Can I have two or twenty? I need brain food."
Nathan brought her the whole plate. "Want anything to drink?"
"Milk or soda please."
He retrieved a can of soda from the kitchen fridge as they were out of milk at the moment, a little caffeine can't hurt. Nathan handed her the ice cold can and saw Ruby had killed the cookie pile on the plate already. "Hungry?"
"Hmm? Nah, just wanted to get the energy in my veins." She said as she wrote faster and more illegibly.
Nathan sat down in a nearby chair and just messed around on his scroll with occasional looks at Ruby, he thought she looked especially cute when her tongue would stick slightly out the corner of her mouth when she was concentrating. Then Ruby shifted to working on her stomach with her legs slowly kicking backing and forth. This wasn't a "problem" except from the angle where Nathan was sitting, he could almost see up her skirt.
"Uhh, Ruby. You might want to move a little to the side." Nathan said slightly red.
"Huh, why?...oh!" She rolled at and angle away from Nathan when she realized what he was talking about, her face almost as red as her cloak.
"I'm sorry…I didn't see anything."
Ruby waved it away with a smile. "It's alright, it was my fault for not paying attention to how I'm studying. I've only really done it more causal around my team that are all girls so that isn't an issue."
"How is the note taking coming along?" Nathan asked trying to change the subject to help clear the lewd thoughts.
"I'm almost done, just a few more notes and I'm gonna take some pics for later." She says this as she pulls out her scroll and snaps a few pages in the book before getting up and sliding it back in the shelf. "Done! Now we can get our geek on!"
Ruby in flash snatched up Nathan's prototype rifle. "CanIshootitcanIshootitcanIshootit!" Ruby rapidly said as she clutched the gun in a hug-like embrace.
He couldn't say no to that face. "Sure, let me grab a couple mags and a grenade so you get to shoot both."
"Awesome!" She answered going to the indoor range.
Nathan showed Ruby how to load the pulse rifle and the controls including the digital ammo counter on the right side that read out as 95 rounds. She took aim at one of the beowolf shaped targets and flipped the safety off, a rapid burst erupted from the rifle shredding the target. She followed up with a couple more bursts and finishing with the grenade round sitting the targets on fire.
"Have you tried this on real Grimm yet?" Ruby asked.
"Nope, no live combat yet. Just some test firing on the range."
"Maybe we should do some hunting sometime and see how it is for real." Said a smiling Ruby.
"Could do it on a weekend if you want."
"Yeah, if I'm free this weekend we can go kill us some baddies."
"Sounds good, could be some decent training for you too."
"Yup, wanna get dinner before I gotta head back?"
"Cookies weren't enough?"
"I live off more than cookies you know." Ruby said sticking her tongue out at him.
Nathan snickered. "Ok, but we're having pizza this time."
The two left for a nearby pizza buffet restaurant, when they got to their table in a corner booth Ruby had a plate stacked with pizza like they were pancakes.
"Got enough?" Nathan asked eyeing the meal that dwarfed his own.
"Probably." She simply answered before digging in.
Ruby continued her usual method of eating: messily devouring. Slices of pizza were disappearing as quickly as she could grab them. Nathan just ate at a more sedate pace actually tasting the food. She even got another plate after the first.
"Do all huntsmen and huntresses have similar appetites as you?"
"Some, I think some people's semblances require more nutrients to work properly." She replied nomming on a slice.
"Hmm, I should read up more on aura and semblances. Come in handy if I every unlock mine."
"Well for that it usually has to be something dramatic, whatever triggers it is different from person to person."
They talked some more on semblances and finished eating with Nathan offering to go with Ruby to Beacon like last weekend, which she accepted so the trip wouldn't be boring. During the flight Ruby pulled out her scroll. "Let's take a picture together."
"Uhh sure."
Ruby got close to him and held the scroll away from them. "Smile!"
Nathan did an awkward smile at being told to do one on demand and because of the closeness of Ruby. She took the pic and shared it to BookofFaces. Not long later their picture got a comment which Nathan saw as well since he was tagged in the post.
"Oh Oum, Yang thinks we're dating. I think she'll try to kill you." Said Ruby slightly embarrassed and joking.
"Would us dating be a bad thing?" He asked very nervously.
"What!" Yelled Ruby with a blush.
"I mean…gah, I'm an idiot."
"I'm sorry, it just surprised me is all. W..we could try it….if you want." Ruby was very red and looking away from Nathan.
"Y..yeah, we can just take it slow, no rushing." Nathan was sweating.
Ruby suddenly got a mischievous smile. "Now I can hold this over my team." She goes and changes her relationship status from single to in a relationship. Then her scroll blew up from messages and notifications.
"Sounds like you'll have fun when you get back." Nathan smiled.
"Yeah, I'll be the only one on my team with a guy, though I think Blake might be seeing someone."
"Do I have to worry about your sister or is she just being protective?"
"That depends on how you treat me." She said smiling.
Gripes, bitches, complaints? Let me know.