Chapter Twenty: Day Out
"About damn time," Phoenix thought as he checked his email while the new door was installed. "Wonder if anyone else wants to go out…" he thought, sending a message to teams RWBY and JNPR. One by one they all declined. Reasons ranged from studying to training to simply having other plans. The only person who accepted was Ruby.
"So why are we going to the city?" Ruby asked as she and Phoenix walked to an airship.
"They finally finished repairs for a few of my favorite places. Figured I could invite some people to come with me. Don't worry, we'll do stuff you want to do as well," Phoenix explained.
"Sounds like fun," she said as they boarded.
"Jenkins, take us to the city. Standard landing, and don't fly like you usually do. There's no rush and I barely tolerate it."
"Who's your girlfriend?" Jenkins asked with a grin.
"What? No! It's not like that we're just friends!" they both stammered. At the same time Phoenix couldn't help but be a little disappointed that it wasn't like that. He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head and returned to the situation at hand. Ruby was dragging him to their seats while Jenkins was laughing hysterically.
"How do you know him?" Ruby asked, slightly annoyed at the man.
"He's the pilot for my 'job'," he explained to her.
"Thanks for the ride!" Phoenix called out to Jenkins as the pilot flew away. "So where to first? You let me drag you here so you should have the first choice."
"Well, I need some new dust cartridges for Crescent Rose, so maybe we could go pick some up," Ruby replied.
"Lead the way."
When they entered the shop, "Dust Till Dawn", The owner, who looked suspiciously like the janitor, cheerfully greeted Ruby. Phoenix was about to ask how they knew each other before he remembered the fight that got Ruby into Beacon. "Guess Torchwick did some good," he thought as he looked over their selection. "Hey Ruby, I was wondering what caliber Crescent Rose is?" Phoenix asked.
".50. Why?" she responded, curious why he was asking now of all times.
"No reason," he replied as he walked away.
"Alright, I think I've got everything. You buying anything Phoenix?" Ruby inquired after purchasing what she wanted.
"Yep," he replied, struggling to hold a couple large crates of Dust. He heaved them on the counter and breathed a sigh of relief. The shopkeeper gave him a dumbfounded look as he began the checkout.
"What did you buy?" Ruby exclaimed when she saw the crates.
"I'll tell you when we get out. Oh, and don't forget the magazines," Phoenix said as he pointed to the two copies of "Weapons Monthly". The man, still too stunned to say anything, checked out those as well, putting them in a bag.
"That'll be three hundred lien," the shopkeeper said when he regained his voice. Ruby's jaw dropped.
"No problem," Phoenix replied as he handed the man a card. Upon hearing this Ruby's jaw practically hit the floor.
"Sorry to trouble you, but do you think you can hold onto these for a bit. We're going a few other places and it'll be a bit hard lugging these around," he explained. "Don't worry, we'll be back before you close." The man simply nodded in agreement as they walked out of the shop.
"What did you buy? And how did you pay for it?" Ruby exclaimed once they were out.
"Oz gave me an account to help me pay for supplies and any collateral damage I may cause doing my job," Phoenix explained like it was no big deal.
"Won't people get suspicious if you buy a large crate like that?"
"Maybe, but I also bought a box of .50 caliber Dust rounds, so they'll think it's just another mass purchase." When she heard him mention .50 cal rounds her eyes widened.
"You did?"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure what I'll use them for. If only I knew someone who had a weapon that used them," he answered with a grin.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Ruby squealed as she hugged him.
"Calm down. We're attracting attention," he replied, blushing slightly. After she complied he said, "Now it's my turn to decide where we go."
"Wow, they actually improved the place," Phoenix said as he walked into the game store with Ruby.
"Wow…" was all Ruby could say as she looked around. Her attention was immediately drawn to something in the far right corner. A superhero version of the fighting game he and Yang had played at his party hooked up to a TV. There were two controllers with headphones attached to them as well.
When Phoenix saw it he asked, "Want to play?" The question was pointless seeing as she had already run over to the controllers.
The two of them spent about an hour playing. Phoenix was using a character who relied on gadgets and close combat while Ruby was using a character who had super speed. They were tied for wins, and decided to have one more round to decide the winner. Just as they were about to start it they were both turned around by someone. The new arrival made a gesture for them to take the headphones off. "I said put your hands in the air! Now!" he ordered as he pointed a gun at them.
"Are you robbing us?" Ruby asked.
"Yes!"
"Try not to damage any merchandise," Phoenix said looking at Ruby. She nodded in agreement before kicking the man through the window, attracting the attention of the other two thugs who were robbing the store. The hunters in training pursued the first thug through the window to bait the others out of the shop. While they tried to climb through the window the first criminal tried to get up. A quick blow to the head from Phoenix's staff prevented that. When the two thugs finally got through the window they drew their weapons. One had a sword while the other had a pistol.
"One each," Phoenix said to Ruby.
"One each," she agreed.
After the thugs were defeated Phoenix quickly went inside the shop. When he came out he was holding a copy of the game they'd been playing. "We never finished our match so I got this. Also gave him a check that should cover the repairs. Part of the account is for collateral remember," he explained to Ruby. Before they could continue their conversation a familiar face walked out from a nearby store.
"Why is it this crap only happens to me?" Detective Grant groaned when he saw the mess in front of him.
"I can't believe we're doing this again," Glynda said with an exasperated tone. Across from her were Ruby and Phoenix. They were in the same room as Ruby was when she got invited to Beacon.
"They pointed guns at us. What were we supposed to do?" Phoenix responded.
"As long as you aren't some sort of vigilante we won't have a problem," Grant stated. Phoenix tensed slightly at this. Grant narrowed his eyes. "Now just tell us what happened."
"'Just tell us what happened' my ass. We were in there for hours," Phoenix groaned as they left the police station "Sorry about that. I should've known he'd notice me tense up like that." When he said this Ruby gave him a confused look. "His semblance is controlled sensory enhancement. If he wants to, he can greatly improve things like sight or hearing. Useful when he's interrogating someone; not useful when a flash bang goes off in his face." He chuckled at the memory of some of Grant's reactions to sensory overload. "Anyway, I don't know about you but I'm starved. You want to get something to eat," he asked. Just as he finished, Ruby's stomach began to growl. "I'll take that as a yes."
"And what would you like sir?" the waitress asked.
"Four sides of fries and a lemonade," Phoenix answered. His order caused her to give him a strange look and Ruby to start laughing.
"What's so funny?" he asked her with fake annoyance as the waitress walked away.
"Who orders just fries?" she responded.
"This coming from the girl who ordered cookies and a strawberry milkshake," Phoenix countered. They spent the next couple hours talking. Ruby telling Phoenix about her antics with team RWBY, and Phoenix telling her about his work as The Flaming Shadow in third person, particularly his history with Detective Grant and the many times he'd gotten both into and out of trouble because of Grant's semblance. When they weren't doing that they were just joking around. Phoenix seemed to astound her when he asked for more after eaten four plates of fries. Eventually they were forced to leave because of how late it was getting.
"You know, this was fun," Ruby said. She and Phoenix were sitting on a bench near the landing pad they were meeting with Jenkins at.
"Agreed. We should do this again sometime. Not the whole people trying to rob us part, but the other part," Phoenix replied, still tired from carrying the dust crates all the way to the landing pad. Before they could continue they heard an engine roaring above them.
"Hey Ruby," Phoenix said as he closed the magazine he'd been reading to keep himself distracted during the flight. "There's been something I've been meaning to tell you for a while, I just haven't known how or when to say it. Honestly I'm still not, but hey, can't wait forever," he said with a nervous laugh. "Alright, enough stalling. Ruby, I love you." He looked over at her to see her reaction, only to see she was asleep. He sighed, shaking his head.
When Phoenix knocked on team RWBY's door Yang flung it open almost immediately. "So how was my baby sister's first da-!" she asked, stopping when she saw that Phoenix was carrying a sleeping Ruby. Once he put Ruby in her bed he told Yang,
"I'll be back in a few minutes. I wasn't able to carry Ruby's stuff because… well you know," blushing slightly as he said the last part.
When Yang saw the Dust crate with her jaw dropped. "How did she-?" she stammered.
"I payed for the crate. Ruby got this," Phoenix replied as held up a bag with a couple mags for Crescent Rose.
"Wow. Remind me to take you out on a date sometime," Yang joked.
"For the last time it's not like that," he declared in a cross between yelling and whispering. "Unfortunately," he added in his head.
"Well, night," Yang said to him as she closed the door.
As Phoenix walked back to his room with the crate two things were going through his head. The first being, "I wonder if Ruby heard anything I said, and if she feels the same," the second being, "Shit this crate is heavy."
First chapter to focus on the two of them in a while. Sorry for the large amount of breaks, but there were a lot of scene changes. On the off chance you couldn't guess, they were playing Injustice 2 as Batman and Flash. If you have any ideas let me know, and thanks for reading!
