Two days later...
He hasn't had lunch yet. Dear lord, he hasn't had lunch, and he is starving. The lien from the girl in red lasted right up until that street festival. The wolf faunus shivered, it was a terrifying coincidence. More time was wasted standing and thinking than going and doing. The boy wished he would take his own advice more often.
He looked around, trying to locate a suitable target. He was a bit worn down today, looking around trying to find someone's wallet to steal so he could eat. Sure, he could attempt to shoplift, but he was already conspicuous enough with his classical faunus look (homeless and miserable). Security checked him enough when he did legal things. He didn't need to have them catch him actually doing something illegal...
He spotted a tourist. A man in his mid twenties. He looked like he had cash to spare. Despite being an excellent thief, he didn't feel like using his skills today, so he prepared his semblance. He gathered up the energy in his surroundings- huntsmen call it aura, right? The energy coalesced, moving throughout his outstretched arm, aiming at the tourist's pockets.
He didn't use his semblance much since you never knew what random person off the street had as their's and that led to the possibility of getting caught and arrested. And to top it all off, the criminal justice system here in Vale didn't look fondly upon-
And startling him out of his thoughts appeared right in front of him- in a burst of rose petals- a familiar face.
Fuck.
"What the hell?" he jumped back.
"IT'S TIME FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT! MWAHAHAHAHA!" The devil girl laughed.
"FUCK OFF KID! I'M BUSY!" He shouted.
"HEY! LANGUAGE! AND YOU CAN'T CALL ME KID ANYMORE! MY BIRTHDAY WAS YESTERDAY!"
"YEAH I CAN, MY BIRTHDAY IS TODAY!" He shouted back.
Silence.
"Wait. Really?"
"Er... I think so? That's what my records said, last I checked, which was a while ago, bu- Wait. Your birthday was yesterday?" He asked curiously. She nodded with a groan,
"Ughhh, great, you'll always be calling me kid then…" she mumbled.
"Whatever, look. I'm…" he trailed off as he looked for his target, "busy…" His target was nowhere to be seen. He groaned and turned to the girl, "What's your name anyways?"
The girl with the red cape grinned, "Ruby! Ruby Rose! And you are…?"
He sighed, "Wynion."
"WELL THEN," Ruby points her finger at him, "Wynion, you are charged with the crime of stealing cookies from me! RUBY ROSE! HOW DOES THE DEFENDANT PLEAD?"
"Uh, innocent?" Well, he tried.
"OKAY THEN! For your crimes against Remnant, I SENTENCE YOU TO HELP ME FIND THE NEAREST WEAPONS STORE!"
The declaration of his punishment rang in the silent late afternoon. A few heads turned to stare at them. Ruby looked a bit uncomfortable, but her determined silver eyes refused to look away from his.
Maybe I can con her out of some more money...
"Fine."
"Why do you need to go to the weapon's store anyways?" Wynion asked her. She shrugged,
"Ehh… It's for a school project."
"I may not know much about school, but which one makes their students go to the weapons shop for a project?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Hunter school, duh."
"Oh. Right. Which one do you go to?"
"Signal Academy."
Silence reigned supreme for a minute.
"Hey Wynnie?" Ruby asked.
"Yes- what? What did you call me?"
"Wynnie!" Ruby replied cheerfully. He sighed,
"What is it?"
"You said that you were an orphan the first time we met…?"
"Yes."
The silence retook it's throne.
"Um… Is it a touchy subject?"
"Not really, there just isn't anything more to say."
"Oookay… So what do you want to do when you grow up?"
"Be rich."
"Is that all…?" Ruby asked tentatively,
"I wish…" Wynnie muttered.
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
"Well uh, I want to be a hunter! Though you could probably tell..."
Her eternal enemy, that damned silence kept slipping in. Ruby decided to pull out the .50 caliber guns.
"So how did you steal my cookies? Was it a semblance?"
"Yeah..."
"Cool, my semblance allows me to go reeeaally fast. What's- uh, what's yours?" She wasn't used to leading conversations around.
"I can steal small things in exchange for aura."
Okay then. Well, the time was now. No more beating around the bush.
"Do you regret your actions?"
"Uh. What actions?"
"My. Cookies."
"Y-yeah." Good.
"Do you swear to never. Ever. Steal my cookies again?"
"Uh, well… We're here."
Tricky meanie.
Talking with Ruby was like being forced into a hot bath (oh baths…). It was annoying, but the longer he was immersed with talking to her, the more comfortable it felt. Her annoying nature kept his mind off of his empty stomach.
For a bit anyways.
"Hey Ruby?" he asked as they stood in front of the building.
"Don't avoid the question." His stomach rumbled, and he gave her his disarmingly begging stare.
"Can we get some food?" he ignored the question. She looked conflicted. Very conflicted.
"Do you promise to never steal my cookies again…?"
Let it go woman.
"Fine."
"Pinky promise?" she held out her little finger.
"... Pinky promise." he took it.
"You also have to help me with my shopping!"
This time, Ruby didn't ask for permission as she grabbed and pulled him into the shop.
"Hello you two, welcome to my store. Need any help?" The man at the counter asked.
"Nope!" Ruby said, dragging Wynion through the door. He didn't try to resist, she was far superior in strength. The shop owner gave him a dirty look, which surprised the wolf faunus. It wasn't a look of: Damn animals are everywhere up to no good. It was a look of: Damn orphan is here to steal something. Get exposed to those looks long enough, and it becomes a sixth sense.
Ruby was breathing heavily by the time they reached the back of the store. He honestly didn't think he required that much energy to drag along, but-
"... So. Much. Stuff." she said eyes wide.
"You're into weapons?" he asked. Ruby nodded her head vigorously.
"Weapons are so cool. Everyone uses theirs differently, and the design reflects that. Bigger calibers mean bigger kickbacks, allowing you to gauge how strong or how much the person fires. Different weapon designs require different styles of fighting. Mechashift weapons bypass thisrequirementandtheyallowfordiversefightingstyleswhichdirectlyimpactsthedusttheyuseforbulletsand-" He slapped her upside the head.
"Breathe…" Ruby pouted, and he felt a strange sensation in his chest. His face twitched weirdly, and he released this feeling from his chest.
He giggled.
He didn't even know that it was still possible.
It felt nice. Listening to the weapon nut go on and on about weapons. So annoying, but it was really nice to listen to. Relaxing in a weapons shop and having fun. He wished the moment would stay forever-
"Here you go!" Ruby handed him a few trinkets and objects, "These are all the parts I couldn't build myself!"
He catches his breath and stops his laughter, "Ahem. Why do you need all of this exactly?"
"I'm building my weapon!" she explained.
"So what is your weapon then?" he asked.
"It's a mechashift scythe! Not only is it a scythe, but it's a high imp-mmmrph!" To his amusement, she tried to protest as he covered her mouth.
"Gotcha." Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't retaliate.
"Let's go and pay for my stuff!" Returning to her cheerful self, she removed his hand and led the way to the counter.
After paying for the stuff and getting some food (she paid for it, obviously), wolf boy and Ruby sat on a bench together. It was nice and silent, only to be interrupted by:
"Could you spare me some more money?"
Despite what others might believe, Ruby wasn't stupid. She knew that he was only sticking around her because she was giving him money. But it still felt nice to have somebody pay positive attention to her- even if it was just for her pocket change. That... actually made her sound like some big bad villain, but still... But Ruby was determined to make friends with him for real-
"Please?" she looked away from his face. She knew that if she looked into those eyes, she would do as he said (or worse, cry). And then, a mischievous plan wormed a way into her thoughts. She really was becoming a villain, wasn't she?
She tapped his shoulder lightly and used her semblance to gain some distance away from him. "Tag!" she grinned.
Wynnie was silent for a bit, then looked up, "What?"
She puffed up her cheeks, "We're playing tag!"
"Uh. What's tag?"
"You're it! You have to catch me!"
His ears twitched, "Why would I bother?"
"Weeeeeeeeell… If you can't catch me, you must swear off stealing cookies forever!"
"And if I win?"
"I'll give you five lien a week for the rest of my life-" he darted forwards immediately. She dodged.
"Too slow!" she giggled.
And so the battle began. He kept trying to catch her, but she always slipped just out of his grasp. She didn't use her semblance (much) to keep things fair. Once or twice, he pretended he was two exhausted to continue and trick her into getting closer. It worked, but she easily dodged him.
And it continued.
And continued.
It continued long enough that Ruby started to get seriously worried. He wasn't a hunter-in-training like her obviously, but she didn't think that the difference in skill would be so staggering. And he obviously didn't have her endurance either. Ruby was getting tired, but Wynion looked downright exhausted.
"Hey, Wynnie?" she asked as he stumbled around trying to catch her. He didn't respond. "Wynion? I think we should stop…" he lunged forward one last time.
He fell face-first onto the grass.
Ruby giggled a bit, then waited for him to get back up.
And waited.
"Wynion?"
He felt so tired. He's never been this tired before. Why was he so tired?
Oh. Right.
It was so pathetic. Honestly. It was fun while it lasted- but now that she didn't need to talk to him anymore, there was no chance of ever-
"Hey? Are you awake?"
That was her voice. Why did his head feel so nice? His eyes fluttered open. He was greeted with the upside down face of Ruby. His head was on her lap. And…
"Ru-" he coughed a bit, she put a bottle of water to his mouth gently, and he drank the water.
"Sorry if this kinda makes you uncomfortable. Uh, Yang always does this when I pass out after training with uncle Qrow…" she fidgeted a bit nervously, as she handed him the water bottle. He took a long sip.
"Were you… Petting my ears?" he asked.
She nodded, "Uh, sorry…? They just looked super soft and i reallydidn'tmeanto-"
"It's fine," he interrupted softly, "I just don't like it when people touch them."
He didn't like the reminder that those fucking things were there.
It was silent for a bit, a pleasant breeze wafted through the air. Ruby, with a guilty expression on her face. Wynion, lying there on her lap, listening to the birds as the sun set.
"You really needed the lien huh?" Her voice was soft, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used it as a way to-"
"I didn't want the lien…"
Silence became his second companion for a minute.
"You said… Every week, you would come to pay me the lien. I wanted that. In the weapons shop, it was so nice to talk to you. I laughed. I was having fun. You said every week. I wanted that." He closed his eyes trying to keep his tears in.
It was quiet again.
"Can... " his voice was trembling, "can we do this again…?"
For once, he doesn't fake anything. When he opens his eyes again, and he looks at her with desperation in his eyes, it's real. Even if he doesn't deserve it. Even if-
Ruby gave him a gentle smile, "Yeah. I want to do this again…"
And for once, all feels alright.
"... After you swear off stealing my cookies forever."
The wolf faunus has a name, and it's Wynion. I put silver in translate for Welsh and it said that Wynion is synonymous with silver and money I think. I think it's a lovely case of irony. A hungry orphan naming himself something relating to money... It feeds into the theme (not the exact word, but closest I could think of) I will be going for.
EDIT: I went back and looked at it, Wynion is synonymous with bountifulness and being rich, as well as silver.
AND WE ARE DONE! NEXT TIME YA SEE ME UPDATE, IT'S GONNA BE ANOTHER CHAPTER INSTEAD OF THIS ONE.