Dark Rose
Chapter 8: The "Not-Date"
Jett and Ruby walked through the courtyard in silence, Ruby's hood covering her face. "So...what books were you thinking about getting? Jett asked, trying to break the silence. "T-the good kind.." Ruby muttered. "Are you still hung up on what Yang said?" "Mmhm." Jett scratched his head, laughing slightly. "You know, it doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to? Yang was the one who said that, not us." Jett explained. Ruby cast off her hood, showing that she was still blushing. "Well, maybe I want it to be a d-d-date.." she said quietly. "What was that, Ruby? I didn't hear you." She blushed even harder, slowly turning the same shade as her hood. "I-I s-said that m-maybe I want i-it to be a d-date.." She repeated, further turning crimson. Jett took a step back, and looked at Ruby, suprised. "Really?" he asked. She silently nodded. Jett shrugged, and gave Ruby a wide smile. "Well, if that's what you want, then what you want it shall...be?" Jett said, looking confused. "What?" she asked, letting out a small chuckle. Jett shook his head. "I'm saying yes, let's make it a date. And, if you don't want to tell anyone about it, I'll keep it under wraps." he smiled, givng her a thumbs up. "Thank you, Jett.." she said, her cheeks returning to normal. "Let's head for the bulkhead." Jett said, grabbing her wrist, and leading her in the direction of the station.
...
After a very talkative ride into Vale, the two teens finally arrived at the station in Vale. "So, where do you want to go, Ruby?" Jett asked, taking out his Scroll. 3:45pm. She turned on her heel, and gave Jett an unsure look. "Hmmmmmmm, not sure..." she muttered, looking around. "Say, weren't you going to get some books on leadership, or something?" Jett reminded her. "Oh yeah!" "Tukson's Book Trade?" he asked. "Yup!" "Lead the way, Miss Rose." Jett said, moving into a small bow. Ruby blushed slightly, then began to lead him the shop. "So, where are you from?" he asked. "On an island called: Patch. It's a little ways off the coast of Vale." she answered, looking at him. "Where you from?" "Here." he answered, simply. "No, but where?" "In that alley, right there." he said jokingly, pointing to the nearest alleyway. Ruby looked at him suprised. "You were raised on the streets?" Jett looked away, and at the nearest shop. I suppose Ruby is trustworthy enough. I guess I could tell her. Jett thought, looking extremely interested in some Dust jewlery in the window in front of him. Jett sighed, and then told Ruby the story. ... "...and that's the gist of it." Jett finished explaining. "Oh wow. It must have been hard to survive this long." "...yeah." "And you said that you found your sister during the entrance exam, and she told you the real story?" Ruby asked, looking concerned. "...yeah." Jett answered, quietly. She hugged him suddenly, and held tight. This shocked Jett at first, but he put his arms around her and hugged back. She let go, and blushed, suddenly finding the ground interesting. "Why'd you hug me?" he asked. "It just seemed like you were sad. So, I wanted to make you happy." she explained, smiling slightly. Now it was his turn to blush. "A-anyways, is this the store here?" he asked, trying to change the subject before she sees him get any redder. She looked around, and spotted the store. "There!" she exclaimed, pointing to a brown building with a gold facade. In golden marquee, in one of the glass windows, it said: "Tukson's Book Trade: Home to Every Book Under the Sun!" Ruby grabbed Jett by the hand, and led him into the shop.
The shop door opened with a ring from a hidden bell. Jett was met with the musty smell of books, which hit him with a memory like a ton of bricks. Autumn leaves falling from a tall oak. Curled up against a woman, listening to her melodic voice read the Tale of the Two Brothers from a hardback. The musty smell of the ancient book filled the air. Looking up, he saw a blank face with long-flowing silver hair, with pink streaks . The woman tilted her head slightly, and he could feel her smile radiating through the haze. Mom...? "Jett...I love you, sweetie." "Jett! "Jett, snap out of it!" Jett snapped back into reality, and saw Ruby in front of him shaking his shoulders. He had apparently collapsed on the floor, and the owner had his Scroll in his hand, ready to call for help. "Yeah...I'm fine. Just a memory..." he answered quietly. Jett got back to his feet, and dusted himself off. He waved down the owner. "I'm fine. No need to call anyone." The owner put his Scroll back into his pocket, shrugged, and headed into the back again. Ruby sighed. "Jeeze, Jett. And here I thought I was going to have to drag you out, and keep shopping without you." she giggled. "Yeah, thanks alot." he said sarcastically. "Let's see if some of those books you wanted were here, Ruby."
...
The two searched through the shelves of the Non-Fiction section, looking for any hint of a good leadership book. After several minutes, they both gave up, and went into the fiction section and started looking through the shelves. "Ooh, this one is about dragons! I'd love to fight one, one day." Ruby excited squealed. "Ruby, dragons aren't real. You know that." Jett laughed. "At least let me dream, you meanie.." she whimpered. He pulled out a thick, leatherback book that had collected dust in the back of the shelf. He flipped it on it's back, and blew the dust off it. The title was now visible: Tale of the Two Brothers. Jett winced, expecting another flashback to come up, but it never did. Ruby noticed that he grabbed a book, and came over to look at it. "Ooooh, I love that book!" she exclaimed, smiling wide. "Well, why don't I read it to you then?" Jett offered. She smiled, and nodded. The two of them found a nook in the front of the shop with a wicker chair, large enough for the both of them to sit together. "Get comfortable." he recommended. They both sat down, and Ruby nestled into the confines of his side, curling up slightly and wrapping an arm around him, the other resting on his hip. She blushed faintly. "I-is this fine?" she asked nervously. "Yeah, t-this is good." he stuttered, opening up the book with one hand, the other draped around Ruby's shoulder.
"Ahem." Jett cleared his thoat, and flipped to the first page. "Two brothers were formed from the Dust. The eldest, the God of Light, found joy in creating the forces of life. Whereas, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. The two brothers often quarreled, and had different ideas on how the world should be. The eldest would spend the day creating water, plants, and wildlife. At night, his brother would wake up to find all that the elder had made, and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought fire, drought, and famine-all that he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returned, in one way or another." Jett read. He paused for a moment, scratching his nose with his arm that he had around Ruby. He put his arm back around her, and continued on."One night, the younger brother went and made something-something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything, and everything: The Creatures of Grimm. The God of Light had finally had enough. Knowing that the feud couldn't last forever, he proposed that they make one final creation, togther. Something that they could both be proud of: their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to create, and destroy. it would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself, and the world around it. But most importatly, it would be given the power to choose. To have free will. To take everything it had learned, and to choose which path it would follow: The path of Light, or the path of Darkness. And that, is how humanity came to be."
Jett finished, closing the book with his right hand. He felt rhythmic breathing coming from Ruby. Looking down, he found Ruby asleep, her head resting against his chest. Jett smiled. He looked around. the shop was mainly deserted, at this point. The owner sat with his feet up behind the counter, engrossed in his own book that he was reading. Jett looked out the window. The sun started it's descent from the sky, ducking down behind the tops of the buildings. The hustle of the city died down, fewer people walked Main Street than when him and Ruby came in. A tall, blonde figure moved across the window, blocking his view. Jett refocused, and saw Yang with his back to the window, talking to someone else. He looked out a bit more, and saw her talking to a tall, dark beauty with golden eyes: Blake. Jett sunk further into the seat, and out of view. Through the wicker, he saw Yang straighten up a bit, then switch places with Blake. She could now look in the window while she was talking to her partner. Jett peeked out a little, and caught Yang's gaze. She gave him a small smile, and winked, as if to say: "I got this." Jett sighed, and sank back into his chair. Yang motioned for Blake to follow her, and they left the store front.
"Ruby, wake up." Jett whispered, gently nudging her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open, before closing again. "C'mon, you need to wake up." he insisted. She groaned. "Five more minutes...This pillow is so comfy..." she muttered, squeezing Jett tighter. "Ruby, your pillow is me." Jett stated. "Shhh...be quiet, comfy pillow..." she whispered. He sighed. "I guess I'll take a nap, too..." he trailed off, letting his head hang. Within minutes, he was dozing off alongside a sleeping Ruby.
...
"You two need to get up, we're closing." a voice said through the haze of Jett's sleep. "Hey!" "Wake the hell up!" A light slap struck him in the face, snapping him awake. He looked around, and saw the owner standing over him with a scowl on his face. Jett pulled out his Scroll, and looked at the time. 8:36pm. "Shoot. I'm sorry, we'll leave right away." Jett apoligized. He shook Ruby by the shoulder. "Ruby, you need to wake up. Ruby, wake up: The shop is about to close." Her eyes opened, and her silver eyes looked up at Jett, then at the shopkeeper standing over them. "Take it someplace else, lovebirds." the owner said, walking away from them. Ruby took another look at Jett, and saw that she was resting on his chest. Jumping up, she covered her face with her hands, her face turning the same colour as her hood. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned. Ruby just shook her head, and ran out of the shop. "Wait!" he shouted. Great. Now I have to chase after her. he thought. He ran out the door, and saw her ducking into an alleyway across the street. "Ruby!" Jett shoutted, as she disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.
"Damn it, where did she go?" Jett muttered to himself. Down Main Street he ran, checking every alley he passed for any sign of a red hood. For the next 15 minutes, he ran and checked, looking for Ruby. "She might have just went back to Beacon..." Jett sighed. "Damn, what did I do wrong...?" Hanging his head, he turned around and headed for the station. *Swoosh* What the- A figure suddenly appeared behind him in a plume of rose petals. She had her red hood pulled over her face, staring at the ground: Ruby. "I-I'm sorry for running out!" she exclaimed, casting her hood off her head, looking Jett in the face. Jett sighed. "Let's go over here and talk." he said, pointing to a fountain in the middle of an abandoned courtyard. She reluctantly nodded, and walked over with him.
The two of them sat down on a bench in front of the fixture. Jett looked her over, and he could tell that she was uncomfortable, fidgeting in her seat. "I really am sorry!" Ruby apologized. "I didn't mean to run, but Tukson put us on the spot, and...and..." she trailed off, blushing again. "Ruby, is this the first date you've been on?" Jett asked directly. She gave a surprised look, and blushed even harder. "Y-y-yes..." She said quietly. "If you were uncomfortable with this then-" Jett started. "But I wanted to!" "Huh?" Ruby looked down at her hands. "I...wanted to come with you, to see if I would like it.." She said. Ruby looked up at him, silver eyes gleaming in the artificial lights around them. "Jett, you're charming, and you treat me nice." "Apparently, I'm a comfy pillow, too." he chuckled. She laughed slightly, sighing. "Yeah, there's that.." she said. "I want to do something like this again." "With me?" Jett asked, cracking a grin. Ruby acted like she was thinking. "I was thinking of maybe taking Weiss, or Jaune..." she said playfully. "You tease." Jett said, laughing. Ruby smiled. "Yes, with you." she answered. The two got up from the bench. "Let's head back." Jett recommended. Ruby smiled nodded, blushing slightly. He offered his hand, and she took it. Ruby and Jett made their way back to the station, hand in hand.