She blew on her hands, rubbing them together as she walked. Gathered in the corners of car windows, a light frost glittered and melted in the sunlight. Ruby tugged on her hood. It was through one of the quieter districts of the town she walked. Lots of nice apartments where the inhabitants had little gardens hanging outside of their windows and from their balconies. The buildings were so close here, there was barely room for a cat to squeeze through the alleyways. They were all painted in varying pastel shades.

Tucked away, between and beneath some apartments, was a small diner with a calligraphic sign above it. Sitting on a bench in front of the diner, waiting, was Ozpin. "Good morning," she greeted.

He smiled. "Good morning Ruby." He stood up. "Hungry?"

"Starving." They entered the diner. Green and pink tiles reflected the lights dangling from the ceiling. A couple of other customers ate at some booths, but the place was largely empty. The beauty of coming in after the breakfast-rush, but before the lunch-rush. They went and sat at the counter.

A waitress placed a couple of menus in front of them. "I heard about this place from a friend of mine," Ozpin told her. "I thought we could give it a try."

"It's certainly nice." She swung her legs underneath her. "I like how they have a tv." She pointed to it in the upper corner.

He glanced at it. "Indeed."

"Can I get you anything to drink?" the waitress asked.

"Uh, milk," Ruby said, glancing at the menu.

"Hot chocolate," Ozpin requested.

"You guys ready to order?" the waitress asked as she wrote their drinks down.

"Eggs benedict," Ozpin said, putting his menu down.

"And I'll have waffles," Ruby told her. The waitress took their menus and left with their order. "Have you seen that they've already started setting up for the Autumn Carnival this year?"

"I heard about it."

"I was thinking you and I should probably go check it out, once they got it all ready."

"Alright." The waitress returned with their drinks, setting them down in front of the two.

Ruby looked up at the tv as rock and roll started to play from it. "Oh, that looks cool!" She shook him by the shoulder, her eyes glued to the screen. A trailer for a movie played, in which a man wearing sunglasses dodged gunfire and blew up a building. "We should see that when it comes out."

He gave a strained smile. "If you like."

She caught it. "What? You don't like action movies?"

"My day-to-day life is plenty exciting for me." He shifted in his seat.

"Well sure, but they're still fun to watch." She mimed boxing. "Just seeing the good guys take on the bad guys, dishing out justice with a good one-two!"

"By blowing up a building?"

Her shoulders slouched. "Well I mean, it's just a movie."

He chuckled without opening his mouth. "I envy you."

"You do?"

He nodded, his eyes looking beyond, beyond where they were. "I envy your rose-tinted vision."

"Oh c'mon, there are heroes in real life like in the action movies. Right?"

He closed his eyes, and propped his chin up against his hand, that easy yet detached smile still on his face. "I couldn't say." He opened his eyes again, and his smile faded a little. "You're lucky, to have been born after the war."

She stilled, legs no longer swinging, feet dangling.

"Here you are, let me know if I can get you anything else," the waitress told them, placing their meals in front of them.

Clark retrieved his napkin, folding it and placing it in his lap. He began to dine, though Ruby hadn't yet touched her food. "It won't stay warm forever," he informed her.

She picked up her fork. "Do you... wanna talk about it?"

"No."

She looked away to her food. She pushed the strawberry off the waffle with her fork, the whipped cream melting and pooling. I'd never even thought about that. He'd grown up in a completely different world from her. They were always going on about how Ruby's generation got to live in exceptional peace. "I'm sorry."

His eyes flicked over to her, a bit of ham hanging from his fork. "For what?"

She cut out a bite of her food. "I wish I had more experience, or something. I've just realized how little I understand you."

A gentle smile formed on his face, and he reached up and patted her on the head, ruffling her hair a little. "I'm glad you don't have that experience." He ate the ham on his fork. "We may never see eye to eye on things, but that's not a bad thing. If anything, it makes things more interesting. So I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you." Clark sawed into his biscuit. "You're fine just the way you are."

The corner of her mouth turned up, then fell again as she looked away. For once, his barrier had fallen, but it seemed that there were still miles between them. A river, rushing and merciless. And Ruby didn't have a boat.