Chapter 3: Just Yangin' Around
"So I said, "Now that's a katana!"," Ruby exclaimed as they reached the hallway. "Wow," Steven breathed, "my dad says I have to wait until I'm a little older before I can read stuff like that and Passions of Xanxor." "Anyway, here we are," Ruby said, gesturing to a plain white door. "Cool," Steven said. "So you like, live in a school? That is so cool!" Ruby looked surprised. "Have you never heard of boarding school?" she asked. "No, I've been home schooled by the Gems my whole life," Steven said. Ruby nodded, "so, just to be clear, the Gems are like your guardians, even though you visit your dad frequently?" Steven nodded. "Okay, got it," Ruby said smiling.
Ruby stepped up to the door and peeked inside. She entered, and motioned for Steven to do the same. "Don't worry, there's no one here," she said reassuringly. Steven walked into one of the coolest rooms he'd ever seen. When Ruby had mentioned bunk beds, she failed to mention that they were literally beds stacked on top of one another and held together with rope and books. "This is so cool!" Steven exclaimed, staring at the beds. "You guys have the greatest beds ever! How did you even get those up there?" Ruby smiled in a secretive sort of way. "The power of fast paced editing and construction sound effects, Steven. Now then, other than the bathroom over there, this is pretty much it for the room."
Just then, Steven was knocked over by a rather energetic ball of fur. "Oh Zwei, get off of Steven," Ruby said, only semi-seriously. "You're dog is so cute!" Steven laughed as the small dog excitedly licked his face. "It must be nice to have a pet that doesn't suffocate you if it lies down on you." Ruby looked puzzled. "Like... a bigger Zwei?" she asked. Steven stood up, Zwei in his arms. "No, I mean Lion. He's my pet, well, lion." "Wait, you have a pet lion?" she asked excitedly. "Yeah. He's not the most obedient, but he always helps when I really need it. Here, I think I have a picture of him on my phone." Steven put down the ball of fur and dug around in his pockets for his phone. While Steven messed around trying to pull up a picture, Ruby moved Stevens' bags to beside the desk where they'd be out of the way. "Oh, here it is," Steven said. Holding out the phone, Steven and Ruby looked at a picture of the pink lion wearing shutter shades that Steven had slipped on while Lion slept. "HE'S PINK?" Ruby burst out. "Yeah. He's really soft and cuddly, although he has almost suffocated me while I sleep a couple of times. Still, he's one of my best friends. He takes me wherever I need to go on his back." Ruby couldn't handle the fact that her new friend road a fluffy pink lion around, so she simply passed out. "Umm, Ruby?" Steven asked tentatively.
An hour after Ruby had woken up, she and Steven were still swapping stories about their very different yet very interesting lives. "And so," Ruby concluded, "using Weiss' glyphs, I ran straight up the cliff with the Nevermore trapped by my scythe, and popped it's head clean off at the top." Steven looked amazed. "Wow, your friends sound so cool. I can't wait to meet them," Steven sighed. "Speaking of which," said Ruby, "I'm going to call Yang. She of all people should be back by now." Ruby stood up and pulled out her phone, which she called a scroll, and began to dial a number. "Hey sis, what's up?" A loud and cheery voice said. "Hey Yang, just wondering where everyone is," Ruby explained. "Oh well, Blake lost a bet. So right now we're in town cause I get to give her a fashion makeover. And she is looking fab!" From the scroll, Steven could hear another, monotonous yet rather embarrassed sounding voice. "Yang, I really don't think these fishnets are-" Yang cut across Blake in a hurry. "Anyway, we should probably be back in an hour or so." "Sounds great Yang! Any idea where Ice Queen is?" Yang laughed. "Library, obviously." Ruby nodded. "Just so you know, we have a guest staying with us tonight, if you're okay with that. One of my new friends." "Of course ," Yang exclaimed jubilantly. "I can't wait to meet her!" Ruby all of a sudden looked a little nervous and awkward. "Well, you see," she started, rubbing her hair anxiously, "it's actually a guy." There was a momentary silence, then a blast of excited screaming burst from the scroll. "OHMYGODOHMYGODYOUHAVEABOYSPENDINGTHENIGHT?" "Yeah, so anyway thanks bye," Ruby said rapidly as she quickly turned off the scroll.
"So, we might as well set up your bed or something, at least until the others come back," Ruby started. "That's okay," Steven replied, "I brought a sleeping bag and pillow in my hot dog duffle!" While Steven set up his gear in the one unoccupied corner of the room, Ruby a simply watched. She was completely amazed by the young alien like boy she'd met. He was so, different yet simple. He's like me, if I were from his world, Ruby thought to herself. She eventually lost herself in a day dream about her and Steven riding the giant pink lion into the sunset, fighting monsters and laughing the whole time.
CRASH! The door to the room was flung open so hard that Ruby jumped and Steven was so startled he tripped over his own feet and landed face first onto Zwei, who simply yawned and went back to sleep. And into the room burst one over excited Yang Xiao Long and one deeply humiliated Blake Belladonna, who was dressed in a very large coat. "So!" Yang shouted triumphantly, "you thought you could just casually sneak a boy in here without any consequences?" She pointed an accusatory finger at Ruby, who simply groaned at her sisters antics. "Where is the little man anyway?" Yang asked, not looking down at her feet. Ruby sighed, "he's the shivering ball on top of Zwei. I think you gave him a heart attack." Yang looked down and saw Steven, still flat on his back looking up at her in mild fright. Yang grabbed Steven's hand and pulled him up. "So you're the young stud my sister mentioned," Yang said. Steven gulped, and nodded. "Well, the name's Yang, Ruby's way cool older sister," she exclaimed as she shook Stevens' hand. "I'm Steven," he said, begining to feel a bit more confident. He had a feeling that Yang was of the same mold as Amethyst, which relaxed him much more. "Umm, can I go change now?" Blake interrupted. Yang looked mockingly appalled. "What? Don't you want to show Ruby and Steven what you're wearing?" Blake blushed deeply, and ran straight into the bathroom. "Your choice!" Yang yelled after her, "but you still have to wear it for dinner tomorrow!"
Yang turned her attention back to Steven. "So, Steven," she began, "what exactly are your intentions with my dear sister Ruby? Are you committed? Do you have a stable income? How many children are you planning on having?" Both Steven and Ruby choked at the same time. "For goodness sake, Yang" Ruby burst out, "we only just met a couple of hours ago! Plus, he's only like thirteen, plus he already has a girlfriend!" "Oh come on, Ruby!" Yang sighed. "I'm just trying to help Steven feel more comfortable, yanging around with us." Yang started snickering as both Steven and Ruby rolled their eyes. Yup, definitely Amethyst, Steven thought. He turned to Ruby. "And for the record, I wouldn't call Connie my girlfriend, she's more of my..." but Steven was too embarrassed to finish his sentence.
"Well, Steven," Yang continued, "seeing as you don't have the favour of my sister, you have to pass an initiation test before I let you stay in this room!" Ruby looked almost bored and Yang's constant games. "Seriously? What are you going to make him do? Go steal all of Team JNPRs' clothes?" Yang looked excited. "Well actually, that's not a bad idea-" but Yang stopped when she got the look from Ruby. "Kidding, kidding," Yang said hurriedly. "Come on, Steven, I'll brief you on the way to the elevator!" Steven looked at Ruby, nervously. "Oh, you can always come back if it's too, well, too much Yang for you," she reassured him. Steven nodded, with a determined look on his face. He followed a snickering Yang outside just as Blake reemerged from the bathroom. "What was all that about?" Ruby asked her innocently. "Nothing," Blake said, "well, I guess you'll see at dinner tomorrow." She gestured to Stevens' bags. "So, what's the deal with all this?" Blake asked. "Oh, well it's an interesting story..." Ruby began, but was immediately interrupted by the door yet again bursting open. This time, it was a very irritated Weiss.
"Hey Weiss!" Ruby greeted her, cautiously. "How was the library?" Weiss looked at her with a look of the utmost annoyance. "Well, I had just finished my essay on the various properties of dust, when all of a sudden some low brow spills coffee all over my paper! And now by the time I get the removal product, the stain will be so big that I'll have to rewrite several pages of it!" "Oh, that's too bad," Ruby said apologetically, "but on the bright side a stain won't get in the way of such a flawless paper." Ruby and Blake both chuckled under their breath, Weiss, completely missing this, smiled arrogantly. "Of course, it is a well written paper. I mean, it's on dust after all! And who knows more about dust than-" Weiss suddenly tripped over Steven's backpack, which had fallen into the middle of the room. "What is this bag doing here?" She demanded furiously, then added "and who's bag is it anyway?"
"Well, you see..." Ruby once again began, but was interrupted by Yang reentering the room. "Hey all!" she waved as she greeted Weiss jovially. "CAN'T I EVER EXPLAIN SOMETHING WITHOUT SOMEONE ENTERING THE ROOM AND INTERRUPTING ME?" Ruby screamed, tired of never getting to explain things. The rest of Team RWBY looked shocked, and immediately sat down in a semi circle. "Okay Ruby," Blake said, "you have are undivided attention." And so, Ruby began explaining all she knew about the mysterious young boy called Steven Universe.
Just as Ruby was wrapping things up, Steven reentered the room. "Uhh, Steven, where exactly have you been?" Ruby asked. Steven stood there, wearing a spinning bow tie, his pants on backwards, what looked like makeup that burned fire, and he'd somehow grown an afro to rival that of Garnet. "Just where Yang told me to go," he explained. "I went down to Fort Port!"