[Thread] Ruby and Speed

[notsomuchakitty]

Who: Ruby, Speed
What: Random outdoor encounter?
When: Nowish
Where: Outside
Rating:PG-13 (ruby's got a mouth on her)

Comments

[go_speedle_go]

Speed had needed to get out--out of his room, out of the castle, outside, simply OUT. So that's what he did. He walked out of his room, headed to the exit, walked outside, took a deep breath of fresh air, then walked off outside the perimeter of the castle and its occupants.

He hadn't been paying much attention to all the goings on lately, but he didn't really need to to know what was going on. It was always the same. Different story, same thing. Hectic, bloody annoying (and he's not even British!), and chaotic enough to give the Abyss a run for its money.

So outside it was. It was kind of peaceful out here. The forest was quite beautiful actually. He started walking down a random deer trail and was soon immersed deeply within the comforting sights, smells, and sounds of the forest. He'd never been a nature person really, but it was times like these that he could really think about changing that. Well, maybe not, but still. It was perfect.

EXCEPT FOR THAT! What the hell? he thought to himself. CSI to the core, instead of turning

[notsomuchakitty]

Ruby continued flying upward, going faster and faster until she was finding it a little hard to breathe. That had been quick. She hadn't even noticed a sonic boom. Maybe Paradisa just had a very low atmosphere? Or the castle didn't want them heading out very far. Whatever

[go_speedle_go]

Tim Speedle stopped short when he heard the next thundering boom. That time it had been different. It wasn't an explosion, but rather sounded like something large crashing into something else. The ground maybe? The sound sure did echo enough in the forest whatever the case may be.

He started forward again cautiously now. He peered around, shoulders hunched forward as he crept along. His hand hovered over the gun holstered at his hip, still being worn despite his Paradisa-invoked problem. It was habit to strap it on, habit to reach for it in time of danger. He didn't even realize he was doing it.

Another noise caught his attention. Speed stopped to listen. It faded, but something else twittered softly at his ears. He strained to listen with all his might.

He walked forward cautiously, extremely slowly. The noise stopped again. Then he heard the voice.

Sighing out a deep breath he hadn't even realized he was holding up until that moment, Speed relaxed and walked forward more quickly. His hand still hovered over his useless gun and

[notsomuchakitty]

Ruby turned her ears forward to listen for Speed. His smell was strong enough but she couldn't see him still. It was strange to see her with her ears forward. She very rarely did it because she thought it made her look like a pink Jackal.

A sigh. He was close. She dropped her ears back down and relaxed. He knew she was there, she figured he'd be there soon enough. For a second she sort of thought that she wanted to be alone....but then changed her mind. She wouldn't mind Speed's company at all.

She yawned cavernously to the side and quirked one ear slightly as he asked her what she'd been doing. Her form glowed, wiggled, and shrunk then changed into that of a small pink cat-thing with wings before she even really thought about answering his question. Not that the answer required a lot of thought.

"Blowing up trees. What are you doing?"

[go_speedle_go]

Speed watched Ruby hop from his shoulder before he bent down and picked up a small stone. He rubbed it roughly in his hand, turning it over and over between his fingers. It was worn smooth from the running water.

He tossed it up once and caught it. He repeated the action as he watched Ruby "fish." He tried not to react to her sudden change of appearance, merely blinking to adjust his eyes. It was hard not to smile though.

It was also hard not to laugh at human-Ruby catching a fish with her bare hands. It just would have been so much cuter to see the small kitty with a fish in her mouth, but this was almost just as good.

Idly, he tossed the rock once more then cranked his arm backwards. He aimed upstream, then threw his arm forward and let go of the rock. It skipped a few times on top of the water before settling at the bottom. Score.

[notsomuchakitty]

Ruby watched Speed cock back his arm and release the rock, sending it sailing and dancing across the water with little splashes. She looked fascinated. Nall could do that. He wouldn't teach her how. Of course she probably could have taught herself with enough practice but she'd never really felt the motivation.
Same with changing to human form with clothing. Before she'd very rarely used this form but after being stuck in it for so long recently she realized that it was a lot easier to not get dirty in this form. She was still in her smallest form the majority of the time but when she was doing something that might get her a faceful of dirt or something.

She looked down at the rocks beneath her for another flat one. She reached down and picked one up then handed it up to Speed without a word. She couldn't do it but it was fun to watch.

[go_speedle_go]

He chuckled lightly and smiled at her. Taking the rock from her, Speed also rubbed this one in his hand for some time. After a while he tossed the rock up in the air to get a feel for it. Then he cocked his arm back and repeated the throwing action.

He watched the smooth pebble skip over the water four times this time, and grinned down at Ruby. "My rock picker. Pick another one, lucky charm."

[notsomuchakitty]

Ruby watched his actions very carefully. Four bounces off of the water. Not bad. So it had been more of a wrist movement than an arm movement. Maybe if she watched agai--

His cheerful order jerked her out of her thoughts about the process he was going through to skip the rock. She frowned at him irritably. "Get your own damn rock!" she snapped at him.

But as she spoke she bent down and picked up a rock. Not flat enough. She tossed it. There! There was another one. She picked it and handed it up to him.