"Jaune's…?"
Ruby looked up at the sign clumsily secured over the door and front window of the shop and tilted her head to the side. It was a new place for sure, because she'd come down here last week for dust, and the shopfront had been boarded up. It looked like it was going to be a diner or a café, at least judging from the lights and tables she could see inside. Normally, she wouldn't have been too interested in that, or in going into a place like this on her own, but her stomach chose that moment to remind her of just how empty it was.
She clutched it with both hands. "Ugh..."
Stupid Yang and her stupid motorbike. This was all her fault.
Well, the new shop was conveniently timed if nothing else. Ruby looked around for her sister, and sighed when she realised she'd be stuck going in on her own. She hesitated, then mentally slapped herself in the face. Sure, she was a little socially awkward, but walking into a diner and ordering some food wasn't exactly a high pressure situation. Ruby checked her purse, grinning as she saw she had enough lien after her recent dust purchases.
The door was light brown, as was the front of the shop, with wooden panels leading into glass windows that took up most of it. As she stepped inside, a tiny bell tinkled over her head, and she looked around. The interior was well-lit and open, with about three or four round tables scattered around, and some longer ones against the windows, looking outside. There were stools and seats at then, but the counter was suspiciously empty of food.
There was also a blonde guy struggling with a large cardboard box. His blue eyes blinked as he noticed her.
"Huh, I thought the door sign said closed?"
Ruby's smile twitched. Her eyes shot back to the door, noticing that it said open, but quickly realising on the other side it would say closed. The side facing the street…
She hadn't looked! She'd come into a closed shop, basically broken in for all it mattered, and was now faced with someone who worked there, who was clearly busy – and it looked like the diner wasn't even ready yet. Her mouth opened. A squeak came out.
Oh, there's the social anxiety, her mind commented. It was quick to catch up with her panic. Abort, abort. Just smile and say sorry. No, run away as fast as you can, he'll never catch you. Or better, say something like Yang would. Wait, no, don't do anything Yang would!
Ruby's entire body shook as she tried to decide which piece of advice to follow and what to do. Her eyes widened, her lips quivering.
DO SOMETHING!
"Hi, I'm Ruby!"
Right then, right there, she'd never wished for a Grimm attack more in her life. Heat crept up her neck and to her ears, her mind already in preparation with an apology of epic proportions, and maybe a few rants she'd give Yang later for abandoning her. She'd never been so embarrassed in her life. This could not get any worse.
She should have known not to tempt fate.
The guy turned towards her and took a step forward. His leg hit a chair, and she watched in slow motion as he cried out and fell forwards, the box hurtling from his hands and rushing at her. Her instincts kicked in immediately. The awkwardness vanished as she surged forwards with unnatural speed, catching the box before it could fall and securing it on a table with a wide smile.
He, on the other hand, slammed face-first onto the floor.
Ruby stared at him.
He didn't move.
"Why did I catch the box instead of him…?"
Yang was never going to let her live this down.
/-/
"I'm so sorry," Ruby said, for what must have been the tenth time. That was fine though, since it just showed how much she meant it. "I didn't mean to come in and startle you. I'm really sorry!"
Eleven times sorry, in fact.
"Ha ha, it's fine," the blonde guy laughed. He was sat on one of his own seats, a pack of ice held to his face and a bit of a developing bruise on the skin underneath. With how fair his skin and hair was, the discolouration was really obvious. "It was an accident, and I'm the one who fell over. All you did was say hello."
Ruby let out a long sigh of relief, slumping a little in her own seat as the adrenaline wore off. The moment he'd collapsed, she'd shot into action – and then reversed before she could flee as her conscience kicked in and she reminded herself a hero didn't leave someone in trouble. Mom would have never forgiven her for it, so she'd bit her lip and gone back in to help. Luckily, she'd been able to find some ice in several bags within his freezer, and wrapped those in some table cloths. He had a lot of those lying about since the shop was new.
That he'd woken up was a good thing. That he apparently didn't blame her for what was totally her fault was even better.
"I didn't realise the shop was closed," she said. "I guess I wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry about coming in and everything."
"And I've told you it's no problem." He laughed and shook his head, then winced. "Okay, no sudden movements. I guess I'm a bit dizzy. Anyway, I should have locked the door, and I shouldn't have been carrying something heavy when I couldn't see ahead of me. Thanks for catching that, by the way."
"Oh, no problem!" Ruby smiled, happy to have been of use. "It's my job to help people. When I'm not making them fall over and knock themselves out, I mean." Ruby blinked as she realised what she'd just said. She slapped a hand into her forehead. "Ignore me. I'm bad at talking to people."
She always had been, and Yang's help hadn't quite fixed it. In fact, it had made things worse, mostly because of how Yang tried to introduce her to older people, and they were obviously only being friendly because they wanted to impress Yang. She'd only been able to make a few friends of her own because they were just as awkward, and they'd sort of just been lumped together for school assignments. Friends by default or something like that.
"Actually, I'm kinda the same," the guy said, chuckling. "I don't really know how to talk to people, which probably sounds silly since I'm opening up a café and I'll have to talk to customers. It's a bad idea, I know, but I just-" He paused. "And… I'm rambling again, aren't I?" He groaned into his ice pack, but this time it was in mortification. "I'm such a nerd. I can't even talk to a customer."
Ruby's head perked up.
Was he… was he like her?
"Do you start to talk about a random topic?" she asked.
"Yeah, and usually one that no one else is interested in."
"I talk about weapons and guns."
"I talk about what advice my Mom and Dad gave me." He looked away with a nervous laugh. "It's not always the best advice."
What were the chances? Ruby laughed delightedly, rocking on her seat. "Wow, I can't believe I found someone as socially awkward as me. That's so cool!"
"Is it, though?"
"W-Well sure, yeah." Not that they were both practically useless, but it was awesome that the guy she'd maybe almost gotten killed wasn't going to hold it over her head. "My name's Ruby. What's yours?"
"Oh geez, I didn't even introduce myself." He slapped a hand to his forehead, then cried out as he hit his bruise. Only when he'd stopped wincing did he answer her. "The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet and rolls off the tongue."
She wasn't quite so sure of that, and was about to ask – but for a different detail that caught her attention.