zerotohiro | Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

[Theres a distinct difference between how Hiro presents himself to the outside world and how he presents to people he's comfortable with. He's always a mix of nervous and arrogant when he's trying to prove he knows what he's doing to strangers but here in Tadashi's lab with Just Ruby he's generating ideas faster than he can explain them and he's more relaxed than usual.]

It's hard to imagine you being really bad with her. I know you had to start out as being terrible but I've seen you wield her enough. Crescent Rose is like an extension of you.

[He pauses to examine his new drawing. A sword with a hilt designed much like Weiss's with a revolving base to accommodate the clip, trigger small enough just for his hands and a breakdown of how the daggers connect.]

So what you're saying is I just need to practice a lot. [Hes not used to having to practice to be good at something. There's a heavy sigh before he furrows his eyebrows together to change something in the design.] Maybe I'll finally go back into ViViD and run a game myself to test stuff out.

[It's a nice difference. She hasn't quite pinpointed all of the differences exactly, but she can tell that he seems more comfortable, and that's good enough for her. After all, this sort of thing should be fun; she's glad that they can have fun doing it together.

Or, well, Hiro generating ideas, and Ruby watching interestedly, eyes bright and grinning. She'll toss in ideas when she has them, but she doesn't really think Hiro needs them right now.]

Yeah, I was garbage. [QUITE FRANKLY.] Thankfully Uncle Qrow was able to help me out, and I got much better. Now Crescent Rose and I are partners!

[As you must be, with your weapon.

His looks...well, it looks like a great start.]

Practice makes perfect, and all of that! I bet Yang and I could practice with you too--it'd be fun!

[Its really all he could want in a friend, honestly. Someone who doesn't mind that he's working and designing and is actually invested in what he's working on. It's kinda like having Baymax but...different. He hasn't quite figured out what it is but he likes it. However...]

Your uncle's name is Crow? [He shakes his head] At least you had someone to help.

[He doesn't say that he plans on talking to Yang later to learn to fight, but he looks mildly hopeful at her suggestion.] Yeah? Maybe Tadashi can come with us, too. He has his gloves that he's still tweaking too. ...but not until I get better at this thing, whenever I finish building it. Just don't think I'll go easy on either of you.

Edited (Icon selection on mobile is hard) 2015-11-01 19:13 (UTC)

Yeah! I'm lucky that he uses scythes too, and he's really good at it. Like. Amazingly so.

[Thank god for that. What a sad series this would be with an incompetent protag. She could've been Jaune!! (Sorry Jaune.)

Either way, she just tilts her head thoughtfully at that.]

Sure! Tadashi can come too. I'd like to see what he can do, I think. [And, entirely earnestly:] We won't go easy on you either so that's perfect!

[Run the other way honestly.]

Then I guess the goal is to get better than him. [Because why wouldn't things be a competition. He's already starting to daydream a little about showing off his (imaginary, for now) skills for Tadashi and the girls.]

This shouldn't take too long to make this thing. We can test it out when I'm done. [A beat.] Tadashi said ViViD could be fun but I haven't played it outside of the game I met you in and the one where we were all playing the classics.

Of course it is! [Duh.] I'm going to be so good, when I walk by people will be like "whoaaaaa" and "can I have your autograph?"!!

[Sure, ruby, sure.]

But yeah, ViViD's pretty fun. It's not quite the same as fighting real monsters, but it feels pretty real, and it keeps us all in shape! Yang and I play it a lot.

It's a lot safer when you go into it voluntarily instead of when new people show up. It's always a little wonky when that happens for some reason.

In that case I should get mine now so I can be like "hey, I knew her before she was famous." […Hiro what. He seems to realize he's being kind of a dork because he promptly shuts his mouth and gives Ruby an unreadable look before shaking his head.]

Anyway. It probably gets weird because it's introducing a bunch of new code versus reading code it's familiar with. When new people show up you're introducing a lot of new coding and formulas and a ton of other stuff that its system probably gets overloaded? It's like trying a new food for the first time. You have all of your senses in overdrive trying to decipher how it looks, smells, tastes, and feels.

…either way? Maybe the four of us should play later. Two on two could be really cool.

Edited (SCREAMS WHY DID I REPEAT THE BEGINNING OF MY LAST TAG. ) 2015-11-03 21:27 (UTC)

Er-- [That was not the response she was expecting, that's for sure. She blinks at him in response a little awkwardly, before managing a weak grin.] --usually people laugh at me, but uh...really?

[She will totally give Hiro her autograph if he really wants one BUT YEAH OKAY FOCUS ON IMPORTANT THINGS. LIKE. THE REST OF THIS.

A-ahem!!]

Riiiight... because we're all code. Got it. Sometimes I forget, because I don't feel very code-y. I feel really solid, y'know? But I think two-on-two could work! Though Yang and I are preeeetty good at combo-ing. We're on the same team back home, so we get a lot of practice.

[And they spend time coming up with attack names like nerds.]

Fair warning.

[Way to go, Hiro. Now you've just made yourself look stupid. There's a hesitant grin as he lifts his shoulders in a fast, sloppy shrug.] Why not? [Yup. Playing it off and trying to be cool is obviously how this should be handled.] Anybody who laughs at that just doesn't know any better and they'll have to be surprised when you show them up. I'm, like, the last person who would laugh at that. [Hiro spent a good chunk of his time in school being picked on because he was different and too smart for his own good. It turned him into someone sort of awkward and sarcastic and constantly on guard around people he isn't always comfortable with. He would never want that for Ruby. Ever.

What a funny thought.]

I feel pretty solid, too, but Baymax is solid and mostly made of code. It's kinda like that I think. And who said you and Yang would be on the same team? That doesn't seem like a fair fight.

...Well. [She doesn't really know what to say to that, if she's perfectly honest. She wasn't expecting him to take her quite so seriously, but...it's nice. It's nice to be believed in. He says he wouldn't laugh at her, and she believes him; she smiles a little more shyly at that, and is surprisingly quiet in her response:] Thanks.

[Anyway, back to business.]

Ooooh, I see. Splitting us up! I'm onto you. [It's probably wise to not put them on the same team though, now that she thinks about it; after all, they're the ones who go to a combat academy.]

So then--you'll be on my team, right, Hiro? [Seems logical to her!! She may as well be on the team she wants to be on, and if she can't have Yang, she wants Hiro. She likes Tadashi too, of course, but Hiro is... well, he's Just Hiro.]

[He doesn't say anything for a moment, mildly stunned by the expression on her face and quietly contemplating something before deciding not to say anything at all. He can mull that over later.] Sure.

[But he smirks after that.] It's called thinking smart. We could totally crush Tadashi and Yang though. You and me? We already know we're a good team and if I finish this weapon we'll be unstoppable. Can you imagine the look on their faces when we win against them?

[Right. It's easier to think about the battle. Team battles are fun anyway, and fighting alongside Hiro and facing off against Yang and Tadashi sounds...

Well, terrifying, because Yang. But it also sounds like a wicked amount of fun.]

Yeah! It'll be like [Here she mimics Tadashi as best she can, deepening her voice:] "What, no, how could you guys have beaten us, I made this super cool talking dog-weapon-healing-bot thing!!" and [And then Yang, as best she can (which is admittedly a bit better than her Tadashi voice):] "Hey little sis, way to yang in there!"

[A beat.

She makes a face. Yang puns. Gross.]

...Ahem, so. Yeah, we should win.

[He blinks for a second before he laughs. It's hard to say if it's because of her Tadashi impression, her Yang impression, or because Ruby's just funny herself.]

I dunno. Demo's pretty sweet but definitely not his best work. [He's biased. Baymax is definitely a big reason to be biased.] I can't believe your sister actually uses puns that much. At least Tadashi's jokes are just bad most of the time.

[When he's talking about Tadashi, even though he's still pretty chipper there's a slight slip in expression to something more guarded and wary. Tadashi…yeah, he's still a little worried about him even though he's back. But the important thing is that he is back.] We'll come up with a good strategy and crush 'em.

[There's a pause as he stares at his notes. The drawing's 100% complete, all formulas written in his slightly scratchy penmanship but definitely solid. He knows exactly what he's doing now.] You don't mind looking at this thing whenever I finish it? You can help me test it out.

[Other than they won't have time because jungle adventures round two but they don't know that timeline, it's fine.]

[He is biased, but it's okay, Ruby agrees. Which she will prove by nodding in response, with a simple:]

Baymax is pretty much the best thing ever.

[You know. Aside from weapons. Because Ruby can never admit her beloved weapons are not The Best. And Ruby doesn't exactly catch onto the expression shift, though...she can at least tell that there's something different going on here.

She pauses, but ultimately lets him change the subject. It's fine. It's Hiro. When he's ready, he'll talk to her.]

Right! We're totally gonna win, but--yeah, of course! In fact, I'd be kind of offended if you didn't show me when you finish it because it sounds like it's going to be really cool and. I like cool stuff.

[Naturally.

No, please call her over at any time to look at your cool separate-y sword, Hiro.]

[His thought process seems to go a little something like:

"At least she knows what's up and that Baymax is the best."
"I can't wait to see what Tadashi and Yang have to say."
"I want to show Ruby everything I make."
"I think it's cool and that my stuff's kinda cool...does that mean I'm kind of cool? Does that count?"
"Eh. Whatever."]

I should have something put together in a few days...I need to make a new battery for Baymax before anything, just in case. That's also part of the reason I asked you to meet me here. I wanted to pick up some supplies to take back to the apartment to keep working. [He gestures to a back cabinet where he knows Tadashi keeps parts and tools.] Give me a sec and we can head back out.

[If you're cool stuff, Hiro, that means by extension she likes you too.

Either way, a few days seems reasonable to her; she nods thoughtfully in response. Besides, she has projects of her own she has to finish--Keimi's bubble baton, Kagari's brass knuckles (that are also a gun. obviously.), so there's no reason for her to hover, especially since he told her that he'd show it to her when it was done.

Good enough for her.]

Okay, sounds good to me! [Supply ruuuuun.]

And then you'll show me a bit about how Baymax works, right? I mean, he's super neat and that's part of the reason I want to know, but... [She quiet for a moment, musing.] You know how people disappear here a lot at random?

Well, sometimes their stuff stays behind, when they're going to come back... but then Baymax would be all alone. So--I want to learn, so that I can look out for him until you come back, if you ever disappear again for a little bit!

[...is that weird.]

[He may not understand this yet, but that's exactly where he wants to be.

Still, he's busy dumping stuff into his backpack as Ruby talks and for a moment he doesn't respond. At first it strikes him as a little strange because Tadashi would be around...but then again, maybe Tadashi wouldn't be. Tadashi's proven that he doesn't always stick around and does dumb things like getting killed. And it wouldn't hurt to have another avenue.]

That's actually not a bad idea. Tadashi and I know how Baymax works but nobody else does...and you're starting to work with robotics and stuff, too. It wouldn't be hard to teach you all of the basic maintenance work for him and his chip. [He zips up his backpack with the supplies before he turns to her, a thoughtful look on his face.] If you want, I can always leave him with you for a day so you can get to know him. He seems to like you.

[Yes, he's offering her a chance to babysit his best friend. That says a lot, considering how attached he is to him.]

[It's all something that stemmed from the thought being a little lonely. That was the first thing Hiro and Ruby had in common--they both disappeared once, and returned without their memories. Ruby can still remember how utterly distressed Yang had been when she'd found her again.

Obviously, this isn't fixing the root of the problem; Ruby doesn't know how to fix that yet. But it's fixing a symptom, and at least that's a start. After all, they have to look out for each other, and Baymax is important to Hiro.]

The basics should be good! I just wanna make sure that he's... y'know, totally 100% Baymax-y, no matter what happens! [~~like dying for awhile since apparently that's a thing you brothers do~~

The offer takes her off guard, though; she tilts her head thoughtfully.]

Huh...really? I mean, if you don't mind, I don't mind spending more time with him, but aren't you two best friends?

[She knows... and she doesn't think it's weird at all to be attached to your best friend, even if he is a robot babysitter.]

[If he knew her thought process, he'd be inclined to agree. Even without knowing he knows Ruby is smart and Ruby is good and Ruby only has the best intentions in mind. It's a lot of why this doesn't strike him as strange as it could be.]

Then once I finish the gunblade we'll do a crash course in Baymax 101. He's pretty easy to take care of once you know what to do. He's designed to take care of himself, too, with a few simple commands.

[He gestures for her to follow him though. Back out of the shop they go.] ...he's my best friend. But...we're friends too, aren't we? [There's a tilt of his head and he smiles suddenly, probably one of the most open ones Ruby's seen on him.] I like my friends to be friends with each other. And I trust you to take good care of him. It'll be fine.

[Baymax 101... that sounds infinitely more fun than the school courses here that Ruby no longer goes to because they have no practical application to her life. But being able to help out Baymax should she ever need to is 100% up her alley.]

...Good! Then that's what we'll do. [And with that settled, she can think more on the oddness of being offered Hiro's ~~babysitter~~ best friend for a day. 24 hours is a long time when it comes to things like this. Maybe not to other people, but for them... well, you get used to certain things, and changing them is hard.

She thinks about that, when he says that he trusts her with Baymax's well-being, and it's somehow a little awe-inspiring, except she doesn't know what to make of that feeling either. Best to just...answer. Yeah.]

When you put it that way, then... of course we're friends, and Baymax and I are going to be great friends too, and I'll look forward to getting to know him more! [In response to his smile, she grins too, sunnily and open.]

... Um, I'd let you borrow Crescent Rose for a day to make this more fair, but she's not really a conversationalist, and I kind of need her in case we end up in the jungle again. [She scratches the back of her head thoughtfully. Still, there's the implication there that she does trust Hiro too...even with her beloved weapon, because it's only for logistics reasons that she can't really let him have it for a whole day.] But... I trust you too.

[Hes very certain of that. He can't take it back and he won't take it back now. The idea of Baymax and Ruby becoming friends sparks something else in his chest. Like. It's weird, really, how comfortable and normal the idea seems and how it seems so obvious and why he never thought of it sooner.

Weird.]

Just don't freak out if he tries to hug you a lot or scans you for new injuries. That's part of his programming.

And don't worry about Crescent Rose. [And it's then the rest of the implication catches up to him. There's...a very light flush over the bridge of his nose and he quickly turns his head to open the door and hide the grin on his face.] I don't need her for a day to prove you trust me. But...thanks. That's. Uh. Really good to know. We'd be useless partners if we didn't totally trust each other wouldn't we? [Hiro shut up and open the door. And there it goes...and he even holds it open for her.]

I'll...definitely remember that. And I'll try not to freak out. Besides, Yang likes to give random hugs a lot too, though hers are less...scan-y and more choke-the-air-out-of-you.

[Baymax is totally cool by her, she can handle marshmallow hugs. Probably. Besides, thanks to her Aura, she basically never has injuries to really worry about.

He turns quickly, and she follows, smiling a little awkwardly. It was a weird thing to say, she knew it...but even so, she still feels pretty okay about things. Especially since now it's obvious that they do trust each other.

That's... fine. He holds the door open for her, and she pauses, bemused--until she figures it out and hustles through the door. Right. Okay.]

Um, right, yeah! It just makes sense for partners to trust each other, and since you're Hiro, it's fine.

[She means because he's trustworthy, but a lot gets lost in translation here.]

[This is breeching awkward territory for reasons he can guess but continues to miss the mark on, promptly ignoring what his head's trying to tell him and focusing on Facts instead of Feelings. Facts like Ruby's giving him a strange look for holding the door open, Facts like he usually doesn't do this for people, Facts like his backpack suddenly feels twenty-times heavier and his feet are glued to the ground, and Facts like he really, really need to go back to being a hermit for a bit to get back in inventor mode.

But he's excited. He's excited for showing Ruby the eventual product and maybe a little concerned about her critiques but...she's allowed.]

Wait if I wasn't Hiro would that make a difference? [That throws him for a loop, but he shuts the door behind them and works on locking up.] Forget it. [And now that they're outside...he scuffs his toe against the sidewalk and looks back in the direction of the residential area.] ...by the way? Thanks for showing up. [He needed the distraction and Ruby so far seems to be a good one.] Kinda means a lot.

Well...yeah. It'd make a difference. Because-- [Forget it, he says, and that's for the better because she's not sure what she was going to say. If he wasn't Hiro, of course it'd make a difference. She's made friends here, but she wouldn't trust them all with Crescent Rose. But Hiro...she trusts Hiro.

... After a moment, she just shakes her head, smiling at him instead. She'll roll with the topic shift. It's easier.]

Sure! You don't have to thank me or anything. You can call me aaaanytime, and I'll come by. It's more fun to hang out with you than to sit around my room.

... Or work, but when I'm at work, I actually have to work.

[Focus!!]

So um... yeah! You're welcome. I'm glad I could come.

[It's easier to roll with the topic change instead of fumbling over reasons neither of them quite understand. They have an agreement about trust and about each other, and that's good enough for him.]

Pretty sure you'll take that back if I ever call you at three in the morning. [He's been known to be awake that early working on stuff. Best to give her that warning now.] But I'll keep that in mind. Same goes for you though. I mean I like the room I'm in but there's still a lot of places here I haven't checked out yet. [He sort of flaps a hand in her general direction as if saying work isn't that important.] And I'm pretty sure working at work is more like a heavily implied recommendation.

Ready to head back? [They both live in the residential area, after all. Just makes sense to start walking together until they have to split.]

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