#genexruby

Gene barely recognizes the poor man-- the mercenary did a very terrible job of waving his sword in Gene’s face about a week ago during some half-hearted attempt to kidnap Alex. Gene stalks out of the Chameleon.

“Ruby,” he calls tersely. “Ruby! We’ve got to meet Twinkle and Alex, we can’t be--” The clash of metal drowns out his words. Gene crosses his arms in a huff. “Make it quick,” he mutters.

Within minutes, Ruby has the henchman running for the hills.

“And stay away, you hear?!” she shouts after him. Ruby turns, breathless and victorious, towards Gene. He looks surprisingly pale. “What?” Ruby asks.

“...You’re injured,” he murmurs.

Ruby swings her arm around. A thin scarlet line streaks beneath the ripped sleeve of her jacket. It’s barely more than a scratch, hardly even noticeable-- Ruby’s got scars that would make Gene’s skin crawl. “This little thing?” she scoffs. “A slippery sardine could give me worse! I’ll just lick it clean--”

A shriek of horror and disgust escapes Gene. “NO No nO no,” he demands, pushing her towards the Chameleon. “The human mouth contains innumerable amounts of bacteria, and I will not begin to speculate on the hygiene of pirates. You are getting proper medical attention right this minute. I insist.”

Ruby allows herself to be escorted towards the vehicle with only minor complaints. She sits down gruffly on her seat inside. Gene busies himself with gathering medical supplies. He rants under his breath about how he CAN’T believe how she could be so RECKLESS and just RUSH into DANGER without ANY thought--

Ruby rolls her eyes. She shrugs off her coat, poking at the various bruises beginning to form. “I can take care of myself, you know,” she announces loudly.

Gene stops. He stiffens, and looks at her with a strange and guarded emotion Ruby can’t quite name. “That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point, you nervous narwhal?”

Gene doesn’t answer right away. He takes a seat by her and fiddles with cleaning wipes and self-adhesive bandages, mulling over his next words.

“You’re part of a team now,” he begins, taking Ruby’s arm and wiping at the edges of her scrape. “You’re part of a team, and that means you ought to rely on us, rather than rushing off on your own adventures. It means-- you have people who worry about you, and care about you quite a lot, and they’re not entirely sure what they’d do if you ever got hurt-- I mean, really hurt.” Gene hides his face and pretends to rummage through the med kit again. “...I believe they would find it simply unfathomable.”

Ruby has known Gene long enough to understand all this fancy talk is a roundabout way for him to admit his feelings, both to himself and to her.

“Hey,” she says, a little less harsh. Gene glances up at her. “Why do you think I go rushing off into danger so much?”

“Gold?” Gene guesses. Ruby elbows him.

“It’s not all about gold, you lily-livered nitwit. It’s ‘cause you’re always looking at your fancy little techno-screen when we fight. I--” Ruby screws up her mouth. “...I worry about you too, okay? I wouldn’t want that pretty face of yours to end up on the wrong end of a troll’s club.”

Gene blushes, obviously surprised with her choice of words.