Lovely (Ruby x Dyrroth)

seventeen

Now it was her turn to blink. 'You don't get it?'

'No, I don't.'

She remained solemnly quiet for a second. Then, she said, 'It means, we need help from our friends who aren't in the Abyss. Lesley, for example. And Harith.'

Ruby wondered if she'd only imagined Harley stiffening. Probably not, she thought with a smirk. 'Harith?' asked Harley nervously, fidgeting.

Would it be safe to tell this guy he's being really obvious? 'Uh, yeah, Harith. Why?'

'Wh-Why Harith?' He looked away shiftily. 'You don't hang around him that much.'

Ruby smirk broadened. My God, he's way too obvious. 'Because...he very clearly cares about you?'

Harley's cheeks flushed. It was satisfying. He kept bullying her about Dyrroth, so she had every right to bully him back, didn't she?

'For the hundredth time.' Kagura's exasperated voice drew their attention. 'Can we not get distracted?'

'Right,' she muttered. 'So...we need help from our other friends. How do we get into contact with them?'

'I don't know...' murmured Kagura thoughtfully. 'Do you think we can trust Dyrroth with it?'

Harley cast a pointed look in her direction. 'We seem to be entrusting a lot of things to Dyrroth, don't you think?'

'It's not like we have any other choice.' Ruby couldn't keep the irritation out of her voice.

'Fine, fine. But how are we gonna...'

'Lesley's house is pretty near Ruby's village,' said Kagura quietly. 'If we tell him to pass the message to Lesley-'

'Lesley will shoot him in the head,' Harley finished.

'Yeah. Exactly.'

For a few minutes that felt like hours, all three of them were silent, thinking hard. Ruby frowned, looking at Harley. Among the three of them, he was definitely the best at disappearing without being noticed, right?

A brilliant idea crossed Ruby's mind. Her eyes lit up.

'Guys,' she said brightly, 'I've got a great idea.'

---

In the afternoon, Ruby lay in her cell, absorbed in thought. These days, all she could think about was getting out of here. She really wanted to leave this hellhole, but strangely, at the same time, she sort of didn't want to, either. She wondered why. Actually, she probably knew it was because of Dyrroth, but didn't want to admit it anyway. There was no point trying to deny that if she escaped, she would miss him.

Ruby shook herself. She didn't want to think about that. Not now.

Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing a familiar tall figure with pale, slightly curly blond hair. Speak of the devil. For whatever reason, Ruby was struck by a sudden thought. If Dyrroth looked handsome when it was dark, words couldn't describe how amazing he looked in broad daylight.

'Um...Ruby?' Confusion briefly flitted across Dyrroth's face. 'What's wrong?'

It took her a while to realise she was staring. 'Oh! Er, nothing. Hi.'

Ha ha, very professional.

For a few more seconds, Dyrroth looked at her with concern, not saying anything. Ruby coughed awkwardly, inwardly hissing at herself to do something. 'So, um...what's up?' she asked Dyrroth, trying to act casual as she leaned her elbow on the bars of her cell and propped her chin on her hand.