Shantania/Supports/LyniaRuby

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Level 1

Lynia seats herself a fair distance away from the split log at which Ruby devours her supper. Of all the women Lynia has met since leaving the Palace, this is the most confusing example. She does not carry herself like a woman, she does not behave in a feminine way at all, and she speaks as if she were a barbarian. And yet, she exhibits a strength that is rare among her kind. As she rips the last of the sinewy flesh from her haunch of meat, she almost seems proud, as if this is all that matters to her: steady work, money, and a good meal at the end of the night.

Ruby at last notices that she is being watched and calmly lays the bone from her leg of lamb on the ground. She stands from her split log, wipes her mouth on the back of her wrist, brushes her greasy hands on the leathery parts of her greaves, and marches to Lynia's seat. "What the hell are you staring at?"

"Ah! I, uh...I must apologize," is Lynia's reply, as she bows a bit. "I was just...admiring you from a distance."

"What's there to admire?" Ruby breaks her gaze, glancing to her left to watch her hound have at the remnants of her lamb bone. "I wouldn't think I'm all that different from most of the weirdoes you got working for you."

Lynia bows a bit more. "You have a unique manner about you, and I was merely trying to ascertain your nature. ...From afar...er, my lady."

"Oh, get up." Ruby claps a hand on Lynia's shoulder; already a more brazen move than most in her party would even consider. "Aren't you supposed to be some princess from some big kingdom from somewhere? Why the hell are you bowing to me?" She seems to have an epiphany. "I think I get you now. You used to be so coddled up in that ivory tower of yours that you never had a chance to meet big, hairy barbarians like me. Well, sorry to disappoint you, Your Highness, but the truth isn't as clear cut as the myth." She whistles for her dog. "C'mon, Bastion, let's get the hell outta here. Give the princess her space."

Lynia can't help but stare at Ruby as she trudges off with the huge hound in tow. This meeting has answered none of her questions, and only presented her with more.

Level 2

Lynia finds herself suddenly tensing up. At first, she supposes it's some kind of premonition, that the camp may soon be under attack. She hurriedly stands from her seat and turns around, putting a hand on the quarterstaff that she hasn't let out of her sight since her journey's start. But she stops just short of assuming her stance. "Ruby! I..."

"Hey, relax a bit, will ya?" Ruby again lays a hand on Lynia's shoulder. "Listen, I think I need to apologize for earlier. I said some stuff that...well, lemme put it this way, the Wagonmaster says maybe I was kinda rude."

Lynia at last feels at ease, sitting back down and laying the staff on the ground. "I don't mind."

"...Huh? The hell do you mean, you don't mind?" Ruby retracts her hand. "I thought you royals were all about respect, and that crap. You're saying you don't mind if I'm flinging cuss-words all over the place?"

"I've taken your words under consideration, Ruby. The fact is, you were right. I've lived in the palace for so long that I've not had much opportunity to meet the world outside." She turns around and looks up at Ruby, who wears her confusion as plain as day. "Please do not think that you need to become a different person in my presence."

"Well, damn, I must have read you wrong. I'd have thought you'd be the kinda person that'd put me in the stocks just for disrespecting you." Ruby turns to her side and whistles through her fingers. "Maybe you should meet my dog."

Ruby's huge hunting dog runs towards them and sits, with an expectant look on his face. Even when seated, the dog is nearly as tall as Lynia, who is utterly frozen.

"Oh, come on, Princess, he's not bad. ...Okay, sure, he drools sometimes, but sometimes that's kinda nice in the hot months." Ruby gives the dog a pat on the back. He raises a paw, as if to shake hands. "Give 'em a shake."

"May I respectfully decline?"

"It's not like he's gonna eat your hand."

"It's just...where I come from, a handshake symbolizes a lot more than a first meeting."

"He's a goddamn dog, he's not gonna care. Look." Ruby grabs the paw with her left hand, shakes it vigorously for a second, and lets go. "See? Just a friendly greeting. You're not bound to him, you didn't enter into a contract."

"Perhaps later, then, I can make it up to him..." Lynia stands up slowly. "I thank you for your time, Ruby, but I've places I must be. Until next time." She retrieves the quarterstaff from the ground and retreats into her cart.

"Well shit, she's not like any other princess I've ever heard of," says Ruby, glancing at the dog. "What do you think, Bastion?" The dog looks towards the direction in which Lynia left, with a very serious expression (for a dog). "...Yeah, I think so, too. Maybe tomorrow we'll have better luck."

Level ???

There is silence at the table, save for the sound of chewing. Ruby sits on one side, dutifully tearing into a leg of poultry and occasionally tossing bits of bone to Bastion. Lynia is on the other, but is merely staring at her plate. Her mind races to seek an explanation for her feelings, while her appetite lies dormant. After what feels like an eternity, Ruby finally speaks up.

"Hey. Princess."

Lynia merely gazes into her meal as if it may provide some answers. There are none, but this does not stop her.

"...Bastion, say hi."

The dog calmly creeps over (as quietly as can be expected of a dog his size), seats himself next to Lynia, and barks once, loudly.

"Aaah!" Lynia tumbles backwards from her seat at the bench. Bastion, seemingly realizing what he's done, lowers his head to where Lynia now lay, and prods her side with his considerable nose. Ruby drops her drumstick on the ground - which Bastion ignores, unusually - and dashes over to help Lynia to her feet.

"You have my gratitude," says Lynia as she brushes herself off.

"Are you sure you're alright, Princess? You've been staring at your food all night. Hell, I'm a slow eater, and even I finished quicker than you."

"As long as I've known you, and you still call me Princess?" The meaning of Ruby's sentence, and the obvious concern behind it, are almost completely lost to Lynia. "...Ruby."

"Yeah?"

"What...do you think about me?" Her face begins to flush, so she tries to turn away to hide it.

Ruby cranes her neck to maintain some semblance of eye contact. "Y'know, I'm not sure how I should answer that."

"Speak your mind."

"Well, look, you're royalty and all, I don't wanna wind up pissing you off and getting stripped naked and crammed in the stocks for my trouble."

"Is that...what you think?" Lynia bows her head a bit, as if disappointed in the response. Her curled locks drape over her face, blocking it from Ruby's view.

"Huh? No, I just...what the hell do you want me to say?" Ruby rests a hand on the table. "I could throw praise at you all day, but that's probably all you ever got back home, and it's not what you wanted from me anyway. I could be my usual honest self, but a lot of what I say winds up getting people pissed off at me, and you're one person I really don't want to do that to. Not when you pay my bills and keep me fed."

The tension is thick enough that an acrobat could balance upon it. Lynia sits back down on the bench, facing away from the table. "I don't know what I want anymore. I've been thinking about it all day. I'm still thinking about it right now."

Ruby has a seat next to her and drapes an arm - still clad in her usual leather bracers - over Lynia's back. "I think I've got an idea for ya, Princess."

"Hmm?"

"Sounds like what you need is companionship. You need a good friend that'll listen to every sob story, hang on every word, and at the end, not ask any questions and just tell you that you're a wonderful person and you shouldn't be sad about it."

Maybe it's the campfire smoke blowing in her direction, or perhaps it's the warmth of Ruby's arm on her back, but Lynia's thoughts are cleared but for a brief moment. She finally looks Ruby in the eye. "Companionship."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I said."

"Would you...?"

The ensuing pause would make a comedian jealous. "...Uh...mind finishing that sentence?"

"Suppose I were to seek a companion, Ruby. Would you consider yourself worthy of the task?"

"Hey, hold on just one damn minute! I didn't--" Ruby stops herself short, hoping to find a more diplomatic way to press the question. She raises a finger as an idea occurs to her. "...Okay, let me see if I'm understanding your thought process right. You're looking for a companion. Like, a permanent one, right? The kind you'd hold a wedding for?"

"Maybe not quite so grandiose as that..." Lynia holds her chin. "Perhaps, though...perhaps that is what I'm looking for after all. Of all the people of all the countries that have joined with us...perhaps you're the one I am the most interested in."

"Define 'interested.'"

"Well, I suppose once I think about it, a wedding would only be proper, wouldn't it?"

"I'm gonna stop you there, Princess." Ruby stands up, takes one step from the table, and turns to face Lynia. "Are you...SERIOUSLY...saying that you'd want to MARRY me?"

"Isn't that the only proper way?"

"I don't think I give a damn what's proper and what's not. Now look, I can be a friend. That's no problem. But as soon as you bring marriage into it...that just winds up being all kinds of goddamn wrong to me."

"I am not sure I understand why." Lynia now stands as well, and has gained enough resolve to look Ruby in the eye. "When I was younger, my father...well...he claimed to be my father..." She purges the unpleasant thought immediately. "He told me that he didn't care who I chose, where they were from, what they did for a living. That if I were happy with my choice...that he'd be happy alongside me."

Ruby folds her arms. "Well, that's good and all, but...I'm just not into chicks."

"I see." Lynia, too, folds her arms.

"But, uh...if you're into that, I suppose I'm not exactly one to tell you that you can't. Hell, when you said you wanted a companion, I was about to suggest you get a dog."

"I thank you for your input, Ruby."

"Dude, I'm not done yet," Ruby interrupts. "Y'know, Princess, it seems like every time we talk, I wind up learning something about you that just completely blows my mind. I never thought it'd end up with this." Ruby can't help but chuckle a bit at the realization.

"And yet...would you, too, support my choice?"

"I don't see why not. And hell...if you need a good shoulder to cry on, I guess I can do that too." She shrugs.

Lynia embraces Ruby as tightly as she can manage.

"Ah, hell. You're alright, Princess. I don't care what people tell ya."