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Ruby wasn’t sure what to do. As of late, Oscar would get so red in the face whenever she got too close to him, sometimes even going as far as to look away.
Ruby decided to seek out someone who knew Oscar well to answer her question.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Nora responded when Ruby presented the facts. “He’s allergic to you!”
“Really?!” Ruby gasped. This was news to her. She’d need to fix this if she ever wanted to hang around Oscar again without feeling guilty.
“Yeah! Why else would he get so red when you’re close?”
“Oh dear,” Ruby muttered, tugging the ends of her hair as she thought, “it must be some soap I’m using.”
“I would recommend finding out what he’s allergic to first.”
“How do I go about that?”
And that was how Ruby ended up in a closed room with Oscar, sitting him in a chair in the middle of the floor, and grabbing a notepad. Oscar seemed awfully nervous, and who wouldn’t be—being locked in a room with someone you’re allergic to.
“Umm, R-Ruby? What’s going on?”
But Ruby knew better than to let Oscar know why she’d brought him there. As Nora had warned her, sometimes allergies are a mental game. She would just have to see Oscar’s raw reactions.
Ruby looked down at the checklist on her notepad. First: clothes.
Ruby grabbed one of her freshly washed shirts from her wardrobe and threw it at the boy’s face, making him yelp. “Smell that,” Ruby commanded, sitting on her bed and watching his reaction carefully.
When Oscar took the shirt off his face, he was a deep shade of red. “W-what is going on?” he gasped, trying and failing to hide his shaking.
“Drat,” Ruby muttered, checking off clothes on the list of things Oscar could be allergic to. She scribbled a note next to it: try different detergent.
“Okay,” Ruby continued, ignoring Oscar’s question. She approached Oscar and knelt in front of him, to which he leaned back as far as he could in his chair. She ducked her head in front of him and instructed, “Smell my hair.”
“Ruby, I-I—“
“Just do it, please.”
“O-okay.” The boy brought his face close and sniffed her jet-black hair, then moved away. Ruby looked up…
And he was beet red again.
“Nuts,” Ruby cursed, moving back to the bed and grabbing her notepad. She checked off Hair and wrote next to it: try different shampoo.
“One last thing I can think of,” she said, approaching him again. Oscar, after the first two unexplained actions, seemed more anxious than ever.
“R-Ruby, can you please tell me w-what you’re doing?” Oscar received no reply, other than the back of her hand being shoved towards his face. No explanation.
He quickly took her hand and affectionately kissed her knuckles.
They both looked at each other with bright red faces.
Ruby shrieked and petal burst across the room. “W-WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?!”
“I’M SORRY,“ Oscar cried, “I PANICKED. YOU WEREN’T TELLING ME ANYTHING!”
Nora listened from the door as the two continued to shout apologies and excuses. She howled with laughter, clutching her stomach with her hand as tears rolled down her cheeks.
That… that was good.