Work Text:
“I’m on my way! See you in a bit love-bug!”
Ruby pressed send on her text to Penny as she got into her car, Crescent Rose , and drove to Patch General. She was going to pick Penny up from her check up with her prosthetist, Dr. Glynda Goodwitch, and afterward have dinner at Penny’s place.
Ruby parked Crescent Rose in the Patch General parking lot and walked into the hospital. Inside, she took the only open seat in the waiting room, next to a very short young woman a few years older than her, sat in the end seat in the row of seats, who was intently drawing in a sketchbook. The girl had pink and dark brown hair, the two colors separated by the part in the middle of her hair. Her heterochromic eyes matched her hair, one pale pink and one brown eye each on the same side as its matching hair color. She was wearing a loose, pale pink t-shirt, cropped with a knot on the side and with an ice cream cone on the chest, and a pair of white lounge pants. She paid no attention as Ruby sat down, continuing to focus on the sketchings in her sketchbook.
Ruby couldn’t help but look over after she sat down next to the girl. She noticed the drawings were all… very unique, but also really, really good, kind of like the sculptures in Patch Island Park. She must be a fan of that style.
The sketch book was pulled away a few seconds after Ruby looked over, and Ruby looked up to see the girl glaring at her.
Ruby recoiled backward. “Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get into your space.”
The girl glared at Ruby for a moment before looking away and dropping her shoulders. She looked back to Ruby and put on a smile, placed her closed sketchbook on her lap, reached into a backpack in between her legs, grabbed another regular spiral notebook, opened it, and wrote in it. The girl showed the message to Ruby.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Ruby tilted her head to the side, confused why the girl was writing at her. “Lost your voice?” Ruby asked.
The girl scribbled in the notebook again. “I’m a mute.”
Ruby nervously began to stammer. “Oh, oh my god. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”
The girl raised her hand, interrupting Ruby. She scribbled in her notebook again, and showed the message to Ruby. “You’re fine. You’re not the first to ask that.”
The girl wrote in her book again. “Name’s Neo.”
Ruby took a relieved breath. “My name’s Ruby. I won’t ask you to show me but your drawings are really good!”
The girl smiled at Ruby. “I couldn’t show you anyway. They’re for work. But thanks.”
There was a slightly awkward pause before Ruby spoke again. “Soooo, are you waiting for someone too?”
“My adoptive brother (we’re both orphans who looked out for each other when we were kids). Dum-dum got hurt at work on a jobsite. He’s a construction worker.”
“Oh no, is he okay?”
“Probably needs to stay home to heal like last time, but he’ll be okay. -_-” The girl wrote, adding in a shrug.
“Who're you waiting for?”
“My girlfriend. She has prosthetic legs and comes in once every few months for a check up.”
“Rough.”
“Eh, she’s okay. Nothing has been bothering her so this is just a routine visit.
So a professional artist. What’s some of the stuff you’ve worked on?”
“Can’t say half of it (NDA’s) and everything I can talk about I don’t want to. But my stuff is all over the place.”
“Don’t want the fame huh?” Ruby guessed.
Neo snapped her fingers and pointed at Ruby, signaling bingo.
Ruby glanced at the girl’s hand, just barely noticing a tattoo on the side of her finger of a lion. She noticed a second tattoo a moment later, a crimson wine glass on the underside of the girl's forearm.
After noticing the tattoos, Ruby started to connect some dots. The weird drawings, the want for privacy, the lion and wine glass…
Ruby got nervous, and started to sweat. Neo, noticing, wrote another message in her notebook. “You good?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine… hehe.”
Neo tilted her head down a bit and to the side, and stared at Ruby. “You’re a bad liar.”
“Well… I think I just figured out something I shouldn’t have. I saw your tattoos.”
Neo, confused, tilted her head up and to the side.
Ruby leaned in and whispered, “A lion and a wine glass. Are... Are you Leona Pinot?”
The girl swiftly leaned away from Ruby. She looked around the waiting room. Ruby did the same, noticing no one was paying attention to them. She looked back at Neo just as Neo looked back at her. Neo smirked and winked, bringing a single finger in front of her lips.
“Excuse me, is there a Neo Politan here?” a voice called out. Ruby and Neo turned toward the voice to see a doctor with a clipboard, and with him a tall man with ginger hair and a bandaged hand wearing a shirt that said Cruz Construction. Ruby saw Neo get up and put on her backpack, walking to the doctor while scribbling in her notebook, her sketchbook placed underneath it. When she got to the doctor, she showed the notebook to him. He leaned down to read it.
“Yes, Roman here is going to be fine, but he needs to stay home for a few days while the wound heals.”
Ruby saw Neo posture like she was letting out a sigh.
She smacked the ginger man named Roman in the arm with her notebook and sketchbook, then placed them both under her arm while she began to rapidly and aggressively sign at him.
“Ow, Neo!
I know I said I’d be more careful, but-
This wasn't my fault! I didn’t-
Neo calm down already!”
Neo postured like she was taking a quick breath, then looked up at Roman.
“I know. It's just because you care. You can stop with the puppy dog eyes.” Roman said.
Neo lifted and dropped her shoulders. She grabbed the notebook and sketchbook from under her arm, wrote in the notebook, and showed it to the doctor.
“The bill will be mailed to the address Roman gave us. All you owe is a copay and the cost of bandages thanks to Roman’s insurance. You can leave as soon as you’re both ready.”
Neo looked up at Roman again. She turned and gestured to him to follow her, catching eyes with Ruby as she turned. She put the back of her hand under her chin in thought as she looked to the side. She looked back up to Ruby, and snapped her fingers with a sly smile. She lifted a finger up to Roman, then lifted up her notebook and rapidly sketched as she walked to Ruby.
“Neo? Hey, where are you going?” Roman said as Neo walked away.
She ripped a page out of her book, folded it, and handed it to Ruby, smiling. Ruby smiled back as she took the paper, then watched as Neo signaled Roman to follow her out the door. Ruby heard Roman sigh, and saw him move to follow Neo.
She opened the paper.
Inside was a doodle that looked like Neo holding a knife. Under it was written “Don’t tell anyone, or I’ll getcha! ;) Just kidding!”
“Gah!” Ruby yelped out, looking back up to Neo. She saw Neo looking at her near the door. Neo made two quick little stabbing motions with her arm, winked at Ruby with a smirk, then left the hospital with Roman.
Ruby put the drawing in her pocket, hearing Penny’s voice just after she finished putting it away. “Hello Ruby!”
Ruby jumped in her seat a bit. “Ah! Oh hey Penny!” Ruby got up from her seat, giving Penny a kiss when she got to her feet.
“You seem frazzled, is everything okay?” asked Penny.
“Yeah, I was just talking to this weird girl who was waiting for her brother.” Ruby replied.
Penny’s eyes lit up a bit. “Oh, did you make a new friend?”
“Honestly Penny, I have no idea.”