Lupin the Third: The Del Monte Ruby

Chapter 10

Warning: Butt squeezing, innuendos, and tickling.
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Ruby's shoulders rose and fell to the cadence of her hyperventilation. Lupin slumped back on his elbows, also breathing rather hard. After a long moment, he spoke.

"Heh. I couldn't crack it. I'm not used to that."

"Of course not!" proclaimed Ruby, though her voice was muffled by her arms. She rolled onto her back and gazed up at him. "I don't understand how you can be so cavalier about it, Lupin! Like, what the hell was that? What the actual hell? Those things; they looked like mystical runes or some alien language! Hell, maybe it was. Agency for the Collection and Containment of Spaceborne Anomaly? Is that for real? Is that really what my parents did?"

Lupin didn't mean to seem like he wasn't rattled by what had just happened. Most assuredly, it was very strange. And certainly alarming.

Ruby gazed up at the ceiling. Wavy red hair already drying, it had come out of its hold and lay spilled across the bed beneath her. Lupin couldn't help but take in the sight of her. That lacey top she was wearing, from this angle... Oh, that was not the kind of shirt you wore a bra with. And with the way it formed over her body as she lay in such a manner... It made her lack of undergarment quite apparent.

"For all I know," said Ruby, hardly aware of his gaze or his thoughts, "if we had let that timer run down, some alien satellite that's been lying dormant will come to life and fire some souped-up space cannon at the Earth and boom!" She lifted her arms in the air and made a wide arc with wiggling fingers to pantomime an explosion. She let her arms fall limply onto the mattress above her head.

Lupin slumped to his side beside her, resting his cheek in his hand. "That's a scary thought. I hope not."

"Okay," she admitted. "I know that's kinda hyperbolic, but this whole thing sounds crazy, don't you think? It's like something out of a peri-apocalyptic sci-fi movie or something."

Ruby frowned as she stared up at the ceiling, not so much looking at it as looking through it. "Lupin," she said softly, her tone far graver. "This ACCSA; working with some strange, alien element, and then its apparent utility in eugenics..." Her eyes went glassy with the stirrings of tears as she whispered, "Do you really think my parents were involved with something like that? Do you think maybe... they were secretly bad people?"

For a moment, Lupin said nothing. But then, he took her chin in his hand, eliciting a soft gasp from Ruby as he turned her head to gaze upon him. Ruby's lips trembled as she blinked those large, teary eyes at him.

"Things are not always what they seem, RuRu. Just because your parents and Aderlass were both involved in the same group and this Project Stardust doesn't mean that your parents were bad. Frankly, we still don't know anything. There are just too many unknowns. If your parents were kind to you when you knew them, hold on to that memory of them with all your might. No matter what we discover, those will be the parents you'll always hold in your heart."

Lupin saw her throat muscles tighten as she swallowed. Ruby looked as though she were trying to speak, but simply couldn't find the words. Finally...

"L-Lupin..."

Ruby reached out a trembling hand. Her fingertips brushed against his cheek, feather light. In that brief moment, Lupin brought his hand to her own and simply held it against his cheek. Ruby was a little taken aback. She'd gotten so used to his jocularity, and when they did touch, it was with a casual playfulness -- like slinging his arm around her. She almost didn't anticipate this side of Lupin.

Briefly, her eyes locked onto his, but slowly they trailed down, as did her hand. Her fingers trailed along his necktie, finally settling over the tie clip she'd given him. The entire morning, she'd said nothing about the gift she'd left for him, nor the fact that he'd clearly taken it. Not even a word about the note he'd left her in exchange. But now, with his tie in her hand, she took a moment to admire the clip before her gaze returned to his. Her lips gave a pleased quirk at the corner. Lupin returned her smile with an acknowledging smirk of his own.