capandruby

[capandruby]

Frieda

He woke up that morning before the sun. It was just like every other morning that he had spent without his Frieda. This was the day that he had dreaded most since her death. The museum benefit that used to be the highlight of their old life. They would stay up late each night the week before the benefit, way past their 8 PM bedtime, to practice staying awake for the entirety of the benefit. His Frieda loved that museum, and benefit night was her night.

She would spend the day fussing with her hair and nails and finding the perfect outfit. And when they would go out on the town, she made him feel fifty years younger. But all that had changed last spring. And she had made him promise to continue to go to those benefit nights as long as he was able to attend.

That is what he had been thinking about as the guest of honor droned on with his speech. 

Suddenly a commotion occurs as a younger man in smart clothes sweeps into the room yielding what looked like a large golden cane, using it to knock out one of the museum’s managers and stabbing him with something on a large piece of art. The room panics and everyone runs outdoors, and he is no different, albeit a bit slower to move. But even old men can hurry when necessary. 

The younger man appears again out in the crowd, suddenly wearing a cape and some sort of armor, an odd curved helmet sat upon his brow. He used his metal cane to shoot a blue light and flip automobiles over. Out of thin air, he appears in front of the escaping crowd, stopping them completely. Then he appears to the left and to the right - multiples of this man stopping the crowd from running away.

How could this be? he wondered. What type of magic could be happening?

“Kneel before me,” the man commands. When the crowd doesn’t immediately respond, he slams his cane down on the ground and shouts, “I said, KNEEL!”

A jolt goes through the crowd and slowly they sink to their knees, completely intimidated. He joins them in a stupor. 

The man walks through the crowd as he beings to speak. “Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?  It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

Freida is with him. He can feel it in his heart as the other man’s words resound with the wrongness of what is being said. He struggles to his feet and stands, alone in the crowd of people. “Not to men like you,” he says. 

The other man smiles, almost laughing, as he says arrogantly, “There are no men like me.”

He looks him dead in the eye as he replies, “There are always men like you.”

The other man smiles again and addresses the crowd as he lifts up his magic cane and points it at him. “Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.”

The cane shoots a blast at him and he squeezes his eyes, whispering Frieda’s name as he takes what he assumes is his last breath. He isn’t afraid. He has done what is right. And he cannot be sad about leaving this place when Frieda is waiting for him on the other side. 

[capandruby]

I entered my house, tired after a long, draining day at work. I kicked off my shoes and dropped my bag by the door. It had been another day in a series of days where I had worked overtime - with no pay, mind you - and I was ready for a break.

“Mrow?” I hear a small chirp and soft padded footsteps on the kitchen tile as my small tuxedo cat, Jinx, comes to greet me. 

“Hi baby,” I coo at him, scooping him up in my arms. He nuzzles my face with his nose before struggling to jump down. I set him on the floor as my other cat, Jiji, winds around my ankles. I repeat the process with him, setting him down gently. 

I walk down the long hall to my bedroom and quickly shed my always-slightly-uncomfortable dress clothes I wear to work and slide on my softest pajamas. I pull my hair up in a messy bun and go into the bathroom to wash my face. Slightly refreshed, I head back to the den and settle in on the couch with my favorite blanket covering my legs. Jinx and Jiji both jump up to sit in my lap as I reach for the remote to click on the television. 

As the opening theme to “Great British Baking Show” begins to play, I take a deep breath and feel myself relax for the first time all day. It was good to be home, and even better to be home with two purring cats on your lap. 

prompt 1077

Give your character an interaction with an animal. This can be a pet, a familiar, a stray, or even a wild animal, and it can be an imaginary animal if you want. Let the interaction change something for your character.

[capandruby]

Prompt #51

“They thought they were change the world. But they didn’t, they gave up and now they’re no fun. They’re normal.”

“I don’t think you get it. They did change the world, they changed their world.”

[capandruby]

The door creaks, and X rolls over in bed to look. Y is standing in the door, tense and clearly embarrassed. 

“Nightmares?” X says, muzzily. Y nods. X raises the edge of the blanket. “Well, come in, then.”

X goes back to sleep with Y tucked, trembling, into xir arms. 

[capandruby]

new writeblr !･ﾟ✧

hi guys! my name is Paz, i’m 15, i’m a writer! i mainly write fiction, but i also occasionally ~dip my toes~ in other areas like screenwriting and poetry! i’ve had this blog for a while, and it’s never gotten far because of my own nerves about starting a blog like this, but i’ve restarted for the last time. i’d love to find some accounts to follow, so like/reblog this post and i’l check out your account (especially if you’re a young writer)! i’ll start to post stuff really soon, so stay tuned! 

[capandruby]

Happy Endings 3/?

 Brigid walked to a set of double doors and flashed her badge at the door guards, pulling me into a large auditorium behind her. A stage dominated the front of the auditorium, and the cast of the show were up on stage. We walked almost to the front, stage left, where you could just see the moderator and the profiles of everyone else, and took a seat. 

“Um, Brigid, I’m pretty sure I can’t sit here. I don’t have the right badge to sit this close.” I whispered, my eyes never leaving the stage.

“We’re okay. Nobody is going to ask us to move.” She told me.

I saw Kieran give her a confused look from the stage, glancing at me and then back at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shake her head as if saying “not now,” and he faced the audience again. I looked back at her.

“Do you...know...Kieran or something?” I asked.

She laughed. “You could say that.”

A few minutes later, the cast wrapped up the panel and exited the stage. The moderator made the announcement that pictures with the stars would start in about twenty minutes, so the audience should go line up if they had tickets for that. I started to follow the crowd back out to rejoin my line, but Brigid grabbed my arm and stilled me. 

“Wait, Anna. Not yet.”

She led me behind a curtain that sectioned off the auditorium and the backstage rooms that I assumed were dressing rooms or relaxing areas for the stars when they needed a break from people. She walked to the end of a hallway and opened a door, ushering me inside. I walked in and stopped short - this was clearly someone’s personal relaxing room and not somewhere I was supposed to be. From behind me she said, “Can I get you a water?” I nodded. “Stay here,”  and with that, disappeared back into the hallway.

I looked around at my surroundings. There was a couch against the wall closest to the door with cast pictures hanging above it. I walked closer to have a look. I wandered, making a slow circuit of the room, then perched on the couch. What was taking Brigid so long?

The door to my right crashed open and Kieran walked through. I jumped up and froze when I realized it was him, unsure what I was supposed to do or say. He looked at me blankly. “Who the devil are you?”

“Hi, I’m, um, Anna. I was here with Brigid but I don’t know --”

“Oh, good, Kieran. I was looking for you. You’ve met Anna? Anna, this is Kieran.” Brigid walked back in carrying several bottles of water. She handed one to me and looked back at Kieran.

“I wanted you to meet her, Kieran. I think she’s perfect.” she told him.

“Brigid, really. A fan? Can we not talk about this right now? I have to do pictures in less than 15 minutes.” he told her, glancing at me. 

I was still frozen, standing in front of the couch. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I was uncomfortable and felt unwelcome. I wanted to leave, but there was nowhere to set this dripping bottle of water, and plus they were blocking the door. 

“Trust me,” she told him, “I’m good at reading people. And she’s it. I’m choosing her.”

I cleared my throat. “Um, can you let me know what’s going on? You choose me for what? I’m not a Pokemon, and this is starting to sound a little too much ‘backstage murder’ for my taste.” 

A silence - then a bark of surprised laughter from Kieran.

“See? I told you.” Brigit said smugly. 

“Well, she is funny, I will give you that.” He told her. He turned to me. “Hi, I’m Kieran.”

“Anna.” I repeated.

“It’s nice to meet you, Anna. I’ll let my wife fill you in while I go back to work.” He turned and walked back out the door.

****

“You’re his WIFE?” I asked, incredulously. After Kieran left to go fulfill his photo duties for the con, we sat on the couch and waited for his return. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier? I feel like a fool. Going on about your husband as if you don’t already know how amazing he is.” 

“But that’s exactly it, Anna. I’ve traveled with Kieran to all his events during the last year or so. I’ve studied people at the grocery store, at the movies, picking up their kids from my school. I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re perfect.”

“Perfect for what, though? What exactly is going on? What do you want from me?”

“I promise I will tell you when Kieran is done. I know you want to get your con pic but we can do that tomorrow before we leave and that way you don’t have to wait in line today, especially since you are more interested in something else right now.”

We chatted in the backstage room for a couple hours until Kieran returned. He sat on the arm of the couch, squeezing her shoulder as he turned to look at me. 

“Okay, Kieran, I am going to prove it to you.” She said. “Anna, tell Kieran what you told me earlier when I met you in the photo line.”

I stumbled through a few words and just shrugged. She turned to look at him. “You inspired her to start living. She loves you already.”

“Wait - I didn’t say that.” I exclaimed, astonished and embarrassed at what she had just said. “All I said is that I wanted to say thank you for making me realize that I didn’t have to be content with the status quo. I might not have a happy ending, but I won’t know unless I try. And, no offense, but I don’t love you. I can’t love you. I don’t even know you. I just met you a couple of hours ago and this is literally our first conversation. I love the idea of you, of course, and your character from the show. But, not you. Not yet.”

His face was unreadable, and the room filled with an awkward tension following my announcement. Brigid broke the silence by saying, “Tell me your faults.”

“My faults? That’s a weird question, but okay...um, I’m pretty much running 10 minutes behind for everything. I have terrible time management skills. I sing off tune. I don’t really like dogs that much. I let my life fall into ruts too easily and don’t bother trying to get out of them. I allow fiction to have too large an impact on my life, which is probably why I’m 30 and still single and also, strangely, already going gray...Plus I have some anxiety issues which can make social interaction a challenge sometimes, especially in situations like this conversation which is kind of like a job interview but not because I don’t have a clue what I am interviewing for. 

“And your strengths?” She asked, gently. 

“Um, finding fault with myself?” I laughed. They didn’t. “I guess since I have to be by myself often, I’m good at it. I’m a survivor. Close to family. The one they always call if something absolutely has to be done, because I’ll do it.”

She stood, pulling Kieran a few steps away and lowering her voice. “See? You’re just different enough that you won’t drive each other crazy, and she’s enough like me that you can learn to love her.”

“Wait, what?!” I said. “Did you say, love me?”

They both looked at me, Kieran looking slightly guilty. 

“I guess that’s another strength. I can hear really well. Unless, like you, you clearly weren’t trying to be overheard and in that case I guess it’s another weakness. What are you talking about?” I demanded.

“The truth is, Anna...I’m dying, and I want you to marry my husband when I’m gone.”

previous / next

[capandruby]

Pancakes

“Something smells good,” he murmured in my ear, coming up behind me as I scooped the last couple of pancakes out of the pan.

I smiled at him over my shoulder. “It’s just box pancakes.”

“I wasn’t talking about the pancakes.” He said, nudging my ear with his nose. 

I set the plate down on the counter and turned. He pulled me to him and kissed me. I pulled back, smiling up at him.

“What is it?” He asked me.

“Nothing. I’m just really happy.”

“Me too, love, me too.” He pulled me down for another kiss. “Let’s forget about the pancakes for a while.”

[capandruby]

happy endings 2/?

Actually, my story begins a few months before his wife died. 

I was standing in line behind what looked like at least 50 other people - just in this line, not counting the lines on either side of this one - and I was bouncing in between anxiety, nervousness, and excitement. When it was my turn at the front of the line, I’d go into a makeshift tent and I would get to meet the actor responsible for my latest obsession, a well known character on a popular TV show that had just finished its final season. 

I’d come into this obsession late. For a show that had obviously run a 7-year reign on cable television, I’d really missed the boat. My best friend had been telling me to watch the show for a couple of years -- it had lived in my Netflix queue at least that long. One Friday night, with nothing to do and my interest level in doing anything were at an all-time low, I clicked on the show just to give my brain something to do.

I wasn’t even hooked in the first few episodes. It took probably half of the first season for me to really want to continue to watch it, and even then I probably didn’t pay a lot of attention to those episodes. Enter season 2 and my reason for this long line -- Kieran. The actor who played the villain-turned-eventual-good-guy. Each episode made me fall deeper into his character and root for him to succeed in his happy ending. 

Though I’m no stranger to fandom obsessions (Doctor Who, Marvel, Gilmore Girls, anyone?), this was the first time I have been so absolutely invested in a character. His hurts made me cry real, chest-heaving sobs. His triumphs left me satisfied. I wanted his character to be real, and I was real-life jealous of the show girlfriend and their relationship. I wanted my own real-life person just like that to love me just like he did on the show. 

The obsession with this character was real and fast. It didn’t help that I was in a weird point in my life, where I was facing the big 3-0 in a few months with no real accomplishments to my credit. Sure, I had risen to an assistant director position within my department, but work didn’t leave me fulfilled in any way. I had a few close friends, but they lived in different states and cities, and most of our communications took place over group chats, Facebook messenger, and Snapchat. They were all married and had been for years, with some of them starting a family. I hadn’t seen my best friend from high school, who I regularly stayed in touch with all through college even though we were in separate states, but once since she had gotten married. Everyone had couple friends and even babies and I was all alone. Most of my free time was spent browsing the Internet lives of my friends from my phone, or immersing myself in other people’s stories by reading or watching TV shows. I had reached an impossible weight - 40 pounds heavier than I had been just 3 years earlier. It was a time of self doubt and impossibilities, and everything felt too hard - participating in life was too hard. I knew that there had to be something more than the sad existence I was living. 

Watching Kieran act, though, as this character, gave me some hope. I was browsing the show on google when I discovered that they were doing a farewell convention tour with the actors in a few different cities across North America, and there was just two cities left. The closest one was 15 hours from my home, but I saw it as a sign. I was inspired. I might never have an equal to that character in my life. I might never have a happy ending. But I won’t ever know unless I try. So I decided to buy a ticket to the con and change my life at the same time.

The first Monday after finding out about the con, I signed up for a gym membership. Step 1 in remembering how to love myself - start feeling like myself again. I’d gone to the gym for 45 minutes to an hour several times a week - not doing anything major, just using the treadmill and a couple of weight machines to help myself out. I altered my diet to include less takeaway and more home cooked meals with healthier choices. I cut out sweets and drank more water. Slowly I began to lose some of the weight I had gained and feel better about myself as my old clothes began to fit again.

I finally got over my fear of pain and needles and went to get a tattoo I’d been thinking about for almost 10 years - a lightning bolt on my left arm. It reminded me to stay true to myself. I started planning a trip to Ireland, a dream I’d had since at least high school. I always told myself I’d go; perhaps with friends from college after we saved up some money and vacation time from our first big-girl jobs, perhaps with my brother during a summer vacation. Then, as my friends got married and started families and my brother joined the military and moved away, my dreams changed to maybe going as my honeymoon trip. But the years kept moving and I was almost 30 with no husband in sight and a trip still  not taken. 

It was time to stop waiting and start living.

That’s what Kieran did for me.

I was here to tell him thank you, and to satisfy my fangirl heart by getting a quick 30 seconds captured forever by a professional photographer - enter present day, the reason why I was standing in a long line.

I had already spent a significant amount of money to get to this point in the day. The con was show-specific, and sold different levels of “experiences” for different amounts of money. Since this was my birthday present to myself, I rewarded myself with a Tier 2 ticket package that cost over $200. My plane ticket to get here was $150, and the rental car from the airport another $200. I hadn’t counted how much I’d spent in souvenirs, but this photo op was another $100. It was an expensive weekend, but one I thought I’d earned. 

I’d come alone, for all of the same reasons mentioned above. But at least at cons, you’re united with everyone else there for the biggest reason of loving the same thing, the same people, the same fictional world. It’s easy to talk to strangers in lines and panels when you’re all there for the same reason. 

That’s why I didn’t think it was strange when the girl who was walking down the line toward me stopped and said hello. She looked about my age and was very pretty - noticeably pretty - with long strawberry blonde hair in soft waves and big green eyes. She wasn’t wearing any fandom merch, but she was wearing a different colored badge indicating the highest level of ticket experience. 

“Hi,” she said, in a softly accented voice. “I’m Brigid. Are you here to see Kieran?” 

“Hey, I’m Anna. Yeah, I’m here to see Kieran. Actually, I’m here only to see Kieran. The rest is really just a bonus.”

“Really. I always like to ask, what is it you love about Kieran?” she asked me.

I looked at her, thinking about what to say. “Honestly? I fell in love with his character. I don’t know much about him personally. I just wanted a chance to meet him and say thank you. He played a part in changing my life.”

She lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. I watched her mull over my response. She looked so familiar to me, but I couldn’t place her. Maybe she had sat near me in a panel earlier today? Maybe she was a vendor and I had purchased something from her earlier -- that would explain the different colored badge. 

“He changed your life? How is that possible if you’ve never even met him?”

I sighed. “It’s not that he personally did anything, I guess. It’s kind of hard to explain. Watching his character turn from a villain into a good person, someone who would do absolutely everything in his power to protect the one he loves...how he still struggled with believing that he was good enough to deserve love and get a happy ending. That really resonated with me in a time in my life where I was struggling with myself and my worth. His journey reminded me that I may not get a happy ending. I may never find my own true love. But I can’t wait for life to start. I’m 30 years old. Life is moving on without me. I have to stop waiting and start living. That’s what I mean when I say he changed my life. With his character, his acting - that was him, even if it was in just a small way. I’d like to say thank you.”

She smiled. “I can understand that. Hey, come with me for a second.” She reached out and touched my arm, then turned and started walking away.

“Wait! I can’t leave the line or I’ll miss my picture time!” I called after her.

She turned back to me. “Trust me, I can get you back in line in a bit. You should come check this out first. There will be plenty of time for pictures later; I’ve got a badge that will get you back in. You won’t miss your spot if you keep up with your picture ticket.” She said, starting to walk again. 

Stop waiting, start living, I told myself, stepping out of line and following her. 

previous / next

[capandruby]

a new thing i’m trying out

Happy Endings 1/?

Once upon a time, there was a man named Kieran who had it all. He lived in a green land across the Atlantic Ocean. He was conventionally attractive in a way that both men and women could appreciate; with hair so dark it was almost black and eyes a piercing blue under a heavy set brow. He married his high school sweetheart, a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and big eyes, and had celebrated over a dozen anniversaries. Over the years she gifted him with two beautiful children, products of their parent’s good genetics. Beautiful people tend to produce more beautiful people. 

He was successful in his career of pretending to be other people, earning more money than he needed as an actor in a popular television show that had seven seasons before its finale; she less monetarily so as a schoolteacher to local children. They had a beautiful home in multiple cities. It was all he ever needed - his happily ever after.

Until his wife died.

That’s when I enter into the story.

****

previous / next

[capandruby]

chapter two

Charlotte stood just inside the bank doors, with her face pressed to the wall and her hands clenched into fists. “Hey, Charlotte!” Ruby called, from her position on the sidewalk. “It’s over! They won! You can come out now!” Charlotte pushed away from the wall and wearily looked out the doors. She carefully made her way to where Ruby stood on the sidewalk.

“Come on, let’s go back to the café and see what’s going on,” Ruby told her.

“No way, Ruby. I’m going home. I’m going home and I’m staying there, and I don’t know that I am coming back to the café, ever,” Charlotte said, shaking her head. “I’m about to walk to the closest subway station, and I’m going to pretend that none of this happened, and I might go sleep for a week or two.”

“Please be careful!” Ruby shouted after her, watching her friend as she walked at a fast pace away from the destruction. Charlotte waved over her shoulder, then disappeared down into a subway stairwell.

Ruby picked her way through the rubble back up the street to the café. She could see the giant green monster, Captain America, and Thor huddled together further down the street, and she tried to stay out of their viewpoint. Ruby didn’t want whatever the green thing was to see her moving down the street and think she was the last remaining alien or something. She flattened herself slightly against the buildings as she passed, trying to stay inconspicuous.

When Ruby made it back to the café, her boss, Jack, was standing in the middle of the destroyed dining room, looking around helplessly. “Ruby!” he said, relieved, as he caught sight of her coming through the door. “You’re alive! But you’re bleeding. And…Charlotte?”

Ruby reached up and touched her head. Sure enough, her fingers came back sticky with blood. It must have been from where the café window blew in on me, she thought, or when the windows were broken in the bank. “Charlotte’s okay, but she’s a little, um, shook up,” Ruby told Jack. “She went ahead and went home for the day. She’s probably going to need a few days off.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Ruby, you should go on home too. There’s nothing left to do today.”

Ruby looked around the restaurant. The people who had used it as their hiding place had all filtered out, cautiously skirting the rubble and heading to safer ground. Overturned tables and broken chairs were strewn about, and glass and silverware littered the floor.

“I will board up these broken window and I will leave too. We will clean another day.” Jack told Ruby.

“I’ll stay and help you board up the windows, then I will go home.” Ruby said. She and Jack found some plywood in the storeroom, left over from boarding up the windows for Superstorm Sandy, and covered the broken glass as best they could. It was lucky that no one had thrown the boards out yet. When they were finished, Ruby walked back to the employee room, dodging random, misplaced dining room furniture, and retrieved her purse, which was still miraculously hidden in place. She pulled out her phone. Twelve missed calls from Katie, and ten text messages, all more frantic than the last. Ruby read the most recent message as she was walking out the door.

Please text me Ruby. Please don’t be dead.

Ruby quickly sent her a reply.

I’m alive. I’m on my way home now. I’ll tell you the story then, okay?

Carefully Ruby moved through the mess on the ground on her way down the sidewalk. After an afternoon like this one, she was definitely staying above ground, so she ignored the subway entrance that was breathing hot air into an already warm day. A horde of reporters were standing outside the ground level of Stark Tower, and Ruby tried to avoid them by crossing the street, but she wasn’t fast enough. One reporter ran up to her, tugging his cameraman along, and confronted her in the middle of the street. Ruby wasn’t worried about traffic; other than the reporters, there was no one else around. The reporter shoved his microphone in Ruby’s face, rapidly firing questions and asking her opinion of the battle. Did she think that it only happened because of the presence of superheroes in New York?

Finally, exasperated, Ruby cut him off with an answer. “What? That this is somehow their fault? Captain America saved my life. Wherever he is, wherever any of them are, I just…I would want to say thank you.”

The reporter pulled the microphone from Ruby’s face. Apparently, that was not the sound bite he wanted for the story he had already written in his head. Fine with Ruby. She just wanted to go home anyway. Quickly she walked the rest of the way across the street and down the block, turning the corner from the destruction. It felt like someone was watching her, so she glanced over her shoulder. No one was there. She let out a quick breath before noticing a man sitting on the sidewalk a few storefronts ahead of her. His hair was black, down to his shoulders, and he was propped up against a doorframe. He was dressed too nicely to be homeless, though he did have a defeated look about him. He turned his face toward Ruby just a fraction, and she saw that he had something across his mouth, almost like a dog muzzle. Ruby tried to act natural as she crossed the street again. From the other side of the road, she did her best to ignore the man, but it was like his presence called out to her, and it was impossible not to look over. He was sitting in the doorway of a shwarma restaurant that had gotten minimal damage in the battle and looked open for business. Ruby could see shadows of people sitting inside, but she couldn’t make out anything specific from where she was standing. She looked at the man again, and this time he caught her glance, staring at her with pale blue, ice cold eyes. She broke eye contact and hurried down the block, but his look haunted her all the way to her apartment.

 ***

“RUBY! Oh my God, Ruby. I don’t think that you could possibly imagine how incredibly worried I’ve been. Your face, oh, God, Ruby. What happened to you?”

Katie was practically hanging out of their apartment door when the elevator doors opened on Ruby's floor. Ruby dragged herself down the hall and into the apartment, shutting the door before Boo, her cat, could escape. Generally he was pretty good about staying inside the apartment, but sometimes he couldn't resist the lure of freedom, and this was not the day to chase him down the hall and lock him back inside.

Ruby ignored Katie's questions, instead looking at Katie's all-black, skin-baring outfit. "Gotta work tonight, Katie?"

"Yeah, I need to leave if I am going to make it on time, but Ruby, I couldn't leave without knowing that you were really okay."

Katie worked at a hotel bar in Manhattan, and she was fantastic at what she did. She also interned at some giant, important company doing unimportant things, but that was only a few days a week. Bartending paid the bills and gave her something to do when she wasn't at her company job. Her wardrobe tended to change based on what she was doing, and tonight was definitely a bartending night.

“I’m fine. Really. I made it home in one piece, and I’m not going anywhere else, probably until Jack calls me in for a shift. Question,” Ruby said, changing the subject abruptly. “Whose turn is it to pay the water bill?”

“Yours. I have to run, Ru. I’ll be home late, but I am going to want the full story at some point.” She ran out the door, a whirlwind of black clothes and perfume. Ruby shut and locked the door behind her, sliding the security chain into place. She walked into her bedroom, kicking off her now dust-covered chucks just inside the door. Boo lifted his head from his perch on her bed and, after blinking large yellow eyes at Ruby, stretched out and put his head on her pillow. Ruby ran her hand down his fur, and he gave a couple of half-hearted purrs before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

Ruby shucked her uniform and threw it in the laundry hamper, then walked to the tiny, shared bathroom. Katie and Ruby took turns paying the water bill each month, and since it was her month, Ruby had no second thoughts about staying in the shower as long as the hot water held out. As soon as the shower was steamy, Ruby slipped behind the curtain and leaned her head against the wall, hot water streaming down her weary body. A delayed reaction, her legs began to shake, so she slid down the wall until she was sitting in the combination tub/shower, the hot water massaging her muscles. She closed her eyes, thinking against her will about everything that had happened that day.

First, it was obvious that she was going to have to change her stance of life on other planets. Hereto, she had been a firm believer in only Earth inhabitants. Clearly after today's battle and the appearance of the beautiful demi-god Thor - whose identity she had previously thought a publicity stunt from the media - she was clearly on the wrong side of the equation. So, aliens. Existing. Okay.

Secondly, it appeared that there were humans with superpowers living among the public. Of course, Ruby remembered when it made the New York One news that Captain America, beloved in World War II times, had been discovered, frozen in ice deep in the heart of the Arctic regions, and again when he woke up in present-day New York. She had heard of his superior strength, and seemingly more-than-human abilities, but she had never really assigned him the "superhero" title before. Because superheroes are in comic books, right?

Of course, there was Tony Stark. If you live in New York, you know Tony Stark. Mostly because of Stark Industries. Tony had inherited the company from his father, Howard Stark, who designed weapons. No one really cared about Tony Stark until he was kidnapped overseas, almost died, and built a rudimentary Iron Man suit to blast his way out of a dark cave, using only scrap metal and his arc reactor - not that Ruby really knew what an arc reactor was, just that the news said that it keeps him alive. Oh, and that a giant version of an arc reactor blew up once and killed some guy in the company. After that, Tony was always in the spotlight. There was some battle involving his Iron Man suit and some other giant metal suits that the government created. He was in the news when he made Pepper Potts, his assistant, the new CEO of Stark Industries, and again when they announced their decision to venture into clean energy. He was everywhere now, and you just got used to him if you lived in New York. Ruby sighed; super smart, super arrogant, super irritating Tony Stark. He wasn't a superhero, he was just a cocky guy who figured out how to make a flying suit of armor.

At this point Ruby realized that she only knew about these "heroes" from what she had heard on television. Jack kept the cafe's only TV on New York One, and since New York liked to claim home to both Stark and Captain America, they ran stories on them all the time. Mostly Ruby tuned it out, but she was at the café a lot, so she'd learned a lot. But only from the news – no other stations or real-life people had ever talked about them personally.

Then, the giant green monster guy. Ruby honestly watched him change from a man into a giant, hulking, screaming mess right in front of her. As the image replayed in her head, she opened her eyes, and her contacts swam in the water stream. Maybe I won't think about the green guy, actually, she thought. There were two more people out there today. A woman with an impossible figure, dressed in what looked like black leather – which could not have been fun to run around in all day – and some guy with a bow and arrow. Just like Legolas in The Lord of the Rings, she thought, with less hair. Or a male Katniss. Ruby couldn't recall many specifics about them other than that.

She stood and found the shampoo. Ruby washed her hair, nudging the temperature of the water up as she lathered. Finally, the hot water turned lukewarm, and she jumped out before she got goose bumps. In her room, Ruby found her favorite pair of pajama pants and an old beat-up t-shirt. She changed quickly and jumped into bed, snuggling Boo as he changed positions. Before clicking the Netflix app on her Xbox, Ruby flipped on New York One.

There was nothing but live coverage and reports from Park Avenue on the screen. An old man in Central Park, playing checkers: "Superheroes in New York? Give me a break!" Captures of little kids battling in the streets with homemade swords and garbage can lid shields. Footage from the attack. And – Ruby sucked in her breath – her own interview from this afternoon: "Captain America saved my life."

She quickly switched on the Xbox and clicked Netflix. The app brought her to the Doctor Who episode she'd been watching when she fell asleep the night before ("Are you still watching?") and she clicked to continue. However, after watching the opening credits, Ruby decided that Doctor Who wasn't what she wanted after all, and turned the episode off. She'd had enough of aliens today, thank you very much. Finally she settled for a glass of tea, a Snow Patrol CD, a Jane Austen novel, and pretending that nothing else had happened that day.

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[capandruby]

chapter one

The alarm on her phone buzzed, and Ruby fumbled with the buttons before finding the one that allowed her to sleep for another ten minutes. She closed her eyes, rolling over in bed with a groan and causing her fluffy orange cat, Boo, to readjust his position beside her. If she didn’t get out of bed before the alarm went off again, she would be late for her shift at the café. Ruby groaned again. She didn’t want to get up. She wanted to stay asleep for another hour. Or, if she was being honest, another four hours. The manager and owner of the Central Café Bar and Restaurant, Jack, had asked Ruby to open this morning, even though she worked a double shift yesterday because of a staff shortage. It was the beginning of August, though, which was the end of the summer tourist season. The café would be busy, and Ruby was booked to work another double today. Ruby was exhausted just thinking about it, but at least she’d get decent tips today.

Lingering in bed, Ruby shut off the alarm when it buzzed again and finally forced herself to get up. She patted Boo’s head as she made her way to the apartment’s tiny bathroom. Ruby could hear her roommate, Katie, in the kitchen. Judging by the noises, Katie was making coffee. Ruby and Katie’s apartment was small, somewhat cramped, and had paper-thin walls, but it was all they could afford when they moved from the deep South to New York. Rent in New York wasn’t cheap, and this was the cheapest place they could find that wasn’t dirty or in a terrible part of town. The girls had moved to New York at the beginning of May, right after Katie graduated from college. Ruby had finished school the year before, and was working a dead-end retail job when Katie called Ruby from Tennessee and asked her to be her roommate with a Manhattan address. Ruby had been living at home with her parents in Alabama, and she jumped at the chance to leave town.

Ruby smiled as she lathered up her hair in the shower. It had been about three months since she had arrived in New York, and she was finally getting used to living in a city. No, she couldn’t see the stars from her apartment, but there was something electric about living in the city. Nothing in her twenty-four years had prepared her for leaving sleepy, small-town Southern living, but Ruby was thriving. She came from a town where everyone not only knew her name, but also the name of all of her relatives. Here in New York, she was just one face in the crowd, in a city of a million strangers. It felt nice to be invisible for once.

Ruby knocked her elbow on the shower wall as she turned around to rinse conditioner out of her hair. The impact knocked the bathroom clock off the wall. She jerked the shower curtain to one side, wiping water out of her eyes as she peered at the upside-down numbers. She jumped out of the shower, wrapping a towel haphazardly around her body as she slipped back into her bedroom. She quickly dried her hair before putting in some hot rollers, then sat down on the floor next to a propped-up full-length mirror to do her makeup. Working at the Central Café was not her ideal job, but it paid the rent. The café wasn’t famous, or even that well-known, but it was close to Grand Central Station and practically in the shadow of the notorious Stark Tower, so it got a lot of walk-in tourist traffic.

Ruby outlined her eyes in liquid eyeliner and mascara, but decided against any other makeup. Despite the fact that she had lived twenty-four years in practically year-round humidity, New York in August still made her sweat. Working near a hot kitchen all day didn’t help any. So instead of wasting time and money on makeup she would end up wiping off in an hour, she left her face bare. She looked at the clock again and quickly pulled on her pink café uniform, slipped on socks and her favorite black Chucks before yanking out her rollers and pinning back her hair with some bobby pins. She looked in the mirror and sighed; as usual, this was as good as it was going to get.

Ruby gave Boo an air kiss as she ran out the door. He opened an eye and stretched, and went right back to sleep. Ruby wished she could curl back up with him. She stuck her head in the kitchen to say goodbye to Katie.

“I’m working a double at the café today so I’ll be home late,” Ruby told her, before running out the door and down the stairs. She walked briskly in the bright sunshine down to the nearest subway station. She ducked underground, making it through the turnstiles just in time to hear her train coming. Ruby didn’t bother finding a seat; she instead just hung on to strap above her head. She didn’t live too far from the café, so the train ride only took a few minutes. She stepped off at Grand Central Station, which never failed to impress her, and walked in the sunshine the short distance to the café.

The Central Café Bar and Restaurant is an indoor/outdoor place located on the corner of Park Avenue. When the weather is nice, tourists like to sit outside under the green table umbrellas and take in the scenery, gazing at other tourists, the tall city buildings, and Stark Tower, Tony Stark’s obnoxious monument to himself.

Ruby stored her purse in the employee-only area just off the kitchen, grabbed her white apron, and started her long day. She wrapped utensils in napkins and filled ketchup bottles, waiting on the locals to dash inside for a bagel and to-go coffee before heading into the office. In the early mornings, the café just offered small breakfast items, like bagels, croissants, English muffins, and pastries with coffee and some juices. It was basically just for locals, and it gave the café a bit of easy business in the mornings when the staff was there anyway. Tourists usually starting coming in any time after 10:30, and they are offered a few brunch options along with a full lunch menu. Leftover pastries from the early morning are offered throughout the afternoon, and then the dinner shift starts at four. Jack closes early, so everyone is cleared out by eight.

This morning was slower than usual. Ruby found herself lost in thought, standing behind the long front counter with her elbows propped up on the countertop. She spent the morning in a dreamy state, gazing outside to where people were starting to crowd the sidewalks. Things began to pick up late morning, and soon the tables outside began to fill with people wanting lunch. Charlotte, Ruby’s only friend at the café, came in to work the lunch shift. The two passed each other as Charlotte was going to seat a couple and Ruby was coming in to pick up a ticket. Distantly they heard the sound of breaking glass. Charlotte stuck her head out the door of the partially-full café.

“Hey Ruby, I think that came from Stark Tower. I don’t see any glass though.”

“Probably just the construction guys, Charlotte,” Ruby said.

She shouldered a tray of food and began to head back out the door. After dropping off the food at the correct table, she took the order from another party that had just seated themselves outside and walked back into the kitchen to drop off the new ticket. Ruby grabbed a dish box and went back out to bus a table. Charlotte wandered over. She helped Ruby clear the table as she talked in a hushed tone.

“Hey, Ru, not to freak you out or anything, but take a look at the tower.”

Ruby glanced up toward Stark Tower and then back down at what she was doing.

“Do you see that blue light? What do you think he is doing up there?” Charlotte asked.

Ruby looked up again, and this time she noticed a blue beam of light reaching toward the sky. “Maybe he is experimenting with another one of those Iron Man suits,” she suggested. Tony Stark was not Ruby’s favorite person. She had never met him, but every interview she had ever seen him do just made him seem…too arrogant, or something. She just hoped that whatever he was doing up there wouldn’t leave the café without electricity. Again.

Ruby looked at Charlotte as she finished clearing the dirty plates. Charlotte was staring at the sky, open-mouthed, with fear in her eyes. “Ruby…” she started to say.

Ruby looked back one more time and saw that people on the bridge nearby had stopped their cars and were getting out of their taxis, staring at the sky, and running away. The sound of people screaming began to reach the vicinity of the café, and the customers began to look up in alarm. Before Ruby could even react to any of this, she heard an explosion and instinctively ducked under the metal table. Something she had never seen before was headed her way, skimming above the ground on what looked like a flying motorcycle without tires. The flying vehicle was covered in creatures, five, maybe seven of them, all flying toward the café. Ruby thought to herself that it was almost like a real-life Star Wars.

Each creature was shooting everything in its path with a long stick gun, and things were blowing up everywhere. The outdoor diners were screaming, flipping over chairs and tables in their hurry to get out of the way. Charlotte screamed, and the sound echoed in Ruby’s ear, startling her into action. She and Charlotte almost slammed into each other in their race back to the café doors. Ruby jumped through the stores and ran to the window; her body was shaking. What was happening? None of this made any sense to her.

While she was standing at the window, peering out at the unbelievable sights in front of her, Ruby watched a giant plane fall out of the sky. It was on fire, and it crash-landed, sliding to a nose-first stop against a high rise. The hatch opened, and a tall man dressed in what looked like a blue uniform decorated with a giant star and red and white stripes ran out and onto the bridge. He was carrying a round shield. Ruby’s brain was slow, sluggish with the horror on display in front of her, but it finally clicked that he was Captain America. She had remembered when the small television in the corner of the café had spent an entire week discussing the discovery of his body, buried in ice and still alive. Captain America was followed by a muscular man carrying a bow and a woman dressed entirely in skintight, black leather.           The three of them stared at the sky, and Ruby craned her neck to try and see what they were looking at from where she was standing at the window.

It didn’t take Ruby long to figure out what had stopped these three in their tracks. Something she could only describe as a giant, metal, flying snake flew by the café windows. Everything outside that hadn’t already been knocked down was now on the ground. Ruby’s brain was only functioning in short spurts, but she knew that she couldn’t possibly imagine something this crazy, something so terrifying and hard to describe. More of the creatures that had been shooting at people earlier jumped off the giant snake’s back and flew into windows of nearby office buildings.

Even more of the creatures began to fly by on their air-motorcycles. What were they? Aliens? Ruby wasn’t sure that she believed in aliens, but something was attacking the city and she couldn’t come up with another explanation. Pieces of buildings were crashing to the ground, and the creatures, the aliens, whatever they were, were shooting cars, overturning them with huge, fiery explosions.

Ruby blinked, astonished, as she watched Captain America leap off the bridge and somersault down onto a bus before directing the police into action. He jumped back up to help the other two, still fighting up on the bridge. Suddenly, with a giant bolt of lightning, a man with a hammer and a cape fell to the bridge. Instinctively, Ruby knew that he was Thor, the demi-god from another world, but she wasn’t sure how she knew that. She saw another man hop off of a motorcycle and turn into a giant green monster. Ruby shook her head, sure that she had taken crazy pills that morning. The green monster punched a giant flying snake in the face, and it literally stopped so suddenly that its tail went flying over its head. Tony Stark came flying around the corner in his Iron Man suit, and blew up the snake before it hit the ground.

Ruby saw the flying metal before it got to her, and she ducked below the window. Charlotte was already crouched on the ground, crying. Glass shattered, falling on her head, cutting Ruby’s face and hands. Ruby wiped some blood from above her eye and pinched herself, just to see if she were dreaming. It hurt, but she couldn’t believe that she could really be seeing everything that was happening.

The creatures began screaming, and one was so close that it raised the hair on Ruby’s arms. The green monster answered them with a roar that sent chills down Ruby’s spine. Suddenly, Ruby was yanked up by a tight grasp on her wrist. One of the alien creatures pulled her and Charlotte from their spot at the café window, herding them into a large group of frightened people just outside the café’s door. Several of the creatures were guarding the group with their guns, and they marched them over to a bank a few storefronts down.

“They’re taking us hostage!” Ruby thought to herself, panic rising in her throat. Charlotte was still crying, holding Ruby’s hand tightly. Ruby saw the green monster out of the corner of her eye, leaping higher than she thought was possible, begin to throw the alien creatures off of buildings and into the street below. The aliens guarding the group pushed their prisoners into the main lobby of the bank, leaping up onto a second floor balcony to watch for anyone trying to leave. One of the creatures held a small, beeping box, which Ruby was pretty sure was a bomb. This is when she realized that she would die today, here in this bank, surrounded by Charlotte and a bunch of strangers. Ruby began to think of everyone she would never see again. One by one, she thought of her friends and family, a tear leaking out when she thought of Boo, sleeping peacefully on her bed in her tiny apartment. She really, really hoped he was safe.

Explosions and metallic clangs continued to sound from outside the bank’s walls. Right when Ruby was steeling herself for the pain that death would surely bring, she heard glass breaking for the third time that day. She jerked her eyes open in time to see Captain America fly across the room from the broken window. He knocked the gun from the alien’s hand while kicking two more out of the way. He ran to the ledge that overlooked the lobby and shouted, “Everyone clear out!” to the group before one of the creatures attacked him from behind. The creature pulled at his head, removing his mask. In the split second before he turned to fight his attacker, Ruby saw his face for the first time. He was absolutely beautiful.

Captain America wrestled with the alien, pushing him across the room, sending him across the floor to where the beeping bomb lay. The alien grabbed the bomb, and everyone in the lobby ducked, sure he was going to toss it over the ledge and down on them. Instead, he threw it at Captain America. Captain America grabbed his shield to deflect the blow, but it exploded on impact, and the force threw him through another window and outside. Someone screamed in horror. It may have been Ruby, she wasn’t sure.  

The only alien to remain standing was distracted now, climbing out the bank window. Though it was probably safer to stay inside, a majority of the crowd ran up the steps and out onto the street. Ruby followed; after the last two minutes, she didn’t ever want to be in a bank again.

Ruby stopped short on the sidewalk. Buildings had huge holes in them, cars were upside down and smoking, and dead aliens littered the street like garbage. Glass was broken everywhere, and people were crouched behind anything they could find to stay out of the line of fire. She directed her gaze upward. Beyond the smoke from the debris, it was still possible to see the blue beam stretching from Stark Tower to the sky. At the top of the beam was a giant black hole, looking out of place with the rest of the blue, clear sky. Ruby swore she could see stars in the black void. However, the stars kept getting bigger, and she realized that they weren’t stars at all, they were more aliens. More and more poured out of the hole and into New York. It didn’t look like they would ever stop. Even with all of these heroes in Manhattan – because she’d decided that they were, what else could they be at this point? – how could the heroes keep fighting when there wasn’t an end to the battle? It was a lost cause.

But before Ruby had even finished forming that thought in her mind, a glint and a flash of red caught her eye. It was Iron Man, hanging on to a giant missile, guiding it up to the black hole. They both disappeared through the void, and about thirty seconds later all of the aliens dropped to the ground. People began to come out of their hiding places and destroyed buildings, cheering. The beam of light cut off, and the hole began to shrink rapidly. Ruby kept watching the sky. What was going to happen to Tony Stark? Just because she wasn’t too fond of the guy didn’t mean that she wanted him to disappear. He did just fight to save the city, after all. Ruby held her breath as the hole collapsed in on itself.

Come on, come on, she thought. Just before the hole completely closed, a flash of red raced toward earth. Ruby let out the breath she wasn’t even aware she was holding. At least it appeared that Tony had fallen back to earth. Ruby sighed, relieved. The battle was over, and, for now, at least, she was safe.

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