subway
RUBY
With her purchase in hand, Ruby walked out of the small bookstore. She had plenty of unread books still at home, but when she had read about this one online, she decided it was worth putting at the front of her to-be-read list.
The evening air was crisp, and the city hummed around her as she walked toward the subway station. The sounds of car horns and occasional shouts cut through the music playing from her earbuds.
As she rounded the corner, almost to the stairs leading to the subway, a sharp whistle broke through the noise. Her shoulders stiffened.
"Hey, pretty thing," a voice called from behind.
Ruby didn't turn around. She quickened her pace, keeping her gaze straight ahead. Her grip tightened on the strap of her bag as the sound of footsteps followed her, growing louder as she reached the stairs to the station.
"Come on, don't be like that," the man called, his tone half-laughing but laced with something darker.
Ruby descended the stairs quickly, weaving through the sparse evening crowd toward the platform. She stepped onto the train as soon as it arrived, hoping the man would lose interest. But as the doors slid shut, she caught a glimpse of him stepping into the same car.
Her heart sank.
The train ride was short but felt like an eternity. The man stayed close, his voice low and mocking as he muttered comments she tried to ignore over the music blasting into her ears. The other passengers either didn't notice or didn't care. Ruby kept her eyes on the floor, her pulse quickening with every station that passed.
She refused to look at the man, refused to show any sort of emotion other than the anger that filled her body with hot energy. If looks could kill, she would've done her damnest to send that piercing glare straight into his skull. She didn't give him the satisfaction of meeting his gaze, though— she knew that would only fuel his amusement, and could possibly only make the situation worse for her.
She knew if it came down to it, even with a body pumped full of adrenaline and fear, she would not be able to use her physical strength to save herself. She was well aware of the limits of her strength, and the slight muscles on the man's arms gave her all the information she needed.
When her stop came, she bolted for the door, hoping to lose him in the flow of people. But the man followed, his footsteps echoing just behind her. As she weaved through the crowd of people exiting the train, she reached into her tote bag for the thin hoodie, her hand closing around the fabric. She had one option, and while it wasn't guaranteed to work, it was worth a try.
FRANK
Frank stood at the opposite platform, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. He didn't usually take the train, but tonight it was simpler than driving. The faint rumble of an approaching train echoed through the station as he leaned against a pillar, scanning the sparse crowd without much interest.
Then he saw her.
Ruby stepped off the train, moving quickly, her head ducked low. Something about her body language made him straighten. His eyes flicked to the man trailing just a few steps behind her—a wiry guy with greasy blond hair, his movements too deliberate, his eyes fixed on her back.
Frank's jaw tightened.
He fell into step and followed their progress. The man was talking to Ruby, but she wasn't responding. She had a look of pure disgust on her face, brows knitted together and lips pulled down low at the corners. Frank could tell she was trying to lose him, but the guy stuck to her like glue.
As they climbed the stairs toward street level, Frank adjusted his pace, preparing to intercept. He wasn't sure what he was going to do yet, but he wasn't about to let this guy corner her.
Then Ruby disappeared.
One moment she was there, her hair catching the street lights as they emerged onto the street from the subway station, and the next she was gone. Frank stopped, scanning the sea of faces as the blond man turned in circles, cursing loudly.
"Where the hell did you go, huh?" the man muttered, his frustration evident.
Frank smirked faintly, though the tension in his chest didn't ease. Ruby was clever— slipping away from that man wouldn't be too hard, but losing Frank as well, that took more skill.
He watched as the man stormed off, muttering to himself, back down the stairs and into the subway station. Normally he'd go and have some... “words” with someone like that, but he wanted to make sure that Ruby had disappeared of her own accord, and was now heading back to the apartment.
He took a shortcut through some alleyways, following the path that was most direct from the subway station to their apartment building. After keeping his eye on the sidewalk as he neared the apartment building, he spotted her.
On the sidewalk on the other side of the street, pulling the hood down on a hoodie she hadn't been wearing before, was Ruby.
She had her hands shoved in her pockets, scowl still weighing down her expression.
She turned a corner onto a quieter street, and Frank followed at a distance, staying to the shadows. She stopped near the mouth of an alley.
A faint meow cut through the air.
Frank's brow furrowed as Ruby crouched down, her focus on a small shape just beyond the edge of the light. It was a cat, thin and scrappy, with fur matted in places and a cautious gleam in its green eyes.
Ruby murmured something too soft for him to hear, extending her hand palm-up toward the animal. The cat watched her warily, its tail twitching as it sat just out of reach.
When Ruby edged forward, the cat darted back a step, keeping the same careful distance. Instead of giving up, she lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the pavement, resting her hands on her knees.
Ruby stayed like that for a while, her posture relaxed but her attention fully on the cat. She spoke again, her voice too low to carry, but whatever she said seemed to work. The cat hesitated, then crept forward an inch at a time, its movements deliberate and tentative.
Frank's lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. She had patience, he'd give her that. Most people would've given up, but she seemed willing to wait as long as it took.
She quietly spoke some more, having a one sided conversation with the animal. Eventually, the cat sniffed at her outstretched fingers before darting away again, disappearing into the shadows. Ruby didn't seem disappointed. Instead, she rose to her feet with a soft smile and brushed off her jeans. She glanced once toward the alley as if to check if the cat had returned, then resumed her walk toward the apartment.
They neared the apartment building, and Frank stopped walking, watching as she stepped into the doorway. Only then did he push his hands into his jacket pockets and turn back toward the station.
It was a tiny bit reassuring that Ruby seemed to know how to handle herself in a situation like that. He had found himself thinking about her quite often recently, and he tried to justify it to himself by blaming it in the boredom. Aside from a few small missions, there hadn't been very much to do lately.
He found himself bored in his apartment often, and the walls happened to be thin-- he was learning things about his neighbor without even trying. He could hear when her alarm went off, when she left for work, when she arrived home, when she listened to her music-- which he had been surprised to hear was metal. So in his defense, it was hard not to be thinking about her.
He thought about the way she had her bedroom window open every single night. The way she left it open on her days off, and closed it before her shifts on days she worked. She always listened to music when getting ready, both to leave for work and for leaving the apartment in general. When she locked her front door before leaving, she always tested the handle twice to make sure it was locked. She had a lot of habits, and he bet that as she had more time to settle into this place, she'd have a routine in no time. Her life seemed... consistent. Uneventful. He envied that, just a little bit.
As he reached the subway station for the second time, he happened to notice the asshole who had been following Ruby, stepping into the car of a train. Frank picked up his speed, squeezing into the next car down just as the doors slid to a close. It looked like he was gonna get a chance to have some words with him after all.