Jaune and the Real Girl.

Chapter 8

"Care package!" Ruby cheerfully announced barging into Jaune's room a box in hand.

"Thank the gods!" Jaune sighed looking away from the flat screen mounted on the wall. Some dull soap opera was playing in the background and he didn't hesitate to turn it off.

"What did you bring?" Penny asked her friend standing up from the chair she'd been sitting in besides Jaune's bed.

Ruby set the box down on the corner of his bed to rifle through the contents. "We got some movies, a couple board games, a deck of cards, Blake donated some books, Ren and Nora picked up the latest issues of Jaune's favorite comic books." She laid out the items on the bed for their inspection. It was a treasure trove to Jaune. The few channels the TV in his room provided weren't very engaging, Penny seemed to enjoy it however so he'd left it on for her.

"Thank you, this is more than I'll need," Jaune said looking over the small stack of comics looking at the glossy pages.

"We figured since Penny doesn't exactly sleep she'll need all the help she can get." Ruby explained.

"That is most thoughtful," Penny said, picking up one of Blake's books, it was a cheap worn paperback novel. In the short time since Jaune had been traveling with Blake from Haven Academy she seemed to have some new novel to read almost every day.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Ruby said, fishing into her pocket, "I got your new scroll!"

"Sweet!" Jaune said, graciously accepting it. He opened to find that most of his settings were already there having been backed up. After his last scroll was bricked by that giant magnet. "You're a lifesaver Ruby!"

She grinned at him. "Anything for a friend in need," she said.

"Now you've rescued us from boredom," Jaune praised, "keep it up and we'll be in debt for the rest of our lives."

"Oh stop!" Ruby giggled bashfully, turning towards the door.

"You are not staying?" Penny asked.

Ruby shook her head. "Sorry no, we still got duty escorting the trucks and we got plenty of contracts, and with you here that's two extra shifts we need to cover."

"Sorry about that," Jaune sighed. He didn't even think about how the rest of his friends would be stuck with his work.

"Don't apologize Jaune," Ruby told him, "just relax we're fine."

Jaune nodded, "Alright I will," he promised her waving at her as she left. "Have a nice day Ruby."

"You too Jaune, get well, and that goes for you too Penny!" Ruby said, returning Jaune's wave.

"I will Ruby!" Penny promised giving her a wave goodbye. The door closed and again the two of them were left alone together. So far Penny had hardly left his side since he first woke up. She explained to him that most of her remaining damage was internal and that her self repair systems were currently overworked. Her rocket boot still needed to be fixed, and many of Floating Array's blades replaced.

"What would you like to do Jaune?" She asked looking over the assortment of books and dvds and board games.

"I think I'd like to catch up on my reading," he said, picking up one of the new comic books Ren and Nora has gotten him.

Penny nodded and looked quizzically at the glossy pages observing the many colorful covers. Big muscled heroes fighting supervillains and monsters in colorful and elaborate outfits.

Jaune opened up the latest issue of X-Ray and Vav when he noticed her inspecting the covers. "Have you ever read comic books?" He asked her.

Penny shook her head no. "I have never been personally interested in them." She explained choosing one at random and flipping over the pages seeing a caped man punch a gigantic monster into orbit. "It seems these characters consistently perform physically impossible." She observed idly flipping the pages watching the panels depict fights only possible within the realms of imagination.