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How To Deliver Justice (with KiraMusani

Clair remained quiet not sure what to say to the others, though wanting to help and not having meant to make them more upset though thinking she had.

Clair looked back to Ruby and nodded, standing up with her things.
"Okay, it's back in my room" She agreed.
 
Ruby gathered her things and quickly followed Clair, both watched by the newly appointed doctor and the vigilante hero, who raised opposite eyebrows and gave each other a knowing nod. Competition or no, Ruby deserved something less stressful, and Clair? Well, she was the right girl for the job.

Ruby followed Clair to her room and said, "I'm sure Mother would appreciate anything you can come up with, although I really think she and Father don't want to do any more battles to save Cordonia, y'know?"

(For the full story of what Kenna and Dom went through about 20 years before Ruby, read the Fandom Wiki on "The Crown and the Flame ")
 
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Clair nodded as they got to her room.
"Oh, if they don't want to do any more battles, then perhaps something focused on battling isn't such a good idea, luckily something I have been working on might be useful for outside the battlefield as well as in one" She smiled as she opened the door, her now single room having been organized to look more like a workshop with all the things she had been doing in her off time. With her bed moved off to the side as an afterthought.

"Okay, so since you wanted something either could use, I thought, what about something they could use together instead, then I looked into like higher-up army strategies and realized, something that is very important is communication" She explained as she shut the door behind them and walked to her desk/workbench.
"So I started to wonder, what if I could come up with a way for them to communicate over larger distances without like yelling or amplifying their voice, something more discrete" She stated as she pulled out some papers.
"I was going to start on a physical model once I figured out all the details but maybe we can try and do that together, this is what I have so far" She unrolled a paper with several diagrams and schematics on it.
 
Ruby turned the paper around in her hands studying it from all sides. "So... They could communicate with each other? Cuz that's big for my mother... Communication... They wouldn't need a runner and it would take about an hour maybe, instead of several?" She asked not exactly sure what she was looking at.

This works for either, but Ruby can't grasp radio waves that would work for over air talking device, only a scientist, even an amateur one like Clair would comprehend it. Or what is needed for the telegraph.
 
"Well, ideally it would be instantaneous, or at least only take seconds, even over a large distance,l. There are a few snags I have been hitting, mostly stuff like how the message travels, and and a potential way to keep it running" she explained excitedly.

"My first test I would try is simply two devices that perhaps mimic one another, even if it's something as simple as pushing a needle down, the challenge is getting that information to quickly go from one place to another. Honestly this is the most challenging thing I have done" she admitted.
 
Ruby looked over at Clair. "If you think you might need help, you've got friends here. Anybody smart enough to figure out what you're trying to do, here, would help you, Clair. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them, but I could probably help you test your prototype when you get it built?"
 
Clair returned the look "Oh, yeah sure of course, though don't sell yourself short, I'd love to hear your ideas" she encouraged.
"After all that's why we came here in the first place anyway right" she asked, still unaware of why else Ruby would want to come to her room.
 
Even though she loved Clair and wanted to see what it was like to experience Clair touching her everywhere, Ruby found herself not able to look Clair in the eye, more from the shame of the truth she now had to face. "Clair... I'm a princess. I've been sheltered pretty much all my life. I don't even know all the details of the great battle to unite the great houses of Cordonia. Just that it failed with Lythikos, Ramsford and Portavira. They're their own countries and are closely tied to Cordonia, part of a five country alliance bloc. The other country being Monterisso which is an island country in the Mediterranean." She sighed and ran her fingers along the bedspread. "I studied history, what little there is of Cordonia, because I had to. I'm pushed into being diplomatic, courtly duties, making Cordonia stronger and better, improving relations with other countries... And of course swordsmanship. The latter only as a last resort." She finally looked at Clair sadly, "This is hard for me to admit, but I don't know the first thing about this inventing thing, or the medical science Aurora and Dr Arden are doing, or much about my own father's role in saving the country."

(In other words, Ruby doesn't know Daddy is a dragon-human, if you read "The Crown and the Flame")
 
Clair paused and listened to Ruby speak, feeling bad that she had pulled her here to try and push her interests on her, when that is what people had been doing to her, her whole life. Now Clair was just another person trying to push Ruby into something she wasn't interested in.

"Oh, I umm" she sat beside her on the bed.
"Okay, so, forget about the princess stuff, and the inventions, and all that stuff others want. What does Ruby like? What makes you excited to think about or talk about or what have you" she asked wanting to let Ruby explore what her own interests were.
 
Ruby blinked as she looked at Clair as she joined her on the bed. "Despite how I was pressured growing up, history has always fascinated me. I'd love to learn about England's, or at least more than I was taught. Science also, but I just don't understand it... Like how you can just invent something out of nothing? Especially that thing you invented for the doctors that allows them to hear what's inside us? I also love nature, I think I get that more from my father, although mother enjoys nature, too. I'm fascinated by the elements and how they work, but I don't understand. I guess elements are another of those science things that confuse me, but still interest me. The nature thing when we made the wine together? That was my favorite game, because it had so much to do with nature. I couldn't do the hunt, because I couldn't hurt an innocent animal, but I'd love to have walked in the woods!"

The more Ruby talked about what she liked, even if some of it confused her, the more her eyes lit up, and the more animated she became with her hands.
 
Clair smiled seeing her getting excited about what she was talking about, it's exactly how she felt when trying to figure out her inventions or talking about them. She payed close attention, wanting to take notes but instead trying to focus and just remember what she can.

"Wow, so you like nature, history and science?" She asked, trying to think of something that could combine her interests into a hobby she could love.

"Oh and me too, I could never hurt a poor little fox, honestly I prefer my workshop to the forest but maybe we can go for a walk, or do like camping or something?" She offered as her mind tried to price together the other interests as well.
 
Ruby smiled and nodded. "In that order too, and only because I really can't figure how science works, I guess. Some of the other things we do and you saw me do, like painting are also fun... Painting just doesn't excite me like, well, especially nature. I had already thought of combining painting and nature, but I don't know... It seems daunting and the I might be the only one getting any joy out of it. Art should be appreciated, y'know.

The thing is, I'm interested in something I can't figure out. It also makes me excited. Of the unknown, I guess? Is that what you and Doctor Aurora get excited about? That exploring science thing?"

Ruby grinned and hugged Clair. "My hero! I would love to go in a walk in the woods or go camping with you!"
 
She nodded with a smile, trying to contain herself from going off on a tangent.
"Yeah, at least for me it's basically, there is a need, or a task, or like, something but nothing exists that could do that thing, and I get to like, solve that puzzle... Did that make any sense?" She asked shaking her head.

What about leaning into nature, the different effects plants can have, or alternate uses for things in nature, categorizing them or maybe something like that?" She suggested.
 
Ruby smiled and nodded and looked at Clair, almost princess cutely, looking much younger than her 16 years, with eyes skyward, chin on her open palm, and a piece of her tongue hanging out with it slightly touching her upper lip on the side.

"So... Kinda like what Doctor Aurora did what she was looking at that gummiberry? That was definitely nature related... I could help the medical people, by what I find out from the plants and stuff. It does sound fun..."

And Ruby just figured a key piece of figuring science in general, out. Experimentation.
 
"Yes exactly! And maybe other uses too, like for medicine, maybe you will find like a mold that has healing properties, or oh! I just remembered, let me show you something!" She ran over to her notebook and began thumbing through it.
 
Intrigued, Ruby hopped off the bed and walked back over to Clair, laying a hand on her shoulder, almost instinctively and watched as Clair looked through her notes.
 
"Ah! Here it is! So once someone paid us in potato's, and I started to use them as like a pin cushion for some thin bits of metal, but as I went to collect some once I felt something, after some messing around I attached them in like a line and then to a carbonized paper filament I had made for another project but it never panned out to anything, and since it was more fragile figured it might react more easily then the other metals" she explained as she turned to show her the notes.

"Anyway, long story short, I made the filament glow red hot, neat huh?" She asked.
 
Ruby raised her eyebrows. "So... Like something in the potato helped the metal glow? Maybe if we go camping in the rain? Maybe it's cuz it was wet?" She was half right. Clair had just found a key ingredient for the lightbulb, by accident! If they did camp in the rain, preferably a thunderstorm, they would find the key element. Something Ruby herself was interested in. They would see the lightning!
 
"Hmm, I don't know, the potato's weren't like dried out, but like, not wet, not on the outside at least, but I never tried wetting them, maybe that would have an effect? Hmm." She thought to herself for a moment before speaking again.
"And I wonder if being wet with fresh or salt water would make a difference.." she added.

"Oh! But yeah see that's exactly it, you just think, what if this, test it, and see what happens" she smiled.
 
Ruby shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to try both? One wet, one damp, one salt water, one fresh water. See what works best. Ohmigosh, my mother would absolutely adore you! I know just talking about this is starting to excite me!"
 
"Yay! And you are absolutely correct, also if we are doing an experiment we need something I like to call a control, basically we would also want to keep one dry to compare them all against, it's a way to test for any variables that are not part of the test" she explained matching her excitement.

"So do you want to do some testing with me?" She asked.

"Maybe we could even test this while like, Camping or something?" She offered though that aspect didn't excite her too much.
"Though that could add variables that a more controlled environment would better account for"
 
The more they talked about the possibility of a science experiment, especially using potatoes, and thus nature and plants, the more excited Ruby became, and when asked if she would like to help in an experiment, the Cordonian princess threw her arms around Clair and kissed her square on the lips with all the passion of nature experimentation and her own desires for Clair.

Suddenly she blushed and backed off nearly a foot from Clair. "Sorry. Lost my head. If I haven't scared you off, yes. I'd like that. But let's save camping for warmer weather. It's cold out there right now. Umm controlled environment sounds real good right about now..." She bit her lower lip looking almost puppy dog pout at Clair. Obviously, she was sorry for just kissing without permission... Although she meant it.
 
Clair's excitement matched Ruby's and was increased as she saw how excited her new friend was getting. Though she mostly just held her arms up as she did little hops in her space. She did not expect it as Ruby lunged at and kissed her. Her own arms for some reason instinctively curling inward ending up pressed between their chests as their lips met.

Her face immediately went red as she froze from the embrace. Though she managed to recover in the time it took Ruby to speak.
"Oh I umm, it's umm, it's okay, I was just surprised is all. I wasn't hurt or umm, like it wasn't like a bad thing I don't think so it's all good right?" She rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Umm, but yeah! If we can get potato's and salt water and stuff we could do that test here" she suggested.
 
Ruby cleared her throat and nodded, the moment lost as quickly as it came, mostly because of Ruby's self awareness of what she did. "Umm, yeah, it wasn't bad. So, since I'm one of the few Laird Clara won't bite the head off of, I think I should ask her for the salt and potatoes... I just hope she's not too curious about why we need the ingredients. She is a suspicious Scot."

She quickly exited, but less than five minutes later, Clair would hear the Scot thumping up behind Ruby's steps. "...An' after yer done wi' yer bloody experiment wi' 'em, an' if they c'n be used as food, yer both on kitchen duty t' cook a decent meal fer th' other ladies fer yer farewell dinner afore we head back t' Dunwyn! An' dinnae be thinkin' ye c'n get outta it, cuz yer th' Cordonian Princess either, ye hear me, Ruby Rose?! Bloody scientists! Ye two are jes as bad as Aurora and her raidin' me bloody pantry ovall it's iodine! An' I, as Laird o' Princeton Manor, demand t' see th' results o' this experiment! An' ye tell Clair that!"

Ruby came in Clair's room, literally shaking in her princess slippers. "G-g-guess sh-she was m-m-madder th-than I ex-expected... " Well, food was a might scarce. She laid the potatoes out for Clair and looked like she didn't know what to do with her own hands. The good news was Clara had unwittingly proven Ruby's point of being all bark and no bite, even if she did scare Ruby half to death.
 
Clair started getting things ready as she waited for her. She would star to lable jars for each test and prepare a spread sheet to organize the collected information.

Clair would go to the door and welcome Ruby in, sticking her head out and waving to Clara.
"Thank you!" She called out.

"Oh umm, there there, it's okay let's focus on the experiment" she rubbed her back gently trying to comfort her.
 
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