Ruby Tries to Reason with her

"You can't do that!" Ruby said, voice almost pleading, her mind trying its hardest to come up with a convincing enough reasoning for Nora before she asked-

"Why can't I?" Nora's eyebrows furrowed in thought and she tilted her head to the side. "There's a button right here for it," Nora indicated.

Ruby did well not to scream the obvious "Because I'm naked in them," at her friend, knowing perfectly well that wouldn't be a good enough answer or reason for her. Instead, she opted to rationalize it with Nora, try to minimize the damage. After all, Nora made it clear she had no interest in deleting the pictures, and Nora had already seen Ruby naked, now, so for the moment at least, it didn't matter if Nora had the pictures. What mattered was keeping other people from seeing them, until Ruby got dressed and could sneak her friend's scroll away long enough to delete the pictures herself. "Because, uh, because, um," Ruby started. "Ah! Because they're, uh, personal pictures. If others see them, then they won't be good, you know. It's like a, uh, a secret! The more people that know it, the less it means. Which means, if a bunch of people see those pictures, they won't mean anything anymore."

Ruby could see the gears turning in Nora's head. "You're right! I can only show these pictures to a couple of people who will care about them, like the boys, or your sister," Nora said.

Ruby shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Ruby said. "None of them are allowed to see those pictures. They're for your eyes only, all right?"

"But why not?" Nora said with a slight-whine in her voice, wanting nothing more than to bask in her pictures with someone else.

"Because I don't want any of them to see pictures of me naked!" Ruby yelled. "Come on, Nora, please! Just don't let anyone else see those pictures. They'll be our secret."

For her part, Nora knew she was missing part of the equation, but she just wasn't sure which part that was. She didn't know what the big deal was. Those pictures were great, even super-particular Ren would agree about that. "I guess," Nora relented. "I'll just talk about them with you then..." Ruby let out a relieved sigh, suddenly able to breathe again. "But, I have to ask, why are you running around naked anyways?" Nora asked, and before Ruby could get a chance to respond, she already came up with an answer. "Oh, I know, it's because you're an exhibitionist! Right? That's why when I came over here you were - I get it now!"

"What - what, no! I'm not an exhibitionist, Nora! Er, uh, what's an exhibitionist?"

"Oh, you know, someone who gets a thrill out of other people seeing them naked or almost seeing them. I think it varies a little bit, I'm not sure. But the risk usually helps them get their rocks off, but you already know that from experience," Nora brushed it off. "That's kinda funny, though. I think your sister might be one too. What a coincidence, right? I guess you guys are more alike than I thought." Nora laughed.

"No!" Ruby protested, her face burning and her head shaking wildly enough to make any bobble-head proud. "I'm not an exhibitionist! Look, I just lost my clothes, that's all. I'm trying to find them, but so far the only thing I could find was my cloak. All I want is to get dressed, grab the canteens, and get back to camp to sleep. Could you, please, please, please, just help me Nora? I don't want to go back naked."

Nora just stared at Ruby, not quite catching everything she was saying, and blinked only once Ruby finished speaking. Methinks the lady doth protest too much, Nora thought. After all, how could one lose their clothes unless they took them off. What other possible reason could Ruby have to do that? She wasn't sure what her friend was so embarrassed about. As far as kinks go, exhibitionism wasn't too out there. Nothing to really be ashamed of, especially not with how she looked naked. Then it dawned on her. Ruby had just asked her for help, but help with what? Her mind was scrambling, trying to figure out just what her friend meant, not wanting to admit that she only half-listened. That's when it clicked, and Nora took in a sharp breath and elicited an "Ooooooh!" Ruby wasn't an exhibitionist. An exhibitionist needed an audience, or at least a potential audience, for the risk factor. If not for Nora following after her, she wouldn't have had one. The only logical explanation for all this, then, was not that Ruby was an exhibitionist, but rather that she was practicing to be an exhibitionist, which would explain why she didn't want to go back to camp naked, she wasn't read for that yet. That must have been what Ruby was asking for help with! "I get it now," Nora nodded her head, a big grin on her face as she gave a thumbs up. "You can count on me, Rubes." If her friend wanted help in this, then Nora felt honored to be the one to give it to her.

For Ruby, it felt like she was finally able to breath again. Nora's initial silence had unnerved her, but it seemed they were finally on the same page. With any luck, she would be dressed again soon and sleeping in their tent. The thought brought a smile to her face. "Thank you, Nora," Ruby said, stumbling to get on her feet. "Now, let's go find my clothes and get back to camp." With well-practiced ease, Ruby slipped into her cloak, extra careful not to give her friend an up-close show. She held the cloak closed around her, suddenly feeling much better now that her body was out of sight. Of course, since she had nothing on beneath the cloak, she still felt each gust of wind quite intimately, but she wasn't sure if she minded that all too much at the moment. With how hot her skin had felt under Nora's scrutinizing gaze, she needed all the cool air she could get." All right," Ruby said, her cheer returning. "With both of us looking, we should find my clothes twice as fast!" With that she turned away from Nora, surveying the surrounding area high and low for any hints of her stuff. Mere seconds after she turned around, she felt the back of her cloak rise way higher than any gust of wind should have reasonably made it go. Looking back, she couldn't believe what she saw.

"Aaaugh, put it back down," Ruby said, trying to pull away from the ginger's grasp. With a laugh, Nora complied, releasing her hold. Ruby slipped forward, barely stopping herself from faceplanting. "Why'd you do that?" Ruby pouted.

Nora laughed again. "I couldn't help myself. Your butt was the only thing I didn't get to see, and now I have."

"I'm so happy for you," Ruby muttered, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Thanks, me too," Nora cheered.