Takes 3 for 33 [Ruby&Jacob]

" It's party time~ "
The text was sent from a woman's phone, to one of the numbers on her speed dial list - Jacob, more specifically. The device got tucked back into one of the jacket's pockets. The text's sender moved away from the mirror above the dresser, smirking cheerfully to herself while she hurried towards the kitchen, opening the fridge to take out a big cartoon box. It was quite heavy, it had a solid tray as support, and it got packed like that with an hour earlier. With the box on the table now, Ruby hurried back to her bedroom, and ran through some drawers in search of a confetti bag she had bought in the morning. It couldnt really be pass 9:30 AM right now, if that was even the case. The confetti pack got placed in the woman's bag, as well as a party hat, that would have to be put together at Max's place. Sure, there was other stuff too, but those two items were the main needed at a birthday party.
Ruby went to grab some present box from under her bed and place it on the coffee table in the living room, moving the cake there too and mentally checking if there was anything she forgot about. The video camera! Of course. The woman ran back in her room, grabbing that technology piece in its original casing. The event would be video tapped, and there will be lots of pictures taken, if Madden liked it or not. Red also hoped that Pierce wouldnt be late to come pick her up, so they could arrive together (since driving herself didnt seem too..good for the cake's wellbeing, the presents' and also the mercenary's own) at their cop's place. She would need his help to pick all the stuff up anyway, it sounded unrealistic to think that she could leave the camera's bag and her own purse hand on one arm, and hold the cake's box in both hands. Where would she even hold the treats Andrea, Jacob and her had worked so much on making? Pierce was the precious piece in this puzzle, for more than one reason.


Jacob Pierce , Max Madden ; can t copy both text and template on mobile Dx

It took the mercenary less than she would have thought, to arrive at her place and knock on her door. Ruby jumped a bit, not from surprise but from excitement, and went towards the door with a grin all over her face. Ruby ran through the 5 locks quickly, either by rotating several buttons or by sliding a little chain away from the metal bar on the doorframe. Until she was accustomed to the new neighbours, the apartment complex altogether, the locks would stay- all of them. But with that gun forever under her pillow and the knife on her nightstand, she had a pretty good advantage already. No weapons today though, that was the rule. No one actually stated it, but she figured Max wouldnt act all happy with someone flashing a gun around like it's a party hat.
Opening the door and seeing Jacob's frame stand there, Ruby greeted him and swung the door wide open so he could come in. "Jacob! You're here, good. Can you help with taking the food?" The woman moved away from the doorway, going to retrieve everything else from the table and wait for Pierce to grab the cake box and the treats. She could help him if he wanted, or needed it, but Red figured he had enough muscles anyway. So with the purse hanging from her shoulder, the video camera's casing that clung from her wrist and with the present box being held in her arms, the blonde was ready to go. She expected Jacob to have brought the living gift with him too, thinking they shouldnt just make useless trips around the town. "How's Max behaving?" Ruby asked with a smirk, refering to the little dog, and walking to the door to hold it with her foot for Jacob to have no reason to stumble around when exiting the apartment.

Max Madden Jacob Pierce

Ruby was not exactly 'addicted' to locks, or security in general- only paranoid. But locks did make a fancy accessory. Maybe she would eventually pick out some beautiful locks, and once she cant attach them to anything, she would start a collection. Then, distribute each and every one of them to her friends, enemies, etc.
Ruby looked at Jacob surprised, though her brows quickly furrowed in a confused, yet curious way. Did the man just say 'adorably annoying'? "I dont recall ever hearing you say anything that close to 'adorable', before. Are you alright, Jacob?" The question was followed by a chuckle, and Ruby noted how he had related Max the French to those two traits. So Pierce found Madden hyperactive and annoyingly cute too, huh? Or maybe the blonde's choice of words held a different meaning. "I told you it would be a great idea. Plus, maybe the dog will have a good influence on our Max. You know? It's a win-win." The dog would definitely need to be taken out, Max got some fresh air like that, and if the puppy would pull faces at the chinese takeout's smell, who knows? The French would have to change his disgusting diet.

Andrea..she didnt know if the PD's hacker was coming too, Blackwood might have actually forgotten to invite her. Now she felt horrible, great.. "I dont know how much of a good friends she and Max are, if he made plans today I guess she might have been invited by him. I just didnt want to appear rude to Max, inviting his colleagues without his consent. And nor to Andrea, what if she feels weird around us three? Maybe some other time." Ruby's explication was hopefully clear enough, she just did not want to risk anything.

The woman waited for Jacob to exit the apartment, before pushing the door closed with her foot and bending her side to lock the door. Once at the car, Pierce placed the food in the backseat next to the box with the cop's future companion, and Ruby situated herself where Birdy instructed after leaving the present box in the back too. She could see a little black button hovering behind the breathing holes of the box, presumedly the dog's nose poking in curiosity. Once at the French, he would sure have enough space to run around. "I'm so excited, I shouldnt be that excited." Red chuckled, buckling her seatbelt.

Jacob Pierce Max Madden

Hm, maybe Jacob was not so emotionless as she thought. So he found puppies to be adorable, what else? That would be the woman's personal quest, to get to know Birdy better. On the other hand, Jacob was worrying for nothing. If that dog would change the cop's apartmemt, he would change it in better. Animals dont like dumps. Max was an exception. And a few months back, Ruby would have laughed at that conclusion, but now the blonde felt miserable for calling him an animal, a pet. Oh, give me a break Ruby and snap out of it. Were her thoughts, and she decided to reply to the man after a moment of zoning out in her own thoughts. "He'll be fine." The statement had no specific tone, being followed by a huff.
Two is a pair, three is a crowd (or a threesome) but four isnt exactly safe when one half belongs to the PD and the others are crooks. "He doesnt need anyone else anyway." Ruby smirked, cocking a brow and turning her head towards the window, watching her reflexion in the glass before focusing on the moving view. When Pierce expressed his excitement too, Ruby offered him a grin and looked behind at the box with the pup, a bit afraid that mini Max would push the box over and fall from the bench. She glared at the box until the scratching softened, and the dog began sniffing at the holes again. Its actions were kinda limited. Why not take a nap, it was a mistery. With her eyes pointed at the road ahead, the woman held the video camera's casing in her lap and fiddles with the zipper attached to it. "I still cant believe you agreed to this, buying him a pet and everything." She chuckled, looking at Jacob and the steering wheel once he stopped at a red light. Damn traffic laws.

Once the car ride was over, Blackwood opened the door and made sure to not bang the device against anything, hanging it from her wrist again since she migjt need her hands for sure. "I'll get him." Following Pierce's instructions as if they were direct orders, Ruby went to retrieve the box with the German Shepherd from the back bench, stacking the present box on top of it since both had almost the same weight. And the breathing holes were on the sides of the box as well, so it wasnt like she was killing mini Max or anything. Now, if he would stop shifting..

Red thanked the curly-haired man for holding the door, and advanced towards the evelator. Who put this music in the metal cages, seriously?? If the building is in flames, do people expect you to calm down from this jazz or what? The blonde rested the boxes on top of the small bar across the wall with the mirror and followed Jacob to the apartment once the jazzy ride was over. With a smirk now all over her face, Ruby accepted the offer and proceeded to open the door. With her knee up against the wall to balance the boxes on her thigh, and a hand working on the lock, she tried to make as little noise as possible, including all the almodt inaudible twitching of the lock and the paperclip (an item constantly in her pockets) . She twisted the knob slowly, no sound coming out, and pushed the door open being glad that it wasnt creaky or anything to jeopardize this. The silence around was suspicious indeed, but eh. It was Max. He could be showering, sleeping or out to annoy someone, who knew?

Once inside, the woman sneaked towards the living room, knowing her way around his house better than the warehouse now. She put the present box on his coffee table, and the puppy under it so it wouldnt be visible just yet. She took out the camera from the bag, turning it on , glad that it didnt make any beeping.

A brilliant ideea, yes. But Ruby remembered on the spot how Max once said that gifting someone a pet without asking would be risky. They might not like, want, or be ready for such a companion. It was true that there came great responsabilities with the life of a domestic animal. A pet ate a lot of time, money and energy to be attended to, but those would be no problem. If Madden needed any kind of help taking care of Max, Ruby and Jacob would be there to aid him. Be it dogsitting, dropping by with some extra food or just taking mini Max out for a walk while big Max was at the PD- the criminals would sure be happy to help indeed. "I hope not. But if so, everyone dislikes someone when they first meet them, right? It will go with time." Ruby was definitely not trying to hint at the three's relat-. Friendship . It was just how she portrayed many people meeting a new pet or being introduced to someone who didnt sound so..great. Hopefully Pierce didnt take it as a wrong hint or as the woman being rude.
The best thing about trained killers: they dont make noise. It was so great to have the element of surprise on their behalf, plus Blackwood was super excited already and a job well done really boosted her confidence. She believed and deeply hoped that today would be the French's greatest day, since he moved to Chicago. The blonde grabbed the little party hat from her bag, adjusted its form so it wouldnt be folded, and held it with a hand. With the video camera strapped to the other palm, Ruby started recording. She held her arm extended at a good distance, so if they watched the tape, no one would have big alien heads or massive facial features, and walked soundlessly towards Jacob. The camera would always be pointed ahead, after she had stopped side by side with the man, waved at the camera and waited for the mercenary to at least smile too. She had this cheeful smile on her lips, like it was Hanukkah. Then, with the camera pointed at the cop's bed, she would finally notice the peaceful, sleeping Max. Would be a shame if someone woke him up, right?

She scanned the room for a moment, sneaking closer to the man on the bed and capturing a few seconds of him sleeping, before setting the device on a closer desk. Red tried to avoid to stay in the view while doing so, or at least only let her face be seen, not some abstract shirt part or abdomen. The camera was pointed at Madden's bed, not capturing whatever happened out of its range, obviously. The party hat shall stay on the French's night stand for now, they would hate to wake him right on the spot by giving him a strange feeling of having something being placed on his head. Jacob seemed to be waiting for some instructions, and Blackwood thought of something to do. She eyed the sides of the bed, and looked at Jacob to grab his attention. Her hands gesticulated for the man to go sit on the bed behind Max and hug him, while she approached the opposite side again and held a hand for Jacob to wait for the signal. They should do this at the same time, slowly without startling him, so it would be taken as kindhearted not like an evil way to wake/scare someone. When Birdy would be ready, Blackwood would hold three hands up and mouth the countdown.

Once both of them would be laying at Madden's sides (Ruby didnt move his hand, only tried not to put too much weight on it) , and both would have a hand placed on the cop's side, Ruby would place a small kiss on his forehead and wait for the day to truly start.

Max's eyes were barely open as he heard the two speak, defending that they were the best because they brought him cake. That was actually very nice of them to have bought a cake to eat together. Well he thought they bought it, not that they actually took the time to bake it. They both wished him a happy birthday and Ruby even attempted to do it in French. That made him chuckle, bringing on his face his first smile of the day as he covered his tired blue grey eyes with his palm, pulling on his sheets to cover himself up a little more as he started to wake up enough to get a better grip on the situation. They were both, laying on his bed with their arms around him. It was a little weird and if it weren't them it would have been probably more creepy than it should.<p>
He then turned to his stomach again and brought a pillow to his head. The sleeping pills didn't dissipate yet, and it would take a little while before he could wake up fully. He thought that maybe these two might have wanted to just, annoy him in the morning then leave, but that thought got erased the moment they looked at him with such excitement. It was slightly scary honestly. Like two animals staring at their owner to ask for food and hope that the longer they stare, the faster he'll get up and feed them. Obviously they won't want to leave so soon. He threw the pillow on his head away and looked at the two before rising from the bed to avoid feeling weird with both of them watching him while he lay like this on the bed.<p>
He saw the camera as he looked around the room. Probably one of Ruby's little ideas. He looked at it lazily before shifting back to the two. "Oh great you brought a camera. I bet it's even rolling right now, capturing how awfully tired I look with my messy hair. Nice." he brought his knees up under the sheets and rested an elbow on them to lean his head in his open hand. "So what did you two plan? Can I eat cake in bed?" he asked, a little hopeful that he won't have to leave the coziness of his bed so soon. It was so warm under the sheets, and he felt safe under there, surrounded by those two and their overly exited expressions.