Ruby has never had much patience for distance.

Not in races.

Not in arguments.

Not with people she likes.

She is compact, athletic, brutally competitive, and built like someone who trusts her legs more than most people trust their judgment. Lean through the upper body, smaller-chested, thick through the thighs and glutes, and made for sprinting, pursuit, and endurance, Ruby moves like standing still is something she only does when she has a reason.

She likes challenge.

She likes being challenged.

And she especially likes people who make her work for something.

Beat her time and she will demand a rematch.

Outfight her and she will remember it.

Make her laugh when she is trying to stay annoyed and she may decide you are a problem worth keeping.

Her flaw is not that she burns too hot.

It is that some part of her is terrified everyone else thinks she eventually burns out.

Years ago, people said she was only good for short distances.

Explosive.

Fast.

No staying power.

Ruby spent a long time proving them wrong.

Now the insult has metastasized into something more personal.

She knows how to be intense.

She knows how to be exciting.

She knows how to make herself impossible to ignore.

She is much less certain what she is supposed to do when nothing needs proving.