Sunday Night, Hallway, Fifth Floor

[the_merriest]

So Rikku ... had had a pretty sweet weekend. Hanging out with mercs, and all sorts of interesting workshops, about fun things like C4 and weapons and being in the business as a good guy and dude. They were pretty cool people.

Then she'd met Reno's friend Rude and gotten a chopper ride and ... okay. She'd been kinda freaking out about the chopper ride? But then Dawn had been awesome, 'cause Dawn, and logic was totally better than being weird.

So she should probably go find Reno, and apologize for ditching his coat on the ground like that? Right. Okay. Suck it up, Rikku.

She knocked on the door to 501, fidgeting.

(for the reno. will be a linkdrop.)

Comments

[raspberryturk]

"S'not locked," Reno said, sitting up.

Laying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling wasn't doing anything for the drunkenness. Dammit.

[the_merriest]

She opened the door, hesitant, and peered around it. Okay. It was him. Right.

"Hi," she said nervously. "How ... are you?"

[raspberryturk]

He looked at her for a moment. Then fell backward onto his bed again and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm great. It was cold last night." This was not necessarily one single thought. Nor was it entirely coherent. But he was talking. That was good.

[the_merriest]

It was ... uh. Rikku blinked before she put it together.

"You're right," she said. "I was being ... weird. Sorry I dropped your coat."

She leaned against the doorway, and ruffled her hand through her hair. "Uh. I can go?"

[raspberryturk]

"You don't gotta. I can."

...

"No, wait. Uh."

...

Sigh.

He stood up and frowned faintly. "It's been a long day, yo."

[the_merriest]

Rikku considered, and then nodded towards the hallway. "Still cold out. Can I swipe that coat again?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno blinked at her. It took him a moment for the question to sink in, too.

And then he shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to her.

"Still cold out," he agreed.

[the_merriest]

She pulled it on, and how could it be so huge on her? He was kinda wiry. Right. Way taller. That helped. She had to look like a dweeb.

"Not gonna let an Al Bhed girl wander around in the frozen wastelands by herself, are you?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno smiled a bit of a crooked, still relatively drunk sort of smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it, yo," he replied.

[the_merriest]

"C'mon," she said. And started walking down the hallway, heading for the stairs.

"Long day? You wanna talk about it?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno followed shortly behind her, closing his door behind him as he went.

"Dunno if I shou-- ... can."

Can and should. Two entirely different things. Really. She had offered, last night, if it wasn't 'can...'

But it was can. Had to be can. It. Can. Not should.

"Maybe?"

[the_merriest]

"Seriously?" she asked, trying not to sound surprised. She ... had expected him to brush it off, like he usually did. She nodded. "Okay. So, uh. What's new?"

Aside from ... kissing a weird girl in the chopper, who trashed your coat. That.

[raspberryturk]

Reno shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets again.

"The. Uh. The con was..." Another shrug. "...Great."

Great, of course, meaning 'disturbing fuckdammit but I'm too manly to go there.'

[the_merriest]

"You got to see your chopper again," she chirped helpfully.

Oh. Way to bring up the chopper, Rikku.

Ignore the facepalming.

[raspberryturk]

Reno managed to ignore the facepalming because he was doing the same thing and it was hard to see her through his own hand.

"Yeah. That was." Nice. Shocking. Amazing. "Nice."

...

More facepalming.

[the_merriest]

"Oh, good," Rikku said, before she could stop herself. "You suck at this, too."

[raspberryturk]

Reno smirked faintly.

"I'm drunk. What's your excuse?"

[the_merriest]

"I don't have one," she laughed, looking over and tucking her hair behind her ears. "I just suck at this. Always have. Maybe it's genetic."

[raspberryturk]

Heh...

"The chopper was better than. Uh. Other." Shrug.

Other. Yes. Other things that Reno sucked at sorting out in his mind after a long day, a minor incident at his roomie's club, and too much champagne.

But the chopper was easily better.

[the_merriest]

"... All of the chopper?" she asked, blushing. "Or did you mean ... the, uh, chopper ... itself ... was better than ... things that ..."

[raspberryturk]

"Not complainin' about any of it, zoto." Oh. Oh, wait. He wasn't supposed to be okay with this. This was a problem. The kissing in the chopper thing. That was a bad, stupid move and he'd do it again and that was bad, too. Because he was. Uh. A ... bad. Man.

He didn't know what his brain was trying to do with this revelation. He suspected that it was the champagne.

"It's other stuff. That's. Mostly, I don't know."

He was terrible at this.

[the_merriest]

"I liked it," she said, and then blushed harder. And bit her lip. "Not that ... that you, you know. I mean. I get that you're ... uh. Not usually the whole ... dating. And. I'm sorry ... your week sucked? And."

Sure she was leaning up a little, they were on the stairs, she had to. She was on a lower stair. They weren't that close.

[raspberryturk]

Not that close at all. Really. It was. It was the light. And he was going to kind of look at the steps. Steps were amazing. His ears weren't turning red. That was also a trick of the light. Coupled with the booze. Renos simply did not blush.

She should never take that jacket off. Ever.

"Didn't suck. My week, I mean. Con was good too. And the chopper, zoto. And everything's fine."

Except how he was drunk and felt a little like an idiot. Which was wrong. Reno of the Turks never felt like an idiot.

[the_merriest]

"There were panels on ethics and you've been drinking," she said, raising an eyebrow. "And this weird girl dropped your coat and stormed off just 'cause you ..."

Stood too close on the steps?

[raspberryturk]

Far too close on the steps. And backing off hadn't yet occurred to him. Should it even be an option? Nah. Not really.

"Ethics and leavin' and it's all bull," Reno clarified. "And no."