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

[the_merriest]

"Check that out," Rikku snickered. "Who could've seen that one coming?"

[raspberryturk]

"It's what, February and nighttime? Not allowed to be cold," he decided. Not that Midgar was ever a freaking tropical paradise, but if he was cold, then the weather was simply officially not allowed, no matter where he went.

[the_merriest]

"You need your coat back?" she asked, folding her arms and resisting the urge to shiver. "You sober enough to talk now?"

[raspberryturk]

"Keep the coat," he shrugged. "It's cold. I'm good."

Yeah, there was his brain, coming back to greet him. Well, shit, this was making him sober. Ish.

[the_merriest]

"Okay," she said, nodding. Which was good. Taking the coat off would lead right back to ...

"Good talk," she decided. "I'm gonna go."

[raspberryturk]

"You, uh... got somewhere to be?"

Somehow, this had been going more smoothly when he was totally hammered.

[the_merriest]

"Yeah," she said quickly. "Yeah, you know, I ... have this thing? I ... said I'd ... help out. ... With."

Uh.

"I gotta go build some trapdoors."

[raspberryturk]

"In the middle of the night."

Okay. That was believable. Sure. He could buy that. Except that he wasn't drunk enough to buy that anymore, and this fact was totally her fault.

[the_merriest]

Well. Shit.

"They're so I can stand on them when I start acting even more stupid than usual," she said, glaring. "Like, you know, now-ish!?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno put one of his hands to one of his ears and winced a bit.

"Think you could make me a few, while you're at it?"

[the_merriest]

"They'll be a public service," Rikku decided. "Just - clearly marked trapdoors, and everyone can use them, so long as you're not zapping other people. Just yourself, when you're being horrifyingly stupid, and ... wow. See, this is why you should've just let me go, already."

[raspberryturk]

Reno had to chuckle at that. And grin a little. And shrug his shoulders.

"Stupid or not, you manage to make that jacket look good even though it's huge on you, yoto."

... He made a face. It was a face of bafflement. "See. Now's one of those times I could use one of those doors of yours."

[the_merriest]

"Public service," she said again, nodding. "We, uh. Gonna talk, or are we gonna ... stand here not talking, and talking about anything else we can think of? 'Cause that might take a while and it is kinda cold."

[raspberryturk]

"Longer we don't talk, the more we're gonna have to start workin' on blueprints for the trapdoors," Reno pointed out.

[the_merriest]

"Might be fun," she shrugged. "Probably not. Uh. We. So. Uh."

Right.

[raspberryturk]

"Kissed." Pause. "Twice."

...

"Is that a... thing? I mean. It's, you know?"

...

"Or what?"

[the_merriest]

"Y-yeah. Uh. ... Is it? Did you ... um. Cause you kinda ... usually ... don't, and ... I mean. I just." Deep breath. "Did you ... want ... ?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno rubbed at the back of his head, fingering the base of his ponytail. It was not a nervous habit, in case anyone asked. It was just something to do with his hand.

"I have no clue," he stated. "Don't know where it came from, and then we did it again, and--" Rude wanted to be the best man. What the hell, Rude? "I don't... date."

Can't date. Dating bad. Commitment bad. Rude the best man? Bad and he was going to have to hitchhike to Edge to pound on his partner.

[the_merriest]

Which was fine. Which was totally what she'd expected him to say. Which was kinda silly, that she'd dragged him out here in the cold just to ... tell her what she already knew. Right. Okay. She was nodding.

"Y-yeah," she said, swallowing quickly. "Right. No. I get that. I mean. I'm not ... you know. It's cool. Yeah."

Nodding. A few more times.

"It's not ... gonna ... be all weird or anything, right? It's ... we're ... we're fine. Right?"

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah. We're... good. It didn't happen, or whatever?"

He was a heel. He was the scum from under the heel, somewhere inside the cracks in a rotting shoe. He was scum who happened to be sobering up far too quickly and it was cold out and he was probably going to be dead before thirty and Rude wanted to be the best man? What the hell was Rude thinking?

"It's still cool, zoto."

[the_merriest]

"Totally," she said, nodding quickly. "It, uh, it was nice. The bit that didn't happen. And we're ... all good. Yeah."

She was going to ... head inside. Wait. Coat. Shrugging out of the coat.

"This, uh, I should ... h-here." Weak smile. "I won't drop it this time."

[raspberryturk]

Reno was not going to argue this time. Reno was going to just bite his tongue and remind himself that he was Not That Guy and he was going to accept his coat back. Hey. Coat. Crazy, that.

"Thanks." This would naturally be where shutting up was required. But Reno had moments where shutting up was not an option regardless. "See you in class or whatever?"

[the_merriest]

Rikku was nodding again. Not so much with meeting his eyes. And smiling. More or less.

"Yeah. See you ... whenever." Nodding. Nodding was good. "Have a ... good night, then."

Inside. Inside was very, very good.

[raspberryturk]

For the second night in a row, Reno found himself standing just outside the location of an unexpected kiss, holding his jacket in one hand and completely at a loss as he watched her walk away.

For the first time in his life, however, he couldn't seem to be able to get the taste of someone else's lips out of his mouth.