Reno fell quiet again. Very quiet, and now his lips were pulled into a frown, and he shook his head, slow and deliberate.
"Rikku," he said, and once again his words took on the sort of knowing, certain tone that said he knew damn well what he was talking about, "trust me when I say that there's nothin' more destructive than havin' problems, and then pushing them down and back and gaggin' on 'em like maybe you don't got the right to acknowledge that they're there. Bad stuff happened to you. And it was real bad. So tell me about it and cry, and just the fact that you're openin' up and doin' that is proof enough that I ain't one of Them. Because... I dunno. Somethin' tells me that ain't the sorta thing you'd do with Them."
He bit his tongue for a moment, hard. Let himself feel it. Real pain and real words so that the fog that wanted to cover up his brain wouldn't quite settle in.
"I don't wanna get my blood on you. I dirty everything I touch and all I know how to do is break people. I got no clue how to help you, Rikku. That don't mean I ain't willing to try. I just... I got nowhere to start. So I think maybe if I put myself back together, I got somethin' to work with. But it's all different, and you're not me, zoto."
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"Rikku," he said, and once again his words took on the sort of knowing, certain tone that said he knew damn well what he was talking about, "trust me when I say that there's nothin' more destructive than havin' problems, and then pushing them down and back and gaggin' on 'em like maybe you don't got the right to acknowledge that they're there. Bad stuff happened to you. And it was real bad. So tell me about it and cry, and just the fact that you're openin' up and doin' that is proof enough that I ain't one of Them. Because... I dunno. Somethin' tells me that ain't the sorta thing you'd do with Them."
He bit his tongue for a moment, hard. Let himself feel it. Real pain and real words so that the fog that wanted to cover up his brain wouldn't quite settle in.
"I don't wanna get my blood on you. I dirty everything I touch and all I know how to do is break people. I got no clue how to help you, Rikku. That don't mean I ain't willing to try. I just... I got nowhere to start. So I think maybe if I put myself back together, I got somethin' to work with. But it's all different, and you're not me, zoto."