It started out all innocence

[agentmoreau]

Who: Elena and Tifa
When: Very late Sunday night, into the early Monday hours
Where: The Lantern, the local 24-hour diner
What: Clearing the air, and then...

Comments

[foldedsteel]

A fight with her mother...? Wow. Sounded rough--Tifa hadn't ever fought with her mom. She'd died before they'd ever had the chance. And...Tifa found herself envying Elena that privilege. It wasn't fair, really--Elena clearly didn't enjoy fighting with her mom. "...Thanks, Zack," Tifa found herself murmuring, her eyes much sadder than she really intended for them to be. "I'll just have a water; I'm sorry. I'm...broke, have nothing on me. But I can eat at home later." He seemed like the kind of guy who might...do something stupid, like offer to buy her dinner, or swing her something free. You know, something against the rules and dumb like that. She wasn't gonna get him fired for her sake. "I'm Tifa, by the way. Just escaped here from Las Vegas--it's a...long story."

[agentmoreau]

Elena noticed Tifa's sudden shift in mood, but decided not to comment on it until the waiter walked off "Zack, huh? I'm Elena. I'm just going to have a cup of coffee and an order of fries," she said. "I already ate dinner, and I'm really not that hungry." She paused. "On second thought, bring two cups and leave the pot."

Zack grinned - did he ever stop grinning? - and went off to get their food, and Elena turned to Tifa. "It's really no big deal," she muttered. "Just some things about... well, some things. That have been bottled up for some time." She paused. "I guess I should start with that, huh? Well, my sister Diana was in the Marines, and her unit was ambushed in February. IED. Five casualties, Diana included." Elena paused. "My parents... liked her better." It was an understatement of all the problems they had, but she had to start small. No sense in dumping the whole life story right away

[foldedsteel]

"...I was an only child," Tifa murmured instead of offering something stupid and sugary like 'oh I'm so sorry' or 'you must miss her a lot'. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose a sister--you fought, a lot? I'd imagine...sisters on TV always do that." She tried to smile, but it came out weak and trembling. "But you never got to...make up, huh? That's--that's got to be rough." Dammit, her voice was starting to tighten up; this wasn't about her. This wasn't supposed to be about her. This was Elena's time. Hell, if anyone needed to talk about her family it was this girl. "Someone I cared about died, right after I fought with her. She--we--...never saw it coming. I insulted her and...next thing I knew

[agentmoreau]

Elena looked up at Tifa, kind of stunned and a little guilty. She was obviously carrying so much pain of her own, and here Elena was dumping hers on top of it. But... but the last person Elena had talked to about this had been Reno, and he'd almost been to guilty about not being there for her to really listen. "We had a non-speaking truce," Elena said slowly. "When we were younger we got along a lot better; she was always better than me in school, but it wasn't so pronounced until she got accepted into Annapolis, and then went out for the Marines. My parents were so proud of her - and meanwhile I was barely scraping by in my classes. I called her and... well, I tried to congratulate her but I just ended up screaming at her. So, the truce."

Elena shook her head, remembering how patient Diana had been with her. Diana had always understood in a way that Elena kind of wished she didn't - it was easier to hate her that way. "But we did talk. Over Thanksgiving, the last time I saw her, I was living with Zero but I slept at home every once

[foldedsteel]

Against all logic, Tifa smiled. "Sometimes...good people end up doing bad things," she mused softly. "My dad--" Her voice caught unexpectedly and she coughed, then shook her head. "He was the only family I had by then," murmured the girl, though she didn't specify when exactly 'then' was. "He was a good man; he worked hard, loved me, tried to...make the world a better place for me, you know. Good father stuff. But...he was in the cartel in Vegas, and he usually only did hacking and stuff, money laundering, but...I bet he went through his share of bloodier missions. But--" she looked at Elena almost fiercely, "that doesn't mean he was a bad person, or that he didn't do things he could be proud of

[agentmoreau]

Elena sighed explosively. "I don't know. I guess I never will - not for a good long while, at least." Elena smiled weakly at Tifa. "I just feel... really silly, I guess," she said. "I mean, we didn't even get along, and I didn't see it happen - not like Reno did, with his poor aunt. I feel like such an idiot for not being able to get over it. There are bigger problems I could be dealing with, you know?

She shook her head, scowling. "I'm still mad at him, though. Why is he such a fucking idiot? He acts like he was the only one worried sick. After everything he's told me about what happened, a call like that makes me think there's definite gunfire involved, and when I didn't get a follow-up after a few minutes I-" she clenched her fist in memory of exactly how worried she had been.

Looking up, she saw that Zack was making his way back over to the table with a tray balanced on one hand.

[1stclassfair]

"Here you are, girls," Zack said brightly, putting down his tray. He unloaded a coffee pot and two mugs, pouring them both a cup of coffee without waiting for an argument from either of them. He passed Elena her fries and turned to Tifa.

"I know you didn't order these," he said, and put a second order of fries down in front of her, "so don't worry about it. It's on the house." He winked, smiled, and picked up his tray and walked away before she could protest.

Sounds like some pretty serious business over there, he thought, glancing sidelong at the table. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when they were practically the only people sitting in his section, it made it kind of hard not to.

[foldedsteel]

"G--thanks--" Tifa managed bewilderedly as Zack set down a basket of fries in front of her, the boy vanishing off triumphantly after doing his good deed for the day. What a nice guy...

"He..." Tifa laughed weakly. "Reno's...kind of retarded. He says things he doesn't mean--or, well...that makes him sound like a liar. I mean he...well, you know. He says things in a bad way. He was trying to explain himself--he was really worried about you. He thought...well, he told you what he thought." Blowing out a sigh, she just chuckled. "You've got every right to be upset. He didn't call you back to let you know to stand down, and that was pretty shitty. ...But it was awful nice of you to spend those hours tense and worried about him. You're a good friend

[agentmoreau]

"I can't help worrying about him," Elena said, staring at her fry basket. "He's... he's one of my only friends here. I mean, he helped me a lot earlier this year, and it's kind of. Well."

Elena paused, swirling her coffee, and then looked up at Tifa. "Look, Tifa," she said, and then paused. "I'm really sorry about the party. I was kind of drunk and I didn't really pay attention, but... I know you guys are together, and I'm not going to get in the way. You guys seem happy, so I mean..." she sighed. "Take care of him?" she finished, in a smallish voice.

[foldedsteel]

Tifa found herself smiling at Elena's would-be apology, and she just waved a hand. "Nah, don't worry about it. This ain't even in-fighting in my book. I was in the cartel--" She'd meant it as a reminder, but the look on Elena's face told her that Reno had failed to mention that part. "...Well, it seems your secrets aren't the only ones he keeps safe. ...Yeah, I'll take care of him. ...Thanks."

Sighing, she popped a fry into her mouth. "...So he didn't tell you, then? Well that explains a lot--I figured you knew. No wonder you got so pissed--basically, uh...the cartel tried to kill me and they shot Lula instead, and...then as we were bailing, Reno and I, they shot me in the arm and Reno just floored it all the way to a hospital in Utah and then we wound up back here..." She pushed a hand through her hair.

"I...didn't realize he already had a girl, that he had...a something with you, before he left. I just got here and had it tossed into my lap, and it's no one's fault but...he's kind of all I have. I don't fault you for anything,

[agentmoreau]

Elena hardly knew what to say. She dragged the last of her fries through the ketchup and thought the whole situation over again. "This cartel thing is just..." she smiled lopsidedly. "I'm a small-town girl, you know? I mean sure, I lived in Montreal, but the suburban part. I had never even known anyone who died of anything except natural causes until Diana."

She shrugged. "But now I carry a loaded weapon in my car and I keep an eye out. You know? This whole thing is just kind of weird for me." Elena grinned slowly and gestured at Tifa with her french fry. "But you'll be a good friend. You're a friend of Reno's, which is always a plus in my book, and you're listening, which is basically step one. This whole 'normal social scene' isn't that hard. You're a bright girl, you'll catch on."

[foldedsteel]

"God I hope so," she laughed weakly. "I remember being pretty good at faking it, back in Reno. But I've never lived in a small town, so...I'm more used to assaults on the street corner than, like, having everyone know my name. It's seriously like I fell into an episode of Cheers or something. But I've always been a better listener than a speaker in my own right, so I guess I've got that going for me..."

She hesitated, covering up the hesitation with a long sabbatical of french-fry mastication, and then ventured, "Listen, Elena, if you ever need to talk about anything, you've got my number now. I know what it's like, to lose someone, and I'm not gonna think less of anyone, least of all you, for grieving. You don't have to pretend or anything with me, for what it's worth." Polishing off her fries, Tifa grasped her mug of coffee and turned it in her hands thoughtfully. "I never had that, and it kinda sucked. So I guess I'd like to offer it to you, at the very least."

[agentmoreau]

Elena drained the last of her coffee with a smile. "Thanks, Tifa," she said. "You're a good friend. Really."

She turned to look beside her for her purse and then stopped, her smile turning kind of sheepish. "I guess I was too upset to remember that you generally need money to pay for things," she said. "And while I'm sure Mr. Chivalrous over there won't mind your fries coming out of his paycheck, two is just too much to ask for. Could you hold down the table while I run get my purse out of the car?"

[foldedsteel]

"Sure," replied Tifa, nodding a little and taking a long sip of her coffee, watching Elena head outside. The blonde was right, of course--asking Zack to grat their whole bill would be a bit much; he could easily get away with not ringing in a basket of fries, but if there was no bill then there was no tip, and...that was terrible.

She just hoped Elena didn't end up paying for any of the things he'd given Tifa. Their friendship had started out rough enough without Elena having to foot her bill.

[1stclassfair]

Zack wandered up to the table as Elena went outside, picking up the empty fry baskets and glasses. "She forget something in her car?" he asked, busily stacking everything on his arms so he could take it to the kitchen. "I hope she didn't run out on the tab." He winked to show that he was joking and grinned.