But Rikku most definitely had not. She spied a rather well-off gentleman reaching into his pocket to get his wallet. She stopped next to him, lifting her sunglasses slightly to look down at the bangles and necklaces displayed on the table. She made sure to watch him out of the corner of her eye-he was smiling and joking with the stall's owner, absently placing the wallet back from the pocket he’d taken it from.
Lowering her shades once more, the fake redhead turned and ran smack into the man, making sure to tangle her legs with his and knock them both down, her on top. She mentally cringed as she saw her basket of fruit hit the ground-there was no doubt some of the produce on the bottom would be bruised. But she kept the act up, babbling an apology and scrambling to gather a few fruits that had rolled away. The man seemed more confused than anything, and gave a sheepish grin to the pretty red-haired woman as he helped her to her feet. He never even noticed that she'd already slipped her fingers into his pocket.
A few seconds later, the young thief was making her way towards the center of the bustling street, brushing past another blonde on the way. "Cunno," she said cheerily, hitching the bag higher on her shoulder as she moved, stopping just a second to get a good look at the smaller woman. The pigtails were cute, but not something Rikku herself would have worn. And she looked like the sort of girl who was used to getting what she wanted by pushing for it.
Without really any reason, she turned to face the other young woman and smiled fully, teeth and all. She held out her hand in introduction. "M'name is Rikku. Great shopping day, yea?" So maybe talking to random people on the street wasn't the smartest thing-but Rikku had never really believed in the whole "stranger danger" deal.
All the commotion caused Hiyori to look up and scowl, then again she'd been the silent type when it came to snagging someone's wallet. She took another bite of her plum and turned away until she felt the thief closer and addressing her.
The small blonde turned and looked from her hand to her face, the ever present scowl on her face. "Hiyori." she said and shrugged in response to the question. "Do you always make such a commotion?" she asked before taking another bite of her plum.
A slow grin curved her lips, and she tapped her yellow-polished fingers on her hip. "A pleasure to meet you, Hiyori." If she remembered correctly, there was a Hiyori in the AMC. If this was the same person, well, that was reason enough to get to know her.
The young thief puffed out her cheek in thought and semi-annoyance. It hadn't been that much of a scene, right? Well, maybe falling down had been a bit much, but that didn't mean it hadn't been necessary. She'd always liked having a bit of flair, anyways. "Only when I'm bored," she chimed, cocking an eyebrow. "Do you always frown like that? Y'know, that takes more muscles than smiling does."
Rikku snorted in amusement and pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head. The eyebrow remained raised, and she brushed red bangs from her eyes. "D'you really need a reason?" she asked incredulously.
"Well, then." Rikku looped her arm with Hiyori's and pointed off to the left with her free hand. "My garage is over that way, and I've got a fresh-baked peach pie with our names written all over it. Interested?"
The small woman stiffened a bit but the mention of pie made her realize the plum hadn't been enough to fill her. Something told her she should decline but that was more than likely her own paranoia about people. She had a hard time trusting anyone, especially new people. She had to remind herself that she was more than capable of handling herself.
"Perfect!" With that, Rikku started leading the way through the crowd towards her garage. It wouldn't look odd for her to be going there--she could play herself off as a rich girl who'd had car trouble. No one knew that she was usually a blonde, green-eyed mechanic. But then, that was all part of the act she'd put herself in.
As she navigated through the masses, she decided that a bit of small talk was in order. "Have you been in the city long?"
Hiyori followed quietly along with her until the other woman decided to start some small talk. She shrugged, there was no way she could give an exact number on that. "Too long." was all she said, after all it had felt like she'd been there too long.
Rikku cocked an eyebrow, craning her neck for a mere glimpse of her home above the people moving around like quicksand, dragging them every which way. Just not the right way. "I've been here almost two years," she said easily, steering them around a couple who was walking way too slow for her preference. "But yea, feels almost like forever and a half."
"Two years, hmm? I know I've been here longer than that." She was wondering how long it'd take to get to where they were going. Hiyori was finding herself hungrier with each passing moment.
As if reading the other girl's mind, the young thief pointed to a medium-sized brown building with a giant garage door on the front and alleyways on either side. "Welcome to my humble abode," she chuckled, navigating towards the smaller, people-sized door on the side.
The inside of the garage looked exactly as one would expect; machina and tools lying about, a couple cars jacked up and waiting to be fixed. There was a rather bored-looking teenage boy standing behind a workbench that held a cash register, and he immediately straightened once the two women entered. Rikku smiled brilliantly at him before steering her companion towards a set of stairs and starting up. "I live above it," she explained. "And no worries, Seth won't come up. I like to keep business and my personal life separate." Which was a lie, but Hiyori didn't need to know that.
Stepping into the garage reminded Hiyori of the days before becoming an AMC guinea pig. Back before she met Shinji, when she'd sneak into garages to sleep when the weather turn foul. She pushed those thoughts back, they were the past she didn't need to think about that anymore. Of course the machina caught her attention, she'd always found mechanical objects other than cars to be interesting, or maybe that was just her curious mind.
The small woman followed the other silently up the stairs.
Humming an unnamed tune, Rikku pushed open the door at the top of the stairs and stepped into a comfortably-furnished sitting room. There was a huge picture window that took up almost all of one wall; it looked out over the Vescovo half of the city. Really, she was in a strategically-placed spot-even though her building was in the Monacello part of Reggio Calabria, she could easily go from one section of the city to the other. The only downside was that she was quite a ways from the neutral part.
She went to the kitchen, which was connected by an open doorway. "Make yourself at home, yea?" None of the furniture matched, but that was Rikku's style-especially the bright red, overstuffed couch that she loved so much. "I'll get the pie."
Hiyori made a face at the mismatched furniture. The furniture in her apartment might have been old and probably needed to be replaced but at least it matched. Either way the small woman sighed and made herself comfortable as she looked out the window, scowling again the view. What a disgusting city. How'd she love to just leave it all, but she had no where to go and she couldn't leave the AMC...not alone anyway.
Lowering her shades once more, the fake redhead turned and ran smack into the man, making sure to tangle her legs with his and knock them both down, her on top. She mentally cringed as she saw her basket of fruit hit the ground-there was no doubt some of the produce on the bottom would be bruised. But she kept the act up, babbling an apology and scrambling to gather a few fruits that had rolled away. The man seemed more confused than anything, and gave a sheepish grin to the pretty red-haired woman as he helped her to her feet. He never even noticed that she'd already slipped her fingers into his pocket.
A few seconds later, the young thief was making her way towards the center of the bustling street, brushing past another blonde on the way. "Cunno," she said cheerily, hitching the bag higher on her shoulder as she moved, stopping just a second to get a good look at the smaller woman. The pigtails were cute, but not something Rikku herself would have worn. And she looked like the sort of girl who was used to getting what she wanted by pushing for it.
Without really any reason, she turned to face the other young woman and smiled fully, teeth and all. She held out her hand in introduction. "M'name is Rikku. Great shopping day, yea?" So maybe talking to random people on the street wasn't the smartest thing-but Rikku had never really believed in the whole "stranger danger" deal.
Reply
The small blonde turned and looked from her hand to her face, the ever present scowl on her face. "Hiyori." she said and shrugged in response to the question. "Do you always make such a commotion?" she asked before taking another bite of her plum.
Reply
The young thief puffed out her cheek in thought and semi-annoyance. It hadn't been that much of a scene, right? Well, maybe falling down had been a bit much, but that didn't mean it hadn't been necessary. She'd always liked having a bit of flair, anyways. "Only when I'm bored," she chimed, cocking an eyebrow. "Do you always frown like that? Y'know, that takes more muscles than smiling does."
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Hiyori shrugged. "Sure."
Reply
As she navigated through the masses, she decided that a bit of small talk was in order. "Have you been in the city long?"
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
The inside of the garage looked exactly as one would expect; machina and tools lying about, a couple cars jacked up and waiting to be fixed. There was a rather bored-looking teenage boy standing behind a workbench that held a cash register, and he immediately straightened once the two women entered. Rikku smiled brilliantly at him before steering her companion towards a set of stairs and starting up. "I live above it," she explained. "And no worries, Seth won't come up. I like to keep business and my personal life separate." Which was a lie, but Hiyori didn't need to know that.
Reply
The small woman followed the other silently up the stairs.
Reply
She went to the kitchen, which was connected by an open doorway. "Make yourself at home, yea?" None of the furniture matched, but that was Rikku's style-especially the bright red, overstuffed couch that she loved so much. "I'll get the pie."
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment