Reno was standing around outside, after doing things of an entirely nondescript nature, leaning backwards against a nearby wall, tucked out of obvious sight
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Rikku stayed late, after ... being out for personal reasons that aren't anyone's business. Plus she had to clean up wherever it was that she was. Let's say the TA Lounge. Might have been somewhere else.
She left the not-important-at-all building and was walking back to the dorms, not really paying much attention to who or what she passed on the way.
Okay, the sight of a guy leaning against a wall smoking, that caught her attention.
"Yo." Reno exhaled a lungful of tobacco smoke and nodded his hello. "S'late. You want an escort to the dorms?"
He wasn't going to ask why she was out if she didn't ask why he was. Not that they didn't each already know, or anything. Huh. Fancy meeting you out here.
"Fandom Weirdness," Reno said, giving a dismissive shake of his head as he started walking. "I ain't no stupid plate fucker. Never had a brother. Or a sister. And anyhow, even if he was real, I threw him outta the window after you left."
"Which ... one was you?" Rikku asked. "I mean, you were the plate-guy that kinda wasn't you, right? With the tattoo? And not the ... evil one that I kinda ... made out with?"
"Yep. You made up with the me that wasn't me that was more like me than I was."
It made sense. If you picked it apart.
"And I was dead in a closet. Until I wasn't dead no more. This place is so freakin' stupid sometimes." Reno shook his head and focused on his smoke for another moment. "You still talkin' too much?"
"Depends," she said. "I mean. The same way I always used to: yes. But not the weird exposition stuff."
She hugged her arms. "I didn't mean to ... um. I didn't ... cheat on you, did I? 'Cause I thought he was you and I was really just wanting to talk and he got all ... suave on me, and I got all stupid."
"Nah. Guy doesn't even really exist. You don't gotta worry about kissin' some guy if he ain't even real. And you thought he was me. And we're kinda..."
"I didn't mean to be kissing him," she blurted out. Again. "You. Either. I wanted to talk because things were weird and he was all, 'you think too much, it's all cooooool' and I'm stupid so I just went with it and oh my gosh, what was I thinking? I wasn't. At all."
She seriously regretted it. A lot. Especially that bit where they got interrupted and she hadn't just pulled him over her and --
"I didn't say it didn't ... mean anything." Rikku bit her lip. "I mean -- I said we were just gonna, you know, take some time, and you bust in and there I am, letting some guy pull my shirt off. If you're mad, I -- I get it, I just ... I was trying to say it just happened, I wasn't ... wasn't lying."
"I got no reason to be mad." His eyes were on the ground as he walked. No reason to look up. Whatever. "Your lips, you can do whatever you want to with 'em. I ain't gonna stop you. S'not like we're even really datin' anymore."
A pause. A long, painful pause that felt like an hour but only lasted two or three seconds.
Rikku was going to stare at him. And fight down the urge to choke him.
"I thought he was you," she snapped. "I wasn't just wandering up and down the halls looking for someone to make out with. Do you get that!? Is that what you think of me!?"
"You're sick of my job and you're sick of me," he hissed, more smoke than words, a stung sort of whisper as he stopped in his tracks. "You remember that? So, you thought he was me. He wasn't. He must'a had somethin' I didn't have. S'fine."
"I stayed that night," Rikku said, sharply. "I said I was sick of always being last, and you said I wasn't, and I stayed. And you wanna know why it was him, and not you? 'Cause he sat me down and he said, 'you worry too much. I'll take care of it. I just want you.'"
"You do worry too much," Reno replied, shaking his head. "He didn't know what he was takin' care of, though. There's your difference. He could take care of it, 'cause to him, it wasn't even a problem. And here I am, draggin' you through hell, and you're all... angry 'cause I kept the job, or whatever, and I'm tryin' to take care of it. I want to. At least I know what it is."
She left the not-important-at-all building and was walking back to the dorms, not really paying much attention to who or what she passed on the way.
Okay, the sight of a guy leaning against a wall smoking, that caught her attention.
"Hey."
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He wasn't going to ask why she was out if she didn't ask why he was. Not that they didn't each already know, or anything. Huh. Fancy meeting you out here.
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"Yeah," she nodded. "It'd be nice. So, uh."
She chewed her lip. "You ... take care of your ... twin?"
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...
"He had it comin' to him, yo."
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This wasn't awkward at all. Seriously.
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It made sense. If you picked it apart.
"And I was dead in a closet. Until I wasn't dead no more. This place is so freakin' stupid sometimes." Reno shook his head and focused on his smoke for another moment. "You still talkin' too much?"
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She hugged her arms. "I didn't mean to ... um. I didn't ... cheat on you, did I? 'Cause I thought he was you and I was really just wanting to talk and he got all ... suave on me, and I got all stupid."
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"Nah. Guy doesn't even really exist. You don't gotta worry about kissin' some guy if he ain't even real. And you thought he was me. And we're kinda..."
They were kind of...
"Somethin'."
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She seriously regretted it. A lot. Especially that bit where they got interrupted and she hadn't just pulled him over her and --
Wow, she was bad at this being-friends thing.
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Deep breath. Talking. Walking. Keeping it casual.
"Not like it means somethin' if it wasn't real. You're still in the clear, zoto."
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A pause. A long, painful pause that felt like an hour but only lasted two or three seconds.
"Are we?"
...
"Probably not, anyhow."
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"I thought he was you," she snapped. "I wasn't just wandering up and down the halls looking for someone to make out with. Do you get that!? Is that what you think of me!?"
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