Aaah, almond chicken. Totally worth the jog into town.
It was an oblivious Reno who was humming with his arms full of Chinese food to knock on the door of his own room. No hands. Almond chicken was freaking important!
It took a few seconds for a distracted Rikku to process the knocking. Right. She should ... answer the door. Except answering the phone hadn't gone so well, now had it?
It wasn't likely to be his boss at the door.
So she bounced up, distractedly, still holding on to a wriggling ferret with one hand, and pulled the door open. Cautiously.
"Oh," she said. "Oh, I thought -- hey, you. Come in."
Reno blinked and then juggled the chicken around, finding a place to set it so that he could pick up the phone. Call display. Good good. No messages. Huh.
"So he did," Reno noted, looking back at Rikku. "Didn't leave a message or nothin', though. Don't gotta call him back right away or anything."
He had this nagging feeling that he was missing something important, here.
The floor was interesting. The floor was really neat. That's why she was kicking it. And watching herself kick it. And. Y'know. Because. Nifty floor and all.
"He has ... Rude's ... ringtone," she managed.
Also she was really, really sorry. She was gonna get to that one in a minute. But he could yell first, if he wanted to.
"Oh." Reno blinked at her. And was very quiet for a moment while the implications of that sank in. "All the Turks kinda... got the same ringtone, on my phone."
He was quiet for... another moment.
"Maybe I gotta... change that. Sometime."
And another moment still while he pocketed the phone.
"I h-had no business answering your phone," she said hurriedly. "I know that. You're. You have official important work-things and I had no business answering the phone. I just. I figured it was Rude. And so I was gonna say hi to Rude. I'm sorry. I ..."
Reno was not angry. Reno was worried. There was a drastic difference, at that point. He was trying to keep that very clear in his voice. Not yelling. Just... maybe a little panic. Buried deep.
"Just... went? Like, you're best buddies now, went? Or I should be packin' now, went?"
"I ... yelled," she admitted. Wincing. Still entranced by that floor. Damn, it was an interesting floor. "He was all grumpy. About my intentions and your loyalties and you not having your phone and Mako."
Still wriggling in Rikku's arms, Mako had to honk at that. Hey! That was his name! Hi! Hi! Hi!
"Tseng's kinda... always grumpy," Reno replied, nodding a little. And now would be a great time to make his way over to Rikku and Mako, loop his arms around her waist, and maybe rest his forehead against hers. Very good. Okay. Okay? "You okay?"
She nodded, swallowing past an odd lump in her throat. Leaning her forehead back against his. "I r-really didn't ... m-mean to. And I know I should've ... hung up. When I realized it. But he was talking and ... then we were yelling and ... and then we weren't, 'cause ... he asked about the gem? The Holy one? And I kinda told him about Yunie. Not her, just ... that I knew someone. And then I said I wasn't telling him anything about her and if he tried to find out about her I'd kill him. I would. He can't ... he's not gonna ... what if he ..."
"He won't," Reno murmured into her ear. "He don't got no idea who it is who casts Holy and who doesn't. He's got nowhere to start, even if he wanted to. He can't."
Being reassuring seemed like a higher priority at the moment than digging to find out exactly how much shit he was in because she'd answered his phone.
Deep breath. Right. This guy couldn't find Yuna and kidnap her and do scary things to her. Even if he was the government. She hoped. She hoped a lot.
"He ... said something weird, at the end," she said, leaning against him and trying to find words to even ask this. "About how you ... you d-didn't have a reason to breathe, when you ... woke up. Before."
Reno managed, somehow, to go even more quiet than he had been a moment before.
...
Okay. He had to respond to that, somehow. Apparently, responding to it required being a little more... roundabout.
"Couple years back. When I... did bad shit." She knew what bad shit it was that he was referring to, he was sure. "I kinda jumped. No point waitin' for rescue. Everybody was freakin' dead anyhow except Tseng and Rude. You don't move on after that kinda shit. There was the pillar, there was the edge, hundred meters down at least. Run, jump, the end. Got caught, sure. But... You kinda never stop jumpin', after that sorta thing." Deep breath. Just breathing. That was important. "Jumpin', drinkin', smokin', holdin' your breath. Wasn't nothin' before that. After it, there was just... less
( ... )
It was an oblivious Reno who was humming with his arms full of Chinese food to knock on the door of his own room. No hands. Almond chicken was freaking important!
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It wasn't likely to be his boss at the door.
So she bounced up, distractedly, still holding on to a wriggling ferret with one hand, and pulled the door open. Cautiously.
"Oh," she said. "Oh, I thought -- hey, you. Come in."
Weird to invite him into his own room.
Weird kinda night.
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"This time, Mako won't go prancin' in the chicken," he promised... Warily. "The wait wasn't too long or nothin', was it?"
The obliviousness was suddenly far less... oblivious than it had been.
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Pause. Might as well get it over with.
"Tseng called," she said.
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"So he did," Reno noted, looking back at Rikku. "Didn't leave a message or nothin', though. Don't gotta call him back right away or anything."
He had this nagging feeling that he was missing something important, here.
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"He has ... Rude's ... ringtone," she managed.
Also she was really, really sorry. She was gonna get to that one in a minute. But he could yell first, if he wanted to.
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He was quiet for... another moment.
"Maybe I gotta... change that. Sometime."
And another moment still while he pocketed the phone.
"Uh. How'd that go?"
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Deep breath.
"It ... went?"
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"Just... went? Like, you're best buddies now, went? Or I should be packin' now, went?"
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Still wriggling in Rikku's arms, Mako had to honk at that. Hey! That was his name! Hi! Hi! Hi!
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Shaky breath. Okay. She was okay. Really.
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Being reassuring seemed like a higher priority at the moment than digging to find out exactly how much shit he was in because she'd answered his phone.
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"He ... said something weird, at the end," she said, leaning against him and trying to find words to even ask this. "About how you ... you d-didn't have a reason to breathe, when you ... woke up. Before."
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...
Okay. He had to respond to that, somehow. Apparently, responding to it required being a little more... roundabout.
"Couple years back. When I... did bad shit." She knew what bad shit it was that he was referring to, he was sure. "I kinda jumped. No point waitin' for rescue. Everybody was freakin' dead anyhow except Tseng and Rude. You don't move on after that kinda shit. There was the pillar, there was the edge, hundred meters down at least. Run, jump, the end. Got caught, sure. But... You kinda never stop jumpin', after that sorta thing." Deep breath. Just breathing. That was important. "Jumpin', drinkin', smokin', holdin' your breath. Wasn't nothin' before that. After it, there was just... less ( ... )
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"Never ... told me," she said, tangling her fingers slightly in his jacket. "You just ... y-you gave up. Because of ... that?"
Because he couldn't forgive himself.
Because of the plate.
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