"Riiiiiiiiiiiikku," a voice whined as a Dōjima appeared in the open door. "Help. You've been in America longer, what's the rule here about Christmas gifts? How do you know what's okay to give someone?"
It took Rikku a second to snap out of it; she'd been staring off into space and doing deep thinky sort of things.
"Hiya!" she waved. "Ummm ... I think it's just like you would for someone's birthday? Here, have a gift, kinda thing? That's all I did. I figured if I did it wrong, someone would tell me. I kinda skipped, last year."
Well that didn't help. Yurika made a face and came the rest of the way in to plop herself down on Rikku's floor.
"I'm going to Verona with Romeo for a few days," she explained, tugging at her hair absently. "I have absolutely no idea if I'm supposed to get something for his father or not."
"One of my teachers got me something, for being a TA. I think you should get his dad something, yeah. Maybe like a book? Something little that Romeo thinks he might like?"
She scooted back on the bed, crossing her legs under her, in case Dojima wanted a seat.
"I'm going back home, too. Don't laugh, but I'm ... gonna see if I can get over this thunderstorm-thing."
"I feel dumb if I ask him what to do," she grumbled, gratefully taking the spot on the bed. "It's just... different. At home. You only get gifts as long as you believe in Santa, and then when you're older, it's more like Valentine's Day."
"You are?" Yurika blinked, surprised. "Well, I guess that's one hell of a gift to yourself. How are you going to manage that?"
"I got Reno something," Rikku admitted, flushing. "I gave it to him already. It's this little ... projector-thing? It turns your ceilings and walls into a star field."
A little bit of sky, for a boy who'd grown up without one.
"Do you know what kind of stuff his dad likes? Can you get something that'll be impressive at all, like, look how serious and awesome I am, therefore, you shouldn't mind that I'm dating your son?"
Meeting Jude's parents had been ... interesting. That.
She took a deep breath. This was the part where everyone decided she was insane. "I, uh. I'm going to the Thunder Plains. Big area, nonstop storm, lightning strikes. I've been there twice, and I screamed and cried the whole time. It scares the living crap out of me. So I'm gonna hang out there until it doesn't. Unless that takes longer than break, in which case, I'm gonna give up and move somewhere that it never storms, at all."
"Luckily we're staying with his cousin, so I don't need to worry about constant parental disapproval if I screw up." At least, that was Yurika's hope. "I don't know. I'm sure I'll think of something." Eventually.
"You're going camping. In a lightning storm." Yurika shook her head. "You're either insanely brave or crazier than your Deadpool-sensei. Or both."
"It's so hard, though. When they look at you and you just know they're disapproving. I mean, I try, but when I get nervous I chirp more, and any time Jude's parents got upset, they'd switch to Polish and give me mean looks."
That had been a less-than-fun vacation, right there.
She bit her lower lip. "It's okay," she promised. "It's safe. I mean, I won't get hurt by the lightning. I have armor and all that. I'm just scared, anyway. I scream every time it storms here, and I have to tell myself not to hide under the bed. I'm not brave. Just ... tired of it. I guess that goes along with crazy, though."
"I thought we established that Canadians were just crazy?" Yurika teased.
"I'm not really worried about that, Rikku. I've had people disapproving at me for as long as I can remember, especially parents. His father can think whatever he wants of me, so long as it doesn't make Romeo too uncomfortable. Yeah, it's unpleasant, but he put up with my father calling him all sorts of names, so I can manage for a few days."
The Dōjima damiyo had not approved of his daughter's choice of companion. At all.
Yurika sighed and reached out to poke Rikku in the shoulder. "It's not 'just' being scared, Rikku. People are scared of things for a reason. It keeps us on our toes, ya know? Alert. That's the entire idea behind fear. It's not silly, and it's not something to be ashamed of, okay?"
"I don't even want to know what my dad said to Reno," Rikku sighed. "I walk into Caritas and boom, there they are, chatting it up. Awesome."
She tugged lightly on a stray bit of hair. Stupid barrettes never kept it out of her face, dammit. "I say get something for his dad. Definitely. It'll look like you're trying, and it's a nice thought, yeah? Maybe a tie or something?"
Rikku rolled her eyes at the poke. "I know, I know. It's just ... it's silly. I got hit when I was little. Did I ever tell you that? Zap! So ever since I just get crazy in storms."
She wondered, idly, if the other-her had even been to the Thunder Plains. She'd missed the pilgrimage, after all ...
"I know I'm making a bigger deal out of it than needs to be. I mean, his father has always been nothing but polite to me; a perfect gentleman in every way," Yurika sighed. "I just don't want to let either of them down, I guess. Especially since this is a family holiday, and I don't want to mess up."
"But! That is something I can fret about later, like when I'm trying to pack." Yurika grinned and poked at Rikku again. "Not. Silly. If you weren't wearing your armor or whatever, or had your potions, getting hit by lighting could kill you! Come on, you freaking saved the world, Rikku. No one's going to call you a wuss because you don't like thunderstorms. I mean, it's great that you're trying to deal with it, but you shouldn't have to if you don't want to."
"You're not making a big deal out of it," Rikku said, shaking her head quickly. "It's hard, 'cause ... they're his family, so you don't want them to have a bad impression of you, yeah? But it'll all work out okay. 'Cause they love him, and you make him happy, so they'll be happy that he's happy."
Okay, even Rikku realized it wasn't that simple. But it ought to be, dammit.
"It's more that it just ..." She grimaced. "You feel like your skin's all on fire. I thought I was gonna die. But I'm not ... I mean, I'm not doing this 'cause I think I'm a wuss. I'm just sick of being afraid like that, and I wanna see if I can shake it off."
A second eyeroll went with the second poke. "I didn't, anyway. Yunie saved the world. She's awesome, you have to meet her some time. I just helped. Blew some stuff up, threw potions now and then, that kinda deal."
All of which, apparently, had somehow changed things. Huh. She'd figured she was a tagalong.
"You saved the world," Yurika repeated slowly. "A few times. You kick monster-butt for fun and play with explosives like it's child's play. Now you're going to camp out in the middle of a lightning storm and possibly get fried. I don't think you're really scared of anything. Yeah, you've got a learned reaction to lightning that would be sensible for someone's who's been hit once. But you're going out there on your holiday to practically dare it to hit you. How is that being afraid?"
"I'm ... scared of everything," Rikku admitted softly. "Monsters aren't hard to kill, and explosives are safe if you know how to use them. So I'm scared of other things. Like the airship crashing, or something bad happening to Yunie. Or stupid things, like ... my friends getting weird about me being Al Bhed, or Reno meeting some awesome girl and ..."
She shrugged, awkwardly, pulling her knees up to hug them against her chest. "I used to wish I was Lulu, you know? She'd ... she was confident and she had giant boobs and she never finished a sentence wondering where the hell it started from, again. She never seemed scared of anything. You kinda seem like that, too."
Yurika stared for a moment, completely numb with shock for a moment before she put her face in her hands and started giggling.
"Crazy," she said, muffled as it was by the barrier of her fingers. "Crazier than a bugfuck Witch."
She ran her hands through her hair and looked up at Rikku with a wry expression. "I'm afraid of manifesting," she said bluntly. "I'm afraid of my family. I'm afraid of being sold like a piece of meat to the highest bidder. I'm terrified of spiders, heights, and getting old. I'm afraid of not living to get old. I'm afraid all the dumb shit I've done in my life is going to catch up with me. I'm scared because everyone I've ever known except Father Juliano has left me, so get in line and join the damn 'abandonment issues club.'"
Rikku hesitated for a few moments before leaning over to pull the other girl into a hug.
"Okay," she said. "Spiders are gross, and if you manifested or whatever, we'd help you figure out how you control that stuff, and ... I'll trust you that you're not going anywhere if you trust me on that one, too. That's why we're a posse, right?"
She laughed, gently. "You think the guys worry about this stuff?"
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"Hiya!" she waved. "Ummm ... I think it's just like you would for someone's birthday? Here, have a gift, kinda thing? That's all I did. I figured if I did it wrong, someone would tell me. I kinda skipped, last year."
Omega Ruins. Fiends to kill. Ho ho ho!
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"I'm going to Verona with Romeo for a few days," she explained, tugging at her hair absently. "I have absolutely no idea if I'm supposed to get something for his father or not."
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She scooted back on the bed, crossing her legs under her, in case Dojima wanted a seat.
"I'm going back home, too. Don't laugh, but I'm ... gonna see if I can get over this thunderstorm-thing."
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"You are?" Yurika blinked, surprised. "Well, I guess that's one hell of a gift to yourself. How are you going to manage that?"
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A little bit of sky, for a boy who'd grown up without one.
"Do you know what kind of stuff his dad likes? Can you get something that'll be impressive at all, like, look how serious and awesome I am, therefore, you shouldn't mind that I'm dating your son?"
Meeting Jude's parents had been ... interesting. That.
She took a deep breath. This was the part where everyone decided she was insane. "I, uh. I'm going to the Thunder Plains. Big area, nonstop storm, lightning strikes. I've been there twice, and I screamed and cried the whole time. It scares the living crap out of me. So I'm gonna hang out there until it doesn't. Unless that takes longer than break, in which case, I'm gonna give up and move somewhere that it never storms, at all."
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"You're going camping. In a lightning storm." Yurika shook her head. "You're either insanely brave or crazier than your Deadpool-sensei. Or both."
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That had been a less-than-fun vacation, right there.
She bit her lower lip. "It's okay," she promised. "It's safe. I mean, I won't get hurt by the lightning. I have armor and all that. I'm just scared, anyway. I scream every time it storms here, and I have to tell myself not to hide under the bed. I'm not brave. Just ... tired of it. I guess that goes along with crazy, though."
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"I'm not really worried about that, Rikku. I've had people disapproving at me for as long as I can remember, especially parents. His father can think whatever he wants of me, so long as it doesn't make Romeo too uncomfortable. Yeah, it's unpleasant, but he put up with my father calling him all sorts of names, so I can manage for a few days."
The Dōjima damiyo had not approved of his daughter's choice of companion. At all.
Yurika sighed and reached out to poke Rikku in the shoulder. "It's not 'just' being scared, Rikku. People are scared of things for a reason. It keeps us on our toes, ya know? Alert. That's the entire idea behind fear. It's not silly, and it's not something to be ashamed of, okay?"
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She tugged lightly on a stray bit of hair. Stupid barrettes never kept it out of her face, dammit. "I say get something for his dad. Definitely. It'll look like you're trying, and it's a nice thought, yeah? Maybe a tie or something?"
Rikku rolled her eyes at the poke. "I know, I know. It's just ... it's silly. I got hit when I was little. Did I ever tell you that? Zap! So ever since I just get crazy in storms."
She wondered, idly, if the other-her had even been to the Thunder Plains. She'd missed the pilgrimage, after all ...
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"But! That is something I can fret about later, like when I'm trying to pack." Yurika grinned and poked at Rikku again. "Not. Silly. If you weren't wearing your armor or whatever, or had your potions, getting hit by lighting could kill you! Come on, you freaking saved the world, Rikku. No one's going to call you a wuss because you don't like thunderstorms. I mean, it's great that you're trying to deal with it, but you shouldn't have to if you don't want to."
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Okay, even Rikku realized it wasn't that simple. But it ought to be, dammit.
"It's more that it just ..." She grimaced. "You feel like your skin's all on fire. I thought I was gonna die. But I'm not ... I mean, I'm not doing this 'cause I think I'm a wuss. I'm just sick of being afraid like that, and I wanna see if I can shake it off."
A second eyeroll went with the second poke. "I didn't, anyway. Yunie saved the world. She's awesome, you have to meet her some time. I just helped. Blew some stuff up, threw potions now and then, that kinda deal."
All of which, apparently, had somehow changed things. Huh. She'd figured she was a tagalong.
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She shrugged, awkwardly, pulling her knees up to hug them against her chest. "I used to wish I was Lulu, you know? She'd ... she was confident and she had giant boobs and she never finished a sentence wondering where the hell it started from, again. She never seemed scared of anything. You kinda seem like that, too."
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"Crazy," she said, muffled as it was by the barrier of her fingers. "Crazier than a bugfuck Witch."
She ran her hands through her hair and looked up at Rikku with a wry expression. "I'm afraid of manifesting," she said bluntly. "I'm afraid of my family. I'm afraid of being sold like a piece of meat to the highest bidder. I'm terrified of spiders, heights, and getting old. I'm afraid of not living to get old. I'm afraid all the dumb shit I've done in my life is going to catch up with me. I'm scared because everyone I've ever known except Father Juliano has left me, so get in line and join the damn 'abandonment issues club.'"
"You want me to keep going?"
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"Okay," she said. "Spiders are gross, and if you manifested or whatever, we'd help you figure out how you control that stuff, and ... I'll trust you that you're not going anywhere if you trust me on that one, too. That's why we're a posse, right?"
She laughed, gently. "You think the guys worry about this stuff?"
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