Room 308, Sunday, Early Evening

[the_merriest]

It was Newbie Day! Okay, Newbie Day was yesterday, but that made it Newbie Weekend. All the fun of Newbie Day, but it lasted all weekend! Really!

And that meant Rikku was kinda hyper and still bouncing from the picnic when she realized she'd missed a call. Oops? She checked her voicemail and --

And then dialed like a woman on a mission.

(the

Comments

[lilpunkinbelly]

Dawn checked her caller ID first, thanks. "Hi." At least she didn't burst into tears this time?

[the_merriest]

"He what!?" Rikku screeched.

[lilpunkinbelly]

"He dumped me." Ow, still hurting just to say that. "To keep me safe, or some kind of bullshit."

[the_merriest]

"Is this a distance thing!?" Rikku said, stomping her foot. "Because Jude totally pulled that crap on me and I was the one going, no, really, let's stick it out, and he got all stupid and 'this is for your sake' and the hell with him because I'm having sex with someone else now and I hope he's happy. And he probably isn't because he's stupid. Because he's male. Can I break his kneecaps!?"

The last 'he' wasn't Jude. Just in case Dawn missed that in the litany of italics and stomping.

[lilpunkinbelly]

It was possible she'd never loved Rikku quite as much as she did in that moment, even when she'd lost her memory and thought they'd been hos together. "Um. Jude's? I guess so?"

[the_merriest]

"No, Sam's," Rikku said, shaking her head. "My 'he' and 'he' and 'him's are all getting messed up. I don't need to break Jude's kneecaps, Jude sucks and he's in Toronto doing whatever with whoever and I so don't care any more, which rocks, and besides I have Reno, who is awesome and does really great things with his tongue. Whiiiiiiiich you didn't need to hear so I never said that and, uh. Okay. Start over. Did Sam fall and hit his head? Brain injuries can account for massive amounts of stupid. Maybe if I hit him again, he'll come back to his senses."

[lilpunkinbelly]

"No hitting," she said, just before she unleashed the story on Rikku in one long torrent, "He got all worried that he couldn't protect me out here, and that some of the bad stuff his family's got would come get me unless he broke up with me, because obviously not dating someone means you don't care about them, so then I thought he didn't love me, but I guess maybe he does, except for how he's being completely overprotective and stupid and I can take care of myself and there's lots of stuff that has nothing to do with him that could kidnap me and kill me but he's apparently ignoring that or something so now he feels better because we're all broken up and I'm safe. But I'm not."

[the_merriest]

She listened to the rush of words, sifting through it and nodding carefully.

"Okay," she said. "So he's being stupid, and trying to keep you safe from his crap, even though you still have your crap that might show up, and so he's being selfish and again, stupid, and ... I'm really not allowed to hit him?"

[lilpunkinbelly]

"No. And he's not being selfish...he's...Rikku, I didn't think Sam Winchester knew how to be a coward. He just...gave up."

[the_merriest]

There was a frustrated noise, and Rikku picked up a pillow and hurled it against the wall. "I can't even hug you," she huffed. "This is a hug-and-sob conversation right here and he has shitty timing and if he gave up then he's pathetic. Did something scare him? Like, show up and try to eat his face and go 'hey, by the way, I'm going for your girlfriend next, unless you dump her'? I mean, smart move, Sam. Shit happens. It is called life."

[lilpunkinbelly]

Dawn scootched up on the bed until she was leaning against the wall, her feet sticking out. "I think...yeah. Something scared him, badly." She didn't want to go into too much detail about what Hades had done to Sam. "Plus, there was the time I got set on fire, which he wasn't thrilled with."

[the_merriest]

"Something set you on fire?" Rikku gaped at the phone. "Can I break its kneecaps? Dude. That's so not cool."

[lilpunkinbelly]

"No," she said, not sure Rikku should be allowed within a ten-mile vicinity of the Yellow-Eyed Demon. "And it wasn't, but I'm better now. Still, it wigged Sam out a lot."

[the_merriest]

"Um, yeah," Rikku said. "That wigs me out. Probably wigged you out, too. Lucky for you, I have more than two brain cells and I'm not gonna hang up the phone in case something tries to eat you in the next four minutes."

[lilpunkinbelly]

"See, now I'm actually worried about that, when I wasn't before, just because you said that," Dawn pointed out. "And yeah, it so did, but...I don't know, you know? I feel like something's missing, that's all."

[the_merriest]

"I am totally, totally not going to hang up on you," Rikku said reassuringly. "If something tries to eat you, yell and I'll grab a portal to help you kick its ass. He's being stupid. Let Me Protect You, From Me. Like that shouldn't be your decision, anyway, and not his."