Secluded Spot in the Preserve, Dusk, Thursday Evening

[the_merriest]

Rikku was pacing. And wondering if she shouldn't just ... take off. He'd stood her up for sparring before, she owed him one, right? And she wasn't in the mood to spar anyway. And she wasn't sure what she was in the mood for, but it probably wasn't standing out here in the cold and dark explaining to him that she didn't feel like sparring after all

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[raspberryturk]

Okay! Out of civilization and into the woods. Always a good place to be. Reno had even made the brilliant decision to remain sober tonight, in spite of his assertion that he could kick Rikku's ass even if he'd downed a bottle of Everclear. He'd done the drinking thing last night, and his brain was still absorbing the brunt of all the thinking that the drinking had led to. Possibly mostly in regards to a certain language that enjoyed such messed up letter combinations as "yna."

So he had showed up with something equally fantastic. Cookies. Because cookies had just seemed like the thing to bring, yo.

"Yo, Rikku!"

[raspberryturk]

"Okay, slow down. Stick around. Take a seat or something?" Reno raised an eyebrow and didn't make any motion to take the bag. "We don't have to spar. Just eat cookies and ... sit around in the woods. What's up, Rikku?"

[the_merriest]

"Nothing," she said, making a face. "And I don't have the right to be pissed at you anyway, 'cause it's not like ... you know. And I get it, I'm just mad at myself because duh, how obvious could it be, right? And ..."

Another cookie, then, if he wasn't going to take them back. Here, she'd even sit on the ground.

"I figured out why you don't date," she said sourly.

[raspberryturk]

Reno kind of froze, his eyebrows furrowing at that.

"Have you?"

This was bound to be interesting? Or something?

[the_merriest]

"I get it," she shrugged. "Why bother dating, when you've got this girl on Tuesday and this one for Friday nights and hey, let's go pick up someone else entirely on Saturdays, just for kicks. Pfft. Who needs dating, right?"

[raspberryturk]

...

Of course.

"You figure that's really why?" Reno was actually almost relieved. And trying not to smile, actually. Because he had thought for a while that he had actually done something, here. And this was better than about a million other accusations that could have been thrown at him.

[the_merriest]

Rikku huffed. "You saying it isn't? Would totally cramp your style, zoto. You needs to be stuck with one person when you can play around, right?"

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, Rikku. I'm saying it isn't." She was huffing at him. He was going to frown at the cookie bag and wish that it was cuervo and that he was holding it instead of her.

[the_merriest]

"So ... what, all the messing around's just a perk?" She hopped up again and held out his bag of cookies. "Forget it. I'm leaving now."

Sorry, I like you, but not enough to give up sex with other people. She knew how Jude felt now. Hadn't he heard the same thing from Chad?

[raspberryturk]

Once again, Reno refused to take the bag.

"The messin' around all the time is a freaking copin--" Guh. "--You know what, you wanna go, I'm not gonna stop you. I got my reasons, and they're not nearly as much about wanting to mess around as you seem to think, yo."

[the_merriest]

"Doesn't stop you, does it?" Rikku glared. "Gosh, you tragically can't date, for secret reasons that have nothing to do with what I just said. How awful for you! Good thing you've got all that sex. Certainly makes the not-dating a lot easier to deal with, right?"

[raspberryturk]

"At least it's someone's touch now and then," Reno stated evenly. Nice and evenly, keeping his eye on her. "Isn't easy, bein' without anything at all. Especially when you're probably not gonna make it pas-"

WHY did he keep opening his mouth, anyhow?

"Committment's probably great. Really. I'd probably even date if I could, dammit. Haven't been fucking around in a while now. That's probably not a great achievement. But that's how it goes, yo."

[the_merriest]

"Forget it," she said tonelessly, holding out the bag of cookies. "If you're gonna lie, at least be a little -- hey, not my business anwyay."

[raspberryturk]

Reno yet again neglected to accept the cookies. They weren't for him anyhow.

He looked at her. Hard. He didn't want to go there. Didn't want to. And he didn't want her to walk away, either.

"Maybe it's just that the thought of startin' somethin' I don't know if I can finish scares the ever-lovin' piss outta me," he said. "Maybe it isn't fair to anyone I can't be there for. Not if they won't even know what happened if suddenly I'm just gone entirely. Maybe one night with no strings attached is better than no touch at all, then."

[the_merriest]

"Oh, totally," she said dryly. "That's why nobody ever gets married in Spira, since most people are living on borrowed time. Why bother, right? You tell yourself whatever you want. Have fun with that. But don't stand there and lie to me and think I'm just gonna --"

[raspberryturk]

"--Why the hell do you care, anyhow?" Reno raised an eyebrow. And then he smirked. He could afford to smirk. He was figuring this out. It was smirkworthy. "I'm not sleepin' around at the moment. Got too much to figure out. But here you are, gettin' all upset."