Room 308, Thursday Evening

[raspberryturk]

Okay. So, the plan tonight was supposed to be pajamas and movies, or whatever. But Reno didn't have pajamas. So he was going to settle for one of his rude t-shirts. But he had no idea where they went. Probably the same place as his jacket, two pairs of his pants, all of his white dress-shirts, and every single sock that didn't have holes in it.

So Reno was knocking at Rikku's door tonight in one of his blue dress-shirts. The one with the pinstripes that he'd bought from Romeo at Pixie Dust back when there had actually been a Pixie. Socks, he didn't need. Socks were stupid, anyhow.

He came bearing potato chips! Knock knock!

[For the girl who lives here!]

Comments

[the_merriest]

"Hi, you," Rikku grinned, opening the door and leaning up to plant a quick kiss on his lips. "You kinda fail at pajamas, zoto."

She herself was rocking her bicycle set. Because it was a little too cold for the orange ones. (Orange, the fruit, not orange, the color. Half of her clothes were orange, anyway.)

[raspberryturk]

"I fail at pajamas even when my clothes ain't disappearin' outta the blue," Reno griped, somewhere between the kiss and him making his way into the room. "Ain't like I own any. And most of my clothes are gone."

This had him a wee bit on the paranoid side. Those were his clothes, dammit.

[the_merriest]

"This laundry thing is so weird," Rikku huffed as she shut the door behind him. "I'm missing my shirt that has the orange on it in the shape of an apple? And loads of stuff. Someone should tell the appliances that we'd be way more open to their demands if they weren't stealing our crap."

[raspberryturk]

"I got an EMR," Reno noted. Because threatening electric appliances with electrocution was totally going to help. "Ain't had it out an' about nearly enough in the past while. Except for all them one-hits, but I could'a handled those unarmed and blindfolded, zoto."

[the_merriest]

"I warned you they weren't gonna be anything fancy," Rikku shrugged. "At least you learned how to mug?"

Seriously. Punching and stealing. Two great tastes that tasted great together.

She hopped onto her bed, folding her legs underneath her. "I know what you mean, though. I miss hitting something that hits back. And at least we're not down to the really weird stuff, clothes-wise."

You know. The days when you had a tutu, galoshes, and a day-glo sweater left.

... Rikku did, in fact, know that those probably shouldn't go together.

[raspberryturk]

The tutu that Reno had worn when he had played mime for John was, conveniently, not yet missing.

Damn it anyhow.

"At least I still got pants," Reno agreed with a shrug. "I'm thinkin' whatever movie we watch tonight's gotta have a shit-ton of explosions in it, though. To make up for the dry spell, yoto."

[the_merriest]

"I wouldn't mind, if you ran out of pants," Rikku said. As innocently as possible. Which wasn't very.

"We could go for something all kung-fu. And see how good the stunt-doubles are, and make fun of the crap that's totally impossible." She shook her head. "Dang it, you know how long it's been since I really got to cut loose? Way too long."

[raspberryturk]

The sad thing about kung-fu movies was that Reno found most of the stuff in them actually was possible.

"See, that'll be the good thing about graduatin' from this place," Reno said, making his best attempt to broach that particular subject on a positive note. "There'll be shit to beat up, wherever we end up, yeah? I mean, ain't no fun, beatin' on the squirrels or whatever's here."

A pause.

"I'm kinda gettin' tempted to just start hittin' people around here, see what they do about it, yo."

[the_merriest]

"You beat up on the squirrels?" she laughed. "That's just mean. There's gotta be something around here we can thwomp, right? Maybe this calls for a road trip or something."

A Roadtrip of Epic Smackdown. Seriously. Good times.

"If you tried hitting me, I'd hit you back. Harder. Probably knock your teeth out."

There was an insistent yowling, from the empty bed on the other side of the room.

"It's okay, Petey," Rikku said. "I won't hurt him too badly."

[raspberryturk]

"See, I'd take on Petey over there, but I gotta take pity on any guy who ain't got balls. It's law or somethin'," Reno smirked.

He stretched and tossed the unopened bag of chips over in the general direction of the bed before taking a seat on it, himself.

"I'd be game for a road trip, zoto. Gold Saucer's probably still got that battle arena thing, with the monsters or whatever. Beat shit up, win junk." A pause. "Just so long as I got my pants, whenever we go."

[the_merriest]

"Petey is way more vicious than he looks," Rikku said loyally. "If he had any sort of attention span, he'd totally be a vicious killer."

If Reno was on the bed, then Rikku was going to stretch out. For snuggling. Snuggling was required.

"I thought the Gold Saucer was where they raced chochos? And you got Keppel?"

[raspberryturk]

"Gold Saucer's got a lotta things," Reno replied, stretching out on the bed beside her, because snuggling was totally required. "There's the chocobo races, and yeah, I got Keppel there, an' then there's places for dates and that kinda junk, and the battle square. Somethin' for everyone, yo."

A pause.

"I just like gamblin' on the birds."

[the_merriest]

"That sounds awesome," Rikku said, staring up at him and settling in. "Dude. We should have stopped there when we saw the chocobos! Except we probably didn't have time, huh? Is it expensive, to go there? I mean, I have money. What kind of stuff do you fight? In the battle-place? Are they nice to the chocobos that have to race there? I mean, they don't mistreat them or anything, do they?"

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, they got a cover charge, yo. I paid the big gil for the permanent membership, though." He shrugged. "The chocobos are all private-owned, and, shit, who's gonna be mean to their own chocobo, yeah? We could'a stopped at the Saucer, I guess, but that would'a been a whole continent outta our way."

He was attempting to mentally tick off all the questions that she'd asked. He was losing track.

"The battles kinda start easy, like, with sea worms an' junk. And then they work their way up from there. Ho-Chus on up through Behemoths and Prod Clods, zoto. An' there are handicaps, too. Like poison, or broken armor, or busted materia, that kinda junk. Keeps it interestin', yo."

[the_merriest]

"You never know!" she squeaked. "Some people race things and they're kinda hard on them and if we go see the races can I pester people and make sure they're being nice to their chocobos? Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. What happens if you win? I mean, what do you win? Can you steal from them? We have to go. You know that, right?"

[raspberryturk]

The mental tally was going to fail him any moment, here!

"You pester the chocobo keepers all you want, yo. And winnin' in the battle place whatever gives you points, an' you gotta cash 'em before you leave. Some of the things there got stuff to steal, I think. I dunno. I ain't never tried, yo. You wanna set a date or somethin', that what you're sayin'?"

[the_merriest]

"A daaaaaaaaaaaaate?" Rikku blinked up at him, with wide eyes. "You're asking me on a date!? Oh my gosh, this is so sudden! I ... I had no idea! I don't know what to say!"

Sometimes, Rikku thought she was very funny, yes.

[raspberryturk]

"Jus' say 'yes' and that you'll be there with claws on," Reno chuckled. "I know, I'm a hopeless romantic, it can be overwhelmin' when I heap it on all at once, zoto."

[the_merriest]

"But I ... I didn't know you feeeeeelt this way," she sighed, dramatically. "It's all happening so fast! Dating? I ... yes! I - I'd love to!"

It was very, very hard to keep the innocent face. "... We'll still be having sex, right?"

[raspberryturk]

"Of course there'll be sex, yo. Just not on the first date. I just ain't that kinda guy."

It was very, very hard to keep the innocent face. Yes.

"Which is kinda a shame, really. There's this place under the stands over at the Saucer that'd be perfect for that kinda thing, yo."

[the_merriest]

"But that sounds so romantic," Rikku pouted. "Having cheap sex under the stands. I mean. That's the kind of thing that a girl just dreams about."

She chewed her lower lip. "Maybe I could get you drunk and take advantage?"

[raspberryturk]

"What, me, drinkin'?" Reno pretended as best as he possibly could to look affronted. It came off more as 'trying not to crack up.' "I'm insulted you'd think I'd stoop down to that level. I got morals, yo."

No, he didn't.

[the_merriest]

"Oh, right." Rikku frowned. "Dang it."

She kissed him, very, very lightly. "You're a hard guy to seduce, you know."

[raspberryturk]

Heh. That was a very, very nice little kiss. Reno had to go in for another very, very nice little one to match it.

"Oh, you know. Gotta preserve my fragile innocence, zoto."

[the_merriest]

"I'd never do anything to hurt you," Rikku said. All fake-suave. "I'd totally call you, tomorrow. I mean. You're special to me."

She leaned up to nip at his nose. "Gold Saucer? Really?"

[raspberryturk]

Okay, he cracked up, for a moment. Just totally lost it and had to stop to chuckle and squeeze her tight.

"Gold Saucer, really." A pause while he caught his breath. A bit of a wavering smirk there. "Ain't like we'll be takin' the world tour or whatever. You know that, right?"

[the_merriest]

"Just the Gold Saucer and back," she nodded. "We could even do it in a weekend. Boom, gone and back. Wouldn't be so hard, would it?"

Chocobo races, stuff to kill, prizes to win. It sounded incredible.

[raspberryturk]

"Nah. Easy. Just take a portal out to North Corel, hop a cable car, and we're on our way," Reno replied with a shrug. "Ain't like we gotta trek through Old Corel or anything like that, anyhow."

Reno kind of had issues with the notion of doing that. More AVALANCHE crap. Move along.

"The, uh, fee for a solo-visit to the Saucer is 3,000 Gil, yo." A pause. "Lifetime pass is ten times that."

[the_merriest]

"... Whoa." She had to sit up straighter and look him in the eyes, now. "Are you serious? Three thousand? Just to go in there and bet on chocho races and beat things up?"

[raspberryturk]

"... Yeah. Ain't cheap to go to the Saucer. Price might've gone down since everything went to hell, I dunno. I bought the one-shot lifetime pass, so I ain't been payin' any attention."

Reno had been somewhat reckless with his money, back when ShinRa was footing the bill, yes.

"The theory is that what you get inside makes up for the price of gettin' in, if you don't suck at what you're doin' in there, yo."

[the_merriest]

"So ..." She was still staring at him. "To ... go bet on races and all that other stuff, we'd need ... three thousand gil, plus enough gil to bet on races and go play around in the battle area and all the rest of it?"

She liked the weekend outing better when it didn't cost several thousand gil.

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, that'd be..." Huh. "That'd be pretty much it, yeah. So we just bet on some races, make the winnings good. It ain't hard to make good GP on the chocobo races, and then trade it all in for items we can hock off in town before we head back, zoto. And if you make it through the Battle Square, the pay's good there, too, yo."

[the_merriest]

"But ... you already have a lifetime pass, right?" she asked, snuggling in with a frown. "So ... if you wanted to go and make some money, kill some monsters ... I mean. That'd be way easier. Cheaper, too."

Much less expensive date.

... not much of a date, though, with only one person.

[raspberryturk]

Reno was now giving her the "Oh, please," look.

"I'll pay your entry fee, yo. If I gotta go to the saucer alone, I'd rather not go at all, anyhow."

Where was the fun in that?

[the_merriest]

"You're not paying for me to go," Rikku said, giving him a death look. "That's a crapload of money and if I'm going, I should pay my entrance. I mean, you got the free thing going. Lifetime pass. And we're gonna make it back up anyway, right? How do you know which chocobos to bet on, anyway?"

[raspberryturk]

Huh. Okay, she could pay.

"Sometimes, it's just a matter of knowin' the competitors," Reno replied with a shrug. "Like, you see a guy ridin' a black chocobo down there, that's Joe and his bird, Hyperion. Bet on 'em. They kick ass, zoto."

He grinned and leaned in to nip at her ear. "You get a feel for that kinda thing, yo."

[the_merriest]

"Does that mean you don't get good odds for him?" Rikku asked. "Since everyone knows he's gonna win?"

She shivered, at the nipping. Nipping was good.

"When do you wanna go? If you do. I mean. We don't have to."

It cost a lot of money, and Reno generally didn't like going back to Gaia, and all that.

[raspberryturk]

"Eh, I don't mind the saucer. It's full of lowlifes an' shitheads anyhow, I fit right in." That was said in a pretty easygoing tone, really. "You think you can handle the kinda criminal underground that's got a fat chocobo and a giant mog setup goin' on at the entry gate?"

[the_merriest]

"Oh my gosh," she giggled. "No way. Seriously? The dark seedy criminal underbelly of fat chochos and moogle mascots? I am so there. You think I can lift anyone's wallet? Might make up that entrance fee pretty fast."

Because, clearly, the smart thing to do in a criminal underground was to steal from people.

[raspberryturk]

"Hey, if you can do it and not get busted, it's all yours," Reno replied with a smirk. "With the kinda gil these guys pay to get in, they better be loaded, zoto."

Clearly, going to Gaia to steal and gamble and beat the shit out of things was the best idea for a date ever.

[the_merriest]

"I never get busted," Rikku said loftily. "But I don't want to steal from people who aren't the criminal underbelly whatever types, so I hope you can pick 'em out, zoto."

Theft wasn't fun if you weren't stealing from bad guys.

This date was gonna be awesome.

[raspberryturk]

"You kiddin'? I'd be able to pick out the criminal underbelly of Gaia blindfolded."

This was mostly because Reno had either worked alongside most of them, or had to shake them down for money at one point or another.

"Leave that part to me, zoto."

[the_merriest]

"We could make a game of it," Rikku bounced. "I mean. You're getting better at the whole pickpocketing thing. We could set handicaps, make bets, all of it. 'I can get that guy, over there, the one with the bodyguards ... even without bumping into him. And if I do, you owe me a drink.'"