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]

"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.'"