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Dite's Decadent Delights, Saturday

It had been a long week, and 'Dite was starting to recover a little from the shock of Raven's death. She still wasn't willing to open the store on Tuesdays, but at least she wasn't getting upset at the least little thing anymore.

Raven's paycheck had been set aside to be given to Karla on Monday. With no one to send it to 'Dite was going to suggest that it be donated to a charity that Raven would have supported. She felt that would be a good way to handle this last detail, and one Raven would have appreciated.

All in all, she was in a better mood than she had been all of the past week. Unfortunately, Hercules did not share her mood. He was currently staring sullenly at her while wearing a plastic cone around his head. At least his short stay at the vet yesterday was not one he had to repeat.

'Dite caught the glare he was giving her. "Well, you didn't seem to want me to take care of it, so . . ." She shrugged. "Face it, there will be no tiny kitties running around calling you papa or whatever." She turned her attention back to the magazine in front of her. "I hope."

'Dite's Decadent Delights is open.

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Rinoa was out walking in the snow and thinking when she spotted the store. On an impulse, she decided to stop in. She'd seen 'Dite at the memorial service, and had meant to ask if she was all right.

"Hi," Rinoa said, offering a quick flash of a smile. "Can I come in?"

Which was a bit of a silly question. It was a store, after all.

"Hey, Rinoa." Aphrodite managed an almost smile for her. "Come on in. Come out of the snow and get warm."

She shooed a reluctant Hercules off the other chair and waved Rinoa into it. "What are you doing out in this weather? I was almost thinking of just closing up."

Rinoa would need a moment, first, in order to stamp all of the snow off her boots. It wouldn't be nice to track all that snow across 'Dite's nice clean floors.

"I needed some air," she said, "although I could do with the air being a little warmer." She wrinkled her nose to show what she thought of that.

"If you wanted to close up, I can go," she offered. "I didn't ... need anything from the store, or anything. I just wanted to say hi."

"No, it's fine. I didn't have anything better to do today." She shrugged. "I'm just looking after Hercules, really."

The cat in question glared up at the two before slinking off. Aphrodite wondered what he'd find to destroy when that cone was finally off his head.

"How are you? How is Squall? I haven't seen you since the ki--" She shied away from the memory, taking a deep breath. "How are classes going?"

"I should bring Angelo down, some time when it's not so cold out," Rinoa suggested. "Although I don't know if Hercules likes dogs. Some cats don't."

Angelo was usually well-behaved enough to play nicely with cats. It went with her being the best dog ever.

"Squall is ..." Rinoa blushed, feeling guilty about her own happy news in light of the past week from everyone else. "We're ... we got things straightened out. He stopped being stupid. So we're ..."

She cleared her throat. "You know. And, uh, classes are good. This term."

Rinoa's blush, along with the 'you know' made Aphrodite intensely curious. "Wait. Wait, wait. What do you mean you got things strai--" Her eyes lit up. "You got things straightened out? So, you're like, together? Like, sweethearts? Aw, Sweet Pea, that's awesome!" She leaned forward. "Tell me more. When, how -- and how far have you gotteeeeen?"

As sad as she was over one friend, this was good news for another, and 'Dite was going to enjoy it to the fullest, even if that meant embarrassing Rinoa. Which it probably would.

Okay, now the blushing was much brighter.

"It's not like that!" she giggled. (Well. Not yet, anyway.) "I mean ... it's nice that he doesn't have a roommate, but not like that. I mean, not really like that?"

Yes. That was nice and clear, Rinoa.

"He ... kissed me, New Year's Eve. Wait, back up. Christian ... the other guy. He left, at the end of last term. He went off to Paris to be a Bohemian. I miss him, but ... we both kind of knew it wasn't serious?"

Not that it hadn't meant anything to her. It had. But that wasn't the same thing as serious.

"And we went to that party they had, on New Year's, and the fireworks went off, and it was like ... it was just like the night we met, for a second. And he kissed me. And I ... got upset, because I thought he was playing games again, like, he'd kiss me because it didn't mean anything? But he said no, he ... finally realized a lot of things, and so we're ... you know. Together."

She had warned him that he was going to have to take her on dates and give her the full princess treatment. He did not seem to mind.

"Awwwwwwwwwww!" 'Dite was in full girl gossip mode. "He kissed you on New Year's, that's super awesome! So, you're togther? That's fantastic!" She turned a little serious, but had a mischievous glint in her eye. "Now, there's something very important that you just glossed over." A slow smile made her lips curl up. "You just said, 'it's nice he doesn't have a roommate'? Does that mean he spends allllll night allllll alone? You'll just have to remedy that, won't you?" *Wink*

Rinoa was laughing. And still blushing.

"I just meant ... we don't need to kick anyone out to get a little alone time," she said. "Alone time of the totally dressed variety. We've only been together a couple of weeks, okay?"

One of these days, she was going to peel his shirt off and nibble on his shoulders. That was still mostly clothed, so she didn't count it.

"A couple of weeks? Well, get going, girlfriend! What are you waiting for?" 'Dite was joking, mostly, but she wasn't going to let up. "Get that boy totally undressed and make use of that empty room of his!" She leaned back, fighting a grin. "Do I need to get you an instruction manual? I have them, you know."

She was one, actually.

Rinoa was absolutely not picturing that. Or the way that Squall seemed to have an on switch, where his normal casual apathy was substituted for a wave of passion that could knock down brick walls in its path. Or the way his arms felt whenever he was pressing her into the bed ...

"I ... we ... I don't want to rush things?" Rinoa admitted. "I don't want him thinking I'm ... you know."

Easy? He'd risked his life for her, but, you know, apparently she had to make him jump through hoops or he might lose respect for her.

"I know how it works," she added, rolling her eyes. "I just ... some guys seem like that's all they want, so how do you even trust them?"

Squall wasn't anything like Seifer. It still worried her, how easily she could get swept up in pretty words and lose her head.

"Everyone says they know how it works, but if you haven't actually been with someone? You don't know how they work." 'Dite winked, then smiled gently. "It's good if you want to wait. Some of my best friends on the island were virgins when I met them." Another wink. "You can't trust some guys." 'Dite leaned a chin her hand, her elbow on the arm of the chair. "But I like Squall. Enough to kiss him." And it was more than a peck, that was for sure. "He's saved your life, he's willing to be, like, your bodyguard and put himself in danger for you." She tilted her head. "He left that dungeon for you, Rinoa. I think you can trust him."

She nodded again, but this time, she was blushing.

"There was one guy ... I really couldn't trust," she said, her voice fond despite her words. "He wouldn't have hurt me, but he'd say things that we both knew he didn't mean, and I wanted to believe them, anyway."

Dating Seifer was never dull.

"It sounds ridiculous," she said, shaking her head. "They couldn't be more different."

"So, you could trust him not to hurt you physically, but you couldn't trust him to tell the truth?" 'Dite mused on this for a moment. "What kind of things would he say? I mean -- was it just stuff to get you to sleep with him, or was it something else?"

One eyebrow rose. "So, you trust Squall to not only protect you, but to tell you the truth?" She grinned. "And you're worried, why? Or are you really just not ready to sleep with someone?"

'Dite could respect that. She couldn't really understand it, but she could respect it.

"Mostly that," she admitted, for the first part of it. "He got more romantic the more clothes I took off, so ... how much of it he really meant, I mean, who could say, you know?"

Seifer was not ... the most trustworthy of guys. That had never been his appeal.

"I think it might be that, too," she said. "Just ... generally not ready. I mean, does it change everything? It seems all ... big and imposing. I don't want to rush into something that I might not be ready for."

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Dite's Decadent Delights, Saturday

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