fandomtownies | Taste of Thai, Sunday, Midday

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Taste of Thai, Sunday, Midday

Even with no school, this had been a ridiculously busy week for Rinoa, what with ~~fighting with~~ breaking up with Squall since he was being a jerk, and then finding out Seifer was coming here, now, and letting him take her out to lunch. Which may or may not be a date, depending. It was a little soon to be dating but she could totally date if she wanted to, thank you very much.

This probably wasn't a date, and that was why she had a very casual sort of dress on. Nice, but not fancy or anything. So!

So. Here they were, at Taste of Thai. She should not be nervous about being on a not-a-date with her ex-boyfriend, should she?

"The sesame delight is good," she said, helpfully.

(for the ex, but open for anyone else who wants Thai!)

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Seifer looked over the menu and nodded. "Yeah, that looks good. I think I'll get that and the grilled seafood curry."

He waited until their orders were taken before bringing up something that had been... sort of bothering him. "So, would you say I failed with us?"

Okay, of all the things she might have expected from Seifer, 'introspection' was pretty low on the list.

"Failed?" she asked. "You mean ... when we split up?"

She set the menu down and watched him for a few seconds.

"We broke up over you going back to school," she said. "Didn't we?"

Okay, that and ... well. Her thinking that maybe he just wanted to get her in bed.

Seifer looked out the window, watching the squirrels as he spoke. "Yeah, that's what I thought, that we just broke it off because things got in the way. But then I ended up ...well, I guess you could call it talking, with Squall yesterday and he said..."

He broke off and looked over at Rinoa with a grin. "You know what, forget it. Tell me what a guy has to do to make some cash in this place. I don't think Quistis is going to keep sending me gil for long."

"I thought SeeDs got a salary," Rinoa said, looking at him suspiciously. "Squall does, at least, he said he did."

Which was a little confusing, since Squall claimed he'd resigned.

"And no, I won't forget it. What did he say?"

Because whatever she might think of how it ended, that was hers to take up with Seifer, not Squall's.

"I'm not a SeeD, never passed the test," Seifer mumbled as their meal was brought. That stung a little still, that he hadn't passed.

Okay, it stung a lot.

He sighed and poked a straw in his drink. "He said I failed you, like I fail at everything."

Okay, new rule: Squall should be nice to Seifer. People weren't nice to Seifer enough.

She reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "You didn't," she said. "He was just being cruel. He's good at that."

She was trying to convince herself that she really meant that, and that she didn't -- at all -- miss the way Squall used to stroke her hair. Not even a little.

"How could they fail you?" she asked. "You were amazing at tactics."

Someone was sure to report it that they were holding hands at the table. "He doesn't even have to try to be good at it."

He laughed at that and shook his head. "Amazing at tactics, bad at following authority. I have issues with following orders apparently."

Read into that what you will, Rinoa.

"And I didn't stick around long enough to retake it again."

At that, Rinoa couldn't help laughing, fondly.

"Well," she said. "You are bad at following orders, you know. If that's why they failed you, that's not really failing. That's you being too awesome for them."

Right. His ego really needed her help.

"I don't think ... Squall means to be cruel," she said, hesitantly. Dammit. Why was she defending him?

"I like that explanation. I'm too awesome for them. I'll remember that." He would too. Maybe he could make his appeal on those grounds.

Maybe Rinoa could be a character reference.

"Squall is a moron who needs a shrink more than I do."

SeeD would probably not appreciate a reference from Rinoa. Especially not if Quistis was the one doing the officiating.

"He's ... just ... bad with people," she said, shrugging a little awkwardly. She hated being the one to stick up for Squall, when she was this mad at him. "And a liar. I can't believe he's been lying to me, about girls and ... all that other stuff you said."

"Girl, there's 'bad with people' and then there's 'so anti-social that Zell couldn't make him social'. Which is so screwed up."

He frowned, trying to think about what he had told her. "What girls? I'm pretty sure Puberty Boy was, and still is, a virgin."

"The ones you mentioned," she said, staring at him like he'd grown another head. "Throwing their panties at him. You made it sound like ..."

She bit her lip. And turned an interesting shade of red.

"You ............ th-think he is?"

She tried to make this sound casual. Like she had no way of knowing. And not like she was very, very sure he could see otherwise written right across her face.

Seifer was going to say something, but then his brain caught on to what she said and the color she was turning. A rather large part of him was hurt, but he was doing his damnedest not to show it. He didn't know what Squall had that he fucking didn't, but it seemed like the emo jerk managed to get everything Seifer didn't. The command, the girl, the fucking world...

That's when the smirk appeared. "Well, well, well. Puberty Boy's balls dropped? Should I be buying you dessert as well as lunch?" He leaned in, trying to look all gossipy-like. Trying to act like it didn't bother him. "Tell me, did he cry during sex, or only after?"

Rinoa straightened up, suddenly. "Don't be like that," she said, biting her lip. "The world almost ended and I thought I'd lost him. It just happened, and I'm not ... sorry about it. I love him."

She forgot that she was supposed to say 'loved,' now that they were broken up. More or less. (Weren't they?)

She watched him for a long moment.

"Do you know why I never ..... with you?" she asked.

"Hey. 'We survived' sex is some of the best out there. Don't be sorry about it. If that isn't a time to celebrate, when is?"

He really didn't want to hear this. Really. Like, was ready to pay the check and walk, kind of not wanting to.

"Nope. Just chalked it up to school issues and me being me." Which had landed him with a drink on his head more than once.

Rinoa was curling her fingers around his hand, again, and sighed down at it.

"You said all these amazing things," she said, finally, with a wry sort of smile. "And you got more romantic the less clothes I had on."

"Yeah, that was me." Seifer wasn't about to deny it, she was right. And he'd figured out pretty quick that you don't lie to a sorceress.

"What can I say, I was driven to get what I wanted, but that wasn't all I wanted."

"I know," she said, easily. "But I never knew how much was which, you know?"

Dammit. This was supposed to be the kind of hot date that made Squall jealous, and instead they were commiserating over their break-up. So much for that.

"So," she said, squaring her shoulders. "We need a new topic of conversation."

He usually couldn't tell her either.

"We do. Tell me about the crazy shit that my roommate and big sib didn't get too. Also, how do I catch a gremlin?"

She squeezed his hand before letting go. Not because she didn't like holding on to his hand -- she did -- but because she needed to eat.

"You don't," she laughed, answering the latter part first. "Why would you even want to? I've never actually seen one, close up, but generally seeing one leads to people acting like idiots in public."

She picked up her knife and fork and considered his question. "I was a boy for a day," she said. "And an eight-year-old for a weekend, where I got married to a girl with pretty pink hair. And then I was thirty-something, back here for a reunion."

And ... there was something he needed to see, but she wanted to see how he took the rest of that, first.

"I was planning to send it to Zell."

Seifer pulled back to poke at his food again, and to let what she said sink in.

"The boy thing confuses me a little, mostly because of you being a hot chick. The rest, I'll just have to see it to believe it."

A disturbed look crossed his face, and then he looked up, horrified. "I'm not going to turn into a girl, am I?"

Okay, really, she couldn't object to sending it to Zell. It was kind of funny.

"I have pictures," she said. "Me as a boy. I was a very cute boy. Christian said so." She flushed, before explaining: "Another ex."

She did seem to go through them, didn't she?

She giggled, stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork. "I bet you'll be beautiful," she said. "Long blonde hair, those big blue eyes ..."

"So, basically I'd want to fuck myself? Sounds like fun," he replied with a big grin. He was going to let that ex thing just slide right on by. "I want to see the pictures though."

"So far, I have to worry about acting like a moron, losing my dick and reclaiming my childhood. I think this place may actually be more fun that back at Garden."

Hey, he'd had his share of girls since her; she figured that didn't give him the right to object.

"It actually is pretty fun," she admitted, setting her fork down so she could dig around in her purse for her phone. "I've also seen two completely different visions of my future. And there's ... there's something I need to show you, too."

She pulled up a picture and handed the phone over to him.

"Not this," she added quickly. "That's just me as a boy."

"You as a guy," he muttered as he looked the photo over. "You know, I don't swing that way, but I would totally make an exception for you."

He handed the phone back and then stabbed at his food, not actually eating any of it. "Is it a regular thing around here?"

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