dojima_hime | Room 503, Saturday Mid-Afternoon

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Room 503, Saturday Mid-Afternoon

Dōjima had listened to radio once she got up (late) this morning.

Dōjima was currently suppressing the desire to bang her head against the wall.

Red was an idiot. Clearly, confronting her at work was giving Rikku 'time'. Maybe she'd go throw a dictionary at his head later. That might be amusing.

Firing off a quick text message to Rikku, she tossed her phone on the nightstand and walked over to crack the window open just a bit, letting in some fresh air as she set about doing some spring cleaning. Going through her clothes and getting rid of last seasons' stuff might be a fun distraction, since it meant she could go shopping later.

[OOC: Door and Post are open! Conversation with Rikku comes last chronologically and is locked to them. Brought to you by the letters O, C, and D, serving the greater Fandom community since before time. ETA: Out for RL, SP = Love]

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She laughed. "I like that. I should remember it more, I get distracted by things like wondering what the insides of the washer look like and how to replicate it with parts back home and I forget what I'm doing. That's how I usually mess up. And I kinda ... just have a few things, you know? Never bothered with more than a few changes of clothes and a wetsuit for diving. And then I got here and all of a sudden, clothes, you know? We should go shopping some time. I have discovered that I'm way too into clothes-shopping. I think maybe there's something wrong with me."

Dōjima stopped.

And boggled.

"Rikku, sit down. Now." She pointed at a clear corner of the bed sharply. "We are going to have a quick Girl Talk 101. If you weren't into clothes shopping, I might have to stage an intervention. As it is, my services are clearly needed."

Rikku blushed, sitting down quickly. "We didn't ... have things like this, back home," she explained. "It was different, I mean. There weren't just stores to wander into, I mean, little shopkeepers, but not the same at all. There were weavers on Besaid, Yunie said they were famous, but they weren't gonna sell to us. So we all kinda made do. I'm adjusting. I still suck at walking around in heels. Almost broke my stupid ankle at V... Valentine's."

'Shoes? Please?' and him sliding his hands down and let's not think about those heels right now.

She played with her hands in her lap. "Uh. Sorry?"

"We'll just do cliffnotes for this world then, okay?" Yurika said soothingly, sitting down next to the other girl. "Well, cliffnotes, Dōjima-style."

"Shopping is awesome, makeup is fun but not required, sex is one of the five food groups, and heels are a necessary evil. Oh, and anyone who tells you that a girl can't do something is a misogynistic asshole, and will look better with a black eye." Yurika grinned and clapped her hands. "Not that I've ever blackened an eye. That would be rude. I gave him a matched-set."

"So, I now open the floor to questions!"

"Okay," she said nodding. "Um. I don't usually shop in town, 'cause ... the pixie thinks I'm weird. Make-up usually makes me look like either a clown or a hooker, so that I kinda skip unless someone else offers for, like, a dance. River did that once, when Dawn was doing my hair, 'cause ... I can't." Rikku gestured vaguely to the sloppy nest of ponytail, braids, and barrettes. "Seriously, if it's out of my face, it's good."

She blushed harder and toescuffed a little. "Sex ... um ... I had to write to Lulu about, because ... wow. Pops told me, when I was eight, 'Boys wanna touch things. Don't let 'em.' I spent the next few weeks guarding the engine room. Like I knew what he meant. It's okay though 'cause Lulu sent me, like, this manual of ... seriously, you should see it sometime. Um. What else was there? The black eye thing, that I have down. Kick to the crotch works better. I kinda ... grew up with boys? So I feel like I'm doing girl stuff wrong, a lot."

"Tink-sensei is insane, so you really shouldn't worry about her. Um, you know that Romeo works the shop on Mondays, right? We could always put him on pixie-guard and just go to town trying things on. You really think he's going to say no to us?" Yurika teased. "Makeup can be learned, so don't worry about it. You've got those fabulous eyes, so all you really need is a little bit. Cute little things like us don't need much makeup at all. It's a talent."

"As for sex...I think I need to see this manual of yours. I can't exactly grade your technique, since I haven't slept with you." Dōjima looked her over slightly, smirking. "As long as you're having fun, though, that's the important part."

"There's no wrong way to do girl stuff, Rikku. I've had people telling me from Day One that girls are nice, or sweet, or do this or do that, but I don't. According to my father, I'm the worst daughter ever. But you know what? I haven't found one single boy, or girl for that matter, who would be stupid enough to claim I'm not 100% female. The trick is just to do whatever you do with with style, you know?" Dōjima grinned, leaning over to bop Rikku on the nose. "So, I do 'girl stuff' all the time. It's just my girl stuff, and not other people's. Dig?"

"You know that could be fun," Rikku grinned. "The shopping-thing. On Monday? And yeah, I stop in to say hi to Romeo sometimes. How are you guys doing?"

She bit her lip. "My eyes are ... kinda weird," she admitted nervously. "The whole ... you noticed? The pupil thing? It's not ... I don't have to hide it any more. I mean. That's nice. Nobody here cares. I'm still expecting it, though. Someone will notice and I'm just waiting for it."

She put one foot on the bedframe so she could rest her chin on her knee. "I guess ... it seems like there are girls who are so girly, and they give me such weird looks. One of Jude's friends took one look at me and was very 'oooh, you have such potential. Makeover time!' And ... she got me to wear some pretty stuff, and I think I was supposed to be all, wow, I look so much better now, I'll throw away the orange tops. But I felt like I didn't look like me. I like the bright colors. They make me feel all cheery, you know?"

Dōjima blinked. "Pupil thing? Lemme see, I just noticed that they were a pretty shade," she admitted scooting closer to peer at Rikku's face. "Ohhhhh...they are pretty! Wow, that's natural, not contacts? Cooooooool."

I'm so girly, and I don't usually give you funny looks, do I?" she asked. "You've got the coloring and the attitude to pull off bright colors. If you like 'em, keep 'em, just don't be afraid to try new things. I'm sure Romeo -" and here Rikku might notice a faint blush "-could help us find fun stuff that suits you."

Rikku put her knee down again and leaned over, eyes wide, so Dōjima could see. She held still, tensing against the insults that weren't coming. "It's ... an Al Bhed thing," she said. "We all have eyes like this. Except Yunie, she's half so she's got one green eye and one blue. And you're ... girly, but in a different way than Caitlin was. You're very 'I am girl, I have make-up, I can kick your ass.' She was ... she never did anything that would break a nail. She wore pink and didn't know why I didn't want to? And ... pink always feels like it's tiptoeing around. I don't mind soft colors, like really pale blues or yellows or anything, sometimes those can be neat, too. Just ... pink seems like it's trying too hard to not be trying at all."

Color Theory 101, with your host, the crazy Al Bhed girl.

She smiled, at the blush. "I'm sure he could, too," she laughed. "Or I could let you go visit him and we take over the store another time. I don't wanna interrupt."

"Yeah right, I couldn't kick the ass of a kitten," she scoffed. "Punching a guy for telling me I'm not a 'good girl' was just fun. Actually kicking ass? Yeah, not so much. I'd get my cute little butt handed to me."

Then the second part registered and Yurika started giggling. "You couldn't interrupt, though, we always lock the store when we -- oh god, that was probably TMI, wasn't it?"

"It's not hard," Rikku said. "Fighting, I mean. I could teach you, if you wanted to learn. And my dad taught me once how to sucker punch someone right in the solar plexus. You can take down a guy way bigger than you, and he never sees it coming. You don't have to hit all that hard, it's just a matter of getting the spot right. Very handy on occasion, especially if you're stuck with Mr. Grabby Hands."

Or when Keyakku thinks Tidus is a fiend, and everybody's shouting at each other. Either way.

She clapped her hand over her mouth. "In the store?" she giggled. "No way. Dude."

"Way," she admitted, nodding. "That's not even the worst of it, seriously. I have no shame, Rikku, and I'm afraid it's rubbing off on Romeo."

"I'm getting worse," Rikku confided, blushing again. "I'm just crazy. And it'll be good for Romeo. I think our posse is just one huge bad influence on each other."

Dōjima raised one eyebrow skeptically and looked over Rikku. "I've been a bad influence since I was twelve, because someone has to set a bad example. Taxing work, but rewarding."

"How do you think I knew to recommend that end stall in the ladies' room at Caritas?" she asked, eyes sparkling. "How's the saying go? 'When I'm good I'm very, very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better?' Something like that?"

"I thought you guys were ... you know." She shrugged awkwardly. "Just teasing me. You really ... in Caritas? Weren't you worried someone would come in?"

"The adrenaline rush is half the fun!"

Seeing the awkward, however, Yurika took pity and shrugged. "Just don't tell Romeo I told you, he might die of blushing. Girl Talk stays as girl talk, right?"

"Always," she said, smiling faintly. "I'm so ... I didn't even know you could ... like, against a wall. Or this, or that, and ... I feel stupid sometimes. Like everyone else knows so much about sex and they're all laughing at me for not. I mean, you and Reno --"

She bit her lip. Right. She didn't have that particular problem any more, did she?

"Yeah, but you had a loving Pops keeping you away from boys, right?" she joked. "I started sleeping with various boys and girls just to piss mine off."

"'Me and Reno' what, Rikku?" Dōjima tilted her head, puzzled. "Neither of us has ever made fun of you. Tried to make you blush, yeah, 'cause you're freakin' adorable when you do, but we aren't making fun. I'm sorry if you thought we were."

"I mostly hung out with Brother's friends," she admitted. "So they'd crack jokes but it's not like they were gonna try anything. He's dumb, but he'd so kick their asses."

She shook her head. "No, I just ... maybe I did? I don't know. I guess it doesn't really matter, now."

Dōjima ... had heard about that whole mess, right? With ... her and Reno not being her-and-Reno? Uh. Probably.

"It matters, Rikku." Dōjima shoved more clothing out of the way, scooting back on to the bed a bit more. "Don't just brush it off, bottling things up leads to all sorts of nastiness."

The was a slight paused before she continued. "If I didn't laugh Reno out of my room this morning, you're probably safe. My idiot tolerance seems fairly high today, and you aren't an idiot."

There. Let Rikku make of that what she will.

Rikku held her breath for a long moment.

"Is he okay?" she asked finally. "I mean. All things considered."

Because he probably wasn't peachy-keen, at the moment. Still.

"Besides the fact he's got a nice welt on his head where I threw a book at him, he's physically fine," she replied calmly. "All things considered, he's doing a bit better than he was on Wednesday. Still hating himself, but more of the 'I want to fix this' and less of the 'I want to die' type of hate."

Rikku flinched at the last part. "I ... I f-found him, Monday, in his room, sick, and ... it just all came out, that ... that he worked for the government, and he'd been lying, all this time. And ... I knew it was bad. I knew it had to be, from everything he didn't say. But I never thought ..."

"You never thought he'd do that," Dōjima finished for her, leaning back against the wall. "I went over on Wednesday, after hearing him on the radio. I thought he was just having a really bad hangover, so I went to check on him."

"He told me. Yelled at me. I had already figured out about his job, and he knew that I knew, but I never would have guessed about that. I think I'm still in shock, just a bit."

"He knew ..." Rikku bit her lip. "I told him. That I knew there were things he wasn't saying yet. And they were bad. And that he could take his time, and he said if he told me, I'd leave. He ..."

She sighed, leaning over, folding her arms around herself. "I can't stop thinking about it. He's ... he's not supposed to be them."

Room 503, Saturday Mid-Afternoon

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