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Library, Tuesday

The bad part of having a job was that you had to be there each week.

Rinoa would have never thought that being in a library would be a hardship, for her. But it wasn't so much being in the library as it was being out of her room, where she had been hiding for the past day, and would have liked to hide for the next several.

When you had thoroughly embarrassed yourself as some trampy soul-sucking vixen of the night, you did not really want to run into some of your victims. Or any. At all.

And so Rinoa was going to spend a great deal of time today in the stacks, putting away books, and checking the organization of the books already shelved. Anything to keep a low profile ...

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Bruce hadn't really talked to Rinoa before. Well, aside from Sunday. But he recognized her from having classes with her, so he was able to track her down to the library today. And from there it was easy enough to find her in the stacks.

"Excuse me?" he said.

Luckily for Bruce, Rinoa didn't recognize him. Well, she recognized him as Bruce, a guy she had had classes with that was semi-dating Ariel, but didn't guess that this was .... someone that she'd worked her mojo on. And thus, she had no idea that this was going to be one of those awkward confrontations she was trying so hard to avoid.

"Hi," she said, trying to sound her usual, cheerful self. "Can I help you with something?"

"Actually, I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. Rinoa, right?" Bruce checked.

He really only checked in the name of giving her a moment to prepare for whatever he was just about to say. He was all for ripping off the bandaid, but ripping off someone else's bandaid when they weren't even looking was just mean.

"Yes," she said. "I work here on Tuesdays. Did you --"

He was looking at her expectantly, and that was all she needed for the small pit of dread to grow in her stomach.

"Oh, no," she said, eyes widening. "You ......."

Was there something for her to hide under? Anything? Please?

"I was the ninja," Bruce said. "I figured it was better if you at least knew who that was so it wouldn't bother you."

Which did help, because ... well, it had been bothering her. She didn't know half the people she'd tried to seduce this weekend. And some she did, and those, she was just as determined to avoid.

It was harder not knowing who to avoid.

"I am so, so, so sorry," she said. "It wasn't me. I mean, I'm not like that? All skanky and evil and -- trying to kill people by kissing them. Seriously."

"I can tell. You haven't tried to kill me or kiss me yet," Bruce said. "And I'm normally smart enough to not let something like that happen to me."

"I think I was just trying to ... use up your energy?" Rinoa said. This would clearly make Bruce feel way better about the whole thing, obviously. "I mean, I took one guy to the park, and then just left him there once he passed out. He wasn't dead, though."

When that was the best you could say about your weekend ...

"Are you ... usually a ninja?" she asked.

"Not professionally," Bruce 'joked.' It was kind of a joke. "And if I were, I would have been better than that one was. He deserved to get his energy drained."

"I don't think anybody deserves that," she shuddered. "Although the disappearing trick was fairly impressive."

Well, it was.

"I'm surprised I knew that trick as someone else," Bruce mused. "But if anyone would know it, I suppose a ninja would."

Ninjas were dishonorable like that.

"What happened?" she asked. "One minute we were ..."

She wasn't usually shy about talking about making out with someone, but she hardly knew him, and she hadn't been herself. So forgive the small flustered gesture.

"... were ... kissing, and then it was like you disappeared in thin air."

"If you try to commit any act of violence in Caritas, you're teleported outside. So I tried to punch myself," Bruce said. "The smoke bomb was a nice effect, but had nothing to do with the disappearing."

"Quick thinking," Rinoa said. "I'll have to remember that, for the next time I desperately need to end a conversation in the bar."

"It's a great way to storm out in style," Bruce admitted.

Edited 2010-11-03 03:40 (UTC)

"I'd need a smoke-bomb first," she mused. She could probably accomplish something via spell. "You weren't ... hurt or anything, were you? I hope she didn't ... that I didn't cause any damage."

"I didn't feel great the next morning, but that might have more to do with the fact that I slept on a park bench," Bruce said. "The worst part about turning into someone else is not knowing where your room is."

"I was actually glad for that, this weekend," Rinoa said, shuddering as she went back to organizing the shelves. "It may have saved me from a worse morning than the one I had."

After all, she and Christian had been discussing whose floor her skirt would look better on.

"Good point. Really, you got lucky," Bruce said. And she did it by not getting lucky.

Fandom made for interesting backwards logic like that, didn't it?

"It's also good you had the foresight to leave," she said. "It's so ... unnerving, realizing your body did things you had no control over."

At least this time she hadn't been watching, unable to stop it.

"I'm just annoyed that it took me that long to figure it out," Bruce said. "If I were myself it would have never gotten that far. No offense to you or how you looked in that outfit, of course."

"None taken," she said. "Most people didn't get it after the first kiss, but shortly after that, everyone picked up on it. I can't ... imagine what it must have felt like, on that end."

For her, it had been ... well. Intoxicating. Scary thought.

"I didn't notice it too much at first. But when you started really draining me, I just felt very weak. At that point it was like losing a lot of blood, only tidier."

Don't ask how he knew what that felt like.

She wouldn't. She had a feeling she didn't want to know.

"Thank you for telling me," she said, biting her lower lip. "And I'm sorry. Relieved, for the most part, but still sorry."

"It wasn't you and it wasn't me," Bruce said. "Just remember that and try not to feel too bad about it."

She nodded, one hand reaching up to curl protectively around her rings. "We're still responsible," she said. "Even if we're not the ones in control. If I had ... hurt you, that would still be my responsibility, even if it wasn't my fault. Because it would still be me, even though it wasn't."

"I'm not sure you're right about that," Bruce said. "But even if that was true, you didn't hurt me. Focus on what did happen, not what could have happened. That will only drive you insane."

She nodded, still turning the idea over in her mind.

"Sorry," she said. "Just ... thinking of other things."

It really didn't do to dwell on them, though. She straightened up and went back to shelving books.

"We're both fine," she said. "Another case of the island embarrassing everyone and amusing itself at our expense. We should show it by refusing to be humiliated."

Said the girl who'd been hiding in her room yesterday.

"Exactly. I hope this helped some," Bruce said.

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Library, Tuesday

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