Room 421, Monday, Midmorning

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa still hadn't heard from her father, which was making her decidedly cranky. She said she'd give him time to organize it, so it was probably too soon to call. Right? Maybe? Maybe not. Was it? She didn't even know if he was actually doing anything with the list she'd given him. Maybe he had crumpled it up and thrown it out when she left the restaurant. Maybe he was spying on the subjects.

Okay. She was giving him another couple of days and then calling and if he thought that was pushy, so be it. It wouldn't be the first time.

In the meantime ... nothing bad could have happened (yet) because she would have heard about it by now. She was sure of it. Mostly.

To cheer herself up, she was working on her Halloween costume. It was nearly finished, and it was going to be super-cute. She was stressing about Timber; that meant she was allowed to take time off to be shallow. So there.

(door open, post open, expecting one but welcome for any!)

Comments

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall was confused. He didn't like this whole "Halloween" thing, and was planning on vigorously refusing to wear a costume... but Rinoa hadn't been around to pester him.

How was he supposed to have fun despite himself if Rinoa wasn't going to badger him into it? And now that she hadn't, he was forced to confront how silly and irrational the whole system they had going actually was. He hated it when people were silly and irrational -- when it was HIMSELF, it was just that much worse.

So... he was grumpy, and angry at the fact that he was grumpy, and just sort of in a general mood. He knocked on Rinoa's open door and waved at her tentatively. Maybe she'd just forgotten to pester him?

[angelo_wings]

"Hey," Rinoa said, frowning when she saw the dark look on his face. "You don't look so great. What's wrong?"

She pushed the material she was working on aside, hiding it under a cushion. He wasn't allowed to peek at her costume early. That was cheating.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall shrugged. "You... haven't said anything about the stupid holiday today. I was expecting you to be excited about it."

That all, at least, was a true enough explanation -- a firm spot in the midst of the conflicting emotions he was feeling.

[angelo_wings]

"I am excited about it," Rinoa said. She folded her arms. Why was he being difficult? "I got a costume. Did you?"

She huffed. "No. Of course you didn't."

Why would he?

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall opened his mouth to say something, but everything that came to mind just sounded like excuses. "...I was waiting for you to make me get one," he admitted.

Saying it out loud, it sounded even stupider. He really hated himself right now.

[angelo_wings]

Every time she thought that maybe, he was making progress, they were right back to this.

"Well, I didn't," she said. "I got one for me, because I wanted one. You could have gotten one for yourself, if you wanted one. But you didn't. So ... it looks like you're out of luck."

And she'd just go to the stupid mixer without him. This had to stop sooner or later.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"Well, I don't WANT a costume," Squall insisted. And he didn't. ...Except... "But it might be fun to get one that matches yours."

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa settled back on her bed. "I'm not doing this," she said. "Not this time. If you want to get a costume, please do, and if you don't, then don't. But don't act like you don't want to go and make me drag you. I know I usually don't mind, and it's pretty fun most of the time, but I'm not in the mood today, so if you could just once pretend you don't hate liking things and suck it up and do something yourself, that would be awesome, okay?"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"..."

So, not only was Squall hating himself for playing this stupid game, but Rinoa was hating him for it, too. That wasn't how it was supposed to work!!! She was supposed to drag him into doing things!

... which wasn't fair to her. And he really should suck it up and be more mature. He gave her a nod.

"What are you going to be wearing?"

[angelo_wings]

Okay, okay, if he was actually owning up to wanting to come along, she should stop being mean and she should start encouraging that from him. Right?

She uncovered the yukata from where she had hidden it under the cushions.

"This," she said. "Once it's finished."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall had no idea what that was. How was he supposed to get a matching costume, if he didn't know what or who she was dressing as?

"...A dress?" he ventured. "It's very pretty, but I don't understand."

[angelo_wings]

"It's not a dress," she sighed. "It's a kimono."

She held up the obi sash that accompanied it, and the decorative fan. "Kimonos are traditional Japanese clothes. This one is a less formal type. The formal ones had more layers, so they'd be warmer, but they were harder to sew, and required more elaborate hairstyles. Something like this one would be for watching fireworks in the summer or getting out of a traditional bath."

Someone had done research on this, yes. Squall was dating a librarian's aide. He had to realize she was a nerd.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall nodded, and committed that to memory. "Kimono. Japanese. I like it; it suits you."

He'd put aside the question of why someone would wear a ceremonial dress just to watch fireworks. It wasn't his place to question traditions of other cultures.

[angelo_wings]

"Thank you," she said, perking up slightly. Compliments did that. "So ... I'm going to that party thing, after classes, and maybe trick-or-treating later. I don't know yet? I ... hope I see you there. If you feel like going."

She didn't add that he needed to get a costume. But. He got that, right? Because that was pretty obvious, right? ... Right?

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I'll be there," Squall told her. As soon as he could get a costume.

[angelo_wings]

"Okay," Rinoa said, giving him a quick nod. "I guess I'll see you when you're there, then."

And if he showed up in costume, that'd be good, and if he didn't, then she'd yell. And stomp one of her feet and throw a tissyfit.

This also applied if he got something dumb like a name-tag and wrote "Bob" on it and pretended that counted as a costume. That might even be worse.

She wasn't sure if this was a good time to bring up a new topic or not, but ... why not.

"I haven't heard from my dad."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall frowned at that. "He should have called by now, even if he had nothing to report." He thought for a moment, trying to plan out a next step. "Hopefully, he's just busy and this isn't meant to be a snub. Maybe you should schedule future conferences. Have you heard anything from the Timbrans?"