Apartment Above Groovy Tunes, Thursday Night

[angelo_wings]

"Squall!" Rinoa was in a mood today. Everything she kept saying was coming out wrong. She hadn't pieced together exactly what Fandom was doing, but it was making her cranky. Plus it was cold out, which was hardly his fault but it was certainly aggravating her mood.

"Where are you?" she asked, setting down the bags of shopping she'd brought in with her. "I'm in an awful mood, and I want to pick a fight with you!"

Dammit. Fandom was making her talk like a crazy person.

(First thread is for the Knight, but if anyone else wants to stop in, FEEL FREE. Bring your popcorn...)

Comments

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"Reading a book," Squall called, from their bedroom. "I didn't have anything better to do, and it beats staring at a wall. I really don't want to fight with you. If you're upset about something else, it's stupid to take it out on me."

Squall sighed. He'd been much better lately at lying about how he was feeling and not saying some of the things he was thinking -- which other people called "being nice". Apparently, he needed to put more of a conscious effort into it again.

[angelo_wings]

"I hate it when you imply that I'm stupid," Rinoa seethed. "As a result, I am now legitimately upset with you, because I feel as though you are belittling me and have little respect for my intellect."

That was rather more articulate than she had intended to be. She had meant to scream 'SO YOU THINK I'M STUPID?' and throw something across the room. Ugh. Fandom.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I'm not belittling you, or your intellect, I'm belittling your way of coping with your anger! I'm annoyed that you take it out on me instead of the thing that upset you."

[angelo_wings]

"Right now you're part of what's upsetting me!" Rinoa insisted. "When you mock the Owls, or roll your eyes at me being a diplomat, or call things that I do 'stupid,' I think that you think that you're much smarter than I am. It feels patronizing and reminds me of my father!"

Why was this conversation going sideways?

"It isn't any smarter to not have feelings than to have feelings," she added. "It doesn't make me stupid to feel things, just because you don't like to."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"Smart people do stupid things," Squall protested. "It's not about intelligence. The Owls deserved to be mocked, and you know it. On the other hand, I think you're a great diplomat, at least when you don't do something stu-- something impetuous to wreck it."

Squall set his book down and walked over to Rinoa. If they had to have this fight now, they could at least do it without yelling across the room. "I never said it was smarter to not have any feelings," he grumbled. "Just to be rational about where they're directed."

[angelo_wings]

"The Forest Owls were started by Zone and Watts' fathers, both of whom were executed as a result," Rinoa said, darkly. "Yes, we strategized poorly and had a very small likelihood of success, but that doesn't mean we deserved to be mocked. We had good intentions. It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

She folded her arms. "Mocking them implies that success is all that matters, not whether someone dies reaching for something better. Maybe I was there because I was angry at my father, but Zone and Watts were trying to honor their fathers."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"Zone faked stomach cramps any time he got nervous, and Watts was never around during missions," Squall grumbled. "I'm sorry if I in any way dishonored their intentions -- it's their actions I take issue with."

[angelo_wings]

"That's because Zone is a coward and Watts couldn't strategize his way out of a paper bag," Rinoa snapped. "That isn't the point."

Had she just said that? Dammit. She was blaming Fandom for that.

"I don't appreciate it when you imply that I'm stupid," she said. "If you're going to say that I'm irrational, say that. Pick a better word."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I would have thought 'irrational' was worse," Squall offered thoughtfully. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything about your intelligence. ...Fine, then. It's irrational to take out your anger on me when it was caused by someone or something else. It's unhelpful, and frustrating, and annoying. I don't like it."

[angelo_wings]

"Then come up with a different word!" Rinoa said. "I don't like it, either, but I don't have healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with my emotions! My father kept me isolated in my room, so I learned to bottle them except for when I was unleashing them to have a tantrum!"

Wow. Fandom was extra crazy today, to have her say something like that.

"And underneath all this surface frustration, I'm particularly upset with you! So it's only fair to take it out on you, after all!"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall... was not going to touch that.

"I bottle my emotions, too! I just do it better! And I have too much discipline and self-respect to throw a tantrum!"

Okay, maybe he was.

"What are you upset at me for?" Squall asked. "You haven't mentioned being upset at me. If you don't say so, I usually assume you're angry at something else."

[angelo_wings]

"We aren't engaged yet!" Rinoa waved a hand with pent-up frustrated energy. "Bobby and Sookie are married, Karla and Warren just had a daughter, and I know we're a little young, but you've already pledged to be my Knight, so why haven't you asked me to marry you?!"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"We're... not engaged?" Squall asked. They were going to spend the rest of their lives side by side. It was sort of implied. Did she really need him to go through the whole stupid rigmarole of giving her a ring and formally asking... Oh. Right. Of course she did.

Squall facepalmed. "I'm an idiot. I was wondering why you hadn't planned the wedding yet."

[angelo_wings]

"You thought we were engaged?" Rinoa was now staring at her not-fiance, wondering when he hit his head. "You never asked! I don't have a ring! You never mentioned a wedding to me, not once! How was I supposed to --"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I... didn't really think about it," Squall admitted. "So long as we're together, that's good enough for me. I'm not sure how a ceremony is going to change anything. Now that I am thinking about it, though, I realize I should have proposed a while ago."

...

"You do have a ring, already," Squall pointed out. "My ring. I think it's romantic."

[angelo_wings]

"The ring I stole?" Rinoa was now gaping at Squall. "The ring I stole from you, and you let me keep because it was too much of a bother, but you totally treated me like a stalker about. Before we were even dating or anything. That ring?"

That did not count as an engagement ring in any sense of the word whatsoever, Squall.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall shrugged. "It's not an engagement ring, but it is a ring. You said you didn't have a ring, and that was wrong." Or whatever.

"I like that you have it."

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa was going to sit down and inhale, and then exhale, slowly.

Right. Squall was bad at this.

"I do not have a ring that I wear, on my finger, that you gave me as a promise of our engagement," she said. "Griever does not count. I like that I have it, too. But I also have my mother's ring on the same chain as yours, and I'm not married to her, either."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall nodded. He was bad at this.

"I didn't realize you were upset by this," he said. "And now I'm not sure how best to fix it. I don't want you to think I'm only proposing because you asked me to, so I need to wait. But if I wait too long, you'll think I've forgotten. I don't know what the optimal length of time is."

One thing was certain -- he was going to start ring shopping tomorrow.

[angelo_wings]

"From your last statement, it sounds as though you are hoping I will pull out a calendar and select an optimal date for you," Rinoa said. "I am going to refuse to do that, and instead have histrionics based on the supposition that you are refusing to do any work towards this engagement. I would be tempted to imply that you must not be terribly inclined towards our marriage, if you cannot put such effort in, but we both know that would be untrue, so I cannot."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"That's unusually clear and straightforward of you to say," Squall observed. "It makes it easier for me to understand. I am, of course, going to put effort in. Now that I know you want me to propose to you, I'm going to make sure that I do it in the most romantic way possible."

...He'd have to read up on the subject.