Lobby: Thursday, All Day (Except Fifth Period): Cookie Table

[the_merriest]

Okay, so: she'd made several dozen cookies last night, and she had actually followed the recipes for once instead of just making things up as she went along. So they weren't, say, Surprise Cookies, but they should be edible, which ... surprise cookies sometimes weren't.

Rikku got a table and set out the cookies - some chocolate chip, some of the peanut butter kind with the fork-marks on top, and some oatmeal raisin - and pulled up a chair. And behind her, she hung the sign she had made.












See, this is why she put the note in the paper. Because she wasn't so great at signs.

She sat down and waited for people to come by. And take some cookies.


[so very, very open! harass Rikku, take some cookies, or both]

Comments

[the_merriest]

Rikku looked at him, weighing his words. "Maybe ... maybe it's just that ... she thought she had to. Had to die to save the world, you know? So she let go instead of holding on. And then he showed up and he was kinda ... it's hard to walk away from that, when you have what they did, and so ... he was what kept her going. And then she lived and he didn't and ... I don't think she knows what to do any more. Or how to start. He was the only thing she didn't let go of, and then she had to anyway."

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine stared at the cookie, still uneaten, and nodded slightly. "That isn't your job to fix, Rikku. You didn't break her. And I can't imagine that it would be easy to watch her hurt like that, but if you've done all that you can, there's nothing selfish about appreciating the things that you do have. Being happy isn't about having all of the good things. It's about appreciating them when you do." This was coming from a poor juggler with no family and only a few friends. Not that he'd ever admit it, but he knew all of this first-hand. "Rikku, she doesn't need you to change reality itself to be happy. She needs to find some piece of her reality that's still worth it, however small."

[the_merriest]

Rikku shook her head. "No. I didn't. But ... the world did, and none of them care about her now, and who will protect her if I don't?" She shook her head. "I guess I thought ... I could be that piece of her reality, but ... I'm here. Maybe I thought if I could get him back, it'd be okay for me to be here."

She laughed bitterly. "I guess this is all just ... guilt, huh?"

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine sighed a little as he absently tossed the cookie in the air and then caught it again. "The unfortunate thing about nagging guilt is that it won't go away until you do something to be rid of it."

[the_merriest]

Rikku bit her lip. "Like break reality and get him back?"

She didn't think that was the right answer, but you never knew.

[dark_slippy_thing]

"Right track, probably the wrong fish," Valentine decided with a shrug. "If you can find a way to get him back that doesn't involve doing damage to yourself and then entirely damaging reality..."
He shrugged again and smirked. "But you're so busy saying that nasty apologetic 's' word to do anything like that, aren't you?"

[the_merriest]

"Nasty 's' word?" Rikku blinked oddly. "I don't think I follow."

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine really didn't like to say it, so he simply motioned with the cookie to the first "sorry" on Rikku's Sign To End All Signs(tm).
"Are you saying this word because it means people will like you again, or are you saying that word because you intend to make everything right? It doesn't mean anything if you're going to just give up and make all of that for nothing and then proceed to feel rotten about it."

[the_merriest]

Rikku turned to look at the sign. "I thought you meant I was swearing. You're ... strange, you know that?"

She sighed. "I'm saying it because I feel it. Because I want to make things right. The hole is fixed and the cookies are ... well, they're cookies. I'm not sure I'm giving up, I'm just ... not sure that it's even possible. What I want."

[dark_slippy_thing]

Coming from the girl who broke reality, Valentine decided to take being called strange as a compliment.
"Well, if you're not sure, why are you here apologizing instead of out there, finding out?"

[the_merriest]

"I'm ..." Okay, she didn't have a good answer for that one. "I don't know where to look, I guess. And I thought this was important, to do first."

[dark_slippy_thing]

Thoughtfully turning the cookie over in his hands again, still inspecting it, not quite putting it into his mouth yet, Valentine found himself agreeing. "Cookies are always important, yes," he decided. "But when you're done with filling the population of the island with sugary delights, what then? If you don't know where to look for information on reality, why not look at the places that would most realistically hold information?" He smirked a little. "I've learned that you don't need a net when looking for books in the library here."

[the_merriest]

"Not because they're sugar!" Rikku said impatiently. "Because ... because I did something wrong and people didn't even know and they deserved to, and if they wanted to yell at me they had the right, so I'm here."

"The library is ... where I was before. I think the information that's really helpful is back in the Special Collections area, but it's ... scary. That's how this mess got started, by messing around with some of the powerful stuff there." She shivered.

[dark_slippy_thing]

"So, instead of 'messing around' with it, why not find out where you went wrong, make certain that you have a means to get it right and to fix it if it goes wrong again, and then put forth every failsafe you need so that you do it right?"
Valentine was a fan of failsafes.
And cookies.
"You were in a hurry this time around and you were worried people would find out, am I correct? It may or may not be meant to be, but I can tell you here and now that rushing through the big things more often than not will lead to equally big mistakes."

[the_merriest]

"I ..." Rikku stopped short and considered what he was saying. "I wasn't in a rush, I mean, not until I broke it the first time. But I was reckless. Maybe ... maybe I can look into it more. I just ... don't want to get caught up in thinking I can, and hoping, and then find out I can't. Maybe I need to learn how to let go."

[dark_slippy_thing]

"Looking into it more can't hurt, at least. Maybe something will jump out and surprise you in a more pleasant way than last time." Valentine shrugged and finally put the last cookie into his mouth.

[the_merriest]

"I ... maybe you're right. Thanks. At least I'm ... feeling better about it. I think." She looked up at him oddly. "Thank you?"

[dark_slippy_thing]

"You're welcome," Valentine said with a grin. "And for the record, anyone who thinks to combine homemade cookies with an apology couldn't possibly have sold their soul."
If he had visible eyelids with which to wink, he would have. Instead, he just gave a satisfied nod and took another cookie.

[the_merriest]

Rikku grinned back. "You know ... you're really a nice guy sometimes, you know that?"

[dark_slippy_thing]

"Yes, well, don't go announcing that to the world, or everyone will be expecting it."

[the_merriest]

Rikku smiled softly. "Your secret is totally safe with me."