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Author: Lariat


"It's nice to finally have you back, you know." She said with smile, laying down their respective tea cups, sitting down afterward. "I was getting worried about you."

"Please, as if I'd die off so easily like that." He said sarcastically taking his teacup in his hands.

"Well, I'm just saying, I'm relieved that you're all good and well."

"Mmhm." He concurred as he took a sip of tea.

A moment of silence quickly came. She was truly happy that his friend had come back after so long, alive, but at the same time, she was aware of the cautious atmosphere hanging around them, her being the one being very cautious, wary of her friend. She knew that he would have been to a lot of places in the span of nine years, no doubt. But she was afraid to bring up a topic to talk about, all because she knew all too well that he would drive the conversation all the way to that point. She knew him enough to know that it would come to that conclusion. They did live together in their childhood, after all.

Not standing it any longer, he set the teacup a bit less than gently and in a haste on the table, making a sort of loud tap, disrupting the silence between them. This followed shortly by him informing his friend, "I lived in the Hiwa Sector for a while." She twitched. She thought that maybe it would have been better to have had a conversation to delay that point in it.

"...Oh really? I wonder how you were able to take the heat." She said, trying to act natural. She thought that she could somehow drive the conversation away. Though he could sense the hesitance in her voice. He knows her all too well.

"It was okay. They had a pool."

She looked at him in astonishment, "What kind of place did you live in?"

"The palace, of course." He responded.

She started with disbelief in her voice, "The pa--..." She stopped short, realizing what he was doing. She sighed in her mind, 'I guess I still can't beat you, huh...?' "Oh... I see... Must have been nice."

"It was okay, I guess." He took another sip of tea. "He's doing fine, by the way, if you're asking."

'He's already cut to the chase...'

"...I wasn't." She hissed under her breath.

He ignored her growing temper and pressed on. "He asked how you were doing too." He paused. "...I thought you two were--"

"Well, we're not." She cut off harshly.

He looked at her then took another sip. "Hmph." he scoffed, "So it's finally dawned on you that he should be hated." She didn't respond. Rather, she didn't know how to respond. So another quick moment of silence passed. "...It may sound crazy, especially coming from me," 'Here we go...' "but... I think the only who shouldn't hate him..." 'The 'talk'.' "is you."

Another quick moment of silence. "...You're right. That does sound crazy, especially coming from you."

His tone of voice had changed; the tone he always uses whenever he would lecture someone. He was getting tired of this. "Look, I don't know what happened between the two of you, but--"

"You don't need to know."

"...I'm just saying...you should make up with him."

"And why should I?" She said harshly, trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible. He was pissing her off enough as it is.

"Because..." he started, with a hint of concern, "he... actually looked kind of sad when I told him that I haven't seen you for over eight years." He added, "I said that over a year ago." to be more specific.

"Why should I even care if he's sad or not?" She half-yelled, "He was probably just faking it and trying to gain your sympathy."

"You know that he never does anything without reason or merit." He starts off with his lecture tone of voice again, but this time with more...annoyance? "What could he possibly gain from me being sorry for him? Besides, that was the first time I ever saw him even remotely, openly sad." She didn't need to see his face scowling angrily at her. She could already tell what he was thinking. "Seeing him like that was just so foreign to me, I felt like the world was about to end." She knows him all too well. "I can't believe I'm saying this but, I think I'd prefer a happy Cain almost over anything else right now." And she was quite annoyed at how he was saying all of this to her as-a-matter-of-factly, as if she made a huge mistake in her life. "The only way he's going to be happy is if he had fun or..." He paused, trying to calm down, then saying his last words as calmly as possible, "if you were there having fun with him."

Another silence came.

"Think about it, Bean." He said, being the one to break the awkward silence once again, "I think he'd be really happy again... to at least see you one more time."

She still kept her head down low, avoiding eye contact with him. She stayed silent at first, not really sure as to how to respond. "...You say that as if he were dying or something."

He sighed, "Well... I'm not sure about that. But I'm just saying..." He paused once more, taking his last sip of tea, "you should make up with him."

"...No."

He sighed once more, finally giving up and stood up to leave. She didn't stop him. That was the end of that so she didn't care, as long as this conversation was over. He didn't leave immediately, only stopping in the doorway out the room to say just a few more words. "You're the only one who can make him happy, you know." Words that he hoped would make her change her mind. "And if he was happy again... wouldn't that be a nice sight for you? It would sure cheer you up to see that you made someone happy, even if it was Cain."

Another quick moment of silence.

She chuckled at the sight of her friend helping out one of his worst enemies. It was pretty unbelievable and kinda of funny. "Saying all of these stupid things that I would never expect to hear coming out of your mouth... You've really changed, Ryuu."

"Yeah. You have too." Another moment of silence. She knew he still had more to say, since he wasn't leaving completely yet even though he was ready to. Finally, he broke the silence once more, "...You know, I always thought you were so much prettier when your hair was long." This took her by surprise, though she didn't show it. To hear him say that to her...was unexpected. "It's a shame that you had to go and chop it all off." ...Of course, he had to follow up with an insult. "Cain would agree with me too." She twitched.

Another moment of silence came.

With that, Ryuu had left her house. She kept sitting there, staring at her now cold tea that has yet to be drunk. Contemplating the entirety of the conversation and thought back to his last words before leaving.

'I always thought you were so much prettier when your hair was long. It's a shame that you had to go and chop it all off. Cain would agree with me too.'

"...That's the reason why I cut it off in the first place." was her response.