So there's a bar nobody goes to....

[two_guns_turk]

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[saystoomuch]

She stares at him for a moment, teeth worrying her lower lip. Then she shakes her head, going back to cleaning up before her boss finds her and yells at her.

"Don't let her find out. She'll kill you."

[midgarhorizon]

"She already threatened to bust my balls, kiddo. So you won't have to worry about it for another," looking her up and down, he looks a bit thoughtful, "three years. Maybe two. But, what'd I tell ya? You shouldn't worry about what other people think. No, I'm serious. What do you think of yourself, Elena?"

[saystoomuch]

She huffs something that's supposed to be an attempt at a laugh at that first part, but that soon fades to a sudden very distinct restlessness as he goes back to the question she's been trying to avoid.

She folds her arms over her chest, very decidedly not looking at him. "I don't know." It's quiet, and clearly more than her just trying to dodge the question, and she doesn't know why she's telling him except he's the only person to really think to ask.

[midgarhorizon]

"Tch," it's a thoughtful sound rather than disapproving, and he swivels back to face her. "Sounds like you got a problem there... Why don't you think 'bout it a little?"

[saystoomuch]

"What's the point?" She's given up any pretence of working, now, uneasy and yet not really having an easy way out of the conversation. "I'm always being told what I am and what I'm not. Why give myself something else to be wrong about?"

[midgarhorizon]

"Because the moment you decide what you are and what you're not, everybody else is wrong." It's pretty simple logic, and Reno finished off his drink at the end with a flourish. "I learned that from a friend a long time ago, kiddo. You're the final word."

[saystoomuch]

"You make it sound so easy." She does look up at him, then, probably the most uncertain he's ever seen her. "Where do you even start with something like that?"

[midgarhorizon]

"It is that easy. Ya just decide what you like and what you don't like. If it's something you wanna do, go ahead. If it's not, stop. Simple, right?" He tapped his glass with a grin. "Me, I like drinking. Could ya get me another?"

[saystoomuch]

"Not really. I mean, how do you stop caring? How do you know it's what you think and now what you think you should think?"

Even as she speaks, she's moving to mix another drink for him, 'accidentally' adding just a little more than she should in the process.

[midgarhorizon]

"Uh, go by what makes ya mad then. What makes you mad?" Reno honestly had no idea what he was saying and going on about, but it's got her talking, so it can't be all that bad, can it?

[saystoomuch]

She raises an eyebrow at him then as she places his fresh drink in front of him. "You really need to ask?"

She figures she's always been pretty open about that, though she can also appreciate how most people probably don't pay attention.

[midgarhorizon]

"Then don't do the things she does. You make yourself different." There, that should work. Reno picked up the glass with an appreciative look, sipping delicately with one finger up all classy. Mostly to make her laugh, but also hitting the point home. Grinning, he cleared his throat and put on a voice- an upper crust Midgarian, something more suited to Sector 8 than a bar. "One does what one can to be unique, with the utmost dignity. Or some crap like that."

[saystoomuch]

"Huh." He makes it sound so simple. She's not so convinced, but it plants the seed of an idea in her mind anyway.

And then he's putting on that posh act and she can't help but giggle, a slight crack in the burdens she carries about herself. "You were almost convincing until you tried to sell me on someone that upper-class saying crap."

[midgarhorizon]

"Don't underestimate someone from the Plate." He snickered, leaning against the bartop in his usual slouched pose. "I've heard some of 'em tear people a new one that'd make a Junon dock worker blush. How's my accent? Maul says I'm almost ready to pass in company parties. Don't believe him."

[saystoomuch]

"And you probably shouldn't." She leaned in a little, then, slowly starting to thaw as Reno's playful side draws her in. "Still, you'd know what they sound like better than me. Academy aside, I don't get to talk to many of them. This isn't really their kind of scene."

For several reasons but she's hoping they can stay focused on the 'because it's beneath them' part and not the part where this is a Turks' haunt.

[midgarhorizon]

Air rushed out of Reno's nose in an irritated snort. "Are the Academy snobs givin' ya a hard time?"

Of course, that's what he focused on instead of the accent.

[saystoomuch]

She frowns a little at the sudden change in him. "Not really? No more than they normally do, anyway. And that's more the instructors than anyone else."

And he can probably guess why. Not even being the marksmanship instructor's daughter spares her from everything.

[midgarhorizon]

Mollified, he nodded. "Let me know if they start botherin' ya. Some of the kids there can be gigantic assholes. Last thing y'need." Any further explanation didn't really come forth though, he knew what the people were like. A lot of Turks came from the Academy in the past, but that didn't mean it had been an easy place to be. "I want to knock their asses down a few pegs if they do."

[saystoomuch]

That earns a raised eyebrow and a questioning look. "Is that for my benefit or yours?"

Somehow she doesn't think he'd be willing to go that far just for her benefit, though she's not going to pry too far. Then again, given how he's been prying into her business she can't say she feels too sorry for returning the favour either.

[midgarhorizon]

Reno gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged. "I got a lot to pay back to that place. If it helps you out, sure, why not? You kinda yell a lot but there's not one of us in the Turks that don't think of you as one of us. And, y'know, that's not such a bad thing, having a whole bunch of us behind ya."

[saystoomuch]

For all she'd been relaxing again, that comment brings a little of the tension back to her features. It's not quite the full-blown dismissal that most would get but it's still enough to suggest she's withdrawing again. "I don't need you behind me. I can take care of myself just fine. And I'm not one of you so don't say that."

Nor would she ever be, as far as she's concerned.

[midgarhorizon]

"What if ya didn't have to?" It's an honest question, curious at what was driving her. "Y'know, it's not going to mean the end of the world if you got someone to rely on. Kinda lonely, if ya ask me."

[saystoomuch]

"I don't need to rely on anyone and I don't want to, either." She's fidgeting again now, though at least away from anything breakable. "Relying on other people means they can let you down. Relying on myself means I succeed or fail on my own merits, not because someone took pity on me or screwed up because I made the mistake of trusting them."

[midgarhorizon]

"Huh, are you sure it isn't because you're afraid of lettin' other people down instead?" Reno's question was pointed, and he finished off the martini and set it on the far side of the bar. "I get it... used to be the same way, and I finally did wind up letting everyone down. Haven't seen my family since."

[saystoomuch]

She very decidedly looks away at that question, eyes boring a hole into the bar top. She's almost tempted to snap at him again, except he's doing the sharing thing again and she has no idea if that's supposed to make her feel better or worse.

"I'm letting people down whatever I do. Why does it matter if I want to do things myself?"