Upon catching a glance at Suku coming opposite down the corridor, Rico’s smiling expression gave a mighty upheaval into one of surprise. Immediately, he spun on his heel and started back down the hallway, away from the Nurse, silently pleading to some unknown force that she had not caught sight of him. He winced as he heard his name called…no such luck, it seemed. Rico ignored it initially; truthfully, he was not at all eager to get back to Suku on his ‘promise’ that he had given her earlier. The sergeant continued to pace towards the nearest corner to duck out of sight...but the nearest one was on the far end of his hallway. No such luck there, either.
Suku arched a brow as Rico turned heel and seemed to not hear her.
Yes! Suku said, turning heel herself and then suddenly finding herself being pushed in the other direction. A group of Marines came barreling down the halls, a few them still injured from the battle. The Marine seemed to have food on their minds from their constant talk of eating in the Mess. The group practically swept Suku up and took her down the hall. She tried to break out of them without being trampled on. By the time she had broken out of them, her clothes and hair were furiously ruffled.
"You fucking
assholes" Suku blared, as she flipped them the bird. A few of the Marines looked back, and in a panic sped up their pace. The Nurse looked around, feeling a tad embarrassed, spotting that the group had dropped her near by Rico. She gave him a nervous glance as she attempted to tame her hair. "Uh, hey." She said, running her fingers through her hair.
When Suku didn’t yell out for him again, Rico gave a great sigh of relief and continued on his way. When he finally turned that corner he halted and was leaning against the wall to recollect his thoughts. He didn’t think much of the gaggle of marines that passed by him…at least, not until they plopped the green-haired Geshrin directly in front of him and hastened their way. Rico’s stomach nearly leapt out of his throat…today was just
not his day. Rico had no chance of faking ignorance to her greeting this time; he saw her, she saw him, it was pretty much a done deal.
Shit…common baby, suck it up. Can’t chicken-shit outta this one, Rico thought to himself grimly as he cleared his throat and returned that aloof smile to his face.
I mean, hell, maybe she forgot about it. Yeah…I mean, it was a fuckin’ long time ago… the sergeant vainly tried to reassure himself as he fiddled with his own hair. “Hey…what’s shakin’, sweetheart?”
"Just... uh... clearing my head..." Suku looked away from Rico, hoping that he wouldn't take notice of how much of a wreck she seemed to be at the moment. The Geshrin tried to rub her eyes.
Being a master of expressions as he was, it didn’t take long for Rico to catch wind of Suku’s mood.
Shit…that didn’t take long, Rico thought as his brow displayed an amount of concern for her demeanor. He reached behind his head and scratched it idly, awkwardly, unsure of how to continue. “Yeah, it’s been a…long day…” Rico nodded in agreement as he released a short, pathetic and oh-so-inappropriate snort of laughter. “You gonna be alright, sugar?”
"I'll be fine... It's just... Adrian took a pretty bad hit. It... It was hard to look at..." Suku looked at Rico for a moment, then looked away again, putting a hand over her mouth. She inhaled shakily. "What about you? You holding up?"
“Yeah…got a pretty big ‘nick,” Rico nodded solemnly, his face emotionless for a moment as he looked down at the ground. His face suddenly perked up, however, almost too cheerful for the situation. “But, shit, I wouldn’t worry ‘bout it. They got me back up an’ runnin’ again, and I lost half my fuckin’ chest,” Rico beat a closed fist against his upper body. “He ain’t gone for good…we ain’t that lucky,” Rico joked, hoping to break a little of the tension permeating the two of them.
Suku chuckled a little bit, it rasped weakly through her teeth. "That's not exactly what I'm worried about, but okay." She smiled at him with a bit of warmth.
“Ah, got somethin’ else on your mind, huh?” Rico asked instantaneously, glad to get a small rise of laughter out of her.
"To tell the truth... I was going to try and find you later. I wanted to talk to you..." Suku said as she uncomfortably shifted her feet.
Rico immediately regretted asking the question, cursing to himself silently for getting too caught up in the humorous moment. He knew exactly where this was going, and he would rather be anywhere but there at that very moment…but, he decided that now was probably the best time. As much as he didn’t like it, her current mood was perfect for what Rico had planned. He cursed to himself once more as his aloof, inviting smile never wavered from his face as he feigned ignorance. “Yeah? What’s up?”
Suku looked around the hall for any prying eyes, and didn't see anyone taking particular interest. She then focused herself on Rico and hoping he'd catch on, said, "I want to clear this up, now."
He didn’t need to be asked twice. The smile quickly slid away from Rico’s face as he inhaled a sigh, also taking a moment for himself to check the hallways for snooping soldiers. When he was satisfied, Rico turned back to Suku. “Alright. What is it that ya want,
exactly? I need to know.”
A wave a clear annoyance washed over Suku's face as her stance faltered for a moment. "Tch, don't play the
dumbass, you know exactly what I mean."
Rico’s expression didn’t budge an inch. “I know. What I don’t know is what you
want,” He stared straight at her, hoping that she caught his meaning.
Suku approached Rico and grabbed him by the chest of his pullover. "I
want you."
A small, familiar voice played out in Rico’s mind, reading out to the sergeant’s subconscious like an instructional video.
First step to getting’ rid of a clinger, baby, is ta’ dissuade. Start pointin’ out the shit ‘bout you that ain’t so great. This usually works for those broads that get snatchy after one night on the town.
Rico raised his right hand up to his chest and used it to push away Suku’s grasp on him…not harshly, but not gently, either. “Yeah, I got that much. But how far, sweetheart? What do you want from me?”
"I don't know... Just, you. Your voice, your personality, your wit, your attitude, your... ways of making me feel special." Suku told him, she crossed her arms and tried to think on that more.
“…yannow sweetheart, there are other fish out there,” Rico started. “What, you dig me ‘cause I’m funny? There are funnier people than me out there…I’ll admit that much. I ain’t no comedy mastermind. And special…what, because I sprung ya outta a few days a’ prison? ‘Cause all the rest a’ your relationships were with shitty guys? I know quite a few fellas that have assloads more money than me, sugar. Tons a’ it, and wouldn’t at all mind spendin’ it on you…probably treat ya better too, spend more time with ya, love ya, all that shit.”
"It was more of how you found my
attitude appealing. I haven’t really met a guy who was like that." Suku tilted her head.
"Somebody else can do that better, too." Rico replied simply.
"Rico... I don't really care if he 'can do better'. It's just that 'you can', that Riconess that makes you who you are. I'm not sure if it's love, base attraction, or simple desperation..." Suku looked toward the floor, taking a bit of interest into her feet. She put her hands into her pockets. "All I know, is I want to be with you. I feel... happier around you, and less angry at everyone else. It sounds strange, that I don't know I
why I want what I want, just I
want what I want. Wait... no... That sounded stupid..." Suku gritted her teeth as she tried to gather her words.
Sergeant Sanroma breathed in a sigh as Suku tried to find the words to explain herself. He knew what she meant. Silently, the gears in Rico’s noggin turned on to the next voice, still familiar, still ever-present.
Step one never works on a really determined clinger. If it don’t work, it’s on the step two; dismissal. It ain’t pretty, but neither is she, if you’ve had to go this far, yeah?
“…what if I don’t feel the same way? I mean…well, you used to talk to the kitchen girls. Pretty sure they brought me up once or twice,” Rico thought back to the first time Suku and he had met when this particular issue had been brought up. Rico crossed his arms and shifted his weight against the wall again. “What’d they say ‘bout me?”
"Well, they do talk about you sometimes. They call you a womanizer, which you are." Suku explained with a rather plain face. "They tell me how you did some of the same things you did with me. Some are disgusted with you... Some can't get enough of you..."
"An' how does that make you feel?" Rico asked, eyes narrowing a bit as he focused on her answer.
"Good, that you found me as attractive as some of them." Suku grinned a little, signifying a joke. "But really, I wasn't too surprised. I just never expected my feelings to come so powerfully over me."
Rico couldn’t help but crack a smile at her little spark of humor. He immediately wiped it away, however, clearing his throat again and adopting his serious tone once more. “Fine…but still, what if I don’t feel the same way, huh? I’ve been with a whole lot a’ other women the same ways I’ve been with you. Some even more.”
"If that were true... Wouldn't you have said that already?" Suku tilted her head again.
Rico's eyes narrowed slightly at that retort. She had a point. "...Well, I don't," he spoke shortly, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
Suku walked up to Rico, almost coming nose to nose with the marine. She squinted at him and spoke with a rather harsh yet shushed tone, "Say it like you
mean it."
As fate would have it, Rico began rolling straight into step three as Suku wrangled her way towards his face.
Step Three: piss her off. Make her hate ya. If this don’t work, you better get runnin’, yannow baby?”
The Nepleslian was hesitant about entering this step because, in his past experiences, step three had a definite 100% chance of failing, miserably. Usually, Rico was able to get rid of his exceptionally clingy past conquests with the first two steps. All but one. And step three didn’t work on her. Thus, in all accounts, a complete failure record. Rico’s assurance of his plans started to waver…but not enough for him to forget to try.
Rico pushed his face forward, a hair’s breadth separating his from hers as he replied to her in a matching tone, strong, hushed,
”I don’t want you.”
Suku's eyes searched Rico's for a moment, and then she smiled weakly. "Well... At least you didn't out it like a pussy..." She backed away from him, her gaze turned down the corridor.
Rico didn’t smile back, instead choosing to stare, determined, straight into Suku’s eyes. “What, you think I’m jokin’? I could give a whole lot more than what you got, babe…I just didn’t want to. I play you just like I play everyone else. I…” Rico paused for a moment, grasping for things that he knew she disliked from the time they had spent together. “…
used you. Yeah, used you pretty damn good. Just another notch on my belt… never got around to actually fuckin’ ya, though. Too much work for too little reward,” Rico spat as he ended his hurtful tirade.
"If I'm just another notch... why did you even bother talking to me?" Suku raised her brow, a bit of agitation could be sensed in her voice.
"
You came to
me, sweetheart. I was walkin'
away, if you didn't catch that. Ignored your shoutin', too. Figured you'd catch the hint...guess I was wrong, yeah?" Rico smile maliciously.
"If I remember correctly, before the offensive, it was
you who wanted to talk." Suku's voice catching on to 'slightly more annoyed'.
Rico was glad to see her anger rise…it made this whole situation easier to stomach. Rico uncrossed one arm and placed a hand on his chin, giving the appearance of deep thought…however, it was a façade, one of bitter sarcasm. “Yeeeaahh, I did do that, didn’t I. Maybe ‘cause Kokuten asked me to shut you up and tell ya to quit yer fuckin’ bawlin’. Tell ya the truth, I was getting’ pretty fuckin’ sick of it myself. I had to tell ya
somethin’ to shut that huge mouth a’ yours.”
"Then why the hell were you trying to let me off easy!? Why couldn’t you just come out and say it!" Suku snarled as her pearly whites began to show.
“What, and get you mopin’ in your shit even more?! I just wanted your fuckin’ cockhole shut, I already had it up to here with that shit back on Nepleslia!” Rico sneered as he rose to match Suku’s aggression as best as he could.
Suku turned her back to the Marine, running her hands through her hair. She was breathing uneasily, seemingly almost on the verge of snapping. The Nurse didn't want to believe what was being said, but it was coming from the horse’s mouth. With that, she whirled around, grabbing the Marine by the pullover with one hand, but sent her other hand toward his face in the form of a fist. It started to travel toward the Nepleslian's face, but it faltered. She seemed to jerk her head away from him, and then back, showing a mixed face of anger, confusion, and sadness.
Rico didn’t budge as Suku failed to strike him. His gaze, stolid, cold and unnerving, bored its way into the Nurses own eyes. He said nothing as he stared.
Suku's eyes began to tear up, as her face flushed red. The warm water fell down her cheeks, seemingly contrasting with the anger on her face. The Nurse wanted to throw one of her mighty tantrums, but couldn't. She didn't know why, she didn't want to hurt him, despite all the harm. "It hurts..." She told him, in a tone that she could have only coughed out. She clenched her free hand over the chest of her shirt.
As Suku began to break down, so too did Rico’s determination to press onward. He could’ve coped with Suku’s anger, and braved her fury…he was not prepared, however, to deal with her sadness. Rico heaved a long ,drawn out sigh as his stern expression melted to one very similar to Suku’s; anger, confusion, sadness played across his face. He found that he could not look at her out of disgust for what he had accomplished, instead choosing to cast his gaze down the hallway, staring at nothing. When he spoke, it was low, calm, and mournful. “…it hurts
now. You’ll get over that eventually…it takes a while… but you’ll forget,” he spoke, pulling his own past experience of the situation into account as he explained it to the distraught Geshrin.
Suku began to think back for a moment, and decided to give the same question he gave her. "What do
you want?" She asked him, biting her lip to fight the tears.
He sat there, back against the wall, for a moment as he digested her question. He still could not find the strength to look at her. “…I want you to forget me. I can’t give you what you want, and you don’t…
deserve what I can.”
The Nurse pushed away from the Sergeant, her head hanging a bit. Suku then turned from him, and began walking back towards the Medical bay, not offering Rico a word.
Let her go, Rico heard his mind play out as he turned his head to watch her go, thoughts hurtling and bouncing throughout his cognitive as she took each step. As she began to reach her turn-off towards the medical bay, Rico got up from the wall and took a few hasty steps towards her, before pausing.
Let her go, was the only thing he could turn up from the storming recesses of his thoughts. It took him a moment, but Rico eventually turned back around and started back on his original path. As he put one foot in front of the other, Rico turned his head to catch a final glance of Suku before he walked out of her life. She was, of course, already gone.
It’s better this way, he tried to assure himself.
He didn’t feel very convinced.