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[isawallflower]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHEERYCHERRY. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.46.820.17 *** CHEERYCHERRY has joined 019.46.820.17 <CHEERYCHERRY> It's Riley! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please leave a message! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please be someone with their priorities sorted out properly!

main: CheeryCherry
anonymous: panthera, aed
retired: gflynn (anon)

Comments

[isawallflower]

[ And, in response, Riley rolls her eyes despite the smile staying firm and secure. ]

Ohh no, you were still a bastard there. [ Riley rarely lets herself swear but it feels sort of natural to. ] You were sweet and a jerk. Both are true.

[digiorno]

. . . Hm.

[He has less of a comeback for that one. She's at least right on one of those counts. Narrowing his eyes at her for a moment, he eventually gives up and just shrugs, acquiescing.]

I'm multifaceted, then. Although I think I was only a bastard to specific people. Consider yourself lucky.

[isawallflower]

[ She missed this. She missed this. Like this, she can pretend it's all...okay. ]

That's luck? Really? Giorno, I need to get you a dictionary.

[ They are close enough that she can gently poke his arm. Something that other-Riley would do, in that other-life, as she was more...comfortable. Secure. Loved. Little things like casual physical contact, casual teasing, they came easier to her, despite the anxiety still bubbling under the surface. ]

[digiorno]

Well. Let me clarify. There's a different between being a bastard and actually being mean, you know?

[She probably saw some of the mean, at least in the beginning, never directed toward her but toward Steffan once or twice, toward his hangers-on more often. They never quite managed to get on. Even with all that, he was really a lot nicer as Haruno in a lot of ways. He doesn't really miss that part.]

I liked you from the beginning, though. You always seemed very safe. So maybe it isn't so much luck [he pokes her arm right back] as skill.

[isawallflower]

[ At such a compliment, Riley truly does crumble. She looks away with a half-shrug, the smile on her face small but bright. ]

Don't be silly. It had a lot to do with you being such a nice person to be around.

[digiorno]

[That smile is slightly different. He makes note of it, if only so he can remember. He likes this version of her, the one that smiles a little awkwardly and can't quite let go of the argument of who is actually the nice one.]

[For the record, it's probably neither of them.]

I'm glad you think so. Most people found me pretty strange, before. [Me, not Haruno. He slips a little.] So maybe I'm the lucky one. It wouldn't be the first time I've had that label put on me.

[isawallflower]

You're kinda strange, [ Riley agrees without missing a beat. ] But, I like it. It's a good strange.