10.Celestia

He stuck around for about half an hour, chatting with 'Thena about this and that. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy; she had kind of forgotten that men like him existed. As he left 'Thena begged him to promise he'd come back next week; he said he'd try. He tried to pay his tab but she insisted it was on her. "I told you I owe 'ya one; it's the least I can do" Celestia winked.

He pouted with puppy dog eyes; 'Thena jumped in "I promise she won't pull this crazy-ness if you come back next week" she laughed.

"Oh geeze Louise sis, you're persistent" she giggled "You'll scare the poor man away with your nagging" she ruffled her sister's hair; 'Thena looked annoyed.

He laughed "Well consider it a date then" he winked as he walked out the door. Celestia laughed and went back to work; only an hour 'til freedom. A few customers came and went; typical Saturday night. Then of course there was the obligatory clean up time; they were on the way home by 10:20. They walked about three quarters of the way with Skylar, Aurora and Steve before they parted ways.

"So sis when are you gonna tell me why you've been in such a good mood lately?" she enquired when they were finally alone. 'Thena caught her off guard when she whipped around.

"What did you think of Reno?"

Celestia had to think for a minute. "Who's that?"

"Red." 'Thena giggled

She sighed "What about him?" she knew where this was going. She didn't blame 'Thena for trying to get her to leave Trent but she wasn't about to put her sister at risk.

"He's really funny and cute and nice right?"

"Sis you know that doesn't matter…" she trailed off; 'Thena stopped.

"Yes it does sis! You're miserable! You deserve to be happy!" she was shaking with passion. Celestia stopped at a bench and grabbed her hands.

"Hey, relax hun" she had been putting off this conversation for awhile; but what she was about to propose was for the best. "I have something to ask you" she bit her lip as she spoke. "Aurora's room mate is moving out in two weeks; how would you feel about moving in with her? I already talked to her and Tony; he'd be willing to give me some extra hours…"

'Thena's face lit up. "Oh sis! That'd be perfect! Then we wouldn't have to worry about Trent anymore! I mean it'll be a little cramped but who cares!" She laughed; Celestia didn't.

"We wouldn't both be moving in sis…" she looked at the ground as she spoke. "The place we're in now is in my name; I can't walk out on the lease and if I leave Trent there he'd trash the place…" she felt so weak and powerless. "But you'll be safe; that's all that matters" she faked a smile.

"Sis! I don't want to leave you there alone!" 'Thena started to cry.

"Please…" she started "it would mean a lot to me to know you're safe. My lease is up at the end of June; as soon as I can pay it out I'll find a place. I promise" she hugged her sister who was still trembling. "I really want you to do this" she whispered.

"Alright…" 'Thena responded quietly "Only if you promise to keep your promise…"

Celestia smiled "It's a deal kiddo" she got up as they continued walking.

"Sooo…" 'Thena ventured after a moment. "You never answered my question… about Red" she added with a sky grin.

"Oh yeesh sis, you haven't mentioned any of this to him have you?" she glared.

"No… not yet"

"Well…" Celestia pondered for a moment. "IF I wasn't in my current situation and IF I was living in…"

"YES! I knew you'd like him!" 'Thena beamed.

"You didn't let me finish" Celestia smirked "IF I was living in an alternate universe where the mole people ruled us all with an iron fist and the enemies of said mole people were banished to the salt mines for an eternity of back breaking labor…"

"Oh geeze sis must you be so difficult…" 'Thena rolled her eyes.

"And the chief export of our society of the mole underlings; or SOMU as other neighboring societies would call us, was peanut butter pie made by highly skilled babies who were educated at the great baby learning center, Peanut Butter University for Babies; or PBUB…"

"I'm not listening, I'm not listening…"

"He does have one hell of an ass though…" Celestia winked.

"SIS!" 'Thena laughed back

"Look, I'm just sayin; you bounce a quarter gil off that thing you'd get a half back."

"You're a class act sis" 'Thena joked as they continued down the street.

11.Reno

He got to Rude's place late; he lost track of time at the diner, which didn't really happen too often. He let himself in like he always did. "You're late partner" Rude joked from the table, not looking up from his hand.

"What can I say your mother won't take no for an answer" he laughed, Rude flipped him off. "Anyone need anything from the fridge?" he asked as he made his way across the room.

"Yea, grab me a beer" J.B. said vaguely as he studied everyone else's face. J.B. lived one story down in Rude's building; he was kinda short, black hair, light complexion. The other guys teased him a lot, he was kinda the new kid.

"Keep 'em coming partner" Rude said as he anted.

"Scotch on the rocks" Tseng added.

Reno grabbed the beers and a glass; after looking around for a minute he shouted back "YO, TSENG I don't think there's any scotch in here…"

"It's there, I put it behind that goofy ass bamboo… thing" he smirked.

Reno popped his head back in "The goofy ass bamboo plant thing? I didn't see anything behind it"

"Naw, the goofy ass bamboo napkin holder thing" Tseng laughed.

"It's a center piece smart ass…" Rude glared from behind his glasses.

Reno came back in laughing "didn't realize you were so sensitive baby-doll" he paused before putting his drink down "do I need to use a coaster?"

"Whatever Red…" Rude smirked. Reno felt slightly embarrassed, even though he didn't really have a reason to be; it was just a nick name right?

"Red?" J.B. chuckled, glad for the ammo; Tseng shook his head while sniggering.

"Alright, I'll bite. Where'd you pick that up?"

"That girl from the el" he handed the deck over "fag, your deal."

"A-ha" he said as he started to shuffle.

"So what's the story there; you hittin' it with her sister or something?" Tseng ventured with an evil smile.

"Yea, ok, she's living with some guy…" he started to deal.

"Like that's stopped you before…" J.B. started with a sneer.

"So you're not getting any yet?" Rude laughed "So answer me this; on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being beaten with an ugly stick, 5 being 'butter face' and 10 being 'she makes me wanna cream' where does she rank?"

"Gee, Rude what a lovely sentiment. What finishing school did you attend again?" he looked at his cards. He dealt himself a bad hand. Shit.

"Hmm, I'd say that means about a two…" Tseng laughed as he anted.

Reno laughed and rolled his eyes "What are we; girlfriends? If I have to sit here all night and talk about Tseng's feelings I'm gonna leave" he anted and set up his poker face.

"Hey there's no shame in an ugly chick every now and then…" J.B. was enjoying this too much.

"You guys all fuckin' suck" he grumbled with a smile as he tried to gauge everyone else's hand; looks like he'd be loosing this round.

Author's note: Welcome back Kiddies! I really like these two chapters; I like the reactions that Reno and Celestia have to one another. As always lemme know what you think!

KFConti