"Fuck, man. I totally blew that one."
"Yeah, you did," Rude agreed. "Just go ask her now."
"What? 'Oh, I forgot to ask you, you wanna go to the banquet with me?'"
"Reno, you were so drunk, you're lucky you remember anything."
Reno started to walk into her office when he found his way blocked by a second class SOLDIER.
"You," the SOLDIER cried, pointing at Triss, "don't have a date to the ball-thingie!"
"Neither do you, Zacky!"
Reno leaned against the wall outside her door.
"Ya want one?" 'Zacky' asked her.
The redhead growled softly. Shit. Why the fuck is Rude always right?
"You're not gonna take nameless secretary number twelve?" Triss laughed across the room.
"Not if you need someone to go with. I'm not just gonna leave you out in the cold!" the man chuckled and leaned against her doorway. "I was surprised to hear you didn't have a date, though. I thought that Turk would've asked you."
"Yeah, I thought he was going to, but then he asked me if we had anymore beer," she laughed softly. "So, I guess I misread him."
"Well, I'll be more than happy to escort my Trissy to the ball instead of nameless secretary number twelve," the SOLDIER winked at her.
"I have a feeling, you'd rather go with the secretary. We do better with pizza, video games, and bad movies than we do wining, dining, and ballroom dancing," she laughed.
"So you gonna go date-less, then?"
"Yeah, I guess so," she murmured.
Reno had enough.
"No, man. She's got a date," the Turk said.
"She does?" 'Zacky' asked and turned around to see who had spoken.
"I do?" Triss asked from within her office.
"Yeah, she does," the redhead said and walked into the room.
Triss grinned from ear to ear and said, "Zack, that's your cue."
"What? My cue?"
"Yeah, to skeedaddle," she smiled at him past Reno.
"Fine!" he sighed dramatically from the doorway. "I know when I'm not wanted."
Triss laughed, not taking her eyes off Reno's. "Get outta here, Fair!"