handleyourshit | Duplicity Inbox

This is Rosita. I'll hit you back when I can.

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"I doubt they even have that option here - and for the record? I wouldn't do that if I was fishing for a soldier." That type of apparel has one target and one target only.

"I'm damn near a professional."

That's a relief. "So Western chic, then. Tight, with fringe. I think he'll like it."

"And pigtails," she adds. "And a hat."

If she's going to go all in, might as well go all the way in. "I've always liked pigtails. Haters can suck it."

"Well they look good on you. I can't pull them off," he teases.

"I can only take one date at a time when I'm emotionally fragile," she deadpans, "But have you ever ridden a mechanical bull?"

Edited Date: 2023-04-23 11:25 pm (UTC)

"Surprisingly they weren't very popular in my old haunts," he shakes his head. Shame. "Are you going to try to get him to ride one?"

"They're a lot more fun than they sound." A beat.

"At least as long as they're not Duplicity-fied with a dildo or something."

That's an image he can't shake now. "Are you sure this one hasn't been...?"

"It would be pretty obvious if it had. I think."

Great, now she has to check first.

"People don't talk about things like that. Surprisingly." It just becomes mainstream. "I'm still amazed K found anything for us to do that wasn't all about aphrodisiacs and condoms."

"Don't get me wrong. In the right context, I think a mechanical bull with dildo attachment could be fun." She's not a complete or even half a prude, after all.

"But like. You have to choose to do that shit." She glances sidelong at him. "You mean the Valentine's Day date? Or something else?"

"Yeah. We...we haven't been on one since then." A soft frown, because he doesn't know how to ask, doesn't know how much to read into it. Maybe exactly as much as he's reading into it.

She tips her head, following the path of that frown.

"Why not?"

"Because shortly after that I broke his trust." He looks at her, then away, at the fire. "And I've never tried to rebuild something after I broke it so I don't know how long it'll be before he wants to go on another one."

"And it's been a hell of a month," she also points out.

Not exactly the best timing for one, the other, or both.

"You should ask."

A long sigh. "What if he only says yes because he feels obligated?" He's being stupid. He knows he is and he waves off the idea. "I'll ask. I just need to heal a little more first."

"Jesus."

She tips her head to catch his attention.

A sigh. He looks up. Looks at her.

"What's worse?" she asks. "The possibility that things have changed enough to hurt, or losing the chance to repair them?"

"I never thought of myself as someone who runs when it's hard. Not since the world changed," he says quietly. "I've decided to be someone who tries. Someone who doesn't run. But...it's hard."

"It's a different kind of hard," she agrees, and wiggles her toes again, but not half so obnoxiously as she did earlier.

"What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"He dumps me." The answer is readily available. He's on high alert for it now, more than he ever was before. "And this time it wouldn't be because of anything I can't control. It'd just be me. My fault."

"Has he said anything to make you think that's where his head is at?" she asks. Maybe his not-robot boyfriend can read people, but Jesus isn't so shabby at that himself.