ewww "thread" should be "threat" adfsdfg icky typo
"Mm... I just..." Rinoa bit her lip, trying to assemble the words in her head before she said them out loud. "I don't want to ruin it for another woman, y'know? But that's definitely something I'll talk to her about in the future."
She wiped her hands against her drinking glass, cleaning off some of the condensation before brushing her hands across her cheeks. She was tearing up, but she was trying to hide it with the water from her hands passing by her eyes, slyly wiping her eyes. "I mean, we never know, you and I might try again — third time is supposed to be the charm, right? — but I don't want to set either of us up for failure, or set Pearl up for disappointment."
When he left without saying anything, she had shut that door of reconciliation shut for the longest time. Slammed it closed, locked it and bolted it. But, as time went on, the locks were undone, the bolts moved back, and, just shortly before he arrived back in Poseidon, the door was opened a bit.
It was a small opening, small and slim. But the fact remained — she let him know and now it was a just a matter of whether or not anything would happen with that, now or later.
If ever.
And Pearl — oh, if they did get back together and it didn't work out, Rinoa didn't want the girl to fall into any state of depression. It manifested itself the first time Phoenix asked for a break, and Rinoa had to pull herself out of that state just to give that extra bit of support to Pearl. The second time around, it didn't show itself very much, but the girl was getting older, she realized, and thus possibly finding other ways to be sad. She didn't want Pearl to think that what was going on between Phoenix and her was the norm, the standard for people who dated on and off. She didn't want Pearl to fall into that type of spiral when she began dating — but that was far off down the road. Now it was time to worry about how to give her "The Talk" and explain why Aunt Flow visited now...