I Will Follow You Into the Dark

"Excellent," Jean-Paul said, and, taking this as permission, ducked into her room to retrieve his box. A moment later he was back, box in hands. He balanced it on the back of the couch and asked her, "Are you settling in well, then?"

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Rikku looked between the two of them nervously. "Uh, hiya?" she offered. "I'm, uh, a friend of Lulu's." Apparently, so was he? Wow. The stuff she missed.

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Lulu laughed. "Rikku, meet Jean-Paul Beaubier; he and I are sharing the apartment."

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"Bonjour," Jean-Paul said to Rikku. Oh, look, a teenager. That had been quick.

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Rikku looked between the two of them. "Okay, yeah. Uh. Hi there. It's nice to meet you. Any, uh, any friend of Lulu's ..."

How had Lulu left out 'plus there's this guy'?!

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Lulu was a little amused. "Jean-Paul, Rikku is a friend of mine from back home; Rikku, Jean-Paul was kind enough to share the apartment with me so as to save on... rent?" She hesitated a moment, checking her memory to make certain she had the right term. "Yes. Rent. He's also teaching at the school this term."

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Jean-Paul connected the dots very quickly. "Is this is the girl involved with someone from Toronto, then?" he asked Lulu. Then he remembered that 'manners' thing. "Pleased to met you, Rikku."

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"Oh!" Rikku blushed quickly. "I'm sorry, I thought, uh. I mean. I didn't think that ... never mind. It's nice to meet you, too, are you new here? I don't think I've met you. And, uh, yeah, I just got back from Toronto. A visit, I mean, like, a trip, so I could meet his family and stuff? Jude's. His name's Jude. Hi."

Why could she never shut up!?

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Because if she did, she would no longer be Rikku, and that would be a terrible loss to the world.

"It's all right, Rikku," Lulu said, chuckling softly. "I should have informed you that I had a companion in the apartment."

She gestured at the teapot. "Would you like some tea, Jean-Paul?"

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Jean-Paul told Rikku, "Yes, I'm new here. We haven't met. And I'm so sorry you had to go to Toronto."

Jean-Paul eyed the teapot warily. "Is it caffeinated? Caffeine and I don't mix anymore, I'm afraid."

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"Caffeine?" Lulu asked. "It's made with some leaves from my home; I find it quite soothing."

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"It's a drug," Jean-Paul explained. "A stimulant. It's found in coffee and some teas and soft drinks. There are trace amounts in other foods, like chocolate. It's perfectly fine for most people, unless you take a ridiculous amount of it. My heart beats very fast already, though, so it could, well, kill me. The small amounts in chocolate can make me very hyper, although possibly that's the sugar. But if you find the tea soothing it should be fine."

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"Oh!" Lulu exclaimed, nodding. "No, certainly, it's not a stimulant. I do have teas with that property, but this is not one of them. Would you like a cup, then?"

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"Yes, please," Jean-Paul said. "A cup of tea would be very nice."

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"I'm not supposed to have caffeine, either," Rikku put in - having sat silently and politely to let them talk for a couple of minutes, which was about her maximum before she needed to run her mouth again - "but that's 'cause I get superhyper and it scares people. Wait, why are you sorry I was in Toronto? It's a pretty neat place. We took over the mall."

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"Toronto is not--" Jean-Paul stopped himself from saying something mean about a teenager's vacation. "I'm sure the mall was much improved by your coup," he said instead.

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Rikku blinked, but decided not to ask. "It was. We stole Ron's keys and kinda ended up on the Jumbotron with Jude by accident and that was way embarassing but I set Fluffypants loose to blow some things up. And I think Jude's parents think I'm weird but I'm really used to that by now. And his friends are cool. Have you been to Toronto, too?"

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Lulu 'stepped in' smoothly to the conversation. "Jean-Paul is also from Canada, Rikku, although he was born in a different part of the country; I imagine that he's been to Toronto, yes."

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Jean-Paul told them both, "Actually, I have spent a great deal of time in Toronto. But I'm afraid it's not my favorite city."

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"Oooh, okay," Rikku nodded. "Don't tell Jude that, he'll be sad. It seemed like a nice city to me, but I'm not really from here or anything. And Deadpool's from Canada, too, but I don't know where. OH. And he warned me that you shouldn't work for the Canadian military Weapon X something or other, even if they offer you lots of money. So be careful, if they talk to you, okay?"

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Jean-Paul visibly twitched as his features settled into a scowl. "No. Definitely never work for Weapon X. I knew that already. Although," he added, "they don't exactly give everyone a choice."

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"No?" Lulu asked. "I think I may ask you to tell me more of this later, if you're willing." Not that she was trying to cut off the line of conversation at all.

"So, Rikku," she continued, "tell me of the other classes you're taking."

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"I, uh." Rikku blushed, then nodded. "I'm taking something about Tactics, with Kerrigan, who I don't know, and Interdisciplinary something-or-other with Squall, who I met once and probably thinks I'm crazy. He, uh, he had Hi-Potions, so I thought maybe he was from Spira? But I guess they just have Hi-Potions where he's from, too. It's some place I've never heard of." She shrugged. "I wanted to take Deadpool's class on Feminism, too, but I ran out of room."

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Jean-Paul looked alarmed by that. "You wanted to take Deadpool's class? Why, in the name of God?"

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"He's my mentor!" Rikku chirped happily. "He calls me his Li'l Minion. He's really protective of me and we do sparring and he's awesome. Do you know him?!"

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