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The ratio of empty cans of beer set against the number of meals leftover on the table was a steep, steady increase towards the former. 

Aside from my first can, I did not contribute a single iota to that number there. Irene was the designated disapprover of the bunch and as such remained ever as clean and sober. 

So that only left Ria as the sole cause, the sole polluter - leaving them all over the place - under couches, rolling across the table, stacked on empty plates, even got an entire tower stacked at one point before they wound up as I had described. 

All that careless tossing and haphazardness and yet somehow not a single one found its way into the bin, and with the entire living room gradually becoming a landmine of aluminum… it almost seemed intentional at that point. 

I didn\'t mind the mess as much though, and no that\'s not because it wasn\'t my floors that\'ll be needing some mopping later in the morning. It\'s cause I know every time I hear that fizz and crack of escaping gas, it was time again to buckle in for another one of Aunty Riri\'s stories. 

Think I must have discovered more about Irene in this one night than I ever had all throughout our time together. If anything, it was like I was learning about a whole entirely different person. This little sweet child from so, so long ago that went by the name of Ruria. 

Now Ruria was a rather clever kid. She knew the name and types of every kind of flora and all she needed was but a single glance to tell. Ball bouncing was a standard practice for novice magic users. Most required a week in order to successfully vanish their ball, and for the real gifted folks - maybe three days. And Ruria, barely even half their ages, and with her nature of magic for an entirely different use. still managed to do it in two. Two weeks, that is.

Even If I didn\'t have Ria here gushing and hyping it up, I knew that was quite an impressive feat.

"Well, that\'s what happens when you got a freaking nerd as a father figure," Ria remarked, side-eyeing Irene with a bit of tongue in cheek. "Got you doing all kinds of nerdy stuff, right? I don\'t think there was ever a day I saw you without a book in your arms." 

Yet every once in a while, however, when the days were dull and the poor little child\'s studies proved too taxing to handle, Ruria would pull and tug at her Aunty\'s fiery hems, begging and whining for a short, little joyride between the clouds. 

"She got really addicted to flying, let me tell you. If I chose not to let her hop on between my wings and start soaring all over the place, then done - that\'s her whole week ruined and I get the stink eye in return. As you can tell, she can get very, very set on wanting what she wants. I think I remember even overhearing her asking daddy dearest one time if there was a spell to make her fly. Ahh - tenacious. My Ruria in a nutshell." 

Tenacious indeed. I experienced firsthand just how set she can get on achieving desires… at times, it can even be quite fatal. 

I\'d know.

"Oh, and yeah - \'bout the hobby you asked," Ria said, blinking the alcohol out from her eyes. "Don\'t know if it counts, but Irene here used to love playing this game one time. Don\'t know if she still does though." 

"Game?" I asked, and noticed Irene just staring blankly ahead, completely gone from the conversation at hand. "What - hide and seek?"

"No, that\'s Ruria. I\'m talking about Irene now, alright?" Ria took another sip, straining her gaze struggling to recall. "Don\'t remember what it\'s called. But when I was still just a necklace hanging on her - if it wasn\'t spooky videos, then she was always on her laptop playing this silly video game - you were like part of a crew on a ship, each of you got a set of objectives to complete… but the catch was there were a couple of traitors among you too, you know that one?"

Oh. Yeah. I definitely know that one.

"Anyway, Irene loved playing as one of the traitors - big evil smile on her face every time it was her time to shine. Devious little minx, you know? Never lost a single round, and no one was ever the wiser. Every time someone was even the least bit suspicious of her, she\'d hop on the mic, put on a sweet and innocent voice and from then on no one doubted her twice. She had free rein to do whatever the hell she wanted. Played them all like a damn fiddle, and they loved her for it." 

"No way," I said, incredulous, yet still feel my lips smirking wide anyway. I glanced at Irene only to find her rifling around with the bones on her plate, blatantly, purposefully oblivious. "She\'d really do that?" 

"Oh, you better believe it," Ria nodded back. "In real life - nope, never - flat out refused to use her irresistible charm to get two bucks off a meal or whatever. But in-game, in a competitive environment - all bets are off. She\'ll use every trick in the book. Like, if winning\'s a drug, then I heavily advise you get this girl into rehab as soon as possible." 

At any given moment, Irene could have chimed in to her own defense, said a single word to the contrary, and between the funny \'haha\' phoenix who half the time was fooling around anyway, and the honest-to-goodness detective, it wouldn\'t have taken any effort at all to sway me toward the latter\'s side. 

But no, apparently it was all true. 

And here I was thinking our paintball match was just a fluke. 

Irene was a sweaty, flirty tryhard in every sense of the word.

"I suppose it can\'t really be helped though, can it?" Ria said, reaching to give Irene a comforting pat on the shoulder. "The seducing, the deceiving - it\'s what you\'re made for, it\'s your nature, can\'t help yourself even if you try to. But the bright side?" she turned her head, giving me a quick appraising nod. "At least now you got a better, healthier outlet for you to throw all your allure upon," she winked at her. "Good for you, girl." 

Ria then discarded another empty can into the direction of \'fucking whatever\', and as it thunk and dribble somewhere beyond sight, Irene took that as a cue to start clearing up the empty dishes and dumping them into the sink … which I highly suspected was just an excuse for her to squirm free temporarily. 

To the sound of running water, and clattering ceramic, Ria had quieted down for a moment… blearily picking through the remaining leftovers to fill her plate, and after a while, settled for some fries, a slice of chicken, and a surviving piece of Irene\'s lamb dish. 

"Of course, not everything is sunshine and rainbows, is it?" Ria said, munching on a fry with slightly less than her usual smile. "I mean, I\'m sure even you should know about it, right? Poor, little Ruria\'s backstory." 

Suddenly things felt much stiffer without a single thing changing. Might be just me, maybe.

"Somewhat," I answered, hoping it\'ll suffice and we\'ll leave things there.

Obviously, it didn\'t.

"Somewhat?" Ria cocked her head. "Like what? What do you know exactly?" 

Truth be told, much more than I\'m supposed to know, and far less than I actually wish. After all, one of the few times I went deep-diving through Ria\'s memories, Irene was the focal point. Their relationship, history, how it came to be, and all the many ups and just as plentiful downs with it. 

Irene was still scrubbing away in the distance, plate after plate. I couldn\'t tell if she was still listening in.

The last time I came anywhere this close talking about these memories, Irene didn\'t exactly appreciate my sudden extensive knowledge of her… which I totally get, breach of privacy and all. So I wasn\'t about to overstep my boundaries again. 

"Bits and pieces," I muttered again. "Y\'know, from trying to wake you up." 

"Ah, okay, I get it… not your place," Ria was staring closely at me, smiling again, catching the expression on my face. Then she turned over at Irene and called out to her. "You know, your boyfriend\'s awfully considerate of you."

From the kitchen, the splashing and sloshing of the sink continued to trickle as the only sound. 

"Hear that, didn\'t you? Bits and pieces?" Ria blared again. "You\'re fine leaving him in the dark with just that? Never the full story? Or what - maybe you don\'t even know it yourself. Is that it?" 

"He knows the full story." Irene finally spoke up, sounding as weary as she looked. "He\'s been informed." 

"Ooh, informed. What\'s this - a debriefing?" she chuckled. "Alright, detective, just what is he briefed about exactly?" 

"That I was orphaned as a baby - " Irene lifted a soapy plate to the running tap. "That my entire tribe was slain by a cavalry of the Church - " she began scrubbing it intensely. "That I was found by a kindly Magus - " she lifted the plate again, inspecting. "He named me Ruria and raised me," she then dropped the plate, letting it rattle lightly atop a clean pile. "End of story." 

Quite right, I thought. A little shorter, but it was as exactly as she told me all that time ago stuck for days within that abandoned building.

But from what I know, what I\'ve seen, that wasn\'t really the full story.

And Ria thought so too.

"End of story, you say," she said, grinning ambiguously. "But rewind back a bit, that Magus of yours - he wasn\'t very kindly at all, was he?" 

Irene whirled back around and the moment she did, I knew that unease felt now extended beyond my imagination. 

"Don\'t start," she said, sounding her normal, and looking her normal. "Just drop it."

Yet it was clear as day that nothing after her silence was normal.

"Ruria Salnor," Ria spoke on, deliberately ignoring the signs. "Also quite the prestigious last name you hold for yourself there, huh? You\'re smart. I assume you know the legacy left behind by that name, right?"

"I don\'t want to talk about this." 

"Just leave it alone, Ria," I tacked on, trying to help steer her away.

Sadly to no avail.

"And why not?" she asked.

Irene thinned her lips, growing increasingly vexed.

"Because it doesn\'t matter." 

"If it doesn\'t matter, then you wouldn\'t mind talking about it."

"Ria, I said - !" 

"No, but seriously!" Ria interrupted, her voice towering over hers in defiance. "I gotta know now! You seriously have nothing else to say about the same man who killed your parents?"