Work Text:
Advice
Dina wouldn't say she's the best big sister, but when Lucky's girlfriend shows up at Dina's door, sobbing, Dina shoves her roommate out the window for privacy. Minceling hesitates a step in the door, but Dina rolls her eyes, shoves the scripts on the floor, and pushes Minceling onto her bed. “Sorry, we were studying old Human plays. Some guy named Shakespeare. It's the sort of thing that'll get me an audition on Gulf Stream.”
Mince stares at her. She's stopped crying. Thank Cthulhu for that. Dina hasn't cried since she was an inkblot, not where anyone could see her, and learning to cry on command was a beach of a time, but now she can't take anyone seriously when they're crying. Plus, Minceling isn't the sort to cry pretty, and she's still got the whole shaky-shoulders thing going on.
Dina opens the mini fridge and pulls out two bottles of grape-orange juice, tossing one to Minceling, who grabs it with a tentacle. Dina pops the lid on hers. “All right, what stupid thing did my sister do?”
Minceling turns the unopened bottle in her hand, inspecting the reddish liquid inside. “It... I don't think it was her being stupid. I think it was me.” She hiccups. “I think we're gonna break up, and I don't want to, but...”
Well, squit. Dina plops next to Minceling on the bed and throws an arm over her shoulders. “But?”
“She's so clean,” Minceling says. “I just, I said we should move in together, sure we've had some fights before, but every day just...” She takes a deep breath in, slowly, and lets it out; her nearest tentacles curl around Dina's waist and shoulders.
“Yeah, that sounds like Tulia.”
“Lia. Or Lucky.”
“Not when she's acting like this, all proper like our parents taught her, without thinking about how other people feel.” Dina takes a long swallow of her juice, emptying half the bottle.
“I don't even know, but she left and didn't come back yesterday and I think she's moving out she won't return any of my calls.”
“Lemme guess. You cleaned, but it wasn't enough?”
Minceling opens her own bottle of juice at last. “That wasn't it. I... kick my shoes in the direction of the closet, and she puts them away. She makes supper and the dishes are all washed and everything spotless before I even have a chance. No one at home ever minded if my jacket was slung over the back of the sofa but she's picking it up and putting it away and... it's like... it's like being back in the domes.”
Dina sucks in a breath. Sure, she'd had her suspicions Minceling was one of those underground refugees but no one ever said .
No, don't comment on that, it's rude. “It sounds like she's stressed and nervous over such a big step, and she always cleaned tons before because our parents would be less nasty to her if everything was clean. You two need a break from each other, spend some time apart, take a deep breath. Doesn't have to be forever, just until you're both calm and can talk about what went wrong.
“But what if it doesn't work?”
“Then you move on.” Dina shrugs. “People change. Relationships change. Life changes. But that just keeps it interesting, and it'll get less hard later.”
Minceling looks unconvinced. “So what should I do? ”
“You're smart, right? I was gonna ask, have you applied for that Splatlands Exchange Program? They're looking for people who wanna study the wind and temperature patterns in the desert.”
A gleam enters Minceling's eye. “I don't know... I don't think I'd get it.”
“Can't know until you try, right?”
Mince laughs and finally tries her drink. Her eyes widen, she looks at it, then takes another sip. Her tentacles go straight.
Dina's door slams open, and her roommate stomps in. “For the love of fuck , Todarodes, you don't just kick me out because you wanna talk to some less-tentacled freak!”
Dina rolls her eyes and gets to her feet. “All right, I'm sorry,” she says, putting a hand on her roommate's shoulder. “Why don't I get you a drink to make up for it?”
As soon as she's close enough, Dina shoves her out the window again, then turns to Minceling. “Anyway, want some help on the application?”