raspberryturk | Room 429, Thursday Evening

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Room 429, Thursday Evening

Tseng glanced again at the letter he'd received, a few days prior. It had been weighing heavily on his mind. The situation with Reno had perhaps been worse than he had realized. Astonishing, as he had imagined it to be fairly difficult.

No use starting that again tonight. In exchange for a translation of Reno's innermost thoughts, the girl had demanded payment. An assignment for Reno. There had been little work for any of them, of late, and certainly too small to justify calling Reno in from his position at school. But there was a folder now on his desk that seemed promising, and Reno's particular talents could be of use. Besides, Tseng always paid his debts.

Perhaps he also had a perverse sense of humor. He lifted his phone and dialed one of the numbers committed to his memory.

Reno was Reno. Which meant, of course, that Reno was bored. And a bored Reno was never a good thing, as Mako was learning. Or, to be more accurate, as Mako was failing to learn. Bored Reno, after all, had the laser pointer out, and was using it to make the poor ferret run in circles. Or trip in circles. Or trip in rather oblong shapes which were intended to be circles.

Mako had never been very coordinated.

When Reno's cell rang, in a snap-and-tap sort of beat that could only mean another Turk was phoning him, the pointer dot jerked to the side while Reno dug for his phone and Mako went gracefully careening into the wall.

"Yo!" It was possible Reno sounded entirely too excited to be getting a phone call from Gaia at all.

"Reno," Tseng said pleasantly. There was something comfortably familiar about this, wasn't there? To be perfectly sentimental about it, perhaps Tseng missed his errant Turk. Life was far too quiet, in his absence. "How is your schedule?"

"What, at school?" Reno reached to scoop up the ferret, who had settled up against the wall in an effort to attempt to gnaw the dot off of it. It wasn't working. "Class Fridays and Mondays, I work Sundays, but the bosses are nuts, please tell me you're callin' with a job, damn you."

No. He wasn't desperate. Much.

Tseng allowed the silence to fill for a moment. Reno might be able to hear his smirk, over the telephone lines. "I am calling with a job."

"WOO!" And no, Reno hadn't bothered to pull the phone away from his mouth when he did that. Was he supposed to? "What kinda job? When? Where? What do I need to bring along? Pay's good? Asses to kick? Booze to drink? More asses to kick?"

Reno needed details, here.

"Some valuable merchandise had gone missing," Tseng said, opening the folder again. "The thief or thieves you may deal with as you wish. The client is not concerned with revenge. The primary objective is to retrieve what has been stolen. The items may no longer be in the thieves' possession. It is imperative that the merchandise be returned in pristine condition. Undamaged. Unmarked."

Tseng was, of course, omitting some of the details for the sake of time. Such as the name of his client. The Gold Saucer.

"And you're askin' me to get somethin' back in one piece." A pause. Reno wasn't really the most gentle of the Turks, by any means. "I always liked a challenge, zoto. I'll bring some bubble-wrap or somethin'."

If there was one thing that Reno had learned from Fandom, it was that if you didn't want something busted, bubble-wrap it.

"Bubble-wrap will not be required," Tseng assured his underling. "None of the merchandise is quite so delicate as that. Other skills of yours recommended you for this mission."

Such as the ability to run at high speeds for very long distances, and to withstand a beating. Some of the merchandise might fight back.

Sometimes, Tseng thought that he was very funny.

Reno quirked an eyebrow at that while Mako attempted to gnaw his thumb through at the knuckle.

"Other skills? Uh. If you say so?" He considered that for a moment. "I'll be doin' some runnin', will I?"

It wasn't that Reno didn't do other things besides running, but that really was the one thing he did better than anyone else that had ever joined the Turks. Moving like a guy always stuck on 'Haste' was sort of a notable skill, after all.

"I believe it's possible you might," Tseng said. Which, as Reno should well know, meant that he was in for a work-out. "I had hoped that you would be able to begin sooner than Tuesday, however."

The manager at the Gold Saucer was becoming impatient. No one could bet on chocobo races if all the prize chocobos were gone.

Pffft. The first job Tseng had called Reno with in months, and Tseng thought he was going to put it off for a few days?

"I can get a portal out there by tomorrow afternoon, yoto. Keep supper warm for me, would ya, sweetheart?"

Yes, Reno thought that he was funny, too.

"I believe that's Rude's department," Tseng said lightly before hanging up his phone.

He was impressed with himself. Not a single laugh. Not even considering that he was sending Reno down to hunt missing chocobos across the countryside. On foot.

The manager of the Gold Saucer had warned him that the chocobos enjoyed playing with any who came in direct contact with them. And that "playing" usually took the form of kicks to the face.

Reno was going to have an interesting weekend.

When Reno hung up his own phone, his first course of action was to let out a triumphant "WHOOP!"

And his second course of action, naturally, was to put down the ferret and start making the checklist. Gil, materia, potions, his EMR, booze. The essentials.

This was going to be an awesome weekend.

[Open! Tseng was provided by the ever-awesome

the_merriest! Last post I'll be making in Alberta, yay! Rikku's thread is last chronologically, because I said so.]

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Reno eyed her a moment, and then sighed and went to go put Mako back into his cage.

"Tseng didn't want me datin' Rikku, back when he found out about her. I even tell you about that?"

"Don't think so," she said, watching him put the rodent away. "Why did he change his mind?"

"Rikku helped save the world."

Which, really, was kind of helpful, right?

"I mean, Juliano ain't Tseng, even if they both got the same stick shoved up their assholes," Reno mused, shutting the cage and straightening up again. "And Romeo and Rikku... you know. Ain't really the same person. I'm just sayin'... Shit. I dunno what I'm sayin'. Things are kinda different for me, now. Workin' freelance, I ain't really a Turk by the strictest sense of the word no more. And I think Tseng still kinda hates Rikku's guts."

He really wasn't helping at all, was he?

"Romeo's good with a gun," he noted.

"I do trust him to handle himself, and I'm not handing my boyfriend over to Juliano," she sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "Putting him anywhere near SOLOMON scares me, because I do trust the Father. I trust him to do whatever needs doing to keep the mission on track, even using a human like Romeo to do it, if he needs to."

"He doesn't dislike Romeo. I think he's actually rather fond of all of you, in his own way. That's part of the reason I'm so scared to have him there."

There. She'd admitted it. Maybe now the world could start to make sense again.

Reno eyed Dojima for a moment longer. And then he went to sit down on the edge of his bed again with a sigh.

"... I kept you three secret from Tseng as long as possible," he confessed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Didn't know about your hobbies outside of school at the time, but that didn't mean I figured you were helpless, neither."

He shrugged.

"You know, someone, somewhere, once said to keep friends close and enemies closer, yo. I always figured they were full of bullshit. Figured you gotta do it the other way around instead. Pull away from all of 'em, that'll solve that." A pause. "And then I tried it. An' I got in shit with the boss. And I tried it again, and you three found me anyhow off in Edge. It don't work, Doji."

"You were all in my reports, I just lied and twisted things around to keep the truth out," Yurika shared, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Which I got a Very Stern Lecture for once Juliano caught on, let me tell you."

"And damn right we found you in Edge." She smiled slightly at him. "Like I wasn't going to pay attention when you were describing the good bars. I have a very good memory."

"Ah, so that was just a bar crawl gone bad?" He offered her a tired grin, and then flopped backward on his bed to stare up at the ceiling. "I knew we should'a spent that night at the Seventh Heaven after all, yo."

...

"Know what I think?"

"No, that was checking to make sure you hadn't fallen asleep at the bar and forgotten to call home," she teased. "You still owe me a tour of the finer drinking establishments of Gaia."

"You mean besides the fact I'm being a stubborn bitch?"

"Gaia bar-crawl. I can totally arrange that, zoto. Just before grad, howsabout? That way, we can drag our sorry asses to the ceremony while feelin' the effects of drinkin' cheap Corelian ale."

Booze from Corel. Tasted like ass, but it got the job done.

"And besides that, yo." He looked her way, quirking an eyebrow. "I think if you don't want Romeo to kick the bucket a week after we graduate, you better start teachin' him Wutai or whatever so that he stands a fightin' chance. Yeah, I know it's like givin' him permission. But he's gonna follow you either way, and it's gonna suck for both of you, and he seems like he already accepted that, yoto."

"One of these days, I am going to teach you how to appreciate good booze, yo," she sighed, shaking her head.

"He's already learning it, I think he started back when we first started dating," Yurika said, a small smile on her lips. "Although he's going to use the wrong gender pronoun on someone accidentally, and then I'm going to have to go pick him up from whatever drunk-tank he lands in for getting in a street fight."

Reno had to sit up. Sit up and grin.

"Promise me you'll send pictures?"

... What? He was allowed. Blackmail opportunities when it came to Romeo seemed to be few and far between, the lucky bastard.

"There will be no pictures to send. I'm not just going to let him tromp all over me," she sulked, falling back on her stubbornness. "How would you feel, if Tseng barged in here today, and tried to dictate your life? Or if Rikku did that post-graduation, with asking what you wanted? Are you saying you'd give in gracefully? Without a fight?"

"Rikku an' I already had it out, about post-grad," Reno replied flatly. "And up until a couple of months ago, Doji, I was property. Rikku and I had it out about that, too, zoto. You're gonna have to come to terms with it sooner or later, Doji. Romeo's gonna follow you. Romeo knows where you're goin'. And maybe he is trompin' all over you. Or, you know, maybe the boy loves you an' he doesn't wanna lose you. He's kinda got a track record for losin' the ones he loves, zoto."

"I'm just starting my tenure as property, so I'd think you'd understand that I'd rather avoid those fights with Romeo if at all possible," Yurika replied, equally flat. "I made my decisions, I don't need guilt about it thrown back in my face."

"I know he loves me. Why do you think I don't want him to be continually confronted by that?"

Edited 2009-02-02 06:21 (UTC)

"I'm not tryin' to-" Reno was about to yell. Had been about to yell. He choked on it, right about there. Shut his mouth. Clenched his teeth. Took in a deep breath and gave his head a shake. And when he spoke again, it was a very empty, controlled voice that did the talking. More Turk. Less Reno.

"I wasn't trying to throw anything in your face, Dojima. If anyone here understands where it is you're coming from, it's me, zoto." He was speaking at his knees. When had that happened? "Avoidin' the fights doesn't make the problem go away. Run from it all you want. If you don't either deal with it or come to terms with it now, it'll just hit you even harder when graduation comes, yo. I don't want Rikku to have to deal with the things I did, after grad. She can't even handle 'em here. But that ain't just my choice to make. It's hers and mine. Even if it hurts."

A pause.

"Especially when it hurts."

"Stop that," Yurika complained, picking up some random object from his floor and tossing it at him. "I'm being honest, you don't get to start hiding. And quit talking sense. I don't think I like it when you make sense."

"So, theoretically speaking, how do I get to make this choice? Since you seem convinced he's just going to do what he wants to do anyway." The glare she leveled at him spoke volumes. "Boys. Honestly."

He watched the soda can bounce harmlessly to the floor again. And he raised an eyebrow. And he looked up at her, tilting his head a little.

"Theoretically speakin'?" His lips twitched slightly. "Sounds to me like you don't wanna lose him. Neither way. Can't let go, can't stand to see him get taken away. Seems to me like you can't make up your mind, either. So talk to him. I mean, don't just tell him he ain't allowed. That ain't gonna accomplish shit. Tell him you don't wanna let go. But tell him you're afraid of them takin' him and usin' him, too. I don't know if he understands how much it'd kill you if he got hurt because of your job, zoto."

Serious, kind of mushy conversation.

Weird.

They were having a serious conversation, without getting drunk, wrecking violence, or inflicting chaos upon the unsuspecting public first.

Weiiiiiiiiiiiiiird.

"And we're back to the talking," she sighed, resisting the urge to bang her head against the nearest bit of furniture. "I promised him I'd at least think about it, but the moment I give him an inch, he's just going to push more. It's Romeo."

Really, that said it all right there.

"What you two gotta do is learn where to draw a line that'll work for the both of you right up front, and then you make sure that line sticks. Sayin' 'no' right up front ain't workin', clearly. But you want to give him an inch, don't you? Or else you would'a dumped his ass and ran for the hills by now," Reno noted. "What you gotta do here and now is figure out exactly how many inches it is you wanna actually give him, and if that ain't enough for Romeo, you're gonna have to learn to compromise."

A pause.

"And make damn sure that whatever it is that he's aimin' for, he can handle."

"I should run for it," she muttered. "I can't decide if I'm being too stupid or too selfish by wanting to make this work. I'm leaning towards selfish."

"The sad thing is; Romeo's the easy part." Yurika shoved her hair back out of her eyes and gave him a helpless look. "The real fun starts if I try to fast talk this past Juliano."

'Fun' might be a relative term.

"You're bein' human," Reno replied, running his hand through his hair. "Ain't no crime in that."

It took a lot for Reno to admit as much.

"What are you afraid's gonna happen once Juliano gets wise to it, anyhow?"

He had theories. But Reno hated his theories sometimes. Maybe hers would be less troubling.

"He's already politely implied to Romeo that it might be best if I return to Japan alone post-graduation," Yurika complained, hauling herself off the floor long enough to go flop down by Reno. There. Closer was better. "He did the same to me, too. Politely veiled threats, but still a threat."

"It's not what I'm afraid is going to happen, Reno, it's what I know can happen. People who cross SOLOMON have a habit of vanishing." She shrugged one shoulder. "We might be the White Hats, but that doesn't mean we're nice."

"White Hats, Dark Suits, all runs together," Reno agreed with a sigh. And then, after another moment's thought, he glanced her way. "Chuckles is worried about Romeo gettin' in the way, is he? So, what if he's not crossin' SOLOMON?"

"I think he's more worried that he'll be a distraction than anything else," she mused. "And somehow I don't see Romeo taking 'Sorry, honey, I'm working for the next two weeks, but I'll come by next month,' particularly well."

"Which is the other part of the reason I don't want him following me just for me. If he doesn't have something to engage him, he's not going to be happy."

"So find him somethin' to do in Toyko that he can be passionate about," Reno stated.

As though it was so easy.

"... What is he passionate about? Aside from girls an' pool, I mean?"

Sometimes, Reno wasn't the greatest of best friends.

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