raspberryturk | Edge, Friday Afternoon

Tseng: *Is strangely nervous. Has not realized before how vulnerable Reno is. Or was. Vulnerable is a strange word to have applied to Reno, of all people. Thank you for breaking me. Dammit. This fucking job. If she translated it faithfully. And every bone in his body screams that she did. He wants to see Reno. Really look at him. Ask him questions. Prod him. And he has no context for doing that without giving away the girl's involvement. Which he would be less than pleased about. When did this job become so complicated? Right. Day one.*

Reno: *Stretches casually as he approaches the door. Nice pad. Ain't no Healin and ain't no ShinRa, but it'll do. His EMR is on his shoulder when he actually does knock. Woooork. Work finally. Fucking kickass. Knock Knock!*

Tseng: *draws himself up. He is a master of his composure, after all.* Come in. *As if he doesn't recognize that knock. Riiiiiiiiight.*

Reno: *Smirks and rolls his eyes as he makes his way into the room* As if you don't recognize the knock by now, boss. *Tch. Seriously.*

Tseng: I did say 'come in.' *You know. Maybe he wouldn't have told someone else to? Or it would've been, hey, how'd you get in here. whatever.* *Sets his pen down and leans back in his chair and looks at Reno. Just ... looks at him for a minute. Less pale. Less thin. Something alive, around the eyes. Intriguing.* ... I trust your trip was well.

Reno: *Shrugs, smirks, gives the EMR a tap against his shoulder. Gods, it feels good to have it in his hand and know he's gonna probably use it.* I'm here, ain't I?

Tseng: You would be here regardless. *considers* It is strange, not to start by asking you for a full report.

Reno: *Quirks an eyebrow* What, you want one?

Tseng: *faint smile on his lips* I wouldn't object. If you have anything of interest to relate. *crosses his arms. he's missed this. Shh.*

Reno: *Yes, he looks amused* I'm workin' for a dog who wears a fedora and a bunny rabbit with sharp, pointy teeth, back on Fandom. I needed to supply my own firearm. So I could feed the fish and answer the phone, zoto. Classes are goin' about as good as you can expect. All of one of 'em is gonna do me any good, another course on Mad Kings. Like they all ain't. Nothin's invaded and tried to eat me lately, that's kinda kickass, but the phone lines were pretty fucked up the other week. The girl found out about how we used to collect specimens for Hojo. We worked through that. Ghanima's been trainin' me for months, now, and I'm finally startin' to see results. And I been lookin' into solar energy lately. Ain't no good around Edge, you need a sun for it to work, yo, but if we can figure out somethin' else around there, sun lamps mean people might be able to try hydroponics in Edge, 'cause it don't mean tryin' to pull life outta the dirt, right? It's already in the water, yo.

Tseng: *allows himself to look mildly impressed* You've been busy. *considers where to start in all of that* ... I'm relieved that you and ... *He would call her Miss Lastname if she had one. Dammit.* ... your friend are on better terms. What sort of work do you do, for the dog and rabbit?

Reno: *musing* Didn't even get into the odd jobs I been doin' for the CIA. They're offerin' me post-sec. I don't think I'm gonna take it. *Shrug* Sam and Max have me sittin' at the desk, mostly. Feed the fish- he's the vice president of America, but I'm thinkin' that's some alternate universe. The president of America otherwise is some dude who talks with big words, he ain't a bunny. *Shrugs again* They run a freelance police HQ in town. Only real job we got so far is pullin' security for the comic store in town. Kinda. Somethin' like that.

Tseng: CIA? *frowns, begins pulling open desk drawers* Governmental agency. Clandestine work. You're perfectly suited. Should I offer you my congratulations?

Reno: *Shakes his head* It's test runs, mostly. I don't wanna rot away on Earth, yo. I'd get bored. And anyhow, they figure I gotta take the school to keep the job. Fuck that shit. *Snerk*

Tseng: Education has been kind to you so far. *By this he means, wow, I had no idea things would go in this direction when I sent you to that place. At all.*

Reno: *lifts a shoulder* Made me soft. Anyhow, I got loose ends to tie up, all over. You didn't think you bastards would get rid of me that easy, did you?

Tseng: I had hoped not. *frowns a little* I hadn't thought you would categorize your experiences in those terms, to be honest.

Reno: ... *Quirks an eyebrow* How do you mean?

Tseng: Your education has made you soft. You sound as though you regret the experience.

Reno: ... *Shrugs* Ain't education I regret. *A long pause, kind of awkward. He's chewing on saying any more at all. Wondering how stupid he'll feel, opening up to the boss in the first place.* .... Never thought I'd go to school for me, yo. Now that I'm there, I'm kinda ... afraid of comin' back. Haven't had to watch my own back in months, zoto.

Tseng: You feel as though you're out of practice. *nods* I believe we all feel that way.

Reno: .... There's that.

Tseng: I had heard indications that you were restless. *It is totally okay with him that Reno is probably going to think Rude said something. Check that out.*

Reno: *mumble* Rude has a fuckin' big mouth. *Crosses his arms and glares at the wall* Fandom's too clean. Ain't nothin' like Gaia.

Tseng: *nods, curtly* Then I hope a fairly straightforward case will prove a nice interruption to your education.

Reno: ... *glances back at him* How straightforward we talkin'?

Tseng: *slides the folder across his desk for Reno to take*

Reno: .... *Tilts his head and reaches for it, silent as the grave while he flips through it* ...... *Looks up at Tseng* ...... *Looks down at the folder* .... *Flips through it again* .... You're shittin' me.

Tseng: If you feel you can't complete this mission, I suppose I could give it to someone else. *Buuuuuuuuuuuuuurn.*

Reno: *You can see his ire rising. Or maybe his blood pressure. One or the other.* I can fuckin' handle this fuckin' mission! Babysittin' Big Bird an' Chicken Little? You bet I can handle this fuckin' mission! This is the best you got? Seriously??

Tseng: *lifts his shoulders* Very well. If you're not willing to complete this mission, I suppose I can give it to someone else. I'm sorry that you came all this way for nothing. *Tseng is a fucking sneaky bastard, yes.*

Reno: *Narrows his eyes* You're a fuckin' bastard, you know that? *Tucks the file under his armpit and scowls some more* Mine. Fuck you. This job's mine.

Tseng: What I told you on the phone is true. Stolen property. The thief has been apprehended. The chocobos have not. These were racing birds. They've been tracked to the mountains. The manager knew quite well that if he sent a courier to fetch the chocobos, that the usual inhabitants of those mountains would devour him. So the mission came to us. *Monsters to kill. That help any?*

Reno: *Eyes still narrowed.* The mountains? *Glances at the paper again* That'll slow down the yellow one, anyhow. And the blue one. Fuckers took a black one? Bastards. Cuh uv yh Ajem Aoa. Vilgan. Vilgehk lrulupuc. Fuuuuck. *Yes. He is having a pissy fit. So?*

Tseng: *raises an eyebrow* Al Bhed?

Reno: *Glances back at him* Huh? Prob'ly. *looks at the folder again, frowning thoughtfully* Took the black one. That's Hyperion, ain't it? That bird's a fuckin' legend around the saucer. I can see why Joe would want him back, yo.

Tseng: Hyperion, yes. You can understand where he is eager to have the bird returned. *Look, seriously, those birds are worth thousands upon thousands of gil, here, and they're off in the mountains possibly getting eaten and possibly injuring themselves.* Do you change languages without consciously noticing it, or was that an attempt to conceal your words from me? *This has no malice to it. He's just curious. Tseng likes to analyze people. Especially ones that work for him.*

Reno: *grins a little, looking up at him again* I got nothin' to hide. I'm just bitchin', same as I would in any language, yo. *This folder is HIS DAMMIT and he is gonna hug it close and bite the hand of anyone who tries to take it from him* I'll take the mission. But only 'cause I was gonna take Rikku to the saucer to bet on the birds sometime, zoto.

Tseng: Understood. *This is strangely alien to him. Reno, the same as ever. And yet. Reno. Cursing in a language he's never heard aloud. Talking about dates with his steady girlfriend. It's been a strange year, and none of them are who they were, but it's still unfathomable, the way Reno has changed. Tseng reminds himself not to stare and clears his throat.* Seeing them up close will allow you a better understanding of their capabilities, in a race. Might improve your betting returns.

Reno: *Snerk* You kiddin'? I already know the circuit, boss. Bet on the black one. He'll win every time, zoto. *If he's racing, naturally. And if he hasn't been eaten or something.*

Tseng: I always bet on Hyperion. *And the Turks, for that matter.* Dismissed.

Reno: *Tilts his head, regarding Tseng for a moment. And then nods, quick and all about the job, for that one moment.* Sir. *And then he turns to leave the room. Chocobos. Huh.*

[NFI and NFB for distance, naturally. Please to pardon the weird format to all of this. This started out as late-night dicking around between

the_merriest, who once again played Tseng, and I, and by the time we had finished, we were both pretty much in agreement that this absolutely had to be FH canon. I swear, I'm logging off and leaving the province now. OOC is made of shiny, sure!]