Room 429, Tuesday Afternoon

[raspberryturk]

"--And you don't even smell that bad," Reno said, holding his ferret in his arms. He'd been going on like this since he'd woken up and decided to strike up a friendly rapport with his pet. "Kinda like sour somethin'-or-other or kinda gunky feet or somethin'. I've smelled worse, yo. I mean, like, I smelled worse, Mako. You should'a seen the kinda junk we had to wade through as Turks. And, I mean, Midgar. There was a city that stank. I miss Midgar. And here I am talkin' to you like a nut. You know, I shouldn't even have a pet? I only agreed to gettin' you when Rikku dragged me to the pet shop 'cause I crave some kinda companionship that ain't gonna leave me just because they find out I'm some kinda heartless government tool--"

That was about the point where he furrowed his eyebrows and frowned.

"And you don't care. You're some kinda weasel thing. So why am I tellin' you this?"

Mako blinked up at Reno lazily, and then set his chin down on his lap and attempted to sleep. Snoozing was hard when someone kept trying to strike up a conversation with you, after all.

[Open door is open!]

Comments

[withoutverona]

Romeo leaned in the doorway, watching Reno and Mako for a second. "Are you talking to the ferret?" he inquired as he made his way in without waiting for an invitation.

[raspberryturk]

"Absolutely am," Reno replied with a grin. "He's probably the only one on the island who ain't gonna turn his little fuzzy tail and wander off in the other direction when the conversation gets real messy, yo. Plus, he's cute. Ain't he cute? Sometimes, you just gotta talk to cute things, man."

... Ooookaaaaaay.

[withoutverona]

"He looks like he'd be a good listener," Romeo observed. "Not that he'd have much to say, but at least he wouldn't argue with you. And if you did quarrel somehow, he'd forget it quickly."

[raspberryturk]

"Forget it quickly? He never understood what I said in the first place. I could throw him across the room, and he'd think I was playin'. Not that I would throw him across the room, yo. Just because he likes bouncin' don't mean I'm gonna be mean to him."

Reno made a face, and then stood up and put Mako back into his cage.

"I think I'm managing to annoy him, though. Lookit him, tryin' to get some sleep, and I been flappin' my mouth all day. How are you, man? You still havin' post-grad trouble?"

[withoutverona]

"I think that's going to be a given until we actually graduate," Romeo said unhappily. "I don't understand Yurika. She's so in love with me but she wants to shunt me off somewhere the second she gets her diploma. What kind of love is that?"

He blinked. Not what he meant to say. "Sorry. How was your trip home?"

[raspberryturk]

"Crappy. I spent it gettin' my ass kicked by chocobos in the mountains. Almost turned me off of bettin' on chocobo races, except I'm such a gamblin' addict." Reno frowned and gave his head a shake. "And man, she loves you to little soggy pieces. It's kinda mushy, really. She's just scared shitless that you ain't gonna be safe when you get to Tokyo. SOLOMON plays dirty, yo. Maybe not as dirty as ShinRa did, they're still the White Hats, but still real damn dirty if they feel threatened."

[withoutverona]

"I lost $50 on the Super Bowl," Romeo informed him. "I wouldn't mind except now I have to work to replace it. And I don't doubt she loves me, I just think ... love is different for her."

He frowned. "I can make myself safe."

[raspberryturk]

"How? Man, I got no doubts that you can hold your own out there, but once the government takes away your gun and you realize you can't talk the language, it ain't gonna be easy. Not against the suits, yo. You got some kinda plan to keep your ass in one piece? I don't wanna see you get a bullet in your brain any more'n Doji does, zoto."

[withoutverona]

"There'd be a bullet in my brain faster in Verona than in Tokyo," Romeo said grimly. "And I'm working on my Japanese. It's hard. It's hard enough for me to speak English so people here can understand me, yet I manage that. I'd learn Japanese promptly enough if I had to." He glanced over at Reno. "You spoke to Yurika, didn't you?"

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela stood in the doorway and eyed the occupants doubtfully. "I knew you were crazy, Reno, but I never pegged you as the talks-to-animals type."

[raspberryturk]

"I heard somewhere that talkin' to animals makes 'em healthier, figured I'd try it out. Plus I got all this junk on my chest I can't tell anyone, and if I bottle it up I go absolutely batshit." Reno blinked and stared at Triela for a moment. "And I didn't mean to say that, but the filter between my brain and my mouth ain't workin' today. Which really sucks."

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela blinked. "Okay." How were you supposed to respond to that? "You realize how crazy you sound? Because it's pretty crazy." She frowned and shook her head. That wasn't what she'd meant to say.

"What's keeping you from talking about it with other people? They're more likely to understand, you know."

[raspberryturk]

"I sound more crazy when I'm tellin' the truth about the shit I don't want to talk about," Reno replied. "I mean, the things I'm not supposed to talk about, and I don't wanna talk about it because it's hard, and there ain't many people who can understand the stuff I'm tryin' to talk in circles around right now because talkin' about it means I'm admittin' that I'm a murderous psychopath with no conscience or morals and that don't really bother me but it scares the hell out of people who do care and I'm gonna shut up now."

He demonstrated how bound and determined he was to shut up by clenching his teeth and poking at the ferret. Yep. It was totally a ferret.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"So we've got more in common than I thought," Triela shrugged easily. She cocked her head curiously, "Do the people you work for use chemical conditioning too? Or did you just... I don't know, grow up that way?"

[raspberryturk]

"If by chemical conditioning, you mean like doses of radiation to make people stronger and faster and tougher, yeah, ShinRa used to do that. Called it mako. Same stuff we used to run the city on."

Reno was kind of gritting his teeth, now. Too much talking.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

No one ever accused Triela of being sensitive to other peoples' emotional states. This was probably because even people as dense as her realized she was almost completely oblivious on the subject.

"Does that affect your memory? Your personality? I mean, conscience isn't all that useful in a weapon. It's one of the reasons the Agency supresses it in us."

[raspberryturk]

"The Turks had to do that part on their own. We were a liability to the company right from the start. That's why Turks who defected were hunted down. Stayin' alive is usually pretty good incentive to stay loyal. Hell, I don't think there were many Turks other'n me to get mako-treated. That's usually a SOLDIER thing, and that's kind of a moot point, 'cause ShinRa's gone now anyhow."

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"Hiya!" Sokka greeted Reno. "Do you have anything embarrassing to say, so I can secretly record you?" He frowned. "I wasn't supposed to say that."

[raspberryturk]

"I think I already scared the shit out of my best friend by tellin' him about my dark and sordid past as a paid killer and government stooge, but I'm sure I could find somethin' humiliatin' to talk about. Like how I got my nose busted by a bird this weekend. That's kind of embarrasing," Reno replied. And then grimaced.

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"By a BIRD???" Sokka replied, and started laughing. "That's hystERic... wait, no, it was a huge bird, wasn't it? That's not really all that funny, then."

[raspberryturk]

"Real big bird. One of the racin' birds from the place I like to gamble my life away at when I feel like stupidly standin' around feedin' my gambling habit, yo. Wasn't all that funny when his foot found my face."

He frowned.

"I should've ducked, yo."

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"Don't gamble your life away," Sokka cautioned him. "It'll upset Rikku. And me, too." He raised an eyebrow. "You do know that the side of the bird you ride on is the one AWAY from the feet, right?"

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, I got that memo. The boss failed to let me know that the chocobos like to kick," Reno growled, crossing his arms. "I thought I was goin' back for a real job, yo. Stolen property usually means I get to do somethin' that's actually a challenge, yo. Not chasin' birds through the mountains so they don't get eaten by whatever's runnin' around."

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"At least that way you don't have to kill people?" Sokka offered. "I mean, dark and sordid pasts are best if they stay in the PAST." He frowned. "Man, I was hoping you'd say something INTERESTING, like, Rikku makes you dance around in her panties or something."

[raspberryturk]

"Nah. But I totally got laid yesterday."

...

Facepalm.

"You'll be happy to know the stupid birds are all safe and sound."