raspberryturk | Rude's Apartment, Edge, Thursday Evening

Rude's couch was lumpy and hard to sleep on.

Rude's couch was lumpy and hard to sleep on, Rude's booze was running low, and the lighting in Rude's living room sucked.

All that, and Reno had more reading material than he could have ever hoped for. And a bean sprout in a plastic cup sitting in some wet paper towel. And a pair of cacti that he hadn't managed to kill yet. And an anxious ferret, attempting to help him either with the booze, or with the reading, whichever Mako happened to be able to reach more easily at the time.

As such things went, after a week and a half back in Edge with no outlet to the real world, it was time for Reno to take a break. He'd written a letter earlier in the week in reply to one that he'd gotten last week Thursday, which was all well and good... but dammit, he needed to hear a voice that didn't belong to a Turk, a member of the WRO, or some random person living on the street corners in Edge.

Spare Gil for the homeless, they'd beg, and he'd toss them a few, just because he had a few to spare. But not without a mumble and a frown.

Yeah. You an' everyone else, yo.

He needed to make some freaking phone calls, or he was going to go out of his mind, damn it.

[NFB for distance, open to anyone who thinks that Reno would have a reason to call them! Or, heck, open to anyone. He's bored, he'll probably just hit buttons until he hears familiar voices, at this point.]

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He'd gotten the name wrong because he didn't care right then~~, and because he had a mun too lazy to check~~. He knew Reno would know what he meant, anyhow.

"No, I've met him," Reno said. "He's just a bit of an ass, and she doesn't control him."

Reno considered that one for a moment.

"You know, man, I'd be a bit of an ass too, if I got locked up all the time, I'm thinkin'. He's in control of himself, right? Does he get out often? Do I know him?"

You never knew, with Fandom.

"Maybe?" Romeo didn't exactly keep track. "Did you meet Jill McTeague's brother that night half the school was in the men's room?"

Reno thought long and hard for a moment. Had he? Had he?

"Lessee... I talked to Hannibal, and Emmett, and some dude named Jack?"

He'd also been completely nude while he'd done so. Except for the sombrero.

"I think I handed the sombrero to that Jack guy, actually."

"Then you have," Romeo told him. "Jack's not Jill's brother, Jack's Jill. A few days a month, at the least."

... Huh. Crazy.

"He didn't seem like a bad kinda guy, to me," Reno noted. "I mean, I can't say I blame Jill for not wantin' him runnin' around and all, but he didn't seem like the kinda guy who should get locked up, either. Shit, just lookin' at him, he looks like the kinda guy who never got a chance to learn what the hell it's like to really cut loose an' be free."

Reno kind of figured he was a pro at telling that kind of thing. He wasn't, necessarily, but when there was booze in hand...

"You might be right," Romeo decided. "I should ask him, if I see him again. I didn't ask when he was due next."

Then, because that was something he didn't really want to think about: "You must have other things on your mind than the gossip from here."

"Offer to take him out bowling or somethin', man. Let him stretch his legs a little. Couldn't hurt!"

Reno was strangely an optimist, sometimes.

"There ain't too much goin' on over on my end. Feed the hungry, beat up crawly things, bitch at Rude because his couch sucks and he won't give up his bed."

Granted, Reno could sleep anywhere, really. But it was fun to bitch at Rude.

"I should do that," Romeo agreed. Jill might not be happy, but Jill was Jill; Romeo had to think about both his little siblings.

"Feeding the hungry sounds like much more than what I'm doing, here. Harder work than telling pale people to put on sunblock, anyhow. Do you think you're doing all right?"

"My big accomplishment since comin' back here was managing to get a bean to sprout," Reno replied with a sigh. "I named it Gremlin. I miss Fandom."

He wasn't pouting. You couldn't hear it over the phone. Shush.

"Fandom's boring," Romeo assured him. "We're in cabins again, and it's swarming with new people. Gremlin is probably more interesting."

"Gremlin is green," Reno contributed. "Mako keeps tryin' to eat him. And I like new people. I ain't had a rookie to train up around here since before Edge was ever thought of, yo."

Elena didn't count. Elena was Rude's rookie.

"You should recruit a new Turk," Romeo suggested idly. "And hi, Mako! Is he eating Rude's stuff?"

"We could probably make do with more help," Reno noted, frowning thoughtfully.

Hm.

Eh! He'd worry about that when he was sober.

"Mako's doin' fiiiine. He's been chewin' the shit outta one of Rude's shoes all afternoon, man. You should see it, the damn thing's the same size as he is, yo!"

"He's a fierce hunter, at least of shoes," Romeo said fondly. "And Rude deserves it for making you sleep on a lumpy couch."

"That's what I keep sayin'! Rude don't agree, but shit, if he keeps leavin' his shoes where Mako can get at 'em, that's his own problem, yo!"

It made sense!

"Tell Rude to piss off," Romeo said authoritatively. "... when will you get a place of your own?"

"I.. Kinda got no clue, man. I wanna join Rikku in Spira sometime, too. Almost seems pointless to start lookin' here, if I'm gonna pack up and go there sooner or later, too." Reno frowned as he reached for the bottle again. "Far back as I can remember, Rude and me were roomies. But the world changes, I dunno. Maybe I should start lookin' for a place to call my own, too."

"It can't hurt to have your own space to bring Rikku back to," Romeo suggested, refilling his own glass. "Do you want to go live in Spira?"

"You know, I dunno that, either?"

Reno was so organized. Really.

"I kinda figured we'd just end up wherever we ended up, yo. Spira or Gaia or the friggin' moon. It's all the same, if that's where we gotta be at the time."

He grinned faintly.

"But if I had my own place, there'd be more room for..." He had to think, here. "Porn. And booze. And Mako."

"And a bed that was all yours," Romeo said. "And Materia."

A pause. "And visitors, even."

"And visitors," Reno agreed, chuckling a little. "I'd even let 'em sleep on my couch. The one I'm gonna steal from Rude, zoto."

Reno was a brat and he totally knew it.

"It would be an honor to sleep on your lumpy couch and face the threat of dragons, Reno," Romeo informed him. "... I should let you go tend to Gremlin the plant, shouldn't I?"

"Not to tend to Gremlin so much as to make sure Mako ain't tryin' to hide it under the couch again," Reno mused. "We oughta make a ritual outta this or somethin', man. I'll call you again next chance I get, yo."

"And I'll email photos if anythign happens here," Romeo promised. "And video footage from the beach class. I'll talk to you soon."

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raspberryturk - 2009-05-15 02:20 (UTC) - Expand