Edge, Saturday Afternoon

[raspberryturk]

It was a good thing that Bat Eyes were so damn easy to take down, Reno mused, as he wiped some bloody monster sludge off of his baton and onto his pant leg. Things had been busy in Edge over the past few days. A few monsters had wandered into the outskirts of the town out of the ruins of what used to be the Midgar slums, and they were having their hungry ways with the locals.

Which suited Reno just fine. He got the pleasure of being hired on by the WRO in order to take care of the threat while they continued working on setting up their military, and on top of the pay that they were giving him to deal with the job, he got to keep whatever the monsters dropped when he took them down, too. Mostly ethers and bubblegum money, but he could live with that.

He finished rummaging through what was left of the corpse of the last one as it faded away to join the lifestream, or whatever it was that dead monsters did, and then he took a seat on the nearest bench, sprawling out, looking up at the bluish-gray haze of sky above him, pulling out his phone, and turning it on.

Sometimes, rebuilding wasn't really so bad after all.

[For anybody who wants to phone or be phoned! NFB for distance, of course! Zack-related spoilers throughout the threads. Read at your own risk, yo.]

Comments

[future_sandworm]

"Dinah taught me," Leto confessed. He might not be quite comfortable with the amount of technology in Fandom, but he wasn't going to let Reno know. "She also taught me to send photographs and music," he added.

[raspberryturk]

"Heeey! Blackmail!" Reno was grinning. Could Leto hear the grin in his voice? "You figured out how to use the camera on that thing, then?"

[future_sandworm]

"Dinah taught me that too," he replied. Yes, the grin was almost audible! "Who do you want to blackmail?"

[raspberryturk]

"Well, anything you can get on anyone's always good by me. I wanna see what it is I'm missin' out there, yo." Reno laughed a little, shutting his eyes and relaxing back into the scrap-metal seat that he'd grabbed.

Cozy.

"Arthur mentioned a guy from around here, was thinkin' about invitin' him to be your third in the reserve?" And by 'third,' Reno of course meant 'referee.' "Wouldn't mind gettin' a good look at him. To see what kinda newbie blood you're replacin' me with."

Yeaaaaah. That was totally the reason. And if Leto bought that, Reno had some oceanfront property in the wastelands to sell him, too.

[future_sandworm]

"Dinah sent me pictures of Arthur in a silly costume from some class," Leto offered. "And you mean Zack? Do you know him? I suppose I could, but why?"

No, Leto didn't buy it.

[raspberryturk]

"Okay, those pictures, I'll take!" Reno was all over that, dammit.

And he was being called on the Zack thing, too. Dammit.

"And yeah, Zack. Zack Fair, SOLDIER 2nd, right?" Sigh. "Look, I'll level with you, man. He used to be a real close buddy of my boss, Tseng. I just wanna see with my own eyes how the guy's doin', is all."

[future_sandworm]

"I'll send them," Leto promised. "He used to be a friend?"

[raspberryturk]

Aw, shit. Leto was a swift one, too.

"There was some stuff. You know, the kinda stuff that happens sometimes. It's a thing."

Reno was also so very forthcoming with details.

...

"Look, I didn't tell Arthur, and there ain't no way you can let Zack or anyone know about this if I let you know? Got that? So far as I know, the whole damn world depends on this, zoto."

[future_sandworm]

"Paradox? I know the danger, Reno." Leto spoke quietly now. "But I would like to know if it's important."

[raspberryturk]

Hooboy. Where was Reno going to start?

"Look, I don't even know all the details, exactly. Just, somethin' went down a few years back my time that had ShinRa put a price tag on Zack's head. Ain't necessarily somethin' he did wrong, either. ShinRa ain't exactly made of nice folks."

That seemed like a good place to start, right?

[future_sandworm]

"So he's wanted for something," Leto said. "But from what part of the timeline is the Zack who is here?"

Reno was being vague. Why couldn't he just spit it out?

[raspberryturk]

"He's a SOLDIER 2nd, right? That means he's from maybe... seven years ago or more? He'll make it to 1st before anything goes real bad for him. For the time bein', if he seems happy... Best to just let him keep that."

From what he remembered of the things he'd heard through the grapevine, from Tseng and from Cissnei, things got pretty damned rotten for Zack, eventually. And that was before Reno had found himself in a chopper, scouring the badlands for some sign of the guy.

[future_sandworm]

"I will not mention anything about this," Leto replied. "That would be too risky, and possibly cruel. But thank you for telling me. He does seem to be a good man."

[I need sleep soon]

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah," Reno agreed with a sigh. He was going to have to rummage through his pockets for his smokes. Again. It was a smoking kind of day. "He's a real great guy."

Dammit. The past was going to have to start learning how to stay where it was, already.

[SP is shiny, too!]

[future_sandworm]

"And after all, that is was is important now. Knowing the future isn't always a blessing." Even if it could be a useful tool.

[raspberryturk]

"Do me a favor, man? If some future version of me ever shows up in Fandom, don't let me know?" Lighter. Lighter. Ah, there it was. "I got a close enough look the last two times that them kids showed up on the island, an' one of those possibilities, I wasn't so happy with at all."

A beat.

"Then again, if some future me shows up on the island an' he's a real prick or somethin', do let me know. I'll show up an' kick my ass for you."

[future_sandworm]

Despite the lightness Leto sensed a serious voice too, and he didn't smile. "I will keep that in mind. And did you mention this to Arthur?"

[raspberryturk]

"What, about some other me, or about that Zack of yours?"

The future-Reno thing didn't strike Reno as terribly likely to happen. But then, the past Zack thing really hadn't, either.

He should have known better. Fandom was still Fandom, after all.

[future_sandworm]

"Either," Leto replied. "He might get ideas both of you needed saving."

Especially Zack. Leto had seen the looks Arthur had been giving him.

[raspberryturk]

"All Arthur knows is that Zack gets his promotion," Reno replied, gritting his teeth against the cigarette that was clamped between them.

So much for that one.

"If some future me were to ever show up, I dunno that I'd want saving, anyhow. Zack, on the other hand..." Sigh. "Zack's a tricky case, yo. I dunno what'll happen if things don't go that way for him, but the possibilities I got in mind ain't really great ones. We think we got it bad in Edge with the way things did go. Zack wouldn't hurt nothin', but..."

He sighed again. Shook his head.

"You want me to level with you an' just tell you how it went where I'm sittin', or do you wanna take my word for it? Not knowin' sounds like it'd be easier for you guys, yoto."

[future_sandworm]

There was a pause. "I'd rather not know the future if I can help it," Leto replied. Zack's fate was not his responsibility.

[raspberryturk]

"Then I won't get into it," Reno replied, some measure of relief in his voice. "Easier on everyone, that way."

And now he was rummaging to replace the cigarette he'd just destroyed. Class act, Reno.

"And anyhow, for all I know it might still be some different Zack. Fandom likes playin' with worlds and timelines and universes all across the map, right? So everything I just said might not even matter anyhow."

The guy could hope.

[future_sandworm]

"That is a possibility," Leto admitted. He remembered the children, after all, none of them very likely to happen.

[raspberryturk]

"Either way, if Arthur sets him up to play third in the reserve, you found a good guy," Reno decided. "He's... optimistic."

To a fault.

"Fandom needs that kinda thing, sometimes."

[future_sandworm]

"He is." There was no denying that. "And I guess we do." And hopefully Zack would keep Arthur distracted enough not become overly annoying.