raspberryturk | Edge, Saturday Afternoon

There were some things that were totally worth getting in trouble with the boss for, Reno decided. Being a grumpy son of a bitch was good for things like getting on Tseng's nerves, teaching the rookie how to run for cover, and also for getting sent on impromptu vacations to other worlds in order to visit the girlfriend.

It had totally been worth it. But, as such things tend to go, this vacation didn't last forever, and soon Reno was hopping another portal back to Edge.

The first thing he did upon getting home was reach for the Everclear that Romeo had sent him. Romeo was still the best buddy ever, and Reno was going to have to find some way to make it up to him. Maybe he'd ship him some porn or something. That was always excellent payback, right?

And then he checked the texts and voicemails that he'd missed lately. Which led to a lot of alternating between laughing and frowning. Killing beans and killing babies were two very different things indeed. But hey, verbal Twitters were amusing, at least.

It wasn't until he went to check on the beans to be certain that they were still alive (they were) and the ferret to make sure that he wasn't dead (he wasn't) that a chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling, hitting Reno solidly on the head and reminding him quite firmly that he wasn't in Spira anymore.

Sigh.

"Home sweet shithole."

[NFB for distance and all, but Reno's open for phone calls, text messages, random letters, and all of that good stuff.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Midgard, Midgar, close enough. Reno was getting used to that verbal slip from Fandomites anyhow.

"Eh, it's life. It ain't like the rest of Gaia is doin' much better. It's probably the worst here, but places like Junon caught hell, too." He reached for his bottle. Mm. Boozey. "So. Tell me, what does your SOLDIER buddy know about my here an' now? You know he's from my past, right?"

His brain was everywhere. Forgive him.

"We kind of figured that, because, um." She winced. "I tried to tell him that there were some natural disasters? And Zack didn't remember any, so we figured out that he's from your past. And he doesn't think ShinRa every does anything bad, and I just couldn't tell him more, Reno. He's so enthusiastic, and he wants to save people, so...." Dinah bit her lip. "Do you know how far in the past he's from? Or anything about him? He's fifteen, he just made SOLDIER second class."

"I didn't know him all that well," Reno noted. "He's still a second? Daaamn, then I ain't even met him yet. First time I saw him, he was a snotty little first class, tryin' to mess with Turk business in the streets of Sector Eight," he noted.

There was a kind of natural animosity between Turks and SOLDIER. Well. Most Turks. Most members of SOLDIER.

"If he's fifteen, it can't be too long before that, though. Maybe a year before that? An' that was..." He leaned his head back, thinking. "He's got a few years, anyhow." Wait! Uh. "Before he catches up, I mean."

Lying through the skin of his teeth. But Reno was a damn good liar when he had to be.

"Time travel makes my head hurt," Dinah complained, missing that entirely. "Sooo, he's still there in the city? Or did he move on out to fight monsters in the desert, when everything went boom?"

"He... spent a lot of time in the desert," Reno replied, vaguely. Very vaguely.

It was accurate. That's where the site was marked, overlooking Midgar.

"I don't think he ever made it to Midgar before Meteorfall, actually."

"Meteorfall," Dinah repeated, determined to pass that along to Zack. "Okay, nothing could stop that, I'm guessing, but maybe, maybe? He could get people more prepared? If I tell him and he goes back?" That couldn't be wrong, right?

Okay. Reno was now putting down the booze, because the last thing he needed was to work himself up and end up revisiting the Everclear. Guh.

"Meteorfall... is kinda somethin' that can't be prepared for," he replied, staring out the window. Damn, he hated that view. Midgar looked like shit. "It was supposed to end the world. Maybe..."

He couldn't believe he was asking Dinah to pass on this message.

"Just... tell him to stay loyal to his friends around here. That's the most important thing anyone could ever tell the kid. It saves the world someday."

"I will," Dinah said, determined, and a little bit elated. Zack helped save the world? Woo! And that meant he was right, if he tried hard enough, he could make a difference to the future that was coming. "I'll be sure he knows that, I swear."

"Thanks, Rookie. Just... try not to get too forthcomin' with the details, okay? Don't wanna possibly mess up the one good thing the world's got goin' for it, yo."

Going to be sick. Friggin' sick.

"Free will and all that," Dinah said, having a vague idea how this stuff was supposed to sort of work from Ghanima. "It's okay. He's a great guy. And I don't think anything that happens here will change that, Reno." She smiled into the phone, and said, "And maybe the next time we talk, things will be even better there, 'cause you passed this along."

"Never know," Reno said, his words steady. Firm. Determined. He was a Turk. He was one hell of an actor, when it mattered. It mattered now.

People were going to hate him in a few years for this. Weren't they?

"Anyhow, I probably gotta get goin'. I got... beans. To water. An' a lonely ferret to wrestle. That kinda junk."

Reno sounded a little down there, so Dinah resolved to send him some more plants. And something silly from Turtle and Canary. "Take some breaks, Reno. Get some music and all, okay?" She smiled. "And call whenevers. Bye!"

"Take care, Rookie."

Reno flipped his phone shut, and then stared out the window. Lots of staring. Lots of feeling like his guts were sitting in his throat.

Zack never made it to Midgar.

Reno was going to find the bottom of that bottle, tonight.

Edge, Saturday Afternoon

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject