raspberryturk | Rude's Apartment, Edge, Thursday Afternoon

Reno had a bit of a dilemma, and he had today off by some miracle. And so, on his day off, he was going to attempt to fix it.

His living space since he'd moved in to Rude's apartment had become a little on the cramped side. Sure, it was more space than he'd had while he was living in the dorms on Fandom Island. But while he was in school, he hadn't been trying to cultivate greens, either. Unless one counted the green fuzz that sometimes grew on whatever he'd left sitting around, but that was a different thing entirely. As it stood, Reno was staring in bewilderment at the contents of Rude's living room.

Rude had set off for work today with a clearly stated mission for Reno to handle before he got back. He didn't care how he did it, just so long as it was done.

The clutter... would have to go.

So much easier said than done, when you were used to stockpiling whatever you could get your hands on, and you had people sending you care packages from all over creation. Nevermind the assorted bits he'd managed to gather with full intent to toss together a makeshift greenhouse in he future.

"Mako," Reno sighed, plucking the ferret out of his beans for the umpteeth time this afternoon, "I think this couch-surfin' shit ain't all it's made out to be, yo."

[NFB for distance, naturally, but open for the usual riffraff to give their phone calls and what-have-you!]

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And why look, if this wasn't the perfect time for Arthur to call him.

It was absolutely the best time for Arthur to call him!

Or, at least, it could have been worse. Juggling a phone, beans and a ferret was less troublesome than juggling a phone and some Bat Eyes would have been.

"Yo!"

Please excuse that honking sound. That was the honking sound of a ferret who wanted to play with the phone, too.

Ino was in a Mood, and well aware that she was in a Mood, and thus managing fairly well at Avoiding Everyone Ever outside of class. Hence the being out in the preserve, deeper than most people went.

She'd have managed total avoidance if she'd left her phone back in the cabins. Unfortunately, she didn't. So when the phone started ringing Ino sighed and picked it up (it was too annoying to just ignore and turning it off wasn't an option because what if it was important?).

"What?"

Okay, Ino, that could've been nicer.

"I need you to hit me," Arthur told him, without preamble, "In spirit. Don't ask questions."

"If you ask SOLDIER boy nice-like, he'll probably give you some Phoenix Downs so you can kill me four or five times over, even," was Reno's cheerful sort of greeting. "Ain't no need to limit yourself to three, yo."

Yes, he'd finally gotten around to trying to find a place for those peas and radishes, and it was time to give Ino a call to thank her for them. In his own special way.

"Um." Reno really had no idea how to hit anyone in spirit. Mostly, he just kicked the shit out of people face-to-face. It was more satisfying, that way.

He let Mako thump against the receiver of his cell phone before scooping him away again. Sure! That would do.

"Take that."

"Really?" Ino was intrigued. "Do they work on everyone?"

Shhh, it was a happy thought that. Happy thoughts of death. Mmm.

"And tell me you haven't killed them already."

Or she would kill him.

"Thank you."

Arthur had never had a phone before this. He was used to people being able to actually hit him.

Also, he had an inkling that the only person who even had any advice on this particular issue of his was Romeo, and he wasn't going there. No. Oh no. So a subject change was good.

"...Was that your ferret?"

"Mako's good at kickin' ass and takin' names," Reno replied, the smirk well-apparent in his tone. "You want me to smack my phone around, you're gonna be the one replacin' it, yo."

Reno was kind that way.

"I can pay for it," said Arthur, with absolutely no trace of irony. "How's everything else?"

"Nah, they ain't dead yet," Reno replied, laughing faintly. "And so far as I can tell, yeah, a Phoenix Down'll take care of anyone, so long as they ain't too far gone yet."

He wasn't sure where exactly the line was drawn. Tap-dancing on the outskirts of death? Some kind of thinly-drawn line that came before someone's spirit flitted away to the lifestream?

It hurt his head thinking about it, so he let that train of thought drop like a hot potato.

Reno took that moment to cast his gaze around the room again.

"... Cluttered. Kinda looks like I'm livin' in the slums all over again," he snorted, nudging at a bag of soil with one foot. "An' busy. You managed to catch me on my first day off in weeks."

Ino gave her phone a look at that.

"...how can you be not too far gone in death?" she asked, just to make his head hurt more. "Isn't that the point of being dead?"

It sort of made her head hurt too. Ow.

"What have you been working on?"

Not that Arthur was trying to rule Edge - or at least Reno's apartment - from Fandom, really.

"Whatever work Tseng wants to throw at me," Reno replied, biting back a tired huff. "Pullin' double-shifts killin' monsters an' keepin' rioters in check since the Rookie took off, yo."

It was not unheard of for Reno to go a few days without sleep and food, at this rate, no.

"Well, if you're turnin' green an' your skin's peelin' off, you're probably a lost cause," Reno said, dryly. "Unless Fandom is involved."

Reno never, ever, ever wanted to see another zombie for as long as he lived. Ever.

"That's why most people keep 'em handy when they're fightin' monsters, yo. If you get knocked down, it'll bring you back before the damn thing's had a chance to move along, even."

"He hasn't found any new Turks to replenish your number?" Because that was something of a failing, there.

"Even if they're fighting solo?" she asked dubiously. "How does that work? And, yeah, uh--rotting I would assume would have to be too far gone."

What a cheerful conversation!

"The trick is findin' people who don't want us all dead, first." It was very, very tricky, really. "There ain't too many fans of ShinRa out there, yoto."

They were masters of cheerful conversation!

"If they're fightin' solo, they can't really pull it out themselves," Reno noted. "I think some people kinda just cast the spell first, preparin' for it."

A beat.

"But runnin' around with a glowin' yellow feather on your head looks kinda retarded. I don't do that shit."

"You're Reno," Ino pointed out, shifting to get more comfortable on the branch she was perched up in. "You don't need that stuff. But you've got to think of the people who aren't Reno who might. Maybe being silly looking is a good compromise for them."

Awwwww, it was kinda cute how the Rookie had all that faith in him, and junk.

"I guess lookin' like an idiot beats lookin' dead," Reno chuckled. "How you been, Ino? Ain't been killin' anyone else over peas since the last time we talked, I hope?"

"But you're still working," he observed, blinking at his phone.

"It'd be hard to kill people considering I'm currently hanging out deeper in the preserve than most of the island ever goes," she said dryly. "Which is sort of the point, I guess, the not killing not talking to people thing."

Ino tugged at her hair.

"I got kicked out of Fight Club." Really, that was probably a good summary of why she was hiding out.

"If I don't do it, who will?"

Reno was, for a lazy bastard, one hell of a workaholic, yes.

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Rude's Apartment, Edge, Thursday Afternoon

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