raspberryturk | Edge, Friday Afternoon

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Edge, Friday Afternoon

Distress calls from Rookies, left, right, and center. That was what Reno came home to, after over a week without phone reception out in the wastes. And now it was the countdown, before one Rookie would get here, with Ifrit only knew what kind of trauma fresh in her head.

Pick up the phone. Dial numbers. He had well over an hour, between the time Ino's portal would arrive to pick her up, and the time it would actually make it into Edge, after all.

"The boss sends me on one mission in the middle of nowhere, Mako, an' the whole universe goes to Hell without me, zoto."

[NFB for distance, as usual. Open for anyone who needs a Reno call or who wants to give one, all calls will sit chronologically before a certain Ninja visitor, yo.]

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She was just a baby, really, on the scale of things. Staring at what he'd done made Ino feel small. Weak.

Here she was upset over one mission and it wasn't even that--bad.

"It sounds like it should make sense," she said, scuffing her feet on the road. "I'm just a rookie."

"You're a rookie with a notch or two on your belt, now." He shrugged. "This is the job, Ino. There ain't no glory in it. You do it because it's gotta get done and there ain't nobody else made to take that mission. You take pride in it, because fuck knows if you ain't proud of the jobs you do right, you won't have nothin' to be proud of later."

"I did do a good job," she replied, giving her hair another tug. "I know that. Even the... kid. Just made framing Kinjo easier. Made it look worse."

She still felt cold though.

"I ran, from Fandom. 'Cause I couldn't play their lie. Does that make me weak?"

Anyone else, she wouldn't have asked. But Reno was the only one she knew well enough who really--got it. Her world. He trusted her, she could trust him back.

"I'm scared."

And Ino did not like admitting that, a slow flush spread across her cheeks. So weak, she chided herself.

"You're holdin' it together," Reno countered. Gently. Or, really, as gently as Reno ever could manage. "I didn't run from Fandom. I just did a lotta hidin' while I was there. If you're weak, Ino, so am I."

Hand in his pocket. Eye on the broken skyline.

"I spent a hell of a lotta time scared, too. You learn not to let it show. People confuse fear for weakness. That's bullshit. Fear keeps you alive. keep feelin' it. Only a damn idiot sacrifices himself like that for the job."

"I wish I could do it like the rest of my team," she admitted. "It was easier--on the mission, you know? Like, there were always things to think about."

She shrugged a bit.

"Not holding it together that well--not if I can't even manage just being alone in my room 'cause it's on Fandom."

"You got a room with me as long as you need it, Ino." He offered her a wry sort of grin. "Personally, I think Edge would get to you after a while. Too much grey. Just breathin' starts to sting after a while if you ain't used to the smell. Could probably catch a cart outta town an' show you some of the nearby places that ain't so dead as this. Kalm, maybe. Or this chocobo ranch that's through the hills. You'd mentioned wantin' to see a chocobo sometime."

He was rambling, he knew it. So?

He was rambling, but she was smiling slightly, so it was probably a fair sort of trade.

"I do want to see one," Ino agreed, giving the ruins another long look, then tilting her head at him inquiringly. "And a demon house. I've been wanting to see one of those for forever."

Seriously. Demon. Houses.

"A cart, though, might take some convincing. Feet generally work."

"Feet ain't gonna agree with you after a week spent wanderin' the desert," Reno laughed. "You leave Mid--" Sigh. "You leave Edge, and there ain't nothin' livin' for forever an' then some. Gotta carry a hell of a lotta water an' food to get you past the wastelands alive, yoto."

"Running is our fastest mode of transportation back home," she shared, making a face at him. "Can't blame me for rathering it."

"Do you think things will live there again?"

"I can run as fast as a chocobo at a normal run," Reno shared. This was a big deal, considering most humans couldn't keep up with a chocobo at a merry trot. "But that trip still takes at least a day on birdback. You wanna leave here, you pack for it. Bring a tent."

That would also be more impressive if she knew exactly how fast they ran. Ino could tell it was hugely likely to be pretty damn fast though.

"I'm guessing you're used to camping then?" Ino queried. "All things considered."

"I spent the last week an' some in the wastes killin' monsters," Reno agreed.

...

"It sucked."

She glanced sideways at him.

"Killing monsters sucks?"

"Rottin' in the wastes alone, smackin' around one-hits sucks," Reno clarified. "I'd sooner be travellin' to somewhere that the monsters actually give me a challenge, yo. They're dangerous to civilians around here, sure, an' they like to mob people. But boooooring."

"Adrenaline junkie," she laughed. Maybe not as bright as normal, but it was a laugh. That was something. "I bet they're not one-hits for most people though."

"Nah, they ain't," Reno allowed, smirking faintly. The laugh was good to hear, even if it wasn't the usual chirp. "Gonna have to take you out there an' show 'em to you anyhow, I guess. See how well you take on a Kalm Fang, zoto."

They were wolves. Kinda.

Ino eyed him. "Lemme guess--floating fangs, or something?"

What? He had demon houses and stuff.

"Dogs," Reno laughed. "You want literal, I'll introduce you to a Bomb sometime. Big fireball with a face that'll go all kamikaze on your ass if you don't kill it fast enough."

...

"...how do you kill something that--blows up?" Ino was pretty sure kunai weren't going to cut it.

"It decides it wants to blow up. It gets bigger as it's gettin' ready to, so you gotta kill that little fucker before it gets that far."

Kindergarten stuff, totally!

No, not really.

"Right," she said, a bit dubiously. "And try not to get blown up in the mean time."

"Or lit on fire," Reno agreed, pleasantly. "Mostly try not to get lit on fire. That part tends to suck."

As being lit on fire is wont to do, yes.

"Brilliant," she decided. "I want to see one."

"That can be arranged," Reno decided, grinning. Thinking. Where had he seen bombs, lately? "Probably some somewhere in the ruins, actually. Works nice like that. We don't gotta wander the friggin' desert for months to find 'em, that way."

"You could spend months in those ruins," she noted.

Monster killing (or commentary as other people did the killing) was totally excellent therapy.

Or something. Or maybe Ino was just an adrenaline junkie too.

"I think, too," she added, "that people would be upset if I disappeared for months."

Ino: hadn't really let anyone know she was back and then leaving again.

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