Edge, Friday Afternoon

[raspberryturk]

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.]

Comments

[raspberryturk]

"Good. Keep it that way."

He gave his baton a tap against his shoulder, and then nudged some wreckage to the side with one foot. There were signs up, put there by the WRO stating that this area was off-limits.

Limits were for civilians, anyhow. Reno pushed on past and into the shadow of the old city.

[intraspective]

Ino bit back a smart-ass comment and followed him.

Creepy.

"So," she said quietly, stepping lightly enough that her feet weren't leaving any sound as she took in as much of the ruined city as she could. "Let's guess--signs are to be ignored if you're stupid and/or stupidly brave and/or work for the... WRO?"

[raspberryturk]

"The signs are to keep out civilians who don't know where the leaks an' monster dens are," Reno replied, glancing upward at the ragged mass of metal overhead. "Plus there are pieces of plate still left standin' that could come down at any moment. There ain't no way to get out from under one of them if it's fallin' on you."

Trust him. He'd seen it before.

"The WRO is the World Regenesis Organization. They give guns to kids who ain't never seen battle an' then pretend that they can keep the people safe. Reeve was doin' more good in that regard when he stuck to his toy cats, zoto."

Reno was being maybe a little harsh. The WRO was also the group that was responsible for most of the organized building around Edge.

[intraspective]

"Sometimes kids are all that they've got to use," Ino said, frowning slightly as she added that to her mental list of Things From Reno's World.

"Reeve? Toy cats?" Mmm, questions. "Are the signs the only thing that keep people out?"

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, just the signs. People tryin' to scavenge anything of any worth either risk comin' back sick, or way too often they don't come back at all."

Monsters. Et cetera.

"The toy cat was... Stupid."

That was the best way Reno could really describe Cait Sith, yes.

[intraspective]

"Oookay," she said, stepping over a bit of rubble. "And--Reeve's head of the WRO, right?"

And... played with toy cats. Alrighty then.

[raspberryturk]

"ShinRa's ex head of urban development or whatever," Reno replied, shrugging. "He was the dude in charge of gettin' shit built. Took the other guy's side in a clash to save the planet, or somethin', I dunno."

Sure Reno knew. He just liked to shrug and wave it off.

[intraspective]

Ino was starting to wonder if maybe she ought to find a book or something about all of this stuff. Ow her head.

"Getting shit built," she echoed, "that's pretty important to here and now."

[raspberryturk]

There were records! Tseng filed paperwork every time a chocobo sneezed in freaking Mideel, after all.

"It is. Which is why the WRO can stick to buildin' things, an' I'll stick to beatin' monsters up for 'em, 'cause they suck."

[intraspective]

"Seems like a fair division of labour then," she noted, "'cause I think you'd be really bored without any monsters ever to deal with."

[raspberryturk]

"I was goin' stir-crazy in Fandom," Reno noted, nodding his agreement as he pushed some more debris out of the way to clear a path. "Keep an eye out while we're hangin' around here. Monsters like to come outta nowhere, sure, but you can find some pretty kickass shit just lyin' around if you're payin' attention, too."

[intraspective]

"Excellent," she said, actually amused. "I flee with a problem and you take me out to explore and there's actually danger."

Ino contemplated that.

"I think I owe you booze, or something for that."

[raspberryturk]

"I accept payment in Bacardi, Everclear, Cuervo, an' good dirt for growin' things in," came a reply and a chuckle. "Admit it, Ino. You're lovin' the field trip so far, yo."

[intraspective]

"Absolutely," she answered promptly. "Company is pretty good too."