Edge, Friday Evening

[raspberryturk]

It was one of those rare nights that Reno had managed to score all to himself, off-duty, with not a single reason to worry about Tseng calling him in out of the blue to do some urgent mission or another. Why? Because Rude had the night off, too, and Tseng knew better than to try to call Reno in when Rude would do the job just as well, and without whining about it.

And so, there he was, sprawled backwards on the couch (and doing an admirable job of ignoring the busted springs in his back) and staring up at the ceiling, contemplating where in the world he was supposed to go from here and the obstacles on his way to wherever that turned out to be.

"Winter's coming, yo." He paused, and then, with a faint smirk on his lips, he added, "Fehdan'c lusehk."

At the very least, it wasn't as though he'd be making the trip alone.

[For that girl who speaks the funny language. And sure, open for phone calls or whatever, if you'd like.]

Comments

[the_merriest]

"Ed femm pa lumt cuuh," she agreed, eyes dancing. She liked it when he spoke Al Bhed, dammit.

She joined him on the couch, leaning over to bink his nose before growing more serious. "I probably ... should get going, sooner or later."

The WRO was actually starting to act like an actual peacekeeping force. And, well, Spira's peace wouldn't hold forever.

[raspberryturk]

Peace never did, did it? And Reno hadn't even really made a scratch on the surface of all of the issues around Edge, let alone problems around The Planet that he'd had a hand in.

That didn't work out nicely at all, did it?

He sighed faintly, reaching for the hand that had done the binking, and nodding faintly.

"Cuuhan un mydan," he agreed. "I don't think I can go just yet. I mean, to visit, sure. But... The place is still a mess, yo. The WRO ain't put me outta work just yet."

[the_merriest]

"I know," she said quickly, twining her fingers through his. "I didn't mean -- oui ghuf ruf silr E fuimt fyhd vun oui du lusa. But I wasn't asking. You're doing important stuff here, yoto."

She leaned over to kiss his forehead. This was cozy. That was one of the many reasons it was so damn hard to leave.

"I'm sorry I can't just ... give up everything and move in, yeah?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno nodded, and then shifted his weight a little, before giving up on the couch springs completely and kind of flopping his head back into Rikku's lap.

Mmmm, cozy. That was one of the reasons it was so damn hard to let her leave.

"It'd be nice if you could," he noted, pursing his lips and giving a shoulder a shrug, "but that ain't the way the universe works, is it?" Which, for the record, sucked. A lot. "We got our phones. I'll write some more, an' when you write back you can tell me how long it took you to figure out what the hell I was tryin' to write."

Reno was not world-renowned for his legible penmanship.

"Spira haatc ymm dra ramb ed lyh kad, duu. Nekrd?"

[the_merriest]

"Nekrd," she nodded. "Edge is worse, I think. We're starting over, but ... we didn't have as much destroyed as you did."

A moment later, she added, "Uhmo dra tayt fa ryja mucd ymuhk dra fyo."

She felt like being maudlin tonight, apparently.

"Maybe next time I come, I bring people. Or at least more food."

[withoutverona]

And in Verona, Romeo came in from shopping with Benvolio and flopped onto his bed. Yurika was still out; he wasn't sure where, but suspected it involved spending large amounts of money.

He picked up the phone and punched in Reno's number.

[raspberryturk]

"People," Reno agreed. "Food's good, too. But what we really need is some kinda sustainable food source, zoto. Somethin' we can grow here in Edge, even with the dirt the way it is. The Al Bhed use hydroponics, right? Think there'd be any way to get people out here to help Edge set somethin' like that up?"

A pause, and then a wry smile.

"It'd make work for the locals, yo."

[raspberryturk]

"Yo!"

Reno didn't need no stinkin' fancy greetings, did he? None of this name and rank crap that some Turks had done over the years. No, no, 'yo' demonstrated who he was well enough.

Especially when the ringtone was totally not a business call.

"How's it goin', my man?"

[withoutverona]

"It goes," Romeo answered. "I might dare say it goes well, even. We're in Verona for the holiday and the shopping that goes with it." A pause. "I'm sending you another box before I go, by the way."

"And you?"

[raspberryturk]

"Can't complain too much," Reno mused, kicking his feet up so that they were propped up against the wall that ran alongside the couch.

He could sit upside-down in the couch if he damn well wanted to.

"We're gettin' weather out here, man. Snow. Even if it does kinda fall, an' then melt, an' then repeat the process all over again. I friggin' hate snow."

[the_merriest]

"They do," she nodded. "I'll get Buddy on it. I think he was one of the people that tended to the plants. If not, Gippal would know. See what blueprints they can send, and details about the set-up, yeah?"

Which reminded her.

"E ryja y cinbneca vun oui."

[raspberryturk]

"A surprise?" Reno's eyebrows quirked up a little as he shifted his weight some in order to meet her eyes. "Now you got me all curious, yoto."

Reno was totally a fan of surprises. When they came from Rikku, who was not likely to surprise him with a bullet to the head, or something of the sort.

... And if she did, then wow, that really would be a surprise.

[withoutverona]

Romeo glanced outside at the 65 degree day.

... he thought that was cold. He'd even bothered with a jacket!

"Not so much a problem in Verona," he said. "I had never seen snow except skiing before I came to Fandom. I suppose I'll have to suffer through the winter again in Tokyo."

[the_merriest]

"I was gooooing to wait until it was finished," she admitted, squirming in her seat. "But I kinda want to show you now. Ed'c y kuut cinbneca, E bnuseca."

A very good surprise. If it worked. She was pretty sure it would. Everything seemed okay so far, anyway.

[glacial_queen]

Karla gave her phone a dubious look, thumb hesitating over the send button. Elena had assured her that her friend wouldn't mind answering her questions, but still, it just felt weird to be calling a strange male out of the blue.

But if it would help Glacia...

She pressed the button and listened to it ring.

[raspberryturk]

"Wear warm socks," Reno offered, smiling lopsidedly into the phone. "That's the only thing that ever kept my ass from freezin' off whenever the job had me up in the Icicle area, yo."

A pause, then, while that sank in.

"I wasn't wearin' the socks on my ass, by the way." He had to clarify these things, after all. "You know, I ain't never been skiing?"

[raspberryturk]

"That's the way I like 'em, yo," Reno decided, smiling a little at that. "So, where is this real good surprise of yours?"

Because in an apartment like this one, where they were shoulder-to-shoulder-to-bean-to-tail, it would be difficult to bring in anything even remotely surprising without somebody noticing, was all.

[raspberryturk]

It really didn't ring for long, of course. Reno had his phone on him, and while he was curious about the unfamiliar ringtone, it wasn't as though that was enough to stop him from answering.

"Yo!"

... Okay, he'd answered. Nobody ever said that his telephone greeting had to be terribly verbose, here.

[withoutverona]

"Do you want to go this winter?" Romeo asked. "I have a month break from school, anyhow."

And it would be funny to watch Reno fall on his ass, even if there weren't socks hanging off of it.

[raspberryturk]

"Not for a whole month," Reno laughed, "but you let me know when you're goin', and I'll see what it'd take for me to swing a weekend or some off, if nothin' else. I ain't seen you outside of school functions on the island since grad, man. That simply won't do, yo."

Clearly, there was something the matter with the universe at large if they were not stirring up shit together on a more regular basis.

[glacial_queen]

"Ummm...hello?" Karla's dubious expression only deepened, as 'yo' was a completely unfamiliar term to her. "This is Karla...I got this number from Elena?"

This might have been a really bad idea.

[withoutverona]

"There's less than no need to go skiing for a whole month, anyhow," Romeo said. "You go for the weekend, you fall down, you hang out in the lodge and drink until you're dry and warm."

He rolled onto his stomach. "I've wanted to see you. I didn't know if I could get you away from the beans."

[the_merriest]

"At the office," she said. "Well, not in my office. It wouldn't fit. And it's not just for you, like, a just-for-Reno surprise? But ... you know what I mean, yeah?"

A just-for-Reno surprise would probably involve lingerie, handcuffs, or Rikku making out with another girl.

[raspberryturk]

"Oooooh." Reno grinned and sat up again, only to flop against the back of the couch, slinging his feet up onto the coffee table. "You're the Rookie's friend that she mentioned, huh? The one who talks to the dirt?"

Reno's understanding of the concept was... Somewhat shaky, at best, here. But at least he'd gathered that much.

[raspberryturk]

"Contrary to popular belief," Reno noted, "the beans ain't my whole life, pal."

Only much of it, lately.

"I can get Rude to watch 'em for a while, the beans an' Mako. Shouldn't be a problem, there. So long as I promise him video of me fallin' on my ass at least once, that shouldn't be a problem at all."