raspberryturk | Junon, Gaia, Thursday Afternoon

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Junon, Gaia, Thursday Afternoon

Junon, Reno supposed, wasn't half bad. Sure as hell better than Edge, which he couldn't wait to get the hell out of, especially after that weird-assed argument in Tseng's kitchen.

Tseng's ex-kitchen, Reno supposed.

He was sitting in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant on one of the city's lower levels, the world's crappiest coffee slowly dissolving a coffee mug in one hand, waiting for somebody in particular. He'd left Edge a little early, dragged a few of the boxes of paperwork along with him so that Rude wouldn't have to haul it all here, and then he'd started to poke around.

Yeah, Junon had suffered a bit since WEAPON's attack. But then, where the hell hadn't?

... Besides Kalm. Lucky, lucky-assed Kalm.

[Open for anyone who might want to call, or who has reason to be in Junon!]

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Ah. So she did know who he was. Fitting, he supposed, for anybody who was as close to Zack as the reports suggested.

"Or hot water," he noted, dryly. "Your boyfriend isn't with you?"

If he was at all hopeful that she'd decided to leave Zack behind, he certainly wasn't letting it show, no. Tseng didn't let much show. Not unless he wanted to.

Her eyes narrowed contemplatively.

"He's sleeping," she responded cautiously, not sure what Tseng wanted from her. "It's been an eventful while."

And yet, here she was wide awake, far too tired, and drinking hot water barely flavoured.

"So I've heard." Tseng glanced down into his teacup. Even his hot water was going to get cold. He could predict that happening already, and the conversation had only just begun. "And how is he taking to this Junon?"

A pause.

"No, forget I asked that. I imagine he's slept through most of it, thus far."

He almost twitched a smile, there. Zack hadn't gotten his puppy nickname for nothing, after all.

"Mostly, that's right," she said, agreeably. "I envy him that."

Entirely the truth. Ino was tired.

"He didn't--Junon didn't upset him too much, comparatively."

Compared to Mideel, Gongaga, and North Corel, Junon was doing peachy.

Just one eyebrow. Just twitching upwards. Just slightly.

"Comparatively?"

Reno had mentioned that something had gone South in Yamanaka's home, but details had been... sparing.

"Comparatively."

That was so useful, wasn't it?

"Junon is healing."

Oh, yes. Terribly useful.

"Junon has had four years to get to this point again," he noted, idly.

Which possibly said a great deal for how badly Midgar was doing four years ago, considering the sorry state of affairs that it was in right now.

Ino smiled faintly down at her tea.

"I know." She did. She'd been Reno's Rookie for... how long now? Years. "He's learning. It's hard on him."

"It's a fair bit to take in," Tseng replied, at length. He lifted his own cooling tea to his lips. Took a casual sip. Set the cup down. And then he continued. "He's seen more than Junon, then."

It was a shot in the dark. But Junon didn't strike Tseng as the sort of city that Zack would be terribly torn up about.

"Yes."

And that was a bit defiant.

"Reno doesn't know."

This had been her idea, and Zack's. No one else's.

The slight clench of Tseng's jaw would have been visible in his temples. He didn't much care. If they'd been around and saw the extent of the destruction around Gaia, he imagined this girl was bright enough to figure out why he'd be slightly perturbed about it.

"What has he seen?"

He'd reprimand Reno again for his carelessness later.

Her eyes went cool.

"Why should I tell you? If you're looking for someone to blame, blame me."

Deep breath, Tseng. Don't lose your cool on this... child.

Tempting though it might be.

"I'm not." He was. "Gaia... isn't the same as he'd remember it."

Now there was an understatement, there.

"I know. He knows. He knew that without seeing. Too many pieces had fallen into his lap and he's not--like you--," viciously clever, "but he can put things together when there's too much to ignore."

Ino toyed with her cup.

"If he's going to be upset anyway, it's better for him to know. He... doesn't handle uncertainties well."

A beat.

"And you are." A very faint smile. "I don't mind."

Not really.

She was an observant one, this girl. That simply meant that Tseng was going to have to be twice as careful, concealing his emotions in her vicinity.

"No," he agreed, at length. "He doesn't handle uncertainty well."

Neither, for that matter, did Tseng.

"How long as he known?"

His own Turks were maddeningly vague on points like these.

"Mmm," Ino pursed her lips, pressing her forehead against the glass and closing her eyes for a second before glancing back at him. "A year, thereabouts."

... Okay, Tseng managed to actually look impressed, then.

"And it hasn't driven him half-mad?"

Look, Tseng knew the boy. Even if it had been ages since last they'd spoken. He was suddenly finding himself surprised that they hadn't tried a stunt like this one far sooner, actually.

"It would have, had he been alone."

Did that sound egotistical to say? She wondered if it did and then wondered if she cared.

Maybe it would have, if they had been talking about anybody who wasn't Zack.

"I suppose that's true enough."

Considering the way Zack had dragged Cloud around... The boy needed somebody with him.

She was, at least, more reliable than a comatose friend. Thanks.

"You didn't want him to know anything."

That was safe enough, she thought. None of the Turks had.

It was. And, given the state of affairs around here, could she blame them?

... Much?

"There are risks," Tseng replied, honestly enough. "For The Planet, certainly. But at this point I'd be more inclined to worry about Zack's own psyche. This is a lot to take in, all at once."

He frowned, curling his fingers around his teacup again.

"Has he seen Midgar?"

"No."

That was next on the list.

Yes. Tseng was going to throttle Reno, next opportunity he got.

"I'd prefer he not," Tseng admitted. There was no sense dancing around that much. It should be obvious, really. "Have you seen Midgar?"

And if she had, it should be obvious why.

Ino lifted her chin slightly.

"With and without Reno's knowledge."

... Sorry, Reno.

Reno was a dead man. Again. Some more. Tseng would kill him, and then use a phoenix down so that he could do so again.

"Looking for something?"

It was a sensible enough accusation, when, like Tseng, you knew that there was something of interest in Midgar to be found.

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