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[ Looks like there's a redhead enjoying a nice dinner for himself. Nothing too fancy, just a partially eaten burger is visible on the screen, and the booth seat behind him.

That he found some way to lounge in with an arm stretched across the back. ]

So, free housing, huh? Not bad, but I'm not sold on the kitchen appliances in 'em just yet. I mean, I've had MREs, but that's just a whole new level, yo. How do they really taste?

Anyway, name's Reno, and accordin' to everyone else, guess I'm stuck here too.

Please tell me I can buy alcohol here..

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Not found the bar yet.

If you do, lemme know.

[Because a nice, cold beer would be so good right about now.]

Oh come on, really?

[ A sigh, and he slurps at his soda through a straw to pout, making that obnoxious sound near-empty cups make. ]

Alright, hear me out: we brew our own.

[He grins.]

Now you're onto something.

Can't be too hard, right?

I mean, mead's just honey, water, and yeast, yo.

I'd look it up, but no cell service, and I'm still tinkering with this tablet to see what all it can do. I'll stop by my place after lunch to see what all those food replicator things can spit out for us. We'll go from there.

[Excuse him for not immediately speaking the moment he sees this, he's remembering a certain past conversation of his, in addition a certain letter he'd written last month. He doesn't want to credit the letter or the possibility of their hosts reading it and then deciding to act on it for this.

It's more likely completely unrelated to any actions of his in the prior month. Though part of him wonders if there might not be something wrong with this 'gift' if the past experience is anything for him to go by.

Regardless, a friendly face is a friendly face, and if one of the Turks had to be stranded away from home here with him, Reno was a good choice.

The video feed finally flickers to life in response to this message to show a familiar blond, currently he's sans coat, thus in a dark gray dress shirt that is partially covered by a black waistcoat that is no doubt familiar to Reno. He's taken to mix and matching the new looser suit he received now that it's been 'fixed' with the one he'd arrived in. ]

Reno.

I see you've made yourself at home here rather quickly.

[He's not exactly scolding, but really, Reno.. is finding a good stiff drink the first thing that should be on your list of priorities when arriving in a new world? Though Rufus certainly couldn't deny the fact that given the current situation, it did no doubt hold an appeal when he considered finding one for himself.]

[ Joke's on you, Rufus, Reno's taking a break since he burned all those calories walking all over this weird city, checking the temples and perimeters out, asking about the weather outside the gates and inside, and took tours of the different districts. It was mostly to get his bearings, but also largely because Reno preferred knowing exactly what was going on around him. Which necessitated him doing some initial recon, just in case.

'I didn't know' was never a reasonable excuse for a Turk in any situation.

However, without cell service or being able to backread very far just yet(he was in the midst of it while taking his lunch break, and needed a distraction to help better retain information), it came as a surprise to him to see one Rufus ShinRa chime in. A pleasant surprise, but a troubling one. The Geostigma was his initial concern, and how Rufus had somehow been faring by his damn self with that here? How the fuck did none of the Turks not notice their god damn president was--WHEN did this happen? Because he wasn't far from Rufus to begin with.

A few expressions went across his face: raised brows with perturbed concern. His head then cocked back and his brows knitted with confusion, and one could swear they saw the formulas floating around Reno's head as he did the mental calculations. And finally, an only slightly awkward crooked grin as he flicked the wrist hanging over the back of the booth.

Also don't worry about the request for alcohol it's fiiiine. ]

Sir.

C'mon, you know me, good with the locals. I wouldn't call it at home yet though.

So, where am I goin'?
[ He's not leaving you alone here, with or without Geostigma. ]

They're lacking in quality, likely due to the lack of samples to clone food from.

Though, if the flora and fauna are all mutated by toxins and we're the only biological life forms here, it does make one wonder exactly what they are using to engineer food from.

[The expressions that filed their way across the redheads face raised a few questions, but questions he'd refrain from voicing currently over this. He'd done enough talking about home in public last month, he wasn't going to do it again over a device where anyone could listen in and even save such conversations if they so desired.

At least his earlier public speaking stunts were done in ways that only those in the area could hear him. Part of why he appeared to prefer speaking in person during his time here over using the communicator.

He does however type out directions to direct Reno to his house, small and simple as it is, it is tolerable while he works toward the funds to relocate to a better location and housing. Given it would now be housing two instead of one, that goal will have to become his main priority now. Tolerable for one was one thing, how long it remained tolerable with two and slid into unacceptable was something he didn't want to discover without a ready means to correct the situation.

Here have some unasked for important information though.]

I've been here a couple of months now.

We can discuss what we each recall last when you arrive..

[Because yes, that will become rather important as you'll soon learn.]

[ When the directions popped on screen, he scooped up his food, placed a second order for something light, and made his way out of the delightful warmth of the restaurant.

Duty calls.

However, the mention of two months drew another menagerie of visual responses from Reno.

Rufus had..his sense of humor, but this wasn't a situation he could imagine Rufus would be joking about. He looked away from the screen with a brief scowl, and sucked his teeth, running through absolute mental gymnastics of sorting that out with no amount of pleasure. ]

Yes, Sir. On my way; I'll be there in twenty.

[ True to his word, the redhead promptly arrived, extra meal and a drink in tow alongside his leftovers, and a nose and cheeks that were almost as red as his hair. He didn't seem any worse for the wear of it, but the second he laid eyes on his boss, Rufus may very well notice the surprise on his face on seeing Rufus just. Casually standing and walking around. And unbandaged. He would definitely notice the keen-eyed once-over Reno gave him, too.

He may or may not have just kinda forgot for a second that he had food in hand at the sight of it. ]

Yeah..yeah okay. We got some discussing to do, alright. Boss, you alright?

And beer needs hops.

But we can start with yours and work up to that.

Ugh...I wish that was enough to make me lose my appetite, but that explains the taste.

[ He looked down at his food in dismay, picking up the bun to inspect the party and condiments, as if the fact that it was all poisonous clones would suddenly jump out at him. ]

Good question, though. Any theories on how that's supposed to work yet? Or the long term effects of eatin' rapidly mutating food sources?

[He did pause to think more.]

On second thought, it is unlikely to be mutated humans. At least, the earliest food wouldn't have been. It takes some time to grow meat in a lab, and they would not have had enough on the first day of our arrival.

Which, perhaps puts me back at an earlier theory - that it is being essentially 'teleported' from another location somehow. A stockpile of sorts, maybe.

Though in more recent times more life has cropped up, so it may be that there is a way to generate life from... seemingly nothing. There must be 'something', obviously, it just isn't apparent to us yet.

[Feel better now? Maybe it's just suuuuper old rations.]

I have been eating it since my arrival and have not suffered any noticeable ill effects thus far.

You know, I wasn't thinking mutated humans at first, but now I can't not. Oh, I don't think I got your name.

[ He snorted with a laugh, but let his burger alone to turn back to the camera. He seemed to be in the middle of his way out of there, but was still amicable while poking at the situation laid before him here and there. ]

I mean, like I said, I wasn't keen on the gadgets they have here that just suddenly apparatus food from nothin', supposedly. If that's the case, then what's the point in me paying for this burger? It's make more sense if it was somehow teleported from a stockpile, but that's a whole other mess.

Besides, with the way that storms ragin' outside the walls, but fine here--and I didn't see any farming districts? Little suspect, if you ask me.

Just get someone to ask 'how high' and you can get as many hops as you need.

[ He snorted with a huff of a laugh, and chewed on a few fries while waiting his turn to talk. Don't worry, Reno doesn't talk with his mouth full. ]

Gee thanks. I guess that means you'll get to heft the tanks, mister...?

Funny.

But sure. If I'm good for anythin, it's heavy lifting.

[A grin, because while its said jokingly, its also painfully true.]

Research Chief Verstael Besithia of the Imperial Army. I was among the first to arrive on this planet, so I am most capable of answering that which we have discovered thus far.

It is very suspect. I'm currently building a magitek engine in order to explore the outside further, but it will be some time yet. We do know, from the archives, that there were other cities at one point. Whether those still exist or not remains to be seen, but my first suspicions had been that the replicators transport food from another area. I've yet to see where this food comes from for certain, though.

I would recommend Affurgato if you are interested in fine cuisine. The owners are 'magic users' who are able to conjure food, which tastes excellent.

And should you seek information, you are welcome to browse my Information Center. Though, it is undergoing some renovations at the moment... [The last part sounded a little odd. He wasn't opposed to it, but it almost sounded like he had to remember that renovations were happening. This all sounded like he was speaking of something foreign to him now.] I believe there is meant to be a fee now and some sort of counter of 'impulse buys', but we are still ironing out the details.

[Again with the gambit of emotional reactions from the redhead, it prompted even more questions, though as before he said nothing in response to it, merely nodding briefly in response to the words before shutting the feed down on his end to wait for Reno's arrival.

While he sat and waited, Rufus considered what he's observed in the redhead, he considered the questions it raised, which were plenty.

When Reno had arrived, he'd risen to let him inside and had been walking toward a table where Reno could set the food down. At the lack of footsteps following him, he stopped to turn around to question that only to observe yet more questionable behavior. The surprise expressed followed by the words finally pulled something akin to confusion from him as he eyeballed the redhead silently for a good minute despite the question asked.]

I'm fine. Are you though?

[He gestured toward the table and chairs beyond him.]

Set your food down and we can get things cleared up between us.

[Because it was becoming blindingly obvious something was off.. it was just a matter of getting to the bottom of what that something was.]

[ He just kinda. Watched Rufus move around with utmost ease. No effort to mask it and make it look perfect to the point of being mechanical, no borders of foundation or concealer, no exhaustion, nothing. He was just there.

When Rufus spoke, Reno gave his head a small shake and a brief, hard blink to snap himself out of it, and he let himself in, closing the door behind him with a small kick and bump of his hip. The food was placed on the table, and with his arms then free, they folded across his chest while his head bobbed to gesture at his boss. ]

Yeah I see that. I must be losin it though, cause you we're just in the other room.

[ He freed one hand to poke a finger towards Rufus, brows raised, but his tone flat with irritated concern. ]

I just left to get you somethin' to drink, and poof! Here I am. And you're not only fit as a fiddle, but you've been here two months, somehow, without any of us noticin'?

Boss. [ Reno was born at night...probably. But not last night. There was a subtle shift in his weight, his stance was a little wider, and ready to move. His hands, crossed like this over his chest, could easily get to his mag rod pretty quickly, and now that he had this guy in closed quarters, he was confident in being able to block off the main exit. ]

I think I need a better explanation, yo. Startin' with your old VP clearance password.

[The first part of what Reno says makes absolutely no sense at all to him, given when he left, he'd already set orders for the Turks to tail the small group which had invaded the Building and then fled it after his duel and making a mockery out of Heidegger's attempt to capture them. Therefore Reno certainly hadn't been in the next room getting him a drink and he most certainly had not been sick.

At the stressed title, he noticed the shift in stance and knew exactly what it entailed and the threat it was establishing without a word needing to be said. His eyes briefly shifted to look sideways off toward the counter where the holstered gun lay, his own stance shifting toward being ready to move at a moment's notice in response to that threat. While it'd be a toss up as to if he could get to it in time to use it as a shield, he'd really rather not risk harm coming to him, Reno or his gun.

Therefore if he wanted that password as proof of his identity, so be it. The numbers came easily and were given just as simply.]

Satisfied? If so, sit your ass down and let's talk like civilized men so I can explain what I suspect might be going on.

[There could really only be one thing responsible for this and he doubted that there was any way to 'fix' this like he'd fixed his suit. They would just have to deal with it.]

Edited 2021-01-09 04:59 (UTC)

[ He waits, sharp eyes scrutinizing the string of numbers. Reno had been kindly invited in to this home--into private quarters with him, making confrontation so much easier than it had any right being, meaning he could dig down to the bottom of this rabbit hole by whatever means he needed to, and nip the threat of possible security breaches in the bud.

It was an old, defunct password that he'd asked for. No one with the wherewithall would have any idea that password once existed, let alone have the means to get it, so he figured it was a good place to start. However, Rufus didn't falter, and spit out the string of numbers with casual ease. He really hadn't expected that at all, and was ready to start circling like a one-man wolf pack, putting pressure on him more and more steadily until he cracked and spilled his secrets.

A corner of his lips pulled back as he scrutinized the situation with a displeased leer down his nose, but with another click of his teeth, he resigned that this. This man had to be Rufus. Maybe one of his old comrades, but it was just too elaborate at this point for them to have not come clean if such was the case. The silent tension came to it's peak after Reno's little pouting-tantrum, and his finally posture relaxed. He was still leery, but Reno's agitation was less like a snake ready to pounce, and more akin to a stubborn husky. ]

Alright..alright. [ He unfolded his arms and held his hands up, palms towards Rufus as his head ducked down a bit in submission to the situation. ] Sorry, Rufus. Can't be too careful, though. [ He tapped the side of his head with a finger, trusting Rufus to understand he was a keeper of many delicate secrets.

He pulled out a chair for Rufus, though, and one for himself before sitting. A small apology from the Turk. ]

'Dunno if you've had anything, so I brought you lunch. I was gonna eat it later if you turned out to be an imposter, but it's all yours now.

So, what's going on?

Edited (Mobile is a traitor and autocorrects poorly) 2021-01-09 05:24 (UTC)

[He took the proffered seat across from Reno, accepting the offered lunch. He hadn't actually had lunch yet so he was silently grateful for the forethought given to the action.]

I'll assume you're apparently from a time ahead of my own, much as I am ahead time wise of both Cloud Strife and Sephiroth here, to give two examples.

[He deliberately paused there to turn part of his attention to the meal, trying a bite of it as he kept the remainder of his attention on the redhead waiting to see how he took that revelation, especially the second name.]

[ Things were going better. He'd made himself comfortable in the chair. Got back to his seasoned fries. He thought he was ready for the wild ride the explanation was going to be.

He just. Took his time chewing, and raised a brow silently at Rufus. ]

Okay, so the gods here can pull us from different places. And times? Might as well, while we're at it.

But then that's why you're walkin' around just fine--you don't have Geostigma yet.

[ A beat. Then both of his brows raised. ]

Sephiroth!?

He's fuckin' gone--I mean. He's gone for me.

[ Reno seemed to relax in his chair again. Stuffed a few more fries in his mouth, and swallowed those down before continuing with what he knew. ]

Jeez, where do I start..

[ He ran a hand through his hair and tilted his head back, craning his neck to do so as he stared at the ceiling, sorting his thoughts. ]

Alright, so. We find the temple of the Ancients, and get the key we need to get in. Reeve got Cait to steal it, gave it to Tseng. Chief goes into the temple with it, tried to get the black materia before anyone else. We got his distress call when he ran into Sephiroth. It didn't end well, but he survived.

Apparently the temple itself was the black materia, and reeve told us Sephiroth's plan to use meteor to cause a planetary wound so deep, it makes the lifestream appear. He planned to absorb the lifestream, become god, that whole complex we know and love.

Oh, and all the Sephiroths we were chasin were just clones. Cloud became one of them during the Nibelheim incident cause the mako baths he used had S cells in 'em. Zack didn't take to the S cells. That's apparently how he escaped death--he was just recovering underground, and all the versions we saw were clones, like with Genesis and Angeal, they just didn't degrade.

Cloud heads up through the forgotten capital towards what we presumed the Promised Land, Aerith goes missing--turns out Sephiroth Sephiroth killed her, presumably cause he knew she knew how to stop him. That one's still conjecture, but the evidence is solid, he disappeared into the lifestream before all of this.

[ He pauses again for a bite of his burger, making a mental checklist. He went over Sephiroth being a sociopathic, unkillable cockroach, did he mention Hojo jerking himself yet? Ah, no. That's right. How could he forget? ]

The clones we're all headed to the real Sephiroth in the Northern Crater, Cloud included, and Hojo's havin' a good time with his own god complex since Sephiroth is about to end the world and released the Weapons--you remember them. From the Zirconiaide incident.

The Diamond weapon, now awake, goes after Midgar. We fire the Sister Ray, it takes out the fuckin' barrier Sephiroth made over the North Crater, but the Diamond weapon destroys HQ, and you're declared dead. It was a sad day, but you got better. There's a secret passage there we didn't know you took, and I never wanted to punch your face in more in my life.

Yadda yadda, Scarlet and Heidegger take over, Reeve is declared traitor and taken into custody, Cloud helps Reeve out, Hojo wants to fire the Sister Ray again cause he pulled the big reveal of being Sephiroth's father--oh, Cloud's gang kill Scarlet and Heidegger, which was nice. I loved it. Hojo, too. It was good times.

Cloud goes into the North Crater to deal with Sephiroth, meanwhile Meteor is barrelin' towards the planet. We're all rushing to evacuate everyone we can from Midgar cause the meteor is way too close. Apparently when Aerith died at the Capital, she summoned Holy, so Holy is tryin', but can't protect the planet.

So instead, the Lifestream comes from the planet to push back the meteor while we're evacuatin' everyone--it was a reunion, we got all the Turks back on board, boss. They send their regards. Anyway, the Lifestream was givin' Holy enough time to deal with the Meteor.

After that calmed down and Sephiroth was dealt with, we all stopped usin' Mako energy. We got you out of the wreckage, but you were messed up pretty bad. We got you out to Kalm to recover, but someone got wind of your location and after getting you back from 'em, that's when Edge got founded. You and Reeve funded the World Regenesis Organization, and you bankrolled it while survivors started rebuildin' their lives.

[ Please don't make him submit that story in writing. Telling it was bad enough. He'd do it, but detailing that whole mess would be a pain. ]

You ended up getting kidnapped again by one of Hojo's acolytes while still recovering. You end up a bargaining chip so the guy can get more SOLDIER stimulants to help stave off the pain of Geostigma, and contracted the disease from there before we could get you back. Unfortunately it's a hundred percent fatality rate, so we've been burnin' the candle at both ends to get you fixed up.

[ And with that! He was going to finish his god damn burger and let Rufus do the talking! ]

Edited (Fuck the novellas. (╯ರ ~ ರ)╯︵ ┻━┻) 2021-01-09 08:51 (UTC)

[He had definitely not expected that info dump as a result of his reveal. After a fashion the rundown of events that had occurred for the redhead largely served to further confuse, though it did illuminate the reason why Reno had been so insistent that he was ill.

He ends up finishing his own meal in silence as he mulls things over, though it feels like there's something missing because he has no idea what the 'temple of ancients' that is mentioned has to do with anything beyond being something rather nasty that should have been left well enough alone. Though from the sound of it, that hadn't exactly been an option.

Perhaps it was best he just shove all of that off to the side for now, after all none of that had come to pass yet for him and depending on what happened here, it was entirely possible none of it ever would come to pass.

Of course he wasn't so preoccupied that he didn't notice Reno stealing fries from the meal he'd been given. After the second time, he waited for the redhead to try it a third time and abruptly reached out to grab Reno's hand as he attempted to claim the fry.]

I'll assume you've heard of what's expected of us while we're here.

[He continued to keep claim of Reno's hand, holding it snug in his own, not too tight though. If he decided to shift his hand around the younger man's hand, he could even turn this into a mock hand hold which could be beneficial to them both in a financial sense.]

In fact they want us to do it so badly that they centered their entire economy around it. Their dora can be best earned simply by what we're doing here.

Interesting is it not, that such an innocent action can apparently provide them with the power they need and desire.

[As he finished speaking, he slid his hand around to line their hands up palm to palm and linked his fingers through Reno's.]

We could earn a tidy sum of money simply by continuing our conversation holding hands like this if you can believe it.

Edited 2021-01-09 10:13 (UTC)

[ He really wasn't sure what he expected--actually, he was, and he expected nothing.

The point of regaling the culmination of decades' worth of events, and dumping so much information at Rufus' feet was to make sure his boss had as much information at his disposal as possible when making decisions. To give him the best possible chance with everything going on here, and make sure Rufus succeeded in whatever endeavor he chose to pursue. And if that meant taking advantage of foresight, then he'd make what accommodations he could.

The relative silence after he finished talking was rather heavy, and he could feel the currents as they churned, and when they began to settle. Throughout it, Reno felt no such need or want to fill it with idle chatter, and just left Rufus to his thoughts--besides, it was nice seeing his boss healthy again. And also, the time spent in consideration meant he could snitch more fries.

Or. Well. He got away with two, which was nowhere near his previous records.

His brows raised, and his stare raised lazily to Rufus when he was caught, but he made no real move to pull away. Even if this Rufus was from his past, it just did not register for him that Rufus might not be as tolerant of his casual teasing. There had been a solid foundation of trust between them for many, many years. So he just casually smirked. ]

Huh, is that what they're callin' it here?

[ He was not prepared for the way their fingers laced together, though. That was a little past what he ever expected, and for a moment, Reno missed a few beats. He stared down at their hands like a pleasantly curious cat, letting the motions happen until his brain caught up with the situation.

When finally it did, he was fine to keep holding Rufus' hand, happy to earn himself some extra cash to play with, but he also leaned forward and put his other elbow on the table, and held his chin in his palm with a coy smile. ]

Jeez, boss, lunch and holdin' hands? All you had to do was ask me to take you out on a date.

[ He looked so satisfied with himself while waiting to devour Rufus' response. ]

I mean, it's possible. Weird, but I'll bet my next paycheck there's more to it than just this. Can't say I'm keen on them knowin' whenever we're up to shit to pay us for it.

Edited (Petition for autocorrect to let me have nice things.) 2021-01-09 10:20 (UTC)

[Hang on. That face on his screen.....is that who he thinks? Bright red hair, annoying voice....]

Edited 2021-01-09 16:23 (UTC)

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Video // you're making my Vexen muse wake up.

I seem to make everyone's Vexen muse wake up

That's a good thing. But also odd that my reply didn't save the icon

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Oh no

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On the plus side, rufus can rest assured there won't be any unauthorized doubles???? :D;;

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1/4 NOT HERE