Room 421, Friday, Late Afternoon

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa had been having a long argument with herself, back and forth, about this. She hated that she was going to be the one to call. They hadn't spoken in months, which was perfectly fine with her. Except.

Except she'd heard rumors that General Caraway was gaining power in Galbadia. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing -- as much as she hated him

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[estranged_dads]

Some people had gone home for the weekend, sure, but there was always someone in the offices. Especially now, with the empire still in upheaval. The poor overworked operator transferred her to another department, where she sat on hold for a few minutes and then got transferred again. Finally, someone realized who she was and patched her through to the Interim President's office.

Fury Caraway was busy reading a report, and hated to be interrupted, but any phone call that got this far was probably important. He picked up the receiver impatiently. "Caraway. Go ahead."

[angelo_wings]

Wait, what? She had been sitting and playing Transfer Whack-a-Mole and was fairly certain she was going to get disconnected, in between bouts of listening to the worst hold music she'd been subjected to just about ever. She had just been ready to hang up and pretend she'd made a good-faith effort when he had picked up.

Really? Not a secretary or something? Just bam, him?

"G-- General," she stammered, all her recited opening lines deserting her. "Is this --"

She clamped her mouth shut. She was not going to ask if this was General Caraway. He had said it was. As if she wouldn't have known just by his voice.

She had to stop talking before she said something ridiculous like 'hi.'

[estranged_dads]

Seriously? He picked up the phone just to be stuttered at?

...Again? He'd never had problems like this with his underlings back when Deling was in charge.

"Well, OUT with it! I haven't got all--"

Hang on. He knew that voice.

"...Rinoa?" he asked, softly, daring to hope. "Is that you?"

[angelo_wings]

Typical Caraway. It was not exactly easy of her to call, and he was already being a dick.

Of course, she was keeping him away from more important things. Such as: everything that wasn't her.

"... yes," she said. Why had she thought this was a good idea? "You didn't have to yell."

See? It had to be Rinoa. No one else could manage to start fighting with him that quickly.

[estranged_dads]

She had called him! She had actually wanted to talk to him, for the first time in years! And he'd managed to upset her already... how had THAT happened?

"I didn't know it was you when I yelled," he explained. "I'm a very busy man. I'm sorry."

[angelo_wings]

"You didn't care," Rinoa insisted. It was petty, and entirely unfair, but she didn't feel like being fair. "You're right. You're a very busy man, so I'll stop bothering you now."

Hynedammit, she really had meant to be mature about this, but him snapping at her and then reminding her that he was a very busy man wasn't helping.

If he was this busy, he didn't have time to bother with stupid things like Timber, anyway. Or Parents' Weekend.

[estranged_dads]

Caraway put the report down and winced. "I'm not too busy for you. I promise, I'll never be too busy for you anymore. I just meant... I have to yell on the phone, sometimes. It's the only way to get things done around here."

Technically, it wasn't the only way, just the one that worked best for him. The empire hadn't fallen ALL of the way apart, yet, so that was something.

[angelo_wings]

... okay, that was new. Had someone written that for him? Maybe he had paid an underling to come into the room and hold up cue cards.

"You don't have to yell on the phone," she sulked. Because she couldn't let her guard down just yet. "Maybe you could try being a nice boss and they'd work harder because they liked you."

So, if he was wondering if his daughter was still an insane idealist, there was that.

[estranged_dads]

No, no one had written it for him. He'd just had a LOT of time to think about what he'd done wrong.

"I'm a fair boss," Caraway sighed. "I don't have time to be nice. Galbadia is falling apart."

Arguing about his management style wasn't going to help anything. "I'm sorry. Look. I... I'm honored and pleased by your call. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

[angelo_wings]

"It doesn't take any more time to be nice than to be mean," she said, very primly. "I ... if ... if you r-really are busy, I can call back."

She'd mean to, anyway, and then probably not, but if he actually was busy, then she didn't want to keep him.

[estranged_dads]

"I need a short break, anyway," Fury told his daughter. "And I can make time, for you. It's good to hear your voice, again."

[angelo_wings]

"... Thank you," she said, awkwardly. It was nice to hear his, as well, in some strange way, but she didn't know how to say it back. "I, uh ..."

She cleared her throat. "I wished to ... speak with you on matters of State. If that's all right."

Yes. This was a professional call. You could tell from the tantrum she'd just thrown.

[estranged_dads]

"...Matters of State?" he repeated, not really following. What little State there was left was being held together by chewing gum and a prayer. What could she possibly want to discuss? "Is this about the trade deal with Garden? I'm speaking with Commander Trepe again tomorrow, but we really can't afford to lower our asking price."

[angelo_wings]

"Quistis?" Rinoa frowned. "No, I -- didn't know Galbadia had a deal with Garden."

She'd need to share that tidbit with Squall. Seifer, too. Not that it mattered, but it was interesting gossip.

And this was sounding less and less professional all the time, so Rinoa straightened her spine and tried to sound like a Sorceress.

"This call doesn't concern Garden," she said. "I ... know that you are in a position of power at the moment; in fact, I think the woman who answered the phone referred to you as the Interim President. And as you know, I have long been concerned with Galbadia's occupation of the sovereign nation of Timber."

Please, do not let him blow up at the word 'Timber.' Please, do not let him think she was just bringing it up to jab at old wounds. Please.

"As the Sorceress ..." she began, before trailing off. Wait. Why did being the Sorceress give her room to approach Galbadia on the topic of Timber?

This had made a lot more sense when she had picked up the phone.

[estranged_dads]

"As the Sorceress, you wish to discuss the future of the Galbadian Protectorate of Timber," he replied, reframing the issue. She may have gained tremendous magical power, but she was still his daughter, and her negotiation skills were lacking. If she wanted to play politics, he'd humor her, but she would need to come up with more compelling arguments than just insisting on her way and pouting. "What are you proposing?"

[angelo_wings]

"Yes," Rinoa said, hoping she did not sound nearly so relieved as she was. (She did, easily.) "Galbadia's occupation of Timber is neither legal nor moral, and --"

Now was not the time, Rinoa. Okay.

She cleared her throat again. "I propose that w-we ... sit and talk about it." Going for broke. She could do this. He wasn't even being mean right now, and like Squall said, it was for Timber. "O-over dinner."