[CLOSED]

[clockingout]

· WHO: Reno (clockingout) and Elena (turkish_blondie)
· WHAT: Time to show Elena the ropes. And... some serious catching up to do, if the two year gap is any indication.
· WHERE: By the front door.
· WHEN: November 27, after this.
· HOW: On-going, closed.

---

Comments

[clockingout]

Same old Elena, always doing the talking before the thinking. She may be a great Turk, but right now Reno was reminded more of the times two years ago-- 'don't act so weak'. The Elena he remembered wasn't a rookie anymore, there was something... huh, he wasn't exactly sure. Something different about her right now that he couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was true that the last thing she remembered was the cleanup following Meteor. Hell if he knew how that was possible, but if it was possible for him to be missing four days of his stay here, it could be possible for the house to cause her to forget two years of her time outside.

Hopefully it was that simple, because otherwise, he really had no idea what to do about it. Conk her over the head and hope it all comes back to her? He had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate that too much.

"Much as I'd be glad to trade my roomie off, that's probably not an option," he gave a brief half-smirk, wondering who she'd end up with. Even if she had the room to herself now, they were all built for two-- someone would show up eventually.

He took a few steps down the hall, pausing at each door to read the name plate. "Twenty seven. Sakata Gintoki."

[turkish_blondie]

It wasn't that Elena was disappointed, per say, so much as she was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the strange changes that came about with this place. And another thought occurred to her; since when did Reno know so much about what was going on, anyways?

"How long did you say you've been here?" She was pretty certain she hadn't said, but she was curious now. It had to have been a while for him to not be as shocked about being locked in as she was.

Hmm... Twenty-seven. She reached over and turned the handle, watching as the door opened. The room seemed simple enough. Beds, computers (although that was kind of interesting)... She crinkled her nose at the mentioning of her roommate. Sounded like a guy from Wutai, perhaps. She'd have to be extra careful about that.

[clockingout]

"I didn't," he commented, shrugging slightly. "But I got here about a week and a half ago."

Alright, so Reno was probably a bit too used to this by now. It'd be a good idea to warn her about all the attacks too, even though the cause was a little hard to point out. "I'd watch your back in the halls-- everythin' looks fine now, but we had a little trouble before. People losin' their minds and throwing shots at eachother for no apparent reason."

There wasn't much point in mentioning the 'death' theory, especially since he wasn't buying it himself. The thing with the plastic black ball, though? While he was still skeptical about that one, it made more sense-- magical items that messed with peoples' sanity. Wasn't unheard of, right? Only now that the damn toy was missing, there wasn't much he could do about it. "An' keep an eye out for any strange items. Wouldn't trust anything you find."

[turkish_blondie]

"Wait, wait... I know it hasn't been that long since I saw you last! Seriously?"

This strange concept was making her head hurt a little, but Elena tried her best to ignore it. She leaned against the wall in the hallway, choosing not to check out her new room just yet. "I feel like I have a million questions I should be asking you and I don't know where to start. And oh, shots? That kind of reminds me... My gun sort of disappeared at some point after I stepped inside. Know anything about that?"

She'd keep the items comment in mind too, but with so much to think about she couldn't focus on any one thing.

[clockingout]

"And I know that Meteor was two years ago," he gave a sigh. This was just wonderful.

Reno nodded, a bit more thoughtful than he usually appeared. "Yeah, attacks," he didn't look too surprised to hear that her gun was missing, either. "Makes sense. I haven't seen my rod since before I got here. Seems that whatever's in charge doesn't wanna make things easy for us."

Didn't wanna make it easier for them to defend themselves, at least. Because they sure weren't against giving weapons to the attackers, even when the attackers had no good reason to go after people in the first place. Were they just going mad from being cooped inside so long? No matter which way he looked at it, it made more sense to try and co-operate-- work together to figure out what happened. It didn't mean they had to like it, but come on here. What was the point in picking fights with one another?

[turkish_blondie]

It suddenly occurred to Elena that maybe being out in the hallway wasn't the best of ideas. What if someone walked in on them, or was trying to listen? It was bad enough that she couldn't keep up with what was going on herself.

"Come on." Without thinking too much about it, she grabbed his hand and tugged him into her supposed room. Now that she'd found a familiar face, she was reluctant for him to be out of her sight... even if it was Reno, of all people.

"So you're trying to tell me that you're Reno from the future or something? Because that's just weird."

[clockingout]

"Wha--"

She caught him off-guard for the moment, enough so that Reno didn't bother protesting when she pulled him into the room. What, was she afraid someone was gonna come at them now? Or maybe she didn't want to be overheard. Not a bad move, all things considered. "Won't do much good no matter where we are, not if they've got this whole place under surveillance."

He was remembering the System Manager again-- whoever it was had far too much information on everyone inside for it to be coincidence. Take how they knew when to slam the doors, for one thing.

"Weird? Yeah, it's weird. But so's you bein' from the past. You mean you seriously don't remember anythin' following the cleanup?"

[turkish_blondie]

"...Oh." Elena blushed a little, glancing around the room and avoiding Reno's gaze. She hadn't thought of surveillance systems. Reno would probably call that a dumb rookie mistake. But honestly, most of the places they'd traveled to had been under Shin-Ra's watchful eye, and that wasn't something she tended to worry about.

"No, I think I'd remember something as big as that. Sorry."

She sat down on the nearest bed, trying not to look disappointed. She almost wished that she was this Elena from two years from now. ...Maybe Reno liked her better by then, and she wouldn't be still trying to figure this all out.

[clockingout]

Looks like there was more to this than he thought. Two years-- not just her missing memories, but actually missing time. It was only easy to tell if you were looking for it, but Elena was definitely a little younger looking than he remembered. The differences were very subtle, maybe it was the hair? Nah, something else... He shook his head in a gesture he didn't realize he was making, unable to figure out what it was.

"Just one more question to drag outta the 'higher ups'."

Obviously, he wasn't expecting many answers, if any at all. "Wanna go find that window now?"

They might as well start somewhere, and getting the different world shocker over with seemed like a good next step. It he was lucky, she'd take everything else into consideration and believe him on the next point without demanding a long explanation (one he didn't have, either)-- he wasn't really in the mood for arguing a point he'd figured out a week ago.

[turkish_blondie]

"Guess it's looking that way... You'll tell me about it, right?"

Even if this Reno was slightly different than the one she remembered... he was still Reno through and through, and that was kind of enough. He still had that same smile that sometimes made you wonder how serious he was actually being, and he still felt like the person she'd been trying to learn to fight along side of.

And this Reno was here with her, so she wasn't locked in some spooky giant house by herself. And that counted for a lot. The place vaguely reminded her of that mansion in Nibelheim, and she knew that particular building she'd never want to be left alone in, for sure.

Okay, it was time to stop moping and deal with being here. She was a Turk, and they didn't hide from their problems, right?

"Yeah, show me." She stood up, stretching a little as she found herself pressed slightly closer than she would be normally. Not that she was creeped out or worried or anything, of course.

[clockingout]

The nearest window was at the end of the hall-- no big deal, it wasn't too far. "Right. This way."

Man, she was really spooked. Reno couldn't exactly blame her-- who wouldn't be. He was walking on the freaked out side of things himself his first day here. A lot to take in at once, you know? And they didn't roll out the welcome wagon after the door shut. He had to half-steer her down the hall, nearly tripping over his own feet going through the room door.

"So, what do you think? Doesn't look familiar to you, does it?"

He jerked a thumb towards the window and stood back, giving her room to take a better look. This was gonna be the real test, because even after seeing it, she'd honestly just have to take his word on the different worlds idea.

[turkish_blondie]

Elena glanced around the hallway, still trying to take everything in. But at least she was starting to understand it, even if it didn't make logical sense.

She approached the window, staring wide-eyed at the scenery outside. There definitely wasn't any trees like that anywhere near what was left of Midgar.

"Are we... are we even on Gaia anymore?"

That thought was definitely a bit scary.

[clockingout]

The trees were what had caught his attention first, too. That, and the fact that there was grass outside when he'd been sure there was concrete before. More than just the atmosphere was scrambled, it didn't look like it ever could have been on Gaia. Not the same area he was investigating, anyway. "Wish I knew, but it doesn't look like we are."

Which was a wild guess on its own.

So much for a warm welcome. Hopefully her roomie wasn't some psychotic nutjob-- there were enough causes for trouble in here without adding another one on top of it.

"Hey. None of us plan on stickin' around, so it doesn't matter where we are. Think of it as workin' overtime," not his favourite choice of thought. Actually, it was pretty far from it-- but he figured it would work well enough for Elena. The second he was out of here, Reno planned to take the longest vacation of his life. On duty here or not, just looking at this place felt like a job. Ever since arriving, he'd done nothing except work on solving this thing. Minus the part where he had any success. Apparently that was too much to ask.

[turkish_blondie]

Eventually Elena tore her gaze from the strange scenery, her eyes going back to her partner, trying to figure out if he was thinking the same thing she was. Most likely, if she had to guess.

"Right... Guess it'll be like an extra assignment, trying to get out. But, um, Reno? Mind if I hang out with you for a little while? I'm not sure I want to go and stay in my room just yet."

[clockingout]

"Hey, it's all the same to me," whether he admitted it or not, her company sure beat the alternative. Reno knew that much without having to think on it in the slightest. Finally, someone from his world-- a fellow Turk, something the different timelines still couldn't change. "Not that there's much t'do other than sit around."

Apparently there had been some sort of wine cellar before the rooms locked up again. If there was anything he was sorry to miss, it was that.