(Untitled)

[talionisshinra]

Who: Rufus, Cloud, whoever feels like joining
Status: Open
When: 1:00
Where: Starts at Shin-Ra, goes elsewhere.
What: Without his Turks, Rufus has been forced to hire Cloud Strife.

Comments

[stoic_heroism]

Sliding from around a building support pole, Cloud walked silently to where Rufus seemed to be in a hurry coming out of the elevator. He slid in behind the pair, flipping open his phone to check the time at the mention of being late for something.

He was perfectly on time according to his clock. He ignored the fact that Rufus was obviously in a hurry, as most presidents seemed to be. Looking between Reeve and Rufus, he was glad to taking a simplier life, not that he had the abilities for politics. Media politics were usually bad enough for him.

"You haven't told me where we are going, Shinra. Give me a location, and I'll get you there," he called softly behind Rufus. "Your Turks on a mission or just MIA?"

[talionisshinra]

Rufus nodded to his secretary, not acknowledging Cloud at first. It was an old game of those in power, making people wait on them, especially when there was the smallest chance that they might have been surprised. If one acted like they hadn't been caught off-guard then everyone assumed they had not been. It gave a person time to compose themselves, think about what to say instead of blurting

[stoic_heroism]

Cloud's eyes flicked to the secretary's hand, but his own was already on his sword hilt to block any bullet coming his way. He raised an eyebrow at her before looking over to Rufus, dropping his hand back down to his side. He watched her to make certain she was not about to just shoot him for catching her off-guard.

Nodding his head at the location, he wondered how much underground labs Rufus actually had. It was not his business, and he was supposed to be assured that ShinRa was not up to the same stuff as before.

He slid around Rufus to take point, walking out of the building ahead of Rufus. He was almost disappointed he couldn't take his motorcycle and looked at the rather sizeable blade attached to his back. Sighing, he pulled it free and tucked it under his arm instead.

He opened the door and waited for Rufus to get in. He wondered if he could get Rufus to snark at him more than usual.

[talionisshinra]

Rufus was rather pleased with how things were going so far. He hadn't expected Strife to let go the matter of the missing Turks so easily but was relieved when he did. He was equally pleased that Cloud had looked ready to defend himself should Ms Dargeste had taken a shot at him. While weaponfire would have annoyed Rufus greatly, not to mention lowered property values due to damage, it was interesting to notice that Strife hadn't relaxed his guard

[stoic_heroism]

Watching Rufus get into the limo, Cloud looked around to make certain that there wasn't anyone eager to take a shot at the man or himself. THat was what being a bodyguard was about, and he swore Rufus was paranoid most of the time. He mine as well do the job he was paid for completely.

He shrugged his shoulders at the mention of a motorcycle as he slid into the limo and took the next available seat. He managed to pull his sword in and gently prop it on his legs to prevent any damage. He closed the door behind him.

He folded an arm behind his head and looked at Rufus. "One just has to know how to ride one properly, that's all. Besides, I could pick it up and carry it if I had to, which makes it easy to perform stunts on Fenrir." He settled the hilt of the sword on his shoulder. "You are just being paranoid, Shinra. Live a little."

Ironic coming from him, actually.

[talionisshinra]

Cloud must have been in luck today. Didn't look like there were too many people trying to take a shot at the Shin-Ra president. They must have all been lined up at the WRO and waiting for Reeve.

Rufus flicked a piece of invisible dust off his spotless white suit, as fussy as a cat about how he looked. He even managed to pull off the same mildly offended look when Cloud even suggested that he would ever be on a motorcycle

[stoic_heroism]

Shrugging, Cloud didn't much care if Rufus wanted to have a ride on a motorcycle. It was just an open offer, that was all. Rufus obviously was afraid of getting dust or an insect on that white suit. To each their own.

He glanced at the icebox, but he made no move to take from it. He was here to do a job, not enjoy himself, though it appeared that Rufus was going to try and make this painful now. He looked out the window at the little poisoned verbal barb in his direction.

"Times change," he murmured. It had too; he ran less because he had let go most of his personal demons. "But if you like, the next time one of your company's experimental Generals goes berserk to moves to take over the world by destroying it, I'll let you handle it... or your MIA Turks."

[talionisshinra]

In all truth, Rufus was a little afraid of motorcycles. They were loud and unpredicatable in his experience. While the noise could be handled, Rufus had a near phobia about things he couldn't control precisely. There was something too wild about there not being steel and glass around him for protection, only inches from the ground that went whipping by at a breakneck pace. There was no one that Rufus trusted to drive a motorcycle while he held on for dear life save one of his Turks

[stoic_heroism]

Watching the scenary pass by, Cloud simply rested a hand on the hilt of his sword as he watched people and places pass them by. It had been awhile since he had ridden in a vehicle. Normally, he drove places, or he had Fenrir with him to drive if he needed. It felt different to have neither.

Glancing over at Rufus' annoyed huff, he didn't say he was sorry. Rufus had started to dagger throwing session. He had lived a couple of years in ShinRa to know how things used to work, and he wanted no part of that company anymore.

"Ah... that accounts for one of them," he replied offhandedly. He shrugged as if it didn't really matter, which he supposed it didn't. It meant he had a little extra work. "Have you ever wanted to start the SOLDIER program again?"

[talionisshinra]

Rufus would have thought less of him had he apologized. The Shinra heir fully believed in owning up to, even if one didn't believe, the things a person said. The first break in his bland mask came at Cloud's question, Rufus twitching as if he had been struck unexpectedly. There was a flicker of something in Rufus' eyes, there and gone as he got control of himself quickly. The expressionless mask descended once more as if the window shades had been jerked down suddenly over windows.

"SOLDIER? Why? I would think that you of all people would prefer that the Mako nightmares would be left buried forever, dead with my father."

His hands busied themselves shuffling the papers again into a stack.

[stoic_heroism]

Cloud caught the minor twitch from the reflection in the glass he was looking out of. It caused him to turn his head to regard Rufus, raising an eyebrow of question, even if he thought he had just gotten his answer. So, Rufus had no plans for such things ever again.

A small part of him was disappointed, that part that had failed the SOLDIER tests for two years running. It was a good indication that the mournful dream would never come with a title. Most of him was glad.

"Ah... just curious," he murmured and went back to looking out the window again. "I suppose you don't need an army anymore, now that the WRO has built one... and mako use is pretty much taboo."

[talionisshinra]

"It is a shame that Reeve Tuesti hasn't realized that him having the only standing army could very quickly rebound on him in ugly ways. He can't say I didn't warn him. Dictators like me are expected to do such, but when one comes preaching on words like 'democracy' and 'freedom', it looks bad to come with soldiers at their side. Some may end up calling him on that, saying that at least Shin-Ra was honest in our dealings, dark as they may have been."

Calm and cold once more, Rufus' attention moved to his own window as the papers lay forgotten in his grip.

"Human SOLDIERs were too unpredictable, Strife, and if you asked that question for Tuesti, you can inform him that I do have no plans to restart that program for human beings. I won't give rise to another Sephiroth either accidentally or on purpose. I and the Planet have gone through too much to keep the first one dead, not to mention yourself and everyone else."

[stoic_heroism]

Cloud shrugged, not really wanting to get into politics. There was a reason he had never officially joined the WRO, and it was to keep his sense of peace. "An organization needs order before they can ease some of the hold of a military." He glanced at Rufus. "I doubt Reeve wants complete military control, but someone needs to clean up ShinRa's mess."

Raising his eyebrows, he shook his head. "I don't ask any questions for Reeve. I asked because I personally wanted to know." He decided not to say how much damage the last one really caused for most people; he wasn't sure if Rufus cared.

"Interesting how you are suddenly on the planet's side of things<' eh commented off-handedly. "Though... there was that rumour you helped the old AVALANCHE way back in the day...."

[talionisshinra]

The black car wove silently through the traffic, pausing only when necessary. It was hard to miss the M4A1 carbine gun at the driver's right, clipped to stand in the middle. The grey buildings of Edge had fallen way, giving rise to the ruins of Midgar. More than once, rubble with the Shin-Ra logo on it passed their windows. The auto finally drew to a halt before a squat, ugly building that had only part of its front exposed. In the cold and grim light, the door had a new gleam to it that was at odd with the burnt stone of the outside. It was one of the few buildings that looked intact. Only one story tall, it was without windows, nothing on the outside signaling what it was or had been. If a place could have been haunted with the past, this one surely was

[stoic_heroism]

Cloud wasn't about to say that he was of the opinion that ShinRa needed to be punished to keep them in line so that another version of the first world-ending crisis did not happen again. He didn't disagree that people were quick to find a scapegoat for almost every bad situation. Some just deserved to be a scapegoat more than others.

His eyes watched Rufus swallow the pill, wondering what it was for. It was not his business, but he was still curious. It made Rufus seem somehow frail and just as human as everyone else, despite the business-attitude.

His focus shifted to the door opening, and he shifted his sword expertly to get it back out the door without causing damage. He followed quickly after the blade and stood then stepped away from the vehicle, strapping the blade to his back. "Is this a well-known ShinRa base or a ShinRa secret one?"

[talionisshinra]

Rufus had been watching how Cloud maneuvered the oversized sword, betting himself there would be at least one slash to his car that would need repaired. He was almost disappointed to see none. If he noticed Cloud's curiosity, he made no sign of it and didn't appear to be about to satisfy it either