(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

[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.

If Cloud was quick, he might have caught that Rufus' secretary had sneaked a hand down to her purse when Cloud showed himself. She had been surprised, the very butt of a gun seen before she slid it rapidly back into her purse.

Looked like Rufus made use of all his assets.

After the space of two minutes, Rufus glanced up to Cloud as if finally noticing his presence. "Mr Strife, we will be going to visit one of the Shin-Ra labs as I said," Rufus replied quietly. "If I thought you needed to know where my Turks were today, I would tell you."

Still looking down to the papers, he scribbled a signature on one before handing the whole mess to his secretary. It forced her hand away from the gun, a twitch of her lips the only sign of her disliking of the situation.

Rufus stepped away from her with a small nod, his attention finally coming to rest fully on Strife. "It's on the outskirts of Midgar, one of the few places not completely ruined. Most of it is underground, so it didn't take much damage. Shall we?"

The Shin-Ra president gestured to the doors, a limo waiting outside.

[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.

The door opening was a mild surprise to Rufus. He had expected the blond to make him open it himself. Interesting. Keeping his face as bland as possible, Rufus followed Cloud's line of sight before rolling his eyes. With a noise of annoyance, he slipped past the man and into the backseat of the limo.

"I have never ridden a motorcycle in my life, Strife, and I have no intention of starting now. It is something of a minor miracle that you have not killed yourself on that thing," Rufus said, setting his briefcase on the seat beside himself. Looked like Cloud was going to have to take the side opposite him.

[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.

"While I am sure that some such as your females find it utterly fascinating that you could or would waste time picking up a motorbike or doing 'stunts', I do not. Do feel free to enjoy something from the icebox if you wish."

Rufus glanced up briefly from his paperwork, his gaze flicking down to Cloud's blade and back up to the blond's eyes.

"Oh? Are you not the one who runs from everything while others such as myself stand their ground against those more powerful? Or rather, ones who think themselves more powerful? Here I thought I had been living versus hiding. Imagine that."

A flash of a razorblade smile and Rufus glanced back down to his papers as the limo pulled out and into the flow of traffic.

[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.

Speaking of which, Strife seemed to have struck unprotected flesh with his own verbal taunt. Rufus huffed in annoyance, again like a cat that had been stroked wrongly. There was a better than average chance that Rufus merely cast his own verbal daggers out of habit, not aware on how deeply they could cut or using that as his own shield against people drawing too close.

"They are not MIA. Reno is doing something for me."

He didn't mention the other three, it still biting him that they were up and gone. A barely there shiver crept down Rufus' spine at the mention of Sephiroth. It looked as if he weren't just Cloud's personal demon.

[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.

"I once told Barret Wallace that 'People are ignorant. They'll feel better as long as someone is punished'. And that is true. For now, that has to be Shin-Ra despite how much I would prefer it not to be. Soon, sooner than anyone likes, I think it will be the WRO because people will feel better as long as they see someone being punished as they probably feel they are being. The army will simply be an excuse they'll use, to point to. Reeve isn't exactly a saint himself."

Rufus fell quiet for a moment, introspective as he rarely was. There was a tiredness in his face, so different from what he showed the cameras or masses. It looked like he hadn't slept in a week. He reached into his jacket, drawing out an orange pill bottle like any doctor would have given a patient. Shaking out a single white tablet, he dry-swallowed it and put the bottle back.

"I can give you the PR speech, Strife: That I acknowledge that Shin-Ra owes the planet a lot. It goes without saying that my company and I are the ones who put the world in the sorry state it’s in. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to set things right. I could do that or tell you that right now, the Planet and I are going in the same direction. Pick whichever you like or believe. As for AVALANCHE, it's hardly a secret that I funded the original although they were terrorists and nothing more. I needed my father dead, and they seemed the logical choices to do so for me."

Restacking his papers, Rufus glanced at Cloud, waiting for the swordsman to go first through the door as the driver came round the car to open it. It was Rufus Shinra all over, unapologetic and cold. This is me and take me as I am or not at all - it doesn't matter to me. The tiredness in his face was gone, leaving only the barest traces to the sharp-eyed.

"Now, if you don't mind?"

[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.

Stepping out of the car, Rufus straightened his suit, an automatic reaction on his part. The briefcase was held loosely in his left hand. He gave Cloud a mildly annoyed look as they headed up the walk to the cold steel doors. "How dramatic, Strife. Shin-Ra does not have 'secret' bases."

The room that greeted them as they first entered could have been mistaken for any Shin-Ra reception area, pretty secretary and all. She offered them both a smile as they walked past her, Rufus swiping a card to open the next set of doors. There was no pretty woman here, only a pair of butt-ugly guards with vicious, large guns. Rufus barely acknowledged them as he laid his hand on a pad, a greenish light moving over his skin before the next set of doors opened into an elevator.

"We merely have lesser known places of business, not 'secret bases'."

[stoic_heroism]

Cloud ignored the look as well as the huffed explanation. Rufus could say it wasn't secret, but he doubted it was publicized, and he also doubted that many people knew about it. The fact it was in Midgar said that much; few came out this far.

He trailed to Rufus' left, a little behind the man. He had never been here, and he made certain to keep an eye out for the new surroundings. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the guards, but they in no means intimidated him.

He stepped into the elevator when it opened to off-handedly make certain it was safe and being able to cover Rufus' back. He turned and looked at the President. "The public's meaning of 'secret' and ShinRa's are two completely different things I've found."