Reeve had tried not to let a certain woman to occupy his thoughts when it was obvious concentration elsewhere was needed - it was perhaps enough that he had taken the hours out to fly then drive to that remote chalet, returning Scarlet plus Sebastian, to amongst the living once more.
Perhaps that had been too much in itself.
But then Reeve had known that his mind and body would not have rested; the sense, the knowledge - persistently niggling at his subconscious - would have been a much worse fate than just getting it over and done with.
So he had made sure she was safe and well and mostly informed (even that was too much kindness for such a woman, a small part of him would argue) before... Scarlet had left him once more.
...And even as the blonde had left his sight he had not even managed to muster an inclination to ask her where she was headed.
So it was perhaps a good thing then that a discrete location device had been planted upon her. Reeve occasionally glanced over at the movements of a small red blob upon a map, the glance lingering a little longer as soon as the dot hit the former boundary of Midgar.
His fingers curled tighter around the pen in his grasp; painful memories merging and veiling hazel eyes with a sudden darkness. With a sharp exhale Reeve stilled briefly before throwing the writing apparatus against the wall "Oh fer the Planet's sake!" he muttered, grabbing his overcoat on the way out of the door.
Reaching her location in a new vehicle that the transport division had conjured up - a WROver (which Reeve had been amused to see was like a reinforced golf buggy with caterpillar tracks and which he had named himself) - he leaned out of an open side and called out to the blonde "With the recent seismic activity, it's not advisable to be wandering the ruins unprotected." His voice lowered marginally upon the word 'ruins' before he sat back in the seat, engine purring and face clearly not amused with the thought of Scarlet dying again.
Scarlet dropped the gear when she heard the rover pull up. It clanked between Tifa's boots and rolled, leaving a pattern in the dust. Scarlet immediately reached for a weapon, but realized she wasn't carrying one. Instead she slid into a fighter's stance. It was stiffly remembered. Her blue eyes narrowed.
When she noticed it was Reeve, her first instinct was to snap at him for scaring her. But... the look on his face changed that. She slid out of the stance and wrapped her arms around herself. Her fingers clutched the leather of the borrowed outfit. She figured she looked ridiculous without any makeup and in the much younger woman's clothes. She didn't know why it mattered so much to her.
Scarlet's instincts weren't helping her. She wanted to run up to him and wrap her arms around his shoulders and bury her face into his neck. When he walked closer, she could hear the hum of something around him. It was like someone plugged in a wire that had loose casing and the air around it became sharp and nearly emotional. He wasn't allowing logical thoughts to flow like Scarlet wanted them too.
"I needed a walk." She said finally. Her eyes glanced over at Reeve. "How did you find me?"
At first the stance had produced a wary look upon Reeve’s features but that had morphed into the expression which had Scarlet sliding out of the defensive pose only to move into something that appeared equally as defensive, just more subtly so. In truth, he was expecting her to snap (he had followed her out here unawares after all) so the fact she didn’t give him a verbal lashing had him folding his own arms across his chest alongside a small eyebrow raise as he approached. Eventually coming to stand in front of the blonde he paused; two figures with shut off stances, in a clear denial of the not so obvious pull that seemed to be drawing them together.
Scarlet looked more natural than he had seen her in such a very long time; without her painted features, without the heels or the revealing red dress that had become her signature alongside her attitude, her laugh and her proclivity to snark at him with every opportunity possible back in Shinra. She looked more how he remembered her, the woman he used to find so enchanting; though with an extra layer of something… indefinable.
Reeve blinked. He would not guess it was anything like vulnerability, or admit how that pull seemed to tug just a little harder inside at the thought. No, he figured, the blonde was probably just uncomfortable in clothes that clearly belonged to Tifa. That, and she was likely angry with him, which was not exactly a novel concept.
All of which left him momentarily silent as he considered a response. A small shift eventually and he moved towards her, hands reaching to the tie in her hair "If you don't mind...?" he answered, trying to remove any hint of awkwardness or guilt from his voice "It's... nothing personal" he added quietly, trying to ignore the possibility that that could be a little white lie. Reeve was used to the techniques of a spy. Hell, he had even set Cait Sith up around his own parents during their stay at the Honeybee Inn and that was far more potentially distasteful. Though that had been for their own benefit, just as Reeve reminded himself this also had good reason sitting behind the decision.
They make me cry for themmechanic_wingsJuly 20 2010, 23:15:10 UTC
"Why were you tracking me, be honest." Scarlet leaned into his touch despite her head screaming otherwise.
So many things were buzzing in her head, and she had so many different questions and problems. Being dead changed her perspective on everything. She had been so wrong.
She could hear a drumming sound, soft and pleasant in her brain. Everything was clearer when Reeve was around. She felt like she wasn't grasping at straws and the world was making sense.
Go on and cry me a river >3animus_inspireJuly 22 2010, 19:14:49 UTC
Scarlet's hair trickled from the tracking bondage and snaked through his fingers softly as Reeve loosened the tie. He felt the nudge against his touch and resisted a fleeting temptation to kneed into the strands a little deeper. Truth was, he had always enjoyed seeing her comfortable enough around him to let her hair be worn down. Scraped back, even with a loose bang at the front, was just another reminder of the difference beween the Scarlet he had once known and the Scarlet he last remembered.
Though the memories of a the woman he had once known were resurfacing more and more, leaving Reeve increasingly frustrated as the conflicting thoughts and memories vied in his mind. She was not the same woman who had died back on Proud Cloud. That woman had taken the knowledge of their relationship, used that, tore through any remaining affection he could have possibly held for her and made him vulnerable where he usually he could never be touched.
Yes, he had made mistakes, they both had and the uniqueness of their relationship had crumbled under the weight of their careers and Shinra expectations. But what Reeve had not expected was for Scarlet to warp so quickly from the stunningly intelligent natural beauty he knew into something else entirely; a vicious bloody-minded harpy he barely recognised at all.
It could have been his fault. It could have been self defense on her part - Scarlet was a proud and brilliant person with an ambitious streak that would not wait for anybody - just as his self defense after the end of their relationship was to shut down almost completely, except where his work was concerned.
Equally, it could have been other factors. Reeve never knew, had never understood just what had gone so terribly wrong.
Immediately he had found himself without the time or the emotional strength to try to figure it out. And, as he withdrew his fingers from Scarlet's hair, he knew he still did not.
So why was it that he still could not get the damn woman and their shared memories out of his thoughts? Why was it he found himself at her side once again? Why did he feel calm inside when near to her even whilst his mind raced?
Weapon The word flashed into his consciousness as he broke the touch completely.
"Be honest, huh?" Reeve muttered under his breath, twisting the length in his hand then pocketing the equipment prudently. "I still don't understand--" he added even quieter to himself, barely audibly, before shaking his head. "It was merely a precaution." That came out louder, and far cooler than anticipated, as his eyes landed on the gear that had tracked into the dirt. "If you wanted to salvage parts, there's room in the back of the buggy. I would suggest haste however, and..." Reeve turned then, and took a deep breath. He needed more clarity in thought. This was unimaginably difficult. "I can arrange a meeting with your former employer, if you wish it."
What goes around comes all the way back around?mechanic_wingsJuly 25 2010, 22:47:55 UTC
When he pulled at the tracker from her hair, it tugged the tie loose. Scarlet used it as an excuse to pull the tie out and shake her hair. She felt very exposed. Through time she'd used her extravagant dress and harsh makeup as a mask. A sort of warrior paint that protected her from other people.
To be honest, she didn't know what went wrong either. Maybe power was the only drug, maybe she felt neglected, maybe she felt like he was too good for her. She could only think of the word Nero. When the reports were filed, she thought he was dead.
"Merely a precaution..." she swallowed. "No, I just wanted to ... get out." At the mention of her former boss, Scarlet simply shook her head. "No, I think I've done enough with ShinRa, don't you?"
Reeve tilted his head ever so slightly to one side and a trademark frown marked his forehead. Scarlet... looked confused; stuck in her own thoughts with that obviously-it-could-not-be-vulnerability sweeping her features, the sight of which wrenched at the Commissioner's insides once more.
This had to be some sick joke. Was she just playing him? Reeve had deftly numbed down any reactions to the woman a long time ago. Yet now?
If only he knew what was crossing her mind. Was she really as confused as she looked. As confused as he felt?
Reeve blinked before answering, deliberating then sighing and opening himself to the possibility of a attack he was still unsure was lurking somewhere "I think... you've always been at your best whilst working on something, Scarlet."
To that, Scarlet laughed. It wasn't a real laugh, not deep or throaty, more like a bird's cry. She lifted a hand to her mouth and thought back about how happy she had been working, driven to her goals and how truly false that happiness was. She'd been driven mad by ambition.
If she let it take hold of her again, wouldn't it be to the same end? "I don't think that's true at all, really."
When she spoke it was soft and distant. Scarlet turned from Reeve and walked back to the rubble. He wasn't going to harm her and looking at him ached in parts of her soul that she wished had remained dead.
Reeve watched silently, watching the way she turned, hair sweeping behind her. For a brief moment he saw Scarlet as she had last been, hair scraped upwards and a snapping of stiletto heels. "So, your plan is just to do nothing?" An exasperated look crossed his features as he returned to the WROver, picking up a hard hat and tossing it in her direction. It landed with a soft plump on the dirt.
He sat half inside the cab, one leg on the floor, the other up on the buggy's surface as he continued speaking to her back. "Gaia can't afford lethargy, Ms. Redgress. Not only has there been significant activity in terms of the lifestream, of which you are already acquainted, but there are indications across the planet of something even more dire. We survived Geostigma, fought Deepground, Chaos and Omega clashed, yet the Planet appears to be trying to tell us something past all that. Deciphering that code, with Sephiroth, with Jenova back in our midst-"
His speech was cut off by a low rumble, and the ground shifted with another mild aftershock. "Hn. I'm thinking that's a cue to head back!" He stood before crossing towards Scarlet, hand reaching to her upper arm.
So your plan is to do nothing? As Reeve berated her she squared her shoulders. He was correct, Scarlet knew that. She couldn't lay back and do nothing, if the Planet meant for her to be dead she wouldn't have been returned. Gaia did nothing at random; Scarlet had learned that the hard way in her death and the subsequent explosion. When he tossed the helmet at her she turned and looked down at it. A smirk rose on her features.
He looked so aggravated with her, not like he would yield to her anymore. That was good, Scarlet surmised. He'd done such work in her absence that it was staggering. The man she'd fallen in love with in college was the one glaring at her. Swift of mind and brilliant in execution, Reeve had become a brave man even if he would probably deny it. She took a breath and turned to look at him. "Reeve, I'm trying to put this all-" she was cut off by the rumble as well, Tifa's sneakers were good for swift changes of ground and she managed to sway against the shake.
When Reeve's hand reached out for her, she let him grab her. Instead of following, however, she put her hand over his. "Reeve, I …. I'm trying to put this altogether in my mind. The reports were so much information. I understand there's no time for shock and that my own self pity is certainly not helping anything." She sighed and was silent, waiting for an aftershock that never came. "I'm not planning to get power hungry again, don't worry about it. I'll find something to do."
Maybe Junon would be better. She'd be away from him.
Perhaps that had been too much in itself.
But then Reeve had known that his mind and body would not have rested; the sense, the knowledge - persistently niggling at his subconscious - would have been a much worse fate than just getting it over and done with.
So he had made sure she was safe and well and mostly informed (even that was too much kindness for such a woman, a small part of him would argue) before... Scarlet had left him once more.
...And even as the blonde had left his sight he had not even managed to muster an inclination to ask her where she was headed.
So it was perhaps a good thing then that a discrete location device had been planted upon her. Reeve occasionally glanced over at the movements of a small red blob upon a map, the glance lingering a little longer as soon as the dot hit the former boundary of Midgar.
His fingers curled tighter around the pen in his grasp; painful memories merging and veiling hazel eyes with a sudden darkness. With a sharp exhale Reeve stilled briefly before throwing the writing apparatus against the wall "Oh fer the Planet's sake!" he muttered, grabbing his overcoat on the way out of the door.
Reaching her location in a new vehicle that the transport division had conjured up - a WROver (which Reeve had been amused to see was like a reinforced golf buggy with caterpillar tracks and which he had named himself) - he leaned out of an open side and called out to the blonde "With the recent seismic activity, it's not advisable to be wandering the ruins unprotected." His voice lowered marginally upon the word 'ruins' before he sat back in the seat, engine purring and face clearly not amused with the thought of Scarlet dying again.
...If only because it was so damn inconvenient.
[ooc: take it as red, he couldn't stay away xD]
Reply
When she noticed it was Reeve, her first instinct was to snap at him for scaring her. But... the look on his face changed that. She slid out of the stance and wrapped her arms around herself. Her fingers clutched the leather of the borrowed outfit. She figured she looked ridiculous without any makeup and in the much younger woman's clothes. She didn't know why it mattered so much to her.
Scarlet's instincts weren't helping her. She wanted to run up to him and wrap her arms around his shoulders and bury her face into his neck. When he walked closer, she could hear the hum of something around him. It was like someone plugged in a wire that had loose casing and the air around it became sharp and nearly emotional. He wasn't allowing logical thoughts to flow like Scarlet wanted them too.
"I needed a walk." She said finally. Her eyes glanced over at Reeve. "How did you find me?"
Reply
Scarlet looked more natural than he had seen her in such a very long time; without her painted features, without the heels or the revealing red dress that had become her signature alongside her attitude, her laugh and her proclivity to snark at him with every opportunity possible back in Shinra. She looked more how he remembered her, the woman he used to find so enchanting; though with an extra layer of something… indefinable.
Reeve blinked. He would not guess it was anything like vulnerability, or admit how that pull seemed to tug just a little harder inside at the thought. No, he figured, the blonde was probably just uncomfortable in clothes that clearly belonged to Tifa. That, and she was likely angry with him, which was not exactly a novel concept.
All of which left him momentarily silent as he considered a response. A small shift eventually and he moved towards her, hands reaching to the tie in her hair "If you don't mind...?" he answered, trying to remove any hint of awkwardness or guilt from his voice "It's... nothing personal" he added quietly, trying to ignore the possibility that that could be a little white lie. Reeve was used to the techniques of a spy. Hell, he had even set Cait Sith up around his own parents during their stay at the Honeybee Inn and that was far more potentially distasteful. Though that had been for their own benefit, just as Reeve reminded himself this also had good reason sitting behind the decision.
Reply
So many things were buzzing in her head, and she had so many different questions and problems. Being dead changed her perspective on everything. She had been so wrong.
She could hear a drumming sound, soft and pleasant in her brain. Everything was clearer when Reeve was around. She felt like she wasn't grasping at straws and the world was making sense.
Why couldn't she just tell him how sorry she was?
Reply
Though the memories of a the woman he had once known were resurfacing more and more, leaving Reeve increasingly frustrated as the conflicting thoughts and memories vied in his mind. She was not the same woman who had died back on Proud Cloud. That woman had taken the knowledge of their relationship, used that, tore through any remaining affection he could have possibly held for her and made him vulnerable where he usually he could never be touched.
Yes, he had made mistakes, they both had and the uniqueness of their relationship had crumbled under the weight of their careers and Shinra expectations. But what Reeve had not expected was for Scarlet to warp so quickly from the stunningly intelligent natural beauty he knew into something else entirely; a vicious bloody-minded harpy he barely recognised at all.
It could have been his fault. It could have been self defense on her part - Scarlet was a proud and brilliant person with an ambitious streak that would not wait for anybody - just as his self defense after the end of their relationship was to shut down almost completely, except where his work was concerned.
Equally, it could have been other factors. Reeve never knew, had never understood just what had gone so terribly wrong.
Immediately he had found himself without the time or the emotional strength to try to figure it out. And, as he withdrew his fingers from Scarlet's hair, he knew he still did not.
So why was it that he still could not get the damn woman and their shared memories out of his thoughts? Why was it he found himself at her side once again? Why did he feel calm inside when near to her even whilst his mind raced?
Weapon The word flashed into his consciousness as he broke the touch completely.
"Be honest, huh?" Reeve muttered under his breath, twisting the length in his hand then pocketing the equipment prudently. "I still don't understand--" he added even quieter to himself, barely audibly, before shaking his head. "It was merely a precaution." That came out louder, and far cooler than anticipated, as his eyes landed on the gear that had tracked into the dirt. "If you wanted to salvage parts, there's room in the back of the buggy. I would suggest haste however, and..." Reeve turned then, and took a deep breath. He needed more clarity in thought. This was unimaginably difficult. "I can arrange a meeting with your former employer, if you wish it."
Reply
To be honest, she didn't know what went wrong either. Maybe power was the only drug, maybe she felt neglected, maybe she felt like he was too good for her. She could only think of the word Nero. When the reports were filed, she thought he was dead.
"Merely a precaution..." she swallowed. "No, I just wanted to ... get out." At the mention of her former boss, Scarlet simply shook her head. "No, I think I've done enough with ShinRa, don't you?"
Reply
This had to be some sick joke. Was she just playing him? Reeve had deftly numbed down any reactions to the woman a long time ago. Yet now?
If only he knew what was crossing her mind. Was she really as confused as she looked. As confused as he felt?
Reeve blinked before answering, deliberating then sighing and opening himself to the possibility of a attack he was still unsure was lurking somewhere "I think... you've always been at your best whilst working on something, Scarlet."
Reply
If she let it take hold of her again, wouldn't it be to the same end? "I don't think that's true at all, really."
When she spoke it was soft and distant. Scarlet turned from Reeve and walked back to the rubble. He wasn't going to harm her and looking at him ached in parts of her soul that she wished had remained dead.
Had death changed her that much?
Reply
He sat half inside the cab, one leg on the floor, the other up on the buggy's surface as he continued speaking to her back. "Gaia can't afford lethargy, Ms. Redgress. Not only has there been significant activity in terms of the lifestream, of which you are already acquainted, but there are indications across the planet of something even more dire. We survived Geostigma, fought Deepground, Chaos and Omega clashed, yet the Planet appears to be trying to tell us something past all that. Deciphering that code, with Sephiroth, with Jenova back in our midst-"
His speech was cut off by a low rumble, and the ground shifted with another mild aftershock. "Hn. I'm thinking that's a cue to head back!" He stood before crossing towards Scarlet, hand reaching to her upper arm.
Reply
He looked so aggravated with her, not like he would yield to her anymore. That was good, Scarlet surmised. He'd done such work in her absence that it was staggering. The man she'd fallen in love with in college was the one glaring at her. Swift of mind and brilliant in execution, Reeve had become a brave man even if he would probably deny it. She took a breath and turned to look at him. "Reeve, I'm trying to put this all-" she was cut off by the rumble as well, Tifa's sneakers were good for swift changes of ground and she managed to sway against the shake.
When Reeve's hand reached out for her, she let him grab her. Instead of following, however, she put her hand over his. "Reeve, I …. I'm trying to put this altogether in my mind. The reports were so much information. I understand there's no time for shock and that my own self pity is certainly not helping anything." She sighed and was silent, waiting for an aftershock that never came. "I'm not planning to get power hungry again, don't worry about it. I'll find something to do."
Maybe Junon would be better. She'd be away from him.
Reply
Leave a comment