The silence made him think that his point had been proven-that it was not himself who was inept, but alas the general! The conversation beforehand was almost completely disregarded altogether when something vastly more interesting made their way on the scene, two of them. Reno craned his head forward trying to get a better view of the two; one of them, whom his eyes digressed to first, that little cute thing dressed in white. Looked a little too young and flat for his liking, but give 'er a few years and she’d probably be a bombshell.
Then there was the other one.
Reno took a step or two forward to get a better look at him. "Huh..?" One look at the platinum haired kid, then back to Sephiroth, then back to the general. Repeated again a few times to make sure this wasn’t a case of hallucination as the wall talking was moments before. Reno cleared his throat rather loudly. So that was the reason Sephiroth walked around without a shirt-side effects like this. Too bad that it seemed that the general had slipped up once and had a result like this. What was he talking about? Simple, "Hey," Reno said almost jokingly pointing between the two of them, "I didn’t know you had a son, pops." After all. Might have been the alcohol talking, but that seemed to make sense--How common was freakishly platinum hair with a distinct black fetish around these parts, anyway? "Looks just like ya! Congradulations, you bastard."
Riku had been prepared for Heartless, sure, but not for this. The first thing he noticed was that there were two people in the third district, and they were arguing. The second thing he noticed was that Naminé apparantly found this hilarious. The third thing he noticed was that one of them was that guy who had been with Zack, the one he'd called General... what was his name? Sephiroth? And that he was... a new father? Riku sniffed in confusion but couldn't smell a baby in the vicinity. He realized that he was getting distracted and shook the curiosity off.
"Be careful," he muttered to Naminé. "That guy over there--" He paused, at a loss as to how to explain which man was Sephiroth. It wasn't as if Naminé would understand if he described the smell. "Uh... one of those guys over there is a magic user. Got a bad temper too. Stick close, okay?"
The redhead seemed to do a double take (several, actually) when they walked in, and this would have amused Naminé more if she actually was able to hear what they were saying. She could tell that the silver haired man had noticed her and seemed a bit displeased and she ceased her giggling, although the ghost of a smile still tugged at her lips.
"Um, OK..." Naminé sobered up a bit more when Riku warned her that one of them had a bad temper, and she definitely didn't want to bother any of them. The last thing she wanted to do was get Riku or herself in a fight, so Naminé quietly obeyed.
"It's just that... they kinda look like you and Axel, and I thought it was funny." She tried to explain the cause of her gigglefit, fearing it might return again as a wide grin broke across her face.
Sephiroth's full attention was pulled back to Reno by the stupidest comment to come out of his mouth so far, and that was including his meaningful dialogue with the bricks of a few minutes ago. He didn't hesitate as he gave Reno a sharp smack across the back of the head - the man had earned it.
"I'm sure you're the more likely of the two of us to have sired a few bastards," he growled. "That man is - " And he had to stop for a moment. How exactly to sum up Riku? 'Friend' was too familiar and suggested a level of trust that frankly didn't exist, 'acquaintance' too vague, 'a friend of Zack's' too general a statement. But there was that darkness... " - dangerous," he finally finished. "I suggest you sober up fast."
As for getting biffed over the head, he was getting oddly used to that by now. More and more people had that reaction to his presence that he was just considering it a side effect of his natural wit and charm. Or some other cop-out of the same degree. "Right, right." Instead of looking rather pissed off about the thought of having procreated, Reno held his knuckles up to his mouth, breathed on them twice, and rubbed it smugly against his messy and drenched shirt. A sagely nod soon followed, along with a kitty-like smirk at Sephiroth.
As for the kid? Dangerous? Yeah, sure. He took the comment for what it was worth, "I’ll keep that in mind." keeping all the wordplay and comebacks tucked in his back pocket "Besides. Can't be afraid of your own offspring, can ya? Apple doesn't fall far from the tree if he’s dangerous." He didn’t -deny- it. . After all, he was a Turk at heart. One of the best things about that job is that they could say whatever to whomever, short of the King himself, and have no consequence. "If he’s so dangerous, he sure has the cutest little decoy with him." He commented, nodding at the two of them.
Riku was pleasantly surprised to be called 'dangerous,' though it was mixed with annoyance--god damn it, he'd saved Zack, not locked him up in a basement for a month--at least it meant the magic-user respected him enough not to fuck with him and cause a scene.
The other man's words confused him; he could now tell that he was being referred to as Sephiroth's offspring, but his only reaction was yet more mild annoyance. It didn't seem to make any sense whatsoever, but then, the other man smelled strongly of alcohol; that might have something to do with it.
At the comment about Naminé, Riku bristled. He knew that her hearing wasn't as sharp as his and she therefore couldn't tell what the men were saying, but it still angered him. "Come on," he muttered under his breath. "Let's do the second district first. We'll come back here when it's... quieter." He began to move through the district, keeping his sharp senses trained on the men by the fountain.
Naminé watched the two look over at them and talk/argue some more, gaping for a moment when the silver haired man decked the other one right in the head. But the surprised look dissolved into an amused one when the redhead didn't even seem affected. What... interesting people!
Though, something they said must have angered Riku, as she noticed him visibly stiffen, like they just offended him. Whatever they said, it couldn't have been good...
"A-Alright," Naminé nodded, staying close to Riku as he began to move, finding it a little hard to keep up with his pace.
Not even so much as a satisfactory reaction. As much as a sluice of open words military personnel opinion tended to be, something or another from this skin had gotten under the former generals skin. "Aw, come on." Reno worked through his shirt, buttoning up the little round things that had escaped from their clasps, "Can’t sober up just to do it. Gotta have a reason." Besides, the Turk was officially curious now. That was something he that he couldn’t easily just let walk out.
Not about the relationship between Sephiroth and the "dangerous" man, per say, but other personal questions that were prodding his mind. They had nothing to do with any past experience between the two of them--but something more.. interesting! Taking a few choice steps to the other two, Reno looked the two over. Didn’t look particularly dangerous. With one hand on his chin accenting the curiosity, the redhead held up two fingers, "I wanna see if he can tell me how many fingers I’m holding up." It was said in the manner that he was expecting deafness to be part of the package.
Riku turned slowly to face the as yet-unnamed man. If his eyes had been visible they would have been flashing with anger, but as it was, the only outward evidence of his reaction was in a tightening of the jaw. He stepped in front of Naminé.
"It won't matter," he told the man in a low, even voice, "When I slice your hand off at the wrist."
The moment the redhead had stepped out and did that act of stupidity, Naminé immediately feared for the tense "peace" of the area. And sure enough, Riku had stepped in front of her, cooly threatening the man to stop it.
She said nothing at first, but looked around uncomfortably. Did this happen all the time?
"Riku, let's just go..." She mumbled to him, not wanting them to get in a fight. Not like Riku seemed to be the brawling type to her, but things could get ugly fast if they just stayed here.
Sephiroth didn't like Reno much, and never had. The man was unkempt even by civilian standards, prone to blatant defiance of protocol, given to indulging his vices often and in quantity, had all the common sense of a fencepost, and yet he never seemed to get his comeuppance. Being around him was frustrating in that, bluntly put, it was like waiting for the karmic bitchslap that never came but was richly deserved.
But the man was a competent fighter, if nothing else, and someone he knew from his homeworld, and as such he couldn't quite sit back and let Riku start lopping his appendages off, no matter how much Reno might have earned it.
Several long strides put him beside Reno and in range for another, harder cuff to the back of the head. Then, turning his attention to Riku and his girl friend - he could have whatever suspicions he liked about the man, but Riku wasn't the one at fault here and he knew it - he spoke, in the same stiff formality as he'd used with that blond military brat. "I apologize on behalf of my companion, Riku, miss. Mental retardation is his best and only excuse for such incredibly stupid behavior." The glare he gave Reno as he spoke those words suggested that they'd be having a frank discussion of views in very short order, at least once Riku and the girl were out of earshot.
A few knocks in the head wasn’t helping any mental capacity he may or may not have had at the moment. "Yep." What? He wasn’t going to argue the fact that at sometimes, yes, he had a little problem with the logic in things. Maybe that was somewhat a result of mental retardation-alas Reno would just excuse it on some other unrelated factor, such as the fact he was left handed therefor used a different part of his brain that reasoned things out differently. Right handed people and their issues. Yes, that’s how he chose to resolve it. The man shrugged, letting down his hand as if curiosity about the matter answered to his satisfaction. "Two. The answer was two." Reno couldn’t help but pout slightly at not even getting an answer to the question [even if no answer was as good as an answer].
Yeah, he got the point, Sephiroth wanted him to be a good little stand-offish drone that had impeccable manners. ..Manners. Manners took so much effort. At least he was being somewhat decent. Reno leered, "Now, now. Quit your temper, kid. Be decent around the lady." That statement was not incriminating. Reno was being decent-really!
Then there was the other one.
Reno took a step or two forward to get a better look at him. "Huh..?" One look at the platinum haired kid, then back to Sephiroth, then back to the general. Repeated again a few times to make sure this wasn’t a case of hallucination as the wall talking was moments before. Reno cleared his throat rather loudly. So that was the reason Sephiroth walked around without a shirt-side effects like this. Too bad that it seemed that the general had slipped up once and had a result like this. What was he talking about? Simple, "Hey," Reno said almost jokingly pointing between the two of them, "I didn’t know you had a son, pops." After all. Might have been the alcohol talking, but that seemed to make sense--How common was freakishly platinum hair with a distinct black fetish around these parts, anyway? "Looks just like ya! Congradulations, you bastard."
Reply
"Be careful," he muttered to Naminé. "That guy over there--" He paused, at a loss as to how to explain which man was Sephiroth. It wasn't as if Naminé would understand if he described the smell. "Uh... one of those guys over there is a magic user. Got a bad temper too. Stick close, okay?"
Reply
"Um, OK..." Naminé sobered up a bit more when Riku warned her that one of them had a bad temper, and she definitely didn't want to bother any of them. The last thing she wanted to do was get Riku or herself in a fight, so Naminé quietly obeyed.
"It's just that... they kinda look like you and Axel, and I thought it was funny." She tried to explain the cause of her gigglefit, fearing it might return again as a wide grin broke across her face.
Reply
"I'm sure you're the more likely of the two of us to have sired a few bastards," he growled. "That man is - " And he had to stop for a moment. How exactly to sum up Riku? 'Friend' was too familiar and suggested a level of trust that frankly didn't exist, 'acquaintance' too vague, 'a friend of Zack's' too general a statement. But there was that darkness... " - dangerous," he finally finished. "I suggest you sober up fast."
Reply
As for the kid? Dangerous? Yeah, sure. He took the comment for what it was worth, "I’ll keep that in mind." keeping all the wordplay and comebacks tucked in his back pocket "Besides. Can't be afraid of your own offspring, can ya? Apple doesn't fall far from the tree if he’s dangerous." He didn’t -deny- it. . After all, he was a Turk at heart. One of the best things about that job is that they could say whatever to whomever, short of the King himself, and have no consequence. "If he’s so dangerous, he sure has the cutest little decoy with him." He commented, nodding at the two of them.
Reply
The other man's words confused him; he could now tell that he was being referred to as Sephiroth's offspring, but his only reaction was yet more mild annoyance. It didn't seem to make any sense whatsoever, but then, the other man smelled strongly of alcohol; that might have something to do with it.
At the comment about Naminé, Riku bristled. He knew that her hearing wasn't as sharp as his and she therefore couldn't tell what the men were saying, but it still angered him. "Come on," he muttered under his breath. "Let's do the second district first. We'll come back here when it's... quieter." He began to move through the district, keeping his sharp senses trained on the men by the fountain.
Reply
Though, something they said must have angered Riku, as she noticed him visibly stiffen, like they just offended him. Whatever they said, it couldn't have been good...
"A-Alright," Naminé nodded, staying close to Riku as he began to move, finding it a little hard to keep up with his pace.
What was that all about...?
Reply
Not about the relationship between Sephiroth and the "dangerous" man, per say, but other personal questions that were prodding his mind. They had nothing to do with any past experience between the two of them--but something more.. interesting! Taking a few choice steps to the other two, Reno looked the two over. Didn’t look particularly dangerous. With one hand on his chin accenting the curiosity, the redhead held up two fingers, "I wanna see if he can tell me how many fingers I’m holding up." It was said in the manner that he was expecting deafness to be part of the package.
Reply
Riku turned slowly to face the as yet-unnamed man. If his eyes had been visible they would have been flashing with anger, but as it was, the only outward evidence of his reaction was in a tightening of the jaw. He stepped in front of Naminé.
"It won't matter," he told the man in a low, even voice, "When I slice your hand off at the wrist."
Reply
She said nothing at first, but looked around uncomfortably. Did this happen all the time?
"Riku, let's just go..." She mumbled to him, not wanting them to get in a fight. Not like Riku seemed to be the brawling type to her, but things could get ugly fast if they just stayed here.
Reply
Sephiroth didn't like Reno much, and never had. The man was unkempt even by civilian standards, prone to blatant defiance of protocol, given to indulging his vices often and in quantity, had all the common sense of a fencepost, and yet he never seemed to get his comeuppance. Being around him was frustrating in that, bluntly put, it was like waiting for the karmic bitchslap that never came but was richly deserved.
But the man was a competent fighter, if nothing else, and someone he knew from his homeworld, and as such he couldn't quite sit back and let Riku start lopping his appendages off, no matter how much Reno might have earned it.
Several long strides put him beside Reno and in range for another, harder cuff to the back of the head. Then, turning his attention to Riku and his girl friend - he could have whatever suspicions he liked about the man, but Riku wasn't the one at fault here and he knew it - he spoke, in the same stiff formality as he'd used with that blond military brat. "I apologize on behalf of my companion, Riku, miss. Mental retardation is his best and only excuse for such incredibly stupid behavior." The glare he gave Reno as he spoke those words suggested that they'd be having a frank discussion of views in very short order, at least once Riku and the girl were out of earshot.
Reply
Yeah, he got the point, Sephiroth wanted him to be a good little stand-offish drone that had impeccable manners. ..Manners. Manners took so much effort. At least he was being somewhat decent. Reno leered, "Now, now. Quit your temper, kid. Be decent around the lady." That statement was not incriminating. Reno was being decent-really!
Reply
Leave a comment