2nd mission ☆ good with kids (?)

[tasercopter]

[Reno's sitting in a public park in the middle of Edge, dressed in her uniform, but decidedly off duty. That is, her superiors would probably prefer she be off duty when spending her time this way, as she's sitting sprawled on a park bench, eating french fries. Or fried potato strips, as the case may be in a world with no France

Comments

if they have korean bbq they can have french fries too XD

[auncyenhalig]

Don't give him that! [ from when she said it, it's obvious what she means is--the rod. Not the burgers. Even if those are unhealthy, they're certainly a lot healthier than what the kids have been getting, aka next to nothing.

She doesn't think they need high voltage in their diets, though, and she turns to the kid, explaining: ] It's not a toy, it can really hurt someone.

Ha ha, that is an excellent point!

[tasercopter]

[She turns toward Aerith with a roll of her eyes.]

I didn't say I was gonna give it to him, did I? They're not stupid. They know what it is. It's a hard life, they should know how to protect themselves.

[Kids think weapons are cool. It's a known fact.

Reno belatedly considers the fact that she is talking to Aerith, who is--well, dead. Not the weirdest thing she's seen, though, not by a long shot.] What're you doing here? [Her tone is more curious than accusatory.]

[auncyenhalig]

There are other ways to protect yourself, too. And how are they supposed to learn self-defense with a weapon they don't have? Rods are more practical. [ Aerith is a bit biased, too. ]

Hmmm? I saw the kids. [ She smiles at them, waving hi briefly to some of the littler ones. Not much more reason needed for her to want to pop in. ] And I saw you, too. Such a ni~ce look for you... Did something happen? [ ARE YOU UNDERCOVER why do you look so convincingly like a girl... ]

[tasercopter]

Yeah, sure--but they can get one. Or something like it. There's plenty of ruins around. You can find lots of stuff you can use to hit things. This is a rod, it's just got some extra features. [Like the ability to electrocute things, an important and excellent distinction, in her mind.]

There's always lots of kids around here. [She shrugs, trying to look casual. It's not like she's trying to help them out or anything.]

Huh? [She looks down at herself. Did she lose her mind and put on the regulation tie this morning? Nope, her collar is sensibly unbuttoned, as usual. She's looking good, it's true, but when does she not?] I always look this nice.

[auncyenhalig]

A little short, don't you think? [ 'Stop being so picky!' ]

...Reno... [ Aerith rolls her eyes a bit. Not to say that Reno normally looks much worse, but the difference is obvious. So she thinks 'he' is trying to get her to say something in front of the kids. But when she thinks a little more about what else was said... ] Oh, so...you knew you'd find kids here, huh? [ She smiles a bit. Yeah, suuuure you're not trying to help them out. ]

[tasercopter]

Short? My rod? No way. Look. [She holds it up to demonstrate.] It's cool.

[As far as Reno's concerned, she looks the same as always, so she's got no idea what Aerith's going on about.] Nah, it's not like I was looking for them--it's just-- [She sums up with a hand wave that doesn't really explain much at all. She doesn't want to seem like she was being nice.] You know. [She pauses, looking Aerith over thoughtfully.

Hmm, how to bring this up. Reno decides to go for the most tactful route (but not really).]

Uh, no offense--but are you a ghost?

[auncyenhalig]

[ Shooting him a look. That... just happened for her, so it's still a touchy subject and she's not happy that just got brought up in front of kids. ] And you're a girl, [ she returns, clasping her hands behind her back. ] I think we're even for surprises.

[tasercopter]

[Why are you mad, Aerith? Kids love ghosts, didn't you know?]

Uh, hardly a surprise. I was born a girl. [Yes, people have told her of this mythical male Reno, but she hasn't seen him, so she is the One True Reno until further notice.]

Right, kids? [She turns to her young friends for support. A number of them are the kind of kids who think Turks are cool, so they've got her back on this one.]

So, what's it like?

[auncyenhalig]

[ ...Well, okay. If Cloud can be older and Zack can be alive, Reno can be a girl.

It works, somehow.

She looks preeeetty uncomfortable about this though... until she just shakes her head. ] Ohhh, it's a little different. What's being a Turk like?

[tasercopter]

A little? [She's skeptical about that.] Right. Not like it would be completely different or anything, considering.

Oh, you know--gettin' the job done, like always. Though it's not like it used to be, that's for sure. [Maybe it's better from a moral standpoint, but sometimes she does miss the anything-goes old days, in spite of everything. All the fun and underworld underhandedness. But times change; she can change with them.]

Director says we've gotta help anybody who needs it.

[auncyenhalig]

Hey, I know how to adapt. And I can still talk to people and meet with them, see? [ Even if it's in dreams. ]

Though this "helping" thing... How strange. I thought public image was for the other departments.

[tasercopter]

Glad to hear it. Otherwise, being a ghost would put a damper on your social life. [It's weird, but hey, she's seen weirder.]

Ask Tseng about that. It's not my order. [She shrugs.] Nothing to do with public image. Turks always do what's got to be done. We always helped out more than you non-clearance types realized. [They'd made mistakes, and she knows it, but there'd been more than one crazy scientist trying to kill everybody on the Planet.]

[auncyenhalig]

Oh well, a non-clearance type like me wouldn't know most of the things the Turks did. [ And she is perfectly happy with that. ] It's nice to hear about the new order though.

[tasercopter]

No, I guess you wouldn't know about that. There's a lot of stuff hardly anybody knows, especially now that most of the people who knew it are dead. [She laughs at this.] Hey, sometimes I wish I didn't know some of the stuff I know.

Yeah, it's all right. [She shrugs. In some ways, the new work is the same. Still dealing with everybody else's shit.] Guess we fucked up. Before. [She doesn't mind admitting this to Aerith, who's dead anyway, so why should it matter? The kids, being characters in her dream, don't even seem to be paying much attention, enjoying their fast food.]

[auncyenhalig]

Some things you can't forget even if you try. Not as long as you're alive. [ Now after death...that's different. Then everyone forgets. ]

Yeah. But you're sincere about now, aren't you?