"I'm friggin' bored," Reno announced, possibly to nobody in particular, possibly to the bowl of beans that he'd picked. "Bored bored bored
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"The radishes got little green leaves happenin', and the beans... I got a bowl of beans," Reno shared, with no small amount of pride. "I'm gonna go outside in a bit and find some hungry kid or somethin' to give 'em to, I think. I don't need 'em. I got ramen."
"I don't know. Elena wouldn't tell me." Dinah started pacing. "And you shouldn't tell me, 'cause I guess I said too much, and Zack's still here and alive, but she was really mad." She closed her eyes. "I told him what you said, about being loyal to his friends, and being a hero, and then I said the disaster wasn't his fault. But I guess that was too much. We were guessing on years. You told me no details and I guess I told too many details." She swallowed. "I didn't think."
"Well, we'd already figured that out before I even talked to you. Or, I told him before I talked to you. Because he said he was from Gaia but he hadn't heard of any disaster, so we figured he was from the past. A past. I mean, it might not even be the same one." She sighed. "I didn't call it Meteorfall. I figured he didn't need to be looking at the sky every five minutes. And I didn't tell him ShinRa was... mostly evil." She leaned her head against the window with a thump. "Because he'll figure it out, he's not dumb, and he's a great guy, and he's so amped about them making him a super soldier now. Plus all he does is fight monsters, and that's a good thing, so." She thumped her head on the window again. "But Elena said something... I thought it could help to know that he couldn't stop it, but what the heck do I know?"
He couldn't stop it because he'd never live to see it. Zack would have been better equipped to handle it than Cloud had been. Maybe. It was a gamble Reno didn't want to take.
He sighed and squished another bean. Die, beans, die.
"You don't know. That's why you don't talk about it. Capiche?" There was now bean goo on his hands. Oh, man. "It's bigger'n him, it was bigger'n us. But knowin' it's comin' and he can't stop it? For a kid like Zack, who wants to be the world's biggest shit?"
Reno didn't particularly like Zack, but he could appreciate that waiting for mass death that you can't stop probably had to suck.
"I know," Dinah whispered. "I mean, I get it." She wanted to argue about how there were different timelines, like Tahiri and Ben and Jaina, and maybe this Zack wasn't Reno's Zack, but... what if he was? Then she'd just messed him up for the next few years, until after it happened.
"We've never talked about it since then. I haven't told him anything else. I won't." It had been hard to be normal around Zack today, at first. She'd forgotten for a while, then it all came back. It made her feel terrible, but she pretty much deserved that. And to have to keep it from Zack. She just wished there was a way to fix it. But. Not that easy.
Reno sighed and smeared the bean paste on his pants. He'd wash them later, or something.
"Keep it that way. No talkin' about tomorrow. Live in today. Works better for everyone, yo." He took a slow, deep breath. Calm. Calm Reno was calm and was going to be breaking out the rum tonight. "Ain't easy when you know things, is it? Stuff that'll sting down the road. You just wanna shout it offa the rooftops, zoto."
"No," Dinah said, her voice hoarse. "It isn't." She looked down through the window at the lawn, and said, "I think I'd want to know. But. Easy to say, when I don't know what's coming." She thought of Connor Hawke telling her about being a superhero, and marrying his dad, and how hard it was to believe that sometimes. And sometimes not wanting to believe it. Reno was right; live in the now. "And in the now, it's over, there's nothing to talk about anyway, and... Zack's a hero." She sighed, shook her head. "Has to be enough."
Swallowing, Dinah said, "Anyway. Uh. Before you hang up, I have something for you. For the now."
She got back on the line, and said, "You guys can make them yourselves. I think the grass will be the hardest part, but we can ship that too, until you have enough grown for it to work. And I've got pages and pages on how to make bigger ones." Dinah had wanted him to be thrilled about this when she first thought of it, but now it felt like a tiny peace offering after a huuuge screw-up. "I'll e-mail you those."
Reno was... kind of staring at the picture, having stuck Dinah on speaker so that he could talk and look at the same time.
"That's for cleanin' up water, is it?" It was simple. It was so simple. "You're right, we are gonna need some kinda grass. Hell, send me seeds. I still got plenty of dirt right here, yo. I can grow it here myself an' then set 'em up around Edge."
Clean water! There were those who could actually afford places to live, and they were lucky enough that they did have some form of filtered water. But there were still entirely too many people living on the streets out there who didn't have that sort of luxury.
The hard part was, Dinah really wanted to talk to Reno, but also felt like he'd never want to talk to her again. And maybe she deserved it.
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Weren't custom ringtones awesome?
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"Hey, Reno. How're the beans and vegetables and stuff?"
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Because his friends from Fandom loved him. Awww.
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Okay, time to confess.
"I screwed up. I don't know how bad. Elena's ... she said I could've screwed up a time-loop." She swallowed. "I'm sorry."
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... Oh. Shit.
"What happened?"
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Stupid, stupid, stupid.
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See? He was the picture of calm. Except for his free hand, which was crushing the life out of a poor, helpless bean.
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He sighed and squished another bean. Die, beans, die.
"You don't know. That's why you don't talk about it. Capiche?" There was now bean goo on his hands. Oh, man. "It's bigger'n him, it was bigger'n us. But knowin' it's comin' and he can't stop it? For a kid like Zack, who wants to be the world's biggest shit?"
Reno didn't particularly like Zack, but he could appreciate that waiting for mass death that you can't stop probably had to suck.
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"We've never talked about it since then. I haven't told him anything else. I won't." It had been hard to be normal around Zack today, at first. She'd forgotten for a while, then it all came back. It made her feel terrible, but she pretty much deserved that. And to have to keep it from Zack. She just wished there was a way to fix it. But. Not that easy.
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"Keep it that way. No talkin' about tomorrow. Live in today. Works better for everyone, yo." He took a slow, deep breath. Calm. Calm Reno was calm and was going to be breaking out the rum tonight. "Ain't easy when you know things, is it? Stuff that'll sting down the road. You just wanna shout it offa the rooftops, zoto."
Zack is going to die.
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Swallowing, Dinah said, "Anyway. Uh. Before you hang up, I have something for you. For the now."
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Reno figured a swift boot to the butt couldn't hurt anything, at least.
"What you got, sittin' in the now?"
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DIY Water_Filter.jpg.
She got back on the line, and said, "You guys can make them yourselves. I think the grass will be the hardest part, but we can ship that too, until you have enough grown for it to work. And I've got pages and pages on how to make bigger ones." Dinah had wanted him to be thrilled about this when she first thought of it, but now it felt like a tiny peace offering after a huuuge screw-up. "I'll e-mail you those."
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"That's for cleanin' up water, is it?" It was simple. It was so simple. "You're right, we are gonna need some kinda grass. Hell, send me seeds. I still got plenty of dirt right here, yo. I can grow it here myself an' then set 'em up around Edge."
Clean water! There were those who could actually afford places to live, and they were lucky enough that they did have some form of filtered water. But there were still entirely too many people living on the streets out there who didn't have that sort of luxury.
This would go awesomely with beans.
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