[Day 1, close to midnight] All that glitters...

[diamond_edged]

Who: Rufus. Potentially the Turks? Completely open.
Where: Arcadia, Central City
What: Under the cover of night, the vanguard arrives.
Rating: To be advised! G for starters.
Warnings: Nup.

Comments

[sunglasses_turk]

The annoyence in Rufus' voice was palatable and made chocolate eyes blink twice in surprise. It was beyond odd that his Prince would be so vague concerning the mode of his arrival to this palce, and the thread of anger twining through that royal tone was utterly disparate with the banality of the words therein. When Tseng responded in kind, and further suggested that they split up, Rude had to resist scowling in ernest.

Part of being a good Turk ment not following orders that seemed potentially fatally unwise.

Speaking up for the first time in several minutes, Rude took a few steps towards the slender Wutain and gestured to the two blonds that lay behind. "Sir, it might be best if we stick together. If the change in Reno that you've observed is any indication of the unpredictability of this place, we should remain in eyeshot of eachother until we can uncover its cause." He turned towards Rufus and Elena, then, and let a ghost of a smile settle on his lips. "That is, if you wouldn't mind being accompanied, sir."

The words were a rather subtle test; though Rufus could be notorious for his want of privacy, the young prince had a remarkable sense of self-preservation. If Rufus wished to be alone so soon in such a brave new world as this one, there might be more wrong than mere irritability. As far as Rude was concerned, there was no question of their all rooming together for the time being.

[diamond_edged]

"I dislike--" the words were spoken through almost clenched teeth, "Being interrogated, and repeating myself. I've already told you: I don't know. I'm your employer, not your subordinate. And my mode of arrival on this place is hardly important, in the face of everything else!"

And the audacity of the Turk, turning his back on him, dismissing him out of hand? Certainly, Rufus didn't have his company any more, but he took it that the Turks were professional than that, that they owed their duty to the person not to the company and that they wouldn't dump him the moment he fell from power.

"You're dismissed for the night," he snapped out, turning on a heel himself, and heading towards the doors of the building.

( Sorry I have been so quiet; I just got back in town.)

[lil_rookie]

Elena looked a little uncomfortable, shifting her weight from foot to foot in a slow, nervous method. It wasn't the idea of babysittingwatching the president for the night that was troublesome; as a Turk, it wouldn't be the first time she pulled the short straw from the pile on this particular duty. And it wasn't even Rufus' anger over it; even that was normal when he was pushed in that direction.

It was the vehemence in the matter. The sheer determination to get rid of them all. Almost a stubborness if it wasn't so evasive.

She bowed her head a little, before rolling her shoulders to listen to the pop as they settled more comfortably into their sockets. "I don't know how I arrived either, sir," she murmured. "But I know I at least woke up into a room."

Her eyes flickered to Tseng, locking on him before dropping down as she ran after Rufus. Sleep would be forfeit yet again, it seemed. "Sir, if you would allow me, I would at least like to stand guard outside your apartment. If you are injured and the deepest effects don't show up until three a.m., you will need someone to administer first aid. I would be honored if I could do that for you."

*abuses powers to waive posting order and reply directly to Elena*

[diamond_edged]

Surprisingly, it was Elena who ran after him. Or maybe not such a surprise after all - he remembered her as the enthusiastic one. And Tseng had asked her to babysit.

...And she was, at least, polite about it. For that, he paused on the steps that led up to the door, and half turned. "If you wish. I'd rather my Turks be well rested instead of sleep deprived guarding me. I find it unlikely that an attack in the night in the middle of a building will materialise."

He brushed his fringe out of his eyes, a gesture reminiscent of the days before Meteorfall and Weapon. "Or that any injuries will require tending to so urgently that I can't reach you in the next room."

"...But if you wish to go ahead, I won't object."

(One can't leave a president waiting...)

[lil_rookie]

"Enthusiastic" was an understatement. Devoted. Determined. Obsessed with the job. Any of those might have been as relevant or at least, on par with, how she really felt about all this.

Some people had kids. Some people had pets. She had her suit.

Elena gave a half-smile at the mention of being sleep-deprived. Even if it was true, she wouldn't let him know. Weakness in front of one's superiors never looked good at the evaluation table, even if it did look like they wouldn't get a paycheck any longer. Damn Jenova.

"It would make me feel more comfortable, sir." And useful, for once. "Besides, we don't know who else is in this city. I've already met some... strange individuals."

She took a couple steps in front of him, moving to open the door. She would do a sweep inside first, but that could wait a moment as she turned brown eyes back to him. "Is there anything you need, sir? Food? Medical attention? Bandages?"

[turks_honor]

In truth, Reno was a Turk, the idea that Tseng should run after him to check up on him was a bit ridiculous. His head tilted slightly toward where Elena stood, Catching the pair of them in his peripheral vision.

Considering handlement of the situation at hand he wondered if it was handled properly at all. Veld would tell him his temper was getting in the way but he wasn't sure if that was it, yet. Rufus responded in kind to Elena (of course he would, she was a lady) to her politeness and eagerness. His own was misread, and he should have seen that sooner.

Again, hindsight.

"... You're right." his sholders fell slightly as he moved to speak with Rude directly. "Reno can handle himself. Since I've been dismissed I'll take my leave for the evening. If you need me, I'll be available." he stung, and he wasn't sure why. Time to cool his head might be a good idea, actually.

His eyes lighted on Rufus and Elena again, just for a few seconds before. "... That wasn't what I'd meant to do. Alienate him, I mean." he glanced to Rude again, up as usual. The usually stoic face remained as usually stoic as before, but something seemed to be on his hackles. Something. Or maybe he really was being too paranoid.

"Staying together is the best idea."

[sunglasses_turk]

Rude blinked as his inquiry was patently ignored by his Prince, and could only watch in mild surprise as Rufus spoke to Elena in strained, angry tones, and made moves to simply walk away. Tseng's words cought the large man's attention once more, and he smiled feintly at their grudging rue. Rude dropped his voice in his turn, and gave a nearly imperceptible shrug. "We're all under a lot of stress." Some more than others, apparently

Ideas danced in Rude's mind of how, exactly, to be sure of everyone's verity, and not mere verisimilitude. Though Elena was acting her usual self, Rufus and Tseng were assuredly and pointedly not. Rude couldn't remember the last time Tseng's anger had gotten the best of him, and Rufus was never one to let himself be put into a vulnurable positon willingly, nevermind flinging himself headlong into one for no apparent reason.

Even towards himself Rude turned a skeptical eye. After all, if he was a simulacrum of Rude, with all of his old memories, or even mere implanted ones, how could he know the difference? Medical scans might prove useful, to an extent, but their use would point to obvious doubt on Rude's part, and if they were clones, medscans would prove useless. One after another, possibilities winked in and out of existance like mental fireflies, each dismissed when their use was proven premature.

This was all too easy for words.

The door swinging open indicated quite clearly that whatever he and Tseng were going to be doing, they'd better start doing it soon. Throwing his thumb over his shoulder at the apartment building, Rude let a note of dry humor enter his voice. "Besides, this is YOUR apartment building; you can hardly be blamed for going home after being dismissed."

(Branching thread for the moment. Will tie up later.)

[diamond_edged]

"Strange individuals." Like a Reno that split into two people. This place was insane. "What kind of strange individuals?"

He glanced at the group, at the way they were still clustered on the stairs, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Didn't want his contacts to drop out by accident. "Let's talk inside. I'm sure there's a common area of some sort. Perhaps with a dispenser. I could do with coffee."

He shook his head at the offer for bandages and medical attention. "No need for that. The wounds have closed; I've stopped bandaging them."

( Sounds good to me. )

[lil_rookie]

"Several. A rather--" Oh, how did one say it politely? "-- unstable redhead girl that talked in circles and had a flying fish on a string named Delirium. A huge man who just seemed to rub me the wrong way called Ganondorf; he addressed himself as a 'King of Thieves' and a 'Dark Lord'. And then there's Raidou."

Was it wrong to call Raidou strange? Well, he was, in some sense; he could control summons without materia, it seemed, and he spoke so... oddly, like Highwind with too many drinks in him.

Coffee sounded good, sound amazingly good. She had only sported an orange today herself (ducking when it was dispensed out of a conditioned response, so it seemed), and something to wake her up for what appeared to be a long night would be amazing and helpful. As she made her way to the door, hand going for a gun that didn't exist on her hip like it should have, she cast the president a innocently concerned look.

"Perhaps I should look at them and make certain there isn't an infection brewing?"

[turks_honor]

"The dispenser is upstairs," he said calmly, his voice lifted enough to carry to the other two. "As well as a place to lie down and sleep if you'd like." Tseng glanced up at Rude after that, not exactly feeling tired, but feeling tired. It was a weird combination of contradictions and clear sign after inspection that he needed rest.

"All these apartments are somewhat similar in architecture, conveniently closely clustered for group activity, in fact." Tomorrow they'd send out a group to locate Reno. Maybe he'd asked uSUC for some particularly strong booze and plastered himself. Or something else pertaining to Axel.

He wondered if maybe Sky-- Roxas, whatever, managed to find him. Oh, get a grip, Tseng. You've seen them all within the past 24 hours. Smile or else get a real reason to be pissed off.

A weight suddenly lifted itself from his shoulders as he realised there wasn't a need to be so defensive about the situation or the people nearby. He patted Rude's back with one hand, smiling up at him. "Let's give Rufus his space. I think I've been unnecessarily overbearing." stepping aside he went to retrieve Elena. His motions were swift, efficient but unhurried, and he made certain that he didn't intrude rudely on where he was making his way. A soft 'excuse me' as he moved past Rufus meant only for his ears could be heard, and he reached out to touch Elena's upper arm.

"Elena, I'm afraid I set a rather bad example earlier. If we don't trust Rufus," and he looked to him, apologetic but not outright coming with it. Not yet, "then how is he supposed to trust us? You're tired, it's obvious. Let's all get some much needed rest."

[diamond_edged]

( and down to here! for thread linking! )