Saturday Morning: To Romeo, Dojima, and then to Gaia
Romeo
It was still early by Romeo's lights, and he was lounging on his bed in sleeping pants and a t-shirt, idly flipping through the book that had been discussed in literature class that week.
Rikku
Rikku was going to stop and catch her breath before knocking. She probably looked like hell, since she hadn't slept much and her face was all splotchy from crying. Okay. Romeo wouldn't care. She was just going to knock.
She lifted her hand and rapped a few times, biting her lip. What if he was out? Okay. Then she'd find him. Right. Still okay. Hold it together, Rikku.
Romeo
"It's not locked," he called, sitting up properly and running a hand over his hair. "Come in."
Rikku
Rikku peered around the doorway, giving Romeo a half-hearted smile. "Hi," she managed. "Am I -- I'm not ... interrupting, am I? I need to ... there's ... it's ..."
Dammit, dammit, dammit, do not start crying again, Rikku.
Romeo
"I wasn't doing anything," he said, frowning. "Are you -- you look as though something has happened."
She looked like she was having a horrible day, is what she looked like. And he didn't like that look, especially not with Reno away for work.
he reached to give her a hug. "Tell me."
Rikku
She stepped into the hug gratefully, willing herself not to start crying. Deep breath.
"It's ... bad," she said. "It's. Reno. He called. His boss is ... I think his boss is dead. And someone's coming after them, and then ... he said he loved me and he ... h-hung up."
'Bad' kinda seemed like an understatement, right now.
Romeo
He nodded, face ashen.
Then, without a word, he reached under his bed for a knapsack. Toothbrush, change of clothing, that book ... why was he acting like he'd have time to read?
"How long will it take to get there?"
He didn't even realize he was skipping a few steps.
Rikku
Okay, this was why Romeo was awesome. Along with all the other reasons.
"I don't know where he is," she said. "Just the city name. We have to track him down from there. Somewhere called Edge. We can probably get a portal. I ... this is gonna be bad. I think he hung up because he thinks ..."
She bit her lip. "He thinks he's not coming back. If we go ..."
She needed him to know that, first.
Romeo
"He must be proven wrong about that," Romeo said as reassuringly as he could manage as he decided to take the book. Maybe he'd get extra credit if he wrote a report before saving the world, and that was an utterly absurd thought. But the other thing to think about was dying, and he'd already almost done that once.
"We will get him, and do what we have to do and" -- he lifted the bag, a pang passed through his shoulder, and he went even pastier -- "do you have a potion that would heal my shoulder the rest of the way?"
Because one didn't save the world with a half-healed gunshot wound still sending fire up and down one's nerves.
Rikku
"I do," she said, reaching into her leg-pouch and fishing around. "In fact you should probably take a few with you. We're gonna need guns, a lot of them. Whatever this is, I mean, it took out some Turks already, and they're hard to kill." In a softer voice, she added, "I've never heard him like that."
She finally produced a vial, offering it to him. "Dojima," she said. "You should tell her. And I gotta go see if Cable will let me have guns. And. This is gonna taste like crap but you'll be good to go. And he's probably gonna yell, when we get there. I mean. That's why he didn't tell me where he was."
Idiot. Like she wouldn't hunt his ass down anyway.
Romeo
"He'll be all right," Romeo said. "He's Reno." And Renos were not allowed to die. That was a law, he was sure of it.
He grabbed the potions, guzzled one down, ignoring the bitter tang of it. He already felt a little better, and the others went into an inside pocket of his bag. "I need real clothes," he said, looking down at himself. "I'll do that, then get her." In his mind, she'd already decided to come. "Later, Reno can yell his head off."
Rikku
"He can scream all he wants," she nodded, trying not to tear up again. He was allowed to scream if he was still alive. Those were the rules. "I'm gonna go get guns. Meet me on the Causeway?"
She'd also search her leg-pouch for other goodies he and Dojima might need. If Dojima was coming. She couldn't exactly ask her to come along, but she couldn't imagine Dojima willingly staying out of it, either.
Romeo
Romeo was bringing his Sword and the gun from Paris, but if Rikku thought he needed other guns, perhaps he might. Certainly a mission to distract her could not hurt.
Which is why he simply nodded. "We'll be there as soon as we can."
Dojima
Dojima liked weekends. They let her layabout in bed, reading magazines and catching up on all the fashion trends she was missing out on.
That was the theory, anyway. Alea seemed to be under the impression that magazines were for Sitting On and hands were for Petting Now, which was causing an entertaining game of tug-of-war between girl and cat.
Romeo
Romeo dressed and claimed his guns and Yurika's Walther from the storage cabinet before dashing back up the stairs to the fifth floor, heart pounding.
He tried to make himself look less spooked before peering into Yurika's room. She looked happy, and he hated knowing he would take that way from her. "Yurika?" he ventured. "There's news of Reno."
From the bag in his hands and the slightly frantic look in his eye, she might be able to guess it wasn't good news.
Dojima
Yurika looked over at him from her game of 'Airplane Kitty', heart sinking as she took in his demeanor.
"What's wrong?" she asked, setting the cat down carefully. "Romeo?"
Romeo
"He ... Rikku says he thinks he may not come back. Things have gotten worse for them," Romeo explained carefully. If he stopped speaking carefully, he would fall apart. "I'm going to Reno's home with her to see if we can be of any help."
Dojima
"I swear, we can't leave him unsupervised for five minutes," she bitched, getting off the bed and heading to her dresser. "Shut the door so I can change? I am not running off after him half-dressed, no matter how much he might enjoy it."
Romeo
Romeo yanked the door shut. "I already went to the locker for our guns," he said. "Rikku's getting others. She thinks it could be bad."
"People have died." He wasn't trying to dissuade her from coming, just stating a fact.
Dojima
Pants, for once, instead of her usual skirt; which was an indication of how seriously she was taking this. "Of course they have. If everyone that mattered were fine, we'd never hear about it. You know how Reno is."
"I don't suppose we've got the basics?" she asked, tugging a shirt over her head. "Who he is with, where they are, and what they've gotten in to? So that I know what I need?"
Romeo
Romeo shook his head, grim. "Only what Rikku told us already," he said. "His boss is dead, she thinks someone is after him. They're still in Edge."
"I thought I could ask her for more -- as much as she would know, at least -- on the way."
Dojima
"Edge?" Yurika grabbed a small duffel from her closet and starting shoving things in. Two changes of clothes, a coat, extra shoes. "Shit, I can't take the Orbo, then. No telling how it would react with the magic on his world."
She scrawled out a quick note to Jen -- Off saving a world, please feed cat? <3 D -- and put it on the other girl's pillow before picking up her bag. "Okay, aijin, let's go," she said, moving close to settle her arm around his waist. "Are you up for this with your shoulder?"
Romeo
"I made Rikku give me another potion," Romeo said, reaching his arm out to demonstrate. "It's scarce sore anymore."
As his gritted teeth might show, he was lying. But it was getting better, that was clear, and that was all he could ask for. He nuzzled into her. "Let's go."
Dojima
Yurika shook her head. "Liar," she teased, smiling as she tried to claim a quick kiss. "Now, give me your bag, and let the potion do its work while we go find Rikku."
Romeo
He gave her, in this order: the kiss she sought, his bag, and his good hand to hold in one of hers.
He hoped those things would be enough to carry them safely to Edge and back.
Rikku
Okay. Rikku had guns, courtesy of her boss. She had her explosives, and her Godhand, and her own Glock. She had all her potions; they were going to need plenty of those.
They. That part helped. She reached the Causeway, glancing around for Romeo, and hopefully Dojima, too.
She shouldn't be glad they were coming. This was bad news. But she was selfish enough not to care, right now.
Dojima
If Rikku looked back towards town, she could see a pair of figures not too far behind her.
"I see a Rikku," Dojima murmured, squeezing Romeo's hand as she waved at the other girl. "Do we have everything?"
Romeo
"That would be a Rikku," he concurred, squeezing her hand back. He had no idea if they had everything for Reno's world or not, but: "I think we're as ready as we could be."
Rikku
It only took her a couple of steps to get close enough to wrap an arm around each of them; they didn't have time to waste, but maybe they'd forgive her for stealing a hug, first. Her nerves sucked.
"Okay," she said. "I, uh. I have guns. And potions. And other things. I can explain on the way. And you guys ... you don't have to come 'cause ... it's gonna be bad and ... I mean, you're gonna come anyway, but ... you know that, right? It's ... he's never like that, so it has to be bad, and ... sorry. I'm."
She stepped back and waved, vaguely. "Sorry."
Dojima
Group hugs were good. Dojima wrapped her free-arm and Rikku and squeezed, not letting go of Romeo with her other hand.
"Don't be a goose," she answered once Rikku had pulled away. "We're coming, and that's that. Someone's got to help you haul his dumbass back to school, since I'm pretty sure he's too tall for you to carry by yourself."
Rikku
"You can make sure I don't kill him," she nodded. "Let's find out if this portal even goes where it's supposed to. Next stop, Edge."
And Reno. She hoped. One way or another.
Vincent
High in the trees above the Forgotten City, Vincent waited. The three shinentai got onto their stolen bikes, odd pieces of conversation floating up to him, and then, they were gone.
Once he was certain that the three were not returning, he swooped down and silently entered their base. He had been watching for them for two days now, but they were smart; they altered their patterns as if they knew they were being watched -- or to guard against it.
There was something dangerous to them. It was a scent you could taste, high on the air, sharp as blood. ... Blood? ... A trail of blood, on the floor. Leading into the next room.
He saw the source from the doorway. Two Turks; savaged badly enough that he could hardly recognize them. The leader, Tseng, and that newer girl. Their deaths had not been easy. Any force which could brutalize two Turks was powerful. He needed information; he could not stay to bury the dead. They would understand. Turks never received such honors.
He should know; he had been one himself, once. A lifetime ago.
Vincent closed his eyes for one moment. That was when he heard it: a thin, choking gasp for breath. Alive. One of them had to be. Neither of them should be, carved up as they were, but Turks were hard to kill.
He remembered that, too.
One sweep of his cloak and they were gone. He could lie to himself easily enough; information was easier gotten from living Turks than an abandoned base.
Truthfully? Turk loyalty was harder to kill than Turks were.
(OOC: preplayed with the fantabulous fair_montague and dojima_hime. Part of raspberryturk's AC plot, and immediately follows the phone call she just got from her Turk. NFI, but broadcast (for all except that last little bit) is totally fine, and OOC is love.)