Comfort Food

[shurikenfemale]

Characters: Cissnei, Reno, Tseng
Progress: In Progress
Summary: Reno and Tseng get back to Turks HQ in Lindblum and arrive to quite a tasty surprise
Location: Turks HQ, Lindblum
Date: December 6th, 1804
Warnings: Fluff, will be added as necessary

Comments

[nogoodpeople]

Much like Reno, Tseng was also feeling distinctly better after they'd landed. Not that one would be necessarily able to tell, since his own mask was far less expressive than Reno's but the simple fact that it was properly in place now had to say to at least say something.

True, it likely would have been even if it hadn't been for the time they'd spent getting their frustrations out, but it would have been... fragile. More prone to slipping, and that would have lent a very different feel to the meeting, and one he might not truly have enjoyed.

"I can't claim to be surprised," Tseng answered. She'd been worried about Rufus, so it was only logical that she might want to see them, for one reason or another.

What he hadn't been expected was what he found waiting for them in the dining room. He almost didn't need his eyes to tell him what was there - the scents were enough. The scents of his childhood, and he let his eyes slide just for just a moment as he took a deep breath in. Unexpected, oh yes, but very much welcome, even though he know how much it had to have taken to have it all brought to Lindblum.

It was a long moment before he was willing to let himself open his eyes again, and offer a nod to both Reno and Cissnei, with a simple (if heart-felt) "Thank you."

[shurikenfemale]

Cissnei was overwhelmed with how exhausted and worn they both looked. Rufus really had helped them out, hadn't they? She couldn't understand, she couldn't even pretend to understand. but she knew the feeling of loss all too well. Her parents and relatives? All gone since before she could write properly. But she put the thought out of her mind and concentrated on right now.

"Well are you to going to just stand there? It's going to get cold." She walked over to them and, in a manner that even she recognized as unusual for her to do, hugged them. Cissnei was so happy and relieved they were back safe. These were her family and she'd be lost without them. "I'm glad you two are back."

[turks_reno]

"Glad to be back," he insisted as he hugged Cissnei back. Exhausted and worn? Yes, he likely looked as much. Emotional upheavals had that sort of effect on people, didn't they? But as drained as he and Tseng both were, they were both lighter for their troubles.

The guilt was less than it had been. The betrayal did not weigh as heavily as it once did.

Of course, being shooed toward the table had him laughing, and he headed for the chairs, plopping into one and waiting for his companions to do the same so they could dig in. It smelled amazing, too. He'd had food from Tseng's homeland once in a blue moon - Tseng had brought some in on occasion (much to the delight of his Turklings), and sometimes it was just fun to go somewhere else - somewhere with food that was different than what they were used to.

There was hot tea, too - the kind he often saw Tseng drinking at his desk as he reviewed case files.

Cissnei had gone far above the call of duty. Big fruit basket for her, too!

Of course, he was acutely aware of Tseng now. Every smile, every graceful motion as they sat to eat. Was this a good thing? Only time would tell. And while they were missing two of their little group, this went a great way toward making him more comfortable with just the three of them.

He smiled over at the other man, and gestured to the food. "You're very much welcome. Now dig in or like Ciss said, it'll get cold."

[nogoodpeople]

By and large, Tseng wasn't much one for hugs. But he supposed he could accept it, at least for this instance and if what he offered in return was slightly awkward than perhaps that was only to be expected from a man who generally kept people at arms' length.

"It's good to be back."

Even if they were one person less than they had been before, they were still Turks, and that had to count for something. Did count for something, if what was laid out before him was any indication. Not just anyone would be willing to go to such lengths for him, and he had half a suspicion that he knew just who the grand mastermind of this particular spread was.

"And we certainly can't have that," he answered with a smile as he took his own seat. After all, if it got cold it would be an insult to the effort that had gone into it bringing it all the way here. Mind, he'd wait until they were all seated to dig in, but that was only polite.

[shurikenfemale]

She sat down at the table and began to serve herself, offering to serve the others while she was at it. "I hope the trip down from Warjilis wasn't half bad, I ran into more than enough friendly little monsters on the way back."

Cissnei sipped from her cup of water when she remembered something. "Mmm!" She swallowed her water quickly as to not sputter and spit it out mid-thought. "Winterfest! I haven't checked if we've gotten invitations." Turk? Yes. Job-oriented? Yes. Teenager? Still one of those. She was a sucker for holidays and has always loved the festivities involved and being on this world was no exception. In fact, it sparked her curiosity. All sorts of Sky People with different customs could prove to be very interesting, not to mention a prime opportunity for networking.

[turks_reno]

"Winterfest?" He tipped his head to the side as he pulled a bowl of rather pungent soup filled with noodles to himself, sipping at the broth. "What's 'Winterfest'? We're supposed to be invited somewhere?" He considered this, then frowned. "Please tell me I'm not expected to dress up, Ciss. Please?" Reno wasn't exactly one for donning a tux and tails, thanks. Now, a festive holiday sweater wasn't exactly off the table. But a dress shirt and tie? Verdot - and then after him Tseng - had learned it was nearly impossible.

He swallowed another mouthful of soup, leaning back casually in the chair as he surveyed the spread in mild awe of the girl. She certainly didn't do anything halfway! And when was the last time he'd had food from that little island nation to the west? Months. It had to be. Many painful months. He plucked up a pair of chopsticks set out on the table, then nipped a warm dumpling drizzled with sauce - one of his favorites! - popping it into his mouth with a satisfied hum.

It'd been shortly after getting to know Tseng as a very young Turkling that he'd been introduced to the wonder of this particular style of food, and Tseng himself had taught him how to use those sticks, years upon years ago. But...

Back to this 'winterfest' thing. "Details, Ciss. We need them."

[nogoodpeople]

"One of the local holidays," Tseng answered, claiming another of the bowls. "I believe it's largely intended as a celebration of good will." Something about the onset of the darkness of winter always did seem to bring about that sort of feeling in people, not that he was about to complain. It might do the world some good to open up a little more to people who weren't of this world.

But he'd worry about that later. For now, there was food, and he wasn't wasting anytime in dipping his own pair of chopsticks into the soup and grabbing out a mouthful of the noodles. Proper noodles, even, and not simply that looked like them. Someone had spent time on these, and it showed.

"I can look into the matter of invitations. If nothing else, we might be able to arrange to hold something here."

[shurikenfemale]

Cissnei nibbled one of the vegetables in thought. She can't even remember the last time she had food from Wutai. Had she ever had food from there? Maybe on one of her more brief missions. "Or, you know, we could just, go anyway." She dipped the vegetable in the sauce that was intended for the dumplings but she didn't really care since it was all tasty anyway.

"You know, I'm not sure if we're supposed to dress up. I'd venture a guess and say yes on the basis of invitations being sent out." Cissnei switched to the noodles once she was done with the vegetables. She had mastered long-range weapons, hand-to-hand combat, lying, spying, drinking poison, and everything under the sun Turks training had thrown at her, but she never could get those damned chopsticks to work when it came to the noodles. She nearly had a stare-down with the food. "I'm done with you!" she impatiently told it through grit teeth.

Finally, finally! Noodles! One could've confused her eating with inhaling. "I'm sure we can get more than enough people here if all else fails," she said once she finished with her mini-struggle.

[turks_reno]

"Gate crashing, Cissnei?" he commented lightly, taking a sip of hot tea. "Color me impressed." And he was. That, and he was incredibly amused. "I'm all for it. Parties were meant to be crashed, after all. Especially if they were silly enough to have forgotten to invite us." Insert devilish grin here.

He considered, then nodded. "Invitations means semi-formal or formal, typically. Damnit..." His shoulders sagged - he hated dressing up. Hated having a tie around his neck, regular or otherwise. Of course, he was trying hard not to laugh at the poor girl's attempt at using the chopsticks, reminding himself that Tseng had been very kind and patient with his own fumblings when he was learning.

"Ciss, dear... keep the bottom one still, braced by your thumb. Hold the top one like a pen, and you'll be surprised how much control you'll get over the top one." He actually reached out then, and positioned her fingers much the same way his own had been guided when he'd been learning - and he knew Tseng would remember it. And he even cast the other man a warmer expression for a second as he imparted the same instruction given to him years ago.

[nogoodpeople]

"I can't quite say I'd condone the action, but it would be possible." Of course, Lindblum wasn't quite Midgar, but that didn't mean that gate-crashing wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. Just something that needed to be carefully considered before it was put into motion.

"They'll probably be expecting ties," he commented, almost as if he were commenting on the weather. He knew perfectly well that Reno didn't much care for them, but for something like this it was a necessary sacrifice. Not to mention the fact that it was highly unlikely that anything particularly serious would break out in the middle of a party. Not impossible, no, but significantly less likely than might have been in either Midgar or Edge.

[shurikenfemale]

Cissnei, with a bit of a frown, watched Reno take her fingers and position them properly. "Hey!" she exclaimed. She grabbed some noodles with the chopsticks and they, to her amazement, didn't slip away! "I... thanks," she said somewhat timidly. Getting help out of someone's free will wasn't what she was used to.

"A nice tie, too," she added."If we're going to go, which I think we should, you're going to wear a good tie, Reno, not one with silly little Moogles or palm trees on them." She would be doubly embarrassed if she had to walk next to him with such a tacky-looking tie to a formal event.

[turks_reno]

He smirked as Cissnei was capable of picking up some noodles without them falling. Noodles still would be the hardest to do with chopsticks, but once the trick of keeping the bottom stick still and moving the top like a pen was mastered, it only took a few hours of practice before those two little sticks danced with the same precision as one would use a spoon or fork. Perhaps even more.

"Anytime," he replied lightly to her thanks, but his expression soured at the mention of a tie.

"Killjoy," he huffed, serving himself a small helping of a stir-fried chicken dish. "I wear a tie the day you wear a pretty red cocktail dress. It's not going to happen." Hmph. So there.

[nogoodpeople]

Tseng would have been inclined to say that noodles were merely one of the hardest things to pick up properly with chopsticks, but the point was moot anyway. As long as Cissnei was managing to at least grab something with them, it was progress. The rest would come with practice.

"I'm sure both could be arranged."

It might not be easy, but since when had Tseng ever particularly cared about doing things the easiest way possible?

[shurikenfemale]

Cissnei was both stunned and speechless. "Wearing a tie isn't the same as wearing a dress!" she cried shrilly. "If you get tired of wearing it, you can just take it off or loosen it. A dress? I'd have to wear it the entire time!"

She gave Tseng a cold stare. "Good luck with that. I don't have the time to wear a dress and heels." Which was probably the biggest lie she could come up with since they basically had nothing to do. She's worn a dress, sure, but it's not like she was clamoring to wear one again. "Fine, the day you wear a tie I'll wear a dress." She crossed her arms and scowled. She'd much rather wear her uniform. She wasn't even entirely comfortable wearing her swimsuit the time she was tailing Zack at the beach. Ugh, such rudeness!

[turks_reno]

He set his chopsticks down gently, blanching at Tseng's insistence that both articles of formal-wear could be arranged. He swallowed, considered his options quickly, then sighed, giving Tseng a 'look' that he knew the other man could interpret. Tseng had the experience, after all. That Look said "either you compensate me for this, or I'm going to make this very, very difficult for you." Pretty simple.

"Here's a solution, Ciss. I pick out a nice dress for you to wear, you pick out the tie you want me to wear. I swear upon my death the tie will not leave my neck until we're back here and you are capable of removing your dress without being indecent. The only exception to the rule is if a fight breaks out. I can't fight with a tie on. It chokes me." Well, it choked him more than usual when he fought. Even Tseng could attest to that - his fighting style simply didn't allow for ties easily. "We can have a spare Turks suit waiting for you in a bag, if you'd like, too - just in case things get crazy. Not expecting it to, but..." They were Turks. Shit often hit the fan at unexpected times. They were trained to be ready.

"I'll even pay for it. Shoes, stockings, necklace... everything to turn you from Lethal Turk to Femme Fatale." All of that for the cost of wearing a tie? Yup.

[nogoodpeople]

Didn't have time? Oh, Tseng very much doubted that. But he wasn't about to bring that point up. It would have been counterproductive at best and at worst would have rather drastically changed the overall mood of the day and he didn't feel much like doing that right now.

Besides, Reno seemed to have the situation well in hand and while he'd noticed the Look of Reno's (and knew perfectly well what it meant) he didn't directly answer. He knew quite while that Reno would be aware of the fact that he had seen and that he knew what it meant. Instead, he merely nodded at Reno's comment about having a spare suit handy.

"I wouldn't ask you to fight in a dress."