Healin Lodge, Late Enough At Night To Be Early Morning, Monday
Rikku
It was past late; it might even be early again. Rikku didn't know any more, and staring at the ceiling wasn't helping.
She sat up, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the small crack of light under her door. Debated, back and forth, for what was either an hour or two solid minutes. It was hard to tell, this late.
She opened the door as quietly as she could and padded down to the door she hoped she remembered was Reno's, and rapped on it very, very lightly. If he was asleep, it wouldn't wake him. She hoped.
Reno
The silence had been so loud that night that it saw Reno at his window, staring out at the scenery with his hands clapped over his ears, like he was trying to keep it out.
But the muffled sound of the knock on the door reached him.
Maybe he was waiting for it. Maybe he'd been positive it wasn't going to come.
Either way, his hands went to his sides, and he turned ever so slightly, and he mumbled his reply.
"S'not locked."
Rikku
Oh, good, it was his door. She slipped around the edge of it, hovering. "Hey."
Gestured vaguely. "Couldn't sleep. Thought maybe ... y'know."
Wasn't the kind of day where he was likely to be sleeping, either.
Reno
Reno's smile was a somewhat forced one. Wry. Tired. But happy to see her face, nevertheless.
"Close my eyes, an' I see grinning assholes with silver hair."
And fireworks. But he thought it best to leave that part out.
"Com'in?"
Rikku
"Fireball," she admitted, shutting the door. "Boom. Over and over again."
Walked over to him, shaking her head. "Any news?"
They were probably leaving, in the morning. And she had no idea if they included him. Yet another reason she couldn't sleep.
Reno
Reno shrugged.
"Overheard Rufus mention work to Tseng. They're gonna talk in the mornin' about whatever. I dunno what's goin' on."
He... He figured he didn't want to know what was going on. He was a Turk and Rufus had been certain to make it clearer than crystal as to how displeased he was with Reno keeping his assets a secret from him as though three people from totally different worlds were just property, and the world had almost ended again and his best friends had nearly gone with it and it was Sephiroth all over again and Tseng and Elena had been dead in his head and he couldn't do anything more right now, he was just a kid--
"I don't wanna stay," he blurted, before he could reign in that train of thought. Before he could turn himself back into a Turk again. What he wanted didn't have any place in this at all. Never did.
He felt cold.
Rikku
He was breaking her heart all over again. He had to stop doing that. There were only so many times you could regrow one, and one day she'd have nothing at all. And. He was real, suddenly, hers, the dead boy with the secret name, Reno who wasn't just a Turk, and her arms were around him and squeezing and maybe if she pressed her face into his shirt, she wouldn't fall apart.
"I don't want to lose you," she said, swallowing past a lump. To this. To his boss making him stay. To a gunshot or a knife wound or another fireball. To the mask he'd put on soon enough that pretended he was absolutely fine.
Reno
He was choking it all back, now, squeezing her tightly in his arms and burying his face in his hair and getting a grip. Working on getting a grip.
He hated this. Hated all of it. He was damn proud of what he was and he was terrified of losing that and he never wanted to let Rikku go and he was afraid that they'd make him do it all over again, the dark things that had made the most stolid of Turks cringe and cry and and run away and die to keep from having to do them again. Things he'd done that he couldn't take back, but never wanted to consider having to do again.
He'd hold her more tightly, still, and close his eyes, and pretend, for now, that it all wasn't there, about to fall on his head and crush him again.
"I..."
He couldn't tell her she wouldn't. Wasn't his call.
"Stay? Tonight?"
He could ask that much.
Rikku
"Okay," she said. They stood there for a long time, breathing, shaking, trying to take it all in.
Eventually they stretched out on the small bed, and she curled up against him, head still spinning, but that spot on his neck was still Reno-scented, and maybe she could close her eyes just for a few minutes. The fireball, over and over again, but he couldn't be dead if he was warm and alive against her.
It was almost dawn when she drifted off to sleep.
Reno
Reno had stayed there, watching her until she went to sleep.
When dawn did roll around, and he saw that she had finally managed to catch some rest, he carefully climbed out of the bed again, made his way to the window, and lit himself a cigarette.
No sleep for the wicked.
Reno
Sleep.
The last time Reno remembered being actually asleep, instead of unconscious and bleeding somewhere, was Thursday night, just before all of this insanity kicked off. And that had been a pretty crappy sleep.
He'd failed miserably at it last night, too, even though he'd had all of the time in the world to attempt it.
And now he was sitting in his chair, by the window, staring outside at the forests around Healin.
They had nothing on the preserve on Fandom Island.
Tseng
Tseng closed the door on Rufus Shinra, wondering if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.
It didn't feel like a mistake. It felt like he could breathe again. Tseng didn't remember when he had stopped feeling free enough to taste the air, but it must have been a very long time ago.
He needed to speak with his Turks. The rap at Reno's door was professional, if slightly muted; in the unlikely case that Reno was asleep, Tseng could start by speaking with Rude.
Reno
Reno was pretty sure he recognized that rap on his door. He hadn't heard it in a while, but it was brisk and to the point and could only be Tseng.
He stood, casting a glance at the girl who was sleeping on his bed, and he sighed, and he tried to square his shoulders as he went to answer the door.
Oh. He'd been right.
He was going to slip out of his room before even speaking, and he was going to close the door quietly behind him. And then he was going to pick his eyes up from the floor. When had they drifted down there? Damn them anyhow.
"Mornin', Boss."
Tseng
"Good morning," Tseng said, smoothly. He noticed the figure in Reno's bed, and filed it. A week ago, it would have been for a reprimand. He wasn't so sure any more.
"I would ask if you had slept, but I can see you haven't. Take a walk with me."
Reno
The redhead's response was little more than a tired nod, half-dead, half wondering if it would be better if he was, and he started to walk.
Walking, he could do.
"Orders?"
Tseng
"That is what I wished to speak to you about," Tseng said, folding his hands behind him as they walked. "I spoke with the President this morning. He feels that, now that he is healthy again, we should shift directions. Our focus thus far has been on finding a cure for Geostigma. As this is no longer necessary, the primary concern is rebuilding our world. He wishes for ShinRa to have a place in that. Which necessitates there once more being a ShinRa."
Tseng dared a look at his underling, wondering how he would react.
Reno
Reno's reaction was a bit of a 'tch' sound and a scowl directed down at the floor.
"Sounds awesome," he lied. He was rather less willing to rebuild ShinRa this morning than he had been a couple of days ago.
Tseng
Reno was a terrible liar.
"I told him 'no,'" Tseng said.
Reno
Reno was now looking up.
Warily.
This was one of those 'too good to be true' moments, wasn't it? The kind where he'd let himself get all his hopes up, and then someone would jump out with a camera or something so that all of Gaia could find out how stupid and gullible he was?
"You told him... no?"
Turks didn't get to do that. Last time they did that, they were hunted down.
Granted, things were a bit different, now...
Tseng
"I used more words than that," Tseng said cheerily. "I said that the Turks are no longer his property, nor that of ShinRa Electric Power Company, as the latter does not exist. That we may choose to be part of whatever new plan he has conceived, but that it will be on our terms, if we do. That we had repaid any debt he may have imagined us to have during this last year, especially considering the events of this weekend."
Reno
"You... did?"
Reno's mouth was getting dry. Okay. So. Tseng said no. No, to Rufus, and that we were... something. And.
"What does that make us?"
Suddenly, for as much as Reno resented the thought of having to stay, he found himself absolutely petrified that he was going to somehow lose another piece of himself, because of this.
Tseng
"I have no idea," Tseng said. It was a beautiful day out, today. This was much nicer than being cooped up in that lodge. Fresh air and sunshine. "I believe the President thinks I'm exhausted from this weekend, and that I will take it back in a day or two. I'm not very concerned, with what he thinks."
He, Tseng, was not very concerned with Rufus Shinra at all. Beautiful day.
Reno
Reno was now... staring at Tseng.
Boss had gone nuts. That was the best explanation. He seemed all happy or something, which was... weird, for Tseng.
"You don't know?" How could you not know? "You're ... uh. You ain't gonna take it back, right?"
Tseng
"I don't," Tseng agreed. "And I won't. Not for anything."
The sky was more blue today than usual. He was sure of it.
"I told him that I could not answer for any of you, of course. I also said that I should like to continue working for him, if that is amenable to him, but I would understand if it was not."
He glanced over at his subordinate again. "I believe he wishes to speak with you. All of you, though I should imagine you first. You are second-in-command."
Reno
"I am," Reno agreed, feeling far more tired now than he'd felt all through the night. "Have been. Somethin' or other."
He hesitated, standing still and looking at Tseng, at a loss.
"I don't know what to do."
First time in a long while he'd ever just gone out and admitted that.
Tseng
Tseng nodded. "I know," he said. "It's your decision. I wouldn't presume to make it for you. I'm not sure why I said it myself, or what it means, yet. I only know that yesterday, I realized that we could not go on like this. Or perhaps that I could not. What happens now -- that remains to be seen."
Reno
Reno winced a little, at that. Realized that there was a chill running down his spine. That over the course of a weekend, everything he had known about his life had turned around on its heel and left him floating at sea without a life raft. That when he was dead on his feet, he was prone to thinking in bad metaphor.
...
"I... should talk to Rufus, I guess, huh?"
Might as well. Nothing made sense already, anyhow.
Tseng
"I believe you should," Tseng said. "How do you feel?"
Not physically, although considering he had been under a highway just yesterday, that was a concern, as well.
Reno
Reno just looked at Tseng, tiredly, and then shrugged his shoulders and gave a little shake of his head.
"I'm tryin' not to."
It wasn't working.
Tseng
Tseng nodded again. "Take your time. Speaking to the President, I mean. Decide what you want, or what you don't. The latter was easier, for me."
He considered suggesting Reno talk to the girl still lying in his bed, but thought better of it. It was difficult enough without bringing in another person's concerns, and possibly complicating their relationship further.
That part seemed unavoidable, no matter what Reno decided.
Romeo
It had been a long night, and Romeo was up early, restless with too much on his mind. He perched in a chair in the lobby and started scribbling in his journal, hating words even as he wrote them.
Words were too small.
Dōjima
Yurika had awoken to a bed that was missing one of its occupants from the night before. She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts yet, so she had gone on a quest to find someone, anyone, who'd be awake.
"There you are," she said, walking over to lay a hand on his back. "Couldn't find a beach, so you'll take the lobby?"
Cloud
In stalked a blond spiky-haired emo boy, his left arm uncovered for the first time in months. He had had a grim sort of set to his jaw, but his mood brightened a bit when he saw the pair, and he flashed a half-smile.
"Hey, kids," he said, miming a gun with one hand. "Nice moves."
Dōjima
"Ohaiyo, sunshine," Dōjima answered, looking over at him. "Thanks. You didn't do half-bad either."
Cloud
"I've had practice," Cloud replied. It wasn't the first time he'd saved the world.
He looked them both over, considering. "You're not Turks," he announced. "What brings you to the party?"
Romeo
"They're our best friends," Romeo said, glancing to Dōjima out of the corner of one eye. "Rikku knew something was wrong and we couldn't let her come here alone." And thank God they hadn't. "You aren't one either."
Cloud
Friends? The Turks had FRIENDS??? That got a smirk. Looked like they were human after all, under those suits.
"Nope," Cloud confirmed. "Sworn enemy. Sort of the same thing sometimes, I guess." He held out a hand for Romeo to shake. "The name's Cloud. I'm the hero of this story." It felt good to admit that, to not run away from it.
Romeo
Romeo took the hand firmly, sizing Cloud up. "The line between enemy and friend can shift like the tide," he answered, tilting his chin up for a better look. "I'm always honored to meet a hero."
Even if he wasn't sure exactly what this guy had done to merit the title.
Cloud
"And now you are one," Cloud told him. "Don't let it go to your head."
He stared off into the distance, thinking. Not really thinking about anything, per se, just thinking. "And sometimes being the hero means doing something you'd rather not, because it's the right thing to do."
Dōjima
Oh for... kami save her from male posturing.
"I'll stick with my title of 'Prettier Than You' and skip the hero work, thanks," Dōjima replied glibly. "I don't want to ruin my manicure."
"So is there something we can do for you, hero-san, or are you just here to do your sworn enemy duty and poke at some Turks?" Dōjima gestured for him to take a seat. "If they're awake, I haven't seen them."
Cloud
"I have a... message," Cloud allowed, a bit grumpily. "For the president." HELPING Rufus Shinra went against every fiber of his being.
"...But first..." He looked at the pair again. They didn't seem to be mourning. "Reno? Rude?"
Romeo
"They live and breathe, thank the lord," Romeo ventured. "There's nothing like an explanation, but they're here never the less."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "What sort of message for the president?"
Cloud
Cloud ignored the question for the moment. "...Thank Alexander, that's good to hear." He scratched at the back of his neck and looked a little sheepish. "I'm not saying that I didn't do the hard part, because I did, but... If it hadn't been for them, Sephiroth would have won. I guess... I owe them. A lot."
Boy, this was awkward. These kids didn't need him getting all sappy on them. Oh, right, the message.
"Tell the president... Tell him we have a cure. For his Stigma. It's at the church -- he'll know the one."
Dōjima
The pretty-boy didn't know the president was already cured. Interesting.
Yurika didn't mind Cloud, but she wasn't about to go spilling information to someone who had just announced himself to be occasionally of the 'enemy' variety. She'd pass the information to Elena, and let the Turks deal with it themselves.
"We can't just let him drop dead?" Dōjima made a face, clearly not the biggest fan of Rufus Shinra. It was one thing to be rich and entitled, she was a great example of that. Being a rich entitled asshole was another thing altogether.
"President, Stigma cure, church. Got it," she confirmed, ticking off the points on her fingers. "Sure you don't want to stick around and tell him yourself? Reno and Rude should be surfacing for food eventually, and you could probably say hi."
Cloud
"I'd rather let him drop dead," Cloud answered. "I would have, once. But... times are different now." He shrugged. "I... actually, I need to go. I've got things..." Denzel. Marlene. Tifa. "...to get back to. I'll see 'em at the bar, sometime."
Romeo
"I understand," Romeo piped up -- which he did, as much as he could understand anything in this world. The rain had cured the children's geostigma, but the president might have a more advanced case, or a different variety: He could pass on the message and let Rufus Shinra do with it what he would. In any case, he wasn't sure Cloud needed to know the little he knew about the state of the president's health, and Dōjima seemed to have the same thought.
He glanced at her, then lifted a hand in a gesture that was half wave, half salute. "We'll tell them you'll see them, and ..." Enjoy being a hero? No, that sounded sarcastic. "I wish you luck with your things."
Which also sounded sarcastic, but not so badly so.
Rufus
Rufus Shinra was pacing.
To be honest, the President had been pacing all morning. He was delighted to be able to walk again. The stigma had left his body; someone would be getting a bonus, for that. Perhaps Elena, since she had thought to relocate him.
Their future was finally at hand. ShinRa could be rebuilt into its former glory. Carefully. Cautiously. The population was against them, now, but that was why one had Public Relations departments. A few concessions to the WRO, a few public apologies, a few years of playing the honest and reformed card, and the tide would turn. It may be decades before ShinRa could once more be an empire, but Rufus Shinra had money and he had time. And he had four valuable Turks.
He had thought as much, at least. Tseng had been summoned, for a Talk, only all had gone amiss. He had been contemptuous; he had openly defied Rufus's authority. This weekend had been tumultuous; perhaps Tseng was fatigued. Once he had recovered himself, Rufus would expect a full apology.
In the meantime, he needed to speak with Reno. And to quell this sudden uncertainty that perhaps his position was not so safe as he had imagined it to be.
Reno
Okay. Okay. Reno could knock on Rufus' door. He could. He had two hands, both were functional, and just because this was possibly the most important decision he might ever make didn't mean that it should be difficult to get the guts to knock?
Right? Right.
Which was why Reno was knocking. On the door. Because whatever it was that was going on, here, he had to make a choice.
"Sir?"
Rufus
"Come in," Rufus said, squaring his shoulders and smiling at Reno. "We have much to discuss. Did you sleep?"
Reno
Reno affixed Rufus with the sort of look that suggested he wasn't certain he would ever sleep again. And then, in his closest approximation of a serious tone, he lied rather blatantly.
"Like a baby, zoto. What's up?"
Rufus
"I doubt any of us did," Rufus said easily. "You were badly injured. Take what time you need to recuperate. I would not wish to risk your health."
He was pacing again, with barely contained excitement. "I presume Tseng told you of our meeting."
Surely, Reno would see this as good news.
Reno
Reno's mouth was dry and his tongue felt like sand between his lips when he tried to lick them so that he could form words again. Like maybe the reason he hadn't slept last night was because he'd made it his personal mission to clean the whole of the wastelands with his tongue.
It wouldn't have surprised him, at this point.
"He mentioned it," Reno said, his voice about as dry as his mouth. "Sounds like it went... different than you thought it would. Sir."
Rufus
Rufus nodded, turning back towards Reno. "It did," he admitted. "We are rebuilding our world. We are no longer waiting; now, we may act. There are a wealth of opportunities before us."
His eyes were now focused on his Turk, trying to read his expression. "Tseng did not share my exuberance."
Reno
Reno's expression could be best described as carefully flat. A controlled tired. Past tired.
And maybe even a little angry.
"Maybe he's seen enough of the ShinRa idea of 'opportunity' already, zoto."
Flat. Tired. Dry.
Rufus
"Both of you astonish me," Rufus said. "Think of what we have endured, since the fall of ShinRa. Here, in this lodge, hoping for a cure, waiting for the inevitable. Through the past months all four of you have stood loyally beside me when the rest of the world would have gladly seen me dead."
Rufus turned one palm up raising his eyebrow as well. "And see what lies before us now. ShinRa may have fallen, but many of its assets have not. A great deal of its connections have not. Now, I have myself, a great deal of money, and four Turks. Empires have been built with less. I would sooner have four Turks by my side than one hundred SOLDIERs."
Flattery, but it was true. SOLDIERs were trained in tactics, but largely responsible for brute force missions: winning wars, fighting monsters, and keeping the peace. Turks were skilled, intelligent, and loyal. Turks could break any system, infiltrate any database, find any fugitive.
There was also the small matter of many SOLDIERs becoming insane from Jenova treatments and launching attacks against the company itself, but that seemed undiplomatic to mention.
"Why would you suffer with me, through all that has gone wrong, only to resist when things are right once more?"
Reno
He... he had to ask? He had to ask Reno why?
Why would they stick around? Why would they keep an eye on him, waiting for the end?
The... The answer was obvious. Wasn't it?
"Because you were dead," Reno said, simply. "You were dead. This was over." Still flat. Talking too much, and too tired to care, and he didn't have it in him to bite his tongue anymore. "We went through hell for ShinRa. Because we're Turks. We killed and tortured and your old man had us hunted down, and we killed and tortured some more, and then ShinRa fell. It was over. And you were as good as dead."
Reno's expression didn't change at all. He just stared at him, blank, tired, throwing everything he'd ever believed himself to be away in a few words.
"Would'a been sick of us to just leave you while you were rotting away, zoto. We were waitin' for you to die."
Not very nice of him to up and disappoint them like that. Bastard.
Rufus
Rather than offended, Rufus seemed bemused. "I am aware of all of that," he said, somewhat dryly. "You spied, killed and tortured to serve my father. You spied, killed and tortured to serve me. Then you waited here, with me, to see this out to the end. To what we all presumed would be my death."
Geostigma had no cure, until yesterday.
"Now I am very much alive. ShinRa can be what it once was. Your loyalty does you credit. What I am asking is why it should fail you now, when there is much to reap, if it did not when there was nothing. If you would stay then, with the world against us, why would you wish to leave now?"
Reno
"Because I was waitin' around to make sure you were dead."
Wasn't gonna push it. Wasn't gonna put Rufus ShinRa out of his misery. That wasn't what Turks did.
"We owe the planet everything and ShinRa nothin', and bein' on your payroll while you were still breathin' meant we could lay low, try to figure out ways to fix things. And you wanna... what? Start up the company again? Mine some more Mako? Crush another chunk of whatever other big city you build around your empire?"
Deep breath. And Reno's face twisted now, into something bitter, something angry.
"You're not dyin' no more. You got lucky. Most of Midgar didn't get that much, zoto."
Rufus
"I believe Sector Seven didn't," Rufus said smoothly. "You and I both know that you stayed because you are loyal and because you are mine. You resent these facts. But you stayed because it was not in your nature to leave. I am curious why you should think it would be, now."
All of his Turks seemed fatigued. He should postpone speaking with Rude and Elena, in that light.
Reno
This weekend, Reno had mentally buried his boss and his rookie. He'd been tortured, he'd been beaten on, he'd been absolutely certain that everyone he'd ever really cared about was going to die because they'd followed him to Gaia, and then he'd blown himself up.
Something in Reno snapped, right there. Right there, when Rufus called him his.
No. No, he wasn't. He was his own. He was Rikku's. He was... He was a lot of things, but he was not the property of Rufus Shinra.
His voice went cold, then, beating down the dry and the flat and the dead and just seeping with contempt.
"You bring up Sector Seven to me again, and I'll lock you in that underside church and drop Sector Five, too." He was shaking, now. His hands were at his sides, and he wasn't going to hide it. He wasn't. Like he wasn't going to hide the lump in his throat that he'd had to swallow down before he could speak again. "What do you want?"
Walking the razor's edge between giving in and throwing punches.
Rufus
Rufus met Reno's gaze coolly.
"To rebuild ShinRa. What do you want?"
Reno
The only reason Reno didn't flinch at Rufus' cool reply was because, if he did, it would be admitting defeat. Looking down and letting the alpha wolf take the lead, and Reno was done with it. Done with all of it. Tseng had walked away, Reno could do the same. It would be easy. Just. Look him in the eye and tell him.
"I want to go home."
Rikku
When Rikku woke up, she was alone, and the room was empty. It took her a few seconds to place everything; still in Edge, Reno's room, and Reno was off ... getting orders. From his boss.
Right. So ... what now? The world was saved, and she had class today, and she had no idea if Reno was about to get reassigned. Great.
It didn't take long to pack; she hadn't brought much. She headed down the hall and knocked carefully on what she hoped was the right door.
Romeo
They'd come back to the room to pack quickly after their discussion with Cloud. Romeo was holding that damned book for Lit class, ready to drop it into his bag, as he opened the door.
"Good morrow," he told Rikku, opening the door wider. His face fell slightly when he peered down the hall and realized she was alone. "Is Reno -"
He couldn't finish.
Dōjima
Yurika looked from where she was sitting on the bed, trying to fit everything back into her bag. "'Is Reno' what, aijin? Who's there?"
Romeo
"It's Rikku," he answered, stepping back to let the Al Bhed into the room, if she wanted. "I was wondering if he's behind her."
It had to be that.
Right?
Rikku
Rikku smiled, weakly. "Hey. We, uh." She walked into the room and nodded at Dōjima. "I didn't know what we ... wanted to do. I packed, and all." She nodded her head to the bag over her shoulder, before biting her lip.
"Reno's off ... getting orders."
What that meant was anyone's guess.
Dōjima
Yurika scooted over to make room for the other two, if either wanted to join her. "Well, now it'll be easier for him to find us when he's ready to go since we're all in one spot," she responded, not letting herself think about the alternative.
She zipped her bag shut and tossed it on the floor. "I think when we get back, I'm going to dump my stuff in my room and hit the new onsen, if either of you want to join me."
Rikku
"Onsen?" Rikku asked, plopping down onto the bed next to Dōjima. "I've never been there. That's the ... spa-place, isn't it? I have class, I should probably ... get to. If we're back in time."
She had no idea what time it was, at home. Maybe it moved faster, or slower. Maybe she was just talking so it wouldn't seem so quiet.
Dōjima
"Screw class, we saved the world," Yurika announced, reaching over to tweak Rikku's nose. "Yeah, it's the new place with the hot springs. I know I could use it."
Romeo
"We still owe ourselves the jacuzzi weekend we were talking about a while ago," Romeo reminded her. "I think now we might need to extend it. Though I should at least pretend to go to class, too."
He sat down next to the girls, putting a light hand on Rikku's back for comfort as he kept watching the hall from the corner of one eye, trying not to be too restless.
Reno
"Just pretend?" Reno rounded the corner down the hall, looking tired, and confused, and hurt, and perhaps even a little victorious. "And here I thought you were the scholarly guy who likes all that poetry an' stuff that Miss Bennet goes on about."
He stretched his arms lazily, and then shoved his hands into his pockets, partly because that was a nice, casual thing to do, and partly because if he didn't, they'd probably see that they were still shaking.
"So, you guys all ready to go?"
Romeo
"Pretend. It's physics." Romeo managed not to jump off the bed only because he figured the first hug was Rikku's, but his smile lit up his entire face. "I am ready when you are, Reno."
He suspected there was a story behind the expression on his friend's face. He could hear it later. Now, they were going home.
Rikku
It could be a group hug. Posse hug. Thing. Rikku was off the bed before she realized it, but stopped short of an actual tackleglomp.
"Are ... we all going back?"
He seemed like maybe he was, but he had orders, and ...
Reno
Reno's response was just a tired sort of nod as he closed the gap to seal that hug.
"You think I'm gonna let you mooks go back home without me? C'moooon. You all wouldn't last, like, ten minutes if I wasn't there with you."
....
"Neither would I."
Dōjima
"You just don't want to give up all the free rum from the radio squirrels," Yurika accused, already moving off the bed to wrap her arms around both of them. "It's okay, you know. You don't have to hide it."
Romeo
"I thought he just couldn't live without the thought of showing off his chocobo at graduation," Romeo returned, joining the hug.
Reno
"Hey, I got money down with Rude about if I'm gonna have the guts to do that," Reno replied with a sniff, giving the lot of them a big freakin' squeeze before wiggling his way free. "Ain't no way I'm gonna miss out on the opportunity to prove him wrong."
He shifted his weight almost anxiously from foot to foot, glancing down the hallway before turning to his friends again.
"I think I had enough of this place already, yo. Grab your gear, and let's get offa this freakin' planet."
[NFI, NFB, now edited to contain all the code, preplayed with the_merriest, dojima_hime, fair_montague, and sarcasm_guy, the first of whom rocks the coding, and all of whom rock. That's the last of it, folks! We're all Advent Childrened out! Thanks to my awesome partners in crime for all their hard work on this, and for keeping me sane throughout, and thank you to everyone who gave us feedback as chunks of this went up. Ooc? Still welcome, as I'm a comment whore. :D]