towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Characters: Reno, open
Setting: Directly after this
Format: Prose
Summary: After Sephiroth showed up on the wedding post, Reno wants to kill something
Warnings: Pissed off turk

Clenching his fists, he slammed them down on the console, not really enough to hurt it but enough to cause pain. It helped clear his head a bit, and he angrily pushed off and away from the terminal.

He needed to do something, though, and he went back to his room to grab his makeshift poncho and started to head down to the gymnasium. That track, even in the cold, was sounding mighty lonely. It needed someone to run on it.

After a terrifying moment almost falling into Floor 46, he made it mostly unscathed and didn't bother to warm up. He dumped a bottle of water at the starting point, and set off, running around the track as if his life depended on going the fastest he could.

If anyone looked, they might notice that occasionally, he performed different moves. A few jumps into the air, some tumbles ending a slamming kick into the ground. Once or twice, he did a few roundhouse kicks without breaking stride. So much energy bound up in these moves, it was hard not sense the emotions coming off of him.

It wasn't just Sephiroth, it was everything that had happened over the last few months, but most of all it was something that should have been a happy thing, something positive in the hell tower wasn't anymore. All of the physical effort wasn't helping, and he was having second thoughts about asking in the first place.

It was just going to make them more miserable. He had been stupid to think that they could make this a home, or get a tiny bit of... something that wasn't terror, agony, or heartbreak.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She's nothing but seriousness, holding the lowered position for several moments before slowly lifting herself to her feet. Fingers brushed at invisible dirt on the front of her blouse, eyes looking up through a curtain of blonde at him.

"Now there's a phrase I haven't heard since that time where I knocked your ass to the mat," she returned with a partial smirk. "But, that's a memory I don't mind repeating."

Eyes moved quickly over his figure, picking up immediately the lack of visible beat, of the haphazard stance. Only an idiot would go charging into that position, thinking that he wasn't already several steps ahead. And an idiot she is not, so she waits, taking the moment to loosen her tie.

"....." Oh. This old bag. Yes, the mentioning of her sister always did and would forever be a thorn in her side. But it helped that, during her adventures as a Turk, she learned to mostly get over the intense hatred. Instead, it was more like a smoldering ember of angst that, when properly provoked, could ignite a small inferno. And, in this instance, the inferno was just waiting to burn.

Pulling her tie free, she held an end in each hand, snapping the fabric taught. "Hnnn....That's because she didn't see the value of taking her time." Turning her left palm upward, she wiggled her index finger, urging him forward. "You've still yet to land a blow, yourself, Reno."

His grin faltered a bit, not certain if she was about to get kinky on him or if it was something new.

"So far I've just been playin' with ya, but if you're gonna get serious..."

He shifted again, and now he looked earnest, deadly, like the Turk he was, though nothing much had changed. If she wanted him to attack, he would oblige her.

Smiling again, but this time in a predatory smirk, he moved, going almost fast enough to be just a blur. At the last minute, he dived into a slide much like trying to hit first base, aiming for her legs.

Ah, the tie. A standard for the Turk uniform - save for Reno - with a multitude of purposes. She'd learned how to be creative with what she had when she was sans-firearm, to use whatever was around to her advantage.

"So I've noticed. Do a girl a favor and don't go easy on me."

If it was at all wrong to find his ultra-serious, I'm-going-to-kill-you mode alluring, if not arousing, she didn't want to be right. But now was not the time to go fawning, he had the look that promised her that if she made one mistake or miscalculated one step, it was going to hurt. Bad.

Feet shifted, waiting for the attack that was sure to come, and when he did move, she was again reminded of his unnatural speed. Holding the ends of her tie tightly in each hand, she took a defensive stance, watching for any sign of change in his movement, speed or trajectory.

When the change comes there's no time to avoid - so instead she moves forward, closing the gap, her body lowering to bring her knee in line with this jaw while arms moved around his head, hoping to turn the tie into a type of garrote.

[[ooc: Feel free to beat the girl up, dear!]]

It wasn't hard to turn her momentum against her, reaching up underneath her garrote and grabbing her knee as he went under in his slide and tossing her over his head.

He was on his feet in a flash, in his ready stance again and watching her. "Come on, Elena." He had ten months in the Tower, constantly practicing and exercising against monsters, teaching others, and coming up with new moves. Somehow, he didn't think his counterpart from the future would have had time to do those things.

"I'm getting disappointed."

"....!!"

That...was not what she was expecting, however. Clearly his time in the Tower had helped him hone his skills, and here she was thinking she could actually manage to hit him. Especially with muscles that had been stretched and strained from weeks of...

THUD.

Back met mat audibly, sending shooting pains up through spine and shoulder blades as she made an audible 'oofing' sound. Gaia, there was no padding in that mat at all, was there? Groaning from the impact, she rolled onto hands and knees, glaring up at him.

"....Nngh."

Like a professional sprinter, Elena's legs shifted, toes digging into the mat, before taking off at him. Disappointed, was he? Well, then, she'd have to push herself harder, damn the pain that she might incur. Once she was close enough, she bent her knees before launching herself upward, body twisting to build momentum before before sending several kicks towards head and neck.

All he did was step out of the way, avoiding her kicks, save for one, which just barely tagged his long tail of hair when he moved.

He stood off to the side, grinning at her. "I'll give you that point, but you're makin' a mistake, babe... don't get angry, get smart."

Then he moved again, but this time in earnest and ready to end their sparring. He was literally nothing but a big blur of black and red, striking out at her weak spots and pressure points with the butt of his EMR, ending with a swipe at her leg to finish the job. It wasn't meant to kill, but if he did it right, her own body would be her downfall.

When had he learned that?

Frustration was hard to control, especially when it seemed that no matter how much effort she put forward, all he had to do was just move and she missed. Landing, she turned, frown set against normally calm features. Why couldn't she hit him? It was hard to land a blow on him, sure. But this! This was nearly impossible!

Wiping at her forehead where a few beads of sweat had started to creep up, she gave a little shake of her head. "Don't do me any favors, I'll still -"

Words stopped in the center of her chest, a pressure point in the neck all but freezing her up while blow after blow on other points landed. There was no way she was ever going to be fast enough to stop those attacks, not at the speed in which he moved. Instead, she tried to push through it, teeth gritting through the pain before, finally, it stopped.

If, by stopping, one meant a final strike to the leg before a mass explosion of pain at each joint, each weak spot, each pressure point, blinding white and hot and crippling. Knees buckled, muscles contracting and flexing in irregular spasms, before she landed face first on the mat. For several terrifying moments it almost feels like she can't breathe, until she takes a quick, gasping breath that shudders against aching ribs.

Okay. Where the fuck did he pick up that little trick?

That might have been a bit much. Reno was down by her side, checking to feel if he had done any permanent damage, and pulled her up into his arms, giving a look of concern. "Hey, babe, you all right?"

Ooooowwww.. Focusing on just breathing, Elena attempted to move her arms to push herself, and was met with an electric pulse that shot from the inside of her elbow to brain, then back to elbow. Double owww..

Grunting, she turned her head towards the looming shadow, looking up at Reno as he checked her over. Wincing slightly when he rolled her over and held her up, she stared at him with a very stoic expression.

Oh, but this...this opportunity was too good to pass up. Yes, it hurt like hell and it was going to hurt even more but - with a little touch of pain comes just a hint of pleasure.

"I-I'm...." Ignoring the screaming pain of joints and muscles, Elena reached up with almost lightening speed, grabbed a fist full of his hair, and pulled. "What the hell was that move? You trying to kill me for my millions already?"

Yelping, Reno dropped her and rubbed his head. That had HURT. "Elena! That was low! And I'm sorry, I didn't figure it'd hurt that much, it was supposed to make you go numb!"

He huffed a bit, then went back to pick her up, massaging the points he had hit. Maybe that would work. "It's something I made up one time I was bored. I teach classes, y'know, so... I put a set of moves together. Sorry, Elena."

Oh hi again Mr. Mat. But at least she wasn't falling from any perilous heights this time. Grumbling, she slowly pushed herself up onto her elbows.

"Uh...Hello. Turk. We play dirty, remember?" she returned, the slight bite of irritation undermined by the almost sing-song manner she used. "S'okay...You just caught me by surprise. I've never seen you move like that before."

Fingers reached up to rub his cheek apologetically, wincing again from pain that screamed with the movement of her right shoulder. Hands working the aching muscle earned a little contented moan.

"No, don't apologize. It was a good session. And a reminder that I need to get off my ass and get back to training. I could feel that my muscles aren't exactly what they used to be, so I have to train more."

Turning her head, she glanced up at him with an oddly curious look. "Think you could teach me that move one day?"

He grinned, the expression belying the fact he looked deadly only a few short moments ago. "Yeah, sure. To tell ya the truth, I thought of you when I was coming up with it. The way you fight. Just... kinda thought about the way the others used to fight. Veld, Tseng, everything they tried to teach me."

He sighed, and the grin faded, back into concern and a little hint of affection, and pinched her cheek. "Didn't think it'd be that effective... It's got some major flaws in it, but maybe you can help me with that?"

"Did you?" A mild curiosity flitted across her features, eyebrow lifting slightly before a little smile formed. It was almost...flattering that he'd taken some of her own techniques, along with the others, to develop a whole new style. "I have to tell you, you must have created an all new, super-effective style. There was no way that I, even on my best day, could have blocked that."

Pushing herself up more into a sitting position, she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to get it back into place. "It might not be that strong on a normal person; I've got some sensitive pressure points that were...amplified in their sensitivity. But I'd be more than happy to help. We'll want to make sure the move is perfected before you use it on anybody else."

She paused, turning in his arms to face him more properly, and put a hand gently on his chest. Now, with her ass properly handed to her and his energy level at a better place, now was the best time to talk. While she had played his energy off in the beginning, she had been alarmed by the ferocity that he had moved.

"Want to tell me what got you all riled up?"

His hands kept finding the spots he had hit, massaging her to undo the damage and make her feel better. It was funny, he had never been this concerned when they sparred back home. It only took the right situation to entirely change someone's viewpoint.

At her question, though, his entire face fell and some of that energy came back. Taking a deep breath in, he shook his head. "No, not really. Just promise me you won't go running off into trouble."

How could he tell her seeing Sephiroth on Xion's post had affected him this much? Turks weren't supposed to be emotionally compromised on a mission. True, he wasn't on a mission, but even so, now that he was thinking clearly he felt a little ashamed.

It was proving very difficult to not melt into hands that pressed and rubbed, massaging the points that had taken the blunt of his interesting new attack. Through the thin layer of her shirt his hands were warm - if not burning hot - causing her skin to break out into goosebumps.

The moment his expression changed, she knew instantly that whatever had caused his change in behavior, it was not only recent but something that he took with an upmost level of importance. But, again, as much as she wanted to press the issue, her gut instinct told her to wait. The wound, or injury, or whatever it was - it was too fresh to go nosing in to. Giving an audible 'humph', she reached up and touched the tip of his nose with her finger.

"'Trouble' is my middle name, Reno."

Her voice is nothing but gentle teasing, masking the immediate thought that she was - in fact - going to end up doing so. Because there was something out there that had pushed him to this point and that was certainly not going to be allowed to slide. A something she had a feeling had wore leather, had silver-hair hair, and suffered from a god complex. His presence on Xion's post had not gone ignored by her either.

Speaking of pushing, the hand on his chest gave a little push in an attempt to knock him on his back so she could pin him down beneath her. "Besides, why would I want to run off looking for trouble when I can just make trouble for you. With you. However you want to dice it."

Edited 2013-01-04 17:52 (UTC)

With a soft 'plop', he fell back on to the mat and squinted up at her, eyes clouding with suspicion. His hands were on her waist when he tumbled over. She was trying to distract him now, he could tell. He knew her too well.

"That isn't a promise, Elena."

A low growl followed that, whether it was from desire or irritation she was dodging the question was up to her imagination. She wasn't going to let it go and he knew that, she would just wait until later and ask or snoop again. She was a Turk.

"Don't distract me, I want that promise from you." Hesitating, his eyes flicked away for a moment, growing distant. She would be difficult, he knew, but he also loved her for it. "I don't want to have to make it an order."

Mission success! He was back on the mat, giving her the position of dominance. Granted, given her smaller weight and stature, it was all but certain that he was allowing her to have some of the control. Of course, all it would take would be a push of those hands that sat lightly at her sides to lift her up and put her at his mercy.

"......."

Pulling the infamous Valentine silence, she pressed the tip of her nose lightly against his, almost giggling when his growl vibrated up through his chest, registering lightly though the touch. Yes, she knew he wanted him to promise to not cause trouble. And no, she didn't quite like the idea of making a promise only to turn around and break it. She was a Turk, and following Sephiroth had, in one point in time, been their "thing". But it wasn't just that, it was the fact that Sephiroth had left a very dangerous threat out in the open. And, Odin help her, she was not about to sit back and wait for it to just happen.

Wiggling slightly to get her knees in place to ensure she didn't crush anything important, she smiled with the most innocent looking face she could muster. "Oh? Is this distracting? How about this?" And she placed a few soft, an obvious distraction to the current conversation. "It'd be a waste of an order - especially since you could give other orders. Orders I'd be more than happy to follow through with."

"Elena..." It was only one word, but it communicated too much. More than just her name was tied up in it. Anger, irritation, some amusement. It was getting too hard to resist her, that was why her offer only made him firmer in his resolve. Also in other areas, but he could deal with that.

"Promise. I don't want to have to yell at you later."

How would she react if he actually told her the truth? There were too many doubts going through his mind about the wedding. The brainwashing incident, Ganondorf's threat, Shion's breakdown. How they had all affected him. It wasn't just Sephiroth, though that had been a trigger. It was his own insecurity that he wasn't- "A demon..."

"Reno..."

The gift of quickly interpreting intonation and tone that she'd honed over the years did not fail her in picking up the subtle cues he was trying to convey. The promise he was attempting to get her to make was one of the few that she would actually push back against. Promise to not 'run into trouble'? Why something was out there causing him to get this way? Why, the impertinence!

But...this was Reno, after all. And he knew just what he was asking as well. Not only was he her senior, but he knew the Tower better than she did. Surely there was a reason why he'd even attempt to pose the question. Besides, what the man didn't know couldn't kill him.

Giving an audible defeated huff, she pressed a heartier kiss atop his forehead. "All right. I promise to not go running off into trouble. And you better promise to do the same, troublemaker."

Something was still off, that much she could feel. His silence and the introspection that seemed to all but carry him away despite being stuck beneath her. But what struck her most odd was the two words he uttered, as if they were part of a sentence she was only coming in on at the very end.

"A demon? Who? I don't understand..."

"Yeah, yeah, I promise." Though it was far, far too late to be making that promise by then, he sighed and huffed, and suffered her kiss. He had been doing that a lot the past month.

Now, how to explain that slip without getting into things he didn't want to talk about.

"There's too many demons here, Elena... it's stupid running after them."

"Good. I'm going to hold you to it." Though, yes, he'd already caused enough trouble to make blonde hair go gray. Like the Gandondorf incident that had caused her to get shrunk to the size of a hamster. Just remembering that time made her stomach sink in smoldering fury.

Eyes narrowed suspiciously at him before sitting up on his stomach, lips pressing into a thin line. No, that wasn't right. That wasn't at all what he was talking about, was it? But, then, if it wasn't - what was he hiding?

"Even if it meant that by doing so I could protect you? Or the kids?"

"That's different." He pushed up, taking her with him until he was sitting on the floor. All to hit his point home, engage her completely. "There's a difference running after something and protecting what you have."

Then he paused, realizing he had hit on something he had been taught when he'd first joined the Turks. Shiva's tits, what was it with him and quoting things from his rookie days? He was doing it with Shion, and now Elena. "Didn't I tell ya that by now? Or Tseng?"

Legs shifted and moved until, ultimately, stretching out on either side of him while she sat comfortably in his lap. Lips pursed a little, visibly expressing her mild displeasement. "That's called being proactive."

Which, in her mind, made total sense. Kill the man before the man killed you. Granted, in a place where death wasn't permanent, that saying didn't quite work. But the intent was the same. Elena paused, thinking on his question, then shook her head.

"Ah....no, I don't think so. Not that I remember. We were all a little...busy." Busy trying not to get killed from Meteor. Busy trying to survive after the destruction of Edge. Busy trying to keep Rufus alive. "Sorry. I guess I've still got a lot more to learn."

One eyebrow raised at her, and he leaned back, supporting himself on his hands. "Y'know, I really get the feeling I'm glad I didn't live through the post-meteor crap." Trying to understand made his head hurt, and he probably wouldn't ever be able to understand. His world was Midgar and Junon and running around trying to save it. It wasn't death and destruction, geostigma and missing presidents, and with the destruction of the universe, it probably wouldn't ever be.

For a moment or two she's quiet, contemplative. It was sometimes easy to forget that he wasn't the Reno she knew. Well, he was, sort of, but the time in the Tower had certainly changed him some. Giving a little shake of her head, a look of sadness flickered across her features.

"You'd be right. You smiled a lot less after that."

But that was then, wasn't it. And here was now. An escape from their destroyed worlds, a new chance to live out the things they couldn't before. Seeing her displaced tie just to her left, the bent at the waist, reaching for the discarded cloth, before curling the length around his neck.

"So...you gonna wear one of these for me?"

Edited 2013-01-04 23:50 (UTC)

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/LANEY SMASH

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okay tell me if this is okay

its perfect!

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DAT ICON. Don't make that face....

makes this face

dhfkjhzfjk that face....its too powerful!!!

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