(no subject)

[midgarhorizon]

Characters: Reno, recruitment candidates!, Elena, Shion
Setting: Floor 82, Tower Exploring, Dorm Floor 5 empty room
Format: Whatever you're comfortable with.
Summary: The Turks have been busy, and it's time to recruit members for Operation Last Resort.

Warnings: To be yet announced!


Floor 82: Masquerade Ball

Reno had set up camp on the Masquerade floor today, his own mask firmly planted on his face. He had business here, and it was time to start putting plans in motion.

To those he had spoken to previously, people he had gotten to know a little and tested, letters and notes had gone to each one of them, to meet him here at specific times. The anonymousness of the black mask suited him, and he didn't dare take it off while he was on the floor- he'd found out the effects the hard way.

It was recruiting day, and he knew just the kinds of questions to ask the candidates when he unmasked them. Sure, it wasn't the regular method of recruitment, just having an interview, but it was short and sweet; they didn't have the time for lengthy handshakes anymore. It seemed fairly reliable, too, and Reno figured he'd just have to learn how to trust a bit more.


---

Exploring with Shion

It's been a while since Reno really got to explore the Tower. So far, he had come across some pretty interesting floors, and barely remembered whizzing pass others. This time, he took Shion with him, leaving it up to the kid whether or not to take the note. They needed to spend some "quality" time together, and he was taking it easy with him, knowing he still had some healing up to do. Man, healing up the long way sucked, and Reno didn't blame Shion for not wanting to stay in bed. The Turk wasn't the best of influences.

---


Dorm 5, empty room

Reno was laying on one of the best relaxed, most of his uniform dropped by the side the second he'd gone into the room. One arm rested on his stomach, the other draped haphazardly across his forehead, and he stared up at the ceiling. His hair still felt pretty weird so short, but he could live with it. There were a lot of things he had to live with these days, like not being able to spend as much time with Elena out in the open as he liked.

Elena, Xion, and Shion. They were bright spots in the Tower these days. The ones he wanted to keep close and protect as fiercely as he had wanted to protect the other Turks back home; maybe even more so. Being in the Tower... it had a way of changing people, and that thought led one to another. Rude had said once that Reno had changed, though he had denied it at the time. He had been still too young, too unready to really see what life would dish out to them all.

Slowly, he raised the arm that partially covered his vision, and looked at his hand closely. They seemed the same... but they were a lot more bloody than they used to be, even if the blood was invisible.

"Heh... Rude was right." He spoke quietly, after a long period of silence, flexing each finger one at a time but not really focusing on them. "I've changed."

Comments

[Floor 82 lessgo lessgo]

[bloodyashes]

[Well, here's another redhead, a bit early for his appointment and eyeballing the rest of the floor. The last time he was here was before the glamour came down, at the ball that even Ruana had noticed.

It's settled in his mind as a floor where things change, one way or another. But that doesn't mean he can't enjoy it. The ornate gold and black mask is pulled from his face, and Asch hangs it loosely from the sword at his side.

When Reno comes to find him, the other redhead is leading an invisible partner in a stately waltz, and actually seems to be enjoying it.]

o/

[midgarhorizon]

[Wandering toward Asch, Reno tilts his head at him, wondering what that was all about. He'd find it sort of creepy actually, if he hadn't known Asch would be here.]

'Bout time you showed up.

[The mask is still on his face, waiting for Asch to respond before he took it off.]

[bloodyashes]

Last I checked, I'm not late.

[He dips the imaginary girl and brings her back up before letting the fantasy disappear. Business before pleasure. His arms get folded over his chest instead.]

[midgarhorizon]

Heh. Kind of hard to keep a time piece around here.

[Sliding the mask off, the anonymous affect wears off, leaving Reno in a somewhat vulnerable position- one he was willing to take for Xion's sake.

Still, be careful what you ask.]

Xion seems to trust you, Asch. That goes a long way with me. It's why I asked ya down here.

[bloodyashes]

Can't be the only reason.

[It's not actually a question, so Reno is free to answer or not as he wishes. Still, being on level, not-anonymous ground with the other redhead is a good thing, in Asch's book. It's just another conversation that way.]

[midgarhorizon]

No.

[Sigh.]



Thing is, back home my job used to be in intelligence. Infiltration, espionage, extraction, you name it, I did it.

[And he can't lie, goddamit.]

I'm gettin' tired of sitting on my heels around here, so I decided to do something about this bullshit about dying.

Trouble is I can't do it by myself. So I'm out here recruitin' people I think can handle the job, train them a bit. Better than having something happen and we're all unprepared for it.

[Folding his arms, he shakes his head.]

Yeah, but with you, it's more than that. Back when we were trapped, I remember how ya took care of Xion. So that's why I'm gonna ask ya a few questions.

[bloodyashes]

Well, I'm not one of the ones who'll need the training.

[More espionage focused than his own job, maybe, the Oracle Knights had a separate division for that, but the description Reno lays out is hardly foreign. May as well use the skills he's got - that's essentially the offer he made Zelda, after all.]

Ask. I'm not in the business of hiding anymore.

[midgarhorizon]

Tch. All right.

[Team work depends on the team, and that'd come with practice and not training, so it's not such a big issue for Reno.]

Are you gonna be willing to do anything you can to finish up a mission, protect Xion and our friends?

[A pause, and then...]

Can I trust you?

[That's... pretty damn straight forward. But hey, it's a good question.]

[bloodyashes]

Depends on who your friends are. But for her, yes.

[That one wasn't even hard. As for the other, it's harder to answer only because that's not how he's used to thinking of trust. When things get simple that way, he gets a bit blindsided by it, sometimes.]

I'd like to think so, but that's ultimately up to you. If nothing else, I'll at least stab you in the front.

[There's worse deals out there, for sure.]

[midgarhorizon]

Good answer.

[It isn't quite a grin, but Reno seems satisfied enough, reaching in a pocket and tossing a small something at Asch- it's just a pin like the one Xion has, though not quite as well made.]

Welcome to the family.

[bloodyashes]

[He catches the pin easily, almost by reflex, but when he opens his hand to look at it, it doesn't clear up the confusion at all.]

What?

[midgarhorizon]

[Now it's a grin, slightly on the teasing side.]

What, didn't Xion tell you she was a Turk? That pin she wears isn't just decoration.

[bloodyashes]

[He's probably going to wind up a favorite teasing target.]

No, and that doesn't explain anything.

[midgarhorizon]

[Congrats, Asch, you now have his trollgrin.]

That's my outfit. Y'know, my job. My life. My family. We gotta count on each other doing what we do, because nobody else will.

[bloodyashes]

[And he's still just... Kind of staring, the pin in his hand. Family. He hasn't thought of himself as part of one of those since the kidnapping.]

You mean - what, me?

[This whole week is a dream and he's gonna wake up any minute.]

[midgarhorizon]

Yeah. You.

[Snort. If Asch couldn't get with the program he's going to be sorry he offered.]

See anyone else around here with hair like yours?

[...yeah don't answer that. At least Reno's is short now.]

[bloodyashes]

There's no less than three other people with my face, now.

[But he closes his hand around the pin. That's answer enough, isn't it?]

[midgarhorizon]

I don't get it, but all right.

[Yeah, that is sort of confusing but he takes it in stride. Asch has the pin and Xion'll probably be happy.]

I got more meetings coming up, if you want to figure out more, might try talking to Xion or Shion.

[And he's slipping his mask back on half way.]

[bloodyashes]

One replica, one alternate of the replica who was my twin in his world, and... The other one.

[Yeah he doesn't know how to explain Lorelei in less than five sentences.]

I'll talk to her, then.

[And... Try to figure out all these feelings. Yeah. What a plan.]

[midgarhorizon]

Ah, yeah. Had another me here a while back...

[He finishes slipping that mask on, settling it comfortably on his face.]

Don't let Xion pester ya too much.

[bloodyashes]

Apparently just one of me is enough for the Tower, but someone really likes my face.

[And then it's like, even though he's still looking directly at Reno, the man is gone. That's the end of that, he supposes.

Since he's not interested in lurking anyone else's truths, Asch heads for the stairs, mask left on his hip until it vanishes.]

[savedbyasong]

Shion was keeping up as best as he could, he still got dizzy if he tried to do too much, or tried to read for long periods of time which was annoying. But he was feeling a lot better than he had been. And a lot happier too, despite the tower and everything associated with being here he had family, Reno, Elena, Xion, and it made him smile just randomly.

He was quiet though, the trip devoid of his usual babbling, he was still feeling his way, afraid that the other shoe would drop and Reno would remember that he was supposed to be angry with him.

[midgarhorizon]

There's no indication at all of Reno being angry with him. Nope, he was the friend he always was, helping Shion out when he needed it. The staircase saw a lot of use with them, even as they were coming up on the Musical Floor.

Going over old floors couldn't hurt, after all.

Slowing down, Reno turned to look at Shion, on the staircase behind him.

"...Hey, Shion. I got a question. Remember that time I was doin' something stupid, and you yelled at me?"

[savedbyasong]

Shion slowed down as well, blinking in question to why they had stopped. The question made him look more confused and there was a moment before he answered. "Which time?" There had only been a couple, one being just a few weeks before but they had been under different circumstances and for different reasons so Shion wanted to clarify.

[midgarhorizon]

Good question. Reno paused, folded his arms and shifted his weight to one foot while he thought about it. Shion had been something of a moral compass at important junctures for Reno, brought him back to center and sometimes questioned why he tended to do things a certain way. Back home, certain things he'd never have thought twice about.

He grinned. "All of 'em. So how about this? I want ya to keep doing that. You're a smart kid, and you got some experience under your belt now. You'd be great as an Booker." The term was one Reno never spoke out loud, but Shion might have read it in his report book. A Turk agent that focused more on intelligence and administerial duties than field operations. "You just need a bit more training."

There was so much more he could tell Shion, man to man, about this and that. Talk about his training, how well he did at whatever he put his mind to. But, they were winding down, had a deadline to deal with, and the situation felt all too much like when Tseng had gone missing, leaving him with Rude and Elena to deal with. The grin faded, and he sighed.

"Look, Shion, have you talked with Diarmuid yet? I really want to keep trainin' you, but we got only ten months and I don't think I can do it before then." Their conversation from before had never really gotten finished, and now was as a good as time. "I need fully trained people... I need you level headed and focused. Otherwise, it'll just be me and Elena, and I can't burden Elena with more than I got her on."