(no subject)

[midgarhorizon]

Characters: Reno, papers, and you
Setting: Floor 3, Floor 88, Staircase between Floors 96 to 87
Format: Either or
Summary:
Writing up info dump from the party log and Reno is head desking because what is paperwork
Diarmuid and Reno discuss Things over a game of pool
On the Staircase, trying to come up with a viable plan to map the dangerous Upper Levels
Warnings: TBA



Monday, Nov 11, Morning, 0900
Floor 3 Library

---

The library was quiet this morning, or at least quiet enough that Reno was able to focus and concentrate on the epic, gruelling task he had set before him. A pile of papers sat on the table next to him, along with several sharpened pencils, and a few pens. The maps he had been working on over the past month and a half were nearby, layered neatly next to them. There were a lot that he had to redraw in a more permanent ink, and keeping the notes and symbols neat. Epic, because of how large it was, gruelling because... well, gawddamit, it was paperwork. If Veld or Tseng were here, though, he could just imagine what they would say if he slacked off on the neatness and legibility of any of these things...

The thought made him pause, slightly depressed. He had been here so long, and admittedly, grew up a little, but even now he wished one of them would show up. Even for a small time. Just long enough to say "Good work," or "Nice Job," maybe even "I'm proud of you." Psh, that was too weak, though. He couldn't ask for that, couldn't even tell Elena or the kids. They were depending on him. With a visible shake, he turned his attention back to the task.

Even after all this time of writing up reports, dossiers, files, and most recently, maps, Reno still hated paperwork, and made a face at the scrawled lines he had done so far. This wasn't why he joined the Turks, it was because of the action! The romantic idea of being a dashing, cunning intelligence agent, just like all those shows on SINTV when he was growing up! Of course, when he actually got into it, the reality was way darker and more painful than he thought it'd be, but it still was a hell of a lot more interesting than paperwork. True, Tower sometimes had too much action for his comfort, but hey..

Sighing, he kept staring at the paper in front of him, wishing it had been done already instead of just only half written. It would be so much easier if he had a computer, or a typewriter. Or anything. As it is, he was getting cramps in his hand. Maybe that would help! He dropped the pencil and stretched out his left hand back and forth, getting the flow of blood worked back into it. Keep going. You're the Chief now, y'gotta keep on.

Taking up the pencil again, he started jotting off another line, and paused. Crossing his eyes, he groaned and faceplanted into the table. "Where's Shion when y'need him..."

If anyone glances over his shoulder, they may see various papers on certain topics that were over heard during the party.

---

Tuesday, Nov 12, Afternoon
Floor 88

---

Stepping out into the smoky bar, Reno glanced around to make sure there weren't any monsters hiding out around. One couldn't be too careful with the floors that looked like they didn't see a lot of use, and Reno had a couple of bite marks over the years to prove it. Or three hundred. He forgot which.

Satisfied he wasn't going to get ambushed, he started racking up the pool balls, setting up for a game, just in case. Pool was something he missed from back home, and any chance to play it in a busy and hectic Tower life is pretty nice. If Diarmuid didn't know how, he'd just have to teach him. It'd be a great distraction while they had that... chat.

Smoky atmosphere, dark interior, impending chats of dubious nature he wasn't sure he wanted to actually talk about, and Elena potentially getting into trouble somewhere in the Tower. All he needed was a pack of cigarettes, a bunch of cheap booze, and a deck of cards and it would be a vacation at the Turtle's Paradise.

---

Sunday, Nov 17, Mid Morning, 1000
Staircase, between Floors 97 to 87

---

Today, Reno was trying to approach the Upper Floors to map them. Whispers and rumors, and hell, just outright observation told him that they tended to be on the more dangerous side of the Tower. One look at the giant monsters on Floor 97, and he backtracked hard, telling himself he... should probably come back with someone in tow, because it looked like a struggle even to get a vague sense of the floor and how it was constructed. Last time he was up here scoping out the floors, he didn't remember the monsters being so gigantic.

Cussing to himself, he sat down on the staircase just between 96 and 97 and glared off into space, taking a moment to think before he went off and got into trouble. Who the hell would he ask that had the skills and the survival sense enough to help out? Maybe Riku, he was a good one, and he knew when and where to dodge if something happened. Plus, that corridor thing wouldn't hurt. Or maybe Diarmuid? Elena?

Maybe it was just getting harder to think because of the stress, he should just head down to the sauna floor and take a break. Sounded like fun, but he didn't feel particularly eager to get moving again. When he did, he'd only go a few more floors and then pause and look out over the floors from the staircase. He'd be an obstruction for a while with his rolled up unfinished maps.

---

Comments

Tuesday, Nov 12, Afternoon-Floor 88

[oathshackledbird]

When Diarmuid enters the floor, he seems distracted, though at the same time oddly focused. While he's grown used to having conflicting and confused emotions here, this is a pair of emotions he's not quite so used to dealing with at the same time. At least if the mix of emotions is odd, Diarmuid does know the reason why he feels this way. He's just put in motion something that has been building for a long time. Something that just can't be left alone any longer.

Now he just needs to figure out a way to make sure they win.

In addition to that, the results of Shion's first training meeting have been on his mind. He had originally thought things went well, but afterward he had started wondering more and more if he was just seeing what he wanted to see. What if he was wrong?

He sighs and slips the note Reno had sent him into his pocket. Today, he's not wearing his usual green armor but a more relaxed white dress shirt and black slacks. It's just too bad he's not actually as relaxed as his dress might make him look.

Golden eyes scan the room, checking its corners, just as Reno had, for any unwelcome guests. Once Diarmuid is sure the room is clear, he walks over to the pool table.

"If you want to play, I'm afraid you'll have to show me how. Apparently, how to play bar games is not something the Grail saw fit to give me information on."

What a party pooper that Holy Grail is...

[midgarhorizon]

Reno was unfazed, giving a quick nod as he crouched down to check the lineup of the triangle of balls with the cue. "Not a problem, bro. Trick is knowing how to hold the stick, after that it's just geometry. Why don't ya grab one?" Pushing back to his feet, he took the rack off the table and set it aside.

"Shion's been doing... all right, but it's been hard to tell. He's been pretty busy lately and for some reason, he's got this idea to write everything down from somewhere." Reno's half convinced Diarmuid might be to blame for that, but at the same time he remembered Shion writing stuff down from before. Not being able to keep the kid in his sights at all times was a major block on keeping tabs of any progress. "Didja see him at the party? There was a stack of papers a mile high."

Looking at the cue stick he had set against the table, he frowned minutely. "I get the feeling there's something else ya wanna talk about. Any chalk over there?"

[oathshackledbird]

"Geometry?" Diarmuid laughs softly as he picks up a stick as Reno has instructed. At least, that is a little familiar. The stick's feel is not all that different than that of a spear. "You realize I don't know anything about geometry either, right? I come from a time before the zero was invented. Originally, anyway..."

Diarmuid returns to the pool table and leans the stick he has selected against it before his expression grows more serious, "There...are other things I would like to talk about but you have entrusted me with Shion's training in this. I don't mind talking about how things went. To be honest, I am not really sure myself. On the outside, it seemed like they went as well as they could have. On the inside? I am not so sure."

He pauses to find the chalk when Reno asks for it and then begins speaking again, "He was writing things down almost obsessively when I first met him. Is that not something he did when you were here before? I just assumed it was something that had carried over from before he was here. It is not a bad thing, writing stuff down, but if this is a sudden change in him..."

[midgarhorizon]

"Eh, y'just think of things in triangles and figure out which way the balls go. Only kinda math I ever got. Remember, I ain't from your world at all, so historically speakin' we've had all this math shit around for millenia. I mean, the Cetra had to use somethin' to make all their temples."

Shifting his weight to one foot while he took the chalk and gave the tip of his cue a good coat, he sighed. "Obsessive is the word for it, Diar. He's always wrote things down, but now it's like he's possessed. And you're right 'bout the inside thing. He does that kind of thing a lot, tellin' ya one while trying to hide what he's really thinking. He might need another talkin' to soon."

"What's these other things ya want to say?" The chalk went on the edge of the table, and Reno leaned on his cue slightly, looking at the balls, anything to really avoid facing the other man for the moment.

[oathshackledbird]

"Ah, Second Magic. I would say I hate you for making things so complex, but if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have Waver," Diarmuid picks his stick back up and carefully swings the narrow point down to rest next to the balls. "So the goal is to use the sticks to knock the balls into the holes. I will just go with that, and you can laugh at how badly I do for a while."

He swings the stick back then, resting the butt against the top of his foot, "I expected as much about his feelings. We have to find a way to make him be honest with us. There is no way this will work if he isn't honest with himself and us. You are right, we should probably get together again soon. We can ask him about the note taking then. I suspect it's something we need to know."

"As for other things... Where would you like me to begin? With you? Or with Sephiroth?"

Sunday, Nov 17, Staircase between floors 86 & 87 (I'm in your log, spamming your prompts.)

[oathshackledbird]

Today is the first day that Diarmuid has been out patrolling the Tower since the fight with Sephiroth. It had been comforting to learn, after returning from death, that the others had managed to get Sephiroth locked into one of the power stripping cells, but at the same time Diarmuid had found himself feeling hollow...

It should have been enough. Sephiroth had fallen and was now locked away. Why didn't it feel like enough?

Diarmuid pauses when he spots a familiar figure on the stairs. At first he is puzzled, wondering what Reno is doing lingering there. When he makes out the papers in the man's hands, however, he understands.

The maps.

A few quick steps brings him to Reno's side, "How are things going? Need a hand?"

[midgarhorizon]

The sudden appearance brought Reno right out of his thoughts, and made him tense for a minute or two before he realized it was a resident, not a monster that had spotted him. Looking up from his seat, he shrugged. "Nah, I've just been lookin' at these floors. It's been kinda hard to get motivated today. Half of 'em look like takin' a step out is suicide. Elena might kill me if I die again."

Dropping his gaze to look down the stairs, he let out a strangled, irritated hiss of breath. "It's been nothin' but work since I came back."

[oathshackledbird]

"I can't say that I blame you if you are working your way up from below. The floors you have left...are not especially safe ones. Especially floor 97," Diarmuid shakes his head, moving to lean carefully against what served for a wall in the stairwell. "This is my first patrol since...the fight, and I can't say that my mind is completely focused on my work either."

Too many things to think about and then overthink about.

"I know that you probably want to get work done on these maps as fast as possible, but maybe your reluctance to continue should be taken as a sign as should my lack of focus. What is the modern saying? All work and no play? Usually, I am not the kind to suggest people slack off, but I do also know that pushing yourself to hard can be just as detrimental to whatever you are working on as taking too many breaks can be."

[midgarhorizon]

Floor 97 gave Reno a very interesting pinched expression and a wince. "Yeah, that's not one I'm really lookin' forward to on my own. But y'know, you're right. I'm definitely due for some fun, and y'look like you could use some time off. How 'bout we blow this and go down to the sauna or somethin'? I got some of my special alcohol, fresh made."

Jumping to his feet, he started to get really into the idea, a devil-may-care grin on his face. "Yeah, there's this place downstairs that's pretty open, didn't see any monsters down there. Then we can hit up the baths, and after that video games down on Fourteen." Pausing, he tapped his chin in thought. "What else could we do?"

[oathshackledbird]

"You cannot map floor 97 on your own. You will only get yourself killed, and then Elena will be mad at you. Is there no way to convince you to use a copy of the map my friend made? At least for that floor?" Diarmuid's voice is concerned. Even he doesn't patrol that floor like he does others. It is just too dangerous between the monsters and its power negating properties.

Reno's excitement at the idea of blowing work off for the rest of the day makes Diarmuid laugh, though, and, at the same time, makes him glad that he had decided it was a good idea to 'slack off' for once, "All of that sounds good to me. However, we can talk of other things to do later. First, I want to hear more about this 'special alcohol' of yours..."

Library

[savedbyasong]

"I'm here." Shion spoke from right behind Reno. He had spotted Reno when he came in though he seemed busy so Shion had continued stacking books whilst keeping an eye on him. Pausing every now and again to write things down, things about Reno. He didn't think a page was going to be long enough for each of his family.

He looked over at the papers, reading a few of them, "What do you need help with? It looks like you have done loads already."

Re: Library

[midgarhorizon]

Ever want to scare the crap out of your mentor, Shion? Because that's what just happened, Reno jumping at the sudden appearance and sitting up, rubbing his forehead.

"It's find, sport... I was just griping about paperwork. Ah, used to have to take care of the files at Headquarters sometimes, this's bringing back all sort of memories." Clearing his throat, he gave Shion a calculating look. "What are ya writing down there?"

[savedbyasong]

"Oh." He nodded, not sure if they were good memories or memories that Reno would not want to talk about.

He looked up and blinked, pausing in his writing. "Just stuff." He shrugged, wishing once again he could draw, it would make a lot of this easier.

[midgarhorizon]

"Yeah?" With a quick motion, he grabbed at the paper Shion was writing on, frowning.

[savedbyasong]

"Hey!" He swipes at them but not properly, since he doesn't want to anger or hurt Reno. If Reno read them he would find a whole page full of notes about himself, to great detail. About his expressions and actions, things he said. If he looked through the papers he would find similar pages for a lot of different people in the tower.

Library

[sunflowerfairy]

While Yotsuba's reading skills were not that good, she was still able to read, and she wanted to find a few nice gems so that she could read them to people whenever they felt sad or so that she could read them to herself whenever she wanted to.

However, she was distracted from her task when she saw 'Roen' with his head buried in the table and a super huge pile of papers next to him. Puzzled, she wandered up to him, happy to see him again.

"Good morning, Roen! Are you okay?! Tummy ache?"

She did her best to remember Dia's advice while she spoke to him. No talking about the past or hugging him unless he wanted to. That went for trying to cheer him up too.

[midgarhorizon]

Oh no. Issuing another low groan, he rotated his head just enough to peek out from under red strands. The kid was back. And she was right there... what kinda people were they, that brought little kids like this to this hell tower of doom?

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just havin' some grown-up problems."

[sunflowerfairy]

Well, for the most part, the Administrators weren't kind..but one had to admit, the Tower was much better than a destroyed world with dead friends and family. At that answer though, Yotsuba frowned a little. She would really love to help, but since it was a grown-up problem, he might not let her!

"Oh..okay then! Can I help? I'll do a good job!"

[midgarhorizon]

"Nah, kiddo... it's stuff that's in my head. Don't think you could write it all out if it wasn't in yours, y'know?" Huffing, he sat back up and made a face at the paperwork. "You can call me Reno, kiddo."

An idea occurred to him. If she was really so eager to help out, maybe she could after all. "But... I could really go for some cookies."

[sunflowerfairy]

While she didn't like the fact that she couldn't help with the paperwork or that it seemed like 'Roen' had lied about his name, she smiled and cheered up when he told her that he wanted cookies. She didn't know if there were any in the Tower right now or not, but she could go find out!

"Okay then! Yotsuba will get you a whoole bunch of cookies, Reno! And you hafta stop lying! It's bad, and you're a good person!"

And with that, the small child would run out of the library, only to return ten or fifteen minutes later with a plate full of hot dogs. They all looked slapped-together, and a few of the dogs were upside down, but they were edible.

"They didn't have any cookies! But these are pretty yummy too, so you can have them, Reno!"

Library

[bashfulshifter]

...R-Reno?

[Hopefully finding the blonde man in the library wasn't too much of a shock, even if he did address the fellow agonizing over one of the study tables from a fair distance away. It wasn't often that he came by here, but it was nice, on occasion, to take a break from his usual haunts to find quieter places to nap (and run into people he didn't see that often, by happy coincidence!), particularly after such large periods of social interaction as they had last week. Having some time to wind down was important.]

[That being said, the well-being of his friends was just as--if not more--important than his own, and Reno most certainly looked like he was in some distress. If he had a guess as to why, Rick would say that it's probably something to do with the mountain of assorted papers surrounding him; Reno didn't strike him as the sort to do bookkeeping. Perhaps he could use some help.]

...Are y-you o-okay?

[midgarhorizon]

Oh, hey Patrick. [Nope, still calling him by his full name. Seems like Reno's decided that's how he's going to name the guy from now on.] Yeah, just a lot of work, y'know. Haven't seen ya in a while, been meaning to talk to ya about that fitness thing.

[bashfulshifter]

[Ah well--it's still his name, he'll answer to it. Makes Reno sound a bit like his mother, sure, but that's his prerogative.]

[He nods, slowly closing the distance between them now that he's caught the other fellow's attention.]

...Y-Yeah. [He's here, lay it on him.] ...I c-can, ah...h-help w-while I'm here? I m-mean--if you d-don't mind.

[midgarhorizon]

[Reno is nobody's mother. A papa, sure, maybe.

Still, he's staring at the papers and wondering how 'safe' it'd be letting this guy help.

So not sure yet.]

Can ya keep a secret, slick?

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick blinks in confusion.]

Uh...y-yeah. Of c-course.

[The question is, does he want to know?]