timeandtides_backup | Comfort Food

He had to admit to feeling better when the airship landed. Still raw, but manageable now. Capable of being easily slipped behind his typical mask without threats of said mask cracking at the edges.

Thanks to Tseng. And the time spent away from the rest of the world, just focusing on the betrayal he felt, the guilt and the anger.

But he was better now, evidenced by the call of "Honey, we're HOME!" as he cracked the door to the manor open and headed for the dining room - making sure that Tseng was no more than a few steps behind him. "She said she wanted to see us when she called earlier..." he insisted with a frown, heading toward the dining room.

But even Reno was surprised at the spread in front of them when he entered. Alcohol, and real food from Wutai. Not some improvised dish, but the real thing. Noodles, soups, carefully prepared vegetables in sauces that smelled so good that even from a distance, Reno's stomach was demanding attention. And of course, the whiskey had NOT gone unnoticed.

And there was Cissnei, too. "Oh, you're a doll, Ciss..." he breathed, then glanced to Tseng to see what his reaction would be.

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."

Edited 2010-12-07 04:22 (UTC)

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."

"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."

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.

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.

"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."

"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."

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.

"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.

"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.

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.

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.

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?

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!

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.

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."

"Stockings, what am I, you grandmother?" Cissnei hissed. But really, she couldn't exactly deny having clothes bought for her. But still, it was a dress. "Thanks for being so gracious, Tseng." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, still scowling. It seemed her idea to go somewhat backfired.

Free clothes.

A dress.

Free clothes.

Cissnei sighed. "Fine, fine, fine," she grumbled, then quickly stuffed her mouth with vegetables to avoid answering anymore questions. When exactly was the last time she had worn a dress, anyway? She had probably blocked out that moment in time. At the very least, it was on an entirely different world, full of strangers and a few people she knew... Shiva, this was starting to sound worse the more she thought about it. "Don't make me regret it," she mumbled.

"Stockings. Or nylons. Or pantyhose... whatever you want to call them - I've heard all those names. And don't give me that 'grandmother' bullshit. Girls still wear them, especially to formal stuff. I'm not that ignorant, Ciss." Actually, he'd been forced to wear them once. No thanks to a rather stupid bet of his.

"And so long as you've got some daring in that petite body of yours - which I know you do - you won't regret it. It'll be something tasteful, but sexy." Sexy? He offered a grin at Tseng. "I'll make sure Tseng approves of it before it becomes official. I'm sure he won't let me pick anything that would reflect poorly on our little team." There. Problem solved.

Oh, so he was to be dragged into this little fiasco after all? He couldn't quite claim surprise at that, although it did make for a rather interesting turn of events. But since he'd been called on as the final authority, he merely nodded at Reno's words.

"Of course not. We wouldn't want to offer give people the wrong idea about either us or Shinra."

Even if Rufus wasn't around right now.

According to this little Turk, things were going quickly downhill. "Just get the dress and I'll try it on," Cissnei said, a tone of resignation a little obvious. At least it was up to her to get him a nice tie. "Any color preference for your tie?"

She propped her elbow on the table and let her head rest in the palm of her hand. Joy. Order were orders, though, or something like that. Cissnei felt a little relieved that Tseng would agree to making sure the dress was, indeed, not overly revealing. She could probably get away with it, but she wouldn't feel comfortable at all.

He gave the girl a little nudge. "Aw, don't be so upset. You're getting a tie around my neck. Not even a direct order from the President managed to do that," he insisted earnestly, reaching out to tweak her auburn hair. "Besides, you're going to be the belle of the ball. I promise. Heads will turn, and in a good way. You have full permission to smack me with Rekka if I lie. Just... trust me."

Most people didn't, he knew. It was his own fault, too. His mask was that of the clown. The joker. The lazy ass that couldn't care less. But surely Cissnei had seen that there was method to his madness by now? Tseng knew it, too.

"And... any darker color, I guess. Light ones tend to clash with my hair. Not a pretty picture at all." And with that, a dumpling stuffed with leeks and pork was popped into his mouth with a quick flick of chopsticks that were picked up as he finished speaking.

"It's true," Tseng answered with a nod. Not that there hadn't been attempts over the years, but none of them had come to anything. Reno could be convinced to clean up, to look nice, but somehow that tie always managed to end up not in attendance. For the most part, Tseng hadn't asked about it either, once he'd learned of the futility of the gesture.

They all seemed to have masks. But for this, Tseng was quite willing to take Reno's word at face value. If he said he was going to make Cissnei look brilliant, he meant it.

"Which we certainly can't have." The might as well all look their best, since it was the season for it.

Cissnei sighed lightly, giving Reno a small grin. "I guess I'll trust you. No guarantees. I'm getting you a really, really nice tie too," she added. "Just a tie for a dress and all the accessories isn't really fair." But she was still a little sore from having to wear a dress. She didn't like it, but she was going to do it. To be a Turk, you have to be willing to do things you don't like, right?

It didn't mean she was going to make it entirely easy. She was between being upset and being annoyed at Reno for bringing up such a trade-off, but really, who could argue free clothes? The best thing was to just not think about it until the moment happens. Cissnei could already imagine a few crazy situations with several dresses that weren't exactly appropriate or tasteful just to spite the poor girl.

At least she had enough taste to distinguish a good tie from a bad one.

There. She 'guessed' she'd trust him. It was grudging, but it was still trust. Cissnei appeared to have learned enough about Reno to give him that much, and he wouldn't let her down. Of course, Cissnei might not exactly appreciate looking 'sexy', but Reno would make sure that she looked tastefully so. No super-mini-skirts, no plunging necklines. Just something that would fit nicely, show off without being overly daring, and catch the eyes of whoever Cissnei wanted to catch.

Tseng's vote of confidence had him smiling a bit, and he leaned back a little in his chair, chewing on a second dumpling. "Enjoy the food, Ciss."

He sighed as she mentioned that the tie for the dress and accessories wasn't fair. "You wearing a dress as opposed to me wearing a tie isn't fair to you. So to make up for it, I'm buying you the dress and everything that comes with it. That is fair. Now hush and eat." Listen to Mama Reno, Cissnei.

Fair between the two of them, perhaps. Tseng wasn't entirely sure how the compensation that Reno had already effectively asked for was going to play into things but maybe that was the point. Reno made it fair for Cissnei and he, in turn, made it fair for Reno. The question was, then, was the sight of seeing Reno and Cissnei properly formal supposed to mae it fair for him in turn.

It was an interesting question, but instead of voicing it, he simply turned his attention back to his food, with the slightest ghost of a smile on his lips. It was rather refreshing to see things work out well enough on their own, for a change.

Oh, seeing Cissnei in a dress was not, in Reno's mind, anywhere near 'compensation' for wearing a tie. Yes, it'd be amusing. And he had a feeling that Cissnei would look absolutely breathtaking in whatever dress he found for her.

He also knew that she felt wearing a dress was far more to ask of her than to ask Reno to wear a tie. He knew it. Which was why he evened the odds to ease her mind. Paying for the dress, and making sure that he would not be removing that tie of his until the end of the evening. But Tseng's silent acknowledgment of his demand for compensation?

That had made it worth it to Reno.

And he had a feeling that his compensation would be coming by way of some interesting uses of said fancy tie....

But that was neither here nor there at the moment. Reno plucked up a few slices of roasted duck and placed it on Cissnei's plate, then did the same for his own. He'd be wary of the bird the first time it was offered to him, but since tasting it? He'd fallen in love with the taste. Chopsticks flashed briefly before he was swallowing a bite of the rich meat, a blissful expression flooding his features. "Remind me to buy you something very expensive to go around your neck for this party, Cissnei. Because this meal is worth it."

"Will do," she replied, eying the duck. She nibbled at it and though it was very good, her appetite had, at the very least, gone down considerably. At least there would be enough for several days. As good as she was at reading people and as extremely perceptive she was, Cissnei couldn't manage to figure out what exactly Reno was up to, besides that he was up to something, pulling some kind of cloaked scheme. One of these days, she'd get it out of him, knowing that it would probably take some time to actually be told what he was planning.

"I think I'm done," she informed as she pushed away the plate and set the chopsticks down.

Cissnei needed out, fast, if only for a few hours or even a few days. She desperately needed a distraction from this dress business. Sure, she'd get him the tie (she'd scour the map first before heading out, to not lose any time of course) but that would be the extent of it. I'll figure it out.

That sudden pronouncement got a slight look of surprise from Tseng. Oh, he was well aware that they were very likely to be unable to finish all of it in one sitting, but he would have thought that she would have been more willing to see the fruits of her labor enjoyed. But here she was up and leaving. Perhaps something had bothered her more than he'd expected?

After all, it had been a while since he'd last seen her, before his arrival here. Much though it would pain him to admit it, he was somewhat less in touch with her then he was with those who had who had stuck with the company after Meteorfall. But he knew enough to not try and keep her. If she was going to leave, he'd let her.

He was as startled as Tseng at Cissnei's sudden need to leave, and he looked the woman over curiously. Had this dress business bothered her that much? "Ciss..." he trailed, but what could he say? Sorry wasn't right - he wasn't. But saying anything else didn't seem to sound right, either.

The poor woman looked trapped, too - though it was subtle, as any sense of emotion in the Turks was muted physically. They were trained for it. The last thing they needed was an enemy seeing their pain, anguish, joy or anything else. Unfortunately, it made for a difficult time for friends trying to figure out just what the other was thinking. Reno knew something was wrong, for example. But just what it was, and how badly Ciss was feeling? That was a mystery.

He raked a hand through his hair, looking a little sheepish and flustered - and letting those emotions take root on his face rather than mask them. Cissnei deserved honesty from him. "... Just... thanks. And don't do anything I wouldn't do, kay?" The words were casual in and of themselves, but the tone lent itself to something a bit more meaningful.

It wasn't exactly the dress, not really. Maybe the catalyst? Cissnei wasn't used to having anyone this emotionally close to her, willing to do things for her and with her. She wanted to be out of sight, out of mind for a few days. As strange as this was, this was her creature comfort, what she was used to. For a moment there too, she felt like she didn't belong. That look between Tseng and Reno... was she ever going to get to that point? Even Reno had mentioned that she fell off the grid in his time. There was... what was it? A disconnect. That's what it was. Cissnei felt disconnected from them. Sure, they were Turks and sure they did things together, but it wasn't the same.

Add to that that she was so much younger (not to mention a little more hormonal) than the other two... "Don't mention it and I promise I won't," she said simply with a wry smile. "You two don't finish the whiskey in one sitting, yeah? Don't expect me to drag the two of you to your rooms." Even though she would anyway.

"One thing... The Stigma. I want to know what it is."

There was a pair of soft clicks as Tseng laid his chopsticks down on the edge of his plate. That particular topic was one that wasn't really conducive to any attempts to eat. It far too serious, if only for the fact of just who they'd come far too close to losing because of it.

"The proper name for it would be Geostigma. It's a disease born out of - we believe - Lifestream tainted by Jenova's cells. Its symptoms are... rather unsuited to the table. In addition, until very recently, the condition was inevitably fatal."

A slow, lingering death that they'd been forced to watch Rufus succumb to even as they tried and tried again to find some way to stop the disease in its tracks. Had it not been for that miracle of cure they would have no doubt lost him for good.

Edited 2010-12-20 20:03 (UTC)

"Sir... Cissnei might not even know about Jenova. Or at least, not the Calamity from the Skies we know it... or 'her' as." And a calamity Jenova had become. He twisted to better face Cissnei, his own chopsticks joining Tseng's and Cissnei's on the table.

"Sephiroth was, unknown to most, not just Hojo's child, but his twisted science experiment, too. He was obsessed with Jenova. Sephiroth was, genetically, the son of Jenova as well. And he did NOT take kindly to the information, either. At any rate, when Sephiroth was defeated by Cloud, he faded into the Lifestream, and with him went Jenova's cells and will. She manifested as Geostigma, giving those infected by her a slow and rather painful death while Sephiroth waited to be 'reborn'. Cloud and Rufus were both infected with the Stigma..."

And there wasn't much else that needed to be said about that.

"I see." Right. Just a couple of more screwed up bastards and bitches back home that she'll have to face one day. No problem. The Turks were limited in number and this... Calamity, as they called it, didn't help things either. Shin-Ra was a place she didn't want to be, that much was certain now. But... family. It was all she knew and as far as anyone knew about her in the future she disappeared entirely. They could've used another hand, some more help. Stupid Cissnei. In a matter of minutes she sobered up, back to her serious, usual demeanor. Whatever amount she had relaxed was going to take a little bit of time to recover.

Now she really needed to get away. This was some great Greek tragedy just playing out and she was part of the audience.

"I'm sorry for not being there." With that, she got up and left to her room. When she got there she dropped onto her bed and hugged her knees as she played with her phone, scrolling through numbers and maps. There you go, poking your head in none of your business, Cissnei scolded herself. She hoped that the day they all returned she wouldn't have to remember or know all of this. It was a vicious circle that she had thought she had escaped. Turns out not.

If it was any consolation, they'd never had to face the Calamity herself directly. Remnants of her power, yes, as well as Sephiroth on one memorable occasion, but never Jenova herself. Only what she'd left behind, not that that wasn't more than enough for anyone. As for ShinRa... it was true that the former president had had some highly unorthodox ideas as far as who was and wasn't hireable, but things had changed, after Meteor. They were more Rufus' now than ShinRa's.

The explanations would, however, have to wait, given Cissnei's not unhasty exit from the table.

There was a moment of silence, and then a sigh from Tseng, before he turned back to Reno. "I suppose it would be a shame to let this go to waste." And yet, for all that he made no immediate move to pick up his chopsticks again.

Edited 2010-12-20 23:07 (UTC)

He sighed as Cissnei left. He knew it had to be hard to take. He knew she had to be struggling to accept things, and not knowing what had dragged her away from ShinRa between the time she'd been taken from and the time he and Tseng had been removed from must weigh even heavier.

He frowned at Tseng's comment, but picked up his own chopsticks and drink, toddling over to sit beside his boss now, rather than at the further space he'd chosen for while Cissnei was there. "I'll go and talk with her after dinner, if she's still in her room. I'll wager she's packing and getting ready to go off on her own. I'd probably be doing the same, if I were in her situation." He hesitated, then picked up a piece of sauce-coated chicken with the wooden utensils.

"I'd want some time alone, on my own, to sort things out." Which was the only reason why he didn't go off and chase the girl down right then and there.

"I don't blame her," Tseng commented quietly, before picking his own chopsticks once again. Did he want to chase her down and explain? Yes, more than ever. But it wouldn't help just yet. She needed to come to her own conclusions about the situation first. Then he could explain what still needed to be explained. Presuming he was asked, of course, but he could hardly be blamed for that.

"Besides, we should be able to hold the fort for a few days."

He would, of course, propose that some of the leftovers be saved for Cissnei as was her rightful due, but other than that he didn't foresee any major problems in the future. He'd let her have her 'vacation' if that was what she felt she needed.

She was still in her room, simply sitting and staring blankly. Cissnei decided that she'd leave later, probably late at night or early in the morning. Right now, she wanted to do really nothing. It had become rather uncomfortable in her suit sitting in that position and it was getting extremely wrinkled, so she changed into her pajamas.

Cissnei sprawled across her bed looking up at the ceiling and sighing. She really did want to know what happens to her, but was it the best? She turned off her cell phone because she didn't want to be contacted and didn't want to know anything happening on the network right now either. Cissnei covered her eyes with her forearm and sighed heavily again. "Of all the times I could've been plucked from... damn it all," she muttered.

Comfort Food

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