A harbinger of despair? [active]

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

Characters: Tseng and Reno
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: Sephiroth's arrival has both Turks a little on edge
Location: Turk HQ
Date: the same day as Sephiroth's arrival
Warnings: Tensions running high (again)

Of all things Tseng wasn't looking to have to deal with, the appearance of Sephiroth hadn't been one of them. The fact that he appeared to be sane was a slight relief, but it was regrettably counteracted by the fact that by all appearances he seemed to be a singularly unlovely mood. That in turn meant that Tseng himself got slowly more irritated by his actions even as he buried the feelings under that mask of his. Didn't the man realize that this was no longer the world he knew? Couldn't he listen to what Tseng had been insinuating? Or was he going to proceed to be thoroughly maddening and not both to listen, despite the fact that it would be in his best interest to do so for a change.

Needless to say, by the time he final set the phone down (slightly harder than he might have otherwise) and turned it off there was a brand new line of tension across his shoulders and what looking like the beginnings of a frown on his face. Of all the things....

Comments

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

Reno hung up his own phone, then proceeded to utter a few choice cuss words in the direction of it. "Son of a..." And then he laughed and shook his head. "No, I guess he isn't a son of a bitch, is he?" He sighed, then tucked his phone away, raising his eyes to fix on Tseng.

"I know I shouldn't have yelled at him like that. But he had no right to talk to any of us like that. He's not my superior officer. And since when has any member of SOLDIER expected the Turks to just divulge all of their information over an non-secure line right off the bat? He deserved everything I said to him, Tseng. And you know it."

He huffed then, though his tone spoke far more of how he was feeling than his words. That tone expressed the apology he felt needed to be said for breaking what he considered to be an unspoken order of doing something without permission. It expressed his concern over Tseng's well-being. It expressed concern over whether Seph was closer to his melt-down than they might have thought.

"Shit..." And that... that pretty much summed up everything, didn't it?

He stepped over to where Tseng was currently standing and... yes. Here was the change in their dynamic. The alteration in how they would operate from now on, at least outside of the public eye.

Because Reno could see just how tense Tseng was, and there was a drive - an instinct - to sooth that tension.

A hand rested on Tseng's shoulder, putting just a little pressure on it to shift backward toward him. He had someone to lean on right behind him. "If you want, I can send an apology to him tomorrow to calm his uptight rear end down a little. And explain that I was acting of my own free will, against your orders when I called him a sanctimonious prick..." He flashed a little grin there. He would NOT apologize for calling him that.

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

"I would be willing to accept 'son of a bastard'," Tseng answered. "Hojo deserves that much at the very least." If not something more colorful, but while Tseng had no more problems with profanity than any of the Turks he'd leave the creative arrangement of profanity to other people. Besides, if Sephiroth meant to take up a position as acting commander of SOLDIER (a thoroughly pointless title, here) he'd likely need to speak to the man more often than most.

Thus, it would be far better to not have a variety of unflattering nicknames lurking in the back of his mind.

"I know. For some reason he doesn't seem to be dealing with the transition well. If we were back home, I would have suggested that perhaps he needs to take some time off. As it is, I happen to agree with everything you said, so there's no need to send an apology."

And inter-departmental politics be damned. Sephiroth might not be in the habit of thinking of Tseng as the Head of the Turks, but he was and he meant to do everything he had to to make sure that Sephiroth understood both that fact as well as the fact that he wasn't free to treat the Turks as his personal underlings.

"We'll simply need to exercise caution." And that was the problem. They couldn't trust Sephiroth, but he would be expecting them to be fairly forthcoming about things. But if Tseng had anything to say about the matter, Sephiroth wouldn't get full disclosure. He'd get what they saw fit to give him and he would be glad for it.

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

He snorted. "Caution?" He shook his head, gently tugging Tseng a little closer. There was no one there besides the two of them to judge or even to see at the moment, so screw propriety. Just a little closer.

"We need to be as tight-lipped with him as we would with Hojo himself. Or our former President, for that matter. The previous incarnation of Sephiroth here may have been a bit cold, but he wasn't a prick like this one." He sighed. "Could it be that this one is from a bit closer in time to his cracking-at-the-seams than our previously-seen General? The idea is... well... frightening, to be honest."

He didn't like this whole deal. He wanted to be able to trust the General, but the way he was acting, there was nothing doing.

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Tseng answered with a sigh as he gave in to Reno's tugging. He hated to have to admit it, but there it was. He didn't have enough to go on, either from what he'd seen or what Sephiroth himself had implied.

"It could be his natural reaction to being forced drastically outside of his comfort zone. He could simply have been having a bad day prior to this. Or, you could be right and he might very well standing on the edge of madness. Until we have any indication one way or the other, I fully intend to remind him that he is not and never will be in charge of the Turks and as such is not granted authority to order us around."

That duty fell to him. Not Hojo's grand creation, no matter how much said creation might try.

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

"Hm. I think it was Jenova that pushed Sephiroth over the edge, though. Wasn't it? I mean, this place doesn't have Jenova, so Sephiroth likely won't have her little needling effects on him... would he? But the question is - was he close to madness without her influence? Or was it all her? And maybe he is just having a bad day, but he's always been professional before this. Never snappy at us - and most importantly, he understood the need for caution."

He shook his head, nibbling on his lower lip as a hand curved around Tseng's hip - no further. "Yeah, we were suspicious of him. But as I told the lug - we had a reason for it. And if he doesn't understand that much, then t'hell with the bastard."

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

"If I'm remembering the reports right, Jenova's influence certainly didn't hurt. Unfortunately, we don't know how he would have reacted without her - and you're quite correct. To the best of our knowledge, Jenova isn't present here, so any condition he may have won't be made worse by her presence." A small favor, perhaps but small favors were better than none.

"If he doesn't understand, I may speak to him later. Preferably after he's over the initial shock." And if that didn't work, he'd have no qualms in the least about labeling the man potentially dangerous.

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

"Shock. I never thought I'd ever see anything ruffle the General. Even when he was batshit insane, he just accommodated for the change in plans and went on with his life. I dunno. It's a bit disturbing, yeah?" He drew in a deep breath, then frowned, resting his chin on Tseng's shoulder for a moment. It was nice to have someone there - the comfort of a warm body always could help take the edge off crazy situations.

"Let's just hope what I told the guy sinks in. I know it's tempting fate, but even he can understand that if we once thought of him as an enemy, treating him with a degree of caution is proper. I know it kinda sucks to be on that end of things, but he's gotta understand. I mean ... fuck.. he's THE General. Right?"

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

"More than a little," Tseng answered with a nod. Even if he was human at his core (or mostly so) he'd never truly been one to express himself quite as freely as he seemed to be doing today. It was disturbing, in more ways than one, and not even Reno's presence could entirely diminish that feeling of... not-right-ness.

"I'll see to that he gets it through his head. He should respond to persistence, if nothing else."

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

He smirked at that, then leaned in to brush his lips over Tseng's cheek. "I can be very persistent. And patient, if I have to. Let me at him, huh?" He gave a little laugh there, though the feeling of 'something is rotten in Denmark (or is that Midgar?)'-ness still clings to the conversation. Like Tseng, it just makes him uneasy.

Finally, he took in a long, deep breath, shifted to face the other man, and caught his lips in a deep, swift kiss. "Come on. We need drinks," he insists afterward, tipping his head to the door. "Ever have hard cider?"

Yes, it was an attempt to lighten the air a bit. Did it work?

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

Whatever place might be appropriate, sometime was most definitely rotten. Who or what wasn't so clear, but there was most definitely something not quite right about the whole affair. "I'd prefer to see if I can't convince him I'm Head, first. After that I'll see about letting you at him."

Anything else he might have had to say was firmly interrupted by that kiss, and for all the irritations of the day he can't help but let a half-pleased sigh escape him at that.

"I don't believe I have."

Looks like Reno's gambit worked.

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

He had no problem with letting Tseng have first crack at Sephiroth. It was only proper, after all - and even as much as he hated 'proper', even he wouldn't defy the chain of command that much.

And since his little trick worked, and Tseng was willing to try and relax a little? He grinned and brushed one more kiss to his lips before drawing the other man toward the door. "Then that is a travesty that needs remedying. Let's go have a pint or two and try to ignore silver-haired Generals with their panties in a wad."

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

Ignoring the problem at hand sounded like a wonderful idea. It wouldn't keep the man out of their hair forever, but it would be a start. Not to mention it would likely help with the inherent stress of the recent discussion. And that was, by his estimation, as good a place to start as any.

"Lead the way."

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

Lead the way Reno did. Through the streets of Lindblum, strolling casually and trying his best to keep things light. It'd be easier to ignore their current problem of Sephiroth if he acted the part, right? So with a smile on his lips and a glimmer in his eye, he led them to the nearest bar - which he'd found the third day there. Perhaps not as quickly as he might have in other circumstances, but it was a new world he'd been in, after all!

He slapped down some gil and asked for two hard ciders, hopping up on the bar-stool with practiced ease. He gestured for Tseng to do the same, then flashed the other man a brighter smile. "Far better activity than chatting on those phones of ours, hm?"

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

Most certainly easier to ignore, and as soon as they were out of the door he was right back to pretending as if nothing had ever happened. After all, provided he ignored the phone he needn't worry over much. Sephiroth was elsewhere, and so it would be for the time being.

At least, that was what he was telling himself, as he took the stool next to Reno with no less ease. "Certainly less headache-inducing," he agreed, with a nod.

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

"We need to do this more often," he announced after a few moments, grinning as the drinks were slid to them. Sky people or not, and whether the natives to this land liked them, their gil spent the same. You couldn't afford to be picky when it came to customers and money!

"I've missed it. You used to go out with us every so often back home... it was fun." He smiled into his glass, then took a long drink before setting the alcohol down. "I think we Turklings learned more about the job - and you - during those times than anything else. You had some good stories to tell over a pint." It'd been the first time Tseng had joined them when Reno had just joined that opened the redhead's eyes to the fact that 1: his boss wasn't really all that stoic, 2: being a Turk wasn't going to be as bad as he thought it might, and 3: his boss was downright gorgeous.

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

"I'll bring it up the next time I have a chance," Tseng answered. If they were going to have regular (or even semi-regular) outings they might as well have Cissnei in on it. Otherwise it wouldn't truly be a Turks' night out.

Although now that he thought about it, he did miss those days. It had been hard to find somewhere to fit it in, these last few months, even without the threat of the remnants looming large overhead. But they deserved a good break after the latest turn of events, and if that break could turn into something of tradition, so much the better. "I'm sure we can spare the gil for it now and again."

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a plan," he insisted as the cider traveled down his throat again. Delicious. Gah, he loved the stuff. Alcohol, in most forms, was a wonderful thing. "I was thinking, you know..." He lowered his glass, staring into the amber liquid.

"Next Turk to come in, we drag out for drinks. I think alcohol has a bonding ... thing... to it. Who knows? Maybe they'll stick around." Maybe. And if not? Oh, they'll have alcohol in them - it'd help them get over the loss. He smiled a little again, then drained the rest of the glass, sliding over some more gil for refills. One was given to him right away, the other would await Tseng's finishing. "Even if they don't stick around, it's a good excuse to have some quality bonding time, yeah?"

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

"We'll have to wait for another one to come in."

Not, of course, that he had any problem with either waiting or treating the next Turk to arrival to a night on the town. It was simply that it might well be an event that happened far in the future. But no matter. He knew it and he knew Reno knew it and that was all he was going to think about it today. "But yes, it's a good excuse."

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

Oh, he knew. He knew that it could as short as a day, or as long as months before he saw any of his comrades again. Besides Cissnei and Tseng, at least. But it was who he was - the type to always hope for the best. He'd never mention the worst, though he'd likely already worked out what to do in those situations. He likely had contingency plans for contingency plans rolling around in his head, actually.

But it was heartening to hope for the best. To offer plans for those moments. To pretend that it's the only possibility.

"Ciss's birthday's coming up soon, by the way." No, Tseng doesn't have to ask - Reno's read everyone's personnel files, save for the two people currently above him in command. Even old ones. "I was thinking we should get her a cake or something. Cupcakes instead? Something like that."

[nogoodpeople.livejournal.com]

It would have been nice if Tseng could have done similarly. Pretend that all would be well and that they'd see the rest of their number arrive in short order. But even when he wanted to believe he'd couldn't help but be far too realistic about the problem at hand. Yes, it was possible that they might arrive the next day, but it was far more likely that it would be weeks, or months, before they next saw someone from their own world. And even then, there was little guarantee that it would be one of their own.

But best not to dwell on that fact. It would only end up being highly depressing.

"Cupcakes would be easier to make," Tseng answered with a shrug. Not to mention they would probably make matters feel less properly formal and wasn't that the sort of thing you wanted for something like this?