Time and Tides Archives

Scarlet knew Reno too well. She had initially sent the Turk a message (earlier than their actual meeting time) to inform Reno that they were ready to leave, and to get his ass out to the Prod Clod. That message had been sent as she leant casually against the wall directly across from Reno's inn room. There had been no doubt that the lazy Turk would just roll over and ignore it, and after the second sent message, Scarlet stormed into the room to give a very personal wakeup call. A few curses and a heeled kick to the backside later, Scarlet had given the redhead no other choice but to follow her out.

Thanks to her ability to think ahead, Scarlet now walked out through the Treno gates on time. She sighted her beloved machine not far off in the distance, before taking of her heels. They'd only get stuck in the grass and thus would only irritate her further - something she wanted to avoid this early in the morning.

"I didn't give you that much of a limp this morning, Reno." Scarlet snapped as she glanced back towards the Turk before continuing back towards Cloud and Fenrir. "The sooner we can leave this hovel, the better."

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Reno was unhappy, to say the least, and perhaps only making matters worse was the fact that he was still half asleep. Eyes still half-closed, hair even more of a mess than usual, the Turk followed Scarlet with the surprising vitality of a man used to going to work hung over. Rude wasn’t there to pick up his slack, but he was just driving a simple .. Robot of mass destruction.

Reno produced an amazingly ornate flask from his pocket and took several consecutive swigs as covertly as possible. Dog of the hair and all. It wouldn’t affect his performance, but he knew Scarlet would likely have a fit at the sight of him drinking before piloting her murder baby.

He stifled his groan when he caught sight of the giant red monstrosity, but couldn’t stop the look of surprise that flashed over his drowsy mug at the sight of a certain ex-’terrorist’.

“Uh?”

Reno was truly a man of words.

Then he covered his eyes feebly with a forearm and let out a low hiss as he caught sight of the true bane of his existence: the sun.

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Looking up at the sound of Scarlet's voice being oh so demanding even as such an early time in the morning, it was clear that she had dragged Reno along for the ride. That had possible bad implications for him, given that the Prod Clod would be fully operational and able to fire weapons at him. He would simply have to remember not to stray far from Fenrir, since Scarlet was in love with the machine and wouldn't harm it.

He pushed himself to stand straight and reached into his back pocket to grasp his sunglasses. He waited for her to come in closer range before looking at Reno, who either hadn't seen the sun for some time or was hung-over. It was probably a little of both. Was that guy even licensed to drive a motor vehicle with a ShinRa logo in such a state?

"It should take us about eight hours to reach Lindblum if we push it," he said simply and slipped his sunglasses over his eyes. "We can go whenever you two are ready."

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She didn't say anything in response to Reno's questioning moan. Scarlet had no choice but to use whatever advantage she could sink her claws into, and this time it seemed to have appeared in the form of a blonde SOLDIER-wannabe. Besides, she'd never verbally admit that she had at least inwardly recognized that brainless fool's knack for machinery. That was the only reason why she was even tolerating Cloud besides the presence of that fine bike of his.

"The sooner we can get away from this piece of shit town, the better." Scarlet sneered before walking right by Cloud and over towards her beautiful machine. She'd grown tired of having nothing but moonlight, and wanted to get to a place more of her liking. Like that Industrial district she'd heard about.

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Alcohol finally coursing through his veins, trademark goggles strapped over his baby blues, cancer stick hanging from his lips and the bulls eye that was his cigarette’s burning tip bobbing in front of his nose, Reno looked marginally less eager to steal a child’s candy or kick the nearest small animal, but only marginally. Reno wasn’t big on grudges, but he was still unsure of what the hell the reject was doing here.

Hands plunged deep into his pockets, he fingered his flask with one hand and the handle of his mag-rod with the other. It could go either way, but this early in the morning, Reno was holding out hope that he’d be reaching for his newest acquisition. Fingertips landing one of the massive jewels encrusting the thing, he reminded himself to pawn the thing off as soon as possible.

Eight hours cramped up with Scarlet? The thought alone made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

He paused at Cloud and leaned forward, peering at him searchingly through his goggles. He looked different. Was his hair not as spiky? His clothes were certainly more.. Flamboyant than he remembered them. He stared for a moment longer, seemed satisfied, and walked on past.

“Road trips are always such an experience.”

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It appeared that Scarlet had missed out on her coffee this morning, since her mood clearly stated that this was going to be a long journey. He was really hoping to make it to Lindblum before they were reduced to sleeping on the open road again. It would get rather cramped if he had to snuggle with Reno too, and there was a higher chance for a knife in the back.

He didn't need to look to know that Reno was considering what action to take against him, but he continued to stand neutrally even as he came under inspection. There was some things about Reno that never changed, and that flaming red hair never seemed to go away. Reno really never stopped being that overly flamboyant itch... almost like a rash that no antibiotic cream could resolve.

"Have fun with Scarlet," he murmured after the redhead before shifted one leg over Fenrir and seating himself on the motorcycle. "You should have bought her a coffee," he added before turning on Fenrir's engine.

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Scarlet rolled her eyes at Cloud's comment. While coffee did make her slightly more bearable, her mood wouldn't improve until she was away from the world's answer to vitamin D deficiency. Being surrounded by night time was only good for so long, and besides that, she had more important matters to concern herself about.

The faster these eight hours went by the better, and she sure as hell would be keeping an eye on Reno's driving.

Hooking her hand around the pull cable, she raised herself up to the open hatch, "When you boys have finished yapping, I believe we're ready to depart." Scarlet muttered before disappearing into the machine.

She really needed better help.

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“You got a lot to learn about ladies if you can only win ‘em over with coffee,” he smirked over his shoulder, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead. Coffee was not something Reno was fond of unless a half-naked woman was offering it to him in the morning, or it was spiked with a hefty portion of alcohol. Preferably both.

Still, riding up into the Proud Clod with a foreboding sense of doom suddenly clouding his thoughts, Reno wondered briefly if he should do something to break her mood. Then he shunted that thought out of his mind. Scarlet was never pleased.

“Really?” He asked once he was face-to-face with Scarlet again, eyes jerking down at the chocobo-headed boy mounted on his bike before plopping down in the driver’s seat and looking around. “This thing needs an ashtray.”

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Well, it had worked the last few days, and he wasn't about to make Scarlet any more disgruntled than she already was. It was Reno in there eight hours with her after all, but it appeared the hang-over was probably not considering that line of thought. Stray weapon rounds would probably indicate that Reno and Scarlet were bickering though.

Pushing his sunglasses tightly against his eyes, Cloud checked the controls before waiting for Reno to disappear and the hatch of the Prod Clod to close. Once it appeared to be set, he released the breaks and accelerated quickly. Nothing but the open road.

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While she was hardly against smoking, Scarlet was entirely against smoking in her machines. They were her precious babies, after all, and the smoke would do far too much damage over time. She leant over the side of the driver's chair and plucked the cigarette out from between Reno's lips.

"There isn't one because I don't allow for smoking inside here," Flicking the still-lit stick outside of the opened hatch, Scarlet closed them both into the cockpit before taking up her position in the weapons chair. "We'll stop for a smoke break later," She murmured while slipping into the control harness.

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Reno frowned hard at the woman when she plucked his cigarette out. First no booze, now no nicotine? Was she trying to kill him? Granted, the no-liquor rule was something he only assumed, but he was confident in it. He wasn’t going to try it and find out. Not yet, anyway. Maybe when she started barbing him.

Pouting, he waited for her to be seated before he leaned forward on the stick and sent the Clod into a full run, half-focused on the screen in front of his face. It was going to be a long ride.

“How kind of you,” he sneered over the thumps of the Clod.

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8 HOURS LATER

Lindblum was a large city, though nothing so large and complex as Midgar had once been. It seemed to more accommodate airships than ground vehicles, but the city itself appeared to be well-protected from any type of siege. The entrances weren't all the well-guarded on the ground - a few guards at best. Still, there was no way that they were simply going to allow the Prod Clod to go pounding through the entrance.

Stopping near the entrance, Cloud shook his head a little to set his spikes back in their normal organized disarray. He glanced back to the Prod Clod, and he wondered how the pair had fared trapped together for a solid eight hours.

They hadn't pulled over at all, and he was pretty certain that had more to do with Scarlet than Reno. She had apparently either really wanted to see how the Prod Clod would perform for such a long period of time, or she really wanted to reach Lindblum without incident. Weren't they both smokers?

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There had been a few moments throughout the trip that Scarlet had wanted to throttle Reno and have a cigarette, preferably in that order, but she withheld and forced them both to endure the trip. The eight hours felt like years, in Scarlet's opinion, and she was certain the redhead felt the same way by the time they'd reached their destination.

The moment Fenrir came to a stop, Scarlet snapped for Reno to do the same (ignoring the fact that the Turk would have anyway), before opening up the hatch. Slipping out two cigarettes, she tossed one over towards Reno before lighting hers and moving to stand outside.

She felt herself relax as she took her first drag of the stick. It was so comforting to feel the smoke filling her lungs and to know that the nicotine was back to doing what it should be doing. Glancing back over her shoulder, she smirked subtly at the Turk. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

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Reno was tired. Not just tired, exhausted. Riding around in cramped quarters with a she-devil was bound to take the piss out of anyone. His ass and legs ached, his mouth was dry, and Reno was hoping he’d be out of here before the smell of oil and Scarlet’s perfume made him sick. The longer the drive carried on, the more Reno’s annoyance grew and the more Reno found himself wanting to light something on fire. Preferably something blonde.

Lucky for Reno, he had two choices, and one made itself more appealing by screeching at him.

Lindblum’s tall spires breaking over the horizon cowed his mounting annoyance. Reno’s rage diminished as more and more of Lindblum filled his vision, until all he could think about was how glad he’d be to get out of this stupid thing and getting stone cold hammered. Well, maybe he’d take a leak first, THEN he’d definitely go booze his ass off.

The thought faltered once he was out of the cockpit and staring up at Lindblum. What kind of fairy tale bullshit was this? Would this place even have a bar? That rat bastard monkey boy Zidane had the nerve to tell him cigarettes were produced here? He was going to hurt something, and hurt something good if this city turned out to be as squeaky clean as it looked on the outside.

He caught the cigarette wordlessly, his face a window to his inner thoughts as he stared up at the city.

FUCK

He ignored the both of them and wandered off behind the nearest tree. Trails of cigarette smoke leaked out behind it, as well as the sounds of a man relieving himself.

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Cloud watched Scarlet emerge first and then Reno climbed down from the Prod Clod. It appeared that they had both survived the trip at least, and they weren't yelling at each other. That was helpful, he thought. He wasn't certain what he would have done if Reno had done a Turk-job on Scarlet and tried to dump the body. At least it wouldn't be him killing her this time.

Dismounting Fenrir, he looked up at the long stone path that would lead them to the city proper. That was quite the walk, but he doubted that they wanted individuals in large machines roaring up there. He also wasn't certain if they would allow a machine like the Prod Clod up there, given the size and weapons on the large beast of a machine.

He reached down and popped the sword-storage compartment in his motorcycle and picked out the base sword. He slung it back into the leather sheathe against his back and allowed its weight to settle comfortably. He doubted that he would need the entire First Tsurugi, so he left the remaining swords in their respective compartments and tucked them away again.

Glancing to Scarlet, he gestured with his chin towards the city. "Looks like they prefer airships to ground travel."

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There was a hint of amusement in her eyes as Reno all but stormed by her. Shaking her head softly, Scarlet retrieved her heels before making her way down to the ground. The sight of the city was hardly impressive, it looked far too de-evolved for her liking, and just knowing that she'd have to walk the entire way.

"So fuckin' typical," She muttered while coming to stand beside Cloud. She'd have to leave the Prod Clod behind, and that was something Scarlet wasn't terribly fond about. "Nothing has been easy since coming here. Stupid planet."

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Walking out behind the tree, Reno was thankfully zipped up, Reno’s mood had sobered enough so as not to display the raging storm of curses firing through his head. Eyes on the large castle, he frowned and shook his head before his gaze dropped to the two standing side-by-side.

That was just creepy. Really fuckin’ creepy.

He moseyed by the two, taking a moment to eye Cloud’s sword and actually laugh out loud, before he started up the winding path up to the city. His legs were still aching, but it felt good to stretch them, even if it was by walking up this impossibly huge staircase.

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at them, and lifted a hand as if to wave. He flipped them off instead.

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Crossing his arms over his chest, Cloud couldn't say that the city looked all that feasible to him either. This place clearly did not receive a lot of ground traffic with a ramp combined staircase like that. It would be easy to tackle with Fenrir, and he was not looking to leave the motorcycle outside either.

The laughter barely drew his attention, just that it had come from Reno. There was clearly a Reno-only joke going on. It wasn't worth comment or questioning.

He glanced to Scarlet when it appeared that Reno's middle finger was all that she was going to get in the way of thanks for the lift. "Classy," he murmured sarcastically and then put Fenrir into neutral and began to push the machine after Reno. A fine end to a long day, apparently.

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