melodiesoflife | [Open] But you won't see me fall apart

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[Open] But you won't see me fall apart

WHO: Reno and YOU!
WHEN: Throughout the month of January, excepting the Enemy Within event
WHERE: Throughout Aqures Ixen; prompts below

The Hospital

"Wh... what do you mean, he's gone?"

"Well, he crystallized, kupo. He was taken to the hospital yesterday. But if you're Reno -- well, he had a letter for you -- "

Reno stood numb as the moogle explained and fetched the envelope for him. He remained numb throughout the day. At some point he must have left the house, though he didn't remember exactly how he got from there to anywhere. Grit was gone. First Kyo, and now... And Rufus had just arrived, too. Reno didn't know how he felt, except very confused and very, very lost. The time he spent at the hospital doubled as he watched over the two men, hoping someday he'd get to talk to them again. The boy he'd loved a world away, and the man who'd loved him without any hope of mutual affection. Reno felt as though he'd been robbed. So he did the only thing he could: remain in patient vigil, over them and over Yuki, waiting.

Palitutu's Lab

Reno continued to try his damnedest to crack Palitutu's passwords and finally get at what she'd hidden on her computer. He was making progress, he knew, slowly but surely. Still, it frustrated him that he hadn't broken it yet. He wanted to know what Palitutu was working on, what she knew, why she'd done what she had -- and he wanted to know now. Her knowledge about the crystals and the heroes could prove invaluable to everyone here; and, perhaps for selfish reasons, Reno hoped what he found could help reverse the crystallization process for heroes already trapped.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, the burning sensation telling him he was long due for a break away from this screen.

The Pub...s...

If it wasn't one place, it was another. Old habits died hard, especially when circumstances acted as a catalyst. Whatever progress Reno had made against drinking as coping, it was slowly eroding -- as others guilty of the same probably noticed. Not that they'd likely stop each other. Things were easier to handle, or avoid, with a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other.

B-04

Eventually, Reno would make his way "home." He had to. With Rufus in the city, he couldn't very well continue to stay with Yuffie and Vincent, leaving Rufus potentially vulnerable. He especially couldn't leave Rufus alone with Tifa. It just seemed to be asking for trouble. People would be able to find him more frequently at his home assignment, either in his room or around the premises. Tifa would be nearly impossible to avoid; Alice probably had forgotten everything about the strange redhead now slipping about the place. The women were hardly the most awkward of circumstances, though, as Reno attempted to make sharing a bedroom with Rufus as comfortable as humanly possible for them both.

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Rukia had been looking forward to the possibility of a custom job for a long time now. She'd first received notification that they were working on such a job near the beginning of the month, and would she please report to the lab at her earliest convenience.

That wound up being after her return from Mysidia, since she'd spent the first half of the month there. Now, belatedly (and still reeling a little from the meeting with the sage), she stepped into the lab grasping the confirmation letter in her hand. There was no telling just what this job would allow her to do, or if it would even change her body back into spiritual matter.

She glanced around, unsure which researcher she was supposed to meet with, then stopped when she spotted a familiar head of scarlet hair. "Reno. Greetings." Ah, but he looked awfully absorbed in his work. Should she leave him to it?

Reno looked up sharply at the familiar voice. "Hm? Oh -- Rukia." He stretched and rose, realizing how long he'd been hunched over that desk by how stiff he suddenly felt.

"What's up?" He noticed the paper in her hand. "What's that?"

He needed a break, anyway. And he liked Rukia. Spending some time chatting with her would be refreshing.

"A letter I received concerning a custom job specifically for me," she said, handing it to Reno so he could look at it for himself. "Apparently they think they've found a way for me to function fully as a shinigami."

Rukia folded her arms, obviously looking satisfied with herself as well as the situation.

"There is much I could do with access to my previous abilities. Although it does raise the question as to whether or not I would dwell here as a soul or continue as a mortal..." she remarked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Well, she would find out soon enough. "What about you? I wasn't aware you worked here as a researcher. Learn anything interesting?"

"A shinigami?" Reno's brows rose. "Well that explains why you were so interested in other worlds' death gods an' things."

Among other things. Like how she was possibly as old as she said she was, when she looked so young.

"I don't see why the job couldn't do both," he said, handing back the letter. "I mean, ninjas can clone themselves an' turn invisible an' shit. Maybe a shinigami job can let you be, y'know, immaterial temporarily or something."

Or the opposite would be true, he supposed. Though he wasn't sure which would take more getting used to -- both for her, and everyone else.

He gestured toward the computer behind him. "I've been trying to hack into Palitutu's system, get at her digital records an' stuff. A few of us have been. I was hopin' t' find out more about the crystals, but..." He sighed. "Well, if nothin' else, I figured out when the next Heroes should arrive. Seems like there's a cycle an' she had it timed out."

"Precisely," she confirmed, pleased that he knew the actual term. Most people just stared at her blankly until she clarified that it also meant 'soul reaper.' Rukia folded the letter once more and tucked it halfway through her leather belt. As she was currently wielding the Beastmaster job, one might think she'd be hot in all those furs and heavy layers of leather, but she found that it was perfectly comfortable for the winter weather, if not preferable. "I won't know the specifics of what it does until we've run through some tests in any case."

She approached his chair, folding her arms on top of the back so she could peer over his shoulder at the screen. There were a lot of numbers and digital codes, none of them making a lick of sense to her untrained eyes. "I see," she noted, curious nonetheless despite her ignorance. "And yes, you're correct. I understand that new heroes arrive consistently on the fifth of every other month at the same time. Seems practical for scheduling, I suppose."

Her head tilted a little. "But it also seems to indicate that our arrival is no accident, if the time and day remain so precise. What do you think?"

Normally, he wouldn't; it wasn't a term generally used on Gaia, except maybe Wutai if Reno had to guess. But after meeting a diverse population from a diverse spread of worlds, he learned quite a few new words.

Reno shrugged. "As far as I understand it, Palitutu orchestrated this whole thing. After the first Heroes of Light -- like, the old ones -- she wanted t' bring 'em back, the whole thing, change the world and all like that. She set up a massacre at Aqures Tosf t' charge up the Crystal of Fire with souls an' simultaneously make it sense a crisis with so much death at once. So -- start spitting out Heroes again."

He shook his head. The whole thing was awful and smacked of desperation. Reno could have understood if Palitutu was trying to fight the Calamity even then, but from what he'd heard it began after the heroes arrived. She doubly wounded Crystallis -- and for what? Her own curiosity? He didn't get it.

"Then it kept bringing them -- us. Every two months. She must've figured out the cycle and plotted it on here, so there would always be a countdown quantified right in front of her." He sighed. "I just don't get how we're being brought now when she fucked up the Crystal almost thirty years ago. I mean, there were those time loop things, and apparently she sent people back in time before I got here, but..."

He scratched his head, hard. "That's getting into shit like quantum physics, and then I'm lost, yo."

Rukia frowned at the screen. There did seem to be a lot of enemy attention focused on the Crystal of Fire. Why that one? The other three crystals were far less guarded. Did it have something to do with the disaster of Aqures Tosf?

"That is strange," she agreed. "I thought we only started appearing in the last year or two. Why did it take so long to summon Heroes?" It could have been any number of reasons. Maybe the arrival of Heroes was a side effect for some other goal. Maybe.

Pensively, she tapped her finger against the back of his chair. Then she sighed. "You're right, little of it makes sense. I never had the occasion to speak with her, so I can't begin to guess at her true goals and motivations."

~~Unless the sage told them, in which case, ignore that.~~

She looked down at Reno, and saw that his frustration was written clearly over his features. "...Would you like some coffee?" she offered. "You look like you could probably use a break."

"Exactly! I can't account for the gap..."

Reno rested his chin against his fist. "I never met 'er either. But that's prob'ly lucky for her." After struggling with this, he was already ready to kill her, and he was one of the least betrayed.

"I would love a coffee break," he sighed with a thankful look up at her. "You don't hafta' do your tests right away, though? I know you're excited for your custom job."

"I am," she chuckled. No sense in hiding it, either. "But there's no scheduled time. I can come back later tonight, if necessary."

And she probably would, because she was really excited to feel more like her old self again. Her really REALLY OLD self again.

She took a step back from his chair so he could rise to his feet, and kept an easy pace beside him. They both had a lot weighing on their minds, so being able to talk about things over a hot cup of coffee or tea sounded very good to her as well. Maybe she'd even ask for his advice on a few matters.

He smiled. "Alright. Yeah, let's do it."

Reno rose from his seat and walked out with her. Rukia was all right. Shooting the breeze with her would be a nice break.

"So, where do these, like, custom jobs come from?" he asked. "I mean, I know another team was researchin' 'em here. But did you hafta do anything for it? Like how sometimes there's hoops t' jump through to get a new job crystal for the regular ones?"

"I'm not certain," she answered honestly, walking beside the tall redhead. "I believe it takes about two weeks of testing, possibly longer depending on how often the subject is required to come in. And I don't think anyone else can use the job, since it's meant to fit specifically to who we are and what we were once capable of doing. For all I know, it could actually be some sort of anti-job that rejects this world's hold on us to unseal what used to be locked away."

That was a little disturbing to think about, but then again, that might be a good thing as well. Now that she knew why her crystal had turned into a deep shade of purple over the passing months, she wondered what that meant for her, and her attachment to this world. It might be more than emotional.

"Did you have any abilities locked when you arrived here?" she asked, looking up at Reno curiously. If so, he might appreciate having a custom job himself.

"Two weeks?" Reno whistled. That was a commitment. But he supposed, for a special job that was custom-fit for one wielder, it would take extra time and effort. And it would be worth the extra investment in the end.

He shook his head. "Nah, I didn't have anything like that. Only human. A damn fast one, an' pretty strong -- smart, if I do say so myself. But other than that? Nothing inhumanly special to lock away. I think I actually have more magic now with these Crystallis jobs, since I don't hafta use materia for it. It just -- poof! It's standard, it's in me."

That was one convenience of being trapped here.

Rukia chuckled. It was nice to hear he had confidence in himself and his abilities, rather than feigning modesty as most might. Truth be told, she was probably in need of his company as much as he needed a break from his work. Whatever distraction she could get after that business in Mysidia, she'd take it with gratitude.

"This is true," she agreed. "There are certainly skills and abilities I would not have learned as a shinigami. But there are also things I can do as a shinigami that these jobs can't really simulate the way I wish."

She pushed open the door to the cafe, holding it for Reno before they went to find a table.

"What jobs did you decide to take, out of curiosity?"

"Decide?" Reno shot her a confused look as he sat across the table before opening the menu. "What do you mean decide? I got the same jobs I woke up with back when I got here."

Come to think of it, some people did change jobs. He supposed they changed them for whatever reason. But the jobs he'd had when he'd arrived had suited him so well as it was, Reno hadn't thought to change anything.

"I got Thief and Ninja. Apparently that combo makes me an Assassin." Reno shrugged. He wasn't sure how it all worked, but he liked it.

"Oh, I had Ninja when I first arrived as well!" Rukia beamed, as though excited to have something in common with him. "But surely there are other Jobs you'd be interested in assuming at some point in the future?" She'd made a list herself of all the things she would be interested in pursuing. The difficult part was narrowing the list down.

"Did you manage to pick up an Invisibility Crystal?" she asked next. "It makes things much easier, to be certain. Once I've finished learning all of the skills for my Ninja job, I could allow you to borrow mine."

"I wish I had an Invisibility Crystal! Where'd you find one a' those? And don't tell me you got swindled by O'aka." Those prices were ridiculous.

Reno shook his head. "I'm pretty sure those things, like, imprint on you or something. But the thought is nice." He glanced at the menu and figured out what he wanted before he spoke again. Thinking about Rukia's other question. It was simple to ask, not so simple to answer. There were so many potential jobs.

"I dunno," he started again. "About the jobs, I mean."

Reno looked down at his sleeve, contemplating the pros and cons of Assassin, what went into it. What it apparently meant to Mary.

"Y'know, of all the jobs there are and all the weird abilities with 'em, I think this is what feels most like home," he admitted. "There's still differences, obviously, but it's pretty close to how I'm used to fighting anyway. I think it'd be weird to try something new."

Harder, in a way. Mostly emotionally, using completely new techniques and styles that he'd never used before, or having magic he never could have had before. It was a big change, and a little surreal to have it feel so "natural" when it was equipped.

"We were allowed to choose any one item we wished for free, after assisting in the capture of all the excessive spirits in October," she replied, looking more than a little proud of herself. "Unfortunately, the large promotional bunny suit wasn't one of the items we were allowed to choose, so I elected to take the crystal as it would better sustain the ninja job. It certainly has its uses."

It took her a moment to realize he was asking not because she managed to find one, but because she'd developed something of a reputation of getting swindled by merchants. Ahhhh, she understood his question a little better. Her expression softened before she surrendered her menu as well and ordered a chicken sandwich with home fries. Whatever those were. House shaped french fries?

Rukia nodded in understanding at his explanation. "It does take some adjusting, this is true. Casting spells without incantations is certainly a drastic change from the kidou of my world. But it's a little exciting as well," she smiled. "There are many things I'm able to do now that I couldn't have hoped to achieve back home."

"Ah. Right." Reno smiled softly with some embarrassment. "I forgot. I got something else."

When he found out that, through whatever magic might be, he could get something he'd lost on his way from Atia he'd jumped on that opportunity instead. As useful as an invisibility crystal would have been, it couldn't compare to the personal significance of having Kyo's necklace again.

"But hey, maybe I'll get another shot at one that way. I sure can't afford to ever buy one."

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[Open] But you won't see me fall apart

Lab FTW

:D

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