FFVIIr Meme-ing

[chaneystarr]

Tseng

Rude

Jessie

Cloud

Comments

picks up Rude

[secondturk]

[Reno hangs up on Rude after their little chat and flops down on the sofa to get back to playing his stupid mobile game while he wants for Rude to get back.

He wasn't even that badly hurt, why did Rude have to go and be a dumbass and wander off and get into a fight? God.]

[spareshades]

[ It's forty-five minutes later when a bruised Rude saunters into the Turk's office, an impassive expression on his face like he hadn't just been up to something and no, he doesn't want to talk about what happened to his face.

He just gives his partner's sprawled form on the couch an unimpressed look, one eyebrow arching upwards. ]

This doesn't look like 'standby'.

[secondturk]

Yeah, because I was waiting for your stupid ass to get back here.

[But Reno isn't moving off the sofa.]

What happened to your face?

[Like he doesn't fucking know.]

[spareshades]

[ .... ]

Construction accident.

[secondturk]

[Reno laughs.]

Yeah? You get in the face with a metal two-by-four a few dozen times, partner?

surprise me (or not)

[electrod]

[ There's a certain satisfaction coming with things going exactly as planned. Get the job done, file the damned paperwork, clock-out early. Enjoy the free time, and sometimes maybe even a nice bonus on a paycheck.

But sometimes things just explode.

In this case, literally. The intel was wrong, someone either did their job poorly or the element got tipped off. Who knows? Who cares? It's time for the cleanup phase. Reinforcements are supposedly coming, but it always looks good should they arrive at the scene of "already taken care of". ]

Hey— If you're not very pressed— [ ha ha ] —just so you know, I'm in the center of attention right now.

[ He's flashy, fast, hard to miss. A useful and familiar strategy, when enemies have no idea against how many of them they are. Make them focus on one, when rest takes them out. But the reason he speaks into the earpiece is also that— shit he's not sure if the equipment is still working. The surprise explosion that signed him happened exactly on the side of the headset, oops.

And then there is gunfire, fortunately, the cover holds. And the idiots that started it are not used to fighting among the smoke. ]

In the fucking limelight, like a star I am. [ He mutters, meant as a joke, but he really could use some hint on the positioning. Still, it's some comicbook shit to hide grenades and other explosives in plush toys ]

[spareshades]

[ There's no reply from the headset. Just dead silence - which is worrying, even from so silent a partner as Rude. No static, no confirmation, no cursing at his dumbass partner getting into trouble and him having to double-time it to keep up.

There's more gunfire, angry exchanges of enemy combatants as they try to zero in on Reno's position, moving to flank him.

One spots a glint of red hair and crouches, beckoning to be followed as he moves into position. His gun comes up...

...and a finger taps him on the shoulder.

Startled, he looks back right as a gloved fist plows straight into his face and he goes down without a sound.

Rude gives a soft grunt, shaking out his hand, before staying low and hurrying over to where his partner is crouched. ]

Reno. What the hell.

[electrod]

[ Comms going silent is a possibility that they're all used to, but— oh hell, this kind of surprise on top of series of another nasty surprise is not fun. So when the armed surprise gets cleanly taken care of with an elegant and efficient punch in the face? There is a breath of relief. ]

The mole either double-crossed us or— they put one of their own on us. [ Shrug emoji. If the guy is dead, means he was innocent. If not, well, then he better has a good alibi. But these kinds of ruminations are better left for later. ]

Think we could repeat that? [ Reno gestures at the starfished man lying without a movement after receiving that punch. He has to stop talking as the sound of bullets hitting the container on the other side is deafening. The burst ends, it takes several seconds for a reload. ] I'll draw their attention, you do a punchy surprise. No need to give'em a fighting chance.

[ The odds are not in their favour, and it's Reno's way of acknowledging that. Still, no reason to stop himself from making a little fun of it. ]

[spareshades]

[ Rude makes a face, reaching out and yanking Reno back before he can pop his head out and get a bullet to the face. Just in case. ]

We don't even know how many there are.

[electrod]

[ Because fucking smokescreens. The transport got stolen ages ago, and supposedly by a different group. So why these guys use it? Nasty surprises everywhere. ]

No. But we're on our own for three more minutes. [ And because no one wants to give them time to regroup, the next hail of bullets is followed by something round and metallic being thrown over the container, bouncing off the wall and rolling into their direction. (More stolen prototypes, great!) ]

mah gurl jessie she promised him a pizza let's go

[parrys]

[He's at a table in Seventh Heaven, empty glass in front of him, and he looks contemplative. An expression that looks like most that cross his face - Cloud prides himself on being hard to read.

Except everyone seems to be able to read him quite easily most of the time, and this perturbs him to no end. Nonetheless...

Jessie's laughter draws his attention, and he watches as she saunters up to him. Cloud nods at her in acknowledgement, more than a little wary as she draws closer. She unsettles him most times, her flirtatious behavior not restricted to only him, but the times she shows him something genuine...those are the times she has him feeling the most befuddled. ]

oh he gonna get a whole lot more than pizza

[kisskissboomboom]

There you are.

[ Grinning, she drops down in the chair right next to his with a tired sigh, even though she's grinning brightly. Her knee brushes up against his as she settles in next to him, leaning forward to prop her elbows on the table and bringing herself very close to how he's hunched over brooding by himself. ]

Long day?

get this dork out on the town jessie

[parrys]

[ Her sudden entrance into his private space (which he should have expected, he's gotta be more careful about that shit) has him jerking in slight surprise at the touch of her knee. His brow furrows as he frowns at her, though it's not quite as fierce as he wants it to be.

She is endearing, despite the forwardness (maybe that's what he likes so much about her shut up) and he pushes the empty glass away from him, angling toward her just the slightest.]

Something like that. [ Cloud prefers other people to carry the conversation, in all instances. He tells himself it's because the more a person talks, the more likely they are to give him information he needs - there's also the added benefit that he doesn't have to scramble for something to say.

Small talk is no friend of his. ]

is he really ready for that

[kisskissboomboom]

[ That's okay. Lucky for him she finds his 'strong and silent type' brooding rather attractive, actually.

She just grins at the succinct answer and reaches out to lightly poke him on the forehead. ]

Are you here because Barret has a job for you tonight? Or were you just killing time?

[ Trap, set. ]

hes never ready for jessie

[parrys]

[He lifts a shoulder in a half shrug. What else has he got to do? Seems he's taken up all the jobs available around Sector 7 and taken care of them. Barret hasn't come to him with anything else (this time he's asking for his damn girl up front), and drinking seems like a good enough plan to him.

His expression is suspicious, though, and he raises his eyebrows. ]

You seem busy enough for both of us.

[ Wait, is she going to try drag him into something?

Shit. He inches away from her, casting a glance around the bar. Maybe Tifa will see his plight, help him out? She seems busy laughing at something Barret's saying.

Is he afraid of Jessie? No, but she has an uncanny ability to throw him, keeping him off balance and maybe scrambling a little. He doesn't know how to respond to her half the time, honestly. ]

give me jessie

[starshower]

[After sending Marlene away with Barret and the boys off to get themselves cleaned up, it leaves only her and Jessie in the bar proper. They've just returned from another mission and from the looks of Biggs and Wedge, it didn't go as smoothly as they hoped it would. They came back covered in soot and dirt and sweat, and smelled like it, too.

For Jessie, she gestures to a seat at the bar and cracks open an ice-cold beer for her, sliding it across the polished countertop with ease.]

I take it the mission didn't go as planned?

[Honestly, when does it ever go 100% as it's supposed to?]

flings her at you!!!

[kisskissboomboom]

[ Flopping tiredly onto the barstool with a huff, Jessie practically sprawls forward onto the bar for a moment, resting her forehead on the cool wood before Tifa returns with a cold beer.

Reaching for it gratefully, she just gives an exhausted groan, rolling her eyes before taking a long swallow. ]

Understatement of the year. It definitely could have gone better, that's for sure. I mean, we all made it out in one piece but...

[ She leaves off adding 'barely', but it's still sort of implied anyway. ]

😍

[starshower]

That's as much as anyone can ask for.

[Her reassurance is offered gently, as she leans over the counter next to Jessie, her chin resting in her hand.

This wasn't even one of their more dangerous ones. Recon missions never are – it's mostly just gathering intel, but sometimes that involved a bomb or two to get to where they needed to be... which is what she figures happened, if Biggs and Wedge were anything to go by. They made it out alive, and that's the most important thing.]

Did you at least get what you needed from that research facility?

[ (Insert ambiguous recon mission details here. Something about Shinra machine enhancements.) ]

[kisskissboomboom]

[ That at least has her brightening a little as she takes another swallow of the beer. ]

Yeah. That was more than we expected, too. There were loads more blueprints in that database than I thought there'd be. It looks like they were planning on switching over to some new models soon. Which would have been a big pain for us, but now we can do something about it before they even start rolling them down the assembly lines.

[starshower]

I guess that'll be the next step, huh? At least we have a leg up now.

[That puts them in a much better position than where they were before their mission. Maybe destroying the warehouse where they keep the parts will be a sensible move? That should significantly slow down their assembly.]

What happened in there anyway? Biggs and Wedge weren't looking too hot when you guys walked in.

tseng tseng tseng

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack had been out of the Shinra tower for much longer than expected. He may or may not have gotten caught up with one too many monsters out on the sector 5 connecting road today which left him clearing out the entire path just to make sure it stayed that way for more than a week. Damn things.

But now he's pretty late for a meeting with the higher-ups and Zack's fairly certain he's going to get chewed out for it. Zack is making his way back but he might just need a little back up on this one. While running he pulls his old shitty flip phone open and texts a certain Turk friend.]

Hey, man! I'm gonna be late! Can you cover for me? Just put a cup of hot coffee in my spot and say I went to the bathroom. I'll be right there.

oh my god

[untseng]

[ There's a brief pause while the text goes through before a reply comes. It's short and sweet and very much to the point. ]

No.

[activatingcombatmode]

[God damn it, Tseng! He thought he could trust you!]

Come on! I'm on my way right now as we speak just buy me some time! Just some time!

[untseng]

[ Did you honestly expect him to help you with this, Zack? It's like you don't know him at all. ]

Time isn't purchasable.

[ Or maybe he just likes being a bit of a jackass. ]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Tseng is totally just being a jackass.]

How about if I buy you dinner?

[Free food? Just one date? Hello???]