the layout was made by zenat from lspa and btn. codes were taken from support boards and w3schools. character and everything else belong to their owners. if there is something that is yours here, but it isn't credited for, please contact an admin and we will immediately add you to the credits.
The man grunted to himself lazily leaning against an old bar in Sector 8, He was off duty rude was on the job somewhere, leaving him with nothing to do, he'd thought about getting completely wasted, but that didn't really do it for him anymore, with times as they were he hadn't felt like drinking a lot at all lately. Was the laziest, Turk alive actually stressed? Nah couldn't be, he was Reno, and Reno never stressed it wasn't in his blood, although one could argue he was getting pretty close.
It was funny how backwards Reno was the man drank and smoked when he was relaxed and had no problems to worry about, but when most people especially those who lived in midgar use drugs and hit the bottle when they were stressed, In Reno's opinion being drunk and high weren't even half as fun or excited when one is running away from something.
After about another 10 or so minutes of people watching the sloppily dressed Turk pushed himself off the wall to go and do something..... What exactly? he had no idea, but he needed to do something. The red haired man hadn't been this bored in a long while. As he walked through the almost completely discarded sector ignoring any petty thieveries or fights along the way, wandering... honestly just to wander. He flipped his stun baton's in his fingers lazily his ponytail waving left and right with his stride.
Wasn't there anything exciting going on? Maybe he could find a drunk girl and bring her back to his place? Or maybe he could actually get something done and put in overtime. Reno laughed aloud, putting in overtime that was easily the best joke he'd come up with all day. Tseng would flip his shit if Reno put in overtime, the man's entire foundation would be rocked by the act.
After his little laughing fit finished the Turk continued on stopping at the old playground, any metal other than the slide was rusted, the dirt looked trampled and dead, the area itself surrounded by walls and walls of scrap metal from the upper sectors just having accumulated after time, a true junkyard.
Sitting at the counter inside the bar that Reno had walked away from, a dragoon clenched a shot glass with his right hand, same arm resting on the wooden support. With a slight circular motion of his hand, he swished the amber colored liquor around slowly before raising it to his lips and drinking. He wasn't much of a fan of drinking, but he was playing a part of a simple bar patron, passing his time away one glass at a time.
In actuality he was in the process of trying to tail someone within a certain organization, someone more high profiled that the locales recognized due to his eccentric appearance. It just so happened that the dragoon had stumbled upon a well-known Turk, a division of Shin-Ra he was apart of for a brief time in a past world in a different life. Peering over his left shoulder as he set the glass down, he could see through the window that Reno was on the move.
Rising up slowly from his chair, Loki left a gil tip on the counter next to his glass and tilted his head around as if to get kinks out of his neck for waiting so long. Feeling loosened, up a small smile traced his lips as he began to walk out of the bar and looked within the direction of the red-headed Turk. He seemed almost lost in his own little world, or perhaps he was just playing dumb for the moment, but either way Loki was content with the turn of events. He seemed to be heading to a less crowded area of these slums, something that was more up the mercenary's alley as he began to shadow his target.
Making sure he kept a decent distance, Loki wondered what Reno could be up to in just walking around the slums. Was he on some sort of assignment or was the dragoon falling into some sort of trap? From what he could remember of the Turks, the one called Rude always seemed to be close by to his partner in crime, yet Loki hadn't spotted him. He watched the movements of his target carefully, seeing him twirl his baton around as if he was on some pleasure stroll. Could he really be so carefree with that state that his company was in or were the rumors he heard simply overstated by those who despised Shin-Ra?
In all honesty it didn't matter to the dragoon one way or another, cautiously moving forward until he stopped abruptly. It seemed out of the blue Reno began laughing, which made Loki rest his left hand on the hilt of one of his blades, narrowing his eyes at the Turk. He knew the layout of Midgar enough to be able to escape a tight situation, but after a few moments once Reno had stopped his chuckle and moved onto the playground area, Loki dropped his hand from his weapon and sighed with a smile.
'Is he really that dangerous Loki? He looks to be quite harmless in comparison to other creatures of Gaia...' spoke the valkyrie Eisa through Loki's mind. She stayed hidden inside the dragoon at his request as it would be easier to move if people could only see him walking about.
'Absolutely no one is harmless in this city, everyone has a grudge or ambition they want to capitalize on, especially those from Shin-Ra. He's one of their most well-known members and should not be taken lightly despite appearances.' Loki commented back, although he had to admit there were definitely a lot more tougher adversaries he had run across in his days of dealing with the giant corporation.
Soon the Turk had seemed to stop in the middle of the broken down playground, observing the heaps of metal that surrounded the area. Was he awaiting Loki to show himself? The dragoon couldn't tell if Reno was simply daydreaming on purpose or if he really was that confident that no one would dare to follow him. He would find out one way or another as he couldn't help but hear the red-head comment to himself.
"You seem to be in good spirits either way in such troubled times for Shin-Ra." Loki spoke up loud enough to gain Reno's attention, looking in the direction the Turk was before looking towards him. "I suppose the company values such blind optimism." the dragoon finished, a dark grin forming as he placed his right hand on his waist.
Regardless of whether he knew he was being followed or he was blissfully unaware wasn’t of significance. What mattered at this point was that he was here now facing down this completely random armed black haired sword wielder, whom by the look of it was feeling pretty handsy’ as he’d let go of the blade only to grab it again, all the while jabbing at Shin-Ra it was apparent he was looking for a fight. Reno twirled hit baton again resting it over his shoulder for the moment. As the man continued to taunt him Reno yawned all the while trying to remember who this guy was exactly.
“I see you’re lookin for a fight guy, but before you get too sword happy over there I’d appreciate it if you told me who you are. I’ve ruined a lot of lives so it’s had to keep track, are you just some hired hand, a brother of someone I took down, a friend looking for revenge, give me something to work with.” The man made his way down to the long since rusted swing set his pony tail continuing to sway with each step. As Reno turned he looked the battle ready man down over again, he didn’t seem like anything too special besides his garb, he did hold an air of slight familiarity though causing Reno to backtrack through a couple of memories, still keeping his focus on the possible opponent in front of him.
“As for Shin-Ra hate to disappoint but even I get a day off every now and then.” As the stare down continued so did the jogging of his memory until the unavoidable “Ooooh.” Reno remember watching the former recruit pass the Turk exam only to abandon the organization on his first mission, it wasn’t surprising honestly. Many people who thought they could handle the job simply couldn’t whether it be disgust of what they were doing, morality striking suddenly, or even plain fear that caused them to flee. “Yeah I remember you now, You’re that scared kid who couldn’t make it through his first mission and ran away. Hah! We didn’t bother chasing you because what you did was just so weak man.... It was pathetic.” Reno slid the retractable stun baton away back into its holder hidden in his back pocket. All the while carrying a slick condescending grin that would easily annoy anyone who was to gaze at him.
“Sorry….. Roki, Toki… Can’t remember your name, but I don’t fight punks who just happen to be looking for a fight, and I definitely don’t fight failed recruits. Again sorry for the letdown.” Reno did remember the man’s name, but he wouldn’t reveal that, the bone clad warrior hadn’t earned that respect yet. “Especially when said punk can’t complete a single mission, hell it wasn’t even that difficult of a mission to finish if I’m remembering this correctly! Anyways take care of yourself; find a group that you won’t abandon on your first day, make some friends, or even buy an outfit that helps you fit in with the world because let’s face it the whole bone armor get up isn’t exactly helping you blend in. Either way I couldn’t give less of a damn.”
With one final flash of the annoying grin Reno turned away all the while reaching into his pocket retrieving his gloves which he then slid on smoothly, heading in the direction of Sector 7 another slum in the lower regions of Midgar. Reno whilst walking Reno for once was his footsteps barely making a sound, on the dusty metal path.
Until suddenly he stopped and spun on his heel, "Guess, I'm being a bit unfair eh? You do have the right to explain yourself, so if you're up to it I'm all ears.
The conversation had gone into a multitude of directions from Loki's simple observation of the Turk at hand. As the dragoon stayed silent, hand still resting on his hip, he wasn't sure if he should be flattered, puzzled or perhaps laugh at the situation that Reno left him with. He could hardly get in an edge wise for a normal talk, but Loki wasn't much for words anyways. It almost seemed that the end of the 'discussion' had come before it had barely started as the red-head began to walk away before he stopped. The mercenary made a mental note to himself to perhaps choose his words better around what seemed a touchy subject for the Turk.
"Interesting..." was all Loki could muster at first, rubbing his chin as it appeared Reno decided to stay on a whim. Whether he would actually listen or perhaps wanted to rant more, the dragoon couldn't decide one way or another.
There was too many questions running through Loki's mind at what had been said. Not only did this Reno seem to remember him, he even had a decent background check on the dragoon despite that most of Loki's past hadn't seemed to occur here in this world, yet some moments must have been parallel with the world Loki was born in. He had indeed lost to his rival Virgil that day, but his mission to kill the rebel the demon was pretending to bodyguard had been a success. He even took a few more smaller assignments before the demonic brothers were proving detrimental to the goals set by Shin-Ra.
Thus the company decided the dragoon would have to handle the oncoming war on his own instead of Shin-Ra wasting resources to keep a new recruit, an understandable yet mutual split had to be made that somewhat benefited both parties. Tseng left the door open for Loki to come back at some point, if he were to take care of his past dealings, yet there was never time to actually take up that offer. In a way, Loki helped keep this city safe once, taking part in a battle that nearly leveled most of Midgar by the dual attacks of a monstrous Alpha Weapon and the meddling of his rival's brother, Dante. Something this Gaia was fortunate enough not to have undertaken, as far as the information he had gathered from his months of wandering the world, yet Loki had a sense this was merely a calm before a storm.
The mercenary didn't feel like arguing with the Turk by giving him his life story, nor did he want to fight. He did find it interesting that it was okay for Reno to flail his weapon about yet somehow Loki's appearance and stationary blades sitting on his hip gave rise to hostility. Perhaps the Turk felt entitled to walk this city the way he was, or perhaps it was his own paranoia that made him the only one to have his own weapon drawn out of the two of them. The dragoon dropped his hand from his chin, as he finished soaking in the information with a deep sigh.
"I had no intention of fighting you at all and I apologize if my words or appearance left you feeling...threatened. I only wished to learn how my former company was fairing from someone I knew was still under their employment. I'm sure Shin-Ra could use any assistance willing to be offered considering their recent heavy losses, even from a 'failed' recruit as you say." Loki smirked at that notion, to hopefully lighten the mood as Reno seemed to be at ease enough to hear him out.
The dragoon wasn't expecting them to be the best of acquaintances within Shin-Ra as he personally hardly knew the Turk from before anyways, but he felt there was no reason they couldn't come to some sort of base understanding for the future. Loki's loyalty didn't rely with the company nor with the staff that comprised it, but more so with the joint ruthless actions that Shin-Ra took in the past and present that coincided with his belief principles. He respected it enough to come back to Midgar once more and enlist his services, whether he would stay or not he would not promise, nor did he have to. His preference would be to let his action do the talking instead of his mouth.
