Reno's (& Elena's) place, Edge, Gaia, Wednesday Evening

[intraspective]

Ino would be lying if she claimed that she hadn't told Reno the wrong time to expect her.

So she had absolutely no plans to actually let anyone know about that tiny insignificant fact. Especially not Reno. Fully armed and wearing leggings and a turtleneck rather than anything like she fought in at home, but that she'd found more comfy for dealing with Midgar's weather, and so had figured the same would apply roughly to Edge's weather, Ino's gaze when she stepped through the portal was scrutinizing. (You try staying warm in the middle of winter in what basically amounts to a short skirt with slits clean up the sides, a tank top, and a bunch of bandages wrapped around your torso and see how long it takes you to find something warmer to wear.)

She had a bit of time to kill. A few hours before Reno would even think to wonder where she was.

Plenty of time to explore Edge on her own. Reno would… probably not approve. He didn't need to know. Making sure she knew which direction his apartment was in, Ino darted off on silent feet.

Edge was, she determined a few hours later, making her careful way to his place, a lot worse off than Reno had told her. Despite the fact that some of the areas she'd snooped through had made her, well, violently ill (Ino had not been prepared for the number of starving people, of homeless people, of hopeless dying people she'd seen living on the streets in conditions she'd only vaguely grasped before), Ino was tentatively calling her snooping a good idea.

Also, mints were amazing things. Shut up. She was a ninja and a Rookie. He absolutely didn't need to know she'd gotten sick over some of what she'd seen. Ino had no intentions of telling him anything at all about that. Need to know basis said he totally didn't need to know. She found the building he lived in and headed up the stairs exuding an air that said she totally belonged here no really.

So, it was a pale (but for the colour quickly pinched into her cheeks) and rather wide-eyed Rookie that rapped smartly on his door at exactly the time she'd told him she'd be there.

[For the Turk expecting her, zoto! NFB due to distance!]

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[raspberryturk]

Well, it wasn't as though worms had been bred through the ages for their charming good looks, or anything.

Worms were worms, no matter how you cut it, really.

Reno gave her a grin and a shrug, and then waved a hand dismissively toward the monsters.

"Go on, Rookie. Have a ball, yo."

[intraspective]

She flashed him a sharp-edged grin and darted forward to initiate combat.

And started it off with a quick Thunder at them. What? Thunder was always a good way to start things off. Especially when she was going to have to deal with them without Zack around to hack at the things while she darted in and out of the fray.

The worms, of course, weren't defenceless and Ino danced backwards as one tried to bite her and the other spat silk-webbing at her. Hahaha, no, Ino was pretty sure that'd inflict something on her and had no intentions of getting hit. You know, not right away.

If only because Reno would laugh his ass off at her.

A pair of kunai, a quick barrel roll (shamelessly copied from Zack and Ino was keeping it forever because it rocked), and then?

Another Thunder!

... This could go on awhile.

[raspberryturk]

It really could. Reno was almost certain that the things would both be dead and looted by now if he'd been the one going up against them.

But he wasn't. And he was going to let the Rookie do her thing, arms crossed over his chest, eyebrow raised. He wanted to see how strong she was, what she knew.

The barrel roll was a pretty clear indicator of the fact that she'd been out and about with Zack on more than on occasion. But a slight twitch of his eyebrow was the only reaction that it was going to get out of him.

[intraspective]

Well, she knew enough to attack from behind too?

Which was why Ino was making sure that, when she wasn't shooting Thunder at them (trickier than she'd thought when they kept trying to nail her with that webbing), she was doing her best to keep behind them.

... Which would be easier if there weren't two of them. But she'd deal.

And slowly pick away at them. Eventually they'd die, right?

The kick she gave one of the Worms was particularly vicious after it managed to bite her. Which, because she'd gotten more interested in kicking the stupid thing meant the other Worm was free to nail her with the webbing.

Freakin' Stun.

When she got out of it? They were going down. Ino fought against the status effect, eyes narrowed at the Worms.

[raspberryturk]

And Reno... Yawned.

Yes, he was so very helpful. But he wasn't about to make any move to intervene until Ino actually seemed to be in some serious sort of trouble.

That, right there? Where that worm was moving in with its gaping maw en route to Ino's face? That seemed like a good time to step in. Not by attacking the worm, no. By tossing a Remedy at Ino. Let her get herself out of that mess.

Reno understood pride, after all.

[intraspective]

Oh. Well. She was oh so very sorry that she was boring him. It wasn't like she was anywhere near his level or nothing, right?

Totally a failing on her part. Absolutely.

The kick Ino gave the worm, once the Remedy kicked in, was fuelled by her irritation at the worm. At the Stun. At Reno who was yawning.

AUGH.

She put a bit of distance between her and the worms--carefully out of range of more Stun-inducing silk--and smashed Thunder at them. Once. Twice.

Well, that was one worm down.

The other one was getting close enough, though, that getting trapped again was a possibility (she was in range, oh no!) so Ino flung herself into another barrel roll and then darted behind the worm.

She could totally kick and stab it to death. Eventually. It would just not be as fast as using Thunder. ... In a way, however, immensely more satisfying.

[raspberryturk]

And now, Reno was leaning back against another nearby wall, arms crossed over his chest, an eyebrow arched critically as he watched.

So far as the local monsters typically went, these ones were fairly high-levelled. Ino was holding her own against what had, a moment ago, been a pair of them.

Somebody was lying when she said that she was just training with her materia around Fandom Island. Reno hadn't been able to make that much progress playing with his materia on Fandom Island. Because opportunities to play with materia on Fandom Island were few and very, very far between.

"One of these days," Reno mused once it looked like the worm was about to bite the dust, "I'm gonna have to take you out past Kalm. Introduce you to the Midgar Zolom, zoto."

[intraspective]

She was a lying liar who lied, yes.

Was he really surprised?

A few more kicks and the worm was toast. Ha.

Ino scooped up her loot and Gil as the worm faded from existence and glanced at him. "Midgar Zolom? Some kind a worm?"

[raspberryturk]

"With a reputation for killin' anyone and everyone who crosses its swamp on foot," Reno agreed, smirking faintly. "It's gotta be at least fifty meters long, maybe longer. Looks like someone let a cobra get into the steroids, yo."

Also, it had a reputation for eating people. And casting really, really, really nasty spells. Pleasant sucker, that Zolom.

[intraspective]

"How 'bout no way in hell?" Ino asked, staring at him. "I like living, keep up, geez."

[raspberryturk]

"I said someday," Reno laughed, shaking his head. "Didn't say tomorrow."

And, see, that had the added bonus of him being able to gauge her growth down the road, too. He'd tackle the Zolom alongside her, of course.

"It'd be a freakin' interesting challenge, don't you think?"

[intraspective]

... Yes.

"Not anytime near now," she said, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "But sure, why not? Maybe someday."

If she was feeling like dying a whole lot or something.

Look, she still had to work to survive against worms, okay? Midgar Zolom was way way way out of her league.

Ino tucked a loose bit of hair behind one ear and bit her lop before sliding her gaze away from him. "What'd you think?"

[raspberryturk]

"You killed 'em," Reno replied, as though that explained all that there was to be said about the fight.

Who knows? Maybe with Reno, it was.

"Honestly, Rookie, you did good, there. Them worms were tougher'n most things that you see runnin' around Midgar." A beat. "Edge."

A beat.

"That."

[intraspective]

Well, yes, she'd killed them.

That was sorta the point? At least he wasn't laughing at her or anything. Though, Ino realized abruptly, it might have been better to have sucked and let him laugh.

Dammit.

"Edge," she said, frowning slightly. "Ain't heard you get confused in a good while."

If she ever had.

[raspberryturk]

"Had home on the mind a lot, lately," Reno replied, waving a dismissive hand before bringing his EMR up to tap against his shoulder again. "Hard not to, when it's starin' you down every step of the way, ain't it?"

It was almost a valid excuse, considering the monolithic ruins that were in plain view from no matter where you stood in Edge.

[intraspective]

Ino wasn't really buying it. Not when he'd made it through Fandom without calling it nothing but Edge unless he was talking in the past.

"It's a lovely view," she said, slightly grumpily. "Still ain't like you to slip."

[raspberryturk]

"Maybe it wasn't a slip," Reno replied, coolly. Always coolly. Why not? "There's still monsters runnin' around the ruins too, yo."

He didn't think it was a lovely view. He thought it was a fucking horrible view. When his living room was pitch black at three in the afternoon because Midgar was casting a shadow into it, he got to sit there feeling guilty.

Damn view, anyhow.

"Can take you to face off against some of them later, too, if you're up for it."

[intraspective]

"How would I know if I'm up to them or not?" she asked, shaking her head and walking a bit away from him. Looking around.

It wasn't that she thought Midgar was anything--funny, or lovely, or anything like that. But if he was going to weird at her, then she, well, sarcasm was her friend.

And it was a bit surreal, really, to compare and contrast between that view and--Zack's home. Ino had enough on her mind between walking through Edge's streets to be adding the nightmares of what Midgar's ruins actually meant, right now, on top of everything else.

"Ain't like I know the monsters 'round here, Reno. If you think I am, then I'm game. You think I'd die miserably, then let's not. 'Less, 'course, well."

Ino shrugged. Words? Who needed them?

[raspberryturk]

"I ain't in the business of killin' off my Rookies," Reno replied, following that up with an indignant sniff.

Anymore.

"Maybe we'll wander along the outskirts, see what we can see, yo. Won't hurt nothin' if we don't go pushin' on inside for the mako to get to, anyhow."

[intraspective]

"There been much exploration of how much of Midgar's been mako'd," shut it, that was totally a real use of the word, "or anything?"

She started idly heading in the direction of Midgar. Streets, hey.

"'Round keeping everyone alive, I mean."

Because, wow, did Edge need more help in that quarter.

[raspberryturk]

"The WRO's been workin' on it," Reno allowed, shrugging. "The WRO's been workin' on a lotta things. For the most part, they're just hopin' that the 'no tresspassing' signs'll do the job, anyhow. Edge is safe as it's gonna get around here. Nobody but idiots and scavengers to into Midgar anymore."

Three guesses which category Reno stuck himself into.

[intraspective]

No guesses.

"Idiots and scavengers, huh?" Ino grinned over at him. "What category am I, then, if you're taken me 'round the edges of it?"

[raspberryturk]

"A Rookie," Reno sniffed indignantly. "Hittin' the edges ain't the same as wandering through the ruins, anyhow."

See? Totally different, that!

[intraspective]

"Hai hai," she said, rolling her eyes at that. "Totally different, absolutely."

Ino glanced at him for a moment, but left it at that.

[raspberryturk]

Well, to some degree, it really was different.

You were less likely to stumble across black stains on the ground that used to be human, before the stigma reduced them to pus and bile, in Edge, for one.

Not completely unlikely, but less likely. There was an important distinction to be made, there.

He glanced at her for a moment in turn, and then offered her a wry smile.

"How are them monsters in Midgar, anyhow?"