Midgar, Gaia -- Saturday

[intraspective]

Ino had felt—good, stable, all the way out of Fandom, off the island, and into Midgar, which was her own home now (and that was something she still had to remind herself of), even while they stopped to let her change into her uniform.

It was only as Zack pressed a kiss to her cheek, in the lobby of the ShinRa building and headed off for his own orders, that Ino felt the clawing uncertainty come back.

Talk to the receptionist, she’d been told. Ino could do that, though she despised walking into a situation blind. It was a comfort, at the least, that she already had her uniform, her I.D. , and that she was supposed to be here, so far as anyone was concerned.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous, still, underneath the cool demeanour. This was her first time, after all, on the job, in this capacity. Her hair was down, flowing in careful waves down her back and her shoulders were straight as she approached the mission--reception desk.

“Excuse me?”

And Ino ignored the creeping panic that reminded her she had no idea of what else to say.

[NFB, please! For them that're in the building.]

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[intraspective]

Ino grit her teeth, just slightly, at the sound of a voice she knew very well beyond the door.

Her face as she entered, though, was cool and composed, deliberately so.

She shut the door behind her, and then approached the desk, stopping a few feet from it. "Sir."

Even if it was tempting to stare at younger Reno.gy

[ponytailedturk]

Younger Reno was wee and adorable and hadn't yet thought to do something crazy like grow out his hair, or blame himself for the state of the world as they saw it, and he certainly wasn't going to hesitate to leer at the rookie as she stepped into Tseng's office.

"Gonna have to get this one a map of the building," he mused, earning himself another look from Tseng before shrugging lazily and settling back to lean against the wall.

Tseng pressed onward. Reno would be Reno, there was no sense in fighting with him over that.

"Ready for your first assignment?"

He was, of course, not actually asking. She was a Turk. She would be ready for her first assignment when he said so. Or when any other Turk did, really, as well. She was, after all, the rookie.

[intraspective]

Ino hadn't heard a question that was so very much not a question in a goodly while. It was peculiar how that, too, was comforting. She only had to do her best, within the restrictions and rules that were placed around her, and she would be fine.

That was soothing.

She supposed it wouldn't be for everyone, some people chafed at being under the control of others, but for her, in this professional situation, it was something she enjoyed.

The way her eyes brightened, with minor irritation at Reno--who was, she reminded herself, an ass in any any universe--Ino simply nodded, resisted the urge to bow properly to Tseng.

"Yes, sir."

[ponytailedturk]

"Excellent." And Tseng actually did appear to be somewhat pleased. Of course he would still have to introduce her to Verdot, and give her a proper briefing on the activities of AVALANCHE as of late, but for the time being, simply having new blood on the team was a refreshing change of pace.

And, he hoped, it would be one that would prove to be beneficial. At least to the Turks. Possibly to more than that.

"Before you leave, Reno will give you a proper tour of the building. Don't let him get to you."

He was, after all, Reno.

"He knows the assignment already. He'll fill you in on the details as you go."

[raspberryturk]

Reno (who was young and adorable and a bit of a brat and who was not the one that this account was made for, the username liiiies) shot Ino a lazy smirk, before pushing himself off the wall and making his way to the door.

"Get movin', Rookie. We ain't got all day. I wanna get down to the streets soon, and I ain't gonna waste more time than I gotta, showin' you where the bathrooms and your new livin' quarters are, yo."

As Reno headed out into the hallway, Tseng simply sighed and shook his head. Reno was impossible. And he wouldn't dream of trusting any new blood to anybody but.

[intraspective]

She bobbed her head to Tseng, not quite a bow in Wutaian style, but definitely a compromise in that direction (she couldn't help it, some things were ingrained) and then stepped after Reno on silent feet.

And wrestling with her emotions where Reno was concerned.

This one was not that one and, she thought, it was going to be hard to remember that.

Silence, for the moment, was the best response she decided, while following him.

[raspberryturk]

"Bathroom," Reno reported, pointing down one hallway. "Livin' space," he added, pointing in the other direction. "You can ask at reception what room number's yours. Or just keep crashin' with your SOLDIER, if you have problems findin' your way around, yo. You're a big girl. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out, zoto."

Reno was such a caring individual. He always had been.

"That ain't all that important anyhow, since you won't be livin' around here for a few months yet. You armed yet?"

That was really the important part, here.

[intraspective]

"What sort of idiot would come to work without being armed?" she demanded, resisting narrowly the urge to put her hands on her hips.

Of course she was armed.

And she'd find her room later, if only to spite Reno, because yes, she was most likely to live with Zack.

[raspberryturk]

"You'd be surprised," Reno mused, shooting Ino that lazy grin of his before heading toward the...

Stairs.

There was no way in hell he was setting foot on an elevator ever again. Ino didn't mind a workout, right?

"So, what kinda weapon you got on you? An' Materia? Knowin' what we got to work with'll be helpful, here."

[intraspective]

"Giant shuriken," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly. The Crystal Cross was a good weapon. "Wire, knives," kunai, "poisoned needles."

Why were they heading this way? Stairs? He had to be kidding.

"Thundara, Fire, Blizzaga, Wall," she rattled off, and really, she thought she had the basics pretty well covered in that.

[raspberryturk]

Hey, Reno wasn't going to knock a person with a huge throwing star, or anything. After all, Cissnei was one of his favorite Rookies, and she swore by hers.

"Just Fire, huh? We'll see if we can't get that levelled up for you today, then. Fire ain't gonna do shit against what we've been up against lately, yo."

He actually held the door open to the staircase for her. Apparently, he was totally not kidding.

[intraspective]

Ino stepped past him and out onto the landing and found herself facing stairs.

Lots and lots of stairs.

"I don't like Fire," she said, which likely explained some of why it was just a wee materia. And waited for him to start down the stairs.

Like hell was she going to go down them without him.

[raspberryturk]

"Neither does a lot of the shit you're gonna run into out there," Reno noted, glancing her way before starting down the steps, taking them two at a time.

She totally thought he was joking about the stairs.

That was so cute. <3

[intraspective]

"I know," she said, following him and picking a pace that would let her keep up reasonably well with him. "But the other two work on many of them better or just as well."

[raspberryturk]

"Many," Reno agreed, "that don't mean you gotta limit yourself, yo."

Said the guy who relied almost exclusively on Thunder-based Materias, yes.

"Talkin' about, you ever had your limit break, before?"

The weird crap that came up on this Planet. Really, now.

[intraspective]

"No," she said, not even sure if she'd get one.

After all, she hadn't been born here.

[raspberryturk]

"Eh, sooner or later," Reno replied, dismissively. There were plenty of people who hadn't, really. He'd gotten more than his share of rookies who hadn't had any clue what they were really capable of until he threw them bodily into a fight that looked like it was over their head at a glance.

Wow. Only fifty more floors to go!

"How you keepin' up, kid?"

[intraspective]

Really, it could be worse. It could be a hundred floors to go, and Ino was keeping up well enough--she was, after all, ninja-trained and meant to be able to run for days with minimal rest.

"Kid?" she objected. "I am not!"

[raspberryturk]

"Younger'n me," Reno decided, whether she actually was or not. "Close enough, yo."

She didn't seem to be tripping over herself, and so he picked up the pace a little.

[intraspective]

She was, though not by much.

Ino rolled her eyes and kept her silence, picking up her own pace. Of course he'd be an ass about this too, but it felt good anyway, to be able to move and to be able to follow and not have to try to figure out how to save the world on her own.

"What's your limit break?"

He'd asked about hers, she would ask about his.

[raspberryturk]

Reno paused to glance over his shoulder at her, and then he grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"That thing you don't like," he replied, easily enough. It wasn't like it hurt to tell the rookie stuff like this, after all. "I don't bother with Fire materias, because I make my own, push comes to shove, yo."

Turk Light was awesome. And he'd kick the ass of anyone who ever suggested otherwise.

Forty-five more floors to go, now.

"The hell made you agree to joinin' the Turks, anyhow? I know you been shadowin' that SOLDIER around, and had some shitty scrapes with the Wutai. But the Turks are a big step, yo."

This was actually the Reno equivalent of small talk.

[intraspective]

"It's boring," she muttered, because fire was when compared to the thrill that using Thunder gave her or the icy shock of Blizzard. And Wall had it's own charm, the ability to encase her and protect her and not impede her movements the slightest.

"Tseng offered," she replied, leaving out a number of details, because obviously he wasn't getting them right now. "And this sort of work suits me just fine."

More than fine, even. Ino had never claimed to have a soul that was goodness and light.

[raspberryturk]

"Just fine, huh? Your file said you were some kinda ninja before here, but that don't tell me much." Reno's eyebrow was raised as he glanced over his shoulder at her, and then picked up the pace again.

Yes, it was absolutely a test.

"You got some knowledge about us before comin' in, too. That mean you know what the first assignment is gonna be?"

[intraspective]

Ino grit her teeth for a moment, resisting the urge to snap at him, then sped up further. He wanted her to keep up? Then she would so help her, even if she needed to use chakra to match him.

She wasn't using it yet, however.

"Patrolling Sector Eight," she replied, her voice stubbornly level. And not replying to his first comment. So there.

[raspberryturk]

Reno twitched a little bit of a smirk. So the rest of her file wasn't lying to him, either. The SOLDIER kid wouldn't know what the first mission they took new Turks on was, so she did have experience with a Turk before them.

He was still curious about the weird texts that he got from her now and then, though. Another Reno was a tough pill to swallow.

"Good, good." Thirty more floors. "You'll get along with the Turks fine, Rookie. You're way sharper'n you let on, yo."

Wandering around the Turks floor and holding up the meeting aside.