fandomhigh | Rookiehood 101, Tuesday, Period 4

Today, the students would find themselves filing into the classroom only to find a note on the board, being stared at thoughtfully by a rather ugly, hairy creature.

Yo class! Meet me Behind the Skool! - Reno

... And if they were so inclined to do so, they'd find another note there, complete with requisite Alot, directing them to head back inside to the Danger Shop. Unfortunately, their teacher wasn't there, either. There was, however, a note! This time, pointing them in the direction of the cabins, to the main campfire, where Reno was waiting. He'd pulled up a place to sit by the the firepit, and was grinning when the students finally made their way there.

In spite of the small herd of Alots that had gathered around him, yes. Reno had the sneaking suspicion that he was going to have to get used to these guys.

"Yo, Rookies!" He shot off a half-assed little salute as he pulled himself to his feet. "I ain't gonna bother gettin' introductions outta you. You'll be sick like hell of 'em by the end of the week, and if I don't know who the hell you are, I'll just call you 'Rookie' anyhow. Deal, yo."

A few more Alots wandered in, to make themselves comfortable by the firepit.

"In case you ain't figured it out yet, today's lesson is on hazing, yo. I figure I'll get the first problem most Rookies'll see outta the way here and now. Think of the screw-around I gave you all from the classroom to here as a rite of passage, yo. Before you can be part of the group, you gotta deal with the shit that it takes to get you in in the first place. It's like a bondin' ritual. Somethin' you do to prove that you got what it takes to make the group run right later on. And I ain't done with you yet, yo." He wrinkled his nose, as if trying to concentrate really hard on what he was about to say, next. "I've gone ahead and set up an obstacle course for you, behind these strange animals."

Speaking with proper grammar was hard, damn it. But at least the Alots were clearing out, and the course in question was now in plain view.

"Lucky you, you'll all get to run the course, yo." Reno bit his tongue as the last of the creatures glanced back, and was silent until it gave a little shrug of its hairy shoulders, and wandered away. "And when you're done, because I ain't a total monster? Cake. On another note, I got one Rookie, Elena over there, playin' TA for me already, but I'm interested in takin' on another if any of you want the added perks of not only bein' my Rookie, but bein' picked on by me a little less than the rest, and helpin' me give your classmates a hard time. Come see me once you run the course if you're interested, yo."

[OCD ~~on the way~~ up! Welcome to Rookiehood 101!]

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"Well..." Reno looked at the feather-covered students with a thoughtful gleam in his eye. "It's a start, yo. We'll see how they handle the heavy stuff when we get to it, I guess."

... Surprising, wasn't it? That Reno had heavy stuff in mind?

"Don't scare the kiddies," Elena warned, gently. "Some of them don't have this kind of background."

"Naw, I know," Reno replied, quirking a smile back Elena's way. "I been gettin' to know the student body around here longer'n you, Rookie. I won't do nothin' to freak 'em out too much, once the syrup washes out, yo."

"Maybe one of them had a bad experience with syrup," she joked. "Way to dredge up painful memories."

Which was a little too on point, for her.

"Did you ... run into anyone in particular, yet?"

Reno could kind of figure out who, in particular, Elena was referring to, yeah.

"The other day," he replied, nodding a bit. "Out takin' a walk in the park with Mako, yo. We got to talkin', she asked how far ahead I was. Did you know that where she's from, I'm eighteen? It's been years since then, yo. Fandom's got some more fucked-up timeline crap goin' on in a big way, here."

Especially since Elena was still nine back there. Which meant that by all rights, he should be nine years older than her, and dwelling on it too much kind of made his brain ache.

But an aching brain was so much easier than thinking too hard on certain missing persons.

"I haven't ... seen her, since the picnic," Elena admitted. "So you're older than her? How does that even work? Does that mean she's not ..."

Really her sister, somehow?

The thought made her even more homesick.

"Is she okay?"

"She's okay enough," he replied, chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment while he turned his gaze upward. Mm, sky. "And she's her. Ain't nobody else I know got a stick up her ass like that one."

Tseng's ass-stick was longer, and probably had pointy things on it. That made a difference.

"She woke up early," he noted. "When I saw her, she was pushin' herself. Should'a been takin' it easy, yoto. But what kinda Turk would she be if she actually did, right?"

"She's always been like that," Elena grumbled. "She looked sick and she just pushes herself too hard. Even when she isn't."

She folded her arms.

"I should ... talk to her."

For so very many reasons.

He nodded, slowly, pursing his lips a bit at that.

"You should," he agreed. "She's confused, yo. Doesn't know what the hell's goin' on, here. And last she remembers of you, you were nine. Ain't no wonder you two didn't hit it off, here."

"I was in shock," Elena said, staring at the ground self-consciously. "I just ... grabbed her and wouldn't let go. She told me off for being childish and so I thought, the hell with it."

Which wasn't exactly how it had gone, no.

"... I miss her. I didn't ... realize how much."

"She's family," Reno pointed out. "It makes sense, yoto."

At least, so far as he could figure. She was family to him, too, but in a completely different way.

"You doin' better, now?"

"I think so," she said, nodding. "I ended up ... spilling most of the story to a friend, here. I know, I shouldn't have, but please don't lecture me on that. I trust him and I just couldn't ..."

Reno shrugged.

"Do what you gotta," he replied. "This time around, I ain't gonna say a word."

Considering how much he wanted to start screaming from rooftops at the moment, and all. He'd picked an interesting time to come back to the island.

"Thanks," she said, shivering. "I haven't ... told Tseng yet. I hope I don't have to. Did you?"

Which reminded her. "How exactly did he agree to this, anyway?"

"I ain't told him yet, either," Reno sighed. "I get the feelin' that he don't wanna hear from me for a bit."

Which probably indicated what the answer to the next question would be.

"I don't think he ever actually technically agreed, yoto."

Okay, starting at the beginning, then.

"Does he know you're here?" she asked. "Did you leave a note on his door and run the other direction?"

She could only imagine Tseng's face, at that.

Reno shook his head, no. At least there was that, right?

"I asked permission, first," he said. Because that made it all better!

"And he said no?" Oh. Fabulous. "But you ... came anyway."

That sounded awesome, right there.

Reno sighed, and Reno shrugged, and Reno was going to do his damnedest to avoid eye contact, here.

"It was this or Edge," he said, vaguely, "and Edge... Is Edge."

My, wasn't that helpful?

"Look, everything good we got there came from here, one way or the other. Except for the water in the church, sure, but even then, it was Rikku who helped dig me out from under the friggin' overpass. Besides that, we got hovers, we got green now. Arthur was talkin' about settin' Edge up with horses, to do work that chocobos can't, yo. What the hell am I gettin' done, there? I mean, really?"

Reno, Elena probably wasn't the one you had to defend your opinion to, considering the reasons she was here.

"Reno, I get it," Elena said gently. "I just don't know what this means. Did he try firing you?"

Tseng was stubborn enough to say something like that. Edge wasn't so great for him, either.

"Threatened it," Reno replied. "Accused me of quittin', too. I offered to send him money," he admitted. "I mean, to save up for the move to Junon, or for supplies, or for whatever the fuck. Me, payin' him. To hold my job for me, or some shit. He said he'd think on it."

And then never gave Reno an answer. So he'd taken off anyhow. Fuck it.

Rookiehood 101, Tuesday, Period 4

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