Public Service - On the Edge, Monday, Period 2

[raspberryturk]

"So, I'm bettin' a few of you had pretty memorable weekends," Reno said, nodding at his students from the Fandom side of the portal. "I wish that meant I could just let you loose in a room full of goddamn puppies, but we got work to do, yo. See, I got this shipment of building supplies in for us, enough for both sites, and they're heavy as hell, between the pipes and the water tanks and the digging equipment, because yes, we're gonna have to dig if we wanna pull this off. Water lives underground, we can't filter it if we don't, yo."

Helpful, Reno. Your students probably had no clue where water lived.

"So, here's hopin' you dressed for some hard labor today, because that's totally what you're all in for. C'mon, yo."

And without any more preamble, he led his students through the portal.

[Open class!]

Comments

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four lingered after class, clearly conflicted.

Finally he squared his shoulders and approached Reno. "You spoke with my mother."

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

Reno was kind of waiting for this. He looked at Four thoughtfully, and then tied his chocobo's reins to a nearby bit of wreckage and gave a nod.

"She stopped by my office, yeah," he agreed. "I'm guessin' she found you?"

Reno listened to the radio. Of course Reno knew she found him. She'd neglected to mention that 'as good as dead' actually meant 'everyone THOUGHT she was dead.'

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four nodded, a sharp movement, as he pressed his lips together.

Quite the talker, he.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

Hey, Reno was used to the silent types. He'd joke that his best friend, Rude, never shut up, but most people didn't actually know what his voice sounded like, so...

"Guessin' that didn't go great."

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four snorted. "Yeah."

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

Reno pursed his lips for a moment, tilting his head at Four, considering that, too.

"You wanna talk about it, or you wanna go hit things?"

Or both. There were options. Especially here in Gaia, which had no shortage of things to hit, just so long as you wandered around long enough to find something.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

"Hit things," Four said. "I ran through most of the ammo in the range yesterday."

[OOC: Did you know that it helps to hit "post comment"? IT DOES. WTF SELF.]

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

"We got monsters," Reno offered, gesturing back over his shoulder toward the ruins. "Kill things while workin' off that frustration and helpin' the locals. Or we could have a spar if you want that instead, yo."

Reno was nothing if not accommodating.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

"Helping the locals," Four decided. "I can spar later on." His lips quirked up humorlessly. "I don't think I'll be over this any time soon."

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

Reno actually did let out a soft, "Heh," at that, though there wasn't much humor in it, either.

"C'mon, then. Into the ruins. You got plenty of ammo, or you gonna need a weapon later on or anything?"

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four checked his stash. "I've got ammo," he confirmed. "And a rifle, a pistol and some throwing knives."

Four liked to be prepared.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

"Thorough," Reno replied, letting his stun baton fall from the sleeve of his shirt, catching it in his hand and moving it to rest on one shoulder. "I respect that. C'mon, then. Let's pick through the ruins for hounds an' junk. The birds'll be fine until we get back, yo."

Any time Four wanted to beat on something, Reno would be happy to do this. He acted aloof, but woe betide anybody who messed with his Rookies.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four's eyes lit up. "Happy to help," he said. "Most Dauntless end up either on the police force or on border patrol. This is pretty standard stuff for us."

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah?" Reno chuckled as he started toward the twisted wreckage of Midgar. "Sounds a bit like my old job description, yo. The Turks had a whole sector of the city where security was their jurisdiction. Monsters, general police shit..."

Other, less general things the government might want to see done.

"Patrollin' Midgar is what I used to do for fun."

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

"I passed the final test at the top of the class," Four said, making sure to hold his rifle ready, "so I don't have to patrol. I had my choice of jobs."

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

Somehow, that didn't surprise Reno at all. He'd meant it when he said that Four was exceptional, that his mother was selling him short.

Turks had to have an eye for these things, or they didn't last long.

"Yeah? What kind of jobs did you choose?"

Up ahead, there were sounds coming from behind a piece of fallen wall, low to the ground and too animal to be one of the orphaned kids that sometimes scoured the ruins. Reno nodded in that direction, started moving that way.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

"I chose to come here for now and train recruits next summer," Four replied softly, watching the environment carefully as the moved closer. "I'll also work in the communications hub, monitoring the borders."

He wanted to know the ways out.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

Reno considered that as he circled around the wall, leaving a wide enough berth that whatever was rummaging about wouldn't immediately notice his approach.

"Needed to get some distance for a bit?"

He knew how that went, Four.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four nodded. "We didn't know there was anything out past the borders at all. Who else but Dauntless should answer the brochure, right?"

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

"Good call," Reno decided, twitching a bit of a smirk. "It been goin' okay for you so far?"

He fell into a crouch and nodded at the creature they were approaching. A little, blubbery, red-orange spiky thing was digging through some rubble.

"They spit fire," he shared, glancing at Four. "Easy to avoid if you keep your distance. You want first go at it?"

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

"Sure," Four said. "Head shots work?"

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

"Probably better than aiming for that big saggy gut they got," Reno agreed with an easy nod. "Might take two or three, though. Gaia monsters don't work the way most animals do."

There was a certain way to hit them that really only worked better with experience. Since Reno didn't know exactly how much experience Four had, it seemed like a good idea to warn him up-front.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four nodded and brought his rifle up. His experience was all theoretical, but facing the nameless woman over and over in his fearscape certainly felt real each time.

"Between the eyes?" he murmured, watching through the scope.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

"Right between 'em. Before it notices you, preferably. They start hoppin' from side to side when they get to movin' around. Makes 'em harder to hit, yo."

Reno was quite content to sit back and see how Four handled that gun.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four aimed carefully and waited for the...whatever that was...to move into range. When it did, he fired off two shots quickly, aiming right between the eyes.

The third went into center mass.