proxnotxaxfool

[proxnotxaxfool]

if the dude had been someone reno had taken a dislike to, it would have been a straight-shot question of whether or not he'd been born deformed or got fucked up in either the lanes or up in piltover. but he didn't dislike this guy, if anything, there was a quiet respect there and an intrigue he couldn't quite put his finger on.

' well done on making it out, ' dipping his head at the other man's explanation, reno flopped onto the seat next to him, blue eyes darting around the interior of the cable car, checking that there was no one close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation before he answered.

fair was fair, right? he'd asked a personal question, and now he was in the proverbial hot-seat.

' three, my parents and a younger brother - they earn what they can in zaun, but well, resources are limited ... reno, by the way. that's my name. '

He liked how Reno reacted to things. If Viktor had to guess, their sarcasm and worldview overlapped in quite a few things. They just had ended up in very different areas of work. And yet their way to each spot was similar once more.

Maybe that was the reason, why Viktor did not bristle against and ignore the personal question Reno so suddenly asked.

Nodding his thanks as he stepped past the other into the cable car, Viktor huffed a little sigh when he could sit down and stretch his leg out, shrugging. “Lifelong trait.”

Lifeling trait. That was a nice way to describe his bad leg and hip. Not cripple, like many others would do. Reno could act indifferent, but he knew his manners, obviously.

“Part of why I am here now.”, he concluded. A disability like that had left him with two options: succumb to the limits and become one of the poorest in Zaun, who had to fight for scraps, beg and rely on the mercy of others… or he would fight tooth and nail to claw his way up. Viktor preferred the latter. And he wouldn’t hesitate to get into anyone’s face, who threatened his position.

Well. Now he deserved to ask a personal question, too.

“How many rely on your Piltover-income in Zaun?”

[proxnotxaxfool]

taking a drag from his cigarette, reno held the smoke in his lungs for a beat before perching his elbows on the counter, tipping his head back and blowing out a few smoke rings. how very astute of the man, and he was right; reno was neither working nor not working.

he dealt in information. and that meant there was no downtime. off the clock? sure. but he still had eyes and ears. he still saw faces, heard whispers on the wind - and it was amazing just how much that went on down here in the shadows had a bearing on what happened up there in the manicured perfection of piltover.

' have i ever not been civil within these walls, vander? ' reno cocked a brow, whipping a hand up and holding a finger aloft to stop the other man when he saw him draw in a deep breath,

' and we are not gonna talk about that one time with alvis - he stole, i found him, so really he started it. '

"And you never said you weren't either." Leaning forward, Vander let Reno light the plug in the bow of his pipe and let it burn for a second before he puffed on the pipe and let the smoke out his nose.

He was the Tummelts' oldest lad. It was rare enough for someone from Zaun to be able to eke out a living across the bridge to the other continent in uppity Piltover ... but to have a family do the opposite was unheard of. Vander had never learned why Ida and Baldur had decided to leave Piltover behind, or maybe there wasn't any choice in it. One had been a researcher and the other a military man until both ended up in Zaun.

But this lad was still an in-between for their family; caught in a strange position between Piltover and the Lanes. The empty glass was placed on the bar and Vander didn't move to refill it just yet. "You know I've got time for you Reno, your folks too. But if this is Turk business, don't want it near my bar or people ... I figure we've got a civil understanding on that?"

[proxnotxaxfool]

freya still had a price to pay. she had still clocked him over the head, but more importantly, she had lied to him. she had lied to him more than once. she had hovered over their previous shared trust and she had made a pointed decision to lie to him. that had to be rectified.

eyeing the SOLDIER with an annoyance that was steadily growing, reno had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes - why was rufus funding the WRO? fucked if he knew? boredom? power? influence? guilt? all of the above? even if the turk knew for sure which one it was, he wasn't about to advertise it.

holding his glare until kunsel reneged on his question with another idiotic request ... for a guy holding no cards whatsoever, you had to appreciate the balls it took to ask for a favour. now he wanted assurances on no one ever finding out he had a kid?

oh, there were just too many variables to make any sort of promises there - like, was he hoping no one ever realised freya had a kid and no one ever put two and two together about the ex-SOLDIER and former turk? what if the kid had mako eyes? he didn't know enough about science-y stuff to know whether or not the traits instilled in SOLDIERs through their mako enhancements could be passed on even.

it wasn't something that even hojo had planned for - though a part of the twisted fuck had probably hoped to branch into that if SOLDIER had all but collapsed. heaving in a breath, reno narrowed his eyes, carefully treading that thin thin thin line that lay between his professional life and his personal life. in his experience, keeping things hidden allowed others - like him - to seek them out and use them against you. but if you sought out like-minded friends who knew your secrets, then there was a shared responsibility?

' if i were in your shoes, i'd get ahead of it. go to edge and go to seventh heaven, they're associates of tuesti's, but they're not pawns ... and they'd never let harm befall a kid. '

"What about Freya?" Kunsel wouldn't deny the relief that flooded his body when Reno didn't fire another smart or cryptic comment back at him. He had taken a gamble, and only time would tell if it would pay off or not. But the questionw as still hanging in the air; Freya had been the one to get the jump on the Turk, and hurt his ego. She was the one who had earned a grudge.

And grudged with any of the turks were never good.

"... why is Rufus funding it?" That was a wider question than either of them probably had an answer for. To atone. To prove Shinra was different in these strange years since Meteor. To buy back public support gradually without them knowing. It hardly mattered. Tuesti was the one director in that damned company who had been a decen human being. "Forget I asked."

That would never be answered in full.

An underground lab to do with Soldier. Well that set the cogs turning and Kunsel had to reisst the urge to jump in at the deep end and start firing off buzzwords, codenames, rumours and other classified intel he had gathered over the years. This wasn't the place. "I know you can't promise me shit, and neither of us owe the other anything, but if what I told you here today doesn't go any further then I'll speak with Reeve."

[proxnotxaxfool]

Reno. See you keep your priorities straight. - Copy that, boss.

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH (2024), dev. Square Enix

[proxnotxaxfool]

from a firebrand youth, breathing life into and steering a daring revolt that died on its ass on the bridge of progress, to a barkeep with four adoptive kids. hell, anyone else would get whiplash from that sort of change in direction.

and yet loyalty remained - hmmm.

shoving his empty glass forward on the counter, reno gave a tight smile, setting down a few solid silver cogs next to it as payment for his last drink and payment for the next one.

' a spy? ah now that's just bein' mean, vander. can't i just decide to come visit home on my rest days, hmm? '

bit tongue in cheek to work with the sheriff and then not want him down here because of the uniform he'd chosen to wear. grabbing the battered pack of cigarettes from his pocket, reno teased out a cigarette and flicked the flint on his lighter - holding it out and offering the flame to vander for his pipe.

' never said i was here for work, now did i? '

"Nope," Vander busied himself cleaning out a few more glasses, but never turning his back on the young man sitting on the opposite side of the bar. "- but I am opposed to one of the guild houses sending spies down here."

The conversation was still casual, tone even and chatty. There were other patrons inside the shadowy corners of The Last Drop, and Vander didn't want any other ears pricking to this exchange.

Leaning against the bar top, forearms stretched out, he tapped his pipe empty before pushing a fresh plug of tobacco into the bowl, grey eyes meeting Reno's. "I deal with Grayson, and keep things in-line. Don't appreciate Turks hanging 'round my bar."

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they don't draw the line at children.

he'd been right with his assumption on freya's choice of words; they had a kid. a son or daughter that they'd raised in the isolation of that small village. how old was it? a toddler or a small child? had it taken after the SOLDIER or the turk where their looks were concerned? had the kid inherited the mako glow in their eyes?

' my orders were to verify whether you were alive or not and report who you were working with. '

sucking in a deep breath, reno held it in his lungs for a beat longer then necessary and let it out slowly, his eyes still raking over the other man's face.

kunsel's arguments were sound, but the fact remained - there was no shinra now. not in the same incarnation it had once existed in. and while folks might thing it was bullshit, rufus wasn't the same person he'd been prior to meteorfall. none of them were. fuck sake, the world had almost been destroyed and they'd had a hand in it. it was sobering and humbling - and it had absolutely dragged shinra's name and influence into the dirt.

it didn't make sense for them to try and retrieve ex-members at this stage. but there was an uncoupled train cart on the tracks, and it was starting to pick up pace; deepground.

' my advice though - go to kalm and contact reeve. he's doing good work with what he has, and while rufus' gil is funding it, his hand isn't on the steering wheel, reeve's is. '

' there's been reports of people going missing near the ruins of midgar. rumours of an underground lab that hojo ran and other projects associated with your previous rank. '

He wasn't bulshitting him, not really; Shinra didn't know what the term 'retirement' meant besdies a grave.

But Kunsel bit the inside of his cheek as the smart answer fought to spill out; snide remarks wouldn't imprive this situation. He didn't know if there was improving this situation besides the shitshow it was. Freya had panicked for the right reason, but she had handicpaped them by flinging Reno into an ego-hurt rage.

Freya would be with Veld by now, coming up with some plan to get distance between them and here. Between them and Reno ... until more Turks came or the second-in-command decided to hunt them across the Planet. That would only end in casualties.

Scartching at the back of his neck, Kunsel wanted more than anything to have his helmet back right now; to hide his face and eyes and all the tells he knew were present in his expression and body language. That was why he had stayed in the background for so long and just listened to all the rumours and dark secrets of the company.

"They don't draw the line at children." The words were blown out on a heavy sigh that felt like defeat. And tasted as bitter as it too.

"They never have, and they never will. You know it, I know it." Eyes locking onto Reno, Kunsel widened his stance slightly and waited for the Turk's next move; he would be an obstacle Reno wouldn't get past in this matter. "- so bring me back or report me dead, whatever it is that Rufus wants, I'll sign back up, I'll come back to the company ... but I was alone here, Reno."

[proxnotxaxfool]

at this stage, he'd buy them whatever the hell they wanted at the diner - any distrust he might still have harboured towards freya could wait. they were both in the trenches right now and they had a shared objective. and she knew how to get a kid to smile and laugh in the middle of this whole mess.

staying a few feet behind freya, reno let her lead the way along the barely-visible track, picking their way downhill. the slough to his right, reno could hear the bellowing groans of the catoblepas and felt will's hand tighten in his, but he quickly put the little boy's worries to rest with a reassuring squeeze of his own hand a smile.

a smile he tried to keep pinned in place when he noticed freya slowing - stopping alongside her, it was the static in the air he noticed first, then the low buzz; an airship.

the closest bases to here were aracheole and perpetouss. viewbliss was out by hammerheard, but with the airship here, it could be coming or going from any of those three, even formouth at a push. or they were coming back from an empty meldacio.

' yeah, good call. ' nodding his head, reno followed freya off of the barely-there track, relying on the cover of the bushes and trees, and the cover the raised roadway provided. keeping his voice low, reno fell into step next to freya once more,

' i think we get some food and hole up in the cotton alley house - if that airship's come from meldacio, then they've spotted our truck. '

Offering a smirk at Reno's words, Freya turned and began to lead the way. The comment would be hilarious if it wasn't so accurate. She hadn't done a whole lot of hunting in this area, but she had her bearings and knew the map by heart. It was just a matter of not getting sent off track by anything.

"If we behave he might get us both breakfast, huh?" Glancing back to Will as they all fell into step, she smiled before looking at the track ahead. Garula and packs of voretooth were the common varmints around this area, coupled with gigantoads when the weather turned.

The track was narrow and winding and it was mostly overgrown, making it difficult to pick out if not for the slight more worn-down grasses. But it wound worrying close to the road, enough that Freya slowed her steps for Reno to pull up even with her and a telltale hum filled the air. "Above the road,"

Nodding up at the raised road about a hundred metres ahead of them, she could feel the static in the air as the airship flew worrying low over the asphalt road.

"What about staying to the brush but parallel to the road? Most creatures will stay away from the road unless it's a herd crossing."

[proxnotxaxfool]

back to the cable cars that would carry them back down to the shadowed depths of zaun, away from the immaculately manicured buildings and sidewalks of piltown and down the the narrow lanes that tried to make the most of every square inch of space.

daylight and picturesque sunsets, versus shadowed heights and neon lights.

' bathysphere, ' reno echoed amusedly, rolling the moniker around his tongue. which high-born had come up with that one? a councilor maybe? it said a lot about how they viewed the undercity. but perhaps they were right? perhaps there were some dangerous creatures below? but only ones who had been starved from above.

stopping to pull open the door of the cable car, reno nodded his head in an offer to allow viktor to board first, his attention flitting to the cane the other used as an aid, ' — an accident or a lifelong trait? '

Viktor made a small noise that bordered a scoff, though it wasn’t meant as an insult. Not towards the other Zaunite. Flicking off some ash from his cigarette, Viktor watched the glowing ends sink to the earth.

“Let’s just hope we can get from it what we want for a little longer.”, he summarized, before nodding and pushing himself away from the small half-wall. Rightening his cane, he walked beside the other down the street towards where the cable cars could be boarded down into Zaun.

“Heard some Pilties call this the bathysphere. Like they would go down into the deep sea, where dangerous creatures lurked. Sometimes they don’t even try to hide their disdain – or they aren’t aware of it at all. I’m not sure which is worse.”

[proxnotxaxfool]

@houndxxunderground continued from (x)

reprimand, admonition, harangue, scolding - whatever the term, it all meant the same thing; criticism and disappointment. arching his brows, reno rolled his glass between his fingers, rocking it back and forth on the rim of its base, ' well, it sure as shit sounded like one. '

how did a man like him, end up a publican? a bar owner and collecting sprogs?

leaning back on his stool, the turk knocked back what was left in his glass and set the tumbler back on the counter for a refill, his gaze never leaving the older man as he stared at him through the water-stained glass.

' and if it were work? you opposed to dealing with those employed by piltover now? '

[proxnotxaxfool]

piltover favoured its pristine image. picture-perfect, law-abiding citizens, law and order above all else - which left a gap in the market for people like him.

people who had no qualms about getting their hands dirty or disappearing into the shadows of dodgy-deals. he could straddle both sides of the fence; suited and booted to act as an enforcer of sorts for shinra, but capable of moving unseen through the lanes.

arching a brow, reno tugged off his suit jacket, undoing the top few buttons of his shirt and untucking its tails, head tilted back to make sure the ash of his cigarette didn't tip onto his clothes.

' it's not about what piltover wants of me - it's about what i can get from it. you heading downside? '

Sucking in a breath of smoke himself, Viktor eyed the cigarette, as if he had to wonder what it consisted of. Slowly exhaling the smoke, it curled around his face.

The other man was right. Piltover really rather wanted to live in endless denial than face what existed in their ‘sister-city’. Ironic.

“You know – their refusal to face all this makes them blind, though. They are easy to prey upon. And to trick. They have all their rules and think no one would ever even dare to break them, in their perfect world.”

Like him sneaking himself into the studentbody of the Academy without paying even a coin to their fees. And he was better than all of ‘his’ year. It was ridiculous.

Had the other realized that yet? How easy he could play this game?

“You just have to be what they want you to be to fit into their world. So. What do you think Piltover could ask of you?”

[proxnotxaxfool]

the city of progress; where art, craftmanship, trade and innovation walked hand in hand. colossal sea-gates and trade that invited foreign parties to share their knowledge. a living and breathing city that reinvented itself as a place where fortunes could be made and where dreams were lived to their fullest.

unless you were from zaun.

reno took a long drag from his cigarette, turning to face his back to the picturesque sunset, leaning his head back to exhale, watching the smoke meander up on the still air.

' we're the negative image to their curated perfection - we struggle, we fight, we earn, we're messy and organic - they don't like being faced with those challenges. they want order and structure only. '

He eyed the offered cigarette. It would be a lie to say he never had smoked. And it also would be a lie to claim he liked it. Tried, sure, but it never stuck. The air down in the fissures was bad enough as it is – and yet that was the exact reason hy so many didn’t care.

So, Viktor took one of the offered cigarettes with an acknowledging nod, rolling it between his fingers.

He couldn’t fault the other for not pursuing education in Piltover. It seemed impossible for their likes. And yet Viktor couldn’t imagine any other ambition.

“I think I found what I was looking for… but it’s not how I imagined it.”, he admitted. How strange. He didn’t even know this other man’s name. And yet he spoke freely to him what Viktor found hard to even admit to himself.

Scoffing a bit, Viktor drive his sprawled fingers over his face.

“Peculiar, how Piltover looks a lot more golden from the other side of the river. And yet when you’re here… they might smile politely. But they don’t really want you here.”

[proxnotxaxfool]

she knew him better than most. too damn right she did, they had been kids when they'd first joined the ranks of the turks, they'd grown up in the proverbial trenches of the shadows and they'd patched each other up more than once. freya knew things about reno that he hadn't told others, she knew him.

he had been tasked with verifying whether the SOLDIER was alive or not and who he was connected to - after that, the job had been completed and the turk had been free to do what he wanted.

she knew damn well where his selective morals lay and she'd fucking lied to his face.

holding his ground when the SOLDIER took a step towards him, reno felt a rising curiosity as he picked out the other man's lower tone - you know what they did to people before ... yeah he did. hell, he'd tried to get to fair before the military had. he'd seen shit folks should never see, which was why he wanted to know.

why he needed them to verify what he suspected because that would change the playing field - but freya had given him a half-assed excuse, and right now, just when he thought the SOLDIER was about to waver, he balked and went with retirement.

rolling his eyes, reno pushed out a tired breach, shaking his head slowly as he held kunsel's gaze.

' if you're gonna bullshit me, at least make it believable. '

A dog with a bone was putting it lightly. Biting the inside of his cheek at the gossip girl comment, Kunsel was trying to think of some way to get them out of this bind.

There had to be some way.

"She knows you better than anyone, can you blame her for panicking?" It was a fishing line sent out to stall the most dangerous of the Turks. Freya had worked with him for years, knew the laidback attitude was just a front to hide the danger behind it.

"I'm not asking for a barter, I'm asking for a price; name it." Intel, supplies, hell he'd even sign up to a new contract if it meant keeping Shinra away from his family.

Taking a step closer, Kunsel kept his voice low and looked the Turk in the eye. Freya said he had a conscience and, as much as he didn't believe her, it was all that was left. "- you know what they did to people before. They don't draw the line at-"

Children.

The word refused to be spoken, the fear of giving Reno that information stopped him from committing to it. Biting his lower lip, Kunsel shrugged. "- at retirement."

[proxnotxaxfool]

breathing out a quiet laugh, reno tugged a battered packet of cigarettes from the inside pocket of his jacket, holding it out in a silent offer to the other man before he pinched the filter of one between his lips.

' i never did like school - it bored me. '

much to his mother chagrin. education was important, sure, he agreed with that. but education would be gathered in the real-world too. no amount of book-learning and academia would change the fact that they were from zaun. there was a glass ceiling above the undercity. but there were other ways to circumvent it.

' i'm working on it - what about you? '

Viktor mustered the other man. He seemed to have understood one of Piltover’s golden rules quite well himself: clothes were a big part of your reputation. They knew how to clock someone dressing in styles that matches those popular in Zaun. And most of them gave you a wide berth then.

“You aren’t around the Academy, though. So, you must be watching and learning from different people than I do.”

Most likely he was trying to secure some kind of work. Many Zaunites their ages tried that. The pay over on the other side of the river was just so much better. You could feed a family from that – impossible with the pay in Zaun.

Resting his hands on his cane, Viktor followed the other’s glance to the setting sun, painting the roofs of Piltover golden.

“Did you get what you were hoping to find around here?”

[proxnotxaxfool]

@versus-written continued from (x)

the academy uniform was as pristine as the granite walls, geometric stitching mimicking the gilded architecture that favoured straight lines and right-angles.

there was nothing organic about piltover - it was manufactured and engineered to every last curb and lamp-post, a stark contrast to the organic alleyways and twisting lanes of zaun.

' i wouldn't say blissfully unaware - but there's definitely a willful ignorance. ' reno murmured, watching the sun dip behind one of the city's taller buildings; out of sight, out of mind, right? everyone in piltover was happy to ignore what went on in the undercity, because so long as it stayed down there, it wasn't their problem.

arching a brow, reno glanced to his left, across to the other man with a lilt of a smirk tugging on the corner of his mouth.

' watching and learning. kinda like you, huh? '

[proxnotxaxfool]

okay - that took way longer than i expected, but the verse page has been updated.

find here

might have also included an arcane verse :D

[proxnotxaxfool]

The Informer (2019) dir. Andrea Di Stefano

[proxnotxaxfool]

“Come on, you can take a hit better than that, can’t you?” 

no one won with a headbutt. it hurt like hell, one ended up with a bust nose, the other a sore had - it was a stupid move that usually only got used out of desperation, when your back was against a wall.

normally, he was the idiot throwing his head at another, already making peace with the throbbing he'd earn from the blow, but he'd had his own tactics used against him - he'd grabbed some a highwaymen straggler, pinning the kid against a tree and demanding information from him.

wiry shit had clocked him with a headbutt that had reno seeing stars - probably due to the fucking scrambler helmet the shit had been wearing. but it had got the kid the opening he'd needed to disappear into to the undergrowth.

blinking hard up at the too-bright sky, reno shook his head, trying to shake away the ringing in his ears and clear the stars from his eyes, the cap took the hand that was offered to him. pinching the bridge of his aching nose, reno squinted a looked up at carmina, who was doing her best to keep a laugh from her voice.

' been a while since i've been on the receiving end of one of those. '