jikan_rpg | [Closed to Rude]

⌛ Who: Reno, Rude
⌛ What: Self-help
⌛ When: September
⌛ Where: Their mansion
⌛ Warnings: Turks within

By all accounts, life was good. Reno's website had acquired 134 subscribers by this point, which meant he was actually bringing in a decent chunk of change each month. Maybe not enough to be the sole provider yet, but he was getting there.

And what did he need to provide for? They had a mansion. A pool. Tons of space. They were practically building their own city with little resistance. And he and Rude could spend their time doing anything they wanted without worry.

Things were great.

So, why was Reno lounging on one of the window sills with a small book titled "Find the Best You in Times of Trouble"? Based on the serious expression on his face as he perused it, he was reading it in all seriousness, quietly with his feet up, the sun shining down on him and a fine view of the city from the third story window.

Maybe it would be the lack of noise that eventually would draw Rude there. If that kept up, their neighbors might come checking to make sure they were still alive.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was the quiet that finally drew Rude to go looking for his partner. He started at all the usual haunts before he just trailed through the house. Of course Reno could have left, and if he had then it wouldn't matter, only Rude would know he went searching their home for someone who wasn't there. But luckily he did actually find Reno, sat at the window, basking in the sun like a cat.

A very serious cat. Reading a book.

"Didn't know you could read." Rude said from his position at the door, leaning against the frame, arms crossed and a little smile, teasing smile on his lips.

"Maybe I'm practicing faking it. The book's not upside-down, is it?"

Maybe he was checking into things, but that didn't mean he lost his attitude. But he did let out a dissatisfied sigh after. He was looking for answers, but he wasn't sure where to find them, and he wasn't sure all this 'advice' was much use.

He closed the book and hung his arm lazily over his bent knee.

"You've noticed, right?" He glanced outside at the home next door. "Rufus doesn't need us anymore."

"Faking it till you make it?" That was the line, wasn't it? Though Rude felt some of that teasing mood evaporate when he realised that, for once, Reno actually seemed serious. And so just like that, Rude was serious too.

He pushed away from the door and walked across, grabbed the back of a chair and drug it over to where Reno sat.

"I've noticed. It's not a bad thing, his having a life now." But maybe it was a bad thing for them? They'd dedicated their lives to the Turks, the last few years to looking after Rufus. It was a little hard not to think they'd been cast aside now they had been rendered obsolete. Except for one thing. "I still need you."

"Not saying that." He was exceptionally happy to see Rufus doing well. It wasn't bad. That was a huge upgrade to him dying. "And it's not like I'm going anywhere..."

But there was that question of 'now what' hanging above them? They'd been messing around in this new place - in more ways than one - but eventually the question was going to come up.

He snickered. "Yeah, I know. Who else is gonna keep your life interesting?" He swayed between serious and lightly joking. He wasn't depressed or anything like that - just lost. With that, he tossed the book toward Rude. "Though I'd see if there was any good advice out there to decide what to do, but it's like, 'recognize your purpose', and I'm like, 'I bought this book to figure out what the fuck that is, asshole'. A lot of this shit seems so vague and generic that I think I could start publishing self-help books... But, maybe there's something. 'Get to know yourself', 'give yourself time to do what you like'..." He sighed. "I like doing you but I can't do that all day."

He leaned back and stared up, mildly irritated by the lack of a clear direction. After all, they'd done what they were told before. They didn't need to spend a ton of time thinking about these things.

"Not many people I can tolerate to keep it interesting." Rude joked back, happy at least to see that some of that seriousness could be put aside and Reno was still in there.

He caught the book when it was tossed at him and tilted it to get a look at what was written on the front with a frown. "... You think a 'self-help' book is going to help?" He started flicking through, idly listening to Reno as he always did when his partner chatted on. "Who says you can't do me all day?" He asked, not even looking up from the book. "And who says those things aren't wrong?"

"Look what you've done so far." Rude did look up then, leaning back himself and dropped the book, closed, onto his lap. "A whole actual business. You did that. But you're looking for more...? So maybe make a list? Things you've always wanted to do but couldn't." Because of the job, because of Rufus, because circumstances had stopped them.

"Dude, I know I'm tough but I don't want my dick to fall off from over-use. You got to take rest days between exercising your muscles, y'know?"

Not that they couldn't try sometimes...

"Yeah, the business is cool. It's almost starting to run itself. Got the kid doing the photos, the models signing up, people subscribing... I have to keep on marketing it and shit, but it's actually... kinda easy?"

But maybe that was just him. Trying to run the same business would have probably been a nightmare for Rude, but Reno was naturally lewd and loud, and that worked pretty well for advertising a porn business. It almost came naturally. And with help on the paperwork side of things, it was going smoothly.

Which he should be grateful for, but it also meant he had plenty of time to himself still.

"They've practically got aisles of those books so I thought there's gotta be something. But..." He shrugged. "...Maybe that's the thing. I liked being a Turk. Teaching people a lesson, blowing shit up, getting our hands dirty..." To some degree. They had their limits of how dirty they liked to get. "I guess most people look forward to retirement, but that just seems kinda boring, doesn't it? There's not enough crime around here."

Rude laughed since Reno did have a point. Not that he'd really been serious about fucking around all day every day. Sometimes Rude wanted to be lazy and sit by the pool. Resting was a novelty he had found he enjoyed on occasion. But only on occasion.

"Who said we had to retire? Why don't you see if Zack'll offer you a job as a merc?" Not that he believed that Zack was actually doing any mercenary work right now. Which might defeat the purpose of getting Reno's hands dirty. Rude fell quiet for a moment, lightly tapping his fingers on the book as he thought. Because there really weren't many opportunities to be a Turk in this world. "Do you know anyone who needs a lesson taught to them?"

"Not really." He'd argued with people, but usually he was the one at fault and he knew it. "I was gonna get Aerith a copy of the keys to Neo Midgar, but I can't just wait around for her to make the fun happen."

He took a deep breath, pondering aloud. "We can do anything we want. Just... what's that supposed to be...?"

Normal stuff was, well, boring. Especially for them. They'd lived the dangerous life too long to feel satisfied delivering mail or being secretaries or something. "Man, I'd be all up for getting into some danger that isn't dangerous? I don't think that came out right. I'm cool with the fact that people aren't dying all over the place here, but this place needs some more spice. Like, villains. Awesome villains."

"Outsourcing to the Ancient?" Rude looked very amused by that. He was sure Aerith could be a menace but probably not of the variety that Reno seemed to be looking for.

"... The problem with villains is being hated again." He pointed out, the amusement leaving his expression.

Being hated as a Turk has just been part of the job. A limiting part of the job. There had been very little in the way of trust, even from people in the same business as themselves. It had actually been nice living in a world where he wasn't hated on sight. People didn't see him coming and walk the other way.

But he also understood where Reno was coming from. They were used to a certain way of living. Reno especially had been finely attuned to that way of living.

Rude sat himself up a little more. "Awesome villains? Is that something you just made up?"

[Closed to Rude]

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