video; horseshoe 28

[flatteries]

Good day, everyone! [ Inigo smiles widely. ] I was wondering if anyone either has or knows of something rare and they wouldn't mind it.. erm, losing it.. probably permanently.

[ He's saying that statement as if he's only now realising how weird that sounds out loud.

But it's too late to go back on that now. ]

In exchange for a favour?

And preferably edible? But maybe not necessarily? Hey-- [ He turns away from the screen, seeming to have some mumbled discussion.

This is a totally normal ICP message. ]

Comments

[theturksway]

Because I'm a Turk. And someone's gotta keep your dumbassery in check.

[Ask a question, get an honest answer. No one said you had to like it.]

Answer the damn questions, kid.

[flatteries]

No!

[ The answer comes so quickly and instinctively that it's a little childish around the edges - just a tad petulant. But how can he help it? After everything that happened, Reno is the last person he ever wants to see. The last person he ever wants to talk to. And now he's just trying to insert himself into Inigo's business like he has some sort of responsibility? ]

I don't owe you a thing! You nearly killed your fellow passengers-- you should be glad I'm not telling the whole train about it! [ Honestly, if it had just been him, he wouldn't have been as pissy about it. But Reno tried to really hurt Roland. ] So what I'm doing is.. it's none of your business!

[theturksway]

If I had wanted you dead, you'd be dead.

[He's gone into deadpan serious mode. Little emotion save an edgy hardness to his tone. If this had been video his eyes would have looked dull and lifeless, like he was just conveying boring facts. It was a switch Reno had learned to flip when he needed to cut off his emotions. He'd gotten better at it as the years passed.]

If you make me hunt down the information-- [which frankly wasn't that hard on a train full of people willing to talk] --I won't be happy about it.

[flatteries]

[ It's almost ironically funny. For all of the things Reno says that get to Inigo so much, this seems to do very little. He's not afraid of Reno - not because the other could probably kill him if he felt like it, anyway. Death, combat-- after years of living through that hell with their presence a constant in his life, he's numb to it.

Hence why it's much easier for him to reply the way he does now than when Reno picks at his insecurities. ]

Do that. Ask around. See if I care.

[ It's not like he's trying to keep a secret, after all. He doesn't even know why Reno would bother to do it in the first place. ]

You don't scare me, asshole. [ Look what your pottymouth taught him, Reno. You're corrupting kids everywhere. ]

[theturksway]

[Reno sighed. It had been a long shot. If he wanted to truly threaten the kid he would have said something more to the point though.

A moment passed where it almost seemed like Reno would give up. Then the Turk giggled as the curse word coming out of Inigo's mouth registered to Reno.]

Don't let Roland hear you talk like that~. May want to go wash your mouth out with soap before you kiss your daddy with that dirty mouth.

[He's so proud. What a grown-up thing to say. Good boy.]

[flatteries]

He'd be proud to know I'm standing up to a jerk like you!

[ That much Inigo knows for sure, he doesn't even have to think about it. It was Roland who encouraged him to do something about Reno in the first place, after all, even though maybe punching him hadn't exactly been the ideal way to go about it, especially with his head as muddied as it had been back there. ]

Besides, what, is that it? Are you just jealous of me because I have friends? Because I have a father figure willing to look out for me? [ A lot of Reno's previous insults did seem to have to do with claiming Inigo was unlikeable or that people only interacted with him because they took pity on him, after all. Maybe someone is projecting. ] Maybe if you weren't being so evil all the time, you might actually have had people who cared about you at all too.

[theturksway]

[Inigo had the wrong idea. But something said had set Reno's teeth on edge anyway, a scrape across the reason (in part) that Reno kept going back to bug Inigo. He had to work to keep his cool.]

I ain't evil, kiddo. I sometimes have to do bad things but that's just the job. Don't take it personal.

[As for the family and friends... well, he may not have had many but his coworkers were enough for him. He just didn't bother getting close to anyone else. Not worth it in his line of work.

Inigo may have been on the nose about that one, too, though. Not that Reno would admit it. Aloud or to himself.]

[flatteries]

[ Just the silence on Inigo's end right now says enough about how doubtful he finds that statement. ]

So was trying to make Roland abandon me so you could beat me to death 'just the job' too? Just a 'bad thing' you had to do?

[ .. but that's not even the most important thing here, is it? (Not to Inigo, anyway, with how little sense of self worth he has in the first place.)

Maybe it's since this is a private feed that makes him hesitate less on adding: ]

You're not the only one who has to kill innocent people, Reno. But at least be like the rest of us and hate yourself for it.

[ Inigo takes his ticket away from the ICP, cutting the feed. ]

[theturksway]

Sure. It's called a reputation. You don't mess with Shinra--and definitely not the Turks themselves--without consequences. I had to put a stop to the fight myself. I ain't going soft for one damn kid. [Not again!] Besides, a betrayal like that ain't easily forgotten. I don't even give a shit about you anymore, kid...

[Too late, Reno realized Inigo wasn't on the other end anymore. He frowned on his side and debated. Nah, too risky. Not enough reward. He went back to what he was doing before the conversation began.

But that didn't keep him from thinking about it. He absolutely does hate himself the person who gave the order to kill so many innocents for no good damn reason. A shitty, low-down, cheap play. Sure, he'd done some dirty things already by that point in time but the Sector 7 plate drop was the worst ever. It was just too dirty. But hey. A conscience never got him anywhere so why bother now. It was easier to just forget it and move forward without a care. No sense crying over split milk and all that. Having fun at his job was way better suited to him and his kind.]