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[general_affairs]

★ RENO
You know who it is. Leave a message; I'll be in touch.

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FF VII COMPILATION

source @ isopods

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[love_and_peace]

[ Early morning, just after breakfast and immediately after this call to the Admiral ]

Hey. It's Vash. I need you to tell the Admiral to give me back my damn arm.

[general_affairs]

I was wondering when you'd ask about that. No problem, I just gotta know what the deal is with the arm.

[love_and_peace]

.. There's a gun in it, okay? But it's useless without ammunition.

[general_affairs]

Figured that much, and I know how guns work, I work with 'em too.

I mean, how would you feel about rubber rounds? They're not lethal, but it'll hurt enough if you gotta defend yourself.

Either that, or I could try putting a cure materia in it for you, maybe teach you to use it.

[love_and_peace]

Oh.

I was thinking I'd be lucky to get it back with the gun still inside. Rubber bullets would be fine, yes.

Thank you.

[general_affairs]

[ A chuckle. ]

Nah, I don't wanna neuter you like that. Maybe work a little on the impulsivity, but with all the shit that goes on around here, I don't want you stuck as a sitting duck. Then I might have to get myself demoted, too.

I'll let you play around with my materia and see how you feel about it.

[love_and_peace]

Don't.

[ He didn't mean to blurt that out so loudly, but here they are. ]

I just mean... there's places all over this ship I can't get into, that you can. Don't lose that access, if you can help it.

[general_affairs]

I don't intend to, Vince is a little more uptight than I am, so having to go through him for everything would be a pain in the ass.

I'll get your arm for you. Anything else?

[love_and_peace]

No. Just the arm.

[general_affairs]

I'll update you as soon as I hear from the Admiral.

[love_and_peace]

[ There's a moment of silence, just breathing on the other end of the line. Vash is still furious at the Admiral, and he's not good at hiding the fact. ]

You're really good at this, you know? The whole wardening thing. Some of the real inmates here, they could really benefit from being paired off with somebody like you.

[general_affairs]

[ There was a crumbling sound, some rustling. ]

Back home I recruited and trained some of the younger Turks, and we're a pretty tight-knit group, so I got a little experience with it.

I'm workin' in the garden right now, wanna come lend a hand? Aerith's a little busy so she's not around right now.

[love_and_peace]

[ His first impulse is to say no.

His second is to say no and go to the Speakeasy. ]

...Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right there.

[general_affairs]

[ Whether it's progress or luck, he wouldn't have complained had he known. ]

Good, some of these bags are heavy as fuck and I gotta get into 'em. Normally Rude would handle the heavy lifting, but it's just me here.

[love_and_peace]

[ If he were in a better mood Vash would have made a joke about that. Maybe he'd have called out Reno's tendency to prefer running and dodging in his fight training instead of heavy weight lifting. Maybe he would have laughed that finally now the truth was coming out, and he understood at last why Reno kept him around.

But he's not feeling very much like joking, so he just hangs up the call and heads for the greenhouse. He knows full well that the real source of the offer was to give him something to do, something to try to pull him out of his funk, and for Reno's sake he'll put in the effort. It's a kind of selfishness, to let his bad mood be the center of anyone's attention, and he needs to put it behind him. He's not helping anyone like this.

And then, just a few paces before he enters the greenhouse, between one step and the next his artificial arm reappears, tearing a jagged hole in the sleeve that had been pinned up and making Vash stumble from the unexpected weight. Just like that, and it's back. The fingers work, the connection feels solid (tingling horribly, like when a limb that's fallen asleep is moved and the blood flow resumes)... even the gun is still there, he confirms. It's his arm, good as new.

It's such a relief to have it returned that he can't even be mad that the Admiral wouldn't give it to him, and would only listen to Reno. If that's the game the Admiral wants to play then fine -- the end result is the same and that's all that matters.

He enters the greenhouse beaming, and waves his newly returned arm in Reno's direction when he finally spots the man. ]

You're quick! Look at this!

[general_affairs]

[ It was the terribly busy in the mornings at the greenhouse, or at least if there were people, most patrons only wanted the company of their own thoughts. No one was particularly close enough as Reno met Vash near the entrance to hear the commotion.

He'd let his brows casually perk halfway as an easy grin crept on his face. It was good to see him perked up. ]

You're workin' with a professional. That's a hell of a turnaround time though. Looks good--everything feel alright with it?

[love_and_peace]

[ If there'd been people around, Vash wouldn't demonstrate the gun function. But since it's just the two of them... he nods, and smooth as anything the hand of his artificial arm (which looks just like pale, bare flesh) unhinges, and from the wrist emerges the marrel of a machine gun. Weirdly, the unhinged hand flips back up to seize onto the grip of the gun. It's a study in high-tech robotics and body horror both. ]

It feels great!

[ He's not going to leave the gun out, though. It's just on display for a second before everything slides back into place and his hand is just a hand again. ]

I'll test it out later, in the Enclosure.

[ It's a hell of a turnaround time! And a hell of a relief, too. ]

[general_affairs]

[ He'd let his head loll to one side as he watched, a brow piquing with interest at the level of technology on display. The horror of it didn't seem to even ping his radar as he watched the hand still wrap around the grip of the gun. ]

That's smooth as hell, yo. Just in time for some heavy lifting.

[ A playful grin. ]

Oh--yeah, still got rubber rounds in it, but we'll get that sorted out some other time.

[love_and_peace]

[ He can't resist the temptation to flex, like the model on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine. His muscles are impressive enough as they are -- and he's sure been putting the effort into building them up even more as of late! -- but his arm? His arm is strong. ]

You mentioned another option for ammunition. [ There's nobody around but he's keeping his voice low, just in case. ] Materia? That's the stuff your baton can shoot, right?

[general_affairs]

[ He barked with a laugh, arms folding across his chest at the peacocking. ]

Careful you don't make a guy swoon with guns like that.

[ Sometimes Reno could make awful puns and not be sorry. ]

Yep!

[ He reached into his coat, pulling his mag rod from its holster in the harness underneath said black coat. The cushioned handle opened up, and a few softly glowing marbles fell into his palm, all an emerald color. Despite there being no discernible visual difference, he picked one out easily. ]

Materia, it's how we use magic back home. This one's called cure, and handles minor injuries--cuts, local infection, swelling, minor pain. The like. It uses your energy, so if you're not used to it, you'll need more rest and food in ya.

[love_and_peace]

[ With guns like that. Ha! Reno, this is why they're friends! That joke was incredible!

...The truth behind the glowing marbles is a lot less incredible. ]

It uses your energy? [ Oh, he's not touching those then, thanks. ] Sorry, I didn't realize.

[ He'll never bring it up again. Now! Weren't they going to move heavy things! Vash's favorite way of avoiding an uncomfortable situation is to run away, after all, and there's plenty of space to run -- metaphorically, anyway -- right here. He claps his hands loudly, and turns away from Reno toward wherever Reno had just been working. ]

So! Where do you need me?

[general_affairs]

[ He couldn't help the mischievous cheshire grin that broke across his face as Vash got the joke. Finally, someone that appreciated the awful things that came out of his mouth on occasion. ]

Yep--well, I mean these do cause I'm using them. Any materia you have would use your own.

[ He'd pause and blink, brows raising as Vash employed a tried and true technique of changing topics at break-neck speed. But still, he slotted the marbles back into his baton and tucked it away again. ]

Over here; Aerith left a note she needed some stuff moved, and I got conned by a couple of pretty faces into working with the flowers. Namely dahlias, but the others are pretty, too.

[ The things that needed moving were large bags of mulch and fertilized soil. ]

We're puttin' em by the vegetables to prep some new beds.

[love_and_peace]

[ then he's doubly sure that he'll never sure them! He wouldn't feel right burning through Reno's life energy, and he doesn't have much of his own left. He can picture it now -- he shoots a single marble at a target, and falls down dead and drained.

Reno would be so mad! He shouldn't even think about that too much. ]

On it!

[ With his new arm, and the extra sterength he's put on in the last couple of weeks of hard work in the gym, Vash can load himself up with more bags of dirt than a person really ought to be able to lift. He's strong! ]

Any idea who she's bringing in?