revivalproject | Underground, Above Ground, Looking Fine Either Way

Entry tags:

Underground, Above Ground, Looking Fine Either Way

WHO: Reeve Tuesti, Network Post, OTA logs (and closed starters)
WHERE: Network; Outside of the TRC building; Rufus's House; Closed Starter in Mine
WHAT: Reeve Offering Hair Cuts, checking in on Rufus, reprimanding Mini in the Mines (backdated to tunnel crawling day)
WHEN: Mostly August
WARNINGS: Yelling at Mini for flipping someone off, Reeve having scissors near people's heads?

1. Network Video

Good day all. As you can see, I've hauled myself away from the mines work due to... Well, degrees of issue with the enclosed spaces.

[A lie. A simple lie. Mini had been becoming a bit argumentative in the worst ways and Reeve had chosen to take the feline away from the source of his agitation. Especially since it seemed the people that had been working in and out of the area were doing quite well now that the map was completed.]

I have been working on final refinement of the mines map from the exploration. I can send anyone pictures of the maps I've made, but I'd like to make it a more useful one and was wondering if anyone with Comms might lend me their time for an afternoon to polish something for use on all communicators.

Beyond that...

[Reeve holds up scissors, a comb, and an actual electric razor]

I spent a it of my replicator rations this month on grooming supplies, and have converted the razor to run on the power supply here. While I'm not the best hair dresser, my mother and I used to do each other's trims when I was small. I'm happy to either offer these tools for use for people wanting them, or to have people come and ask for a trim. Mostly, my eyes are blurring so much from this map that I need something to take breaks with.

So, anyone for a trim? I don't promise they'll be fashionable, but your hair will be short and provided it's not overly curly, even. Just show up at the Restoration Coordination building.

2. Okay But Hair Cuts | Temba Restoration Coordination Building | OTA

True to his word, the door to the Restoration Committee building was open wide, allowing in fresh air and sun. Near the front of the very busy room filled with tables and desks and charts and drawings is... Well, it's a single chair. A simple one clearly able to be moved. Next to it a bag that clearly had the materials Reeve was showing off on the network. And next to the main table of the room is Reeve, hair freshly cut, rubbing at his eyes as he took a break from looking at a rather large spread of papers that included all of his notes on the mapping of the mines. They were giving him a headache, with how needlessly twisted the place was. They did it on purpose, just to offend him. Of course they didn't, but it felt like that.

With a sigh he looked up and, catching sight of someone in the doorway, he smiled.

"Good afternoon."

3. Language Young Man | Mines | Closed to Felwinter [Backdated to Mines Exploration]

Mini hadn't been the only one worried when he had settled into crawling through the hole to the mystery further into the mines. But Reeve himself took a deep breath and leaned against a wall, eyes closed, mind linked to that of his companion. He saw through Mini's eyes and listened through the construct's mental tirade and discovery. And when all was said and done and the Ghost and feline returned, Reeve scooped the feline up into his arms and moved away from the others.

"That Felspring is eh real sensible type," Mini observed, and Reeve ignored the comment.

"You and I have to have a little talk," he said when he thought they were closer to being alone. "I can't believe you did that to Cobb."

"'Ey! He started it! Treaten us like we wasn't important. Ain't right, ah'm a livin thing too," Mini grumbled, not as quiet as Reeve might want him to. But surely no one was listening to hear his complaint, right?

4. Checking In On You | Rufus's House | Closed to Rufus

If there was one thing that Reeve knew how to do, it was fret. Free of his previous explorations and with the finally finished and repainted cane in hand, Reeve had made his way to where he knew Rufus had chosen to settle. In his pocket there was a strip of dried baconshroom because he thought perhaps Dark might enjoy not only the taste, but the toughness which might be a bit closer to jerky. It was the best offering he could bring for the hound.

With Mini (properly chided about proper language in polite company) at his side, Reeve began the trek to the restored homes and from there, the one in which Rufus was living. With a raised hand he knocked crisply on the door. Time to see if the boss was in.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ah. Well, some things don't handle normal washing machines well. They instead get sprayed with chemicals and left to dry I believe."

He really didn't know how it worked. It was magic, clearly.

"I'm guessing dry cleaning isn't available here." At least, not the level of dry-cleaning only Tseng seemed to be able to accomplish in his mysterious ways.

"Well, I'll just have to figure something out then."

"Very much not. So it's important we find you more clothes that aren't your suit. I can't even wash my coat well, so as you might have noticed, I don't use it much."

And yeah, he's a bit nervous that someone might tease him for hte coat again.

"You can help me pick things out then." Rufus didn't know anything about picking out clothes that were practical in the least.

Tseng had always been in charge of selecting a suitable wardrobe even after Meteorfall, just another thing that Rufus had to learn to do. Despite being on his own for three months while kidnapped he hadn't had to learn these things, something that made him choke back a laugh.

"I'll do my best," Reeve agreed. "But I warn you I might not be able to respect your color choices."

White would be hard to keep clean.

"You'll need darker colors I think."

"No one would recognize me wearing anything darker than white," he chuckles but he knows it's a good idea.

It was also something to consider in case someone who wasn't an ally arrived. Without his Turks helping him and being unarmed, Rufus knew the best idea would be to remain hidden the best he was able to in that case.

"Yes, but who here will recognize you other than me?" Reeve countered, his voice soft and amusement in his tone. It was fine if Rufus didn't stand out here. That wasn't who he meant to be. Rufus didn't need to be the show.

"You'll be fine in something a bit less layered. Until winter comes."

"I plan for the worst and hope for the best." The worst being something he doesn't need to vocalize to Reeve. But his tone is amused as well, giving Reeve a smirk as they walk along.

"You can help me pick something out that's suitable then. I haven't worn something other than white since before we met that fateful day in the parking garage."

"Seems a fair way to live," Reeve answered with a small shrug. But as they walk he tilts their path to a building his records on his comm map is saying will have the machines they need.

The... Reeve almost trips at the mentioning of the parking garage. And, not for the first time, he turns on Rufus for that.

"You horrible child!" Reeve hissed out. "How could you mention that!?"

"Don't worry, I don't think I told anyone else here that's how we met," Rufus assures him without skipping a beat. This isn't the first time someone has called him a horrible child and it wouldn't be the last.

"You have to admit it's a unique way to meet someone, though."

"Yes," Reeve agreed, looking quite cross. "Nothing like framing me for your own kidnapping to win a bet as a means to 'meet' me. We're both lucky Veld knew well enough that I'd never do such a thing."

Veld had likely saved Reeve's life that day, and more importantly, his career.

"If it's any consolation I didn't exactly mean to frame you in particular. Your car just looked the most middle manager car I could find at the moment and the plan was to get out once you were out of the Shinra building with you being none the wiser."

He had thought it was one of his better plans but Veld hadn't been so amused at the time.

Most middle manager car... Reeve wanted to cast an ice spell at the man's feet, but decided he had to take the high road.

"I was a middle manager! I didn't get the promotion until two days later. I was terrified when they called me to the board room. I was half certain they had discovered my magic and were giving me to Hojo, and half certain Veld had changed his mind and it was the start of being made an example of!"

He hadn't ever bothered to put more money into a better car. Within two weeks he was too busy to even really visit his much improved apartment very often.

"I never left work again without checking my trunk though. If I was going to be there a few days I would send a staffer down every night to check just in case."

Edited 2021-09-28 04:57 (UTC)

Rufus pauses, glancing at Reeve with raised eyebrows when the other man mentions Hojo and magic. But he doesn't comment on it yet, leaning on his cane as they walked.

"I was on lockdown after that stunt for months. I had thought it was a brilliant plan at that time, I still have no idea how Veld figured it out though. He wouldn't ever tell me."

He peers at Reeve, curious. "But why would someone give you to Hojo, Reeve?"

"No doubt Tseng figured it out and told him. But the Turks were more plentiful in those days, and perhaps one was watching you. Rod perhaps?"

That young man got into places he did not belong. Then again, so did most Turks. Or maybe Domino had noticed and wanted to leverage some good will from the then powerful political force that was the head of the Turks at their peak.

As for the other question, Reeve rolled his eyes.

"Really, Rufus? Why in the world would the mad scientist working for an evil corporation that regularly experimented on people want to possibly serve as something a natural born magic user feared? You'd think you had missed the memo on how those who were whispered to have gifts just about anywhere on the continent just disappeared."

The rumors had been strong even when Reeve was a child on his own world. The fearful lectures his parents had given weren't minor either.

"The first time I saw some of Scarlet's more advanced weapons I realized just what horrible things could be done if Hojo ever found a way to replicate my magic."

And years later, when he learned just what had been done to Aerith's mother, what might have been done to the girl... well he'd been sick all over again.

"I'm well aware of Hojo's interests and the fate of anyone who caught his attention."

He stops, taking a moment to sit on a nearby bench. He's not winded but walking and having this conversation is more multitasking than he cares to do. Dark Nation joins them, investigating to make sure Rufus was alright.

"I didn't know you were another who had...abilities." The man had done an admirable job hiding it, though no doubt Veld was well aware of this. If Tseng had known, he hadn't told Rufus.

"You never told me."

Rufus May sit, but the conversation is too much for Reeve to take that way. No, he is patient and still, standing there for a long moment as he considers the young man.

"Before this place I never told anyone. The only people who knew for certain were my mother and father, though I always expected Aerith was aware to a degree. How could she not be given my magic, in a way, redirects a minute piece of the Lifestream? Not that I realized any of that growing up. If I had known it was real, that I was so connected to it, I might have been smart enough to not touch mako energy."

"And you knew my father would have used you for his own purposes." He knew what happened to anyone who caught his father's attention for the wrong purposes. He never care about the consequences of doing so but that had been his undoing in the end.

"I can understand why you never would have told me, I suppose." No matter how he tried to take a different course than his father, Rufus would always carry that legacy that was tied to his family.

"Consider, if you will, just how much worse Scarlet's machines would have been given true sentience, able to think and reason and act independently. Or even the lesser of my skills in that regard. Cait Sith was never remote controlled, Rufus. There were times that I was directly controlling him, even on the other side of the world, because my mind is linked to what my magic gives life to. You aren't even far enough forward to recognize the potential because you have only ever known two instances of Cait Sith to be active at a time. There are more."

Reeve's magic was a rare gift among rare gifts, and a secret at that. With the Lifestream as damaged as it was people even hesitated to use materia these days. How would anyone feel about Reeve then, when they thought about it. The man whose advances enabled Shinra to so hurt the world, able to tease and pull at the edges of the lifestream itself.

No, it could not be known.

"I've told no one and there are plenty of people back home I am far closer to than you. Veld doesn't know so far as I know. Vincent doesn't know. Cloud doesn't know. Perhaps Nanaki as he, like Aerith, is more in tune with the planet itself, but I doubt this. The last person beyond myself who knew what I could do died in Meteorfall, and I buried my mother years ago, Rufus. If no one ever knows the magic in me, if what my bloodline carries dies with me, then I don't think that is a bad thing."

No one should be able to so easily toy with the essence of life itself.

"And after what happened with Deepground and Omega Weapon and Chaos, we're probably all better off if I stop toying with my power anyway, even if the Caits are a good intel and secure communication network."

It wasn't that difficult to imagine just how much worse Scarlet's creations would be- his father had never bothered to rein Scarlet in before as it was, if she had gotten her hands on Reeve's power the old President wouldn't have stopped her from creating machines that would be true horrors, more than they had been before.

And that paled to what Hojo most likely would conjure up. His father never let anything as petty as ethics or morality to stop him from endorsing Hojo's work.

He couldn't argue with Reeve's logic especially with that ability dying out with him- the Lifestream had been tainted and damaged and it had almost been beyond repair. Someone with Reeve's abilities would not be welcomed, no one would have tolerated someone being able to manipulate the Lifestream in any way. And it was a magic that could be easily abused if Reeve had any children who were any less cautious.

He still wasn't sure what Deepground was but knowing his father, he wouldn't have been surprised if it was some secret project that even Rufus wouldn't have been told of. And it wasn't as if Hojo and Scarlet had been particularly cooperative when he took the throne, they wouldn't have rushed to tell him things that he would put a stop to.

"I agree, it's for the best. Your secret will remain with me, Reeve." He knew that trust between them was still in progress in his own time but he was willing to build it.

Of course Reeve had been valuable to the company in other ways, especially given the fact that he had ended up being the premier mind on all things mako energy, but... But surely even that would not have saved him.

"Thank you," Reeve said. "Living with my power in the open has been... relieving for a change. To have the chance to let Mini be as true to himself as his brothers could not be has been good, even if he is more limited than they."

"Have you told many people here? You seem to have a lot of friends in this place." Including someone Reeve seemed to be very close to. But that was a subject for another time. But if someone less than pleasant such as Hojo or worse turned up here then hopefully Reeve had allies who could help in that case.

"I'm happy for you, Reeve. Truly."

"Enough. It is hard to deny what Mini is and my connection to him when there are those who can see connections in life. The Jedi were better at it than others. And yes, I have many friends."

Reeve was, at his core, a friendly person. And now that he wasn't so terrified for his life, he could actually act on it more often. Which was its own form of relief.

But to hear that Rufus was happy for him made Reeve smile.

"I'm glad to hear it."

"If someone from Shinra shows up then you'll have support if you need it." Rufus didn't want to think about someone like Hojo or Scarlet appearing- even without Shinra's vast resources, there were many who would still be dangerous nonetheless.

"Of course," Rufus nods with a smile as he stands, Dark Nation huffing at them just stopping as she waves her tentacle impatiently for them to keep going.

Well, that's an interesting thing to hear. To even hear suggested. Rufus taking his side against them was a bit more interesting if there was a situation where they could potentially show up. He of course hadn't thought of that. Back home it made sense for Rufus to say such a thing because it wouldn't happen. Except for the Weiss thing. But the others, hell, even just other employees that weren't at that level... Huh.

"Thank you, Rufus. That's more than I would have expected of you at the level of relationships we have."

Underground, Above Ground, Looking Fine Either Way

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