Salle, Wednesday Midday

[withoutverona]

Romeo wasn't sure why Reno even wanted to speak to him, or if he felt like speaking to Reno in turn. His best friend's words from Sunday tangled with his own and sat like a knot in his stomach, and if Reno were to try to kill him with the rod, he would not blame him.

But they'd made a plan, and so Romeo was there in the Salle. Waiting and, somehow, almost hopeful.

Comments

[raspberryturk]

When Reno walked into the Salle, he had not one, but two batons with him, his own, which was held tightly in hand and already fastened to the leather cuff at his left wrist, and the one he'd had Rude scrounge up, wrapped carefully in a light cloth held shut with a cuff for Romeo, as if scratching it was somehow a concern.

It was probably going to get plenty of scratches on it soon enough.

"Hey, man." Reno was smiling as he approached Romeo, giving his own weapon a light tap against his shoulder. There was a bit of uncertainty in that smile, perhaps a hint that he was somewhat ashamed of his own words on Sunday, but he was making an admirable effort at letting neither show. "You ready to hit shit with sticks?"

[withoutverona]

"I think," Romeo said, forcing something that was almost brightness, "that sounds like an admirable goal for the day. May I see my baton, first?"

[raspberryturk]

"Catch!" Reno tossed it toward him in a low underhand arc, clearly not too concerned about dropping it if he missed. They were made to take punishment, really, and Romeo's materia hadn't arrived quite yet, so it was kind of like throwing a baseball bat or something. No big. "You get that puppy all strapped on, right wrist if you're right-handed, and we'll go from there, yeah?"

[withoutverona]

Romeo caught it easily in midair and fastened on the wristband. "Don't feel you have to go too easy on me."

It was easier to talk about that than to talk about ... the rest of it.

[raspberryturk]

"Easy on you?" That earned a bit of a raised eyebrow. "Romeo, man, I'm gonna find out if you're swingin' the thing right before I even think about swingin' back. I was mostly jokin' about that bustin' your nose thing."

He shrugged and gave his head a shake.

"I been makin' short work of grown men bearin' guns an' swords with my baton for years. You just got yours. And some of us are only human, yo. There wouldn't be no sport in me not goin' easy anyhow."

This wasn't meant as an insult at all. For as therapeutic as smacking Romeo in the face with his EMR sounded, they'd probably both regret it later.

[withoutverona]

Romeo bounced the rod in his hands a bit before swinging it experimentally, like a golf club. "This can take out a gun? But all right. I am, as you say, only human, and I'd prefer to finish this in one piece, nose and all."

[raspberryturk]

"Can't take out a gun if you get shot first," Reno stressed, eyebrows making their way up somewhere under his cracked goggles. "Just like any other weapon, man, it's as much about where your head's at as it is how you swing it. Don't go expectin' to be swattin' bullets around or nothin', here. You ain't on haste and you ain't been soaked in Mako. If you couldn't do it before, chances are this ain't gonna make you no better at it, zoto."

[not_in_the_book]

After a week with nothing but relaxation, Ronan was definitely feeling the need to get in some swordwork, so he made his way down to the Salle. He got his sword out of the weapons locker, took himself to an area of the floor a little bit away from anyone else working, and began to work through the first of his sword forms.

Pretty quickly, he was into the more advanced stuff, things he'd learned in his Year Away that were pretty much burned into his mind; it had been a while, though, since he'd sent his body through them, so he could feel the burn in his muscles as they worked through long-unused patterns. Nonetheless, the red-and-blue shimmers that sped up and down his sword combined with the sword-work itself to create something rather worth watching.

[Feel free to consider this after Romeo's lesson, if it works better that way.]

[raspberryturk]

Reno was just popping the last of his Materia back into his EMR and about to make his way out of the Salle and back to his room when he caught sight of the spectacle. He kinda knew the face of the guy, seen him here and there and in a few classes from time to time, but it was the sight of the sword itself that really grabbed his eye.

... It was shiny, okay?

"Pretty neat trick you got there," he noted, reaching up to scratch at his sunburned nose. "Kinda looks like you're strainin', though."

All just observations, really. Reno made those, now and again.

[not_in_the_book]

There were only two movements left in the form, so Ronan finished before responding, ending with a flourish before sheathing the blade. "Thanks," he said, as he turned to Reno. "And yeah, I'm out of practice. I haven't been doing these anywhere near as often as I should." He paused. "Reno, right?"

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, man. That's me." He let his baton rest against his shoulder, eyes resting on the sword again before he nodded. "And you're another member of the R-club, yo. Ron-somethin'. I'll just call you Ron, yo. Been without a Ron to bug since Princess left the island."

He gave almost everyone nicknames. It was a thing.

[not_in_the_book]

Of course, Reno happened to say that JUST as Ronan was taking a gulp from his water bottle. Cue choking, and a bit of sputtering.

After he managed to get his breathing back under control, Ronan laughed. "Ronan, please," he said. "I don't think I could take you seriously if you called me Ron."

He noticed Reno's interest in the sword. "Want to see it?" he asked, gesturing to where it was sheathed.

[raspberryturk]

"Whatever you say, Ron," Reno quipped, shooting off a sloppy salute and a grin. "And nah, swords an' me never did get along too well. I'm always on the other end of 'em. My weapon's this puppy right here." He lifted his EMR slightly so that Ronan could see. "Might as well be part of my arm, yo."

[not_in_the_book]

"Oh, yeah?" Ronan asked, eying it. "It definitely looks... Huh. You could probably do some damage with that thing."

Two little stones, in different shades of green, caught Ronan's eyes. "What're those?" he asked. "The stones, I mean. Just decoration? They seem a bit out of place for that."

[withoutverona]

The lesson over, Romeo stretched out against a wall, out of breath and with a few new sore spots.

He hesitated to watch Ronan work. "You are good with that."

[not_in_the_book]

"Ta, thanks," Ronan said, as he stopped for a drink of water. "I'm out of practice, but that's just letting me know where the muscles are." He paused, and winced. "Ow. That's one I haven't felt in a while."

[withoutverona]

"This was the first I've worked with Reno," Romeo said. "All the muscles are new to me."

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan nodded, and winced a bit in sympathy. "You'll be really sore tomorrow, then," he said. "But if you stick with it, I can pretty much guarantee it'll be worth it."

His water bottle drained, Ronan tossed it aside to rest on his bag. "How do you fare?" he asked. "Other than the new and interesting pain."

[withoutverona]

"No, new and interesting pain is about right," Romeo said ruefully. "I drank far too much on the cruise and woke up married."

[the_merriest]

Sometime after Reno's sparring match with Romeo ended, his phone started to ring.

"Cuban Pete" was such a cheery ringtone, wasn't it?

[raspberryturk]

He was the king of the rhumba beat!

Reno pulled out his phone, straightening out the last of his Materia as he did so.

"Yo!"

[the_merriest]

"Hi," Rikku said, quickly and somewhat breathlessly. She didn't need to explain to him that this was a serious sort of phone call; he knew that just from how she'd answered. "I need a huge favor, zoto."

[raspberryturk]

Turk Mode turned on pretty much instantly at her tone of voice, and he was already on his way for the door.

"Where you at, what you need?"

Those seemed like the important questions just then.

[the_merriest]

"En route to the dorms," she said. "I need supplies from Turtle's store, but I'm on guard duty so I can't detour."

It would be way too hard to juggle a toddler, a cart, and a shopping list while covering all the exits in case some of the merc crew stopped by. And if someone did try to cause trouble -- too many variables. No safe place to stash Janice while things went down.

[raspberryturk]

"Okay, on my way to T&C as we speak," Reno replied, breaking into a run the moment he was out the door. "What is it you need?"

Sounded serious. He was good with serious situations. It was really what Turks were made for.