fandomtownies | Fixer-Uppers, Sunday

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Fixer-Uppers, Sunday

After the radio broadcast, Reno made his way to the shop, a bottle of rum (that he actually wasn't going to touch again until after his shift!) tucked under one arm.

In a rare fit of self-preservation, he picked up something small and more or less simple-looking to take apart and put back together to keep himself occupied, and relegated himself to working with objects without moving parts, at least until he sobered up some more.

And that was why Reno was sitting on top of the front counter, staring up at the sign again, with a screwdriver in one hand, and a half-disassembled alarm clock in the other.

It was the lens flare, he was pretty certain. The damn thing was going to haunt him in the night.

[Open, and OCD-freeee!]

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Reno was... probably not expecting her, Ino acknowledged, as she stood off to the side, outside the store and gave herself a few more seconds to find her courage.

Zack and her--they were going forward with the future, whatever happened.

But that meant, she still needed to talk to Reno. Even the if the thought of it twisted her stomach up in knots. She had no idea what she thought about him right now.

It didn't matter, she thought distantly, Zack did. Zack and Gaia. Her home.

Steeling herself, Ino pushed the door open, her face resolute.

"Yep," Reno was deciding, just as Ino opened the door. "That's totally a lens flare."

... It was distracting.

And so he was almost thankful for a distraction from the distraction as Ino stepped into the shop, and he cast a slightly crooked smile in her direction. There was a healthy dose of apprehension somewhere behind that smile, sure, but that wasn't something that Reno was about to let show so easily.

"Yo, Rookie!"

She didn't manage a smile back at him, her words frozen in her throat as she saw him. Ino looked-- bad. Like she'd been going sleepless, like she hadn't been eating enough, like something was haunting her.

He knew what was.

"Reno." Her voice was a bit flat, even to her own ears.

And that greeting damn near chilled him to the core. He clamped his mouth shut, sobered up, nodded a little as he set down the odds and ends that he'd been taking apart.

Business call.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She wished, for a heartbeat, that she looked more--imposing than she was.

Just a small girl, and her bird, who was peeking out from Ino's hair. Which was loose, again.

Silly didn't like it as much when Ino wore it up. It was a small thing to make her bird happy.

"You know what I'm here to talk about."

Reno raised an eyebrow at the bird. And then sighed and shrugged and shook his head.

"I can manage a guess," he admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, talk, Rookie. I'm all ears."

He kind of owed it to her to listen, at this point, didn't he?

She had... wanted to say things to him.

She had.

But standing there, staring at him--that was a defensive posture he'd adopted--Ino found it harder than she'd expected to get started.

No yelling, then. No accusations.

Just blue eyes that were absolutely devastated as they stared at him and a single word.

"Why?"

And she'd ask, again and again.

And he'd take that question, and a million times over, he'd think about it. Hide from it. Try not to dwell on it too hard. Drown in it.

"It's complicated."

That didn't even begin to answer it. And he knew that.

"And messy."

And that didn't help.

She just stared at him.

Not patiently, for she couldn't manage patience right now, but because there was nothing else to do.

It was either stare, or start screaming and Ino didn't have the energy for screaming.

"He's the turning point," Reno settled on, shrugging his shoulders a little. "Goes from bad to worse to hell for him, but that's what starts every little thing that keeps the entire Planet from dyin', in the end."

And that was no small thing.

Bad to worse to hell.

"How long do I have?"

Would he tell her that much?

"Before bad?" Reno twitched something that was almost a frown, almost a scowl. Possibly trying to be a wry smile, and falling horribly short. "Or worse?"

Or hell?

Something in her eyes hardened.

"Before the end."

Reno went silent for a long moment, now. Not because he was having difficulty convincing himself to answer, but because his power over numbers was... not so hot.

She'd pardon him for counting on his fingers? Maybe about a year before Nibelheim, and then four years there, and another year or a little less after that spent running would make...

"About six years," he settled on. "Maybe less."

Six years.

They could change things in six years.

"We're going to try," she said, quietly. "I thought you should know."

Reno just nodded a little.

It was such a misleading number. When it came to saving Zack, they'd have one. In one year, it would go from bad to worse to hell, and hell would drag on for another four.

"I thought you might."

Once again, he hated himself. And this time, he didn't know if he should speak, or not. It had been such a firm 'no,' before.

"I..."

Ino had to take a moment to... find words. To figure it out.

"I'm going with him. After grad."

And there was a tiny clench to Reno's jaw, at that.

Of course she was.

He'd figured about as much.

"Be careful, Rookie."

If she'd told him even a month ago, he would have protested, vehemently. He knew better, now.

"Don't strain yourself with caring," she told him, because it hurt. "We'll figure it out."

Reno winced.

He'd deserved that.

"Yeah," he muttered, uncrossing his arms and reaching for what was left of the alarm clock, turning it over in his hands. "I'm sure you will."

It didn't matter to her that she wasn't being, well, exactly fair.

He was scared.

She was scared.

"Is there anything you can tell me?"

"I..." Reno licked his lips. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it. "Keep an eye out," he settled on, finally. "On Sephiroth."

He'd already told her, in fits and starts, just how much of the world's plight was to be blamed on Sephiroth already. That couldn't be much of a shock.

But it was key to everything else, all the same.

The trouble with it was, it was the perfect advice. But Nibelheim had happened almost completely without warning.

"I will," she said, turning to go.

"See you around."

If he had anything else to tell her. Anything more... right now, Ino wasn't able to work with. Not yet.

"See you 'round," Reno replied, sighing and turning his attention back to the clock.

The minute the door closed behind her, he wound up, and threw the damn thing clear across the room.

Fuck.

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Fixer-Uppers, Sunday

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