striketwice: (010)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-29 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ As far as Alec is concerned, one Shinra is no different from the other. He has yet to be proven wrong. ]

Can you go like twenty-four hours without saying the b-word? Just curious.

[ Get your head out of the office, Rufus!!

After a bit of walking, Alec veers off the beaten path down a little side street and into the open front door of what can only be an eatery of some kind. The place smells of grease and maybe something burning, but it's probably fine. Though it's mostly empty, there are a few people sitting miserably around the mismatched tables and cobbled-together booths, still wearing their nighttime finery and fighting off hangovers with plates of greasy something-or-other. It's best not to look.

Alec zeroes in on a booth in the corner, where a scraggly fellow in a stocking hat is hunched over the table, snoring loudly. He might be drooling a little.

Before he slides into the seat across from the man, he says to Rufus, ]


Try not to say anything to embarrass me.
striketwice: (060)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-29 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh for the love of- can Rufus go two seconds without feeling the need to be in charge of everything? Apparently fucking not, and he catches Alec off-guard so much that his knee-jerk reaction is to pull a move that would probably have his old mentor laughing until he cried if he saw it.

He gives Rufus a solid smack on the back of the head. ]


What did I just fucking say?

[ Thankfully, or not so thankfully in Rufus' case, their man is a sound sleeper - or else a very good actor. He doesn't so much as stir.

Alec leans around his less-than-helpful compatriot to catch the attention of the woman behind the counter, waving his hand and motioning to their sleeping friend. She nods in understanding and disappears into the kitchen. ]


Until you know how things work, maybe let me do the talking, huh?
striketwice: (007)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-29 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Once again, the look Alec shoots his way dares him to try it. Rufus is not going to put holes in the one guy down here helping him out - even if he is being a shit about it. ]

Yeah, you do that.

[ Rufus is free to sit there pouting like a petulant child for a bit, because it takes another few moments for the place's lone waitress to reappear, bearing a plate of something that probably started life as food but is now more like 90% gravy. There's some fries in there? Maybe?

In any case, it looks horrendous, and smells like they probably dumped the contents of the kitchen's grease trap into it. The woman slides the plate in front of their sleeping friend without ceremony and heads back to her place behind the counter. From there, it doesn't take long for the man across the table to awaken, apparently stirred by the smell of mid-afternoon breakfast. ]


Huh, wuzzat?

[ He sits up rather abruptly, blinking a few times. A grin splits through his facial hair when he spots Alec and Rufus, and it somehow gets even wider when he spots the plate of food. He sets in with gusto. It's safe to say a good portion of that gravy makes it into his beard. ]

Alec! Been a while. I figured you didn't have any more use for little ol' me.

I always have a use for your ugly mug, Bobby. [ He jerks a thumb at Rufus, and as easily as anything says, ] This is my buddy Reeve. He's new in town, looking for work. Preferably the kind he can do with bullets.
striketwice: (054)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-29 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Bobby flashes a grin at Rufus, which is no less a nauseating sight than when he's chomping away on his food. ]

Sweet talker, huh? You need to work on your smile, son. It'll be more convincing that way.

[ Alec can't quite stifle his chuckle in time, but he wasn't trying all that hard to begin with. Hello Rufus, welcome to a world where no one feels the need to sugarcoat anything for you because of your status. Down here, Rufus has no status. He's just another guy.

Still, the disparity between Rufus' words and his expression doesn't seem to put Bobby off from providing what's asked of him, and he chews thoughtfully for a moment or two. ]


Sectors 4 and 5 are your best bets, then. The folks over in 4 especially are in a tizzy over a nest of drakes that are a little too close for comfort. Big money if you can bring down big momma, but she's got her brood looking out for her.

Otherwise 5 is your more standard fare. Wererats and the like sneaking under fences. Nothing special there.


[ Alec gives a noncommittal shrug, casting a glance at "Reeve" to gauge his reaction. ]

Sounds like a good enough place to start, what do you say?
striketwice: (011)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-29 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Rufus would go for the big fish first, so Alec's hardly surprised when he zeroes in on the biggest bounty. Funny how there is also a "we" now, but Alec won't argue that point right here and now. There will be plenty of time for that on their way over to Sector 4.

Bobby shrugs, making a gesture with his fork that sends a bit of gravy dangerously close to spattering on Rufus. It hits the edge of the table instead. ]


It's a living.

[ Alec, for his part, simply grins right back at Rufus. ]

Maybe I was. Doesn't matter now, does it?

But anyway, it's been fun, but we'd better go while there's still daylight. Don't drown in all that gravy, you old bastard.

[ While Bobby gives him a mock salute and sets into his meal in earnest, Alec makes a motion for Rufus to get up so they can leave. Though before he exits the booth, Alec drops a handful of gil on the table - enough to cover the food plus a little extra, which Bobby scoops up in in his free hand without looking.

Alec ushers Rufus out of the restaurant after that. The midday air in Wall Market isn't exactly fresh, but it sure feels it after being in that place. ]
striketwice: (073)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-29 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
What, like you?

[ He wouldn't necessarily call the old man "interesting", but maybe they don't have gravy connoisseurs up on the plate. ]

Paying for a shitty breakfast is easier than hopping around, sector to sector looking for work, wouldn't you agree?
striketwice: (017)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-30 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
You just don't appreciate his charms.

[ """Charms"""

But Alec likes Bobby. The man may be lacking in table manners, but he's been around the block and remains well connected despite Alec never not seeing him in that dingy hole of a diner. ]


Wow, I'm surprised you're asking instead of just assuming I'm coming along. Did you breathe in too much grease in there?
striketwice: (006)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-30 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
Do I look like a fighter to you?

[ Alec spreads his hands. By all accounts, he looks perfectly average, and he doesn't seem to carry any sort of visible weapon. It would be difficult to tell that Alec spent a pretty good chunk of his life as a merc. ]

I'll go, but only so someone's around to call for help when you're getting your ass chewed on.
striketwice: (015)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-30 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ True, Alec is hiding an awful lot, but it's certainly not something he's going to show to Rufus Shinra of all people. That's a surefire way to land himself in a lab, and he does not want that at all.

Rufus starts off, the big man in charge again, and Alec gives another roll of his eyes before jogging a few paces to catch up. ]


I didn't realize you knew where you were going. By all means, lead on, oh fearless leader.
striketwice: (010)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-30 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Alec would have figured that the lower plate would be beneath (ha) pretty much everyone in Shinra, so learning that its layout was brought up with Rufus rather frequently is something of a surprise. Alright, so maybe Rufus isn't going to get himself lost if they stay on the beaten path, as it were.

The second they venture out of the Sectors proper and into the more wild areas, well... all bets are off. ]


Thank him twice, since you're borrowing his name and all.

[ Not that he expects Rufus Shinra to say thank you to anyone for any reason, ever. ]
striketwice: (049)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-30 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Alec does kind of wonder how Rufus' ID is being flagged as they zip along through scan after scan on their way over. No doubt his dear old dad has that well in hand, making sure the proper people are aware and pay it no mind. Idly, he wonders if Rufus is going to want a fake ID to avoid the embarrassment, but that's way more effort than he's willing to put in for the fallen prince, so he won't bring it up. ]

I sure didn't.

[ Nor does he seem to be offering that information. ]
striketwice: (034)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-30 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ You can't play a player, Rufus. Especially when Alec is already well-acquainted with Rufus' ego and attitude. There is no sympathy to be found in this well that has long run dry. ]

Then you better hope this monster-slaying pays really well.

[ Alec has already made it abundantly clear that he's a very private person, and it doesn't get much more private than his own home. ]
striketwice: (003)

[personal profile] striketwice 2020-04-30 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He'd love nothing more than to smack that smile right off Rufus' face, but starting a brawl on the train is never an option, no matter how tempting it might be.

Likewise, Alec keeps his expression on the vaguely amused side of neutral, unwilling to show Rufus just how annoyed he is over this whole affair. Not enough that Rufus is here, dragging him around, acting like he's in charge, now he wants what Alec absolutely refuses to give.

He clicks his tongue, unimpressed. ]


See, you're not making a great case for me telling you where I live.

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