The art of sacrifice

Indie Private Tseng of the Turks Sideblog to greenhorn-turk Written by Julian

[clandestinedarksuit]

rudexoftheturks‌:

[text] Well, if you would learn how to actually play correctly, you might not lose ALL of your gil.

[text] Coward.

[text] Insults don’t work on me, Rude. Maybe try bribery, you might have more luck.

[clandestinedarksuit]

One-on-One

[clandestinedarksuit]

elenatherookie‌:

She listened to him with a serious expression. Elena already regret talking with him about her not so clear future plans. A Turk was not the right person to talk about feelings. It was not like she ever planned to be a turk, even not after they came here so often and adopted her as their favourite waitress and maybe saved her job at the bar.

“Thank you for your recommandations, I will send SOLDIER my application if you think I will fit” her smile was a pretty good pokerface, but her words were pure sarcasm. She would die before joining Soldier. The Idea of fighting for glory was not her thing, not at all.

While she answered to him, another guy stepped into the bar. With a quick suspicious look she knew who he was. She told him last time to never walk through this door again, but her friend made her way to him.

“Hey bitch, whats taking so long?” he yelled at the other girl and Elena send him a death glare. “I’m sorry, may you excuse me?” She asked Tseng with a polite smile, before she made her way quickly to the guy who had seated himself at the bar and Elena took a sharp knive from one of the tables she crossed. She quickly approched the guy from behind and pressed the knive so deep against it back, that he could feel it against his rib. “I told you last time, that you’re not welcome here. Leave immediately or I will make you”

“Apologies if I overstepped,” Tseng said, taking a drink to hide his smile. It wasn’t everyday that he met someone willing to send such biting sarcasm his way. He appreciated it, in a way, although he was certain she would think he was only teasing if he said as much.

Suddenly, he noticed her eyes dart towards the entrance, and his instincts had him noting exits and risk factors even before an aggressive voice cut through the bar. He stayed seated, watching closely as Elena grabbed a weapon and started handling the much larger man herself. It wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed Elena act as the unofficial bouncer, but it was the first time he’d seen her be so threatening from the start. Clearly someone had more than worn out their welcome.

He turned on his stool, prepared to make a move if needed, but waiting. He knew better than to underestimate someone based on size or age. And he knew that even young girls had their pride--this young girl in particular. 

However, if he just happened to be positioned so that the punk causing a scene might be able to meet his eyes and notice the suit, or the chest holster holding Tseng’s gun, and the man was smart enough to recognize a Turk (a big if, on that one) and simply chose to leave on his own? Well, it would hardly be enough for Elena to claim he’d stepped in without asking. But he really didn’t want to know what Gun would do to him if he truly sat back and did nothing.

[clandestinedarksuit]

shutupreno‌:

The impact of them against the door knocks a noise out of him, high and surprised. But certainly not antagonistic. His blood is singing with the hints of roughness Tseng provides because yes, he had come looking for a fight. It takes a conscious effort to not risk tearing the fabric of Tseng’s jacket. Reno doesn’t mean for his hand to find the phone and he certainly doesn’t mean to pull it out. It’s just reflex. He had been responding. Had been busy running his hands down the muscles in Tseng’s back and had just happened to touch the metal-plastic and be instinctively curious.  He breaks the kiss the instant he realizes what he’s done and starts apologizing. That, at no point, was the goal. He see’s, out of the corner of his eye, approximately 8 million cat emojis, recognizes them, and apologizes harder. He hasn’t been to visit Mayu or bring her an allowance yet this week.

Tseng sighs, and rolls his eyes, because nothing shatters a moment quite like being pickpocketed. It was a testament to how much he trusted Reno, and how caught up in their sudden heat he was that he’d let the other man snatch his cell at all. 

He waved off Reno’s apologies. This time, his impulsive behavior had probably done them both a favor, honestly. Whatever it was that just happened...well, Tseng could think about it later. Instead, he took his phone back, the last remnants of sexual energy thoroughly washed away by a text from Char that was definitely sent by much smaller hands.

“Reno, it’s fine. I don’t care,” he said, quickly sending back a single cat emoji. In a moment, another message popped up.

[text from: C] She snatched my phone off the kitchen table while my back was turned.  Sorry if she interrupted anything. 

“It would probably be better not to tell her what she interrupted,” he chuckled. 

[clandestinedarksuit]

chocobonugget‌:

As they disembarked from the helicopter, they wished more than anything that they could be any-fuking-where else than here right now.  They didn’t want to be doing this, but it had been forced on them.  You’re getting to be a grown man, one of their mother’s advisors had said, and he was lucky that Yuki had been expressly forbidden from throwing punches at important officials.  You have to learn to take on political responsibility.

Well, at least this was going to be easy.  They could tour the facility, ask a few polite questions, and be done with it, then they could go on to Edge and spend the weekend with Aunt Tifa and go back home Monday morning. They just had to get through the next few hours.

When they saw that Tseng was going to be the one escorting them, they breathed a sigh of relief.  Speaking Common for days on end was exhausting, and at least during the few hours they were with Tseng, they wouldn’t have to bother. 

They held out their hand to Tseng and tried to put on a polite smile.  They weren’t sure whether or not it worked.  “Thank you for agreeing to show me the new facilities, sir. My mother and father send their warmest regards to you and to your boss, of course. They regret not being able to come as well.”

It wasn’t strictly the truth, but it was the polite and, more importantly, the expected thing for them to say.

Tseng reached out to accept the Heir’s handshake, and tensed as a string of Wutaian left the young royal’s mouth. A lifetime of experience kept him from audibly groaning or sighing, and years as a Turk kept the polite smile on his face. Internally though, a familiar litany of thoughts fought for dominance: this assumption again, of course; I’ve been actively trying to learn for years, what is wrong with me that I’m not fluent in my own family’s language by now; is this why I got saddled with this task?; their speech is so formal I barely understood three words, fuck me.

“Sorry,” he said out loud, silently praying he didn’t sound too terrible. “I don’t speak much Wutaian, and your speech is unfamiliar. I only caught a small part of your words.” 

Whether he chose the more Eastern, Midgardian pattern of speech because he was just more familiar with it, or because he kept him just one extra step removed from the Imperial family, no one would know. 

[iwanttocarryonforever]

saw this and thought of carry on

[taraxacum13]

@clandestinedarksuit Reno isn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this.  He thinks maybe he’d been looking to get decked. Frustrated, Pent up. And Tseng was the closest person with a fist who could do that for him but… This…is good? He falls into the kiss. Heady and lost that someone he cares for so much is paying him such attention. Even though he started it. This, he thinks, he can do, and opens to Tsengs physical direction.  He reaches for Tsengs jacket. Reaches for the door to make sure it’s closed. 

Doesn’t bite back.

[clandestinedarksuit]

When Tseng feels Reno pulling back, he hesitates, but it’s just the allegedly more reckless one of them having the wits to make sure they won’t have an audience. Tseng opts to just grab Reno’s waist and shove him back, knocking the door closed with their bodies. 

He doesn’t bother with whispering either sweet nothings or salacious temptations. Doesn’t bother keeping his head on straight beyond keeping just enough awareness to know he’ll feel it if the moment passes, and Reno wants to stop. He slides one hand up Reno’s side, his exposed chest, cupping and then gripping his jaw. He’s rough because he knows he can be, knows at any moment Reno could slip from his grasp if he wanted, knows the other man probably came looking for a fight. 

His phone buzzes in his pocket, and for once, Tseng thinks it can wait a few moments. He’s busy, indulging in a losing battle against the pull of Reno’s grip on his jacket, the taste of his lips, the feel of electricity in the air.

[clandestinedarksuit]

katana-otoko‌:

“Plenty enough,” Balto replies as his attention moves away from his computer screen in front of him, sitting up to take the paper. He’s been reading and speaking the language since he was a child; Gongaga was one of the few groups of people still on good trading terms with Wutai while tensions increased.  “Let’s see what we have here,” Not at all missing a beat, he leaned against the backrest and read over the text on the paper. “Whomever wrote this was raised in Wutai,” he states, putting the paper down upon his desk. Picking up a pen, he circled a few characters, correcting the translation in progress. “People in the Midgar enclaves use different vocabulary, different grammar. This person was well educated and probably taught in Wutai.” He made the last of the amendments to the translation, offering the paper back once corrected.

“–Are you feeling alright? You look a little pale.”

“Well, that confirms a few things for me, at least,” Tseng mumbled. He tried not to be put-out at the ease with which Balto had corrected and finished his work. It wasn’t even a matter of heritage--he just disliked not being proficient at anything. Especially when it came to work. He knew the whole point of having an entire department and partners was to balance each other’s abilities, the sum being greater than the individual, of course. He was still going to double his efforts in his translation studies.

“Pale?” Tseng blinked, caught by surprise at the concern. He tried to remember the time he ate, or how much sleep he had gotten. It wasn’t much. “I might have missed breakfast this morning. It’s probably just low blood sugar.” 

[clandestinedarksuit]

rude-at-your-service‌:

Arms crossed over a white linen shirt, jacket removed, and sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Despite the dry heat have Rude kept it professional by keeping his tie and buttons on –despite the urge. 

Rude stepped out of the shade of a small tree when his boss finally returned.

“…" Eyeing the ramshackle vehicle with silent judgment. "You want me to drive?" He did trust Tseng as a driver, more than he trusted the man as a pilot, but six hours with or without flat tires was a long drive.

“Just because I’m a city boy doesn’t mean I can’t handle a few back roads,” Tseng answered. “I’m more concerned about anything we might run into on the way. I don’t think this thing can stand up to a run-in with any monsters, so keep your eyes peeled for me.”

It was a little awkward trying to remember how to drive a stick after so long, but Tseng’s memory was returning quickly enough. Hopefully they had enough fuel to find a station. The bed had a few full gas canisters when he found it, but Tseng had emptied them filling the tank to get it started. He hoped they didn’t end up having to walk through the humid jungle.  

“If you think you know where the nearest gas station or house is, tell me now.”

[clandestinedarksuit]

rudexoftheturks‌:

[text] I apologize, sir, for trying to force you to relax a little bit.

[text] Feel free to keep that stick lodged firmly up your ass then.

[text] You might find snatching my entire wallet relaxing, but I assure you it’s less pleasant the other way around. 

[text] Message me after you’ve raked in your haul for the night, and then we’ll talk.

[clandestinedarksuit]

One-on-One

[clandestinedarksuit]

elenatherookie‌:

The bar was nearly empty at that time, just the group which came after Tseng and her friend Lin, who also worked as a waitress here already served them, so there wasnt anything other to do, to speak with the Turk.

She looked at him with a thoughtful look, as he told her that he had such less spare time, that he didnt knew what to do with free time. “Yes…” she agreed. Shw knew this feeling to well. Her father never allowed them to have any other hobbies, even she had tried to be good in something else. But the sad truth was.. she was good in this. Fighting, training, using weapons. It felt familiar and gave her a calm feeling. As odd it sounded.

Her posture was still very stiff, like someone who was drilled with military strictness.

“To be honest… no” she answered slow as he asked her where her ambitions were set. The blonde girl pressed her lips together. She knew what her father wanted. He wanted her to be a turk. All her life he told her to be good enough to get a job at the department. But as the stubborn teenager she was, she was against it, wanted to be not the same as her sister, but the problem was, that she didnt know where else she could fit in.

“Im just following the orders of my father, he wants to see me in a suit” Emma would hate her that she was telling him just what she was thinking, but it wasn’t a problem for her.. because she didnt cared. “Its just the only things Im good at. Training keeps my mind calm. It’s.. difficult to explain, I’m sorry”

“Parental expectations, hm? That can be a heavy burden.” He thought about his own family--sure, they had never expected him to be a Turk, but the assumption of his future following Shinra was still there. Sometimes he wondered, if he had the freedom to choose any path in life, where he would end up. He often flipped between somewhere completely beyond his imaginings, and right where he sat.

“Being a Turk isn’t the kind of job you just coast into though. It takes a certain kind of dedication. A commitment to the cause. Being talented alone isn’t enough.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. 

“If all you’re really looking for is to follow orders and be successful, then you’d be better off rising through the ranks of the infantry, or seeing if you qualify for SOLDIER.” Maybe he was coming off a little harsh, but the Turks’ department wasn’t a place for soul-searching. It was a place where it was all too easy to lose your soul, if you weren’t prepared  

[clandestinedarksuit]

Smooches??????

His first reaction is a desperate touch-starved return of the kiss. His second is to wonder who is kissing him, in mild alarm. 

When he realizes it’s Reno, the kiss has already gently switched off the part of his brain that should be telling him this is a bad idea, you should stop. Instead, he pulls the other man closer, digging his hands in Reno’s wild hair, shifting himself to start deepening and controlling the kiss. 

He can blame the lapse in judgement on lack of sleep later, if needed. 

[clandestinedarksuit]

One-on-One

[clandestinedarksuit]

elenatherookie‌:

Her eyes were studying the turk in front of her, as he told her that it was the opposite. She thought that she heard that he used to sleep in his office by the amount of work he does. Or that he doesnt seemed to live outside the tower, but she didnt know for sure. These were just the things she observed from her corner behind the bar when she listened carefully to the things thats being spoken underneath the suitweares.

“So… thats good?” she stated, a little bit unsure. She noticed, that he got comfortable by gettin rid of his jacket, but his face didnt told her anything about his emotions.

She tried to get away to the bar, as he asked her how she was doing. Why did he ask? The personal interest on her from the turks felt always… uncomfortable. The two guys with the red hair even tried to flirt with her which made her cringe a lot.

“Ehm lemme first bring you your drink?” she interrupted. She hated the question, how school have been. Like, it was all day the same.

She tried to not think about it, one turk was better than more. And as a bartender she had the pressure to talk with her clients. So she returned with his drink and placed it in front of him. “And for my day… there is no rest for the wicked, they say. If I ever will lie down and rest- then I’ll be dead” her sense of humor was way to dark for her pretty face, she knew this too well. Elena was not sure, if he really needed someone to talk or he just made polite conversation, but she was a little bit scared of him and was too afraid to just turn away from him.

He took a sip of his beer, chuckling at her expression. No rest for the wicked  was something he often said himself, usually to the Chief when he was interrogating Tseng on why he was still working so late. Or back at it again early in the morning.

“I couldn’t agree more,” he said with a small smile. “I tend to keep such a busy schedule that when I do end up with free time, I don’t know what to do with myself.” That was part of the reason why he’d drifted over to somewhere familiar, although it was still a bit strange to be sitting in a bar by himself, chatting up the wait staff. Maybe he was just grasping blindly for distractions. He really wasn’t interested in heading home to be alone with his thoughts, praying the phone would ring to call him back to work.

“Still, that’s a pretty ambitious mindset you’ve got. Do you know where all that hard work’s going to take you?” He’d heard enough from the others to know there was a bit of a rivalry between Gun and her younger sister. Tseng knew from experience that familial spite could be one hell of a motivator. 

[clandestinedarksuit]

One-on-One

[clandestinedarksuit]

elenatherookie‌:

Working at a bar was of course not her dreamjob, but she did pretty well and it was good money. It was not a job she hated. Some would have wondered why she had to work at all since her father was paid well but he told her that he wont pay for anything anymore a year ago so she had to find something.

And to her unlikeness the information spread very well to the teammembers of her sisters that she got a job in a bar and since then they came too often and asked after her. So she tried to stay away from them, especially when her sisters was with them. So her heart stopped for a moment, as she saw a just too well known suit entering the bar and her co worker called that there were some of her clients.

“By bahamuts grace..” she whispered as her eyes fixed on the black suit and the black hair, put up in a ponytail. She knew he already saw her and she tried to hide her concearn, as she made her way to him. Her bodylanguage was stiff, she knew just too good who he was and she knew how much Emma respected him.

Her eyes switched quickly to the door as another group suits approched the bar but she noticed, that they weren’t turks, even before Tseng informed her about that.

“Yes” why could she just sound so dumb? “Ehm.. I mean sure. End of a long day?” she asked, it was just unusual that a single Turk came here, but she knew he was… special. Maybe he even wasnt open for small talk, but she tend to talk a lot when she was nervous.

He had to admit that he understood why his partners kept coming back here, in spite of the daggers glared their way when they walked in the door. Besides the obvious desire to support their own and those they cared about, Elena was one of those people it was difficult not to tease a bit. Even Tseng felt it, although he tried not push the poor girl too much. She got enough of that from Reno and Rod.

Plus, she was more than capable of tossing out any trouble makers who might see a dark suit and try to start trouble, so they could all drink in relative peace. 

“For once the opposite,” he said, pulling off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves to get more comfortable. “End of a short day. I must be getting to efficient for my own good.” 

“What about you? Today’s a weekday; you must have had classes all day.” Tseng didn’t know how she found the time and energy, even if she was younger. Military classes, training, homework, plus a part time job? He was impressed just thinking about the amount of work it must take to balance such a schedule. 

[clandestinedarksuit]

acepanromcloudstrife‌:

The bar was basically deserted.  There was only one lone soul partaking tonight, and he wasn’t even siting at the bar.  He was off in a corner staring up at the television mounted on a wall nearby.  He’d ordered a pitcher of beer and an appetizer plate when he came in a few hours ago, and even though the food and the majority of the beer was gone, he’d only moved from his seat once all night, to ask where the restroom was.

Weirdo.

Technically there were also 3 other patrons there, but did Reno, Rude, and Elena even count as customers anymore?  Sure, they ordered drinks and paid their tabs, but nobody else got the pleasure of fucking the bartender and her boyfriend. 

Not that that was all they were to each other, but his point stood.

He was in the middle of awkwardly flirting with Reno, just because it was fun and Cloud was kinda of bad at it and it made him laugh, when Tseng walked in.  Talk about a mood killer.

“Hello, Tseng,” Tifa greeted cautiously, plastering on her customer service smile.  “What can I get for you tonight?”

Either he was here to drink, which he never had been before, or he was here to tell the Turks they had an assignment. Which he’d never done in person when they were here before. The whole situation was bizarre, and it made Cloud a little anxious.

He had to hold back a chuckle at the deer-in-the-headlights looks he got when he first walked into the room. As expected, Reno, Rude and Elena recovered quickly, while Tifa and Cloud moved from surprised to suspicious. 

“Well, look who’s finally coming out to be sociable!” Elena teased, patting the seat next to her. Tseng took it, and slid off his jacket to leave on the empty seat on his right, as at ease as if he came in here every day.

“I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, seeing as when I tell you to get some rest, you always seem to turn up here instead,” he replied, making her blush and take a deep drink from her glass. 

“I’ll take whatever you have on tap on the darker side,” he told Tifa, unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling his sleeves up. “Unless there’s anything you’d recommend.”

[clandestinedarksuit]

@rude-at-your-service​

Rude was thankfully standing at their meetup point when Tseng pulled up in a battered old pickup. He didn’t need another hitch today. It was the first stroke of good luck of the day when he’d found an abandoned truck that still roared to life when he hot-wired it. Half the tires were flat, but it would have to do.

“I hope you’re ready for a road trip,” he said. “We don’t have an available chopper to get us back to Edge, and I don’t want to risk waiting here any longer. Hop in and we’ll find somewhere to grab supplies. It’s about six hours back to Costa.”

[clandestinedarksuit]

@katana-otoko

He could do this. Tseng was an adult man, and was neither too stubborn nor too proud to recognize his own limits. It was fine. He could do this.

“Balto,” he said, steeling himself, “I need some help.” 

He opened a manila folder, pulling out a printed document that had already been scribbled over with pen in a way that could probably be used to track the exponential growth of Tseng’s frustration. 

“How much Wutaian can you read? This needs to be translated, and I might be...stuck.”  

[clandestinedarksuit]

@acepanromcloudstrife

It wasn’t that Tseng was hesitating. He definitely wasn’t. He was just taking a moment to question whether or not he really felt this was a good idea. After a moment’s pause, he settled on bad idea, but necessary anyway. 

After all, it was his job to make sure the people under his care were safe. And if that meant taking the time to scope out the new off-hours haunt, then so be it. Still, he had to question his partners’ tastes. He knew they gravitated towards familiar faces, people they felt they could predict, but AVALANCHE? 

He sighed internally as he pushed open the door to the bar, as he made sure to put on a neutral, pleasant face.

“So, this is the legendary Seventh Heaven, huh?”