[enduringfortitude]

Fiddling with blogstuffs. Maybe poking at it and the others, again... maybe. 

[enduringfortitude]

It was probably the only place he really had any, so maybe it was destined to overcompensate?

And look: tea helped! Well, that and Nathaniel's father had done a good job drilling it into his head that different teas were essentially godsends as far as mundane healing went. ...and if Reno was cooperative, there was always the whisky in the cupboard Nat'd taken to keeping around. But it was mostly about chasing off the chill of being soaked, in this case, and it didn't help that Nathaniel was more than a little inclined to fuss extra due to the separation. Until he was over the little part of him that insisted it wasn't happening, he probably would continue to be when he was allowed the opportunity.

And probably something for the stupider end of injuries; the younger man wasn't quite sure what to do with himself once Reno hit the ground, an awkward shuffle forward as if to go and help him up—but never quite making it. At least he seemed to be alright? That was a positive. Keep that. Nathaniel rubbed at his face, let one hand slide back to push his hair out of his face (which for once actually worked, thanks to the rain), and rubbed at his face again with an uneasy half-turn. Once he thought he had control of the heat in his face, Nathaniel dropped his hands to his sides and faced the others, looking over each of them until his attention fell on Rufus.

The president always knew just that much more, and given the Turks' array of responsibilities often including intelligence gathering? It left Nathaniel a little unsettled when he thought about it, sometimes. You can't really gather information on what your boss knows! It didn't work that way, and definitely not within their ranks. But in this case, that look suggested something that, to Nathaniel, was a bit on the unpleasant side of things for other reasons.

Actually, the general response kind of echoed it...

The colour rushed straight back up to the Turk's face, shifting until deciding he had to turn away to hide it. So much for the effort to separate professional and personal, apparently! Best laid plans. But for how long?! He could appreciate Reno's attempt to sound annoyed, but it wasn't entirely convincing even if Nat hoped it could be to everyone else. At least the others weren't really the type to comment beyond what'd been said?  In any event, it was probably time to shape up, wasn't it? Right, right; this was effectively a shove straight into professional territory, being faced with the top three, Elena, and the president. There was the other guy with Dark Nation, too. Time to quit acting like a child.

...Just as soon as he can rub the heat away from his face. Of all the things that could happen, it would be this... At least it was able to happen at all, though. 

[enduringfortitude]

ostentateduplicity replied to your post:

I see it in my feed but lol

wow rude, tumblr.

[enduringfortitude]

'^' apparently tumblr doesn't want to put my comment through about stupid noises over puppy. But puppy.

[enduringfortitude]

It was just a strange idea, to him, but after a few turns in his mind, it had to be something easily managed in that way, hadn't it? There was a lot going on, currently, and undoubtedly there were some things of lesser import that could be revisited later. That made more sense, anyway. Or maybe Nathaniel was just overestimating the importance of certain things—he had no head for business or the management thereof. Really, his knowledge leveled out right where he was; being a Turk wasn’t “easy”, but it was all fairly straightforward. The heavy lifting, so to speak, went to his higher ups and above. Leagues difference.

With his focus on Rufus, Nathaniel didn't really register Dark Nation's approach. Aware of it? Peripherally. Barely. Until that bump, until the President moved and directed his own attention onto the creature. Nathaniel followed it, and Dark Nation had all of the Turks attention, unsure and curious as it was. For all that the beast seemed content to shrug off the order, it was… an interesting one to give.

“Is that often a problem?” To his credit, there wasn't much wariness in his tone. More a healthy respect for the creature's size and likely power. That it stood at Rufus' side meant it had to be powerful—it just wasn't likely that the President would have an animal like that for show. And, well… Truth be told, it was an impressive looking thing.

He didn't flinch when the Hound shifted, didn't even really react. Something he'd learned between chocobos and dogs, but people—particularly opponents—were pretty much the same: showing fear or hesitation gave them the window to take control from you. Slightly, Nat thought, more appropriate when being addressed by the head of one's place of employment, though. After all, one's boss probably should have full control of things.

[enduringfortitude]

Totally SOLDIER material, right?

Cloud and Tifa sitting on the sofa and Cloud needing to get up and wander off to handle it.

[zackpup]

Best SOLDIER material.

Love you Cloud but all that’s going to be on my mind now is this .-.

[enduringfortitude]

...and strangely gonna do a thing that will earn many a "what" look.

Gjsbalf

[enduringfortitude]

She is. uvu Tall people give good hugs.

Theeeey totally do. Aerith managing only to get Zack looking like he’s standing on his toes. …and he probably is.

Cloud getting to share their story and having something to hold onto of them both. DID YOU ORDER FEELINGS WITH YOUR FLUFF?

[zackpup]

…lol yep more than likely it

It’s okay it only kept getting worse from there. Cloud going through the letters and other such crap.

[enduringfortitude]

Totally SOLDIER material, right?

Cloud and Tifa sitting on the sofa and Cloud needing to get up and wander off to handle it.

[etherealefflorescence]

SHE’S SO TINY NEXT TO ZACK. She barely comes up to his shoulder in ACC…

[zackpup]

It’s about right though….he’s a big boy, I think he has an entire foot on her. >v> And poor tiny Cloud almost, too.

[enduringfortitude]

Yup~ uwu

[zackpup]

She’s okay with that too, I’m sure.

…they have photos of themselves somewhere of Zack lifting her from around her hips, and then of Aerith trying to pick him up the same way

Avalanche eventually inherits them from Tseng asdfg

[enduringfortitude]

She is. uvu Tall people give good hugs.

Theeeey totally do. Aerith managing only to get Zack looking like he's standing on his toes. ...and he probably is.

Cloud getting to share their story and having something to hold onto of them both. DID YOU ORDER FEELINGS WITH YOUR FLUFF?

[etherealefflorescence]

SHE’S SO TINY NEXT TO ZACK. She barely comes up to his shoulder in ACC…

[zackpup]

It’s about right though….he’s a big boy, I think he has an entire foot on her. >v> And poor tiny Cloud almost, too.

[enduringfortitude]

Yup~ uwu

[enduringfortitude]

zackpup replied to your post:

must find out v.v

Probably black at work, unless he has the time to doctor it--’bout as far as I got. Maybe a little cinnamon and cream or sommat, when he can. At home... I can’t imagine he does anything visually fancy with it, but pretty sure he at least takes his time and fixes something he can enjoy. ...But that might end up being the second cup of the morning rather than the first.

[enduringfortitude]

>Joke about winning Nat over easily with fixing his coffee

>Realise you aren’t actually all that sure how Nat takes his coffee.

I have been remiss. Maybe this is why he showed up in my dream, last night. ‘-’

[enduringfortitude]

[enduringfortitude]

Maybe if the others didn’t start off scared out of their wits (there was a vast difference between being afraid of an animal and being aware of its abilities), the Hound wouldn’t be so likely to want to maul them? Predator and prey thing? Really, Nat’s experience with the creature wound up, he thought, pretty well within the realm of “over-sized dog that enjoys wrestling and has the power to rip a man’s arm off while frying his brain”; personal experience laid mostly with the wrestling part. Instinct and design were one thing, but a good rapport could sometimes outweigh them! Or… well. Maybe Nat just got obscenely lucky with whatever impression Dark Nation had of him.

Really, that was the most likely thing: luck.

Luck also played into the matter of not being able to be reached; series of unfortunate events that wound up leaving him a bit stranded, so to speak, and then the news hit—and so did Meteor. From there, it was just anxiety, logical assessments turned excuses turned trying to convince himself of this, that, and the other. It’d been a mess. He’d taken to trying to work with residents and help where he could, to keep his mind off it, after a while: something which likely made him that much harder to get a hold of. Wrong place, wrong time—ridiculous, really. He’d make up for it, though, at least where possible.

Nathaniel knew Reno’s bad fighting habits, but in the midst of everything, it hadn’t occurred to him that there were other injuries he’d be ignoring. Later? Later, he’d bite into him about it. That Reno didn’t pull back was reason enough not to question, and the cold was the more apparent problem at this point. He’d probably try shoving the older man into the bath, later, dress his hands and anything else needed if there weren’t other avenues available beforehand, and force tea down his throat. If he could manage, anyway; Nat would certainly put forth the effort.

He’d meant it, though: Reno probably was crazy, to some extent or other. Nathaniel wasn’t sure what kind of crazy or just how far, but that didn’t really make it any less likely. Too much of a daredevil not to be—and Rude, just as bad. If any of them died of misadventure or in the line of duty, he’d be surprised; honestly, they’d all probably live out their days still being insane on the field and dying only because there wasn’t anything crazier they could do. Old age was the craziest thing someone in their line of work could pull off, honestly.

There was something in being kissed back that just drove the fact home: alive. Alive, well as could be in the given circumstances, the news was real, the others were alive, too. Like a switch. Still felt somewhat distant, but more solid than before. Nathaniel might’ve even started to shift into a more familiar hold as his chest tightened, arms around Reno’s neck, if not for his luck striking again.

Which instead led to him practically jumping back and nearly out of his skin with a strangled noise, face flushed deeply, all while instinctively shoving at the redhead before immediately trying to determine possible means of escape. Mostly just to save his heart rate and avoid further embarrassment. Why this? Really, really, really bad timing! …Oh, shit, how hard had he pushed Reno?

[enduringfortitude]

...uh. So I walked outside and it is fucking pouring. Timing, on that doodle, apparently.

[enduringfortitude]

I accidentally a shocked/wet Nat. Shitty camera, whee.

[enduringfortitude]

Nathaniel could handle getting beat up—he'd grown up with that (even if he sometimes started it). Reno was SIC, though, so the teasing had been harder to handle between the etiquette requirements and Nathaniel's own good sense. He'd just since learned how to divide himself between work and off. Which, now counted as “off”, considering. And, well… it hadn't ended up being that bad, even if it'd started out as somewhat frustrating. Now was more important.

Reno not being good at pouting was a good thing. Meant he couldn't sway Nathaniel as easily, took more work to do it (and Nat was prone to being tight about some things, so if pouting worked? That'd be miserable on him being able to maintain that). Rude, as a co-worker, was easier to handle even if he did have the kicked puppy face down.

“Right.” There was a low half-laugh that followed, but it quieted easily, in part from following closeness and the more pressing question. Reno would have plenty of chances for kisses, later.

As he listened to the explanation, Nathaniel felt his shoulders pinch in a wince; the helo? He was torn between the logical “what/how” panicked demands and the sympathetic murmuring for Reno's loss. ...Though, honestly, Nathaniel was the type to lean more towards the former. But he managed to keep that down, rubbing at a shoulder apologetically to make up for it. The insistence on “almost” was enough to stay the questions, for now. As for Dark Nation? Nat was still pretty sure that the Hound wouldn't try devouring anyone. Teethe on or something, maybe, but not devour. He might be biased, given the fact that Dark Nation actually liked Nathaniel.

Another tangle of tension unwound at the confirmation: they were alive. “Worse for wear” was expected, especially with the aforementioned accident (and, Nat realised, that explained some of the noise he'd heard, before) and all the “excitement” from the day. But all of them… Good. That… that was good. So much stress, so much good news after so much destruction, and he was still shaken in spite of it. He’d all but given up on them. At the touch, a tanned hand reached back to cover Reno's, hold it against his face both to keep it there in fondness and to impart some kind of warmth. Inside was a good idea, at this point.

“You do,” Nathaniel agreed, almost as quiet. “Even if it's completely crazy, and so are you.” So the space lost as Reno answered that question? It very pointedly went missing again, even if the kiss itself was careful, fingers curling a little more around Reno's hand.

[enduringfortitude]

Oh. Oh, they were undoubtedly legitimate! No question there. Nathaniel understood that much and would readily accept them as perfectly good reasons. That really was not a “get out of punching free” card, though. Work-brain and non-work-brain worked, unfortunately, on different tiers. What the one could accept within its parametres, the other didn't always particularly want to. Like in this case. They'd make peace eventually, of course, but for the moment? Punching might be on the list of things to do once Reno didn't look so beaten up and miserable.

Details would be nice, too, just to be kept up to speed.

As for Reno's hazing job? Nathaniel would continue to insist he got the worse end of it.

Humour somehow helped, though; so very Reno. Nathaniel breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly, and though it wasn't complete, he felt a little bit of the tension in his spine start to uncoil (it’d probably take a few more days to really get past it; maybe longer? Nathaniel wasn’t entirely sure how shock worked, but he was pretty sure that’s what this was, in a sort of distant way).

“Maybe the last part.” Wet was okay. Might be better if not for how clearly it showed off those injuries, though; without the injuries was a different story. But really probably better if not running around outside, because it was kind of inappropriate and someone was bound to get sick. Nathaniel's hands slid up until they came to rest against the redhead's biceps, glancing to where fingers plucked at the borrowed shirt. Shoulders pinched together slightly, raising in a small shrug as Nathaniel turned focus back onto the older man. He met bright eyes with a faint smile, fingers curling into Reno's sleeves before gingerly running them up to just beneath his shoulders. Had to be mindful of bruises and the like. Altogether less flustered than he might’ve been, ordinarily, but if it came up later? Prooobably a different story.

A lot of the relief at finding Reno in one piece and relatively uninjured (nothing bleeding extensively, no broken bones that he could see, and Reno seemed to be moving fine at the moment) would probably surge up later, too, if nothing jarred him out of this. The others showing up likely would set off his more familiar behaviour, especially where public displays (and this counted as one) came in.

Nathaniel decided to quit scanning over Reno’s face to look for cuts or bruises he hadn’t already made note of; it was pointless to do so now without any means to do anything about them. Later, when they weren’t soaked. Being outside and wet just wasn’t a good idea, either, especially not with Reno like he was. “Relatively uninjured” didn’t exactly negate the likelihood of exhaustion, strains, and other things of that nature; they sapped strength and energy just as readily. Went back to the “sick” thing. And then, of course, there was the matter of Tseng and the rest.

“What about the others?” Had they been caught up in the same thing? He could only imagine they were alive, what with Reno seeming in relatively good spirits and with consideration of the havoc that only dispersed a short while ago.