#hisreign

[thruteeth]

Q. " are you willing to bet on it ? "

for a dance with so many steps, cloud has yet to move. he's taken root, there, a fair distance away, hand on hilt, but not ready to draw. it's a distraction. he runs the interference so that others can dodge the brunt of a closing maw. slip between shinra's massive teeth.. they're outside the range of anything world shattering, but bullets travel far and he's more equipped to absorb them. more equipped to face the curve of that smirk and neither blanche nor rise to its baiting.

" i don't bet. " simple to snuff out whatever air of amusement @riphalos hoped to find in his steady frown or the slow approach of an otherwise silent march. not because he'd been called. if rufus wanted to play, his dog was steady at his heel already. no, there's motivation for a short climb and the stunted gulf he's drained till miniscule, " —prefer sure things. "

and he is sure. so much so that his raised chin is likened to a crooked finger. a dare. meet him half-way and see how much conviction sits steady. even under the shadow of flanking guards, the match is closer to even than skewed. " is your plan to talk me into submission ? " lump another headache atop the one that pulls pale brows tight and couldn't fashion itself a collar on its own. " let's just get this over with. "

[thruteeth]

Q. " do you believe people can change ? "

paperwork was never his gig. one sheet blends in with a second blends in with a third and the stack is as good as kindling in the line of frustrated eyes that lost focus after the second paragraph. tseng's punishment. the bottom of a repeatedly clicked tongue and one too many off-handed remarks that let him know the water he waded in wasn't boiling, but it'd lost its tepid comfort a while ago. toes had been stepped on. bosses were curling their lips. not his, but someone else's bosses. shareholders with pockets too deep to know what they'd been fondling the last few conversations had been reno's final nerve.

better he save his irritation for a stapler and company that hadn't looked overly impressed by his grumbling. @riphalos never looked over impressed by anything, though. not his sharp tongue nor his quick wit. they may have skirted a line of easily scrutinized unprofessionalism, but here, now ? he played the part of peon amicably.

" change what ? " agitation is an uninvited guest and the gold of a back molar bites the fringe of worse to stall a want to dig deeper. see how much shit he'd get buried under over the course of a single day. were rufus anyone else, he'd have bet it'd reach his neck before noon. but he isn't anyone else. he's a steady, frigid stare and even the heat of pent resentment won't thaw what's laid out with casual conversation. " depends whose asking. " thumb to tongue, an old habit that makes flipping through lackluster reports easier, " most people won't change shit. " and, afterthought meets addendum, " —sir. "