I don't know if that's what it is. I know you well enough but there are parts of you that are still mysterious to me. Maybe I'm trying to solve a little bit of the mystery?
Does it bother you? The idea of us as equals in a place this far away from everything we know. Hypothetically, I mean.
[He wonders how awkward that might be. For both of them. Not to mention how it might make adjusting to things if they had to go back home extremely weird. More so than it already would be.]
[He's quiet another minute; his answer, when it comes, isn't quite an answer to the question asked, but it certainly is to something else.]
I trained with the Turks when I was young, you know. Verdot taught me how to shoot, put me on the tactical driving course. It was the first time anyone ever let me do something useful.
My father made the mistake of thinking he could buy you. I've always been more interested in being one of you.
[Rude is sentimental, damn it. Don't throw cute shit at him like this all of a sudden. At least they're not in the same room so he doesn't have to fake not being moved by it. Instead there's just a drawn out silence while he internalizes this additional fondness for Rufus.]
I wouldn't want you to be one of us, but I know that you would be the best of us. Easily.
[Each Turk has their little niche of what they're good for, but Rude can easily see Rufus becoming a jack of all trades if he was given the same training as everyone else. Tseng would have to worry for his job security in that alternative timeline.]
Don't over think it though. The dinner. The cooking. It's not a test, I just want to spend time with you. With clothes on. They say friends do this kind of thing sometimes. Not that I'd know much about that.
Hah! You'd think that, but we've both met Tseng. You could've been something other than a Turk, I suspect. I don't think he and I ever could've been anything else.
What about you, then? If I cook, what domesticity are you bringing to the occasion?
[But, Rude will confess that just because Rufus had a massive cage around him growing up didn't mean that he was ever free.]
Stray cats and dogs. Birds. People's pets. In another world I'm vaccinating cats and deworming puppies, and you're the one kicking ass and taking names.
["Time out" is such a funny way of thinking about the years he spent in the custody of the Turks, hidden away from the board of directors and the rest of the world alike, with only Tseng for company. Anyone else would have been executed for treason, for the crimes he'd committed. He'd just ended up in "time out".
It's almost more insulting that way, isn't it.]
So that's why you're so fond of Darkstar. I'd wondered.
Not since she arrived. Though to be fair, she's finding herself covered in blood far less frequently around here, so it hasn't been as pressing an issue.
[Rufus probably doesn't intend to make Rude feel guilty about their little sparring match, but it does successfully redirect him. Within the hour he's at Rufus' suite with a plastic bag of the requested items. The puppy pampering session can wait. He'll hang around if Rufus needs assistance, but otherwise will leave after a handful of sincere apologies about the whole thing.
And possibly a warning about making sure to rest his ankle--which he knows Rufus will likely ignore.]
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I know you well enough but there are parts of you that are still mysterious to me. Maybe I'm trying to solve a little bit of the mystery?
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That's awfully domestic of you.
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Also, if it's bad, it'll humanize you a little bit.
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Of course, neither is being bad at things.
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The idea of us as equals in a place this far away from everything we know. Hypothetically, I mean.
[He wonders how awkward that might be. For both of them. Not to mention how it might make adjusting to things if they had to go back home extremely weird. More so than it already would be.]
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[He's quiet another minute; his answer, when it comes, isn't quite an answer to the question asked, but it certainly is to something else.]
I trained with the Turks when I was young, you know. Verdot taught me how to shoot, put me on the tactical driving course. It was the first time anyone ever let me do something useful.
My father made the mistake of thinking he could buy you. I've always been more interested in being one of you.
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I wouldn't want you to be one of us, but I know that you would be the best of us. Easily.
[Each Turk has their little niche of what they're good for, but Rude can easily see Rufus becoming a jack of all trades if he was given the same training as everyone else. Tseng would have to worry for his job security in that alternative timeline.]
Don't over think it though. The dinner. The cooking. It's not a test, I just want to spend time with you. With clothes on. They say friends do this kind of thing sometimes. Not that I'd know much about that.
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What about you, then? If I cook, what domesticity are you bringing to the occasion?
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When I was a kid, I wanted to take care of animals. But could you imagine me as a veterinarian?
[Although he takes care of Reno pretty well, so maybe he's not too far off the mark.]
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...I could, actually. What kind of animals?
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[But, Rude will confess that just because Rufus had a massive cage around him growing up didn't mean that he was ever free.]
Stray cats and dogs. Birds. People's pets.
In another world I'm vaccinating cats and deworming puppies, and you're the one kicking ass and taking names.
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It's almost more insulting that way, isn't it.]
So that's why you're so fond of Darkstar. I'd wondered.
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When was her last bath? I can take care of it while you heal.
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[And it's also fun (for him).]
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You can watch.
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Hm. It's nice. It's nice in a way that almost feels like it should make him uncomfortable, somehow, except it doesn't quite.]
If you'll bring some painkillers along with that brace.
[...]
It's starting to hurt a little.
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[Rufus probably doesn't intend to make Rude feel guilty about their little sparring match, but it does successfully redirect him. Within the hour he's at Rufus' suite with a plastic bag of the requested items. The puppy pampering session can wait. He'll hang around if Rufus needs assistance, but otherwise will leave after a handful of sincere apologies about the whole thing.
And possibly a warning about making sure to rest his ankle--which he knows Rufus will likely ignore.]