plate_builder | [Open Post]

The idea of a chocobo head was already funny enough, especially since he could just see Reno trying to chase one down, and probably getting dung all over his shoes before he even got close, but that last little bit...? Rufus tries hard, his hand coming to his mouth, but is soon laughing hard enough he might cry.

Yes, Reeve, he might have just imagined you in a dress.

Really? What are you doing? Reeve tilts his head and looks at Rufus.

"Going to share?"

Meanwhile Cait is filling the carafe with water.

"Seeing you... in a dress..." He's having a bit of trouble speaking through the laughter, but does reach up to touch the back of Reeve's head. "And right here... I can see a cute little bow..."

He's gone again as soon as he speaks that, the image quite obviously refreshed in his mind. If only Reeve knew that the dress the blond is imagining also had bows and flowers, just like some of the covers of romance novels, he'd either be pissed or laugh with Rufus.

A touch? They've kept away from that except when Reeve was showing him how to use his controls earlier. But that? Makes Reeve shiver just a bit. Shiver and lean back because he can't help it. He misses moments of connection like this.

Then he realizes what he's done and maybe there is the faintest touch of red on his cheeks, embarrassed to be caught at that. No, he needs to rush ahead.

"I hope it's at least a tasteful dress. If it's not, I may retaliate by imagining you in something frilly and white with a bell skirt."

Rufus is too wrapped up in his laughter to notice, perhaps thankfully for Reeve, and although it should not be funny, he responds simply with. "Please! I have better taste than that whore Scarlett! It's quite a lovely dress, with lots of petticoats."

"Petticoats?" Reeve asks, half horrified at the thought. That is terrible. "I could not live with such bulk. Quick, put me back in my real clothes in your mind."

Yes, undress him from that dress.

He fills the machine with water and Cait sits back down on the counter. Not like Rufus is paying attention to this.

"One of Elena's romance novels." He seems to be recovering, at least, but is still snickering to himself a little bit. "Besides, if you were a bride, I doubt you'd wear them long; your husband would be quick to remove them so he could ravish you, right?"

"Oh my," Reeve sighs, shaking his head at that. Why would he do that? He deserves better than that. "At least consider something nice, like..."

Wait, what? Now Reeve's face is a bit more red than before. That hadn't been something he had thought about. Rufus, why did this have to get charged in that sort of manner?

"If I chose to wear a dress, and if my husband came home and tried to do such a thing without permission, I'd avail myself of a stop spell. I would wear the dress for myself now wouldn't I?"

No. This is terrible. "What else do you want me to show you with Cait?"

Rufus raises a brow, obvious curiosity over what Reeve began to say, but he knows better than to push too far. Besides, he doesn't need to be doubled-over again, already feeling the pain from the first time. But he does remark, "Who said without permission?"

Then, taking a slow breath to finish calming down, he smiles a bit more normally, almost child-like again. "I want to see this cartwheel. Even if I can't mimic it."

No chance Reeve is going to look at the man for a while.

"You talk to Reno too much," he grumbles under his breath while taking the controls again. For this he climbs Cait easily onto his bed and then smirks. "You won't be able to see it as well because, well, I don't have a camera on him. I hope you don't get dizzy easily."

Rufus smirks. If Reeve only knew how little Reno was at fault, how even the red-head sometimes got taken aback when his boss could win at what Reno considered his own personal game...

Well, if he knew, he'd probably be both amused and angry. Amused Reno could lose, angry that Rufus' mind could supply him endless terrible thoughts and why.

His eyes move to watch, though, curious what will be seen since he's never exactly been able to do a cartwheel, and gently reassuring Reeve that he isn't easy to make dizzy.

Reeve manages to pull off a few cartwheels up and down the bed, clearly amusing himself. From there he even sets Cait through the process of turning down the bed for him.

"You will be welcome to keep working with him at your leisure," Reeve offers. "I do have to advise you of a few things when you use him. Cait can read and process written word perfectly well. However his eyes are cameras, and cameras can't easily process other screens. It has to do with refresh rates and other technical stuff, but it's hard to see it clearly. I thought you should know."

Rufus watches, chuckling softly at Reeve's having the cat turn the bed down, before nodding at him. "Alright. I doubt I'll need to do a great deal of reading with him for a time, anyway. I did it before to see if I could handle paper."

"Paper is difficult. It has so little form. People don't think of that," Reeve admits with a shrug. "Weapons, materia, gear? Easy. But delicate things? I practiced with feathers."

Why he had an ample supply of feathers to practice with is a whole other question.

"It's also easy to tear if too much force is put into it." He smiles, having just enough understanding to be dangerous, it seems. "Still, maybe I can borrow some of your books from a distance."

"You'd be welcome to, once you're comfortable enough with paper. As a note, his fur is water-proofed and rather stain resistant, so he's pretty nice to take care of."

With that he looks to Rufus again, now calmed down from the earlier conversation.

"It's getting late. I should prepare to return home."

Rufus nods again, shifting to pull his phone out so he can text the Turks that Reeve is ready to go.

"I'll make sure not to interrupt you when you work. I'll also come up with some helpful tips for being more political and have them prepared for our next meeting. Anything I should focus on particularly?"

"Who you may know in positions of power in Junon. I can handle Kalm and Fort Condor myself. My initial focus is of course here on the Eastern Continent. It will take time to spread."

But he carefully picks up the controls and carries them over to the table that he set the amplifier up on.

"Thank you for entertaining my foolish idea with dinner tonight, Rufus. I will refrain from trying again."

"Was it so foolish?" He stands, deciding a good host will see his guest out - when not being a child, or sick. "I enjoyed it, even if the conversation took a rather sour turn. We don't get such good food here often."

It's unsaid, but he understands what Reeve needs, and will set to working on what the man needs come the next day. Insofar as he can, anyway. Although he's had the Turks see who and who isn't still around, there's a question of how much power any one of them has. Something he can naturally note in his papers.

Perhaps something Rufus can request of Tseng, who can pass it up the ladder to Veld to see what contacts that old man still has.

"It leads to an awkward situation where neither of us know what to say," Reeve answers. He's only starting to wonder if Rufus takes his meals with his Turks even. Was he trained only toward the formal dinners to be shared with others, and not more personal things?

Rufus smiles, perhaps an acknowledgment that what Reeve says is true, and actually moves to the door when there's a knock, opening it slowly and speaking to Tseng for a few moments. He then returns back towards Reeve, the Turk taking up his place rigidly at the door.

"Tseng will get you back in one piece. Please let either of us know if you need something before the next meeting."

"Of course," Reeve agrees. But he won't. Who knows how long before they can meet again even. "Thank you for seeing me, Mister Shinra."

He spares Rufus a nod for his goodbye before heading out through the door Tseng has open for him. Home, a long drive away. During which he intends to probe Tseng to see if he can't pinpoint if the man would ever give his boss the time of day.

It won't truly matter when it is possible again, as Rufus will seem to use the Cait unit at least daily to wander Reeve's apartment, both working with the suggested ideas that the man left - mastering them as efficiently as he can - and occasionally making sure the man is aware Rufus is certainly controlling it by getting into some of the man's books. In a way, that means he's seeing Reeve daily, even if only through the eyes of a tiny mechanical cat.

Eventually, Rufus will contact Reeve again to ask for a meeting, letting him know he has compiled several notes, names, locations and other pertinent information that the man could use for his expansion of the WRO.

Strangely enough, Reeve doesn't seem bothered by the repeated reminders of Rufus, of the man moving about his life. Sure, he's in and out of his apartment with surprising regularity, and yes, he can definitely be caught out in not sleeping or eating nearly enough. But at other times he seems to welcome the brief distraction, and isn't against giving Rufus little pointers out loud. Granted, he hasn't given the man instructions on how to use the communication protocols yet, but he seems almost amused to be able to talk at Rufus and not have to have a response.

After a few days, though, Reeve pulls out a white pocket cloth from one of his less used suits and turns it into a makeshift white cape for Cait as a point of amusement. Because surely Rufus would not suffer the indignity of having this much color, even in a proxy. Black, white, and a touch of gold up top.

When the summons comes, Reeve has to send back that he needs a few days to arrange time. Almost to his own surprise the WRO is growing with a bit of speed beyond his hopes. Soon he is relieved Jasper has taken over much of the management of improvement to Edge, because he's got more volunteers than he knows what to do with, and a pending meeting in Kalm to deal with. It's after this that he agrees to meet Rufus. Will save everyone a bit of travel if he just has his guards take him a bit outside of the city for him to be transferred over to his Turk transport. Of course this is after several hard days of negotiations with Kalm, so it is a very tired Reeve that shows up in front of Rufus.

"Thank you," he says as he enters, looking almost immediately for a seat. "Forgive me for the delay. Things have gotten busy."

The white cape will only prompt Rufus to be a bit more childish, or perhaps Reno is encouraging him, because at one point after the addition of the item Reeve will find Rufus has waited for the perfect opportunity to lay the cat in front of an open window in a Superman-flying position.

However, there doesn't seem to be any issue with not being able to communicate, as if there is anything of question, Rufus will find ways to have the machine indicate this to its creator. It would seem he is decent at charades.

"It's fine." He responds to the apology, indicating the couch for Reeve to use as a seat. "I wouldn't have called you out, but I thought it would be best you can ask me about the information in the pages in front of you, face to face, rather than over a phone."

Well, good enough to use this icon

OMG THAT ICON

It's great but I doubt I'll use it often xD

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Reeve, quit inviting Seph into your house - he always sheds those damn feathers /shot

Lol. Seph is TOTALLY too pale for him. The silver hair is just a no

Get yo pale ass outta my room! /Said as Barrett

The yo and outta made that clear.

hehe

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