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They
were arguing in the office for a good fifteen minutes before Reno
stuck his head out the door and told her that she could come inside.
She tried to keep her chin high, because if nothing else, she was a
Mage Instructor at Baron, and despite being confused, anxious, and
completely out of her element, she was not one to back down from
anything. She'd caught only snippets of the discussion going on
behind the closed door, but it'd been enough to alert her to this
boss' disapproval of her presence.
Whatever she'd been expecting (and she thought it something along
the lines of a wizened Sage like Tellah or a toughened veteran like
Yang), Rufus was none of those things. He looked almost no older
than she was, the stark whiteness of his suit making him appear, if
possible, even younger. The surprise must have shown on her face,
because he chuckled slightly (in a way that reminded her far more of
Edward than the others) and waved his hand in the air.
"You aren't what I expected either," he told her. "Please, have a
seat."
"Excuse me, but I'd prefer to stand," she said, and then, "What were
you expecting of me?"
He gave her a hard, but not disapproving look.
"My Turks have told me about your gift with magic," he said, after a
moment's hesitation. "I did not know what to expect. Here, we rely
on Materia to access such abilities."
"Materia?" Rydia repeated. Her fingers tingled slightly. "And the
man we were chasing? What of him?"
"Indeed," Rufus mused. "The corrosion of his cells allowed him to
tap into these resources while traveling through the lifestream.
Here, he cannot wield such magic without Materia as well."
It was good news, at least, and she was glad she wouldn't be facing
the dark energy again so soon. She let out a breath she had not
realized that she had been holding, and the tension in her shoulders
lessened somewhat. From his position against the wall, Reno gave her
a slight nod.
"What do you want from me, then?" she asked.
"You are the one who went voluntarily through the portal," Rufus
shot back. "I should be asking you what it was that you wished to
accomplish."
His mention of the portal was like a twisting in her gut– she hadn't
thought of her friends yet, and their absence was like a keen ache.
She swallowed hard to bite back the tears that threatened to well
over at the reminder of her comrades. After all, what Rufus said was
true, and she'd made the decision for herself– for what purpose?
She'd been terrified of being left alone down in the Land's
honey-combed caves, and she'd been terrified of–
"The man was still a threat," she said, successfully bypassing the
thought process entirely. "What is to say he would not simply go
back through the portals again?"
She kept her eyes on Rufus, and did not look towards the walls for
fear that her racing heart would give her away. The blond man raised
an eyebrow, but seemed to accept her answer.
"For the time being, stick with Tseng's group," he told her. "You'll
be safer that way, and should we get another tip on the man you were
chasing, you can go with them."
"A tip?" Rydia said, startled. "You mean– you've lost him?"
"The confusion that erupted when you exited the portal as well,
unconscious, resulted in him slipping further through the lifestream
to an unknown point," Rufus said, and his voice was hard for the
first time. She bristled, but did not lower her gaze. She had been
wondering why she'd woken in Elena's room rather than the opposite
side of the portal– perhaps her swooning meant something in regards
to the magic of the world, and perhaps not. It seemed too early to
tell.
"In the meantime, I had Elena drop off an extra uniform for you to
wear. You seem to be about the same size, and it will be far easier
to keep you concealed if you look to be part of our organization,"
Rufus said.
"Wait," Tseng said, stepping out from the shadows with his hands
held behind his back. "She needs a weapon."
"I rather thought she was a weapon," Rufus replied.
"It's possible her magic won't work here," Tseng pointed out, and
then all eyes in the room turned to her. Her cheeks flushed
involuntarily. "We don't know how the adjustment will affect her
skills."
"If that's the case, we'll have to equip her," Rufus said, though it
seemed mostly to himself.
"Elena will complain about the breach of protocol again," Rude said,
and Rydia had nearly forgotten about his presence.
"This is all highly irregular," Rufus agreed, "but there isn't much
that can be done to correct that now."
"Oi!" Reno cried out, and the room fell into welcome silence. "Maybe
we should let her figure it out first, and work out the details
after we know what we're dealing with."
Everyone in the room turned to face her again, and Rydia felt more
nervous than she ever had before performing a spell. She had to try
something rudimentary– after all, she didn't know how the symantics
to her magic would hold up in the strange world she found herself
in, and she didn't want to push herself. She held her palm out,
towards Rufus' desk, and chanted the first spell that came to mind.
The tingling was the same as ever in her fingertips, and the rush of
cold air coated his desk in a thin layer of ice.
There was a collective release of breath.
"Good," Rufus said, and he did seem pleased. "That's one
thing, then. Here's the uniform."
Rydia took the crisp suit from him, preferring not to think of what
her comrades would think should they see her in such garb. She
hugged the garment close to her chest and watched him as he quickly
leafed through papers from his desk, blowing bits of frost from the
top layer.
"Where will I stay?" she asked, when she could contain the silence
no longer.
"Elena's on assignment," Tseng supplied, when Rufus looked to be
lost in thought. The thought of staying alone in the strange world
was almost too much, and her breath caught in her throat instantly.
There was a gnawing fear in her stomach, roiling and twisting, and
the last thing she wanted was to wake up in a strange Inn, without
knowing where she was, or how to contact the only people she did
know, or even how to get around on the odd, building-lined streets.
She was about to beg to be allowed to stay with someone, but Reno
beat her to it.
"Ah, she can stay with me," he said, shrugging lightly. "I've got a
couch."
Rydia tried not to look too relieved, and attempted to keep
her face neutral when Rufus nodded in agreement.
"Very well," he said. "Tseng, Rude, I need you two out in the field
to try and find our missing subject. He might try and organize with
others."
The two nodded, and then left.
"What about us?" Reno asked.
"Show her around," Rufus suggested with a faint smile. "I'll notify
you if they find anything. Just keep your phone on."
-------
Reno was silent on the journey back to his apartment, though Rydia
hadn't the slightest clue where they were in the city or how far
from the office he actually lived. The devices she had likened to
the Giant of Babil– though she still retained that her initial
reaction was correct– seemed less threatening when there was someone
next to her and she had a better idea of what to expect from them.
Reno called them cars, and she did not miss the quirking of his
mouth when she had asked about them. He seemed amused by her
complete loss at what was going on around them, and she was slightly
miffed by it.
He gestured to the small room in the hall once they'd gotten back to
the chambers.
"Wash up, then," he told her, and she reluctantly went into the tiny
room. After what seemed like ages of staring at the tiny cube in the
corner, she walked back out, arms still tightly wrapped around
Elena's uniform, feeling very, very silly.
"How?" she asked. She wasn't sure which caught him more off-guard–
her question, or her sudden arrival back into the hall. She almost
threw the garment at him when he began to laugh at her. It was only
after the promise of a thunder shock that he stopped and went to
explain how to use the "shower", as he called it, but he was still
chuckling when he left, and she slammed the door after him just to
prove a point (though what, she didn't know).
He must have heard her yelp when she initially stepped in (although
it certainly wasn't her fault that the water was nearly scalding),
and she ended up standing outside of it, shivering, trying to adjust
the temperature as he had shown with the cylindrical dial. When the
stream finally reached a point that she could stand, she got back
in, and found that after she got over her initial distrust of the
contraption, it was really quite nice to bathe in.
Elena's suit came with pants rather than the skirt Rydia had
expected, and she was glad, more than ever, that Cecil and Rosa were
not there to see her dressed in such things. The hems were a bit
long, but the garment fit alright, and she tousled her wet hair
until it hung in damp waves.
When she exited the bathroom, he was waiting for her with keys in
his hand, spinning the metal ring around his finger.
"Ready?" he asked, with a grin she could not decipher.
"For what?" she shot back. The shoes on her feet were a bit small,
and they pinched her toes, and she tapped one on the ground behind
her to adjust it without having to bend down.
"We're takin' a ride," he said.
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