voidtreckerexpress | And when they play it you can’t help but sing along

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And when they play it you can’t help but sing along

Who: Reno, Taiki
Where: Standard Carriage
When: Early Imagination
What: Taiki has Questions for Reno.
Warnings: Reno is his own warning.

There wasn't a whole lot of entertainment on the train for someone like Reno. He was either hard at work or hard at play but neither option was readily available for him here. He had no job--chores didn't count, he refused to do them outside of his own personal needs--and the kind of "play" he indulged in when off-duty wasn't anything like what was found on the train. The best he could do was train in the gym when he was restless and chill somewhere whenever he was lazy as a cat.

Today was a lounge in the standard carriage like a lazy cat dozing in and out of reality as the hours went by. He sat in one of the standard seats with his legs propped up on the seat in front of him and his hands behind his head. He had a set of the headphones on--red team's color instead of purple because he was a brat like that and red was his color, yo--and was listening to music. His foot was bouncing to the beat of the music, lively, and occasionally he would hum a phrase under his breath.

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Taiki wasn't intentionally seeking Reno out. He hadn't seen him much at all since the last mission, since he had spoken to Inigo. It's hard to think of the man who had saved him doing such a terrible thing. But he remembered the relish he had killed the monsters from the orbs and he knew that he had been taken in by his kindness.

But just avoiding him wasn't... It wasn't the right thing to do. Reno had hurt his friend and Taiki didn't understand how he could do such a thing.

So when he saw him in the standard carriage, as Taiki headed there to do some painting, he paused. Watched him for a moment with a sad frown.

Reno's eyes were closed more often than not as he listened to the music. However, every once in a while he would steal a glance at the carriage just to keep an eye on his surroundings. He couldn't help it, the action was automatic. Someone would pass or he'd hear something over his music or he would just shift a bit and his eyes would open a little to see what was going on.

He spotted Taiki one time when he shifted a bit and noticed the kid was staring at him. He smirked faintly, his head cocked slightly in curiosity, and wiggled his fingers in a tiny wave of greeting.

Taiki didn't smile in return, continuing to watch him with a stern confession on his face. He nodded in greeting but did not wave back.

He didn't speak either though, aware that Reno probably wouldn't be able to hear if he did.

Reno's head slipped further to the side, a small frown now accompanying his furrowed brow of confusion. The kid was really looking serious. What the hell, yo?

He tried to ignore the kid but the passive aggressive stare was starting to get on his nerves as it lingered. He could just feel it.

He sighed audibly and opened his eyes to look back at the kid again. He slid the headphones down around his neck. "What's up, kiddo?" He managed to mostly not sound annoyed. Mostly.

Taiki is by nature a timid creature. His first instinct is to run and flee from creatures that might do him harm, that are too powerful for him to face.

But he has faced worse than Reno. "I wanted to ask you some questions."

His voice was polite, but stern.

"Oi, you sound like someone who's about to give a sermon on the aspect ratio of an airship foil to a board of meetings. A very unenthusiastic sermon. At a meeting you don't wanna be at."

He rolled his head and cocked it in the other direction, peering at Taiki through his hair. He had a bad feeling that he was trying his best to ignore. Maybe he should just blow the kid off and get it over with.

"What's the deal, yo?"

Reno's casual and slightly dismissive words are enough for him to want to run. But that's exactly the reason he shouldn't. If what Inigo said was true, and Taiki had no reason to doubt him, Reno had done something terrible and no amount of his casualness was going to change that.

"Why did you try and kill Inigo and Roland?"

Straight to the point, he even met his eyes, not looking so much like the timid creature he so often was.

Yep. He knew it. He should have blown off the kid from the start. No point in having this conversation again. He huffed a puff of air out in an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"You too?" he muttered under his breath.

He fixed Taiki with a dull stare, eyes lifeless. It could be mistaken for boredom but it was Reno's emotional switch being turned off. A Turk's best friend in many a case. "If I wanted them dead, they'd be dead." He paused for the space of a blink. "If I say I didn't actually try to kill them, you gonna believe me or be like everyone else? Don't make me waste my breath."

He wants to skitter backwards at the huff and the eye roll but he stands his ground. The words are painful to hear, but he's heard worse. He has heard terrible things before.

It's just that he had thought of Reno as someone he could trust. Again he had made such a mistake, just like with Asen.

"What were you trying to do then? If your aim wasn't to kill?"

His voice was steady, his own eyes dull. He can pretend, pretend to not be horrified, pretend that talking about his friend nearly being killed doesn't bring him pain. He has spoken of Lord Gyousou's death without flinching before.

Kirin shouldn't be able to lie but he can, and it is something he draws upon now.

Reno closed his eyes and leaned back further in his seat. He really did look bored now, like he didn't want to talk to Taiki anymore.

In truthfulness, he didn't. He didn't like the idea of wasting his time. He didn't foresee anything he said going anywhere despite what he knew to be true.

Well, that's what happened when you projected an image as devil-may-care as his own. What was the point in cultivating it if he didn't actually follow through? If he didn't actually deign to not care? So, he chose to not care.

"Prove a point. You don't mess with a Turk unless you plan on getting hurt. Your best bet then is not to mess with a Turk. But some people need to be taught a lesson the hard way before they learn it."

"Not Inigo." He shook his head, his impression still stern. "Inigo doesn't mess with anyone."

And what Reno said did not make sense at all. "You've been hurting him since you've met him, right from the beginning. What did he do to you all the way back then?"

Because Inigo was like a frightened puppy, he didn't need harsh lessons to learn, he barely believed he was worth anyones time to begin with and it took a lot to convince him otherwise.

Reno opened his eyes to glare narrowly at the kirin. "I haven't touched him before or after our little ...'altercation'. He wanted to start a fight? He should have thought better of it before he hit me."

The redhead licked his lips where the split lip from said punch had been.

"You don't have to touch someone to hurt them."

His voice was still quiet, even, but unyielding. "I do not believe he hit you in your very first meeting. Inigo is not someone who would lash out like that."

It's surprising he had at all, but there is no judgement in Taiki. After all who is Taiki to judge anyone about violence, truthfully.

Reno ignored the words Taiki said to him first though there was enough tension in his jaw that it twitched--the only sign that he heard them for what they were.

"I didn't say he did," the redhead replied in a low tone. Technically still not answering the question.

"Why then?"

His voice was more intense, he didn't divert his gaze from Reno as he asked. "Why did you hurt him like that? Why would you do such a thing?"

He sounds like he really wants to understand. After all Reno had always been kind to Taiki, so he wants to know why he wouldn't be kind to someone like Inigo, someone who deserved kindness so much more.

Reno's eyes narrowed again as he stared at Taiki with all the aggressiveness of a tiger held behind bars while its prey walked free on the other side. He was silent for a painfully long moment.

"Why?" He scoffed derisively with a short, angry laugh. "Why not? I was just playing around! Having a bit of fun."

Taiki may not have as fine tuned instincts as a kirin born on Mount Hou but he still could realise a threat when he saw one, Reno's posture, the way he walked, all were of a dangerous creature and Taiki did not take his eyes off him.

But he did not back down either, did not avert his gaze. He has faced down more powerful threats than Reno before.

And he would not back away from defending Inigo. "Do you find it fun to bring pain to other people?"

"Sometimes," Reno answered honestly. "It's a means to an end and I happen to be particularly good at it. So I have a job that utilizes my kinds of skills. Why not get paid doing something I enjoy, yo? You don't ask a coeurl to change its spots."

That was terrible, there's so much... Reno was good at hurting people, he liked hurting people and someone paid him to hurt people.

That made him feel almost ill. He's not... He understands that people harm others. But he doesn't understand and he doesn't like it.

But he is determined not to back down. "No one paid you to hurt Inigo."

And if they did... He isn't even contemplating that.

Reno cocked his head and pursed his lips. He shrugged. "No, I guess not."

Simple admission. Taiki had him there. No one was paying him at all these days. It would have sucked more if everything wasn't just provided by the train. Everything vital anyway. Not enough entertainment for a guy like him to stay satisfied. And don't get him started on the point system that allowed them to buy extra items. That was a joke.

But it brought everything back to the 'don't ask a coeurl to change it's spots' statement. Reno was what he was. Take it or leave it.

Edited 2020-11-18 06:14 (UTC)

"So you had no reason to. Inigo did nothing to you and no one forced you to hurt him."

He is keeping his anger in check and honestly most of what he feels is sadness, that Reno would feel like this.

"You have to stop hurting people, not just Inigo, but anyone on this train. No one asked to be here."

"Oh yeah? Ya think?" Reno threw away his languid position with a start; his legs swung around and he stood in one quick motion. He got in close to Taiki. "Guess what: I don't care."

He leaned even further forward, eyes dark. "Don't ever tell me what to do, kid. It's not healthy for ya."

Taiki didn't budge, didn't move an inch as he met Reno's dark eyes with eyes of steel.

He's not afraid, Reno is terrifying and he does not doubt that he would hurt him. But Taiki has faced terrifying people who wanted to hurt him before and this isn't for him. This is for Inigo.

"Don't threaten me Reno, it won't work." He has practice in making himself sound more sure of himself, more confident than his heart wants him to be. His heart recognises Reno as a predator, a kirin has the instincts of prey, he wants to flee.

He holds his ground. "You can't bully me, and I won't let you harm anybody else."

"'You won't let me'?" Reno parrots back at Taiki mockingly. "Oh, yeah. You won't let me harm anybody else. So what are you going to do about it, hmm, kid?"

Reno moved forwards again and whether Taiki liked it or not he was going to move backward--if Reno had to shove the kid to get it to happen. Reno moved them until Taiki's back hit the nearest solid object. He kept a hand on Taiki's collar to hold him in place, and leaned into Taiki's personal space.

"You don't have the skills or power to stop me from gutting you right here and now, much less anyone else down the line. You want to run off and tattle to the other passengers I threatened you and your little friends? Go ahead. Start a fight. See how well that works out, how many of your friends I take out before I go down. It'll be fun!" He said the last line with a high, deranged note and a little laugh at the end.

Taiki did move backwards but he didn't lower his gaze from Reno's, even as he he was cornered, his hands remained at his side even as Reno holds him by the collar and leans in. He is used to this, he can make himself distant from this. Reno is in his face, he is angry but Taiki makes himself blank, doesn't let him see anything.

What had happened to Reno? What had happened to him to make him so angry, so full of hatred? It makes him feel sad. He shook his head.

"I don't start fights, Reno. I can't fight you and I won't let anyone else fight you either. I don't want anyone to be harmed and that includes you."

His voice was steady, no longer stern but gentle and calm. He makes no movements, not struggling to get out of the grip or trying to get away.

There was a one second window of emotional crescendo on Reno's face after Taiki's last words; from surprise to doubt to disbelief and finally back to the madness and heat that he hid his true self behind so well. He laughed again, unsteady at first until it grew back into its usual confidence.

"You don't get to decide those sorts of things." His voice was low and calm. "If you have no power to stop it, you have no say in the way the world around you operates. The only thing you can do? Is deal with it."

He gave a final shove against Taiki into the wall before backing away. His eyes glared daggers into the kid, a warning and a threat. Then he turned his back on Taiki dismissively.

He sees it, the surprise, the disbelief. He doesn't know Reno very well, barely at all. But the man who had saved him, the man who juggled lights, the man who had asked only pizza in return for keeping Taiki alive through a battle. The man who teased and bullied Inigo and had attacked and hurt him. They were all the same person and that moment, tiny moment of disbelief that Taiki wouldn't want him hurt, it cemented it all together. Made all those parts of him click together in Taiki's head.

And if it hadn't his next words would have. If you have no power to stop it, you have no say in the way the world around you operates.

"That's not true." His voice is still soft, he steps after Reno. He should walk away, should let Reno walk away. But that was untrue and it said more about Reno than he had ever known before.

"It is the duty of those with power to ensure the world is fair for those without."

Reno stopped abruptly and spun back around to face Taiki with a dark expression again. "Is that what you think? That's wishful thinking, kid. Those in power don't give a shit about the peons beneath them. Why should they? They're just stepping stones to a higher position. You don't apologize to a rock for stepping on it."

"They should though." His voice is quiet, but he hasn't backed down and he is still meeting Reno's gaze.

"It is their duty, those that do not care have no business in being in power."

People, citizens were so much more than rocks. He knew that Reno probably came from a world where rulers did not have kirin to remind them of that.

It made him even sadder, considering how quickly Reno had been to argue that point.

"Repeating the lie isn't going to make it any more true than the first time you said it. But hey, say it enough times and you might believe it." He made a disgusted 'tch' noise at Taiki. "Still doesn't change it into the truth."

Reno started to turn around and leave again but he stopped short, turned back to Taiki and held up a finger in the kid's face. "And I am not going to care just because you say I should. That doesn't work. It's lame, yo, so stop trying."

"It is is not a lie." He wants to say he can't lie, doesn't lie. Kirin don't, as a rule.

But that would be a lie within itself. This however, was no lie. It might not be what happens, but it is how it should be. People in power had a duty to protect, if they used that power correctly was a different matter.

He shook his head sadly at Reno as a finger was pointed at him. Reno is not a king. Here, no matter what power he perhaps once held, he is no better or worse than the rest of them. Taiki doesn't really have the right to lecture him.

But he doesn't want to see his friends hurt. "It's not lame to want to ensure everyone here is treating kindly and with respect. It is not a large place and it would be in your best interest too to work with everyone else as a community."

"It's nagging and that makes it lame," Reno insisted with a sneer. "And I'm sick of it. Your ideals don't mean shit in the real world. The least you can do is keep them to yourself and stop bothering people with them."

In particular, him. Reno had heard enough. He was tired of this conversation. He was tired of being lectured. He was tired-- he was just tired of everything here.

"I don't care," he said as he turned around again, ignoring Taiki once more. "Go bother someone who does."

"I live in the real world." But Reno has a point. He should stop bothering people, stop bothering Reno. Taiki has no right to tell him what to do, he is not his to advise.

"I will leave you be." He nodded, hiding the guilt, the shame for speaking so far out of turn for now. "You might not care, but I do. About you. I hope you realise that."

He turned to go, looking back once at Reno sadly. That had not gone as well as he had hoped, but he would just have to keep trying. More subtly, to show Reno how there truly could be a better way.

It was a good thing Reno's back was to Taiki as the kirin said his final words. It meant the kid couldn't see the look on Reno's face as he heard those kind words directed at him again, missed the flicker of emotion that passed through his eyes.

Reno swallowed carefully, not wanting it to be obvious, and steeled himself once more before walking determinedly away. He didn't go back to the idle position he had taken up earlier but kept walking so he left the carriage in the opposite direction of Taiki and went to find something strenuous to do to keep himself mindlessly occupied.

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And when they play it you can’t help but sing along

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