Rufus hadn't bothered to inform anyone that he was leaving the island—for good, as far as he was concerned. Tseng would find out shortly, he surmised. There had been no roommate for him to alert and the other blonde, while he didn't care for her, wasn't entirely incompetent. She could handle the bookstore.

And if she couldn't… well, he didn't particularly care. Rufus had bigger ambitions than that.

His first stop wasn't his world, though. Indeed, at first blush, it looked much like the world he'd left behind. It was early, so there weren't many people out and about for Dark Nation's appearance to cause a stir—that was the one thing he'd been uncertain of—and it took him little time to get to where he wanted to be.

Rufus looked down.

"You," he said, "come with me."

Dark Nation's tail wagged.

[For the bathtubbed one!]

It had been three nights, and they were well into the fourth day, and the entire time they had been surrounded by Wutai's lush forests, absurdly sticky heat for the time of year, and rain. There were gnats, flies, and other biting insects, some brilliantly coloured, others near impossible to see.

They were doing their best to avoid both armies that waged in the unending guerrilla war for Wutai. The ShinRa troops, they gave a wider berth. After all, if they killed Wutaian soldiers... well, there was less to be concerned with for that.

Rufus didn't know what his companion thought of the war. Or what he made of being up against his old foes again. He glanced sidelong at Zack, while also making sure they weren't followed for the moment as they continued to make their way through the forest, looking for any sign of the missing SOLDIERs.

Rufus was, against all odds, having fun.

[For Zack. And SP. So much SP.]

After yesterday’s conversation, Rufus was feeling... reckless. It fizzled under his skin, irritating him, and further destroying his focus. Not even taking Dark Nation out for a run that went on long enough to completely tucker the puppy out to the point where Rufus had to carry him home had really done much to settle him.

Though he hoped, spitefully, that whichever Turk who’d had to go on the run with him was feeling it. Rufus wasn’t, which likely came as a surprise to them. Or maybe not. He always had been more than fit enough to take care of Dark Nation’s needs. Blaming his further physicality on the island could work. The island was covered in stairs.

But now, with Dark Nation sleeping, Rufus was entirely alone—insofar as anyone was ever really alone in the ShinRa Building.

He thought about what Tseng had talked about yesterday, about how they could be more mutually beneficial to one another, and after running through his list of secrets… well, fine then. He’d throw the poor man a bone. There were several ranges in the ShinRa Building. Some, like the ones he’d been at yesterday, were never empty, always someone in there. There was the one that the Turks favoured, which was quieter.

Then there was the one that, really, should be closed entirely but for some reason the paperwork kept getting lost. Rufus rarely interfered with his father’s work but he’d taken steps years ago to secure his own range. Because he wanted Tseng to be able to find him this time, he wasn’t quite as circumspect as getting to it as he usually was. Tseng would still have to work for it, of course, Rufus wasn’t that nice ever, but Rufus wasn’t flat out disappearing into the depths of the building either.

(The Turks knew many things. Rufus knew the ShinRa Building better than any of them or all of them combined. It had been a study of a lifetime.)

By the time Tseng found him, he’d find Rufus deep within shooting drills of his own. He wore the proper safety equipment, of course, if only because an accident happening during practice was the stupidest thing if he could prevent it.

Rufus, as it turned out, was very good with a gun.

[Again, for a Turk, please!]

It was astonishing, really, how many things there were to do when no one cared what he was doing. There were the squirrels, but compared to the Turks their surveillance was spotty and easily avoided, which left Rufus essentially free so long as he bothered to show up to class.

All told, the island was treating him quite kindly. He was inclined to permit that to continue, which meant that there was a very fine line he had to tread.

Rufus eyed the door to his room contemplatively. It was open. It was tempting to leave and go do something else--and there was no shortage of things he could be doing--but Dark Nation was a sleepy puppy curled up against his side and Rufus had plenty of things to read and do in his room.

And one other thing. It was a chore, which meant it was best to get it over with.

After nearly truly ridiculous number of phone calls that he'd ignored entirely--honestly, Tseng was deeply terrifying--Rufus dialed Tseng's number voluntarily. Tseng might have a heart attack.

That would certainly be more pleasing than Tseng coming to the island and marching up into the dorms to shout at him.

[Open door, open post!]

"You know who I am. Now tell me what you want."

*Beep!*

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