here at the honeybee inn. / open

[makopoison]

[ they tell him he won't make soldier. no amount of training can fix a weakness of the soul. the mako doesn't agree with him - he's bedridden for three days after the initial test, and upon discharge, told he'll nnot be allowed to apply again. on the very same day he'd tendered his resignation, apologizing to his squadmates for letting them down, and left a message to the turk who had helped him on the trains as well as zack fair, thanking them for their belief in him, however ill-placed.

he was left with no choice but to improvise. there was nothing to return home to in nibelheim, no reason to quietly endure further ridicule and a lifetime of being ostracized, but no way he could live on the plate with the sky-high rent and the soul-sucking jobs requiring more skill than country boy can provide. he isn't the first SOLDIER washout to be too ashamed to go home, and he knows he won't be the last. the slums are full of them. he'd found himself lost, wandering lost in the shadow of the plate. sector five was bright and flashy but he wasn't equipped to deal with pickpockets and gangs. the better part of the day was spent utterly terrified, certain he was going to die here tonight and no one would ever know because he'd been too damn stupid to tell them his plans.

don corneo's men saw an easy mark for the coliseum. promising big money and a place to sleep - but a hand on his shoulder, a whisper in his ear, i could make you a star, darling - offered him something better.

andrea rhodea had smiled so charmingly and with such faith he'd decided he was in before he even heard the offer.

( they'd suggested claudia for his stagename, not knowing it was his mothers. he'd balked, almost shouting no, because while the rhinestones and glitter were rapidly becoming just another part of his world - he couldn't imagine the humiliation of anyone he knew knowing this. shame had consumed so much of his life, dictated so much of what he enjoyed - he refused to let it ruin this too. )

so cirrus was born. and cirrus was a fucking hit.

and he hadn't been lying. cloud's androgynous features were a smash with the customer-base. he was a quick learner, a hell of a dancer, and not too bad of a fighter. he was a star - and it came with glitz, and glamour, and gil, but no glory.

the usual showstopper was done for the night. cloud, center-stage, dancing to a flashy new routine in a uniform somewhere between the men's snappy suits and the women's bulky bee costume. he's fanning himself in the changing room, huffing out a breath as he counts down the minutes until the end of his shift, when one of the girls tells him he's been requested for a private show. ]

Seriously? I'm almost off the clock. Can't someone else -

[ it's someone important, she says, shaking her head. classified. you know what that means.

the blonde pulls a face.

don't worry, it doesn't look like an exec. she adds hastily. but you better move.

he sighs. turns back to the mirror to wipe away any evidence of exertion and heads for the room. ]

Comments

[makopoison]

Sure.

[ he has to think for a moment, swishing the contents of his glass before he finishes it and offers it out. ]

I'll give you a sneak preview of my new pole routine.

[electroburst]

[ is that a reward? reno laughs, but he takes cirrus's glass and refills it a solid just-more-than-half. that gives the illusion that he isn't drinking very much, but he'll refill and refill and refill again—classic trick. it goes well with their fun little party trick game. ]

Alright, deal. Now, repeat after me: "the mailbox was bent and broken and looked like someone had knocked it over on purpose."

[makopoison]

That's cheating.

[ his lips quirk in a half smile, the fingers of his hand curling over his lips as he watches the turk fill his glass. it also might not do him much good - cloud had spent ages practicing on sentences just like that, trying to shake the country bumpkin out of him. some people liked the accent - it made him seem simple and cute, a good way to play it up and get tips or get someone talking when they shouldn't.

but he prefers the clean, crisp accent of the plate.

he takes a sip and licks his lips. ]

"The mailbox was bent and broken and looked like someone had knocked it over on purpose."

[electroburst]

[ reno listens carefully, head tilted. thinks for a moment, picking apart the syllables. he's got a terrible ear for languages, but dialect is a different story. it's kind of one of his favorite subjects. rather, he likes to play around with people and surprise them with how smart he supposedly is, when really, it's no different than recognizing one or two simple sounds. he taps his temple when he's got it. ]

North of the Canyon, west of the Saucer. Gotta be somewhere around the mountains there. Right?

[makopoison]

[ huh.

surprise registers in his eyes. but, leave it to a turk, right? ]

Right on the money. What gave it away?

[electroburst]

Your vowel sounds, mostly. They're long, over-pronounced. Just a little bit. I probably wouldn't have guessed if you didn't already say you're from the country.

[ it was a rough guess, but a rough guess is usually all you need to get people to tell you what you want to know. he grins and knocks back some of that bubbly. ]

[makopoison]

I'll keep that in mind if I ever wanna be a spy.

[ he's not giving a town, because fuck that. fuck who could find out about it. nibelheim isn't notable at all, and the accent isn't too different from rocket town so...

he stands up. ]

I promised you a dance. I should warn you - it's for the main show, not a private one. Not quite as flashy.

[electroburst]

[ alright, alright. at least this is something more like what the fuck he's supposed to be doing here. he sits back, smirking, and raises his glass in gesture. ]

Alright, blondie, let's see it.

[makopoison]

[ the routine is certainly more theatrical than you may expect if you aren't a regular of the honeybee in. cloud isn't a star because he's pretty to look at, he's talented. a childhood running wild in the military combined with those two years in the military made him strong and lean and more than capable of preforming some impressive feats of flexibility and dexterity.

but he's got rhythm. and that ethereal look that sells the whole thing. he looks like he was born to be nobility, even if he was and always will be nothing more than a country bastard. ]

[electroburst]

[ well, if nothing else, he's a pretty, pretty boy. reno's not special just because he's cynical and has bad memories that happened nearly two decades ago—he's a guy. he's susceptible to the same shit. maybe even moreso, considering the type of careless, loose person he is. he's sure to provide plenty of encouragement throughout the whole thing, although it certainly has the funny effect of coming off more like a pal amping up his buddy than a whistling hound panting for a cut of the steak.

when it's all said and done, he refills cirrus's glass to about half again. ]

Well, it's no wonder they call you the shining star of Wall Market. You must got a lotta fans. Maybe even me, too.

[makopoison]

[ the whole experience is ramping up to be one of the oddest ones he's had with an exec. it's too... normal. too humanizing. he isn't sure how he likes it, or how he'll handle it when the other shoe finally drops. ]

I do alright.

[ he rests a hand on his hip, his cheeks faintly pink from the stupid title and from the exertion. pausing just a moment to catch his breath. it's been a long fucking night, and really, he'd love to go the fuck to sleep. but he's a professional. this is his profession. and if the guy isn't a total fuckhead, it'd be nice to have him back sometime.

he doesn't respond to the usual bullshit, so cloud just sips his drink. maybe should watch how much he's drinking. he doubts he could outdrink a turk and the guy is nice, but nice doesn't mean anything when someone works for shinra. ]

Most people don't really call me a 'star' because they like the way I dance, though.

[electroburst]

[ reno's had quite a few, but he's—eh, yeah, doing alright. kinda tipsy, bordering into drunk territory but not enough to start braying like an ass. if he'd come in here more shitfaced he might've done just that, but there's also the oddly sobering effect of being in a place that doesn't exactly scream good, funny times to him. still—it's definitely changed. the fact that cirrus here gets to stand there and catch his breath at all is a big ram up from how it used to be, and that's, y'know? pretty nice. really warms the cockles of whatever approximation of a heart he has left. ]

Hehehe. Oh, yeah? Is it somethin' else?

[ aaand here it comes. ]

[makopoison]

I've got a smart mouth and I know how to use it.

[ from no shortage of practice. and correction. and long, long lessons with people he'd rather sink his teeth into than bring any kind of bliss. ]

[electroburst]

[ oh—ha. good times. reno snorts stupidly and laughs into his glass, thankfully doesn't sputter his drink and actually gets the chance to sip it. ]

I bet. You look like you can talk some serious shit.

[ that's way more fun than the other thing. ]

"And you can use it," yeah, yeah, blowjobs or whatever. You wanna roast some suits? I bet you've met so many.

[makopoison]

[ there's a faintly suspicious look. ]

A few. Not as many as you'd think.

[electroburst]

A few is still some. C'mon, I bet I can guess who's been here. Scarlet, for sure, right? What a fuckin' witch.

[ you better believe he's watching for recognition. ]

[makopoison]

[ oh, he's getting some. cloud takes a long swig of his drink. ]

I'm not at liberty to say.

[electroburst]

[ yep. yep. reno laughs immediately, reaches out and nudges cloud in the arm. ]

Come ooooonnn. You can say whatever you wanna say in front of me. She's the fucking worst, isn't she?

[makopoison]

[ she really, really is. he's quiet a moment - it'd be smarter to shut up and just, like, make a move to try to suck his dick or something so his mouth is full and he can't get himself in trouble. ]

No. Corneo is definitely the worst. [ okay, just. taking a drink he hasn't drank that much right right is fine. he crosses his legs loosely at the ankle. ] ... There's just something... wrong with that woman.

[ ... ]

Her tits are fake, too.

[electroburst]

[ ah, yes. corneo. it'd probably behoove him to get some useful dirt on that guy, but really, what else is there that they don't basically already know? any story cirrus can tell him would just be a different version of the same, depraved shit. like—maybe he's got something new and interesting, but the amount of stomach-turning shit they'd have to wade through to get to that point isn't something he feels particularly interested in dealing with tonight. he came here for fun, not business.

he came for comments exactly like that. reno cackles into his glass. ]

Hahahaha, you serious? I knew it. She's already just plastic and wires on the inside, might as well make it match. Y'know, now that she's like, seventy years old or whatever. She turned thirty, like, six times already.

[makopoison]

Serious.

[ he's seen so much of that woman. so... so much. ]

I've heard she brings her kinks into the workplace, but one of the guys that's always following her around? Not actually in the military. He's from here.

[electroburst]

[ yo... his eyes light up at that. now that's actually some dirt. not that he really dares to cross scarlet (again) with something like that, that'd be as good as beating the hornet's nest with a stick. but he can just. slip that into his back pocket for later. ]

That's a total breach of protocol... 'Course, the suits at the top can pretty fucking much do what they want with total impunity. When you got that much power, nobody can say anything about the weird, illegal shit you do.

[makopoison]

Sure can't. But it makes you careless when you talk.

[ he's pretty sure he's picked up a number of Shinra secrets already that she's whispered while brutalizing him. ]

The only one who isn't is Palmer. But I think that's only because no one tells him anything.