[ from a practical perspective, tseng understands it in an instant. what rufus wanted was never the promised land; he was not his father, half-mad in pursuit of a fairytale that may or may not even exist. the only reason that the former president coveted ifalna and aerith the way he did was because of his hopes that they might one day give him the information he needed—and without a need for that information, there would be no need to expend resources on a pursuit.
that, in turn, makes it fairly obvious what that other problem might be. sephiroth, the rogue soldier, his blade still wet with rufus' father's blood. even if tseng doubts that rufus particularly mourns the old man, sephiroth is a dangerous creature, and allowing him to run amok across gaia while rufus tries to wrangle his newly-inherited affairs would be unwise indeed. ]
I see. [ one of the only tells when tseng is thinking heavily is the way he chews at his lip—not even chews, really, so much as digs his teeth into the inside left of it. aerith, tseng thinks, had been more or less from the same timeline as tseng, although they'd never compared notes in detail. it is more of a relief than he's willing to admit to think that she might have gone home only to be offered amnesty and freed to live the rest of her life. ] It's a good offer. I don't know if they'll take it. I haven't spoken to Strife about it—or at all, in fact.
[ although if he'd known there was a bargain to talk about, he probably would have made an effort. ]
no subject
that, in turn, makes it fairly obvious what that other problem might be. sephiroth, the rogue soldier, his blade still wet with rufus' father's blood. even if tseng doubts that rufus particularly mourns the old man, sephiroth is a dangerous creature, and allowing him to run amok across gaia while rufus tries to wrangle his newly-inherited affairs would be unwise indeed. ]
I see. [ one of the only tells when tseng is thinking heavily is the way he chews at his lip—not even chews, really, so much as digs his teeth into the inside left of it. aerith, tseng thinks, had been more or less from the same timeline as tseng, although they'd never compared notes in detail. it is more of a relief than he's willing to admit to think that she might have gone home only to be offered amnesty and freed to live the rest of her life. ] It's a good offer. I don't know if they'll take it. I haven't spoken to Strife about it—or at all, in fact.
[ although if he'd known there was a bargain to talk about, he probably would have made an effort. ]