Reno days

AN/ Rude's thoughts

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy

Rude was dreading walking into his office that he shared with Reno. Why? Well because he could smell smoke. And it wasn't the smell that came from Reno's cigarettes either. The tall dark man stood outside of his office contemplating what to do. On one hand there could have been a fire and Reno could have possibly been burned to death. (This was likely because he didn't hear any noise from the office). On the other hand it was possible that Reno was experimenting with different substances (that he had most probably stolen from Hojo's office) and had created a small fire to cover up whatever pungent smell he had created.

Whatever it was Rude knew that he didn't want anything to do with it, unfortunately Tseng thought differently as he had promptly informed Rude the day he became partners with Reno. He could clearly remember the Turk's leader fighting to stop a smile as Rude stood there passively and stared at the red head. Tseng had grabbed Reno by the cuff of his collar and flung him into Rude's chest saying that Reno was now his responsibility and that he was responsible for whatever the young redhead did from now on. Rude could also clearly remember the maniacal laugh that was heard from the office when they left. It had sent shivers down his back and caused him to send a weary look at the smirking red head beside him.

And everyone knew that Reno wasn't exactly…normal. The redhead did things that Rude had never imagined that he would do in his lifetime. So it was perfectly normal that he was hesitating outside of his own office. This wasn't being a coward, Rude assured himself, it was planning ahead with a clear head. Unfortunately, he was also a Turk. He was supposed to be known for his rash effective actions. Rude let out a silent sigh. Working the job wasn't as hazardous as leaving Reno alone with paperwork for three hours. Steeling himself, Rude opened his office door and braced himself.

The sight inside made him freeze even though he had prepped himself to be ready for whatever there was to come. Reno, in his usual messy outfit minus the black jacket was sitting on the floor. Where Rude's desk was supposed to be. On which used to be all his paperwork. The paperwork which had to be handed in to Tseng today concerning the new monsters that had sprung up along the coast of Midgar's fifth sector. Gone. It was all gone.

However, the M.I.A desk/paperwork wasn't the whole cause of his shock. In front of Reno there was a pile of wood, neatly stacked, a bunch of papers, also set in neat piles, and a small fire. In Reno's lap there was a bag of marshmallows and in his right hand there was a stick with a gooey marshmallow attached and in his left a cigarette. Rude did the normal thing: he gaped.

Finally after staring at Reno dead on for about three minutes the red head looked up and grinned.

"Hey partner! 'Bout time you got here, I was getting bored without you. Did you know that you could toast marshmallows over burning paper? It tastes the same."

"…Reno." Rude restrained himself from reaching immediately for his EMR. He decided to start off small. "Why is there a fire in the middle of our office?"

"Don't worry about it yo, I'm making sure it doesn't spread"

"Reno"

"Ok ok jeez! Just got a bit hungry ya know? I was in here for the whole day yo a man's gotta eat sometimes."

"So you decided to start a fire"

"Hey man! Don't blame me, our ancestors used to do that shit all the time an' I don't see you yelling at them"

"They had no other means" Rude was seriously considering killing Reno. He was weighing pros and cons.

"Yeah? Well neither did I. Elena didn't let me do It in the conference room so ya see I really didn't have no other choice yo"

Rude pinched the bride of him nose wondering why he had to be the one to deal with Reno for the millionth time that week. Ok whatever, he started a fire, so what? Let's move on. Rude consoled himself with thinking about his retirement…at death and faced Reno again.

"Where is my desk?"

At this Reno gave a sheepish grin. Oh no.

"Yeah…about that. I kinda didn't know that you could burn paper and get the same results so…" Reno gestured towards the piles of wood that, until now, Rude had refused to make direct eye contact with. No way. There was no way that Reno had chopped down his desk because he was bored and wanted to toast marshmallows. It's ok. It's ok. Calm down. Just one more question then you can beat him up to your heart's content.

"Reno…where is my paperwork?"

Reno paused in the middle of feeding the fire more paper. He had an actual look of surprise on his face.

"Oh! So that's what it was. My bad yo."

All of Rude's legendary restraint broke as he lunged for Reno's throat.

In the conference room both Elena and Tseng paused in their discussion as they heard yell's and screams coming from Rude and Reno's office. Tseng sat back in his chair and Elena relaxed her posture. They both sent each other identical smirks.

"Not bad" Elena said. "Rude lasted for three weeks. That's the most anyone's had Reno for. This just may be a match made in heaven Tseng."

"Indeed"

Please review.