Disclaimer: FF7 & Characters belong to Square Enix. This story belongs to me.
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Subtleties
Before she would ever enter his office, Elena would quietly observe him as he reviewed paperwork pilling upon his desk. Despite how busy and how many stacks there were, it would be neatly organized- just like him. Elena would slowly take in the light musk scent that lingered in the room from his cologne; a mix of birch, amber and exotic Wutaian oils. Exotic, just like him. She'd watch as his nimble, long hands and boney fingers with perfectly clean nail beds trace the edges of private Shinra documents printed on expensive paper. Carefully, he would handle the information. Rarely, he'd make mistakes, but if she caught him using correction fluid, Elena would just smile at his humanness.
When he finally felt her presence, Tseng would motion for her to come in with a wave of his hand. Shyly, Elena would look away from his coffee black eyes that matched the hue of his hair, which was pulled back elegantly in a slick ponytail. Coffee black eyes, against egg shell white skin. Often, she envisioned her toffee brown eyes having the courage to stare into his without blushing. Toffee brown eyes, against vanilla white skin- maybe with a hint of raspberry blush.
'"S-S-Sir,"' Elena would sometimes fumble with the words often stuttering, luckily he was quite forgiving. Tseng was aware of her feelings; she made it obvious with her lack of confidence around him. He was equally as bad though, in his own subtle ways. Despite her ambivalence, Elena felt comfort in knowing that he cared. Elena was also aware of his feelings because Reno had a big mouth. Yet, even with this knowledge, she was still terrified. Tseng's exterior was stern, often misguided as temperamental and impatient, but beyond the skin there was more than that. Elena longed to pull him out from within his rigid shell. There had been times where she was close; where they shared a brief discussion in the office or laugh together over something silly Reno did on their walk back to the apartments. Tseng would faintly brush his hand against hers; enough for each of them to feel the other person, and the warmth that lingered from hot skin. Elena promised herself, one day she would just swallow her pride and encompass her fingers around his the next time he did it. Maybe today would be that day.
'I am ready,' she thought 'Tseng, I am ready.'
His office was the first room she saw upon entering Shinra, it was also the last when she left for the day. Upon entering and exiting the building, Elena would find a smile pursing upon her lips in the thought she might be lucky enough to sneak another glance at him flustering over assignments. Today was no different. As she exited the building unaware of anything else, the details and subtleties of him would gather in her mind regardless of what she did.
"Elena," his mellifluous voice emerged from behind her "Mind if I walk out with you?"
She nodded bashfully; oblivious that he was behind her, yet pleasantly surprised. Tseng carefully held the door open for Elena as they exited the Shinra building. Shivers went down her spine as she felt the touch of his hand against the hollow of her lower back when he motioned for her to lead.
She felt her cheeks flushing furiously. Raspberry blush was glazing over her face. 'No, no, no. Not right now,' Elena promised herself today would be different; she wouldn't shy away. It would only push him further, thus continuing their coy flirtation patterns.
Tseng's hand gently brushed against the skin of hers. "So Elena, what are your plans for the rest of this evening?" His hand lingered by hers for a moment. Elena could feel the proximity of his skin to hers; it was comforting. As he slowly recoiled from her, Elena's fingers reached for his. Delicately grasping the tips of his fingers, she felt stunned for a moment at her actions, but Tseng's hands seemed welcoming to hers. Slowly the spaces between her fingers were filled by his, and out of the corner of her eye, Elena spotted an ethereal smile merging on Tseng's face- something that was seldom shown by the pensive Turk.
A/N: A surprise birthday gift for Vampy Proxy. I couldn't post this on the actual date so it is a few days early. Happy Birthday! ^_^ This story is a bit experimental for me, typically because I don't usually write about Tseng x Elena (which is odd because I like both of them). I also tried a few different styles of my writing in this. Anyway it was defiantly fun making this one shot, may do another TxE one shot in the future. I hope you like it!