Spiral
Summary: When life grants an opportunity to find something truly beautiful, only a fool would ignore it. RenoYuffie
A/N: Anything that you might recognize from the original game or its prequels/sequels does not belong to me.
Blood, Carpet, and Candy
Her blood was flowing freely onto the floor, seeping like ink into the new carpeting of his living room. Gliding down her legs and spilling over the edge of her boots, the thick, scarlet liquid seemed unrelenting in its suicidal descent. There was certainly a lot of red, which seemed to cast a feint tint onto surrounding objects, permeating the air with a somewhat metallic scent.
The scene was disconcerting in all its morbid glory, and yet, despite the fact, Reno maintained complete apathy…
…in regards to the brat, of course. The carpeting was a different story altogether. The Turk happened to like the manila-colored softness under his bare feet, and he certainly, if given a choice, wouldn't vote to have it ruined.
After casting a forlorn glance to the pool of red spreading into the fibers of the carpet, however, it became apparent to Reno that his floor covering had just been damaged beyond repair anyway.
'How unfortunate.'
"What are you doing here, brat?" he finally deigned it necessary to address his injured guest, gathering up enough audacity to lean against the nearest wall and light a casual cigarette.
Blessed, blessed nicotine.
His unconcerned eyes traveled up the kid's form from the fluorescent green lighter in his right hand, taking in the finer details of her current state, as she was gingerly turning to face her less that amiable host. By the time Reno's aquamarine orbs actually met the ridiculously large, brown eyes of the little ninja, he concluded, with some amount of content, that she wouldn't be bleeding to death on his living room floor.
"You don't look all that happy to see me," the girl in question noted dryly, masking her pained expression with one of mocking thoughtfulness. "Why?"
It came as no surprise that she didn't address Reno's initial inquiry, but then, he really wasn't expecting her to, which just made him realize that what the Princess so easily labeled as a rhetorical question really didn't deserve the name. After all, the red-head certainly didn't know the answer to it, but he wouldn't mind being given one.
The brat's own consequent query was accented with another torrent of blood, as she attempted to take a step forward yet again, bringing herself one step closer to the red-head's bathroom—and one step closer to making Reno's irritation bubble over at the crimson trail she was leaving in her wake. Before such could be accomplished, however, the Turk took another drag from his cigarette, holding the smoke in his lungs to the point of pain, prior to slowly letting it out to poison the air along with a fragment of his discontent.
"You're ruining my new carpet," he responded flatly, not yet making any move to help the kid in her plight to keep upright. Looking over the damage he referenced, Reno couldn't help but idly wonder just how he was going to explain a second change of carpeting within a week to an already irate Reeve.
"How can you possibly think about the bloody carpet when you've just been so unexpectedly graced with my lovely presence?" the girl inquired in retaliation, an expression of innocent, yet so fake, shock sliding over her features.
"I have a one-track mind, I suppose," Reno shrugged indifferently, noting the fairly obvious truth in that statement.
She snorted in agreement, and he couldn't blame her.
"Is there a reason you're not falling over yourself to help the magnificence that is me?" the kid snapped finally, all previous traces of chirpiness gone from her voice. The question was still cheerful, still bouncing off walls, and yet, Reno could tell that this would be as good a time as any to set himself into some semblance of motion.
"I'm still sour about my carpet," he had to get in snidely, nonetheless, even as he picked up the ninja and slung her, gentler than he intended, over his shoulder.
With a quiet groan and a bitten back vilification, the girl summoned enough energy to jab an accusatory finger into the red-head's back at his so-called aid, as the man so helpfully headed towards the bathroom, seeing as the teenager seemed to think she'd find something of use there. Reno, of course, knew better, but no one ever said he lacked sadistic tendencies—perhaps that was due to how false such a claim would be.
Besides, the smooth thighs that were hanging so conveniently next to Reno's cheek, and which the Turk was holding onto as a security measure that made sure the ninja wouldn't go sliding off his shoulder, were enough of a distraction to make Reno just as conveniently forget that all his potions, hi-potions, and materia—to sum up: everything that could possibly help the girl—were right in the living room.
In fact, it would take another two, increasing in insistency, jabs to his back before the Turk's attention snapped from those aforementioned thighs.
"What?"
"Your shoulder blade is digging into the cut across my ribs."
She was whining, childish and shrill, and yet, the red-head picked up on the pained note within the complaint, which made him shift her weight, if ever so slightly, in accommodation.
"So?"
A hiss was his initial response, and it became clear that the rare display of almost sympathy went to naught.
"So…mosey."
Her voice didn't resonate that time, sounding almost subdued, and for someone who could vocally add a few exclamation marks at the end of any sentence in normal conversation, such was a clear indication of trouble. Not that Reno cared, but he picked up speed automatically, to the point where he was practically jogging upon reaching the bathroom.
Said bathroom, might as well be mentioned, was sterile white, and it only now struck the red-head just how clean it actually was, as ruby-red was starting to drip over the tiled floor in contrasting, unshapely splatters. Carefully placing his unexpected guest into the bathtub despite the damaging effect of it, the red-head was once again drawn to taking a drag from the cigarette that never left his hand, though the lighter was discarded long ago into the confines of his pocket.
The ninja glanced up at him in mutiny, only now having realized that he could have ruined her smooth skin any moment, and Reno inevitably had to put out the cancer stick against the closest cabinet at the sharp glare, groaning even as he did so.
"Relax. I wasn't going to char your legs, brat. If I did, there'd be nothing of interest left."
"Aw, I see you're still sulking about your carpet," the kid chirped weakly in a dismissive fashion, taking him up on the offer to relax. If only not for the fact that she was covered in blood and lacerations, Reno could have almost found the scene appealing.
"Something along those lines, yes," he finally conceded the point after a moment of contemplative silence.
She smiled brightly, sickeningly upbeat, and he found that he wasn't immune to the girlish charm when coupled with those drowsy eyes and fluttering eyelashes. Play time was coming to a close, and rather fast, as the amount of blood the teenager was losing became alerting. Thus, without his formal consent, Reno found his legs carrying him back to the living room, with colorful phrases and imaginative expressions out of his mouth, into his equipment bag, and back to the bleeding girl with a hi-potion in hand.
"You owe me for this, kid," he muttered under his breath, taking a seat next to the occupied tub and starting on the task of glazing the green substance over the injured areas of the kid's body.
There were a few minor lacerations on her hands and thighs, a scratch on her cheek, and the already mentioned, horizontal cut over her ribs. Reno only discovered the real problem, however, upon yanking up the shirt, which he did to tend to below the girl's chest, revealing a deep gash that was running around her torso and up her lower back.
With some morbid curiosity, the Turk had to check his actions every so often. After all, this was the perfect opportunity to rid himself of this overzealous little nuisance,—his ego would certainly appreciate the endeavor—and yet, he didn't feel so much as tempted.
And that, in itself, was a disturbing thought.
He tried handing her what was left of the liquid, but when her swipe for the hi-potion ended in failure, he settled for tilting her head back himself and making sure she drank every last drop of the curative before discarding the vial into the trash.
The reaction was almost immediate, and Reno couldn't help but watch with some amount of wonderment as the girl's split skin started pulling itself together, closing up with a flash of silvery green light. And when the little ninja sat up, on her own, gingerly feeling her stomach and back, the Turk had to restrain a sigh of something that could either be called frustration (at his ruined apartment that had no body to show for the damage) or relief (at the fact that, indeed, there was no body).
"Turkey! You mushy woman, you!" the girl exclaimed happily upon finding herself fully healed. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."
Reno winced, and she smiled happily at the fact, disregarding his withering glare.
Oh, yes, now the red-head was even less certain why he helped her. His ear drums were definitely not enjoying the treatment they were so unceremoniously given—with much thanks to the Turk's previous actions.
"Don't read into it. The option of frying you is still available and still tempting."
It was a futile warning, for even the girl, in her still somewhat hazy state, could tell that Reno's trusty EMR was not at the man's side. The kid bounced up to her feet, the action soon followed by the familiarly accusing finger, pointed at the red-head's nose.
"You wouldn't!"
"I would."
"You're psychotic."
"You're a kleptomaniac."
"I get a profit off it."
"I get satisfaction."
"How does that disprove that you're psychotic?"
Reno shrugged, lighting another cigarette and making himself more comfortable on the dirtied bathroom floor.
"It doesn't. I never denied the allegation," he smirked, eyes traveling up the ridiculously long legs in front of him. He had to give the brat points for that.
"Well, then, insulting you is absolutely no fun," the little ninja huffed in response, happily oblivious, as she went jumping out of the bathtub and out the bathroom door.
Before Reno could filter his actions, he was following her.
Her wandering about his apartment piqued his interest, and though the red-head didn't try stopping her, he was still curious as to where she was headed. To his lack of surprise, she hopped into the kitchen, starting to riffle through his cabinets immediately, still covered in blood, and still coloring red anything she touched. It would take a moment before the little brat found her search to be futile, and she turned to the red-head, all big, innocent eyes, and rosy, pouting lips.
"You don't have candy?"
Reno, with all his glorious lack of grace, chocked on the inhaled smoke from his cigarette.
"What?"
"Candy. You don't have candy?" she repeated helpfully, giving the red-head a prompting look.
"No, brat, I don't have any fucking candy."
"None at all?"
"Kid, what are you doing here?"
"Well, duh," she rolled her eyes, grinning goofily. "Letting you rescue me, of course!"
There it was again, that shrill note in her voice, and the Turk involuntarily cringed at the volume of it.
"Oh, lucky me," he drawled after a moment, the statement covered in a thick layer of sarcasm that the girl didn't seem to want to pick up on.
After all, she nodded in agreement.
"Yes, you are. You can start thanking me any time now."
To the Turk's credit, he attempted to respond…twice. However, both attempts ended in failure, and he could do naught but fish out a few gil from his left pant pocket and shuffle towards the little ninja with the money in hand. Getting close enough, Reno secured the cash under the thin strap of her shirt, petting the girl's head in a derogatory manner.
"Go buy yourself some candy, kid."
Again, not surprisingly, she didn't decline his offer. Smiling brightly and climbing up the Turk until she could playfully kiss the very top of his head in thanks, the girl bounced down, over the length of the ruined living room, and out the door, not forgetting to grab Reno's long coat along the way, which the red-head would, unfortunately, only notice the next morning…
…along with a bag of chocolates left at his front door, loopy cursive handwriting decorating the side of it.
'You need some sugar in you,' it read. '—Yuffie K.'
A/N: Thank you for reading, and I do hope you enjoyed. Reviews are always welcome and are very much appreciated.