Disclaimer: I don't own Reno or Tifa. They're absolutely my fave pairing, and I hope you enjoy it. ^^
I Hope You're Happy...
Tifa absently dried a cold glass with a damp rag. It had to be the fifth time that her hand had crammed itself through the rim, but Tifa failed to notice. Her thoughts were elsewhere, off in some distant place that she could not go.
Her thoughts were with him.
It wasn't rational of her, to be thinking of him. He was a Turk, a man that she had once found herself pitted against. He pressed the button that dropped the plate, the plate that had killed thousands...Had he even blinked when he'd done that? She doubted it. He was trained to kill, practiced in it. So what had changed her opinion?
He found the kids. That was enough in Tifa's mind. Why he had looked for them, she didn't know. She was only grateful.
The clinking of the bell at the door snapped Tifa abruptly out of her thoughts. "We're closed," she said without even looking at the unlucky, possibly drunk patron. It was hard to hide the irritation that laced her tone at the thought of being interrupted. She hardly ever got any time alone.
"You're the third to tell me that, Lockhart," said the familiar, casually lazy voice. "Damn, isn't there anywhere in Midgar that a man can get a drink?"
Tifa knew that voice. Even before she looked up, she knew that it would be him; and sure enough, Reno was the one standing in the doorway of her bar. Reno, with his red hair, gleaming green eyes, and a strong, lithe body under his disheveled Turk uniform.. He grinned at her in that cocky manner of his, as if he could read her thoughts.
Oh, yeah, he was hot, and the ass knew it.
Tifa tried her best to put on an expression of nonchalance, as she always did when he was concerned. She'd gotten pretty good at it, too. Momentarily, she set down the glass and rag, her palms pushing down on the bar. "What do you want, Reno?"
Reno swaggered over in what had become his signature waltz. He slid his lazy bum onto the nearest bar stool to her and folded his elbows on the bar. "The strongest thing you have."
"That's not what I mean; and didn't I tell you we're closed?" Tifa had no patience with him. She was tired, and she didn't precisely want to see him moments after she'd been fantasizing about him. Keeping that from him was the tricky part.
"Aw, come on, Lockhart. Can't you do me a favor just this once and pour me a drink?" Reno's eyes gazed up at her, willing her to listen to him. His eyes shone lightly from She couldn't hold that gaze for very long before she turned, with a groan, to get his drink. She poured him a glass and set it down before returning to cleaning the glass that she had been working at.
Reno watched her for a long moment. She could feel his eyes on her like a physical sensation, which almost drove her up the brink of insanity. At least he hadn't said anything. She preferred the silence between them. It was easier to be around him like that--he wasn't badgering her for information or flirting with her, fully knowing that she would end up hitting him in the end.
Reno, of course, couldn't have that. "So, how you been? Chocobo-head treating you right?"
"Cloud hasn't been around much. He's off on deliveries and such, so things didn't change that much after the remnants," answered Tifa with a slight shrug. It was a lot easier to talk about Cloud's frequent disappearances now. He was hardly ever at the bar, and even Barret had trouble getting ahold of him.
"Pfft." She saw Reno shake his head out of the corner of her eye, and she had to wonder what he diapproved of so much. "You're too nice to him. I'd go smash his motorcycle if I were you."
Tifa shook her head, a frown upon her ruby lips. "You haven't changed much, I see."
The arrogant grin that Tifa loved so dearly broke out brightly. "That a good thing, Lockhart?"
"I don't know." The answer was the truth. Tifa wasn't sure if a normal Reno was dangerous to humanity or not. She sincerely hoped not.
"So?" Reno pressed after a few seconds. "How HAVE you been, sweet cheeks?"
Sweet cheeks? the name made her face flush a little. Where did he come up with that? Tifa didn't bother questioning it. "I've been alright. Denzel and Marlene are over most of the time." So I don't get lonely. Was she lonely? She loved those kids dearly, but what was that huge, empty space that was gorged deep in her heart?
"I see." Reno casually took the glass from her, causing her to look at him. He inspected it for a moment before grinning at her. "I think it's clean now. Quit torturing the poor thing."
Tifa snatched it back from him, dark eyes narrowing into a firm glare. She didn't need advice from him on how to run her bar. "I'm not torturing it."
"Oh, I think you are." Reno had stood up, leaning over the bar close to her. "You're magnificent at torturing, you know."
"Reno--" She was about to tell him to back the hell off. She wanted him to back off. But before she could, his hand strayed up to her cheek, tracing the area under her eyes. Her heart fluttered inside her chest restlessly, pounding out a disjointed rhym.
"You haven't been sleeping." It wasn't a question. Something flickered through Reno's eyes that Tifa couldn't quite decipher. It was a differet side of Reno that she hadn't witnessed before. Something wanted to know what it was. However, it was gone again before she could think it through properly. Not that her brain was working. Reno had leaned closer, and now she could feel his alcohol-laced breath on her burning cheeks.
"No," she answered his statement quietly. "So what if I'm not sleeping? What concern is it of yours?" It wasn't a concern of his, as far as she thought.
Reno didn't answer. Instead, he hovered his lips over hers teasingly, his eyes half open. Tifa could feel her own red eyes closing, and her breath came out in shudders of anticipation. He smirked a little at the thought of knowing he had her where he wanted her. She couldn't fight it, either. She didn't want to fight it.
Reno swallowed a little as he held her gaze unwaveringly. "One of these days, I'm going to slug that Chocobo-head for doing this to you. I hope you're happy, sweet cheeks. I really hope you're happy. Just do me a favor and remember something for me...."
Tifa waited for him to continue, but he didn't. He merely grinned his usual cocky smile and turned away from her. Tifa almost fell forward in surprise from his sudden movement. She quickly regained herself, but not without him seeing it. That grin of his broadened, and he winked at her.
"I'll see 'ya tomorrow night, sweet cheeks. Thanks for the drink." With that, he strutted through the bar doors.
Tifa stood, staring after him for the longest time. The clock behind her was ticking, but she somehow didn't hear it. slowly, she raised a hand to her forehead and rubbed it. What the hell am I thinking? This is Reno. How could I let him unhinge me like that?
She picked up the glass the she had been drying, her fingers twisting the rag through it in high frustration. Frustrated with herself for letting him lead her along, and frustrated with him for being...him. Then, she glanced down at the drink that he'd only finished half of, and a smile crossed her face.
Damn Turk didn't pay.
Okay, that's it. I really, really hope you liked it. Please review whether you did or not and tell me your opinion. Opinions are very important to me. Especially yours. So yeah. ^^ Please review, and thanks a lot.