Author's Note: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! =) I'm keeping it quick because I have a new computer game that I've played for six hours already today and I still want to play it. =) I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and here's a final little gift for you! A Christmas Special! xD So it's a typical oneshot, not really a plot, just randomness that's cute and funny and just lighthearted and enjoyable. I hope. xD So yes....enjoy.
"But why?" Reno whined for the fiftieth time, "I don't wanna work on Christmas!" The redhead was literally pouting, leaning dejectedly on the back of the chair he was sitting backwards in.
"Because I say so, that's why!" Rufus Shinra almost shouted, crossing his arms and frowning, "Now stop questioning everything I say!"
"Why can't I question you?" Reno continued to whine, completely ignoring the President's mounting anger.
"It should be obvious, now stop asking so many question!"
"Why?" Reno kept it simple this time, clearly working his hardest to annoy Rufus.
"Shut the hell up!" Rufus screamed, effectively silencing Reno for the moment. The two glared at each other, oblivious to the other three Turks awkwardly watching this fiery exchange.
"Why?" Reno finally whispered, breaking the tense quiet.
"Oh my-" Rufus couldn't even finish his sentence he was so angry.
"Don't worry, sir," Tseng took the opportunity to interject, "We will all be working on Christmas as you have requested. Our jobs are very important and sometimes necessitate our working on holidays." The statement was obviously pointed at Reno, who didn't say anything but continued sulking in his chair.
"Thank you, Tseng," Rufus said, having quickly regained his cool, "For your maturity and professionalism." He cast a scathing glare at Reno while he spoke. "It won't be that bad," he went on to comfort his Turks, "You can do a bit of a Christmas party or something."
"I don't wanna," Reno complained loudly.
"Shut up," Rufus pointed a threatening finger at him.
"You shut up," Reno muttered, staring angrily off into the corner like a sulking child.
"Alright, well we shall be on our way," Tseng quickly brought the conversation to a close, desperate to get Reno away from Rufus Shinra before things got any worse, "I'm sure your time is incredibly valuable and we won't be wasting any more of it."
"Yes, of course," Rufus appeared pleased by the reminder of who he was, "Send in my secretary on your way out." Reno smirked and chuckled under his breath.
"Certainly," Tseng replied, almost pushing the Turks out of the huge and magnificent office of the President of Shinra, Inc.
"Yo, Rufus needs ya," Reno said to the secretary before Tseng had a chance to say a thing. The gorgeous woman looked up, nodded and reached down to slip her feet back into the outrageously tall heels she wore. It was no wonder she took them off when she was sitting, they appeared vastly uncomfortable.
"You won't be needing those," Reno added, his smirk only growing along with the mischievous twinkle in his aquamarine eyes. The woman looked up at him in surprise, but continued to put on her shoes.
"He likes them," she said with a small, suggestive smile as she stood up. Elena was surprised the woman was not the least bit upset by Reno's comment. It hadn't even been directed at her and she felt her ears turning pink.
"I'm sure he does," the redhead replied, his smirk turning into a grin as he slowly looked her up and down. No one even pretended Rufus's secretaries were for any other purpose than their short skirts and low-cut tops suggested.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the woman questioned, pushing a mass of wavy dark hair behind her ear. She smiled charmingly and leaned in every so slightly.
"That Rufus will be very upset if you aren't in there shortly," Tseng cut Reno off this time, earning a glare from the redhead, "Reno, get your perverted ass over here and let's go before you get us all in trouble."
"Aw, relax," Reno winked at the beautiful secretary who waved back before gently closing the office door behind her, "Me and Rufus are tight, he doesn't care what I do."
"That may be true, but it gives you no reason to test those boundaries," Tseng reprimanded as they entered the elevator, "And for Heaven's sake, please show up tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Reno brushed him off, "It's Christmas Eve, not New Year's Eve. I don't think I'll be passed out drunk anywhere."
"Reno," Rude said no more, but somehow it meant more than everything Tseng had said. That's how it was with Rude. He didn't talk much, but when he did everyone listened and he hardly ever had to say more than a few words to make his point.
"Chill out. I won't do anything you wouldn't do, and all that good stuff."
"Wow, you sound so sincere," Elena said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Worried about me?" Reno focused his attention on Elena, his teasing tone preventing her from taking anything he said seriously, "Why don't you come home with me and keep an eye on me then, hmm?" He leaned to the side to gently knock her shoulder with his.
"Stop it," Elena pushed him away, as gently as he'd knocked her. Her voice may have been as joking as his, but she couldn't let herself look at him for fear that the true effect those teasing words had had on her would be seen.
"Come on," Reno coaxed softly, his voice sounding velvety and smooth as it got lower, "You know you want to." The teasing tone was still present, although less noticeable. Maybe that was just her mind playing tricks on her though as she stared hard at the wall of the elevator, trying to gain control over her palpitating heart. "It'll be fun," he promised, leaning against her again, "A nice, warm fire in the fireplace, a cozy pile of blankets, just me and you…"
"I said stop it!" Elena said, a good deal more forcefully than she had intended.
"Well fine then," Reno backed off, laughing softly to himself.
"You're practically a damned rapist, Reno," Tseng said accusingly, casting the redhead a disapproving look as they exited the elevator on their floor.
"You've got it all wrong," Reno answered promptly, not phased in the slightest by this new insult, "Most of the time it's the women begging me to sleep with 'em. 'Laney here's the only one who doesn't."
"Oh, and I suppose that's the only reason you try to pressure the poor girl into it," Tseng continued, not willing to drop it since the redhead had already been exceedingly annoying that day, "The last one to go down in your sick little conquest. Perhaps it bothers you that one woman at least is smart enough to resist your advances? I think you just need to get in her pants to boost your ego."
During this brief monologue, Elena swiftly became too embarrassed to blush. She paled a little instead. Walking down the hall as fast as she could without running, she tried to get away from them before it got any worse. As she went, she heard Rude clear his throat loudly and intentionally, attracting Tseng and Reno's attention. They must have noticed her, because they continued talking after a moment's silence.
"Now look what you've down," Tseng said.
"Me?" Reno defended, "What did I do? You're the one talking about gettin' in her pants."
"You brought it up first!"
"Well it doesn't count because I said it nicely. You however, were the one who started putting things in a more harsh and negative light."
"How can it not count just because it was said 'nicely'?" Tseng argued, "That's like saying it doesn't count to kill someone as long as you do it nicely!"
Elena didn't get to hear Reno's response as she rounded a corner and was too far away to make out the words.
"That was awkward," she muttered to herself once she judged she was at a safe distance, "Men are overrated." It made her feel better to hear it out loud, although she knew she didn't believe it. Ever since she'd began working with Shinra, Elena had fallen in love with Reno. She didn't know why. He was a pervert, always flirting with anything in a skirt. He came into work hung-over at least once a week, he was lazy, he disobeyed most orders, and had the offensive habit of swearing like a sailor when he got the least bit upset. Reno was handsome though. He was tall, skinny but with oh-so-well-defined muscles, piercing aqua eyes, a smile to die for, and some of the most unique but marvelous blood-red hair. Looks wasn't the only thing he had going for him, although Elena suspected it would probably be enough. Beneath his constantly teasing exterior and despite his flaws and vices, Reno was a good person. He had a heart in there, and she knew it although she never seemed to be able to touch it.
She sighed, knowing she was doomed to love and admire him from a distance forever. How could she ever catch his attention beyond a stupid joke? She wore a damned suit to work, which did nothing for her figure, already less stunning than the many various secretaries in the building. Elena was quite shapely, but couldn't compete with the women who made a business off of being shapely.
Her cell phone rang suddenly, dragging her from her morose thoughts.
"Hello?" she answered, shaking her head slightly to clear the thoughts from her mind.
"Come back, Elena," Tseng demanded, "Reno apologizes for being an idiot." Elena could hear Reno in the background protesting that he was not an idiot.
"Uh, yeah, I was just…taking a walk," Elena replied lamely, "I'm coming back now."
"Ok," Tseng answered, quiet for a moment, "You know what, it's late, you can go ahead and go home. Consider it compensation for having to come in tomorrow, on Christmas." Once again, Reno could be heard yelling in the background, although this time he was upset that she got some form of comfort for having to come in on Christmas and he didn't.
"Thanks," Elena smiled hearing Reno argue random things as usual, "I'll see you tomorrow."
Reno sat at his desk with a carefully determined look on his face, staring at the paper before him but not seeing anything on it. He was waiting.
"You can go home now, Reno," Tseng pointed out, pulling a bigger coat over his suit jacket to protect against the biting cold.
"Yeah, I wanna finish this first," the redhead replied carelessly, "If I don't do it now I'll have to do it tomorrow."
"Finally seeing the worth of completely your work on time, huh?" Tseng watched him a moment more, "Alright, make sure you're here on time tomorrow."
"Uh huh," Reno said, barely audible, watching out of the corner of his eye as Tseng and Rude left. Waiting a few extra minutes just to be sure, he smiled deviously and sprang into action. There was much to be done before he could go home, knowing they would all be there on Christmas.
Elena trudged into the Shinra building on Christmas day, a coffee cup in one hand and her purse in the other. Her coffee hadn't quite kicked in yet and she was still waking up. She didn't notice much, even though the Christmas decorations in the lobby were enchanting, but she did notice a young, dark-haired member of SOLDIER making-out with one of the receptionists in the middle of the room. She found this odd, and blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing it correctly, but ultimately thought nothing more of it. It wasn't until she ran into another kissing couple in the elevator that her still-sleep-enshrouded mind began to register that something was different.
Frowning at the floor and attempting to figure out what was going on, Elena walked down the hall towards the Turk offices. Taking a sip of coffee, she noticed Reno coming from the opposite direction towards her. He wore a Santa hat which went marvelously with his hair. It made her smile. She opened her mouth to ask if he'd noticed anything weird happening, but the words never made it out. She was jolted completely awake when Reno curled an arm around her waist, pulled her close up against him and kissed her, hard. It felt like an electric shock had gone through her body, causing her purse to slip from her fingers and fall to the ground. She would have dropped the paper coffee cup as well, except Reno seemed to have anticipated this as the hand that was not currently pressed against her lower back was holding the cup in her hand.
Surprised and sleepy as she was, Elena's mind did not catch up to the situation as fast as her body did. Before she knew it, she found herself kissing him back, enthusiastically. As the initial shock wore off, it was replaced by a warm, melt-y feeling, and a tingling sensation in her spine. If he hadn't been holding it, Elena probably would have willingly dropped the coffee cup just so she could wrap her arms around his neck and keep him there forever.
Her mind was screaming at her to stop, to avoid future embarrassment, but her heart effectively shut the mind up. Now that she was no longer standing there stiff as a board, and actually reciprocating, Reno began to kiss her more passionately. One hand still occupied with the nuisance of a coffee cup, Elena's other hand seemed to have grabbed itself a handful of Reno's shirt and was holding on tightly. She doubted she ever would have let him stop except for the sound that broke in upon her sparkly, Heaven-like moment.
"Umm," Rude could find nothing else to say, and, as usual, he didn't need anything else to say. The sound was enough to cause Elena to pull away and gasp, partly for lack of air and partly because of the awkward situation she was now in.
"Hi, Rude," Elena said, speaking quickly and in a slightly high-pitched voice as she hastily untangled herself from Reno, jerkily attempting to smooth out the severely wrinkled spot on his shirt where she'd grabbed it. She stopped when she realized all she was accomplishing was stroking his chest. Elena picked up her purse and tried to put several feet between her and Reno, but he was still holding onto her hand and coffee cup.
"You got it?" he asked, glancing at the cup and ignoring Rude for the moment.
"What?" Elena could barely flick her eyes up at his face for a second, confused about what he was saying. It clicked in under a second though and she replied, "Oh yeah, I got it." Reno let go of the cup and she promptly dropped it. As the hot liquid splattered all over the floor, Elena jumped back in surprise.
"Relax," Reno insisted, "It's not like ya just got caught in the middle of some kinda crime. And don't worry about the spill. Might as well give those janitors somethin' to do."
Elena had nothing to say. She just looked between him and Rude with wide eyes and a hot blush.
"Yeah," Rude said slowly, "You were just…kissing Reno."
"But…why?" Elena managed, her voice barely a whisper. Her mind was whirling. Why had Reno just walked up and kissed her? Did he like her? Was he joking again? Did he know she liked him? Was he teasing her because of it? Too many questions, not a single answer.
"I dunno, maybe because I'm sexy, irresistible, and ya love me," Reno shrugged with a smirk.
Can I answer 'all of the above'? Elena said to herself, surprisingly still capable of normal thought although she was overloaded at the moment. Before she had the opportunity to actually say anything out loud and embarrass herself, Reno pointed a single, long finger upwards.
"Or maybe because of that," he pointed to a sprig of mistletoe, secured firmly to the ceiling.
"Oh," Elena said lamely, torn between relief that she had an easy explanation for that moment, and disappointment that stupid mistletoe was the only reason he'd kissed her. At least now all the kissing elsewhere in the building had been explained.
"Alright," Rude still looked at them awkwardly, "Maybe we should go and get to work now."
"Good idea," Elena hurriedly headed off down the hall at once.
"Reno!" Rufus Shinra called out excitedly, practically running down the hall. Reno instantly pushed Elena to the side, making her turn and look at him, annoyed. Before she could say anything, she noticed the sprig of mistletoe hanging directly above where she'd just been standing. Frowning, she wondered why he'd moved her. She didn't have much time to dwell on this as Rufus went on at once.
"Reno, did you do this?" the President pointed animatedly at the ceiling, his eyes positively sparkling.
"Yup," the redhead answered with a grin, "Figured as long as we all had to be here on Christmas, we might as well be havin' fun."
"Yes, we might as well indeed," the man patted Reno enthusiastically on the back, "You're a genius. I always knew there was a reason we kept you around. You are entirely forgiven for anything you've ever done to anger me. Now excuse me, I do believe one of our lovely receptionists is waiting for me over there." Rufus hurried off as quickly as he'd come, heading for the young woman obviously positioning herself under some mistletoe.
"How much of this stuff is there?" Elena asked, returning to normal although she could still remember the feel of his lips on hers.
"Oh, not too much," Reno answered vaguely, "Just some here and there."
Elena nodded, glancing suspiciously up at the ceiling of the hall. There were a good number of mistletoe sprigs, but maybe he'd just put most of it there. She had her hand on the doorknob to her office when Reno pushed her to the side again, this time right before Tseng showed up.
"Interesting move, Reno," Tseng commented, "I admit I should have seen it coming."
"Thanks," Reno said, although he hadn't really received a compliment. Tseng shook his head and drifted back to his office. Rude stood there in silence a second more before heading into his office as well. Elena turned to enter her office as well, but as soon as the others were out of sight, Reno spun her around to face him and he kissed her again, pressing her against the closed door. He kissed her softly this time, less energetically than before but with more solemnity. Surprised again, Elena's jaw literally dropped, something that turned out to not be impossible when being kissed. It was also something Reno did not hesitate to take advantage of, gently holding her face in his hands and tilting her head back. He smoothly turned the soft kiss into a passionate one, successfully blowing Elena's mind. Once again, she could not help but reciprocate, kissing him back and hesitantly putting her hands on his shoulders.
"I knew I shouldn't have left you with her," Tseng commented dryly, startling Elena who, drowned as she was in bliss, hadn't heard him approach. Reno did not stop kissing her at once. He put his hands on her waist and moved her over so she was no longer under the mistletoe before he pulled away, much to Elena' regret.
"What do ya want?" Reno asked Tseng calmly, although he appeared a little flushed to Elena.
"I want to know if you plan on working at all today, or if you will simply be making-out with Elena the entire time," Tseng questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Is that like an option?" Reno answered at once, still retaining his sense of humor.
"No, work," Tseng replied sternly, "And leave Elena alone."
"Fine," Reno rolled his eyes and turned back to Elena who was still rather speechless. He didn't look at her directly, but opened her office door and gently pushed her inside. "Don't let anyone in," he warned, too quietly for Tseng to hear.
"Why?" she asked curiously. Reno looked up before answering her question.
"Because no one is allowed to kiss you but me," he closed the door, leaving her to interpret this statement. She looked up. The entire ceiling of her office was covered in mistletoe. Not an inch was bare. She gasped at first, and then smiled and laughed. She hardly dared to hope, but a sneaking suspicion was starting to grow in her mind. With clamoring thoughts, Elena walked slowly to her desk and sat down to work.
That afternoon, Elena left her office to bring a file to Tseng. As she walked down the hall, she kept her eyes fixed on the ceiling, avoiding all the mistletoe. Because of this, she almost ran right into Reno.
"Sorry," she apologized, even though she hadn't hit him.
"I got you a present," Reno said, the familiar mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he handed her a rectangle box.
"Wait!" Tseng popped out of his office suddenly, "Remember what I said?"
"He told me if I got ya something, I had to get him the same thing," Reno told Elena, ignoring Tseng entirely, "No idea why."
"You know why," Rude had been drawn out of his office as well. No one needed much of an excuse to get distracted on Christmas. "He said that so you wouldn't get her anything…weird."
"Of course," Reno smiled charmingly, "And that is why I also have a gift for you, Tseng." He handed an identical box to Tseng who took it suspiciously.
"I didn't get you anything," Elena said bluntly. She'd thought over it many times, but hadn't come up with a single thing to get for her co-workers.
"It doesn't matter," Reno waved it off, "Just open it." Elena did as she was told, slowly pulling the huge red ribbon off the box and opening it. She blinked. Her eyes widened.
"Uh…" she stared into the box and began to turn red. It was at this point that Tseng quickly tore open the packaging and opened his box.
"Reno…" Tseng was at a momentary loss for words as both he and Elena stared down at sexy red lingerie trimmed with white fluff for Christmas. Reno appeared very pleased with himself. "This is inappropriate on so many levels," Tseng finally said. He gave Reno an odd look. "I give up." Tseng turned and walked away, back into his office.
"This isn't awkward at all," Rude commented sarcastically, "Leaving really seems to be the best option right now. Sorry, Elena." He backed away slowly, abandoning Elena alone in the hall with Reno and fluffy, red and white lingerie. She just looked up at him, not even knowing what to say or do. Luckily he solved that problem.
"You know what's great about all this?" Reno began, gesturing to the mistletoe above and taking her arm, leading her back to her office.
"What?" she questioned, as he took the box from her and set it on her desk.
"I finally have an excuse to kiss you," he looked suddenly serious, kicking the door closed gently and putting his arms around her waist. He kissed her lightly on the lips. "Anytime," he whispered, kissing her softly again, "Anywhere." He kissed her gently a third time before she spoke, the words just spilling out.
"Reno, I don't care when or where," she said, almost tripping over her words in her haste to get them out. She wanted him to know. "You can kiss me whenever you want."
"I love you, 'Laney," he said bluntly, his intense aquamarine eyes searching hers desperately for confirmation.
"I've loved you ever since I met you," Elena smiled, and glanced at the ceiling. She had time to note his beautiful smile before their lips met and all thoughts ended, lost in the flood of passion. She wouldn't be spending Christmas alone this year, and neither would Reno.
Author's Note: Sorry if the ending seems abrupt....I got bored. =P It became too plotless for me. I have to be going somewhere with it. Alright, well I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please leave me a review. It's Christmas, come on. xD Again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! And have a fantastic New Year!