Reno grinned as he watched the small green thing crawl across the leaf near his window. He hadn't realized it was spring yet; he was so busy with back-work and missions that he hadn't noticed the leaves starting to grow back or the flowers beginning to bloom. The caterpillar crawling across the leaf by his window, however, let him know. He glanced around the office to make sure that none of the other Turks were looking and quickly opened his window, grabbed the caterpillar, and slammed it shut. A few angry stares let him know that his interruption of the other Turks busy days was unwelcome and he grinned sheepishly, hiding the tiny bug inside his shirt sleeve. It crawled up his arm and he kept careful track of where it was as he started searching the internet for caterpillar-care-tips so that he wouldn't accidentally squish it.
Reno had to bite his lip all day long to keep from giggling as the caterpillar crawled up and down his arm, chest, and back. Its tiny feet tickled him and he did his best to ignore the sensation, but some spots were tenderer than others and he couldn't help the occasional giggle. He received odd looks from his co-workers all day long and he couldn't wait to get home and put the caterpillar in his bug jar. He had had lots of bugs for pets lately, but most of them had died when he was forced out on a mission to Modeoheim for two weeks. He didn't have any now, except for the small caterpillar crawling around on his skin.
Reno dodged all offers to go out after work and drove home as quickly as he could, intent on getting home and putting his new pet away before Tseng found out and took it away. Tseng was always taking Reno's pets away because he said he couldn't take care of them, but Reno figured that Tseng was just jealous because he didn't have any pets; none that liked him anyways. Tseng had had a cat for awhile, but he had given it to Elena after it had bitten and clawed him to shreds while he slept. According to Elena it was the most docile and cuddly cat in the world.
Reno dug through his clothes and pulled out his caterpillar, setting him in the large aquarium he called his bug jar. It had once held fish, but after the fourth time Tseng had fished out his fish he had stopped getting new ones. Reno plopped the caterpillar onto a stem of milkweed plant and grinned as it started happily chewing away at the tender leaves. Reno had tried eating milkweed once, the caterpillars he adopted always made it look so tasty, but he had spit it out after a few chews. Plants just weren't what he considered food.
As the caterpillar happily explored, and ate, its new home; Reno watched it intently. He was trying to figure out what to call his new companion, but no names were coming to mind. He had once had a caterpillar named Frank, one named Jorge, and a few named Peanut, but this caterpillar didn't seem to fit any of those names. Reno watched it eat leaf after leaf as the sun went down, blinking in awe as the caterpillar sucked down more food than its small body should have been able to hold. He grinned as he suddenly found the perfect name. He stood and saluted the caterpillar with a more professional salute than he had ever bestowed on his superiors, "I shall dub thee, Reno Junior!"
The caterpillar ignored him and continued eating, but to Reno its wiggling and munching was approval enough. He giggled and started making a meal for himself, no plants were involved, and fondly watched Reno Junior, RJ for short, stuff his fat little body.
Author's Note: Cute huh? I was reading through old stories I wrote and when I read Socks, I suddenly thought of this fic. Think of it as a prelude to the story Socks (read it if you haven't) and think fondly of poor Reno Junior. RIP.