It had been one of those nights. . .the ones where everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. Collateral damage was something that Reno hated, and when it happened he tended to take it badly. He simply waved in a half hearted manner as he walked in, and immediately headed for the bathroom. The only thing he wanted to do was to get the copper smell of the blood off him, the scent of death that bothered him more than he normally let on.
The pink swirls went down the drain as the Turk stared down at his feet, brain, heart, spirit numb. How can he even love me like he does, yo? I don't understand. I'm supposed ta be preservin' life, not takin' it. . . an' yet here I am again, more blood goin' down the drain an' another person in the Lifestream. . . His head rested against the wall, blue green eyes closed as he breathed deep, trying to bring spinning thoughts under control.
Even as he got out, slipping into a black plush robe that had been a gift from the self same man that sat at the kitchen table waiting for him, and Reno explained what had happened, in almost hesitant tones, he shook his head. "I know technically it ain't my fault, but I can't help but feel she'd still be alive if I'da been more careful."
The reassurance that he wasn't at fault had helped, even as he slapped back the sleeping pill that had become almost a ritual during nights like this. He melted into Cloud's warmth, sleep coming for him. I may not understand it. . .but I'm more grateful than I tell him, mosta th'time, yo. Grateful for him bein' here, even if I know I don't deserve it. He may not see himself as a hero, but he's my fuckin' hero, in ways he don't understand.
Reno wished he could explain to Cloud how the man had managed to pull him out of the Hell of keeping himself so closed off, hiding behind the shell of the cocky jokester that protected the deeper emotions that rarely saw the light of the day, but it had gotten to the point that he hadn't been able to get past his own walls anymore.
That had all changed when he'd fallen in love with Cloud Strife. Two who had started out as enemies, though to Reno even when they'd been fighting, Cloud had never truly been his enemy, they were just on different sides of a larger conflict.
But after Meteor, and a single encounter, the love had come in, and Reno had begun to open up to the blond. Now, in a sign of a trust he had shown very few, he lay deeply asleep, his guards utterly down, so relaxed that even with Turk trained senses he was unlikely to wake. He knew Cloud would protect him.
It was what one did when they loved someone.