Final Fantasy VII

Lullaby

Tseng was fast asleep, which was good. The older turk must have been exhausted after his latest mission. Reno gently cradled his boss' head and sang softly to the silence. It was an old song he remembered his mother singing once.

It seemed not so long ago that the room had been filled with commotion, but Reno had kindly silenced and chased everyone away. He didn't want Tseng to wake up, after all. But now, now it was nice and quiet. The light above them blinked unsteadily, fighting for its life. Brave little light, Reno thought.

The redhead paused and wrinkled his nose. There was an awful metallic stench in the air. A pipe must have rusted through somewhere nearby. That was not good. Reno looked down at his boss with a frown.

"Of all the places for you to take a nap in…" he muttered and sighed. It couldn't be helped. He'd let Tseng sleep for a little while longer, and then try to move him somewhere where the stench didn't reach. Satisfied with his decision, the young turk continued singing.

There was a vague memory of Elena shouting at him for one thing or another but Reno had dismissed her. He was the second in command and she had to obey a direct order. Normally he'd allow the girl to vent, but, well, their boss needed rest. Reno let his gaze travel around the room, lazily blinking at the memory. He had tilted his head curiously after Elena had gone all pale and silent. And then Rude had grabbed the girl's shoulders and pulled her with him. Good old Rude. One who could always be trusted.

The light above flickered a few times as if about to give up before resuming it's earlier irregular pattern. Reno shifted the head in his lap comfortably, wondering if the air-conditioning had been cut off. Then he looked down at Tseng's peaceful face.

"You look like you could sleep through another meteor attack, boss," he said softly as he recalled another song from his childhood and began humming. It wasn't too bad, being used as a pillow like that. At first Reno had been a bit annoyed, and most of all shocked, but now he was getting used to it. When certain that Tseng wasn't going to wake up any time soon, Reno had shrugged and settled himself to be a good boy for once. The weight in his arms had slowly turned somewhat comforting.

Reno's green eyes glazed over slightly and he wondered where Rude had taken Elena. It couldn't be too far away. Maybe he should call and check up on them. Elena had looked pretty pale when they left. In fact, Reno had seen her collapse in the hallway. Rude had been a gentleman and offered to carry her. Rude the gentleman turk. Reno laughed, then quickly bit his lip and looked down at Tseng. All was well. The Wutaian was still asleep.

Perhaps Reno should call someone to come check the pipes while he was at it? The stench was turning sourer for each passing minute. Mind set, he flipped out his PHS and called the desk at the bottom floor. The lady there should be able to find a good repairing company. But there was no answer. Reno waited for a while until the answering machine beeped and then frowned. Someone was obviously slacking from work.

"Hey…what are you doing off at this time?" the redhead asked the machine. Realizing that there would be no answer, he snorted in annoyance. "Yeah, anyway, get some repairmen or something to floor 67." The PHS was snapped shut and placed onto the sticky floor. What had happened to the Shinra staff lately?

Lost in thought, Reno ran his fingers through Tseng's hair reassuringly and continued humming. He'd have to bring this up with his boss at some time later. Green eyes glazed over once more as they regarded the room. There was a rapidly thickening liquid on the floor. Broken monitors and glass tanks. Unmoving forms scattered around here and there.

"Of all the places for you to take a nap in, boss," Reno repeated with a slight chuckle. He shifted again and a thought came to him. He could go up and visit the president for a while. Maybe Reno could sing Rufus to sleep too; he used to be such a nice kid and all. Mind made up, the redhead stood, sidestepping a white-coated lump, and began walking down the corridor, cradling Tseng's head against his chest.

Game over.

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