Reno passed through the halls of Shinra, giving thumbs up at the scarce other members who greeted him. Four days vacation. It had been wonderful. He didn't know why Rufus had suddenly sent him off for a few days, though the worry had washed away on the beach. He held up his hand to high five Rude, who simply raised a dark eyebrow and stood there in his usual stoic way. Reno slowly let his arm drop, an annoyed look on his face and straightened his jacket, brushing the rejection off.
"Reno."
The President's voice made both men stand up rigid, Rude taking his rightful place on the side.
"Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"
"Quite exciting indeed." Rufus Shinra peered at the red head from behind his desk, fingers laced and placed rather ominously at his lips.
Oh shit, Reno thought, his common smile dropping a fraction. "Er…" Reno glanced at Rude who stood silently at the side. His gaze shifted back to the President, and so did Reno's.
"It seems my father had quite the surprises in store for me." Reno tilted his head. Now, there had been plenty of "surprises" in Shinra for the past two years. It never ceased to end. There was always something wrong.
"And, this one would be, Sir…?"
"Ah, yes, Rude, bring her in."
Reno tilted his head. Her? Sounded interesting enough. Then again, most things female were quite interesting to Reno, indeed. Rude disappeared into the hallway, and within a few seconds, returned, wheeling in a hunched over figure underneath a sheet. Reno saw long unkempt fingernails quietly dragging the floor. He felt his lip twitch as the fingers wielding the untrimmed nails curled slightly, in an almost painful way. As Rude went to the windows and pulled the blinds down, shading the room from the daylight, Reno noticed the cuticles of the figure were black. Reno leaned back slightly, concerned as to what lay underneath. He was never one for exact neatness, or even slight neatness. But this… was just gross.
The room was quite dark with no fluorescent lights above, and as he reached for the light switch, Shinra simply raised his hand which caused Reno's attention to waiver. Reno stood straight and leaned up against the wall as Rude simply and slowly removed the sheet.
Underneath was a scrawny girl, with pale grey-toned white hair, glowing with a pale tone. She looked up slowly, her gaze straight at Reno, her eyes wider than normal and the irises a pale color that creeped him out. Her skin was pasty—a sickening grey color added to it. Even though she was clothed and the room was warm, she pulled her hands to her arms as if she were freezing. Or scared.
Though, if she were, she was hiding it well. She continued to stare at him, and he back, with those wide, blank eyes. He almost hated it. He wanted to hit her. Make her stop. She wasn't gorgeous. She was creepy. Her hair was ratted and clung to her skin, barely past her shoulders and cut in all directions at the bottom. Her eye sockets were sunken in. She looked like a zombie.
The three men—and what Reno could barely imagine as even a girl—stood in silence, Shinra keeping his look composed well behind his hands.
"Reno, meet Remna."