SLTN Spinoff / One-shot

A/N: If you're wondering what this is, it's a one-shot for Silver Nights, Turquoise Lights, a fanfiction I'm working on and having difficulties writing. I know how the story progresses, and how I want it to end, and the direction, and major plot points, but MY GOD I am having the WORST writer's block with the character's personalities.

So, in light of this, I decided I needed to work on some writing exercises to sort of flesh them out. No spoilers to the story- just a little backstory and character fun! :D

IN FACT~ Let's make this uber fun. Give me some scenarios you guys see Riku and his family getting into! What would you like to see these young folks getting up to and getting into?

The Bodyguards

Riku Crescent sat glumly at the kitchen counter, blowing silver bangs out of his face. 10 years old, friendless, and ultimately the biggest outcast in all of Midgar, he was forced, yet again, to endure the process of fleeing his home.

His mother, Dr. Lucrecia Crescent, waltzed into the room humming to herself. To anyone on the outside, they'd have assumed the beautiful, thin woman clad in an open lab coat and flowing summer dress was happy as could be, but to Riku's somewhat experienced eye, his mother was tired and strung tightly with stress and fear.

This was the fifth move in so many months, and they were both so very tired. 4 years of this and Riku'd have thought he'd be used to so much packing, disappointment, and upheaval, but the process was just as painful and stressful as ever. Once again, he'd be saying good bye to any opportunity he might have had of making friends, and Lucrecia would have to endure the pitying gazes and treatment of her colleagues.

Lucrecia placed an empty box down on the kitchen counter, sighing heavily and taking in the elements of disarray around them. "You have 24 hours to pack." SHINRA told them this every single time they were forced into their protection program's rigorous regime yet again; it honestly felt as if there was some large neon sign just pointing to their location no matter where they went. It was inevitable- sooner or later, they would be found, and then the packing and running would begin anew.

"Hey sweetums," Lucrecia said, rubbing her hands together tiredly. "Could you grab the utensils and start piling them in the box? I swear, this time we're bringing everything. Nothing left behind."

Riku breathed heavily, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. His mother didn't deserve any snark; it wasn't her fault. Or his, really. Just three years ago, they'd lived normal lives, and now they were hopping from school to school, city to city, sometimes even between continents. It was frustrating, and somewhat hopeless.

"What's the point," Riku muttered bitterly, pushing long silver bangs out of his brightly colored turquoise eyes. Despite how dark and moody his countenance appeared, his eyes almost seemed to glow with the brilliant color. "In a month He'll have found us anyway, and we'll just be moving again. We should just keep everything in the boxes." He knew by now not to talk about their hunter by name; it was too much a reminder to Lucrecia of what they'd had to endure.

Ignoring Lucrecia's pained expression (it sent waves of guilt flooding through him), he stood up and pushed past her to the drawer containing the forks, knives, and other miscellaneous implements.

"If we don't unpack," Lucrecia whispered, "we give up hope. Unpacking means... we have hope that we'll find Home."

Riku immediately felt worst than ever. He groaned inwardly; his mother was just too sweet, too good. He couldn't even be a surly ten year old without being afraid of hurting her feelings.

"I understand," he said quietly, and began tossing utensils into the tall box. His bitterness seemed to fill the room.

"Knock knock!"

Both Lucrecia and Riku jumped a foot in the air, making strangled noises. They hadn't heard anyone enter the house; Lucrecia herself was almost positive the door had been locked. Yet when they looked over in some level of fear, three vaguely familiar individuals were looking back at them, all three clad in the now-familiar black suits of the highly trained SHINRA bodyguard/assassin unit, the Turks.

One of the three body guards assigned to tail the Crescent family was a redhead with blazing, mischievous green eyes, angular half-moon red marks tattooed under his eyes. Until now, Riku had never really spoken to him; he was the second shortest of the three, and seemed to have a wildly erratic personality. Beside him stood a tall, imposing, muscular bald man with dark skin. His eyes were hidden behind thick, black glasses, and he stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, his expression severe. It seemed almost comical; on the other side of him stood a tiny blonde girl, leaning over the kitchen counter with a goofy grin on her face. Between the two less-than-serious comrades, the big man just seemed out of place.

Lucrecia and Riku glanced at each other curiously.

"I wasn't aware the Turks were coming by today," she said slowly. "At least... Not inside the house. Did something happen?"

"We're always nearby," the blonde girl chirped. Riku was struggling to remember their names. "We're just usually watching you- protecting from afar."

"SHINRA has decided a more integrated approach is necessary," the big man intoned. "We've received orders to assist you in moving. The process should be much quicker."

"You are SO uptight," the redhead complained. "Relax. We're going to be much closer to our charges from here on out- we might as well be friendly."

The big man didn't say anything; he just sighed stiffly, as though in frustration and resignation.

"Well," Lucrecia said after a moment, seeming to brighten as she considered their words, "then we should all officially introduce ourselves- as friends to be!"

Delighted, the little blonde stood taller, clapping her gloved hands together.

"I'm Elena!" She said, bouncing onto the balls of her feet. "I'm glad we're closer- it was so boring staying away."

"Reno," the redhead said, winking and grinning crookedly. "I'm the coolest guy here."

"That's debatable," the large man said coolly. "I'm known as Rude." Reno responded by breaking into an exasperated rendition of the song "Why You Gotta Be So Rude", which had been playing endlessly on the radio.

"Dr. Lucrecia Crescent," Riku's mother said formally, though her face was lit up in a delighted grin. Riku realized with sad suddeness that his mother had become lonely; having new faces was a relief to her. He was sure he hadn't been much help, with his gloom-and-doom attitude.

"Riku," the silver-haired boy said awkwardly. "I'm Riku."

"Okay," Elena said determinedly, "I say we put Riku in charge! He's gotta be the man of the house!" She winked at him.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Reno exclaimed, placing a hand against his chest.

"No, you're just annoying." Rude sighed, letting his arms drop and ignoring the insulted protestations from his partner. "All right- what first?"

Riku wracked his brain; everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"W-well..." He hesitated. "We haven't touched the living room yet, and we always wind up having to leave something behind..."

"We're on it boss!" Elena and Reno both saluted him with mock-serious expressions, and Riku felt a flicker of hope blossom in his stomach- perhaps, for once, things wouldn't feel so chaotic.

Riku was wrong. Oh, he was so very very wrong.

Somehow, Reno, Rude, and Elena were even LESS productive and helpful than he was- and he was 10.

"Would you stop juggling books?!" he shouted when Reno attempted to do exactly that. Surprised, the redhead looked down, only to have all four of the tomes come crashing down on his head. It was a miracle he didn't pass out from the weigth of the massive objects slamming into his cranium.

"Please, please don't do that!" Riku sprinted over a moment later to stop Elena from attempting to pack their clothes via vacuum cleaner. She was convinced she could absolutely pack anything and everything cleanly with a vacuum cleaner, and the silver-haired boy was beginning to suspect she'd never used one in her life.

"Rude, gods, stop- you can't just carry that much stu-"

Riku never got to finish his warning, because 14 boxes of silverware, dishes, and cleaning supplies crashed down on the much larger man's head, much to his dismay and profuse apologies.

The only reason Riku didn't lose his temper- or his mind- was because Lucrecia was glowing brighter than she had in years. Far from being upset at any of the broken or damaged belongings littered about and the less-than-helpful tactics of the three morons, she ran around laughing and taking photos- making memories, as she said. His mother was delighted in their silly antics... Even if Riku thought they were all morons.

"Have any of you ever moved at ALL?" The silver-haired boy finally snapped, throwing a box down in frustration. "Gods, it's like they only trained you to ever fight!"

Elena, Rude, and Reno exchanged puzzled looks before turning back to Riku in confusion.

"Well, yes," the blonde girl said hesitantly. "That is all we've ever been trained in." Riku frowned in disbelief.

"What about when your family moved?" He crossed his arms. "Surely you had to do chores once, or move locations ONCE in your life."

The room suddenly got awkward, and Elena shook her head. All three of the bodygaurds' expressions turned defensive- almost embarrassed.

"Honey," Lucrecia said softly, smiling at her young son. "Turks are trained from birth. Elena, Rude, and Reno have never lived anywhere but at SHINRA. They've only ever known the duties of war, fighting, subterfuge, and... SHINRA."

"You-" He turned to look in disbelief at the three Turks. "You've never... But you move around, don't you? You travel."

"We aren't allowed to own anything outside of what SHINRA gives us," Rude responded in a tight voice. "We aren't allowed to make connections or attachments to anything that might distract us from our mission."

"I have only ever owned three suits," Elena said, shrugging. "I'm pretty good at washing them, I guess."

Riku stilled. He had never known- how could he have known? He felt like a major ass. All he did was complain- moving because he and his mother were in danger of an obsessed, psychopathic killer, he was constantly regretting and bemoaning his lot and what he didn't have. But Riku was making a fatal mistake- he was missing out on what he did have. The silver-haired boy rubbed his forehead absently, looking down at the floor and thinking hard; the awkwardness had yet to pass, but the boy knew things had to change- not just now, but overall. His mother needed him- he was all she really had...

Except for, maybe, these three morons who clearly made her happy.

"That's dumb," he said finally, looking up. His face held no expression; Lucrecia blinked in surprise at the outburst. "Everyone has a family."

Elena and Reno looked at each other, confused.

"And you three need some SERIOUS adult supervision," Riku added, his face cracking slightly. "From here on out, I'm in charge. You three are stuck with us. I'll teach you how to be functioning adults."

Everyone froze, and Elena's eyes widened, Reno's arms slackened,and Rude's glasses slid down his nose. Beneath them, large brown eyes were filled with shock.

"That's..." Elena's face suddenly scrunched up, she made a hiccuping noise, and then launched herself at Riku. Despite her being much older than him, she was only just taller than the 10 year old, and it was all he could do to keep from barreling over.

"YOU ARE SO ADORABLE," she sobbed, hugging him tightly. Riku's face must have been quite a sight, because Lucrecia burst into laughter, holding her stomach.

"DOG PILE ON THE KID," Reno shouted in a thick voice, bending over backward in dismay. "THERE'S TOO MANY FEELINGS IN HERE, I NEED TO DO SOMETHING MANLY."

Rude just stood and rubbed his eyes furiously, ignoring the squawking, protesting 10-year-old being piled on by a laughing Elena and a grinning Reno, both of which were shouting that they'd never let anything happen to the kid.

"He's a good kid," Rude said quietly, when Dr. Crescent came to stand beside him. He was still trying to rub his eyes dry. "I wouldn't have said anything like that at 10."

Lucrecia wrapped her arms around herself, looking at Riku with an expression of fond protectiveness- though there was a layer of anxiety in it. Half to herself, she whispered "I'm glad I did right by someone..."

Rude glanced at the brilliant woman beside him. She'd accomplished so much for SHINRA- she was indispensable, that much he knew. Her happiness was imperative to the company, a feat in and of itself- Rufus Shinra, the CEO, was not one to generally care about anything- not even himself.

And then there was Riku.

The poor kid was trapped under Reno and Elena, shouting about how he was grounding both of them because clearly they'd never been punished enough. Despite everything that had happened, Rude could see the 10 year old struggling to understand, struggling to be what his mother needed instead of what he wanted to be- a normal boy just entering his teenaged years.

It was unfair, the burly man thought to himself. It was unfair that these two individuals were forced into a life they could never have wanted, even if Dr. Crescent had known it might happen with her experiments.

Unbeknownst to Riku, his small, seemingly small sign of affection toward the three battle-hardened individuals- he had to remind himself quietly that these three individuals had likely been chosen for this job for their top-grade results and skills- had given them the only reason they needed to develop the sincerest of loyalties that could ever be found.