A/N: This is told from Reno's POV. You can probably tell from all the &$'s and &$'s. Review, please, I'm begging.
Alive
Junon's one hell of a place. I hated it. Freakin' hated it. And not just 'cause I tripped over a piece of fallen debris...twice. It didn't count as falling over. Wanna know why? 'Cause I'm not a klutz, like Laney. Sheesh, that girl trips over everything. Doesn't help her that my foot's sticking out all over the place, but I do it anyway. Not today, though. Not even tomorrow, or the day after that...not while she's too busy crying her eyes out to get pissed at me.
You really couldn't blame her. She did like him a lot. A whole lot, and he didn't even give a damn. But he's gone now. We have no clue where he is. And no matter how much of an asshole he's been to me, and I've been to him, it'll be a real loss if he's lyin' dead somewhere. For me. For 'Lena. For Rude. Fuck, boss, you picked a wrong time to take a day off.
Damn it all, she's at it again. You'd think she'd run out of tears by now. If you think annoying Tseng by crying like a whiny little brat's gonna bring 'im back, Laney, you're effin' wrong.
Why's she crying anyway? I don't cry. I've never seen Rude cry. 'Course, with those shades on, you never know, right? Speakin' of Rude, where the hell is he? The whole fuckin' world's ending here!
The door swings open. Ah, there's Rude. What's that he's got? Booze...?
I could hear Rufus talking to that one guy with a cat robot fetish over the phone from the next room. Weirdos.
" R-reno! "
'Lena just evolved from whiny kid to stuttering idiot.
" What? "
" I-i can see it. "
" Care to specify, Laney? There's a lot of stuff ya can see, s'long as you're not blind. "
" M-meteor. It's g-getting closer. "
I walked over to the window. Yep, there it was. Huge. Glowy. Gonna kill us all. Ya can't miss it.
Three. Two. One. Elena's cryin'...again. Geez, I didn't know she's that afraid of dying. I sure ain't. Bring it, Meteor! Still, you can't help but wonder what's on the other side, if there was one. Better yet, if there's one for people like me. I'm not one to reminisce, or whatever, but this sure reminds me of the first guy I've ever killed. I was sixteen. The same week Tseng found me on the streets. I was sent to kill an illegal materia dealer. Shot him right through the head. He fell dead. And I was shaking like hell.
Meteor's taking a fuckin' long time getting here. Might as well get it over with, ya know? But, no...it just had to be in slow-motion, while we're watching it fall, then, BAM! We're all lying dead. Every single fuckin' person- Wait, wha...? Shit, what's happening to Midgar? Ooh...I get it now. Spikey-Head's as much of a freak of nature as his hair. Who does he think he is, stopping freakin' doomsday? Freakshow...
Elena finally decided to shut up. Rude's...well, he's kinda drunk right now, but he'll flip in the mornin' when I tell him. Rufus won't get off the phone. Why the hell do I live with these people?
" Hey, Laney, pass me a beer, yo. "
" You're acting like nothing happened. This is just like that one time with the- "
Yeah, well, she's doing it do. Shooting her mouth off the minute she stops crying. But, hey, I'm not complaining. Not today. Not tomorrow, maybe, not even the day after that. And, even if it kills me to owe Spikey and his pals anything, I'm glad I didn't die today.
" Just gimme the damn beer. "
It's good to be alive.
