Title: Reno! Duck!
Summary: Fixing kitchen cabinets involves the hazards of flying hammers and fire ants, a little moment at romance, and of course, a chance at making a fool of yourself.
Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own the characters at all, unfortunately.
A/N: Thank you for the warm reviews and I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first drabble. Also, thanks to those who added me on the alert/favorites list. Hope everyone would enjoy this one as well. Cheers!


Reno stepped into Seventh Heaven welcomed by the clamorous sounds of knocking and banging, accompanied with the occasional muttered curses. He lifted an eyebrow as recognition of the voice hits him. A smirk formed on his lips as he knew she – the owner of the voice, was never one to curse. Must be pretty serious, he thought amusedly. Stealthily making his way towards the source of noise, he mentally noted to keep all wisecrack remarks to himself. Tifa Lockhart is definitely the last person to joke with when she's not in the mood. A not-so-fond memory of his face meeting the asphalt came to his mind as he recalled the last time he made a comment during her raging irritability. Needless to say, he was well-warned after that.

The sight that greeted him upon reaching the kitchen stopped him immediately in his tracks. What in the world happened here? Bewilderment was clearly imprinted all over his face.

The place was covered with various nails, screws and little hinges here and there. Boards of all sizes were strewn across the floor, some with half-driven nails dangerously protruding from them. Sitting right in the middle of the mess, with an exasperated look, was Tifa Lockhart. Her sable hair was tied in a loose French twist – which looked messier than it should be, and her white sleeveless had distinct grainy brown specks over it. In one hand was a hammer and another had a manual with worn and torn tell-tale marks. It didn't take him a second to register the fact that the manual had probably been the victim of her frustration.

Reno remained quiet as he continued observing her, with no intention to announce his presence, at least not before he could determine her mood. You can never be too sure with a female. Especially one with a hammer in her hands, he mused. He watched as Tifa glanced at the manual once more. A frustrated sigh escaped before she blew a stray strand of hair from her face. Silence. She then switched her gaze between a board before her and the manual a few times. Seconds passed before she placed the manual down and with a determined look, she set to work on the board. A couple of knocks later, Tifa stopped to admire her work before reaching for the manual again.

"Now where does this go?" she muttered to herself.

Reno watched with a small smile as a crease on her forehead appeared, and her lips twitched to the right side as her nose scrunched in a way he thought was rather cute. He continued watching as she took hold of the board and another to place them together.

"Wait, this is not right. Isn't the holes supposed to be side by side?" Tifa sighed as she tried to turn the board around. The holes where the screws had to be placed in didn't quite seem to match in positions. Tifa sighed again and wondered if she had the board the wrong way. She turned the board to its other side once more and tried. Figuring that it could be upside down, she proceeded to turn it over. Still, the holes didn't match. She then tried her luck with the second board. "Ugh, stupid, stupid thing." She let the two boards fall with a bang – which led to Reno cringing at the sound they made – and picked up the manual again. "It's right as it's supposed to be," she looked at the boards once more, "What is wrong with you? Will you just allow yourself to be fixed already?"

A low chuckle escaped Reno's lips. At the sudden sound, Tifa's reflex instantaneously picked up the hammer beside her and hurled it at the source. Her wine orbs widened in horror as soon as his face came into her view. Reno's own aqua blue orbs mirrored hers as the hammer came soaring.

"Reno! Duck!"

He didn't need to be told twice as he immediately ducked just in time to avoid the hammer from possibly smashing his face into a pulp. The hammer flew straight to the wall behind him with a loud bang. With a shocked look, he turned to look at the fallen hammer before turning to face her, "Are you trying to kill me?"

Her horrified look quickly turned into an apologetic one. "I am so sorry. I swear, I didn't know it was you." A small smile appeared at her lips as a peace offering.

"That took a year off my life Lockhart."

"I'm really sorry. Besides, you are not even on my list of people to kill with the hammer."

"You mean there are other lists? Am I on any one of them?

"Not anymore. Though you were in the list for being run over with a truck and the one which involved fire-ants." Reno's eyes widened at her last words. "But you are not in them anymore," she quickly assured, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"You never fail to surprise me," he dryly replied.

"Taken as a compliment," she grinned. "But really, don't ever do that again. Who knows what else I might hurl at you the next time."

"I'll keep it in mind," Along with the many other scary sides of you, he mentally added.

"What were you doing lurking there, watching me?"

"I wasn't lurking. I was just, well, waiting."

"Whatever for?"

Reno decided it would be safer not to answer her question. His eyes were trained on the nailer resting on a board to her left.

"Reno?" she prompted.

His gaze switched to her and he quickly shook his head, "Nothing. Anyway, you look like you could use some help."

"Obviously," Tifa said with a light huff. "This board is just not fitting with the other and I have no idea why." Reno chuckled as he made his way towards her, carefully stepping over and around the boards. She eyed him with a confused look, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Here, let me look at the manual." Tifa dutifully handed him the worn booklet. "This is pretty easy yo."

"No it's not. I've been at this for two hours now and I still haven't gotten past the second page." Reno couldn't help but laugh as soon as the words left her lips. She glared at him – almost indignantly, "It's not funny." Reno laughed even harder. Feeling irritated, Tifa stood up. "Alright. If you think this is so easy then why don't you go ahead and finish it while I go clean up and have my shower."

Reno, never one to back down from a challenge, immediately agreed. "I'll get have it complete and ready by the time you return from your shower," he said with a confident smile.

"We'll see," she replied with a smirk.


Forty-five minutes passed since Tifa had left Reno to his devices. She came downstairs, freshly showered, humming a tune of her own. When she stepped into the kitchen, an inevitable chuckle escaped her lips. Sitting right where she was an hour ago, was Reno – a messy, sweaty looking Reno, with curses streaming at a rapid pace.

"You're lucky it's just me around here. Imagine if there were kids around, what a good amount of education you would be giving them," she spoke up. Reno whipped around to face her, a scowl evident on his face. She couldn't help but grin. "So…I see things are – just the way they are as I left them."

"Very funny."

"Well I have to say it is. I mean, I see no progress from where it was an hour ago. But hey, maybe you managed to place a screw in. That's a progress," she joked. His face clouded over, and Tifa decided to stop her teasing. She walked over and sat beside him. "Here, you need this more than I do," she said as she offered him her towel which hung around her neck seconds before. He took it without a word and sloppily wiped his face with it. "Come on, let me help you, you male chauvinist," she said amusedly before taking the towel from his hands and proceeded to gently wipe his face. Her hand was cool to his heated skin, and soft – providing him the familiar touch which he had always loved. Her other hand reached up to push his long bangs away. With a smile playing at her lips, she continued at his neck.

Reno sat obediently still as he watched her hands carefully work their way at the top buttons of his shirt. She stopped when she reached midway and continued to gently pat at his neck and chest. He breathed in her vanilla scent as his eyes continued their watch on her. He lifted a finger to her chin and prodded her to look up at him. Slowly and tentatively, he leaned towards her as she leaned forwards, instinctively knowing his intentions. Their lips met a kiss and they only pulled away after a minute. She was the first to break the kiss.

"There. Now, why don't you just sit aside while I try to finish this myself?"

A little disappointed, Reno replied, "But you couldn't even finish it earlier."

"Well, now that I have my shower and mind all cleared up, I think I should manage just fine."

Reno skeptically lifted an eyebrow. "Even I can't get through this part here," he pointed to a diagram in the manual, "what makes you think you can?"

Tifa took a look at the manual before a sly smile appeared at her lips, "Because," she stated matter-of-factly as she picked the manual up, "I won't be having the manual upside down like someone else here." With that, she turned the manual back to its correct viewing position. A hue of redness appeared at Reno's facial features as realization hit home. Tifa immediately convulsed into fits of laughter.

"It's really not that funny." Reno muttered.

Tifa didn't answer. She was too busy laughing at the man who simply never failed to make her laugh every time she was with him. Whether it was out of his goofiness, dorkiness, wittiness or whatever it was, one thing was for sure – she knew she was never going to cry with someone like him.