Nine in the afternoon
I figure that this takes place WAY AFTER Advent Children. I also think that this is made of fail. -_-
The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for March 25, 2008.
It was a little past one in the morning by the time the party started to slow down and the people in it were in that halfway point between dead drunk and sleeping awake. Reno cast one last glance around the area, taking in the features and figures of the people who had spent the last few decades of his life either fighting with or fighting against. Odd, how a single brat's eighteenth birthday party at Cosmo Canyon could bring such a strange group together. The Turk then turned towards the table of Denzel, the celebrant himself, and noted with some amusement how he was slumped over top, fighting to stay awake while Cid Highwind and Barrett Wallace – his self-declared uncles – were losing themselves in half-drunken ramblings of their exploits as AVALANCHE members. Cloud Strife was nowhere in sight, but from the way Tifa Lockheart was serenely wiping glasses clean from behind the counter, Reno figured that the swordie had probably stepped out for a moment, and there was no real cause for alarm. He had always been a strange one after all.
Reno realized, at that point, getting some fresh air seemed like a good idea – that, and it was high time that he smoked a cigarette or two, as Rufus Shinra did not approve of his men smoking while he was in the area. The redhead took a look around, checking whether the former president of the Shinra Corporation was around to see him; he chuckled just a little upon realizing that the blond man had disappeared himself. Tseng's absence was a telltale sign of where Rufus might have gone off to. Reno thought about that for a moment before realizing that maybe he didn't really want to think about that at all, and made a beeline for the elevator.
Cosmo Canyon, Reno had discovered over his years in the service, was the sort of place that truly came alive at night – the climate in the canyons was at a consistent level of Hella Fucking Hot during the day, and as such, most of its residents preferred to do their business indoors or to sleep the worst hours away. There was also the fact that the wind had the tendency to kick up a horrendous amount of dust, shrouding everything in a confused, red haze that boggled people who were new to the area. The wind was oddly not as bad during the night as it was during the day time, allowing one to enjoy the eerily beautiful scenery of the area without having to hack one's lungs out every five minutes or so. There, surrounded by jagged rock formations and underneath a dome of stars, the people of Cosmo Canyon gathered around bonfires with drinks and cigarettes, eating snacks, exchanging stories.
Reno kept his distance from the people in the area, settling down on a stack of crates and padding himself down for his cigarettes – the Shinra of old was a distant dream, but that did not stop folks from having their suspicions about a guy like him. He knew how to stay out of trouble; he had known since he was a punk of twelve summers toughing it out in the slums of Midgar, and he had not forgotten, even now that he was pushing forty and pretty much retired. Residents of Cosmo Canyon were familiar with him, and while they were courteous enough he knew better than to push his luck and upset them by sticking around. Three cigarettes, and he swore to himself that he'd head back inside and dutifully out of sight.
"I will never understand human vices like yours."
Had he not been a Turk, Reno might have jumped out his skin at the sound of that growling, very much inhuman voice somewhere below his feet. To his credit, the man managed to reign in his surprise, which manifested itself in a small exclamation and a surprised look at Red XIII, whom he had apparently failed to notice until that moment. The big cat(?) was settled down rather nicely beside the crates, blinking up at him with languid golden eyes.
"Cid Highwind seems overly fond of smoking also," Red XIII went on to say. "It does not look like his wife approves though."
"My boss doesn't like me smoking either," Reno returned with a laugh. "It's not for everyone, really."
"Then why do you do it?"
"Because it's fun."
If he had not already spent most of his evening at the birthday and if they had met each other in that fashion maybe half a year or more back, Reno might have found it surreal how he was talking about smoking to someone that he had once marked as an enemy. In retrospect, the members of AVALANCHE had only been his targets because he had been ordered to do so – a job was still a job, whether it involved mopping hallways or killing people. Of course, Reno was uncertain of whether they were all 'friends' or not, now that everything had been said and done. The fact that they were invited to parties like this had to count for something – he just didn't know what.
"Perhaps I should ask Cid someday," Red murmured, lowering his head down upon his paws. Reno felt the rather strange urge to pet the big cat's head.
"He's probably gonna say the same thing that I did."