Torment

((Author's Note: This was the one-hour random word challenge for 4/29/12. As soon as I saw the word 'torment,' I knew what I was going to do! Lol… Anyway, this story took me about 57 minutes. It takes place during the Shin-ra days for the Turks, obviously. Please spend a moment and let me know what you think! Thanks! ~ JenesisX))

Torment: persecution or the repeated inflicting of suffering or annoyance

Another boring day at the office. Sure, there was actual work that needed to be done, but it was boring work. Reports to write. Questionnaires to fill out. Memos to read. Stupid shit like that. It was definitely not the exciting and cool Turk stuff Reno lived for.

He stared at the pile of papers sitting on his desk among the assorted candy bar wrappers, empty bags of chips, soda cans, and dirty coffee cups. The stack seemed to be growing in size right before him. Maybe that was because it was, as he hadn't done a thing with any of the documents in well over a week and Tseng kept putting more in his inbox. Some were repeat copies of things he'd already been given and asked to handle, now including sticky-notes in his boss' neat script, demanding he take care of them 'as soon as possible.'

Reno took liberty with that phrase, grinning crookedly as he looked down at one such request. Well, when these things were so damn boring, it just wasn't possible for him to read them! Reno wouldn't admit it to the others, but he wasn't all that good a reader to begin with, and did so slowly even when he really tried to concentrate. He supposed he should have actually gone to school more often instead of hanging out on the streets getting into trouble. And when he did actually turn up for class, he probably should have done so sober. Aah well… a bit later for that now.

Reno groaned loudly, leaning far back in his chair and stretching his hands high above and behind his head. He glanced up at the clock on the wall and frowned, noting that he'd been at his desk for just over an hour. Behind him, Rude was typing away as usual, effortlessly taking care of his assignments in a way that Reno both hated and envied. He despised being shown up and made to look like an idiot. At least Rude was his best friend, though, and when he had extra time would actually assist Reno in getting some of his own work done. He was the best partner a lazy, procrastinating Turk with mild dyslexia could hope for.

And then there was Elena. Reno rolled his chair back from his cubicle and glanced down the aisle to his right, finding the young blond woman busily at work in front of her own computer. They had recently been sent out on an assignment together, which was a bit rare, because Rude had been using a few of his vacation days and Tseng was still not completely recovered from his recent injury. Their boss had very nearly been killed by a madman in the Temple of the Ancients and was still relegated to light duty until further notice. With each of their usual partners unavailable, Reno and Elena found themselves stuck together. When they'd returned from their mission, she'd immediately typed up a long, flawless report that put everyone else in the office to shame. Reno arrived the next morning to be greeted by an e-mail from Tseng, wanting to know where his report was. He and Rude had a system, in which they tried to turn in their work around the same time so neither was made to look bad, and never on the same day they returned from the assignment. You didn't want to set the boss' expectations too high, after all. Elena apparently did not know the system at all.

No, she knows… he thought, studying her closely. It's just that she was now sleeping with their boss. He shook his head, snickering to himself. She and Tseng thought no one knew, but to Reno and Rude, it was painfully obvious. They might have been fooling everyone else, but not the two men who worked with them the closest. He had long suspected they had a thing for each other, but a few weeks back when Tseng had finally returned to Midgar, Reno knew immediately that they'd crossed that line. Tseng seemed more relaxed, even cheerful at times, and Elena blushed every time she looked his way. It was highly amusing to watch, and Reno was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to inform them of his knowledge.

Elena seemed to feel his eyes burning into her and stopped typing, turning to focus on him with a frown. "What?" she asked, her expression curious and a little concerned.

"Nothing…" Reno said, trying to sound mysterious. He continued to stare at a spot on her cheek, causing her to frown and lift her hand to see if something was there. He smirked inwardly and continued to stare.

"What?" she asked again, squirming a bit under his unblinking gaze. When he still didn't stop or change his expression, she growled under her breath in irritation and shook her head. "Don't you have work to do or something?"

Reno frowned, allowing his annoyance to cross his face. "Yeah… Especially since someone continually has their lips attached to Tseng's ass and makes the rest of us look bad," he said loudly, pleased when her face turned bright red.

"Shut up!" she exclaimed in nearly a shriek, looking around nervously to see who else might have heard. The office was empty other than the three of them, however, most of the other Turks either out on assignment or taking their lunch breaks. At his desk behind Reno, he could hear Rude snickering quietly as he continued to type.

"Maybe if I wanted to get in the boss' pants, I'd work harder, too."

"Reno!" she shouted, her blue eyes glaring daggers at him.

He smiled innocently, casually folding his hands behind his head. "Yes?"

"… I hate you so much sometimes!"

Elena turned back to her desk in a huff, taking out her anger as she pounded on the keys much harder than necessary. Reno rolled back to his own computer, giggling, and opened up a blank document. Maybe he would try to write that report after all…

"That was mean," he heard a deep voice say behind him. Without turning, Reno shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe so, Rude… but she's always doing extra shit and making us look like tools! And you know as well as I do exactly why."

Rude grunted. "She also tries so hard because she's still relatively new, she's the only high-ranking woman in the Turks, and she thinks she has something to prove."

Reno snorted. "And she wants to get laid at the end of the day," he grumbled under his breath. "Shit, me too, but doing all this fucking paper work is not worth it!"

"I don't know… I like any excuse to go and see that secretary with the nice breasts."

Reno grinned, knowing exactly which employee his friend was referring to. In fact, not to brag, but he'd already slept with her. Twice. Still, she tended to wear low cut blouses, and suddenly he and Rude both needed a lot more copies made.

"Hehe… Good point."

Rude went silent again, focusing on his work in a way Reno couldn't understand. He sighed loudly, opening one of his desk drawers and peering inside as if it held the solution to his problems. His eyes widened and he grinned mischievously as he studied its contents. Perhaps it did…

He quickly removed a handful of rubber bands, placing the pile atop his stack of paperwork. Concentrating, he selected one and checked its elasticity. Satisfied, he rolled his chair back again, took aim, and fired at the back of Elena's head.

"Direct hit!" he shouted as it smacked into her, tangling itself in her blond hair. Elena shrieked in surprise, reaching up to grab her head before turning toward Reno with a look that could have melted stone.

"RENO!" she shouted, finally plucking the offending object from her hair and slamming it into her trash can. "Knock it off, you jerk!"

"Or else what?"

"I'll go tell Tseng that you-" she immediately cut herself off, blushing bright red.

"Oh noooo, don't go tell your boyfriend on me!"

"Go to hell!"

"Oooh, she's gettin' pissed now, Rude."

Steam was practically rising from the top of Elena's head, and her hands were balled into fists in her lap. Reno giggled, picked up another rubber band, and fired it directly at her chest. She yelped, then glared at him indignantly.

"Grow up! You are so freaking immature and-"

Another rubber band hit her right between the eyes.

"THAT'S IT!"

Elena was instantly on her feet, storming down the aisle and out the door of their shared office space. Reno had a pretty good idea where she was going, still snickering to himself.

"You're going to get in trouble," Rude admonished him, having never stopped typing during the battle.

"It was worth it," Reno said with a shrug, finally beginning to type out the beginning of his overdue report. "She deserves it for being such a suck up."

"Picking on the boss' girl is a really bad idea, though…"

"Eh. What's he going to do to me?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, a much calmer Elena reappeared in the office, wearing a pleased smile she couldn't seem to wipe off her face. Reno wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but her suit jacket looked a bit rumpled, as if it had been put back on in a bit of a hurry. She walked past he and Rude without so much as a glance, quietly returning to her desk and getting right back to work.

"Hey, Rude… I think Elena jus-"

He was interrupted by the loud ringing of the phone on his cluttered desk. Brushing aside a few items of trash that fell to the floor, he grabbed it and held it up to his ear.

"This is Reno, yo," he said, his standard greeting. "What's up?"

"Reno…"

He immediately recognized Tseng's voice, frowning a bit with sudden concern. He'd been half expecting it, but was still a bit surprised that Elena had actually gone and told on him after all.

"Yeah, boss?"

"It seems you have a lot of free time on your hands today," Tseng said, and for some reason it sounded like he might be smiling. "So I've placed some additional work in your inbox, along with several reports you need to redo because of their… quality. I also expect to have the write-up of your last assignment finished before I clock out. Do not leave for the day until everything is finished, please, regardless of how long it takes."

"But… dude- um, sir! Do you know how much-"

"Thank you." There was a click as Tseng hung up the phone, leaving Reno to lower his and stare at it in horror. As he did so, he heard the soft sound of giggling from across the room.

He leaned back and found Elena grinning broadly, trying very hard not to burst out into laughter. He glared, grinding his teeth in annoyance. Elena finally straightened her blazer, winked at him, then turned back to her computer. She was practically glowing with satisfaction.

"God dammit," Reno grumbled under his breath, climbing to his feet and heading with trepidation to see what horrors had been added to his inbox across the hall. "Fuck me, man…"

"Told you so," Rude said, shaking his bald head. "Looks like you'll be pulling an all-nighter… and not the kind she's likely to have. Ha!"