Author's Note: Another chapter!! Hurray! This one isn't as serious as the last, but we're definately getting somewhere plot-wise. I hope you are all enjoying this so far, I know I am. xD You know, I was reading some really awesome fanfics last night and it occured to me that I could be doing so much better...so I tried really hard to step-up my writing. I had already written most of this chapter, so it would only really be toward the end. But I'm trying! xD Any advice is welcome, I would like to point out again that the only things I've ever written are posted on this site...so yeah. Noob! xD Anyway, enough of my random ramblings, you guys want to read! Read, review, repeat!
"I don't even know what to do with him anymore," Tseng stepped out of his office seconds after they had all shown up, except for Reno of course, who was always late, "Reno just doesn't know when to stop does he?"
"What's he done this time?" Elena asked warily.
"Come and see for yourselves." Rude and Elena followed Tseng back into his office. Everything was just as normal except…except that all the items which were normally on top of Tseng's desk were now somehow fixed to the ceiling, arranged exactly as they usually were on the desk.
"Oh my…" Elena stared up at the ceiling, "He goes to such extreme lengths just for a random prank! Look, he even managed to keep the pens from falling out of your penholder. If only he put that energy towards work…"
"None of us would ever have to fill out any paperwork again," Rude commented quietly.
A shout from the hall drew their attention away from the ridiculous set-up on the ceiling. Going to look, they saw Reno coming down the hall at his usual lazy pace, carrying a bag of potatoes. The poor, innocent other Shinra employee that had the bad luck to be in this hall at this time, was rubbing his head and giving Reno a look that was both frightened and angry. A single potato was on the floor, rolling slowly. Seeing the three other Turks standing there, Reno smiled and waved happily.
"Hey, you all came to greet me!"
"Reno, what on earth on you doing?" Elena demanded.
"Throwing potatoes at people," he replied without hesitation and without cracking even a small grin, "I thought it was obvious." He plopped down at his desk and smiled up at them, seemingly oblivious to the stunned looks on their faces.
"Well, I'll be in my office," Tseng didn't even attempt to point out that Reno couldn't walk around throwing things at people. Just before the man reached the safety of his office, Reno plucked a potato from the bag and threw it at him. The vegetable bounced off the man's shoulder and rolled away on the floor. Tseng stopped just long enough to shoot a piercing glare at the redhead before slamming his office door behind him.
Reno didn't throw any more potatoes for quite some time, instead messing around, performing his pathetic imitation of work. Elena heard a tell-tale thump and looked up to see Rude staring at a potato that was on his desk. Sadly, she was also just in time to see a potato flying straight for her face.
"Ow, dammit!" Elena rubbed her nose and glared at the offending co-worker, "What the hell?"
"I did tell you I was throwing potatoes at people," Reno said, "So it's not like I didn't warn you."
"Reno, you are just sooo…" Elena struggled to find a word annoying and enraging enough to describe him.
"Sexy?" Reno suggested, "Thanks, I know. Don't worry, babe, you'll get over me."
"Did I ever mention how much I hated you?" she glared daggers at him.
"Aw, I'm touched 'Laney, really I am," he placed a hand over his heart, and grinned. She didn't even grace that with a reply. The seconds ticked by in silence. A full minute passed before Reno spoke again.
"You know…you didn't deny you thought I was sexy," he said mischievously. Elena smacked her forehead down on her desk.
Rude and Elena both looked up at the next thump, accompanied by an exclamation. Reno had apparently gotten bored of sitting at his desk and had decided to instead go sit in the hall by the elevator. Every now and then some poor, unsuspecting soul would get hit by a potato. Elena had counted at least twenty thumps by now. She sighed and shook her head. No one was doing a thing to stop him. Too scared since he is a Turk, I guess.
When she heard two thumps in quick succession, Elena got up from her desk and went into Tseng's office, knocking on the frame as she walked in.
"You've got to make him stop, sir," she said, "He's going to end up getting us all in trouble if he keeps throwing things at people."
"You're right," Tseng sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead, "I'll go talk to him." The man got up and headed toward the hall. He was walking through the doorway into the hall, when something tripped him and he fell, too surprised to catch himself.
"What the…" he looked back at the doorway in confusion, only now catching sight of the super thin, transparent fishing line that was fastened tightly across the doorway at knee level. From down the hall came Reno's hysterical laughter.
"You should have seen your face!" he managed to get out, "That was awesome."
"No, it was not awesome, Reno, in fact it was very far from awesome," Tseng picked himself up off the floor, "It was stupid and childish, just like this potato stunt you're pulling." He ripped the fishing line from the doorway and tossed it to the floor. "You're going to stop this right now," Tseng snatched the almost empty bag of potatoes from Reno, "I'm sure you can find something productive to do with your time instead of this."
"Throwing potatoes at people was productive!" Reno insisted, "You should have seen how much faster everyone moved once they realized I was throwing things at them. Productivity probably increased significantly today." Tseng completely ignored the redhead's protests and went back to his office with the confiscated potatoes.
"Rude, could you bring this file to Rufus? He wanted it as soon as I was done with it. Thanks," Tseng handed the file Rude, who took it and headed off. Reno had perked up upon hearing this exchange of words, and watched patiently as Tseng went back into his office. Getting up, Reno poked his head into the hall and, apparently satisfied, went back to his desk and started digging through the drawers.
This activity drew Elena's attention and she watched, suspicious as Reno searched his desk for who-knew-what.
"Ah ha!" Reno whipped something from a drawer. Before Elena even had time to process the object in his hand, he had began to spray paint a pink heart on the front of Rude's desk.
"Reno! What are you doing? Stop it!" Elena jumped out of her chair, but didn't approach the redhead. After all, he was armed with spray paint.
"Oh, come on. We all know Rude needs to brighten up!" Reno grinned wickedly as he continued to spray paint hearts and flowers, all in pink, on Rude's desk. Drawn by Elena's outburst, Tseng came to see what was going on.
"Really, Reno?" Tseng didn't even look angry this time, just annoyed, "Are you really so bored that you can't come up with anything else to do? Anything that's not some kind of idiotic prank that is."
"Why, yes, Tseng. Office work is so boring, this is way more fun," Reno replied with mock seriousness. Before their banter could continue, Rude came back, stopping in his tracks in the doorway. He recovered his poise almost instantly and went to sit at his desk.
"One of these days you're going to get into some real trouble, Reno," was all the man said.
"We need to have a talk, Reno. Well, really you need to sit in my office quietly and listen to me talk," Tseng said.
"Ooh, scary," Reno hopped up from the floor and tossed the can of spray paint into his chair before heading into Tseng's office.
"I'm sorry you have to put up with him," Tseng apologized to Elena and Rude, "Hopefully we can talk some sense into him. I'm getting rid of this." Here Tseng picked up the spray paint and dropped it in the trash.
"I don't think any amount of talking will make him behave," Elena sighed. Rude nodded in agreement.
"I don't really think so either, but I have to try everything, no?" Tseng rubbed his hands together, "Well this is going to be obnoxious," he muttered, turning into his office and closing the door behind him.
About half an hour later, Reno emerged, looking slightly subdued. Tseng triumphantly watched him go to his desk and start working. Elena also watched Reno, in utter shock. Did it actually work? Reno looked up and winked at her. Uh oh. He was acting. Did he have something up his sleeve? Or was he actually going to lay off the pranks for awhile? Whatever the situation was, Reno was calmly and quietly filling out paperwork for the time being, slender fingers flipping through papers swiftly. Enjoy it while it lasts. Elena seemed to find herself saying that a lot lately. She didn't dare to hope that maybe Reno would behave for good this time.
"Alright, I have to attend a meeting with Heidegger. I'll be back later," Tseng tucked his cell phone into his jacket pocket before leaving. Reno watched him go, a blank expression on his face, which quickly turned to a devious smirk. Flicking his flaming red bangs from his eyes, he twirled the pen in his fingers before going back to his work.
Elena watched with apprehension. As nice as it was when Reno behaved, it was almost more stressful than when he was pulling some prank. At least then you knew what he was up to. Now she had no idea. Just keep an eye on him…Elena got considerably less work done since she snapped her head up and locked her eyes on Reno every time the man made the slightest move. He began to notice her excessive jumpiness and soon, every time she looked up, his aquamarine eyes met hers, twinkling with internal laughter.
"Nervous, 'Lena?" he asked as she glared at him, angry since he had just half-jumped out of his chair suddenly to startle her.
"No," she lied, scoffing and tossing her medium length blonde hair over her shoulder. She tried hard not to look at him after that, but, of their own will, her eyes kept sliding over to peek at the redhead. To the untrained eye, Reno seemed engrossed in his work, but Elena knew better. The slightest smirk, almost invisible, hovered around his mouth and his eyes sparkled. Obviously there was something going on that only he was aware of.
Finally there was some real action. Tossing the pen aside and kicking his feet up, Reno casually picked his phone up from his desk, fiddling with it for a few moments. Elena had her eyes glued on him; his inactivity had her nerves completely fried. Acting as if on impulse, he snapped the phone open and poked a few buttons slowly, deliberately. With a slight flourish, Reno pushed the last button and put the phone to his ear, taking his feet off the desk and spinning his chair lazily.
"What are you doing, Reno? Who are you calling?" Elena questioned. Turning to look at her, he winked and stuck his tongue out.
"I don't have to tell you anything. Hush, it's ringing." Apparently something about this struck him as hysterical, because he started to laugh. No one picked up, but Reno didn't hang up for quite some time, choosing to let it ring endlessly. Eventually he flipped the phone shut and slipped it into his pocket. Wiping all traces of laughter off his face, Reno turned back to his work without a word of explanation for the other two.
Elena had resigned herself to never understanding what that had been about, when heavy feet sounded in the hallway, walking quickly and forcefully.
"Reno! You…" Tseng was livid, fuming, "You have gone too far this time."
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about, Tseng," the redhead looked up aggravatingly slowly from his work with a cool, calm expression.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" the man tore his phone from his coat pocket where he'd put it before leaving for his meeting. Throwing it down on Reno's desk, he paced back and forth in a rage, "You changed the ring tone. To Barbie Girl. Barbie Girl, Reno! What the hell were you thinking?" Elena watched Tseng rant with wide eyes. She'd never seen him so mad before. What were you thinking, Reno? You're not going to be able to get out of this so easy…
"I was in an important meeting, with Heidegger. President Shinra had stepped in for a moment. The President of this company, Reno! When my phone started ringing, with that…that heinous noise! Since you obviously have nothing to do with your time other than pull these insane pranks, I'll give you something to do. From now on you can personally handle every last mission assigned to the Turks. They're all yours. And I've just discussed several new operations with Heidegger. This should keep you busy so you don't have to resort to 'entertaining' yourself in this pathetic way," Tseng snatched his phone from Reno's desk and stormed into his office, calling behind him one last time before slamming the door, "Every last one, Reno!"
Author's Note: OOOOO Tseng's mad. xD lol. Well I hope you all liked this chapter, please review and let me know what you thought! I really appreciate the feedback, and of course it always helps. Thanks a ton guys! *hugs for all* =)