I am soooo sorry for the long wait! Thank you to you who were still following this story. This chapter is dedicated to you.
"Siiis, I'm hungryyy…" Reno whined.
"Go eat." Ray replied curtly.
"Siiis, you haven't had lunch, and your breakfast was a cup of tea, and it's past dinnertiiime…" Reno tried to pry her from the files she was so absorbed in.
"I'm fine, Reno, your boss made me eat when you went down to get those papers from Hojo." She snatched a page back.
"Really?" Reno looked at Tseng, who nodded without looking up from his work. "Thanks, boss…"
"Here." Ray started writing a list on a blank notebook page. When she finished, she gave it to Reno. "Buy this for me, ok?"
Reno looked at the piece of paper and blushed.
"Ray. Sis. Sunshine. Why do I have to buy this kind of stuff?"
"Because mine blew up with the house." Ray went back to reading the files.
"Can't you take a break and come with me?"
"If I do, will you let me sleep in my own bed?" Ray looked warily at Reno.
They were interrupted by Tseng choking on his coffee.
"Excuse me?" he looked wide eyed at them, praying for his thoughts not to show on his face.
"Oh, you didn't tell him?" Ray grinned evilly at Reno. She turned to Tseng, who was dabbing a napkin at his tie. "He used to be afraid of the dark and of spiders crawling in his ear, so he'd sleep next to me."
Tseng kept dabbing his tie, recomposing himself from the mental images of the two redheads in the same bed. He smiled evilly at Reno.
"I didn't know that…"
"Alright, alright, I'll go buy lacy panties and bras, and girl's PJs and whatnot, yo…" Reno stormed out of the office.
"I don't wear panties!" Ray called after him.
They could hear Reno cursing and sputtering in the hallway.
"You don't?" Tseng looked at Ray, trying to hide his lust. She smiled secretly and turned to the files again.
"Wouldn't you like to know…"
Tseng would.
"When are you coming?" Reno asked when he entered the office.
"I'll be up there in a moment…" Ray was sorting files and marking them with colorful PostIts.
"I'm hungry, yo…" he whined and plopped down next to her.
"Yes, you already said so. What do you want to eat?" she stood up and placed two piles of files in front of Tseng.
"You're gonna cook?" Reno stood up and stepped behind her to look over her shoulder at the files.
"Sure, why not…I bet you live on takeout." She leaned back when Reno hugged her waist. "Tseng, these" she pushed a pile towards him, "are the cadets I want to interview. These you can put away." She pushed the bigger pile aside.
"First thing tomorrow, then." Tseng looked through the files and nodded.
"Will you be joining us for dinner?" She asked. Reno looked up at his boss. Tseng had to take a deep breath at seeing the two redheads hugging each other and looking at him with those green, green eyes…
"I wouldn't want to be inconvenient…" Tseng started putting the files away and turning his computer off.
"If you were I wouldn't have invited you." Ray interrupted him bluntly.
"Well then, it's settled!" Reno steered Ray out of the office. "We're waiting for you upstairs!" he called to Tseng.
Sighing and slumping back in his chair, Tseng watched as the two left his office talking about chicken and vegetables. He closed his eyes and brought to mind the scene by the labs, and just now, how softly Reno held her in his arms and how she leaned back and put her hands on his shoulders. Tseng had always…admired…Reno, and whenever they were on missions, or training, he did everything he could to touch the younger Turk without making it look suspicious.
He finished putting his things away and left his office, locking it behind him. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that would lead him to the Turks' apartment floor. When the doors dinged open, he slowly walked to door number 56 and knocked.
"It's open, yo!" he heard Reno yell from inside.
When Tseng reached out to turn the doorknob, it was yanked away from him. In the doorway stood Ray, and she had the cutest frown on her face Tseng would never dare to comment on.
"You could have opened the door, you're so lazy, Reno!" she stormed off to the couch, where Reno was sprawled out.
"I'm busy!" he pointed to the ferret sleeping on his stomach.
"Busy my ass…" she plucked the ferret off his stomach and dropped it in its cage.
Tseng closed the door softly behind him and looked around. It wasn't the first time he had entered Reno's apartment, but he was still amazed at how he seemed to be the kind of person to live in a pigsty, but actually was very organized. He didn't have any unnecessary items lying around, and everything seemed clean and well-used.
"Need any help?" Tseng asked Ray as he followed her into the kitchen.
"Yes, do you know any adoption center I could leave Reno in?" she angrily chopped carrots.
"I heard that, yo!" Reno shouted over the noise of the TV.
"Screw you!" she shouted back.
"Screw you back!" he turned the TV volume louder.
"Turn that shit down!" she went to the living room still clutching the knife in her hand and pried the controller out of Reno's hands. When he lunged for it, she dodged him and threw the small plastic device into the aquarium, pointing the knife at him in a scolding manner.
"No! I don't wanna watch Deep SeaNN!" Reno stuck his hand into the water and pulled the controller out. His soaking sleeve dripped onto the floor, making Ray shriek in rage, swishing the knife around until Reno snatched it from her.
Tseng was finding it difficult to breathe. He was laughing so hard he thought he would cough up his lungs.
"Oh, my Gaia, we broke him." Reno stared at his boss.