The bar wasn't crowded on a Wednesday evening, which was something Elena preferred to. She wasn't much of a bar bird, but followed Reno and Rude to their favorite place whenever they wanted to. This time the fellow Turks had suggested a new place they had found out while Elena had staid in the hospital. She had assumed that either the place was classy like Rude or sleazy like Reno – nothing in between those options.
To celebrate Elena's recovery the Turks had left their formal uniforms at home and dressed more casually. Elena had chosen a short black dress, with was made from rather sturdy material – she hated all kind of princess dresses and classic little black – and black high heels. Very down to Earth if you asked someone, but Elena didn't. Rude had dressed himself into dark jeans and a dark gray turtle neck shirt, something Elena didn't expect to see on him but had to admit it flattered Rude nicely. Reno, on the other hand, had a white collar shirt on and it's hem was tucked into his dark formal pants loosely. They looked suspiciously a lot like his Turk uniform's shirt and pants and Elena wondered if it truly was the case. It wouldn't surprise Elena to hear Reno didn't have any washed clothes at home except a few pairs of his work outfits, which were washed for them by Shinra's own laundry company. She decided to keep her mouth shut about it.
Her injuries were healed almost completely now, thanks to the heavy cure material they stored in the hospital, combined with traditional health care. Reno had played his guardian role faithfully, staying in watch and surprisingly Elena had found it to be fun. She got to know Reno more during the days she staid in the hospital when he lurked in the bed side, talking about all kind of things. They even noticed to know the same card game – something Elena had learned in the bar she had worked in in her high school years – and they often killed the time by playing cards. Rude wasn't a card player type, Elena had also learn that, but the man was awesome with simple card magic tricks. It didn't fit Rude's type, but a Turk was always full of surprises.
Despite they had had rather relaxed, kicked back time with Reno in the last days, Elena hadn't been able to bring up the question of the necklace, and the more time time passed, the more sure Elena was that the necklace gift was just some quirk of Reno. Nothing more, nothing less. She wondered should her sell it and return the money back to Reno.
Despite that Elena had suspected them to hit a bar either in Classy section or Shitty section, she was happily surprised when the men guided her to a small corner bar in Sector 7's upper plate. It had modern interior design and overall the place looked more classy than shady. In this bar Elena would even dare to order a fancier drink. Like always, Reno was in a good mood whenever they hit a bar. Whether he drank just one pint or got completely wasted, it didn't matter. He was always happy to be in a bar.
"Bottoms up and I pay!" he cleared joyfully when they sat down in the corner of the bar. Though the bar was a modern place, they had East-Asian styled pillow seats on the tatami floor, and a wide black wooden table. Elena wasn't happy she had chosen to wear a dress with a short hem, as sitting with it on the floor was rather tricky. She was happy they had chosen a further corner so no one could start to peek under her hem when she tried to position her legs as lady like as possible.
Reno made the order for everyone, like promised. Elena wasn't much a drinker, so she decided to keep her drink glass as full as possible, as long as possible.
Rude offered to buy them little snacks to go with the drink, which earned a loud "hell yeah!" yell from Reno. Elena smiled at both of them, feeling somehow a little bit out of the place. She hadn't been long in the team yet, and Reno and Rude knew each other completely. She wondered if she ever got to know them that well, too.
"Laney,yo, you're spacing out".
Reno snapped Elena out from her trance. She blinked a couple of times.
"Sorry, I feel a bit hazy, nothing serious. Side effect of the materia", she lied.
"Rude asked what you wanted to eat", Reno said pointing Rude next to him with his thump.
Elena took the small menu from the table's edge and inspected it quickly. She decided to order simply chocobo nuggets, as she didn't had much appetite.
"I frigging love chocobo nuggets", Reno announced with a wide grin. "I used to eat them a lot when I was a kid. With lots of ketchup, they're lame without ketchup. Yo Rude, tell the waiter to add lots of ketchup to Laney's order!"
Elena tried to protest, she really tried. Rude, however, ordered the nuggets with lots of ketchup, but told the waiter to have the ketchup placed in a different cup, not all over the nuggets. Elena had to thank him out loud, and Reno's face fell with the disappointment. He muttered something of not knowing her own good, but Elena ignored it.
The evening went on with friendly chats, lots of drinks and delicious little snacks. Reno kept ordering the drinks, Rude the food. A blush rose up to Elena's face when Rude ordered the 5th set of food.
"I really should pay my share, I can't allow you two to pay for everything", she hastily said underneath her blush and reached for her purse.
"What? I said I'd pay the drinks and Rude said he paid the food", Reno pointed out and snatched two of Elena's nuggets and took a long swing from her drink while Elena wasn't paying enough attention.
"Reno is right. Just enjoy yourself, Elena. You almost got killed. Money means nothing", Rude accompanied Reno with a calm tone. He earned a whistle from Reno.
"So deep, so deep", he smirked and took another swing from Elena's drink, finishing it completely. Elena protested Reno's impudence with a loud tone, but Reno just lifted his hand into the air, summoning the waiter.
"Hey, yo! Bring here a bottle of whiskey! Not that Costa Del Sol shit, but Icicle's brand! Oh yeah and something sweet to drink for the lady, preferably from the Costa Del Sol's shit sweet selection!"
Elena wanted to hide under the table from the sheer embarrassment, but she gulped it down and reasoned she had better to get used to boisterous Reno being boisterous in every single situation possible. Especially after drinking with a good thirst. Rude said nothing either.
A bottle of Icicle's whiskey was brought to the table, with a can full of something juicy smelling sweet alcohol for Elena. She took a horrified look at the full glass can.
"I'm sorry, but I can't drink this much", she started stopping the waiter, looking as apologetic as possible. Reno shooed the air with his hand in front of the waiter.
"Just leave it here, we dispose it during the night".
As the waiter lest their table, Reno opened the whiskey and poured a glass full for himself.
"Ah, this is some good shit. Laney, taste a bit of home", he said pouring whiskey to Elena's tall glass. She couldn't stop him doing so.
"I hate whiskey", Elena noted and pushed her glass towards the middle of the table.
"Ah bummer, you're not fun... Well, more for me", Reno noted and shot drink down with one go, grimacing afterwards with a shake of his head. "It's stronger than I remembered. Burns nice".
Elena and Rude took a long look at each other, but remained silent. Rude offered his glass for Reno, who filled it with whiskey. Elena decided to follow the guys' lead and poured the sweet drink from the can to her glass. She wished she had a straw.
After 3 hours of eating and drinking Elena was sure her stomach couldn't take anymore. Rude was adjusting his classes, looking at his watch.
"I need to go now. I promised to take mother out for shopping tomorrow before the work", he informed them. Both Elena and Reno knew Rude took very good care of his elderly mother, so they didn't put in with any protests.
"I should go soon, too", Elena sighed leaning on her arms. "My stomach is so full..!"
"No, not yet, I'm not finished", Reno protested. Though he had drank a lot and ate even more, he wasn't as wasted as Elena expected him to be. She suspected it was due the food.
"Elena, you better humor Reno a bit longer. Try to bear with him", Rude suggested while standing up. "He will whine about this for the next 3 weeks for you if you don't spent a little longer time with him. Isn't that right?"
"You know me yo", Reno grinned from ear to ear to Rude, until he took a look at Elena. When both of the men where staring at her, and especially after Rude's reasoning, Elena saw no need to say "no" to Reno. She could still stay a little longer. It wasn't more than 10 pm anyway. Thus she nodded to Reno and Rude, to which Reno reacted with a joyful smirk.
"Bottoms up, let's get wasted!" he yelled and took a swing straight from the whiskey bottle. Elena winced.
"Let's not".
After half an hour of casual chatting with Reno the bar started to fill with people. Their corner staid pretty much isolated and Elena suspected it was perhaps the natural Turk aura that kept people at bay, even without their uniforms - on the other hand it could be Reno's hair which yelled "I'm the Turk you have seen once, stay away". Whatever it was, Elena was happy with their little corner table.
"Fuck, I can't hear a shit", Reno complained and stood up, taking his sitting pillow with him. "I'm gonna move there, I don't want to yell but drink and eat".
Before Elena was able to tell her opinion of Reno's idea, he had already thrown the pillow next to her and dropped his body next to Elena – and a bit too close for comfort. He sneered jokingly at her face, still somehow keeping his composure despite the amount of consumed alcohol.
"Laney, you haven't been drinking much. Are you afraid of the consequences?"
"I'm not fan of hang overs", she admitted and took a little sip from her tall glass. The can on the table was still half full. "I said I couldn't drink that all. Now it's going to get wasted".
"Such is life, some things do get wasted".
"I'm surprised you're not wasted", Elena eyed Reno underneath her knitted brows. She inspected him carefully. "Perhaps your brain and liver are already so damaged they don't feel a thing".
"Wow, Laney, quite harsh! You know, I might be a hard boiled Turk with lots of awesome scars, like the ones I got from Sector 7 bombing, but my body can still feel a lot of different things". He leaned on his outstretched arm and leered nearer to Elena's head. "Want to see?"
She kept her composure under his pressure, pushing away the memory of their half-make out session in the storage room. "Reno, I'm not interested in your scars. You asked that from me when I was in the hospital and I said no. I say that again; no".
Reno staid close, eyes scanning Elena's face. She kept her gaze focused on the can on the table.
"I didn't mean the scars", he whispered with a hoarse voice, which washed over Elena's cheek. Her ear warmed up and Elena was sure Reno had drawn himself a few inches nearer.
When she didn't find words to reply, Elena came up with something else. She would strike back at Reno. He wouldn't expect that. She had hit and kicked him once already, so he would expect either ignorance or violence, which wouldn't back Reno down.
Smiling internally Elena turned her face to Reno's side slowly and looked him under her black painted eyelashes.
"What else you got to show me then...?" she dragged her words sweetly and let her small palm ran over Reno's thigh languidly, spreading her fingers for a wider touch.
The look on Reno's face was worth of seeing and Elena promised herself to burn that shocked look onto her retinas permanently. She noticed how his Adam's apple popped when he swallowed. The trademark smirk appeared on the corner of Reno's mouth.
"What would you want to see?" he returned the question, giving a lazily lustful look at Elena's face. She pushed her palm further on his thigh, caressing his inner thigh. He spread his legs a bit, leaning heavier onto his arm.
"Oh, I don't know", Elena joked, not breaking the eye contact with Reno or allowing the hot sweat seep on her forehead. She dragged her hand back on top of Reno's thigh. "Maybe the scars? Or the bodily feelings?" To underline her threat Elena add pressure to her touch and allowed her hand guide itself back to Reno's inner thigh. He sighed visibly.
"Explorer, aren't we?" he smirked with a glint in his eyes, referring to the storage room episode, where Elena had groped a few touches from Reno after he granted her a permission to explore him. Elena got the hint and blushed too much to cover it up. It threw a gasoline on Reno's flames and he grinned from ear to ear.
He leaned forward and captured Elena into a kiss, not minding her surprised, muffed groan. Her hand retreated from Reno's leg and he returned the touching favor to Elena by lifting his hand up to Elena's waist. He tilted his head, urging Elena to do the same and pushed her body forward. She had no option but to allow heavier Turk to do so, bending backwards. She sought support from her outstretched arm, placing her free arm on Reno's upper arm, on the arm that rested on her waist. The position forced Elena to move her body slightly so that her hip formed a fine curve to Reno's reach. He didn't hesitate any second to brush his palm over that curve and back to Elena's waist, just to repeat the motion again with a slow pace.
Elena tried to breath underneath Reno's hungry, whiskey tasting lips. Her cheeks were on fire, but for some reason she didn't resist the kiss as much as she would have expected. Actually she didn't resist it at all. Maybe it was the booze. Maybe it was the fact something in her stirred every time she saw Reno. She had suspected it was a stress based heartburn, but right now the same feeling had dropped down to her lower stomach.
Slowly Reno added a bit more pressure to his kiss, guiding Elena on the tatami floor on her back. He set his own body half way atop of her petite frame, letting his hand caress Elena's side down to her bare thigh, and up to hips. He tug his leg between Elena's legs and Elena was sure someone could see her underwear soon. She should have been ashamed, shrieked, called Reno a pervert, but some reason the idea of someone seeing her underwear exposed while Reno caressed and kissed her hungrily on the shady corner of a bar's floor excited her. In the back of her hazy mind Elena blamed Reno for the pervert ideas.
Reno broke the kiss, giving them time to breath and aimed to Elena's neck. She turned her head away, ashamed, lifting her leg against Reno's thigh in a hope of hiding her pink panties.
"Laney, you little tigress, thinking you could fool me with such a child's play", Reno breather hoarsely out to Elena's neck, sucking the sensitive skin deeply. She winced from pleasure, wrapping her arms around Reno's neck. "I should take you to bathroom and ravish you there for this".
"Do that and I get you kicked out from Turks for sexual harassment", she spat, not knowing was Reno serious or teasing her. He chuckled against her jawline and licked it widely.
"You're right, bathroom's a shitty place. Too tiny closets for a proper fuck", he panted. "I want to see you fully and clearly when you come, squirming underneath me with my name on your lips".
His boldness made Elena's heart to beat extra fast. In her mind she was able to picture the scene Reno mentioned. It was tantalizing, so alluring she moaned out loud. Slowly she rubbed her shin against Reno's thigh. His loins pressed against Elena's – he was hard.
"It's your fault I have a boner", Reno murmured to Elena's ears, staying there to breath how exhales into her ear shell. "Tell me it's my fault you're moist".
"Reno..!" she spat again, embarrassed. "You're horrible with your mouth when you're even half drunk".
"Oh you have no idea about my mouth", Reno replied back. Elena's spine jolted.
He kept Elena's body pinned against the floor, lying heavily on her. Elena liked his heaviness. She knew he could really ravish her here and there if he wanted to, but his hands never reached anywhere dirty and his mouth stayed above her collarbone. She sought his mouth to another kiss, as she didn't have any words to say to Reno. She always had witty comebacks. No she had nothing except raging heart, fluttering stomach, burning crotch and Reno's bulge digging into her hip bone.
Reno murmured softly into the kiss, not hiding the fact he enjoyed of the sudden attention and teasing he got. Elena wanted to touch him more, but this didn't feel like the right place for it. Like reading her mind Reno withdrew from the kiss, dropping his head back to Elena's ear.
"Laney, you might not believe it, but I'm actually a gentleman", he began, nuzzling his nose against Elena's jaw corner. "This is your call. I will go out and wait for you there for 5 minutes, hoping this boner to die out. If you don't come out within that time, we forget this. This is nothing but a competitive teasing by two drunken idiots – well, I'm more drunk than you but anyway. We won't talk about this and we forget it ever happened. However, if you come out withing 5 minutes, we go to nearest hotel and fuck till the Sun comes up. Got it?"
"Yes", she whispered with a voice which was a far too quiet from the voice she tried to speak with.
Reno hummed and nodded, composing himself up from Elena's body. He sat next to her, dusted his shoulders and gave a final glance at Elena, who staid lying on the floor, her dress's hem too high up on her legs. After that he stood up, left a tip for the waiter and headed out, hand showed into his pockets to hide his erection.
Elena pushed herself up slowly, brushing her hair behind her ear – the ear which had faced the onslaught of Reno's hot breathing and kisses. She wiped her lips, feeling still the pressure and the aftertaste of whiskey from Reno's mouth on them. Her heat was still racing and she mentally slapped herself for even trying to toy around with Reno. The voice in the back of her head said she should be ashamed for embarrassing herself so clearly in front of Reno, but Elena refused to listen to it.
She took a look at the front door. Reno was nowhere to be seen. He waited behind that door her decision. Why was he even interested in sleeping with her? Wait, why was she even interested in sleeping with Reno?
Yes... Why exactly..? Elena took a look at her lap, frowning. It wasn't like Reno would have ever been her kind of a type. Was it because she trusted him as a coworker? Was it because Rude and Reno were literally the only guys she spend time in the beginning with even after work? But shouldn't she feel something for Rude then, too?
Smacking her head Elena scolded herself. She was over-analyzing things again. What had Reno told her earlier? Stop over-analyzing. She gave him that. She had always spend her life thinking and thinking, analyzing and analyzing, trying to come up with plans and see how the plans would affect her future. What if this was just a little swing with a co-worker? She should do it. Go after Reno. This is anything would be a good lesson for her not to over-analyze things but go with the flow, and the flow was definitely directing her towards Reno. She wanted him. Wanted his body and voice all over her. And she could tell Reno wanted her, too, whether it was a one night stand or something more.
She could think that later.