"Oh for the love a god Reno, look at ya' shirt! Honestly, ya' couldn't a' run a iron over this? Straighten out this damn colla' for god's sake. It's all crammed under ya' jacket. Shit, I raised ya' better than this!" She tugged at him.
"Ma' it's fine! And Jett is right there! He's eight! Don't talk like that in front of him!" Reno scolded her.
"Please, Reno. Did you forget it's Ryan raisin' him? Have you forgotten how ugly ya sister's mouth can get! Kids have seen orgies by the age a' eight!" his mother argued. "Here, stand up straight! I don't want people thinkin' I raised some slob. God, tuck ya' shirt in, son!"
"MA'! I'm twenty-seven! I fix my own shirt!" Reno swatted at her. "And you stop laughin'!" Reno warned Cissnei trying his best to pinch her arm. Reno's mother sighed.
"I swear, I raised him better. I raised him better than this. I'm so sorry, doll, that I'm meetin' ya' for the first time with my son makin' a mockery of me!" Reno's mother ranted as she searched her purse for a cigarette.
"It's really, really okay…you…did a wonderful job." Cissnei said reassuring her.
"Ma'! Put your cigarettes away! First, you shouldn't smoke in front of Jett and second, this is a Shinra Graduation! You can't smoke during the ceremony!" Reno said grabbing her purse and her pack of cigarettes away from her.
"Alright! Alright! But honestly, Reno, do ya' think ya' sister puts ya' nephew in a bubble and….holy freakin' shit. Who the hell rolls up here in a car like that! It's every bit a' 65,000 gil! Who the fuck affords a car like that!" Reno's mother certainly didn't hold her opinions to herself.
"OH MY GOD! MA'!" Reno was about to lose it with her.
"Seriously, Ma' you are pissin' him the hell off. Jett, you didn't hear any of this." Reno's sister Ryan said pointing at her son.
"Hey, why don't you come with me? I'll show you around the place." Cissnei said putting her hand on Jett's back. She had to get him out of here before Reno went berserk on his mother.
"Okay." The little boy answered her.
"Thank you." Reno lipped to Cissnei.
"Oh! Seriously! That's gotta be some dip shit with money to blow!" Reno's mother commented.
"Ma'! Would ya' please be quiet! You're freakin' yellin'! That's my boss and his parents!"
"Sheesh! You're gonna have to get a job like his." Reno's mother told him. "Oh my god! It's Rude! Come here! God! I haven't see ya' in ages!" Thank god Rude had shown up at just the right time.
"It has been a long time!" he said throwing his arms around Reno's mother. "God, Ryan you look amazing." He hugged Reno's sister next.
"Aww, thanks honey." She said. "Mmm…Rude, every time I see you; you always smell like so much of a man."
"Where's your son?" Rude asked.
"Reno's girlfriend took him away before my Ma' could do any more damage to him." Reno's sister commented. Rude laughed.
"Ooooh god, see? See, that right there is exactly why I love it when Tseng's family comes to Shinra stuff." Rude said as another car pulled up behind the one that Tseng's parents had just gotten out of and a larger group poured out of it.
"Reno…Reno…who the hell do those people think they are all dressed the hell up!" his mother just HAD to know. Ryan put a hand over her mother's mouth.
"Ma'! That's my boss's family! And this is a graduation! You weren't supposed to wear your denim capri pants with these tacky ass sequins!" Reno reprimanded her.
"It could be worse…she wore a tube top to your Shinra Graduation." Ryan reminded him. Reno shook his head.
"See? Do they all not look exactly alike!" Rude said completely tickled.
"It is a lot of black hair in one place." Reno said. "God, as gay as this sounds…I hope I'm as fine as Tseng's dad when I'm his age. Father time has been fuckin' good to him. If Tseng looks like that when he's fifty-eight…he'll still have like….nineteen and twenty-year-olds after him and wantin' him for his distinguished-ness and his money. 'Cause you know…I figure by the time Tseng's that age he'll be filthy fuckin' loaded." Reno said.
"Yeah, totally." Rude said.
"Ow! Ma'! Come on, Reno. Let's get her seated before she gets us all kicked the fuck outta here." Ryan said.
"Thank god it's open bar tonight, huh?" Rude said quietly to Reno.
"Hell…yes. My Ma' is so much more pleasant when she's got tequila in one hand and a cigarette in the other. How else do you think me and Ryan survived our teen years?" he asked Rude as he put an arm around his mother.
"You and Ryan were horrible teenagers." Rude reminded him. Reno laughed.
"Yeah…yeah we were." He agreed with Rude.
"Shit, as much as I slept around while Ma' was passed out on the couch it's a wonder I didn't have Jett before I was nineteen." Ryan added.
"Yeah, well as pissed as I was at you, Jett straightened your life the hell out." Reno said.
"Shut up! I'm still waitin' on one of those to straighten you the hell out." Ryan rolled her eyes.
"Oh, ha, ha! Yeah, my girlfriend takes birth control so I'm not gonna' have one." Reno argued with her.
"Yeah that's…that's actually pretty smart…I shoulda' done that." Ryan admitted. Cissnei had Reno's nephew in their reserved seating area.
"Hey." Rude said to Cissnei as he sat down beside her. "Hey, buddy." He acknowledged the boy beside her.
"Hey, I was wondering when…." Cissnei looked up and caught sight of Zack walking up the opposite side of the open lawn with Lazard. "…I'll be back." She said getting up rather quickly. There was a lot of unfinished business with Zack. The outdoor venue of the Shinra Academy Graduation was beautiful; a spacious and manicured lawn. The company banners adorned the sides of the stage. The Academy grounds almost looked more wedding-like than graduation like, with white tulle tied on the chairs that lined the aisle. The front of the stage was lined in a massive hoard of flowers. The chairs on the stage were unspokenly designated: President Shinra, his son; Vice President Rufus, Tseng, SOLDIER Director Lazard, and after than each other respective department head: Department of Urban Development, Department of Aeronautics, and the Department of Medical Sciences to name a few.
Cissnei finally caught up to Zack. "Hey…" she said trying to catch her breath. It was a little warm today to be wearing a suit and tie but this was a graduation.
"Hey." Zack answered her a little apprehensively. He didn't really know what to say to her. Cissnei shook her head and reached up and put her arms around him.
"I'm sorry about what Reno did to you. I'm sorry I never told you about him. I couldn't. We had to keep it between he and I for a while." Cissnei whispered, a she squeezed him tighter.
"No, no Cissnei….I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for everything. I put you…I put you in such a bad position. I was…really, really selfish. I've been thinkin' about it a lot and…I was horrible to you, Cissnei! Horrible to Aerith!" Zack let go of her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"I knew you'd wake up and…and realize what you almost did." Cissnei said. Zack closed his eyes for a minute.
"Thank you…for being a true friend to me." He admitted.
"Always." She said softly.
"Hey um…you should know…I slept with her the other night. And she was ready…I mean…I didn't even…she was just ready." Zack said.
"I'm glad to hear that…'cause I'm afraid if….if you know….she hadn't…." Cissnei didn't know how to finish that sentence. She knew Zack had quite the flirtatious reputation.
"I know…" Zack said. "God, come here." He squeezed her tightly against him.
"Oooh, Zackary!" Cissnei said. "So, how many SOLDIER are they pushin' through today?" she let go of him.
"Fifty-seven. What about in your department?" Zack asked her as they headed toward the front of the stage
"Shit! Fifty-seven! There's just one for us." Cissnei said.
"Cissnei, you really are a special girl. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Listen, I'll catch up with you after the ceremony." Zack said patting her back. Cissnei smiled as she parted ways with him.
"You're special too Zack." She said to herself. She looked up to see that Tseng's family was nearly seated and she caught sight of who she was pretty certain was the new graduate's family. Tseng looked pretty busy but she had to go say something to him before he had to take his place on the stage. He eyed her quickly and left his family for a moment hurrying over to her.
"Hey." He said quickly. Cissnei whistled at him much too loudly.
"Oh baby, you pulled out the fancy threads for this one. Awww, Tseng you're wearing a boutonnière and your academy alumnus pin!" she said running her hands over the edge of his jacket.
"I wear this every year." Tseng reminded her.
"Yeeeeah, but not an expensive suit like this!" Cissnei laughed.
"Whatever…listen things are gonna start soon but I need you make sure no one sits in that front end seat because that's where I have to come back to.
"Okay…but first you gotta tell me one thing…what's her name?" Cissnei asked. Tseng knew good and well what she meant. He sighed.
"Elena. You'll get to meet her tonight. Veld and Reeve are walking her to the stage." Tseng admitted. Cissnei smiled.
"Alright, I'll go save your seat and oh! You owe me a dance tonight!" Cissnei pointed at him and took off.
It had been a beautiful and rather lengthy graduation. But what everyone really came to a Shinra graduation for was the fancy and quite expensive after party. It was held in town at the Garden Plaza Hotel in Ballroom C. It was always in Ballroom C because of its sheer size. The Shinra Graduation after party was always catered and the open bar was the highlight of the evening, to be frank.
"Oh my god! Did you take all of the shrimp!" Reno asked looking at Cissnei's plate of overly piled shrimp.
"We've been here for thirty-seven minutes and your mother is on her fifth margarita. You really wanna talk about my shrimp pile?" she asked. "Oh god! You gotta try one of these shrimp!" Cissnei said indulging in her jumbo shrimp.
"This is hands down the best buffet they've had in three years!" Rude said sitting down beside Cissnei with two very full plates.
"I know! Can you believe it! Hand carved roast beef AND filet mignon!" Reno said.
"Hey, I'm sorry your dad couldn't make it tonight, Rude." Cissnei said.
"It's alright. He woulda been here had it not been for that damn broken hip. He's comin' along okay." Rude assured her.
"Hey, hey…hey, Ryan. Hey, listen…I'm not blowing you guys…except that I'm blowing you guys off. I really should be with Elena and her family and with my family at least through dinner. I will bring her over here for you to meet in a little bit, okay?" Tseng asked with one arm around Reno and one arm around Cissnei.
"It's fine Tseng! Seriously, that's fine! You NEED to be there! Besides, something tells me I'm gonna have to help keep Reno's mother out of trouble. She wreaks of tequila already." Cissnei said.
"Is that what I smell?" Tseng asked.
"Oh yeah. Bottoms up to me though." Cissnei said raising her champagne glass. "Oh hey, would your dad be interested in dancing with me later?" she teased him. Tseng sighed.
"God, you're starting in on my poor father already?"
"I can't help it! He's so distinguished and sophisticated and handsome and…he has tons of money! God, that's gonna be you in twenty-five years!" Cissnei said taking another drink. Tseng shook his head at her.
"You better be glad I know you so well…and my dad doesn't have 'tons' of money! He has a normal…shipping merchant amount!" he argued her.
"Riiiiiight." Reno said pulling a glass of champagne away from his little nephew.
"Just let us meet our new graduate that will eventually be working with us and by the way, it's funny as hell to look over at that table and see one little blonde in an endless abyss of black. God, I freakin' love your family, Tseng! Oh, and Cissnei's right your parents are the prettiest people I've ever seen over age fifty-five." Rude said unable to conceal his delight.
"You all should probably drink a lot more….Reno, maybe not your mom. I'll be back later." Tseng said before he left.
"Ryan! For god's sake! Stop leaving your glass in front of Jett! What if he takes a drink?" Reno scolded her. She rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, what are you his father now? He's not gonna take a drink! Jett, you know not to drink this right? Eat your food there's plenty more. Don't waste anything or you can't have any desert." Reno's sister waved a finger at him.
"Hey! I may as well be his father! God only knows the loser dumped his seed in you and took the hell off!" Reno said digging around in his jacket for a pack of cigarettes only to remember there would be no smoking in this ballroom. Ryan dropped her fork to her plate.
"Oh my god! We've been over this a hundred times! Yeah, yeah his father gave him a penis and walked the hell away. And yes, I didn't mean to get pregnant but when you've been drinking a lot and you have a reputation for bein' loose already…" she shook her head.
"You're three minutes older than me, Ryan. You're supposed to be the responsible one! Need I remind you of Spring Break in Mideel 2005?" Reno teased her.
"God, Reno….that was a total accident!" she pointed at him.
"How is it an accident that you left me in a bar alone for over three hours!" Reno reminded her.
"You were makin' out with some hot chick and I was tryin' to get laid on the beach, you idiot! I never 'left' you! God!" I'm gonna need some stronger liquor. I swear Reno, you know how to get me goin'." His sister said standing up.
"Hey! Get me another margarita on the rocks, will ya' hon'? Reno's mother asked her.
"Whatever, Ma'." His sister answered her. Cissnei was laughing so hard she was in near tears.
"Oh my god, if this is what having a twin is like….then I so want one!" She barely got the sentence out.
"No! You don't ever want a twin. They're annoying as hell and when they constantly screw around in the room beside you, they keep you up half the night! And then when they make you make three dozen jello shots for their stupid friends they're even more annoying!" Reno warned Cissnei. That only made her laugh more.
"Reno, I need to have a fuckin' cigarette." Reno's mother announced.
"Ma'! For the last time! Your mouth!" It was the last warning Reno would give her and it would do absolutely no good. "Come on, I'll take ya'." He stood up and pushed his chair in. "Hey, don't let Rude eat that roast beef and keep an eye on him until Ryan gets back." Reno pointed to his plate. "Come on, Ma'." Once they were out of sight Rude looked over at Cissnei.
"Mother of the year, right there." He said jokingly. Cissnei laughed. Reno's sister returned shortly thereafter.
"Let me guess…Reno took Ma' out for a cigarette?" she asked.
"You got it." Cissnei answered her. "Hey, can I ask you something? If you two are twins, um…like….how is your hair so much of a richer red.
"Oh sweetie, my stylist puts low lights in it. See these streaks right here? This is Reno's color. This is how we were born. All these other streaks….from a bottle." She told Cissnei. "Oh hey, Reno said somethin' about you havin' a key to his apartment? 'Cause I'm gonna' take him home kinda' early and get him to bed." Ryan said pointing at her son.
"Oh! Yeah, yeah….hold on. Let me get it for you." Cissnei turned around to dig through her purse.
"I'll be back. I have a missed call from my girlfriend." Rude said tapping Cissnei on the shoulder.
"You got it." Cissnei said.
"So, uh….you work with Reno, yeah?" Ryan asked.
"I do. I have for about a year and a half." Cissnei answered her as she found her keys. His sister had a serious look on her face.
"He uh…he's crazy about you. I ain't never had any man be crazy about me…'cept him. He's the best damn brother in the whole freakin' world. Do me a favor and keep an eye on him. Don't ever let anything happen to him." His sister told him sincerely.
"I won't…I promise." Cissnei answered her. His sister smiled.
"I'm a bit of a fuck up. Don't get me wrong….I love Jett, he's my whole world and I can't ever imagine life without him. But, I admire a woman like you. I had a full scholarship to the Shinra Academy Aeronautics Program…and uh…then I got pregnant." She admitted.
"Are you serious! I didn't know you wanted to work fro Shinra." Cissnei said picking up her champagne glass again.
"Yeah…I wanted to build rockets." Ryan admitted.
"Wow…that's impressive." Cissnei said.
"Yeah well…I uh…I bartend now." Ryan seemed a little embarrassed.
"Hey…" Cissnei reached out for her hand. "…you're a mom…that's way fuckin' harder than building rockets. Shit, you're responsible for how another human being turns out in life!" Reno's sister laughed.
"I'll fuckin' drink to that." His sister reached her glass over to Cissnei's.
"Oh what are we drinking to?" Rude asked returning.
"To motherhood." Cissnei said. She knew that would freak Rude out.
"Are you not telling me something?" he asked her.
"No, to her motherhood." Cissnei pointed to Reno's sister. Rude and Cissnei looked up.
"Well, well, well…" Cissnei said more than delighted. Unfortunately, Reno's mother just had to return from her smoke break.
"What the hell's this! A blonde? Seriously? I fuckin' hate blondes! So ditzy. God they're always all tits and ass and no brains. Always thinkin' they're all hot and shit. And who the hell does this guy think he is? Thanks for the margarita, honey." Reno put his hands over his face.
"Ma'….sit….down…and PLEASE….PLEASE…for the love of god…shut up." He looked up, embarrassed to tears. "I am so, so, sorry. I'm Reno. This is my Ma'…she's….a very opinionated and drunk woman." The beautiful blonde at Tseng's side smiled.
"It's okay! Veld's really, really hammered and has already suggested that Tseng sleep with me and my sister at the same time, create a video clip of it and upload it to the internet. Because in his words that would be 'like some hot freakin' shit and stuff.'" She said.
"That's about the time I wanted to kill Veld." Tseng added.
"Oh my god…Yeah, Veld's one sick son of a bitch." Reno said.
"Oh my god, you are gonna' fit in so well here. I'm Rude, been workin' here for four years. And congratulations. That last academy year is hell. Also, I'm so sorry Veld said that to you." Rude extended his hand to her.
"So…she knows…that we know…that you…and her….are….okay. Hi, Cissnei. And uh….I'm screwin' this one so you and I have something in common." She winked at the beautifully dressed blonde before her. "And seriously. Congratulations. You…are very talented…and very bendy if I do say so myself. Use that to your advantage." Cissnei winked at her again. She laughed at Cissnei. "Oh….oh you and I….are so dancin' to somethin' later. Sit, down, sit down! Both of you!" Cissnei motioned. "When you get really shit faced, I'm gonna ask you if my boss is any good in bed. I don't care if that's tonight or another night….but it will happen." Cissnei warned her. "Tseng, don't give me that look. You know that I'm dying to know if you're any good and if you would just drink some more you wouldn't care that I find out."
"Just so you know, Cissnei dedicated Raise Your Glass to our department. I have no idea when the DJ will make the announcement." Reno said.
"That's mild compared to what she could have dedicated to the four of us." Rude commented.
"Reno, is there anything in your room I need to know about?" Ryan asked him.
"Huh?" Reno asked her. She gave him 'the look'.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" he laughed stupidly. "Sorry, I'm a little drunk. Yeah…uuuuhhhh…in that night stand? There's like….a dozen pictures of Cissnei naked, a bottle of lubricant, a tie, and Cosmo's issue of '30 sex positions you need to try this month'. In that top right drawer of my dresser there's a ton of slutty lingerie. We're talkin' way slutty. That's all."
"Thank you. I don't want to have an unnecessary conversation with Jett." Ryan said. "Hey…." She waited for Reno to face her. Ryan laughed. "Ma's passed out on the couch…does this remind you of anything?" Reno laughed too.
"Yeah….shit….how many times…did you and I fight over the last condom when she didn't know what the fuck you and me were doin'?" he asked her. Ryan laughed again.
"Waaaaay too many." She smiled. "Thanks for always lettin' me win." Reno hugged her.
"You're welcome. Stay a couple more days….please? We'll….we'll take Jett all over the city tomorrow. We'll go up to the lake…Please? I miss this…" Reno begged her.
"I'll see what I can do with work." Ryan promised him. "Hey uh….I really like her, you're girl I mean. Please, please Reno….don't fuck this one up." He laughed at her.
"I've already almost done that…" he admitted to her. "…but uh, it's cool now."
"Where the hell are you two sleeping tonight?" Ryan asked still holding on to her brother.
"In the kitchen floor." Reno admitted. "Cissnei's out there puttin' a whole bunch of blankets over the tile."
"Reno!" The inflection of Ryan's voice indicated that she wanted he and Cissnei to sleep in his bed.
"It's okay. You and Jett get my bed. She and I will be asleep in no time." Reno assured her.
"You don't let me hear a fuckin' thing. You got that? I'm not explainin' nothin' to Jett. He's been asleep for over an hour and I wanna keep it that way." Ryan warned him.
"Shit, Ryan Ma' will wake Jett up with her yellin' for an aspirin before me and Cissnei will wake you up." They laughed. She held on to Reno's shoulders and looked at him.
"Shit…Reno do you remember when…." Reno cut her off.
"Ma' was throwin' up over our neighbor's deck at that Christmas party because she got wasted on egg nog? I'll never forget it. He answered her. "How the fuck did we turn out the way we did….I mean….shit….you got the best kid in the world in there and….shit look at us." He laughed again.
"I don't know, Reno….I seriously don't know…" she paused. "…g'night baby brother."
"Night." Reno told her before closing his bedroom drawer.
"So where are you now?" Cissnei laughed. "No, I'm making a bed on Reno's kitchen floor because his mother is passed out on his couch and his sister and her son are in his bed. Okay….yeah, okay. Listen, don't you do anything stupid Zackary do you hear me! Alright, honey. Thanks for dancin' with me tonight. Okay, bye." Cissnei hung up her phone.
"Why don't you ever get any more text messages?" Reno asked her as he reached over her for a glass of water.
"Because you're the only one who ever texts me all the time." she reminded him.
"Oh, that makes sense. Okay, you and I both have to not knock this glass over in the middle of the night." Reno said as he settled in beside Cissnei.
"That will be a miracle if we don't knock it over." Cissnei said sending her thin shirt flying toward the end of the pile of blankets.
"I have an idea. Let's text Rude or call him and get ahold of Tseng and see they wanna go grab breakfast tomorrow with my sister and Jett." Reno said.
"Okay, yeah. Oh god, we can take 'em to Pap's! Tseng needs to experience Pap's with Elena." Cissnei called Tseng. She knew there was no way in hell he'd respond to a text right now. In fact, she knew he probably wouldn't pick up his cell so she called the house. "Wow…that's the first time I've ever called my boss and a woman has answered the phone. Hey, listen….is Tseng….like…under you…on you….somewhere near you? Reno and me and his sister and her son are gonna go to Pap's tomorrow morning for breakfast and we were wondering if you and him wanted to go. Trust me, it's this great place and they will give you a menu to color if you ask. Okay…okay great. Bye. Here, you call Rude. I'm going to go brush my teeth." She dropped her phone in the covers and left the room.
"Yo…what are you doin'? You wanna meet all of us at Pap's tomorrow morning for breakfast at say around 9:30? Excellent. Alright, man. See ya then." Reno laid Cissnei's phone near the sink and threw his shirt toward the edge of the blankets as Cissnei had. She wasn't gone long. "He's gonna go with us." Reno told her.
"Great." Cissnei answered him letting her bra drop to the floor. "I had fun tonight." She said trying to work her way under the covers of this poorly constructed bed on the floor.
"Did you talk to Zack? Is uh….is all that okay now?" Reno asked situation her on top of him in this limited space.
"It is. It's all fine now. He says that you literally knocked some sense into him. But seriously, it's okay." Cissnei assured him. Reno shook his head.
"I'm glad it's all out there. I mean, you and me and Tseng and our new girl and…stuff." Reno said.
"I love you." Cissnei told him sincerely. "It's like I said…you're easy to fall in love with." She sighed and let the weight of her body sink in to him. It was the perfect end to a whirlwind of events.