Uwah! I'm sorry! I meant to update yesterday but I didn't have time.
There's no real excuse for why this chapter is so late other than the fact that I was playing LoZ: OoT, watching some Au No Ex, playing Terraria, and going on a 20 minute bike ride and nearly killing myself. (I'm super unfit, aha) and there's also the problem that I scene that I wanted but didn't like how it fit and was tinkering with for like... ever and then I realized stupidly today that I could just delete it and get on with the story.

Uh, so this chapter I think is rather different than my last ones... I wanted to play around with how Rude and Reno interact. I don't know how well I pulled it off. I don't know... This might just be a different sort of chapter so I don't blame you if you say that it feels odd.
I might re-work it later.

Super obvious cameo in this one. (I still have no idea where in the FFvii timeline this thing takes place)


Turning a corner I hear talking. There's still a little bit more wall before I'd see them but I can hear them just fine. I don't know what makes me stand there and listen but that's what I do. I know in the back of my mind that I probably shouldn't, but I find I'm not moving.

"Hey Rude, where's Cecilia?" Reno asks right away.

"…She's somewhere," Rude says after some hesitation. I wonder for a second what makes him say 'somewhere'.

"Somewhere? Shouldn't you know?"

"She'll be here shortly," Rude says in a different tone that I'm not sure of it's meaning. Rude takes a breath and quickly he says, like he's not sure of what he's about to do, "But Reno I was thinking that we could-"

"I hear Heidegger is planning to give us a vacation soon, yo," Reno says cutting Rude off, "Wouldn't that be great? I can't remember the last time we got time off."

"Reno-"

"Did she have to kill anyone, yo?" Reno says cutting Rude off again and changing the subject. I find that I'm wondering why Reno isn't letting Rude speak.

"No."

"Oh, good. We can't let anyone know about that."

"Reno," Rude says again, but this time in a warning tone of voice, not like the other times.

"I know," Reno says sternly. It shocks me a little to hear how he's speaking to Rude. "Don't look at me like that. I know what you're thinking, yo. I know so quit reminding me."

"…" Rude's silent for a second and I know he's listening for me to show up but I think he's shocked too at how Reno spoke to him. I decide to stop eavesdropping and show myself.

"Sorry," I say coming around the corner. Reno's leaning back in his chair looking as at ease as ever. Rude looks a little tense. "I dropped something and had to get it," I lie badly. Reno seems to not notice which is good. Rude probably knows I lied but that can't be helped. I don't know why I lied. I think I might've had something to say to Rude once but I forget.

"Cecilia!" Reno says brightly getting up, "I heard that Heidegger is going to give us vacation sometime soon, yo."

"Oh?"

"I was just telling Rude about it." Reno gets up and I notice him flinch.

"You okay?" I ask walking over to him. "Your shoulder… is it getting better?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I'm fine, yo."

I let myself smile a little at him. He grins widely back. I swear I see Rude frown at us off to the side but by the same I actually can focus my eyes on him it's gone. Of course hiding what you're really feeling is a apart of being a Turk though Reno seems to not care for that. I'm not too great at it either.

"I don't feel like doing anything right now," Reno says leaning on his desk. I see that his injury forms are only half filled out even though he's had hours to do them.

"That's new," Rude says.

"How about we go back to your place, Rude?" Reno suggests with a shrug.

"My place?"

"Yeah. Mines a mess-"

"When isn't it?" Rude says, and I swear I see him smirk.

"Exactly, yo." Reno says with a wave. "I'm sure Cecilia's place is fit perfectly just for her and if we went in there we wouldn't be able to move… so your place."

Rude sighs and leans against a nearby wall and adjusts his shades. "Well… what do you want to do?"

"I dunno, yo. Maybe watch a movie or something, like we do sometimes. Your place is perfect for lazing around in." Reno looks over to me. "Perfect plan, right, yo?"

Rude sighs (and again I think I see a small smirk on his face) and starts walking. "You'll follow me home no matter what I say, so lets go."

We start walking and leave the building. I'm glad that we aren't going into the slums, not that I think Rude lives there, just every time I have free time with the it seems we have to go there.

I watch them as I walk a step behind letting them lead the way. Reno's hanging off Rude as we walk, with one arm slung around Rude's shoulders. Rude doesn't seem to mind at all as he walks in his upright and very professional manner. I can't help but think about what a storage pair those two are.

"Oh!" I gasp as I walk into someone hard enough to knock us both over. "I'm sorry," I say scrambling to my feet. "I wasn't watching!"

"Oh, it's quite alright," says the woman as I help her to her feet. She wears a red over coat with a pink dress. She has long brown hair with a pink bow in it. She must be a flower girl because she has a flower basket with her. She smiles warmly at me. "Would you like a flower?"

"Sorry, but I have no money on me," I say lamely, "they're quite lovely though."

"They are, aren't they?" She looks over my head and her eyes get all big and scared looking. I look back and all I see are Reno and Rude. They're walking away so I'd better catch up quickly.

"Is something wrong?" I decide to ask before I go.

"Go away!" She says to me suddenly backing away. "I'm not coming with you!"

"W-wait!" I call but she's already running away.

I frown a little, wondering what her problem was. Reno and Rude are getting farther away. I can't do anything for her. I turn around and run to catch up with Reno and Rude. Reno's talking as much as ever and they don't seem to have noticed that I was even not with them. I don't bring it up and fall into step behind them.

Rude doesn't say much. I can't read him but Reno can and keeps talking enough for all three of us, filling in for Rude when he needs to. I feel like I'm walking a little too close to them, but Rude is even closer to Reno so I ignore the thought. I don't know how Reno keeps talking, it's amazing. He never seems to run out of things to say. Right now he's talking about how stuck up some of the SOLIDER members can be, especially the 1st class ones.

Rude's place is actually an apartment on the fifth floor of some building I'm not familiar with. I don't live anywhere near here. He opens the door to his apartment with a sigh as Reno strolls in like he owns the place. I see when I walk in that he's here enough that he has somethings here.

It's a spacious place. Much bigger than my own apartment. It feels like it might be lonely to live here by yourself. It's so big. Maybe I'm just not used to all the space. Reno walks past the kitchen and throws himself onto one of the couches, stretching and taking up all the space.

Rude closes the door behind him and motions for me to have a seat. I take off my shoes first so I don't get his place too dirty and I hang up my uniform's blue blazer on a near by coat rack.

"Rude!" Reno calls, "What movies d'you got, yo?"

"Same ones as always," Rude calls back from the kitchen.

Reno sighs and rolls off the couch and crawls over to a stack of movies. "Help me pick one, Cecilia."

I walk over and squat beside Reno who's sitting cross legged looking at the movies. Rude has quite a few. I'm seeing many of the with Reno's name taped onto them though. I frown. There's too many action movies. I'm sure that they're not up for a movie I'd like but there has to be one that I can sort of sit through, right?

"What haven't you watched?" I ask.

"Rude!" Reno calls again loudly. "What haven't we watched?"

"Hold on a second," Rude says patiently.

"What's Rude doing?" I ask.

"I like to snack during movies, yo. I make Rude cook," with a wave of his hand he goes back to looking. He throws the ones that they've either watched or he doesn't like over his shoulder and onto a couch.

"Yeah, well, I don't feel like cooking today," Rude says coming over and looking through the movies with us. Reno frowns. "Don't worry, I'm making air popped popcorn."

Reno smiles brightly and continue throwing movies over his shoulder.

I find I'm looking at the both of them. I'm used to Reno not acting professional, but this is the most unprofessional I've ever seen Rude. He's still in uniform, his shades are still on (I'm starting to think that they never come off) and he's acting and talking like he's still at work but the air he's giving off is so… different.

Vaguely I'm trying to think if he always gets like this around Reno but I can't really concentrate on it-

"What about this one?" Rude asks holding up a movie.

"Sure, yo."

"Alright?" I say not sure of what the movie is even about. It just has a neat cover, which is why I'm sure Reno said okay to it.

Rude throws it on the Tv and says to fill him in on what he missed to Reno. Reno just waves his hand at Rude and I guess this is what he usually does. Reno takes a seat on one of the couches that looks almost moulded to his form. I decide to sit on one of the couches that looks like it hasn't been used in a while. I feel like I'm intruding on something that's theirs.

Reno raises an eyebrow at me and pats the spot next to him. Hesitantly I get up to sit next to him. Because of how the couch is and where Reno's sitting, I find that I'm sliding into him. He doesn't seem to notice or care because he's a relaxed looking as ever.

Rude comes to sit next to me and I guess I'm in his spot.

"I can move," I offer.

"Nah," Reno says before Rude can reply. "Just sit still and watch the movie."

Reno quickly fills in what has happened in the movie to Rude. I get stuck with the popcorn bowl in my lap because I'm in the middle.

The movie is some action adventure romance horror mix. I'm not sure. I have a nasty habit of talking through movies so I bite my tongue and I don't say a word. Reno on the other hand is commenting on every aspect of the movie. I don't mind and I'm guessing that Rude doesn't either. I find myself commenting on the movie just like Reno and I'm not even sure of the plot of this thing anymore.

"All horror movies are stupid, yo," Reno says. "They never have any brains. You tell them not to go into the cellar where the killer is, and what do they do, yo? They go into the cellar. If they'd just listen to me…"

"It wouldn't be much of a horror then would it?" I say.

"Thats what I'v been telling him," Rude says.

Reno reaches over my head and pushes Rude's head to the side in a friendly manner. Reno insisted on having the lights off to watch the movie so I can't see what face he makes. But he seems almost cheery, instead of that usual emotion range of rock he gives off.

The rest of the night goes on like this, and Rude needs to make popcorn about three more times because Reno can really pack it away.

"Stupid, yo" Reno mutters under his breath at the movie grabbing a hand full of freshly popped popcorn with one hand and then sliding his other arm around me. Suddenly I'm aware all too much of every point of my body touching his and that I'm not just an observer. "Always in movies the guy always seems to go for the chick that's oblivious, yo. Can't they see when the guy is trying to tell them: 'I like you, yo'." he comments to the movie before stuffing his face with popcorn.

I laugh a little. "But that's what makes the movie good," I say. "If every one knew right away there'd be no story."

Reno grunts and for a second I think he's going to remove his arm from around me, but he doesn't. Instead I feel him hold me a little tighter. If I hadn't been so aware of his arm I would have never felt it.

Rude scoffs a little looks away from the movie screen for a minute and even through the darkness, I can see a frown.