Reno skipped into the office with a happy smile, his day already going well. Trevor hadn't peed on him while he slept and hadn't begged for booze the second Reno woke up. He wasn't late and he'd had time to eat breakfast for the first time all week. With food in his stomach and an happy iguana at home Reno felt his day couldn't get much better. He quickly discovered how wrong he was when he stepped into the office. "Hey Laney, hey Rude!"
"Elena's not here." Rude glanced up from his paperwork.
Reno raised an eyebrow, "Where is she?"
"Its mission day and her shoes don't fit. Tseng's letting her prepare early. We get to leave early too but he wants us to at least pretend to get some work done." Rude looked back down at his work.
Reno slapped himself in the forehead, "Its mission day already? Holy hell Rude! I've barely looked over that mission report!"
"Better get to it. You've got five hours before you need to be ready." Rude snorted mockingly.
Reno sighed and picked up the mission report, "Gaia studying sucks."
"Its necessary." Rude flipped through his own mission report halfheartedly, "Just shut up and do it."
Reno sighed, "You're a real handful on mission days Rude." Rude ignored the jibe and Reno gave another heavy sigh as he began reading. He truly hated mission days, but the hair clip in his pocket made him slightly more excited.
"Rude how do I get this on?" Reno fumbled with his suit buttons.
"How did you get it on the first time?" Rude asked as he effortlessly donned his own suit.
"Laney did it." Reno pouted as his fingers fumbled over tiny buttons. He hadn't seen the blonde all day and he was starting to feel anxious.
Rude rolled his eyes, "Can't even get dressed by yourself?"
"Not when the buttons are the size of pinheads." Reno frowned as he finally slipped a button into its respective hole.
Rude sighed and straightened his suit before slapping Reno's hands out of the way to finish buttoning the suit up for him. "These buttons are no smaller than mine."
"They're slippery." Reno whined and rubbed a thumb across the clip in his pocket.
"Got your EMR?" Rude asked tiredly.
Reno rolled his eyes, he'd answered the question about twenty times already and Rude's check list was starting to piss him off, "I've got my EMR, a gun and extra ammunition, money, my cell, chewing gum, and if you ask me one more goddamned time I swear one of the above items is goin' up your ass yo."
Rude chuckled and handed Reno his tie, "I thought you were straight?"
"Much to your chagrin I'm guessing?" Reno sniggered and wrapped the tie around his neck.
"Hell no." Rude laughed, "Barret might be disappointed though."
"Barret?" Reno shivered, "What the hell are you doin' put nasty images like that in my head?"
Rude shrugged, "Made me laugh."
Reno rolled his eyes and knotted his tie, "Whatever yo. Think I look spiffy enough ta impress Laney?"
Rude raised an eyebrow, "You still need to impress her? I thought she already liked you."
"Doesn't hurt to impress though does it?" Reno smirked and straightened his tie, checking his appearance over in the mirror.
Rude snorted, "Guess not. Just don't forget the mission while you're busy impressing."
Reno grinned and hid his EMR inside his jacket next to his gun, "No worries there!"
Rude sighed and walked out of his apartment, Reno following along behind him, "We've been doing this for years and I still don't know how you manage to memorize things that fast."
"Talent." Reno sniggered and slid into Rude's car. "We goin' ta pick up Laney now?" He rubbed the clip in his pocket, excited and nervous to give the small item to her.
"She's already waiting for us with the president." Rude pulled out of the parking lot and began driving towards the Shinra building.
"She's with Rufus?" Reno started, "Thats not good yo!"
"Why not?" Rude raised an eyebrow.
"Because she barely knows Rufus and Rufus is a womanizing ass monkey thats why." Reno growled angrily. He didn't want Elena anywhere near Rufus. She was far too naive to understand Rufus' tactics.
"She's a big girl she can take care of herself." Rude smirked at Reno's angry denouncement of Rufus. He knew Reno would be protective of Elena, Reno had always been overprotective of her, even when he was teasing her. Reno held a double standard with Elena, he could mess with her, but if anyone else did their ass was grass.
Reno frowned, "She's never had to deal with him on her own though!"
"You should've thought of that before you decided we play hot potato with him." Rude pulled into the parking lot where a limo was waiting for them.
"Think she'll let me pull her off of Rufus duty?" Reno asked as he climbed out of the car.
"I think she'd slap you if you tried." Rude climbed out of the car and led the way to the limo.
"Who's going to slap him?" Reno whipped around as he heard Elena's voice behind him.
Reno gaped, unable to tear his eyes away from Elena's blushing face. The dress she was wearing was a shade of blue that made her glow and it showed just enough of that glowing skin to make Reno's imagination run wild. She had a white belt wrapped around her slim hips that had a gun holster attached to one side. All in all Reno was absolutely stunned, but more by her face than anything. The blue made the gentle blush that was creeping up her cheeks seem twice as radiant. He shook his head as if to clear it and reached into his pocket, his fingers brushing across the clip.
Rude snorted at Reno's lack of words, "No ones going to slap him. Where's Rufus?"
"He's already in the limo. I didn't want to wait with him so I made the excuse that I had left my gun in my car. He was so busy staring at my boobs he didn't realize I already had it in the holster." Elena shuddered visibly and Reno grinned in triumph.
"So Rufy is being a bit of a hound dog tonight?" Reno surreptitiously pulled the clip out of his pocket.
"Hopefully he won't stare the entire ride. I really don't want him looking at my boobs." Elena shuddered again.
Reno grinned lewdly, "Especially when your ass provides such a great view."
Elena blushed furiously, "And here I thought Rufus was bad. At least he didn't say anything!"
Reno sniggered, "You know ya love me for it Laney." He cleared his throat and looked at Rude.
Rude walked away, "I'll go check on Rufus."
Elena moved to follow and Reno gently grasped her arm, "Hold on Laney, I uh, I, um..."
Elena blushed at the gentle but firm grip Reno had on her arm. She giggled nervously, "You um what?"
Reno slipped the clip into her hand, "Got ya something." He kissed her on the cheek, blushed and walked away as fast as he could, suddenly embarrassed out of his mind.
Elena unclenched her hand and touched the clip, her mouth open in surprise as she gently touched her cheek. She had expected a lot of things from Reno, but a gift was not one of those things. She put the clip into her hair and ran after Reno, "Wait!" Reno stopped and turned just in time to catch Elena in a tight hug, "Was that a kissy-givy?"
Reno cleared his throat and gently patted her on the pack. "Dunno, did it work?"
Elena giggled and squeezed him tighter, "Yeah. It worked."
Reno beamed and guided her into the limo, "Hell yes!"
Author's Note: Aww Laney Reno happiness again!
R&R?