Disclaimer- I don't own FF7 or any of the many charecters, however overlooked. Too bad I don't, or the game would revolve around the Turks, mwahahaha!
"Picture a beach, any beach. The sun is setting. There is a warm breeze blowing. You are sitting right where the water is licking at your toes. You wiggle your toes, wiggling them into the sand to hide from the waves as they come licking in..." Reno gently licked at Elena's ear as he whispered a cheesy fantasy scenes to her, and she pushed him away, giggling. He pressed on a bit. " Imagine you are sitting on that beach, watching the stars and the moon come into view. I'm there with you. A dozen roses, a bottle of wine, strawberries, and the whole beach just to ourselves. We lay listening to the ocean ... to the wind... to each other's heart beats. We..." Reno was lost for words. Elena raised one blonde eyebrow. "We what, Reno?" "Fuck..." he trailed off, trying to think of the right phrasing. "That's what I thought," she replied, taking that as his answer. "That's not what I meant," he whined, as he watched her sit up and stretch. She turned and smiled. "I just can't believe you're thinking about it again, it's only been a few hours." It was his turn to smile. "Only? Heh... I never stop thinking about it, I'm a guy, remember?" She laughed and stood up. "I'm going to my room to sleep, I'm tired." Reno looked at her curiously. "Well, wouldn't you rather stay here with me? I mean, I thought you wanted to be with me?" She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. Today's been ... different, and thank you again, but we still have to wake up and go to work tomorrow. I think it would be easier for me if we just talk on the way tomorrow." He looked her over and decided not to persue it any longer. Tomorrow was Saturday. He was actually amazed that she had put up with him so long. They usually couldn't end a day without an argument, so he wasn't sure yet what to think. "Allright then," he said finally. "Good night." "Good night," she said back as she walked out and down the hallway to her room.
For the first time in a long time, Reno couldn't fall asleep. He tossed and turned for a while, but something just didn't feel right. After a few hours he got up, pulled a pair of pants on, grabbed his jacket and went out onto the balcony to smoke. He was only there for a few minutes when Elena joined him. "You neither, hunh," he asked quietly. "Yeah," she answered. He looked her over carefully, not really knowing what to say. "So, did we really..." she trailed off, not wanting him to say what she already knew. He took a deep drag off his cigarette as he leaned back against the railing, looking up at the stars. "Yeah," he answered, looking back to her. There was something odd about the way she was looking at him. "And, did you like it? Was it good enough to risk our jobs for," she asked, for the moment looking more hurt than angry. He hadn't considered the company policy... Regulation 17-432; No dating employees, employers, or co.-workers. "Hey, you said you wanted it," he said, emphasizing the word you. "I was drunk," she said, elevating her voice in obvious annoyance. "No thanks to you," she added, poking him in the arm. "Hey, hey now," he said, pushing her away. "I didn't force you to, I told you not to if you didn't want, and you said you wanted to both times. You wanted it babe." She slapped his face. He stared blankly as she flipped him off and marched back into the apartment, locking the door behind her. "Yeah, sure, you too," he said out loud.
Then he laughed, hard. "If this is what she's like having a hangover, I gotta get her drunk more often" he thought to himself, then laughed even harder, imagining how fun life would be for the man she would some day marry. He shook it off then took the last pull off his cigarette before tossing it onto the street below. "The perfect end to the perfect day," he thought to himself as he picked the lock with a bobby pin he kept under the floor mat, just for occasions such as this.
He sat in the living room for an hour or so, just staring at the television, not really watching the infomercials that were over-running nearly every channel. He thought to himself, that if anyone had ever planned to take over the world and succeeded, it must have been the person who invented infomercials. With that, he realized he was starting to get tired so he clicked the television off. "Hmm, bed, or couch," he now wondered. He was already on the couch, and he'd have to pass Elena's room to get to his. "Lumpy couch, or possible objectiles flying to unmentionables... My bed it is," he decided, grinning to himself. As he made his way down the hall, he looked into her room since she left the door open. Her bed looked better than his. She was in it. "Hostile take-over time," he said under his breath and took a running leap onto her bed, falling short and slamming his head onto the foot board. This woke Elena up, and she quickly jumped out of bed, the pistol she kept under her pillow in hand, to find her favorite redhead laying on the floor with a possible concussion. "Oh my god," she stated in shock, then laughed as she tossed the gun onto her bed. "You never take a break, do you," she asked, laughing as she knelt down besides him. "Nope," he replied, grinning, trying to figure out where he had went wrong. She shook her head, trying to stop laughing. "Are you going to be okay," she asked.
"Damm, I need a beer," he stated. "No, no more for you tonight, Re. Go to bed," she instructed him. He stood up, and following directions, quickly crawled into her bed. She stared in disbelief for a moment, then grabbed one of her pillows and headed for the couch, too tired to debate. "We'll talk in the morning," she reminded him from halfway down the hall. He was already asleep.
Elena did, by no way, plan on sleeping on the couch. She sat there for a few minutes until she heard Reno stop fidgeting and complaining, then made her way back to her room. She quietly lay back down in her bed and stared at him, in her night light's gentle glow, and wondered if this was how things were meant to be. She wasn't sure how to feel anymore. She hated him since the day she met him as he lay in a hospital bed, almost a year ago now. She hated him so much, but after the Temple incident, after Tseng had given her the cold and bitter truth... Reno had been the only one to talk to her after that, the only one to listen. In the few months since they had become so close, especially since Rude had moved out of the apartment and into his own house. At times like this, he looked so innocent, so sweet that she just wanted to be with him, to just hug him and keep him to herself. And then there were the other days, like the previous day at work, when he's eager to kill and at everyone's throats. She knew Tseng wouldn't have shot at Reno if he wasn't being an asshole. Tseng wasn't like that. But Reno could be. That was the side she wouldn't deal with. For now, she smiled up at the redheaded angel as he slept peacefully, and scooted closer to him, resting her head on his chest, and finally falling asleep, to the rhythm of his heart.
