#20
"So who do you like?"
Reno nearly choked on the cigarette between his lips with that question. In all the time he had played this little game with Rude, his partner had never asked him who he liked. "Whoever I feel like that day. Maybe Elena, maybe that ninja brat, maybe you," he replied, a grin tugging at the side of his mouth.
Rude snorted at the answer. "You're too obvious, you know that, Reno?"
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
His partner slid his glasses down his nose to look over them. "First Tseng, now Rufus. If you weren't so damned good at what you do, I'd worry that you were just sleeping with the boss to get ahead."
Was it that obvious? Reno tilted his head at his partner curiously. "Didn't think Rufus and I were exactly broadcasting anything. So how'd you figure it out?"
"The way you look at him. The way you two always step off to a private corner to talk. The fact that he trusts you more than any of us. So do you love him?"
"Love's too strong a word for someone like me." Reno flicked the cigarette into a pool of water on the floor before kneeling down in front of a crate. "Besides, I'm sure Rufus'll find someone better for him some day."
It hurt just to say that. After all the years of dealing with the kid, he actually had grown to like Rufus. Maybe he had been a little drunk to go as far as they had the night before. Maybe it was losing Tseng that caused his lack of restraint. In any case, something made him want to show Rufus how he felt. And once they started...
"You're too hard on yourself, Reno." Rude crouched beside him. "You are the someone better as far as he's concerned..." Rude let the sentence hang as he looked up at the sound of the door behind them opening and closing. "Company."
"Turks!"
That was Lockhart's voice if he remembered correctly, which meant...
Reno turned his head to see the dark haired girl that shouted at them and the two with her. "You know, Strife, you're really getting to be a pain in the ass..."