Pairing: Reno x Rude
Disclaimer: Don't own a single CG pixel.
A/N: Done for the 1sentence LiveJournal comm challenge. All fifty themes are connected into one large fic—which follows a separate theme of its own.
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#01 - Motion:
Fingers drumming on the smooth, dusty window while broken-down scenery slides by outside, booted foot tapping compulsively on the floor of the car, and although Reno isn't initially aware of what he's doing or its effects, he manages to figure out pretty quickly that it's annoying the hell out of his partner when Rude opts to speak for once and tells him to "stop it"—but of course, that only compels Reno to keep at it for as long as possible, which is pretty damn long.
#02 - Cool:
Besides, it's hard to sit still when the large, black SUV he's sitting in is sucking in all the heat from the unbearably high temperature outside; it isn't long before he's compelled to lean over with an annoyed sigh to switch on the air conditioner, a flick of the finger, only to find out that due to some brilliant timing, the goddamned thing is broken—thank God they're almost at their destination, although he's probably gonna have to find a way to distract himself from the stifling heat.
#03 - Young:
From his position in the driver's seat, Rude can see dirty-faced children chasing down ants and spiders in attempts to amuse themselves (below the plate, the concept of "toys" for some is non-existent) and he finds it interesting, although unsurprising, that Reno, too, is entertaining himself with a ladybug that's happily crawling along the length of his EMR—until the weapon is switched on, causing a crackle and a spark, frying the insect to a nice crisp.
#04 - Last:
With his EMR still humming with electric power, Reno presses the tip of his cigarette against the smooth metal surface in order to light it, then tosses the now-empty pack out the window as he silently hopes he can make it through the next couple of hours without needing another smoke—which is pretty damned unlikely, and he knows he'll end up stealing Rude's.
#05 - Wrong:
"Betcha the intel we got on our guys is gonna be off in some way," Reno remarks, foot planted on the dashboard as he rifles through a file folder, the sheets ruffling in the breeze coming through the rolled-down windows, and all he gets from Rude in return is a non-committal, "Sure," as though he doesn't care whether Reno's assessment is correct or not—fuckin' typical, that.
#06 - Gentle:
The SUV eases to a stop around the corner near an alleyway, where the moment they're both out of the car, a scraggly grey cat darts in an almost straight line for Rude, then proceeds to circle him while meowing pitifully; it's probably a good thing it chose Rude, because had it been Reno, he would've just booted the animal aside, but Rude actually takes the time to pick up the cat and drop it over on the other side of a nearby chain link fence—which is kind of amusing to watch, considering Rude's got a pistol in his hands through it all.
#07 - One:
Reno raps politely on the door with the tip of his EMR, as though someone's actually gonna open up, before Rude simply busts down the door himself, only to reveal an empty home—well, seemingly empty; Reno figures there's gotta be at least one person here, and though taking out all four targets would be ideal, one's pretty sufficient 'cause, hey, better than nothing, and he remembers as a kid, he used to think one of anything was a hell of a lot.
#08 - Thousand:
He doesn't think that way anymore, however, he can't, because if one is a lot, then you gotta wonder what it is you call the number of people he's killed up to date—not that he's ever counted, as he's too lazy to get past even the two digit numbers, much less reach the ones with four.
#09 - King:
Though really, if people are gonna start keeping tally or some such shit, Reno figures Rufus takes top prize, no competition: the President is the one who gives the orders, after all, and he does it all from his comfy leather-office-chair throne to boot.
#10 - Learn:
Sometimes he thinks it would do Rufus good to stick a gun into his hand and tell him to go torture and kill a few people, but upon reconsideration, Rufus is such an unflinchingly cold bastard, he'd probably do it without batting an eye, and the only lesson he'd get out of it is that it was so damn easy, he might as well get rid of the Turks, and do it all on his own—not that Reno actually thinks Rufus will ever get rid of the Turks, of course; the man has to have someone to be on top of, after all.
#11 - Blur:
And as he cracks open a bedroom door, eyes scanning for any sign of movement while still musing over a few topics, he wonders if Rude ever has the same thoughts as he does; Reno thinks he must, considering how well they always seem to read each other in the field, but upon closer examination, he realizes that he doesn't know what the hell goes through Rude's mind at all, other than what Rude willingly lets on, and whenever he attempts to go deeper than what his partner allows to show, all he gets is fuzzy reception.
#12 - Wait:
Last friggin' room down, not a damn soul there, and Reno bangs the back of his skull against the stained, yellowed walls in frustration because apparently he's right, their information is off timeline wise, meaning the targets aren't home when they should be—which means this leaves only one thing to do: lie down on the tattered grey couch.
#13 - Change:
With no one to hunt down at the moment, it isn't long until Reno finds himself bored and in need of a smoke, and he gives Rude, who's leaning against the couch's armrest by Reno's head, a jab to the side with a finger, earning himself a roll of the eyes that he can see despite the sunglasses before a pack of cigarettes is dropped unceremoniously on his chest; it's a different brand than what Reno usually gets, but he doesn't quite give a damn at the moment, and something new won't hurt.
#14 - Command:
The tip of the match flares up as he strikes it, but a creaking noise causes him to pause the flame midway to his cigarette as he tries to determine how much of a threat the sound presents, and it isn't until there's a distinct burning sensation on his fingers that he gives an undignified yelp and hastily shakes out the match, throwing it in Rude's general direction when he hears a soft snort of suppressed laughter: "Go fuck yourself."
#15 - Hold:
Watching the insulted look on Reno's face only makes Rude want to laugh more, but that isn't who he is—the single snort he'd allowed himself was already rare enough—so he bottles up his laughter and only adjusts the sunglasses perched upon his nose, catching the badly aimed match and letting the little wooden stick rest in the palm of his hand while he notes that Reno's second attempt at lighting up is a successful one.
#16 - Need:
"Bastard, I know you're laughing at me," Reno says lightly, because he can tell Rude's holding back his amusement and he'd pursue to topic some more just to piss Rude off, except he's starting to get distracted by the fact that the targets still aren't here even though it's been thirty fucking minutes, and he's really itching to kill someone at the moment.
#17 - Vision:
"Y'see, we really do need better sources 'cause then I'd have someone to—I dunno, break fingers of—by now," he continues, seemingly jumping topics if you didn't know what he was thinking before, and Rude only watches the stream of cigarette smoke without a word; Reno knows that unlike himself, Rude's always been indifferent to the job he does, at least on the surface—but then again, they've always viewed things differently.
#18 - Attention:
Compared to the things Rude's heard in the past, Reno's statement just now isn't anything unexpected, nothing to make Rude question, like he occasionally does, if Reno truly means the things he says, the sometimes outrageous comments tossed out there like they're observations of the weather,
("hey, wouldn't it be fun if I defected and you guys had to hunt me down 'cause, man, I've been a Turk but I've never been chased by one before, y'know—gotta wonder if y'all could even take me—")
outrageous comments that cause all eyes to turn in his direction (and, invariably, Rude's direction, too, because he's always near Reno somehow), and the worrisome thing is, the answer he comes up with is almost always yes, yes Reno means it all—no time to dwell on it now, though, as the swinging open of a door causes his focus to shift elsewhere.
#19 - Soul:
His feet swing over the side of the couch, but Reno doesn't otherwise move while he listens to approaching footsteps, and he knows what thoughts are gonna be soon going through Target Numero Uno's head, thoughts along the lines of Oh shit, Turks, Turks who've sold their souls to the devil, as everybody says, and that's something that's always made Reno laugh because they say it as though it's a bad thing, as though it's way better if you still had your soul, but willingly slice a few throats, anyway—but hell, whatever makes people happy, and if that's what they need to believe, then who's he to burst their bubble?
#20 - Picture:
Two Turks against one man is essentially overkill, and it's not long before Rude's watching Reno muse to the trussed up man, "If I take snapshots of you and send them to your buddies, tell me if they'd be stupid enough to turn themselves in, or be stupider and not realize that if the photos got to them, I know where they are…" and as Rude tunes out Reno, he thinks that they're both idiots to be here, that they have, for some reason or another, been sent on a petty operation of no more importance nor difficulty than pressing the shutter on a camera that his partner's currently waving around—that's why their intel was inaccurate, why Tseng hasn't called in compulsively to check on them as usual.
#21 - Fool:
He'd tell Reno, except he also knows that Reno doesn't give a damn, never does, about the whys and wherefores, he only cares that he's got something to do, because Reno, for all his rebelling and fuck-the-rules attitude, has been broken in like a horse since Shin-Ra got their hands on him, does just what he's supposed to without even fully realizing it—or maybe he does realize, and just doesn't care, but either way, it's so damn ironic, it's painful.
#22 - Mad:
And every time he watches Reno work, he wonders how sane Reno really is, and somehow, he always comes up with the answer of, Not very, because it's difficult to find anyone sane when they've got a crazed look in their eyes and blood on their hands and a sadistically cheerful grin—and maybe it's just a mask, something Reno requires just to keep himself sane, which makes Rude further wonder if Reno sees him as crazy for not having to act so insane.
#23 - Child:
He can't deny, though, that he envies Reno, envies the way Reno can make a grown man shriek in agony while appearing so absurdly innocent, and it's odd because innocent is the last word anyone would slap onto Reno, but it's true, and for some reason, it only happens during moments like these; it's as though it's only afterwards that Reno begins to catch onto what he's done, like a kid playing a prank and then feeling bad about it.
#24 - Now:
But even that explanation has holes in it because a) Reno's never regretted anything and b) Reno's also got an uncanny ability to live solely in the present, with the past and future non-existent to him, which means he can't possibly realize his deeds afterwards—and suddenly, Rude realizes Reno's been calling his name, causing his attention to snap back to what's occurring at the moment.
#25 - Shadow:
Nightfall is creeping up on them and Reno's grown bored again by now, bored of the crimson spatters and fragmented bones—he's always needed constant distractions, after all—and he makes this known with an impatient, "Can we go already?" to which he thinks Rude turns his head, although it's hard to tell due to their dim surroundings which make Rude into nothing more than a flat silhouette against the wall.
#26 - Goodbye:
He doesn't bother listening to Rude's answer as he stands up and straightens his shirt before absently firing a single bullet into the man's head, who might as well be dead at this point, and he eyes the blood splattered on the wall for a brief moment before turning to glance at Rude.
#27 - Hide:
"I need a shower—why the hell is there no shower in this place?" he gripes, scratching absently at the blood staining his fingernails and noticing that Rude's sunglasses have slipped a little, revealing a portion of his eyes before the frames are shoved up again with a finger.
#28 - Fortune:
"Because people down here aren't blessed with running water," Rude replies, swinging open the front door—and lucky for them, the temperature's gone down a decent amount.
#29 - Safe:
Reno rolls his eyes a little as he follows Rude out the door, and they both know that there's no point in waiting for their remaining three targets—they've likely scattered elsewhere, although all this means is that they get a couple of days of false security.
#30 - Ghost:
They say a man is haunted forever the moment he takes a life, but they don't know anything, whoever they are, because this has never been the case for him—or maybe he is haunted, but he just can't tell.
#31 - Book:
"You write the damn report," Reno says to Rude as he slams the SUV door shut, "'cause Tseng's gonna want a whole novel as usual, and I'm a Turk, not a fucking author."
#32 - Eye:
Rude snorts softly and turns to look at Reno, while the car sits idle at a red light that stares unblinkingly at them: "Tseng just wants something other than illegible chocobo scratches that make him half blind."
33 - Never:
"It's not illegible—my writing would be a hell of a lot clearer, y'know, if you actually took off your damn shades once in awhile."
#34 - Sing:
To say he hasn't ever seen Rude take off his ubiquitous sunglasses, though, would be a lie because he in fact has, has seen Rude do a lot of things most haven't, and this includes humming—even if it only ever happened once, and it was when Rude was almost drunker than Reno was.
#35 - Sudden:
Still, despite being completely plastered that time, Reno manages to remember quite a bit of what occurred during those fuzzy hours, remembers stumbling over nothing and falling into his partner, remembers impulsively shoving Rude against a handily nearby wall and kissing him hard, and he remembers that Rude had, unexpectedly, kissed him back.
#36 - Stop:
But it never went further than that because when things are spinning and alcohol is the most abundant liquid in your body, it results, among other things, in vomiting, and while Reno knows he's a damn talented kisser, he's not that talented.
#37 - Time:
They never spoke about it afterwards; hell, Reno doubts Rude even recalls the event, and as he crosses his left leg over his right, he realizes that it's been months since he last thought about it himself.
#38 - Wash:
Weird—you'd think this wouldn't be something that would just be watered down and filtered through the drainage of his mind, but this apparently isn't the case.
#39 - Torn:
And it's funny 'cause he can't decide whether he'd rather if Rude remembers or not, either.
#40 - History:
Though they say the past repeats itself if forgotten, and after a few moments, Reno decides he wouldn't mind forgetting about that night at all.
#41 - Power:
It kinda does annoy the shit out of him, however, how a brief ten-second moment can leave such a strong impression on him now that he's actually started to reflect back...
#42 - Bother:
It's not until he hears his name, followed by an annoyed glance from Rude, that he's yanked back to reality and realizes he's been drumming his fingers on the window again, and he's so distracted by his thoughts that he actually stops this time.
#43 - God:
He doesn't get a chance to start up again, either, because the car's stopping and they're climbing out, and he can feel the feared half-glances people toss his way as he moves down the sidewalk, brief looks that never fail to give him a high, and in the end, it isn't about the damned good pay or the shitload of benefits he gets from being a Turk, from being associated with Shin-Ra; it's this.
#44 - Wall:
It's being what people notice as they move along, what the intelligent ones steer clear of, and what the idiots invariably end up running into.
#45 - Naked:
And of course Rude knows full well of all this; Reno can't quite think of anything that Rude doesn't know about him, despite having never directly told Rude most of it, and it's funny the compulsive way Rude has to strip everyone down in his own silent way, as though he's trying to make up for the fact that no one can see through him.
#46 - Drive:
It's also frickin' annoying how well Rude knows him, how Rude has always known exactly which push will cause Reno will turn in which direction, to the point where Reno would've killed anyone else before letting them come this close to him.
#47 - Harm:
Even more so because every single goddamned time, this particular skill of Rude's manages to trip Reno up in one way or another.
#48 - Precious:
Well, maybe not every time—he'd like to think that Rude doesn't totally have a leg up on him because he does need his ego to be at least somewhat intact.
#49 - Hunger:
Of course, he'd also like to think that all he does isn't waste his time doing jack shit while he waits for a job call from Tseng or Rufus, just waiting for the opportunity to snuff out a couple of people; Elena's called him an alcoholic more than once and it's always amused the hell out of him because she's so goddamn far off the mark as to what his addiction is—and he'd like to believe that Rufus doesn't know this about him, would like to believe that he hasn't been so hopelessly used and doesn't even fucking mind 'cause he gets what he needs in the end—he'd like to believe a lot of things, actually, but fuck it, it's useless because it's too hard to bullshit himself, and besides.
#50 - Believe:
He's never had much faith in anything.
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End.