Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.

Summary: Not too much development in the plot here, but it does explain a few things, like why Reno, Rude and Elena are living together.

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After a few moments of utter silence, Rude's ears perked up. He anxiously listened for any remainder of Reno and Elena's most recent argument. When he was granted with nothing, but the peaceful sound of running water from Elena's nightly shower, he sighed in relief.

After the fall of ShinRa, the three unemployed friends had moved in together in an effort to compensate for their lack of work. Rude was the first to find a job; he was a bagboy at the local grocery store. Although he hated it, it was the only employment he could find. With their notorious reputation, people weren't exactly eager to hire an ex-Turk. He had been desperately striving for an occupation more his trade, perhaps a bodyguard, but so far he had no such luck. Soon after, Elena had become a bartender, but Reno remained on the dole. Between Elena and Rude's wage, as well as Reno's saving, they were surprisingly able to scrape up their monthly fee for their apartment.

Combining debts had seemed like a terrific idea to Rude, but now that his plan had become reality, he was beginning to have second thoughts. Ever since the trio had become roommates, Reno and Elena had been bickering non-stop, while Rude watched from the sidelines.

"AAAAAUGH!"

Suddenly, a piercing wail came from the bathroom.

Rude was suddenly alert. He quickly bounced to his feet, and slammed open his door to find the cause of such an abrupt noise. The pupils of his eyes fleeted around the area, before settling on the petite blonde who stood across the narrow hallway. Her cheeks were completely flushed, and her hair was drenched, but it did not appear to be clean. She stepped out of the room holding something Rude could not identify. The woman gave a swift glance towards the direction of where Reno was seated before turning her sights towards Rude.

"Look," she said while opening her fist, allowing him to view what was hidden within her clasp. A lifesaver. Cherry flavoured.

"Um…" Rude responded, a little puzzled.

"That skeez, over there," Elena made a notion towards the other room with her head. She was gesturing towards Reno, of course. "He put it in the showerhead." Rude made a look as though he waited for her to continue.

Elena rolled her eyes in an irritated manner. "Just… just feel my hair," She hastily bent her head over allowing Rude easy access to touch her yellow strands. He hesitated before reluctantly taking grasp of a piece.

"It feels…" Rude began, cringing at the texture that differed drastically from her, usual, silky, smooth locks.

"Sticky. Yeah, I know"

Faint chuckles could be heard from around the corner. In addition to the stressful quarrels, Elena had to deal with tedious, immature practical jokes. Because his presence wasn't required anywhere during the day, Reno would plan pranks against his female roomy. Almost on a daily basis a new disaster would await Elena after work, and they progressively got worse as the days rolled on.

"Whatever, I'm too tired to handle another confrontation with that pest. I'll deal with him tomorrow." With that, she strode back towards the bathroom, in order to rinse away the sugar that had been lodged within the roots of her hair.

Rude shook his head in pity. Not only did she have to deal with boors at work, but she also had to come home to one. The bald man took a deep breath. Although he was a little intimidated by Reno's foul mouth, it was Rude's turn to defy him. For once, he had something to say.

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Author's notes: First I'd like to note that I took the shower prank from I'm not very clever. Had trouble thinking of one myself, so I lowered myself to a Google search… how depressing : ( . I've also decided that my chapters are too short, so I'll work on that. To the few who are reading this, expect something more juicy next time. Nando the RPS King, I did have some odd formatting for the last chapter (In fact, I'm not even sure if this chapter is formatted correctly…) but I'm still getting used to this site ; p .Anywho, Thanks to everyone who commented, and even more opinions would be greatly appreciated. I like feeling loved.