Sadistic Tendencies
By: Fantasie in D Minor
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or any of the sequels/prequels. The extensive torturing of the red-head is, however, mine.
Summary: Reno hated the rookie. It was a principle of honor; he would not be substituted by a woman. Tseng should understand that, right?... Too bad mother luck was never very gentle with the red-head.
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The gods too are fond of a joke.
Aristotle
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Unfortunate Coincidence
Sanity was an object that Tseng was desperately trying to cling to. As desperate as his slippery grip was, however, those last shreds of common sense were still slowly slipping through his long fingers. He often wondered if the red-head was driving him off the rocker on purpose, but never entertained the question aloud. Watching the unfolding scene in front of him, however, made Tseng realize that the time for voicing his concerns would have to come much sooner than he would have liked.
The Wutaian carefully examined Elena's stern face and cold stare directed at the 'devil incarnate,' who kept his expression carefully neutral to the inquisitive gaze of his boss. A genius was not required to make a rather accurate prediction on what might have transpired not a minute before the duo entered the Turks' offices. Reno and Elena met without his supervision; Tseng could only imagine Reno's atrocious behavior. The Wutaian dreaded this particular case scenario since hiring Elena, and as luck would have it, everything transpired exactly how it wasn't supposed to.
Tseng glanced over at the only source of good sense within the walls of the square-shaped room (a.k.a. Rude). The man was quietly shuffling through a report, forcibly ignoring the occasional smirks Reno sent his way. Tseng resisted the urge to rub his temples, and instead settled for simply closing his eyes for a few seconds. After reopening the pair of black orbs, and seeing that the scenery hasn't changed, Tseng took in a jagged breath and began the meeting, with a look of a condemned man. With the orders he received, not to mention the current disposition of the two people who those orders pertained to most, he could already tell that this was going to be one, long night.
"Good evening." The Wutaian started with his usual calm, even if it was a bit forced.
"Evening, sir." A feminine voice echoed the greeting cheerfully. Apparently, Elena's flamboyant nature took over her initial foul mood at the prospect of her first important conference in a Turk uniform. A light snort could be heard from the couch, which Tseng took to mean that Reno responded. The Wutaian turned his head towards Rude to catch the barely perceptible nod; and so the pleasantries were out of the way. Second order of business: the unnecessary introductions. Tseng was about to commence with the aforementioned second part, but Reno preceded the action, in the process cutting the, somewhat peaceful, atmosphere off at the root.
"No need for introductions, Tseng." As was the custom for Reno, the—to an extent—pleasant baritone was thick with mocking humor. "We've already had the tremendous pleasure of meeting." Elena's gradually brightening face dimmed abruptly.
"Indeed." The blonde answered in cold monotone. The execution was nowhere near as masterful as Tseng's, but for a petite woman of 5 foot 2—even Reno had to admit—that was pretty impressive. As an amusedly surprised expression settled over the red-head's face, Tseng had to substitute rolling his eyes with closing them again. Upon opening the black pools, and despite his prayers, still finding himself in the offices, Tseng decided to ignore that exchange completely and move on.
"Rude, Elena, you've already met, I believe?" The two nodded soundlessly. None of the three were coming to his aid in gluing this conversation together. Tseng sighed softly and dropped the two vanilla-colored folders that were resting in his arms up to that point onto his desk.
"The Turks were given two assignments." He cut the untying exchange off abruptly. "Both were issued as an order by the president himself."
"Does that mean I can leave?" Reno asked hopefully. It took enough of the red-head's energy to simply drag his ass into the offices that evening; he'd much rather not sit through the excruciatingly boring briefing about missions he wasn't going to participate in anyway. Tseng shook his head and a sinister smile twisted the straight line of his lips; the same sinister smile that Reno referred to as 'death's calm grin' on numerous occasions.
"Certainly not. One of those aforementioned assignments is, in fact, addressed to you…" Tseng made an unbearably long pause to worsen the melodramatic effect "and Elena." A smile instantly lit Elena's curious features. She was already given an assignment, and it was only her first evening as a Turk! In her glee, she didn't even think to note the name of her partner. Reno on the other hand, not being a stranger to issued orders, concentrated all his attention on the fact that he'd have to work…no, not work…be stuck with Elena. The young man blanched, making the flaming scars that adorned his high cheekbones burn even brighter.
"Oh joy!" Reno sharply accentuated each syllable in highlighted sarcasm. Not that said sarcasm could have slipped the attention of those present without the extra measure.
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As was the custom, the alarm clock on his bedside table rang at six in the morning (sharp) and was smashed promptly (and rather unceremoniously) against the wall, which took it's residence opposite the red-head's bed. A nice, deep dent of a decoration spread on the said wall instantaneously to the chorus of the clock's mechanism falling in small metallic pieced to the wooden floor. How Reno had enough energy with his scratched up shoulder for such a throw, even he couldn't say; but, something about early morning and alarm clocks never ceased to enrage him. The fact that his memory didn't fail to remind him of the unfortunate fortune befalling him (a.k.a. this being the first day he'd have to work with Elena), didn't ease the punishment for the poor, newly bought alarm clock.
With a groan and an outburst of beautifully vibrant swearing, Reno rolled off the bed in a tangle of black sheets. When he landed on his injured leg (hard), the vibrant swearing smoothly turned into a vivid description of how the red-head was going to kill whoever thought up the idea of alarm clocks. Perhaps, the muffled narrative of the homicide would be a bit too brutal for the purposes of this story, but you can be assure that it involved a lot of blood…and screaming.
As Reno's breath hitched in his throat to suppress a yelp of pain, the red-head stumbled to his feet against the unwillingness of his soar muscles to cooperate. With another growl of "fuck" for good measure, he hobbled into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He turned on the water and was about to commence with undressing (hopefully without killing himself) when he heard a loud knock on the door. With a moan of displeasure he decided to ignore it; but after hearing the same sound a second time, logic kicked in through the hazy confines of his mind. He was in the bathroom, with the water running, yet he could hear the knocking with electrifying clarity. Something was very wrong with this picture. After a few more seconds, in which his mind finally decided to start functioning properly, Reno realized that the knocking wasn't coming form the front of his apartment. It was coming from the other side of the bathroom door.
In one jerky movement he jumped to the door swinging it open only to have a fist collide lightly with his chest. Reno's aquamarine eyes narrowed in annoyance as he pushed the feminine hand away forcefully.
"Well, good morning to you too." An equally feminine voice (to match the hand) washed over the tired Turk. Reno sighed in defeat and walked back into the bathroom, making sure to slam the door twice as loud as was necessary. "Gotcha! I'll make myself at home!" Elena's sarcastic remark drifted through the closed door.
TBC
Author's Note: Thanks for reading, and I hope you're enjoying the story so far. The investigation will commence the next chapter (with the explanation of what it is of course). I'll try to have that one up sooner XD Please R&R, the comments are always encouraging.