Sienna arrived at the stables just in time to see two Soldiers trying unsuccessfully to goad a large red chocobo into the building.

The first Soldier tugged uselessly on the rope they had managed to loop around the bird's neck. "It's no use, sir. He won't budge."

The second Soldier, a taller man wearing the darker suit of higher rank, snatched the rope out of his subordinate's hand. "You've got to put a little force in it. Show the brute who's boss!" With an exaggerated grunt, he yanked at the chocobo's lead.

It didn't move.

The higher-ranked Soldier growled. "Stupid beast." Shoving the end of the rope back into the other Soldier's hand, he pulled his sword out of its sheath.

The younger Soldier looked at his superior in shock. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing! I'm gonna poke it with my sword. Maybe then the stupid beast will move!"

As if he understood the motives of the Soldier, the red chocobo whipped his head over and snapped at the man's hand, causing him to drop his sword. "Aw, sh-"

Sienna laughed at her chocobo's antics, but she couldn't take anymore of the Soldier's attitude. What if he actually decided to attack the bird with his weapon? She was sure her chocobo could defend well against the sword, but guns were a different story.

She took a few steps towards the trio, "Excuse me, sirs? You don't need-"

The higher-ranked Soldier turned in her direction. He was too busy gawking at her to hear the happy wark the chocobo gave. "Well, well, well… what do we have here?" He took off his mask and gave her a toothy grin. She wished he had left the mask on. "Don't worry, little missy. We'll take care of this beast. He won't be a problem to ya."

"No. You don't understa-"

He took a step closer to her, and his subordinate struggled to keep the large chocobo from attacking his superior. "Is there a problem, little missy? Don't worry; I won't let this big brute hurt you."

"No no, wait! I'm the owner of-"

He chuckled, unaware of the dangerous look the chocobo was giving him. "Owner, you say? A little missy like you couldn't possibly own a beast like this-"

"I'd advise you to listen to the lady."

The Soldier's face dropped and he immediately snapped to attention. "R-Reno, s-sir!"

The other Soldier had also snapped to attention, the rope laying forgotten at his feet.

The red chocobo, now free of his captors, gave a loud wark and ran over to Sienna, rubbing his soft-feathered head against her cheek.

In all of her frustration with the Soldier, Sienna hadn't even noticed the presence of the red-haired Turk behind her until he spoke. But right now she was happy enough just to be rid of the Soldiers and have her chocobo back.

Meanwhile, Reno was giving the two Soldiers orders, as well as getting the name of the ill-mannered Soldier for a suitable punishment. After dismissing them, he turned back towards Sienna and her red chocobo. He was stunned to see that there was actually such a bird as that one standing next to the girl he had met only that morning. It's feathers were a bold red - surprisingly similar to the shade of his own hair. And it was so large - it towered over Sienna by a couple of feet when standing. At that moment in time it was sitting on the ground with its eyes closed, enjoying her gentle caresses as she removed the rope from around its neck.

Grinning, Reno took a step towards the pair. The chocobo's head snapped up and he stared at Reno with hard blue eyes. A warning wark escaped its beak when Reno took another step. "Whoa! Hey, I'm not gonna hurt her!" He looked imploringly at Sienna, "Can you tell him I mean no harm?"

Sienna giggled and turned the red bird's head towards her own. "It's okay, Furi, Reno's a friend." He gave a soft coo as she patted his head, but still gave Reno a glare as he stood. "Now let's get you inside with the others." She patted him towards the stable and he headed off ahead of her.

Turning to Reno, she grinned and beckoned him over to her. "Sorry, he's a little overprotective… like a big brother, really."

Reno stuck his hands in his pockets and followed after her into the stable. "So I've noticed." He looked up to see her examining the wide, wooden stables. "…What was his name? I thought I heard you say something like furry or fury…"

She looked over at him while running her hands over one of the sturdy wooden stable doors. "Uh, yeah, Furi. It's short for Furibrand. Like Fury Brand. My father named him." She resumed examining the door before opening it to let Furi in. Shutting and latching the door behind him, she gazed up and around the huge building. The wood looked fresh and solid. She was surprised Shinra was able to find so much good wood, especially since most of the natural resources around Midgar were a bit… frail. It must have looked a little out of place, a giant wooden stable on the outskirts of a city made almost entirely of metal. But having a wooden stable was one of Sienna's conditions for working - it was better for the chocobos' health. Plus it felt more like her own stable. "This place is amazing. They did a good job building it." She leaned comfortably on the door looking in on Furi, who at the time was preening his glossy ruby feathers.

"Shinra doesn't spare any expense when they want something done." Reno replied, coming up to stand slightly behind and beside Sienna. He looked at her thoughtful form out of the corner of his eyes. If only she'd stop looking so attractive this job might actually be a lot easier. Even her personality was alluring to him - she was quiet and shy, yet strong and devoted. Reno had always been one to not mix work and pleasure, but…

A loud snap in front of his face brought him back to reality. Reno's eyes widened to see the large orange beak of Furibrand mere centimeters away from his nose.

"Furi! Don't!" Sienna's hand reached in front of him to push the bird's head back.

"Whoa… he really doesn't like me, does he?" Reno stood up and scratched the back of his head. "I didn't mean to upset him or anything." He stood and looked at the bird, seeming to ponder something. "Hmm… maybe he doesn't like that I have the same hair - well, feathers in his case - and eye color." He grinned, "Some kind of dominancy thing or something." He finished with a shrug.

Sienna looked at Furi for a second, and then at Reno. He was right, they did have the same color, hair to feathers, and eyes. Almost exactly. She giggled at Reno's idea; she doubted that Furi gave a care about Reno's hair or eyes, but Reno certainly wouldn't know that. It was clever of him to think of it, though. It would have never even crossed her mind. She simply chalked the bird's actions up to over protectiveness.

Ruffling Furi's head feathers, she let out a laugh. "It would be pretty silly of him to dislike you for a reason like that." She winked at Reno. "Right, Furi? Now be nice to Reno. He won't bite."

The Turk laughed, remembering her expression from when he'd told her the same that morning. "Too hard." He once again walked back up to Sienna, despite Furi's warning glare. "I don't think he believes you." The words came out in chuckles. He directed his blue eyes, which were full of mirth, towards her. "Mind if I… test his limits a little? Just to see? That way I won't cross any limits he's set."

Sienna focused on him with her grayish eyes and withdrew her hand from Furi's head. "I don't know… he usually doesn't take too well to being tested." The chocobo snorted in resentment, which made the girl break out in a small laugh. She glanced back over her shoulders to the grinning red-head. "Well, I guess he seems up to it. Just be careful. Sometimes he can be awfully temperamental." She received another snort from the chocobo, which sent her into teasing giggles.

"Oh, I will. I'd rather not have him bite my hand off or something."

The comment caused the girl to smile. "I doubt he'd do that. He knows he'd get in trouble for pulling a stunt like that." Furi lowered his head and made a half-chirp, half-wark sound, then peered back up at Reno as if offering him a dare.

Reno certainly hoped so. "Okay, stand still then, Sienna." Reaching his hand out, he placed it softly on her shoulder, all the while watching for a reaction from both chocobo and girl. When none came, he ventured closer, stepping up behind Sienna and snaking one arm gently around her shoulder. He continued to openly watch Furi, but was acutely aware of Sienna's reactions as well. He didn't want to admit it, but this wasn't just to test the chocobo's boundaries. He wanted to see how far he could go before she was uncomfortable with him. Besides, he always enjoyed flirting with a girl, so he'd take any chance he could get.

Her shoulders tensed at the initial contact, but easily relaxed in the loose embrace. This was the type of contact that she wasn't used to. Normally she would just shy away from most manners of physical contact; aside from hugs from her family or caresses from her chocobos; this was the first time she'd actually had physical contact with anyone in a while. And it was comforting. But he was just testing Furi, she reassured herself. No big deal.

Furi watched, standing motionless, as Reno pulled his other arm up around Sienna's shoulders and moved his head to rest beside hers. Brilliant blue met brilliant blue as chocobo and human stared each other down. Seconds passed like eternity.

Sienna silently held her breath. A strange feeling bubbled up in the pit of her stomach, and she stubbornly chose to ignore it. It was nothing and she refused to let herself think otherwise. 'Me and my stupid introversion.' she thought bitterly to herself, 'why in the heck did I agree to this again? Oh, right, Furi.'

Feeling confident in having no negative reactions from either Sienna or Furi, Reno decided to try one last test. Gently he turned his head to look at Sienna's face. He was mildly surprised to see that her eyes were closed and a light tint of red brushed her pale cheeks. He grinned, enjoying having such an effect. He glanced quickly over out of the corner of his eyes at the bird, then back at the girl.

Ever so lightly he leaned in and placed a kiss on her soft cheek.

And that's when Furi struck.

"Ow! Hey!" Reno released his grasp on Sienna and clutched his head where Furi had yanked on his wild red hair.

And sure enough, when Sienna opened her eyes, she noticed a few wisps of Reno's hair in Furi's large beak. The scene was so comical, she couldn't help but laugh. Plus it helped to hide the blush that had formed on her cheeks.

Reno rubbed his sore head. "Hey, why are you laughing! Your chocobo just ripped out a chunk of my hair!"

She turned to Reno, shaking with fits of light laughter. Her face was tinged a light red, although most of it was from her fits of giggles. "A chunk? I can't even see where it came out!" She walked over to him and peered up at his face. His expression caused the laughter to roll out again like muted thunder.

Reno stared at her incredulously. First she was afraid of him, and now she was laughing at him? The sudden change was startling. He figured her laughter was partly caused by embarrassment at his forwardness, but he wouldn't let her know he thought that. No use embarrassing her any more. At least not yet.

A smile grazed his lips as he watched her sit down against the wall by a huge bag of greens, her body shaking with the remaining tumbles of amusement. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, her arms resting comfortable on top. He decided to go join her, once judging whether or not Furi could reach him. Thankfully it seemed he could not. Sitting down next to her, he stretched one leg out and pulled his other knee up to rest his arms and set his head down to gaze at her. The smile re-crossed his face. "I fail to find what's so funny. My head still hurts!"

His teasing complaints were greeted with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It's just… the expression on your face was priceless! I warned you, you know." She cocked her head toward him, a pensive look crossing her features. "Does it really hurt that bad?"

Reno grinned and shrugged the best he could in the position he was in. The gesture reminded her of an awkward bird trying to fly. "It did. But it's not so bad now. Who knew a chocobo could be so vicious?"

She returned his comment with a smile, turning her gaze away to the opposite wall.

"So… would you mind telling me that Midgar story you mentioned earlier?"

She suddenly pulled herself into a standing position, wiping some barely visible dust off of her tan pants. Reno blinked. Tan? He hadn't even noticed that she was wearing anything different. As he looked he realized that she was wearing darker tan jeans that seemed a little worn out and stained and a plain black sleeveless shirt. He realized they must've been clothes she wore for working with the chocobos. Wow, was he a little off today.

Sienna unhitched the door and lead Furi out of the stall, glancing over at Reno apologetically. "I would… but I really should go check on the rest of the chocobos and bring Furi down there… I think the men who transported them put them in the other side of the barn…" Her eyes wandered around the huge barn again as Reno stood up. "I don't even know how many stables are in here…"

Reno, a little miffed that his fun had been spoiled, nodded in consent. "So… how many chocobos do you have?"

"Oh, um… 21. And three of Lilia's eggs. They should be hatching sometime in the next few days."

Reno's jaw dropped. "21? Just like this one?"

She laughed, "Oh, no, they're all different. Furi is pretty much the biggest one." The mentioned chocobo began to pull lightly at Sienna, dragging her down the aisle toward the center, where a door led to the next long room of stalls. She glanced over her shoulder at Reno. "I really should go tend to them… and then I need to finish unpacking stuff in the apartment Shinra set up for me…" She gave him a small smile, "You could come meet the chocobos if you would like…"

Reno felt a little sorry for putting her behind in her work. And he had his own work to do. So he decided that he'd stop by another time. "Ah, no, that's alright." He gave her a grin. "You've got work to do; I've got work to do. I'll be back, though. You still owe me a story."

She nodded. "Alright then. Don't forget."

Furi gave her a soft push with his head, motioning for her to stop talking and get going. As she turned, he looked back at the red-headed human and gave him a judicious look before continuing on.

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Papers lay scattered across the wooden table, some spilling haphazardly onto the chairs and floor. A half filled cup of coffee rested snugly between a stack of paper and a pair of crossed arms that at the time were being used as a pillow. Red hair poked up from between the makeshift pillow, over the young man's dark glasses, which had slid down to almost cover his eyes, and his face. His long red ponytail hung limply over his shoulder to be mixed in with a few of the rogue pieces of paper on the table.

A loud rap on the door sent more papers flying along with the flurry of red hair.

Reno sat up, dazed, looking at the scattered remnants of what he had been reading. He reached up and scratched his head, realized the world seemed a little too dark, and promptly pushed the dark glasses back up his forehead in an effort to tame at least some of his hair.

Another knock on the door made him realize that in fact he hadn't dreamed the first one.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'…" He stood up, careful not to step on too many of the papers, and grabbed the mug of coffee, taking a swig. The taste was foul, and his facial expression reflected it. Tossing the mug into the sink, he headed towards the door, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

He opened the door, hoping to see a beautiful woman…

All he saw was Tseng.

Reno moaned, moving out of the doorway to allow the Turk entrance into his apartment. "What time is it?"

"9 am." Tseng glanced around at the paper mess. "What have you been doing in here, Reno?"

"I was reading all that crap you gave me yesterday. Then I evidently fell asleep." He shrugged as if it were nothing important. "So, what's up?"

"I came to get your report from yesterday. As well as that report on the last mission that as of yet you haven't handed in."

The younger Turk scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, forgot about that one. I'll get 'em." He walked over to the table, dug under a few stacks of paper, and pulled out two packets. He walked back over to Tseng and handed them to him.

Tseng regarded the half-asleep Reno critically. "Are you sure you didn't slip something extra into your coffee last night?"

"I might've… I can't remember."

Tseng took the reports and quickly glanced through them, raising his eyebrow at the shorter one. "This one's pretty short. I thought you'd have more after all that time you spent."

Reno simply shrugged and plopped down on the black sofa. "I didn't get to talk to her that much. Besides, I was just trying to get to know her first. We haven't really gotten down to talking about the chocobos much yet."

Tseng nodded. "I see. You may not want to get too close to her, lest it interfere with your assignment." He turned towards the door. "Take note of everything she says, even if it doesn't seem important at the time. You never know what information she might be holding back." He turned the doorknob.

Reno rolled his eyes and gave him an unenthused thumbs up. "Gotcha, boss."

Tseng smirked as he began to leave, "Oh and Reno - take a shower. You look like a mess."

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