Reno stomped up the stairs, taking care not to fall. He was pissed out of his mind and needed to vent. He pounded on Rude's door angrily, holding his head as the sound caused another painful throb. Rude answered the door with a bemused expression that quickly changed to concern, "Your head."
"I'll explain later. Got a minute?" Reno leaned on the door frame.
Rude opened the door wider and Jareth waved at Reno from the kitchen, "What's up Reno?"
"Need to talk to Rude." Reno scowled, not in the mood for Jareth's usual peppy antics. "In private." Reno emphasized the last word, hoping that Jareth would get the message.
"Do you mind?" Rude asked as Jareth stopped waving and pouted.
"Of course not. You go right ahead." Jareth sneered, glaring daggers at Reno.
Rude nodded and walked out of the apartment, "Thanks."
Reno practically dragged Rude down the hall, "Sounded like he minded."
"He'll get over it." Rude shrugged. "Explain the injuries."
"Injuries? What makes you think there's more than one?" Reno paused his stampede to his apartment.
"I can see the bruises." Rude grabbed Reno's wrist and prodded a purpling patch of skin raising on his arm.
"Ow!" Reno jerked his arm back, "Those are part of the story!"
"Won't Gareth be in your apartment?" Rude raised an eyebrow as Reno fumbled with his keys.
"Not if he has any brains." Reno scowled and shoved the door open, flicking on the light as he kicked off his shoes.
Rude placed his shoes neatly by the door and shed his jacket before seating himself on the couch, "Explain."
Reno plopped himself down on the couch. "Tseng and I fell down the stairs."
Rude raised an eyebrow, "You fell down the stairs?"
"Yeah, he landed on top of me and then Gareth walked up and saw and now he thinks I'm trying to cheat on him. He refuses to believe that I have no feelings for Tseng no matter how many times I tell him there's nothing going on! He's being an asshole and a half about it too. What the hell did I do to make him think I'd cheat?" Reno sighed and Rude grunted in sympathy. "I just wish he would trust me ya know?"
Rude nodded sympathetically, "How's Tseng? He look as bad as you?"
Reno snorted, "Worse." Reno paused and then huffed in indignation, "Hey! I don't looked bad! I look amazing!"
Rude snorted, "You're black and blue."
"And red." Reno winked.
Rude chuckled, "Whatever color you are it looks painful."
Reno shrugged, "We better get used to getting hurt. This is mild compared to what I saw Matt come back with from his last patrol."
"You got to see him?" Rude raised an eyebrow, "I thought they weren't letting anyone in. Nasira was pissed."
"I got a glimpse of him as they were dragging him in." Reno ran a hand through his hair, "He was pretty messed up. Those gang people weren't joking around."
Rude grunted, "They never do."
They sat in reverent silence for a while. Reno inspecting himself for bruises and bumps and Rude sitting with his hands folded in his lap, deep in thought as he stared at the floor. "Think he'll recover?" Reno asked, unable to keep quiet for long.
"I'd be surprised if he didn't." Rude answered.
"Yeah..." Reno frowned and looked at the floor. "So what's up with Jareth? He didn't exactly seem happy to see me."
"He's been pissy lately. I don't know why." Rude shrugged.
"Want me to figure it out yo?" Reno cracked his knuckles, "I could pull some of that sneaky crap we're learning and follow him around."
"Already did." Rude sighed.
"And?" Reno asked hopefully.
"He cheated." Rude said bluntly, his face stoic.
"Are you serious!?" Reno yelled, anger plain in his voice.
"Yes." Rude grunted.
"Why are you still with him then?" Reno stood up and began pacing the room.
"I could be wrong. I only saw him do it once. It could be a one time deal." Rude watched Reno pace with an emotionless gaze.
"So what if it's a one time deal? Cheating is cheating!" Reno growled, balling his hands into fists at his sides.
"Benefit of the doubt." Rude shrugged, "He was a little drunk when it happened, he doesn't know I know." Rude lowered his glasses and glared pointedly at Reno. "He's not going to know that I know either."
Reno sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wincing as his hand found a new bump, "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut."
"Good." Rude leaned back in his chair. "Let's talk about something else."
"Like what?" Reno snorted.
Rude shrugged, "We've got patrol together tomorrow. You're chopper lessons are almost done so you can start drinking on Friday again soon. I got a license. We've got a lot of topics to choose from."
"You got a license?" Reno put his hands on his hips, "When?"
"Last week." Rude grunted, "You've been busy lately and we haven't had patrol together since we screwed up that bombing so I haven't had a chance to tell you."
Reno laughed, "We better not fuck up our patrol."
"I agree." Rude toyed with the piercings in his ears, "Tseng already has us covered in paperwork because of that. I don't think I'll survive if he assigns us any more."
"I'm just not gonna do it." Reno sniggered and sat down.
"That's a bad idea." Rude adjusted his sunglasses, recovering his eyes.
"What's he gonna do about it?" Reno huffed.
"Throw more work at you." Rude huffed, already deigning to do Reno's work when he wasn't looking.
Reno shrugged again, "I'll take whatever he throws at me."
"You always do." Rude chuckled, "And I get stuck with the overflow."
Author's Note: I know, more boring drama junk. Don't worry, this is going somewhere I promise! I didn't just drop all the exciting stuff. It's coming soon I promise! Please be patient with me.