A Snake in the Grass


"Really?" Reno asks. His voice carries a hint of sarcasm and no fear of challenging his superior, which again leads me to question their real relationship since they appear closer in private than they do on the field, "'Cuz the clerk said ya checked in with a strange lookin lady."

"I did," Tseng coolly answers before coughing and catching Reno's attention that suddenly turns to a brief and genuine concern when the younger man considerately asks, "Ya sick?"

"Just a cold, I fear." After that, I hear what I interpret as Reno's footsteps and a movement on the bed as if someone sat down and for some reason, it makes my nerves burn and causes me to use every ounce of self control I possess not to go out there and wring the little capparwire's neck.

"Hm… That why yer lady friend ain't 'round? 'fraid'a catchin watcha got?"

"My lady friend was only a ploy."

"Funny… Cuz the way the clerk described her almost sounded familiar…" Reno says with no attempt to hide the fact that he doesn't fully believe what his superior has to say, "Only, the description did'n exactly fit the description of a woman… It more or less fit the description of someone else I've seen before."

"Leviathan… Surely there is something more productive you could do with your time."

"Heh… Nah… I jus have a knack fer noticin coincidences that ain't exactly coincidences, ya know?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't… All I know is that you have a talent for fabricating bizarre fantasies that you expect other people to bend over for."

"Bend over for…" Reno mutters as the movement on the bed suggests he decided to stand again and I imagine him looking away and putting his hands in his pockets like he always does when he takes on that wry tone of his.

Then I hear Tseng walk into the bathroom to pour some water into the stained glass by the sink, allowing me to take advantage of the small tear in the shower curtain to see the look of disgust on his face before Reno walks over to the door in a way that blocks him in and flirtatiously comments that, "Ya know I ain't got no problem bendin over fer ya."

"Pardon?"

"Ya heard me."

"I don't believe I heard anything that made sense," Tseng dryly comments before he subtly darts his eyes to the tub and takes a deep breath, "and your babbling behaviour is rather cryptic as usual."

"Ain't nothin cryptic, Man…" he comments, appearing unaffected by Tseng's disdainful remarks and attitude—if not finding it amusing at the same time while partially leaning against the doorframe, "Jus sayin that if ya was in a bind that I'm there fer ya."

"I already know that," Tseng evenly answers, still keeping his cool in hopes of not raising suspicion. Then he pauses long enough to take a small sip and sneers at the fact that he's been lowered to drinking out of a dirty glass. "It's the main reason you're my second in command. However, I really don't know why you feel it's necessary to state the obvious."

"Ah… So in other words, ya'd rather go back ta the other topic?"

"What other topic?"

"The one 'bout Valentine."

"Reno…" Tseng mumbles, unable to hide the subtle frustration he's beginning to feel before leaning forward and rubbing at his temples like he's got a sudden headache and appearing as if he's completely clueless about what Reno's getting at, "Despite the fact that you're trying to twist my words around by bringing up irrelevant topics in hopes that I'll stumble and reveal nothing in regard to something you've concocted in that questionable head of yours by making absolutely no sense about anything… What are you bloody-well talking about?"

"So yer admittin it then?"

"Admitting what?"

"The fact that ya did'n deny anythin kind'a states that yer admittin ta it."

Just like a Turk, I think, twisting other people's words around to suit them and attempting to confuse them until the truth comes out. Though I suppose I'm not any less guilty in that aspect. Nor am I any less disgusted over the fact that it's the truth.

"Just because I'm not denying something that doesn't need to be denied doesn't mean that I'm admitting to anything when there's nothing to admit to."

"Really…?" Reno suspiciously mutters before Tseng starts to push him out of the bathroom.

Then the redhead grabs onto the frame to make it obvious that he has no intention of cooperating.

"So if there's nothin ta admit ta, why are ya tryin ta get rid'a me so quickly then?"

"Odd, I had no idea trying to get out of a filthy bathroom was a sign of me trying to hide something."

"Maybe ya should try comin outta somethin else then…"

"Pardon?"

"Whatcha got hidin behind that curtain?"

"What curtain?"

"The shower curtain, Man… No one leaves 'em closed like that."

"It allows it to air out and dry properly," Tseng responds, unable to hide the irritation in his voice any longer. Then he slightly falters and adds another explanation as if he thinks that what he said wasn't good enough for the redheaded devil to believe, "And if you'd seen the tub, you'd know that there's more than one reason to leave it closed."

But unfortunately, it seems to backfire on him, which causes me to quietly prepare myself by tightening the grip around my gun if that untrustworthy little weasel decides to come anywhere near me. Though I have no plans to shoot him with it even if it's only because it's against Tseng's wishes, and I tell myself that it won't be so bad if I hit him with it, hard enough to knock him out regardless of whether I'll need to do it repetitively or not.

"That bad, huh? Lemme see?"

"There's nothing to see."

"Yer-uh… gettin kind'a worked up, ya know," Reno slyly mutters, taking obvious note of the growing edginess in Tseng's tone. Then he finally releases his grip on the doorframe and stumbles backwards when Tseng roughly escorts him by the scruff of his shirt into the other room and chuckles out in amusement, "There anythin I can do ta help ya relax?"

From there, Tseng's tone grows even more agitated than it was and he tells his second in command that he doesn't need to relax and I reflect on how typical it is of him to respond with the same merciless tone regarding himself as he always does. But I'm assuming I'm not the only one that knows how much harder Tseng is on himself than he is on others because Reno makes it more than clear that he doesn't believe a single word from his superior's mouth and he begins to voice his concerns in a more considerate manner over the man's health, despite the protests.

"Yer feelin a little hot… Ya take anythin for it?"

"No," I hear Tseng answer, slightly calmer than he was while I stew over how in the hell Reno would know he was hot unless he was touching him.

Besides that though, Tseng still carries a hint of odd confusion in his voice as he continues like he thinks Reno should already know what he says next.

"I have no money."

Then silence follows, almost uncomfortable between them while they both reflect on something unknown to me. Though I take my best guess and assume it has something to do with Tseng's recent misfortune before I hear Reno's shoe scuff against the floor while he thoughtfully mutters, "I'll go get ya somethin then…"

After that, the sound of Reno's footsteps move toward the door and another pause takes place while Tseng blows his nose, coughs, and Reno taps on the door in a thoughtful way, seemingly more thoughtful than he usually is, and for some reason it's bothering me even more than when he's brash and arrogant.

"Won't take long…"

"Take your time," Tseng dryly replies, almost sounding like he's ready to go back to bed.

Then he steps more into whatever minuscule view I have and lets out a heavy sigh while rubbing at his brow as the redhead leaves and quietly closes the door behind him. After that, Tseng subtly shakes his head and tells me as quietly as he can that, "You're going to have to leave, Vince… I don't have the patience to deal with the volatile combination that the two of you always become right now."

"Then tell him to leave," I say, unable to hide the fact that the redhead drives me insane for no apparent reason while I step out and start putting my pants on. All the while, I'm feeling more irritated by the miscreant than I normally am.

But for some strange reason it's for all the opposite reasons than it normally is. It's not because of his obnoxious behaviour this time. It's because of something else—something that started to dig deeper the moment he started acting like the civilized creature that I know damned well he's nowhere near being.

And from there I make every personal attempt to reason it out while Tseng stares at me with a blank look that shows no sign of what he's thinking. Nor does he say anything while I angrily do my pants up and stew over the fact that not only does Reno have a questionable knack for showing up when he's least wanted, but he also behaves as if he wants something from Tseng—something more.

What's worse though is that I know I have no valid reason that I can come up with for thinking or believing it.

Yet as always, Tseng likes to think that he knows the answer to everything that I think and feel, and in this case it's jealousy due to something he thinks I can't let go of.

"I really don't understand how you can still be affected by your girlfriend's marriage to Hojo after all these years…"

And now I don't know what's worse as I pause with my hands over the undone buckles on my pants and take to staring guiltily at the floor.

But the intended sting of the reminder isn't something I take personally anymore. At least it's not personal when I suddenly realize how detached he sounds when he says it, or how I think of how he wanted something more intimate the night before and possibly even a hint of proof that I want or feel the same way before I dominated the situation in a way that suggested he was nothing more than a release for me. It's what I always do and it sinks in that he doesn't say, 'Lucrecia,' like I mindlessly remind him and regret it the moment that I do.

It's what he labels her as, still, and it's what I guilt myself over when I think about how wrong I suddenly realize we both are for each other and instead of having the effect it probably should have, it solidifies my insecurities over the matter even more while I begin to wonder what it is that I really want or expect from him.

Instead of trying to consolidate the matter though, I throw my shirt over my head and angrily toss my cloak over my shoulder before grumbling about how I should leave before his precious Turk returns.

Then I kick myself after I walk out the front door in hopes of drawing out some kind of emotion from him and making it obvious to whatever onlookers there might be that I was there. Maybe it's to defy his insecurities in hopes of taking my mind from my own as I tell myself I'm no longer concerned about the fact that using the door is the last thing Tseng would have wanted an animal like me to do as I slam it behind me.

But for a brief moment, I pause, confused and not sure if I heard what I think I heard him quietly say after I took my first step, almost like he thought I could no longer hear him.

"You were right all along…" is what it sounded like he said, right before he blows his nose and begins to cough again.

Though I have no idea who it was he was talking to if to anyone at all.

And if I didn't know any better, I could swear that an all too familiar chuckle resonates through my head while a tingling warning crawls up my spine.


It's my imagination, I tell myself after stewing over it for several minutes and making my way to the darkest shadows of the alley that I could find so that I can watch him and see if he does or says anything else suspicious. All the while, I wonder why I never noticed him do anything like that before and I ask myself if he's right about me losing my mind.

I question it even more when all he does is sit on the edge of the bed doing and saying nothing to prove that I didn't hear anything at all. During that time, he stares into a nothingness that I can't comprehend before his hand jerks to where he carried the weapon that Sephiroth gave to him and he subtly sneers, quirks his brow, and breathes out, "You think I'd know better by now," before he lets himself fall uncommonly backwards onto the bed and appears to laugh at himself, "The fool that I am…"

"The fool that we both are," I quietly add, and I habitually lower my face into my mantle while I wonder how in the hell I can remedy whatever the hell it is that needs remedying and wondering why we always resort to fighting over nothing for no reason, or if we can even call it fighting.

The best I can come up with is to tell myself to listen to the constant voice in the back of my head that often tells me to, 'Stay away from him, Vincent.'

But because it's Sephiroth's voice that says it, I find myself suffering from the sudden need to prove something.

Maybe it's a childish need to want something that was his or to try to prove that I can win a losing battle. Maybe it's nothing more than a selfish need to feel like I'm trying to make him pay for what I've lost.

Unfortunately though, I don't want to believe that I'm torturing someone else simply because I don't know how to let go of the past, and like a reflex reaction, I find myself moving as quickly as I can, back to the mansion to try to return something that I don't want to return in hopes that I can prove that Tseng means something more to me than vengeance.


Unfortunately though, there's a snake in the grass and like always, he shows up exactly where I never want him to. With a toothy grin and hair like flames that seem more vibrant near the burning and volatile chemicals of what's left of the still-burning mansion, Reno stands among the rubble as dangerously close as he can get without causing himself harm.

He glows with the colour of fire as it dances across his skin and it turns his white shirt to a sunset-orange, making him seem even more devious than he usually is. And his grin sharpens his features in a way that seems reminiscent of a demon.

Not to mention the reason he's here and not out tending to his superior's needs like he said he was going to do begs to be questioned if not physically demanded of him while he stands there, seemingly waiting for something or someone with what looks like an eager anticipation as those serpentine eyes dance over the evolving ruin in a mixture of satisfaction and disgust.

And soon, my answer comes to me like a weight heavy enough to knock me out.

It's a person that he's waiting for—one of the lower Turks that I've seen at the farm and he's carrying an object that Reno seems to be eagerly anticipating as the other man shortens the distance between them.

And if my view of the redheaded serpent wasn't already as low as it could have possibly been it would have dropped even lower at this moment, particularly when I recognize the tarnished object to be none other than the blasted gift that Sephiroth gave to his lover the night before their lives were fatefully changed. It's the very same gift that I came to look for.

To say I'm more suspicious of his motives than I already was would be an understatement at this point since to the best of my knowledge, Tseng never told Reno about losing it, and a strange twinge pulls at my gut when I think of how Tseng almost reached for it when I walked out on him without even denying that it was Lucrecia that he thinks I've been confusing him with all this time.

And concerning it all, the best reaction I can come up with is to mutter under my breath, "Son of a…"

I would have shot the demon-spawn right then and there.

But maybe I possess a more morbid side than I thought I did since something inside of me wants to see what the hell he's really up to while I watch him pull a small rag out of his pocket and he spit-shines the damned thing, tidying it up as best as he can for whatever unscrupulous reason he has.

And with that in mind, I release the angry grip on my gun and angrily focus on the tips of his hair that are carried in the wind, blowing past his scrawny shoulder blades like the flames that he stands in front of. It's reminiscent of the very same flames that are burning within me.


He wastes no time though, and soon enough the conniving snake is on his way back to the centre of town to stop into the finest diner that Nibelheim has to offer, emerging with a fully cooked meal in his arms almost as quickly as he entered, suggesting that he stopped there first to make his order before he went to the mansion.

All the while, his superior's unused and slightly charred weapon dangles carelessly from a hitch on his belt.

From there, he makes his way with a quick pace carried by long gangly strides to the closest medicine shop while he flirtatiously winks and grins at nearly everyone he passes as he does so.

Whether he does it to antagonize them is unknown. But the returning sneers and distaste towards a man that is obviously a Turk—if not someone who's personally traumatized any of them at any given time—proves that his motives are not for the sake of charm.

And again, he quickly emerges as if it's all been rehearsed or part of a plan. This time he's carrying medicine, along with the food, and he starts with the quick strides again. All of his actions prove that his intentions were never to waste time but to make haste while not missing a meticulous beat.

It proves that nothing about his careless and clumsy appearance foretells the truth of the strictly planned out patterns he follows, quick to the draw and flirting only to draw out the threats—to judge and calculate. Every reaction that he draws out from his own actions tells him everything he needs to know about his environment.

To say that Reno is a careless clod is to simply judge him the way that he wants you to judge him. He plays the game his way, writes his own rules, and uses his nonconformist appearance to make everyone else conform…

It's no wonder I don't trust him.


It also makes me wonder why in the hell Tseng trusts him as much as he does.

Or why Tseng openly accepts the food and medicine that Reno offers the moment the man opens the door to greet him as if to distract him from the object hanging from his belt. Though why, I don't know, and I watch as Tseng is still sniffling and uncomfortable, showing a rare weakness with weepy eyes while he turns his head and sneezes while never questioning what Reno's offering is or where it came from.

And I lower my head into my mantle at the thought that he would have been interrogating me and telling me that he didn't need any of it if it was me that had done the same, regardless of the fact that I'm probably exaggerating and blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

But I suppose it shouldn't surprise me and I fight the futile feelings that churn inside of me while I continue to watch with a growing sense of morbid yearning while Tseng opens a container that looks like it holds some kind of soup, attempts to smell it, and accepts the spoon that Reno offers him.

And I continue to tighten inside when Reno sits on the bed beside him, a little closer than I think he should, and he measures a portion of the medicine before pouring it into Tseng's bowl while almost bashfully telling him, "Ta hide the flavour."

"Oh?"

"Yeah… Tastes like shit…"

"I suppose I should thank you then."

And from there, a small chuckle escapes from the demon, pretending to be warm, friendly, and ordinary while he quickly darts his eyes to his boss's face and then wipes his palms on his pants as if he's nervous about something. Though I suppose the little snake has every reason to be nervous considering what he has attached to his belt.

But the small talk seems to drag out as the redhead asks questions that are expected in regard to the mansion. He asks how Tseng got out and how he managed to get himself a hotel if he didn't have any money, and each question is answered with no more than the fewest of words required, even a grunt if it will suit his superior.

After a while, or perhaps the amount of time it took for Reno to build up the courage or to simply wait until his boss finished eating, the snake does what I've been waiting for.

He does it nervously though, strange and out of character as he inches closer to his boss for no reason that makes sense to me before he looks at the man with those bejewelled eyes that have a life of their own, almost dancing, luring, or whatever other words I can come up with to feed my active imagination over the non-existent matter as Tseng would accuse.

Though regardless of mine and Tseng's differences, when it comes to the point of view over Reno, I can't help but feel that I'm closer to being right than he is and an unconscious sneer plays across the upper left corner of my mouth when the little bastard shows Tseng what he so unwittingly found.

"Went ta check on the mansion while waitin for yer food. Ya know… had ta see it fer myself," he tells him, "an saw this sittin there… It's yours, ain't it?"

Tseng only silently revels at the appearance instead of saying anything though, attempting to hide what he feels. He would have succeeded if it wasn't for the sudden light in his usually dark eyes, unaware of the shameless lies of the miscreant in front of him and just as in the dark as I am too.

Then he falters and almost stutters while carefully placing the bowl on the end table near the bed, "Yes," before he takes it while doing his best to hide the obvious eagerness to repossess it, "but I could have sworn it was lost in the lower levels… How did it wind up in the open?"

I almost smile at the fact that he doesn't miss a beat at that point, despite the distraction in front of him. But like always, the redhead is either too quick or too good at rehearsing his responses as he carelessly shrugs and wryly turns the corner of his mouth, "Dunno… Stranger things've happened…"

And for the first time since I've known Tseng, the word, 'idiot,' comes to mind, and I feel like physically going over there and kicking him for being stupid enough to trust such an obvious deceiver as he nods, quirks his brow, and agrees, "I suppose…"

But something about the way that he taps his fingers on the metal in thought when he places it on his lap after the redhead hands it to him stops me from acting before thinking, and there's something about the way that Tseng looks into space for a moment, reflective and slowly sinking that holds me in my place like invisible shackles.

Though what he thoughtfully asks next sends mixed signals and even more questions regarding who the hell is really playing who in this twisted game that never seems to end.

"What would you do if someone asked you to leave the Turks?"

And unconsciously, I reach for the necklace that Lucrecia gave to me and I'm suddenly wondering if the only reason I was put on this planet was to be messed with by anyone I ever dared to let myself care about since he led me to believe that he didn't remember anything about our argument over the question.

Of course, Reno's mindless jerking around only causes me to tense up even more and remove the safety on my gun while it's still in my holster when he playfully jibes, "Heh… thought ya'd never ask."

It causes Tseng to mildly smirk in a way that seems like he's trying to be polite even though he looks like something is weighing too heavily on his mind to appreciate his co-worker's light humour. Then he takes a deep breath and does his best to suppress the cough that the action causes before he gives his partner a scolding look reminiscent of a parent to a child.

After that, he subtly shakes his head and Reno suddenly turns serious.

He stares at the older man beside him for far too long in my opinion and I barely notice that I'm already aiming my gun before Tseng takes notice of the redhead's odd attention and asks, "What are you doing?"

But Reno stays silent, tilts his head and leans even closer to the wary man beside him.

Then he unexpectedly reaches towards the left of Tseng's head as if to cup it at the same time that someone beside me asks the same question that Tseng asked with the same curious tone riddled with caution.

"Vince…? What are you doing?"

It's one of those moments where time seems to freeze as an unwelcome and torturous feeling comes over me, and like so often during these moments, I don't even realize that I'm no longer in control of myself. Nor am I even aware of where I am or what's going on while I fall back to another time that filled me with the same feeling.

Though it wasn't as strong as it is now, and perhaps it's because of the way it went back then. But I know the feeling and as much as I wish it was as dead as the rest of me—when Lucrecia married Hojo, had his child, and made me into what I am now…

And the gun fires off a shot as if I was never in control of it. It happens like everything else does since the day I died… never in control…

And it suddenly doesn't matter how much of a liar Tseng is and the games he plays as I continuously play the fact that I've told that Wutian bastard a thousand times if not more... while the sound of a second gunshot fills the air and the Wutian Turk falls to the floor with a disturbing thud…

That the son of a bitch couldn't be trusted…