Disclaimer : I do not own FFVII, Crisis Core, Advent Children, or any of the characters that you recognise. As much as I love these guys, they belong to those other guys.

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ren7720: Awww thank you! I really appreciate that. I know my chapters can be a bit short but I intend to update often :) so hopefully that makes up for it. Mind you, this chapter is a lot longer!

Chapter 9 : The Gloves Are Off (Or It It Just The Whisky Lid?)

Tifa bit her bottom lip, hiding it behind the glass she had lifted to her nose. A flash of competitiveness struck through her and she had to almost physically hold herself back from slamming the drink back and holding it out for a refill. But this was Reno she was drinking with. She wasn't even sure how she'd got to this point so quickly. She felt more relaxed in his presence than she ever thought possible. Maybe it was the lack of the blue suit and the long sleek mag rod that usually accompanied it. But most likely it was the alcohol flowing through her system, making her feel warm and lowering her guard slightly. Either way, she couldn't allow herself to get roped into a drinking contest with Reno. Could she?

Chewing her lip once more, she looked over the rim of her glass. Reno was reclined lazily on the couch, one arm stretched along the back of the headrests and the other holding his glass loosely in his lap. He was watching her carefully, obviously unsure if she would actually drink the whisky he'd given her. She narrowed her eyes slightly and dropped the glass to her mouth, tilting it slightly so the golden fluid sluggishly slid towards her lips. She took a small mouthful and fought to stop a cough and a splutter from escaping her lips as it burned it's way down her throat. She felt the warmth spread out through her chest and she could feel her face and chest flush slightly. It wasn't terrible, just a lot stronger than Tifa had drank in a long time. She took another sip, already used to the burn and able to actually taste it this time round. She slid her tongue over her bottom lip as she set her glass down, her slender fingers still wrapped loosely around the glass.

"It's not bad. I figured you would probably just drink lighter fluid grade stuff." she teased, suddenly aware that Reno was staring at her with a different expression. She slid her index finger up over the rim of the glass and noticed his eyes flick towards her hand just for a moment before he looked back into her eyes. A slow smirk spread across his lips as he lifted his own glass.

"Why would you think that? We weren't exactly poor back in the day so I learned to appreciate good whisky."Reno explained as he took a sip. His expression didn't change even a bit. Tifa mirrored him and did her best not to wrinkle her nose as she took a slightly bigger mouthful. "This isn't the best stuff I have, but it's good to enjoy any old day of the week. I ain't wastin' the really fuckin' good stuff on you unless I know you can handle it, Lockhart." He teased, his ever present grin widening even more. Tifa barked out a laugh.

"Oh please, Red. You don't think I could handle it? I wouldn't want to show you up at your own game, mind you." She retorted. The sensible part of her brain, the little voice that was screaming 'What are you doing?!' was getting quieter and quieter. She allowed a smirk of her own to creep across her lips as she tilted her glass back and finished off the rest of her drink, holding it out for a top up when she was done. Reno let out a burst of laughter as he reached for the whisky bottle and popped the top off.

"Damn! Who knew you actually had a sense of adventure, Lockhart. You should drink all the time!"

"Needs must when the company is sub par."

"Oh, burn! You're askin' for it now." Reno laughed again as he filled both glasses a little fuller this time. This night was rapidly getting interesting, and he wasn't about to let it slow down now. If he'd known that all it would take to see this side of Tifa was a few beers and a challenge, he would have done it years ago. He handed her glass back to her and clinked his own glass off hers gently before taking a long drink. She tried to match him and couldn't hold back a cough as the liquid seemed to set her chest on fire. She put the glass down on the table and shifted slightly. The blood splatter on her jeans had started drying out and it was beginning to get uncomfortable. She tried to move subtly. The last thing she needed was him suggesting for her to remove any items of clothing! Crossing her legs, she leaned back on her hands and tilted her head slightly.

"Joking aside, you're actually not terrible company. Although that may be the alcohol talking."

"Why, thank you." Reno swept his arm across his stomach and did a mock bow. Tifa couldn't help but laugh. "Yer not too bad yourself when ya take the stick out yer ass."

"Hey!" Tifa started to protest as Reno laughed again.

"I'm kiddin'! Geez, don't be so sensitive." He took another big gulp of his drink as she mock glared at him. "So. You don't wanna 'drink me under the table'-" he made quotation marks with his fingers in the air "-so what do you suggest we do with the rest of the evenin'? It's still early doors and I don't have a tv for entertainment."

"I don't care how much you think I've had to drink Reno, we are not-" Tifa sat bolt upright, pointing at him as she glared at him, the mischief in her eyes gone. Reno raised his hands in defense.

"Whoa, whoa! Geez, always with the filthy accusations! I meant we might as well play a drinkin' game. We're already drinking, so might as well make it interesting." He explained quickly, pushing himself back in the couch lest she swing for him. God, not that I'd say no if she did fling herself at me, but I haven't even switched on the charm. She keeps jumping to the wrong conclusions. I'm beginning to think SHE'S the one who wants to. Maybe that label thing isn't far wrong at all. He thought to himself, trying to stop the grin spreading across his face as she still glared at him with fire in her eyes. At his suggestion however, she softened slightly.

"Oh. I thought... Urm, yeah. Why not. What do you suggest? And don't dare suggest anything that involves removing clothing." She quickly added as he opened his mouth. Reno clamped his mouth shut audibly and his lips quirked up at one side.

"Damn, no clothing removal. You're no fun." He raised his hands again in defense, laughing as she flung a rolled up label at his head. "Heh, only kidding. Hmm... Oh, I got it!" He leaned forward on his knees as he grabbed for the whisky bottle. "You know how to play 20 questions?"

"Of course I do! I'm not a total idiot."

"Great. Well, here's the drinkin' game version. We take turns askin' the questions. If you don't wanna answer the question, you gotta take a drink. No little sip either. And if you answer it truthfully, the person who asked the question takes a drink. Sound fair?"

"How will I know if you're answering the questions truthfully?"Tifa raised an eyebrow, a small smile appearing on her lips as Reno's mouth fell open, his hand clutching at his heart dramatically as if mortally wounded.

"Wait, are you suggestin' I'm untrustworthy? I am hurt! Shocked and appalled and HURT!" He raised the back of his free hand to his forehead, tilting his head back as he whined. Tifa couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay okay. Cut the dramatics. We'll both be honest." She raised a single finger as her eyes gleamed. Reno sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees as a grin spread across his face. In that moment, Tifa realised she didn't often see Reno without some sort of smile on his face. She wondered how he was able to stay upbeat through everything he'd seen and done over the years as a ShinRa employee. I guess now's the time to find out.

"So. Ladies first." Reno raised his glass and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Tifa looked at her glass and ran her finger around the rim, letting the soft sound that resonated out fill the silence while she thought of a question. She didn't wanna start off too deep. Besides, he might take that as a hint to ask equally prying questions about her. Settling on what she thought was an obvious one, she lifted her head to look at him. He was still leaning forward expectantly.

"Okay. Starting off with a simple one. How long have you lived here?"

"Six months. Give or take a few days." Reno answered easily as Tifa took a sip of her drink. "My turn. What's your magic number?"

"What?!" Tifa spluttered. She'd barely managed to swallow her drink.

"Y'know. How may guys you slept with? Or girls?" Reno's grin widened and he waggled his eyebrows again. Tifa glared at him.

"Really, Reno? That's your first question?"

"Hey, you don't hafta answer. You could just take another big drink if you're feeling chicken." Reno added, hoping he would encourage her to answer. He saw her bristle. It worked.

"Five."

"Five! Check you out Lockhart, you heartbreaker." He chuckled as he tossed back some of his drink. She continued to glare at him.

"That was spread over a large period of time. I'm not the kind of girl who-"

"Hey, hey, I don't judge. How many people a woman sleeps with is her business. We all got needs, ya know?" Reno raised his hands. Tifa relaxed slightly.

"Hmph. My turn. What's with the tattoos on your cheeks?"

"Eh. They're covering a set of scars. Broken bottle. Some thug tried to take my eyes out. Not the most fun I've ever had in the alley behind a bar." He grinned. Tifa rolled her eyes. She had a feeling he was going to turn all of his answers into suggestive ones if he could help it. Still, she was curious.

"I didn't know they could tattoo over scar tissue?"

"Depends on the scar. I didn't want anythin' too complicated, just somethin' to even out the colour. Figured it would work. And that counts as two questions."

"Hey! That's not fair! I was merely expanding on my first question!"

"No cheatin', Lockhart." He grinned as she grumbled and took two drinks from her glass. She was gonna get him back for that one. "Now I get two. Was one of those five a certain chocobo headed idiot?"

Tifa blinked for a moment before looking down at the floor, toying with the top of her glass again. Reno raised an eyebrow and leant forward a bit more.

"Yes." She answered curtly. Reno let out a long, low whistle.

"Didn't know old Cloudy-boy had it in him. Was he any good?" He took a long drink from his glass she Tifa's head snapped up, her eyes wide.

"What? Why would you ask something like that?"

"Hey, I'm curious. He's always so serious and moody, I figure he'd probably be pretty boring in the sack." He stated with a shrug. Tifa spluttered.

"That's really none of your business!" She flared. Reno shrugged again.

"Fine. Take a forfeit drink then."

"Fine. "Tifa fumed as she raised the glass to her lips. Noticing hers was nearly empty, Reno popped the lid off the bottle and filled them both up. Tifa noted that the glasses were getting filled a little more every time. Reno leaned back into the couch with a lopsided grin.

"Your turn."

"Ugh. Why did I agree to this game with you. Fine. Is that your natural hair colour?"

"Of course. I can prove it if ya want." Reno tugged at the waistband of his sweatpants suggestively. Tifa wrinkled her nose in disgust, but he didn't fail to notice her eyes flicked to his crotch for a second before she turned away, her cheeks tinted pink. He shifted himself slightly on the couch and grinned widely.

"No thank you. I just wondered because it's almost unrealistically vibrant."

"Well, I assure ya, I don't put any weird shit on my head. Why the hell would I dye my hair?"

"Maybe you like the attention it brings. And that was a question."

"Hey!" Reno cried out, noticing a sly grin creep across Tifa's face. He couldn't help but laugh. "Touché, Lockhart. We both gotta drink." He raised his glass towards her before he took a long drink. Tifa done the same.

"Okay. Might as well play you at your own game. What's YOUR magic number?"

"Fifty-nine."

"Fifty-nine?! That's so many for someone who's only... wait, what age are you?" Tifa spluttered, realising too late she'd asked another question. She cursed and took two drinks, knowing Reno would answer the second one with no hesitation either. Reno laughed loudly.

"You suck at this game, yo! And yeah, fifty-nine. At least I'm not at the stage where I've forgotten how many people I've slept with. And I'm 27."

"Oh."

"My turn. You asked one of my questions, so I'm gonna do the same. Got any tattoos?"

"Yes." Tifa answered quickly. Reno's eyebrows shot up.

"You do! Holy shit, Lockhart! I thought for sure you were more square than that! What is it and where is it?" He leaned forward eagerly, practically balancing on the edge of the couch. Tifa laughed and leaned across the table.

"That's another two questions, Red. You sure you want me to answer them?" She grinned, her voice coming out like a soft purr. Reno leaned forward even more if it was possible and nodded very slowly. Holding his drink up ready to take three very big gulps if Tifa actually answered him. She laughed slightly before speaking.

"Alright. It's a little cliché, but I have a Phoenix tattoo. And like yours, it was for... scar covering purposes. Well, more like distracting the eye from it." Tifa's voice softened as she lifted a hand to her chest absent-mindedly. Reno's eyes flicked to her hand and he vaguely remembered something from Tifa's files way back when. Something about Nibelheim and an incident that almost killed her. Reno put two and two together. He'd never really thought about it before. He wasn't really interested in knowing more about Tifa than he had to back then. He put his drink down gently on the table, his hand still curled around it.

"Sephiroth?"

"Yeah. I got it done after the fight with the triplets. Figured I had made it through enough hardships by then to treat myself to something just for me. I hated looking at it. It reminded me of... everything. So I had the Phoenix done mostly to take the attention away from it. And to remind me that I came out of what happened a stronger person." Tifa's voice was almost a whisper now. Reno swallowed hard. He had lost his parents too, but that had been their own doing. They hadn't been murdered in cold blood. Clearing his throat, he sat back in the couch, lifting his glass and taking a long drink. Tifa looked up at him and he noticed her eyes shining with moisture. Aw hell no. We can't be at the drunk-crying-chick stage of the night yet! Tipping back the remainder of his glass, he slammed it down on the table and reach for the bottle. He was no good at comforting crying women.

"Fair doos, Lockhart. Three drinks for me. Let's get this game back on track. I know I asked my questions already, but I gotta get this one out."

"What is it?" Tifa stared at him unblinking, willing the tears in her eyes not to fall. She raised an eyebrow as Reno leaned right forward again and a large grin spread across his face.

"Can I see it?

SLAP!

AN: This is just nothing but blatant flirting. I can't help myself. I had cut this chapter off a lot earlier, when the game was just about to start, but I figured I should really make the chapters a bit longer so here you are. A mega chapter! I enjoy Reno being a bit of a pervert, although I reckon he's probably quite respectful of people's choices when it comes to sex. Heh.

Also, enjoy this rather late update! It's currently 3:54am in Scotland I'm just home from a sober night out and realised I didn't update today! So here ya go :)