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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Princess Miele : Aww thank you for the great review! I first appreciated the ReTi pairing after reading an ooooold Frank Verderosa fic. In his Internet Series, he shipped Reno with Yuffie which I quite enjoyed, but he also wrote a ReTi fic called Astray which is definitely worth a read. I reckon Tifa is one of the few women who could handle Reno's shit and put him in his place when necessary haha. Even though my Reno is quite tame, I reckon they're a good fit :) Glad the narrative isn't too confusing either! Hope you enjoy this new chapter and thank you for the follow! ^.^

Chapter 11 : Oooo, Shiny!

Tifa watched Reno as he got up, albeit a little unsteadily on his feet, and went to tend to the fire. She couldn't take her eyes off him as she thought back over the past few minutes. She had found herself staring into his eyes, and he was returning her gaze steadily. She had felt her stomach flutter slightly just before she broke eye contact and her lips parted as she let go of a breath she didn't she was holding. This whisky is really doing a number on me if I'm having moments like this with Reno of all people. Not that he's unattractive or anything... Tifa's thoughts trailed off as she watched him. His ever messy red hair fell in front of his eyes as he leaned over the fire, lacking his goggles to hold the loose strands back. she hadn't even noticed he was missing them until now. His bright eyes stared ahead with purpose, settled above those striking red tattoos that Tifa now knew hid the evidence of a bar fight. She continued to look at his face, noticing he had a surprisingly straight nose for someone who got in so many fights. Maybe he was always quick to heal. Or maybe he's so good that he doesn't get hit often.

Tifa shook off the compliment in her head before continue her inspections of the ex-Turks' features. He chewed on his bottom lip slightly as he stoked the fire, obviously trying to concentrate through the alcohol-fueled haze. She noted that they shared that trait, at least. One thing in common. She also noticed that he only had one earlobe pierced. She reached for her own earrings, gently fingering the small droplets that had been a gift from her mother. Smiling fondly, she didn't notice Reno had made his way back to the couch until he flopped down beside her, snapping her back to reality. Lifting the bottle off the table, he motioned to her glass.

"Refill?" He offered, popping the top off the bottle. Tifa nodded and held out her glass. She noticed he leaned forward a little more than necessary, placing one hand on the cushion between them as he filled her glass up. He gave her a small smile as he settled back and filled up his own glass. Tifa smiled back as she took a sip. The whisky no longer burned. She also noticed the bottle was well on it's way to being empty. It had been two thirds full when they started.

"This stuff is actually really nice, once you get used to it." Tifa commented, realisinh she was actually enjoying it now.

"Yep. I've definitely had worse. This is my go to when I fancy something other than beer or vodka but don't wanna frighten my bank account too badly. Not as many bars sell Talisker though."

"Hmm. Guess not." Tifa mused, wondering if she had any in her own bar. She made a mental note to order some in. "So, whose turn is it?"

"Yours. I got that sickeningly sweet answer last, remember?"

"Har har. Ok. Hmm..." Tifa settled back onto the couch, hugging a cushion to her stomach as she relaxed. "I noticed you only have one ear pierced." She started, thinking to herself that Cloud only had one done too. But only one of his ears was ever visible thanks to his asymmetrical hair style. "Any reason why only one?"

"Eh. Only had one earring to hand when I pierced it."

"You pierced it yourself?"

"Yeah. I was in a couple of gangs in the slums and it was just the done thing. It's the only one I did myself, though." He chuckled, and Tifa couldn't help but feel he was hinting at something.

"You have other piercings?"

"Yeah. And isn't that like three questions?" He pointed out with a grin. Tifa lifted her glass but continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes. He wondered if she would be brave enough to ask with the help of dutch courage.

"We're not following the rules anymore."

"Does that just apply to the game?"

"Reno." she said his name like she was scolding him as he grinned suggestively. He laughed slightly.

"Not even sorry."

"Yeah, well. But you're lucky I'm running out of cushions to fling." She retorted as she drank. Reno wondered if that pillow fight wasn't completely off the cards yet. "So I take it you aren't gonna share any more?"

"Share what?"

"What other piercings you have."

"You sure you wanna know?" Reno waggled his eyebrows and Tifa's eyes stared at his chest, assuming he meant he had a nipple piercing. He noticed and shook his head, making motions with his hand to imply he meant further down. Tifa's eyes shot open,

"You are kidding!"

"Why would I lie?"

"You have not got a piercing... down there!"

"You really wanna encourage me to get it out to prove it?"

"No!" Tifa visibly recoiled and Reno laughed. He didn't think he was gonna grow tired of getting that reaction from her. "I just... why would you?"

"Friction."

"Friction?!"

That did it. Her reaction tipped him over the edge and Reno fell over on the couch, full on hysterics overcoming him. Tifa was bright red as she crossed her arms and huffed, staring across the room in the opposite direction of the redhead who was currently wheezing as he attempted to draw breath. Throwing a glance back over at him, she noticed he was now inaudible, his body vibrating with laughter as he tried to keep a hold of the glass in his hand and hold his aching sides at the same time. A large grin broke out across Tifa's lips despite herself. "It's not that funny, Reno!" she said, her own voice tinged with laughter now. The amount of alcohol they had drank was definitely making everything funnier than it should have been. Reno simply buried his face into the couch cushions, his arm flailing helplessly as if to wave her away as he continued to shake. A small giggle escaped from Tifa, which slowly turned into full on laughter. What was it about seeing other people helpless with laughter that started off yet more hysterics? Tifa managed to put her drink down on the table as her sides started to ache. She clutched at the cushion across her lap, tears now forming in her eyes. Reno had rolled onto his back, his own eyes streaming as he clutched his stomach, his glass forgotten on the floor.

"Oh god... stop it! I-it hurts!" Reno managed to choke out in between breaths as he slowly regained control of himself. Tifa was wiping at her eyes with her fingers as he sat up, crushing the heels of his hands into his own eyes. "Aw fuck, Tifa. That was too funny, yo." He shifted so he was leaning back into the deep corner of the couch and she scoffed at him, her eyes still sparkling.

"Yeah, yeah. Even from you, that wasn't what I expected." She picked up her glass and stretched out along the couch, her legs aching slightly from being curled underneath her for too long. She barely noticed as Reno mirrored her, stretching out his own long legs towards her so that their ankles were side by side. He was surprised when she didn't withdraw her legs, even as he gave her a gentle nudge with his feet. Contrary to what he expected, she actually nudged him back playfully as she took a drink.

"To expand slightly on that, I also had more piercings along the top of my ear, but they got bashed off my goggles all the time so I took them out. So all I've got left is the one ear lobe, that OTHER one, and this." Reno grinned before sticking his tongue out at her. Tifa was about to stick her tongue back out at him when she noticed the reflection off the fire glinting off a small metal ball in the centre of his tongue. Forgetting herself, Tifa scrambled to her hands and knees and leaned across the couch.

"You got your tongue pierced! When?"

"When I was on the Western Continent. I met a chick in a bar who was pierced more than me and Rude put together. She suggested we go get piercings done, and promised to kiss it better after. You can guess what two I got done then." Reno grinned widely as Tifa's face flushed so much, he could see her ears going red. He managed to hold back a laugh as she leaned forward a little more, peering into his mouth. He stuck his tongue out at her again and she squeaked before giggling at herself.

"That's kinda disgusting."

"Hey, c'mon!"

"I mean doing THAT just after having them done. Surely that's unhygenic?"

"Dunno. Didn't care. Probably wasn't suppose to get them done after drinking too."

"Such a rebel." Tifa slurred slightly as she stared at the little metallic sphere bobbing about in his mouth. Now that he'd pointed it out, it was so obvious. "Did you even want them done?"

"I got them done to see if she was serious. She was, by the way." He said nonchalantly. Tifa rolled her eyes. "But afterwards, I found they were quite the conversation starter. And they came in useful besides."

"Hmm.." Tifa couldn't stop the low thoughtful hum that stirred in her throat before she suddenly became aware of how she was sitting. She was leaning across Reno's legs, one hand steadying herself on the back of the couch and the other lifted almost as if she was going to touch the piercing. When did I put my drink down? She quickly spun her head around, looking for her glass. The subsequent head rush almost knocked her over and she raised a hand to her head.

"You ok there, Lockhart?"

"Wha? Oh, yeah." Tifa nodded slowly and turned to look at him, another small squeak bursting from her lips. Reno had leaned forward with a face that looked remarkably like concern she she'd grabbed her head. Tifa froze, noticing how close his face was to hers. His turquoise eyes seemed to shine, even in the dull room. She gulped and continued to stare at him, almost scared to move.

Uh oh.

AN: This is a safety notice. Do not get your tongue pierced after drinking alcohol. Or your genitals if you're a guy. Take it from someone who was a piercer for 8 years, that shit bleeds and it does NOT stop.

Also, fun fact. This is actually the scene that made me wanna write this fic. I noticed our Reno sticks out his tongue out a lot and I figure he'd be the type to probably have it done to have another conversation starter with da ladiez. But then I figured someone who has an EMR for a weapon probably doesn't want any more metal in his body than necessary. But then I thought, well what if he ever retired? And that, dear readers, is where all this nonsense sparked from.

This chapter marks me reaching 20,000 words on this fic! That does include my rambling in the notes mind you, so maybe I should count it from the next chapter? Eh, who cares! Yay either way! I've also almost reached 100 visitors! Thank you guys so much for reading the mess or words that tumbles out of my head through my fingers haha. I've also almost finished actually writing this fic! Currently working on Chapter 22 and I can already see me writing a sequel with a bit more meat to the story. I have also written a lil bit of lemon for this story but I dunno whether or not to publish it! I'll get the opinion of you lovely readers as we get closer to that point :) I've also copied this fic over to AO3 so if I do decide to post the citrusy chapter, you can deffo read it over there :)