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.

Chapter 17 : The Boredom Is Setting In

Tifa woke up slowly, her eyes blinking rapidly as the warm glow that filled the room brought everything into focus. Yawning widely, she rolled onto the back and stretched her arms wide, her back curling up off the bed. When her arms flopped back down, she noticed they met an empty bed. She looked to the side and noticed she was alone, basically starfishing across the mattress. Yawning again, she sat up slowly, the heavy duvet falling around her waist. It had been a very surreal 24 hours, and Tifa rubbed her eyes. She had no concept of what time it was, but she felt refreshed and her headache was mostly gone. Her senses kicking in, she could swear that she could smell coffee wafting through from the other room. She prayed her mind wasn't just playing tricks on her, she hadn't seen a coffee machine the night before. Squirming over to the edge of the bed, Tifa got up and wandered into the bathroom, clicking the light on as she did so. She answered the familiar morning call of nature (although was it morning? She had no idea), and then decided to wash her face. She ran the cold water tap and was surprised that it was lukewarm, but she splashed her face anyway. Reaching for a towel, she dried off and stared at herself in the mirror above the sink. Her hair stuck out at almost impossible angles, almost rivaling Cloud's spikes. Her eyes were a little puffy from sleep, but apart from that she didn't look as rough as she had felt earlier. Opening the medicine cabinet, she thanked Holy when she found some mouthwash. She ached to brush her teeth, but this would do for now. Swirling the minty liquid in her mouth, Tifa's thoughts wandered to earlier in the day.

It had been extremely out of character for Reno to open up to her, even a small amount. Him asking her for comfort had taken her completely by surprise. Any other day of the week in any other setting, she would probably have slapped him or laughed, thinking he was winding her up. But for some reason, she was happy to let him find solace in an innocent touch. Well, mostly innocent. It's not like the night before never happened. Tifa spat the mouthwash into the sink rinsed it off before dabbing her mouth with the towel. She was curious now. Reno had mentioned not sleeping properly. She wanted to find out why. It might also explain why he had left the Turks, something Tifa never thought Reno would do unless the reason was his own demise. She wished she had brought it up the previous night when alcohol was loosening his tongue, but then the night might have gone differently. She wasn't entirely sure that she would have changed the evening. Except for the vomiting, of course.

Tifa finger combed her hair as smoothly as she could before she left the bathroom and spotted the sweatpants that she'd dumped unceremoniously on the floor the night before. She pulled them on and knotted the ties at the waist, noting that she was now dressed mostly in Reno's clothing. She wrinkled her nose a little and wondered when that had been something she was okay with. With a shake of her head, she wandered out into the livingroom and stopped dead. She clamped a hand over her mouth as she stifled a laugh. Reno was sitting on the couch. Well, sitting was a very loose term. He was upside down, his back where his legs should be, and his lanky legs flung over the back of the couch. His head was dangling off the edge, the mess of red hair dangling mostly in mid air, save for the long ponytail which curled on the floor. His legs gently kicked back and forth, much like a child on a high stool. She noticed he was too preoccupied to notice her. He was attempting to throw something into his mouth from a bowl that was cradled on his lap. As she watched him, she noticed that more often than not he missed completely. On second glance, she noticed that his hair was practically covered with what the foodstuff was, along with the floor around him, and he actually had his trademark goggles on, as if to protect his eyes from stray food shrapnel. A short bark of laughter burst from her lips and she clamped her hand tightly over her mouth, but it was too late. Reno turned his head to acknowledge her, a wide goofy grin spreading across his upside face as he lifted his goggles to look at her, snapping them back up in their customary place

"G'morning! Or afternoon, rather."

"Same to you. Having fun, are we?"

"Eh. I'm bored. The hangover has settled to a manageable level and we're still trapped." He explained as he placed the bowl to the side and swung his legs round. Tifa laughed softly.

"Don't stop on my account."

"S'ok. The blood rushing to my head was starting to get a bit intense." He explained as he stood up, brushing himself off. She noticed as he shook the bits of food out his hair that his face was indeed rather pink. She shook her head slightly, amused by his antics.

"Fair enough. Did I smell coffee when I woke up this morning?" She started towards the kitchen as Reno bounced to his feet, folding his arms behind his head as he nodded.

"Yep. Dragged out the coffee machine. Not that I need caffeine, but I figured you might what with you lyin' in bed all day." Reno teased. Tifa shot him a look of mock annoyance before turning towards the freshly made pot of coffee. She picked it up and inhaled deeply, almost wanting to cry with happiness. She was just about to ask Reno where he kept his mugs when he was all of a sudden right beside her, reaching up past her head to one of the high cupboards. As he did so, he brushed against her shoulder and she noticed the the tshirt he had on ride up slightly to flash the skin just above his waistband. Tifa couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the scar he showed her last night and an involuntary shiver ran through her. She was pretty sure that had been the cause of the misbehaving. She felt her cheeks flush with colour as Reno righted himself, a plain white mug in his hand, which he set down in the counter in front of her.

"Uh, thanks."

"No problem. Cream in the fridge door shelves, sugar in the cabinet below ya." He offered as he headed back to the living room, seemingly unaware of her pink tinted cheeks.

"I just take my coffee black. No sugar. But thanks."

"Ah, I see. Sweet enough, are ya?" Reno flung over his shoulder with a wink as he sat back against the headrest of the couch. Tifa rolled her eyes as she poured a liberal amount of coffee into the mug. She picked up the mug and wrapped her hands around it, the warmth making her fingertips tingle. She heard a thump and looked over to see Reno had tipped backwards into the couch and into the position she'd found him earlier, his legs sticking up awkwardly over the couch. She couldn't help but giggle to herself as she walked over towards him.

"You're like a child, honestly." She noted out loud as she leaned on the back of the couch next to his dangling legs, the mug still cradled in both hands. Reno looked up at his, the goofy grin back on his face.

"I gotta entertain myself somehow. And I can't get you drunk again til at least 5 o'clock."

"What?! You honestly think I'm going to accept alcohol again tonight?" Tifa spluttered in disbelief. She hadn't even fully chased off the hangover from last nights escapades. Reno attempted to shrug, but in his position it just served to wriggle him a bit closer to the floor.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that towards the end of the game, you were just quizzin' me and I got to ask nothin' back."

"You point that out now?"

"Yep, I was savin' them."

"For what?"

"So I could ask ya stuff when you sobered up." His grin turned mischievous. Tifa snorted and nudged his legs upwards. With a yelp, Reno crashed into the floor, all lanky limbs and red hair. Tifa burst out laughing. By the time he straightened himself up to a sitting position, Tifa was innocently sipping her coffee like nothing had happened. Reno narrowed his eyes and flashed his teeth as his trademark lopsided grin spread across his face. "Nice one, Lockhart. But you are so gonna regret that."

"What? I didn't do anything." Tifa looked up innocently before tilting her mug back to her lips.

"Yeah, yeah. Believe it or not, I'm a patient man. And I will get ya back. Remember you're stuck in here with me for an undetermined amount of time." He wagged his finger at her. Tifa froze. She had forgotten about their predicament and she had no doubt that Reno would make sure he got her back before she left. Shrugging with false nonchalance, Tifa wandered around to sit on the couch, tucking her legs underneath herself as she cradled her mug in her lap.

"Hmmm. If you say so." She said with an almost sing song tone in her voice. Reno's grin remained plastered to his face as he bounced up and flung himself into the couch with such force that the cushion Tifa was on actually lifted a little.

"I do say so. But in the meantime, whadda ya wanna do? I am BORED." Reno whined slightly as he emphasised the word. Tifa looked over at him and saw he was practically bouncing on the couch with lent up energy. She took a sip of her coffee, still watching him.

"Well, what do you usually do on your days off?"

"Snowboard. Get drunk. Get drunk and go snowboarding." Reno counted off his so-called hobbies on his fingers, making Tifa laugh.

"Well, we can't do any of those things. And I am not drinking any more whisky." She said firmly. Even saying the word 'whisky' made her head pulse. Reno shrugged and jumped up out of his seat, and jogged into the kitchen. Tifa couldn't believe her eyes when he pulled out a beer. "You have got to be kidding."

"Not even a little." Reno replied as he planted in hand on the headrest and hopped over the couch, landing hard and causing Tifa to bounce again. Leaning forward, he tilted his beer bottle against the table before he paused. "Hey wait. I have a fuzzy memory of you opening a bottle with another bottle last night. Show me how ya done it!"

"You wanna steal one of my party tricks?"

"I'll trade ya. One of mine for one of yours."

"I don't even wanna know what sordid things you called party tricks!" Tifa teased, earning a laugh from the redhead.

"Nothing like that! Unless you really wan- ahh, I'm kiddin'!" Reno laughed as Tifa launched a cushion at his head. He felt a sense of deja vu. "C'mon. It'll entertain me for a while." Tifa sighed before looking over at him. He held his beer bottle out towards her, his eyes sparkling with eagerness. She rolled her eyes and put down her coffee cup, taking the beer from his hand.

"Fine. Want do you wanna learn to open it with?"

"I get a choice?! Aw, this is gonna be fun!"

AN : I love Reno, but can you imagine being stuck in with someone with that much energy? Hoo boy. My husband has a habit of pestering the life out of me in the most childish ways when he's bored so I may give Reno some of those little... 'quirks'.

The last chapter was super short so have a double update! Also thank yooouuuu to my new followers kumadecha and Imogen Color! Thank you guys for sticking around and I hope you all like the new updates!