Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 34: Misplaced Confidence

Summary: Day two of Cloud's bed-rest, and already things are getting restless…

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning at approximately 9:30 in the morning, Reno strode cheerfully through the doors of the Turk's offices.

"Yo Tseng! I'm here! Bright aaaan' early!" He grinned cheekily at his superior officer

Tseng looked up from his desk briefly, acknowledging the young red-head's presence before his gaze dropped back to his papers.

"You are indeed on time for your original appointment," Tseng agreed neutrally, "However, due to unforeseen circumstance, your temporary partner for this mission has been delayed, and the appointed meeting time pushed back another hour."

Reno froze, gawking for a moment at the older Turk, "An hour? Why didn' ya tell me sooner yo!"

Tseng didn't glace up from the documents he was perusing, "I would have called you, but since you smashed your phone yesterday… that means of communication is not currently available."

Reno hesitated, remembering his particular tantrum, his green eyes narrowed at the older Turk, "Ya already know exactly why that happened yo."

"Yes, I do." Agreed Tseng, "And because I practically provoked the action from you, I am not pulling the charge of a new PHS out of your paycheck."

Reno blinked, considering that, it didn't really make up for what Tseng had done, but it seemed rather fair, "So whaddo I do now? Sit in the lounge'er somethin?"

Finally satisfied with the information before him, Tseng gathered up the papers on his desk and quickly sorted them into a neat stack, placing those papers in a manilla envelope. He then stood and finally rested his eyes on Reno again, "You are to remain here, … until your PHS is repaired, I require you to be accessible should plans change again."

Reno groaned audibly, Stuck in the office? No way! Talk about a total boredom trip! Grumbling unhappily he practically threw himself at one of the other chairs in the room, barely hiding a smirk when it skidded audibly under his abrupt weight. He watched as Tseng walked towards the door, the folder tucked neatly under his arm, "So where're ya goin' man? Am I gonna be stuck in here … all alone … for long?"

Tseng's eyes flicked to Reno once more, and the red-head grinned broadly, openly mischievious, Am I gonna have YOUR office all ta myself? He silently taunted, the older Turk was silent for a few short seconds, then he sighed, "I will be dropping these papers off, and will return shortly, I would appreciate it if the room remain how it is right now."

Reno chuckled, "Sure thing Boss! Whatever ya say." Tseng finally stepped out, closing the door behind him, and Reno sighed, sinking down in his chair and tucking his hands behind his head. With nothing to occupy his attention, his thoughts drifted back to last night…he'd ended up staying up late chatting. Though ironically, it hadn't been with Cloud, Zack had shooed the blond to bed early, and with an almost fanatical attention, personally ensured the young Cadet stayed that way. Reno had spent most of the night learning far more than he'd ever wanted to about SOLDIER 1st Class Angeal, and his sword, and his 'Code of Honor', and his fighting prowess, and of course, every single tidbit the young SOLDIER 2nd knew about General Sephiroth, which admittedly, wasn't much. But the way the other teenager had waxed on about the older SOLDIERs you'd think he slept in the same room! Reno had trounced Zack a dozen times at card games, and when he couldn't convince the other youth to drink any booze with him, he'd finally called it a night.

Now that same raven-haired boy was probably still snoring quite soundly on Reno's couch. Cloud had taken the red-headed Turk on his word and invited Zack to spend the night before Reno could have said 'yay', 'nay', or 'maybe'. Reno found himself strangely torn between satisfaction and dismay. Satisfaction, that Cloud was comfortable enough in their apartment to want guests to stay, Dismay, that the guest was Zackary Fair.

Stretching a little to pop a lingering kink out of his back, Reno sighed, at least chatting with the young SOLDIER hadn't been a complete waste of time. He'd learned a lot about SOLDIERs in general, and also found a strangely budding respect for Zack's protective loyalties. Almost Turk-like… he mused, at the very least, the plans he'd made with the raven-haired youth should prove quite entertaining.

Having tired out that particular train of thought, Reno yawned, readjusting the dark goggles on his head to cover his eyes, before leaning his head against the wall and sprawling as far as was comfortable in the cushioned chair.

He didn't have to wait much longer before the door to Tseng's office re-opened, and the senior Turk stepped back in. From behind his goggles Reno watched the dark eyes flit about the room intently, surveying the state of it before resting on the red-head.

"Yo." Reno murmured from his untidy vantage point, raising two fingers in a 'peace' symbol.

Tseng nodded briefly at him before returning to his own seat behind his desk. He pulled up to his laptop and began typing quietly.

Reno sighed loudly again before turning his gaze to the ceiling, tapping one shoe on the ground in impatience. Silence reigned between them for several long moments. Finally a new thought occurred to the bored young red-head and his gaze shifted to rest on his superior.

"Hey Tseng."

The older Turk hmm'ed in quite acknowledgement, without lifting his eyes.

"How long's it take ta learn ta read lips?"

Tseng's fingers paused, and the wutaian's brow furrowed slightly, "Read lips?" He repeated softly,

"Yeah, … I mean, if I wan'ed ta learn… how long d'ya think it'd take me?" Reno sat up a little straighter in his chair, leaning forward just a little with interest.

Tseng glanced briefly at the red-head, "It usually takes a few years to become proficient in the practice."

"Oh." Reno murmured, drooping almost immediately back into his chair.

"Why the sudden interest?" One of Tseng's black eyebrows rose,

"Well… I's jus' wonderin' … I mean, Cloud knows how ta read lips, so I was thinkin' that if he'd learned… so could I, y'know?"

For several moments the older Turk was silent, digesting the information, finally with a blink he murmured, "Cloud knows how to read lips?"

"Yeah." Reno returned, then hesitated, Tseng was surprised? "Didn'cha know?"

"I was not aware of that particular skill of his, … no."

Reno frowned, his red brows furrowing in throught, "How come? I mean, don'cha have like some sorta crazy file on every Turk? Gotta know what they can do an' stuff right? Shouldn' tha' be on the file?" Reno's mind was whirling, Tseng didn't know? Surely Cloud would have mentioned that to the Turk… it was a very valuable Turk-skill right?

Tseng sighed very softly, "We keep extensive files on all of our full Turks." He murmured, "As an Intern, we have not yet catalogued all of young Strife's abilities, we are still assessing his skills at present."

"Oh." Reno relaxed, that made a lot of sense,

Tseng glanced back down at his laptop, but did not resume typing. Instead, after several moments he looked back up at Reno thoughtfully. "Speaking of Cloud's assessment," the Turk began, Reno immediately tensed, "Have you noticed any other skills,… or … 'oddities' about him?"

"Hey," Reno protested, "I ain' no partner tattler yo! I ain' gonna jus' spill his secrets!"

Tseng smiled slightly, "I am not asking you to 'tattle' Reno, … but the evaluations of Intern Turks are important, it allows us to properly gauge his abilities, and usefulness to our organization, in addition knowing more about the Interns we can better persuade them to stay with us if they prove themselves capable."

"Oh," Reno's frown flipped abruptly, "Well in THAT case…" anything to keep his partner in the Turks… Reno settled as comfortably as he could in the chair, even dragging a second one over with the toe of one shoe to prop his feet on. "Cloud's got all kindsa crazy skills… I tol' ya'll yesterday he can fight like a demon. Han'-ta-hand and swords, not to mention he's a crack-shot with tha guns too. I think he's had experience with monsters before, 'cause they didn' faze him in the slightest."

Reno paused, glancing back over at his superior. The older Turk sat with his hands folded on the desk, watching Reno with vague curiosity, considering for a moment, the younger Turk cocked his head, "Actually, sometimes Cloud does some pretty weird stuff."

One of Tseng's eyebrows twitched upward, "Weird in what way?"

"Well… the other day I asked him for some date suggestions, like ya do right? Anyways, since Cloudy's a restaurant kinda guy, he tol' me of this place he knew of down in Kalm. Weird thing was… tha place he sent me, it ain' open yet."

"It's not open? It's being renovated then?" Tseng queeried,

"Naw, I mean 'Not Open', not open," Reno corrected, "They haven' ever been opened, firs' store an' everythin'. They don't open for at least a coupl'a months!"

"Perhaps you misunderstood his recommendation?" Tseng suggested,

Reno shook his head, shrugging at the mystery, "I thought so too at first, Thing is, Cloudy talked abou' it like he'd BEEN there before! Tol' me the food an' service was real good. I dunno… d'ya suppose he knew tha people who work there? I can't figure it out."

Tseng blinked slowly, "That is quite odd." He admitted, "But if Cloud does simply have good acquaintances, that would be valuable to us as well."

Reno grinned, "Hope so, … it was kinda funky." Then he scratched his cheek as another thought occurred to him, "Speakin' of acquaintances though… Did'ja know Cloudy has friends in Cosmo Canyon?"

Tseng made a noncommittal hmmm, his eyes never leaving Reno's face,

Not really needing much encouragement, Reno continued, "Yeah, back when we were in Junon, he rescued these lil' endangered Rarab things, sen' 'em all to this friend of his in tha Canyon. Said it was his pen-pal. Pretty nifty eh?" Reno grinned, thinking back on his mission with the blond, After a brief pause he remembered another note-worthy incident, "Oh hey! Did'ja know Cloudy can pick locks? There was this one time, we were s'possed to get some paperwork delivered to one of the mid-level offices, an' some idiot had left the wrong keys in the slot. Well I tried tha door, an' it was locked, but next thing I know Cloud's jus' walkin' in! He's crazy-fast! If I hadn't checked the door first I'da thought it hadn' been locked at all!" He grinned at Tseng, who was still watching him intently, and Reno paused, Tseng was watching him… VERY intently… was there something wrong with what he'd said? He scoured back over his own words, and winced mentally at the other implications of Cloud picking locks in the Shinra building… very bad. He hastily decided to change the topic.

"I feel bad for Cloud righ' now…" Reno murmured, and as he'd hoped Tseng blinked at the sudden shift.

"Why is that?" The older Turk prompted,

"He's bored out of his skull!" Reno continued,

"What is he doing?" Tseng asked patiently when Reno paused,

"Exactly what he 'as tol' ta," The red-head continued, "Nothin', … he's restin' an' sleepin' as much as possible, but he's so bored I caught him directin' Zack how'ta cook dinner las' night, and breakfast this mornin'! I even found him drawin' with his left hand!"

"Drawing?" Tseng returned with a slight raising of one eyebrow, "What was he drawing?"

"Some sorta schematics or somethin'." Reno chuckled, "Said he was practicin'… with his LEFT HAND!!"

"Interesting." Tseng mused, "Were they building schematics?"

Reno blinked, building schematics? "Naw, he said it was a sword or somethin', it looked more like a banana with a screw-driver stabbed in it to me though, … this kid is NOT a lefty artist."

Tseng actually chuckled a little at that. "Sword schematics… I might like to see that."

Reno frowned a little, then shrugged, "I'll see if he'd be willin' ta part with 'em… but they ain' very good drawin's."

Tseng shrugged, "The quality of the drawing is not as intriguing as his possible conceptual talents."

"Conceptual talents eh?" Reno chuckled, "If ya say so…" It still seemed a bit weird, Reno frowned a little as he thought of the strange interest in a bunch of sketches.

Almost as if he were reading the red-head's mind, Tseng cleared his throat softly, "Cloud is certainly a man of many talents." Reno's head snapped up again, and he grinned, "Many of the Turks have one or two particular specialties, but Cloud seems quite capable in a good number of things, it will be interesting to see where he is placed in the hierarchy of the Turks,… don't you think?" the older Turk mused with a smile,

Reno snickered, "Ya got that right! Cloudy's gonna show EVERYONE who's boss!" Just as the words left his mouth Reno hesitated, "Er… I mean, … ya know! That's he's awesome and stuff!"

Tseng nodded, before finally turning back to his laptop, Reno sighed and relaxed back into his chair.

It wasn't more than a few moments before they both heard a knocking at the door. Reno looked up in time to see one of the older Turks walk in, the young Red-head groaned audibly even as the other man announced his presence.

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me!" Reno whined, "I gotta work with SATO?"

Tseng looked up from his computer again, and the newly entered Turk whirled with a glare, "Watch your mouth punk!"

"Talk ta yerself meat-sheild!" Reno snapped back,

Tseng closed his laptop with a softly audible click, and both heads immediately turned towards him. "Reno, … you have worked with Sato before, … please behave yourself."

"He ain' half tha man my partner is yo!" Reno grumbled,

Sato's grey eyes flicked over dangerously, "You mean that little blond Intern brat that got beat up yesterday?"

"Sato." Tseng's disapproving voice immediately silenced both of them, though Reno had leapt from his chair, his fists clenched with the need to punch someone. "Reno." Tseng returned, the red-head flinched at the icy tone. "I expect both of you to act in a professional manner, … leave your bickering for another time."

Reno sighed heavily, this was only a temporary thing! … but man did it chaff to have to go back to being the 'extra' Turk, … being partnered off with anyone who happened to need one. Sato wasn't really that bad, but he was mouthy, and cocky… got on Reno's nerves sometimes. The older guy was always belittling Reno 'cause he was so small and skinny. But Reno had to admit the guy was murder in a suit with his double-pistols. Without any more arguments he took the papers involved with their assignment, grumbling under his breath about freaky-haired tattooed Turks who couldn't keep their mouths shut. As was his style, Sato proceeded him out the door, and just before he left, Reno turned back for a second to gaze at the Wutaian Turk still in the office.

"Hey Tseng!" Reno called, and with a very soft sigh, Tseng looked up,

"Yes Reno?"

"Ever hear of a guy named 'Vincent Valentine'?" Reno wasn't quite sure why he'd asked… but it irked him a little that Cloud had gotten out of his 'trap'.

Tseng gave one of the longest blinks Reno had ever seen from him, staring silently at the red-head for a long moment, Finally, he cocked his head ever-so-slightly, "He was a Turk, why do you ask?"

Reno's eyes immediately bugged, and then he punched the air and whooped, "YES!!! I KNEW IT! Cloudy is SUCH a Shoe-In!!"

"Shoe-in?" Tseng repeated in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Reno chuckled, "Ah, well y'see me'n Cloudy were talkin' 'bout stuff t'other day, and Cloud mentioned that his best friend was this guy 'Vincent Valentine'."The older Turk stared at Reno, giving the red-head an odd look. Reno shrugged and whirled away from the door.

"Talk ta ya later boss! Gotta go do what Turks do, yo!" Cheering to himself Reno skittered after his 'temporary partner', whistling as he went. It wasn't until later that he realized the expression on Tseng's face had been particularly strange… he'd looked … stunned… and something else Reno couldn't quite put his finger on. The red-head had to wonder for a moment, why he'd never heard of a Turk named Vincent before.

--------------------------