Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Interludes – Scene 18

Scene Notes: Tseng had a hell of a time whipping Reno into shape when he was first recruited. The poor kid never seemed to know when to shut up around his superiors.

From Chapter 26: ‘Tis the Season:

“Try and remember that before you start running your mouth next time, hmm?” Tseng stressed. He suddenly smirked at him, “Or we will be reverting to our old training regime.”

Reno froze, eyes going wide. “I-I… You… Tseng, you wouldn’t dare. You haven’t done that to me in… somethin’ like nine years!” he stammered, “I’m not a fucking teenager anymore!”

“And what’s more, I’ll let Elena watch, just so she can see what will happen to her should she decide to mimic you in regards to Heidegger. I’m sure she’d quite enjoy seeing the faces you make. I know I always did…” Tseng added.

“Okay… okay… Message received. I’ll watch it. No need to get all threateny…” Reno replied, holding his hands up in defeat. Tseng nodded and left.

---

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Fuck, Tseng, let go already! I get it, alright?! Ya don’t have to rip it off…”

The Turks second-in-command finally released his grip on Reno’s ear, and the sixteen year old clapped a hand to it protectively. He’d seen other boys dragged off like that as a child… usually by an extremely angry mother… but no one had ever done it to him before. It hurt a lot more than it looked like it should have. Tseng stood, looking a little irate, arms crossed over his chest and staring the rookie down. It took the redhead a moment to realize he’d been dragged into the men’s room.

“That was was a decidedly stupid thing to do, Reno.”

“Ah, come on… It wasn’t that bad,” he replied, rolling his eyes. Tseng glared at him.

“Not that bad? You and I seem to have a very different definition of what constitutes ‘bad’,” said Tseng, “This needs to stop. You can’t go around saying whatever you feel like around the people who Run. This. Company. I don’t particularly care if you dislike them personally… I don’t even care if they insult you to your face. You simply do not refer to Heidegger a ‘fatass pig’ when he is within earshot. The fact that your head is still attached to your body right now is due only to the fact that Veld and I were able to convince him that he misheard you. One of these days, you’re going to push your luck too far, and there won’t be anything I can do to protect you.”

“Fine… so I’ll watch my fuckin’ mouth, alright?” the teenager sighed, leaning back against one of the sinks and gracing Tseng with yet another roll of his eyes.

“Oh… you most certainly will.”

At his superior’s tone, the younger Turk suddenly lost much of the haughty, confident expression he wore. It was replaced by an unsure and vaguely frightened look. He swallowed nervously, wondering what he was in for. Tseng turned to the supply cabinet in the corner, removing a small item and tearing away the wrapper.

“If you’re going to insist on behaving like a child, I’m afraid I’m just going to have to treat you like one,” he said, covering the distance between them in two long strides. “Open.”

“W-wha – ” Reno couldn’t even get a single word out before the little bar of soap was shoved unceremoniously between his teeth. He immediately gagged and pulled away. “Gah! What the fuck, man?”

“I’ve warned you…several times, in fact. If you’re incapable of controlling yourself on your own, there are going to have to be consequences. This will be the result any time there is a repeat of this afternoon. Now… Open. And this time, don’t spit it out until I give you permission to do so.”

The redhead reluctantly obeyed, the taste of the soap still coating his tongue. He visibly cringed as it was reintroduced, and his tongue instinctively fled to the roof of his mouth in a desperate attempt to avoid it.

It was easily one of the worst things he’d ever tasted… and he’d eaten some pretty questionable shit to get by over the years. Tseng stood calmly, watching him suffer, and occasionally glancing at his watch. He didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry to release him from his punishment. Reno’s eyes watered slightly as the taste began to make its way dangerously close to his throat. He desperately needed to swallow, but knew if he did, things were going to get ten times worse than they already were.

And still Tseng refused to release him.

Reno squeezed his eyes shut, a soft whimper escaping, unbidden. The taste was positively vile. At last, Tseng took pity on him.

“Alright. That’s enough.”

Reno spat the bar of soap out and turned to the sink, violently twisting the faucet handle and sticking his head under the stream of water to rinse his mouth out. He spent nearly a full minute alternately gulping down fresh water and gagging on the lingering taste.

“Ah, god… I can still fuckin’ taste it…” he lamented, finally raising his head again. He braced himself with his hands on either side of the sink, panting softly. Tseng smirked and offered him a paper towel, which the redhead angrily snatched, drying his face. “You’re a real dick sometimes, ya know that?”

“Perhaps… But I suspect you’ll think twice about what you say next time. And if you don’t… we’ll repeat this little exercise until thinking twice becomes second nature. Is that understood?”

“Yeah,” he replied. Tseng raised a challenging eyebrow and Reno very quickly adopted a more conciliatory tone. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

Tseng’s expression softened a bit, as did his voice. “And do you also understand that, if I didn’t care very much what happens to you, I wouldn’t bother with such tactics?”

The redhead looked awkwardly down at the floor. “Yeah…”

“Good. Then let’s get back to work, shall we?”

~fin~