Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Interludes – Scene 34

Scene Notes: This takes place shortly after Chapter 17 of Taking Care of Reno: Advent Children, when Elena is around two and a half months pregnant.

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“… Why’d you pick this one?” Rude asked, looking around the lodge. It was much the same as every other residential building at Healen that Reno and Elena could have picked for their new home… with one important difference. It was only partially finished. It had still been under construction when the Meteor Crisis had begun, and afterward, it seemed that no one had quite gotten around to putting on the finishing touches. The walls remained unpainted, the floors were devoid of carpeting, and, Rude noted as he flipped the unresponsive wall switch in a futile attempt to turn on the lights, there was still some electrical work to be done.

“It’s the closest to the lookout. ‘Lena really likes the view.”

“This was Elena’s idea?” Rude queried, not at all convinced.

“Uh… No. I kinda talked her into it. And I swore to her I’d have it all fixed up before the baby’s born, so… you’re good at this shit, right? Partner?” the redhead asked, pleadingly. Rude sighed.

“… I’ll try and help you fix the lights. I’m not painting. Or carpeting. Or doing anything requiring the use of power tools.”

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Rude grimaced as paint spattered his sunglasses. He was absolutely certain that painting had been on his list of things he wasn’t going to do. So why in the nine hells was he putting on a second coat? He glanced over at the paint cans sitting unassumingly in the corner and shook his head. Pale, pastel green.

He knew damn well why.

Reno had bitten off a little more than he could chew, and his partner couldn’t help but take pity on him, that was why. The redhead had thought he’d be able to have Elena comfortably situated in their new home in a week or two. A week or two had very quickly stretched to a month. And then dangerously close to three months. Things were nearly finished now, but Elena had made it known, in no uncertain terms, that if they were still living in the main Shinra lodge by the time she was in her second trimester, Reno was going to be sleeping on the couch until they did finally move out. Rude had promised himself that, this time, he was going to let his friend suffer the consequences of one of his little schemes… but when the ultimatum was made, his resolve had almost immediately buckled. He’d at last consented to bail his friend out of the mess he’d gotten himself into.

Which was why he was spending his third weekend in a row covered in paint. Pale, pastel green this week.

He finished painting the last section and breathed a relieved sigh. He was done. Finally. His momentary relief was obliterated by a loud crash from another room.

“Uhh… Rude?” the redhead’s voice called several seconds later, and the Turk cringed, wondering what he could possibly have done now, and how many stitches it was going to require.

“Yeah?”

“Could… uh… could you come’re a minute?”

Rude groaned softly and set down his paintbrush before making his way down the hall.

“Should I just call Dr. Ward now?” he asked as he stepped into the living room. Reno was nowhere in sight. “… Where are you, anyway?”

“Kitchen…” his partner said, somewhat meekly.

“Odin help him,” the bald Turk breathed, mostly to himself, and stepped into the next room wondering just what he was going to find. He stopped short, staring in disbelief.

“Okay, so before you ask how…”

“I don’t even want to know.”

“Oh… Good. Uh… so… could you… ?”

Reno was wedged tightly in between the wall and precariously tipped refrigerator, unable to push it off of himself and looking decidedly put out by the fact. Rude shook his head and hauled the appliance upright again, releasing the pinned Turk and Reno quickly squirmed his way out of the alcove to freedom.

“… Don’t ask,” he pleaded, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

Rude chuckled. “I already said I didn’t want to know,” he replied, and gently ruffled his friend’s hair. “I’m done painting, by the way.”

Reno’s expression quickly brightened. “Yeah? Awesome! ‘Cause I’m just about done with shit in here, too.” He grinned widely. “Finally… a light at the end of the fuckin’ tunnel…”

“Hmph… you might not end up on the couch after all.”

“If there was ever a cause for celebration, that’d be it,” Reno snickered. He looked up at his friend, and hesitated a moment. “So… can I get your help with one more project?”

An eyebrow rose behind dark lenses. “Reno…” Rude said warningly, “You promised. Painting was the last thing you were gonna beg me to do.”

Reno sighed dejectedly. “Yeah. Okay. You’re right… I’ve been askin’ a lot of you, and it’s really not fair I keep doin’ it. Before you leave, though, can you give me a hand movin’ somethin’? Damn thing’s heavy as hell.”

“Hmph… and then I can go home, crack open a beer, and relax?”

“You can even take one of my Ultimas outta the fridge,” the redhead replied, glancing back at the appliance. “Er… Assumin’ any of ’em survived…”

Rude smirked slightly. “Alright. What are we moving?”

Reno grinned widely. “A surprise for ‘Lena,” he said, leading the other Turk down the hall to a small, empty room. Empty, save for a large cardboard box sitting in the middle of the floor, that is. “We still gotta raid the warehouse for furniture ‘n shit, but I didn’t think they’d have anything like this on hand, so… last time I was in Edge…”

“What is it?” Rude queried, curious now. Healen had most everything they could ever need, as far as furniture went, sitting around in storage or in other buildings on the property. Shinra had made it a point to switch up the décor on a regular basis for their corporate guests back when the place had been a private vacation spot. There was tons.

“… A crib. Ya know. For the baby.”

Rude went to lift the box and was shocked at just how heavy it was.

“What’s it made from? Cement?” he asked in an incredulous tone.

“Told ya it weighed a ton,” Reno said with a grin, as he moved to grasp the other end of the box. “On three?”

“Three,” Rude stated, lifting. The redhead staggered slightly, following suit.

“Left,” Reno grunted as the shuffled the load down the hall

“Left is a wall.”

“My left.”

Rude backed into the room, and set his burden down, suddenly realizing that he was right back in the room he’d just finished painting. Reno collapsed on top of the box with a groan, and his partner chuckled.

“Quite acting like I wasn’t carrying most of it,” he teased. The redhead snickered and stood up opening the box, and Rude blinked.

“It’s… uh… some assembly required,” Reno said, noting his expression. Rude shook his head and sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to relax thinking about Reno trying to put this nightmare together all by himself.

“Go get me my beer,” he said, resigned to his fate, “We’re gonna be here for awhile.”

After all… what were brothers for?

~fin~