Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 39: Home for the Holidays

The scent of pine was heavy in the air, and Reno yawned slightly as he gazed upwards, smiling faintly at the soft, colorful lights reflecting off the multitudes of shiny surfaces.

“Stay there much longer, and I’m afraid I may be forced to wrap you…” Tseng’s voice gently teased him. The redhead snickered and slid out from under the tree and sat cross-legged on the floor, grinning up at the senior Turk.

“Just hangin’ out ’til dinner gets here.” He lightly flicked a tiny silver bell that hung from one of the lower branches. “Hey… thanks for this.”

“It was no trouble,” Tseng chuckled, “And even if it had been, there would be no need to thank me. You’re part of my family, now, Reno.”

They’d spent the afternoon decorating, and the result was almost elegantly festive. Maybe not the direction the redhead would have gone had he been left to his own devices, but he had to admit… he liked it. And he had snuck his little chocobo ornament in when Tseng hadn’t been looking, deciding that it needed a safe place to stay until he took it down to Lira. If his mentor had noticed, he hadn’t said anything.

“But speaking of wrapping,” Tseng continued, “How far did you get with your Christmas shopping, anyway?”

“Oh, I finished that. Already knew what I was gettin’ people. I just had to find everything.”

The elder Turk raised an eyebrow in surprise and laughed. “I wish I were so decisive when it comes to choosing gifts… I will probably still be shopping mere days before the holiday.”

“Heh… Yeah, you ‘n Rude both. The guy couldn’t pick out anything,” he snickered in reply. There was a loud knock at the front door, and the redhead’s grin widened. “Sweet! Pizza’s here!”

He scrambled to his feet and all but ran for the door, wrenching it open, eager for the promised food… the smile on his face quickly fell as he realized that no pizza was forthcoming.

“Oh… It’s just you…” he sighed, and stepped back to let Remy slip through the door. The senior Turk snorted softly.

“For Shiva’s sake… You’re not still angry with me over the flight simulator, are you?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

“No… he’s simply disappointed you didn’t arrive bearing pizza,” Tseng sniggered.

“Hmph… Typical.” She shook her head and turned her attention to the Turk lieutenant instead, reaching into a large messenger bag that hung from one shoulder. “I’m just on my way to meet a friend for dinner… but since I was heading in this direction anyway, I thought I’d drop this off. It’s finalized version of the President’s holiday itinerary. The family is staying in town, but Rufus wants to go to the Christmas festival in Kalm.”

“And I suppose I’ve been requested as security,” Tseng chuckled.

“Naturally, sir.”

“Understood. Thank you, Remy. Go on and see your friend. I won’t keep you…”

Remy nodded, and took her leave, disappearing into the lightly falling snow beyond the door.

“I think I’ll have you join me,” he said, closing it behind her and turning to the redhead. “The festival can be quite entertaining. You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.” He smirked and cut off his rookie’s protest. “Even if you do have to put up with Rufus.”

“Fine…” Reno groaned, “But that little shit better not get any bright ideas about throwin’ me in a lake or poisonin’ my food again.”

---

The next couple of weeks passed with such an agonizing slowness that, by the final Friday, Reno was beginning to find it unbearable. Sato drifted past him, a mug of hot chocolate in hand, and the rookie glanced up at the clock on the wall of the lounge… and groaned.

“What’s up?” Saya asked, turning away from the window.

“Ugh… I swear, every fuckin’ time I look to see what time it is, that fuckin’ clock hasn’t moved more than thirty seconds,” the redhead groused. “And sometimes, I think the damn thing’s actually runnin’ backwards.”

The Mideelian Turk turned her gaze on the clock as well, and then consulted her watch. She gave an annoyed snort and smacked her cousin in the shoulder.

“Goddammit, Sato… Yeh really are an arsehole. Quit messin’ with him.” The other senior Turk snickered and then burst out laughing as Saya crossed the room, and reset the clock to the proper time with a roll of her eyes.

“Ah, now, come on… That was funny. The wee thing was half convinced taday was never gonna end! I’ve been turnin’ it back for nigh on two hours now, and he ne’er even noticed…”

The redhead glared at him and tossed aside the report he’d been skimming through. “You get some kinda perverse pleasure outta makin’ me look like an idiot, don’t you…”

Sato grinned and strolled over to the rookie, gently ruffling his hair. “I only tease yeh ’cause I like yeh, yeh know…” he laughed and then calmly drifted past him, and out into the hallway to see what other trouble he could cause.

“You’re cousin’s a jackass,” Reno added, turning his attention on Saya. She giggled softly and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“Aye… That he is,” she laughed. “Just be glad yer friends. It’d be far worse if he dinnae like yeh.”

The door to the lounge opened, admitting a large pile of folders that seemed to have sprouted legs and wandered out of the archives. It staggered over toward the table the redhead had taken up residence at and planted itself on top with a quiet thud.

“Hmph… Tseng said you’d need these, so… Merry Christmas, I guess,” Rude said, peering out from behind the files. Reno groaned again, much louder than before.

“How the fuck am I s’posed to get through all that in a day?!”

With the tensions still running high between Shinra and Wutai, Tseng had set him a research task… tracking down as much information as he could find on past Company dealings in the Turk lieutenant’s homeland in an effort to make a list of potential informants that could be tapped should the worst happen and war break out. There was… a lot to go through.

Rude smirked. “He also said I could help if I had some spare time.”

“Oh, thank Ifrit…” the redhead breathed in minor relief. He looked over at Saya, who quickly flashed him a grin and headed briskly towards the door before he could voice a request for further assistance.

“Not on yer life…” she chuckled, leaving the pair of rookies to their own devices.

Reno sighed and reached for the next file. “Guess it’s just you ‘n me, pal…”

The other rookie snickered and grabbed a small stack of folders for himself, settling in to start reading.

“So is there any point in me askin’ if you’re free tonight?” Reno asked a short while later, not looking up from the papers in front of him. Rude shifted somewhat uncomfortably, and opened his mouth to answer, but his fellow rookie quickly cut him off. “Tch… Yeah, that’s what I figured.”

“… Why don’t we hang out this weekend? Margaret is heading off to Nibelhiem first thing tomorrow, and I’m not leaving for Rocket Town until Sunday morning, so we’ll at least have Saturday to ourselves to do… whatever,” he replied.

“Love to,” the redhead replied with a snort of irritation, “But unfortunately, I’m stuck draggin’ Rufus’ pain in my ass backside around Kalm all weekend with Tseng. Three days and two glorious nights with the Company’s most annoying exec. We won’t be back ’til sometime Monday evening.”

“… Oh.”

Reno glared balefully at the reports and tossed the one he was currently reading into the discard pile. He hesitated a moment, Tseng’s cautions about pushing his friend on this subject echoing in the back of his mind, before finally saying what he’d been thinking for weeks now.

“Look… I get that you like her. And I definitely get that gettin’ some on the regular is fuckin’ awesome. But you got other friends, too, ya know.”

Rude’s face reddened slightly and he shot the redhead a dirty look.

“It’s not just about… that,” he replied, defensively. “Margaret understands me.”

“Tch… and I don’t?”

Rude narrowed his eyes and set the reports he’d been leafing through aside before abruptly standing up.

“Maybe not as well as you think you do,” he said, crossly, and stormed out of the lounge, leaving the younger rookie in something of a state of shock. He wordlessly brushed past Tseng on his way out. Reno groaned for a third time and let himself fall forward, his forehead impacting the table in front of him with a thud that was dulled by the multitude of reports spread out across its surface.

“Dare I ask?” the Turk lieutenant queried, an eyebrow rising in trepidation.

“… Ya know that thing you told me not to do…?”

Tseng roughly pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled slowly. “You didn’t…”

“Well… no. I didn’t go as far as tellin’ him it was her or me,” the redhead admitted. “I just… The subject came up and I got frustrated, and… I probably coulda phrased shit better.”

Tseng took a seat across from his rookie, and picked up one of the files. “Then I would strongly suggest apologizing for your poor phrasing. Preferably before Rude leaves town and you don’t see him for nearly a week.”

“… Yeah.”

“In the meantime… Have you made any progress on your assignment?” he asked.

“Tch… Do four papercuts and a headache count as progress?”

---

He found him a while later in training hall – after pleading with Tseng for a break from the monotony of research – pummeling a heavy bag strung from the ceiling. Reno steeled himself for the inevitable.

“… Uh… hey,” he ventured. The rhythmic thump of each punch hitting the bag remained constant, but the other rookie grunted loudly in greeting. “So… you’re not like… pretendin’ that’s my face, are ya?”

Rude finally paused in his assault on the equipment and turned to face the redhead.

“… Not anymore,” he answered. Reno snorted a soft laugh.

“I’m sorry for bein’ a dick.”

The bald Turk cracked a faint smile. “I forgive you for being a dick. Hold the bag for me.”

Reno slipped around to the other side and took hold of the canvas, steadying it for his friend. A solid hit knocked him back a couple of steps before he managed to brace himself better.

“Fuck, Rude… what’d that poor thing ever do to you?” he snickered. Two more punches landed in quick succession, but he was ready for the impact this time. “Listen… Like I said, I get that you like Margaret, and I’m tryin’ not to be a jealous piece of shit about it. I really am. I just… kinda miss spendin’ time with you.”

“We still hang out,” Rude huffed as he landed a right cross on the bag.

“Tch… yeah. Sure we do. ‘Cept when you cancel on me. Or just plain ditch me right in the middle of somethin’.”

“… I don’t do that…”

“Yeah? ‘Kay… when’s the last time we did somethin’ together outside of work?”

“We went Christmas shopping just last week,” Rude pointed out.

“And?” the redhead prompted, “Remind me… how’d that end?”

“…”

“Exactly. And that bein’ said, I’m gonna shut up now, before I say somethin’ that makes me sound like an even bigger asshole that I already do.” He waited for the next punch to come but it never did. He peered out from around the bag, to find his friend simply standing there, a slightly odd expression on his face. “Anyway… Tseng only gave me a ten minute reprieve. I gotta get back to paperwork hell so… I’ll see ya later.”

“… Later,” Rude called after him as Reno headed for the doors. He made his way down the hall to the elevators, far less worried now that his friend was no longer angry with him.

---

“Hey… Rookie. You gonna eat that shit, or you just gonna stab it to death?” Tres chuckled as he set his plate down next to Rude’s an hour later in the Shinra Building cafeteria.

“… Just making sure it’s actually dead. Pretty sure I saw it move a minute ago.”

The senior Turk snorted in amusement and started sawing vigorously at his steak. “Point taken. What’s up? You look like somethin’s on your mind.”

Rude shrugged, and his mentor rolled his eyes.

“Tch… Don’t give me that shit. Somethin’s buggin’ ya.”

The rookie poked one more time at the baked salmon on his plate before finally taking a bite… and grimacing at the bland, and inexplicably oily, flavor.

“Tres, do you think I’ve been… acting different since I started seeing Margaret?”

Tres laughed so hard he very nearly choked on the bite he’d just taken. “That’s a joke… right?” he finally managed. “Fuck, Rude… for the last, what… four months?… any time you’re not actively on assignment, you’re walkin’ around lookin’ like a goddamn lovesick puppy who misses his mistress. Tch… Actin’ different. It’s almost nauseating.”

Rude glared at him, and Tres merely shrugged. “Hey, you’re the one who asked. Not my fault if ya don’t like my answer.” He speared another bite and chewed thoughtfully for a moment or two before continuing. “You’re almost as bad as the sad sacks I had to deal with now and then back when I was workin’ for Corneo. Every once in awhile, some guy’d get a little too attached to one of the girls at the Bee and I’d get stuck havin’ to run ’em off. Got a little pussy and suddenly they think they’re in love with whichever rentgirl they’re payin’ to fuck. But ‘least you got sense enough not to get involved with the whores. You’re just as fuckin’ obsessed, though.”

“I’m not obsessed with Margaret,” Rude muttered, blushing, “I just… really like her. She’s… kind of my first real girlfriend.”

Tres groaned aloud. “Well, that fuckin’ explains it. Lemme guess. First fuck, too.” He smirked as the rookie’s blush deepened, and added, “And yeah… sorry, not sorry, but you are obsessed. Anyway… why the sudden self-reflection?”

“… Something Reno said.”

“This about that little fight you two had in the lounge this morning?” Tres asked, and when Rude looked up in surprise, he snorted derisively. “‘Course I fuckin’ know about that. If there’s gossip to be heard, you know damn well I hear it.”

Rude shook his head. “No… it was later, after he came looking for me. To apologize.”

“And?”

“He pointed out how much I’ve been ditching him lately.”

“Have you? Been ditchin’ him, I mean?”

Rude ducked his head slightly, dropping his gaze. “… Yeah. Kinda more than I realized.”

“Hmph… Well, I can see why that’d bother you.”

The rookie shook his head. “That’s not what bothered me,” he replied, and at Tres’ incredulous expression, sighed, “I mean… It bothered me. But it’s not what really bothered me.”

“So… what then?”

“I think I’ve been… kind of a jerk to him lately. And now that I really think about it, I can’t exactly blame him for being a little mad about it.” Rude sighed heavily. “He said he was trying not to be jealous. And then he cut himself off, and said he didn’t want to sound like an even bigger asshole than he already did. I sort of got the feeling that he’s blaming himself for me being the jerk here. I just don’t get why.”

“Ooooh… Gotcha. Maybe I can shed some light on that for ya.” Tres leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. “Now don’t go gettin’ all pissed off at me for sayin’ this… but I seem to recall back when they first promoted you, you tellin’ me that you didn’t really have anything goin’ for ya back home. That’s bullshit, ‘n you know it. I didn’t call you on it at the time, even though I probably shoulda… ’cause you got no fuckin’ idea what it’s really like to live like that. Shit’s a lot different when ya actually grow up with nothin’ and got nothin’ goin’ for ya,” he commented. “When that’s your life and you get ahold of somethin’ good, you do whatever you gotta do to keep it. Extends to people, too.”

“…”

Tres sat up, shaking his head before fixing the rookie with a serious look.

“Just remember. That kid really does come from nothin’. No family. Not a whole hell of a lot of friends. No one to look up to. Nothin’. Not ’til Tseng hauled him topside, anyway. In case you haven’t noticed, you kinda fit all of the above categories for him. He’s gonna do whatever it takes to hold onto that. Even shoulderin’ the blame for you bein’ a dick to him ’cause of a girl.”

Rude’s shoulders drooped slightly, and he remained silent, staring at his half-eaten lunch. He hadn’t meant to treat Reno so poorly. It had just sort of… happened. He frowned and shoved the plate aside, his sudden lack of appetite having nothing to do with the Shinra cafeteria’s so-called salmon.

“Ah, knock it off,” Tres muttered. “Quit wallowin’ in guilt of your own making. And quit stringin’ the kid along. If you wanna spend your free time hookin’ up with that girlfriend of yours, then have the balls to tell him upfront instead of cancelin’ on him at the last minute. That’s a total dick move.”

“…”

“I’d think about your priorities, too, while you’re at it,” the senior Turk added, “Hot ass comes ‘n goes. Kid like Reno, though? You treat him right, he’ll be loyal to ya for life.”

---

Rude was still largely lost in thought later that evening as he made his way out to his truck. He’d stayed late to help Tres with an interrogation that had taken far longer than either Turk had assumed it would. By the time he reached the parking deck, it had mostly emptied out. A loud engine revved in the cold, echoing off concrete walls, and the rookie spotted Kai straddling her motorcycle. She paused in pulling on her helmet and grinned at him.

“‘Night, my little Turkling! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that other holiday crap… See ya in week!” she called over to him.

“Same to you,” he replied, smiling warmly and giving her a wave. She returned the gesture, and peeled out, tires squealing on the icy streets. He’d never understand how she could stand riding that damn thing in weather like this. Or how she did so without killing herself.

He glanced farther down the row of parking spaces. Tseng’s car was missing, which meant that he and Reno had already gone home for the day. In fact, the only vehicles belonging to various members of the Turks that still remained were his own pickup truck, and Tres’ SUV. Apparently they were the last to leave tonight.

He unlocked the door, and paused, spotting something on the driver’s seat, and frowned slightly, looking around suspiciously. He was certain he’d locked it when he’d arrived that morning. A closer inspection revealed a festively – albeit somewhat haphazardly – wrapped gift, festooned with silver and red ribbon. A part of him wondered if he ought to be taking bomb precautions. After all… Sato’s pranks had been increasing in frequency as the holiday drew nearer. He tentatively prodded the box, and when it didn’t immediately explode in his face, he cautiously picked it up. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he spotted the the handwriting on the tag. It was completely illegible… Obviously Reno’s.

Rude gave a quiet snort of laughter at his own paranoia and climbed into the truck, setting the gift on the passenger seat and starting the engine. While he waited for the heater to kick in, he reached over and picked up the little box again. He’d been planning on giving Reno his gift that afternoon, but things had gotten a little busy after lunch. But he wasn’t worried… he could always send it along with Tres to the Christmas party.

With a grin, he tugged at the ribbon. Usually, he waited until Christmas morning… it was family tradition after all… but he was far too curious to see what the redhead had picked out for him. Knowing Reno’s sense of humor, he half-expected a sex toy and a note advising him to try using it on his girlfriend tonight.

Which was, perhaps, why the glint of sliver in the dim light of the parking deck took him by surprise. His grin widened as he ran a finger along the smooth ebony inlays on the handle of the folding knife, and then gave it a sharp flick, releasing the polished blade from within. He’d been admiring it for weeks… but just hadn’t been able to justify the expense to himself yet. The blade was high-quality, solid mythril and it didn’t come cheap. Though he had no idea how Reno’d found out he wanted one… let alone this one in particular. He carefully folded the blade back into the handle, and turned it over. His name was engraved along one edge.

His PHS rang, and Rude hurriedly tucked the knife into his pocket before glancing at the caller ID and answering it.

“Hey Margaret,” he said, smiling. “Sorry… Should’ve called. I had to work late.”

---

Reno raised an eyebrow as he poked at – what Tseng claimed to be at any rate – the porkchop on his plate.

“Boss… I gotta tell ya. I think your cooking may actually be gettin’ worse as time goes on.” He picked it up by the bone and tapped it against his plate with a loud clink, “Either that, or someone sold ya a brick instead of a porkchop.”

“Stop complaining and eat your brick,” Tseng chuckled and spooned a large helping of steamed carrots and peas onto the redhead’s plate, then shook his head. “… I… may… have gotten a bit distracted preparing the vegetables and forgotten to set the timer.”

Reno snorted in amusement and bit a chunk off of one end of the meat. “Yeah… I’d say ya got ‘a bit distracted’,” he laughed. “Think I mighta just chipped a tooth on that.”

“I hardly think it’s that bad,” he replied, picking up his fork and knife and intent upon slicing into his own portion. After several failed attempts – and one unabashedly snickering rookie – he finally conceded defeat with a laugh. “Alright, fine. It is that bad.”

Reno, meanwhile, was gnawing on the meat with determination. Tseng shook his head.

“It’s inedible. There’s really no need to continue. Please, stop before you really do chip a tooth.”

“Eh… I’ve had worse,” he said as he finally managed to tear off another bite. But he did obligingly set the remainder down and nudged it over toward the edge of his plate, turning his attention, instead, upon the vegetables.

A knock at the front door interrupted whatever Tseng might have been going to say.

“I got it,” Reno hurriedly said, getting to his feet.

“It really must be terrible, if you’re willingly abandoning your plate to answer the door,” the Wutaiian Turk called after him. Reno laughed and made his way through the living room, pulling open the door and shuddering as an icy wind blasted him from outside.

“Hey.”

The redhead blinked in surprise. “Rude… hey, what’s up? Thought you had a date tonight…”

The other rookie stepped inside and Reno quickly shut the door behind him, blocking out the cold winter air.

“… I… canceled it,” he replied, awkwardly. “You were right. I’ve been ignoring you lately.” He held out a large covered dish, and dropped his voice slightly. “And… I also remembered that Friday is Tseng’s night to cook, so…”

His friend was quick to peel back the foil cover, and grinned at the sight that greeted him.

“Oh, thank Ifrit… actual food. Boss! Rude brought us actual food! That you can like… actually eat without needin’ dental work later!”

“Very funny,” the Turk lieutenant replied, chuckling softly. “I hope you’re planning on joining us.”

“… If it isn’t any trouble, sir.”

Rude took his shoes off and hung up his coat before trailing the redhead back into the kitchen.

“None at all. Frankly, I’m rather grateful for the reprieve from my own cooking.”

The rookie arched a questioning eyebrow at the charred blocks sitting on the plates on the table.

“… I can see why, sir…” he commented. Reno was already unpacking the contents of the dish onto clean plates, sampling as he did so. Rude smirked and nudged him out of the way. “That’s for all of us, not just you.”

“Rude… Seriously. Look at this, and then look at what I was eatin’…” the redhead replied, with a teasing grin.

In no time, the three of them had piled food onto their plates, and Tseng’s alleged ‘porkchops’ had been banished to the trash can. Reno was soon happily starting in on his second helping of chicken parmesan.

“So you two are really spending the entire weekend escorting Rufus around Kalm?” Rude asked.

“Yes. He’s quite fond of the various festivals the town holds. It’s rare that he doesn’t attend a major one. I enjoy many of them, myself, to be honest… and I like to see Rufus get out of the city once in awhile. He’s not typically recognized by the general public outside of Midgar just yet and he’s far more… relaxed… when he’s not concerned about appearances.”

The redhead snorted quietly. “I’ll believe Rufus is capable of pullin’ that stick outta his ass when I see it.”

“And I like to see Reno get out of the city once in awhile, as well,” the Turk lieutenant added. “It’s good for him.”

Rude sniggered and pointedly ignored the other rookie who was rolling his eyes next to him.

“Like you got any problem gettin’ me to go somewhere… I still got a whole fuckin’ planet to see. Seriously, boss… you just wait ’til I get my pilot’s certification. You won’t be able to keep me in Midgar ’til I see it all.”

Tseng chuckled and simply shook his head.

“Speaking of which…” Rude grinned and reached into his jacket pocket, drawing out a small box wrapped in snowflake printed paper. “You gave me mine early, so… I figured I’d return the favor.”

Reno paused in his assault on the side dishes and took the present from his friend, grinning widely.

“Can I open it now?”

“Tradition says that you have to wait until Christmas morning,” Rude replied, and then laughed at the look of abject horror that came over the redhead’s face. Tseng quickly joined him. Reno glared at the pair of them.

“Ya know… they way you’re fuckin’ with me right now, I’m glad you at least bought me dinner first…” he muttered, which only made Rude laugh harder while Reno tore into the paper. He quickly sobered as his friend lifted the lid.

“It’s a Rocket Town tradition when someone starts learning to fly,” he explained. Reno pulled the pair of goggles from their bed of tissue paper and smiled.

“Cool…” he breathed, slipping them on.

“He’ll want to spend every spare second in the flight simulator, now…” Tseng sighed softly. The redhead pushed the goggles up to his forehead and smirked.

“Not every spare second.”

~end chapter 39~