towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Characters: Reno, open
Setting: Directly after this
Format: Prose
Summary: After Sephiroth showed up on the wedding post, Reno wants to kill something
Warnings: Pissed off turk

Clenching his fists, he slammed them down on the console, not really enough to hurt it but enough to cause pain. It helped clear his head a bit, and he angrily pushed off and away from the terminal.

He needed to do something, though, and he went back to his room to grab his makeshift poncho and started to head down to the gymnasium. That track, even in the cold, was sounding mighty lonely. It needed someone to run on it.

After a terrifying moment almost falling into Floor 46, he made it mostly unscathed and didn't bother to warm up. He dumped a bottle of water at the starting point, and set off, running around the track as if his life depended on going the fastest he could.

If anyone looked, they might notice that occasionally, he performed different moves. A few jumps into the air, some tumbles ending a slamming kick into the ground. Once or twice, he did a few roundhouse kicks without breaking stride. So much energy bound up in these moves, it was hard not sense the emotions coming off of him.

It wasn't just Sephiroth, it was everything that had happened over the last few months, but most of all it was something that should have been a happy thing, something positive in the hell tower wasn't anymore. All of the physical effort wasn't helping, and he was having second thoughts about asking in the first place.

It was just going to make them more miserable. He had been stupid to think that they could make this a home, or get a tiny bit of... something that wasn't terror, agony, or heartbreak.

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It was proving very difficult to not melt into hands that pressed and rubbed, massaging the points that had taken the blunt of his interesting new attack. Through the thin layer of her shirt his hands were warm - if not burning hot - causing her skin to break out into goosebumps.

The moment his expression changed, she knew instantly that whatever had caused his change in behavior, it was not only recent but something that he took with an upmost level of importance. But, again, as much as she wanted to press the issue, her gut instinct told her to wait. The wound, or injury, or whatever it was - it was too fresh to go nosing in to. Giving an audible 'humph', she reached up and touched the tip of his nose with her finger.

"'Trouble' is my middle name, Reno."

Her voice is nothing but gentle teasing, masking the immediate thought that she was - in fact - going to end up doing so. Because there was something out there that had pushed him to this point and that was certainly not going to be allowed to slide. A something she had a feeling had wore leather, had silver-hair hair, and suffered from a god complex. His presence on Xion's post had not gone ignored by her either.

Speaking of pushing, the hand on his chest gave a little push in an attempt to knock him on his back so she could pin him down beneath her. "Besides, why would I want to run off looking for trouble when I can just make trouble for you. With you. However you want to dice it."

Edited 2013-01-04 17:52 (UTC)

With a soft 'plop', he fell back on to the mat and squinted up at her, eyes clouding with suspicion. His hands were on her waist when he tumbled over. She was trying to distract him now, he could tell. He knew her too well.

"That isn't a promise, Elena."

A low growl followed that, whether it was from desire or irritation she was dodging the question was up to her imagination. She wasn't going to let it go and he knew that, she would just wait until later and ask or snoop again. She was a Turk.

"Don't distract me, I want that promise from you." Hesitating, his eyes flicked away for a moment, growing distant. She would be difficult, he knew, but he also loved her for it. "I don't want to have to make it an order."

Mission success! He was back on the mat, giving her the position of dominance. Granted, given her smaller weight and stature, it was all but certain that he was allowing her to have some of the control. Of course, all it would take would be a push of those hands that sat lightly at her sides to lift her up and put her at his mercy.

"......."

Pulling the infamous Valentine silence, she pressed the tip of her nose lightly against his, almost giggling when his growl vibrated up through his chest, registering lightly though the touch. Yes, she knew he wanted him to promise to not cause trouble. And no, she didn't quite like the idea of making a promise only to turn around and break it. She was a Turk, and following Sephiroth had, in one point in time, been their "thing". But it wasn't just that, it was the fact that Sephiroth had left a very dangerous threat out in the open. And, Odin help her, she was not about to sit back and wait for it to just happen.

Wiggling slightly to get her knees in place to ensure she didn't crush anything important, she smiled with the most innocent looking face she could muster. "Oh? Is this distracting? How about this?" And she placed a few soft, an obvious distraction to the current conversation. "It'd be a waste of an order - especially since you could give other orders. Orders I'd be more than happy to follow through with."

"Elena..." It was only one word, but it communicated too much. More than just her name was tied up in it. Anger, irritation, some amusement. It was getting too hard to resist her, that was why her offer only made him firmer in his resolve. Also in other areas, but he could deal with that.

"Promise. I don't want to have to yell at you later."

How would she react if he actually told her the truth? There were too many doubts going through his mind about the wedding. The brainwashing incident, Ganondorf's threat, Shion's breakdown. How they had all affected him. It wasn't just Sephiroth, though that had been a trigger. It was his own insecurity that he wasn't- "A demon..."

"Reno..."

The gift of quickly interpreting intonation and tone that she'd honed over the years did not fail her in picking up the subtle cues he was trying to convey. The promise he was attempting to get her to make was one of the few that she would actually push back against. Promise to not 'run into trouble'? Why something was out there causing him to get this way? Why, the impertinence!

But...this was Reno, after all. And he knew just what he was asking as well. Not only was he her senior, but he knew the Tower better than she did. Surely there was a reason why he'd even attempt to pose the question. Besides, what the man didn't know couldn't kill him.

Giving an audible defeated huff, she pressed a heartier kiss atop his forehead. "All right. I promise to not go running off into trouble. And you better promise to do the same, troublemaker."

Something was still off, that much she could feel. His silence and the introspection that seemed to all but carry him away despite being stuck beneath her. But what struck her most odd was the two words he uttered, as if they were part of a sentence she was only coming in on at the very end.

"A demon? Who? I don't understand..."

"Yeah, yeah, I promise." Though it was far, far too late to be making that promise by then, he sighed and huffed, and suffered her kiss. He had been doing that a lot the past month.

Now, how to explain that slip without getting into things he didn't want to talk about.

"There's too many demons here, Elena... it's stupid running after them."

"Good. I'm going to hold you to it." Though, yes, he'd already caused enough trouble to make blonde hair go gray. Like the Gandondorf incident that had caused her to get shrunk to the size of a hamster. Just remembering that time made her stomach sink in smoldering fury.

Eyes narrowed suspiciously at him before sitting up on his stomach, lips pressing into a thin line. No, that wasn't right. That wasn't at all what he was talking about, was it? But, then, if it wasn't - what was he hiding?

"Even if it meant that by doing so I could protect you? Or the kids?"

"That's different." He pushed up, taking her with him until he was sitting on the floor. All to hit his point home, engage her completely. "There's a difference running after something and protecting what you have."

Then he paused, realizing he had hit on something he had been taught when he'd first joined the Turks. Shiva's tits, what was it with him and quoting things from his rookie days? He was doing it with Shion, and now Elena. "Didn't I tell ya that by now? Or Tseng?"

Legs shifted and moved until, ultimately, stretching out on either side of him while she sat comfortably in his lap. Lips pursed a little, visibly expressing her mild displeasement. "That's called being proactive."

Which, in her mind, made total sense. Kill the man before the man killed you. Granted, in a place where death wasn't permanent, that saying didn't quite work. But the intent was the same. Elena paused, thinking on his question, then shook her head.

"Ah....no, I don't think so. Not that I remember. We were all a little...busy." Busy trying not to get killed from Meteor. Busy trying to survive after the destruction of Edge. Busy trying to keep Rufus alive. "Sorry. I guess I've still got a lot more to learn."

One eyebrow raised at her, and he leaned back, supporting himself on his hands. "Y'know, I really get the feeling I'm glad I didn't live through the post-meteor crap." Trying to understand made his head hurt, and he probably wouldn't ever be able to understand. His world was Midgar and Junon and running around trying to save it. It wasn't death and destruction, geostigma and missing presidents, and with the destruction of the universe, it probably wouldn't ever be.

For a moment or two she's quiet, contemplative. It was sometimes easy to forget that he wasn't the Reno she knew. Well, he was, sort of, but the time in the Tower had certainly changed him some. Giving a little shake of her head, a look of sadness flickered across her features.

"You'd be right. You smiled a lot less after that."

But that was then, wasn't it. And here was now. An escape from their destroyed worlds, a new chance to live out the things they couldn't before. Seeing her displaced tie just to her left, the bent at the waist, reaching for the discarded cloth, before curling the length around his neck.

"So...you gonna wear one of these for me?"

Edited 2013-01-04 23:50 (UTC)

While she was quiet, he took the opportunity to lift his hand and brush some hair out of her face. If it was within his power, he would have taken away whatever was making her sad.

"I'll try to smile more, but if ya think you can get me into a tie..." Taking the tie, he returned it to her own neck, and snickered. "Why do ya think I don't wear one? Too easy to choke me with it."

The feeling of hair moving helped being her out of her reverie, finding long fingers pushing stray strands back. Cheeks flushed slightly with embarassment, having been caught in a moment of weakness and letting deeper thoughts, feelings she had learned to keep buried, make it to the surface.

"I'd like that." Chuckling, she looked down at the tie that he draped back around her neck. "If I wanted to choke you, honey, I'm sure I could find something else besides a tie to do it with. And before she allowed herself the moment to think on the accidental endearment... "Not even for one day? Is there any way I could convince you otherwise?"

Holding on to that tie, he suppressed the surprise when she called him 'honey', not that he minded it. Well, it was only fair, he called her babe all the time... They'd have to get used to that now, wouldn't they?

Leaning forward, he smiled one of those soft smiles for her, and whispered, "Maybe, for one day. For you."

And she's all the more thankful that he skips right over it, the slip of the endearment butting right against her sense of professionalism. Granted, this wasn't ShinRa and they were hardly the same, old organized group of Turks. But turning that switch off was proving rather difficult.

Not that a slip once in a while, in a more confined and private space, couldn't be allowed. Or let the softer, feminine side that hid inside the protective shell of the suit, come forward. Like now, when he gave her that smile and that softness. "You're being such a tease, leading me on like this."

"Oh? Didn't know I was being that much of a tease... you like it?" He grinned, kissing the side of her cheek. "I think maybe I'll try gettin' a proper tux for the wedding. If I clean up this good, just imagine that, huh?"

He didn't wear tuxedos often, only when the job had warranted it, but he couldn't remember the last time he wore one since she became a Turk.

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DAT ICON. Don't make that face....

makes this face

dhfkjhzfjk that face....its too powerful!!!

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