Taking Care of Reno
by Desha
Note: This is my first attempt at FF7 fanfic... I hope I've done well... Please Review! :)
*~*~*~*~*~*
Tseng sighed, forcing himself not to roll his eyes, as Reno staggered into the office that morning. Rude glanced up briefly from the report he was writing but said nothing. The red-head's sunglasses, for once, were over his eyes rather than perched atop his head, and stray locks of fiery hair hung over his face.
"You're late," Tseng said simply. Reno swiped absently at one particularly annoying strand of hair, wincing both because of the annoyance that underlaid his leader's tone and because the throbbing in his temples seened to amplify Tseng's voice tenfold. 'Why didn't I just stay home this morning?' Reno thought, trying to ignore the splitting headache.
"I overslept," the younger Turk mumbled, and then promptly collapsed at Tseng's feet. 'I wonder why?' Tseng thought, sarcastically. He could just picture what Reno had been up to last night. Upon hearing the thud of Reno hitting the floor, Rude looked up again. Tseng just shook his head, as if to say 'I'll handle it'. Rude shrugged and went back to his report.
The idea of simply leaving Reno right where he was briefly entered Tseng's mind, but he quickly decided against it, imagining the image that such a scene would put forward to anyone who happened to come in. He frowned, bending down to move him somewhere out of sight where he could finish sleeping off what Tseng suspected to be the results of last night's barhopping, mentally rehersing the lecture he was going to give Reno when he woke up. He rolled Reno onto his back none to gently, intent on carrying him off to the corner behind his desk where any visitors would fail to notice him. It was then that Tseng noticed just how deathly pale his fellow-Turk really looked this morning. A night of heavy drinking wouldn't do that... not to Reno at any rate. Almost reflexively, he placed a hand to Reno's forehead, frowning again as he found it to be unusually warm.
Tseng lifted him from the floor, eliciting a soft groan from Reno, and set him down on the couch that sat against one wall of the office.
"Reno?" he ventured, wondering just how out of it the younger man was at the moment.. Reno shifted slightly and turned away from him, curling up on his side..
"I don't wanna go ta school..." came the muttered reply. Tseng shook him lightly and Reno's eyes slowly fluttered open as he turned back toward Tseng.
"Something wrong?" asked Rude from across the room. Tseng nodded. Just then, the door opened, admitting Elena.
"Good morning, sir," she said, smiling at Tseng, "Morning Rude..." Her smile faded slightly when she caught sight of Reno lying on the couch. "What happened to you?"
Reno managed to sit up just long enough to glare at her before falling back onto the cushions, panting softly from the effort. 'Damn, I should have just stayed in bed,' he thought.
"He's sick, Elena," Tseng replied for him, noting with some concern that Reno was shivering slightly. "Do us all a favor and take him home."
Elena beamed. 'He asked me to do him a favor... me!' she thought to herself.
"Y-yes sir." she replied, glancing at Reno's unfocused, fever-bright eyes and pale complexion, wondering just how she was supposed to get him to her car. Luckily, Tseng solved that dilemma for her, scooping Reno into his arms again and carrying him toward the door. Elena quickly followed.
Reno let his head hang limply over Tseng's arm, fascinated by the wall panels that seemed to be moving past him of their own accord. "Hey Tseng... The walls are moving..." He tried to lift his head, but that only made his splitting headache more noticable, and he closed his eyes.
"Just relaxed Reno... Elena's going to take you home to rest."
Reno managed a nod. By the time they reached Elena's car, Reno was asleep again, and still shivering. Tseng set him in the passenger's seat.
"It may not be a good idea to leave him alone... and since it doesn't look like we're going to be very busy today," said Tseng, closing the car door, "Would you mind staying with him?"
"Y-yes sir... I mean no, sir... I'd be happy to stay with him," she replied happily, smiling at the thought of Tseng asking her instead of just ordering her to take care of her fellow Turk. How could she say no to such a request... and from *Tseng* no less!
Tseng nodded and disappeared back into the Shinra building, leaving Elena to look after Reno. She climbed behind the wheel and started toward his apartment, sighing in resignation as Reno's limp form ended up pressed against her after every righthand turn. What was more, she soon noticed that he was drooling on her shoulder.
"Eeeeeww... You'd better appreciate this, Reno," she muttered with some disgust, reminding herself that she was doing this because Tseng had personally asked her to. At last she turned into the parking lot of Reno's apartment complex. Parking the car, she got out and walked around to the passenger side, opening the door.
"Come on... If you think I'm going to carry you up to your place, you've got another thing coming, mister," Elena said, poking Reno until his eyes opened.
Reno groaned, and dragged himself to his feet, almost immediatly stumbling as his head began to spin in protest. Elena grabbed hold of him before he could hit the ground. pulling his arm around her shoulders to support his weight. She'd always thought he looked almost painfully thin, but even with that in mind she was surprised by just how light he really was. She half-carried him into the building, making her way to the elevator and hitting the button for the fifth floor.
Reno let his head rest on Elena's shoulder, wanting nothing more than to find the nearest bed and fall asleep for a very long time. He nuzzled his cheek against Elena's shoulder, deciding that she made a rather nice pillow. A moment later, Elena was forced to support his full weight as his body went limp.
"Reno?!"
The only reply she recieved was a soft snore. She sighed and poked him hard in the ribs. Reno yelped.
"What'd ya do that for?" he asked sleepily, pouting as the elevator doors slid open.
"Just come on." She guided him out of the elevator and down the hall, stopping at Reno's door... and then realizing that she didn't have the keys. She quickly shifted Reno's weight and began searching his pockets.
"Heh... Never knew you cared..." Reno murmured as Elena finally located the keys in his back pocket.
"Shut up Reno," she muttered, trying to ignore that smirk that now graced his face. She inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, manuvering them both inside, looking around the apartment and shuddering. "God, Reno, you really are a slob"
The cold remnants of a pizza sat in an open pizza box on the couch. Clothes were strewn about in a trail leading from one room to the next. Dishes were piled in the sink in the small kitchenette, and the counter that separated it from the living room was littered with beer bottles and take-out wrappers... and she was relatively certain that she didn't even want to know why a pair of boxer shorts were slung over one of the blades of the ceiling fan... The bedroom was no better. She guided Reno to the bed, not wanting to look down at whatever the squishy object she'd just stepped on was. Elena dropped him into the rumpled blankets, wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to live like this... and then remmebered that this was Reno she was wondering about. Reno immediately pulled the blankets close, still shivering as he tried to bury himself under the covers.
Elena bit back a laugh at the sight of Reno tangled in the blankets, already half asleep, and tugged the shoes off his feet. She quickly untwisted him as much as he would let her, tucking him into bed as best she could. Then she made her way out of the room, not daring to look down at the floor.
"Ugh... This is disgusting," she said to herself as she picked her way through the living room, avoiding things that looked like gods-know-what might be living on them. She groaned, realizing that she have to clean the room a bit just to find a relatively sanitary place to sit down.
Walking into the kitchenette, she managed to find a roll of garbage bags stuffed underneath the sink. The beer bottles, wrappers, pizza, and countless other things that looked like that should have biohazard warnings on them went into the bag. She shoved the clothes that littered the floor into one massive pile in the corner just so wouldn't end up tripping over anything. Finally Elena sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV, deciding that if Reno wanted the rest of his filth cleaned up, he could do it himself.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Reno yawned and rubbed a hand over his eyes. 'Mmmm... How long have I been out?' he wondered, reaching a hand down alongside his bed to search for his alarm clock... finally finding it underneath a discarded tee-shirt. Three in the afternoon. He sat up, pleased to find that the splitting headache he'd had earlier had been reduced to little more than a dull ache. He stretched his arms over his head, working out the stiffness in his muscles from being in bed for the better part of the day. A sudden sound from the other room startled him, and instinctively, he slid his hand under one of the pillows, fingers curling around the gun he kept there just in case.
The door to his bedroom slowly crept open, and he laid back against the pillows prepared to surprise the intruder.
"Reno? You awake?" a familiar voice asked softly. Elena. Reno's hand released the gun.
"Yeah," he replied. Reno wondered if she'd been ordered to stay with him.
"Well it's about time. You've been asleep all day. Feeling better?"
He sunk farther back into the pillows. 'Heh... as long as she's here to take care of me, I might as well enjoy it...' he thought.
"A little," Reno said with a slightly exagerated moan.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Several hours later, Reno was stretched out on the couch in the living room, flipping through the television channels. He took a bite of the sandwich Elena had been kind enough to make for him, as he finally settled on the Chocobo Racing Network. A moment later, the door opened, and Elena entered, holding a bag of groceries.
"They were out of sour cream and onion chips but I got everything else you wanted, Reno," she said, setting the bag down on the now-spotless counter. Thus far Reno'd manged to get her to not only clean his apartment, but make him lunch, and do his shopping. He hadn't hand any luck convincing her that she should do his laundry for him as well, but all in all, he'd managed to make the most of having Elena around for the day. 'I oughtta get sick more often,' he mused silently.
"Thanks Elena," he replied in soft voice, hoping to keep her convinced that he still wasn't feeling his best. "Hey Elena? Could you come rub my back? Hmm?"
Elena inwardly groaned. She'd been waiting on Reno hand and foot all day. She was tired... She was cranky... and above all she was developing a terrible headache. 'Tseng asked me to look after him...' she repeated to herself for the hundredth time that day, as sighed and walked over to the couch. Reno happily rolled onto his stomach and she gently began to massage his shoulders. After awhile, she bagan to wish Reno would just fall asleep for awhile so she could get soem rest too... She was beginning to feel very tired. She silently prayed she wasn't coming down with whatever Reno had.
A sharp knock on the door finally gave Elena an excuse to stop rubbing Reno's back. She stood up and made her way to the door, opening it to reveal Tseng.
"Hello sir," she said, glad to finally have some company other than Reno.
"Good evening Elena... How's Reno?" he asked, eyes scanning the amazingly clean room - he'd never seen Reno's apartment in such order - before settling on the couch where Reno was stretched out looking rather smug... a look that quickly faded when he turned away from the television and noticed just who was at the door. Reno sunk into the cushions, somehow doubting that Tseng would be as easily fooled as Elena had been. "I see you're feeling better, Reno."
"Uh... A little, yeah..." he moaned.
"Cut the act, Reno..." Tseng replied. 'Damn...' thought Reno, 'Busted.'
"ACT?!" Elena shrieked, a murderous look in her eyes, "This was all an act?!" She grabbed the nearest object, which forunately for Reno happened to be a pillow, and flung it at him, nailing him in the face.
"Hey... I really *was* sick... this morning..." he protested.
"You... !" Elena yelled, as she tried to run at him, but Tseng's arms wrapped around her waist preventing her from reaching him. "Let me go sir... You have no idea what my day has been like... I'm going to kill him!"
"Calm down Elena," said Tseng, and after a moment the irrate woman stopped struggling.
Elena glared at Reno, suddenly not having the energy to do anything more. Yelling at him had only made her headache worse. She took some solace in the fact that Tseng currently had his arms wrapped around her waist, ignoring the fact that her eyes were slowly closing.
"Elena?" Tseng's voice prodded. She snapped to attention, suddenly realizing that she'd been leaning back against her leader.
"I-I'm sorry sir... I guess I'm just a little tired..." She felt herself being guided towards the couch... heard Tseng order Reno to move... and was set down on the soft cushions. A cool hand touched her forehead. 'Tseng!' she thought, somewhat overjoyed.
"She alright?" asked Reno.
"It would seem that she's come down with the same thing you had this morning..." Tseng replied, "And since she spent the day looking after you... and I hesitate to ask just what you've had her doing all day... it seems only fair that you should take care of her tomorrow."
"Me? But she probably won't even be sick by tomorrow morning... I was over this in a matter of hours!" Reno protested.
"You don't have a choice Reno... I'm ordering you to do it," Tseng replied, eyes narrowing into what was an almost sadistic smile, "Of course you could always wait for her to recover and take whatever punishment she decides to inflict on you... I'm not going to stop her from trying to kill you next time."
"Yes sir," Reno muttered, noting the smirk on Elena's face as she fell asleep on his couch. 'That's it... I'm never getting sick again.' he thought just imagining what was in store for him come tomorrow.
*~fin~*
by Desha
Note: This is my first attempt at FF7 fanfic... I hope I've done well... Please Review! :)
*~*~*~*~*~*
Tseng sighed, forcing himself not to roll his eyes, as Reno staggered into the office that morning. Rude glanced up briefly from the report he was writing but said nothing. The red-head's sunglasses, for once, were over his eyes rather than perched atop his head, and stray locks of fiery hair hung over his face.
"You're late," Tseng said simply. Reno swiped absently at one particularly annoying strand of hair, wincing both because of the annoyance that underlaid his leader's tone and because the throbbing in his temples seened to amplify Tseng's voice tenfold. 'Why didn't I just stay home this morning?' Reno thought, trying to ignore the splitting headache.
"I overslept," the younger Turk mumbled, and then promptly collapsed at Tseng's feet. 'I wonder why?' Tseng thought, sarcastically. He could just picture what Reno had been up to last night. Upon hearing the thud of Reno hitting the floor, Rude looked up again. Tseng just shook his head, as if to say 'I'll handle it'. Rude shrugged and went back to his report.
The idea of simply leaving Reno right where he was briefly entered Tseng's mind, but he quickly decided against it, imagining the image that such a scene would put forward to anyone who happened to come in. He frowned, bending down to move him somewhere out of sight where he could finish sleeping off what Tseng suspected to be the results of last night's barhopping, mentally rehersing the lecture he was going to give Reno when he woke up. He rolled Reno onto his back none to gently, intent on carrying him off to the corner behind his desk where any visitors would fail to notice him. It was then that Tseng noticed just how deathly pale his fellow-Turk really looked this morning. A night of heavy drinking wouldn't do that... not to Reno at any rate. Almost reflexively, he placed a hand to Reno's forehead, frowning again as he found it to be unusually warm.
Tseng lifted him from the floor, eliciting a soft groan from Reno, and set him down on the couch that sat against one wall of the office.
"Reno?" he ventured, wondering just how out of it the younger man was at the moment.. Reno shifted slightly and turned away from him, curling up on his side..
"I don't wanna go ta school..." came the muttered reply. Tseng shook him lightly and Reno's eyes slowly fluttered open as he turned back toward Tseng.
"Something wrong?" asked Rude from across the room. Tseng nodded. Just then, the door opened, admitting Elena.
"Good morning, sir," she said, smiling at Tseng, "Morning Rude..." Her smile faded slightly when she caught sight of Reno lying on the couch. "What happened to you?"
Reno managed to sit up just long enough to glare at her before falling back onto the cushions, panting softly from the effort. 'Damn, I should have just stayed in bed,' he thought.
"He's sick, Elena," Tseng replied for him, noting with some concern that Reno was shivering slightly. "Do us all a favor and take him home."
Elena beamed. 'He asked me to do him a favor... me!' she thought to herself.
"Y-yes sir." she replied, glancing at Reno's unfocused, fever-bright eyes and pale complexion, wondering just how she was supposed to get him to her car. Luckily, Tseng solved that dilemma for her, scooping Reno into his arms again and carrying him toward the door. Elena quickly followed.
Reno let his head hang limply over Tseng's arm, fascinated by the wall panels that seemed to be moving past him of their own accord. "Hey Tseng... The walls are moving..." He tried to lift his head, but that only made his splitting headache more noticable, and he closed his eyes.
"Just relaxed Reno... Elena's going to take you home to rest."
Reno managed a nod. By the time they reached Elena's car, Reno was asleep again, and still shivering. Tseng set him in the passenger's seat.
"It may not be a good idea to leave him alone... and since it doesn't look like we're going to be very busy today," said Tseng, closing the car door, "Would you mind staying with him?"
"Y-yes sir... I mean no, sir... I'd be happy to stay with him," she replied happily, smiling at the thought of Tseng asking her instead of just ordering her to take care of her fellow Turk. How could she say no to such a request... and from *Tseng* no less!
Tseng nodded and disappeared back into the Shinra building, leaving Elena to look after Reno. She climbed behind the wheel and started toward his apartment, sighing in resignation as Reno's limp form ended up pressed against her after every righthand turn. What was more, she soon noticed that he was drooling on her shoulder.
"Eeeeeww... You'd better appreciate this, Reno," she muttered with some disgust, reminding herself that she was doing this because Tseng had personally asked her to. At last she turned into the parking lot of Reno's apartment complex. Parking the car, she got out and walked around to the passenger side, opening the door.
"Come on... If you think I'm going to carry you up to your place, you've got another thing coming, mister," Elena said, poking Reno until his eyes opened.
Reno groaned, and dragged himself to his feet, almost immediatly stumbling as his head began to spin in protest. Elena grabbed hold of him before he could hit the ground. pulling his arm around her shoulders to support his weight. She'd always thought he looked almost painfully thin, but even with that in mind she was surprised by just how light he really was. She half-carried him into the building, making her way to the elevator and hitting the button for the fifth floor.
Reno let his head rest on Elena's shoulder, wanting nothing more than to find the nearest bed and fall asleep for a very long time. He nuzzled his cheek against Elena's shoulder, deciding that she made a rather nice pillow. A moment later, Elena was forced to support his full weight as his body went limp.
"Reno?!"
The only reply she recieved was a soft snore. She sighed and poked him hard in the ribs. Reno yelped.
"What'd ya do that for?" he asked sleepily, pouting as the elevator doors slid open.
"Just come on." She guided him out of the elevator and down the hall, stopping at Reno's door... and then realizing that she didn't have the keys. She quickly shifted Reno's weight and began searching his pockets.
"Heh... Never knew you cared..." Reno murmured as Elena finally located the keys in his back pocket.
"Shut up Reno," she muttered, trying to ignore that smirk that now graced his face. She inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, manuvering them both inside, looking around the apartment and shuddering. "God, Reno, you really are a slob"
The cold remnants of a pizza sat in an open pizza box on the couch. Clothes were strewn about in a trail leading from one room to the next. Dishes were piled in the sink in the small kitchenette, and the counter that separated it from the living room was littered with beer bottles and take-out wrappers... and she was relatively certain that she didn't even want to know why a pair of boxer shorts were slung over one of the blades of the ceiling fan... The bedroom was no better. She guided Reno to the bed, not wanting to look down at whatever the squishy object she'd just stepped on was. Elena dropped him into the rumpled blankets, wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to live like this... and then remmebered that this was Reno she was wondering about. Reno immediately pulled the blankets close, still shivering as he tried to bury himself under the covers.
Elena bit back a laugh at the sight of Reno tangled in the blankets, already half asleep, and tugged the shoes off his feet. She quickly untwisted him as much as he would let her, tucking him into bed as best she could. Then she made her way out of the room, not daring to look down at the floor.
"Ugh... This is disgusting," she said to herself as she picked her way through the living room, avoiding things that looked like gods-know-what might be living on them. She groaned, realizing that she have to clean the room a bit just to find a relatively sanitary place to sit down.
Walking into the kitchenette, she managed to find a roll of garbage bags stuffed underneath the sink. The beer bottles, wrappers, pizza, and countless other things that looked like that should have biohazard warnings on them went into the bag. She shoved the clothes that littered the floor into one massive pile in the corner just so wouldn't end up tripping over anything. Finally Elena sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV, deciding that if Reno wanted the rest of his filth cleaned up, he could do it himself.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Reno yawned and rubbed a hand over his eyes. 'Mmmm... How long have I been out?' he wondered, reaching a hand down alongside his bed to search for his alarm clock... finally finding it underneath a discarded tee-shirt. Three in the afternoon. He sat up, pleased to find that the splitting headache he'd had earlier had been reduced to little more than a dull ache. He stretched his arms over his head, working out the stiffness in his muscles from being in bed for the better part of the day. A sudden sound from the other room startled him, and instinctively, he slid his hand under one of the pillows, fingers curling around the gun he kept there just in case.
The door to his bedroom slowly crept open, and he laid back against the pillows prepared to surprise the intruder.
"Reno? You awake?" a familiar voice asked softly. Elena. Reno's hand released the gun.
"Yeah," he replied. Reno wondered if she'd been ordered to stay with him.
"Well it's about time. You've been asleep all day. Feeling better?"
He sunk farther back into the pillows. 'Heh... as long as she's here to take care of me, I might as well enjoy it...' he thought.
"A little," Reno said with a slightly exagerated moan.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Several hours later, Reno was stretched out on the couch in the living room, flipping through the television channels. He took a bite of the sandwich Elena had been kind enough to make for him, as he finally settled on the Chocobo Racing Network. A moment later, the door opened, and Elena entered, holding a bag of groceries.
"They were out of sour cream and onion chips but I got everything else you wanted, Reno," she said, setting the bag down on the now-spotless counter. Thus far Reno'd manged to get her to not only clean his apartment, but make him lunch, and do his shopping. He hadn't hand any luck convincing her that she should do his laundry for him as well, but all in all, he'd managed to make the most of having Elena around for the day. 'I oughtta get sick more often,' he mused silently.
"Thanks Elena," he replied in soft voice, hoping to keep her convinced that he still wasn't feeling his best. "Hey Elena? Could you come rub my back? Hmm?"
Elena inwardly groaned. She'd been waiting on Reno hand and foot all day. She was tired... She was cranky... and above all she was developing a terrible headache. 'Tseng asked me to look after him...' she repeated to herself for the hundredth time that day, as sighed and walked over to the couch. Reno happily rolled onto his stomach and she gently began to massage his shoulders. After awhile, she bagan to wish Reno would just fall asleep for awhile so she could get soem rest too... She was beginning to feel very tired. She silently prayed she wasn't coming down with whatever Reno had.
A sharp knock on the door finally gave Elena an excuse to stop rubbing Reno's back. She stood up and made her way to the door, opening it to reveal Tseng.
"Hello sir," she said, glad to finally have some company other than Reno.
"Good evening Elena... How's Reno?" he asked, eyes scanning the amazingly clean room - he'd never seen Reno's apartment in such order - before settling on the couch where Reno was stretched out looking rather smug... a look that quickly faded when he turned away from the television and noticed just who was at the door. Reno sunk into the cushions, somehow doubting that Tseng would be as easily fooled as Elena had been. "I see you're feeling better, Reno."
"Uh... A little, yeah..." he moaned.
"Cut the act, Reno..." Tseng replied. 'Damn...' thought Reno, 'Busted.'
"ACT?!" Elena shrieked, a murderous look in her eyes, "This was all an act?!" She grabbed the nearest object, which forunately for Reno happened to be a pillow, and flung it at him, nailing him in the face.
"Hey... I really *was* sick... this morning..." he protested.
"You... !" Elena yelled, as she tried to run at him, but Tseng's arms wrapped around her waist preventing her from reaching him. "Let me go sir... You have no idea what my day has been like... I'm going to kill him!"
"Calm down Elena," said Tseng, and after a moment the irrate woman stopped struggling.
Elena glared at Reno, suddenly not having the energy to do anything more. Yelling at him had only made her headache worse. She took some solace in the fact that Tseng currently had his arms wrapped around her waist, ignoring the fact that her eyes were slowly closing.
"Elena?" Tseng's voice prodded. She snapped to attention, suddenly realizing that she'd been leaning back against her leader.
"I-I'm sorry sir... I guess I'm just a little tired..." She felt herself being guided towards the couch... heard Tseng order Reno to move... and was set down on the soft cushions. A cool hand touched her forehead. 'Tseng!' she thought, somewhat overjoyed.
"She alright?" asked Reno.
"It would seem that she's come down with the same thing you had this morning..." Tseng replied, "And since she spent the day looking after you... and I hesitate to ask just what you've had her doing all day... it seems only fair that you should take care of her tomorrow."
"Me? But she probably won't even be sick by tomorrow morning... I was over this in a matter of hours!" Reno protested.
"You don't have a choice Reno... I'm ordering you to do it," Tseng replied, eyes narrowing into what was an almost sadistic smile, "Of course you could always wait for her to recover and take whatever punishment she decides to inflict on you... I'm not going to stop her from trying to kill you next time."
"Yes sir," Reno muttered, noting the smirk on Elena's face as she fell asleep on his couch. 'That's it... I'm never getting sick again.' he thought just imagining what was in store for him come tomorrow.
*~fin~*