Disclaimer: Who wants to sing the 'FFVII Belongs to Squenix and Not Me' Song with me? Noone? Thought so.

Sakura-Angel: Now, this could very possibly stay a one-shot, but it has equal chances of becoming a multi-chapter, depending on how my brain decides to function. I had some ideas of where I could go with this, but I'm not exactly sure if I should go on, so if you read this, tell me your preference!

Overfamiliarity had killed something in him.

The lethal redhead sat hunched over his freshly opened bottle of vodka, loving - and then cursing - the familiar burning sensation in his throat. He sat on the smooth, slanted slab of stone that held up the glass of the window of the liquor store.

He was bored of it all. Even after Meteor, there was the same stench of waste flowing down the streets, the same grey overcast sky dotted with birds flying, trying to get away. The same palette of greys and browns in everything he saw, the same scandalized looks tossed his way when he dared to wear his navy blazer and tie. He was even getting sick of the weight of his gun in the holster on his hip and the slap of nightstick against his thigh when he walked. He was getting bored of the expectant long walks down dark, smoke-filled alleys to supposedly secret hideouts.

He needed something else. Something that was new and-

A voluptuous brunette pulled open the door to the liquor store and he looked up momentarily at her. The curve of her jaw and the swing of her earrings triggered something in his memory.

A challenge.

He left the bottle of vodka outside on the step and pulled open the door to the shop the second time that day and followed her in, interested. He caught another glimpse of her face. His hunch was confirmed.

Now, this was the kind of familiarity he needed.

It was none other than Tifa Lockheart.

He followed her down an aisle lined with fairly expensive liquor. She picked up a bottle of amber poison - scotch - and turned it in her hands so she could see the label, blinking her red-brown eyes.

This was gonna be fun. "Well, if it isn't Tifa Lockheart!" Reno exclaimed, feigning surprise. He slapped his hand down on her shoulder at the same time he let out his proclamation, taking her by total surprise. Which was his intention.

She gave a surprised gasp and was facing him in a second, bottle raised and positioned at his head already.

"H-hey, cool it," Reno's hand lifted from her shoulder instantly to signal that he didn't need to be knocked out right now and that he meant her no harm. It was just him, good ol' bad ol' Reno. "Calm down Lockheart, it's just me."

Every muscle in her body relaxed and she dropped her arms, but not the bottle, luckily. Her eyes instantly hardened once she saw the ex-Turk, seeing and talking to him meant instant irritation, she knew it. "Can't you just say hi like normal people?"

"I ain't normal people, babe."

"No, I suppose you're not. And don't call me that."

"What, 'babe'?" He grinned at her little kiddishly.

"That." She walked past him and out of the aisle to the counter.

"Tifa! How're you today? Since you've been such a good customer, I'll give it to ya."

"Oh no, I couldn't let you do that, here, let me--"

Reno came up beside her perkily and placed his hand on her shoulder again, despite what had happened last time. Luckily for him, she was too focused on the cashier.

"You aren't getting out of this, Teef, I'm giving it to ya and that's that," the nonchalant answer came.

"I feel guilty taking it from you, please just le-- Would you stop that?" She glared up at Reno, finally acknowledging him and the annoying way he tapped his fingers on her shoulder.

Her glaring solicited a smile from Reno and his smile grew even more when...

"He your boyfriend?" the gum chewing cashier pointed a finger at the extremely amused redhead.

"No!" Tifa said too quickly as she jolted her shoulder out from under Reno's hand. "I'm sorry about this," she said to the teenage cashier before pushing the door open and walking out brusquely, unintentionally knocking over Reno's vodka bottle at the same time.

Reno didn't even bat an eyelid over his lost liquor as caught up in this reunion, of sorts, as he was. "For future reference," he leaned over the counter at the befuddled employee, "I am," and he winked at the cashier before leaving himself, not wanting to give up the goose chase for all it was worth.

He was relieved to find that she was still on the same block as he was once he came out of the store. "Hey Tifa!" he thrust his hand in the air and weaved his way through the greys and browns to her, the only white.

"What," she snapped as he jogged up beside her.

"Aw, why do you have to look like that?" he spun on his heel to look her in the eye and started walking backwards. He made sure he had her attention, then did an intentional bad imitation of her frown.

She smiled thinly, closing her eyes and shaking her head. It seemed his light teasing had worked. "The way you acted was like... nothing happened."

He sobered up instantly and went back to walking at her side, accidentally bumping someone during his transition. "Sorry."

"To who?" her eyes were trained on the heels of the person in front of her.

"To the both of you," he looked at her looking at the sidewalk. "To that random lady and to you. But to you more, y'know, 'cause I don't really give a flying about her," he grinned in that little kiddish way again.

"Reno!" her tone was amused, yet she remprimanded him. "That was mean."

He shrugged. "It's true."

The hustle and bustle of cars on the street and people walking at hurried paces and the sound of children's play filled in the silence of their conversation, only to be broken again.

"I don't forgive you, you know."

Reno glanced at her briefly, it seemed his eyes couldn't get enough of her. "I know," and he shifted his hands in his pockets.

The conversation segued into another silence. Tifa kept staring at the sidewalk ahead of her and Reno kept staring at the grey sky.

"So," he revived the conversation again. "If 'babe' doesn't work, what does?" He tilted his head up even more and birds quickly flitted across his field of vision. His expression said he was pretending to think and trying not to crash into anyone at the same time. "Sugar? Snookums? Loooooove bucket?"

She allowed herself a small grin at his charming lack of maturity and shook her head, amused. "Tifa will do, Reno, Tifa will do."