A/N: I have returned...to Reno/ Yuffie! This one shot is the product of Wilco's I'm Trying to Break Your Heart and my computer programming (nerdy) boyfriend whi si great at simplifying his loving rants concerning his (nerdy) craft for me. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Reno and Yuffie are property of Square-Enix. Everything else is mine.
Recursion:
the process a procedure goes through when one of the steps of the procedure involves rerunning the entire same procedure (i.e. When two mirrors are pointed towards each other, the repeating images that occur are a form of recursion.)
i.
Reno was tired of Yuffie's antics: stolen materia and boxer underwear. The only-drink-on-the-weekends and if-you-eat-off-it-you-clean-it-rules; they wore thin on a man.
He ended it, plain and simple: waited for the clank of dropped keys and the rustles of a coat. Stood up and told her like a man: it was over, it was done, and that Elena would grab his stuff on the way to work tomorrow morning.
He was impressed that she didn't cry, didn't beg. Her lips moved and she said something, but he had already walked out of the building into the big city that swallowed him whole.
She said something and smiled: at least he'd never know.
ii.
Reno stumbled into the bar, blind with self-pity and filled with longing. He'd washed away the dirt of the previous mission, and cursed when he found that the bar in which he sought solace was filled with the echoes of noise that dipped in shot glasses and swirled in amber liquid.
She was there too, he saw: the ninja girl with short hair. She was probably wearing boxers for underwear, and she sat next to a guy.
He requested a strong bottle of whiskey.
She was flirting, plain and simple: waiting on a dip of a voice and a suggestive comment. Bust out and fluttering her eyelashes like a vixen: the date was over, it was done, and she'd be cooking this man breakfast after a long night tomorrow morning.
The guy was staring at her chest and she was staring at his eyes and Reno was staring at them both and said something important, but Yuffie didn't hear because she didn't know he was there.
Reno said something and smiled: she was looking at the guy's eyes and he was looking at her chest and what Reno had said was something Yuffie probably already knew.
iii.
He showed up at her doorstep months later, sopping wet and stupefied. He grinned and her face contorted in disgust.
You're drunk, she told him.
You're right, he replied.
He kissed her and she let him, and they fell passionately back into what used to be their, but was now her, apartment.
We can't, she begged him.
We can, he soothed.
He took her hands and she let him, and he carried her into what used to be their, but was now her, bedroom.
I hate you, she said.
I know, he sighed.
He removed her shirt and she let him. She unbuttoned his pants and he let her. They were breaking their hearts and they let them, and the big city swallowed them whole in the night.
iv.
He woke up and stared at the angles of her cheekbones before getting up to shower.
She woke up and watched the steam creep from the crack of the bathroom door before getting up to cook breakfast.
You've changed the curtains, he told her.
You're right, she replied.
She handed him a plate of eggs unceremoniously and he let her.
Be out by eleven, she begged him.
Of course, he soothed.
She reminded him that the cleaning lady wouldn't tolerate cigarette ash and he let her.
This is goodbye, she said.
I know, he sighed.
She went to her room and locked the door, plain and simple: waited for the clank of a dropped plate and the rustles of a coat. Head down and slumped against the wall: it was over, it was done, and the cleaning lady would pick up the pieces of the lamp they broke this morning.
She said something, but he had already walked out of the building and into the big city that swallowed him whole.
She said something and panicked: he might have heard her on the way out to the door.
v.
She called him on the phone and he let it go to the answering machine.
I know you're there, Reno, she told him.
I know, he replied.
He stared at the phone, refusing to pick it up, and she let him.
We can't, she begged him.
He picked up the phone and she let him, sighing at the sound of his voice.
We can, he soothed.
She paused.
I love you, she said.
I know, he sighed.
He asked her if she would like to come over for dinner and she let him. She reminded him he had nothing in his house to feed either one of them, and he let her. They weren't sure what they were doing now, but they let them.
vi.
She arrived and he handed her a hunk of cheese and bread. They ate it, plain and simple: waited for a clank in their stomachs and the rustles of their bodies trying to work out stale cheese. Grinning like mad and leaning into each other: it was done, it was over, and they'd probably be having the same thing for breakfast tomorrow morning.
She said she wanted to marry him and he promised that he'd do more than stare at her chest and they walked into each other, with each other, ignoring a city that blinked before swallowing them whole.
- End -
"Disposable dixie cup drinker;
I assassin down the avenue.
I've been hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you."
Wilco's "I'm Trying to Break Your Heart"
A/N: As always, please review!