Reno hadn’t been quite himself these past several days either, not since the worst fear virus. It seemed to dig up certain feelings that, since becoming a Turk; he pushed down so deep that he forgot he even possessed them. It also made him think about things he’d rather not dwell too hard on, such as being necessary…which was stupid really as he was obviously more necessary that someone like Michael Trinity and of course he’d been around the longest…well apart from Tseng. He couldn’t help wondering if he wasn’t just trying to convince himself now
( ... )
Tseng jumped and turned when he heard the knock, cursing inwardly. It was very unusual for him to be caught unawares, and it only illustrated how distracted and preoccupied he was.
He looked at Reno standing in the doorway, and moved back to his desk, shuffling through the papers to put them back into order.
"No, I was just working on my report to the President," he said distractedly. "About Trinity's termination. Did you need something, Reno?"
He looked up and peered at the redhead with a bit of suspicion, borne largely from his feeling that Reno had probably caught him at something he would have rather he not see - brooding.
Reno had every intention of getting Tseng out of this office and into some fresh air, or someplace grungy, whichever came first. He was even presentable today and he’d put on cologne too, not the cheap stuff he normally got, Rufus no longer tolerated the stuff in their shared space-it offended his sensibilities. The president seemed to be taking a greater interest in the redhead's overall taste and to some degree tried to instill a bit of his own within the Turk. Reno was mildly cooperative, he didn’t mind certain things, but there was one thing he wouldn’t bend on and that was his sense of style
( ... )
Tseng blinked when Reno dropped his chin onto his shoulder. He craned his neck to look at him, and caught a glimpse of the puppy eyes. They were effective enough, even with Reno's colouring.
He shuffled the papers a little bit again. "I know it's not terribly urgent, but Rufus did ask me to give him a report," he said stubbornly.
"However." He shoved the papers into a folder. "It doesn't have to be done tonight, I suppose. If you need something."
“I do need something!” Reno said enthusiastically, though he was pretty sure Tseng was referring to something brief and worth his time. What Reno had in mind was probably not going to be brief…in fact it was a day and night trip…and maybe another day and night depending on how they felt the next day, “I need you to come with me to the Gold Saucer!”
Reno reached around Tseng and pried the folders from his fingers and setting them down on the other’s desk, “I know it’s kind of a short notice thing…and spontaneous…I know how you like to have things all planned out an’ stuff…but you need some kind of excitement…you’ve been tinkering around in here for a while. I think you’re going to rot…so say yes!”
Tseng got to his feet, pulling out of Reno's grasp and turning to face the redhead. "Gold Saucer? Why, is something wrong there?"
Yes, he'd completely missed the point. But a field mission sounded like a good idea - Reno was right, he'd been stuck in his office, perhaps, for too long. Other than the Halloween party, which he hadn't attended for very long, he hadn't really gone anywhere in a while.
Reno couldn’t help looking a little dumbstruck and had he not been expecting something like this he probably would have thought his boss had lost his mind. Bowing his head the redheaded Turk chuckled softly to himself before raising both hands and putting them on Tseng’s shoulders, “yeah something is wrong there, the Gold Saucer is short a couple of Turks…one who consequently has a lifetime pass…and plenty of GP and BP…” Reno flashed his boss a grin, “but if you want to look at it as training instead of a few days of fun we could do that too.”
Tseng looked for a moment like he hadn't ever heard the word 'fun' before. "You want to go...with me, just for fun?"
He looked down at his desk, frowning, wavering. This was silly. He didn't need a vacation. Reno was just being...his usual self. And Zack might need him close by, or Rufus might run into trouble.
But Reno would probably bother him until he agreed.
"All right...but I'm taking my PHS," he said, scooping the phone up and shoving it into his pocket. "In case something happens."
“Yeah,” Reno said insistently encouraged by the direction this conversation was going in, “fun with me…we could shoot the UFO, ride the Chocobos…or bet on them, watch the plays, ride the gondola or chill out at the hotel.”
From where Reno was standing Tseng was in desperate need of a vacation, if the concept of fun was foreign to him then his boss was just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. When Tseng seemed to agree to Reno’s proposal there was a hint of relief on the redhead’s face. Of course he couldn’t convince the other not to bring his PHS…that was probably asking a bit much, he was able to rope him into going on this little trip and that was more than Reno had expected.
“Gotcha, well I’m going to throw some things into a suitcase,” he meant this quite literally, “and then I’ll get a helicopter up and running. We can be out of here in less than an hour.”
Tseng felt a momentary panic hit him. An hour? He couldn't possibly be ready to go in an hour. He had to inform Rufus - ask permission, really - and go pack. He had to make some kind of arrangements for his job to be done in his absence, since he and Reno were really the two top Turks at the moment.
But something - perhaps some part of himself that knew he was indeed a bit of a ticking time-bomb - made him nod.
"I'll go pack."
Perhaps he just wouldn't tell Rufus he was on vacation. He was only a phone call away, anyway. Or maybe just send him an email once he was in the air. And maybe he wouldn't actually use the word 'vacation'...
He strode quickly out of the office, already making a mental list of what to bring.
Of course there was a reason Reno spared Tseng so little time to get ready and join him at the helicopter. If he gave his boss too much time to prepare himself then he might start to rationalize and rethink the whole trip-that was one possibility anyway. Of course Tseng could always blame him latter if they suffered repercussions from the trip, but he wasn’t one to think that far ahead into the future even though he could. Right now he was trying to be…well…nice. Can’t be a dick and a jokester all the time
( ... )
Tseng was a bit at a loss when he reached his room and stared into his closet. After a few moments, he pulled out a suitcase and packed a pair of jeans and a sweater, folding them carefully. He put an extra box of bullets in the suitcase out of habit, and some toiletries.
Then he paused, staring at himself in the mirror.
He checked his watch, glanced at the closet again, then quickly pulled off his tie and hung it up.
By the time he walked over towards the helicopter, he was wearing his jeans and a crisp golf-style shirt. His hair was down, and it whipped around his face in the wind. He climbed into the helicopter and sat down beside Reno, not quite looking at him. "Okay, I'm ready."
He definitely anticipated some kind of remark about his clothing.
Reno wouldn’t say it out loud, but he took a certain amount of pleasure in seeing his boss in more casual wear with his hair down. It was actually refreshing, like seeing an entirely different person even though he wasn’t really a different person. He’d probably hold on to a lot of his reserves throughout the whole trip, but that didn’t matter. He reached over and toyed with the collar of Tseng’s shirt, everything so neat and so pressed he just wanted to mess the man up sometimes…just to see if he could, “reminds me of that time at the bar, remember? Still so tidy…alright let’s go
( ... )
Tseng had his own level of familiarity with the underworld - as a Turk, one had to cultivate such contacts - but he knew he wasn't nearly so friendly with them as Reno was. He stayed in the background while Reno negotiated, letting people draw their own conclusions about his presence there and trying not to look disapproving.
Soon they sat in the gondola, making their way high over the desert towards the flashy gaming pavilion.
He was trying not to feel...itchy. The ride over in the helicopter had given him more time to think - well, brood - and not being able to talk to Reno hadn't helped keep him distracted.
"Am I really so transparent?" he asked suddenly, without quite realizing he was going to speak aloud.
On the gondola ride up to the Gold Saucer, Reno took a seat beside Tseng, his arms draped over the back of the padded booth. Fortunately they were the only people around, which was a good thing in terms of privacy. He knew Tseng guarded his privacy well, even when the redheaded Turk took measures to violate this sanctity often and with purpose. Still, there were things that even his boss was horrible at hiding, and when he was brooding it made the other man’s worries all the more obvious-even to someone like Reno
( ... )
Tseng's eyes widened faintly at the unexpected - and affectionate - gesture as Reno brushed his hair back. His eyes cut away with sudden vulnerability as he felt a pain in his chest. This was ridiculous. He shouldn't be letting this bother him. It was all fake, and it was obviously affecting his job if people like Zechs and Reno had noticed
( ... )
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He looked at Reno standing in the doorway, and moved back to his desk, shuffling through the papers to put them back into order.
"No, I was just working on my report to the President," he said distractedly. "About Trinity's termination. Did you need something, Reno?"
He looked up and peered at the redhead with a bit of suspicion, borne largely from his feeling that Reno had probably caught him at something he would have rather he not see - brooding.
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He shuffled the papers a little bit again. "I know it's not terribly urgent, but Rufus did ask me to give him a report," he said stubbornly.
"However." He shoved the papers into a folder. "It doesn't have to be done tonight, I suppose. If you need something."
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Reno reached around Tseng and pried the folders from his fingers and setting them down on the other’s desk, “I know it’s kind of a short notice thing…and spontaneous…I know how you like to have things all planned out an’ stuff…but you need some kind of excitement…you’ve been tinkering around in here for a while. I think you’re going to rot…so say yes!”
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Yes, he'd completely missed the point. But a field mission sounded like a good idea - Reno was right, he'd been stuck in his office, perhaps, for too long. Other than the Halloween party, which he hadn't attended for very long, he hadn't really gone anywhere in a while.
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He looked down at his desk, frowning, wavering. This was silly. He didn't need a vacation. Reno was just being...his usual self. And Zack might need him close by, or Rufus might run into trouble.
But Reno would probably bother him until he agreed.
"All right...but I'm taking my PHS," he said, scooping the phone up and shoving it into his pocket. "In case something happens."
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From where Reno was standing Tseng was in desperate need of a vacation, if the concept of fun was foreign to him then his boss was just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. When Tseng seemed to agree to Reno’s proposal there was a hint of relief on the redhead’s face. Of course he couldn’t convince the other not to bring his PHS…that was probably asking a bit much, he was able to rope him into going on this little trip and that was more than Reno had expected.
“Gotcha, well I’m going to throw some things into a suitcase,” he meant this quite literally, “and then I’ll get a helicopter up and running. We can be out of here in less than an hour.”
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But something - perhaps some part of himself that knew he was indeed a bit of a ticking time-bomb - made him nod.
"I'll go pack."
Perhaps he just wouldn't tell Rufus he was on vacation. He was only a phone call away, anyway. Or maybe just send him an email once he was in the air. And maybe he wouldn't actually use the word 'vacation'...
He strode quickly out of the office, already making a mental list of what to bring.
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Then he paused, staring at himself in the mirror.
He checked his watch, glanced at the closet again, then quickly pulled off his tie and hung it up.
By the time he walked over towards the helicopter, he was wearing his jeans and a crisp golf-style shirt. His hair was down, and it whipped around his face in the wind. He climbed into the helicopter and sat down beside Reno, not quite looking at him. "Okay, I'm ready."
He definitely anticipated some kind of remark about his clothing.
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Soon they sat in the gondola, making their way high over the desert towards the flashy gaming pavilion.
He was trying not to feel...itchy. The ride over in the helicopter had given him more time to think - well, brood - and not being able to talk to Reno hadn't helped keep him distracted.
"Am I really so transparent?" he asked suddenly, without quite realizing he was going to speak aloud.
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