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.
“Yeah, there was somethin’ actually. I need you,” Reno said rather cryptically at first before approaching his boss from behind and dropping his chin on the man’s shoulder. He tried to look at Tseng and grace him with puppy-dog eyes, it didn’t really work out too well for him, you needed to have big brown eyes for that sort of thing…but he succeeded in looking pathetic, “I need you to forget about Trinity for a moment. Knowing the prez the only thing he’ll really be interested in is if we catch him and humiliate him with extreme prejudice.”
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.
Reno took very little time to pack, just some clothing and basic toiletries-the hotel would provide the rest. He brought his Mag, of course, that was simply out of habit and though it was unlikely they’d run into trouble one could never be too careful. He was still a pro, first and foremost. As an afterthought he decided to grab his phone as well, not so much for business reasons, but the Gold Saucer was rather large and if he and Tseng got separated for some reason they could use the phones to meet up. Also for emergencies.
Stuffing all of his belongings into a duffle bag Reno headed out to the helicopter thinking about their destination. Sure the Gold Saucer was on another continent, but thinking about it distances wise is was probably about as far by copter as Bill’s Chocobo Ranch so they could be back in no time if needed. The world was a much smaller place when you were a Turk, nothing seemed out of reach.
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~”
There wasn’t too much talk during the ride; though Reno did try it was difficult to talk over the blades whirling over their heads. Most of the trip, which was moderately brief, was spent in a companionable silence with Reno making gestures every now and then just to keep up the momentum. He had to land the helicopter in Corel; there was no way he’d be able to take it up to the Golden Saucer as the only true means of getting up there was by way of a gondola ride.
“We’ll have to hike it from here…I’ll just make some arrangements with Mr. Coates and we should be ready to go,” Reno said with a certain amount of confidence. He seemed quite familiar with the underbelly of the world so he had no doubt that the helicopter would be taken care of during their weekend absence.
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.
“Hm?” Reno said craning his head away from the window so that he could look at Tseng instead. Reno looked at his boss with some mild surprise before reaching over to brush the other’s dark hair out of his eyes. Sensitivity wasn’t his specialty so he wasn’t sure if he could tell the other man what he wanted to hear, he could only tell him what he honestly thought, “well…not normally…no, but when your brooding then everyone knows there’s somethin’ on your mind,” Reno said with a grin before reaching for Tseng’s left hand tapping the man’s ring finger with his index finger, “you don’t have to tell me what the deal is with this finger…but I’m all ears if you just wanna get it off your chest.”
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.
Thank god Lazard didn't seem to have noticed, at least.
He started as Reno drew attention to his ring finger. He stared down at his own hands - until that moment, he hadn't even realized he was making the telling gesture.
With a sigh, he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, still not looking at Reno. "I'm sure...it will seem silly to you," he said awkwardly. "I don't even know why I can't get it off of my mind." He swallowed, completely unable to figure out how to put it into words.
"I suppose it's that... since I joined the community, the viruses...that is to say." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "First I thought I was in some kind of relationship with the Marquises. That they...wanted me as a part of their marriage. And then I thought I was married to Lazard."
But really I'm alone, he thought, and winced at how pathetic he sounded, even in his own mind.
Brooding was one thing, but seeing Tseng down in the dumps was another thing entirely. Maybe one of the functions of that community was to show others the “what ifs” about life, or so he assumed. Hey, Reno had a kid at one point, which was pretty traumatic…but he could understand to a certain extent how the other man could become attached. Some of these things seemed a little bit shocking too, Reno would never have children which wasn’t a problem since there was no family line. He was pretty much just a no one with even less to offer, that’s why he was perfect for this sort of lifestyle. It didn’t bother him at all, not really anyway, but Reno suppressed most things so it was hard to tell. Tseng had more depth so maybe these events had more impact.
“Sounds to me like you were really getting into the committed side of relationships…which is a little different from the occasional screw, huh?” Reno said with a hearty chuckle, referring to their own convenient relationship. He had to wonder if it was a relationship of convenience for Tseng, or if his boss was seriously thinking about looking for something more. Tapping his lips thoughtfully with his index finger he mused, “do you want ‘im? The Director I mean, I can’t see you being so worked up if it didn’t mean somethin’ to you even after the viruses are over…or is it something else?”
This was, of course, the problem. Tseng had never had a committed relationship before these viruses - had thought, like Reno, that such things weren't needed or wanted in his life. He preferred no strings, aware that his lifestyle didn't really lend itself to commitments.
Look at Zechs, for example. Anytime things went sideways, he was busy dealing with his own problems, while the other Turks could focus exclusively on their jobs. No attachments, that was best, and if Tseng needed to feel another's hands on his body, there was always Reno.
But what he had never realized before was how truly lonely it was. To have that kind of emotional connection snatched away like that had made him aware of a hole in his heart that he'd never even known was there.
His head jerked up and he gave an incredulous look to Reno. "No, no, I don't want Lazard - nor the Marquises, for that matter. It wouldn't work, at all." He ran a hand through his hair and slumped back in his seat. "There isn't anyone in particular, and besides I don't need or want attachments. I am busy enough without dealing with a...mate."
But even though he said it, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
“Yeah, there was somethin’ actually. I need you,” Reno said rather cryptically at first before approaching his boss from behind and dropping his chin on the man’s shoulder. He tried to look at Tseng and grace him with puppy-dog eyes, it didn’t really work out too well for him, you needed to have big brown eyes for that sort of thing…but he succeeded in looking pathetic, “I need you to forget about Trinity for a moment. Knowing the prez the only thing he’ll really be interested in is if we catch him and humiliate him with extreme prejudice.”
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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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Reno took very little time to pack, just some clothing and basic toiletries-the hotel would provide the rest. He brought his Mag, of course, that was simply out of habit and though it was unlikely they’d run into trouble one could never be too careful. He was still a pro, first and foremost. As an afterthought he decided to grab his phone as well, not so much for business reasons, but the Gold Saucer was rather large and if he and Tseng got separated for some reason they could use the phones to meet up. Also for emergencies.
Stuffing all of his belongings into a duffle bag Reno headed out to the helicopter thinking about their destination. Sure the Gold Saucer was on another continent, but thinking about it distances wise is was probably about as far by copter as Bill’s Chocobo Ranch so they could be back in no time if needed. The world was a much smaller place when you were a Turk, nothing seemed out of reach.
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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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There wasn’t too much talk during the ride; though Reno did try it was difficult to talk over the blades whirling over their heads. Most of the trip, which was moderately brief, was spent in a companionable silence with Reno making gestures every now and then just to keep up the momentum. He had to land the helicopter in Corel; there was no way he’d be able to take it up to the Golden Saucer as the only true means of getting up there was by way of a gondola ride.
“We’ll have to hike it from here…I’ll just make some arrangements with Mr. Coates and we should be ready to go,” Reno said with a certain amount of confidence. He seemed quite familiar with the underbelly of the world so he had no doubt that the helicopter would be taken care of during their weekend absence.
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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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“Hm?” Reno said craning his head away from the window so that he could look at Tseng instead. Reno looked at his boss with some mild surprise before reaching over to brush the other’s dark hair out of his eyes. Sensitivity wasn’t his specialty so he wasn’t sure if he could tell the other man what he wanted to hear, he could only tell him what he honestly thought, “well…not normally…no, but when your brooding then everyone knows there’s somethin’ on your mind,” Reno said with a grin before reaching for Tseng’s left hand tapping the man’s ring finger with his index finger, “you don’t have to tell me what the deal is with this finger…but I’m all ears if you just wanna get it off your chest.”
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Thank god Lazard didn't seem to have noticed, at least.
He started as Reno drew attention to his ring finger. He stared down at his own hands - until that moment, he hadn't even realized he was making the telling gesture.
With a sigh, he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, still not looking at Reno. "I'm sure...it will seem silly to you," he said awkwardly. "I don't even know why I can't get it off of my mind." He swallowed, completely unable to figure out how to put it into words.
"I suppose it's that... since I joined the community, the viruses...that is to say." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "First I thought I was in some kind of relationship with the Marquises. That they...wanted me as a part of their marriage. And then I thought I was married to Lazard."
But really I'm alone, he thought, and winced at how pathetic he sounded, even in his own mind.
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“Sounds to me like you were really getting into the committed side of relationships…which is a little different from the occasional screw, huh?” Reno said with a hearty chuckle, referring to their own convenient relationship. He had to wonder if it was a relationship of convenience for Tseng, or if his boss was seriously thinking about looking for something more. Tapping his lips thoughtfully with his index finger he mused, “do you want ‘im? The Director I mean, I can’t see you being so worked up if it didn’t mean somethin’ to you even after the viruses are over…or is it something else?”
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Look at Zechs, for example. Anytime things went sideways, he was busy dealing with his own problems, while the other Turks could focus exclusively on their jobs. No attachments, that was best, and if Tseng needed to feel another's hands on his body, there was always Reno.
But what he had never realized before was how truly lonely it was. To have that kind of emotional connection snatched away like that had made him aware of a hole in his heart that he'd never even known was there.
His head jerked up and he gave an incredulous look to Reno. "No, no, I don't want Lazard - nor the Marquises, for that matter. It wouldn't work, at all." He ran a hand through his hair and slumped back in his seat. "There isn't anyone in particular, and besides I don't need or want attachments. I am busy enough without dealing with a...mate."
But even though he said it, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
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