A Little R&R Ch. 03

"Next we'll be sharing an office," Reno muttered, staring intently at his shoe. Tseng cleared his throat and pushed a stapled packet of papers across his desk toward his fuming subordinate.

"Since I already have you irritated, I shall move on to your review. It stands the same as before, so I'm sure you already know what is inside. You are nearly three weeks behind in signing it, so I would thank you to put the correct date instead of today's date." Reno flipped through the reports and skimmed them. Tseng continued, "Reno, your performance in the field has been exemplary. If only we could get you to do the same outside of a crisis situation, you could be in line for my job."

"Wouldn't want t'take that from Elena."

"Yes... speaking of Elena," Tseng purported, handing Reno a pen, "those were especially suggestive photos. How did you get them?"

"Does it matter how I got them?" Reno signed the packet with the day's date and handed it back to Tseng. Tseng took the packet, displeasure touching his eyes as he caught the date. "All that matters is the Third Division didn't happen upon them. Besides, they got to their intended owner."

"Intended owner?"

"Haven't been paying attention? Elena likes you. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. She had me take those pictures as a birthday gift. Told me to destroy them but I knew she'd change her mind."

"Birthday gift?" Tseng blushed into the roots of his hair.

"Yea. So what else did you have for me today? I'm in a bit of a rush."

Tseng cleared his throat and pulled a large brown envelope out of his desk drawer, tossing it into Reno's lap. Reno flashed a look toward Tseng who was returning to his normal coloring. He peered inside the envelope as Tseng continued.

"We found a number of... oddities... in your room while we were working. We packed them into the envelope after Third Division completed testing. Would you mind explaining them to me?"

Reno raised an eyebrow and turned the envelope over in his lap. He picked up three pairs of ladies underwear and dropped them back into the envelope with a grin.

"Thanks. I've been looking for those. They were worried someone was going to find them. We weren't quite sure where we had left them." Tseng's face was priceless as Reno continued with the photographs. There were several pictures of women in various states of undress with their faces conveniently cropped out. He tucked them into the envelope. If those weren't self-explanatory, he pitied Tseng. The clearing of Tseng's throat told him an explanation was necessary. Reno laughed and shook his head.

"They're pictures of women. You really need to get out more."

"I know that. What I want to know is who they are," Tseng blustered.

"Eh, now, I can't give you that, can I? There's a reason I didn't put their faces in them."

"Were they company employees or outside women?"

Reno picked through the remaining objects in his lap, ignoring the question. Tseng sighed and shifted in his seat.

"I guess it doesn't matter now. Rude would never allow something like this to go on in his room, so I don't have to play at disciplining you. However, we did find a few more images that raised questions. They're in that envelope."

Reno's eyes dropped to his lap. He picked up the sealed envelope, tore the end open, and dumped the pictures out into his hand. The first image was a picture of Rufus in pajamas, coddling a teddy bear. That was a picture he had snapped while on guard duty at the Shinra Mansion. Part of his patrol was to check in on the sleeping President. It was too priceless not to take. Reno smirked and tucked it back inside the envelope. The second image was of Tseng browsing porn on his computer during office hours. The image on the monitor was relatively clear, and although you couldn't see it, his pants had been open. Reno smiled and flicked the image back across the desk, pegging his subject in the head.

The third was of Rude. It had been Reno's favorite, showing wear around the corners where he had fingered it at night. He was lying flat on his back, the corner of the sheet draped across his middle barely covering necessary areas, one arm folded over his forehead. Rude slept that way a lot in the summer when the rooms were intolerably hot. Reno could almost see where the sweat beaded across his skin. He wanted to lick the ink penned under Rude's skin. Reno dropped the picture into the envelope with the one of Rufus before he got himself into more trouble. Fanning the other four images, he glanced over them before dropping them into the packet.

"So what do you want to know?"

"What is the purpose of these images?" Tseng leaned across his desk, his eyes calm and questioning. That was something Reno had always disliked was how dead Tseng's eyes could be. He couldn't get a read on him. Reno shivered involuntarily, remembering the same words from Rude's lips two nights before. He tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket and grinned.

"Something fun for the company newsletter, yo."

"Reno, you can't possibly be serious. How did you get these images?"

"Most of them I snapped with a camera. Granted yours took a bit of work, but it was worth it." He gathered the rest of the items and dropped them into the ripped brown corrugate.

"Do you mean to tell me you have ways of getting into the walls? That picture came from the wall behind my desk, Reno."

"Nah, I just have ways of being invisible."

"I want to know how you got them."

"I just told you." Reno stood from the chair and dropped his stash back into Tseng's desk. "I have something to do for the President." He trod to the door and opened it, pausing just before exiting. "I'm not going to be at the meeting this afternoon. The President has other plans for me. Oh, and I cleaned my office, yo," he stated, giving Tseng a moment before shutting the door behind him.

That had been an experience he didn't want to revisit any time soon. His review had been typical, telling him he screwed off too much, but his tasks were always completed on time. He had never missed a shift, but he was usually late. No smoking in the building; no stopping the elevators between floors to have gratuitous sex; no hidden cameras in the new recruit dorms, male or female; his lack of office cleanliness; dress code means zipping the jacket, buttoning the shirt and wearing a tie; the usual. Tseng seemed to love watching him wriggle like a worm on a hook, and this was obviously some sort of tactic to drag information out of him. He pulled the envelope from President Shinra out of his pocket and the paper from the inside.

Reno:

I need you to swing by the factory in Junon and pick up your new uniforms. Since we have new recruits and the old uniforms were in need of replacing, I took the liberty of ordering more. Enclosed is a packing list. You'll need to take a helicopter. I have everything cleared already for you.

Rufus

Reno traded the top sheet to the back of the stack and perused the list, nearly swallowing his tongue as he read. He was due to pick up nearly 100 total boxes containing several hundred pieces. How many new recruits were they getting? Reno folded the list and tucked it back inside his jacket as he headed for the garage. He checked his watch. One o'clock. This was going to take more time than he had expected.

~*~*~*~*~

Reno touched the helicopter down on the building roof and shut it down. Going through the access door and down the steel steps, he looked around at the stock lining shelves in bags, boxes, and hanging carts. Reno turned around the corner and opened the door leading from the stockroom to the offices. The secretary looked up at him, startled slightly. He pulled out the packing slip and handed it to her.

"I'm here from the Shinra Company to pick up our new uniforms." She took the list and looked it over as she picked up the telephone.

"Someone is here from Shinra to pick up their order. He's on the roof." She paused for a moment, listening to the person on the other end. "Yes, I'll tell him. Thank you." She hung up the telephone and eyed Reno up and down. "They really weren't kidding when they put a rush on this order. You look terrible. He said to have a seat and they would load everything and let you know when it was finished."

"I'll look around while I'm here. I'll be back," he prattled at her, heading down the stairs and out through the employee entrance. He picked over the store racks on his way through, hoping to spy anything tolerable. Finding nothing, he hit the street.

Leather was calling his name and he heeded, nudging the door open and stepping inside, eyes lighting nearly immediately on the object of his quest. He flipped through the rack, grabbed his size and threw it over his arm. Next he went looking for his shirt. The one he was looking for was a type of muscle shirt. The material was slick, looked wet, and begged to be touched. If it was one thing he needed tonight, it was to be touched. He needed something that would take his mind off of Rude and everything that had happened over the last two days. He would go out, get himself properly buzzed, and dance until he couldn't stand up anymore with anyone who was willing. He wandered through the racks, touching one thing and another until his fingers touched that familiar texture. He snagged it from the rack and headed to the fitting room.

Stripping quickly, he donned the new garments and checked himself in the mirror. If this wasn't enough to make someone drool, he didn't know what would. There might not be much to him, but given the right clothing he had definition. He dressed again and skipped to the front, dropping his purchase on the counter. The cashier snapped her gum and looked up at him with cow-like eyes. Not a word was uttered between them as he paid and took the bag from her hand. He didn't care that it had cost him half a fortune to get, he looked damned good. There was no way he was going home alone tonight. His brow furrowed. Alright, so he would most likely be going home with someone else. Either way it went, he wouldn't be spending tonight alone and he could give Rude some space.

He stopped by another shop and picked up lunch before heading back to the outfitters. He noted a few people sitting around eating and chatting and he ordered something quick and cheap, with any form of alcoholic beverage. The waitress looked at him strangely before heading back to the kitchen to put in his order.

People watching had been a favorite pastime of Reno's for several years. He enjoyed observing the way they interacted with one another throughout the course of the day. One could learn a lot from watching others. His eyes roved those assembled, examining each individual as they ate and chatted with one another. A little girl begged her mother for dessert after her lunch. Two old men sat in the corner talking about the weather and smoking their pipes. A young woman sat alone drinking coffee and reading a novel. The room itself was dimly lit and comfortable.

The waitress placed his food in front of him with a smile and went to check on the other patrons. Reno watched her as she bustled away and poked at his food. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry or even that the food was bad, he just had too much on his mind. He took a bite out of his sandwich and mulled over what he was going to do. It wasn't like there was much he really could do as far as Rude was concerned except sit back and wait for his conclusion on the whole thing. He wasn't gay and really didn't seem to entertain ideas of wanting any kind of a relationship. He didn't complain about the sex, but no man in his right mind complained about sex. The problem came down to Reno wanting a relationship and Rude not even sure if he wanted sex. He needed to suck it up and continue on until someone made up their mind.

He would go out to the club tonight, drink, dance and have a good time, and see who he could pick up and not worry about it anymore for one night. Lose himself in music and drink and, if he was lucky, another warm body.

All of that wasn't happening, though, if he didn't get these uniforms back to Rufus by five. He downed the rest of his sandwich and drink, leaving a tip on the table.

~*~*~*~*~

"Well done, Reno. I'll have someone from receiving unload the uniforms. Yours and Rude's will be delivered to your room. You should have them by tomorrow morning. I am assuming you will be in full uniform tomorrow?"

"I'll be in uniform just like I am every other day."

"How about if I make it worth your while, Reno?" Rufus smiled, raising his eyebrows with the proposition. Reno quirked.

"I'm listening."

"You will be in full uniform all day tomorrow. Complete with belt, tie, and tucked buttoned shirt."

"And what do I get out of this?"

"Remember that check I wrote you three months ago?"

"Yea." He had just cashed it today.

"I'll write another one."

Reno raised his eyebrow and smirked.

"You have a bet, don't you?"

"With Tseng."

"Mister President, you have a deal."

Reno strolled out of the office with another check, this time for three hundred gil. Reno assumed the President was going to make more money off of the wager than what he had been paid, but it would be worth it just to see everyone's faces when he showed up for work tomorrow. Granted, it was a one time thing, but he wasn't above being bribed. He headed back to Rude's room to relax a bit before changing for the club.