A Little R&R Ch. 03b

Rude made for a quick morning, his shower and breakfast in record time. He was anxious to take a peek into a new issue of Midgar Scribe, a local rag that published obscure works. It had originated as evidence in a case long ago, but after a thorough examination he found it to be most stimulating. Reno waltzed in, his timing impeccable as Rude sat ensconced in a rather intriguing plot.

"Jesus, Rude, that can't be all that fascinating." Reno taunted, his lips brushing the piercings in Rude's ear. Rude snapped the magazine closed.

"Alright, you have my full undivided attention."

"No, really... what were you... reading? Yea, not reading... What were you looking at?"

"It's not polite to read over someone else's shoulder... let alone torment them about it."

"What's wrong with trashy romance?"

"Nothing, moving on."

"Are you sure it wasn't a girly magazine?" he hassled, hanging on Rude as his hair dripped a bit onto Rude's trouser leg. The bald man elbowed him away, irritated.

"No. Quiddit... If you must know, it's just a collaborative circular... there are many stories in it."

He hadn't intended on being snippy today, but the jovial teasing and the potential thought of word leaking out he had a paid subscription to this was not exactly something he wanted to defend from validation. Reno steered himself clear, picking the chair in the far corner, a wise move in his mind for the moment.

"At least it got a rise out of you," his banter matching the volume of his voice. Rude rolled up the parchment, tucking it inside his jacket. There was something bothering him, and his partner's typical razzing was only expediting it to the surface.

"Typical sentiment for you... getting a rise out of anything seems to be your major goal in life," He snorted.

"I've pushed your buttons hundreds of times. Never seemed to bother you before." He knew Reno was looking for a break in his overcast mood, but he wasn't even sure where it stemmed from to begin with.

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Rude reached for the TV remote and emphatically pushed the TV button to turn it on. His attitude was getting unruly. Thinking it best to drown out the quiet with something, he tuned into the chipper infomercial as the screened warmed up.

"Offer still stands, Rude. We can forget the whole thing."

It was an easy cop-out. Just say the magic word and everything would be back to normal. What did he think this was? A fairytale?? He tuned back to the tube, watching sharp knives slice through tin cans. After a few moments, he could feel holes being bored into this head, Reno was still anticipating an answer.

Harrumph.

Reno sighed. "Say the words. S'all it'll take."

"Why you so eager for me to drop it?" the infomercial losing its entire draw, he flipped to the channel listings to find something else.

"You just don't seem very.... interested. Who the hell am I to force the issue?"

"Do I have to be 24 hours a day? Let a man breathe..." he picked a channel at random, landing on a twenty-four hour news cast.

"And when I try that, you tell me I'm running away."

"Because you DO run away," Rude forewarned, his head snapping to Reno's direction.

"I'm not running now."

"Oh my!! You mean you don't want to go back in the closet?" he mocked, bringing both hands to the side of his face. His kettle was whistling, a sure sign for both of them to drop the subject.

"Isn't it you who's in the closet?" he retorted. Of all the things for him to bring up, it had to be the low card. Rude ground his jaw, knowing full well he needed to proceed carefully.

"...put you on a hanger..."

"You didn't seem to want me to stay in the closet. I have other places I can go, Rude. If you want me to clear out for awhile, I will. I'm not kidding."

"Look... I don't want you burying yourself under your desk; I don't want you sleeping in the garage... all I wanted to do was come in here," he paused slightly as he pulled out his rolled-up magazine, "and do a bit of reading before we gotta go for our shift, alright?"

"Yea, alright."

"Thank you." He was tired of the redhead's antics; they were running him in circles. Reno was just going to have to buck up and wait for him to come back around. It only took a few seconds for his lit fuse to burn out. "...and I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just a bit tired today..." wanting some semblance of normalcy to return, they still had the whole day before them.

"S'arright."

Deciding he was going to be allowed some peace, Rude opened back up his magazine, thumbing back through the pages to find where he had left off. He knew by Reno's deliberate avoidance of contact that he was offering the space he needed, but he wasn't about to get all chummy again, not with the winner of a mood he had settled into.

~~~~

Thank God Tuesday started early. After the weekend he just survived, Rude was about ready to congratulate Rufus Shinra for being such a tightwad. Nothing like a full day to clear the mind he mused. As he made his way from the common room to his office, he made sure to steer clear of the gathering circle of chatter already concentrating at the water cooler. Two notes had already been tacked to his message board, one was from HR requesting an update, and the other was from Tseng.

See me.

Rude let slip a dry laugh as he swiped his pass card for his room. It amused him to no end how vague his colleagues could be. Do I need a pen? How's about some paper? He mocked internally, spinning the lone receiver about on his desk. No flashes, no messages. He knew if it was urgent that they would page first, but it never hurt to double check. He grabbed his set of car keys from a top drawer, then headed out to his supervisor's.

Tseng had not had a good weekend, after the fiasco that was the decontamination of Reno's room, he still looked a bit green. Rude announced his presence by clearing his throat. Tseng, already neck deep in paperwork, waved with one hand as he continued to handle the receiver. He was nodding as he made notes madly across a mostly full notice, his face stern in concentration. Rude passed the doorframe and leaned himself up against the wall. It took Tseng only a moment to finish with his conversation, which seemed an odd term to describe it, because he hung up on who ever it was wordlessly.

"I need you to supervise Elena as she shows the new trainees the protocol for Sector 5, and then in the firing range." This was the first time Tseng had looked at him the entire conversation. It was also the first time he thought he had ever seen the man blush. He had counted on some wild rumors surfacing today, but he had second guessed that Tseng would have joined in such charades. Tseng cleared his throat in a manner not quite as arrogant as he intended.

"There will be no need for patrol this morning. The new recruits will be taking command over that." He paused. Tseng's eyes shifted back to the papers before him as his mouth hung partially open, poised and ready to make a statement. Rude shifted his weight and crossed his arms. The gesture was enough to snap his senior back to the present, the dark haired Turk blinking once as he returned cold eyes to Rude.

"You're dismissed. She will be expecting you in the secondary conference room." He made to resume typing as Rude removed himself from the room. Just at the edge of earshot, he heard Tseng calling back for him.

"You didn't..." his eyes squinted as he tilted his head just slightly off center, in deep consideration. "You didn't really kill Reno... did you?" Rude could only raise his eyebrows and jerk his head. He had bought into it! How entertaining to think all mighty Tseng was just another chatterbox. The corner of his mouth cracked a smile.

"Never mind. You might have done us a favor." Tseng resumed himself to the keyboard.

On his way to the conference room, Rude found that he didn't have to make much effort in avoid the swarms of Shin-Ra employees. It seemed, however, that they were making a wide enough birth for him, and a small mobile unit. Loud chatter dropped to a dull whisper as he passed rows of cubicles, only to return with revitalized vigor once he was out of earshot. Personnel appeared ghastly and unsettled while he waited with them for the elevator. One poor fellow even took off screaming when he mistook Rude's gesture to pick up a dropped envelope.

He knew something was definitely up when he swung the door open to the conference room. Every last eye froze on upon him as the steady stream of chatter was struck down dead by the clink of the door shutting. Rude's blood ran cold. It was almost as if he had stepped back to his school days, the appointed class bully leading his rule through other's secrets and lies. Children feared him then, and as well, they feared him now.

Elena bustled herself up to the front podium to begin her welcome and introduction. With a swing of her hand, she smiled as she introduced Rude to the group, and as best he could, he waved to the sallow faces before him. With a click, the lights flipped off and a large beam from an overhead kicked on. It was a good 20 minutes before Elena could set her laser pointer aside. As the trainees were following the examples illuminated 6 foot high, Elena took Rude to the side for a sparse bit of privacy.

"The hell is going on?" He growled. She looked slightly bewildered herself.

"You haven't seen Reno today, have you?" the perky blonde bit the corner of her lip.

"Not after he interrupted me after breakfast. The hell's wrong with everyone?"

Elena pulled her face down, and if Rude could have seen, blanched.

"You have to keep quiet or they're all going to freak."

"About what."

"There's a rumor going around." Rude nodded. "A rumor you killed Reno."

Flat-line shock bowled Rude over. This had gone further than wild rumors. He knew things had gotten loud, even heated... but to this extreme? Rude was at a loss for words. All he could do was stare at Elena through his sunglasses. She was looking slightly more unsettled by his response.

"That's all anyone would talk about this morning." She shrugged. "It was amazing at the recounted tales they were weaving." She idled, looking back over the collection of new bodies. They appeared bored, the flow of chit chat rising lightly. Elena beamed a bright smile and clapped a hand up onto his shoulder. Giving it a little squeeze, she spun on her heels and resumed her lecture.

It was another good hour before the end of Elena's presentation. When she asked if there were any questions, the stampede that erupted could have shaken out the support beams of any number of buildings in downtown Midgar. Rude had excused himself earlier to take up post in the hall. He knew he was responsible for overseeing the lecture, but he couldn't bare the weight of all the stares. How was it that everyone assumed the worst when it came to the Turks? There was more lore than truth by a landslide, and Rude was fed up. There had to be someone with enough pull to snap that band-wagoned crowd back to reality.

As the flood of trainees swarmed past Rude, Elena lingered in the foyer, her arms full of papers and spent overhead sheets. "They're taking a break before we head to the Armory." She readjusted the stack, it precariously sliding about. Rude took his wide hands and withdrew the tottering heap, mashing them into submission. There was plenty of time to hit up her office, for next on the roster was fire arms, and that wasn't scheduled until ten. He followed Elena to her office, up to the point where she was dragged away by one of her fellow girlfriends on the 69th floor. She passed him her key card and told him she would be up to get him in just a moment.

It had taken her more than what she estimated because when she did meet back up with him, he was already three-fourths the way back to the first floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you up there." He handed back her card, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. His mood wasn't very sweet now, and every little annoyance was compounding to a hundred times over. He just wanted to go back to bed and start over tomorrow. But the next task was something Rude knew he couldn't shirk off. He had seen these kids in action before. Any amount of hands on development was better than the alternative. He trudged down the hall to the stairs that trailed well below the linoleum tiles of the main floor. The trainees had already started gearing up, the erratic clicks of clips loading and just about everyone in protective earmuffs. Rude followed suit as Elena signaled everyone to take a station.

"Fire 3 shots then wait for one of us to come around." She barked, muffled somewhat by the protective ear piece. Rude walked down behind the dividers, watching for error and what suggestions he could offer. Most of them had a handle on the exercise, no one slacking on the rules of gun safety, except for one. He seemed to quake the closer Rude got to him. He leaned against the partial wall as the youth fumbled with a reload. The kid turned to face Rude, apprehensive as to what to do next, the sweat running down the side of his cheek. Rude waved him on to take his shot.

Crack!

He missed the paper target entirely. Rude lined up behind the brown-haired boy and ushered him to take another. He hit the upper corner. Rude lifted one side of the youth's muff to speak clearly in his ear.

"You have fired a gun before, right?" The boy was absolutely paralyzed. "You had to have shown something or else you wouldn't be here now. Show me your stuff."

The boy stood frozen, eyes dilating by the second. Rude waved a hand before his eyes. His eyes shifted to the still loaded caliber in his hands as his reflexes kicked in. Slow motion played out the gun slipping from the kid's hand to Rude's drop, the eventual impact triggering a discharge. Damned Shin-Ra budgets! was all Rude could think as he rolled out of range. It took him only a split second to register the projectile flying by his shoulder.

He barely finished one revolution before his hands were already making a grab. Elena, only a few stalls down, came rushing around by the time Rude had the wibbling trainee dangling by his jacket lapels.

"What is going on here?!?" she demanded, looking between the two males.

"This moron dropped his gun." Rude glowered, his face inches from the other.

"Put him down, now just what happened?" She tugged at Rude's grasp as she looked to the youth for an explanation.

"Th-... that's him, that's the guy..." he pointed a shaking finger towards the elder. Elena gave a quizzical expression. "He's the one who killed his own partner!" he blurted out, flailing with the accusation. Rude's ridge bristled as Elena laughed. She very firmly pushed Rude back in a patting manner.

"Let's clarify on this. Rude, have you ever killed anyone?"

"Yes." He growled, staring down the much smaller lad.

"And have you killed anyone recently?" she continued to press.

"No."

"So by all means that should say you haven't killed Reno."

"No." Not yet, anyways.

"Precisely. Now if you would head back up to the front please." Elena picked up the gun and placed it on the counter, then guided the youth out of the stall with her other hand.

Rude took a moment to reclaim his frazzled nerves, rubbing over the shoulder that nearly had taken a hit. It had been ages since he last took a bullet, and he was not too anxious to feel the burn any time soon. Elena was already taking the kid's muffs by the time he wandered back up front, the youth's tears streaming freely now. Demoted. He knew procedure. Any screw up that major sent you straight to a desk job. Elena directed the boy towards the security doors, and after he had left, sighed heavily.

"Maybe it would be best if you just wait up here, Rude..." Her eyes graced the floor. He knew she was upset, this being her first project alone, and now her precious wards were unraveling. He took a seat in the front lobby, the sharp shots dwindling as ammunition ran low.

~~~~~

Lunch hour couldn't have come any sooner in his opinion, taking the last of the ear protection from an elated strawberry blonde. He smiled half-cocked as she practically skipped to him, oblivious that she should (apparently) be fearful of the large hulking figure. I think outside today he mused. Some fresh air would do a world of good after today. He followed Elena up the stairs and back into the main stem of Shin-Ra Headquarters.

The wide open mess hall was bustling already with staff, and the aromas mingled together, making strange new concoctions. Rude picked up a tray in the cold plate line, scooting it along as he perused the day's menu. A ham sandwich and an apple looked the best, and even that was pushing the talents of the cook staff. Rude had learned his lesson a long time ago about avoiding anything cooked here, for one particular case of food poisoning had kept him in the Infirmary for a week.

At the end of the row stood Ethyl, probably one of the most senior of all Head Quarters staff. Rude cringed a bit, as he always did; her croaking voice and the odd smell of lilacs and bad tobacco were revolting to his senses. Her face resembled that of a desiccated prune, wrinkled and dry and most likely rubbery.

"How you doing today, sweetheart?" She took the card he held out to her. Rude shrugged his shoulders, eyeing her as she flipped the card over repeatedly. "You know you really must come meet my granddaughter sometime, I think you two would make a lovely couple. Say!" she paused on her train of thought. "Where's that redhead who's always following you around? That skinny thing..." She drew the card to her mouth in deep thought. Rude quirked, the thought of her ancient skin rubbing against something he had to keep on him. "They've been saying something about him getting knocked off after taking on some AVALANCHE rebels after a break-in..." She tapped the card precariously close to her mouth. Rude could feel the sweat collect on the back of his neck. She idled in thought, lost somewhere in the cotton between her ears. As her gaze returned to Rude, she smiled brightly. "But who's to really know... this place gossips too much." She swiped the card in one fell swoop.

For once Rude appreciated her, if only for her sentiment, and only slightly. He took his lunch and carried it over to the far side of the room. A large tree was stationed in the center of the room, natural light filtered in from somewhere outside shining up into its leaves. For most every employee here, this was as close as it got to the real outside. Normally a premium spot, Rude managed to claim practically twenty feet right at the trunk. Well that's one advantage to being a rumor mill victim he thought jovially. It felt good to strip off the uniform jacket and press his back into the roughened texture of bark.

The redirected sun was shining brightly, meaning a nice day for him when he took up his afternoon rounds to the Sectors. There were only a few critical points to collect from, but it would be nice to eliminate a few others on the way if they were ready. He lazed in a ray of sunshine as he rolled over in his head thoughts he had pressed deep. Reno. He hadn't seen hide or hair of him after his morning flirt, and that was quite unusual for his compatriot, especially now that it was well past noon.

He took a bite of his sandwich and chewed it methodically. He knew Reno sometimes got himself hung up with the seniors, but as slick as he was about getting through things, fifteen minutes was quite a record. His mind then turned to other repressed matters: the pictures. One year... he mused, taking another bite. One year of sneaking and hiding. Rude leaned his head back to the tree, the sun warming the skin of his throat. He knew his friend was sneaky like that, he had seen proof previously to that through his completed assignments. To a degree, it was flattering to be admired, to be looked upon with such interest... yet on the other side of this token, it was still awkward that it was his partner. It made him reconsider the times they had been in close confines, packed one on top of the other during missions, and times in the showers and locker rooms. Just when did it all start? He took the remains of his sandwich in one bite. The photos were over the last year... how long has this secret lived? He swallowed hard, the lump of his lunch dragging the entire length of his esophagus.