All I Know...Is this. [Reno]

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

Despite herself she smiled, but that didn't change the obvious. She was going to prank him! If it was the last thing she did...and it very well might be with what she had in mind. If he figured out it was her, which of course he was bound to, he would probably kill her and get it over with. She wanted to live, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea to prank him...but she was stubborn, and that wouldn't make her quit.

She really did hope he didn't notice her change. She didn't want to really talk about all she was thinking about. Maybe later, but not right at the moment. It was hard for her to talk to people, and although she was most likely to open up to Reno, it still had to be on her own time. He knew full well how she put a wall when people questioned her. It must have been her turk training. She didn't do well with people interrogating her. And because of her lack of trust in most people when they started asking her questions her trust in them went downwards. She actually didn't hear him when he almost called her smallfry again, and a good thing, she might have tried tackling him right there in front of everyone and trying to force him to take it back.

After her embarrassing show of fear Reno came up and put a hand on her shoulder. She had been looking down at the ground, but at his touch she glanced up and wondered just what he was going to do or say. She was a bit embarrassed that she had been so weak, but she really couldn’t help it. Swallowing a bit she just stared at him when he spoke. He hadn’t promised, but even so he calmed her fear of being alone and made her feel crazy for even thinking he would leave her. She smiled in return, the relief in her eyes evident. She turned away a bit and nodded, “I’ll try not to worry.” She said softly, her body once again relaxed.

An advantage. That was bittersweet in her thinking, but of course as with most things he said they made her laugh. “Well I’m glad you admitted that you blind people.” She exaggerated looking at his hair before covering her eyes with her hair and softly said “Ahhhh I’m blind!” She went back to concentrating on the different kinds of ice cream that were before her eyes. “I’m…I guess I haven’t gotten ice cream since that last time with you and Rude before I left…I didn’t know there was so many kinds to choose from!” But she leaned foreword until her face was almost pressed up against the glass.

How was she going to choose? Cotton candy or Chocolate chip cookie dough? She bit her lip and concentrated on what to get before deciding on cotton candy. “I want cotton candy please.” She said smiling at the woman standing behind the counter. She turned to Reno and waited for him to order. Should she tell him what was bothering her when she didn’t exactly know herself? And if she tried explaining it to him would he just laugh at her? Glancing at him as he ordered she didn’t think he would. Biting her lip she contemplated as she watched the woman scoop out her cone. “Reno…?” She decided to try, she was sure he would be understanding…beside, it was Reno! He was the one person who probably knew more about herself then she did. Well, of course he didn’t know her THAT well…but close to it!

Words: 731
Muse ok
Notes: Tender moment! <3

[Reno Sinclair]

Fiery Red Head
Looks like today we're clockin' out early

By now Reno clearly knew something was wrong. Cissnei seemed down and not the same as she was a few minutes ago, poking fun at him and what not. What could possibly be going through that mind of her? Why did Reno care this much, normally for a friend he would butt out and just let them figure it out, but something was different. Was it because Cissnei was a girl or something? That would be a weird reason to all of a sudden care this much, but he did none the less. Girls were so confusing, it’s what kept him from asking initially what was wrong. He didn’t want her to feel interrogated or anything once he started asking questions, so he just kept his mouth shut.

Reno simply smiled when she smiled again and said she wouldn’t worry. Maybe he was cheering her up, he was really good at that. Even with his lame jokes it still seemed to do the trick, it was easy to make Cissnei laugh and smile. Of course he was much funnier to her than he was to say…Rude or Tseng. “I’ll stick around as long as you want me to.” What? That came out wrong! He meant, he would stay around ShinRa…so long as he had a job? No. He really meant what he had said. If for some reason Reno left ShinRa and Cissnei wanted him around, he’d be there for her. What was going on here? This was strange…Reno hadn’t felt this way before, it was sort of a funny feeling like butterflies in your stomach. Wait a second…he couldn’t be…there was no way. Was Reno Sinclair…crushing on Cissnei? That was impossible! She was his best friend…was it possible?

“Yeah, I’ve heard that I should dye my hair a few…well actually a lot of shades darker so I don’t like cause people to have a seizure after looking at my hair.” Reno said with a shrug as he felt a bit more successful in cheering Cissnei up. He was glad to do it. But when she covered her eyes and yelled out that she was blind, Reno just rolled his eyes in humor as that grin still was plastered to his face. It seemed he couldn’t NOT smile around Cissnei now. “You’re so funny Cissnei...even though you strike fear into the hearts of millions…” He said getting back at her a bit for her ‘advantage’ for being a Turk.

Okay, it was really time for an ice cream run! Cissnei was like a kid in a candy store it seemed. After Cissnei ordered Reno went ahead and ordered his too. “Mint chocolate chip for me.” He said fishing his wallet out of his inner coat pocket so he could pay for the ice cream. After paying a second person behind the counter Reno placed his wallet back before Cissnei said his name. It wasn’t a joking tone either, it was more questionable tone. Was she going to tell him what was really on her mind now? He closed his jacket somewhat and turned and looked at her. “Yeah Ciss?”

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

Cissnei’s eyes got just a tad wider when Reno said he’d stick around for as long as she wanted. Wait…she got a bit confused. Had he meant…he couldn’t mean like…just to be by her even if he left right? Cissnei found she wasn’t that good at relationships. Quite possibly because she hadn’t ever really been in one. Sure she had been asked out, but being a Turk wasn’t exactly a good situation to be with anybody. She was doing it again! Why was she thinking about this anyway? It couldn’t be that she actually wanted a relationship was it? Ok ok…everyone wanted a relationship, but it probably wouldn’t happen for her. Besides the only people she actually trusted was Reno and Rude. There it was again, that emotion…she tried to forget it and concentrate on…well something else. “Thank you Reno…It means a lot to me.”

A little to much obviously, just one promise to stay and here she was thinking about relationships and…well babies and...She was loosing it. This time she was officially loosing it. She hadn’t thought about that in a LONG time, so why was it surfacing in her mind now all of a sudden? And because of something probably the best friend she had ever had had told her. She wished she could freeze time so that she could think about it, but time went on and she couldn’t act like the moody teenage emo forever. So instead she tried valiantly together and act like it wasn’t a big deal.

She was good at that! Yeah…she could probably pull it off…but this was Reno. Darn it all why did he have to know her moods so well? Anyone else she could fake it with. So it was down to explaining why she was in such a thoughtful mood. No scratch that, she was in a weird mood, and top that with a weird emotion whenever she looked at Reno and you had just plain…well not Cissnei. She was always on top of things! I think so much. she told herself and decided to stop.

Good thing Reno was a distraction from her crazy thoughts. With his wise cracks and jokes she was surprised she could think at all about what she was thinking about. Reno with dark hair for instance. Leave it to him to make her smile just by mentioning some people thought he should have darker hair. But smile she did, “Please don’t dye your hair, I don’t think I would recognize you without your blinding hair!”

She started licking her ice cream cone while Reno ordered. She might be weird but Cissnei never ever bit into ice cream. So she bided her time and wondered just exactly what she should say to explain why she was acting so weird. The odd thing was she hated acting like this…like, all weird and gloomy. She would rather be the happy, joking Cissnei, but this side of her came out sometimes. Mmmm, mint chocolate chip sounded good, maybe she’d have to ask for a bite later…that is if Reno didn’t inhale it before she got the chance. But back to what she had to think about. Her explanation. She was dreading it…well sort of…more the fact that she had no idea what to say then the fact that she was going to say it…

“I suppose your wondering why I got so…weird all of a sudden…” She started slowly, glancing at him before taking another lick on her ice cream cone. “The truth is I’m not sure exactly what to say to explain it to you…but I’ll try if you don’t laugh at me.” She said slowly, her eyes wandering to a couple walking by, a toddler in tow. “I…well I was raised by ShinRa, which of course you know. I’ve always struggled with…I don’t know, feeling alone I guess. It’s my fear, being alone. Not like in a literal form, being alone doesn’t scare me, but the feeling that no one is there for me, that if I’m in trouble no one will come pull me out." She hesitated a moment, this part was the hardest. “I…I couldn’t remember what my parents looked like.” She spoke that in a whisper, her voice close to breaking. “A few minutes ago I tried and…I just…couldn’t.” She said, tears in the corners of her eyes, but she cleared her throat and tried hard to fight them back. “I know it’s a little thing, and I shouldn’t be this torn up about it, but I’ve always held onto this dream of what my family was like, how happy they were, and now its gone because I can’t even remember what they looked like.” She finally choked it all out and stared into her ice cream cone.

“And then I thought about my life and…I realized that the only true friends I have are you guys…the Turks. I just can’t seem to get close to anyone. Its like I know they’re just going to be taken away from me, like my parents were. And then I thought about what would happen if you left and...” She trailed off and sighed, finally managing to compose herself a bit more. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rant, and I’m sure you’re wishing I had kept my mouth shut.” She said quietly, crimson eyes downcast. Still she had to admit it felt good to get it off her chest. "Thank you...for listening."

Words: 1034
Muse: Great
Notes: Wow I ranted lol

[Reno Sinclair]

Fiery Red Head
Looks like today we're clockin' out early

It seemed by now that both Turks had their minds on different things rather than the usual pranking and in this case, ice cream. Reno’s thoughts were clouded by something, he didn’t really know what he was thinking right now, acting all…nice and stuff. That little slip up a few moments ago just initiated these weird thoughts. Why was he thinking of relationships and stuff like that? He never had the most luck with the ladies, trying to be too cool or something like that always ended up in disaster but…for Cissnei…Reno didn’t really have to try that hard, it just came naturally to him. These thoughts just confused him, but he would never show it. A good poker face was a nice quality of the Turks, and Reno could play it well, the chaos raging in his head stayed there, not leaking a single ounce of discomfort from his own feelings. He simply played off his heartfelt comment with a smile and nodded some. “You’re welcome Ciss…”
One good thing out of this that Reno didn’t know about, he wasn’t going as deep into these thoughts as Cissnei was right about now, not that it never crossed his mind. He always had this idea that if you were a Turk, you could really never live a normal life, even out of work which was hard to get out of ShinRa, but maybe it wasn’t all like that. Maybe there was some form of hope for the future. Reno just glanced at Cissnei a few times, she looked like she was in thought as well. He was still curious to what she was thinking about, but then again, if she asked him what he was thinking about at the moment, he’d make something up for sure. He wasn’t going to spill all this nonsense to Cissnei risking his reputation in her eyes to be completely shattered.

Reno’s complex thoughts were driven to a halt as Cissnei began to smile at his comment about dying his hair. He had to laugh at what she said, it was true. No one would recognize him, and he’d probably get more crap for not blinding people. “Don’t worry Ciss, I would never destroy my gorgeous hair. Although I’m pretty positive I could pull off any color of hair…even pink if I wanted to…you know destroy my self esteem. I’d still look pretty suave.” He said with a giant grin, just stretching that current self esteem of his, it was great. Not that he was getting over egotistic with all these references to himself, it was all in good fun, no need to get a giant head with all this. Reno was just having some fun, succeeding with his mission to keep Cissnei smiling.

And then it came. Cissnei brought up her odd behavior, probably going to explain herself, and Reno was definitely going to listen carefully as he had his ice cream cone. He looked around and decided it was nice outside. “Okay…but before we talk…would you like to go outside? More privacy you know? Less people to listen in…” It was just a suggestion, but if not that was cool too, it was Cissnei’s conversation, so it was all up to her, not Reno. “If it’s serious, I promise not to laugh. You have my word for that.” He said comforting, hopefully telling her that she could tell him anything and he wouldn’t judge or laugh at her. It was the kind of friend Reno was to Cissnei, and just her. If Rude had tried to confide in Reno [like that would ever happen] Reno would probably just make a few jokes or two and be on with life. Cissnei was different.

Alone…that word…it was exactly what Reno had been thinking about before. Being alone, and like she had stated, not in a literal sense, it was a concern Reno had as well. Reno just kept his mouth shut and let her speak, sure a few comments he would’ve loved to make, assuring her that someone was there, but he didn’t want to interrupt her or anything. He just listened and noticed the tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, it was a tough subject for her. Reno didn’t have a family, aside from the Turks, at least one that he had known and what not, so it wasn’t a touchy subject for him, but for Cissnei, this had to be hard. He let his eyes glance off to the side for a moment or two as he didn’t want to see if she started crying or anything, but he figured, if she did, he’d just have to be the great friend he was and be there for her, like he promised.

Once she was done, and apologized Reno raised an eyebrow. “Cissnei, you can rant to me all you want. I’m a pretty good listener…sometimes. Just know that I feel for you, I really do. I know your parents weren’t there long before ShinRa came along, and…well just know you’ll always have someone there…someone to run to when things get tough and someone who always has your back.” He said ending with a small grin going back to his ice cream cone, feeling that this moment, this trustful heartfelt moment was coming to end and back to the jokes they would go…unless, Reno sparked up something else, but that was probably for another day. “Cissnei...” He started, but chickened out and resorted to something else. “When do you wanna start hitting the gym to learn some hand to hand combat?”


Words: 1047
Muse: EXCELLENT! (for some reason?)
Notes: <3 I love this thread

(had to do this note thing for this post lol)

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

Cissnei was eating her icecream cone while thinking. Why wouldn’t that lonely feeling go away? Inside she heaved a sigh that could be heard in the next country. Outwardly she simply looked at the ground and wished life was simple. Not that it would be simple. Ever. At least not for her. She wished her life was normal, but when she had had it, the ‘normal’ life, she had been lost. She hadn’t made any friends she had trusted and found herself looking over her shoulder all the time. She hadn’t been far from her weapons and had wished every day that she had someone like Reno or Rude to be there when she needed them.

The problem was she knew too much! She knew about crap that ‘normal’ people didn’t, she knew that when the government said there was a toxic spill somewhere, or that some plane had been hijacked it was way more then they made it out to be. She knew that when they said that something had been destroyed because of ‘faulty testing’ it was false. Something had happened, possibly because of Sephiroth, or any other villain. When the people had started disappearing (dirge of Cerberus) Cissnei had known something…well huge was going on. She just…KNEW things.

Every day she had been ‘normal’ she wished she could forget she knew things. Being ‘normal’ she was alone, in ShinRa sometimes she felt alone. Except that she had her family-the Turks- here at least. She was just missing an aspect of her life she really didn’t know anything about or ever really could have. Family. Yes the Turks were her family, but she had memories of her real family. And because of that she missed…well little things. Like sitting down to supper with her family, or reading, or going for walks.

Back to…oh lord he was talking about his hair. She actually smiled at that, even with the depressing thoughts she was having. “Even….wow Reno, just…wow. Pink hair even?” That was going out on a limb. And then for the first time in…well a long time Cissnei actually looked at Reno. And not in a big brother sort of way. She was shocked to find him…well really handsome. She suddenly looked back at the ground, confused. Why all of a sudden had she noticed that? Because she was lonely and wanted a family? Or was it…something else? She didn’t know, and it was sending butterflies in her stomach.

When he suggested going outside she agreed. And only after that did she start her huge rant. Afterwords she felt…a bit better about getting it off her chest. But she also felt even sadder. Like now it was true. Now there was no hope in remembering her family. She was glad that he had let her talk, but as she fought down the tears that welled up in her eyes. It would be better for poor Reno not to cry. Plus…well she hadn’t cried. Since coming to ShinRa she hadn’t, not even when Zack had died. She had stood there, with wet eyes, wishing they would come, but they hadn’t. She just, couldn’t cry! There was something about crying that made the situation horrible, and she couldn’t do it. It’s like that part of her emotions had been cut out from her.

And so she wouldn’t cry. Wouldn’t allow herself to do it. She was stronger then that. Or at least she hoped she was. She had been forced to be tough, she was a Turk. Turk’s had to do things the normal person hadn’t ever been faced with. She had to hunt down one of her good friends, and ‘take care’ of people. People she knew had families. It gnawed at her conscience. Why couldn’t she have been born to a different family? No, scratch that, why had her family had to die? And then a new thought came to her. Had ShinRa had anything to do with her family’s death? Could that be it? No, it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be that. No!

Reno’s voice cut through her thoughts. She lifted her head and looked at him with big eyes full of emotion. She hadn’t ever had a friend better then Reno. Looking back he had always been there for her. They had been so young when they first joined ShinRa. She had been raised there from a very young age, but Reno. Well he was fighting at a young age. She had always looked up to him, even when she hadn’t known him. He was like…well her childhood hero maybe? He was always doing something fun, pulling pranks on others and generally making her laugh. She had been to shy to say anything to him until she had become a Turk.

She found herself nodding to him, her eyes a tad bit brighter now that he had spoken. That was quite the speech from Reno. Sure he could talk, but most of it was simply funny joking stuff. Just knowing that was and always would be there for him made her feel peaceful. She would trust her life with Reno. And had more then once. Blood ran thicker then water. She knew it was used as in family ties, but to her…it was more like literal blood. And Reno and she had been through enough blood, sweat, and tears together on missions. It’s what made the Turks her family.

She hugged him one armed because of holding onto her ice cream cone and did something without thinking. She settled a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, but your gonna’ be sorry. Now ranting Cissnei is going to hold you down and pour her heart out all the time and you’re going to grow old just listening to me talk.” She said that with a laugh, which meant that she was better, her old self again. Maybe not quite so happy, but still he had helped her come out of her depressed emo stage, so that was a good thing. Stepping back she devoured part of her icecream cone as it had started dripping all over her.

He asked her about the martial arts training. She glanced at her watch, “Hmmm…how about now? We’d probably have the training center at ShinRa to ourselves if you wanted to do it there.” It was getting later, so no one would be around, except for maybe a few people. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be! Lean mean fighting machine Cissnei is ready to learn how to kick butt martial arts style!” With that she went into a karate stance and almost dropped her ice cream. “Woops!” She said, quickly righting her arm and saving her ice cream. “That was a close one…” The look on her face was sheepish as she gave him a lopsided grin, crimson eyes twinkling. She was ready…although she knew there would probably be no butt kicking…at least not on her part. Just learning the basics was enough for her tonight. So she focused on licking the sticky gooey ice cream from off her fingers and didn’t even think how ridiculous she must look as she lapped it up like a puppy from her fingers. Meanwhile the icecream dripped from the cone onto her other hand…she really couldn’t win could she. That’s what she got for going all mushy…

Words: 1429
Muse: HOLY CRAP!!
Notes: I think I'm finally getting my muse back, and its all cuz I love this thread so much! <3

[Reno Sinclair]

Fiery Red Head
Looks like today we're clockin' out early

Reno really never knew what it was like to live a ‘normal’ life. He’d been with ShinRa as far back as he remembered, it was like he was born for it. Which at this rate it seemed true. Reno was one of the best Turks around, second in command was pretty good for a guy like him, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get a chance to live that so called ‘normal’ life. He dreamed about it sometimes. You know, getting married and having kids, being the dream dad and what not. He always thought of what he would do if he had kids. It was a weird thought to him sometimes, but some of the things he cooked up in his head were legit. He’d be protective over his daughter, if he had one, and would want his son to be strong. It was the typical thing he heard about but knew he would never experience, but hey, a guy could at least imagine the idea right?

Back to the hair subject of course. One way or another Reno always found a way back to talking about his hair, it was weird, but it always ended that way. “Oh yeah, even pink hair. My reputation may get crushed a bit and I may the laughing stock of shinRa, but hey, I could still pull it off…dont’cha think” He said with a light chuckle as he glanced at Cissnei, she was still a bit off, different than normal, always looking down? Was she really that sad? As he looked at her he caught himself just staring at her face, not a blink or a flinch for a few moments before he realized he was staring. He blinked and quickly turned his head to face forward as he went back to his ice cream cone. What was going on today? A simple baddie and ice cream, nothing out of the usual to make all these weird thoughts come into play.

As Cissnei ranted, Reno listened and waited for her to be done, thank goodness she hadn’t cried. Reno didn’t want to swoop in and play hero today to try and calm her down, that would totally make him out to be…well crushing or something, or just a very comforting big brother sort of friend. Most likely he would’ve stood with a blank stare at first just to figure out what to do, even know when he was calm and so was Cissnei, nothing came to mind if things had gone downhill from here. Cissnei seemed to be a bit better, she did have a lot to get off her chest, and he didn’t blame her for feeling down about anything she said. He would feel bad too, but hopefully things would brighten up. Perhaps all Cissnei needed was some time to get used to ShinRa once again, and maybe…just maybe Reno would come up with the courage to say something to her about his new found feelings. He just had to be sure they were real and not just his mind playing tricks with him. That would be embarrassing.

As Cissnei hugged him, even if it was one armed, Reno grinned. Success once again, making Cissnei happy, mission accomplished. Though she did something that would probably send Reno flying if it were possible, though Reno just didn’t know how to react except a blank stare. Out of random instinct Reno’s hand dropped the ice cream cone-which was almost gone anyway- and his hand flew to his cheek, barely touching it before he quickly let it drop to his side. He looked down at the ice cream cone and stared for a moment before Cissnei said he’d be sorry. A look of mock horror swept across his face as he over dramatically responded. “Oh no! What have I done? Cissnei rants will be the death of me!” He said before a giant grin stretched across his face. These two in any strangers eyes probably seemed like the perfect pair. Easy to get along with and what not, never a fight and always there for one another. All they needed to do was look in a mirror and see themselves from another perspective.

Now? She wanted to train Now? “Ah, sure that’d be great. Starting right away sounds like a good idea.” Reno said rubbing the back of his head some looking back the way they had came from the helicopter. “Lean mean fighting machine eh? Well, when I’m through teaching you, you’ll be even scarier than you are now.” He said poking her side a bit before slowly easing onto the street towards the building they had landed the chopper on. “Might want to change when we get there though. You don’t want to start this type of fighting in work clothes…might rip something…or worse, and then get yelled at by Rufus and well…lets just say my experiences around ShinRa help me for future references.” Reno grinned widely, actually excited for these lessons to take place, another chance and bonding with Cissnei, always good.


Words: 924
Muse: Eh, not too bad ^_^
Notes: Reno/Ciss <3

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

Glancing over at Reno Cissnei suddenly wondered if he ever had the same thoughts. You know, like getting married, family, kids. She stared at him, wondering…always wondering. Of course she could just ask. That would obviously be the better option then just standing here wondering while she had ice cream dripping into her hands. She suddenly pictured what Reno’s son would be like for some reason. An image floated into her head of a cute kid with red hair in a pony tail reaching his knees. Probably bouncing off the wall with energy, and with that image in mind she giggled slightly to herself. She suddenly realized where they were and that Reno hadn’t been talking. Had she really laughed out loud?

In the long pauses when they both seemed to be thinking she wondered again what Reno was thinking about. Not that she had the right to ask. She wasn’t telling Reno everything she was thinking about either. Lets face it, if she started talking about babies and marriage Reno would probably be high-tailing it to…well somewhere not around her. Men always seemed to get ancey when girls mentioned that sorta stuff. She did wonder just what he was thinking. So she asked, “Ok so now you know why I’m so quiet, why are you being Rude over there?” She quirked an eyebrow and watched him, waiting to see his reaction. So she was left to her thoughts again until Reno responded again to their conversation on his hair, probably his favorite subject to talk about since their conversations always somehow came back to it.

Not that Cissnei minded. Could he pull of pink hair? Probably. So she just laughed again and tried to contain it by putting her hand over her mouth. She failed. Her shoulder’s shook with her giggling even though she tried not to be laughing. The problem was that she right at the moment was seeing him with pink hair and it was outrageously funny. But she valiantly tried holding it in and finally got her giggling stopped and a somewhat strait face back on. “I’m sure you could pull it off. Just give everyone your dazzling smile and after their first laugh they probably wouldn’t think anything of it!”

She was giggling while he was watching her and didn’t see him do so. When she did look at him, her eyes dancing happily, she noticed that now HE seemed to be the quiet one. She studied his face, what was he thinking about? She took a step toward him, her face questioning. She misinterpreted his thinking to being angry that she had laughed at the idea of him having pink hair. She felt bad and bit her lip, looking at him, her eyes showing her caring nature. “Reno? Are you ok? I didn’t mean to laugh so hard about you having pink hair.” She said softly, reaching out with her non-gooey hand to touch him on the arm. She was now standing close and was looking at him with eyes that were about as close to puppy eyes as she could get without trying. She really hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings…

As she righted her own ice cream she watched Reno’s hand go flying. Was he…? She saw his hand reach up and touch the spot on his cheek where she had…her eyes got wide. She had kissed Reno! Not a real kiss of course, but still. She couldn’t believe she had done that. And she hadn’t even realized she had done it until he had dropped his ice cream and touched the spot with his hand. Just as quickly his hand dropped and he was staring. She herself was staring at Reno as she wondered what she should say. Apologize? No, she wouldn’t, but should she say anything or let him just recover? Who was she kidding, let them both recover. She wasn’t use to…well touching, anyone. She wasn’t used to kissing anyone, even on the cheek, and though hugging was oftener, it was still rare compared to ‘normal’ people.

To his credit he recovered and teased her back about what she had jokingly said to him. She heaved a sigh in relief, and her smile matched his in its width, her eyes twinkling like they did when she was happy. “Well at least you’re warned about your future death.” If Cissnei had more experience with relationships she could probably look at them and see that they looked like…well like they were in a relationship. But she didn’t, so shy she didn’t know much about being in a relationship with anyone.

Cissnei shoved the last bit of her cone in her mouth and chewed on it. It was a larger piece then she had realized and she had an awkward few moments chewing before she managed not to make a complete fool out of herself by spitting its contents back out. She swallowed it and patted her stomach. “Gotta work off the ice cream, don’t wanna get fat and lazy.” She laughed outright when he mentioned she would be even scarier. Cissnei seriously doubted anyone she came across that didn’t know her would be scared of her. She knew she wasn’t exactly…well an Amazon woman. She was shorter and small, often growing up she had wished she had long legs, everyone liked a girl with long legs right? But instead she had been mini mouse.

She looked down at her company suit and wondered just what she should wear. She didn’t have a ton of casual clothes, but she though maybe shorts and a tank for this type of action? She raised her eyebrow and watched him as he told her the reasons she shouldn’t wear her suit. She could imagine them splitting someplace…knowing her luck probably the butt. Then she’d be embarrassed. She blushed at the thought and glanced at him, wondering what he was thinking about. “Ok so I see why having my suit tear wouldn’t be a good idea. Do you suggest me wearing stretch pants?” She asked that mischievously. She didn’t actually have any sweat pants. It was either shorts, t-shirts, some jeans or the one or two dresses she had.

Deciding on the shorts and tank top for sure, she wondered why Reno looked quite so happy. And in the same beat she wondered why SHE was so happy. It was activity when she was sure they would rather be sitting on the couch zoning out. Or sleeping, but instead here they were, grinning like a couple of fools about what? Running around, getting all sweaty and beating each other up…still it sounded like lots of fun. So she followed him as he made his way back to the chopper. She jogged to catch up to him. When she did she skipped a few steps in key with his strides, happy again. Suddenly she stopped walking, her eyes wide. She had just been tempted to dive onto his back and demand he give her a piggy back ride. A…what was she thinking? Why was she thinking that way? And what had happened to make her so happy all of a sudden?

She blushed and caught up with him in a few strides, watching him from the corner of her eye. She was still wondering at her transformation of happiness. If she kept thinking the way she was she would start picturing herself liking...liking Reno! Narg! She was thinking about it again…why? Her breath caught though, while she was thinking about that, before she blocked it out of her mind and tried to think of something else. She was being silly! Reminding herself of the fact that they were Turks wasn’t helping either. And neither was the fact that Reno didn’t even like her like that.

Besides, she reasoned with herself, I don't like Reno in that way either! She argued with herself, Reno's like my brother! Always has been, always will be, I'm being weird and childish thinking of liking anyone! And Reno?! He's my best friend, my brother! and Almost panicking at her thoughts, Cissnei was so close to telling Reno that maybe tonight wasn’t the best time to train, but when she opened her mouth to tell him, nothing came out.

Instead when she tried to ask him again if another time would be better, instead what she said was, “Thank you for teaching me Reno; I’m looking foreword to it!” She smiled up at him before realizing what she had said. And she knew she meant it, despite how odd she was going with her thoughts. If Reno knew what she was thinking about he would probably just stare at her before tearing off, running away from her and her…girly thoughts. Besides...she couldn't like Reno...she told herself yet again...but without so much conviction this time.

Words: 1700
Muse: great again!
Notes: i know! they're so cute, I wonder why we didn't think of this sooner... xD She kinda got weird there at the end. And she has no idea why she's thinking about it and she's somewhat scared at thinking about it.

[Reno Sinclair]

Fiery Red Head
Looks like today we're clockin' out early

What was keeping these two Turks’ thoughts on the same wavelength? Thinking of families, babies and all that other stuff? Perhaps there was a time in everyone’s life where they wondered if they would ever find that special someone to spend the rest of their life with, this would be it for Reno right about now. He’d never had such strong thoughts until Cissnei arrived. It was probably just a coincidence right? Reno just kind of kept a thoughtful and semi-blank stare on his face as he started to daze off into space, but Cissnei’s laughter brought him back to reality and out of his cloudy stage. He simply glanced at her slightly raising an eyebrow wondering what she could have laughed at? He didn’t make a joke or anything, and this brought him back to that irresistible desire to know what she was thinking right now.

The silence started to scare him actually. Why wasn’t anything funny coming to Reno’s mind? Nothing to joke about and bring their conversation back to life? Nothing? It was so unlike Reno and Cissnei definitely pointed it out, saying he was being ‘Rude’ which made him actually chuckle seeing as his mind thought of two different things. Rude like his friend the Turk who didn’t speak a whole lot, or there was Rude, impolite for just being quiet and stuff, he took the joke as referring to their friend Rude. Always a reference to him when someone was quiet…or they were talking about hair…rather the lack of hair. “Ah, sorry. Just kinda zoned out for a few seconds.” He said rubbing the back of his head slightly trying to bounce back into his normal self instead of this thoughtful quiet side of him, it just wasn’t Reno.

ALWAYS back to the hair. It was like a sign that Reno was destined to be known for his hair, even after he died, that would be the only thing people remembered about him, how bright and obnoxious it was. Nothing more than that. He just kept a grin on his face. Dazzling smile eh? Well that made him grin even wider showing off that dazzling smile of his. “Well thank you Cissnei, I appreciate that. So my smile is dazzling eh? I’ve never heard that one before.” He said putting his hand to his chin and looking thoughtful, which he was thinking again, about himself and the things he needed to change. His ego was one, he just knew if he wanted to try and sort out these thoughts and feelings for Cissnei, he needed to change and clear out his head instead of filling it with nonsense about his hair and how awesome he was. For now that wouldn’t help him.

So Reno was really quiet. This was probably the quietest he had been in a long time. When Cissnei asked if he was okay his eyes widened a bit in shock. She didn’t do anything wrong. “Oh no, Cissnei I’m fine. I guess I just have a lot on my mind. Pretty crazy right? Me, a lot on mind…I hope I don’t hurt myself with all this brain power going on.” Reno said trying to joke around again before crossing his arms across his chest and sighing a bit. “Besides, I wouldn’t blame you for laughing about the pink hair thing. It was meant to be funny. You know me, a joke almost every other sentence?” He chuckled a bit finally getting back into the groove of things as to being his normal self once again, but still something in the back of his mind kept going back to Cissnei.

Things had just been very crazy today, he had to admit that. It was a day like no other. His life had been turned upside down and his thoughts clouded with doubt and new feelings he had never felt before. Reno just looked down at Cissnei as she joked back about his ‘future death’. He was happy to be with her, here and now. Even if they were just friends, and that’s how Reno believed Cissnei would want it, he was glad. No matter how difficult his feelings made it, he’d be there when she needed him. “I don’t think you would rant me to death, I don’t think you’d have the heart to kill your best friend like that…though I don’t underestimate you.” He said throwing another comment back on the subject, trying to distract himself wasn’t easy, but it was starting to succeed…and then fail once again.

“Cissnei, I don’t think you could ever get fat or lazy, me, maybe, but I do enough running around that well food has learned not to mess with me. And believe me, this training will definitely do some good for me…I’ve missed out on a few well needed work outs.” Reno said flexing his arm, which under a jacket sleeve didn’t do much for him, but again, filling that ego of his and trying to be funny, it just screamed Reno. “I suggest something along the lines of shorts or sweatpants, something you can move in. Stretch pants…maybe not, this isn’t the 80’s…no need for any flash dancers in the gym.” Reno grinned a bit. “Once we get back we can change and I’ll meet you in the gym. I gotta think of what I want to teach you first…defense or offense.”

Reno didn’t know if this training thing was a good idea either, perhaps he needed some alone time to just sit down with his thoughts and just…truly decipher these. Figure out what was making him go all soft on her now. But no, he would feel bad ditching her, and besides it was a real treat to hang out with Cissnei and be away from working on missions. He had to take advantage of the time he had before another mission came up, so there was no time to waste.

When Cissnei thanked him, Reno just turned his head towards her as they continued to head back towards the helicopter. “No problem Cissnei, anything to keep you safer.” He said patting a hand on her shoulder as they came to the building. Reno, like the spider monkey he was, flew up the ladder and waited at the top for Cissnei, he wondered to himself if he should hold out a hand and help her up once she reached close to the top. ‘What are you thinking man? Is your mind on a vacation or something? Where has all this come from? Get a grip Reno. This isn’t you. She’s Cissnei, little sister, small fry Cissnei! Besides, you have no future other than ShinRa, and you know that…’ That inner fight with himself didn’t help, but a moment of doubt came to mind, ‘but maybe…it’s possible…somehow…someway…it just might be.’


Words: 1264
Muse: Freakin Fantastic!
Notes: <3 <3 <3

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

At least he laughed when she compared him to Rude. That might have gone the other way, since Reno was fiercely proud of not being like Rude. All Rude needed was a girl that he liked to like him back. But who…? And why was she thinking of everyone needing someone else? He had just been zoning out? “You must have been thinking of something super serious if you zoned out for that long.” She said with a grin, but she didn’t push it anymore. Instead she burst out with her idea for Rude. “Ok so I was thinking…we need to find Rude a girl!” That was said energetically as she glanced over at him, eyes lit up. They were walking back toward the chopper, but that didn’t mean all conversation had stopped. And besides, she was trying to keep her thoughts off what they were wandering onto. The best way was by making conversation right?

“I mean come on, if we could find a girl that could bring him out of his shell…he might spend less time scowling and more time smiling!” She was excited about her idea. Now the hard part…finding a girl that Rude would like, and that would like Rude. He wasn’t the worst looking guy…although he wasn’t the worse either. “I mean, yeah he’s bald but he’s got other things going for him…big muscles.” Why was she still talking about this? It was almost as if her mind was going to mindless chatter mode to try to stay away from the whole liking Reno, marriage and baby thoughts.

Thank god Reno was himself again. Cissnei had been getting worried about him when he was so quiet. She found herself blushing when she realized she had called his smile dazzling. What was wrong with her?! It had been spoken innocently, in a moment of teasing, but she realized that his smile was indeed dazzling. She eyed the wide grin he was giving her and almost turned away so she wouldn’t have such butterflies in her heart.

She scoffed at her thoughts, but then realized this was the first day she had felt like this since…well, the last time she had had such butterflies had been a long time ago. “It just might be dazzling. Or at least I heard a ShinRa worker say that once.” She had been walking backwards and raised her eyebrow at him, a little smirk on her face. But then the silence came back and she fell in step with Reno once more. What could she do to break the silence? She was wondering what to do about him being mad when she saw his eyes get bigger. She felt relived that he wasn’t mad at her. That meant he had something really serious going on in that pretty head of his. Pretty…good god she was doing it again. She glanced at him and tried to pretend he had 8 eyes, two noses, and an ear sticking out of his forehead. That might make him less attractive…

Instead of accomplishing thinking Reno was ugly all she accomplished doing was staring at him again. Shaking herself out of her little staring moment, she realized that he was speaking. She stuttered as she tried to remember what he had said. “I…” Then it registered what he had been saying. “Oh yeah, not good if you hurt yourself from thinking.” She was quiet for a second before talking without looking at him. “I like it when you joke around, it makes me forget that I’m a Turk and makes me think I’m just a regular girl.” She was looking anywhere but at him, the ground, the road, the sky, trying to avoid his gaze without appearing to obvious. No use staring again.

She smiled, “Yup, don’t underestimate me. I’ma Cissy, creeping around in the dark dying your hair!” It had almost become normal between them again, and she relaxed. Now if only her traitorous mind would stop thinking about him…not so. And her resolve to not look at him didn’t last all that long. Her crimson eyes swung to him as he said he doubted she would ever get fat and lazy. He flexed under his jacket, which filled out but you couldn’t exactly see anything. Jackets were cleaver a hiding your muscles. She stifled a giggle by putting her hand over her mouth. But as she did she realized that she was staring again. Blast it all!

And the fact that she knew he was very strong didn’t help matters either. She frantically tried to think of something cleaver to say back, but magically her brain emptied. Blast Reno and Blast her thoughts! He so effortlessly had wormed his way into her mind. She tried to banish his good looks from appearing in front of her eyes. And if she DID succeed there all she had to do was turn her head a few degrees and there was the REAL Reno. She couldn’t win…

She imagined herself dressed in 80’s outfit and suddenly burst out laughing. Effectively forgetting her confusing thoughts and feelings for a few moments. When she stopped laughing she explained, “Oh man, I just imagined us in 80’s outfits hopping around.” She put a hand over her mouth again while her shoulders shook from laughing. Crimson eyes full of mirth looked at Reno, twinkling with happiness. When he told her that they would meet at the gym Cissnei tried to get serious, but the smirk on her face didn’t leave as she nodded, telling him that she understood. If she tried to talk she might just burst out laughing again. “Oh, and by the way Reno, you looked pretty good in the pink sparkly matching tights I had imagined you in.” She burst out, her voice bubbling with mirth as she tried to hold her laughter back.

She sobered when Reno put a hand on her shoulder, her heart spinning into chaos again. STOP IT! she demanded, (Can’t you just imagine the look on her face? -.- or >:[ xDD) Stop being so weird! It’s Reno! R.E.N.O! He’s like your brother, you can’t like him. Sttooooop. She wasn’t winning...but luckily Reno was flying up the ladder and gave her a chance to lean against it and take a deep breath before starting up herself. She took it slower, trying to sort out exactly what she was feeling before she got to the top and had to face him again.

She didn’t make any headway on her thoughts before she reached the top. She nearly groaned at how odd she was being. Instead of curling up and screaming at her heart to stop, like she wanted to do, or maybe ripping her hair out at how confused she was, Cissy merely smiled at Reno and jumped up to start going toward the chopper. As she opened the door and crawled in she suddenly remembered she hadn’t thanked him for the ice-cream. She smiled at him, chiding herself for being so happy to look at him. “Thank Reno! I haven’t had ice cream in so long…it was delicious. But remember, I'm buying next time!” Then she strapped herself in and put on her headset, waiting for Reno to start the chopper.

She still hadn’t gotten a grip on her feelings. If anything she was even more confused. It would take a lot more then a few seconds to shift through the feelings and know exactly what she was thinking. Ok ok, so Reno’s good looking I’ll give you that, but you can’t be liking him. You’ve been close for so long, if you started thinking you like him your easy relationship is gonna be toast. Its going to be awkward because he doesn’t like you like that! Do you wann be like Elena when it comes to Tseng? But another voice, probably her devil voice, spoke also. Its Reno, Come one, he’s good looking and nice to you, even if he does call you small fry, why WOULDN’T you like him? This was dumb, she was being stupid! No no no no no! But none of this was helping, especially when he was invading her thoughts, maybe even his sanity by smiling at her in her memories.

Words: 1503
Muse: AMAZING!
Notes: I second that lol, I love this thread even more as it goes along!

[Reno Sinclair]

Fiery Red Head
Looks like today we're clockin' out early

Reno just scratched the back of his head for a moment, trying to think of something to say so he didn’t sound stupid for…zoning out. For a guy so sharp and quick witted, his mind was drawing up blanks, now that was definitely not Reno. “Uh, yeah I guess so.” He said with a light chuckle as no excuse came to mind, he thought of nothing. Then out of the blue Cissnei said they needed to find Rude a girl. Well…that was random, but Reno agreed. Maybe the guy would lighten up a bit if he had someone for his own. “It’s a nice thought, but uh, don’t most girls like conversation and stuff like that? It might be hard for Rude to compete with that you know.” He said with a small grin on his face as he imagined Rude on a date, the girl just talking away and Rude, just sitting there, maybe the only movement was to adjust his sunglasses…which he wore all the time, even in the dead of night. It made Reno chuckle a bit. “But it would be fun to see how he reacted to our awesome attempt at match making.”

“Bald…big muscles? Eh, we’ll get him a wig or find some way to make hair grow on his head. We’ll get him looking all handsome for that date…whenever and whoever it is with.” Reno was enjoying himself now, a topic that was relative to what he was thinking, but keeping his thoughts away from himself, but targeting Rude instead. It was an easy distraction for both of them. “We should start planning that…if it’s ever going to happen.” Of course they probably would never match make for Rude. Rude would end up just scowling at them and probably hurt Reno physically leaving Cissnei alone…putting the blame on the ‘fiery red head’ as usual.

So Reno caught Cissnei blushing after he called her out on calling his smile ‘dazzling’. It was pretty entertaining, though he was oblivious and thought nothing of it really, at least in a sense of her liking him or anything. “Dazzling…I like that. Now if only other girls would notice that- wait a second…another shinRa worker said my smile was dazzling?” Reno stopped himself right there and thought of all the other ShinRa workers. Well…he couldn’t narrow it down that much. “Who was it?” He asked with a bit of enthusiasm, though Cissnei probably wouldn’t tell him, it made him curious. Now he was so caught up on the dazzling thing, his mind began to race 1 million miles a second, he was thinking of girls, and dates, and all that other stuff once again. Ugh! Why WHY WHY!!!!?

Cissnei was probably the only one who ever appreciated Reno’s jokes and didn’t take them seriously. It made him feel pretty normal too. Jokes ease the tension of anything, and one thing being a Turk definitely had, was stress and tension. Normal, that word hit him again like a punch to the gut. What would it be like to be normal? Not to have such a high ranked job, to be able to walk the streets without people looking at you like you were either some mighty hero, or a horrific monster? To be able to have a wife and kids, and live a life not revolved around your next paycheck…what would it be like? And why did Reno care so much? He looked at Cissnei for a second before nodding a bit, his smile mostly faded, just the corners of his mouth were curled upwards. “No problem…you know me, jokes are my specialty…at least it makes someone feel better.”

Reno frantically-but mockingly-threw his hands up to his head and covered some of the spikes on top of his head. “No not the hair! No dying the hair! Or cutting it!” He said taking another glance at Cissnei with a smile before dropping his arms to his sides again and making the comment about his lack of work outs. She seemed to be looking at Reno a lot lately, which made him worry…was something wrong? Did he spill ice cream on his jacket or something? He looked down just to check and when nothing was there…he worried even more. It was almost like back in highschool, if you were that kid with the ‘kick me’ sign stuck to your back, everyone would laugh and you had NO idea what was wrong…Reno just kept his worries to himself.

Cissnei laughed, mentioned something about 80’s outfits and pink tights. Um. Reno stared for a second and blinked a bit. There weren’t enough words to describe his feelings right now, but he tried to think of something funny to keep chatter rolling. “Pink eh? It’ll match my new hairstyle for the future.” He said rubbing his fingers through his hair as they made their way to the building, Reno flying up the escape ladder in a matter of seconds. He had his own mental argument with himself but he just couldn’t find a winning side. He was surely in a pickle right about now, there were pros and cons to each choice he had, all that was left was making the right decision. That would be one hell of a thinking process he would go through later.

Finally at the helicopter and getting buckled in, headset on as well. Reno started up the chopper and the blades started picking up speed, spinning around until it was ready for takeoff. “No problem Cissnei…I was glad to do it. Consider it a welcome back treat.” He grinned before that sly grin of his crept back to his face. “Most expensive place next time too…better start saving your paychecks!” He joked before the helicopter eased itself off the roof top and back towards the ShinRa building. What was it going to take for Reno’s mind to shut up? Whatever it was, it better happen soon before they started training…Reno didn’t want anything stupid to blurt out to Cissnei later on…especially when she didn’t feel the same way, or so he thought.


Words: 1157
Muse: Rushed but very good. (darn last minute posting/homework!)
Notes: Cant wait till things finally start falling into place!

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

Cissnei thought about what Reno said about conversation and scowled in thought. “Darn, I forgot about that…this might be harder then I thought.” But the look of determination was strong in her eyes. Cissnei, though shy and quiet most of the time, was actually one of the most stubborn women most had ever known. She wouldn’t quit and didn’t often take no for an answer when it came to her opinions and decision. She was going to find a girl for Rude. She wondered how she was going to do that if she couldn’t even sort out her own thoughts or know anything about relationships. That stopped her thinking for a second, but a surging of confidence made her determine to do exactly what she proposed to do.

She suddenly realized that Reno was suggesting they get Rude a wig. A gurgle of mirth came from her lips before building into an outright laugh that made her double over and hold her stomach. She had thought of all the ridiculous wigs they could force him to wear, combined with the shades and he would look like he came from a circus. Finally she choked out her thoughts though her body still shook with laughter. With the combo it was harder to understand her, but she managed to get out a few lines. “Oh god! We can make him wear a blonde afro wig!” She was laughing so hard tears were welling up in her eyes. She finally had to stop laughing when she couldn’t get any oxygen, instead swallowing a breath and biting the insides of her cheek to not laugh any more.

A good way to forget about being confused on the strange fluttering in her stomach and the rapid beating of her heart when Reno looked at her and smiled. It still didn’t help that she didn’t know a thing about relationships. Oh she knew some, but she was for the most part lost. Speak of the devil, of course in reference to her weird emotions; she felt yet again that odd flutter in the pit of her stomach. Her strides lengthened when he asked her who had said it. It brought a sharp stab of...jealousy?! What the heck was she feeling jealous about? And why about this? She had used that as an excuse for trying to make it sound like it wasn’t her that thought his smile was dazzling. But come to think about it, though the world dazzling hadn’t been used, she remembered often the ShinRa women talking about Reno. Of course most of the women had been into the SOLDIER’s, Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal and then Zack.

That still didn’t stop a lot of women thinking Reno was attractive. She had never paid much attention to the talk, after all she hadn’t ever thought of Reno that way…until today. Why was she thinking about this still? Growling to herself in her mind she suddenly realized she hadn’t yet answered his question. God she was being creepy. So she forced a smile onto her face and tried to think of the women who had talked about it. It had been a long time; she couldn’t remember what their names were. She had more important things to do then memorize the names of the women who thought certain guys were hott. That thought made her cough in surprise. She never used that word, NEVER! She wanted to groan, and nearly did, before she caught herself. “It was…” She actually made an honest effort to remember, but the faces and the names of the women were forgotten. Except…wait! The one had been the women that had been at the front desk for a long time, but that woman weren’t there anymore, being replaced by another women. “I can’t remember their names, but one was the women who used to work at the front desk sometimes when I worked there before.”

It bothered her that she couldn’t remember. Not that she would have enjoyed giving Reno a name. And it was not that she was jealous. Yes you are. She narrowed her eyes, I am NOT! why was she having these arguments with herself? Was it the lack of a friend that was a girl to talk to? She hadn’t had a good friend that was a girl in forever. High time she found someone to talk to. Maybe the Lockhart woman, Tifa was nice, but she was a Turk. Tifa wouldn’t become friends with a Turk. Same came with the Yuffie girl, though she was about her same age. She wished she could have SOMEONE to talk to that knew what she was going through and wasn’t…well Reno, Rude or Tseng. Rude would probably just tell Reno what she was feeling, or wouldn’t say anything. Tseng the same, and Reno…? Out of the question. She ran the list of other people through her head, Elena? Definitely not. And there was no one else that she wanted to talk to.

This was exactly why she needed to get more friends. Smiling weakly at Reno when he told her that jokes were his specialty, Cissnei tried yet again to forget her crazy thoughts and just be relaxed. This was a date, scratch that, an outing, just to be friends and get rid of the stress they accumulated from the job. Good thing this was Reno and he knew how to make her relax, because if she was with Rude and thinking about Reno and her weird thoughts she just might go truly crazy. This way at least for the most part he kept her brain going and thinking about other things. She softly laughed when he mockingly threw his hands over his head and covered it. Smiling wickedly she made her two fingers to look like scissors and made a cutting motion with them.

Obviously she scared him when she told him about her random thought of him in the 80’s outfit. Poor Reno, having to deal with her random thoughts. She really did have too many of them. Thankfully she could disguise her thoughts with getting into the helicopter and buckling up. Smile curved up on her lips when he told her to save her paychecks. “I already do save ‘em, but I suppose I’ll have to save even more for when you break me with the expensive place.” She bit her lip and looked out the window as silence filled the cab. Unusual to have so much silence. Usually they always had something to talk about. Hopefully it got more normal when they were training. She decided it would. They’d be to busy throwing kicks at each other and jumping around to think of anything else.

Settling into the seat, Cissnei forced her muscles to relax as she thought about the day. Pretty crazy for her first day back. Not that she minded, she was used to crazy. She had decided to not talk about anything weird. Crimson eyes glanced out the window as they took off and started making the short distance back to ShinRa. Still looking out, Cissnei suddenly noticed the sunset. Her breath caught as she watched the blue sky blend into purple, then it went pink, orange and almost fiery red. One of the prettiest sunsets she had ever seen. Her hand reached out and caught Reno’s arm, but her face was still turned toward the window as she gazed out. The sky in front of them was still blue; it was only on this side. “Reno! Look!” She then let go of his arm and pointed with her finger on the window. “It’s beautiful.” She breathed out, not wanting to stop looking. She forgot who she was, what was bothering her so badly and just about everything else as she remained captivated by the swirling colors…

Words: 1439
Muse: Great!
Notes: Haha I can't wait until their training! <3

[Reno Sinclair]

Fiery Red Head
Looks like today we're clockin' out early

Reno nodded in agreement to Cissnei, finding Rude a girl would be one of the hardest things to ever do, harder than any mission the president could send them on! Well…maybe that was going a bit too far, it’s not like finding Rude a girl was as difficult or as life threatening as if…say Rufus wanted the Turks to exterminate Sephiroth and his remnants…that was a long shot comparison. “We’ll surely find someone...there’s always that special someone for everyone…the hard part is finding that person.” He said. Now he was just thinking he was being silly, being all philosophical or something stupid like that, it just wasn’t Reno. “If push comes to shove, we can put our money together and get him a cat or something…” He said going back to his old self with a giant grin and even a laugh to match. But the wigs just made him laugh even more.

Reno joined into Cissnei’s huge laughter at the thought of Rude in a blond Fro-wig. That would be a sight to see…and they would need some pictures for blackmail of course. “That sounds like so much fun…I know what I’m getting Rude for the holidays!” Reno said with a evil look on his face as he was surely plotting the variety of wigs he would purchase for his best friend…well one of his best friends. “Let’s just hope Rude actually wears the wig…its highly doubtful, but oh well it may just happen…miracles happen sometimes you know.” Reno was really talking a lot of mumbo jumbo right now, stuff that was starting to hit directly towards him and what he was thinking. It was like he was talking to himself, but whatever he said out loud matched with the conversation Cissnei and himself had.

Who had said Reno’s smile was dazzling? All he ever heard about from the girls at ShinRa was how amazing those SOLDIER’s were…or Tseng. Of course that was mostly Elena talking. Oh well, it sort of bummed Reno out awhile back when all the topics of conversation were Genesis, Sephiroth, Angeal, and…Zack Fair. It was surely irritating but now…who was there to drool over? The turks of course! Reno…not so much…was it his awesome sense of humor? Yes, that was probably it. “Ehh…” He just started to think about forgetting the idea, he really didn’t want to know now. Of course Cissnei said so anyway, but…no name. Just a couple faces Reno could think back on…no one really interesting. “Ah, I see…oh well that’s a shame.” He said a little sarcastically. “Who knows, maybe someday someone will actually tell me these things in person you know? I know being a Turk is hard and having a social life and stuff…but still it’d be nice.” Again with the mumbo jumbo that was spilling out of his mouth. What the hell was all this? Had Reno fallen asleep watching some sort of ‘emotions and feelings’ movie and had that crap gotten jammed into his head?

There was NO WAY Cissnei would take a pair of scissors to Reno’s hair. He’d probably end up crying or something. So he just chuckled a bit getting into the chopper, starting it up, and taking off back towards ShinRa. It was a good day all and all, except for the weird thoughts now running through his head that wouldn’t shut up. It was so hard for him to concentrate, as if someone were yelling into your ears with a megaphone. “I might help pay if it’s THAT extravagant. Wouldn’t want your life savings to go all towards me…” He grinned as silence then filled the helicopter. Why why WHY did it always resort to silence?! It made it easy for thoughts to run back through his head. It wasn’t fair. Wasn’t there a song that could get stuck in his head or something by now? Apparently not.

While trying to distract himself away from the thoughts in his head and back to the skies Reno felt Cissnei’s hand catch his arm. He quickly looked in her direction to see her staring out a window, calling the sky beautiful. Which it really was, but Reno had his gaze fixed on something else. He just sat there looking at Cissnei, even if it was a profile view. He glanced back to the view ahead every so often just to make sure they weren’t crashing towards their doom or going to run into a building. He just looked at Cissnei and finally responded. “Yeah…it sure is beautiful.” He said with a smile to himself and his thoughts were finally at ease. His mind was made up. No more questionable thoughts for Reno, he knew exactly what was going on. He shifted his eyes away from Cissnei, the subject of his ‘beautiful’ comment, and kept his eyes fixed on the skies until they finally landed back on ShinRa’s landing platform.

“We’re here…” He said cutting the engine quickly. “I can meet you in the training area in about 15 minutes…is that okay with you?” Reno asked taking off the headset and setting in the back of the helicopter before leaping out. “We’ll have fun, don’t you worry…I’ll go easy on you since I’m the teacher.” Reno grinned to himself. If only he could ruffle Cissnei’s hair and run off, it would be a good ending to this moment. Now it was time for some training…perhaps Reno would have the courage to say something then…If he wasn’t busy blocking any type of throw or kick Cissnei sent at him.


Words: 1080
Muse: Amazing once again!
Notes: You set me up for a fantastic moment! It's so cute! <3

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

She nodded; glad Reno had gone for her suggestion. “I guess you’re right, there’s somebody for everybody…” But she wasn’t thinking about Rude when she said that about, it was herself. She wondered if there was that special someone for her. She had always thought that because she was a Turk that she wouldn’t ever get to be with that ‘special someone.’ But then she thought about Cloud and Tifa. Look at all of the stuff they went through, probably more then she did, and they were still getting married. The thought was humbling, and she knew. Because of them she had hope that she might be able to get married one day. Of course it was probably a long ways away, but she kept a spark of hope in her heart.

A…wait a second. She came back out of her daydreaming and Reno said that they should buy him a cat? She caught the giant grin and started laughing herself. “Can’t you just imagine him with the cat curled up around his neck? Like a living scarf!” Their laughter stretched into the wig conversation and Reno actually laughed as hard as she did over that. She matched the evil look on Reno’s face as they plotted. Poor Rude wouldn’t know what hit him! “We COULD just sneak into his room at night with a bottle of gorilla glue and glue the wig on him!” She snickered, but suddenly realized she should be sticking up for Rude. Meh, he had it comin’ with how much he scowled.

When she had been young she had been scared to death of him. He was so….big, and scary, especially since he had never taken the shades off. While Reno had made her laugh Rude made her want to run away. Good thing she finally grew up and got a backbone. Plus she had realized that with all Rude’s scariness he was just a big marshmallow inside, especially towards her, the little sister. After becoming a Turk so young she had to learn to deal with people of every kind. Cissnei, in all her tininess, could beat many men larger then herself. It was her job, she had to. When Reno taught her martial arts she would be unstoppable. Ok so maybe not unstoppable, but close to it. Most of the people in the outside world would be appalled at what she had had to do so young. But it had always just been a job, and then a way to prove to herself she wasn’t just a scared girl that could do nothing. So she had joined the Turks to become the youngest member to ever do so. A pretty big feat.

After she had tried hard to tell him the girls, suddenly his mood changed. It was no longer excited and wanting to know. He changed for a little while. Cissnei wished she could know what he was thinking so she could comfort him. He looked…well sad might be a good word. When he actually told her she was silent and serious as she listened to him. No one had ever…? Crimson eyes turned toward him, compassion in her eyes. Cissnei had always been thought of as the sister, or even the mother in the Turks. Ironicly she was the youngest person. But it was probably because she had a lot of compassion, even if she didn’t always admit it. But he was pouring out his heart, or at least a tiny piece of his heart. She reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I know what you mean. We all want to be loved, its just human nature, and even if we do kick butt and do things most humans don’t, were still human. I’m sure we’ll all one day find that special someone.” Her mind conjured up a picture of Reno smiling at that exactly moment. BLAST! It was happening again. Why was it whenever she got mushy it was Reno that came to mind? Did it mean something? Suddenly she let go of Reno’s hand, clasping her hands behind her back and wondered what had made her grab his hand.

Though she might not admit it to anyone, Cissnei had always been a little bit scared of relationships. In her experience everyone she loved died or was taken away from her. Didn’t exactly make a girl want to love someone. But yet she knew what Reno meant, about wishing someone would tell her nice things. Like that she was pretty, or her eyes were nice. But it was hard because she couldn’t have a relationship with anyone normal. That left…well the Turks, and maybe ShinRa employees. Wasn’t exactly a large range of guys, but she couldn’t imagine loving someone that knew nothing about what the government and life was really like. She had already tried the whole normal life thing, and knew she couldn’t do it. But she also knew that her job might endanger her husband, and he would have no idea how to do anything if he wasn’t…well someone like her.

The silence…as soon as they had gotten done smiling about the paychecks thing it was crowding in everywhere. She felt uncomfortable, although usually the silence was welcome, right now it was…different. She could feel the tad bit of tension, but that didn’t make sense. It wasn’t as if they had had a fight, it was just…quiet. Good thing she could loose those thoughts in the sunset. Her face was turned toward the sunset, eyes large and in awe while her mouth was slightly parted in a smile. Chestnut hair seemed to catch the last bits of sunshine as she held her breath in amazement. She heard him speak, but was so lost in the beauty that she didn’t recognize the odd quality in his voice. After a second she turned towards him, eyes lit up with excitement and the genuinely happy smile on her face as she let out a breath. It was only a flash of her face as she shared her excitement with him before turning back to the window.

It lasted until they had gotten to ShinRa. As they landed the sunset was largely blocked by the tall building surrounding them. This was exactly why she would rather be in the country. They were quiet as he landed; she let him concentrate on his landing. She sat utterly still as he cut the engine and announced that they were there. She felt renewed excitement about learning to fight with Reno before the flooding of butterflies invaded her stomach again and she had to look away from him. He was to distracting…

She heard that, 15 minutes. Sounded good to her and she said as much as she checked her watch. She’s better hurry to get changed if she wanted to get to the gym in 15, but that was ok, she was used to hurrying. Actually she didn’t really know any other way. So flashing him a smile she nodded, “Ok 15 minutes sounds great.” She got rid of the headset before hopping out of the chopper and slamming the door behind her. She was about to hurry off when he spoke again. She turned around and put her hands on her hips, effectively looking firm, “You’d better go easy on me!” But she grinned again before nodding, “I’m gonna go change, I’ll see you in a few!”

She turned and jogged off, her shuriken firmly in her hand. Like Reno, Cissnei was in top physical shape. She made it to her room in just 5 minutes, 10 more to get changed and meet Reno. She unlocked her door and flipped on the light before moving inside and closing the door. Kicking off her shoes Cissnei undid her tie and shrugged out of her suit. It had been a long day, but surprisingly she didn’t feel it in her muscles. She probably would the next day. Shrugging, she undressed and tucked everything away nicely in her closet. Pulling out her new set of clothes, she dressed in shorts and a green tank-top with tennis shoes on. Grabbing a hair band she checked her watch once more before reopening the door and glancing up and down the hallway, hurried toward the gym. Only a few minutes to get down there.

Breaking what was probably a rule, Cissnei broke into a jog as she headed toward the gym and…Reno. She felt that stupid flutter in her chest and rolled her eyes before muttering. “Stop right now.” On the way she had to job past the cafeteria. Pulling out some change Cissnei bought a bottle of water and then continued on. She was now going to be a few minutes late. Oh well…

Words: 1603
Muse: Awesome!!
Notes: Omg I went "awwww" out loud when I read that part! <3 So I let my post go so that Reno could get to the gym first and stuffs. I CANNOT WAITS!!!!!

[Reno Sinclair]

Fiery Red Head
Looks like today we're clockin' out early

Reno just nodded, he was right, there was someone for everyone, it just took a little effort in finding that person. How much effort would one person put into finding their so called ‘other half’? How far was Reno willing to go to search? Or was he even going to try? I mean, if you work for ShinRa your life is pretty much taken away. It’s usually always work work work. If Reno had a girl, a family, he’d have to quit ShinRa which would be difficult to pull off, but if he did stay with ShinRa and kept a family, well there was always that dangerous risk of him getting hurt or worse. He wouldn’t want to do that to someone. It wasn’t fair to others if he died or something. If only there were a clear cut answer for all this. If only, if only…

Back to Rude, a more pleasant subject for the time being. “Ah it’d be a funny sight. Let’s just hope Rude’s a cat person, if not, we’ll have to get him a dog…if not well then…maybe just a pet rock would work.” Reno said with a small grin and a small chuckle to match, he just didn’t seem to have the fire in him right now. His mood was more…mellow and relaxed, nothing hyper or bouncy like he usually was throwing jokes out everywhere and trying to be the life of the party. It was like someone shoved a thousand chill pills down his throat and they actually worked. A calm Reno was like a hot winter, it just never happened. Until now. “I like the glue idea…but I’m sure we would- oh sorry, I mean I would feel the wrath of Rude.” That was probably true, Rude would smash Reno’s face in before he’d lay a hand on Cissnei, lucky Reno always the accused when something goes wrong, even though it usually is him.

Reno didn’t really care anymore about the names of the girls who had said things about him. At least they were nice things, though as of now he thought nothing of it. It wouldn’t make him feel any better to know someone had thought of him in a good way, because that moment was long gone. Besides he knew some people talked about him sometimes, whether it was good or bad, nothing like that ever seemed to faze him. Usually he just shrugged things off, you could never know what was true, what was a rumor, and what…what was just plain out of whack! Reno learned just to let the stories roll and keep his mouth shut. Although there was the occasional ‘oh I didn’t know that about myself’ response to any rumors about him, but that was as involved as he got. Though he had no reason not to believe Cissnei, unless she was trying to prank him.

Was this whining or something? God what could be worse than a male turk whining about life and love etc. That was so sad, but it was nice to have someone there to talk to, who wouldn’t make fun of him. Sometimes, there just had to be a time to let everything go, your emotions, thoughts, feelings, everything, otherwise you just might explode. Reno smiled a bit as Cissnei grabbed his hand and started to comfort him. He looked at her for a moment and gave her a smile, more dazzling than he tried to be. “Well thanks Ciss, I sure hope so. Everyone deserves even that little bit of happiness.” He said before his gaze returned forward, his thoughts clouding his head again with multiple thoughts and different ideas. It was starting to give him a headache, if only he could yell ‘shut up’ and all the thoughts would silence. It just wasn’t that easy, nothing was ever simple anymore.

Back to work…back to ShinRa. What a wonderful day it was, truly. And being back here just brought back the stress and worries of tomorrow. But there still was something to look forward to, future missions with Cissnei. That would be worth it. His cheeks started to burn a bit, hopefully he wasn’t blushing. His cheeks were just a tad pink, nothing much really, maybe he could play off as he was getting sick or something? But would Cissnei buy that? Probably not, he’d come up with something clever later if she even noticed, but for now, getting things ready to go was all he worried about. Landing the helicopter, getting information across, and then finally some training time. Maybe this was the perfect time to beat the thoughts out of his head? Maybe after training he’d spend some time and try to punch it all out or something after Cissnei left. He needed some guy time…or alone time to try and sort this all out, and figure out how he was going to tell Cissnei how he felt.

15 minutes was okay right? Not too long not too short. It sounded good to Reno, he would easily make it there in a few minutes. Maybe get some stretching in or something, that was probably a good idea. He made sure the helicopter was all locked up and everything before giving a brief wave to Cissnei as she started off, made her comment and continued. Reno just smirked a smile and headed off himself, rushing to his room, which wasn’t as neat and tidy as Cissnei’s. He had a few items on the floor, but never his suit. That was always kept in tip top shape, not that he ever wore it like everyone else, still he had to have some credit to his name. Anyways, in his room now Reno searched his closet. He really didn’t have any outside clothes, usually it was always the suit. He did have something for workouts and stuff and a few pairs of extra clothes just in case, but not much. Not even close to a closet full. He pulled out a pair of tennis shoes, some basketball-like shorts, and a black beater. Perfect for workouts and moving around a lot. In fact, right about now Reno looked like some sort of sport coach, or teenage boy on the basketball team.

Making great time Reno rushed through the halls and arrived a few minutes early. No one else was in the gym, that was perfect. He looked around, a few weights and stuff like that to keep the Turks in tip top shape, and there was a training area, with mats laid out and everything. "Perfect." Reno walked over there and pulled his goggles off his forehead, tossing them aside so they wouldn’t get caught on anything and he just tossed himself on his stomach to the floor. Starting up some warm ups to get his heart rate going Reno started doing pushups, as if they were nothing. Just waiting for Cissnei to arrive, the thoughts still buzzing in his head with every push against the ground he made. "This has got to stop." He growled to himself.

Words: 1277
Muse: Once again! It was GREAT!
Notes: AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! <3

[Cissnei]

...Quiet Warrior...
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none."

Cissnei started giggling all over again when Reno said that they would give him a pet rock. How did he think of these things? Even when she tried to be funny she wasn't anywhere near this funny. It felt good, to relax, to joke and laugh and smile and not have to think about Rufus, ShinRa, missions, Sephiroth or anything else bad for that matter. She felt the sudden urge to skip again, why she felt so much like a teenager was beyond her. But maybe she wanted what she had never been able to have? After all, she hadn't exactly ever been able to be a teenager. She hadn't gotten to go on dates, or go to the beach, or gotten to go on vacations where she wasn't tracking someone.

It saddened her, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. After all she had enough to do just being a ShinRa employee. The missions, the enemies, the glares from 'normal' people, the assignments, it kept her to busy to pine away for the childhood she hadn't gotten to have. Completely off subject she suddenly wondered why Reno was being so...mellow. He was usually literally bouncing off the walls, around the area and this was just so...quiet. She got the feeling she wouldn't ever see him again this calm ever again unless something huge happened. Something like the death of Rude or Tseng or something like that. She felt a light shiver run through her shoulders at the thought. She didn't want them to die, and yet they lived in constant knowledge that that might happen at any moment.

She smiled when he corrected himself. Rude had always had a soft spot for her, but everyone knew it was just because he thought of her as a little sister. But she knew and everyone else knew they would have to contend with Rude if they wanted to hurt her. It was a comforting thought, especially since she had been so terrified of him when she was younger. But it still made her smile that Reno knew Rude probably would never harm her. “Oh I don't know, if he got mad enough he might tan my hide as well.” She said with a grin, eyes twinkling.

Cissnei knew just as well as Reno did that people in ShinRa and the people that knew of the Turks talked about them. Almost like SOLDIER, although not as well known. Still, everyone who knew of the black ops military organization or the members talked about them. Maybe how many they had killed, or what they did. No one truly knew what the Turks had all done. No one but the President, Turks were strictly top clearance. Their missions were 'quiet', hidden, top secret. People like themselves created a lot of talk. Some people thought it was 'exciting' while others simply looked at them in scorn. Sometimes a bit of both.

Eyes opened wide when Reno flashed her one of those award winning smiles. Really how could anyone have such a dazzling smile? It sent her heart into flutters and made her knees weak. Oh lord she was at it again. Why was she being such a lovestruck schoolgirl? She was to old to be acting like this. And yet that wasn't exactly helping her right at the moment. Thankfully Reno was looking down at the ground against instead of looking right through her. She hoped she wasn't being as obvious as she felt. Not that she had any clue as to what she was being obvious about, or even what she was feeling. And yet she felt her heart flutter, then speed up crazily, at least it did when Reno looked at her. The problem was she was to naive when it came to knowing anything about relationships to actually know what she was feeling.

She was too deep in thought to notice the slightly red tinge that crept up Reno's neck and onto his cheeks. But if she had she would know that he wasn't just sick, but that something was making him blush. Not that she would have any idea what was making him blush. Nothing about her would make him blush. She actually felt another stab of something...sadness? That she wouldn't be able to make him blush. She tried not to think about it any more and focused on the fighting that Reno was going to teach her to do. She wondered if she would be any good at it.

She kept thinking that as she got dressed and continued to head toward the gym. Stopping for the water had delayed her a minute, but she was still going to be only a few minutes behind when she should be there. She felt like singing, or maybe humming, but she didn't. She opened the door to the locker room right next to the gym. She set her water down and put her hair into a pony tail. She checked her watch once more, just a minute late, nothing major. Clearing her throat she suddenly felt nervous. Why was she feeling nervous? Was it just because she was probably going to get her butt whipped? No, Reno wouldn't actually hurt her, although he probably wouldn't take it easy on her.

Grabbing her water she took a drink, but she wasn't really thirsty. Was she stalling?! no, of course she wasn't...right? She couldn't be stalling...she...she never stalled. But that would appear to be what she was doing now. She groaned aloud, wishing yet again she had told him that tonight wasn't a good time to do it. She could have made up a good excuse, one that he would have believed! And he wouldn't have expected it to be an excuse. After all Cissnei never made excuses for anything. Which might have been the reason that she had clung to her pride and refused to tell him something that wasn't true.

With those thoughts in mind Cissnei quietly opened the door to the real gym. She was quiet as always, not making a sound not because she was sneaking around, but because her life depended on being quiet 98 percent of the time. She wasn't prepared for what she saw. She stopped mid-stride. Reno was on the floor doing push-up after push-up. He must have been doing it for awhile, since she hadn't seen him walking into the gym. Her crimson eyes literally bugged out as he did one after another. Then her jaw dropped open. The muscles that his suit had so effectively covered were now in plain sight. How anyone could so many push-ups...she herself was in top physical shape and she hated push-ups. And yet here he was looking...well very muscled.

Her breath caught suddenly, making a noise, but she was still so deep in thought that she wasn't sure if he had heard her. She was still watching...almost as if in a trance. She tried to snap out of it, but all she saw were the muscles in his arms flexing as he went up and down, and up and down. She had let go of the door and it slammed shut behind her, making her jump and twirl around, eyes going toward the door. Clearing her throat, she took in a deep breath and tried to settle the swirling of emotions that rose up in her body. Her chest heaved like she had just run the whole way here, or done the push-ups she had just watched Reno do.

Closing her eyes, she took in one last breath before turning towards Reno, a smile pinned on her face. “I...I'm a bit late...I um...stopped for some water...” She stuttered out, a blush creeping up her face. She wet her lips and glanced up, hoping to god he wasn't doing push-ups anymore. He wasn't, thank god! Trying to summon her courage, Cissnei tried to smile and joke again. “Ready to get your butt whupped?” But her voice was soft, still trying to regain her cool. Probably not going to happen with Reno looking quite so...handsome. Oh god why did he have to be so handsome?!

Words: 1497
Muse: great
Notes: I kinda just made it so that we could post in the gym instead of the conversation before the gym. (or at least I tried lol)