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Whiskey and Wine	By : RandiLynne Category: Final Fantasy VII > Het - Male/Female Views: 1132 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Chance
- 2-One Busy Sunday
- 1
- 2
With plans in order for the
following night, Rude was unable to convince himself that he might actually be
able to sleep. Especially after the evening he just had. So he headed to a
place he really should have avoided. Of course, such an idea never crossed his
mind as he went for a visit with Reno
and Elena.
As he approached the flat Reno had claimed, he
noticed the blue flash of the television through the windows. The light
alternated between light blues and oranges, flashing frequently as a strobe
light. Reno was
obviously watching something fast paced, probably violent. Poor Elena.
Without knocking, Rude pushed
aside the oak door and entered the living room with a most unusual grin. Elena
was practically in a coma, staring at the television with inattentiveness. Reno, however, was on the
edge of the seat, elbows propped against his knees, watching with much
interest. Elena�s expression quickly changed when she noticed Rude, and his
grin.
�Wow� look
at that,� she remarked, smiling in turn.
Reno was hesitant to pry his eyes away from
the gun battle on the television screen, but did so shortly after Elena�s
observation. By then, Rude had subdued the grin and any traces were long gone.
�Yeah, that�s Rude. How
interesting,� Reno
drawled sarcastically, returning his focus to the explosion on the screen.
�I swear he was grinning a
second ago,� Elena teased, coming to her feet.
�Rude is allergic to grins,
Elena,� Reno
said flatly.
�Shut up,� she inserted,
sauntering over to Rude and swiping his sunglasses from his face to better see
the look in his eyes. She could never tell when he was lying with the
sunglasses intact. �So, Rude� what has you grinning?� she asked.
Rude made an attempt to grab
the sunglasses from Elena, but she successfully kept them just beyond his reach.
She shook her head as a mother would when a child had done something wrong, �Not
until you tell me!� she said, wagging the glasses before him.
�Elena,� Rude groaned.
By this time, Reno was quite amused by the theft of Rude�s
sunglasses, and couldn�t help but have a good laugh at Elena�s antics. He
joined her beside Rude, giving him quite the once over before chiming in his
two cents, �It�s a woman.�
�How do you know that?� Elena
asked, hiding the sunglasses behind her back while glancing to Reno.
�The look on
his face. Pretty obvious, yo,� Reno
said with a nod toward Rude. He really hadn�t a clue what he was talking about,
but ran blindly with the explanation as it fit well.
Rude grimaced, opting to stay
silent. This was utterly ridiculous, and he wasn�t about to play these little
games. He honed his stealth and pretended to slip off in one direction, before
making a quick advance toward Elena, where he pried his precious glasses from
her tight grip. With the sunglasses safely in place, he sunk into the loveseat
beside the couch and watched Elena and Reno
stare quite incredulously at him.
�Haven�t lost your touch,
partner,� Reno
grinned and pinched Elena�s side, �You� on the other hand�� With that, he
rolled his eyes and sauntered over to the couch and perched himself on the arm
under a burning glare from the blonde. How they teased one another. Seconds
later, Reno was
staring at Rude as if doing so would bring about the information he wanted.
�So, who is it?� Reno asked, tilting his
head to the side.
�Who said anything about a girl?�
Rude replied with a question.
Elena shifted her weight
impatiently, carefully moving to sit near Reno
on the couch. She matched his stare, and Rude felt as if he were under the
scrutiny of scientists. As if this situation was really that important to Reno
or Elena.
�Girl, eh?
So you�re into pedophilia these days�� Reno
remarked.
Rude rolled his eyes behind the
cover of his sunglasses, in disbelief of what his supposed best friend had just
suggested. �Get off, Reno,�
he said.
�Then spill the beans,� Reno pressed.
A look of encouragement spread
over Elena�s delicate features. It was as if a light bulb had clicked on
somewhere in her imagination. �I know who it is,� she said proudly.
�Oh, you do?� Rude asked quite
sarcastically.
�Do tell, �Laney,� Reno inquired.
�Well,� she began, �I bet it�s
the bartender� that AVALANCHE chick,� she stated with excitement lingering in
the undertones of her voice. Of course, Reno
had told Elena about the crush that was discussed so long ago.
�Ah, good catch,� Reno agreed, nearly
glaring at Rude and awaiting a response.
Rude sat in silence as long as
he possibly could, enduring the daggers glared from his colleagues, all the
while feeling quite offended about Tifa being referred to as the �AVALANCHE
chick.� Finally, his words broke out in a torrent. �She has a name, Elena. It�s
Tifa.�
�So it is her,� Elena smiled
cutely.
�Would you both quit?� Rude
commanded in avoidance.
�Nope.
You better just tell us what happened, yo.� Reno scooted closer, patting Rude on the
shoulder.
�And you�ll leave me alone
about it?� Rude furthered, rolling his shoulder until Reno lifted his affection.
�Of course,� Elena chirped.
Rude paused in thought, taking
in a deep breath. It would get them off
my back. Maybe they�d drop it completely� but then maybe they�ll tease
mercilessly. It�s certainly worth a shot, though. �Okay. I stopped by her
bar,�
�Okay, first of all: You went
to a bar and you didn�t tell me?� Reno
seemed to take offense to this little fact, before continuing his questioning.
�Secondly, what the fuck happened, man?�
Rude heaved a sigh while
watching Reno�s
myriad of unusual faces, �Nothing much.�
�Now�s not the time to be
overly discreet, Rude. We�re curious!� Elena added.
�And if you don�t spill it,
we�ll be forced to tie you down and torture you.� The devious expression Reno offered didn�t help
the threat any, and Rude considered this for a moment. He recalled the last
time such a threat was given. Reno
had somehow tied him down and Elena had instigated the torture. It was less
than desirable.
�We talked, she took my glasses
off, I complimented her and I left,� Rude explained as simply and plainly as
was possible. Now shut up.
�She took� your glasses off?� Elena repeated in utter disbelief.
Of all the information included in his vague statement, this seemed to pique
her interest most.
�Whoa, big step there, man.�
Reno and his ridiculous usage of
words such as �man and �yo.� �She
was curious. So hold the deal and drop it,� Rude directed.
�Hey, hey.
Who�s second in command here? And you�re tossing out orders?� Reno spread his arms wide in question, acting
as if he were mortally wounded by Rude�s attitude. Rude knew better.
�Then I�ll go,� Rude said as he
stood to leave.
�You�re so difficult,� Elena
stated as Rude met the door.
�Come on, stay and have a
drink,� Reno
persuaded with a smile.
�Whiskey?�
Rude questioned.
�Always,� Reno answered.
So Rude stayed. Eventually,
with the warm influence of the whiskey, he fell asleep on the couch and stayed
the night through. He fell asleep awaiting the morning, however tired he might
be.
�
Sunday morning came more
quickly than Rude was prepared for. His watch sounded at around nine in the
morning, but in his incoherence, he dismissed the alarm. The next bout of
consciousness came when Reno
stumbled through the living for a drink, before disappearing into his room. A
quick glance at his watch provided the time: just after one in the
afternoon.�
Today would be taken at a
leisurely pace, which would provide him time to contemplate the way he�d pull
the wool over Reno�s
eyes in order to visit Seventh Heaven. It was quite soon, he realized, but he
did not mind that at all. All of this struck him as odd, not much like the
usual behaviour he had taken to. Of course, he also found this new excitement
refreshing and welcome in a bold sort of way. What has come over me?
�Women,� Reno would say if the conversation ever took
place.
Not just women, a specific
woman. But acting like a voracious teenager would only serve to cause self-annoyance.
That simply was not his style. Not only that, but he was all but positive that
Tifa would never take a liking to such a style.
After convincing Reno�with no small amount
of skill�that he was not heading out to the bar, Rude took an indirect route to
Seventh Heaven. It wasn�t as if he enjoyed behaving in such ways, but having Reno tag along with his
smart mouth and indecent manners simply would not impress Tifa. Either that or
they would impress her so wildly that Rude would become a fly hanging on the
wall. Neither sounded appealing.
From beyond the doors, the bar
seemed as dull as it had been the night before. Rude feared another entrance
such as the one he�d had the prior evening, with all eyes on him, but he
actually preferred a slow night so he might have a chance to absorb more of her
kind conversation and enchanting eyes. Quite easily, he was addicted.
Upon sliding past the door,
Rude suddenly realized his hopes were dashed. Despite the outward appearance
and the fact that it was a Sunday evening, the bar was hopping with patrons. Noisy patrons, at that. He heard a belch from one corner,
followed by a chorus of boisterous laughter and lewd comments. Edge�s finest, out in full
force.
Winding his way through the few
men on their way out, Rude made the counter and slid between a burly man and
slight woman�an interesting place to be sandwiched. He caught sight of Tifa
after a moment�s search, taking in her exhausted appearance. She was struggling
for the sink with six mugs in her arms, praying with silent words that the
glasses would not explode from her arms and fall to their demise. Where was her
tray? He spotted it trapped beneath dozens of other glasses; she obviously
hadn�t had a chance to clear them in time. Without a second thought, he was at
her side, carefully coaxing a few of the glasses from her trembling arms.
With the transfer of glasses
completed, Tifa looked to Rude with grateful eyes. �Thank you! I thought I was
going to drop those,� she said while she hurried to set the remaining glasses
in the sink.
Rude nodded, brining the
glasses he now possessed over where she stole them back and set them in the
full sink with the others. He took a moment to look her over discreetly, before
glancing out at the bar. It was packed, and the dishes were piled over the back
counter. One man shouted for a refill, and Tifa was off in quite the hurry,
wearing an apologetic smile for Rude.
While Tifa was tending to
refill requests, Rude carefully rolled the sleeves of his blazer into neat
folds just a quarter of the way to his elbow. He moved the dishes from the sink
in order to gain access to the drain, which he promptly plugged. The dish soap
was hidden well in the cabinet below, among many other cleaners, but he found
it quickly and poured a generous amount into the sink before turning on the hot
water.
By the time Tifa finished with
refills and various new orders, she came beside him with an incredulous look.
�Rude! I can�t have you doing the dishes. Really, what would my customers think
if they saw a fellow patron washing dishes?�
Rude paused half way through
the pile by then, giving Tifa a quick shake of his head and saying: �You looked
as if you could use a hand with these.�
�That doesn�t mean I expect you
to do them, Cloud doesn�t even�� she bit her lip and paused the words
threatening to spill. Such things had no reason to be said.
Before he could inquire her
strange talk, and before she could protest to his help, another patron demanded
a new drink. Left to do the dishes in peace, Rude washed and rinsed like a
professional. He never did anything half way. Anything less than the best was
unacceptable. Perhaps that played into why he never settled for anyone lower
than the standard Tifa had set?
When he had all those dishes
put away, save for the few she brought over between refills, he leaned against
the counter and rolled his sleeves back down to their full length. The crowd
had thinned to half the size it had been when he arrived, and he realized then
it had taken him nearly an hour to do all of the dishes.
Tifa came to him with a ragged
look, sweeping her hair into a loose pony tail which she tied with a band from
under the counter. He decided then that she looked stunning with her hair swept
back, and he accidentally voiced that aloud. �You look pretty with your hair
up,� he�d said.
She seemed surprised by his
sudden compliment, whether because she had truly not expected anyone to find
her pretty in such a state or because it was he who had said so, he did not
know. She looked at him in a side ways manner that begged him to confess he was
only kidding, but he did no such thing. �If you say so,� she grinned and caught
sight of the spotless sink and counter. At this, she let her jaw slack
slightly. �I cannot believe you did all that!�
�What else can I do to help?�
he asked, watching as a few new patrons came in and settled.
�Rude, I couldn�t possibly ask
that of you.�
�You didn�t. I offered,� he
replied.
�Yes, but��
�I�ll wipe down the counter and
clean the tables off.�
�You can�t be serious,� she sighed
in disbelief.
He realized that she must have
hated asking anything of people; always ready to sacrifice herself to help, but
never willing to allow anyone else the same opportunity. That would not suffice
tonight. Without replying any further, he grabbed a towel from the sink and
began tidying the counter where the patrons had dwindled.
Tifa watched with a warm smile,
quite taken by his true kindness. She had never imagined a Turk to be such a
gentlemen when not acting in interest of an assignment. She doubted he was on
assignment, yet her suspicion was almost instinctive. How could she doubt such
sincerity, though?
�
When the last customer had
wandered into the night, it was half past two in the morning. Thanks to Rude,
most of the bar was tidy and she hadn�t much left to be done aside from a few
dishes used by the very last of the patrons. Had Rude not helped, she was sure
she�d be buried to her nose in dirty glasses and trash�which he�d emptied
already.
She heaved a sigh of relief,
taking in the silence for a moment. She was glad the bar was empty and closing
time had come. Sleep was first on her list of priorities, but even above that
treasured first spot was thanking Rude for all of the help he provided.
Tifa fidgeted with the dish rag
in her hands as she approached him, before leaning casually against the counter
beside him and surveying the nearly spotless counter in front. Putting on her
best casual voice, she said: �I really can�t thank you enough for helping me
with all this.�
�Don�t mention it,� Rude
replied. He really expected nothing in return. It made him happy enough to help
her feel better about the busy evening.
�Really, isn�t there something
I could do?� she asked, nibbling on her lip in thought. Suddenly, she was
pushing off the counter and facing him with a wide smile. �Tomorrow I close
early, since it�s so dead on Mondays. Why don�t you meet me here then, and I�ll
whip up a nice dinner?�
Rude was quite pleasantly
surprised by her offer, but still he didn�t want her to feel indebted to him.
�You don�t have to do that,�
�No, but I�d like to,� she
insisted.
�What time?� he asked.
�I usually wrap things up
around eleven or so,� she nodded as if reaffirming to herself.
�Then I�ll be here.� With that,
she watched him straighten his blazer as if he intended to leave. Not that he
needed to stay any longer, but she found herself wishing he�d stay just a
little longer.
�I�ll see you then,� she
replied, fidgeting further with the rag until it fell to the floor with a wet thwap. Smooth, she thought.
At once, both of them stooped
to retrieve the rag and nearly knocked foreheads at the point they paused. At
such proximity, she could see the faint outline of his wide eyes staring into
hers. She gave a nervous giggle, which only bothered her more, before mumbling
about being clumsy. When they had paused so close, she couldn�t help but notice
the way his soft breath had fallen against her lips. He was seductive without
meaning to be, and that was more attractive than someone who flashes their good
looks with a good dose of manipulative seduction. The awkward moment was really
over in a flash, though it seemed to drag out.
If Rude had been bothered by
the little mishap, he sure had a funny way of showing it. As calm and cool as
ever, he swept up the rag and handed it her. To avoid more silence, she asked:
�What sort of food do you like?�
�Pasta, vegetables� Costan dishes,� he replied.
�I�ll see if I can�t think up
something good,� she said after calming her nerves.
�Don�t worry too much about
it,� he urged. �Can I help with anything else before I head out?�
�Of course
not. You�ve done so much already. I�m just going to go to bed, and
finish it up in the morning.�
Tifa accompanied Rude to the
door, where she said goodnight and brushed her hand softly against his in
gratitude. Even beneath his dark skin, she thought she saw a faint rosy blush.
�Goodnight, Tifa.� And he
walked out the door.
So with quite a smile, Tifa
headed to bed thinking of only recipes the rest of the evening. She had to make
something worthy of such a kind person. Then it occurred to her she was calling
a man who had killed in the name of his job once�perhaps more times�during his
life. What an odd parallel. She opted to ignore that final thought; she was not
blameless in the world. Certainly she could not expect that of anyone else.
---------
Finally, the
second chapter. I wanted to be sure I�d developed a solid idea, as I
wrote the first on a whim and had planned it to be a one shot of sorts. So much
for that�I simply could not leave it alone ;) This chapter was more casual, so
I hope that I�ve managed to write Rude well again. Please do review if you have
a moment! Until chapter three-
- 1
- 2
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Whiskey and Wine