Now, Tomorrow, Always

~Now, Tomorrow, Always~

By: Aerys Krystie and Lunar Plexus.

~ * ~

There were some things that offended and outraged Reno in the worst way possible. The window in his bedroom being one of them. With a loud snort, the redhead woke, waving his arms fervently, trying to defend himself against the bright sunlight beating down on his face. Curtains are a must for anyone who suffers a hangover every other day.
Grabbing his pillow and taking aim, Reno hurled it at the window, moaning a self-composed song.

"Sun, sun, go away and ...don't...come back."

Reno was genuinely shocked that the pillow and mantra did nothing to eradicate the sun....throwing things usually worked with everything. He buried his head under the covers, rubbing his face. It ached. So did his eyes. And everything else.

"Pain hurts," he muttered sarcastically.

Matters weren't improved when someone pounded on his door. It had to be Rude. He would have carried Reno to his bed in the first place. Reno groaned and flapped his hand at the door, not having the energy to shout. Rude knocked again. Reno knew well enough that Rude didn't actually want anything. He just wanted to piss Reno off, which had proved effective in getting him out of bed so far. Reno decided that maybe it was time to see the damage. Dragging himself out of bed, he headed towards the mirror on his wall. He did pause to pick up one of his shoes and hurl it at the door.

"See how you like it..."

The door swung open at this point and Rude strode into the room. Even though he'd been out of commission, Turk-wise, for quite some time, Rude still wore those damned suits.

"The shoe again, right?" he enquired, heading over to the mirror and leaning against the wall next to it.

Reno didn't answer. He was too busy mourning over his appearance. His hair looked like small animals had nested in it. His eyes were puffy and bagged.

"Urgh." Reno groaned, dragging his fingers down his face.

Rude peered at the redhead's reflection.

"You don't look much better from this end, either, friend." he commented.

Reno scowled at his friend and went back to salvaging his hair.

"In fact," continued Rude, " you remind me of my Grandmother."

"Yeah, well, you know...I'd probably look better in the reflection from your head." snapped Reno.

Rude grinned.

"Good to see the back chat's up and running."

He turned from Reno and headed towards the door.

" Rise and shine, Cupcake." He said as he left.

Reno stared at his door, confused.

"Cupca---"

Then:

" Oh, God..."

As everything from the previous night came flooding back, stinging Reno's brain and making his eyes water, he crouched down on the floor and hid his face in his hands.
Cupcake.
The dark-haired man.
Cloud and Tifa's friend.
Vincent.
Reno rocked himself back and forth on the floor, mouthing the words from the night before:

"A shithole like you...Reno magic...bone me? And...and..."

" TAZER!" Reno shouted.

He was close to sobbing, when Rude walked back in, with Reno's actual tazer in hand. He held the EMR out.

" Did you really want this," Rude asked." or did you manage to hit some poor bastard with the 'want to see my tazer?' line again?"

Reno managed to compact himself down even more.

" I want it so I can electrocute myself to death."

Rude sat down on Reno's bed.

"I suppose I'll keep it for a bit then." he said. "what happened?"

" Oh I don't know, I called someone a 'shithole', asked him to bone me, chased him down the street, exposed myself to him, and told him and some pedestrians about my cock...very loudly."

Rude considered the balled up redhead for a moment.

"You made the tazer joke too, didn't you?"

Reno's head snapped up and glared at Rude.

" How else do you think we got onto the subject of my cock?"

Rude didn't really think it was necessary to keep saying that word, but he let it go. Reno was almost at the point of conjuring up a rift in the space time continuum in order to change what happened. Reno didn't get embarassed very easily, and especially not when under the influence. Reno must have gone a little bit further than usual, though. He didn't usually get so bad that he broke down the next morning.

"Get on the bed, Reno, you're being over-dramatic."

Reno had become rather listless all of a sudden, so he obeyed, flopping back onto his bed and hugging a pillow.

"Why did you chase this person?" Rude asked, curiously.

An indistinct mumble came from Reno.

"Reno?"

Reno looked up at Rude, and sighed heavily and wearily.

"I..." Reno let out another pained sigh, "I was...rejected."

With that, the wounded redhead buried his face in his pillow.

Rude was genuinely shocked. A little. Reno wasn't on the pull, so to speak, all the time. When he was, however, he was never rejected. Rude had been around the house when Reno did bring someone home enough to know how easily he attracted people.

" Well..." Rude began. " It's one in many, who really cares about some no name?"

Reno growled into his pillow.

"No name, right."

Reno sat up and glared at Rude.

" His name was Vincent."

Rude looked surprised for a brief moment before regaining his composure.

" Reno," he said, standing up, " are you insane?"

With that, Rude left the room for a second time that morning.

Reno sat alone, looking at his pillow. He didn't know Vincent, but Reno knew he was important to Cloud's family. There must be a good reason for that. Reno liked being on good terms with Cloud, and especially Tifa. He didn't want this to screw that up.
That aside, Reno had had plenty of drunks breathing down his neck. Often enough to know that this Vincent can't have enjoyed it. Reno was an empathetic person. He didn't like hurting people, and he liked to make amends when he did. Reno knew he wouldn't feel right again until he did something about this.

At that point, Rude's voice floated down the hall.

" You know what you have to do."

Reno decided it was time for a shower. And then a stroll over to Cloud's house.

~ * ~
End Chapter V.

Thanks to Golden Kitsune, White-Hawk and Soucree for reviewing. We love you :)