Like a Father
By: Zeng Li

Tseng Wulong returned to the Turks' base located in the East Wing of the low-rise structures surrounding the main Shinra Tower. Back from a rather simple mission, he retreated immediately to the private bathroom attached to his office, unlike certain other Turks who put their dirty shoes up on the coffee table in the lounge and drank beer.

Yes, the very same untidy Turk who unexpectedly greeted the Turk's captain as he was exitting the bathroom. Tseng nearly ran into Reno as he stepped out, coming to an abrupt halt. He just stared at the red-head with a dumb look on his face.

Reno grinned. "You missed a few strands!" he said, in entirely too witty of a mood for the tired Turks' leader right now.

Tseng shoved Reno aside and walked into his spacious office. "So for what am I being graced by your prescence this evening?"

Reno turned as Tseng passed by him but remained in the vicinity of Tseng's bathroom door. "It's Elena."

"What about Elena?"

Reno rolled his eyes. "The usual. Griping that I haven't done my paperwork, so she can't hand in all four sets of paperwork at once and make it look neat, color-coded with our surnames, all papers divisable by four..."

"Anything else?" Tseng tried to include some impatience in his voice.

Reno just stopped, seeing that he could not entertain Tseng with any teasing of the rookie Turk's work habits tonight. Seemed Tseng hadn't cared to notice his one hand concealed behind his back.

"Don't tell me you're here to tell me you got hurt on today's job and want some time off."

"Nah. That guy didn't get me that hard…" Reno rubbed the back of his wrist which would probably be more of a bother the following morning.

"Hmph. Will wonders never cease?" Tseng sat down and collected the report already handed in all nice and neat from Elena.

"And there is ONE other thing..." Reno added, walking up beside Tseng, his expansive grin giving the ominous hint that he was feeling a bit too cocky tonight. "I...I just wanted to tell you..." He thrusted his hand out, squeezing a donut so the jelly came out onto Tseng's recently washed hair. "YOU MISSED A SPOT!"

Reno turned and ran for the door, but Tseng was too quick with a red orb junctioned into his wrist armor. Reno stopped short as the summoned force, Hades, appeared before him. The young Turk, already a bit spent from this evening's job, succumbed to the mental and physiological attack by the summon.

Reno screamed something that sounded like "bastard" before collapsing onto his back, curled into a ball as his body was poisoned.

"I think I'll leave you there for a while. Perhaps the janitor will come and sweep you into the trash for me..."

"Ts-Tseng..."

"You'll be okay. Just wait around and perhaps some 'magic elf' will pop over and cure you." Tseng, putting on the front that he's rather neutral over the prank Reno just pulled, returned to the bathroom and locked himself in.

Reno reached weakly into his pockets but found them to be empty. "Ts-Tseng...!" he calls hoarsely. Between the locked door and the running water, Tseng could not hear him. "Damn if I wasn't poisoned...I'd go in there and make him so sorry..." Reno muttered. "You'd better come back and help me you bastard…" The young Turk sat up weakly, propping himself up with trembling arms. "Ts-Tseng! I...hate you!"

Tseng soon turned off the water and toweled his hair dry. He got redressed.

Outside, Reno closed his eyes, his head pounding and pores sweating.

Tseng opened the bathroom door and intentionally nearly stepped on the prone Turk as he walked out. Reno flinched a little, half angry over the lack of attention and the other half over the blatent lack of respect.

Tseng sat back behind desk as though there were no skinny Turk lying on the floor by his bathroom.

Reno collapsed onto his back again in dramatic fashion. "Tseng...I could be DYING here!"

"Good."

"You don't MEAN that!"

"Hmph."

Reno forced himself to breathe clearly, closing his eyes.

Tseng spared a hint of attention for him. "See how the poison effect has a way of dissipating after a while, my dear Reno?"

"It still hurts..." Reno groaned, trying to sit up. "Is this how you treat every poor bastard who works for you?"

"No, it's just the way I treat little imps that piss me off and ruin my perfect hair."

Reno snorted. "Perfect...?" He continued to pretending to struggle with his breathing.

"Now if you're done being a throw rug, why don't you get up and do something constructive for a change?"

Reno just whimpered, tilting his head back.

"You exist to annoy me, don't you?"

"Everyone's gotta have a destiny. Or in my case, a hobby."

Tseng groaned, getting the feeling that ignoring Reno was not gonna get rid of him tonight. "Why don't you pester Rude for a change?"

"Rude's nowhere near as much fun. Besides, he always threatens to kick my teeth in if I do anything bad to him."

"So do I."

"Yeah, but he MEANS it…"

"Well, if you're bored, I can find something to occupy your time. Like filling out your report on tonight's mission perhaps?"

'Where's all those damn pies and jelly donuts when I need one?' Reno mused. 'I could entertain myself at your expense, boss-man…'

"Oh, and you knew this day was coming…" Tseng lifted a piece of paper off his desk…a memo to the procurement department. "I'm ordering 7 black neck ties for you."

"Aww, c'mon! How am I gonna get rid of 7?"

"You wouldn't 'lose' so many if you'd stop using them to tie your arms to the bed posts when you and..."

"That was Rufus' idea...! Y'know, because chains leave a bruise."

It seemed to hit a sore spot in Tseng, and the young Turk did not miss the subtle hint. "Reno, if you don't have anything constructive to add to my day, just get the hell lost! That's an order!"

"Aah… Just admit it. The thought of me with Rufus makes you green with envy!"

"Rufus and I have an...understanding. After all, I was more of a father to that boy than old man Shinra."

"That I can't disagree with."

"I was also the first one to… Well, let's just say that he was 12 and was having some...dreams... He needed someone to explain things to him, and he didn't feel like asking his real father about them."

"Wise decision. What about YOUR dad?"

"What about him?"

"Just bein' polite... Just...was he...y'know...how'd you get on with him?"

Tseng leaned an elbow on the desk and pointed to the brown dot on forehead. "I think you know the answer to that."

"Sorry," Reno said immediately, his mind telling him that there are three things in life that you don't discuss: politics, religion, and asking Tseng about his dot. An awkward silence filled the room.

Tseng's eyes returned to his paperwork as he once again tried to ignore Reno.

'Shit...way to go, motor-mouth…' Reno told himself in his head.

The cold reception from Tseng continued, but the young Turk could see that the boss was merely trying to conjure up a distraction from the topic that had arisen both spontaneously and by mistake.

"Uh...Tseng...?"

The older Turk looked up.

Reno was silent for a few seconds. "Are you... Do you wanna talk?"

'REEEEAL smooth…' his mind lashed back at him. 'Poor guy…' Reno took a few steps away, turning his back on the Wutan.

"Tseng...?" he added with a soft voice. "I'm really sorry."

Tseng looked up. "Hmph."

"I don't know what its like to…not have a father..." Reno's hand unconsciously reached for the bronze bangle around his right wrist…an object he kept with him as, at the least, a reminder of his loving father. "But if it's any consolation..." Reno continued, "You've given Rufus something special. You've stopped him from feeling...the pain that you feel..." Reno blushed. "If anything, you should be proud."

Tseng remained silent, an invisible mask still separating him from the red-head.

Reno shuffled his feet. "I'll go now. See ya."

"I try to be. I don't have much of a frame of reference."

Reno stopped as soon as he'd taken one step to leave. The voice behind him had finally spoken.

"Am I like a father to you? Or just a bully of a superior, barking orders?"

Reno stopped, a bit unsure of what to say. His eyes timidly searched for Tseng's, unsure if now was a good time to meet their gaze should they be looking back at him. He kept his vision focused off to the side. "Not many people can say they're lucky enough to have two dads. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones."

Tseng's silence was too much for Reno. He looked at his superior, the man's dark brown eyes meeting his blue mako eyes. The older man was smiling, faintly.

"Come here,...'son'." Tseng stood up.

Reno raised his head, eyes full ? He walked slowly toward Tseng, not quite knowing what to expect. As Reno got closer, Tseng puts his arms out. The young Turk gazed into the elder man's eyes before stepping into the outstretched arms.

"I love you..." Tseng hugged Reno. "Even though you are a pain in my ass who messes up my hair and drives me nuts all the time. Not to mention your knack for getting hurt over the littlest things.….."

A tiny smile touched Reno's lips as his eyes flutter closed. The young man put his hands timidly on Tseng's back. Tseng's cheek pressed against the warmth of Reno's shoulder.

Reno let out a deep sigh, inhaling the scent of Tseng's shampoo and conditioner...and the tiniest hint of donut jelly.

THE END

An original story based on characters from Final Fantasy VII © 1997 Squaresoft Ltd. Characters used without permission. No money is made off of this fic. Written based off of an RP session with Reno-chan. © 2004. Posted also at my website: