Lions and Tigers and... Fangs?

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

Characters: Reno, Rude, Cissnei, and Rufus
Progress: On-going
Summary: In which Rufus gets his biiiiig fluffy puppy with bad teeth... at the Inn
Location: Lindblum
Date: Shortly after the Hunt
Warnings: Reno's mouth, which should be a given at this point.

"Damnit... fuc... OW!"   The red-headed Turk flinched as the Fang he'd fetched for Rufus clamped down on his hand for the fourth time during the haul back to the inn.  And the fourth time he smacked the creature with the business end of his EMR.  At least Rufus would be happy to know that his wolfie was strong, with a high stamina.  It kept munching Reno's hand like it was jerky!

And of course, to avoid problems with the innkeeper about bringing a very much wild Fang into the inn, Reno shoved the beastie through the window to their room, claws flailing and all, and followed suit - hand firmly on the leash - and for the fifth time, in the Fang's mouth.  For the fifth time he cursed, and this time he smacked the dog's muzzle with his open palm.  "BAD dog!" he hissed, then glanced around.  He didn't want to muzzle the creature, and goodness knew that it was probably hungry.  ...

He grabbed the backpack he was going to use for their trip into the swamp, rummaging around until his hands closed on some dried meat.  It wasn't the real thing, but hopefully it'd do the trick of focusing the Fang's attention on easier-to-catch meat than chomping on Reno's hand and getting a smack to the muzzle for it.  He tossed a few scraps of the dehydrated food on the ground near the Fang, and grinned a little when the critter gave it a cursory sniff... then gobbled the meat up.  "See?  Be nice to Reno, and Reno will be nice to you, pup."   Another toss of food, another sniff-and-gulp.  Only this time, those violet eyes of the beast looked to Reno afterward with a nervous expectancy. 

"Oh, you want more, huh?  No more chomping my fingers, and we'll see."  This time, he held a rather long strip out to the creature, and smiled a little when those teeth closed on one end of the meat - leaving his fingers in-tact.  "There we go.  Good doggie.  Reno isn't lunch, right?"  And with that he dropped on the nearest bed, wearily, hand wrapped around the leather end of the leash, and the other offering the last of the dried meat to his canine companion.  "Just wait.  Rufus, my boss, will have you spoiled rotten in no-time.  Just like..."  He trailed off, shaking his head.  He didn't want to think of the loyal creature that had always been by Rufus Shinra's side - Dark Nation.  The animal didn't like him, it was true - but she always obeyed Rufus.  And defended him tooth-and-claw.

Perhaps this creature would, too? 

"Well, you'll see when he gets here, won't you?"

Comments

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

That was better. More comfortable, despite the growling Fang. He shifted, lifting the hand that wasn't attached to the leash-wielding one up to the opposite shoulder, rubbing where the muscle had strained to keep his arm in its socket - the Fang ceasing his growl as soon as it happened. "Nah. Not about him, at least. Then again, we didn't have much time to talk about Rufus at all. But... last she likely remembers, Rufus had been accused of turning traitor, and we were all keeping him hostage while Shinra and Avalanche faced off - with each other AND us. So ... there's that against him."

The Fang entertained himself, sniffing around for the remaining scraps of meat - small crumbs of jerky that had broken off. "Plus, Cissnei didn't go through what we did. With Sephiroth, Meteor, Geostigma, and the Trio. She was never part of that solid team the Turks turned into after Tseng was named our leader. We're family as much as we're co-workers. We've fought together. Drank together. Bled together. You can't just snap your fingers and make a bond like that appear." He shook his head, then turned to arch a brow in the direction of his long-time partner.

"On the other hand... I thought she trusted us enough to put aside her suspicions of Rufus. At least enough to give him a chance. I told her he was a good leader. That he was a good fit for us now - and he is. I just hope she'll see that. That Rufus will prove it to her, somehow." The frown didn't fade, the look in his eyes visibly hurt. To have a friend and coworker not trust him was not something he was used to any longer. The Turks, the ones he knew and worked with for years, trusted each other without hesitation. They had to. Mistrust was a wrench in the cogs of a well-oiled machine.

[cyke.livejournal.com]

Even so, Rude couldn't really blame her for being so hesitant even when they went out of their way to assure her otherwise. For one, she was a lot younger than they were and, as Reno had pointed out, that bond that they shared didn't really begin to strengthen into what it was until after Tseng had taken leadership of their group. Cissnei would come around eventually--of that much Rude was certain. He just hoped that anything bordering on insubordination on her part would be overlooked by Rufus until she had been given the chance to fully embrace the idea that not everything was what they once believed it to be.

"You should take more care," Rude pointed out, watching as Reno tried to awkwardly knead the sore muscle of his own shoulder. Reaching over, he opted to offer a helping hand--quite literally, and save Reno the effort by rubbing at the offending shoulder himself.

"How am I supposed to trust you to watch my back when you can't even swing your arm?"

[turks-reno.livejournal.com]

To be honest, Reno didn't really blame Cissnei either. It just stung not to be trusted as much as he was used to. He had gotten all too used to their odd little family, and this was simply a reminder of how it hadn't -always- been like that. Which was a mental sore-spot for Reno, not quite so easily remedied.

He cast a devil-may-care grin to his partner at the reprimand, which faltered into a little hmm of bliss when the other man's hands pushed at the abused limb.

"How was I supposed to know Rufus was going to make Fluffy jump like that? Never did it with Dark Nation, 'least as far as I ever saw..." he responded, melting just a little as the ache faded. Damn, Rude was a pro at this. He was going to fall in love with those hands.

"I think if ya ever retire, you could get a job doing this. Damn, you're good," he insisted in a voice that rumbled slightly with contentment.

And said Fluffy? The creature flopped down on the floor with a little, bored huff. Quiet - for now.

"But... you're right," he reluctantly admitted. "I promise I'll be more careful. Now I know Rufus likes to make the fluffy thing jump. So while the President is training his new pet, I'll just make sure there's more slack in the leash. Problem solved."