#reno fluff

even in moments like this, where you're sat under the shade with your legs entangled together, to him, you're something worth wearing numbers weapon 6 for. you're worth the risks if it means he can wake up to you everyday and look forward to touch your face like its the one thing he has left to treasure.

reno was so sure, so sure that he would never love again, especially after the loss of his parents. joining the sweepers was to suppress that numbness even more, force himself to erase the deep-rooted pain in his heart so he could never fall into the trap of loss again.

yet after meeting kafka, iharu, his third division comrades, after meeting you, he realised just how stupid he was to have been ready to give all of it up.

had he truly dropped into a spiral he couldn't snap out of, would he have been given the chance to call you his? to be called yours?

"reno? hey, hellooo?"

in an instant, reno blinks away from his thoughts as his pupils start to materialise the world around him into focus. he sees you, closer than he remembers, your chin resting on his shoulder as you gaze up into his eyes.

he swallows. god, he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's with you.

you lean back with a smile and reno feels himself tingle from watching how your lips curve just for him. he goes deathly silent, his fingers twitching on his knees like they're desperate to know what your hands feel like. he has it all memorised, the lines on your palm and the shape of your nails, but each touch is always so different, like he's grasping onto something new.

"i got you some snacks," you say, holding up some of reno's favourites. he recognises them from the vending machine he uses. "they were the last ones left, i had to fight for it."

"snacks?" reno repeats, knitting his brows as he watches you rip it open. "you fought for them? with who?!"

"well, iharu wanted some as well," you explain, stopping to remind yourself of the details, "but i know you like these, so i bribed him with a different snack."

reno tilts his head, a tiny bit suspicious at the way you chortle. not because he doubts you but because iharu is normally never swayed so easily, especially by food. "you bribed him? with what?"

"the shrimp crackers," you snicker. "you don't like them, so i gave that to him instead."

he pauses, but nothing specific comes to mind, so he goes back to watching you fumble through the snack packet. you pick out a large piece and hold it to his lips. "open up."

suddenly, the tips of his ears glow red as he whirls away, but you follow him, resting your palm on his leg as you slide forward.

"reno, just once!"

he splutters, his hands on your shoulders as he leans low, but you keep pushing against him until his back meets the bench. "i can eat it on my own."

"i know, but i just want to see you eat it!"

he takes a gentle hold of your wrists, his cheeks on fire. murmuring, he begins stroking your hand with his thumb, his way to distract himself. "ok, fine, but only once. it's embarrassing."

you don't miss the way he looks left and right, his nose crinkling when he spots people walking along the adjacent path. most officers are on break, but the area you're in isn't too popular. there's the occasional pair on a jog, but only the trees stay as your main company, their rustling setting the blissful mood that reno tries blending into.

he sighs, urging himself to meet your gaze, but you watch as he struggles to as if he's so timid of this special moment. you catch yourself grinning, your mind blooming in colour with so much adoration for him.

he mumbles something to himself, but it's too hushed. it's as though you have a small white puppy with its head bowed, afraid to take a step out of its usual plays.

you poke his leg. "say that again? sorry."

he sucks in a deep breath. "i said people are watching..."

"aw, there's nothing to be embarrassed about!" you exclaim, reaching out to swipe his cheek with your finger. "just this one piece, promise."

he shakily parts his lips by a fraction but when you shoot him a look, he sighs, realising that there's no way he can bring himself to say no anymore. he opens his mouth and before he knows it, he's already munching, his tastebuds exploding with the familiarity of his favourite.

you retract your hand, eyeing his reaction. you pop one in your mouth and nod in satisfaction. "it's good but too popular. it's hard to find."

as he chews, the flavour hits him like a truck. it's always been one of his childhood treats, but because he's been so busy with training and keeping in shape, he hasn't had it in ages.

"you look like you're enjoying it," you laugh, having another one. "do you want more?"

with the way his head perks up and eyes shine with the desire for more, you hold out the packet to him, happy that he's enjoying it as much as you'd anticipated.

but you don't expect him to open his mouth, wider than before. he sits like a puppy waiting to be fed, patient and with an invisible wagging tail, too. maybe the snack allowed him to take a trip down memory lane, but you're too busy laughing over how adorable he is.

"you like it so much you're too lazy to get one yourself, huh? what happened to people being around?" you tease, letting out a snort when his brows twitch, but you move as if you're on autopilot, slotting another piece through his mouth.

despite reno clearly being a grown man with complete control over his appetite, you feel like a mother, content from the joy of watching her child eat. he opens his mouth for another and this time, you chuck it in like he's a net.

"wait, i wanna try throw it properly," you say, shuffling farther away while reno straightens his posture. he angles his head a centimetre backwards and with trained precision, you toss a piece into the air and let out a whoop when it successfully lands in reno's mouth.

he snaps his head back, a contagious grin on his face as you mirror it even bigger.

"that was good," he chuckles. "my turn."

you spend the rest of the afternoon playing toss with snacks, sometimes screeching when it lands in your eye or hair, but when you can only hear reno relax, laughing his heart out besides you, your heart grows warm. maybe the tiny suffering is worth it.

when that becomes too repetitive, though, you sit hand in hand, discussing which 'this or that' topic to debate about. at first, reno suggests things like being a captain or wearing a numbers suit, which ends in him choosing the suit.

"i mean, you are wearing numbers 6," you scoff.

"it's a realistic answer."

but once that gets too boring, you blurt out ones like bald reno or hairy reno much to his complete shock, and it's his face that gets you doubling over, praying for the agony in your stomach to disappear.

"why would i be... bald?" reno questions as if he genuinely can't understand. "i have hair."

"the point is i have to choose which one i'd prefer," you sniff, wiping your eyes.

"please don't tell me you'd choose bald me."

it's definitely weird, he thinks, his mind utterly blank as he watches you hiccup between your words, too exhausted from laughing so much. if he had told his old self that someone like you was now fixed into his life, would he have believed it?

~

After you brought the twins into the world, they were boys, of course they were. Both got that red hair from him, and the same attitude. Causing trouble where ever they go. Now they were 4 years old, and these twins were not all.

It had happened that you got pregnant again. So, currently stood in the kitchen, with your baby daughter of one year on your arm.

Reno never thought he would be a family guy, actually having three kids, even when none of those kids were planned. He loved them, he loved you.

It was chaotic, more than that.

He even tried to take fewer shifts to help you more.

But two energetic 4 years old? Two redheads, like him? This was a handful.

Reno never knew if he came home to a kind, lovely woman who greeted him with a kiss and asking how his day was, with your daughter in your arm.... Or if he came home to an overstimulated mess who gave him a look when he walked into the door, after you tried to clean up the chaos from the twins.  

"Daddy!" both boys yelled, running towards the door as their father, Reno of course an absolute cool dad, told the weirdest stories in a super heroic way. He smiled brightly when he hugged both boys. Before he realized his son had finger-paint in his face. "Ah, seems like someone had fun with paint? You didn't make any trouble to your mommy, hm?" he asked the two, before he stood up straight, walking over. Oh, not a good day...so not a good day.

You stood there all pent-up. The whole day trying to get the boys busy, and they were too sassy for their own good sometimes.

"Ahhh, look at my lovely, lovely girls." Reno walked over to you and your baby daughter in your arm. You tried to cook while you carried her. He gave you a kiss on the forehead before he took the small girl out of your grip. "Awww, you were a good girl. I can see that." he spoke so soft when he had his daughter in his arms, cute.

"Good? I don't know what happened today, but everything went wrong." you started, and there the vent came while you stirred something in the pan.

"Your sons, the smeared the finger paint all over the floor. After that, they ran with bare feet through it and over the couch... Oh, and not to forget they didn't want to wash their faces because they played gangsters." he always let you vent up, kinda giggling. He was a leaned back dad, in general he was the good guy and you the bad when it came to your kids. It was always like this when one parent stayed at home and this was you.   

"Oh, and she...that cute little monster." you pointed at your baby. She and Reno both looked at you, with literally the same expression.

"You can't blame her, look at that little, little pout. So precious." he said, and then made your daughter laugh when he tickled her slightly.

When you wanted to continue to cook, he wanted to place his daughter down in the baby chair.

"Oh no-no, don't place her down or she-" before you could finish, she started crying.

"This goes on the whole day, when I place her down, even for a second, she cries. So I have to hold her. And the twins doing just everything they can, because they are literally bored." you sighted in frustration, wanted to walk over to her before you noticed the food nearly burnt.   

"Ok, ok, ok...why not you let me handle this for now. I take her, and I talk to the boys. And after dinner, you relax, sweetheart. Mommy needs a break." he said, totally aware when he shouldn't make a dumb joke, he learned this after YEARS!

And well he tried, so you could at least finish making dinner.

He took is daughter while he walked over to the twins.

"Alright lil' ass kickers, you have a moment for your dad right?" he approached them before he snatched away the ball that flew in the air. The two small guys came waddling over. Hell, did Reno loved his chaotic family.

Did he ever think he would need to actually lecture his own kids? That he would even have some? No, far from that, but now this was reality.

"You really kept your Mommy on her toes today, huh?" he asked, flashing a small smirk.

It was not like he could blame them, they were his kids, they just had his genes.

At that you stopped what you were doing. Furrowing your eyebrows and standing up straight, you looked at your coworker and asked “What did he look like? He have red hair and a suit?”

“Oh, well yeah. Why, you know who he is or something?” your coworker asked curiously.

“Yeah, something like that,” you scoffed. “I’ll finish up here, you can go home.” “Alright, thanks buddy. I’ll see ya tomorrow. Good luck with that dude, seems like he’s kind of an ass.” You scoffed. “Don’t worry about it, that’s cause he is. Thanks though, have a good night.” you said as your coworker left. 

Exasperated from your long day, you slumped back into the chair you were previously in. You really didn’t wanna deal with Reno again. It was getting to be extremely annoying to see him, and sometimes even Rude tagged along. He was relatively nicer and calmer, but that didn’t mean you liked seeing him. 

While you were wallowing, you heard the bell once again. Groaning, you picked up your jacket and locked the back office. You could just come in early tomorrow to finish up the rest of your work. Talking to Reno was gonna take a while, and you’d rather get home before the plate lights turn back on. When you approach the front counter, you see Reno about to hit the bell again. “Stop, stop, please stop. That thing is so fucking loud and I’m not in the mood.” you yell before he can ring it again. 

Reno turns to you with a smirk on his face and puts his hands together on the counter. As he leans over, he starts off just as always. “Well hello there sweetheart, sure is great to see you again.” When you send him a dead look, Reno chuckles lowly and leans back. “I’m sure you know what I’m here to discuss.”

“You only ever show up to discuss the one thing, which I have already rejected at least four times.” you said monotonously. You just wanted to go home, and at this point you didn’t feel like being polite. 

His hands shot up by his shoulders, as if he were surrendering. But you knew better. “Woah woah, alright. But you know I’m just doing my job, and you haven’t actually given me a chance to explain anything yet.” 

“So what, your job is to piss me off? Listen Reno, you don’t have to explain jack shit. Some people wanted to be SOLDIERs when there was a war to win. I wasn’t one of them then, and I sure as hell ain’t gonna help you find more now. It doesn’t matter what you say, my mind is made up, so stop trying to hire me.” you asserted.

He laughed again, and you got more annoyed. That laugh meant he had more to say. Reno had been pretty clear he wanted to recruit you as a Turk, and you were equally adamant on your refusal. A job under Shinra wasn’t enough to make you trade your normal life, especially since Turks live such dangerous ones. Sure, they weren’t SOLDIERs, but they still did plenty of heavy lifting for Shinra that you weren’t interested in. 

“Well listen angel, you gotta at least hear me out. I mean, you’d be good for the job. Pays well, and plus, you’d get to see me way more often.” He smirked, looking at you expectantly. 

“Oh trust me Reno, I already see you way more often than I need to.”

“But you would love to see more of me, wouldn’t you? Just can’t admit it.” He laughed, expecting you to be flustered. But you had dealt with Reno enough times to know he’s never quite prepared for you to flirt back. 

“Well if a date is what you really wanted, you should’ve asked the first time. Maybe I would’ve actually heard you out. Or even better for you, I could’ve said yes.” You looked at Reno with a blank stare, and he looked back with surprise. 

“Well shit, if I had known that then I wouldn’t have danced around it for so long sweetheart.” Reno laughed heartily, an excited look on his face. You, on the other hand, were stunned.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I mean, you don’t honestly think the only reason I’ve been showing up is to get you to work for me, right?” 

You looked at Reno in disbelief. Did he just… admit that he was into you? And that it was part of the reason he was visiting you so often?