For Theturksway

[afterlaborday]

It had been a difficult set of years for the Turks and the young, now ex-president of Shinra. Not only had they lost the ShinRa building due to Weapon but they had spent the intervening years randomly losing one another, whether it be due to enemies of the defunct company, Stigma or Remnants. It was a little trying and yet surprisingly no one ever decided it was time to truly cut and run.

With the fact things had calmed down after the death of Kadaj and the rest of the Remnants, and with Cloud and his group really not even concerned about Rufus and the Turks, it seemed as good a time as any to try and take at least a short break. The removal of the Stigma insured that no one would have to baby-sit the blonde and a nice, private beach-side home insured they'd have some measure of privacy.

Naturally everyone was welcome to do as they wished, so long as they didn't cause trouble for the group, and Rufus had decided his idea of relaxing, at least for the day, was to sit out at the beach with a good book, enjoying the sun and some peace and quiet for a change. Even if he didn't expect the latter to last very long.

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[theturksway]

It wasn't his favorite vacation spot but it certainly wasn't his least favorite. The fact that Shinra still owned this place (or could afford to rent it) spoke to the tenacity (or sheer stubbornness) of the young President. Reno didn't think in terms of ex-Shinra. They were still Shinra. Rufus was still the President, and they were all still Turks. Even the old ones, the retired and dismissed, were all still Turks in his eyes. Nothing could change that fact. Once a Turk, always a Turk. They were like family. A very dangerous family good at what they did.

Which, at the moment, was hang out and relax. They all deserved the time off. Circumstances may have changed but the job of the Turks didn't change by much. Sure, they had to lay low there for a while and not cause too much trouble in order for the President's new plan to work, but Reno knew that in the end they would always be back to what they did best. It was just a matter of time and careful planning. If need be, they could be more sneaky about it. That's all.

And sure enough, opportunity rose. The Remnants reared their ugly heads out of the dark and caused trouble. The Turks got to do things their way for a change. It was rough. Reno reveled in it. He and Rude had gotten the easy part, he suspected, and was thankful for it. Tseng and Elena... well, they were tough. They'd pull through. No sense in dwelling.

So a vacation was actually well deserved in his opinion. Relaxation, alcohol, sweet, easy time.

And of course the eventual return of boredom.

This was a lot more fun when he'd constantly had jobs to perform.

Now he was getting restless all over again. He'd bothered Rude about as much as his partner could handle. It was time to move on and give Rude a break. Even Reno knew when enough was enough. That just meant he had to find a new target. He couldn't find Elena for the moment and while he was debating on popping in to see what Tseng was up to, he spotted Rufus on the beach. Alone.

Well, we couldn't have that. What if something happened to the President while no one was watching? They really didn't need another kidnapping on their hands. There had been way too much of that lately as is. That's what Reno convinced himself of anyway as he headed over to plop down next to the blond.

"Yo, Boss!" He glanced over at Rufus with a flick of the eye, took in all he could within the span of a second, and flicked his eyes back out to the view of the ocean. "What'cha readin', yo?"

[afterlaborday]

Whether he had heard or sensed Reno walking up was not something Rufus would acknowledge, figured the Turk knew damn well that he wasn't all that sneaky unless he wished to be and that the blonde was always more aware of his surroundings than he let on, and so would know the answer without being told. Even if it seemed as if Rufus were flat-out ignoring him or not acknowledging his presence for a good, long moment.

At least he ignored him long enough to finish reading a little bit more of his book, flipping a page idly as if he were going to continue to do so, before responding by directing blue eyes towards Reno and commenting with a bored tone he knew Reno wouldn't believe. "A book on history, actually. Finally decided to de-attach from Rude for a bit?""

[theturksway]

Anybody else would have gotten the annoyed cat reaction out of Reno for testing his patience and making him wait for a reply. Rufus, however, got the relaxed, all-the-time-in-the-world treatment as Reno scanned the horizon with his eyes. He did exude listless boredom though even as he waited patiently for the boss to finally acknowledge him. He tapped a random rhythm on his thigh with one hand.

He might have been about to either fall asleep or get up without prompt and walk away when Rufus finally responded. Reno's eyes opened slightly wider as if awakening from a nap, and if he had car eats surely they would have swiveled towards the President to catch every word.

"History?" he made a slightly disgusted face. Feigned, mostly, as if that was beneath him or way out of his league. Reno knew the relevant history as far as he was concerned and could research anything he didn't already know. He wondered though if the boss was reading it for pleasure or business. Despite his lack of interest, he could se where it might be relevant considering current events.

He shifted slightly and rolled his head on his shoulder to look at Rufus lackadaisically. He gave Rufus a doe-eyed look as he said, "You know we're not attached at the hip or something." A line he repeated often--probably because no one ever considered it true. "...I needed a break."

Translation: Rude needed a break from Reno.

[afterlaborday]

Rufus often wondered if Reno had realized his slow-to-respond attitude towards the red-head was to see what he would do. Reno was so often think first, act later, that it was a sort of game for the blond to try his patience; after all, Reno was his subordinate and so that should obviously earn him a little extra time before the pouty, don't-waste-my-time attitude came about, right? It was one of those terrible little qualities about Rufus that he could never entirely break.

Still once he's decided to acknowledge Reno, he's at least attentive enough, smiling at the response given about Rude. No, the two Turks weren't attached at the hip in the literal sense, but they spent so much time together they may as well have been sometimes. It was honestly a good thing, and a bad thing. Good in that they worked well together and didn't always need to communicate when something was going down, bad in that it really could mean a mess when one or the other was tired of the company.

Fortunately, a lot of that had also tempered the longer they knew each other and Reno and Rude didn't get into too many moments where they just wanted to smack each other; though Rufus was sure those were there.

As to the history, Rufus isn't going to comment. He honestly reads certain books for both pleasure and business, his mind capable of separating useless information from interesting, possibly useful, tidbits. He's more interested right now though in asking a simple question.

"And I'm that break?"