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Despite all the bad blood that ran between the Turks and AVALANCHE, it wasn’t unusual to see them in the Seventh Heaven. After having watch the world end together, and having team up to actually prevent said end, the two team had manage to reach a truce of some sort. It mostly boiled down to not automatically trying to kill each other at first sight, with a side of the Turks paying double (or triple) whenever they came to the bar because nobody could really stop Tifa if she wanted to be petty. But since she still served them without spitting in their drink, the Turks keep on coming.
Or rather, Reno keeps on dragging Rude here to drink. Semantics.
Since Tifa had discovered that Reno bored himself relatively quickly, and that a bored Reno was a bad thing to have around, she had taken to get him to help her around the bar whenever he was around. So it wasn’t, again, unusual to see the red headed in the kitchen. Which explain why Marlene didn’t really think much when she saw him, surrounded by floor and doughs, sleeves rolls up and the vest of his suit throw haphazardly on the counter.
“Reno ? Can I have a glass of water ?“
She didn’t say please, because her dad had actively forbid her to be nice with the Turks, saying something along the line of her innocence being in danger if she started to be friend with one of them. Marlene didn’t exactly grasp why, but she wanted to make her dad happy, so no please for the man in the suit.
“Sure, just gimme a minute would ya ? Those cookies ain’t gonna make themselves yo.”
At the mention of cookies, she perked up. Reno put a glass on the counter as she climbed on a stool, now far more interested by what he was doing. He grinned when he saw her curious gaze.
“Ah, you want ta taste? “ She nodded, eager at the prospect of a homemade treat. Reno chuckled, then taps his chin, pondering. He let the silence stretches, just long enough that she started pouting, her little lips quivering. At the sight, he put a hand to his heart with a defeated cry.
“Ok, ok, turn those puppy eyes off, you can have some. What Barret don’t know don’t hurt.” Marlene grinned, pleased, before the Turk brandished a finger right next to her nose. “But those ain’t normal cookies! You can’t eat them like that! You gotta be prepared, yo.” She giggled, and brandishes her little hands “I need to wash my hands!”
A beat.
Then Reno shrugged. “Na. I mean, yeah, ya gotta do it too, but that ain’t what I means. Here.“ He pulled a ring with a green materia imbedded in it from his pocket. “You need to wear this.”
She frowned. The ring was too big to fit her, unless she put it on her thumb and pushes it all the way down. “Why do I need a ring to eat them ?”
“Because I’m a Turk. And if a Turk gives you something to eat, ya better have one of those on you, yo.” The alarm of the oven beeped, and he hastily go retrieved the precious biscuits, almost tripping on himself in the process. She giggled at his antics, and missed the smile that appears for half a second on his face. Better for her to think of him as a clumsy idiot than what he really was.
She dutifully washed her hands as he extract a little metal box from somewhere under the counter, and stored most of the cookies in it. Reno left four of them on the counter, then slip in his own ring while she climbs back on her stool. She almost waited for him to give her her share, before remembering what her dad had said and just taking one without asking.
Which, in her mind, was incredibly Not Nice. Her dad will be happy.
After two bites, Reno started frowning, before waving the half cookie he had in hand in her direction. “Ok so. You fell that little after taste? Like ya got the choc’late, and then it’s a bit sour?” She scrunches her nose, before nodding. “Taste a little like a bad lemon, yeah ? So imma tryin’ to get that away. I tried hazelnuts, then just nuts, but no luck. I even tried dry grape, yo ! Yeah yeah I know that’s terrible, don’t look at me like that.”
Marlene still kept her scandalized expression, because now she understood why she shouldn’t be nice with him. Reno throwed dramatically his hand in the air, and she took the chance to steal his second cookie. The task was made easier by the fact that it was suspiciously closer to her than him. She thought a bit as she nibbled her prize, because now that she had spotted the sour taste, she understood why he wanted it gone.
“Maybe vanilla ?” She said, and the Turk hummed, thoughtful. “That’s not a bad idea. Ya know what, I will try that next time. Hey, maybe I will event let you taste those too!” He closed the little metal box, before shrugging on his vest. “Ok, so keep the ring on for about ten minutes more? Just to be sure.” She nodded, and he smirked, patting her head. ”You can give it back to me next time.”
“Are you going to offer them to someone?” She asked, as she darted a craving look toward the box. He laughed this time. “Yeaaaah, something like that. Later Marlene. Say hi to Tifa for me, would’ya ?”
He left by the back door, and she was actually surprise he didn’t use the window instead, as he normally did. She finished her last (stolen) cookie, before going back to her room to play.
Later, when her dad has came back, and she is busy laughing from her place on her dad’s shoulder, he points her hand in surprise. “Now since when do you have that kind of ring Marlene ?”. She giggled, swinging her feet. “Today. It’s a cookie Ring !”.
“Eh, a cookie Ring ? And what does it do ?” He sounded genially puzzled, and Marlene wondered if he ever had one before. “It’s for eating Turk cookie, yo !” Her dad frozed. She blinked, before looking down to see his face suddenly devoid of any colors. Very slowly, he took off his glasses, and said in a low voice. “What do you mean, Turk cookie?”
She stopped swinging her feet, confused.
On her thumb, the Poison Ring glowed ominously.