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A Little R&R Ch. 01

By: darkgoddess2478



A Little R&R: Ch 1: The Big Picture

Reno propped himself against one of the main support for the overhead outside the Shinra building. He flicked the flint on his lighter and touched the sparked flame to the tip of his cigarette, drawing the warm smoke into his lungs. He exhaled sharply and turned his attention to his companion and long time partner, Rude. Rude was generally the silent type and tradition stood Reno always initiated the conversation, usually with something inane. It generally didn't take much since Reno never really shut up when around others. 

"So... still have that... thing? You know... for Tifa?" Rude blushed, a gesture anyone but Reno would have missed. Only the tips of his ears turned pink. Reno rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Man, what is it with her, anyway?" 

"She kicks high."

"So she kicks ass. So what?"

"But it's high." He blushed more and made an outward gesture with his arms as if this would clarify everything. Reno cocked his head to the side and stared at Rude with questioning eyes. 

"Soooo...?" He blinked several times for emphasis. 

"...She's got nice legs." He pushed himself back a bit further in his lean. 

"That's it. She's got nice legs, eh?" 

His bald head cocked down a bit towards Reno. 

"So what's it to you? Not like you don't have somethin' for Miss Ellie."

"Ellie? Whozzat?"

"Elena." Rude elbowed him a bit roughly to the ribs. Reno's brow furrowed thoughtfully as though he were seriously contemplating the idea. 

"Nah. You got me confused with Tseng again. I just keep her from working herself to death."

"...but that doesn't explain all those pictures you've got." 

Reno righted himself, leaned back against the support and brought one of his legs up, his heel resting on the smooth stone. 

"What pictures?"

"Your pictures. The ones you think no one knows about and keep hiding 

inside a tissue box." Shock played for a moment over his face. 

"What ones... in particular?" He blinked hard, hoping Rude hadn't found anything more than just the pictures of Elena. He knew he hadn't left any of his special pictures in the tissue box. Those were all in an envelope hidden in his stand. Rude laughed heartily. 

"You've always been one for the specifics," he chuckled, clapping him a bit hard on the back. 

"No... really. What ones did you find?" His voice picked up a nervous tone and seemed a bit worried, something that was unusual for the Turks' resident trickster deity. 

"...We were wondering if there were more of them." He chuckled again. "The ones with the sombrero-thing."

"So, uh, anyone else you found pics of? Or just her?"

"Well no one's brave enough to go near your laundry, so I bet those are still safe." Reno sighed with relief and flipped the switch on his usual charm. 

"There aren't any in my laundry. Why would I keep anything in there?"

"I'll be sure to let them know that then. You do know that they're hauling your mattress out to burn it today, right?" His head snapped back in his standard casual gesture. 

"Nothing under my mattress and there's nothing in it, either. I don't keep anything in there anyway." He stared out over the water spreading from the entryway fountain, watching the sun play gently across the ripples. A thought suddenly struck him. "Hey, wait... why are they burning it?"

"Because it smells, or so the cleaning ladies are claiming. From what I hear they take bets and the loser changes your sheets."

"They act like I never shower."

"I think it was when they went looking with the black light that creeped them out the most... I'm just tellin' ya what I've heard is all." He patted Reno on the shoulder. 

"Heh, I warned them about that. Specifically told them not to." He shrugged jovially. "So they doin' anything else in my room I wanna know about? And why do they tell you this stuff and don't they tell me?"

"...Dunno. Orders came through Rufus by way of Tseng."

"Buhwha?"

"Yeah, last minute too. Also said something about..." He dropped off, scratching his head. 

"No, what?" Reno was playing it cool, but he was slightly worried someone had found out about his hobby. Rude looked a bit unsettled. 

"It's probably nothing..." He tried to give blank stare out to the street. 

"Rude, there's no secrets like that with us, yo. We've been together too long."

"Look, all I know is I'm supposed to keep you out here until after 5 o'clock."

Reno's eyes narrowed, a thoughtful look playing for a moment over his features. If it was one thing he couldn't let them find, it was the nudes he had snapped and tucked away. They were potentially damaging not only to Reno, but to his subject as well. If it was one thing he wasn't about, it was allowing a bomb to drop before he was the one to light the fuse. It was one thing for him to expose someone's dirty habits or kinks and quite another to have them stumbled upon by chance, especially when the person damaged was someone he cared about. He took a long drag off of his smoke and exhaled slowly, dropped the butt and crushed it with the toe of his shoe before he strolled back into the building. 

"I don't know anything about why they scheduled hazard training, and I certainly don't know anything about... um... I think I'll be over here for a bit," Rude muttered. Noticing Reno was gone, he raised an eyebrow, then tore down the hallway after him. 

"Reno! Reno!" he huffed. "Can't let you go down there." Reno's pace slackened but he continued walking down the hall toward his room. 

"Why not?" 

"Because of... they're going to be fumigating down there." Rude held his arms up to try and block the way. He paused so the quirky redhead was only an inch from his own chest, forcing him to stop dead in the middle of the hallway, nearly bumping into him. 

"Fumigating." He contemplated the concept for a moment, wrinkling his nose. "So why didn'tcha tell me that earlier?"

Rude raised a hand to rub the back of his head. "There was a lot to that memo," he offered with a sheepish grin. Narrowing his eyes, Reno leaned into Rude, their noses nearly touching. 

"How come I never got a memo? No shitting me, Rude. What's going on down there?" 

"You're asking me why you never got a memo. You? The king of missed messages..." Rude gave a nervous laugh: it was false and Reno knew it. He smiled, but it took on a rather dangerous hue. 

"Rude...." he warned. 

Rude cleared his throat and straightened back up. "Sorry, man... You're just going to have to stay out of there." 

"Just tell me they're leaving the nightstand." Rude turned his head to the side as quiet squawking was heard over his shoulder. 

"What's that?" He turned his head further as the squawking continued. 

They couldn't find those pictures! Reno took a step back, shifted his weight slightly, and then darted around Rude. 

"Like hell you do..." Rude pivoted on his heel and tackled Reno.

"You better be glad you snagged me, Big Man, 'cause y'know I'm faster than you," he taunted, wriggling in Rude's grasp.

"It's for your own good, man," he grunted, squeezing tighter. 

"Like hell!" Reno twisted himself onto his back, his usually loose clothes twisting tightly around his body. Rude struggled to stay on top as his captive wedged a knee into his stomach, shoving hard against him. 

"You don't ... understand ... what I'm ... losing!" His speech was peppered with grunts from the exertion it took to keep ahead of grasping hands. 

"It's not about the flesh, man," he moaned. "There's something bigger... ow... you're gonna have to... guh!" Reno planted his hands on Rude's shoulders and shoved against him, attempting to free himself as Rude grappled to get a fresh grip. 

"What do you MEAN bigger!?" 

"Bigger... like beyond you and tissue time." 

"I don't care about the Elena pics. There's something ELSE that I DO care about!" Reno argued, straining against his captor's embrace. Rude slowly lessened his strain so he could listen. "Just tell me they're burning it without looking inside." He was begging to hear the words. As long as they were just burning everything it wouldn't make a difference. Rude's jaw slackened slightly. 

"But you said nothing was in there..."

"Yea, so I... fibbed... a little." To make his point, he grabbed the front of Rude's jacket and tugged. "Just tell me they aren't looking for anything." 

"I don't know. Honest! All I know is they said to keep you out of their way until after five."

One of the many Shin-Ra employees wandered from one hallway to the next, not necessarily paying much attention to anything outside of the report she held in her hand. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she stopped and did a double take, eying them weirdly. 

"Uh, excuse me," she murmured, stepping around them and continuing down the hall they had just exited. Believing she was out of earshot, she added, "And I thought the stories about them were false!" Reno looked up at his hands, startled a bit at how intimate it appeared and let go. 

"Look, it's not me I'm worried about, alright? It's someone else. Someone important to me. Let's just hope they burn it," Reno murmured, a faint stain of crimson touching the tips of his ears. Rude got up, releasing Reno. He looked about and took out the ear wire, and with a heavy shoe, crushed it. 

Reno leaned back against the wall and lit a smoke. He took a drag and slid down the wall, slumping to the floor and chastising himself for not paying enough attention to the details of the memos and made a mental note to be more observant. He did NOT want this happening again. 

"We could always go check it out. You know my room's right down the hall..." Reno's attention shifted from the rug to Rude as he started to meander down the hallway. 

"Hey, how long have you known, yo?"

"Known about what?"

"Why don't you tell me what you know about first? S'too open-ended for you." 

"You know what I know... except... you know..."

"The hell you talkin' 'bout?" Although he had never been a cunning linguist, Reno had stopped attempting complete sentences. 

"You do... a lot more... stuff." He used quotation fingers and walked a little bit faster. 

"Hey!" Reno leaped to his feet and sprinted down the hall after Rude. "What stuff?"

"You know... "stuff"... like how you got those pictures of Elena. She was only gone for 2 days, was that really what she was smiling about?"

"Eh, those," Reno shrugged, falling into step with Rude. "Can't say why I was taking them... not supposed t'have the copy. They were for... someone else..."

"And then there's the guy from receiving... there's things I'm not real sure about from his side of the story." He gave Reno a sideways look, his comment finally sinking in. "Who someone else?"

"...and she knew about them, so don't gimme that." Reno continued as though he hadn't heard a word the other man had said. 

"Yeah, but... you must know something I don't because you've had more pu—" He stopped dead, flattening against the wall and careened an ear as best he could around the corner they had just come to, Reno following suit. Two office personnel breezed by them going across their way. Rude continued, "All I'm sayin' is you're damned lucky."

"Damned lucky 'bout what? You're actin' like I have something I shouldn't." He paused thoughtfully. "Well... more something I shouldn't." 

"You do, don't you..."

"Why didn't you tell me they were doin' this?" 

"I didn't know, man. Honest! I thought Tseng was off on another power spree!" Rude held up both hands in an act of submission. Reno blinked in his rather catlike way. 

"Rude. You open your mouth and tell me what's goin' on." Rude's only response was to flap his lips like a fish. Reno deftly slapped him across the back of the head, knocking his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose slightly. "Hey, I'm the wiseass here, yo."

Rude readjusted his glasses with a pulled brow. "That hurt."

"Why'd ya take out the wire if you didn't know anything? You're tellin' me you seriously don't know anything?" Rude stopped walking. 

"They got down to the mattress, now no one wants to touch it."

"How many of them are there?" Reno bobbled around Rude's back, trying to see around his massive frame. Rude shrugged. 

"I remember hearing something about Third Division being up for training... thought it was a bit extreme, even for Tseng."

"Third Division?" Reno blinked hard. The Third Division was only called in for extreme cases, generally involving hazardous materials, bomb threats or suspected bugging. "Are you serious?" Rude nodded slowly. "And they're looking in my room...?" Rude nodded more. Reno laughed out loud, his eyes picking up their usual mischievous glee. "You're supposed to keep me out of there, right?" 

"Well... yeah." He gave the shorter man a puzzled look. 

"So you're incapacitated. Fall down."

"The hell? No way..."

"Rude," Reno chided. 

"No." 

"Then make like you did. Just trust me, will ya?" 

"You did not just take me out." Rude looked at Reno with a hard eye. 

"I got the drop on you! Come on, work with me here," he pleaded. Rude rose tall in his stance and folded his arms across his chest.

"Eh, your ass. Don't say I didn't try to save you." Reno shrugged and sighed, strolling around his friend and into the room. "Hey! What's happenin'," he called out to those assembled, Rude following along behind. The only solution he could see out of this situation was to sweet-talk using the old Reno Charm. He strutted into the room, looking around casually. 

"Ah! Housekeeping finally got the idea, did they? Do I get new furniture out of this, yo?" Reno asked as Rude evaded death looks from both Rufus and Tseng, stooping his head into his jacket. "Cause if I do... y'mightaswell just burn all that. I don't think most of you wanna touch it. So what all are you getting rid of, anyway? Am I being evicted for being a bad neighbor? S'that why Rude fought so hard t'keep me out? Ah, that's it! You reported me, didn't you?" he chattered like a chipmunk, grinning at his partner playfully. 

"Wha??" he questioned with a shocked look. Tseng gave a long blink and quirked his eyebrow at Reno. 

"It looks like he barely did anything to you at all. We have our warrant for entering your dormitory."

"Yea... so... How long you tearing up my room, yo?" Reno's eyes lit on the nightstand. It was still completely in tact and appeared to have been unopened. If they had found where he stashed his pictures they wouldn't have bothered putting everything back in it. He relaxed a bit inwardly. 

"That is none of your concern at this point. If you would do as you're told and have Rude escort you back out, you will be notified when you may return."

"Hey, I'll do you a favor if you give me one, eh?" Reno appealed, side-stepping Tseng. Rude raised an eyebrow. 

"Favors? Do you really think you are in a position to make such an offer? From some of the rumors I've heard, and no doubt some of the loose pieces we've unearthed, you stand to lose an awful lot as it is." 

This was a bit trickier than Reno had expected. There had to be a way to get his hands inside that nightstand for only a few moments. He looked near frantically around the room. 

"Mister President, I have a proposition," he challenged as he jaunted across the room toward Rufus Shinra, the president of the company. Rufus turned and looked between the two.

"Tell you what... If it's alright with my partner, here," he turned and patted Rude in the center of the chest, his fist against the drum of his chest making a dull noise like a full wine barrel. "I'll grab a clean suit, a blanket and I can bunk with him until you've finished here."

"I assure, you, Mr. President, it won't take us much longer," Tseng assured him.

"Man, are you blind? Just look at that mattress! Unless you are proposing to be the one to open 'er up, I suggest we take into consideration more long-term plans." 

"Clean suit," Rude snorted, muttering under his breath.

"Hey, I own one!" Reno turned and grinned up at Rude, playing off of his joke. This was not the time for Reno to lose his head, that was for sure. He kept himself in check. Rude always made remarks like that. All he had to do was get at the nightstand and he would be home free. He kept a blanket and a suit under the stand, just for an emergency and to hide some private possessions. "And I thought it would be nice if I got, you know, clean, especially if we're going to be rooming together." Seeing the look Rude was trying so valiantly to cover, he wagged his finger in Rude's face. "Don't... even." 

"Who are you and where's the real Reno?" Rude boggled slightly. 

"Didn't I say ' don't even'?" He turned back to Rufus expectantly. "Whaddya say, eh? I swear. Only take a minute." 

Tseng was now extremely uncomfortable. 

"I... um.... errr... I'm not touching that thing. Fine, let the man have his blankie and everyone else clear out for Third Division!" 

The tissue box was still sitting on the corner of the stand, apparently untouched as well. The wheels in Reno's mind ground against one another to figure a way to get Elena's pictures safely out of the hands of the Third Division. He snorted softly to himself. Elena would kill him if he had given the pictures to their intended recipient, but it was either this or her reputation would be completely tarnished. He was too fond of her to let that happen. Reno flipped his head back toward Tseng. 

"Hey, Tseng. Come're a sec." Tseng, miffed, sauntered over proudly. Reno ambled to his nightstand and picked up the tissue box and held it out. "I borrowed these from you without your permission awhile back. Take 'em back now." He eyed him seriously, hoping he took the bait, seeing the wheels turning in Tseng's head. 

Tseng squinted his eyes, trying to read Reno's face. He knew the guileful Turk had something up his sleeve, he just wasn't sure specifically what he had planned.

Undiscouraged, he dropped his voice and leaned in slightly toward Tseng, making sure he got his point across without raising suspicions. "You don't want the Third Division with these." He pressed them against Tseng's chest with emphasis before raising his voice and turning on the jovial charm. "You should use one of them, yo. You have brown on your nose, there." 

His cheap shot to Tseng's ego successfully delivered, he bent low and pulled a clean suit and a blanket from the cupboard of the nightstand. Tseng's hand popped to his nose and he eyed the tissue box like it might explode. Rude snickered as Reno tucked the suit and blanket under his arm. "Come on, Rude." He tapped Rude on the chest on his way to the door. 

"What are you laughing at, Rude?" Tseng flashed him a sharp look. "You're getting a write-up up for not doing your job." He continued to holler at them down the hallway. 

"Oh, is he gonna spank you next." Reno snickered.

"Who's gonna spank me next??" 

"Didn't ya hear 'im? You're 'written up'." He stopped outside the door, rolling his eyes. 

"Only 'cuz of you." Rude elbowed him. 

"Hey, I got what I needed. Y'gonna let me in or y'gonna make me sleep outside your door like a dog?"

"Fine... Welcome, Master of Trickery." He bumped the door open with his ass.

"Master now, eh?"

"Don't let it get too far to your head." 

Reno waved his hand in dismissal. "I did that an' I'd be Tseng. Course I'd also turn coal to diamond in my ass..."

"Only one of his many special hidden talents," Rude chuckled.

Although it was decidedly cleaner than his room, Rude's was just as sparse. Reno's grip slipped on his bundle and the manila envelope he struggled so hard to keep secret slid from inside the blanket and skidded across the floor, landing just under the tip of Rude's shoe. Rude raised an eyebrow and bent to pick it up. 


A Little R&R Ch. 01



"You sly dog... what is this..." Reno's eyes grew wide as he dove to save the contents from prying eyes, accidentally hitting his head against Rude's. He stumbled backward, clutching the top of his head. 

"Ow! Dammit, that hurt!" Rude yowled. Reno made a grab for the envelope just as Rude made the same gesture. "You've put me through enough today, what the hell is this?" Reno tugged on the envelope defensively. 

"Hey, it's what I was after. Don't worry about it." 

Rude pulled on the other side of the envelope. 

"Oh no... You're in my house now... I'll worry about whatever I damned well please," he growled.

"Come on, Rude... just one last thing and I swear I won't harass you for as long as we're here together, alright?" His grip never loosened on the envelope. Rude grabbed Reno's wrist. 

"You talkin 'bout tonight," he took a step closer, "or are you talkin' forever?" He gave Reno the hard stare-down. 

"Hey, now," he soothed, turning on the Reno-charm and smirking. "I only meant as long as I'm staying in your room, yo. Unless you want me here forever..." he teased, waggling his eyebrows playfully. Rude twisted Reno's arm down and under his own, placing himself between the envelope and Reno. 

"One night will be damage enough... leg'go." Reno snagged the envelope away from Rude with his free hand and tucked it against his belly, curling around it and wincing. Rude spun about and grabbed Reno by the seat of his pants as Reno struggled to keep himself around the envelope. The flap opened and a dozen pictures slipped from inside. Reno froze, his eyes darting from the pictures to Rude. He tightened himself around the envelope, squeezing his eyes shut. Rude heaved his flailing detainee aside. 

"The HELL are THESE?!?" Most of the pictures had landed face down, but two were face up. One was a picture of Rude, barely covered with a bed sheet, his leg sticking off the side of the bed, his large frame taking most of the bed in his prone position. Rude dropped to his knees to try and look closer. Reno was mortified. He hadn't rescued the pictures only to have Rude find his dirty secret. 

Diving for the pictures, Reno threw his body across them, scattering the rest of the contents from the envelope in a straight shot across the floor. Rude's lips were shaped in an 'O', his index finger up and pointing. Reno took his momentary pause to scramble for the pictures, his fingers sliding over the smooth paper of the photographs, failing miserably. Rude made a grab for a few of the offending photos before Reno managed to wrap his hand around even one. The redhead's jaw dropped and he gawked around stupidly. He was frantic, and seeing no other option, clapped his hands around Rude's eyes while wrapping his body around the kneeling bulk, clinging to him for dear life. 

"Gah! Get offa me... where'd the hell you get these?" He flailed, trying to dislodge Reno.

"Get what? You didn't see anything." 

"Those pictures!!" he shouted, trying to stand with Reno still attached. 

Having wrapped one leg around Rude's waist, Reno promptly lost his balance. He attempted to balance with the bald head but ended falling backward. Rude wobbled and slammed both of their bodies into the wall, a crack etching its way up the cheap plaster. Reno hit the floor with a thump, the envelope skidding empty into the middle of the room. He made another frantic dive for the majority of the pictures only to ungracefully scatter them further throughout the room. The new crop of photos were enough for Rude's head to turn an unhealthy shade of red. Reno hesitated, gauging his reaction, and finding the situation a far cry from safe, made for the door. 

"Re-e-e-e-n-o-o-O-O-O!" Rude's growl became a roar as he launched a flying tackle toward the redhead with a war cry of near incoherent threats. "How-the-fuck-long- have-you-been-doing- this-to-me-I-thought- I-was-your-friend-and- here-you-are-perving- on-me-behind-my-back?!?" 

Reno slammed face first into the door. Stunned, he tipped backward, curling into a ball as soon as he hit the floor. Rude wrangled what he could of the squirming headache into an arm-lock with muttered growls and pants of exertion. Reno yelped in pain and instinctively fell limp. 

"Oh don't you play dead with me!!" Rude rose to sit on his knees, still holding him in an arm-lock. Reno was struggling to catch his breath, not even attempting to fight or move. His eyes dropped to the floor as he was unable to meet the cold gaze he was sure was being shot at him. Thinking the mad scatter for the door was a last ditch effort, Rude took a second and looked at what photos he could see. 

"Awww MAN... you got me drooling," he cried, dropping Reno in lieu of the picture. As soon as he hit the floor, Reno squirreled off into a cranny between the bed and the wall, snagging his blanket along the way. He tucked himself under the bed and peered out at Rude's shoes as he picked another one up and squinted at it, then rotated it around. "What the..." he questioned, scratching his head. "Is this all you have? Is this all of it?"

Cowering under the bed, Reno said nothing. He wasn't sure why exactly he was shivering, but it was less to do with fear and more to do with unyielding embarrassment. He had managed to keep most of those pictures for over a year and the most recent for a month or so without anyone finding out, much less Rude. Rude was the one person he didn't want finding out about his obsession. After a moment of silence, Rude pressed the interrogation.

"That's my line..." his dry wit making a crack at the quiet. "Where are the negatives?"

"Burnedem," Reno mumbled. Rude looked over the several pictures he was holding. 

"You sure about that?" 

"Mmmhmm." His voice was faint enough Rude could barely hear him, yet the message came through clear. He curled in the fetal position, wrapped in his blanket. Rude stood in the middle of the room, looked about, sighed deeply. He reached under the bed and grabbed a handful of blanket. 

"Come out of there... Just... just come out... I only want to ask you one question. No, not 'can I pound you into oblivion'... just... why'd you do it?"

"Mrmph." 

Rude blinked. 

"Wha?" He pulled on the blanket. All that was visible was Reno's hair spiking from the top of the yellow blanket he cocooned himself in. Rude tugged a bit more on the blanket, coaxing the curled up lump out from under the bed. "You look like a bloody Chocobo, yo... come out... You are NOT sleeping under there tonight..."

He hauled the yellow lump to the center of the room. "Get up," he demanded, picking the blanket up by what he guessed to be two corners and yanked hard. Reno tumbled halfway out of the blanket, his head hitting the floor and three or four pictures scattered from his hand. He looked up as far as Rude's knees and got slowly to his feet, shuffling back and forth. "You still haven't answered me... so why?" He walked over and turned to flop on the bed. 

In the pause of conversation, Reno broke for the door. Caught off guard, Rude flailed, trying to stop his backward momentum. "You're mental, you know that?!?"

Reno missed the door handle and hit the door again, stunning him for a second. He chanced a quick look back, spotting Rude attempting to follow but slipping on photos. The wild-haired Turk grabbed for the door handle and booked it down the hallway, ducking into an empty room. He heard Rude's footsteps as he tore down the hallway in pursuit and completely missed the room Reno had tucked into. With a temporary reprieve, Reno curled in a corner of the room with his head between his knees and his arms, elbows together, folded backward over his head. 

"Reeeno... Reno!" a deep voice called, backtracking down the hallway and was moving closer. He could hear curses being muttered under a heavy breath. Reno's eyes flicked up to the doorway. Rude was on the verge of hysterics as he stepped through the doorway. "What is it? Huh? Just what is it? You wanna take a good look at something? Huh? Is that it? Is... is it my tattoos? Is that it? You wanna see them?" Is that what your little photo shoot was about? You wanted to see some ink?" He wrapped a hand around his uniform tie and tugged it off. "I know you're in here, there was only one other room for you to squirrel into." He tried the light switch, but the lights didn't comply. A faint voice called to Rude from the far back corner of the room. 

"I... I'm... here."

"Then get your ass out here... let's get this over with." He dramatically popped the buttons off his shirt as he tore it open. 

"Get what over with, yo?" His voice picked up a bit of bravado. Fighting he could do. Admitting his feelings and fantasies was quite another. It wasn't exactly easy telling his friend how often or how many times he'd snuck into his room to watch him sleep, wishing he were curled up in Rude's strong embrace. He flushed at the thought. His pursuer moved a bit, toward where the voice came from. 

"Whatever it is that's gotten into your twisted little mind," he added sarcastically, "yo."

"Since when have I been twisted?" He pushed himself to his feet. "You seemed pretty damned pleased until you found out I had pictures of you. What makes the damned difference, huh?" He felt terrible about trying to diminish the gravity of the situation, but if it got him out of this, Reno wasn't above trying. The last thing he wanted to do was lose his friendship with Rude. It was more important to him than anything else, pictures included. 

"Dude, 'cuz you freaking took them while I was asleep!"

"Well, what, you want me to take them while you're awake?"

"Uh-buh... THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

"Then what IS the point?"

"What the hell are they for?" Rude snarled.

"I said I had someone I had to protect, damn it, and I did, didn't I? Why the hell d'ythink I fought you so hard? What was I supposed to do, let them find my..." He stopped dead as a chill ran up his spine. He'd almost handed Rude the damned bag, cat and all. 

In an ice-cold tone and with an equally cold expression Rude ordered, "Your what?"

Reno fumbled for words. He took a breath to answer but found the words lacking before speaking. My stash? He hesitated when the next thought came to him. Masturbation material? How did he tell Rude he'd been crushing on him? The pause lingered and became uncomfortable. 

"It's... complicated." 

"Try me," Rude purported, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Friend? Partner?... something?"

"Yes, Reno can use nouns... go on."

"Well aren't we a fricking language major." He had meant the phrase with a bit more humor laced through his words, but it came out with a bitter edge he wished he could take back. Rude removed his belt with a jangle. 

"I'm warning you..." 

Desperate, he tried the avoidant technique again. 

"Warning me, what? What the hell is this all about, anyway? Why the hell you so pissed, eh? So I took a few pictures. Big deal."

"You took Pictures... of ME... NEKKID... what the hell am I suppose to think? That you've... you've got a hard on for your partner and won't come clean when confronted? That... that you've..." He paused, exasperated. "RRRGH!"

Reno froze. Rude had hit the nail on the head. He swallowed hard and steadied his voice. "That I've what?" 

"What is the ultimate purpose of those images?" Rude weakly regained his composure. He cracked his neck. "If they aren't for you then they're for someone else. Who is it?" Reno blinked and answered truthfully. 

"They're not for someone else." Rude moved closer towards Reno, still a blind duck in the dark. 

"Then they are yours," he continued in a dead-pan tone. "What. For."

His blood was cold in his veins. Why couldn't Rude just beat him? That would have been a hell of a lot easier to handle than trying to reason this out with him. The problem was he wanted to confess the whole story and his ego wouldn't allow it. 

"They're mine," he forced himself to admit.

"So they're yours... What. For." He fussed with the heel of his shoe.

"You were fine when you thought I used Elena..." There was a repressive span of silence. "So now what? I say I'm sorry, have a bonfire with the pictures and find a new partner, eh?" 

Rude whipped the belt he had in his fist towards the door, scooting it somewhat further shut. Reno could hear him attempting to keep his breath in check. "Is that all I ever was to you?" It was terse and hushed.

"Well... I ... pretty much trashed friendship, if that's what you meant." 

Rude's response was a hiccough and a sniffle. 

Is he crying? Reno couldn't believe his ears. Rude was crying. He danced a bit in place, suddenly more uncomfortable than he had been all evening. Say something, stupid! "Aw, now, don't tell me you've gone cryin' on me. Hell, I shoulda been the one cryin' earlier.... ... or dying of embarrassment..."

When he spoke, his voice was strained. "Yeah, well maybe you should have." 

That was harsh. Since when did the Turks pillar of strength turn into a sobbing dolt? What the hell was wrong with him? 

"Since when did YOU turn into the bitch? I was the one curled in a blanket under your bed." He came toward Rude and jerked his head back, keeping his attitude casual. "Look, why don't we go back to the room, eh? I'm ... over ... ya." He was lying and avoiding again, he knew he was, but he didn't want someone coming in on this. 

"In all the years we've worked together... you could so easily just throw that away?" He removed his sunglasses to dry them off.

"Who said anything about throwing it away? I thought you were going to pummel me to death."

"That really hurt..."

"Hey... I didn't..." Now he felt like an even bigger jackass. He had dropped a bomb on his friend that he had taken naked pictures, never offered an explanation, and then ran away like a coward. He put his hand on Rude's shoulder awkwardly. "I didn't mean it like that." Rude broke into an unexpected short chuckle. 

"So the guy in receiving was telling the truth..." He returned the glasses to his face. 

"About what?" 

Rude shook his head and turned to face Reno. 

"I'd tell you when you're more mature, but I don't ever think that's gonna happen." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"You know, I hate you sometimes..." he quipped as he wrapped his arms around the lithe frame of the oblivious boy, his chin resting on his head. Reno stood shocked for a moment, then relaxed into him, wrapped his arms around Rude's waist and buried his head in his chest. 

"So... can we go back to the room now? Your latch is busted and anyone who breathes heavy outside that door gets pics of the naked man for free."

Rude continued to hold his arms around Reno and simply picked him up and carried him down the hall. As he tossed Reno onto the bed with a heave, Reno latched onto Rude's shirt front and pulled him down with him. 

"Ooof."

"Ey, why didn't you say something sooner, yo?"

"You've always had plenty of attention," he stated with a shrug. "S'not like you needed it... er..." 

Reno pressed his nose in close to Rude's, pulling him by his shirt. There was no time for the present like a confession and since Rude had expressed interest, he might as well come clean. 

"I've been keeping this shit for a year... Sneaking into your room at night and snapping pictures..."

Rude went rigid. "A YEAR?!?" Reno yanked on Rude's shirt and kissed him. There was no way in hell he was going to let him finish that statement. Rude relaxed a bit and tried to mutter something unintelligible. 

"Whawazzat?" he asked, pulling back from the kiss.

"I said, 'you know I've never kissed a guy before'." He pulled his head back a little bit to better focus onto Reno's face. 

"Well you just did, didn't you?" He smirked up at him with a quirky expression. "Don't tell me you're a virgin.... I will fall out of this bed if you are."

The faint stain of pink blush flushing his cheeks was the only answer Reno got as he was shoved out of the bed. He hit the floor with an incredulous look on his face. "Fuck it. I'm sleeping on the floor tonight," he teased as he grabbed for his blanket. "Besides, it's not the first time I've slept on your floor." He deliberately turned his head so he wouldn't have to look into that stoic face. 

"Well you said..." 

"Yea, I know what I said. "Boys and girls, or just boys?" 

"Isn't it all just about the same?" Rude evaded his face. 

"Pretty much. So can I sleep with you?" Reno shrugged and crawled to a kneeling position in front of Rude. He grinned up at him with his usual mocking eyes as though he were kidding. Rude flipped himself on the bed to better face Reno who crawled into the bed and curled into him. "Is there even enough room for both of us?" 

Rude inched up to Reno's lips, face flushed. 

"You want me, don't you?" Reno spoke as though the thought had never crossed his mind before. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it, he had just never believed it could be any sort of reality. The Big Man had all but said it, but that didn't mean it could be taken to heart. 

"I... I-um..." Rude was breathless with anxiety. He dropped his head for a moment, and then dipped back up, planting his mouth fully onto Reno's. The slighter leaned into the kiss, his hand sliding along Rude's jaw line, twining his fingertips just behind Rude's ear as he pressed hard in return, keeping his hands at bay with a shiver. He shifted slightly, freeing his opposite hand and fumbled blindly to unfasten the larger man's pants. Rude broke the kiss, panting to catch his breath. 

Reno ran his tongue along Rude's bottom lip, fingers catching and working the button and zipper. He slipped his hand inside his playmate's pants, boggled a bit when he found a lack of underwear, and then wrapped his hand around his cock. Rude's breath was caught in surprise to the brash move. The redhead pulled at his pants, the button slipping easily from its fastening, the zipper unzipping with a tug. He wriggled his pants around the other's hips and pressed close, fingers still working the head of Rude's cock. He leaned in and captured his lips again, and again, gasping between kisses. Rude was panting as he could, his hands gently pawing at the arms of the spunky boy, kneading them slowly as the blood raced throughout him. 

This was an entire year of buildup finally coming to fruition. Months of fantasizing, dreaming, pleasuring himself to the pictures he'd stolen... brief moments of time when he stood in the doorway watching Rude sleep before he'd gotten the courage to curl up beside his bed and nap until the sun peeked in the windows, then sneak out before his crush was any the wiser. Subtle hints, attempted denial, all of it melting into one heated, clumsy grasp at finally finding peace, until it was like sand through his fingers and gone. He clung to his body, his salvation from this desperate need he'd allowed to wash over him so many times. His skin was hot and slick with sweat as his fingers traced a line along Rude's side, down the curve of his hip, his thigh, and gently caressed his balls. He slipped his tongue between Rude's lips and tasted him for the first time; deep, dark and rich, just as he had always imagined him to be. How many times had he dreamt this dream: the two of them in the night, draped around one another until limbs mingled and burned where flesh canvassed flesh? How many times had his fingers mapped Rude's body, stroking him gently, aching to feel him? How many times had their lips met in desperate longing, to find release in one another after being denied so long? 

Rude reeled in the touch from his partner. Familiar hands in foreign places twisted his sense of reality into a surreal vision. His mind screamed that this was wrong in so many ways. He knew that. But it was also something he knew was right, from within his core; something he knew also existed and cared not where it took him. His breath, heavy from untapped urges, tangled between the two. Reno's skin moved freely over his, sweat breaking the friction sending chills through his skin. Rude arched up and fumbled with the buttons of Reno's shirt, the only two requiring undone taunting him spitefully. Reno pulled back, wanting nothing more than to be free of the wall between them. His hands pressed back against Rude's chest, panting for breath as he wriggled free of his pants and kicked off his shoes, dropping them to the floor. He hurriedly shrugged out of his jacket and shirt without much effort and turned to toss it onto the floor, pressing his back against Rude's body, spooning into him. 




A Little R&R Ch. 01



Rude curled up to the red-haired Turk, lipping at him gently across the shoulders, his nose keen to a distinct musk that was expressedly Reno. The lithe Turk reached for Rude, his arm wrapping behind his neck and pulling him close. "Where's the lube?" he asked breathlessly. "I want it... you... now..." 

Rude sat up a little. "Lube? Um... ah.. er..." 

"Come on... don't tell me you don't use it when you masturbate...."

"It's not usually ah... a... concern... when it comes to that..." He blushed, burying his face in the back of Reno's head. Any sort of manual pleasure he had achieved had been in the shower, well protected by both sound and modest privacy. Reno made a small noise in the back of his throat. 

"Eh, I guess we can go in dry..." He smirked and turned his head to kiss the tip of Rude's nose with a laugh. "Too bad we're not in my room, eh?" Rude ran his hands softly up the side of his companion. 

"No... no... um... that sounds a bit... painful..." 

"Nah. Not unless you make a habit of it. I like it once in awhile. Just go slow."

"Would a bit of spit help?" Rude turned a deep crimson. The thought of his partner following through with one of his countless innuendos brought out completely the opposite effect he thought it would. Reno grinned and pushed Rude onto his back, slipping between his knees. 

"Well if you wanted head, all you had to do was ask," Reno laughed. He nodded once as a seductive smile played across his lips. "You gonna watch?" He didn't wait for an answer and stuck his tongue out playfully before wrapping a hand around Rude's cock. He leaned forward, lapping at the head with his tongue. With the tip of it, he traced the line where the head met the shaft, looking up at Rude and grinning. His lips parted and he took Rude deep into his mouth. Despite himself, Reno moaned as his cock hit the back of his throat. While he wasn't normally in the habit of giving sloppy blowjobs, this time he would make an exception. 

He pulled back, feeling the soft flesh of Rude's cock slide and harden against his lips. His mouth plunged back around his cock as soon as the ridge of the head touched the tips of his lips and swallowed when the head hit the back of his throat. He cupped Rude's balls gently in his hand, feeling them draw up. He knew he couldn't keep this up for very long. The smooth velvet of his tongue deepened the flush to the giant's face, and an ache to his groin. The teasing between his legs was riding him high, bringing his heart into his throat and a gasp to his breath. For good measure, Reno ran a wet tongue around the head and then curled back into his former position with his back to Rude. He pressed against Rude gently, wrapped his arm around his neck and pulled him closer. 

The increased urge to thrust his hips forward and bury himself into Reno was insatiable. He hesitated, pressing only against the supple backside as if to test the water. He pushed again, harder, more direct in his intent; his need to be closer to him feeding the urgency of his movements. He gripped Reno about the chest tight and relaxed a pinched face as he felt soft flesh give and warmth surround him. 

Reno moaned and pressed his head back against Rude, thrusting his hips against him to take his full length. As Rude let out a grunted sigh, this new feeling had surpassed anything he had ever imagined. With Reno's crooning, Rude was finding it difficult to keep control of himself. His free hand jumped to Reno's hip to steady his stride. Reno shivered with his touch and laced his fingers in Rude's. 

"More," he breathed, stroking his cock in time with each of Rude's thrusts. "Come on, baby... Give it to me..."

Rude bit his upper lip. The pace of his stroke was bearable, but only if he didn't concentrate. He never thought much about making things last by himself, but he didn't want to spoil this so soon. He shifted his attention to the scattered photos on the floor; to the fresh indent in the wall; to the door that was an insult to security. Each new target was lasting him less and less. 

"Cum in me!" Reno's voice was ragged as he thrust back into Rude, stroking himself with more urgency. "I want it... I need it... give it to me..." he managed between breaths. 

Rude's body went into overdrive; no longer could he keep check of speed or impulsion. This last cry of his lover threw him to his limit, the tension in his groin spreading, rising along his abdomen to his hands and to his head. He bore more ferociously into Reno, giving a low groan of sugared pleasure as his body seized in release.

"Oh-god-yes... I'm yours... I'm yours... Ah, Rude..." Reno moaned and shivered. His fingers still laced through Rude's, he guided his hand to his cock and wrapped their hands around it. "It's my turn now, right? Help me." He turned his head and buried it in Rude's neck, guiding his lover's hand. Rude, still shaking, fumbled with his grip. He was intrigued, though, that as similar as they both were, there were still subtle differences between Reno's and his own manhood. He could only nod in answer to Reno's request. 

"Make me cum, Rude... I wanna cum for you..." He applied a bit more pressure on Rude's hand. 

Rude fell free into the motion of pleasure, taking a firmer stance with his fingers around Reno. The gulps of air Reno was taking was now only signaling for him not to quit; that he was pleasing this other man, bringing him to the same sweet bliss he had seen just moments ago. 

"I'm close..." he hissed through clenched teeth.

Rude pressed up close to the arch of Reno's back, his arm pursuing a fevered tempo. He could trace the tension building along his lover's shoulders, the anticipation growing between them for a common goal. He grunted, rutting with the fresh urgency his partner needed. The moment itself was enough to bring a little life back to spent parts. His groan converted into a cry. "Come on... come on!"

Reno arched back against Rude, his eyes rolling back as sweet release coursed through his body. His hand clenched around his lover's as he came, hearing his breath in his ear; calling out his name as he trembled and finally relaxed. It seemed like forever for his breath to settle, practically rattling his entire body. Their pulse was synchronous, ensnared in each other, bleeding out what remained of their energy. 

"So this is what it can be like..." Rude murmured, tucking his knees behind Reno's. 

"Mrh... Hmm?" Reno twined his fingers through Rude's and nestled back against his chest, drifting off to sleep.



A Little R&R Ch. 02



Reno strolled through the doorway, rubbing the towel on his head from the morning's shower. He was only partially in uniform for this time of day, but since it was a holiday weekend, no one certainly was going to push the point. "I need to do something with my hair. It's a mess." 

Rude came up from beside him and ruffled it up from behind. There hadn't been one day where his hair kept to any order, much like the man beneath it. "S'no different than when you roll out of bed, no matter what you do," he chided. 

"I have to use product after I shower or my hair doesn't do anything for the rest of the week."

"So you don't look like you just came out of the dryer?" Rude made to duck from an expected punch. Playfully, Reno grabbed the bigger man with an arm around his neck and rubbed the top of his bare head with his free hand.

"You wouldn't have that problem, would you?" The pair side-stepped around.

"I've been told bald men are quite sexy these days." 

Still hanging on, Reno licked the top of his head. "I like it, yo," he said with a smirk. Rude bit at his lower lip a little.

"I'm not returning the sentiment...I fear hairballs."

"I'd be weirded out." Reno let him go as he gave his friend a strange look. Rude had returned to scavenging through piles of clothes and linens.

"You don't happen to know where my belt ended up, would ya?"

"Where did you have it last, yo?"

"Down by the storage room... but when I looked for it, it wasn't there..." He furrowed his brow while Reno quirked.

"Wait... where we were last night?" 

Rude nodded once. "Yea... who uses that room?" 

Reno looked thoughtful for a moment. "Eh, is it all that important? It's not like you don't have a spare." the big man shook his head no.

"You know how cheap they are... practically one for everything," he mused, staring out into space. 

"Eh, what are you worried about, yo? I'd give you mine but I lost it a month ago."

"Like yours would even fit me." He rolled his head back toward Reno, who threw his head back and laughed.

"Yea. That would be like me wearing your jacket." He joined in rummaging around the room. 

Rude snorted softly. "What are you looking for?" raising an eyebrow. "Not more of those pictures..."

"Rude... they were everywhere. I found one IN the bed last night. Nah, I can't find my damned jacket. It's around here somewhere, I know it. I brought an entire suit. I remember.

"Did you bring it with you when you took your shower?" Rude looked about idly. 

"Nah, just the pants and shirt. They were all I could find."

Rude hopped up to perch on the bed and shuffled a few things around, finding another picture. "Damn, you were pretty close to take that one," he commented, moving his sunglasses out of the way. "I can see my nose hairs in this one." He rubbed his nose self-consciously. 

"Yea," Reno shrugged. "You can tell the earlier ones from the later ones by how far I was. Hey, uh... sorry for... you know... freakin' out on you last night." Rude returned his sunglasses to their proper position, saying nothing as Reno shrugged, flopping on the bed beside him. 

"After the cat was out of the bag I could've just talked to you, yo, instead of... eh... runnin' off." With a silent smirk, Rude got up and rummaged about some more. "Yea, and this is the point where you're supposed to, you know, talk to me or somethin'. You were talkin' enough last night!" Rude paused for a moment and straightened to his full height. He acted like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it and turned back to rummaging. "Rude..." Reno tossed his head back with a jerk, "What'sup?"

Rude turned his head over his shoulder, and then turned it back away. "It's just.... weird..."

"Weird?" Reno was taken slightly aback. 

Rude shrugged and returned to sorting. Reno, not to be denied or ignored, especially when he was teetering on the edge of the unknown, walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around Rude's waist, pressing his face into his back. The wall of a guy paused, dropping the papers he had in his hands. 

"Still weird?" Reno continued. Rude nodded his head ever so slightly, moving his hand to top the arm wrapped about him. He spoke softly into Rude's ear. "Why's it weird?"

When he spoke, it was softly and with a deep, heaving sigh, "Dunno..."

Reno slunk around in front of him and crouched on the floor, looking into his eyes behind the sunglasses. Rude dropped his head, adding in a hushed voice, "You've been my partner for years... so it's..." He dropped off, struggling to find what to say.

"Man. Rude, I'm still your friend, yo. S'why I didn't wanna tell you... or have you find those pictures, but I was more worried about the Third Division finding 'em." Rude closed his eyes and pressed his lips together, nodding lightly. "Come on... it's not that weird... is it?"

Rude stood up and pulled out the chair tucked under his desk, sat on it backwards, and folded his arms over the upper back of it. "You're asking after all of this... mess," he kicked a pile of socks, "...if I still find this weird. You have no idea."

Reno's head jerked back again. "Yea." It was all he could muster. He had fucked up. What could he do to make this right again? There was so much Reno needed to hear, but he couldn't ask about it and even if he could, Rude wouldn't answer him. To occupy his hands, he started picking up pictures off the floor and stuffing them into the envelope. Rude turned his head to the side and heaved another sigh. 

"Who would have thought I'd ever end up...?" He dropped off again, his head buried into his elbow. Reno paused, a photo dangling between his fingertips. 

"End up what?" he asked, his voice picking up an edge. From within his elbow, Rude murmured. Reno twitched involuntarily. "Rude, so help me... I'm no match for you. Don't make me try and beat you." Rude muffled a snort in response. 

"Then talk to me, goddamnit."

Rude stood up sharply and flipped the chair back towards the desk. "I like women, ok?" He appeared agitated. "I was never brought up thinking any of this was..." His voice dropped off and his brow furrowed. "I'm not..." He stared at the wall farthest from him.

Reno snorted. "Is that what this is all about?" It was a statement more than question. "Yea, know what? I like women, too. I like men. And, hey, it doesn't have to go any further than me, eh?"

The big man turned his attention to the large crack in the wall. After a long moment of silence he braved to ask what has been tearing at his mind. "So I am... aren't I?" It was more of a statement than a question. 

"Full sentences would help you there, pal."

"Don't make me say it..." His hands flexed at his sides.

Reno stood from his crouching position. "Don't make you say what? Aren't you what? I've got half a dozen things you aren't right now and the main one is 'making sense'." Rude cut to the wall with the crack and rested his forehead against it. Reno sighed and dropped the envelope full of pictures to the floor, crossed the floor and wrapped his arms around as much of Rude as he could manage, pressing his forehead against his back. 

"So would it be easier for you to forget about this?" Rude began to hit his forehead against the wall. Reno spoke against his broad back, "Stopit..." The bald man slowed his frequency, but didn't stop. Reno balled up his fist and socked him in the chest, which was no small feat considering how wide Rude was. "I said stop it." Rude made one more thump to the wall. Irritated, Reno darted around in front of him and put his hand in front of the wall. "Rude, stop it. You're hurting the wall." 

Rude rested his forehead against Reno's hand. In a murmur, he spoke, "This is getting complicated..."

"Hey, like I said. You wanna just forget about it, you forget about it. Nothing changes."

"But it has," he huffed.

"Alright. You want it this way; I'll make the choice for you, yo." He turned and walked out the door without another word. 

Rude put his cheek to the wall and waited a few seconds before following Reno out into the hall. He was torn by the situation. Not only was he mad at himself for a number of reasons, but he was too proud to say anything to Reno. He prized his friendship with the rogue Turk, but now things were muddled, and he feared he would lose his friend after all. 

Reno headed down the hallway to his room. It's not like he had to stay with Rude forever. Hell, he could go stay with... well, alright, no one else would let him stay with them. He rounded the corner and poked his head into the room. If Rude didn't want him, that was fine. He'd dealt with rejection before... too bad it hurt so deep this time. Reno shook it off and turned on the usual charm. 

"Hey! So what's going on in here? Any luck yet?"

Several suited men stood about watching a few more men who were in full biohazard gear. One of them was negotiating a large wrap over a mattress corner with a pair of tongs. He tried greeting again. "Hey, so what the hell are you people looking for, anyway? Some nuclear cockroach get in my room or something?"

One of the men dressed in gear tried to say something. Tseng turned to the flunky next to him. "What'd he say?"

He shrugged. "I think it was something about he needs help." The other protected men look between each other, shirking the job. 

Reno sighed and strolled into the room. "Tseng. What the hell are you guys looking for?" One of the bio-suit guys held a meter up to Reno. It chittered noisily. "Look, I want my room back, yo. Tell me what you're looking for and I'll help you or something."

"We're not looking for anything." Tseng stepped forward, leveling a cool gaze at Reno. "If you can't tell already, we're trying to bring this room back up to... code." He rubbed his fingers together as if something disgusting had dirtied them. Reno wondered if he knew how creepy it made him look, and not in a good way. It wasn't creepy in an intimidating way, it was more like creepy in a child-molesting kind of way. Reno stopped himself before he blurted the words. 

"Then take everything out, burn it and move on." He was getting impatient. He needed space to himself for awhile so Rude could sort himself out. "Spend some of Shinra's hard earned money and get something... new. Put someone else in this room and give me theirs. I don't GIVE a rat's ass, just get me somewhere." Rude sided up behind Reno. 

"But you are somewhere." He dropped, turning to talk to some of the other men at his off-side. Reno threw his hands up and turned to walk out, running smack into Rude. One of the men from Tseng's group radioed through to an unknown end as Tseng turned back to the pair. "Until this matter is back under control, you two will be sharing your room," he stated, eyeing Rude, "until further notice." He punctuated his statement with a smirk. Rude's jaw dropped.

"That's bullshit. You have half a dozen other rooms you could put me in." His usual charm was completely gone now, replaced with irritation and hurt. It was clearly obvious in his voice he was distraught. Tseng was smiling a bit more now, pleased to have gotten under Reno's skin. 

"I wouldn't complain too loudly at this point, very few others are willing to tolerate your..." he paused, eyeing him up and down, "...mannerisms. Besides, you know there's a policy about boys being in the women's dormitories." He added emphasis on the word boys for further irritation.

Reno turned on his heel and muttered under his breath, "You're an ass," and stalked out of the room. Rude stared blankly where Reno had just been. 

"Don't worry, Rude," Tseng soothed. "I'm sure if you made it past the first night with him, the others should be a piece of cake." Rude said nothing, simply boggling inside his head. 

Reno headed back to Rude's room, snagged his blanket, kicked the envelope of pictures under his bed, and headed for the supply closet just outside in the hall next to the room. He couldn't believe this was happening. Something he'd wanted for so long he finally had in his hands... he had held it... and then it was gone. Just like that. Wasn't that always the way? Never wish for something too hard, Reno. You might just get what you want. Reno picked the lock of the supply closet, walked inside and shut it behind him with a soft click. He nestled between the boxes of sheet paper and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders, welcoming the blissful darkness. 

As Rude made his way back to his room, hoping to find the brooding Reno, two workmen bumbled through the hallway carrying a large, solid object hidden under a sheet, nearly knocking him over. They barely navigated the bulky item through the doorframe before the sheet caught on the way and pulled it off. The two men each grabbed an end of Rude's bed, caring not who or what might have been on it and began to haul it up and out the door. Rude blocked the doorway. 

"The hell's going on here?" He turned his head to look at the new obscurity. "BUNKBEDS?" His lips flap like a fish in bewilderment. The two workers push past Rude, barely leaving him a second to grab his own blanket and pillow. Rude stood in the doorframe, scratching at his head. "Yeeeah... thanks for the memo, Tseng..."

So now what, Reno? He puzzled. You've alienated your best friend, given him more issues than Don Corneo's girly magazines, and now you're living in a frigging supply closet. He sighed heavily and buried his head in his blanket. Thinking his room was safe had been his first mistake. Nothing in Shinra was sacred and he knew that. He'd seen it first hand many times in his time as a Turk. Hell, he hadn't agreed with it, he had just gone along with it because it had never affected him before. He sighed and buried his head deeper into his blanket, tears welling in his eyes. This was your idea, Reno. You brought this down on yourself, you know? Reno snapped his head up with the jangle of keys in the door handle. Great. Just what I need. 

Elena pulled open the supply closet door and reached for the first box of paper out of instinct. She jumped and stumbled back when her eyes caught Reno's. The shock was short lived and quickly replaced by confusion, then rage. She narrowed her eyes. "HOW did you get IN here?" She tapped her foot in irritation, one hand on her hip. Reno closed his eyes and shook his head, slinking back into his blanket. Can this day get ANY worse... he sighed. Elena would not be ignored. "You didn't answer my QUESTION, Reno. HOW did you get into the supply closet?"

"Tseng locked me in here." He lied, his voice flat as the blanket swallowed him. 

"OH! Which REMINDS me, RENO," she cried, her eyes flashed liquid lightening, "HOW did Tseng get those pictures you told me you destroyed?"

Reno's voice was more hushed and rather raw. "I thought you'd change your mind later, yo. I kept them for you in that tissue box you had them in. They called in people to renovate my room and the only way I could get them out of there without everyone seeing them was to give them to Tseng." 

"Didn't you get the MEMO about that?"

"No..." he mumbled, barely audible. 

"Reno, you look me in the eye and tell me that you HONESTLY did NOT get that memo. You tell me you HONESTLY had my best interests in mind. You do those things and MEAN IT and I will forgive you." Rude was listening to the entire scene from behind his doorway.

Reno pulled the blanket down around his shoulders, his eyes still glinting with tears. "Elena, I had your best interests in mind when I gave those pictures to Tseng." He dropped his eyes to the floor, his voice hoarse. "And, believe me, if I had gotten that memo, I wouldn't be in the hell I'm in right now."

"Hey... you're actually... upset... about something." She crouched down beside him. "What could be bothering the Joker King, hmm?" She smiled down at him, attempting cheeriness. Reno buried his face in his knees. 

"Can we not do this right now?" He reached over, flipped the lid off a box of paper and handed her a packet. "Just close the door and don't tell anyone you found me, 'kay?" Elena took the paper, blinking. 

"Reno... what's going on? This is definitely NOT like you..."

A random office guy walks by. "Hola, Miss Seniorita." He flashed a big cheesy grin. Elena glared at him, and then turned her attention back to Reno. Reno shook his head and dug deep to fire up the old charm. 

"Eh, Rude and I are having a lover's spat." He smiled up at her, hoping she bought it as a joke. "It'll pass. So just close the door and leave me here, alright? I'm fine." 

"You know, Reno... I don't know how he puts up with you like he does. I think I would have to kill you by now."

Two guys quietly pushed each other down toward Elena, chiding the other to do something. "You do it!" 

"No, YOU do it!" 

"It was YOUR idea!" 

The first guy cleared his throat. "Uh, hi, Elena..." The second guy elbowed him hard. "Nice weather we're having." He giggled. "Looks like it's gonna be sunny..." They broke into a fit of giggles. 

Elena glared at them. "What are you guys talking about?" The first one cut in front of the other. 

"N-n-nothing... just ah... wanted to know if you brought a hat for today," he asked, snickered. Elena gave a tight-lipped smile and glared down at Reno. 

"Why, no, I didn't." She turned back to them with a fake smile. "I planned on staying in today and doing some paperwork, which is WHY I stopped to get some paper. Don't you guys have anything better to do?" 

The giggling pair stumbled back down the hallway. "Awww... no hat for today," he snorted. 

"Come on," he sniggered. "Let's go before she calls dogs on us... I wouldn't want Tseng or Rufus bustin' my balls this weekend, I got PLANS today."

"I'd just call Rude and have him bust your head like a melon," she called down the hall at them. Rude, from behind the doorway, snorted. Elena, hearing the soft sound, peeked up and around the door, catching the tip of his shoe. She turned back to Reno. 

"You know, with as much as the two of you work together, I would almost believe you and Rude had something going on." She smiled at Reno. "Too bad I know for a fact he has a crush on a girl. Besides, you wouldn't be his type. Hell... he would crush you." Somehow, busting Reno's balls when he was down just wasn't satisfying. Rude blushed from his spot behind the door. 

Reno nodded. "I just want my room back, Elena. I want somewhere to go."

"I'm sure Rude would let you stay with him for a couple of days until they get done. You have to admit, Reno, your room was nearly toxic."

"I TOLD you. Rude and I aren't on the best of terms right now. I pushed something a little... too far with him and I can't take it back. I just need to wait for it to blow over again and we'll be fine."

"Wow. I never thought I would hear Rude had actually gotten upset with you."

"Eh, he'll be alright in a couple of days. I just have to give him some time to let it blow over. S'what I do with everyone else, yo. They eventually forget about it." Rude flexed his hands a few times. "Rude's the only one who will put up with me, yo. He's my best friend. I just need to stay away from him for awhile so he can cool off." Reno buried his head in his blanket again so Elena didn't see the fresh tears welling up. "Do a guy a favor and close the door, eh?" Elena nearly closed the door, looking around the corner for Rude. 

Rude's mind was drowning now, to hear his friend on the verge of tears, it was twisting him all up inside. He rolled over to press his back against the wall. Elena closed the door on Reno and walked around the corner to Rude. 

"So since I couldn't get any answers out of Reno, maybe I can get them out of you." Rude shifted his gaze to the ceiling and blinked back a tear. Elena leaned in and lowered her voice. "What in the HELL is going on with you two??"




A Little R&R Ch. 02



"I'd rather not bring it up right now." He tried to keep a dead-pan tone. 

"That's what Reno said. Hell, if I didn't know better, I'd say you two really WERE having a lover's spat." She blew a stray hair out of her face, irritated.

Rude looked square into her face. "It's just I haven't made up my mind about some things," he spied the envelope where the bed had been, "and I don't even know where to begin... on others..."

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" she pressed. Rude slumped to the floor, knees folded to his chin, saying nothing. Elena blinked hard and stooped down in front of Rude. "Maybe you should talk to Reno." 

Rude ground his teeth. "I don't..." He flexed his hands. "I don't think... that's possible... there's just too much you don't understand... about..." He looked back at the ceiling. 

"Trust me when I say this: I know exactly how irritating Reno can be and how far he can push the buttons sometimes, but he just doesn't understand, sometimes, when to stop. Reno has his own motivations for everything. Reno has his own agenda for everyone; it seems, except for you. He's always protected you, you know. I am sure you can talk it out."

Rude snorted. "That's exactly what he said," he admitted, shaking his head. 

"Wait... Reno gave you the option to talk? He never gives anyone the choice to talk about it. He just treats them like their opinions, feelings, or whatever don't matter. Well, unless he really doesn't care. Then he just ignores them."

"We had talked... quite a bit... never mind he was reclusive... Evasive... Weaselish..." The corner of his mouth cracked in a smile, then furrowed his brow. "And then he goes and tells me he's been spying on me." He looked Elena square to the face again. "For a whole YEAR he'd been doing that. How would you feel?!"

"Spying on you? Like how? And why?"

Rude blushed. "It's rather personal..." He got up, picked up the envelope and started rifling through for a tame photo to show. He came to one of the earlier ones, viewing him from back in the hall. "A whole year of this," he stated, tossing it to her. 

Elena picked up the image. Her eyes grew wide. "Why would he do this?" Her features showed thought. "Unless he...." Her voice dropped off and she looked up at Rude, her eyes wide. "He wasn't kidding, was he? He really DID push you too far. What could he have possibly wanted to do with these? Blackmail?"

He shook his head. "There's nothing to blackmail me for with that... although some of these..." he rattled the envelope gently. "...could cause some damage." 

"Why would he do that to you? He's always been so... protective." Her brow furrowed as she looked at the image. She couldn't resist a smart quip, "You DO have nice calves." She offered the picture back to Rude with a smirk.

"I think that must have something to do with why he has all of these." He snatched back the photo. "It's all giving me a migraine... and after all of this, he just wanted to weasel out of it... move on. Him, the bastard I've worked with for how long?!"

Reno hit the door of the closet, his voice loud, but muffled by the door. "I'm not DEAF, you know."

"Then come out here and TALK to him, will you?" Elena shouted, exasperated. 

"I tried that, yo. Didn't work." Elena eyed Rude. 

"Some effort!" his voice boomed through the area. Elena backed against the wall. 

"Hey, you're the one going all angsty on me. You wanna forget about it, we'll forget about it. Nothing ever happened, Rude."

Rude got a bit louder, flushed to the face. "That's all fine for you, but what'd about me? Huh? You think swallowing any of this has been easy?"

Reno punched the door again. "You think forgetting is going to be easy?!"

The big man marched out to the hall. In a roar, he hollered, "You sure the hell act like it is!" There is a clattering in the closet as many things fell off of shelves due to Reno clamoring to his feet. 

"How the hell you figure that?!"

Rude grabbed the handle and started wrenching it about. "Always hidin' your ass, I'm sick of this! You've got some nerve to just whimsy through all of this... can't even give a man two minutes to clear his head without turnin' things back to your way."

Reno threw the door open. "My way has always been what's gotten me through EVERY disappointing thing that's ever HAPPENED to me. Who the hell are you to come in and change that now??"

He glowered at Reno, gritting his teeth. "You changed all that when you brought me into all of this." 

The redhead poked a finger into Rude's chest. "I gave you all night and all DAY to clear your head and when I give you the opportunity to talk, you don't do ANYTHING. Beat your head against the wall, like that helps! How many other people have I ever given the chance to talk to me about anything, Rude? I've blown off everyone but you."

Rude knocked his finger away. "Maybe I can't talk about this, maybe I need to get it straight in here first." He pointed at his head. 

"That's why I'm staying AWAY. Make up my mind, man!"

"But you're being such an ass about it! Do you really think locking yourself in the supply cabinet is going to work? My GOD man..." Rude rubbed the skin of his forehead and up to the top of his head. Stalking back into his room, hefted the bunk bed with one shoulder and heaved into the space left vacant by the old bed. "Two beds, no stupid closet, no avoiding me, for crap's sake we still have our shifts to cover." He panted a little, spittle flying with each word. 

"I locked myself in there to give you time alone. Space, you know? And I need... this," he gestured to the closet behind him, "somewhere I feel secure. I would go back to my room but they made that choice for me already."

"Yeah and I bet Tseng would have a coronary knowing one of his top men was making housing arrangements between the Xerox reams..." He shook his head. 

"Top men. Feh." The boost to his ego placated him a bit.

Rude rolled his eyes but was only seen doing a slight head roll. "You know as well as I do that your assignment list is long for reasons beyond you slacking off. You get through shit that no one else could pass through!"

"So whaddya want, Rude?"

"I want you to stop being so chicken shit... like you are now." He breathed heavy from the sustained shouting. 

"Hey, it's not that I continuously slack off, you know. My assignment list may look long, Rude, but I do just as much as everyone else here. My list is just longer because they give me more. And as for being chicken shit... fuck you."

"No... That's my line..." He gave Reno a stone-faced stare. 

"How is trying to work things out being chicken shit, Rude? You want me to fight you? Is that it? Would that make it easier to accept?"

"Your idea of working things out is to hide from me." Rude snarled. 

He didn't want to fight Rude, but if it was the only way to get through to him, he would do it. He couldn't stand the idea of being in this limbo between where they had been, where they were, and where they were going to be. Reno, tired of talking, rushed him. He saw Rude brace for the impact at the last second, dropped to one knee and swept at the hulk's knees. Rude fell back, landing on his shoulders. 

"The fuck was that for??" He rolled to one side, hands raised to block. 

"You want me, you got me. You wanna work this out, let's work it out."

Through gritted teeth, Rude barked, "Bring it on, bitch." He cracked his neck. 

Reno hadn't been expecting the response he was greeted with. Rude was actually fighting him. "Well, come on, then." He wasn't going down without making it hard on him. He beckoned with two fingers. "Let's go, yo."

Rude stood, arms still held in a boxer's guard. "You want to rumble?" He raised an eyebrow. "You really askin' for this?" His weight shifted and slid a bit closer. 

"If that's what it takes."

Rude took a mild swing. "Don't think I won't do it." He swung with the other fist. 

Reno ducked and stepped behind him. "Rude, I'm faster than you. You got me beat in brute strength, yo, but I'm a weasel." Reno shoved against the back of his knees. Rude fell forward, his knees cracking against the floor. 

"Cheap... shot?!?" He reached over his head, grabbed Reno by the waist, and flipped him over his head. Reno caught himself in a bridge and shoved himself to his feet. 

"That's the way I am, isn't it?" 

Rude stood up again and snarled. "If you don't quit now," he threatened, taking a step closer to Reno and nodding toward Elena, "they're gonna have to scrape you off the floor."

"At least then I wouldn't have to deal with the hole you ripped in my chest."

"You?!? YOU!?! You're the one THAT KEEPS TRYING TO LEAVE!!" His face, splotchy with anger, seethed. 

"I'm NOT LEAVING NOW, AM I??" Reno rushed him again, throwing his full weight against Rude's middle. Rude returned the grappling hug, twisted to one side and used his weight and Reno's momentum to tip them both towards the floor. Reno wrapped himself clumsily around Rude, making sure the bigger man was the one to reach the ground first. Rude hit with a hefty thud and rolled so he was overtopping Reno, arms still wrapped around his partner's lanky frame. Reno wedged his knees in Rude's chest and shoved hard, trying to dislodge himself. Rude squeezed harder. 

"Stoppit..... stoppit!" Rude pulled his head back a bit and head butted Reno between the eyes. He yelped in pain, his vision swimming and blinked several times, trying to open his eyes despite the watering. Rude, still holding on strong, pleaded, "Just stop it... would ya?" He was breathing hard from exertion as his sunglasses slipped down his nose a bit. 

"What the FUCK do you WANT FROM ME??" He wriggled in Rude's grasp; his ribs aching from their last tussle, protesting the abuse. 

Rude's eyes watered. "Just... to stop..." He blinked, tears falling freely. 

"I try to run. You chase me. I come back and we seem okay. Then you turn around and shove me away. So I go. I know when I'm not wanted, Rude. I'm not that..." He stopped, finally looking at Rude. "... stupid."

Rude's lip wibbled. "Y-you don't understand..." he stammered, hiccoughing. "...it's not easy to j-just open up l-like that..." he sniffled. 

"Yea, I do understand." His voice was softer, but still irritated. "How the hell do you think I felt when those pictures fell out of that envelope? All over the floor. Right in front of YOU? Let's think about it, Rude." 

Elena, still plastered against the wall, watched silently. 

"And how the hell do you think I f-felt when I found out??" He was sobbing. "An-nd when you said you... you..." Tears backed up in his eyes. 

"When I said what?" Reno's body relaxed. 

Rude squeezed him even harder as he buried his face in Reno's neck. "Find another par..." his voice gave out as he crumbled into a crying heap. 

Reno softened and wrapped his arms around Rude's shoulders, patting him gently. "Hey... I say things I don't mean." 

Rude sobbed harder. 

"Besides... Who else here would take me, eh? Nobody else can put up with me like you." Rude's sobs softened to mixed sniffle-hiccoughs. Elena took the chance to slip from the room as quietly as she could. At least now they're talking.

"Okay, so what's the issue, here, anyway? Why are we doing this?"

Rude sniffled hard. Very softly he whispered, "I don't want you to go." He hiccoughed again. 

"Okay. Then I'll stay. That's settled, right?" He rubbed the back of Rude's neck affectionately. Rude squeezed even more, his grip hard around Reno as his tears rose up over him again. "Rude, you're gonna have to loosen the grip, there. I said I WASN'T going anywhere, alright?" He patted Rude's head. "Okay, so the next thing we need to discuss..." He paused, listening to what he had just said. "God, I sound like Tseng... So what about us, huh? Still friends?"

Rude loosened his death grip and nodded, still sobbing. "Unnnhunnnn," he sniffled. 

"Okay, then. See? Not so hard, is it, Big Guy?"

Rude shifted a bit, sobs coming softer. "I thought we always had been." He rubbed an itch on his cheek with Reno's shoulder. 

"Yea, but things sometimes... change things. You know, like pictures a friend takes of another friend, you know?" Careful to keep it under his breath, muttered, "Even if they were for my own use..."

Rude sniffled, muffled back in the slender neck, "I don't care about that now..." He went mostly limp. "I can't.... don't...wanna... lose..." He pressed his lips together, trying to hold back more tears. 

Reno nuzzled Rude's head. "I don't wanna lose you, Rude. S'why I didn't want you to open that damned envelope in the first place. I figured it was best left with friends as friends, y'know? It's my fault. I shoulda kept denying it. Woulda made things easier."

"Yeah. So then where are we?" He hiccoughed and rolled off of Reno to lie on his side, arm stretched out over top of both their heads. Reno resisted the smartass answer and shivered. 

"Eh, still figuring things out, yo. We haven't even touched..." He stopped and shivered again. Seeking comfort, he curled against Rude's chest. "We can just let that go for now." 

Rude half-laughed. "You know I hate you sometimes?" He rolled partially back towards Reno, enjoying the feel of his weight being pushed back by someone and wedged himself under Rude. 

"Yea. I know." He nuzzled him. "So... Where are we now? Other than right back where we started? Y'know, 'cause..." 

"Why is this so difficult?" Rude groaned. Reno burrowed into Rude's warmth and buried his face in his shoulder as Rude continued a bit more loudly than he had intended. "If it makes me... gay... to be where I am...." He paused and stiffened a bit. "Then... why does it have to be so hard to get over?" Reno jerked his head back to look at Rude. 

"You think you're gay because of us? Because of this?" He sighed and shook his head. Rude looked a bit flustered. 

"Last time I'd seen, you certainly aren't a woman."

Reno rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Rude... you still have that thing for Tifa, right?" 

The bald man shifted a bit. "Well.... yeah... kind-of..." 

"Kind of?" He blinked. That really didn't answer anything, whether Rude just thought she was a great fighter or if he wanted more. "Nah, you have to do better than that. Do you like her or don't you?"

Rude mulled it over in his head for a bit. "W'ull... she's nice. And I really get into her fighting style. I really like how she combined traditional Wutaian with Junon..." he stopped, a bit drawn into the topic. 

"D'ya wanna bone her?"

He thought about it for another moment and knitted his brow. "I wouldn't say no... If she asked..." He blushed slightly in a way that made Reno smile. 

"Then you're not gay. Hell, I'm not gay. I just... never mind..." Rude looked at him from overtop his sunglasses. Reno curled back into Rude and sighed. "So are we a couple? Or are we just friends who screw? Or was it a one night thing?"

Rude laughed heartily and seriously considered the option. "I dunno..." he dodged, squeezing Reno with the arm left draped over him. "I guess it depends on how long we're stuck like this." He jerked his head towards the bunk beds. 

"Okay... stuck in separate beds? Cause if being in bed with you means I get to keep you then I can figure a way around that. But if it's only as long as I'm in your room, yo, I'd rather not." Rude laughed deeply again. "So what is it?"

Rude smirked. "I thiiink... I'll have to saaay..." He leaned down and kissed Reno on the lips. Reno, only slightly phased, raised an eyebrow. 

"That didn't answer my question, yo."

"You're being pushy..." Rude stated with a fake pout.

"And you're avoiding."

Rude got a bit defensive and rolled a bit back. "Well do I have to answer right now??" He questioned with a blink. 

The last thing Reno wanted to do was get into another fight. He and his body had been through enough of that for one night. "Eh. No. You don't have to." He stood and shuffled over to the bunks. "You want this to not be... bunks?" 

Rude shrugged from the floor. "I don't even think I can fit in there." He got up and tried to climb in. 

"Rude. Gimme a minute, will ya?" He stepped on the edge of the bed and hefted the mattress off the top bunk. He tossed it down on the floor where they had been laying. "Now get up so I can get the other one." Rude crawled out and helped heave the mattress to the floor. Reno walked out to the supply closet and retrieved his blanket, then sprawled himself out onto the mattresses. 

"See. Problem solved, yo."

"And you questioned yourself being one of the top men around here," he chuckled.

"If taking a mattress off a bed makes me a top man, they've got some seriously low standards, yo."

Rude flopped down next to Reno laughing, wiping the corner of his eye. "I think they do, man..."

"Yea. They keep me around," he smirked.

Rude rolled onto his back and folded his hands behind his head. "So what's there to do? It's a three day weekend, isn't it?"

"Eh. Yea," he elbowed Reno in the rib. 

"What was that for?" 

Rude did it again with a lopsided grin and snickered. 

"Whaddya want?" 

He feigned innocence. "Nuthin'."

"Yea, don't play innocent with me." 

"Playing? Who??" He mocked in fake surprise.

Reno pounced him. "You are."

"Oh no. you've got me. Help. Help. Whatever shall I do?"

Straddling him, Reno teased, "Boy that was easy. You're easy, you know that?"

Rude smirked. "Is that so, eh? You wanting to hold to that thought, are you?" 

"Well, you're not protesting. At. All." Reno retorted with a smile.

The hairless man laughed heartily, stomach muscles tensing underneath the mischievous redhead. Reno was straddling his stomach, running his hands over Rude's chest under the still zipped uniform jacket. He sighed pleasantly as he tilted his head back, the nimble touch setting to ease much of his built-up stress. Rude shifted and locked Reno's arms underneath the fabric.

Rude smirked. "So who has whom now?" Reno wriggled a bit, then grinned up at the bigger man. 

"Oh yea?" came the retort. With an impish grin, Reno slipped his fingers along Rude's sides and started tickling him.

Rude squirmed spastically. "Hey!" he giggled, "That's not fair!" He chuckled and tried to repress the devilish touch. Failing to quell the attack, he returned fire with his own hands. "Let's see how you like it!"

Grabbing the zipper with his teeth, Reno pulled it down, freeing his arms. Rude flushed at the sight of his partner, sucking in his breath at the near proximity the nimble man gained. He looked up with a cocky grin, zipper still tucked between his teeth and dangling out the left side of his mouth.

"Oh, so you like that, do you?" 

Rude gently grasped Reno's wrists that rested on his chest and held them where they were, swallowing hard. Things were getting a little bit uncomfortable down below, something he knew Reno could tell merely by where he was sitting. The redhead stuck his tongue out around the zipper and tugged on it again, pulling his head as far back as he could manage, swapping Rude's grip with his own, wrapping his hands around Rude's wrists. He twisted his body so his hip ground against Rude's thigh, the stupid grin never leaving his face. Rude groaned, the added pressure brought a fresh burn to his cheeks, his hands tempered with sweat. The young Turk pulled himself within inches of Rude's face and smiled, his breath brushing light and fast across his cheeks.

"You know, I love that reaction."

Rude felt as if his heart had jumped to the back of his head, while the mint of Reno's toothpaste trailed up his nose. His thoughts disintegrated, rambling as his conscious wrestled to stay focused.

"We have the whole day off tomorrow, Rude. What you got going on?"

He rolled his head no. "Nothin'." His aimless thoughts culminated at where they were last night, two grown men lost deep to the other. His cheeks grew hotter. Reno pressed small kisses along Rude's cheek, loving the feel of his stained skin. 




A Little R&R Ch. 02



"You're blushing again, Rude." He tongued the hoops in Rude's ear, making sure to brush his ear with the tip of his tongue. Rude shivered as each little flick sent current straight to his spine. His hands moved to Reno's arms, flexing against the muscles beneath. He curled his back and tugged the lank man closer.

"You want me, Big Man?" Reno whispered coyly into his ear.

Rude did want him. He wanted him beneath him, stripped and writhing in bliss. The mere thought caused him to water at the mouth. He wanted to roll him over so badly, to bury his head in his chest, to take in the heavy scents again. It was enticing, the allure of possibilities playing in his mind's eye. Rude shifted under Reno's weight. Breathing a shaky sigh, he struggled to overcome the inhibitions, to ignore the outside world for once and just do what pleased him. Right now. This moment. With him.

"Come on, Rude..." Reno purred into his ear. "I wanna hear it. Tell me. Tell me you want me." 

The taunts had brought him to an edge, to where either he took off out on his own, or surrendered to the mercy of his partner. He was a strong man, but in some matters Rude felt he was too timid for his own good. With his eyes on Reno's neck, he focused with what free will remained. He tensed, rocking slightly as he made to curl up, to initiate the flip that would start his torrid desires, but panic set in the moment his back left the floor. Quickly, he shifted to one arm, propping himself up from behind.

"It's not hard, Rude." Reno kept his lips dangerously close to an apprehensive ear. He took Rude's face in his hands. "You just open your lips and say, 'Reno, I want you.'" He moved his lips by squeezing him by the cheeks, laughing softly as he pressed his forehead against Rude's.

The mock only made the fire glow brighter, the glint in Reno's eyes egging him on. He knows. Dear god, he knows. He swallowed hard again. "Reno... Reno, I..." his face turned crimson as the daring redhead's heart leapt into his throat. Rude closed his eyes. In one smooth motion he locked his lips to Reno, pushing him over as he mumbled into his mouth. His hands pawed at the sides of the younger man's face, the kisses coming quickly and scattered. His psyche raced erratically. Want you. Need you. Crave you. Desire... He pulled back for a breath.

Reno's head swam. Come on, Rude. Please. I need to hear the words. He couldn't focus enough to keep up with Rude's fumbled kisses. All it would take was one word... just one... anything to let him know Rude wanted him to stay... that he wasn't just placating him... that this intangible thing between them was real. He was afraid to hope that it wouldn't fall apart on him again. One word, Rude. Please.

Rude removed his sunglasses, the shield he used to hide himself; the front of the Big Man. He looked into those bright blue eyes, straight into their center. Barely audible, he hushed two words, "Hunger you." 

Reno closed his eyes and soaked in the words, melting into Rude, his heart hammering in his chest, whispering, "I need you too, Rude."

The wall of a man sat back on his heels, examining the sprawled personage under him, sparks igniting on the peripheral edge of his vision. The head rush pointed that his tie was too tight, blood was trapped and pounding hard in his ears. As he loosened it, he closed his eyes to burn the image deep into his memories, tucked away safe for his eyes only to linger upon. Reno grabbed at Rude's jacket, trying to pull him back against him, the void between becoming uneasy. Even with the tie gone, Rude still felt tightness around his neck. He fingered to unfasten the top button of his shirt, now pulled onto one elbow as he was drawn back close again, fumbling with the rest of the buttons as his thumb refused cooperation. He made a small face at a persistent button, only to look up and meet Reno's eyes. 

Reno used Rude's jacket as a hoist, pulling himself up and sliding his tongue across the once stoic man's bottom lip, his eyes never leaving their locked gaze. Frustrated, Rude gave up on the stubborn thing and opted to shed both shirt and jacket by pulling them up over his head. Tugging rather unsuccessfully at his own shirt, Reno made to free himself, desperation obvious in his eyes. He couldn't make up his mind whether to lose the clothes or paw at Rude. He eventually settled on a combination of the two, running his hand along Rude's neck and shoulders with one hand and clawing at the buttons with his opposite hand. If this was temporary, he was at least going to take advantage of it for as long as he could. Long nights alone wouldn't seem quite as drawn out if he could take these memories along with him.

The tattooed Turk tossed the wadded cottons to a corner, taking next to handle the button and fly of his trousers. They submitted easily, having no need to cause a delay now. The difference in the ambient temperature shivered across his now exposed flesh, raising goose pimples over arms and legs. Having regained some presence of mind, Reno used both hands on the buttons, unfastening them more easily. He shrugged the shirt from his shoulders, wriggling free of the sleeves and wrapped his arms around Rude, pulling him close. The tingle of flesh on flesh caused the breath to catch in his throat as Reno's hands slipped up Rude's shoulders and clasped behind his head, drawing him in to kiss. His tongue darted between Rude's lips, parting them gently. He wanted all of him he could possibly kiss, lick and touch.

Rude leaned on his forearm, falling back into Reno, cupping his hands around sprigs of wild red hair. He took his time to explore in his own little ways the person who had been by his side for years. He traced the jaw line to the hollow of his throat with cold fingers and led a trail of kisses down, over his chin and along the ridge of his Adam's apple. Reno's flesh tingled in anticipation of each gentle caress. This was bliss. His fingertips traced trails along each muscle of Rude's arms. He reveled in the promise of a return to the pleasure from last night, wanted it badly enough he could taste it. His entire body was alive and singing, begging for every touch. 

Degrading further, Rude left a damp, meandering line over Reno's chest. Shifting to one side, he ran a moist tongue over his nipple, the skin puckering as he passed. He breathed on it, lipping at the raised nib, toying with it as he watched Reno coil by his nose. Reno arched his back slightly, throwing his head back and moaning softly, overcome by pleasures of the flesh. Rude cocked a half smile, pleased that Reno was obviously eating this up. His grip on the fear that he would forever be alone lightened, thinking maybe that wasn't meant to be his fate. After all, he was human. He tempted to tug on him, lips gingerly pressing and holding the pert rise before changing gears, switching to a soft suckle. Rude slid his arms underneath Reno's back, leaning him up against long arms as he nuzzled into his chest.

Jagged breath betrayed Reno, the ragged edges of his fingernails digging crescents into the brawn of the larger man's back. Shifting so he could rub his cock against his lover, his thighs and groin throbbed, demanding attention as Rude moaned from the redhead's hands, the burn adding to the drunken blur he was falling into. He ran one of his own down the center of Reno's spine until he reached the far dip of his lower back, then flattened his hand to smooth over firm hide, curling only the very extent of his fingers to match the contour.

Reno's fingers wrapped expertly over the button of his slacks, flicking them open. His fingers skimmed over the zipper, freeing his flesh to meet that of Rude's, thrusting against Rude's belly, fixating on the sensation as his flesh slid against his lover. Sliding his hand up and onto Reno's hip, and his lips still attached like a child to the breast, a groan escaped. Rude was blinded as the new sensation of both of them facing, touching, and pressing together burned over him. His eyes fluttered closed as he mirrored the grinding waist before him, pulling as the other pushed.

His mouth open and slack, Reno all but issued a dry moan. He wanted to tell Rude just how good this made him feel, but words escaped him. How would one describe in words the feeling of making love to your best friend, whom you had been with for what seemed like forever, and who had possessed your thoughts and dreams for the last year? How to express the tensions and sweet release that held him in an exquisite, torturous limbo between want and need? Was there a way to tell him how very much this all meant to him? For the first time in his life, Reno was glad to be mute.

Rude released, unlatching from the wry Turk's chest with a smack. With eyes slit and a shallow breath, he cradled Reno's head to his throat, his hand circling up and holding him behind the ear. He continued a primal rut, using now his other hand to pull the other in. Reno was breathing heavy, despite any attempt to the contrary, pressing heated, hungry kisses along Rude's neck and collarbone, tasting the salt of his skin. He nibbled gently at the flesh of his neck, feeling Rude's heartbeat against his lips. His voice cracked, calling his name. 

"Rude." He swallowed hard and tried again. "Rude, I want you." He pressed sloppy kisses along Rude's jaw line, panting. 

The words melted quickly to the recesses of Rude's mind, blending in with the hum of raw indulgence that was keeping his thoughts fuzzy. It wouldn't take much, his inner core spoke, to lift him up and just go. Still frames peppered his inner eye, the fit of unquellable rapture he brought him to, the height of awareness before climax, the aching Gods-forsaken breakpoint. His breath turned raspy, the adrenaline kicking and spurring him to take what should be openly his.

"...then let me."

Reno whimpered and wrapped his leg around Rude, pulling himself up against him, moaning deep in his throat. "Rude..." He wanted Rude buried dick deep inside of him, straining against him, driving into him primal and urgent and wanting. He wanted to cum and scream out the name of the man he had coveted for so long. 

"I told you... last night, Rude. I'm yours." His hands splayed across the other's back, pulling them tighter together. 

At no point during the day had either thought this was even a possibility, yet again things had gotten hot and heavy without forethought. "So what are we going to do? We're here in my room, ya know... unless you wanna..." he trails off, his face growing red with the thought.

Reno's head snapped back, his voice excited. "Do what?"

"I'm tellin ya I still don't have any... stuff." He looked a bit perplexed.

"Hey, you've got two choices. You can either fuck me like I wanted last night, just take it a little slower, or..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of lube. "We can do it this way. Your choice. But I would recommend I lose my pants."

Rude opted for the second choice, snatching the bottle. "Yeah, I don't think I'm that good. The pants would hurt." He gave Reno a moment as he flipped the cap and doled a bit out. It came out cold, shocking at first, but the supreme slickness proved very intriguing. He applied the oil liberally, or rather, it applied itself liberally all over him.

"The hell is this stuff?" He tried to snap the lid closed, his fingers slipping. Reno snagged the bottle and closed the cap.

"It's good shit, that's what it is."

Rude moved a slickened hand across Reno's abdomen, taking in the difference of friction and sensations. His gears back shifted; a fresh surge of energy riding up his back and over his head as he pawed at the other's hips.

"It does wash off, right?" He eyed Reno in a bit of worry.

"You think I would use it if it didn't?"

Rude raised an eyebrow. "One can never tell with you."

"Are you going to keep making jabs at my character or are you just going to fuck me?"

Rude grabbed both hips and pulled him hard into his lap, nearly setting him atop his swollen cock directly. He fell back to the deep seriousness of the moment before, his ache to be back as one overruling all other distractions. Guiding Reno lower, he dropped one hand beneath to keep a steady direction for his aim. Pressure and warmth greeted Rude as he made his way in, releasing a shuddered breath. Reno's eyes were half-way closed, strung out on being back in the solid man's lap. The lube made for a different environment, seeming to be much more freedom for movement. It was something that took a deep hold of Rude's motivation. He let the red haired Turk make a few adjustments before scooping him up, rising to his knees. Reno clasped his arms around Rude's shoulders and pressed their foreheads together. Carefully tipping forward, he caught the floor with one hand before settling them both down, bearing his full weight into Reno, pushing as deep as he could.

Throwing his head back, Reno cried out a little louder than he originally planned. His eyes shot open, looking up into Rude's face for direction. He had propped himself onto his elbows, steadying himself as he lifted his behind. In a return stroke, he pressed in deep again, keeping a slow cycle. Rude repeated himself, fixated on the changing facial expressions dancing over Reno's face. The heat was building between them. Reno took it as a subtle hint that he didn't need to worry about being too quiet, rocking his hips into Rude's thrusts, loving every moment they were together.

It didn't take long before Reno was gripping Rude's shoulders, putting his entire body into each thrust. "Rude... Oh God..." he moaned. Rude buried his head into his shoulder, locking together his teeth as wave after wave of rush fluxed over him. Each pass was leaving him increasingly wilder. He grunted as he butted his head under Reno's chin, exposing skin stretched taunt over cords and strings. He licked the furrow of his jugular, eager as the salt stung his lips.

Reno's mind blurred, lust overriding his senses. This was what he wanted. He wanted Rude, his partner, his friend, his lover, pounding deep inside of him. He gave over to pleasure, crying out with each full thrust, pulling Rude tight against him, forcing him deeper as he ground his hips in. Nothing mattered anymore. Not the night before, not the fight they'd had, not who else may be listening. The only thing that mattered was Rude and mind-blowing sex. His breath became ragged as his heart hammered in his chest to the sound of Rude's breath gulping in his ear, the press of their lips against one another's flesh. Reno reveled in the moment; it was all adding to the growing fever building at the base of his spine.

"... Harder... Fuck me..." He could barely choke out the words. Rude's pace accelerated, his lover's request echoed the same words in his own core. The line between want and need blurred as Rude started a low, guttural growl. It grew into cry as he slammed himself into the prone body.

"My-gods... Reno... I'm... I'm gonna cum.... I'm gonna..." 

He roared, bucking hard enough to scoot Reno across the mattress. His vision whited out and his body stiffened. Reno cried his lover's praises until his throat was hoarse, begging him to cum, begging him to cum hard, begging him not to stop. His throat was raw and stinging, tears streaming from his eyes, crying out for more. Rude came with all the vigor he had, his full body quaked, for the state was intense. 

What was housed in one split second was three decades-worth of rejection and heartache; the need and desires of one stoic soul. They were all thrown to the winds, for his heart had found a quiet place to settle, someplace where he was welcome. Somewhere in their friendship went a road farther than either knew. He could come home. It had taken him ages to relent to the terms he felt life had played for him, to build his expectations that friendship would be the extent of any relationship. To have ended up here, amongst the tangle made of him and his partner, was something unfathomable. Tears bit at the back of Rude's eyes as his deepest prayer showed hope of being answered.

Reno welcomed Rude's full weight atop him, running his hands feverishly across Rude's sweat drenched flesh and pressing salty, hot kisses everywhere he could reach. He was desperate to cum as he whimpered and squirmed against Rude. His cock throbbed, begging to be touched, licked, and caressed; to be brought to release.

"Rude, please... I need to cum. I need it so bad, Rude..." His voice was completely hoarse, barely audible as it rasped from his throat. He wriggled his hips against Rude. "Please-oh-God-pleeeaaase..."

Rude would have done anything in that moment if Reno had asked. He slid himself back and perched himself over the enraged shaft, his hand giving the faintest of a touch as it settled around, fingers chilled from redirected circulation. Reno whined and thrust into Rude's waiting hand, panting wildly, wanting release more than anything he had ever wanted in his life. He clawed at the bed sheets by his side. Rude gripped a bit tighter, stretching and sliding the flesh, his eyes locked onto his lover. 

"...you want to..." 

Rude made a dive; switching from hand to mouth before even he realized what he'd done. Surprised that so much could fit into one's mouth; he swallowed as his head settled. He mimicked the actions he preferred himself, lashing his tongue about and pressing Reno's erection firmly to the roof of his mouth as he drew up.

If Reno had a voice left, he would have screamed in pleasure as he felt Rude's mouth envelop his cock. His hands grappled at the back of Reno's head, panting, whimpering, calling his lover's name. Rude held onto Reno by the hips.

"I'm close," Reno whispered, thrusting gently into his mouth. "Oh, God, Rude.... You're a God..." Rude locked his jaw and dropped the pressure in his mouth, letting Reno make what he wanted of the pace. He clung to Rude, whispering his name over and over running his hands over sweat soaked skin until his body stiffened and he came, jerking violently against the electricity coursing through his body. 

Rude choked, the force of projection hitting the back of his throat hard enough to trip his cough reflex. He sat hunched on all fours, sorting between tears and spit. "...fuck!" He coughed again. "Damn!" Reno reached for Rude, tugging weakly at his limbs, calling him up to his side. Wiping the side of his nose with the back of his hand, he crawled up, flopping partway onto Reno as his head tilted onto his shoulder.

"Hey. You okay?" He wrapped his arms around Rude's shoulders. Rude was on his belly, and still fighting a tickling cough. 

"I think I got it up my nose," he coughed a little bit more.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Rude."

Rude was feeling rather relaxed. "Frr'what?"

Reno smirked lazily. "Cum up your nose."

"Well, I can arrange for you to have it back..." Rude smiled lazily.

"That's not a threat. Tomorrow I'll--" He yawned. "--show you my stuff."

Rude caught the contagious yawn. "Quit giving me ideas, Reno... you're such a bad influence."

"I don't expect to hear you complaining after too much longer. "

"...Mrrrr...." Rude mumbled, shoving at him playfully, only to be replied with soft snores.



A Little R&R Ch. 03



The common room was nearly empty as Reno lazed across the marble floors. Most of the employees were up, showered and had already eaten breakfast, including Rude who sat on one of the sofas, absorbed in a magazine. Reno had taken his time and allowed Rude to get out of bed before he did, shower before he did, and eat breakfast without him. If he wasn't allowed to stay the hell away from him, he would make the space as best he could. Seeing the indomitable man alone in the common room sent a tinge of excitement tingling up his spine. Reno moistened his lower lip with the tip of his tongue and crept around the back of the sofa, hesitating a moment before wrapping his arms around massive shoulders and leaning in to see what he was so intently reading. He smirked as a few of the words caught his eye. From what little he caught, it reminded him of a dime-store romance novel. 

"Jesus, Rude, that can't be all that fascinating." Reno taunted, his lips brushing the piercings in Rude's ear. Rude snapped the magazine closed. 

"Alright, you have my full undivided attention."

"No, really... what were you... reading? Yea, not reading... What were you looking at?" 

"It's not polite to read over someone else's shoulder... let alone torment them about it."

"What's wrong with trashy romance?"

"Nothing, moving on." 

"Are you sure it wasn't a girly magazine?" he hassled, hanging on Rude as his hair dripped a bit onto Rude's trouser leg. The bald man elbowed him away, irritated. 

"No. Quiddit... If you must know, it's just a collaborative circular... there are many stories in it." 

It was quite obvious Rude wasn't ready to be chummy. It was also quite obvious that what happened in the bedroom stayed in the bedroom. Reno sunk into an arm chair that sat directly in the corner and combed his fingers through his still loose hair. The chair was facing Rude, who couldn't have looked any more or less bored with the situation. He chanced their usual verbal camaraderie. 

"At least it got a rise out of you," his banter matching the volume of his voice. He was barely breathing as he waited for his response. True to his character, Rude's face showed nothing as he picked up the thin magazine and rolled it before tucking it in his jacket. 

"Typical sentiment for you... getting a rise out of anything seems to be your major goal in life," Rude snorted. 

"I've pushed your buttons hundreds of times. Never seemed to bother you before." Blue eyes glimmered hope as he continued, careful to check his tone. 

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Rude reached for the TV remote and emphatically pushed the TV button to turn it on. 

He had to swallow hard to choke his heart back into his chest where it belonged. Rude had ignored him before. Why was this so damned difficult? Nimble fingers wove through wet hair in form of nervous habit. 

"Offer still stands, Rude. We can forget the whole thing." Reno waited more patiently than he had ever waited for anything in his life; it was killing him. He'd always done things in his time and some of his partner's words had stuck from their argument the previous night. Time ticked by painfully slow as Rude stared at the infomercial on the TV. Finally he issued forth a tiny harrumph. Reno sighed. "Say the words. S'all it'll take."

"Why you so eager for me to drop it?" the stoic voice never faltered as he flipped the channel to the listings. Reno shrugged and flopped to the floor by Rude's feet. 

"You just don't seem very.... interested. Who the hell am I to force the issue?"

"Do I have to be 24 hours a day? Let a man breathe..." he uttered as he turned to a station and settled the remote. Reno shook his head in return. 

"And when I try that, you tell me I'm running away."

"Because you DO run away," Rude forewarned, his head snapping to Reno's direction. 

"I'm not running now." 

"Oh my!! You mean you don't want to go back in the closet?" he mocked, bringing both hands to the side of his face. 

Reno gritted his teeth as the blow struck below the belt. With anyone else he could have ignored it, smiled and walked out with his devil-may-care attitude. This hurt. 

"Isn't it you who's in the closet?" he retorted.

"...put you on a hanger..."

"You didn't seem to want me to stay in the closet. I have other places I can go, Rude. If you want me to clear out for awhile, I will. I'm not kidding." 

"Look... I don't want you burying yourself under your desk; I don't want you sleeping in the garage... all I wanted to do was come in here," he paused slightly as he pulled out his rolled-up magazine, "and do a bit of reading before we gotta go for our shift, alright?"

"Yea, alright." Rude was irritated, Reno's pride was hurt. That made for a rather volatile cocktail and he didn't want to press the issue anymore. He stared off blankly at the wall. 

"Thank you." The reply was clipped as Rude folded open the papers and tried to find where he had been. After a moment, he added, "...and I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just a bit tired today..."

"S'arright," Reno muttered, tugging on the laces of his shoe. His back rested against the sofa, his shoulder close enough he could feel the heat from Rude's calf. His brow furrowed slightly as he felt his groin stir from being in close proximity to the heat he had lost himself in a few hours ago. Reno propped his elbow against the sofa, careful not to brush against Rude. He stared up at him for several moments, waiting for the eyes to shift but when they didn't, he stood and wandered out of the common room and toward the elevator.

His cheeks burned from humiliation. Never let yourself want for anything, Reno. That way you're never disappointed when nothing ever comes for you. His old man had actually been right about something for once. 

Somehow the thought wasn't comforting at all. 

The elevator arrived blissfully empty and stayed that way for the entire trip to his office The machine whirred and clicked above his head, delivering him rather quickly to his office. He wandered down the hallway and stopped in front of his door. As usual, there were several dozen notes pinned to the corkboard outside the door. Several more looked as though they had been jammed under his door and the occasional note was tacked to the door, the frame and the handle. Generally the notes would stay on the door until they fell off or were removed by the party who had originally left the message. Today was different. 

Each note, letter and envelope came off of the door and corkboard, one by one. Reno slipped his keycard into the slot and the door swooshed open. He nabbed the papers various passersby had tucked in the door and took them inside with him. The door shut behind him with an automatic noise as Reno settled into his chair. For some reason, the leather under him wasn't as nice. The scarred and polished wood wasn't as comforting. He tossed the stack of notes onto his desk with abandon and stared at them, his head between his hands. 

Some day this was turning out to be. 

Reno's eyes roved his desk, snagging on old coffee cups and adequately stained papers, the ash tray he stashed under a couple of books, the crushed but undisposed pack of cigarettes that lay empty over a pile of manila folders. The tower of his computer was buried in company issued books, memos, folders, assignments, and notes he had jotted. All of this was mixed with a couple of old booze bottles and other forms of trash he had never bothered to throw away. He sighed deeply and poked at the stack of notes in front of him, picking one at random to read. The words mocked him from the blue page. 





A Little R&R Ch. 03



"Next we'll be sharing an office," Reno muttered, staring intently at his shoe. Tseng cleared his throat and pushed a stapled packet of papers across his desk toward his fuming subordinate. 

"Since I already have you irritated, I shall move on to your review. It stands the same as before, so I'm sure you already know what is inside. You are nearly three weeks behind in signing it, so I would thank you to put the correct date instead of today's date." Reno flipped through the reports and skimmed them. Tseng continued, "Reno, your performance in the field has been exemplary. If only we could get you to do the same outside of a crisis situation, you could be in line for my job."

"Wouldn't want t'take that from Elena."

"Yes... speaking of Elena," Tseng purported, handing Reno a pen, "those were especially suggestive photos. How did you get them?"

"Does it matter how I got them?" Reno signed the packet with the day's date and handed it back to Tseng. Tseng took the packet, displeasure touching his eyes as he caught the date. "All that matters is the Third Division didn't happen upon them. Besides, they got to their intended owner." 

"Intended owner?"

"Haven't been paying attention? Elena likes you. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. She had me take those pictures as a birthday gift. Told me to destroy them but I knew she'd change her mind."

"Birthday gift?" Tseng blushed into the roots of his hair. 

"Yea. So what else did you have for me today? I'm in a bit of a rush."

Tseng cleared his throat and pulled a large brown envelope out of his desk drawer, tossing it into Reno's lap. Reno flashed a look toward Tseng who was returning to his normal coloring. He peered inside the envelope as Tseng continued. 

"We found a number of... oddities... in your room while we were working. We packed them into the envelope after Third Division completed testing. Would you mind explaining them to me?"

Reno raised an eyebrow and turned the envelope over in his lap. He picked up three pairs of ladies underwear and dropped them back into the envelope with a grin.

"Thanks. I've been looking for those. They were worried someone was going to find them. We weren't quite sure where we had left them." Tseng's face was priceless as Reno continued with the photographs. There were several pictures of women in various states of undress with their faces conveniently cropped out. He tucked them into the envelope. If those weren't self-explanatory, he pitied Tseng. The clearing of Tseng's throat told him an explanation was necessary. Reno laughed and shook his head. 

"They're pictures of women. You really need to get out more."

"I know that. What I want to know is who they are," Tseng blustered.

"Eh, now, I can't give you that, can I? There's a reason I didn't put their faces in them."

"Were they company employees or outside women?"

Reno picked through the remaining objects in his lap, ignoring the question. Tseng sighed and shifted in his seat. 

"I guess it doesn't matter now. Rude would never allow something like this to go on in his room, so I don't have to play at disciplining you. However, we did find a few more images that raised questions. They're in that envelope." 

Reno's eyes dropped to his lap. He picked up the sealed envelope, tore the end open, and dumped the pictures out into his hand. The first image was a picture of Rufus in pajamas, coddling a teddy bear. That was a picture he had snapped while on guard duty at the Shinra Mansion. Part of his patrol was to check in on the sleeping President. It was too priceless not to take. Reno smirked and tucked it back inside the envelope. The second image was of Tseng browsing porn on his computer during office hours. The image on the monitor was relatively clear, and although you couldn't see it, his pants had been open. Reno smiled and flicked the image back across the desk, pegging his subject in the head. 

The third was of Rude. It had been Reno's favorite, showing wear around the corners where he had fingered it at night. He was lying flat on his back, the corner of the sheet draped across his middle barely covering necessary areas, one arm folded over his forehead. Rude slept that way a lot in the summer when the rooms were intolerably hot. Reno could almost see where the sweat beaded across his skin. He wanted to lick the ink penned under Rude's skin. Reno dropped the picture into the envelope with the one of Rufus before he got himself into more trouble. Fanning the other four images, he glanced over them before dropping them into the packet. 

"So what do you want to know?"

"What is the purpose of these images?" Tseng leaned across his desk, his eyes calm and questioning. That was something Reno had always disliked was how dead Tseng's eyes could be. He couldn't get a read on him. Reno shivered involuntarily, remembering the same words from Rude's lips two nights before. He tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket and grinned.

"Something fun for the company newsletter, yo."

"Reno, you can't possibly be serious. How did you get these images?"

"Most of them I snapped with a camera. Granted yours took a bit of work, but it was worth it." He gathered the rest of the items and dropped them into the ripped brown corrugate. 

"Do you mean to tell me you have ways of getting into the walls? That picture came from the wall behind my desk, Reno."

"Nah, I just have ways of being invisible."

"I want to know how you got them."

"I just told you." Reno stood from the chair and dropped his stash back into Tseng's desk. "I have something to do for the President." He trod to the door and opened it, pausing just before exiting. "I'm not going to be at the meeting this afternoon. The President has other plans for me. Oh, and I cleaned my office, yo," he stated, giving Tseng a moment before shutting the door behind him. 

That had been an experience he didn't want to revisit any time soon. His review had been typical, telling him he screwed off too much, but his tasks were always completed on time. He had never missed a shift, but he was usually late. No smoking in the building; no stopping the elevators between floors to have gratuitous sex; no hidden cameras in the new recruit dorms, male or female; his lack of office cleanliness; dress code means zipping the jacket, buttoning the shirt and wearing a tie; the usual. Tseng seemed to love watching him wriggle like a worm on a hook, and this was obviously some sort of tactic to drag information out of him. He pulled the envelope from President Shinra out of his pocket and the paper from the inside. 

Reno:

I need you to swing by the factory in Junon and pick up your new uniforms. Since we have new recruits and the old uniforms were in need of replacing, I took the liberty of ordering more. Enclosed is a packing list. You'll need to take a helicopter. I have everything cleared already for you.

Rufus

Reno traded the top sheet to the back of the stack and perused the list, nearly swallowing his tongue as he read. He was due to pick up nearly 100 total boxes containing several hundred pieces. How many new recruits were they getting? Reno folded the list and tucked it back inside his jacket as he headed for the garage. He checked his watch. One o'clock. This was going to take more time than he had expected. 

~*~*~*~*~

Reno touched the helicopter down on the building roof and shut it down. Going through the access door and down the steel steps, he looked around at the stock lining shelves in bags, boxes, and hanging carts. Reno turned around the corner and opened the door leading from the stockroom to the offices. The secretary looked up at him, startled slightly. He pulled out the packing slip and handed it to her. 

"I'm here from the Shinra Company to pick up our new uniforms." She took the list and looked it over as she picked up the telephone. 

"Someone is here from Shinra to pick up their order. He's on the roof." She paused for a moment, listening to the person on the other end. "Yes, I'll tell him. Thank you." She hung up the telephone and eyed Reno up and down. "They really weren't kidding when they put a rush on this order. You look terrible. He said to have a seat and they would load everything and let you know when it was finished."

"I'll look around while I'm here. I'll be back," he prattled at her, heading down the stairs and out through the employee entrance. He picked over the store racks on his way through, hoping to spy anything tolerable. Finding nothing, he hit the street. 

Leather was calling his name and he heeded, nudging the door open and stepping inside, eyes lighting nearly immediately on the object of his quest. He flipped through the rack, grabbed his size and threw it over his arm. Next he went looking for his shirt. The one he was looking for was a type of muscle shirt. The material was slick, looked wet, and begged to be touched. If it was one thing he needed tonight, it was to be touched. He needed something that would take his mind off of Rude and everything that had happened over the last two days. He would go out, get himself properly buzzed, and dance until he couldn't stand up anymore with anyone who was willing. He wandered through the racks, touching one thing and another until his fingers touched that familiar texture. He snagged it from the rack and headed to the fitting room. 

Stripping quickly, he donned the new garments and checked himself in the mirror. If this wasn't enough to make someone drool, he didn't know what would. There might not be much to him, but given the right clothing he had definition. He dressed again and skipped to the front, dropping his purchase on the counter. The cashier snapped her gum and looked up at him with cow-like eyes. Not a word was uttered between them as he paid and took the bag from her hand. He didn't care that it had cost him half a fortune to get, he looked damned good. There was no way he was going home alone tonight. His brow furrowed. Alright, so he would most likely be going home with someone else. Either way it went, he wouldn't be spending tonight alone and he could give Rude some space. 

He stopped by another shop and picked up lunch before heading back to the outfitters. He noted a few people sitting around eating and chatting and he ordered something quick and cheap, with any form of alcoholic beverage. The waitress looked at him strangely before heading back to the kitchen to put in his order. 

People watching had been a favorite pastime of Reno's for several years. He enjoyed observing the way they interacted with one another throughout the course of the day. One could learn a lot from watching others. His eyes roved those assembled, examining each individual as they ate and chatted with one another. A little girl begged her mother for dessert after her lunch. Two old men sat in the corner talking about the weather and smoking their pipes. A young woman sat alone drinking coffee and reading a novel. The room itself was dimly lit and comfortable. 

The waitress placed his food in front of him with a smile and went to check on the other patrons. Reno watched her as she bustled away and poked at his food. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry or even that the food was bad, he just had too much on his mind. He took a bite out of his sandwich and mulled over what he was going to do. It wasn't like there was much he really could do as far as Rude was concerned except sit back and wait for his conclusion on the whole thing. He wasn't gay and really didn't seem to entertain ideas of wanting any kind of a relationship. He didn't complain about the sex, but no man in his right mind complained about sex. The problem came down to Reno wanting a relationship and Rude not even sure if he wanted sex. He needed to suck it up and continue on until someone made up their mind. 

He would go out to the club tonight, drink, dance and have a good time, and see who he could pick up and not worry about it anymore for one night. Lose himself in music and drink and, if he was lucky, another warm body. 

All of that wasn't happening, though, if he didn't get these uniforms back to Rufus by five. He downed the rest of his sandwich and drink, leaving a tip on the table. 

~*~*~*~*~

"Well done, Reno. I'll have someone from receiving unload the uniforms. Yours and Rude's will be delivered to your room. You should have them by tomorrow morning. I am assuming you will be in full uniform tomorrow?"

"I'll be in uniform just like I am every other day."

"How about if I make it worth your while, Reno?" Rufus smiled, raising his eyebrows with the proposition. Reno quirked.

"I'm listening."

"You will be in full uniform all day tomorrow. Complete with belt, tie, and tucked buttoned shirt."

"And what do I get out of this?"

"Remember that check I wrote you three months ago?"

"Yea." He had just cashed it today.

"I'll write another one."

Reno raised his eyebrow and smirked. 

"You have a bet, don't you?"

"With Tseng."

"Mister President, you have a deal." 

Reno strolled out of the office with another check, this time for three hundred gil. Reno assumed the President was going to make more money off of the wager than what he had been paid, but it would be worth it just to see everyone's faces when he showed up for work tomorrow. Granted, it was a one time thing, but he wasn't above being bribed. He headed back to Rude's room to relax a bit before changing for the club. 



A Little R&R Ch. 03b



Rude made for a quick morning, his shower and breakfast in record time. He was anxious to take a peek into a new issue of Midgar Scribe, a local rag that published obscure works. It had originated as evidence in a case long ago, but after a thorough examination he found it to be most stimulating. Reno waltzed in, his timing impeccable as Rude sat ensconced in a rather intriguing plot. 

"Jesus, Rude, that can't be all that fascinating." Reno taunted, his lips brushing the piercings in Rude's ear. Rude snapped the magazine closed. 

"Alright, you have my full undivided attention."

"No, really... what were you... reading? Yea, not reading... What were you looking at?" 

"It's not polite to read over someone else's shoulder... let alone torment them about it."

"What's wrong with trashy romance?"

"Nothing, moving on." 

"Are you sure it wasn't a girly magazine?" he hassled, hanging on Rude as his hair dripped a bit onto Rude's trouser leg. The bald man elbowed him away, irritated. 

"No. Quiddit... If you must know, it's just a collaborative circular... there are many stories in it." 

He hadn't intended on being snippy today, but the jovial teasing and the potential thought of word leaking out he had a paid subscription to this was not exactly something he wanted to defend from validation. Reno steered himself clear, picking the chair in the far corner, a wise move in his mind for the moment.

"At least it got a rise out of you," his banter matching the volume of his voice. Rude rolled up the parchment, tucking it inside his jacket. There was something bothering him, and his partner's typical razzing was only expediting it to the surface. 

"Typical sentiment for you... getting a rise out of anything seems to be your major goal in life," He snorted. 

"I've pushed your buttons hundreds of times. Never seemed to bother you before." He knew Reno was looking for a break in his overcast mood, but he wasn't even sure where it stemmed from to begin with.

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Rude reached for the TV remote and emphatically pushed the TV button to turn it on. His attitude was getting unruly. Thinking it best to drown out the quiet with something, he tuned into the chipper infomercial as the screened warmed up.

"Offer still stands, Rude. We can forget the whole thing." 

It was an easy cop-out. Just say the magic word and everything would be back to normal. What did he think this was? A fairytale?? He tuned back to the tube, watching sharp knives slice through tin cans. After a few moments, he could feel holes being bored into this head, Reno was still anticipating an answer.

Harrumph.

Reno sighed. "Say the words. S'all it'll take."

"Why you so eager for me to drop it?" the infomercial losing its entire draw, he flipped to the channel listings to find something else.

"You just don't seem very.... interested. Who the hell am I to force the issue?"

"Do I have to be 24 hours a day? Let a man breathe..." he picked a channel at random, landing on a twenty-four hour news cast.

"And when I try that, you tell me I'm running away."

"Because you DO run away," Rude forewarned, his head snapping to Reno's direction. 

"I'm not running now." 

"Oh my!! You mean you don't want to go back in the closet?" he mocked, bringing both hands to the side of his face. His kettle was whistling, a sure sign for both of them to drop the subject.

"Isn't it you who's in the closet?" he retorted. Of all the things for him to bring up, it had to be the low card. Rude ground his jaw, knowing full well he needed to proceed carefully.

"...put you on a hanger..."

"You didn't seem to want me to stay in the closet. I have other places I can go, Rude. If you want me to clear out for awhile, I will. I'm not kidding." 

"Look... I don't want you burying yourself under your desk; I don't want you sleeping in the garage... all I wanted to do was come in here," he paused slightly as he pulled out his rolled-up magazine, "and do a bit of reading before we gotta go for our shift, alright?"

"Yea, alright." 

"Thank you." He was tired of the redhead's antics; they were running him in circles. Reno was just going to have to buck up and wait for him to come back around. It only took a few seconds for his lit fuse to burn out. "...and I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just a bit tired today..." wanting some semblance of normalcy to return, they still had the whole day before them.

"S'arright." 

Deciding he was going to be allowed some peace, Rude opened back up his magazine, thumbing back through the pages to find where he had left off. He knew by Reno's deliberate avoidance of contact that he was offering the space he needed, but he wasn't about to get all chummy again, not with the winner of a mood he had settled into.

~~~~

Thank God Tuesday started early. After the weekend he just survived, Rude was about ready to congratulate Rufus Shinra for being such a tightwad. Nothing like a full day to clear the mind he mused. As he made his way from the common room to his office, he made sure to steer clear of the gathering circle of chatter already concentrating at the water cooler. Two notes had already been tacked to his message board, one was from HR requesting an update, and the other was from Tseng.

See me.

Rude let slip a dry laugh as he swiped his pass card for his room. It amused him to no end how vague his colleagues could be. Do I need a pen? How's about some paper? He mocked internally, spinning the lone receiver about on his desk. No flashes, no messages. He knew if it was urgent that they would page first, but it never hurt to double check. He grabbed his set of car keys from a top drawer, then headed out to his supervisor's. 

Tseng had not had a good weekend, after the fiasco that was the decontamination of Reno's room, he still looked a bit green. Rude announced his presence by clearing his throat. Tseng, already neck deep in paperwork, waved with one hand as he continued to handle the receiver. He was nodding as he made notes madly across a mostly full notice, his face stern in concentration. Rude passed the doorframe and leaned himself up against the wall. It took Tseng only a moment to finish with his conversation, which seemed an odd term to describe it, because he hung up on who ever it was wordlessly.

"I need you to supervise Elena as she shows the new trainees the protocol for Sector 5, and then in the firing range." This was the first time Tseng had looked at him the entire conversation. It was also the first time he thought he had ever seen the man blush. He had counted on some wild rumors surfacing today, but he had second guessed that Tseng would have joined in such charades. Tseng cleared his throat in a manner not quite as arrogant as he intended.

"There will be no need for patrol this morning. The new recruits will be taking command over that." He paused. Tseng's eyes shifted back to the papers before him as his mouth hung partially open, poised and ready to make a statement. Rude shifted his weight and crossed his arms. The gesture was enough to snap his senior back to the present, the dark haired Turk blinking once as he returned cold eyes to Rude.

"You're dismissed. She will be expecting you in the secondary conference room." He made to resume typing as Rude removed himself from the room. Just at the edge of earshot, he heard Tseng calling back for him.

"You didn't..." his eyes squinted as he tilted his head just slightly off center, in deep consideration. "You didn't really kill Reno... did you?" Rude could only raise his eyebrows and jerk his head. He had bought into it! How entertaining to think all mighty Tseng was just another chatterbox. The corner of his mouth cracked a smile.

"Never mind. You might have done us a favor." Tseng resumed himself to the keyboard.

On his way to the conference room, Rude found that he didn't have to make much effort in avoid the swarms of Shin-Ra employees. It seemed, however, that they were making a wide enough birth for him, and a small mobile unit. Loud chatter dropped to a dull whisper as he passed rows of cubicles, only to return with revitalized vigor once he was out of earshot. Personnel appeared ghastly and unsettled while he waited with them for the elevator. One poor fellow even took off screaming when he mistook Rude's gesture to pick up a dropped envelope.

He knew something was definitely up when he swung the door open to the conference room. Every last eye froze on upon him as the steady stream of chatter was struck down dead by the clink of the door shutting. Rude's blood ran cold. It was almost as if he had stepped back to his school days, the appointed class bully leading his rule through other's secrets and lies. Children feared him then, and as well, they feared him now.

Elena bustled herself up to the front podium to begin her welcome and introduction. With a swing of her hand, she smiled as she introduced Rude to the group, and as best he could, he waved to the sallow faces before him. With a click, the lights flipped off and a large beam from an overhead kicked on. It was a good 20 minutes before Elena could set her laser pointer aside. As the trainees were following the examples illuminated 6 foot high, Elena took Rude to the side for a sparse bit of privacy.

"The hell is going on?" He growled. She looked slightly bewildered herself.

"You haven't seen Reno today, have you?" the perky blonde bit the corner of her lip.

"Not after he interrupted me after breakfast. The hell's wrong with everyone?"

Elena pulled her face down, and if Rude could have seen, blanched.

"You have to keep quiet or they're all going to freak."

"About what."

"There's a rumor going around." Rude nodded. "A rumor you killed Reno."

Flat-line shock bowled Rude over. This had gone further than wild rumors. He knew things had gotten loud, even heated... but to this extreme? Rude was at a loss for words. All he could do was stare at Elena through his sunglasses. She was looking slightly more unsettled by his response.

"That's all anyone would talk about this morning." She shrugged. "It was amazing at the recounted tales they were weaving." She idled, looking back over the collection of new bodies. They appeared bored, the flow of chit chat rising lightly. Elena beamed a bright smile and clapped a hand up onto his shoulder. Giving it a little squeeze, she spun on her heels and resumed her lecture.

It was another good hour before the end of Elena's presentation. When she asked if there were any questions, the stampede that erupted could have shaken out the support beams of any number of buildings in downtown Midgar. Rude had excused himself earlier to take up post in the hall. He knew he was responsible for overseeing the lecture, but he couldn't bare the weight of all the stares. How was it that everyone assumed the worst when it came to the Turks? There was more lore than truth by a landslide, and Rude was fed up. There had to be someone with enough pull to snap that band-wagoned crowd back to reality.

As the flood of trainees swarmed past Rude, Elena lingered in the foyer, her arms full of papers and spent overhead sheets. "They're taking a break before we head to the Armory." She readjusted the stack, it precariously sliding about. Rude took his wide hands and withdrew the tottering heap, mashing them into submission. There was plenty of time to hit up her office, for next on the roster was fire arms, and that wasn't scheduled until ten. He followed Elena to her office, up to the point where she was dragged away by one of her fellow girlfriends on the 69th floor. She passed him her key card and told him she would be up to get him in just a moment. 

It had taken her more than what she estimated because when she did meet back up with him, he was already three-fourths the way back to the first floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you up there." He handed back her card, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. His mood wasn't very sweet now, and every little annoyance was compounding to a hundred times over. He just wanted to go back to bed and start over tomorrow. But the next task was something Rude knew he couldn't shirk off. He had seen these kids in action before. Any amount of hands on development was better than the alternative. He trudged down the hall to the stairs that trailed well below the linoleum tiles of the main floor. The trainees had already started gearing up, the erratic clicks of clips loading and just about everyone in protective earmuffs. Rude followed suit as Elena signaled everyone to take a station.

"Fire 3 shots then wait for one of us to come around." She barked, muffled somewhat by the protective ear piece. Rude walked down behind the dividers, watching for error and what suggestions he could offer. Most of them had a handle on the exercise, no one slacking on the rules of gun safety, except for one. He seemed to quake the closer Rude got to him. He leaned against the partial wall as the youth fumbled with a reload. The kid turned to face Rude, apprehensive as to what to do next, the sweat running down the side of his cheek. Rude waved him on to take his shot.

Crack!

He missed the paper target entirely. Rude lined up behind the brown-haired boy and ushered him to take another. He hit the upper corner. Rude lifted one side of the youth's muff to speak clearly in his ear.

"You have fired a gun before, right?" The boy was absolutely paralyzed. "You had to have shown something or else you wouldn't be here now. Show me your stuff."

The boy stood frozen, eyes dilating by the second. Rude waved a hand before his eyes. His eyes shifted to the still loaded caliber in his hands as his reflexes kicked in. Slow motion played out the gun slipping from the kid's hand to Rude's drop, the eventual impact triggering a discharge. Damned Shin-Ra budgets! was all Rude could think as he rolled out of range. It took him only a split second to register the projectile flying by his shoulder. 

He barely finished one revolution before his hands were already making a grab. Elena, only a few stalls down, came rushing around by the time Rude had the wibbling trainee dangling by his jacket lapels.

"What is going on here?!?" she demanded, looking between the two males.

"This moron dropped his gun." Rude glowered, his face inches from the other.

"Put him down, now just what happened?" She tugged at Rude's grasp as she looked to the youth for an explanation.

"Th-... that's him, that's the guy..." he pointed a shaking finger towards the elder. Elena gave a quizzical expression. "He's the one who killed his own partner!" he blurted out, flailing with the accusation. Rude's ridge bristled as Elena laughed. She very firmly pushed Rude back in a patting manner.

"Let's clarify on this. Rude, have you ever killed anyone?"

"Yes." He growled, staring down the much smaller lad.

"And have you killed anyone recently?" she continued to press.

"No."

"So by all means that should say you haven't killed Reno."

"No." Not yet, anyways.

"Precisely. Now if you would head back up to the front please." Elena picked up the gun and placed it on the counter, then guided the youth out of the stall with her other hand.

Rude took a moment to reclaim his frazzled nerves, rubbing over the shoulder that nearly had taken a hit. It had been ages since he last took a bullet, and he was not too anxious to feel the burn any time soon. Elena was already taking the kid's muffs by the time he wandered back up front, the youth's tears streaming freely now. Demoted. He knew procedure. Any screw up that major sent you straight to a desk job. Elena directed the boy towards the security doors, and after he had left, sighed heavily. 

"Maybe it would be best if you just wait up here, Rude..." Her eyes graced the floor. He knew she was upset, this being her first project alone, and now her precious wards were unraveling. He took a seat in the front lobby, the sharp shots dwindling as ammunition ran low.

~~~~~

Lunch hour couldn't have come any sooner in his opinion, taking the last of the ear protection from an elated strawberry blonde. He smiled half-cocked as she practically skipped to him, oblivious that she should (apparently) be fearful of the large hulking figure. I think outside today he mused. Some fresh air would do a world of good after today. He followed Elena up the stairs and back into the main stem of Shin-Ra Headquarters.

The wide open mess hall was bustling already with staff, and the aromas mingled together, making strange new concoctions. Rude picked up a tray in the cold plate line, scooting it along as he perused the day's menu. A ham sandwich and an apple looked the best, and even that was pushing the talents of the cook staff. Rude had learned his lesson a long time ago about avoiding anything cooked here, for one particular case of food poisoning had kept him in the Infirmary for a week. 

At the end of the row stood Ethyl, probably one of the most senior of all Head Quarters staff. Rude cringed a bit, as he always did; her croaking voice and the odd smell of lilacs and bad tobacco were revolting to his senses. Her face resembled that of a desiccated prune, wrinkled and dry and most likely rubbery.

"How you doing today, sweetheart?" She took the card he held out to her. Rude shrugged his shoulders, eyeing her as she flipped the card over repeatedly. "You know you really must come meet my granddaughter sometime, I think you two would make a lovely couple. Say!" she paused on her train of thought. "Where's that redhead who's always following you around? That skinny thing..." She drew the card to her mouth in deep thought. Rude quirked, the thought of her ancient skin rubbing against something he had to keep on him. "They've been saying something about him getting knocked off after taking on some AVALANCHE rebels after a break-in..." She tapped the card precariously close to her mouth. Rude could feel the sweat collect on the back of his neck. She idled in thought, lost somewhere in the cotton between her ears. As her gaze returned to Rude, she smiled brightly. "But who's to really know... this place gossips too much." She swiped the card in one fell swoop.

For once Rude appreciated her, if only for her sentiment, and only slightly. He took his lunch and carried it over to the far side of the room. A large tree was stationed in the center of the room, natural light filtered in from somewhere outside shining up into its leaves. For most every employee here, this was as close as it got to the real outside. Normally a premium spot, Rude managed to claim practically twenty feet right at the trunk. Well that's one advantage to being a rumor mill victim he thought jovially. It felt good to strip off the uniform jacket and press his back into the roughened texture of bark.

The redirected sun was shining brightly, meaning a nice day for him when he took up his afternoon rounds to the Sectors. There were only a few critical points to collect from, but it would be nice to eliminate a few others on the way if they were ready. He lazed in a ray of sunshine as he rolled over in his head thoughts he had pressed deep. Reno. He hadn't seen hide or hair of him after his morning flirt, and that was quite unusual for his compatriot, especially now that it was well past noon. 

He took a bite of his sandwich and chewed it methodically. He knew Reno sometimes got himself hung up with the seniors, but as slick as he was about getting through things, fifteen minutes was quite a record. His mind then turned to other repressed matters: the pictures. One year... he mused, taking another bite. One year of sneaking and hiding. Rude leaned his head back to the tree, the sun warming the skin of his throat. He knew his friend was sneaky like that, he had seen proof previously to that through his completed assignments. To a degree, it was flattering to be admired, to be looked upon with such interest... yet on the other side of this token, it was still awkward that it was his partner. It made him reconsider the times they had been in close confines, packed one on top of the other during missions, and times in the showers and locker rooms. Just when did it all start? He took the remains of his sandwich in one bite. The photos were over the last year... how long has this secret lived? He swallowed hard, the lump of his lunch dragging the entire length of his esophagus.




A Little R&R Ch. 03b



Rude eyed the untouched apple, no longer hungry for it. He stuffed it in his jacket pocket as he picked himself up and dusted off his pants. No time like the present he thought, making his way through a cleared path to the elevators. It was time to move on to other things.

~~~

The company was at least kind enough to provide transportation to the Turk branch, but the pathetic excuse for a car they supplied spoke volumes about how they really felt about it. Rude waved to the security guard out of habit as he reached for his key. As he pulled the door open, it gave with a snap, pulling the handle clean off. Rude cursed. Loudly. 

The security guard called over to him. "You need any help there?" Rude gritted his teeth. At least he wasn't asking about Reno. He called back as Rude circled the car.

"No, just broke something is all. I'm good." He gingerly tried the passenger side door. It opened flawlessly. He clambered in and managed to scoot overtop the stick shift without castrating himself. If only this thing was 6 inches taller he fumed, his head rubbing hard against the roof. With a turn of the key, the little blue economy-class roared to life. Shifting carefully, Rude backed out and navigated to the exit, dreading what else could go wrong today.

His afternoon rounds consisted of checking up on several various project centers located throughout the sectors of Midgar. His first stop was with 6 and the squadron assigned to monitor for up-rises. Any more, the only major concern was over gang turf wars. Even in the presence of AVALANCHE, most of their activities were directed to public protests at big events. He swung his car around to the back side of the small outpost. After several honks, Rude gave up and wriggled himself out through the passenger side. That's going to get old... real quick. He cursed the Shin-Ra name under his breath.

Rude made his way up to the door and pounded it. There were no lights on, and when he tried the handle it was locked. Rude checked his watch; it was already half past one, someone should be there. He tried to peek through a window. A buzz shimmied along his leg, his pager tripped by an incoming message. He mashed the keys to silence the little unit, the message backlit in glowing green.

1-7 2 8 0 411

The cryptic message broke down as he wiggled back into the driver's seat: Sectors 1 through 7 requesting assistance at Sector 8, no further information. Rude ignited the car and sped back to the highway. He used his cell phone to call into Headquarters, reaching one of many secretaries. He was put on hold as his request to transfer to Tseng's desk was arranged.

"I'm sorry, Rude, he's on another line. Do you want to hold for him?"

"No, I'm heading out to Sector 8, just wanting to know what the heck's going on." Rude preferred to keep a clean mouth around the ladies. "I'll try him back later." He folded the electronic piece and tucked it back in its pocket. Something must be up. Rude pushed the little car faster, weaving in and about traffic to pick up time.

The station lot was swarming with vehicles by the time he got there; it looked like everyone had gotten the page. Rude parked where he could and hoofed it in, spying the crowd tightly packed around the front door. He pushed as far to the front as he could, the crowd backing off as more realized who had arrived. As he made to take the stairs, the main door banged open and out hustled a very wiry man. His nervous disposition reminded him of Reno having a nic fit, with the pacing and jerked movements.

"Alright!" He barked, expecting more commotion to be evident. He looked about, a bit dazzled before stepping to the top step. "We have a hostage situation. Seems some lunatic has rigged a detonation device to the base supports of a building in grid 42 AND..." he held his words, looking over his audience. "...he's got the VP of Junon Industries' niece. We need a volunteer to go in and talk negotiations while we evacuate the area. Who's my man?"

Not a single eye met his gaze. Rude looked about himself, floored that no one was bucking up to the task. "What the hell's wrong with you lot?" Rude barked. He was beyond irritated at everyone's attitude, with the strange looks and sub-audible murmurs. He looked up to the Sector Head.

"Rude, thank God you're here. You'll do just fine for the job." 

Rude backpedaled. "Me??" I'm just the Brute Squad, not Negotiations! The Sector Head smiled confidently and tossed him a communicator.

"Apparently he's just as big a head case as you. Kill him if you have to, just not the girl. And don't let that bomb go off." He waved with both hands, signaling. "All of you! Move out!" as he stomped down the steps and pushed past Rude. 

Rude spun where he stood. Did he just call me crazy? A staffer tapped him on his shoulder and pointed to a nearby truck. "We need you in first so we can keep this guy distracted. Let's go."

Grid 42 was a solid block of industrial construction, with large gaping unglazed windows and rough conduit exposed like fringe. Rude was directed to the lowest level where he was left to flush out and entertain the threat. It didn't take him long to find the VP's niece, strapped with several bricks of explosive C4.

"Hey there. Is your friend about?" He whispered as he switched the com to hands-free and stuck it in his pocket. They never said they needed a constant monitor, but Rude figured he might as well. He proceeded to investigate the contraption that was to the best of his knowledge the detonation unit. A simple two-wire direct. I'll need the remote. 

Rude started working on the restraints as the girl whispered. "He's about 15 feet to your left, behind something." Rude peeked over his shoulder. Sure enough there was the end of a shoelace sticking out. He paused in his work as he felt the nerves on the back of his neck buzz.

"Thought you could just jump in here and walk her out of here? Back off. Now." A stark figure clad in black rounded the corner, extending a long shotgun in Rude's direction. Rude took the hint, backing off with both hands raised up.

"You the Negotiator?" 

"The name's Rude. Let's start with yours."

"You're here to listen, not to talk, Negotiator." He crossed to stand between his prize and Rude, eyes sparkling. "As you probably already know, I have enough here to more than do the job."

"What are your demands?"

"For Junon Industries to stop their expansions. They've already spoiled the rivers around the main plants, there's no need for them to pave the land over too!" He was almost seething.

"Eco-terrorist group?"

"What? No. Just me. Now, how's about running along and doing your job." He flicked the end of the muzzle a touch. Rude stood and took two steps to the lank figure. His eyes widened at the bigger man's full stature. "Hey now, you do realize this thing is loaded."

"No, it's not." The new voice came from behind the thin man. Both turned to look at her.

"What do you mean it's not? How do you even know? You're BLIND!"

"You've made two shots already and I haven't heard you discharge the casings yet." He looked at the lock; he had in fact not released to reload.

"Not a problem. I've got more...' he was cut off by Rude's roundhouse kick, sending the arms skittering to the far side of the room.

"I wouldn't have done that, if I were you." He fished in his pocket, securing his hand on his goal. "I still have her in my pocket. Now run along and do as I say." Rude was beyond pissed now. 

"Do you... really... think that I care if you blow this place up? Do you... REALLY... think I care what the hell happens down here today?" His words were cool. His opponent gave him a sideways look.

"Of course you do, that's why you're down here." the wheels turning hard, trying to register the potential problem.

"That's what YOU think. I was TOLD to come down here. Do you really think my heart is going to break over your little, pathetic motive?" Rude had sauntered closer to his foe, standing nearly toe to toe. "With the day I've had... buddy, you're lucky I'm not fighting you to push that button." A squawk erupted from the lank man's back pocket. A personal com, tuned into one of the few channels Shin-Ra operated on. He could hear the continued spread about his arrival, and the further relay of how exactly Reno had died.

"How long've you had that thing?" He pointed to the other's off side. "Been listening to it all day, have you?" Rude smirked. Of course he has, that's basic 101 of Terrorism: know what your rival is up to. 

"Wait... you're not the same Rude... that..." The adversary's eyes widened, the connection setting.

"Oh yes." Rude's smile was devilishly evil. "I'm the Turk who killed his partner." If everyone was going to insist he had done it, he might as well ride this out as if he had. "And I did it with my bare hands." He cracked his knuckles. "Do you know a body will still twitch after they're dead?" His eyes went glassy, falling into the crazed zone of a pseudo-killer. He rushed him, pinning his rival's arms to the wall.

"Give me the remote."

"No."

"Then set it off."

"NO!"

"Then I'll break your neck" Oh how he wished he could have at that very moment.

"N-n-no..." His eyes were watering.

"Then what are we going to do, little man?" he purred in a low tone.

"I... I don't..." his body fell limp as he passed out. Rude dropped the figure to the ground, scavenging his pocket for the device. It was thin as a pencil and no longer than the width of his palm. He stuffed it in his own pocket as he turned to untied the hostage.

"You didn't really kill your partner," she asked in more of a statement.

"Are you really blind?" He took the opportunity to look her in the face, her eyes hidden with a haze of opaque blue. He was impressed at how well she kept herself together through the ordeal, and additionally for how well she could analyze the situation. "You'd do well as a Turk." He grinned, releasing the last of the binding ties. She latched onto his arm as he escorted her back up to ground level.

There was an eruption of applause as they emerged from the building's shadow, people waving their communicators and cheering madly. The Sector Head pushed through the madness, shaking his hand heartily.

"Great job! I don't think even our best tacticians could have planned out anything better!" He was grinning ear to ear. He quirked internally. How could just pointing the finger to me be the best made plan ever? He shook his head and trudged back to the truck, ready to head back.

~~~

It had gotten to 5 o'clock and Rude still needed to write up his reports for the day. He was grateful that he could seclude himself inside his office. The halls were thinned of personnel, making things much less aggravating compared to when they would literally leap from his path. He swiped his key card and shut the door, throwing the lock as he did so. Rude even took his privacy measures one step further and taped a piece of paper over the little port window.

He was alone.

Rude flopped into his high-backed chair and spun around to his filing cabinet, withdrawing a blank copy of a time log. Partway through, he found himself zoned out, staring at the small picture of him and Reno, taken some years ago while they were out on a company retreat. They had their arms over each other's shoulder and both were smiling rather oddly. He had remembered it was one of the guys he had trained with who snapped the shot, shouting a rather crude comment in lieu of the traditional "cheese."  

It brought a smile to his face, the fun they had stalking the girls at the bar, making bets to see who could collect the most amount of ladies underwear before they had to return home. He sighed, picking it off the adhesive used to keep it tacked to the monitor. Absent mindedly, he turned it over.

Partners in crime...

He had forgotten about that. Even way back then they were tight. But now the very thing that he held had stepped in the way. Photographs. He tossed it aside idly, his mind's eye wandering over the assorted images he remembered exposed on the floor. The amount of care Reno had taken to not only go through with is dirty little secret, but to manage some really good shots, was impressive. Rude shook his head, purging the possibility of letting this disaster slide.

They had been through the thickest of battles and the thinnest of terms before, but this one lead them all. His mind pointed repeatedly to the fresh wound, to the biggest secret Reno had ever held out on him. And it only irritated him more that he was avoiding it. He kicked back in his chair, the head rest bumping against the wall in its decent. Turning inward, he started in on himself.

It's not that easy to come clean. He turned a crisp crimson, angry at his own reaction to the divulgence. He had wanted to throttle Reno soundly for this little stunt. But he also wanted to know why. Why me? His mind tried to wrap itself around such a simple statement. He could understand the working compatibility, but anything remotely close to an intimate aspect eluded him.

Reno liked people in general. They were as the mouse to a cat, a fun toy to play with. Granted he did draw the line to some respect in level of attractiveness, he was never one to turn down a good opportunity. Which only confused him more. Was it the challenge? Was this only a game to him? The idea settled like stone.

It was hard for Rude to think that recent adventures were only a passing interest, but it was the only point to make any sense. He couldn't blame Reno for finding an outlet for his amusements, but he seriously wondered if the red head had taken into consideration the aftershocks to their relationship. He let a deep sigh slide, checking his watch. It was approaching six, he might as well give up for the day.

~~~

As Rude walked in, Reno was putting on some sexy leather pants.

"Smells like a tack room in here." Rude made a face. "Where you goin' all dressed up?"

Reno looked over his shoulder as he hurriedly pulled up his pants. "Out to the club. Why?"

He frowned ever so slightly. "Oh... no reason," he statedas he emptied his pockets into a dresser drawer. "Just don't wake me up when you come in soused." Rude had already had a tiring day as it was; there was no way he intended on staying up to all hours of the night. Though the thought of a strong drink sounded good, he knew he needed to blow off some steam at the gym, rather than at Reno

"Hey, I had no plans of getting soused." he chattered, using air quotes to emphasize the last word. "That's a good idea, though. Thanks."

"Well whatever you plan on calling it, just keep it down." He stripped down to his jockeys. He could feel the redhead's eyes burning over him, but he was determined to blow it off. He was right, though... I do need some alone time. He sighed and fished his meager excuse for exercise shorts from a bottom drawer. Worn, frayed, and company issued, the remnants that remained could barely be considered decent attire, even when excluding mixed company.

"Y'ever thinka getting a new pair? Might be a good investment." Reno tossed his ponytail back over his shoulder and tucked his cell phone into his pocket. "I'm not sure when I'll be getting back in tonight... or if I will. I'm heading to Wall Market. If I'm not back by tomorrow night, come drag my ass out of the gutter where I got myself killed, yo." He snagged his shirt off the edge of the bunk where he had tossed it and pulled it over his head. The fabric was stretchy and enhanced what little definition Reno had. 

Rude dug a bit further in the same drawer, pulling out a matching ratty sleeveless tank. "They're comfortable." He only need survive a few minutes more, then he could just let go.

Reno tossed his head in agreeance and smirked, blinking with his typical slow manner. "Do yourself a favor and get some rest tonight, yo. I think it'll help. Don't wait up." With that, he was out the door, shutting it behind him with a soft click.

Rude let his shoulders relax, the tension leaving knots in their stead. He skinnied into the beat-up shirt, tossed on a pair of street shoes, and made his way out as well. Thankfully his trek to the lower level was serene; the six o'clock rush had already made its mad dash for the parking deck, which left Rude alone to think. As he punched the button for the elevator, the only question circling in his mind was 'What happened?' He leaned against the wall, the elevator taking its sweet time to arrive.

Plotting, he devised a severe program load for having missed 2 days already. Only a few other employees were taking advantage of the free service, leaving him open to abuse himself with whatever machine he wished. It was only a short while later that he hit his zone and could finally breathe. Rep after rep brought rivers of sweat to his body, glistening from the fluorescent overheads. His mind was strung out, still failing to grasp at the day's hardships, leaving him vulnerable to other thoughts he had tried to push aside already. 

He lashed back at each attempt his subconscious made to bring Reno back into focus. He wouldn't have it. He toyed with the thought of going back in time and never letting Reno past the elevators. He was breathless from the effort he was exerting. A small voice piped up between his ears. If you hadn't have stopped him, you never would have known. It paused, bringing a strain to his concentration as he tried to listen. He still would be crushing on you. It had a point. No matter what the outcome from before, Reno still would have had what he did... and might still be sneaking. 

A tap on his shoulder snapped him back into reality. A small clique of women who stopped to watch, were giggling silently by the doorway as Elena sought to get his attention. He realized he had no idea how long they had been standing there and absentmindedly dropped the free weights he was using with a thud. This only caused the gaggle to erupt with more giggles.

"Hey Rude, looking good there, big man!" she beamed. Rude grabbed the towel he kept handy to dry himself off a bit. Something was up and he wasn't quite sure he liked where it might be going. He smiled half-heartedly back, readjusting the shades perched on his face.

"Listen... you've had really a rather rough day and I was... well, more like we were wondering, if you wanted to join us out on the town tonight." 

Hell no. 

"Ah, no thanks Elena. I really just..." She cut him off.

"Oh come on. You never go out." She pouted, causing the small herd to break into light laughter. A rose grew on his cheeks as he caught from the corner of his eye several of the ladies talking animatedly, their eyes glued to him. He really didn't want to do anything tonight. He forced his smile a little bit bigger.

"I really just am not feeling up to it..."

"Nonsense. If you have half the energy you just burned up with those hand weights, you've got plenty to enjoy yourself a bit." She smiled, more determined to outweigh him in politeness. He directed his attention to the doorway, the women surrounding it calling for him to join them. He was outnumbered. No matter how politely he could put it, they would simply continue to bombard him with manners until they got their way.

Rude threw out both hands, making a resemblance to old movie zombies, in a sign of resignation. The girls cheered, victory won with so little mediation. Elena grabbed one wrist and hauled him towards the showers to the hoots and cat calls of the others.

"If you give me your key, I'll go get you something to wear!" piped up one girl from the back. Raven-haired, Rude recognized her from one of the upper management teams. Rude turned a more appropriate shade of red, only further encouraging the rowdiness of the moment. Rude whispered into Elena's ear about the door already being broken and she nodded in acknowledgement. Just as he was about to pass through the far extent of the gathering, someone gave a firm smack to his behind, bringing a scream of laughter to the women and a new hue of red to Rude's repertoire.




A Little R&R Ch. 03b



His shower was as hot as the pipes would allow, forming steam as thick as fog. It hid everything, except for the churning wheels in Rude's mind. He was thinking about him again, the memories of times past and how different it all seemed now. It was as if he was possessing the memories of someone else; foreign, and displaced. He's my partner. My comrade. My best friend... The last word stung like nettles, electric triggers repeatedly firing, sending his body to the edge of oversensitive. He killed the water. Wrapping the towel he had picked up on his way in, he crossed out of the tiled floor to the locker room, where something and someone were awaiting him.

Rude just about jumped out of his skin to see Elena standing in the men's locker room. Her only defense was that it was well after hours. She laughed.

"You're such a prude, Rude. It's not like I haven't seen you in less before." Rude peeked from around the corner he had scooted behind.

"Don't ever mention that again, Elena." He eyed her darkly, eyes bare of the black acrylic. She settled her giggles at the inside joke, she knew how sore he was about it, had witnessed it practically first hand. In an offering of peace, she picked up and directed into Rude's hand a very full paper bag.

"What's this?"

"It's from the girls."

"What?"

"Oh hush and go put it on. They've been dying to see you dressed up for something other than an official gathering so they..." her voice trailed. Rude eyed the bag with caution.

"But what is it?" She pushed him into a row of lockers and swung two of them open, creating a privacy curtain of sorts.

"Just put it on. Trust me, I think you might like it." Contained in his little metal world, Rude pushed the question.

"So what were you saying?" Rude carefully picked the items out one at a time, removing the basic dark socks something he was sure to be the most tame aspect of what lay inside. 

"They all chipped in for this. Martha from Specimens designed it and the rest of us covered cost." She popped a small card up over the top of the overlapped doors. "There's even extra for cover charge and drinks." She sounded too eager.

There was a new athletic cut tank, higher quality than what he relegated for work. Beneath it was a light blue button down short sleeved micro-fiber shirt. The color was deep, a difficult thing to achieve for such a hue and the fabric clung like fine suede. The inside was smooth, falling freely when he ran a tented finger along the surface. A box holding a new pair of rounded steel toe boots sat prominently, looking very black and very industrial. Further down was something that caused a single eyebrow to rise. 

Leather pants. And none too different than the kind he had seen Reno pulling up earlier. Butter smooth and black, the material warmed pleasantly as he held them aloft.

"Is this some kind of joke?" he quipped, dancing between annoyed and perplexed.

"Come on, Rude. Just get dressed, we're running late as it is." She was tapping her foot steadily.

"How do you even know these will fit?" He made a good point, as tall as he was, things had the tendency to run a little short.

"You're a Turk, remember? There are files on you that you would never believe existed." Rude paused, standing on one leg as he attempted the soft black pants. Files? On what? He made a mental note to inquire about that later. He finished pulling the pants up, finding the length to be good and the fit about the thigh was just barely snug enough that it was bearable. He went to zip up. Only then did he realize the true purpose of these specific pants.

They were tight, right across the ass. Rude kicked himself, now cluing in as to why there had been no underwear in the bag. And they were low cut, barely reaching the furthest point of his lower back. These girls were looking for eye candy and he was tonight's dish. He finished dressing quickly, doing up every button to the shirt and tying the boots on securely.

He emerged, sunglasses in his hand as he struck a little pose, waving his other hand in a downward motion as if to ask one's opinion. Elena stifled a giggle, crossing the room to make some adjustments.

"I think the point of this one is to be open." She undid the button work, smiling as she drank in her coworker's visage. She knew he would look hot but had not been expecting anything to this caliber.

Rude was impressed as he checked himself in the large mirror of the changing room. He was never much into a scene that required him to put on the dog, but with this ensemble, he was good to go anywhere. It was outstanding in his mind that these ladies had chipped in their hard earned wages just to see him out and looking nice. His heart panged, guilt twisting that he was receiving so much attention. He felt bad for having not taken up Elena's offer to go out before, not because he wanted to avoid something like this from ever happening, but because she really seemed concerned about him.

Elena circled her arm around his and pulled him towards the door. "C'mon, sexy, lets get you out of here." She smirked, albeit a little too slyly for her statement to be all in fun. Rude slid his sunglasses on as the door opened to his awaiting entourage. 



A Little R&R Ch. 04



Reno had made himself a comfortable perch toward the back of the dance floor in a convenient place beside the bar. He was lounging in the seat, his back pressed and chilling against the block wall. Things hadn't picked up yet, but the night was very young. He preferred to get to the club early and score a table, have a couple of drinks and loosen up to the music before things started getting crowded. He finished the drink in his hand and added it to the two empty glasses already beside him. As one of his favorite songs cued over the speakers, he leapt from the booth and made his way out onto the dance floor. 

Weaving into the crowd, he chose a place near the center of the dance floor. He didn't want to miss out when the mosh started during the chorus. He slipped around a tall, dark haired man dancing with a blonde boy, and a boy with short dark hair. One of them snagged his belt loop and pulled, catching Reno's attention. The blonde backed away, leaving ample room for him to dance. The dark-haired boy's face shined up at him, smiling warmly. Reno gave a quick nod that was returned with a smirk. The taller man brushed up against his backside and curled his fingers around Reno's hip, moving against him as the shorter boy tucked himself into Reno's chest. Reno fell back into the taller of the two boys, allowing his weight to fall back into him. He felt soft breath and a soothing voice in his ear. 

"What's your name?"

Reno leaned back into him, tilting his face toward the other's ear. 

"I'm Reno."

The mosh pit started, jostling against them, bodies bouncing off of bodies from each side. His dark compatriots seemed relatively unbothered by the entire situation. The shorter of them clung to Reno, the taller planted his feet, other patrons rolling off of his back. The lyrics returned and the dance floor quieted. Somewhere in the swarm of bodies, the blonde had wandered off. Neither of the two boys seemed worried.

The taller man nodded and gestured to his friend. "This is Baby. You alone?"

Reno jerked his head toward Baby, who returned the motion, then leaned back again. "You never told me your name. And yea. I'm alone."

"The name's Maki."

They danced together, the three of them, their movements synchronizing together in an unexpressed pattern to the beat of the music. Others danced up close, then away. A few of the girls made eye contact with Reno, winking or smiling. He sighed, back in his game again as the mosh pit rallied up with the chorus reprise. They danced into the others, their bodies colliding against one another, hands touching and pushing people back into the fray. Again, the chorus flowed back into the melody and he was snagged once again to dance with Maki and Baby. 

A particularly cute girl caught his eye. He reached out and snagged the hand of the pretty, curly-haired brunette and pulled her in close. Maki's arm snaked around her back and she looked up at him with a slightly shocked expression, then relaxed into the beat of the music and wrapped her arms around Reno's neck. He leaned in and kissed her gently and she returned it, weaving her fingers through his spiky hair and massaging his scalp. As he broke the kiss she danced away, throwing occasional glances over her shoulder toward him. 

The club was already a buzz by the time Rude, Elena, and her cohorts arrived. One of the blondes cut to the front of the line that meandered about the side of the building and whispered in the bouncer's ear. He nodded, twitching two fingers forward, welcoming them in. As Rude passed, he noticed how much broader he was compared to their security. Hell, it was his first night out in a long time; why not live a little bit of it up? As he moved to pass the door, he bumped firmly against the Entrance Gestapo.

"Opps, sorry there." He hefted a heavy hand onto the guy's shoulder with a grin. He could swear he heard a short whine.

The girls giggled and chattered excitedly as they herded Rude toward one of the very large speakers. He recognized the tune almost immediately, having heard it countless times blaring from Reno's headset. He grimaced. The girls each started to dance, swinging to and fro while moving hands; rising and falling in time to the beats. Rude stood amongst the gyrations, wheels turning against the allure of fun and the simple annoyance that no matter where he was, Reno was haunting him. A short set of hands grabbed his hips and pushed him round.

"Come on!" It was the raven-haired girl again. She coaxed him into a gentle rock, her hands tugging and pushing, guiding him into some sort of dance. He caved, cracking a smile as he raised both hands up to her shoulders. More hands appeared as the pace livened up. Rude finally started to kick back and enjoy the moment until... he thought he saw a familiar shock of red hair on the other side of the room. The girls continued their swarm, bumping and touching him merrily. 

He shook his head. If it is him, I'll be damned to let him know I'm here.

~~~~

The song ended and Maki's fingers unwrapped from Reno's left hip, trailing up his side with a smile. Reno headed through the crowd to his table and sprawled across the seat, taking up the entire side of the booth himself. The block against his back cooled him as he rested his against it. A soft touch on his leg brought his head up, eyes focusing on the pretty blues from the dance floor. He nodded and the boy nodded in return, cautiously slinking into his lap, pressing gently against Reno's knees. He smirked and dropped his right leg off the booth, allowing Baby access to the seat, which he took gratefully. He leaned his pretty head in against Reno's shoulder and spoke into his ear.

"I hope you don't mind me sitting here with you. Makiros went to get us some drinks."

"I don't mind, yo."

"Good!" Baby chirped, nestling into Reno, hand splaying across his heart. "So what brings you here?" Maki returned, placing two drinks in front of them then chose to sit on the opposite side of the booth. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and touched it to the lighter. It crackled as he drew in a breath. Reno looked at him curiously. 

"What are those?"

"Clove. Want to try it?" Maki offered. Reno held out his hand and Maki slipped the cigarette into his fingers. "It's the third hit that does the trick. The first is slightly odd. The second isn't so bad, but it's the third."

Reno toked the cigarette, a strange flavor tracing over his lips and tongue. He choked a bit, eyeing the strange black paper with a confused expression. Maki chuckled and gestured for him to take another hit. Reno complied. He licked his bottom lip a bit, tasting the slight sweetness of the cloves. He looked to Maki expectantly. 

"See, it's not so bad, is it?" he chuckled, nodding as though agreeing with himself. "Wait for the next hit." Reno's brow furrowed slightly and he took another long drag off the dark smoke, allowing it to fill his lungs. He blinked and exhaled, buzzing. Maki grinned from ear to ear. "Now THAT'S why I smoke these things." He held out his hand for the cigarette. Reno handed it back to him, slightly begrudgingly. As he brought his hand back, Baby had pushed a glass into it. He picked it up to his nose and smelled it before taking a tentative taste.

"So what brings you here?" Maki asked, taking a drag off his smoke, leaning forward across the table so his voice could be heard over the bass slamming into the walls around them. 

"I come here every so often when I get a chance. I work rotating shifts." 

Maki nodded silently, watching Reno's movements with a clever eye. "So you don't mind, uh..." Reno gestured to Baby who had wrapped himself around his leg and had pressed his ear against his chest, one arm wrapped around his waist, off hand rubbing him through his pants. Maki chuckled.

"Nah. I'm used to it. If I didn't let the boy play with other people, he'd kill me."

"You mean that figuratively or literally?"

"Mostly figuratively," Maki laughed, sipping at his drink. 

The next song to play was another Reno recognized. He looked down at Baby with a sideways grin. "You wanna go dance?"

"Sure," he answered with the same cheeriness as before. "Then I can sex you on the dance floor!" He grinned and jumped up from the booth, pulling both Reno and Maki by the wrists out to the floor. 

Casting a wary eye to Maki, Reno wrapped his arms around Baby and ground against him in time with the music. Maki danced alone for only just a few short moments before a pair of girls wrapped their arms around him. Reno was slightly shocked and even more impressed. He'd have to take notes from the boy who was slicker than he was. 

Baby's hands cupped Reno's face, pulling him down into a kiss. His eyes first flicked to Maki who was smiling in a rather knowing kind of way. Reno's hand ran through Baby's hair, cradling his head and returning the kiss. Baby's hand crawled along Reno's thigh, running his fingers along the smooth leather, taking special attention around the button of his pants. Reno was nearly positive he wouldn't actually undress him on the dance floor, but he wasn't sure what would happen when they got back to the table. 

His chest clutched at a sudden thought. He had two hot boys dancing with him, buying him drinks, giving him cigarettes, and all but fucking him on the dance floor, and all Reno could think about was Rude. He didn't know what Rude wanted from him. While they were together, it was electric, but afterward he was colder than he had ever been before. If it was one thing Reno couldn't stand it was having something hanging over his head. If Rude would just tell him what he wanted Reno could be anything he wanted short of female, and if it meant having someone to come home to who cared about and understood him, he was willing to change anything. He wasn't a mind reader, although things would be a lot easier if he were. 

Baby looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes and ran his palms down Reno's chest. Reno shook himself from his thoughts and sighed hard as he headed for the bar. He ordered a double of whatever was strong and headed back for the table. He dumped himself into the booth and downed half of his drink in one gulp.

Baby slid into the booth beside him and ran his hand along Reno's thigh as a form of comfort. Reno's eyes followed Baby's hand, then watched his face. When their eyes met, Reno downed the rest of his drink and picked up the one Maki had bought for him. Baby's eyes grew wide and he looked up at Maki, as he slid into the booth beside them. 

"What's eating you?"

Reno snorted. It was more like what wasn't eating him that was the problem. He looked between the two of them and shook his head as the warmth of the drink spread through his body. 

"It's nothing."

"Well, if it's nothing, what do you say to another drink?

Reno turned on the charm. "Sure, yo. Hook me up."

Maki made his way to the edge of the bar and ordered another round and brought them back to the table. When he returned, he sat beside Baby who was perched between Reno's legs. 

"Can I kiss you?" Baby asked, leaning in close. He shifted, forcing Reno's leg off the bench so Maki could move closer. They both leaned in and kissed him, their lips dancing over and around the other. He wasn't sure rather it was the drinks or the fact he needed physical contact but he was beyond caring what else happened to him.

He had no intentions of going home tonight.

~~~~

Rude had finally started to kick back and enjoy the moment until... He thought he saw a familiar shock of red hair on the other side of the room. The girls continued their swarm, bumping and touching merrily. He needed that strong drink he contemplated hours earlier. Dancing himself out from the group, he made his way to the bar. Rude took in the scene as he waited for his liquor, a strong shot of tequila with lime. His eyes roved the varied clusters of party goers, watching with idle interest someone getting a sound snogging. He smirked, taking the freshly poured stills and downing it in a swallow. The spirits burned, his eyes flickering painfully as he reached for the lime. Elena whirled up beside him, breathless.

"Already hitting the bottle?" She waved to the crew still out on the floor. Rude looked away from her, leaning both arms on the counter. An empty chair opened up next to him and Elena promptly claimed it, signaling to the bartender for another round. She scooped her head under to try and look Rude in the face, but he was having nothing of it. She sighed.

"You're still upset, aren't you?" 

Rude said nothing, taking the second shot quicker than the first. The first was reaching its ethylated fingers around his brain, a low buzz brewing at his cheeks.

"Hey." She punched him gently in the arm. "It's not really the end of the world." She giggled. He still gave her no response. She patted him on the back and with a tentative sip, tried the clear drink.

"Ugh! How can you drink that stuff?!?" she cried, half-way spewing it across the floor. She handed him the remains and grabbed a handful of napkins with the other. As she dried herself off, Rude downed the last of it. She eyed him with an amused look. 

"You are going to be so trashed by tomorrow." She still was cleaning the taste of the breathy goods as she waved her gil card over Rude's head at the bartender. Whatever it's going to take she mused, heading back to her girlfriends.

Rude returned his corner vision to the snogging couple, which in the few moments it had taken him to get a good head start on the night, had increased to one more. This was causing him to bring up memories he just wasn't ready to undertake. He idled his finger on the small glass, keeping only a small portion of his attention to the one interest he had latched onto.

~~~~

Baby wasted no time once the kiss was returned, nimbly twisting between Reno and the back of the booth. Maki slid between Reno's knees and, with a quick flick of his fingers, unfastened the top button of Reno's pants. He didn't give any time for a reaction, kissing along Reno's jaw line and throat, pulling at the zipper. He moved in a bit closer and wrapped his hand around Reno's cock. Reno's breath caught and his head jerked up, staring at Maki's hand in his lap. Maki smiled and pressed his lips against those of the now trembling redhead. 

"I don't think we should do this here, yo," Reno mumbled around Maki's imploring lips. 

"I only live a couple of blocks from here," Baby offered, running his tongue along Reno's ear. Reno moaned. 

"As long as you don't mind me in your bed for the night." His chest panged with the words but he shoved it down again, breathing heavily against Baby's neck.

"I came here to dance and here you are dragging me out before I'm ready to go," Maki pouted, pawing at Baby. "It's always like that with you. You come to the club, you find a boy, you go home with him. I'm not ready to go."

"An' I'm not properly smashed yet, yo." Reno laughed and pulled a card from his pocket. "I don't want to leave before being properly... eh, I forget what he said." Reno tossed his head back toward the bar. "Plastered is a good word."

Maki pushed Reno's drink across the table at him. "Drink this one and I can have you a steady tab of shots if you want. You want trashed, I can get you trashed."

"The only problem with that is I generally pass out, so don't let me get too shit-faced."

Maki stood from the table and nodded toward the bartender. He served the drinks off the end of the bar closest to their table so Maki could ferry them to Reno. Reno stopped them after four rounds and nodded to Baby. He laughed and pulled Reno to his feet and they headed for the door, Maki following behind. 

~~~~

Rude blinked several times, unsure if the red he saw flash out of sight was the same as before or just the tequila settling in. He followed their trail to the door. How could he have mistaken that ponytail for anyone else's? Rude clenched the shot glass hard, the sight of his friend rolling as low as he was made his blood boil. He stood up before realizing it, and found him quickly standing right behind the small clique. 

Maki turned over his shoulder, sensing the rush of movement behind him. He leaned over Reno's shoulder. 

"Hey, you said you're single, right?"

"Eh, yea, why?"

"Then you might want to do something about your wall, here."

Reno turned over his shoulder. Rude stood a step away from him and rotated his looks between the three men. The sudden rush sent a throbbing to his head and eyes, something he was glad he could hide behind his sunglasses. His hands clenched reflexively.

Reno blinked, his vision swimming. "That's not MY wall. He's his own wall." He laughed stupidly. 

"Hey, yo. Party's just getting started. Leaving already?" Rude growled.

"Eh, I met a couple of guys and I'm going with them," Reno slurred. "Hey, this way I won't wake anyone up when I come home.... you know, 'cause I'm not... coming home."

There was a small crack. Rude felt a warm tingle collect in his fist. As he unfolded his fingers, a quick pool of blood filled the small cup of his palm. He had crushed the glass, burying shards deep into the skin. He stood there, hand open to the others as he furrowed his brow, perplexed.

"You know, he seems slightly upset that you aren't coming home tonight," Maki smirked, turning to Reno. Baby chimed in, putting his hand across Reno's chest. 

"You think maybe you guys need to talk a few things out?"

Reno snorted and laughed. "Yea. Talking's not Rude's strong suit." Maki's eyes met Reno's, roving his soul with those deep, dark eyes. He suddenly didn't feel quite as good as he had a few moments ago, now slightly nauseous. 

"I think you need to chat. You and him. No distractions or interruptions. Go home and talk to him. You'll thank us for it later."

Rude turned back to the bar, wordless, applying pressure at his wrist to slow the bleeding. The bartender was quick to spot the trouble, wrapping his hand in a clean towel as he ushered him over to the sink. He was kicking himself square to the head. Why should he care who Reno goes home with? Why did this bother him, to the point of unchecked aggression? What was the matter with him? He let the bartender wash out the glass and clean off his hand. It was a deep cut, something that might take a few stitches to keep closed. He ground his teeth irritably.

Reno planted his hand flat against the wall, his head reeling. He'd overdone it and it was catching up with him. He shook his head to catch his thoughts. 

"Hey, he can't tell me what he wants, I can't be bothered waiting around for him. I have the two of you here now and willing. You want me, he doesn't. Let's go." He put his arm around Maki's waist and tugged him toward the door. Maki turned his head over his shoulder, checking on Rude before wandering out with Reno.

~~~~

Rude heaved a sigh and decided to call it for the night. There was just no way he could salvage any of this with entertaining merit. He let the bartender wrap some gauze and tape around his hand and swore several times he would have it checked, and that, no, he wouldn't be holding anyone at the bar responsible. He looked over his shoulder before passing through the door, the same door he had only minutes ago gravitated to. Elena was still wrecking things up with the other girls on the dance floor. Rude chickened out and walked himself home.

The quiet was a welcome comfort, away from the bustle as Rude stretched his chest out, taking in a deep breath. His hand ached now, every pulse throbbing intently. He wiggled each finger, inspecting to see what kind of damage he had done. Satisfied the tendons and nerves were ok, he let his focus drift. He had never been so assertive over someone, at least not when he wasn't on a case. The sheer brashness of Reno's declaration rang clear in his ears. He's not coming back. He turned the corner, picking up a main street that passed by headquarters.




A Little R&R Ch. 04



The thought of them being divided in this limbo nauseated Rude, compounding the headache that was already taking up a stronghold. He punched his card at the main gate and stumbled in. If I only knew what to do, he mused. Stepping into the grand hall of the first floor, he secured an elevator and punched the button for the infirmary floor. There was only one practitioner on at this hour, and within a few minutes had his hand sewn back together. He decided to keep his work glove on it for tonight, not wanting to accidentally disturb the delicate work.

Back in his room, Rude stretched himself out on his bed, still dressed to the nines. His head was aching and the need for sleep was strong, but his mind would not settle, finally winning its demand for attention.

You pushed him away, a tiny voice scolded, and now you want him back. You don't talk when he wants to, and yet you lose yourself the first opportunity he has to be with someone else. He rolled over onto his side. You want him beside you as much as he does. He closed his eyes, tears burning at the rim. He needed him. He wanted and needed him in so many ways that it overrode his fear... his fear of screwing a good thing up. He didn't want to have things end on a sour note, like with so many other relationships. He couldn't bear the thought of having an after to all of this. Rude grabbed his pillow, cramming it hard to his chest, and cried himself to sleep. He promised to himself that if Reno couldn't run, neither would he.

~~~~

Reno rolled over and fell out of bed, onto the floor. He jolted upright and instantly regretted the decision as his head screamed in protest. Maybe I should have stopped two shots sooner he thought as he forced his eyes open, startled that he wasn't home. Baby rolled over in the bed and grinned cutely at Reno. 

"What the hell happened?" he croaked, swallowing to wet his throat. 

"We got home, you got naked and into bed... and you passed out. Maki and I finished up without you." He grinned mischievously. "It's probably better if you slept it off before you went home to your boyfriend, anyway."

"He's not my boyfriend," Reno huffed, looking around in the dark. "Where are my clothes?"

"They're on the dresser." Baby rolled over and buried his head into Maki. "Good luck with your boyfriend." 

Reno tossed his clothes on and left the one room apartment, closing the door behind him. He checked his pocket for his keys and his card. Finding them in tact, he stumbled through the dark, back to the club, and tore off from the parking lot, headed back for headquarters.

Reno bumped the door gently with his hip and snuck into the room as quietly as he could. Rude had requested not to be disturbed and he was going to keep to his word. He opted not to lose the pants, but took the shirt off and dropped it with his boots by the closet. He noted, rather dully, that the mattresses were still in the frame. He had always detested bunk beds for the simple reason of getting into them. Reno looked down to make sure he wasn't stepping on Rude and noted his attire. Reno caught himself checking him out and chastised himself. Just forget it, Reno. It's not gonna happen. He stepped onto the edge of Rude's bed and hoisted himself into the top bunk, trying hard not to jostle the bed any more than he had to.

Rude woke to the sound of the bed creaking. He shifted somewhat, rolling his arm underneath him. A dull stabbing pain shot up to his chest, he had crushed his battered hand. "S'that you Reno?" he murmured sleepily. He rubbed his forehead as his headache resumed its previous oppression. The bed creaked as Reno settled in above him, but he said nothing as he burrowed under his blanket. 

"Thought you weren't coming home," he snipped back, annoyed by the lack of response. The words echoed in his ears, bringing a fresh heat to his cheeks. He was angry, frustrated, and overall very hurt. Reno leaned over the edge of the bed, his head pounding as he did. 

"Yea. I decided not to stay."

Rude rolled over to his back, his eyes landing on the upside down redhead. His hair was as wild as ever and his trademark cocked grin present in the midnight hour shadows. Rude took off his sunglasses with his good hand, resting them on the edge of the bunk bed frame. Oh how he wished things were simple again. He grunted in acknowledgement.

"Yea, so, why weren't you at the normal dive instead? If I wasn't trashed off my ass, I would have been surprised to see you, yo." Rude snorted humorously. 

"I was hijacked."

"Hijacked?" Reno hung a bit further off the bed, despite the hammering in his skull. Rude broke into a crooked smile. 

"Yeah, Elena and her friends... they had been..." he paused, the idea still novel to him, "plotting."

"So they finally went through with it, eh? Elena asked me three months ago what size you wore. Hell, I don't even know what size I wear, let alone you."

Rude propped both hands overtop his head, careful to keep his bad one on top. "She had one of her partners in crime dig through the company databases." He shook his head. It felt good to be back on real speaking terms with Reno.

"Hey, now there's an idea. I'll have to tuck that one away for later." He rolled over onto his side, nursing his aching head. "So, uh, how's your hand?"

Rude grunted. It was like fire now. He gently pried off the leather cover and took a close look. 

"Stitched, hurts like hell now..." His voice trailed off, noticing in retrospect that it had taken close to 30 minutes before it was uncomfortably painful, and now that the local anesthetic had worn off he was regretting having hit the tequila at all.

"So up 'til you had the incident with the shot glass, which I'll be keeping you from, did'cha have a good time?"

He sighed. Truthfully, it was only for a moment or so that qualified. He withheld answering, debating on what to say. "The time of my life." His voice dripped with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes. Please don't make me relive today... please.

"Yea...." Reno faltered a bit. "You need to get out more, yo. Meet some nice girls or something. There's that girl from receiving who had a thing for you, y'know." This was leaving him raw and bleeding inside, but he pressed on. "I'm sure Elena's friends were appreciative tonight."

Rude gave a flat hum, not interested in talking about the several thousand times he had been groped. It was too much attention, and from too many people; something he noted he didn't really want to do again.

"Hey," Reno bounced across the bed and dropped to the floor. "Did they remember to send in our uniforms?" He was clearly excited as he scanned the room in the dark. Rude shrugged, a gesture lost in the shadows. He hadn't noticed anything when he came in, but he also fell straight into bed. His feet swung over the side of the bed and he sat up, knocking his bald head on the top bunk railing.

"God damnit!" he howled, both hands covering his eyes and forehead.

"Ey, Rude, you alright? Y'gotta watch out for them, man. They bite." He reached out his hand and rubbed Rude's head.

He grumbled, easing himself out carefully. There was going to be a nice sized knot by tomorrow, just near dead center too. He lingered, letting his partner rub the tender spot. It was comforting, the sting fading and the ache melding with the background throb of his headache.

"Y'gonna be a'rright? So y'didn't notice uniforms when y'came in, yo?"

He grumbled again. This string of luck had to end at some point, otherwise, he was screwed. "No. I was..." he fumbled for the words. His tongue uncooperative, he gave the simplest explanation. "I just wanted t'crash."

Reno nodded and headed for the closet, throwing the door open. Hanging inside were two garment bags. Reno pulled one out and opened it, checking the uniform inside. "These are gonna be sweet tomorrow, yo." He walked over to the bed and tossed the bag at Rude, sitting beside him. "Check this out. Just picked 'em up today."

Rude peeked inside the bag. "I can't see it, turn on the lights."

"How can you not see in this light, Rude? You work with sunglasses on for cryin' out loud." Reno flipped the switch at the door and blinked hard, grabbing his head as they flickered on. Rude blinked severely, the sudden change in lumens was startling. Reno parked on the bed beside Rude again and pulled the garment bag open. Dark black erupted from the bag, the fabric smooth and flat. A single zipper ran three fourths up the center torso. A few buttons lined each sleeve, and tucked inside was a crisp new shirt and black tie. Rude hefted a half laugh, thinking how pristine someone else's tie still was... that is, wherever it had run off to.

"Dress uniforms? Since when?" He liked his faithful old navy suit. It had served him well through the last few years, and he felt it still had a few more left to go. He fondled a sleeve, the texture slick and thin.

"Looks like there's more room to move in these. The others were too stiff."

Rude chortled. "Just having a shirt buttoned is too restrictive to you."

"And tomorrow you're going to get to see a first, Rude, m'man." Reno smirked and leaned in toward Rude. "I'll be in full uniform, complete with the noose around my neck."

Rude stopped in mid-laugh. 

"What?" he blinked, a surprised look plastered to his face. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Reno in a tie.

"Y'heard me. I'll be done up like you, Big Man."

Rude got up from the bunk and gave Reno a hard stare, eyebrows knitted in the center. "Who are you and where's the real Reno?" Reno laughed and leaned back on his elbows across the bottom bunk. 

"Hey, new uniforms and all. I have to wear it at least once, right?" 

"Ahhh, see? That proves you aren't him." Rude snatched his bag up with a cocked grin, dusting it gently with his damaged hand. "Don't want your pod people... things... getting on it."

"Pod people things," Reno snorted. He stood and took the bag from Rude and hung it back in the closet. "You wanna know the real reason?"

"Chick or money?" Rude asked, eyeing him cautiously. He knew that most things in Reno's life revolved around those two things.

"Neither. Rufus has a bet with Tseng." Reno was out for blood where Tseng was concerned and it would be nice to see him pony up, even if it was to the President. He was eating up being able to talk to Rude again like he used to. He was afraid things would never be the same again. He made a silent agreement that he had made the right choice by going home with the other boys, even if nothing happened. Rude just needed time away and things were fine again, just as he expected. He flashed another of his signature grins.

"Nice." Rude flashed one back, relieved inside that things seemed to be back to normal. It felt good to enjoy something about today. Rude had a very strong urge to just walk over and hug the stuffings out of Reno. He couldn't explain the why; just that he suddenly felt the need to be close. He took a step towards the redhead then paused. All day he had been avoiding the subject all together, and even at his best Reno still managed to show up everywhere. Now that the issue wasn't pressing, Rude thought in the deep recesses of his mind that now would be ok. Rude shied his head away as he cleared his throat.

Reno hesitated for a moment, noting the play of emotions across Rude's face but continued on with the conversation for fear of losing him. "Heh, I had contemplated not telling you and just showing up tomorrow morning in full gear, but I thought it might be best to warn you." He looked up at the bunk, eyeing it scornfully. "Hey, you don't mind if I pull that mattress off the top there, do ya? I've always hated those damned things." Rude gave a wave with his bad hand, sending sparks through the bones and joints. 

Fuck, I gotta be more careful. He recoiled, nursing it gently with the other. "Not if you don't mind getting it yourself." He stationed himself away from the fall zone of the mattress. Reno shook his head and pulled the mattress down from its perch at the top of the bunk and dropped it onto the floor. 

"I hate bunks. One person moves, both people feel it." He curled into the center of the mattress and curled into his blanket. "We should get some sleep, Rude. Tomorrow morning comes early." Rude hit the lights and carefully stepped around Reno on a path just wide enough for his feet to skim through. He sat himself on the edge of his bed, pulling off the over shirt he still had on. Balling it up, he chewed on his lower lip, nodding at what he knew he had to do.

"I'm sorry Reno... for being an ass to you lately."

"Eh, forget about it." He rolled over suddenly. "Hey, you wouldn't want to sleep outside the bunk, would ya? More room for the shoulders that way and, no offense Big Guy, but I'm not as wide as you."

Rude wasn't satisfied in his reply, it wasn't something he could just forget about. He dropped onto his knees and curled up next to Reno, hugging him about the chest as he buried his forehead amongst the red-tinted tresses.

"No, I won't... and I mean it..." he sighed lightly.

Reno patted Rude's head. "It's not a big deal, Rude. You're my best friend. It's not like I'm going to let a little bit of cranky get in the way of that."

Was he simply entertaining him now? Had things really gone too far? That the sensitive topics he couldn't bear to contemplate were now moot? Rude saddened, his heart dropping what felt was twenty feet through the floor. He didn't like where this was going so far, and panic was nibbling as the edge of his thoughts. 

"Yeah, but you were just..." he let the words hang. Just trying to talk with me. He felt low.

"Mmm... just what?" He wriggled in closer.

"Just trying to figure out the same thing I was." He nuzzled into the crook of Reno's neck.

"Yea? What was I trying to figure out? I already figured out we're still friends. That's all that matters to me, Rude. S'all I wanted all along." He was bald-face lying, but the lie sounded so good. He could pretend anything that made life easier on Rude just as long as he could have this for another night.

But I thought you wanted something more than friendship. The thought ran both ways. He was tired, spent from one too many disasters and the words weighed heavily on his tongue, begging to be spoken. Rude closed his eyes, playing in his mind his unveiling of truth, declaring his needs. As he drowsed off, he only mumbled, "I don't."

It took a minute for the words to sink in. Don't what? Reno puzzled over it for a moment before rolling back toward Rude. "Don't what, yo?" Rude was steadily breathing heavy. Reno flipped so he was facing Rude, his eyes roving the other's face. What was that supposed to mean? He doesn't think we're still friends? He doesn't believe me? He doesn't want to be just friends? What the hell? Reno's forehead hurt as he puzzled. 

He had found a fine time to fall asleep. Drop an open ended comment like that and then leave him lying here all night to riddle it out. Reno shook his head. It had to be the booze talking. Reno had been trashed, he knew Rude had been drinking, and no one ever made sense after they'd been drinking. He made a point not to get involved anymore. It hurt too much and he had gotten too good at avoiding pain to continue this. He would take whatever he could get behind closed doors. He wouldn't ask about it, wouldn't talk about it, just accept it for what it was and act like nothing had changed outside their room at night.

Reno smiled, watching Rude sleep. How long had he wanted to do just this... lie in his arms and watch him sleep? Be there when he woke up and not have to scurry off like a rat in the night as the sun's rays poked in through the windows. Reno cast his eyes toward the small window near the ceiling and watched a faint pink glow filter across the tiles. He didn't have to leave tonight and he had Rude right there. Reno buried his head in Rude's chest and wrapped his arms around him, fighting sleep for as long as he could. 



A Little R&R Ch. 05



"... mmmmmf... whut?" 

Stifling a yawn with the back of his hand, Reno nuzzled into Rude. "Morning, sunshine."

"You were staring at me..." The bald man blinked, his eyes sticky. Reno shrugged and rubbed his eyes sleepily. 

"Yea, so?"

"Weirdo. What time is it?" Rude made a quirky little face. He yawned as well, it was contagious.

"Eh, sometime around six, I guess." Reno had never been one for time.

Rude gave a long stretch and rolled himself upright, propping his good hand underneath him. The early morning twilight filtered the room with a dim glow, the chiseled features of Reno standing out more than usual. It was striking, the image of his compatriot lying on his side and looking up at him. His heart skipped a beat.

"What's on the agenda today? I didn't read the memo," Reno quizzed with his characteristic head-jerk. Rude gave a tousle to Reno's hair with his fingers, his hand not nearly as tender as it had been a few hours ago. He rose and crossed to the little closet. Pulling out the smaller man's suit, he tossed it to him. 

"You have a date with your destiny," he smirked.

"Destiny," Reno snorted, propping himself up on his elbows. "You say that like its some big life changing deal. Face it, Rude; I'm not doing it any day other than today." Rude snickered, pulling off the white tank and placing it on a hanger. 

"You never know. You might decide you like it. I can see it now. You, as Mr. Corporate."

"Yea and I could have Tseng's job with the company issued stick up my ass." Reno chuckled despite himself. Rude joined in the humor. 

"Stranger things have happened..." his voice dropped. He wished he would have said that differently. Quickly, he slipped out of the leather pants. Stark naked, he folded them nicely and placed them on a little shelf over the closet rod.

Reno drank in the sight of him naked, bathed in the early morning light. He stared openly, half hoping Rude would catch him, half hoping he didn't. The familiar craving twisted in his gut again and he reveled in it. They were behind closed doors. He could do whatever he damned well pleased. He was starting to figure out this game that they played, and if it was one thing Reno had trouble doing, it was losing. Rude went to fetch some clean underwear, crossing over to his dresser drawer. He bent over, giving a full view show to the reclined redhead. Reno's body reacted before he had a chance to even think of quelling it. This wasn't fair. If he didn't know better, he would have said Rude was teasing him. It wouldn't have taken much for Reno to have lunged for Rude's leg and tongued the tattoo across his calf. He shook his head slightly and wriggled against the now uncomfortable confines of his pants. 

Rude donned the white cotton without a second thought. His qualm wasn't over modesty, it was deeper than that. There had always been something about intimacy that Rude never seemed to quite get a handle on, his past experiences were condemning proof. He moved back over to the bunk, picking up and replacing his sunglasses as the morning sun rose brighter. Picking up the garment bag, Reno unzipped it, pulling out the brand new suit. He touched the starch white shirt and cringed. 

"Hey, tell me again why I'm doin' this?" He removed the tie from the hanger and tossed it on the desk and draped the pants over the chair so he could wrestle with the shirt. Rude smiled broadly. 

"Vendetta, what else?"

"Ah, yea...." Reno trailed, fighting with the buttons of the shirt. "See, now this is why three get buttoned and the rest don't. Button three and the shirt slides right over my head." He fastened each button up to the neckline, swallowing hard. It was a little closer to his neck than he was comfortable with. His head twisted back and forth, the material rubbing his neck as he buttoned the cuffs. "How the hell d'you put up with this?"

"Just do." He shrugged and switched back to the closet, pulling out his own white shirt and navy suit.

Reno unfastened the leather pants, allowing them to cling loosely to his hips as he fiddled with removing the dress pants from the hanger. They were blissfully undone so he only had to fight one way with them. Noting Rude picking up the old blue suit, his head jerked in disapproval. 

"Why aren't you wearing the new stuff, yo? I figured you'd be the first to suit up."

"They're comfortable." Rude was halfway into his pants himself. There was no way he was going to admit being fond of something inanimate... except for maybe his sunglasses. He raised the fly and fastened the button with two quick flicks, tucking his shirt in that fell loosely around his waist.

"You make this shit look easy, yo." Reno grumbled, sliding the leather from his lower half. He stepped into the pants and tugged them up around his waist and fastened them. He then looked at his shirt tail and huffed, unfastening the waistband again to tuck the shirt inside, then refastened the pants and checked his progress. Rude chuckled elbow deep in a drawer, hunting for a pair of socks. Victorious, he let his eyes wander over to Reno, who was fidgeting in the more formal attire. He looked ridiculous, completely out of place. It just wasn't the same Reno he knew to be all spiffed up.

Triumphing a small success, Reno snagged his boots from in front of the closet and put them on quickly, tugging on his collar. He donned the jacket and zipped it. "Alright. I feel... damned uncomfortable! How the hell you do this, Rude? I can't breathe."

Rude hopped to catch up, managing socks and shoes as quick as he could. His tie hung limp and undone as he grabbed his jacket. He walked over and placed two fingers on each side of the gangly throat and slid them down into the collar, tugging firmly to create a slightly wider wrap around Reno's neck.

"Better?"

"I have to have help getting dressed," Reno huffed under his breath, sounding much like a truant schoolboy. "Yea, it's better," he admitted begrudgingly. He fingered the collar. 

"Good. Let's go, I'm starving." The apple was still in his pocket from yesterday; it bumped against him as he righted the door open to leave. Reno jaunted toward the door and stopped dead. 

"I'm forgetting something..." He bent to grab his goggles but stopped, allowing them to rest on the floor where he had dropped them last night. He ran his hands over his body, fidgeting. Key cards were in his pocket, he had his wallet. He danced in place, feeling like a complete idiot. Rude took the moment to whip his tie into a perfect knot. 

"Ants in your pants?"

"I thought we covered this, yo, I'm the..." He stopped mid sentence and squeezed his eyes shut hard. Reno winced and reached blindly for his tie. His fingers wrapped around silk and he pulled it toward him, eyeing it as though it were a snake. Rude roared in a fit of laughter. 

"Yes, your Hangman's Noose! D'you need a hand with that?" He had to wipe a tear from his eye. Reno glared at him, muttering something about getting dressed on his own. He wrapped the tie around his neck and half-assed tied it, tugging at it uncomfortably. He was really starting to regret participating in this bet. Rude fought hard to keep the swell of giggles to a minimum. If only I had a camera.

"... The fuck!" Reno threw up his hands, completely exasperated. "I used to know how to tie one of these things. I remember doing it. I remember being in full uniform for the first few weeks we were recruited. You remember that?"

Rude nodded, his grin spread ear to ear. This was priceless. "What do you want? Pratt?"

A wry smile spread slowly across Reno's face. "You want me to ask you to help me with this, don't you? You're just lovin' it, aren't you?"

"Uh huh. Now hold still." He couldn't hold the giggles in anymore as he tossed the fabric about and had the tie knotted in a matter of seconds. He cinched it up square to the collar of Reno's shirt.

"Can we go eat now?" Reno fumed, twisting his neck in his collar. The lack of sleep and not having food since lunchtime yesterday was really getting to him. Rude held his hand to the doorway. 

"After you, Sir." He bowed deeply, doubling over more in laughter than in genuflection.

"Eh, stuffit." He walked through the doorway and down the hall to the elevators. Punching the button, Reno was already regretting his decision. He had to be in this getup all day long. It was going to kill him, he was sure of it. Rude settled himself into his standard stone-faced glower. He knew his buddy was going to have it rough, and he wanted to make sure things didn't get too far out of line. It was almost seven, time to get things rolling.

"We still doin' breakfast?"

Rude's stomach growled, speaking for him.

As the elevator door opened, the faces of the people standing inside perplexed him. They looked at him with wonder as though he had grown a second head, and they looked at Rude as though he were going to eat them. He stepped into the elevator, holding the door for Rude. Rude stiffened and entered the elevator, backing himself against one of the walls that cleared as he advanced. Not again... he groaned internally.

Reno shot a "what the fuck" look to Rude, after pushing the button to level 61. Rude stood as if a guarding sentinel; his hands clasped before him. He was just going to completely ignore this rampaging bullshit about him killing Reno. For craps sake, he was standing right next to him!

One of the secretaries in the elevator tapped Reno on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but are you Rude's new partner?" Her voice was soft and nearly conspiratorial. Reno ogled her. 

"New partner?" 

"Yea. His old partner had an... unfortunate accident." 

"Unfortunate accident? Really. What happened to him?" 

She leaned in closer, bringing her head down to nearly meet Reno's. "Some people say Rude... killed him..." She nearly choked on the end. Reno laughed out loud. 

"Hey, Rude, did you know you killed Reno?" He grinned up at him, glad to have something to retaliate against the tie incident. Rude gave a flat line response. 

"No, I didn't." To an untrained ear, the sarcasm could easily be missed. Reno snorted, ribbing Rude. 

"They must really hate you 'cause they gave you me to replace him." Rude shifted his weigh as the elevator slowed to a stop. Not even a hint of a smile peeked at the corners of his lips. He was definitely not amused.

"So how did he kill Reno, anyway?" he asked the girl, grinning ear to ear. 

"I don't know. No one has said, although there was something mentioned about him being blown up or something." 

"Oh really?" Reno shook his head. "You know I always thought he would just dangle me out a window by my neck and see if I bounced." He grinned up at Rude. "Although if I don't knock it off, he might do it anyway." He turned back to the secretary with a wink. "Trust me. Rude didn't kill me." The young woman nearly ran from the elevator when it stopped, looking over her shoulder. Reno edged up to Rude as he watched the girl's retreating backside. Reno was reminded of a cheap horror film. 

"Seriously, the hell did this come from?" Rude only gave a slight shrug. He wasn't trying to ignore Reno, but he sure was tired of all the nonsense that frequented the building. The next level was the one they wanted. "Rufus mentioned about you killing me yesterday. Who the hell would believe that?" Reno puzzled.

"Too many." Rude muttered quietly.

"That's sad." 

The elevator bell sounded and the doors opened in the cafeteria. Reno waited for Rude before heading for the line, the entire cafeteria gone silent. Reno quirked, looking to Rude with a slight shrug. His stomach overruled any confusion and he nabbed the nearest edible item and headed to pay. Rude was a bit more selective in his choices, opting for foods not requiring much cooking. The bagel and cream cheese outranked everything by his standards. Ethyl, bless her hard working heart, was on the job again, bright and early. Her face became overly animated as she recognized Rude. 

"Good morning, handsome!" Her jowls jiggled, head turning to catch Reno's presence. "And you, glad to see you're not dead." She laughed at her own joke.

"Thanks. That's the best thing I've heard all day." He handed her his card with a lopsided grin.

"And such nice manners, you two boys." She zipped Reno's card through. "I've been telling my girlfriends about you, I think my granddaughter might have some competition..." Her eyes twinkled. 

Rude handed his card to her. She held it close to her chest. "My Matilda, she's a beautiful girl, nearly sixteen," she sighed, her thoughts miles away. "It would be so nice for her to have a boyfriend like one of you." Rude just about choked. Ethyl snapped back to the present time. "What am I saying, she's just a little too young for you... but in a few years..." her voice was leading. She swiped Rude's card. As he tried to reach for it, she snatched it back. "Only if I get a kiss this morning." She stuck out her cheek. Rude grimaced behind his glasses and gave her the world's tiniest peck, snatching his card in the same movement.

"You know, I don't think she's talking about her granddaughter," Reno teased. Despite the restrictions the uniform provided, Reno had been handed a bag full of ammunition this morning. "I think she wants you herself." He flopped into a seat at the nearest empty table. "That was pretty slick, though, with the card. You're not bad, Big Man." He tried to slouch in his usual fashion but the suit made it increasingly difficult, finding it more comfortable to sit up straight. Reno squirmed as Rude sent death rays straight into his head. Using a little plastic knife, he jabbed it into the container of spread and mashed it onto the bread.

"Ah, comeon, Rude... Relax. The only things I've seen are you killed me and the lunch lady still hits on you. It could be a lot worse."

At that precise moment, a loud crash echoed from over by the lunch line. The boy from the firing range had dropped his tray and was shaking visibly. Rude's face turned red as his jaw clenched, the bread disintegrating as he pushed on it harder. Ethyl had come out to help clean up the mess while the boy stood frozen, immobile for his own strange reason.

"You know, Rude... You might have been right. I'm one of the top men here because I can hold a tray of food. We have got some seriously low standards here, man."

"...and your gun." He literally growled. "That's the moron who nearly shot me in training." His injured hand was aching from being forcibly used. Reno's brow furrowed and he leaned in toward Rude. 

"No one told me you were almost shot." Reno eyed the kid, memorizing his face. 

Rude took a huge bite of what was once a bagel. He watched as it took several of the new trainees to dislodge the kid and move to the edge of the food court. If he listened hard, he could hear the babbled ramblings he had begun to sputter.

"The hell's that kid's problem?"

In between chews, Rude mumbled, "Freak."

Leaning back as best he could in the chair, Reno tugged at his collar, prodding at his food. "You had a crap day yesterday, didn't you?" 

Rude nodded in agreement. "Haven't even read the reports from yesterday yet." He inhaled the remains of his breakfast. "A real laugh riot it's going to be." His sarcasm thickened.

"Eh, you need help, lemme know and I'll see what I can do, yo."

Rude kicked back in his chair, trying to settle himself down. Yesterday had truly sucked, no doubt, but the repercussions were just as irritating. Reno pushed his breakfast to the side, never touching a bite. 

"You ready to get out of here? We can either head up to the common room or we can head to my office and catch the bulletin from this morning."

"You're not eating? Thought you were hungry?" Rude jerked his head and fiddled with his palm unconsciously.

"Eh, thought I was," he avoided, pushing his chair back from the table. He stood, his tie hanging at a slight angle and his shirt tail coming slowly untucked. Rude stood, waving his hand for Reno to come closer. 

"C'mere, you're crooked." 

Reno started, taking a step back. "Whaddya mean 'crooked'?"

"I mean you're crooked. Your tie." He took a step closer, both hands poised to correct the straying knot. One of Reno's hands snagged his tie and righted it as he took another step back. 

"We should catch the bulletin. I made us late this morning." His tone wasn't unpleasant but it seemed rushed. 

The whole room fell silent. All eyes had turned to the pair, Rude with his hands outstretched towards Reno's neck. Reno eyed the assembled before turning back to Rude. 

"Let's get out of here. People are giving me the creeps."

Rude slowly dropped his hands to his side as he turned his head about. He nodded and made large strides to the main doors. 

The elevator couldn't come quickly enough to deposit them safely in their offices. The doors opened, nearly clearing the elevator, save for three other people and Elena. As soon as she spied Reno, she hugged him. 

"Reno, you're okay! I was worried about you yesterday!" 

"Don't tell me you bought into that crap that Rude killed me?" 

She waved her had dismissively. "Of course not. Rude is just a big..." She paused, eyeing him impishly. "Well, he's a lot of fun at parties. You should have been there last night, Reno. We actually had him dancing." Elena then turned her attention to Rude. 

"And just where the hell did you sneak off to, mister? We looked for you for over an hour downtown!" She punched him in the shoulder. He gave a small yelp, only to hold up his wounded hand. Her demeanor changed. "Oh my gosh, Rude! What happened?? Did you take somebody down??" She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled his palm up to her nose. Rude's face was writhing. All he gave was a low moan. 

Reno wrapped his fingers around Rude's wrist and pulled his hand away from Elena, stepping between them. "It's just a cut, nothing serious."

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open to level 66. Reno was the first off the elevator, dropping Rude's hand like it was hot. He waited just outside the doors for the other two to follow. Rude didn't want to go into any details further than what was necessary. Elena eyed him sternly. 

"You got yourself trashed, didn't you? Bet you did that on a rusty fence. Serves you right for not waiting for us," she huffed.

"Rusty fence, eh?" Reno tossed his head back and pulled the door open for Elena. "Maybe that's why it's so sore, yo." 

Reno darted inside the conference room door, holding it briefly for Rude and Elena to follow him and took his usual seat next to Elena. For the first few seconds, no one seemed to notice them, until the office went silent. One of the men turned toward Reno and gestured. 

"Hey, who's the new guy?"

Rude sat himself next to Reno, ignoring the question possibly directed to him. He was weary as it was with how the day was starting, and he didn't want anything to do with the distorted rumor that had taken on a life of its own. Reno sat back in his chair and said nothing, rubbing his cheek absently. How could people possibly think he wasn't himself? How many other people did they know with markings like his? Not many people were crazy or stupid enough to tattoo their face. He stared around the room, looking at each of the people in the room one at a time. They were all staring either at him or at Rude. Reno shook his head and sighed. He couldn't believe these people would actually believe the gentle giant would kill anyone he wasn't specifically ordered to kill, especially his friend. 

"So what'd I have to do t'get you people off this?" Reno planted his hands on the tabletop and leaned across until his face was inches away from his underling. "Do you know anyone else crazy enough to pretend to be me, yo?" 

"Yea, our Reno wouldn't wear a suit," the underling chuckled, backing up a bit. "Besides, our uniforms are blue. And even if you were Reno, he'd never be in full uniform." He chuckled and sat in his seat, turning it toward the head of the table. Reno sat back, a bit dazed, looking to Rude, then to Elena in search of a solution. 




A Little R&R Ch. 05



"He does have a point. Reno wouldn't be in full attire, especially a tie. He calls them a 'noose' if I remember correctly," Elena chided. Reno wrinkled his nose at her. 

"Yea, they're still a noose. I used to dress like this when I first made it into the Turks." He eyed her suspiciously. "Hey, you're not in black either. I thought you'd wear the new one." 

"This is just more... comfortable," she shrugged. 

"And you think this is comfortable??" Reno's eyebrows shot to his forehead and he leaned forward, pointing to his neckline. His tirade was interrupted by the entrance of President Shinra and Tseng. As they reached the head of the table, Tseng dropped a stack of papers and folders in front of the President before taking his seat. Reno tucked a tidbit of information away in the back of his head; there was a strange air between the two of them, almost like Tseng had been the school boy carrying his boyfriend's books to school. The thought amused him. He might have to make a bit of a side project figuring out what the connection might be. Even if he found nothing, it would alleviate boredom. 

"Good morning, all. I trust everyone is-" he stopped, eyeing Reno and stifling a smile. "I see you made it on time today. Perhaps the move into a room with Rude was positive after all." Rufus nodded down to Tseng, who seemed to gloat for a moment before his eyes lit on Reno, causing him to choke. Must have been Tseng's idea to put me in Rude's room all along. Reno relaxed slightly, realizing the President wasn't making an example out of him.

"As I was saying, I see we are all on time today. The meeting today will be a short one; I wanted to make sure you all got a schedule of the renovations and new room assignments. We are working on the men's dorms before the women's. If the renovations go well, we have another idea we may implement. There will be test dormitories for the senior of you. Once the rooms have been renovated those moving into them will be expected to fill out an evaluation form which you will receive later. 

"Continuing, I also have a change in assignment for today. If you are to report to training for the new recruits, there will be a bulletin outside your office door. I suggest you check the bulletins today," he eyed Reno, "before making other plans or completing other assignments. Also, yesterday we received new uniforms. Some of you have them already; others will not have their uniforms until late tonight. On Monday, these will become standard and the others are to be discarded." Rufus looked around the room, noting Reno was the only one in the uniform. He gestured to him. 

"Why don't you stand and demonstrate?" Rufus asked, gesturing for Reno to stand. He continued without pause, "There will be a memo sent to all employees, but I want to make sure my support units heard the words directly from me." He gestured again to Reno, who stood grudgingly and walked to the front of the room. Rufus unzipped the front of Reno's jacket before continuing. 

"As you can see, the jackets now unzip instead of buttoning. They are black, not blue. Also," he lifted Reno's jacket, "we have eliminated the necessity of a belt, but one may be worn if desired." He took hold of Reno's waist and turned him around. Reno rolled his eyes and sighed, facing the back of the room, positive Rufus was doing this on purpose. 

"The pants are a different cut than before and the men's shirts are a bit longer than before. This should allow them to keep their shirts tucked in while still maintaining an active lifestyle." He slipped a finger through Reno's belt loop and turned him around again, tugging on the tie around his neck. Reno complied, his eyes widening in alarm as his button was pushed. Rufus stood in front of Reno and zipped his jacket again. "Thank you for being my model for the day. You may return to your seat." 

Reno complied, fingering his neck. He would NEVER wear a tie again even if he WAS paid. If it was one thing he couldn't stand, it was being led around on a leash. He dropped into his seat, sitting nearly upright and surveyed those around the table. No one spoke as most everyone seemed shocked more than anything else, but Tseng was, by far, the most interesting of those assembled, looking as though he were about to have a coronary. Rufus continued as though nothing had happened. 

"I expect to see everyone in the new uniforms on Monday. Moving on."

The rest of the meeting was the standard routine about missions, company projections, and new trainees and how to keep them. Reno stopped paying much attention as the meeting droned on. Hadn't Rufus said this would be a short meeting? 

"... and Reno, I will need to see you later today. Be sure to schedule an appointment. That is all, ladies and gentlemen, you are dismissed."

Rude stood, letting the others file past him. If anyone could have seen inside his head, they would see a very large kid having the most pathetic fit. I don't want to give up my suit! The corners of his mouth pulled faintly. At least he had until Monday.

Reno eyed Rude. "You gonna be okay there, Big Man?

The tall man snapped his head out from his thoughts and gave a jerk towards the door, the entrance finally clear. Reno smirked and sauntered out ahead of him and waited alongside the throng of people holding for the elevators. Rude followed behind, he had to do something to cheer himself; he was not about to spend all day grumbling about stupid rumors and policy. He bumped Reno firmly in the behind with his leg, acting nonchalant.

The redhead turned over his shoulder and smirked. "Better watch it. Might end up with someone saying you're trying to shove me down an elevator shaft." 

Rude dropped his jaw, and then popped it shut quickly. No, we're not going to egg this thing on anymore. He settled his head to take a look at something very high over the elevator doors.

"Whazzamatter, Big Man. Nothin' for me?" Reno stuck the tip of his tongue out between his lips and grinned. Rude shifted the shoulders of his jacket in retort. "So you'd rather I went back to the innuendo. I see." He turned and looked up at the imaginary spot Rude was focused on. 

The elevator arrived completely empty. Reno entered, holding the door for Rude. Manners? Boy, he's playing it good today.

As the doors closed, Reno elbowed him. "So what happened to you yesterday outside of my murder?"

What didn't? Rude held open his good hand, knocking down his fingers as he reviewed. "Trainees trying to shoot me up, Door handle broke off the car, single-handedly dealt with an independent terrorist..." he let his words hang. He never did finish his paperwork. Crap! 

Reno's eyebrows shot to his forehead. "They sent you in on a terrorist negotiation without backup? The fuck were they thinking? Coulda been killed." Reno was less than happy about that last bit. At least someone had been around to help him with the trainees.

"They had to evacuate everyone as soon as they could. I was just supposed to go and find the guy."

"Rude, they never send you anywhere without backup like that," he defended, turning his face toward the stone wall in front of him. He stopped and took a step back. "I wasn't exactly anywhere around. They should have sent someone with you." 

Careful, Reno. Don't push. 

Rude snorted. "Like anyone was going to help me." He furrowed his brow. "EVERY one was too damned caught up in that stupid rumor. Who the hell started it anyways??"

Reno thought for a moment. "The only thing I can see, Rude, is maybe our fight in the hallway. We were yelling and I was hiding from you and then Elena runs off... Yea, that might have had something to do with it. Not to mention the..." he stopped and dropped his eyes to the floor. Shut the fuck up, idiot! 

Rude knew what he had avoided. He, too, clued in on what all of it combined could come across as. "So how come they all decided I took you out? I'm not that big of a brute, am I?" He looked worried. Maybe there was something that he didn't know, something about how he was around other people.

"Let's think about this logically. When I told you to take a fall in the hallway last week, did you? Let me answer that for you. No. You didn't. Seriously, Rude, do you think I could take you out?? It's not like you're exactly friendly, either. All stone faced and mute when anyone else is around besides me. Not that I'm complaining, mind you." He patted Rude in the center of the chest. 

"Besides, you're a big guy. Big guys are bullies, guys like me always have their hand in the cookie jar. It's the way things run. Even when I'm not responsible for something, I am." He shrugged as the bell rang on his floor. "You comin' to my office later so I can help you with that paperwork? Sounds like you might need it since you were there alone." Rude shuffled behind Reno, never really giving an answer to the question other than a low hum, parting at the intersection that split between their offices.

~~~~

Stuck square in the center of his message board was a screaming yellow photocopy announcing dorm reassignments. Rude pulled it down and balled it up, knowing already who he would end up with. Behind it were a few notes, one from Tseng who was expecting his timesheet and write up from yesterday, and one from Elena who needed more information for her write-up on Butterfingers. He pocketed the two, slid his pass key, and entered the room.

Rude sat and pulled back out his timesheet. It was only half-way filled and he could see where he had been tapping his pen the night before. He bullshitted the rest of the form and tucked it to one corner of his desk. Now this only left him with his report from yesterday's emergency. He grabbed the appropriate form and scanned through it. Almost immediately he realized there was a problem.

"I never got her name." He scratched his head. 

Rude filled in what he could, skipping lines for what he couldn't answer, figuring he could have one of the countless secretaries fill in the blanks. He stretched, noting the time was just before eight. Overtime, he grinned. He heard someone step outside his door and put something on the cork. He scooted over in the wheeled chair and cracked the door. Pale blue wafted at him, lodged under a tack. He tugged it free and checked it over. Training. Yay. His enthusiasm was anything but.

Rude tried to dial Elena's extension only to find it busy. He left her a message and then checked his own. One message was from the Sector 8 Head, nothing more than him jabbering on about something with his paperwork. He made a mental note to call about it later. He tried Elena's line again, but she didn't pick up. He disconnected before he was transferred and made to hit up one of the secretaries outside.

Rude almost tripped over three secretaries corralled beside his door. They were whispering very quietly amongst themselves. One piece of paper was held between them and they all seemed pretty upset with it. Rude cleared his throat.

"Would one of you, ladies," his voice squeaked as he tried to present a pleasant tone, "mind finding what needs filled in on this form? And get this one to Tseng?" All three stood slack jawed. Rude started to get a bit uncomfortable. He put forth a bright smile and added, "Please?"

The oldest of the three took the papers without saying anything, her eyes fixed on Rude. What? Is there something on my head? He ran a hand up his forehead and over to the back of his head. They were still staring. He nodded and walked around them, heading towards Reno's. A few steps away, he called over his shoulder. "Thank you!" 

~*~*~*~*~

Reno saw the sheets littering his board as he cleared the corner. He snagged them all as he slid the keycard in the door with the other hand. He strode across the floor, the door closing automatically behind him and tossed the papers on his desk. Flopping into his seat, he pulled out a notebook and a pen and answered his voicemail. 

Reno, you won't be paying attention in the meeting. I need to see you afterward. Schedule an appointment.

Reno snorted and made the note to talk to Rufus. The mailbox was empty. Maybe I should check this thing daily. 

The first sheet to catch his eye was the yellow one with room assignments. He scanned the page, noting his name with Rude. That should shut off some of the rumor mill, at least. He tossed it. The next was a note from the guy in receiving. He sighed and set it aside. He would deal with that later. Last was a pale blue sheet with a schedule for recruit training. Great.  He phoned Elena, hoping she was in her office. When she didn't pick up, he left a brief voicemail. Then he dialed receiving. 

"Hello?" the timid voice broadcast, nearly drowned out by background noise.

"Hey, this is Reno. Someone left a message for me."

"Oh, Reno, right. Yea, I wanted to talk to you. Can you hang on so I can go back into the office?"

"Make it quick, yo. I have training to do today."

The line clicked and went silent, followed by the lovely Shin-Ra Corp advertisements complete with elevator music. He hated being put on hold. It was the main reason why he never called anyone if he could help it, preferring just to show up whenever. The line picked up again. 

"I'm really glad to hear you're alive, Reno," he stated, chipper as usual. Reno swallowed hard. 

"You do know Rude didn't kill me, right?"

"I didn't think he did kill you, just thought he might have tried. You know how he is."

"Yea, I know how he is and that's why I can say without doubt my partner wouldn't kill me." His voice bit with an irritated edge.

"Okay, Reno, calm down," the voice soothed through the phone. "Are we still on for tomorrow night?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said you were pleased with my... performance... the other day." 

"What performance?" Reno wracked his brain, trying to come up with what he had done and nothing sprung to mind. When had he last been in receiving? 

"You don't remember, do you?" He sounded a bit hurt. "Really, Reno."

"Refresh my memory," he lazed, sliding back into his chair a bit. "I have a lot on my mind between now and a few days ago." Understatement. 

"So it might have been two weeks ago or something. I can't remember. You had my number. It was me and Relena. We had a discussion in the back room. Remember?" The last word was given with such insistence the memory clicked in Reno's head. He planted his palm square across his face. So that's what Rude was talking about. 

"Yea, I remember. So what about it?"

"You said you might call me to do it again. Only... without Relena." 

"Ah, yea, well I've got a lot on my plate and with my head wanted on a platter to sit on Tseng's desk, I need to cool my heels for awhile, if you get my meaning. I know where to find you."

"Oh. Okay." His voice turned meek like before. "See you around, then."

"Yea." Reno tossed the phone back into the hook and smacked his forehead against his desk. He hated it when a fling turned into an attachment. He stopped cold and screwed his face up. He didn't even want to deal with how hypocritical he sounded. 

He was distracted by a knock on his door. Crossing the office, he opened the door only to have a memo thrust into his face. He took it from the girl who huffed away. Reno watched her retreating backside, certain he had upset her in one way or another and read the memo. There were five words on the face large enough one would be hard pressed to miss. 

Interoffice Chatter T o Cease Immediately. 

Reno chuckled. Someone was certainly trying to save the Big Guy more hassle. If it had been anyone other than Rude, Reno would have found it humorous. Hell, he would have propagated them. Snagging the training schedule from his desk, he left the office to chat with Elena before training started.

He punched the button for the elevator and waited. It was going to be damned slow for the time of day. They needed more elevators or something. He leaned back against the panel and reached for the smokes in his jacket pocket, his fingers groping the fabric. Damn, they're in my other jacket! 

The elevator arrived and a couple of people exited. He stepped inside, noting the elevator was going up before heading down and since he wasn't in the mood to stand outside the elevator and wait without a smoke, he took a place against the wall to ride it out. In the rush to get his uniform right and with Rude mocking him, he had forgotten his damned cigarettes. Today was going to be a long day. 

One of the women on the elevator tugged his jacket gently He turned to meet the face of the girl from level 66. Her armload of clutched folders and reports hit the floor and scattered as she hugged him violently. As she stepped back, her face flushed, and she stared at him until the elevator stopped on the next floor and the remaining two people exited. She hugged him again. 

"Oh, God, Reno! I'm so glad to see you're still alive! There was this rumor going around about your partner strangling you to death in his room! I was so worried! I'm so sorry I got angry at you over that thing in your office last week. You didn't know he would walk in on us and I'm sure you didn't mean what you said. You were just covering for us, right?" She bent over to pick up her papers, still talking. "He must have done a number on you, though. I don't think I've ever seen you this dressy. You look very," her eyes roved the length of his frame as she stood, "sexy." She leaned in closer to him, pressing her fingers against his palm. 

"You got the time?" he asked her, running the tips of his fingers along hers. She checked her watch. 

"Just before 9:30, why?"

Reno grinned and hit the emergency stop in the elevator. 

~*~*~*~*~

Rude was perched by the door to a large exercise floor watching Elena dance her way closer. She had heaps of protective gear piled up over her shoulders and arms, some of it slipping as she reached for the door handle.

"A little help, please?" Rude chuckled and swung the latch, letting the door open a small amount. Elena wasn't quite quick enough to catch the door. It shut with a heavy click.

"Ha ha ha. Now help me," she snorted. Rude picked off some of the more rambunctious pieces and opened the door fully for her. Elena marched through.

"Rude."

"Yes?"

"No, I mean that was rude." She dropped the items in punctuation, a quirky smile blossoming across her lips. "And to say you're sorry, YOU get to be one of my victims." Her eyes glinted with mischief. Rude raised an eyebrow. He didn't have a good feeling about this.

Reno opened the door and jaunted in late as expected, the tie pulled through the collar, but not tied. "You shoulda showed me how you tied this thing. I'll be damned if I can remember," he smirked, eyes running along the knot in Rude's tie. He was sure he could do it himself with a bit of effort, but he rather enjoyed the close proximity it brought him with his crush. 

Rude flattened his expression, but before either could continue, Elena clapped her hands together loudly. The new trainees had finished filing in five minutes before, and now that she had everyone together, it was time to move on.

"Today we're going to be working on some basics in hand to hand combat. Now I know some of you have experience with this, so I'm asking you to be kind to your partner and please, don't knock any one out. Let's see, if you all could have a seat here," she pointed to one side of the room, "these gentlemen," she said with a sarcastic twist, "will give you a brief demonstration as to what you will eventually be doing out in the field." She motioned to the pair still in the doorway, Rude with both hands holding an end to Reno's tie and Reno practically falling into Rude's chest.




A Little R&R Ch. 05



Reno pulled back, tucking his tie into his jacket with a quirky grin. "We're doing what now?" he asked, sauntering toward Elena

She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg. "Demonstrate." her look added 'before I do.'

He leaned in toward her, dropping his voice. "D'you think that's a good idea?" Elena made a quick jab, intentionally drawing up short of Reno's stomach. The class erupted into snickers. His eyes followed her fist and he curled back reflexively. Regaining his composure with a smirk, he stepped back. "If you say so." He nodded to Rude. "I guess she's serious. Don't take it easy on me, yo."

With a half-cocked smile, Rude took position on the far side of the room. He had no intention of harming him, especially in front of the kids, but he certainly wasn't about to let him get off with his unique, underhanded ways. His stance said ready and his arms raised to chest height echoed the sentiment.

Reno stood back, waiting passively. His stance changed only slightly, one foot in front of the other, bent slightly back, his weight resting on the reverse foot. He looked clearly amused as he beckoned to Rude with two fingers. Rude tilted his head and obliged, rushing towards the smaller man. At the last second, he kicked up high towards Reno's chin. Reno shifted in anticipation of Rude's fist and was caught completely off guard by the kick as it connected, dropping him. He slid back across the mat, his eyes never leaving Rude. 

"Good shot, Big Man," he taunted as he regained his feet beneath him. He took two short steps and swung forward with a sharp right he figured would be easily blocked. Rude ducked, swinging his momentum into his shoulder and connecting with Reno's chest. He stumbled back, another unexpected hit. He planted himself and returned volley with a back kick, catching Rude across the shoulders.

Rude grunted as his momentum carried him around. He dropped to one knee and made for a sweep to Reno's feet. Planting his hand on Rude's lowered shoulder, Reno jumped to Rude's opposite side and jabbed, connecting with the big man's jaw. Hard. Rude was knocked onto his back, stars sparking in his eyes. He curled and flipped himself back onto his feet, hands at the ready for another go, shaking his head to clear his vision.

The spry redhead backed off, grinning and eyeing Rude. He had asked for it and it looked like he was bringing it. In an uncharacteristic moment, he rushed Rude, grabbed his arm and pulled himself up to swing his legs around, sweeping at Rude's legs, using his momentum to bring Rude backward instead of his original forward thrust and toppled him onto his back. Reno scrambled to regain his footing, landing clumsily to the felled man's side and delivered a punch square to the center of Rude's chest. 

Now properly winded, Rude went red in the face. Striking up with his knee, he rolled a bit towards Reno, catching him near the groin. It was a low blow, but he knew Reno was far from a fair fighter. Reno dropped to his knee, doubling up.

"The cheap shot is my thing, Big Man," he gasped, swinging his shoulder into Rude's groin to prove his point. Rude lost control over a moan as he continued to roll into Reno's shoulder. Hunched over, he forced himself several more revolutions, providing both space and a moment to regain himself.

Rude started the next round going in swinging; upper cut

Winded on impact, Reno hit the floor stunned. He rolled to the side, finding his equilibrium, then over onto his stomach to push himself partially up onto his knees and catch his breath. He raised his head suddenly, eyeing Rude with dark glee, pushing off from his crouched position, rushing again, his shoulder connecting with Rude's waist. 

The class was now on the fringes of where the fight was advancing to, and many of them had backed into their classmates. Several of the students who had been in the first row were now standing flat back against the wall, watching wide-eyed. Were they expected to fight this vehemently?

Rude braced for the impact, grappling his strong arms around Reno, his chest pressing up to the redhead's back as he was carried through. They hit the floor, Reno doubled over into the bald man's stomach, his arms trapped under Rude's back, his ass in the air, and nearly folded in on himself. He wriggled in the vice-like grip, struggling to free himself. Rude squeezed him in hard, trying to find where Reno had his feet so he could subdue those appendages as well.

Unable to free himself, Reno curled into a ball, dropping his knees into Rude's thighs, hitting the major nerve that traversed it. The resultant slack grip was enough that Reno tucked in on himself and threw his feet up over his head, his body curled in a hard backbend, wrapping his legs around Rude's neck. His back arched up as he grabbed Rude's right arm with his hand and pressed his fingertips sadistically into Rude's palm, pulling it behind him. 

Rude's vision whited out, the pain searing into his brain. He let out a loud howl, falling weak in his bear hug. Reno jack-knifed to a standing position, coming out of the zone. He blinked hard, turning back to Rude. 

"Hey, you alright, Big Man?"

Rude held his eyes shut tight, teeth clenched as he fought back for control. He did not notice the onslaught of the attack had paused. Hurting like hell and wanting blood for it, Rude swung both legs up and around in a windmill kick, striking Reno in the side of his thigh. As Reno cascaded to the side, Rude righted himself, arms set in a flex that meant business until a solid crack sounded, dropping him to his knees. Elena had taken matters into her own hands and used a broom to break up the "demonstration."

"As you can see, when one is fighting, they are often focused on very little except their opponent!" She blew a stray lock of hair out of her face and tossed the broomstick across the floor. It landed with a bounce, making the only sound in the room. Reno scanned the new recruits. Many of them were staring between him and Rude with looks of shock. He dropped and slid across to Rude. "Hey, you alright, yo?"

Elena continued, "If Rude had been in a real combat situation, he would have mostly likely seen my attack and reacted in kind. However, the only known attacker was Reno and, as such, he was unprepared." Rude was on all fours, knocked senseless. His hand was killing him, and nausea crept deep from his gut. He could hear the voices, but none of it was making sense. 

"Rude. Hey. Rude." Reno rubbed his hand across Rude's shoulders.

If only he could just sit down for a moment. Yes, just for a moment. His body swayed heavily.

"Hey!" Reno started, his off hand grabbing Rude's arm to try and steady him. Rude shook his head hard, his training kicking in to overdrive. He fumbled to get his feet under him, pawing at whatever stood next to him.

Reno scrambled to his feet, tugging at Rude. "Hey, you alright??"

"Huh?" he grabbed Reno's jacket and practically pulled him down to the floor.

"Elena, we're going out for some air." He tugged at Rude, trying to get him to his feet. "We'll be back in a bit." 

Rude felt as if he was made of jelly, nothing was cooperating. However he managed it, he hung himself over Reno's shoulder and let himself be ushered out of the room. They hobbled for the elevators and Reno punched the down button several times. He waited impatiently until the door opened and pressed the button for the first floor. It was a good thing they didn't have far to go, his charge was damned heavy and as near to dead weight. They earned several ogling eyes as they rode the elevator to the first floor. Reno ignored them, even as they worked their way through the lobby. Once they were safely outside, he propped Rude against the wall and carefully lowered him to the ground.

"Anybody get the number of that truck?" Rude asked loose lipped. He rolled his head gingerly back to the wall, groaning as the tender muscles moved.

Reno crouched beside him, watching him carefully. "That was Elena." 

Rude shut his eyes, his breath coming in more of a pant. His right hand was now at least just a large throb, something he did not want to deal with yet. Reno settled in beside him and squeezed his arm gently. "You gonna be alright, Big Man?"

This was the worst he had felt in a long time, but his sense of humor was making a very quick rebound. "No. Just shoot me now 'n get it over with."

Reno leaned forward a bit, watching Rude's face before breaking into a smile. "That's better. You scared me there for a bit. Elena must have gotten a good shot."

"Damn straight she did!" His perkiness lasted only for a second, causing him to recoil slightly with the simple exertion of his statement.

"Our little girl's growin' up, Rude!" Reno kidded, sniffling dramatically. He straddled Rude's lap, grabbing him by the lapel. "Let's have another!" Rude gave a flat half laugh, the best he could manage. "Alright, what's up? What hurts?"

Rude shifted against the wall and winced. "I think the easier question is what doesn't?"

Reno laughed. "Yea, you know, we're gonna pay for this in the morning. I guess my big question is do you need to go to the infirmary?" Or just back to our room? 

Rude gave a heartier laugh than his last. His mind was finally clearing and the aches weren't so bad as long as he wasn't moving. His eyes fell to his right hand. Already he could see red peeking out from underneath the black leather cover. "Shit."  

"What? What's wrong?"

Rude pulled the glove off gently, his hand revealing in maroon-tint. Every last stitch had failed, leaving everything to reopen.

"Shit, Rude!" Reno grabbed his wrist, inspecting the wound. "How the fuck did you do this, anyway?" He scrambled off of Rude's lap, tugging on his arm. "Come on, you're going to the infirmary."

Rude looked up into Reno's face. "You mean you don't remember?" His brow was pinched, crushed, that the clever Turk had no clue. He clambered to his feet, swaying somewhat unsteadily, resting his shoulder against the concrete side. Reno blinked, thoughts pulling at the back of his head. Was he really that shit-faced he didn't remember Rude being at the club? He had met those two boys and he went home with them... The realization hit him. 

"Jesus... you..."

He didn't want to admit he accidentally done this to himself and he certainly didn't want Reno feeling guilty for something he had no control over. Rude simply smiled. "Tequila. Hit the glass too hard on the counter."

"You were at the club last night." Reno's mind raced. Rude really didn't want to answer. He shuffled his feet towards the front entrance. "No, Rude. Wait." He looked at Rude's hand and stammered. "We should get that looked at. Rude, I can't remember a whole lot about last night other than meeting up with a couple of people. Were you there?"

Rude gave him a steady silent look and held it. Yes.

"You were there. How long were you there?"

His voice was raspy. "Not long. Just enough to get a little loose..." he dropped his voice as he turned his gaze. "Elena and her crew drug me out." He hefted a short laugh. "Had me dressed... well, you saw me this morning." He lowered his head. The aches were biting now. He rolled his shoulders and neck.

"Then you were up at the bar." His thoughts were whipping by, desperately trying to remember the night before, the haze from lack of sleep burning holes in anything he managed to dredge up. It suddenly hit him, his eyes growing wide with recognition, slack-jawed as the memory played a fuzzy tune through his head. He glommed onto Rude, shoving him against the wall. Rude swayed, nearly giving out under the additional weight. He held his arms weakly around Reno's shoulders, his energy drained.

Reno looked up at Rude, clinging to him. "You did that, didn't you? How? How did you do it? Where?"

"I told you, Tequila shot. Grabbed it... too... hard, " He gave another half laugh, his heart breaking. He didn't want to tell him why he had grabbed it hard enough to smash. Tears sprung to the corners of his eyes.

"Rude...." Reno choked on the tears burning his throat. "Rude... did you see me at the bar?" 

His head went buzzy. Emotions churned and fought with each other, driving Rude's mind numb. The only words he could focus on were the words he barely put forth in a whisper. 

"Yes."

"It was you in the doorway as I was going up the stairs." He released his death grip on Rude's jacket and stood, swaying in place. He grabbed Rude's wrist and pressed his palm against his face. "This was because of me." He nuzzled into Rude's palm. The wound burned with every rub, but Rude let him do as he pleased. It was minimal to him, considering how much he had already put him through in his own mind. He removed his sunglasses and wiped his eyes, watching the scene before him.

"You were jealous," he whispered, Rude's palm burning against his cheek. Rude ran a hand through the spiky tresses. He knew in the seat of his soul he had been jealous, but with all of his avoidance and the sheer strangeness of recent events, he wasn't sure if it was justified. He sighed, his eyes crinkled in a sad way. Reno's eyes opened and he dropped Rude's hand, realizing what he was doing. "We should, uh. We should go get that looked at." He took a step toward the building and stopped, turning back over his shoulder and attempted jovial charm. "You need help, Big Man, or can you do it yourself?"

Rude stood himself upright, feet much more secure beneath him. "Just no cheap shots, ok?" he joked, trudging along behind.

"Hey, you started it," Reno stated, his voice losing the raw current.

~*~*~*~*~

Reno stifled a yawn and tugged at the neck of his shirt. Lack of sleep was definitely starting to catch up with him today. He was half way through the day, just had to last another five hours and he was home free. Five hours seemed so far away as he stared at the computer screen, reviewing the reports Tseng had assigned him to proof. He shifted in his seat and yawned again. Why did today have to be so damned boring? It hadn't started out that way that was for sure. 

He shook himself awake. He had never really slept off the alcohol from the night before, hadn't drank any water to speak of, and he only ate half of his sandwich at lunch. He questioned his sanity at watching Rude catch his few hours of sleep instead of joining him. Propping his chin on his hand, he stared down the report, eyelids heavy with other plans.

Rude knocked at the door, pushing it open before he was even invited in. He only stuck his nose in partway. "Is it safe to come in? Nobody's... naked, are they?" He had learned the lesson the hard way. Even though Reno would say to come in, it might not always be a good idea at his recommendation. Reno's head was against his desk, his arm flung out to the side and draped over the front, a puddle of drool pooling on the ruled tablet under his cheek, blurring the words "Call Rufus" he had scribbled and underlined.

The bald man poked his head the rest of the way through. Stifling a laugh as he snuck in, he quietly shut the door. How cute, he smirked. The opportunity was too good to pass up as he pulled out his phone and dusted the little lens off.

Click!

Rude snickered to himself. So this is what it's like to be devious. His mind went to work again, thinking up something better to do. He cranked his voice up as high as he could go. "Reeeno... Reeeeno..." he waited to see what would happen. Reno snorted, and then continued snoring. Rude stifled a snicker. "Come on, Reno, show me your stuff..." Reno mumbled something and waved his hand sleepily. Rude needed something to hit a homerun with. He took a moment to think it over. . "RENO! I thought I told you to meet with me today, why the hell haven't you done that yet?" he hollered, his voice dropped lower to mimic Rufus.

Reno jerked awake, the chair he leaned in sliding out from under him. His cheek hit the desk as he was dumped from the chair and onto the floor. He attempted to stand and cracked his head against the desk, dropping him back to his hands and knees on the floor. Finally scrambling to a kneeling position, he peered over the edge of his desk, eyes lighting on Rude.

"You ass..." he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. Rude was doubled over in laughter, his face turning purple as Reno reached behind him for his chair, hand waving at the air before grabbing the leather cushion. He pulled it toward him and flopped into it.

"I'm sorry, it just had to be done." He wiped fresh tears from his eyes as he chuckled himself together. It was only then that he noticed the lack of "stuff" that would have prevented his chair from moving at all. "What the hell happened in here?" He eyed around the room, a bit surprised. "Get a new cleaning lady?"

Reno rubbed his cheek, wincing in pain. "Nah, I... cleaned." Hopefully it wasn't too obvious he was dodging something.

Rude stuttered. "Cl- cl--cleaned? YOU??" Rude ripped off his sunglasses and leaned right into Reno's face. "Who the hell are you and where's the real Reno!?"

The redhead picked up his notebook and shook it. "I am the real Reno." He replied dryly, opening his drawer to drop the notebook inside. The cube promptly fell apart, the contents sliding down the face. Reno tossed the front of the offending furniture onto his desk and bent to pick up the pieces.

"Tseng told me I needed to clean up my office. And I did."

Rude took the corner of Reno's desk for a seat. "Old Iron Pants Tseng, eh? I've just got to know, is it money or a bet?"

Reno looked up at Rude, dropping the rest of his drawer and its contents onto his desk. "Whadda mean?"

He took a second longer to reply. Something wasn't sitting right. 

"Those are your two favorite categories, that is, unless he's finally managed to get you under his finger for once." The thought stuck like glue. He knew it was review time; his was pending just this week. He flashed a smile. "So how much is it for? And who's gonna lose?"

Reno laughed and leaned against his desk. "Eh, that. The bet's against Tseng. Rufus paid me to do it. But that goes no further than you and me. What I wanna know is what Rufus is getting out of Tseng. He paid me 300 gil to dress like this today." Reno set the pieces of wood up on his desk and attempted to put them back together. "Now that I think about it, though, I have to think I should have asked for more. Wait," he paused, looking up at Rude. "Unless you were talking about my office?"

Rude looked a bit confused, but it passed momentarily. "Actually... both."

"Ah. Yea. The office thing was my choice, sorta."

Rude caught onto the word. "Sorta." He replaced his sunglasses with a smooth line. "What is this 'Sort of'?" 

Reno didn't particularly feel like explaining to Rude that he was hurt and slightly pissed about not having any sort of closure on anything and destroyed his office. He cleared his throat, looking more intently at the drawer he was failing to get back together again. Rude could see something was churning. He broke the moment with a smack on the desk. 

"You're never going to believe what you did." 

Reno jumped, the pieces of battered wood clattering together in a heap. "What did I do?"

Rude bore a full out grin and leaned in close. "You got me the rest of today off." He wiggled his now heavily wrapped right hand. "They don't want me doing anything today to aggravate this." He sat back upright. Reno felt like an ass for causing the problem in the first place. His eye twinged a bit before coming back with a smart retort. 

"So all I have to do is fuck myself up and I get to go to bed? Sign me up!"

"I'm not quite sure how they would have found out, but the nurses were claiming you bit me during the demonstration." Rude laughed, his forehead wrinkling. "And they were asking me all sorts of questions. Weird ones." 




A Little R&R Ch. 05



"That doesn't even LOOK like a bite! I don't bite," Reno huffed. He stuck his hand out to Rude. "But if it gets me outta work, chomp down."

Rude snapped his teeth at Reno. "Don't tempt me," he grinned playfully. "No, they were asking things like if I was ever vaccinated for Rabies, and how long was it since I was last in Wutai... just weird stuff." He eyed the growing mound on Reno's desk. "Hey, do you need help with any of that?" he asked, knocking a few things about with his bandaged fingers.

"Nah, I'm just gonna throw it like I did to break it," he mumbled absently, prodding a few things around his desktop.

Rude was caught off guard. "What?"

So was Reno. "Huh?"

Rude shifted his head to look better at his elusive partner. "You said you're just going to throw it like you did to break it." He had a hard stare directed right into the redhead's skull. "What happened in here?" He shifted his leg around the corner so he was sitting directly next to Reno, his voice calm but terse.

"Eh." He rubbed the palm of his hand with the opposite thumb, frowning deeply. "Lost my cool."

"Reno..." he paused, deep in thought. He didn't want to push his partner any further than he was willing, a courtesy he himself had wished for days earlier. "I'll ask nothing more unless you want me to." He hopped himself off the desk.

"What do you wanna know? Nobody says I haveta answer." 

Rude leaned himself back against the desk. He didn't want to look at him, lest it made him uncomfortable. "Over what?" he let the words hang for a minute. "It wasn't me, was it?"

"Eh, it was a lot of things, but not really you." His face screwed up in contemplation. "It was more things than people, really." Rude just bobbed his head. It didn't take much to send Reno into a fit, but it was something completely different if he didn't blow it over after an hour. Things, he mused. It was quiet for several moments. As Reno shuffled absent mindedly through his stack, things got a bit awkward for Rude. He decided it was best to make his way out.

"Rude..." Reno called softly. "You asked me a question. Can I ask you one?"

He had his hand on the door knob. "Yeah?" His heart was pounding, a kick of adrenaline flushing his skin.

"Same rules as I had. You don't have to answer." He paused, contemplating how to ask the question. Gently, Reno, gently. "Was it... because I was... going home with those boys... that you, you know, hurt your hand?" His voice was tentative as he asked, a tinge of a blush touching his cheeks. Rude hung his head and dropped his hand from the door. Reno was smart enough to know how this game would go, he couldn't deny that. The quiet was stifling as the words clung to his throat. It was meek, but it was an answer. 

"Yeah." His face grew hot and he turned his head so Reno couldn't see the tint to his face.

"Want to ask another?"

Rude turned around and placed his back against the door, taking off his sunglasses again, tucking them into an inside jacket pocket. He raised his eyes quietly. "Like what?"

Reno shrugged, his eyes never leaving the floor. "I have another for you, so I'm offering. Ask one thing. Whatever you want and I'll answer."

Rude did have one question. It was one he had squashed silent before it even formed syllables. It brought a mixed look of emotion to his eyes: confusion, sorrow, and grief. His throat clenched, making it difficult to breathe. He took a deep breath and willed himself to relax. 

"Sorry, can't think of any right now." He was lying straight through his teeth, breaking the promise he had made to himself about not running away either. He forced a blank state. "Go ahead and ask. I'm sure I'll think of something later." He did not want to bring this particular subject up.

"S'not how the game's played, Big Man," Reno mumbled, tracing a circle in the carpeting with his shoe. 

"But I told you, I don't have a question. Really, go ahead." His palms had gone clammy and he wondered if Reno could see the sweat starting on his forehead. Was the room getting smaller in here? Why's it so hard to breathe now? Rude idly fidgeted, his hand running short lines up and down the door behind his back. He's going to see right through this. 

Reno got up from the desk and put his hand against the door, wedging his hip behind the handle, his heel catching at the edge of the door. "You're lying and I'm tired of us running away. I'll ask you mine first if you ask me yours afterward." His eyes never looked up from the carpet on his trek from the desk to the door. Rude didn't say a word. He was having difficulty keeping his focus on where things were going to notice he was shaking.

"Did you break that shot glass because you were upset I was going home with them and not coming home to you?"

"You already knew you weren't coming home before you even left." The words flew from his lips freely as the world around him slipped away, a surrealistic limbo wrapping softly over him. He was numb, a witness only to the things he saw.

"I said I might not be home. Yes, I was planning on finding someone to go home with, Rude. It gave me a place to go away from you so you had some time to yourself." He kept his stance against the door, using it for bracing as much as to keep Rude from running away. "The truth of the matter is I passed out when I got there and nothing happened. I came home. End of story." He cleared his throat, his voice remaining calm and even. "You didn't answer my question, though. Are you choosing not to answer it?"

The words floated in one ear and out the other, not even registering a twitch on the bald man's face. Somewhere from within him, deep from within his chest rose the taste of something bitter. Tequila. He was transported back to the moment when he caught something red move from his vision, to the swell of pure anger when he saw it was Reno, the unaltered hatred when he realized that he was the one getting on with things. That glass represented something... but he didn't know how to say it. Two large tears hit the carpet floor.

Reno leaned against the door, waiting. Rude had asked him for time, and time he would give until he sorted things out in that bald head of his. Patience, Reno he reminded himself. You want it, you have to play by his rules. 

Rude's lips moved, no words falling from them. He coughed, choking on his own dry tongue, reclaiming his presence in his own body. He turned his face towards Reno. He could only mouth the word, "Yes."

Reno's eyes stayed directed at the floor, not looking up for fear of Rude clamming up again. He just had to be patient and wait. Besides, I move from this door and my knees are gonna give out. Rude's lower lip wibbled uncontrollably, having finally allowed himself to speak the truth. He crumbled, wanting to do nothing more than wrap his arms around Reno's shoulders. His voice was hoarse and strained.

"Yes." He grew more confident hearing his own voice echo in the small office. "I broke that God damned glass when I saw..." he swallowed hard, hoping what he had offered was enough.

Reno pressed his lips together and closed his eyes, letting it sink in. Rude really had been jealous. After all that fighting, after all his indecision, after all the "space" Rude said he had needed, all he really needed was him. Reno's knees shook slightly and he leaned harder on the door, steadying himself. 

"What was your question?"

Rude felt the blush drain from his head. It had been hard enough to manage what he had so far. He let himself slide down the door, crossing his forearms over his knees and burying his nose in the crook of his elbow. He figured the best place to be was on the floor. Tears stained his cheeks, his eyes burning. He was feeling slightly nauseous again. Rude took a deep breath to calm himself down, but only succeeded in several jagged seizes.

"Can you promise me you're not going to run away?" Reno asked, his eyes focusing on the top of Rude's head. He wanted nothing more than to sit beside him and put his head on his shoulder, but he didn't want Rude taking his moment of weakness to run out on him. Rude's mind quickened over the countless people Reno had involved himself with, from the staff, to the clubs, to people he met on the train. In all of those bodies, in all of those faces, he could understand why. But he just couldn't figure out...

"Me." A statement more than a question.

Reno faltered. "What?"

The words were broken. "Why... me?"

Reno slid to his knees, the door steadying him in his descent. "Why not you?" 

He wasn't giving up his leverage at the opening of the door.

Rude's face was tied in a knot, the complexity of such simple words painting a masterpiece in agony. Don't make me explain. His body racked with sobs, split between running forever away and smothering what he held dearest. He wanted neither at this moment, the upheaval of his world culminating in a purge of everything. Reno sat on his heels with his hands folded together over his knees, watching Rude intently and waiting. 

"Why not you?" he repeated very softly. He reached out to touch Rude's arm and thought better of it, pressing his hand back into his lap. He bowed his head. Rude's body returned to shaking, the stress of everything was sending him into overload. His teeth clattered as he hugged his own knees in tight.

"I don't understand why." For a man who had no problems being overheard in a large crowd, it was hard to hear him now just over his knees.

"You didn't answer me, Rude. Promise me you're not going to run away?" Reno asked, itching to move closer so he could comfort his friend. 

"I don't understand why!" he snapped, desperate for this torture to be over. "I don't understand why, out of everyone! Everyone! That you've put your interest in me!" He was hysterical, yelling as best he could.

Reno started to move forward, stopped, inched back, and then lunged forward again. He deliberated in place, finally settling on curling up against Rude. He sat beside him, throwing his arm around his shaking form, pulling him close. He was slightly hurt that Rude couldn't at least partially see why he would be interested in him. He chose his words carefully. 

"That's kinda hard to answer, Rude." He scratched the back of his head, searching for an answer. "Do you want specific answers or..." He paused, sticking his foot in his mouth. "If you want specifics, you're my best friend. We work well together and you look out for me and I look out for you. If you want more than that..."

Rude could only sit and listen, the mammoth wall he had built to keep from seeing, from knowing, was crashing around him. His shaking downgraded to shivers, chills running thick throughout him. He leaned slightly into the warmth of Reno, still holding his knees tight.

"How do you really put your finger on what you feel, ya know? I can't really tell you where the feeling comes from, either. You're close to me, you know me better than anyone else seems to and you put up with me. No one else would afford me that. Why the hell you think you got saddled with me as a roommate, huh?" He squeezed Rude's shoulders affectionately, pressing his head in against Rude's. "Plus, you got a great ass in leather." The random comment broke the funk Rude was stewing in, his lips pulling up at the corners. He let his feet slide out in front of him as he twisted at the waist to put his arms around Reno, his forehead buried between the redhead's knees.

Reno snorted and rubbed the back of Rude's head with his hand. "Feel better?"

Physically, no, Rude felt like death warmed over. On top of the beating he took this morning, he was now completely drained of energy. There was, however, a new freedom within him. He was happy to finally be over the barrier he designed. He mustered a murmured, "mmmhmmm," as he relaxed, limp with exhaustion.

"Good." Reno sighed with relief, his hand still resting on the back of Rude's head. His head hit the wall with a thump, a lot harder than he had intended and yawned, forcing his eyes open. 

Rude tugged gently with his hands to pull Reno down to the floor with him. I don't care if this is an office on the 66th level, I want some quiet time. And that's going to start right now. 

Reno startled a bit, waking. The hell is he...? He looked down at Rude and blinked, trying to clear his vision and followed Rude's gesture, dropping onto his side. He threw his leg over Rude's and wrapped his arm around the barrel of his chest. 

"Don't let me fall asleep," he slurred. 

"I'll get right on that." Rude pulled him in closer, using Reno's arm for a pillow.

"I'm serious," Reno murmured, blinking hard. "I have reports to look over for Tseng and..." he yawned. "I should get up..." His only movement to stand up was a slight wiggle. 

Rude popped his head over Reno's shoulder, fiddling with his watch. "Just 20 minutes."

"Mm. Yea, okay. I can do that." Reno snuggled down into Rude, resting his head against his arm.