Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/223709. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: M/M Fandom: Final_Fantasy_VII Relationship: Zack_Fair/Reno Character: Zack_Fair, Reno_(Compilation_of_FFVII) Stats: Published: 2007-04-17 Words: 8598 ****** Ask Me Nicely ****** by Miko Summary Scouting potential SOLDIERs is part of Reno's job, but nobody said he couldn't get up close and personal in the process. "We're off the clock now," the big bald man they'd assigned as his partner stated, his deep voice rumbling through the room. One of the goons they'd just taken down whimpered, apparently still conscious, but they both ignored the sound. "I'll make the report to Veld. You're free to go. Will you be all right getting home on your own?" "Please." Reno snorted, straightening the cuffs of his jacket. The suit still felt odd to wear even after a full month on the job, but he was slowly starting to get used to it. At least this time he hadn't gotten any blood on it; he hated doing laundry. "I'm a Turk, yo. If I couldn't handle myself, why'd they hire me?" Saying the words still gave him a little thrill. Being one of Shinra Electric Company's Turks meant a great many things - power, prestige, and never having to go hungry again, to name just a few - but for Reno it meant he was getting paid to do the kind of stuff he liked best. If he had to wear a monkey suit and do boring stuff like bodyguard duty sometimes, it was more than made up for by 'negotiation' sessions like the one they'd just had. The big guy, Rude, was giving him a look like he wasn't sure whether to be amused or indulgent. "Just remember, anything you do reflects on the rest of us." "Yeah, whatever," Reno shook his head. What did the guy think he was going to do, go out and get in a bar fight? Well, actually, he'd been known to spend his weekends doing just that, but now he got to break skulls on company time and that was infinitely more satisfying. He was going to have to find a new hobby. He left Rude to clean up and make their report - paperwork was another aspect of his new job Reno didn't much like - and headed for home. It wasn't far, at least. The guy they'd been sent to have a chat with was under the plate in sector 6, and Reno lived down in sector 5. Being a Turk paid well enough, but he hadn't yet saved enough to move up onto the plate where he'd be closer to Shinra Tower. Humming off-key to himself, Reno grinned when he saw the way people scrambled to get out of his path when they saw him coming. A month ago he'd been just another punk kid below the plate, but now people paid attention. You had to be bugfuck crazy to want to piss off a Turk. In ten minutes he was in sight of the sorry excuse for a building where he had an apartment, and he grimaced. Moving was definitely going to have to be one of his top priorities, but most of his first few paycheques had gone to buy the damn suits he had to wear. It would do for now; at least it was better than sleeping on the streets. Something, a flicker of movement or a shadow where there shouldn't have been one, drew his attention as he reached for his keys. Smoothly he changed the motion into a grab for his e-mag rod, one of his favourite new toys. With a flick of his wrist that had already become a practiced gesture he extended the rod to its full length, his thumb hovering over the switch that connected the lightning materia. "You boys might want to think about this, yo," he drawled, his stance totally relaxed as he waited for his would-be ambushers to realize they'd been noticed. "Do you really want to fuck with a Turk?" Usually just mentioning his job was enough to give most muggers second thoughts, but this time it didn't seem to be working. He realized why when they stepped out of the corners and alleys where they'd been hiding and he recognized the colours of the local gang. "Hey, pretty boy," their leader greeted him. A scar-faced man called Mad Dog, he ruled the area with an iron fist. They'd gone at it a few times before because Reno had refused to join the gang or pay protection; in fact, one of the most recent of his prominent scars had been Reno's doing. "I hear you're moving up in the world." "What's the matter, Mad Dog?" Reno taunted him in turn, twirling the rod around his wrist. "Jealous? I'm sure if I put in a good word for you, they'd waive the minimum intelligence requirement and give you a job hauling garbage in Shinra Tower." "Pretty damn cocky for a guy with a stick facing eight guys with knives," Mad Dog replied with a feral grin. "You think you're so much better than the rest of us just because you've been licking their boots up on the plate? Think you're so bad-ass in that nice suit of yours? I think you're getting full of yourself, and somebody needs to cut you back down to size." "You and what army, yo?" Reno laughed. "I beat you last time we went at it, remember? And the time before that, and the time before that, too. That's why I'm the Turk, and you're just a pitiful excuse for a gang leader." "Me and this army, yo," Mad Dog replied with a mocking smile. Almost too late, Reno realized two of the gang members had moved up behind him and one was about to hit him over the head with a pipe. Spinning on his heel, Reno ducked under the first swing and came up beneath it, jamming his rod hard into the man's stomach. The goon made a sick noise and backed off, bent double and wheezing for air. The second guy was coming at him now with a set of brass knuckles, and Reno blocked them with his rod at the same time he hit the switch for the materia. Lightning raced down the rod, through the metal knuckles and into the man's body, and he dropped in convulsions. In the time it had taken him to deal with the first two the rest of the gang had converged on him, and suddenly he found himself in the middle of a very nasty dog pile. Cursing creatively, Reno dodged the knives and pipes, jabbing and slashing with his rod as he tried to give himself enough room to set off a spell or two. Most of his swearing was aimed at himself. He honestly hadn't expected this, and that one stupid mistake might just be the end of him. Before this Mad Dog had always fought him one-on-one, probably worried about proving to his gang how strong he was. It seemed his need to take Reno down a couple pegs now outweighed his desire to save face in front of his gang. Reno slammed his rod across one man's chest and flipped the switch again, and the lightning raced in an arc straight through the man's heart. He dropped, dead or unconscious, and that gave Reno just enough breathing room. He'd only learned this trick last week, and he hadn't had a chance to use it in a real fight yet. Reaching for the energy of the lightning materia he had slotted in the rod, he triggered the spell that lay dormant inside it. Lightning shot from the end of the rod and wrapped itself around Mad Dog, lifting him up in the air and trapping him in a cage of racing sparks. The gang leader struggled wildly, but couldn't free himself and every movement was just damaging him further as he came into contact with the lightning. Unfortunately, it seemed Reno had miscalculated once again. It had taken him longer to cast the spell than he'd thought it would, and the remaining gang members had regrouped and come back at him again. By the time he pulled himself out of the spellcasting trance it was already too late to block the pipe aimed at his wrist. Reno just barely managed to bite back an undignified shriek of pain as the bones in his wrist snapped, and the rod dropped from his unresponsive fingers. He fumbled for it with his off hand, but couldn't catch it before it hit the ground and one of the gang members kicked it out of his reach. Furious with himself, Reno vowed that if he lived through this he was going to tie the damn thing to his wrist so he couldn't lose it. Now the tide of battle had shifted in favour of the gang, and they knew it. Like dragons scenting blood, they surged at him from all directions. Reno was a damn good fist-fighter, but even he couldn't take on six guys at once with a broken wrist. He did some significant damage to his attackers and picked up a couple of cuts and a broken rib in the process, but eventually they managed to pin his arms up behind his back and get him down on his knees on the street. The pain from his broken wrist was excruciating, but Reno gritted his teeth and refused to give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream. The spell he'd cast had worn off, and Mad Dog was on his feet again. The smile on his face and expression in his eyes did not bode well for Reno. "Now, that's much better," he declared, standing in front of the kneeling Turk and smirking down at him. "On your knees is a good posture for you, pretty boy." "So, now what?" Reno drawled, doing his best to sound utterly bored. "If you're gonna rape me or kill me or whatever, could you just get it over with already? I have to sit through enough long-winded speeches in the boardrooms, yo, I don't need it from..." He choked on the words as the guy holding his arms squeezed down on his broken wrist, but the only sound he allowed himself was a pained wheeze. "What, and ruin the fun?" Mad Dog chuckled. "No, pretty boy, I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to make sure you remember the fact that I beat you every time you look at that pretty face of yours in a mirror... and then I'm going to fuck the shit out of you until you scream for mercy, and let my boys go after me. But first," he flicked out a switchblade, the sharp metal gleaming in the artificial lighting under the plate, "I wanna see you bleed." Reno went very still as Mad Dog brought the knife right up to his eye. Was the asshole going to blind him? Losing even one eye might just get him kicked out of the Turks, since he hadn't had a chance to prove himself and earn his place yet. Desperately Reno wished he'd been smart enough to signal for backup the moment he'd realized he was being ambushed, or even that he'd accepted Rude's offer to see him home. Nobody here was going to interfere, that was for damn sure. The people under the plate minded their own business, no matter what. There wouldn't be any rescue from that quarter. Mad Dog taunted him with the knife at his eye for a moment longer, then moved it an inch to the side and dug the point into the flesh above Reno's cheekbone. The redhead fought against the instinctive need to struggle or thrash in pain, not wanting to cause the bastard's hand to slip and get him in the eye after all. Slowly, with a sick grin of pleasure on his lips, Mad Dog carved a slice out of Reno's face. Blood poured down from the open wound, and even with his teeth clenched hard Reno couldn't keep himself from making helpless little noises of agony. Finally the bastard lifted the knife, and Reno reeled back against the hands of the people holding him. The dull throb of his broken bones was eclipsed by the bright, sharp pain of this new wound, and he wondered dizzily just how much flesh Mad Dog had taken. Standing back, the gang leader surveyed his work. "Now, that looks nice, but it'd be a shame to leave your pretty face all lopsided like that," he taunted Reno. "Let me just fix that." This time Reno couldn't stop the shout of pain that escaped him as the knife dug in on the other side of his face, but somehow he kept himself from moving. When this was over, he promised himself, he was going to track down every last one of these assholes and make them pay ten times over. "There, I like that," Mad Dog declared as he pulled back once more. "But I bet I could still do better. Where should I put the next one, boys?" The point of the knife traced lightly over the skin of Reno's face, not digging in yet but promising more agony at any moment. "Hey!" a startled and indignant voice shouted from outside the ring of gang members. It was a young voice, young enough that it cracked high on the shout, but the kid managed to sound sure of himself despite that. "What the hell do you assholes think you're doing? Get the fuck off of him!" There was a scuffle to one side as some of the gang members turned to deal with the intrusion, and Reno got a moment to breathe as Mad Dog turned to watch. His whole face was throbbing with agony and he felt light-headed and dizzy, but he refused to give the bastard the satisfaction of passing out. Besides, who knew what they'd do to him while he was unconscious? He was a Turk, damn it, he could handle a little pain! To his astonishment, the two gang members dropped to the ground, clutching at various injuries as they moaned in pain. One of them was covered in noodles and soup, and there were broken cartons of Wutain food all over the street. Through the gap Reno could see a dark-haired kid, probably four or five years younger than Reno, his fists clenched and his blue eyes promising more pain to anyone who came after him. "I said get the fuck off him!" the boy repeated angrily, gesturing. Three more of the gangsters jumped him at Mad Dog's signal. They were already injured from their earlier fight with Reno, but it still wasn't anything close to an even fight. They were armed, and they each outweighed the kid by probably half as much again. The first two had been taken by surprise, but these ones wouldn't go down so easily. At least, that was what Reno assumed, until the kid snatched up the pipe one of the fallen gang members had dropped and started swinging it like a sword. It wasn't the sort of wild flailing Reno would have expected; even half-conscious he could tell the kid had picked up some kind of sword training. The gang members dropped one after another, one-two-three just like that. That left only the gangster still holding Reno on his knees, and Mad Dog himself. Snarling, the gang leader shifted like he was going to attack the kid, but seemed to think better of it. The boy was standing with his weight balanced, the pipe held ready to attack or defend, and the expression on the kid's face said it would take a lot more than Mad Dog had to take him out. Cursing, Mad Dog gestured at his one remaining gang member, and the man dropped Reno like a hot brick. Reno just barely managed to catch himself on his forearms instead of faceplanting on the pavement, and he watched as the two gangsters high-tailed it out of there. "Are you... no, that's a stupid question, obviously you're not okay," the kid murmured, dropping to his knees beside Reno and steadying the older man by the shoulders. Wide indigo eyes regarded him from inches away. "Can you walk? Anything broken? C'mon, I'll help you to the hospital." "Don't... need a hospital," Reno rasped, fumbling in his pocket with his off hand. "Damn it. There's a potion..." "I'll get it," the kid said, and carefully fished the little bottle out of the suit pocket. He whistled when he saw the label, low and impressed. "Is that a hi-potion? I've never seen one before. Here." He popped the top off and offered it to Reno, who took it with a shaky hand and drank it straight down without even tasting it. The magic-laced liquid rushed through his veins, making everything hurt just that much more for a moment before the pain diminished to something much more manageable. Cautiously Reno sat up and tested his hand, glad to find that all the fingers worked just fine. His minor cuts and the broken rib were also healed, but when he raised a hand to check his face the kid caught him gently by the wrist. "I wouldn't," he advised, shaking his head. "They were really damn deep, they still look kinda raw. I think they'll scar no matter how much magic you throw on them. Sure you don't want a doctor to look at 'em?" "You haven't been in Midgar very long, have you, kid?" Reno asked dryly, hauling himself to his feet. He looked around for his fallen e-mag rod, and found it a few feet away, half buried by the scattered food cartons. He dug it out, and immediately felt much better with it in his hand. "What gave me away? Oh no, wait, you heard me talk. Damn," the kid drawled with an ironic grin. Certainly his speech marked him as being from the Western Continent, though Reno had no idea what area that accent was from. "That, and the fact that you don't recognize a Turk when you see one," Reno replied. He made a futile attempt to brush off his suit jacket, and sighed. He was going to have to clean it after all. "And that you jumped in to help at all. You'd better learn to mind your own business, yo, if you want to survive in the slums." "Oh, I know you're a Turk," the boy said, to Reno's surprise. "You'd have to be a really stupid businessman to come down here in a fancy suit like that, and anyway you'd have been shrieking and bawling your eyes out when they made the first cut. What difference does that make?" Seeing honest confusion in the boy's bright eyes, Reno had to laugh and shake his head. "You're kidding me, yo. Most people are afraid to even get near us - and the people down here would spit on someone from Shinra as soon as look at them." "Yeah, well." The boy shrugged. "They had you down six on one, and anyway I'd have to be pretty touched in the head to hate Shinra, considering I'm gonna be working for them." He grinned, and Reno recognized that particular starry-eyed look. "Oh, I get it," he rolled his eyes. "You're a SOLDIER wanna-be." "Wanna-be, nothing. I'm gonna make it all the way to 1st Class," the kid declared. "You just wait and see." Looking at the fiery determination in his eyes, and remembering how fast the boy had dealt with those goons, Reno actually believed the boast. Not that he was going to encourage the kid's ego. "Yeah, yeah, sure you will. Just stay out of Turks business, if you want to live that long, yo. Now, shouldn't you be making a delivery or something?" "Oh, yeah." The boy looked around, and winced when he saw the mess of food on the pavement. "Uh. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have thrown it at them. That's probably coming out of my paycheque." His eyes took on a certain glazed expression, and he started counting silently to himself on his fingers. Reno recognized that look, having been on the other side of it a few times himself. That was the 'crap, do I eat this week, or pay rent?' look. Nobody had ever accused the Turk of being a Good Samaritan, but what the hell. He did owe the kid for getting him out of that mess. And anyway, this one had potential. Reno wanted to keep an eye on him. "Come on," he said, and gestured for the boy to follow him as he turned towards his building. "Least I can do is spot you a meal, yo. You sleeping rough?" "On the street, you mean?" the boy asked, obviously struggling not to show relief as he trotted after Reno. "Nah, not since my first week here. Made some friends, got a couple of part-time jobs - though I think I just lost one of 'em," he added ruefully, looking back over his shoulder at the mess. "Oh, well. I'm resourceful, I'll figure something out. Made it all the way here from Gongaga on my own, didn't I?" Reno tucked that particular bit of information away with the rest of his growing file on the boy. "Good, because no way in hell would I offer to let you crash at my place, yo." The kid snorted in amusement, and Reno grinned. They understood each other. "You got a name, kid?" "Zack," the boy told him. "Zack Fair. Remember it, I'm gonna be a hero someday and you can say you knew me back when." "Ifrit's balls, you're full of yourself, aren't you?" Reno laughed, shaking his head. He let them both into his cramped excuse for an apartment, and flipped the lights on. "Well, I'm Reno, yo. Make yourself at home, I'll get some food in a second. Won't be anything fancy, but..." "I'm not picky," the kid - Zack - assured him. "Not any more, anyway. Never really thought of myself that way until choice of food became a luxury, but never let it be said I don't learn fast." It was a matter of moments for Reno to change out of the monkey suit and into something more comfortable. The bloody suit and shirt went into a pile of laundry waiting to be done, and he made a quick detour into the bathroom to wash the blood and dirt off his face. He grimaced when he got a look at himself in the mirror. He looked a damn sight, covered in blood and with the wounds by his eyes still oozing and raw. Another potion from the medicine cabinet took care of the rawness and a bit of soap and elbow grease removed the blood, but the kid had been right that he was going to end up with scars. Tilting his face this way and that to see them in the mirror, Reno grinned to himself. Actually, they looked kind of cool. He might have to thank Mad Dog before he strung the bastard up by his entrails. "So how come you're not in Shinra already, if you're such a hot commodity?" Reno wanted to know. He crossed the main room to get at his fridge, noting the boy had made himself comfortable on the couch. He pulled out a couple of beers and tossed one to the boy, who caught it neatly. "They won't let you take the exams for SOLDIER until you're sixteen," Zack grumbled in reply, twisting the cap off. "And they don't believe me when I tell them I am sixteen." He sipped at the beer, pulled a face that made Reno have to stifle a laugh, and took a bigger drink. He obviously wasn't used to the stuff. Shoving some leftovers into the microwave, Reno turned it on and left it to heat. He wandered back out to the main room, leaning against the wall and chugging a good quarter of his own bottle. "Are you?" Reno asked him, curious if he'd tell the truth. There was no way in hell the kid was that old. "Nah," Zack laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I just turned fifteen. But I mean, there's a war going on! Shouldn't they be taking anyone they can get?" "The regular troops, sure," Reno said. "The SOLDIERs can afford to be more picky. Why not just sign on as a trooper, yo? At least then you'd have access to the training and shit like that." "No way," Zack shook his head, that bright light of determination coming into his eyes again. "Spend my whole day from dawn to dusk marching to someone else's tune? I'd never have a free minute to practice or study. And anyway, having too many 'has trouble with authority' notes in my file probably wouldn't do my application any good." "You never know, it just might," Reno snorted. He contemplated the kid thoughtfully. He was damn young; Reno was already the youngest Turk currently working under Veld. But he had potential, and not just for SOLDIER. "You know, I am a Turk," he reminded the kid in a silky tone of voice. "I've got pull with HQ, yo. If you ask nice enough, I might be convinced to get you in the door." Zack looked at him, wide-eyed. "You could..." he trailed off, but Reno could see the temptation in the boy's eyes. Having to spend another whole year under the plate, scrounging desperately for food and rent money, couldn't be an appealing prospect. Sure, Reno's tone insinuated all kinds of things the kid would have to do to qualify as 'asking nicely enough', but what was that compared to a year in the slums? To Reno's disappointment, but not really to his surprise, the boy squared his shoulders and shook his head. "Thanks, but no," he said firmly. "I'm gonna make it on my own merit, I can wait." "Damn shame, yo," Reno commented as the timer on the microwave went off and he turned to get the food. "What, that I'll have to wait a year to get into SOLDIER?" Zack asked, startled. "Or just that you don't get to make me ask nicely?" "No." Reno chuckled. "That you'd have made a decent Turk, if you weren't on such a moral high horse. Maybe you'll grow out of it." Had he ever been that idealistic? Maybe when he was a toddler. He certainly didn't remember it. "Heh. Don't count on it," Zack warned him with a grin. His eyes lit up as he saw the food, and Reno guessed the boy hadn't eaten yet today. Either that, or he was just a typical starving teenaged male, of course. Probably a combination of both. "Dig in, don't be shy," Reno invited him, putting the plates down on the low coffee table and slinging himself down next to the boy on the couch. He picked out some leftover pizza for himself, and watched in amusement as the kid made serious inroads into a plate of pasta and sauce. "So where'd you learn to swing a sword?" the Turk asked, curious. "Eh..." Zack's grin was a little sheepish. "I watch for when the troops are heading out of the city to do drills and manoeuvres, and I follow them," he admitted. "I copy what the sergeants put the sword troops through, and practice on my own time as well. Haven't figured out a way to learn to use materia yet, though." "Maybe you should still be nice to me, yo," Reno said suggestively. "I could teach you." "I saved your life, isn't that nice enough?" Zack asked, laughing. "I'm feeding you for that," Reno told him, unabashed. "You don't get paid twice for the same job, yo. You want something else, you'll have to earn it." "I'll think about it," Zack said, and settled in with his food again. Reno found himself hoping the kid actually would consider it. He was young, but damn mature for his age, and pretty to boot. There was something about that bright-eyed idealism of his that was appealing. Reno wanted to see how far he could push the boy before he lost some of that shininess. Damned if he didn't think the kid would look fucking hot, sprawled out under him and gasping for breath. As innocent as he came off, Reno wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if nobody had ever touched him before. And he needed to stop thinking about it quite so graphically if he didn't want his train of thought to be really bloody obvious, he realized. Shifting to ease the pressure on his fly, he also used the movement to get closer to Zack. How hard could it be to seduce one backwoods farmboy? Harder than he'd thought, apparently. Throughout the course of the meal, Reno tried one thing after another with absolutely no luck. Plying the kid with alcohol didn't work; Zack drank the first beer quickly enough and seemed to develop a taste for it, but he insisted on sipping at the second one and refused to act even the least bit tipsy. Crowding close to him on the couch also had no apparent effect; if the boy had a limit to how close he was comfortable with people getting, it had to be skin-tight. He didn't even seem to notice things like Reno nibbling suggestively at a sausage. Reno didn't know whether to be frustrated or just laugh the whole thing off. Either way, he was about ready to give it up as a bad cause when Zack cocked his head at him and said, "You know, you could just ask if I'm interested, instead of trying to seduce me or entice me into it." His tone was mild, but his lips twitched with a repressed smile as he spoke. When Reno just stared at him for a second, Zack laughed. "I'm not that much of an innocent," he informed the Turk. "I'm curious, you're hot, and given what I know of Shinra's medical policies, it's a safe bet I'm not gonna catch anything nasty from you. Just because I'm not interested in sleeping with you to get into SOLDIER doesn't mean I'm not interested at all." "You..." Reno shook his head, once again confronted with the fact that he really just did not understand the goody-two-shoes mentality. If the kid was willing to give it up anyway, why not take advantage of the inducements Reno had offered? That was just nuts. "You are out of your mind, yo," he finally finished the thought, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Leaning over, he got a good grip on the back of the kid's head and kissed him hard. First time or not, Reno wasn't going to go easy on the boy. Let him know what he was getting into right from the start, so he couldn't say later he'd been tricked into it. Zack didn't seem put off by Reno's aggressive manner, though. Far from it, he was doing his best to return the favour, though his kiss was awkward and clumsy. It was obvious he hadn't done this much before, if it all, but as he'd said earlier he proved to be a fast learner and he wasn't at all shy. He copied Reno's movements with growing confidence, making enthusiastic noises whenever Reno's tongue touched a sensitive spot. Deciding to push a little harder, Reno pulled back slightly and bit down on the kid's lower lip. Zack made a noise that wasn't nearly as shocked as it could have been, and he followed it up with a hungry moan as his hands came up to clutch at Reno's shoulders. Well, well. Reno grinned against the boy's mouth. This was going to be fun. He bit down harder and tugged on the bit of flesh, then sucked on it for good measure. His free hand wandered down over Zack's side, exploring the boy's body through the material of his shirt, while the other hand tightened in the spiky strands of dark hair. The little breathless, needy noises the kid kept making were going straight to Reno's cock, and he reflected it was probably a good thing that Zack wouldn't likely have much stamina. Breathing hard, Reno broke away and sat up straight again. Zack was leaning against the back of the couch, face flushed and lip swollen where Reno had bitten it. He was breathing just as hard as the older man, and his eyes were bright with a combination of desire, curiosity, and uncertainty. It was the last emotion that made Reno's grin turn predatory. The kid was putting a damn good face on it, but it looked like he was a little nervous about what he was getting into. Good. The thrill of fear would make everything else just that much more intense, and give Reno an advantage over him. "Strip," he ordered, and the boy shuddered at the rough tone of his voice. "Pushy," the Zack retorted, but he moved his hands to the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head obediently. The body he revealed was a warm, pale honey colour all over despite the lack of sun in lower Midgar, and he had the start of some pretty impressive muscles. The kid was going to be an absolute heartbreaker when he finished growing into that promise. "You'd better get used to it, yo," Reno told him. "You're gonna be in the army, after all." "I did mention the part where I was likely to get lots of 'problems with authority' remarks, didn't I?" Zack grinned back at him, and just to be contrary he reached for Reno's pants instead of his own. Deciding to let him get away with it for the moment, Reno leaned back over him and fastened his mouth to one nipple. It didn't take more than a few strokes of his tongue before it stiffened, going taut in his mouth and letting him get the edge of his teeth on it. Zack hissed once when Reno bit down, a sound that might have been a warning or a protest, but he didn't actually push the older man off. Zack's hand fumbled at Reno's pants as the redhead continued to abuse that taut little peak with lips, teeth and tongue. Reno wasn't sure whether it was distraction or first-time jitters that made the boy clumsy; probably a combination of both. Lifting his hand, Reno twisted and pinched at the other nipple, and the kid jerked beneath him. "Reno!" Zack gasped, shivering. "It's... it's too much..." "Relax, you can take it," Reno assured him, lifting his head and looking down at the boy with half-lidded eyes. The uncertainty was stronger now, but so was the desire. "We're just getting started." He didn't ease up with his hand, but he did move to bite and lick at the side of Zack's neck instead of returning to what he had been doing. Apparently that was a sensitive spot, because the boy moaned and tilted his head back to offer better access. "Yeah, that's it, just like that," Reno murmured against his skin. "Damn, you're hot. And you're hot for it, aren't you? Just like a good little slut, I bet you're so fucking hard it aches." "L-look who's talking," Zack replied with only the slightest of hitches in his voice, and he finally managed to get Reno's pants undone. He slid his hand inside, his fingers hesitant at first as he found Reno's cock. Despite himself Reno groaned at the contact, rocking his hips up to push harder against the kid's hand. Zack got the idea, and wrapped his fingers around the hard shaft in a firmer grip for Reno to push into. "Fuck, yeah, yeah," Reno said, biting a little harder at the kid's neck and making him cry out. "What about you, huh? Are you aching for it? Want me to touch you?" With a breathless little moan Zack nodded, and Reno grinned. "Tell me what you want, yo." "I... I want..." Gods, that hesitant note in the boy's voice was going to kill him, Reno thought. Virgins could be so much fun, especially when you got them flustered. "I want you to touch me. Touch my cock," he corrected himself before Reno even had to prompt him. "Yeah?" All but purring, Reno trailed his hand down from the kid's nipple to rub at his cock through his pants. Sure enough he was hard as a rock, and he cried out at even that little bit of stimulation. "Like this?" "Inside," Zack gasped. "Without the pants in the way." "Guess you should've taken them off when I told you to, yo," Reno taunted him. The boy whimpered and squirmed beneath his touch. "Ask me nice enough, and I'll think about it." The wry smile on Zack's lips said the kid knew what he was after, but he gave it to him anyway. "Please," he begged, the word coming out as a breathless moan that made Reno rock a little harder into his hand. "Please, Reno, please touch me. I want it so bad." Yeah, okay. Reno had to concede that probably counted as 'nice enough'. Holy Alexander but the kid could beg like a pro. "You got a dirty mouth on you," Reno said as he flicked the button open on Zack's jeans and slowly drew the zipper down. It was straining under the pressure of the boy's erection; he might be young, but he was definitely developing well. Slipping his hand under the waistband of the kid's boxers, Reno made an appreciative sound that mingled with Zack's heartfelt groan. "You're hot as Ifrit's flame down here, yo," Reno commented, biting his neck again. "You gonna go off as soon as I stroke you?" "I... I..." Zack was clutching at his shoulders with his free hand, and his strokes on Reno's cock were jerky and irregular like he couldn't quite concentrate on what he was doing. "Oh gods. Oh, gods, that feels so..." "So?" Reno prompted him, stroking him slowly. He drew it out, squeezing and twisting his fist as he reached the top of each stroke, teasing the head of the boy's cock. Zack gasped and bucked up into each touch, trying to force Reno to go faster, give him more. "So... good..." Zack managed, his voice strangled, and then he was shuddering beneath Reno, crying out as he threw his head back and came all over the Turk's hand. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Reno said, his voice practically a purr of satisfaction. He kept stroking, even slower now, and Zack squirmed and made these tiny mewling noises every time he did it. The kid was shivering, his hand digging into Reno's shoulder hard enough to bruise, having totally forgotten he was even touching the older man. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't even..." Struggling back to himself, Zack opened his eyes and looked up at Reno with an expression of mingled satiation and embarrassment. "I should..." He started to stroke Reno again, his movement a little awkward because he was obviously having trouble coordinating his limbs, but Reno immediately pulled back and grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Oh, we're not finished yet," he assured the kid in a husky voice. "Get those damn pants off, yo." "Oh, gods," Zack replied faintly, but he scrambled to obey. Reno watched with some amusement as the kid struggled to get his pants and boxers down over his hips and off his legs without sliding right off the narrow couch, but Zack managed it. Lying there completely naked, still flushed and panting from his orgasm, he looked incredibly fuckable. And fucking him was exactly what Reno had in mind. Standing, he pulled his own shirt over his head and kicked his pants off. Where was the nearest place he had stashed lube? Being rough was one thing, but he didn't actually want to leave the kid bleeding. "Stand up," he ordered the boy, moving to the bathroom where he was fairly certain he would find some lube in the shower. "Go around to the other side of the couch and bend over, brace yourself on it," he added over his shoulder. He heard a faint, almost disbelieving moan, and grinned to himself. He'd half expected to find that Zack would have disobeyed or hesitated, but when he came out of the bathroom a moment later he saw the boy standing behind the couch with his hands braced on the back of it, bent at the waist. He'd turned his head to watch for Reno, and gave the older man a shaky smile that was probably supposed to be 'come-hither'. Mostly it just looked a little panicky. "Mmm." Moving up to the boy, Reno set the tube on the edge of the couch where Zack could see it, and ran his hands all over the kid's body. The boy was trembling, he could feel it under his hands, and it made him smirk. "Scared?" "No." Zack's voice was rough, but more steady than his smile had been. "Anxious, maybe. I don't really know exactly what I'm getting into, here." "Guess it's a good thing I know exactly what I'm doing," Reno chuckled, and felt Zack shiver. With desire, he was fairly certain, because it had been accompanied by a tiny moan. The boy was already getting hard again, with the remarkable recovery rate of teenaged males everywhere. "Bend over more," Reno told him, pushing on his back between the shoulder blades to guide him down. Zack let him do it, until the kid's chest was actually resting on the back of the couch. That gave Reno a much better angle to work with, and he gave the boy an admiring look as he reached for the lube. "You look damn fucking hot like that, yo." "Glad you're enjoying the view," Zack replied, his voice a bit muffled against the couch. "Are you going to stand there admiring it all day, or are you going to... ah!" He yelped and squirmed when Reno slid lube-covered fingers into his crack and probed at the boy's asshole. "That's cold!" "It'll warm up," Reno assured him, grinning again. "And you won't even notice in a second." He pushed in with two fingers, not being too rough but making no particular effort to be gentle about it, either. He was so hard he ached with it, and his patience was limited at best. He wanted the kid spread open and impaled on him now, not twenty minutes from now. "Gods! That feels... weird," Zack complained, squirming again and rocking forward against the couch in a futile attempt to get away from the intrusion. Reno didn't let up on him, twisting his fingers inside the boy and stretching him ruthlessly. "Reno..." "Touch yourself," Reno suggested, his voice rough with desire even to his own ears. "That'll distract you." He watched eagerly as the kid shifted and reached down with one hand, and pushed hard on the boy's prostate just as Zack got his hand around his cock. The sudden surge of stimulation made Zack shout and his knees buckled, and only Reno's quick grab for his hip with his free hand kept the boy from hitting his knees. "See? Told you," Reno smirked, pressing again before starting to fuck the boy with his fingers. It was easier to move them now, the kid was definitely loosening up, but he was still unbelievably tight. That was going to feel so good around Reno's cock. Unable to stand it any more, he withdrew his hand and was gratified when Zack moaned faintly at the loss. The kid's hand was shaking as he stroked himself slowly, but he was panting and rocking into the touch. Just for good measure Reno slicked his cock with another handful of lube, groaning himself at the feel of the cool liquid and his own rough callus. Moving behind the kid, he positioned himself at the boy's entrance. "Don't tense up," he warned, and pushed in. Despite his words Zack had braced himself instinctively, and he cried out in pain rather than pleasure. "Fuck! Reno, I can't..." "You can," Reno told him, breathless at the heat and tightness of it. There was no way in hell he was pulling back and stopping now, just no fucking way. "Just breathe, kid, and keep touching yourself." He forced himself in deeper, until his balls were pressed up against the firm flesh of Zack's ass. Then he made himself stop, just for a minute, more to savour the experience than to give Zack a break. The kid was shuddering beneath him, sprawled out over the back of the couch and thoroughly pinned there by Reno's weight behind and above him. Reno could see how tight his grip on the cushion was, his knuckles white with tension. His other arm wasn't moving; Reno wasn't sure if he hadn't heard the order to keep touching himself or if his brain was just too scrambled to obey. So Reno did it for him, reaching around his hip and getting a good, tight grip on the kid's flagging cock. He stroked it hard and fast, the sort of grip he preferred when he wanted to get off in a hurry, and felt it jump and swell again in his hand. He started to thrust in time with his strokes, shallow and fast. Zack moaned and clung to the back of the couch with both hands again, and after a moment he started rocking slightly into each of Reno's thrusts. That was all the encouragement Reno needed. He deepened his thrusts, slowing his hand to match the pace. He was panting, he realized, his breath coming hot and fast as his whole body tingled from the feel of Zack's tight ass clenched around his cock. It felt even better than he'd imagined it would, and that was saying something. Zack was making those little breathless noises again, the ones that went straight to Reno's cock. Experimentally Reno made one particularly hard and deep thrust, and sure enough the kid moaned and clutched at the cushions as his cock jumped in Reno's hand. "Still want me to stop?" Reno couldn't resist teasing him, and this time the answering noise was more like a growl. "You stop, and Turk or not I'll strangle you myself," he retorted, the effect of the threat somewhat lessened by the way his voice cracked when Reno pounded him hard again. "Oh, gods, just keep doing that," Zack begged. "Please." More than happy to oblige, Reno picked up the pace. He wasn't going to last much longer at this rate, but the kid was already making sounds like he was getting close to the edge, and his cock was dripping with pre-come in Reno's hand. Wanting to feel that incredible ass spasm around him, Reno started rubbing his thumb over the tip of the boy's cock with each stroke, drawing strangled groans out of him every time. "Oh gods... I... I..." Zack stammered, clearly all but lost to the pleasure. "Fuck, Reno, I..." "Do it, yo," Reno growled at him. "Do it, you dirty little slut, come all over my hand and show me how dirty you are." With a cry Zack shuddered hard, and Reno felt the kid's cock pulse in his hand as his motion was suddenly made more slippery by come. More importantly, Zack's inner muscles clenched just as tight as Reno had hoped, maybe even tighter, and it was like thrusting his cock into something designed to provide as much pleasure as possible. He shoved himself deep and followed the kid over the edge into bliss. Sadly, the moment of ecstasy never lasted as long as he wished it would, and he was dragged back to reality whether he wanted to be or not. Zack was still trembling underneath him, hanging onto the couch like he was trying to use it as an anchor or maybe a lifeline. Slowly Reno pulled back, regretting the loss of that tight heat but enjoying the little moan the kid gave. "Bathroom's over there if you want to get cleaned up, yo," he commented, reaching for his discarded t-shirt to wipe himself off with. He saw the way the kid winced as he pushed himself upright, and added, "You can use one of the potions if you need it." "I just might take you up on that," Zack muttered, his face flushed but the look in his eyes utterly sated. He snagged his pants as he passed the front of the couch and limped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Glad the kid wasn't going to make a scene or be upset by Reno's lack of afterglow affection, Reno started cleaning up the mess. There were sticky gobs of come on the floor and the back of the couch, but not too much of it. By the time Zack emerged from the bathroom again, Reno was more or less dressed and most of the indications of what they'd done were gone. "I should get home," Zack said, sounding a little reluctant but not to the point that it made Reno nervous. "That was... really fantastic, thanks." "Any time, yo," Reno replied with a flippant grin. He waited until the kid had pulled his shirt back on and had his hands free before he called "Think fast!" and tossed a little plastic disc at him. He wasn't at all surprised when Zack caught it neatly out of the air, despite the fact that he was visibly still unsteady on his feet. "What's this?" the boy asked curiously, studying the imprint of the Shinra logo on the disc. "Take that to HQ tomorrow and show it to the recruiting office," Reno told him. "They'll let you take the SOLDIER exams, or they'll be explaining themselves to me." "What?" Startled, Zack stared at him. "Damn it, Reno, I told you I didn't do this so you'd get me into SOLDIER!" "I know," Reno smirked back at him. "That's why I gave you that, instead of dragging you to the Turks' office and convincing Veld to recruit you for training. Scouting potential SOLDIERs is one of the things the Turks do, yo. Just do me a favour and actually make good on that boasting of yours. It'll look good on my record if the first guy I scouted makes it to 1st." Zack continued to look uncertain for another moment, but then he grinned fiercely and closed his fingers around the disc. "I'll make 1st so fast, they'll give you a promotion just for finding me," he promised. "You won't regret this." "I'd better not." Reno replied dryly. "Now, get going yo, you've got a lot to do if you're gonna take the exams tomorrow. And kid." Zack paused in the middle of pulling his boots on and looked up at him. "If you don't make it after all, drop by the Turks' office." "Thanks, but I'm going to make it," Zack assured him with a cocky grin. "Next time you see me, I'll be a SOLDIER." "Yeah, yeah," Reno waved him off. "Get out of here, already." But he was grinning as he said it, already thinking of the crowing he was going to get to do about finding this kid once the boy made it. The truth was, there wasn't a doubt in his mind, either. Even if it was a damn shame the kid was too stubbornly moral to be a Turk. But if Reno couldn't corrupt him, nobody could. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!