Reno/Rufus/Tseng

Warnings - yaoi, implied now, more definitely in later chapters. Don't like - avert your gaze!

Set before Advent Children.

Being Reno

Reno was not a happy Turk. The last five so-called "active" assignments had involved hours of routine surveillance, sharing a car with Rude, who was not, face it, the planet's best conversationalist. And at the end of each tedious day, when there really was zero worth reporting, the boss himself had called down to the office and asked Reno to report that big heap of nothing to him in person. It was beginning to get on his nerves. "Why me?" he whined to Tseng. "Why not Rude? Is this to punish me because I suck at writing reports? I admit it, yo? I, Reno, do solemnly declare that I officially suck at writing reports. Now I've confessed, can't Rude go this time?"

"I'm sure the president would be disappointed that you're so keen to avoid him," the director observed.

Reno gaped at him. "What? That's so not the point Tseng. It's just…Oh, fuck it, all right, I'm goin'!"

Rufus Shinra sat behind his desk and took a deep breath in. He knew that his behaviour was stupid and childish – and pointless anyway because the geostigma would surely make him disgusting to anyone unaffected. But he couldn't seem to exert his usual self-discipline. It was becoming a habit, he knew, a fix he needed at the end of each day, and he couldn't imagine how it had happened, but what he needed was to see Reno.

He tried to analyse it rationally; he'd been ill for some months now and Reno had been loyal, sticking by him after meteor, working hard to help with the distribution of medical aid and tools, arriving just in time to get him out of that flooded cave system. But Rude, Tseng and Elena had all been equally dedicated, so that couldn't be the reason. Reno wasn't like the others. At first Rufus had tried to find non-sexual motives for his feelings, but it soon became clear to him that there were none. What he had was a crush. What he felt was desire. What he wanted was what he couldn't have – Reno hot and hard and pushed up against him, Reno's mouth bruising his own, Reno, flirty and dirty and sexy as hell, taking charge and showing him what to do. He knew that it wasn't going to happen – not now he was sick – probably not ever in any case because all Reno's lovers that Rufus knew about had been female. But that didn't stop him wanting, and he found that he had to see Reno even though he knew he was driving the Turk second-in-command crazy with his constant demand for trivial reports.

When Reno wasn't there Rufus thought about why he was attracted to the man. He ran through a mental checklist of things he found sexy about Reno, and just doing that was enough to get him hard. One – he had that edgy smile that could be sweet, or cynical, or foxy - sometimes just plain scary - but always, always sexy. Just - his mouth!

Two – he was so…street. Unkempt but still oozing style, casual and dangerous-looking, all spare strength and agility and speed. The red tattoos, the earring, the fucking hair – all things the boys at Rufus Shinra's exclusive school would have sneered at and condemned as slum-chic, and secretly envied like hell.

Three – he was temperamentally the opposite of Rufus, and the differences pulled him in. Reno was unpredictable, fiery, outspoken, cocky, brash. Rufus was drawn irresistibly to that fire, especially now. He wanted Reno's brightness to overwhelm him, to burn away the disease, to consume him. He hardly cared if it was fatal.

Four – Reno's eyes were beautiful. That green-blue shade, and the cat-like slant of them; the way they sparkled when he was fooling around; the way he winked to make a point…And the way Rufus imagined they would look darkened by lust, narrowed, and focussed entirely on him…

Five – the guy was clever. Sharp as a whole box of tacks, with a quick-fire wit that could defuse a tense situation in seconds, or could turn on an enemy and sting.

Six - and, oh fuck, that mouth!

Reno knocked on the door. Rufus jumped. Oh, this was bad. This was wrong in so many ways. If he were sensible he would tell Reno to go away - never ask for him again. If he were sensible he would get Tseng to send Reno on other duties. But Rufus couldn't seem to be sensible. He called, "Come in!" and was glad that the geostigma gave him an excuse to hide behind his hooded robe so that Reno wouldn't see his heightened colour. Reno entered the room with his usual restless energy. Oh, that was seven – the way he moved! His speed, and his casual grace…Rufus became aware that Reno was waiting for him to speak. He asked, "So, Reno. Anything unusual to report today?"

"No, boss. Same old." Reno ran his fingers through that dramatic red hair and sighed. "To be honest – I'm not sure why you want me to report on this stuff. It's all routine. If the – quality – or lack thereof – of my reports is the problem, I'll try harder, okay?"

No. It's not the reports. It's you. I just need to look at you. I just want you – here, now, on the desk. Would you do that for me, Reno? Make me feel something that isn't the pain of this damned disease?

"Boss?"

Rufus sighed. "Yes Reno, it's the reports. Two lines of scrawl do not constitute an adequate report. That's why you've been reporting in person. I trust you've learned your lesson now?"

"Yeah, yeah." Reno shook his head. "You could've just said, Sir."

"I'm saying now."

No words came out of Reno's mouth but his expression said you complete prick most eloquently. Rufus had to agree with him. Frustration made his voice sharper than he'd intended as he said curtly, "Well, that's it. Get out."

Reno snarled, "Yes Sir," and turned on his heel. Gaia, but he was sexy when he was angry.

Rufus picked up his phone and called Tseng, wincing as the ache from the geostigma spread along his arm and into his fingers.

Three minutes later Tseng was in the office. The director looked at Rufus calmly. "What do you need me to do, Sir?"

Rufus hesitated, but only for a moment. There was no cure for the stigma and he needed something to make him feel alive again. No-one was more loyal than Tseng. He decided to risk the question. "Tseng, if this offends you, say no, and we'll never speak of it again. But – I need…"

"How can I help you, Sir?"

Rufus's voice was almost a whisper as he asked, "Would…would you be Reno for me, Tseng?"

Will he? How will that work? If you'd like to know, review yo!