Night Out with the Turks
*******
by nekojita
*******
”Yeah, they didn’t need a body bag for me.”
Reno rubbed his eyes as he spoke, feeling wired yet exhausted at the same
time. He’d come straight home to
wash off the blood or else he’d be in Rufus’ office right now.
“When will you be home?” The
faint pleading in his voice he put down to the exhaustion.
“No.” Rufus didn’t sound upset, just determined. “I need to handle this without any distractions.” He sighed again, the tapping sound stopping for a few seconds. “What are you going to do?”
Rufus knew Reno well enough that he didn’t seem to expect Reno to watch TV or enjoy a nap after spending the day tracking down several targets then taking them out. Missions like this left Reno too on edge to relax right away; he needed a distraction and had hoped Rufus would provide it. Fortunately, he wasn’t the only Turk to react like this. “I’ll give Rude a call and see if he wants to go out for a few drinks.”
On the other side of Reno was Rod, who was currently
laughing as he held his beer cradled against his chest.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you two were married.”
He laughed again when Reno whapped him on the back of the head.
“Hey, it’s possible! Rufus
hasn’t proposed yet, has he?”
“Fuck, don’t even talk like that,” Reno spat and
whapped Rod again. “Oi!
Serving wench! Where’s our
fucking shots? I can’t handle dealing with idiots without alcohol!”
“I’d say they’re about to be shoved up your ass, but you’d enjoy that too much,” Kali called out, just as loud. She entered the living room holding a tray covered with several shot glasses, two bottles of tequila and salt shakers, and a bowl of lime wedges. “Keep your feet off the coffee table,” she warned Reno and Rod as she set the tray down on it.
Reno confiscated a bowl of chips and some dip while Kali
poured everyone a shot; Rude muttered a warning about crumbs that got him a
wrinkled nose in response. In
return, he held Reno’s shot just out of reach until his friend whined and
promised to not make a mess. Around
the room, everyone settled in for the evening; Kali grabbing a pillow and
curling up by Rude’s feet, within easy reach of the tequila, and Elena and
Cyril sitting in the room’s two chairs.
“I used to hate tequila,” Elena remarked after tossing
back the shot and sipping her beer. “No
wonder Tseng says you’ve been a bad influence on me.”
“Nah, we just brought out the potential in ya.
Wait until we send ya home with full bondage gear and ready ta truss
Tseng up like a pig.” There was a
brightness to Reno’s eyes and a sharpness to his voice that warned anyone
familiar with him not to take his jabs too seriously; he was burning off energy
brought on by a long chase and kill, which was part of the reason why they
weren’t in a bar right now. Reno
respected Rude and shouldn’t pick a fight in the apartment, especially not if
he was only surrounded by his friends.
Rod grunted and waited to speak until after he finished off
his beer. “Been there, done that
and wouldn’t mind it happening again. I
need to find another kinky girlfriend.”
“Thought it was a guy who did that to you,” Kali
remarked as she poured everyone another round of shots.
“Nope, she just still had a dick at that point.”
Rod stared at his empty beer bottle, his expression almost sorrowful.
“Left for Costa del Sol once she had the operation; wonder if she’s
still there.”
Elena looked ready to fall out of her chair at that
revelation. “You dated a chick
with a dick?” She grabbed the shot
that a smiling Kali held to her and quickly tossed it back, a grimace on her
face before she tasted the alcohol.
“Yeah, and a few guys with dicks over the years, too.”
Rod shrugged and attempted to steal a chip from Reno.
“What, I have to give you a dating history now?”
“Please, we’ll be here all night,” Reno teased as he
slapped Rod’s hand away from the dip. “And
I wouldn’t call it ‘dating’.”
“Look who’s talking, Mr. ‘Buy me a drink, bend me
over and then leave’,” Rod shot back, a grin on his face to show that he
didn’t mind the teasing about his sex life.
“Least I get my drinks paid for.”
Reno’s expression was one of utter wickedness at the moment, so much so
that Rude scooted over a little to put a safe distance between them.
Cyril leaned forward to pick up a tequila shot and a lime
wedge. “It’s funny, hearing talk like this when you’re always with the
president, Reno.” He settled back
in the chair and finished off the shot with no fuss, a far cry from the first
few times he’d tried tequila. “No
wonder he keeps an eye on you.”
“Reno used to be exemplary in regards to personal
interactions back in the day,” Kali remarked as she leaned over Rude’s legs
to give Reno’s right thigh a pat.
Regaining her composure, Elena sniffed as she helped
herself to some pretzels. “That’s
just a polite way to say he used to be a slut.”
She frowned when Reno gave her the finger and almost tossed a pretzel at
him before seeming to realize that they weren’t in a bar.
Rude slid his glasses down enough to give her a warning look, and she
tugged on the hem of her denim skirt as she ducked her head in embarrassment.
Rubbing her left hand up and down the back of Rude’s
right calf, Kali shook her head and smiled.
The expression was a bit wistful, her gaze distant as if she was lost in
memories. “You missed out on
things by a couple of years, Elena. We
*all* were a bunch of sluts.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rude said as he nudged her in the
shoulder; they were getting dangerously close to things that Elena didn’t need
to hear – that they all had agreed that she *wouldn’t* hear.
Kali tilted her head back and rolled her eyes.
“Right, sleeping with four women in one night isn’t slutty behavior.
I still remember that party, you know.” There
was a slight edge in her voice as she brought it up, enough to make Rude cross
his legs and drape his left hand protectively over his crotch.
“Oh, hell yeah,” Reno snickered in between sucking on a
lime wedge. “That was one of the
best New Year Eve’s parties *ever*.” He
smiled at nothing for a moment and shook his head.
“You could see the veins bulging in Heidegger’s forehead when Veld
pointed out that only Turks could attend, right before slamming the door in his
face.”
“He probably had been hoping to drag the first passed-out
woman he came across into the corner and molest her.”
Kali’s mood only seemed to darken as she remembered more of the party.
“Damn, I wish I’d been there for that one, but it was a
couple of years before my time. Heard
some pretty good stories about it, though, not to mention saw some videos that
left me scarred for life.” Rod
grinned and nudged Reno in the side with his elbow.
“Can’t believe how young you were back then.”
While Reno protested that he was still ‘fucking young,’
Elena, sitting on the edge of her chair with her legs tucked under her, reached
for another shot while staring with interest at Kali.
“So, were you one of those four women?”
“No, I wasn’t.” Kali’s
eyes narrowed as she looked at Rude for a few more seconds, then turned toward
Elena and smiled. “Unfortunately,
I’d decided to see just how good a certain new Turk was and didn’t get my
chance in the queue.” Rude
had the impression that he better offer to make breakfast tomorrow or something
equally nice to get back in his girlfriend’s good graces, and barely resisted
the urge to smack Reno. Why the hell
was he getting shit for something that had happened *years* ago?
“Eh?” Elena
blinked a few times while Reno chuckled, the sound nasty and low.
That must have clued her in on who Kali was referring to, and only a
quick grab at the coffee table kept her from tumbling forward.
“You slept with Reno?” She’d
almost shouted the question, she was so shocked.
“Oi! You
don’t have to sound so disgusted about it,” Reno grumbled as he reached into
the cooler by the coffee table for more beer.
“She was the one doin’ the chasing, too.”
Kali laughed and shifted on her pillow so she could drape
her arms over Rude’s thighs and look at Reno.
“You were so cute back then.”
“Still pretty damn cute now, bitch,” Reno said over the
rim of the beer bottle while he gave Kali the finger.
“Meanwhile, *you* had to be going through a bottle of peroxide a week
to get your hair that blonde.”
“Says the man who no one believes is a natural redhead,” Kali shot back, her voice shaking with laughter and her good mood appearing fully restored. “How many times did you pull down your pants to prove otherwise that first year, hmm?”
”Enough that I didn’t have to sleep alone at night if I didn’t want to.”
Reno flashed another wicked smile before he enjoyed a handful of chips.
“I think it’s because you were jailbait, personally.
That and your former job.” Kali
realized that she’d gone too far too late, her cheeks blushing as she
stuttered out an apology.
Meanwhile, Reno merely shrugged and munched on a few more
chips. “That’s okay, not like it
bothered me to have people know that I used to sucked cock for gil on
occasion.” He truly didn’t sound
bothered, and Rude knew that it wasn’t an act.
Reno considered the things that he’d done as a kid no big deal since
he’d stayed alive and his own person. The
fact that he’d been able to put some of those skills to use once in the Turks
was a thought best forgotten, and Rude helped himself to another shot to
facilitate that.
Cyril, who had been listening with rapt attention to the
conversation, actually paled and began to stutter.
“Those rumors are true?”
“Yep.” Reno
shrugged again and enjoyed more chips. “It
kept me out of a gang and mostly fed, and it’s not like I did it all the
time.” Now he looked a bit
annoyed, as if he didn’t understand how much of a shock the revelation could
be to some people. For his part,
Rude promised to find out who’d been spreading the rumors and beat some
discretion into them. His glasses
were slid down again and a look sent Cyril’s way.
The kid may be young, but he was bright enough to get the hint that some
things were not meant to be discussed.
Rod seemed to pick up on what wasn’t being said and made
a big production of leaning forward to pour some more shots.
“Eh, that’s old news. What
*I* want to know is if you and Kali slept together,” he said, deftly changing
the topic. Rude figured he’d send
his friend home with a bottle of tequila in gratitude and accepted one of the
shots.
Kali laughed again, amused as hell and a little tipsy, from
the sounds of it. “I don’t
exactly regret to say that no, we never slept together.”
She gave Reno a dirty look that didn’t have any true venom to it.
“The redheaded bastard ended up sleeping with my partner, instead.”
Finishing his shot, Reno tossed the empty glass at her and
grinned. “Hey, Vijay was sexy as hell and more interested in me, of course I
picked him.” He laughed as well
and played with a strand of his hair. “Though
he was willing to let it be a threesome.”
“Oh, please,” Kali snorted and ran her finger inside
the shot glass before giving it a lick. “I
don’t sleep with my partners. Besides,
while I would normally enjoy screwing around with two guys, I had the impression
I’d just have ended up ignored.” She
pouted for a few seconds before giggling.
“And here I thought I’d left you heartbroken,” Reno
teased, playing with his hair once again as if he had to keep fidgeting.
He’d curl a strand around his left index finger several times then
flick the ends along his neck… while Rude did his best to ignore him.
While he’d mostly gotten over his infatuation with his partner, Rude
didn’t need the temptation of having Reno sitting next to him while wearing a
tight pair of jeans and one of Rufus’ black silk shirts left mostly
unbuttoned.
While Kali giggled again and began to stroke her right hand
up and down Rude’s thigh, Elena shook her head and traded her empty shot glass
for a full one. “I can’t believe
you two even considered sleeping together.”
She stopped to think about something, the glass held to her lips. “I
can’t believe that you thought that Reno would sleep with a woman,” she
said, sounding even more incredulous than before.
That seemed to piss Reno off more than the ‘rumor’
comment. “Hey!
If you’re gonna start calling me ‘girly’ again, I’m gonna kick
your ass even if it gets blood all over Rude’s sofa,” he warned, the
dangerous glint back in his eyes. Elena
appeared shocked by the vehemence of his reply, leaving Rude to believe she
really hadn’t meant it as an insult.
He spoke up to try to defuse the situation before Reno did
something they’d all regret. “I
think she’s commenting more on the fact that you’re much more interested in
being fucked than doing the fucking.” Sliding
his glasses down his nose, he gave Reno an amused look.
“Which we all know about thanks to the fact that you have no shame or
morals.”
Reno shrugged, smiling once more as he tugged on his
earring; his mood after a trying day of work was always like this, highly
mercurial and hair-thin temper. “Why
the hell do people give a damn about morals?
I’m sick of hearing about them.”
He held up his mostly empty beer bottle to see how much was left then let
his hand fall back into his lap. “All
that matters if it feels good, and getting fucked definitely feels that way to
me.” The smile on his lips
softened as he continued to rub his fingers over the ShinRa logo dangling from
his right ear.
“You hear about them all the time because you don’t
have any,” Elena said, her voice quiet at first as if she wasn’t sure if she
should say anything. When Reno made
a rude noise and gave her the finger, she smiled and relaxed into the chair.
“’Modest’ is never a word that’ll be used to describe you!”
“Look, we beat the shit out of people on a daily basis,
sometimes,” Reno pointed out as he sat on the edge of the couch, his left hand
tugging once more on his long ponytail. Rude
noticed the warning sign that his friend was craving a cigarette and prepared to
tell the inconsiderate idiot ‘no’ when the topic was brought up.
“I thought ‘lack of morals’ was in the job description.”
“Only some of them.”
Rude eyed Reno carefully to make sure his friend hadn’t snuck a pack of
cigarettes into the apartment then gave him another beer as a distraction.
Once again, he wanted the topic changed before it led into dangerous
waters; there were things that Cyril and Elena didn’t need to know and they
were skirting the edge of some of them right now.
“I sure didn’t agree to screw the president when I signed on.”
That earned him another flash of tongue and wicked grin.
“That’s a job perk, not a requirement, which leads us back to the
whole ‘feeling good’ topic.” There
was a knowing look to Reno’s eyes that informed Rude that his friend was well
aware of where the conversation had been going.
He knew that Reno didn’t feel as bitter as some Turks about what the
old president had made them do, but Reno didn’t see the sense in bringing up
the past when it could only hurt people. Well,
when it could hurt his friends.
“Should I be taking notes?”
Cyril made a show of patting the pockets of his blue cotton shirt and
jeans. “So far I’ve developed a
tolerance for alcohol, learned a bunch of interesting swear words, how to
sucker-punch a guy twice my size and the best way to hot-wire a car.
It’s time to pick up something else.”
Rude didn’t say anything when Elena tossed a pretzel at
the kid. “Do *not* learn anything
from Reno; one of him is bad enough!”
“Fuck off!”
“I’m not about to sit back and let Tseng be driven mad
by trying to handle two of you, Reno!”
Rude put his hand over Reno’s mouth before the decimal
level raised any higher. “Behave, children,” he said, making his voice as
deep as possible. Elena flushed at
the reprimand, indicating that Tseng was probably going to have to pick her up
tonight, while Reno gave his palm a lick. “I
mean it,” he warned his partner and gave the bastard’s hair a yank.
Rod, Kali and Cyril weren’t much help at the moment,
being too busy laughing at Reno and Elena’s squabble to try to cool things
down. Rude gave everyone a stern
look and wondered why the hell he was stuck with babysitting duty tonight.
All he’d wanted was to come home, have sex and sit in front of the
television while enjoying a few beers. Then
Reno had called before Kali got off work and he’d ended up with a bunch of
ingrates drinking his beer. At least
Reno had brought a case of tequila and some pizzas.
Still, Rufus better remember this come raise time, considering how Rude
was keeping the man’s lover out of too much trouble.
However, Rod must have decided to take pity on Rude.
“Ahem. I believe we’re missing a prime opportunity to talk about sex
here, guys. Save the fighting for
when the alcohol runs out.”
“Save the fighting for outside my apartment, you mean,”
Rude warned, not about to let his place be trashed.
Rod waved his left hand about a few times. “Yes, yes, we
know the rules. Look, *I’m* using
a fucking coaster.” He even held
it up for a moment before putting it back on the table and setting a full bottle
of beer on it.
“I always knew you were a prissy bastard,” Reno sniffed
and cracked open the other bottle of tequila.
“All those years at finishing school are finally paying
off.” Rod tilted his head back
onto the couch and laughed at his own joke, soon joined by most of the room at
that blatant lie. Feeling that the
tension in the room had gone down a considerable amount, Rude relaxed again and
stroked his right hand through Kali’s hair.
Helping himself to another shot, Reno sat back and groaned
in happiness, his eyes closed and his lips curled into a pleased grin.
“Seriously, I don’t know why some people have a hang-up about guys
liking to be fucked. No one gives
women any shit about it.”
Rod shrugged and reached into the cooler for more beer,
which he shared with Rude and Cyril. “Eh,
I don’t mind it, but I prefer to do the fucking.”
“You and Rufus both,” Reno muttered, opening his eyes
to glare at nothing in particular for a few seconds.
“Control freak bastard that he is.”
“Ah, I take it that you haven’t had a chance to do the
deed yet?” Kali asked, sounding much too interested in the topic.
Rude rubbed his left hand over his face and tried to figure out what the
hell it was about Rufus that had people panting after him all the time.
Reno almost choked on a mouthful of beer and thankfully
managed to swallow it in time. “Hell
no!” he practically shouted, setting his beer down before yanking both his
hands through his hair. “The one
time I brought it up, you’d think I’d suggested doing the damn thing in the
middle of the conference table while his father and all the department heads
watched.” A look of pure disgust
settled on his face for a moment, quickly changing into one of resignation.
“Ah well, he likes to fuck, I like to be fucked, it works out.”
He shrugged and undid the tie that was unsuccessfully holding most of his
hair back and combed his fingers through the disheveled strands.
“Guess I can thank that asshole father of his for how I’ll always be
on the receiving end.” He didn’t
sound too bitter about the situation, and he managed a smile when Rod, Kali and
Rude lifted their drinks at the mention of Rufus’ father; not in his honor,
but in thanks for the fact that the bastard was dead.
Reno lifted his own beer as well, while Elena and Cyril shared a confused
look.
Elena pouted slightly, as she always did when she felt she
was being left out of something. “So,
we all know Reno likes to be fucked, and Rod’s not entirely opposed to it.”
She could manage a pretty wicked grin of her own, probably thanks to
years of exposure to Reno. “What
about you, Rude?”
Rude had the sudden urge to claim he needed to make sure
the oven was turned off, but with Kali draped over his legs like that, he
couldn’t move from the couch, dammit. He
tugged on his girlfriend’s hair to let her know she’d have to do some making
up of her own. “Guess I’m with
Rod; it can feel good sometimes.”
That didn’t seem to be the answer that Elena expected
since she almost fell out of the chair again. “You’ve slept with guys?”
This time, her voice not only was loud but screechy as hell.
Everyone winced and rubbed their ears while Rude actually
squirmed in his seat and thanked the gods that he wasn’t blushing.
However, the squirming and Kali’s husky, pleased laugh gave away his
secret after all.
“Way to go, Kali!” Reno cheered while Rod laughed and
clapped his hands.
For her part, Elena seemed to be having difficulty trying
to figure out what was going on. “Kali?
But… she’s a girl… I *know* she doesn’t have a dick.”
“Well, not a permanent one,” Kali answered, still laughing as her hands stroked dangerously close to Rude’s crotch. “Hmm, I do so love strap-ons.”
Cyril groaned and reached for the tequila bottle.
“Now there’s an image I really didn’t need in my head right now.”
He shuddered and almost spilled the alcohol before Rod leaned forward to
give him a hand.
“What about you?” Rod asked and poked Cyril in the
side.
“Nn-no!” Cyril stuttered, his face almost as red as
Reno’s hair. “I… ju-just
girls!”
“And not girls with strap-ons, we’ll assume,” Rod
chuckled and settled back onto the couch, a shot glass in one hand and a bottle
of beer in the other. “I foresee a
very interesting trip to the Honey Bee soon!”
Reno grunted loudly and glared at his beer bottle, which he
was currently stripping of its label. “Count
me out that night; I *still* hear about the last time we went to a
whorehouse.”
“No fucking way were you invited, Reno,” Rod mumbled,
his face gone pale and sweaty. Remembering
how pissed off Tseng had been after that particular incident, Rude shivered and
nodded in agreement. There was no
way they’d be taking Elena, either.
Once again changing the topic before it led to trouble,
Kali cleared her throat loud enough to get everyone’s attention.
“Anyway, back to the point you were trying to make, Reno; I don’t
understand the big deal over who gets fucked and who doesn’t, either.”
Her slight frown changed into an amused grin as she lightly tickled Rude
in the ribs. “You remember
William, don’t you?”
Rude groaned, the sound turning into a laugh after a few
seconds. “He used to call me
‘little’ – and it wasn’t a joke,” he explained to Rod, Elena and
Cyril.
“Hmm, he had at least half a head on Rude and about fifty
pounds. He’d been recruited for
SOLDIER but failed the psych eval.” Kali
shook her head and sighed. “Biggest
Turk ever, and the biggest flamer.”
Reno chuckled as he tore up the removed label and dropped
the bits inside the empty beer bottle. “He
used to say that his dick was too big to fuck anyone.”
Rude smiled in memory of that while Kali laughed.
“He certainly loved showing it off, and there’s no way in hell I
would ever let it near me!” She
almost doubled over in laughter and pointed her finger at Reno.
“Oh, please don’t tell me he slept with Reno,” Elena
pleaded.
Thinking that he had an idea about what set his girlfriend
off, Rude chuckled and gave Reno a tap on the shoulder.
“Not as far as I know, but they nearly caused Veld to have a stroke one
day. We were on a mission to take
down a very important target who’d been holed up in a whorehouse, when all of
a sudden William and Reno start arguing on the comms over what type of lube
worked best. Veld nearly *killed*
them once the mission was over, and I think the only reason he didn’t do it
during the mission was because Tseng had latched on to him and refused to let
him out of the car.” Reno hadn’t
even been a Turk for a whole year back then, and it had been one of the few
times when Veld had seemed genuinely pissed off at Rude’s partner.
“How the hell did you get out of that one?” Elena
asked, almost laughing too hard to be understood.
Reno shrugged and leaned back, his hands tucked behind his
head and a pleased smirk on his face. “Told
‘em that William and I were just making sure that if anyone picked up our comm
signal that they passed us off as employees.”
”And he bought it!” Kali cackled as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.
“Then we had to hold *Tseng* back from killing you once he realized
that Veld wouldn’t!”
“Eh, we got the bastard in the end, and a few people
learned something that day.” Judging
from the evil grin on Reno’s face, he couldn’t care less that he’d almost
been killed or fired back then, only that he’d had some fun.
“So who won the argument?” Cyril asked, looking
delighted as always when he heard old stories about the Turks.
Reno shrugged again and reached for lime wedge.
“It wasn’t really an argument, more like a discussion.”
He didn’t pour himself another shot, Rude noticed with interest, which
meant that he probably expected Rufus to call soon.
Checking his watch, Rude was surprised to find out that it was a lot
later than he thought. There was
hope for sex this evening after all.
“Well, if you were ‘discussing’ that cherry flavored
shit you like, then William was right. That
shit gave me a rash,” Rod complained, his hand rubbing against his crotch a
couple of times while the room went dead silent.
Rude, Kali, Cyril and Elena turned to stare in disbelief at Reno, who had
a seriously pissed off expression on his face, then at an oblivious Rod.
“What?” Rode asked and raised his beer to have another
sip, only to go pale again. “Oh, *fuck*.”
“You. Fucking.
Asshole.” Reno’s voice
took on that dangerous tone that usually preceded massive damage and mayhem, and
Rude barely got his arms around his partner in time to drag him away from a
stunned Rod. He actually had to get
off the couch and drag Reno with him, as the redhead was doing his best to kick
the shit out of the asshole.
“No, no, no, no!” Elena chanted as she helped Kali
shift the coffee table out of the way before it got toppled over.
“Don’t you dare tell me that Reno was one of those ‘guys with
dicks’!
“Look, just forget I said anything, all right?” Rod pleaded as he put more distance between him and clearly murderous Reno. “Reno, I’m fucking sorry, okay?”
Reno made a sound like a furious cat, which made Rude tighten his hold around
his partner. When Reno stopped
swearing, that meant he was pushed past the point to care if Rod was a fellow
Turk or not.
Foolish enough to place himself between Reno and Rod, Cyril
looked back and forth between the two men. “I don’t get why everyone’s so
upset; I thought Reno slept with a lot of Turks.”
Wincing at how bad that sounded, even if it was the truth,
Rude stared over the rim of his glasses at a visibly shaken Rod and mouthed one
word. To the unspoken question of
‘when’, Rod wiped his trembling right hand over his lips, his fingers
twisting out an answer.
Rude felt his knees weaken when he translated the date;
that was almost two years into Reno’s relationship with Rufus, when it had
been made clear that Rufus didn’t want to hear about how his Turk lover was
sleeping around. Rude knew that Reno
had still done so a discreet time or two, which hadn’t bothered him since
Rufus was still seeing women his father set him up with.
That was also around the time that Rufus’ father had
assigned Reno to sleep with several targets, and Rude could easily remember how
all the Turks had been pushed to edge back then.
He didn’t know if that had anything to do with why Reno had slept with
Rod, but at least his partner had the sense to keep it a secret as long as
possible. If Rufus ever found this
out… the president had been pissed when he’d discovered that Reno had slept
with someone because of work, what would he do if he learned that Reno had slept
with another Turk who was still around? Who
hung out with Reno all the time when Rufus wasn’t there?
No wonder Rod looked ready to pass out at any moment.
“Calm down,” he whispered into Reno’s ear, almost
getting hit on the side of the head by the flexible bastard.
“You’re making it worse,” he continued, hoping that Reno got the
fucking hint.
Reno hissed in response and managed a kick to Rude’s left leg, then finally settled down. He laughed a couple of times, the sound not very amused, but at least he didn’t look ready to kill Rod anymore. “Yeah, well, it was a pretty shitty fuck so I did my best to block it from my memory. Being reminded of it brings it all that misery back,” he sneered.
Rod didn’t seem too happy to be told he was a lousy fuck, but a warning look
from Rude made him nod as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“I’d just joined the Turks and was pretty drunk that night.”
He managed to appear a bit embarrassed as he lied, and hopefully that
would be enough to save his stupid, big-mouthed hide.
Cyril nodded, quite eager to accept whatever Rod told him,
while Elena looked a bit suspicious about the situation.
However, Kali shot her a look that made Elena’s eyes go wide before she
glanced aside and nodded as well.
They could trust Elena and Cyril enough to explain that the
reason the situation was all fucked up was because of when Reno had slept with
Rod, but chances were that other secrets would be revealed as well.
The last thing Elena needed to know was some of the things her older
sister had to do, along with a lot of other Turks; to know the things that Veld
and Tseng had to order their people to do. All
in all, it was better just to lie.
That and Rod’s life would probably turn into a living
hell if Rufus found out about what had happened.
“Right. It was a drunken mistake so there’s no need to *ever* bring it back up.” Rude made sure that Elena and Cyril agreed before he reluctantly let go of his partner. Reno gave Rod an utterly nasty look then stalked off to the kitchen, and everyone made sure to get out of his way. Rude stared after him for a minute before sighing and going after him.
He found Reno leaning against the far wall, his left hand red and what appeared
to be a couple of dents in the plaster. Figuring
the dents would be easier to fix than bloodstains all over his carpet and
furniture, Rude didn’t say anything. He
merely leaned against the fridge and removed his sunglasses.
“Tell me it’s not as bad as I think it is.”
Reno’s answering laugh was jagged and cruel, something
utterly lacking any humor or amusement. “I
really think you don’t want to know, partner.”
“Yes, I *do*.” The
best way to handle a situation was to know as much as possible, and Rude needed
to know everything if he wanted to prevent a fight between his best friend and
his boss that would put all the previous ones to shame.
“That was back during the… ‘assignments’, wasn’t it?”
He didn’t need to explain anything, all the old-timers in the Turks had
a special way of saying the word to make it clear which assignments they were
talking about.
Scrubbing his hands over his face then combing his fingers
through his hair, Reno nodded. “Yeah.
It was after the Timmons mess.”
Rude actually winced when he heard the name and felt the need for a beer. Reaching into the fridge, he snagged two, one of which was offered to Reno and turned down.
”Nah, last thing I need at this point is to get any more drunk.”
Reno tugged on a handful of his hair a few times before he began to braid
the long strands. “Rufus was in
Junon, Rod and Cyre took me out drinking one night, and….”
He let out a shuddering breath and closed his eyes.
“We fucked a couple of times; after the first night I guess I was
trying to see if it was worth it to stick around with Rufus even when he was
gone most of the time.”
Obviously, Reno had decided that Rufus was worth it since they were still
together. Rude couldn’t help but
wonder how blind all of them had been about the relationship and why anyone was
so surprised that Reno and Rufus hadn’t broken up.
“I’ll make sure that no one says anything.
Rod can be a fucking idiot at times, but he’s not stupid enough to let
anything else slip.” Rude crossed
the small room and gave his friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
Reno sniffed and reached up to squeeze Rude’s wrist.
“Bastard shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.”
He sighed again, his head hanging forward for a few seconds.
“Guess it’s better that he slipped here than somewhere else.”
At least Rude knew that his place wasn’t bugged and that
strangers weren’t watching them. “Yeah.”
They were quiet for a minute, just standing there with
Rude’s hand on Reno’s shoulder and Reno’s hand around Rude’s wrist; the
sound of Reno’s phone ringing made them both jump, and Rude swore when he
spilled some beer onto his shirt as he quickly stepped backwards.
“Where are you?” Reno demanded as soon as he flipped
his phone open, an almost frantic look on his face.
He let out a slow breath and smiled as the other person – presumably
Rufus – answered. “Be right
down.”
Snapping the phone closed, Reno smiled with almost obscene
delight. “Well, looks like my ride
is here.”
“Great, maybe I can kick the others out now and go back
to enjoying myself.” Rude gave his
friend a rather put-upon look before he slipped his glasses back on.
“You mean go back to enjoying Kali.”
Reno stuck his tongue out for a second then was out the kitchen door,
calling out goodbyes to everyone. Staying
in the kitchen for a few more minutes, Rude finished his beer before he returned
to the living room and made sure that Elena and Cyril wouldn’t tell *anyone*
about what had been revealed here tonight.
The next time Reno called him after a tough mission and
wanted to be distracted, Rude was dragging his ass to Rufus’ office and
letting their boss handle the redhead.
*******
Reno yanked upon the limousine’s door and literally two
seconds later was straddling Rufus’ lap and kissing him.
A bit surprised by the enthusiastic greeting, Rufus parted his lips and
moaned when he tasted lime and a hint of tequila.
The kiss lasted several minutes, long and passionate enough to leave them
both breathless.
When Reno finally pulled away, Rufus opened his eyes and
smiled at his lover, his fingers unraveling braided crimson hair.
“So, are you still in the mood,” he asked, his tone perfectly dry.
Sticking out the tip of his tongue, Reno grabbed Rufus’
gloved left hand and pressed it against his crotch.
“What do you think?”
”That you better not be too drunk tonight.”
Rufus didn’t think so – Reno’s eyes were clearer than normal after
a night of drinking and he hadn’t slipped into that horrible, below Plate
accent. The night suddenly seemed
very promising.
“Nah, just had enough to take off the edge,” Reno
purred then leaned back, his long hair falling around his face and shoulders,
his skin pale in contrast to the mostly unbuttoned black shirt that clearly bore
Rufus’ monogram. “Even better,
Tseng said I don’t have to report to work tomorrow.
Something about me doing a good job and deserving a reward.”
The way he said the last few words were downright obscene, and Rufus
found himself growing even harder. For
a moment he almost told the driver to drive the car around in circles for a
while before remembering that they should be close to home now.
“I suppose I should see about some sort of reward as
well,” Rufus remarked as he tangled the fingers of both hands in Reno’s hair
and pulled him closer. “Positive
behavior should be reinforced.” That
and he didn’t have any meetings in the morning, so he could thoroughly enjoy
himself tonight after a frustrating and very long day at work.
Reno licked along the edge of his jaw before giving his
left ear a nip. “I was *very* good
today.” There was a flicker of
something dark in his eyes, a reminder that he wasn’t always so teasing and
irresponsible. Rufus had spent a few
minutes reading over Rude’s barebones report of today’s mission and
couldn’t help but shiver. So
lethal, almost uncontrollable… and all he had to do was play with Reno’s
hair like this, to return the nip to the ear and Reno would do anything he
wanted. He’d soon have someone so
dangerous begging to be taken, which only made the lust burn even hotter.
“Then you’ll definitely be rewarded once we get home.” A reward that Rufus could enjoy himself, he thought with a pleased grin before he made Reno moan with need. Nibbling on his lover’s neck, he hoped they got home soon so he could end the long day in the best manner possible.
*******
Return to Archive