(no subject)

[blue_soaring]

A not entirely worksafe pic in this one.

Armageddon Days (3/6, illustrated)
FF7. Reno/Rufus, Reno/Rude. NC-17 overall. 4k words this chapter. Illustrated. Co-produced by blue_soaring and ponderosa121.
With President Shinra starting to clean house, Rufus seems like a lost cause, but Reno's got orders to follow.




Armageddon Days - cont'd


"How long you figure Shinra's gonna scream at him?" Reno asks. He's kicked back in Tseng's fancy, high-backed chair, legs sprawled and the e-mag dangling from his wrist.

Rude blows on the surface of his coffee. "Heidegger's with them."



"Well, shit."

Tseng turns from the window and lifts a hand to his ear to mute the receiver. "It seems to be going much as we anticipated. The President has terminated Rufus's accounts."

Reno rubs a thumb over the little rock he plucked from Tseng's sand garden. He winces, says, "It's the kid's own damn fault, but what the fuck am I gonna do with him now?"

"Our plans remain much the same, Reno."

Reno's fist clenches around the stone. "Fuck, boss, I know that, but you gotta listen to me." Tseng arches an eyebrow and Reno ploughs on, already imagining the hell his life's going to be from here on out. "The kid's driving me crazy. You're not with him 24/7, boss. You don't have to listen to him whine."



Predictably, Tseng's response is an easy smile. "It can't be quite that bad."

Reno flops back in his chair. "Oh, yeah? You try it, see if you don't want to wring his skinny neck when he starts complaining 'bout how long it's been since he got some."

Rude makes that thoughtful noise as Tseng says, "Then the solution should be obvious."

"Not too sure about that," Reno says. "The last time I let him get a taste of my dick, the little fucker jammed a street hypo in me."

"Maybe you shouldn't have made him wait so long," Rude says, but it's easy to tell his heart's not in the joke. Rude hasn't liked the idea much since day one.

"I can make the kid jump through hoops for a kiss, but c'mon. He's paying more attention to my ass than he is to anything I'm trying to tell him."

"Regardless," Tseng says. Reno grits his teeth. "Addicted to you or to the power you represent, we have little choice. He's already proven to make an excellent figurehead. If that's all he's ultimately good for, then that's what he'll be."

"But-"

"Reno."

Reno heaves a sigh. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see what I can do."

"Good. Be ready to collect him as soon as the President is finished shouting ultimatums. I want him out of Heidegger's immediate influence."

"I'm on it, boss." Reno drops the stone back into the sand and jerks his chin at Rude.

It's not that he absolutely hates the idea; he's got to admit, as plans go, it's simple and effective. Rufus responds easily to any amount of attention, and giving the kid something more than a good fuck will go a hell of a long way.

Just outside the door, Rude says, "You like the kid."

Reno slings an arm around his shoulders, chuckling. "He's not half bad sometimes. The boss is right, he's got promise. But you've seen him, partner."

"You're not bringing him back to my place."

Letting his arm slide away, Reno stuffs his hands in his pockets instead. "Hadn't thought about that. Shit."

"Didn't think you had."

Shoulders hunched, Reno watches the patterns of the dull grey carpet pass by under his feet. He's going to have to take Rufus back to his place, and already it sounds like a monumentally bad idea. Practically shacking up with the kid.

"Go shake up his dealer some more. Don't be surprised if you hear tomorrow morning that I blew my own damn head off."

Rude claps him solidly on the back and breaks away when the hallway splits. A couple minutes later, Reno's chatting up Shinra's secretary waiting for the kid to make an appearance.

Heidegger's annoying laugh is the first thing Reno hears. He glances up, skipping over him to find Rufus. The kid looks more than pissed, he looks livid, and ready to clock big ugly a good one. Reno can't really blame him.

Rufus's scowl wavers for just a second when his eyes meet Reno's.

"Yo, Mr. Vice President." Pushing off the desk, Reno double-times it up the stairs, insinuating himself firmly between the two and hustling Rufus along. "Been waiting for you. Gotta go, we're late."

Heidegger's beady little eyes narrow. "Reno, the President-"



Reno hits the brakes at the bottom, still keeping himself between Rufus and Heidegger. "Told me to keep his son on schedule. What, you got something he needs to sign?"

A sick, dark red creeps over Heidegger's face. Since baiting the guy is like shooting ducks in a barrel with a cannon, Reno just leaves him sputtering on the steps with the secretary trying not to giggle.

It takes Rufus all of ten seconds to start being a pain in the ass firing off questions and not waiting for answers.

"Look, kid. Shut up and keep walking. I can still smell his stinking breath."

"Stop fucking dragging me around!" Rufus jerks out of Reno's grip, whipping around to level that spitfire glare at him. "This is your fucking fault."

"Nope, sorry. I don't think so." Reaching for him again, Reno misses by an inch as Rufus backpedals a couple steps. "Look, d'you want to hang around here with assface or come with me and blow off some steam?"

A bit of Rufus's anger trickles off into suspicion. Reno figured he'd take it as an invitation without even bothering to think, but when Rufus says, "I'm sick of you dicking around with me, Reno," the words don't match the look in his eyes.

"Isn't that just too bad."

"I'm fucking serious," Rufus snarls. His shaking fingers clench into a fist. "You think I don't know what you're doing, stringing me along?"

"And here I thought I was looking out for my own ass. Fuck, kid." Drawing in a calming breath that doesn't do him any good, Reno drags a hand through his hair. "I figured you could use an hour on the range. Blow the shit out of some target pretending it's your daddy's face. That's it."

Rufus gnaws on the inside of his lip like he's considering it. Content to give the kid a minute, Reno finds a nice piece of wall to hold up. "Can't hurt to learn how to shoot, either. It'd make my job easier," he says after a bit to give Rufus a little nudge in the right direction.

"Did he tell you to teach me?"

Reno lets out a slow breath. It's a good opening, probably the best he could hope for. Rufus is even primed to think the worst of his old man. What Reno doesn't trust is talking about shit like that on Shinra's turf.

"C'mon." Reno pushes off the wall. "The last thing your daddy wants is for you to kick the bucket early. And I'd kinda like it if it wasn't my fault when you do."

At least Rufus is smart enough to know something's up. He shuts up and follows Reno to the gleaming row of elevators, still not breaking his petulant silence when Reno swipes his card and keys in a code instead of selecting a floor number.

Half a minute into the ride, Rufus says, "Well, did he?"

Reno shakes his head. "Not so much. You ever notice your old man doesn't give a shit if you're incompetent or not, just so long as you don't cause trouble?"

Rufus's face clouds. That's answer enough.

"You might want to keep on thinking about it."

A cheerful chime cuts through Rufus's response. Reno puts a hand on the door to keep it open and nods at the brightly lit room. "Guns are on the right. That's what you're looking for."

Rufus steps out, takes in the room. Reno steps up beside him as he says, "Who said I wanted a gun?"

"I did."

The cases are spit-shiny clean, rows of solid black weapons with neat stacks of ammo beneath. Reno keys the lock and the glass slides smoothly aside. He picks out one of the mid-sized handguns for Rufus along with two boxes of bullets, enough for decent practice after the kid works out his latest family issues.

"Here. Show me what you got. One clip." Reno pops the mag into place, clicking the safety on before tossing it to the kid.

Rufus manages to catch it without fumbling, earning himself a slow grin from Reno that fades fast once it becomes pretty damn clear the kid's just going to stand there and do fuck all.

"What's the matter?" Reno jerks a thumb at the waiting target. "Go for it."

Slowly, colour creeps up Rufus's neck, and it looks a hell of a lot better on him than it did on Heidegger. "I've never fired a gun before," he says, grinding the words out.

"What?"

"I said," Rufus snaps, "I've never fired a fucking gun before. Are you deaf or just stupid?"

"That sure as hell ain't no way to ask me to show you," Reno says.

"Fuck you." The gun hits the counter and Rufus heads for the elevator.

Reno waits until he figures out his card won't work from this floor before bothering to speak. "Now you're just looking for a reason. But you gotta tell me, where d'you think you're going?"

Rufus's face is too much like an open book for him to hide his frustration. The kid's got no money and without it, no friends, and that means nowhere to go but home to daddy. "Why do you always have to jerk me around?"

Rufus isn't waiting for an answer, which Reno figures is a good thing since he doesn't have one. A couple weeks ago, he would've said because he could. Now, he's not so sure. Habit, maybe.

"Because I'm an asshole. Just get over here, will ya?" Picking up the gun, Reno flicks off the safety and sends the earplugs skidding along the counter away from Rufus's hand. He slaps the gun into Rufus's open palm. "Pay attention."

Reno steps back to let Rufus take his place in front of the target. He settles behind Rufus, feeling the kid tense up and giving the guy a break for once by not ribbing him about it. "You want to hold it just like that, yeah, but cup the butt in your other hand." Rufus gets his hands in the right place straight off, but Reno still can't talk himself out of sliding his arms around the kid, his hands over Rufus's holding onto the textured grip. "Two-handed'll help your aim starting off. All you gotta do is squeeze the trigger. Squeeze it, don't pull."

In the corner of his eye, Reno sees Rufus's tongue flicker out to wet his lips. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I've got it. Squeeze, don't pull." Rufus shrugs out of Reno's arms, prickly like always when Reno gets close and sex isn't on the menu.

Reno snags the earplugs and hands them over. "Good. Try to at least hit the whitespace." He backs up a fair distance, watching and waiting for Rufus to get the balls to take that first shot. It doesn't take as long as he'd expected, but he'd been dead on about the kid's aim. The first couple shots don't even nick the paper.



"Shit, what're you doing. C'mere."

Reno shows him again, even going so far as to get Rufus to put his hands over Reno's on the gun, showing him how to hold firm without squeezing the shit out of the thing while Reno takes a shot. With Rufus being a couple inches shorter, it's awkward, but it pays off. The next time Rufus tries, he nails a solid shoulder hit and a few in the gut.

"Don't go for the warning shots," Reno says. "If you pull a gun on anyone, I want you to aim for lethal, got it?"

Wetting his lips again like he's nervous, or maybe getting off on the good vibrations, Rufus lowers the gun. His arms are shaking only slightly, which is a heck of a lot better than the jittery anger he had coming out of Shinra's office. "Why?"

"I'd think that'd be pretty damn clear, kid." Reno shrugs. "Tseng told me once that if I drew down on somebody, I'd better mean it. But that's a load of bullshit. 'Course you're gonna mean it."

Rufus eases his grip on the gun, working the kinks out of his fingers while he waits for a real answer. There's this feeling in Reno's gut a little like pride that the kid's finally learning something.

"If you ever point a gun at somebody, you'd better shoot to kill. Anybody who aims one at you isn't gonna give you time to think about it."

Something like fear flickers in Rufus's eyes, or at least close enough to it. Chances are he never thought much about someone trying to off him before. Reno knows he still thinks his old man'll protect him, and that's just not good enough.

Waiting until Rufus empties the clip, Reno asks, "What'd your daddy tell you?," and gets another surprise when the question doesn't get Rufus's back up.

"The usual shit. I'm a embarrassment to the Company." Rufus grabs the spare mag Reno'd filled and jams it back in the gun. "You know he cut me off," he says, the familiar bitterness back in his voice.

"Yeah, figured he would. Not like he hasn't done it before," Reno says, pretending not to notice the sharp look Rufus sends his way. It isn't the first time Reno's eased off enough to be nice, not even the second or the third, but it's hard to blame the kid for being suspicious. "You cooled down pretty quick."

Rufus doesn't say anything to that. He turns his back to Reno and empties another clip, refusing to hand it over when he's done until Reno shows him how to reload it. His aim is still crap, the frustration showing clear on his face and in his stance. But he doesn't call it quits or blame Reno's shitty teaching.

After the fifth clip, Reno's damn bored.

"Yo, kid." Two shots echo loudly, one right after the other, followed by a low snarl. "Rufus! Fuck, give it a rest."

Rufus turns, his face flushed and eyes way too bright. He's got the gun in a shaking, two-handed grip that Reno wouldn't even trust Tseng with. Nice and easy, Reno pushes away from the counter he'd been leaning on to pry the gun out of Rufus's hands.

Reno still hasn't told the kid he's not going to foot the bill for a hotel room or send him home to daddy. He's not so sure he wants Rufus crashing at his place, either, but it's not like he's got a lot of choices left.

Rufus won't go back to the plush Shinra digs without a fight. And none of them want him that close to his old man. Tseng said to step it up. So the kid's shacking up with Reno whether he likes it or not.

He doesn't much want to know how Rufus is going to take it. Either way, Reno's going to have one bitch of a headache by midnight.

Reno's phone goes off before he can break the news. Happy for the short delay, Reno tugs it out, his relieved, "Yeah?" cut off mid-syllable by Tseng's voice snapping like a whip over the line.

"Are you in the building?"

"Yeah. Was just about to bring the kid home."

The look on Rufus's face goes from annoyed to shocked to curious in the space of a blink. "I don't-"

"Hang on a minute, would ya?" Reno turns his back to the kid, eyebrows trying to crawl up into his hairline as Tseng rattles off a set of orders that has his pulse tripping. It's been a long, long time since Shinra came down hard on anybody's ass like that.



"Who's calling the shots here, boss?" he asks. "It don't sound like the old man's kind of deal." It's too messy for Shinra, too calculated for Heidegger.

"The President."

Reno's quiet for a heartbeat. "No shit."

"Nothing has changed," Tseng says. Reno snorts. "Your progress?"

"Shit, boss." Reno flicks a glace at Rufus, wondering why the kid's not screaming at him demanding to know what's going on. Unlike his hands, Rufus's gaze is steady. "Haven't told him yet, if that's what you mean."

"I'm sure you realise time is running short. Use his stay in your apartment to our advantage." There's an edge to Tseng's voice that Reno recognises as impatience. More than that, though, he sounds worried.

"Yeah, I know. Said I'm on it."

"See that you are." The line goes dead.

Muttering a curse, Reno slams the phone shut and jams it back in his pocket.

"What haven't you told me?" Rufus asks.

Reno plasters a grin on his face and gives the kid a glance of it over his shoulder. "What Turks do."

The gleam in Rufus's eyes turns more calculating than curious. Even with Reno prodding him along, he hasn't done shit trying to find out on his own. Old man Shinra likes it that way, all the mess tucked away while the ones who made it bring his son to heel.

Rufus says, "What does that mean," and Reno's actually proud.

"It means you're coming with me. You got anything that isn't white?"

Rufus glances down at his suit, a nice expensive number that Reno had to threaten him to wear. "Why does it matter what I'm wearing?"

That pride evaporates in a puff of annoyance. Now the kid would start asking questions. "Look, just… c'mon."

Heading for the elevator, Reno hits the call button. In the car, finger jammed on the door open button, he jerks his head at Rufus, and the kid actually follows without another barrage of questions.

The kid recognises the Turk's lounge when they get there, and not because Reno's ever brought him by for a visit. The place looks like the Turks, lazy and sprawling with patches of chaos and order. Tseng's obsession with neat stops at the threshold where the clash and meld of their personalities starts.

"Why can't you just tell me instead of dragging me around?" Rufus says once he gets a good eyeful.

"Honestly, kid, where's the fun in that? I'm gonna show you a damn good time, so just enjoy the ride, would ya?" Heading for the lockers - too many emptied now, a dozen of them just sitting there taking up space nobody would use anyway - with Rufus hot on his heels, Reno keys open his and hands the kid a pair of slacks and a jacket. Reno's clothes are going to be too big for him, but it's all that's on hand. "Put those on."

"Are you going to tell me why?" Rufus doesn't even look at the suit, doesn't even bitch and call it trash like Reno would've figured.

"Maybe you wearing my clothes just does it for me. You gonna put it on or what?"

Even though Reno's seen the show before too many times to count, it's always a little fascinating watching Rufus shrug off that teeth-grinding brattiness as easy as Reno'd shrug off a shirt. Most of the tension just melts from him, his body going loose and languid, the light in his eyes dimming down to a glow.

But he's learned at least something in the past couple weeks, because when he moves in close, his arms sliding up around Reno's neck, he's not pushing for it like he used to. Still, Reno's got to admit Rufus's body feels good against his. Skinnier than he'd go for on his own, but good.

"You're full of shit," Rufus says, startling Reno into a chuckle. Of all the things he expected to come out of Rufus's mouth, that wasn't it. "You're not interested in me. You never were."

Shows what the kid knows, because Reno's feeling pretty damn interested. Rufus would be one good fuck, probably take it any way Reno wants to give it to him. Habit makes Reno's first instinct to push away - what's he been trying to do for the past couple months if not get Rufus to quit wasting all his time fucking around and getting high?

Reno pulls in a slow breath. There's a little taint of sweat on the air, the tinge of violence from the range and something else good he recognises as just the way Rufus smells. Figuring it's almost down to all or nothing, Reno's hands slide down Rufus's back to settle with fingers spread wide on the sweet curve of his ass.

The way Rufus's lips part, eyes clouding for a moment, makes it even better.

"You really wanna know what I haven't told you?" Because he's there, and because it'll keep Rufus off balance and on edge, Reno gives into the tiny niggling temptation he's had for a good while to bite at the smooth line of Rufus's throat. "You're coming home with me."

A rainbow of emotions parade across Rufus's pretty face. Reno gives him a smile for once instead of a smirk, fingers stroking slowly closer to the crack of Rufus's ass. "You're fucking lying," Rufus says, his hands clenching into fists behind Reno's neck. "No fucking way you'd take me back to your place." With more strength than Reno would've given him credit for, he tries to break away. Shaking his head, still smiling, Reno just jerks him closer. "You asshole. You expect me to-"

"You don't want to?" Pulling his hands away to rest on Rufus's hips, Reno watches the waver in Rufus's eyes that says the kid wants to, and wants to bad. "I'm not sending you home to daddy, and you're tapped for cash. You gonna blow some hotel manager for a room?"

Instead of making it easy, Rufus snaps, "Why? Why not make me go back to my stupid father?"

Feeling like he's walking on thin ice, Reno shrugs. No matter what Tseng says, it's too early to bring the kid in. He's still too much of a wild card, and still too naïve. "Because the fat fucker annoys the piss out of me. Now, are you gonna get dressed, or you want me to do it for you?"

Rufus's grin is fast and feral. "You could just get me naked and stop there."

His mouth hovering over Rufus's, the kid's soft exhale of breath tasting sweet on his tongue, Reno says, "Put the damn suit on."

Rufus doesn't have enough shame or enough motivation to do anything but start peeling off his clothes right there in front of Reno. Probably counting on Reno enjoying the show so much he'll get what he wants.

So Reno leans back against the lockers, arms crossed, and enjoys himself just fine.



"Are you going to fuck me at your place?" Rufus asks, sulking only a little after Reno brushes him off for the second time. He hauls on Reno's black slacks, which fit him fine enough around the waist but are going to give the kid troubles if he has to run. Reno's not counting on that happening.

"Now?" Reno says, just to be a dick like Rufus expects. This job has him a little worried that Rufus has finally fucked up bad enough for Shinra to write him off. It'd be stupid, considering the general populace likes old man Shinra about as much, or maybe even a little less, than Reno does. But it wouldn't be the first or the last time Shinra did something stupid.

"Tell you what." Reno tugs the jacket's shoulders into place, running his fingers under the lapels down to hold onto Rufus's waist again. "I'll be thinking about it. You gonna trust me enough to do what I tell you and get through this job?"

Rufus's tongue darts over his lips. He leans in closer, always so hungry for someone to touch. "Where are we going?"

Since it seems like such a good idea, and since Rufus's lips are already slick, Reno leans down those couple inches to bring their mouths together. Rufus melts into it, moaning low in his throat so sweet and honey-thick. His mouth is warm and easy, more than willing to let Reno lead. And when Reno pushes his tongue deeper, turns the kiss harder, hungrier, Rufus just moans louder.

That first jolt of nerve-searing pleasure as the kid starts grinding cock-to-cock shocks the shit out of Reno. His breath skips on a groan and Rufus echoes it, pushing harder, faster, doing a damn good job of getting himself off. Reno doesn't so much let Rufus keep going as much as he just can't find the will to peel the kid off him when it feels so fucking good.

It's been weeks since the last time Reno managed to ditch the kid somewhere safe long enough to get messy with Rude.

Breathing heavy, Reno pushes Rufus back, keeping his hands on the kid and holding onto that warm twist of pleasure in his gut hoping it'll keep Rufus from thinking it's an outright rejection. By the way Rufus's watching him, it works.

*
TBC

Comments

[fantasii.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, that anything you write isn't work safe, I instantly have to click on to see what it is. xDDD

*bad*

[4ti3k4t35.livejournal.com]

Oh, yay. This is melty good stuff. Reno teaching Rufus to shoot is so much love! ♥

[dragonspire.livejournal.com]

god-da-igha;egouia

cliffhanger. you guys are just too much. you have me pawing at my screen for more!

[ponderosa121.livejournal.com]

Ahahr. You know, I think I was doodling that pants-off pic the last time I was hanging out with you guys. :p

Second half will probably all go up together unless Blue says otherwise, they all flow together so well I can't quite figure out how to break them up without chopping up the important bits. And by the important bits, I mean the omgporn.

[dragonspire.livejournal.com]

xDD!! Figures. I remember you were doing a Vincent pic then too.

And yey! Yeah, don't wanna break up the omgporn too much, or else everyone here'll just keel over or worse. .__. (I've always had problems splitting up chapters for stories myself. D: )

[cynbaby.livejournal.com]

Hot. Just all kinds of hot.

[remote45.livejournal.com]

Why is it that the more you write, the more I want? I honestly don't know which of the two melts me the most? Six and one half dozen of another I suppose. This just keeps getting better and better!!!!!

[dieinahole.livejournal.com]

For real!! remote45 Has like a really good point.
**needs dry panties now** Just...want...more...

[2metaldog.livejournal.com]

And another happy start to the day. I think I like waking up and finding something like this first off better than reading it at work where I have to scroll really fast by the lovely pics. That one with Rufus and the open pants... *drool*. He looks so... sulky/sexy. Very nice job and a world of thanks for posting and sharing.

[nekojita.livejournal.com]

Yay! I was so hoping for a chapter post before I had to go to work. Now that is one hell of a way to start to the day! *huge grin*

I love the pic of Reno in the chair.

[megummi-chan.livejournal.com]

The whole scene with Reno teaching Rufus to shoot is just... perfectly written. I could imagine it in my head happening just like that (even with Pond's wonderful visuals to help guide XD). Bleh, Heidegger annoys me. XD *but the drawing is very good*

I'm on pins and needles for the next bit of this! ♥

[white_aster]

nnnngh. Have I mentioned how much I love these? I love these thiiiiiiiiiiis much. :) Such a different take on Reno/Rufus. :)

[bassist08.livejournal.com]

Man! Of all the places to leave off! *waits in joyous anticipation for the next part!!!*

[thewriter0.livejournal.com]

GUH. x_x I have been killeded with wonderfulness. The gun range scene was love.

Every time another chapter gets posted, I do a little dance of glee. It's like a present to wake up for! *_*

Mmmyes.

[wisecracks.livejournal.com]

Been hoping so long for a fic where Reno teaches Rufus to shoot like that. Thanks for that. And the artwork in this one is the best so far.

[sekramage.livejournal.com]

You have no idea how much better this made my otherwise depressing and down right shitty afternoon.

[lassarina]

*FLAILS in glee*

This is fabulous. I particularly love the line "Reno finds a nice piece of wall to hold up" and the one about shooting ducks in a barrel with a cannon. WONDERFUL bits of snarky humour worked in with the plot and the semismut. YAY.

[silverkiiri.livejournal.com]

God I don't know how you girls do it. You could write gen and it would still have to have the NWS warning cause it would still make people squirm. Guh. I love this fic like I love... I don't even know. A lot. Wow. I can't wait for more.

[mistr3ssquickly.livejournal.com]

Mmm very nice. I like how both characters are mellowing into each other, even while the tension stays hot. It's a good balance, really draws me in.

Honestly, I almost didn't leave a comment because I want to get to the next section. But that'd be rude, and I'm enjoying this too much to be rude. Good work, good show!

(And gorgeous drawings. The last one especially.)

~MQ

[silver-sweet.livejournal.com]

*melts*

this story is making me totally melt into a happy fangirl puddle, really.

*runs off to read more*

[iggy-lovechild.livejournal.com]

Agh! I had a lovely review for it but lj got wonky on me.

*seeths* There was so a messege body!

Anyway, really great chapter. For once I'm not gonna nit-pick, mostly because I have nothing to nit-pick about.

*goes to read ch. 4*