Title: Wrong Red-Head
Author: Enide Dear
Pairing: AngealxReno and
RudexGenesis
Warnings: Loveless quotes and very, very non-canon
pairings
Rating: cute
Summary: It's good to try something different once
in a while
"C'mon, don't tell me ShinRa's finest is chickenshit?"
Dangling his leg off the dirty kitchen counter where he was sitting, Reno
grinned evilly. In the blinking neon light spilling in from sector eight outside
his face seemed to flush pink, neon green and blue but the hair stayed as
violently red.
Angeal snorted, more amused than anything and leaned
casually back; the Buster Sword scraped against an old refrigerator but from the
stink coming from the machine it hadn't worked for weeks anyway.
"You
can't possibly believe I'd fall for a school yard dare like that." He said
mildly but with enough steel that any recruits would have backed away.
But Reno was no star-eyed recruit and this was very much his territory;
Angeal had seldom been to Sector Eight at all before this mission and he found
it a dangerous, depressing place. Just on the way over here he would have lost
his wallet three times and got knocked out by a drugged bottle of water he
bought in a legit-looking shop if it hadn't been for Reno. Which made it ironic
that he'd been sent here as back-up to the Turk as they waited for some snitch
or other in this run-down apartment.
Angeal wasn't afraid, but he did feel a
bit out of his depths. Reno at the other hand didn't just blend in with this
shadowy world; he worked it. Right now he was moving a small piece of steel
between his teeth and lips; the needle glimmered.
"Why not? Genesis got
his ears pierced. That little puppy of yours to." Reno leaned his head to one
side, showing off his own sparkling diamond. He grinned around the needle, white
teeth and metal gleaming. "I've done Rude a dozen times. Not just his ears
either." Blue eyes sparkled and something jolted in Angeal's belly.
"We
need to stay alert." He said firmly. In the dark room he was a deeper shadow,
properly Soldier clad, properly armed, properly everything except the mission
they were here to do.
"Yeah, and this waiting shit is making me a dull
boy." With a sigh, Reno leaned back on the cupboard. Someone had spray painted a
crude ShinRa diamond on the worn kitchen, in ShinRa red. It seemed to glow in
the dark. Angeal figured it scared away would-be thieves better than any alarms
or police notes.
"So you are saying a bit of pain and blood will help
you focus?"
Reno's grin turned feral.
"You're saying it won't for
you?"
A common mistake was to believe that mako enhancement made you
unaffected by pain; it didn't. It simply healed you faster. But pain was still
pain. And of course the Turks knew that.
Angeal had never been afraid of
pain.
He walked up to Reno in the dark room, mako shining eyes never
leaving glittery blue ones.
"Gotta come closer." Reno breathed, parting
his legs so the bigger man could step between them. Angeal's chin was caught in
a surprisingly strong grip and his head shifted to the side. "And kneel. I ain't
as tall as you."
Angeal did, sinking down on his knees between the Turk's
legs, pressed against the lithe body. Despite it all, he couldn't help
stiffening a little as the needle gleamed in the neon light.
A hot, wet
tongue invaded his ear, making every hair on Angeal's body stand on end as he
sucked in air sharply.
"Gotta relax a little." Reno murmured and drove
the needle through his earlobe.
The sharp pain, the hot tongue, the
warmth and smell and presence of the body next to him….and Angeal no longer
cared for any mission when he pushed Reno back over the dirty kitchen counter.
Rude stepped into the make-up lounge behind the theater and took in
the sight of broken condoms and red blood spilled all over the place. He dipped
his shades a little and shook his head at the red-head sitting by a tall mirror,
removing make-up.
"Actors party hard." He mumbled, so low that only
mako-ears could have picked it up.
"Hm?" Genesis threw a glance over his
shoulder at the mess and chuckled a little. "Don't worry, that is only prop. You
fill the condoms with fake blood and the burst very dramatically when you poke
them with a dull sword at the death scene. That's all."
"Oh." It was
impossible to say if Rude was disappointed or not. Genesis turned to him, still
wuping his face with a towel.
"Is it your first time at the
theater?"
Rude shrugged, gently touching the fancy, fake stage clothes
that hung on neat rows with glove-clad hands. Lace rustled.
"First time
behind the scene." He mumbled. "It is interesting," he offered voluntary, which
was as much conversation as one could expect from the quite Turk. "My kind of
work-" he gestured at the bright, glittering world "- seldom takes me to places
like this."
Cocking his head to one side, Genesis studied the man ShinRa
had thought it prudent to 'guard' him during his first time walking the tiles.
Usually Rude was so unobtrusive that you forgot he was there – which was
probably what he intended – but in here he seemed more animated than the
Soldier-poet had ever seen him.
"You've seen Loveless before,
then?"
At first Rude didn't answer, caught up studying the glittering
prop. Then he took of his shades and said without looking at
Genesis:
"There is no hate, only joy
For you are beloved by the
goddess
Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds. "
A soft, almost shy
glance from the corner of Rude's eye and Genesis' heart jolted. The words, which
he'd heard a thousand times, suddenly seemed to gain a new meaning…a meaning
solely for him. In his glittery world of drama, attention, fans, heroism and
beauty. So unlike the Turks.
But it wasn't envy in Rude's voice it
was…admiration. And maybe more.
"No." Genesis breathed, tossing the towel
aside and standing up. He was still wearing most of his costume as the First
Hero of the play but he shrugged off the shirt with its fake bloodstains and
tossed it carelessly over a chair.
Rude recoiled a little as if to
apologize, but Genesis put a finger over his mouth.
"No, your voice is
all wrong for Second Hero. Try the First."
There was almost a smile on
Rude's lips. Then he said, with a soft and dark voice that sent shivers down
Genesis' spine:
"My friend, your desire
Is the bringer of life, the
gift of the goddess."
Genesis had heard recited Loveless countless times,
in all manners of readings – sad, defiant, even humorous. He'd tried different
version of it himself on numerous occasions.
But he'd never thought it could
be seductive.
Gloved hands slipped down his spine. His finger was still
pressed against Rude's lips and now slipped between them. Then he pulled the
Turk with him down on the floor amongst glitter and satin.
The next day
Rude had make-up smudges on his back and Reno had stubble chafes on his neck.