Title: Going slumming
Author: Enide Dear
Pairing: RenoxCloud, RufusxTseng
Rating: Probably NC 17 in parts
Dedicated to: Spoonerism!

**
The slums never slept, and the garish neon light lit the dirty streets, the dirty people, the dirty little world of poverty and garbage. Reno kicked an empty can out of his way, watched it bounce away in the shadows with no satisfaction. The people here knew him, or rather knew of him, and that along with the lazily twirled EMR kept away the pickpockets and those in search of an easy prey.

Too bad. He needed to blow of some steam and he needed it badly.

Taking a deep breath of his cig he tried to calm himself down. Tomorrow he'd go on his vacation, one he desperately needed. But as Tseng had said, tomorrow was another day and tonight he was still on duty.

Fucking bastard.

Probably there was some sort of limit to what ShinRa would put their Turks through. Even though they weren't the high class PR fodder the Soldiers were, they were still part of the company and ShinRa did have some sort of reputation to uphold. So, yeah, probably there was a limit, somewhere. But Reno sure as Hell hadn't found it yet. And selling out a Turks virtue was far, far from it.

Usually it wouldn't have bothered him much, but he'd felt edgy and wound up for weeks now and this wasn't helping. Not today.

It was his fucking *birthday* and nobody seemed to care. Well, old man ShinRa had sent a distracted secretary to mumble 'Happy Birthday' and given him some idiot card and he'd almost punched the woman's lights out.
Reno sighed. He was long overdue for that vacation, but he wondered if even that would make him calm down. Maybe, once he was done screwing that guy for information, he should call up Rude and they could go out and beat the crap out of someone…but no, Rude was away on some other mission. He'd been gone for days.

Throwing away the stub of his cig Reno shoved his hands deep into his pockets and walked into the Honey Bee Inn, nodding curtly at the guards who knew him from previous times.

It was his fucking *birthday* and he shouldn't have to fuck some shitfaced bastard!
**

"Ah, Reno." The manager took one look at the glowering Turk and swallowed anything else he might have said. "Room 3." He nodded at the stairs.

Going up the stairs slowly, Reno reflected. Life as a Turk hasn't turned out the way he wanted it. He wanted more. He *needed*more. Appreciation. Some sort of Gods-damned appreciation of all the shitty work he did for ShinRa, was that asking too much? But lately old man ShinRa had been treating his Turks as shit and Reno knew he wasn't the only one to be stewing over it. And that little brat of his, Rufus, had yet to show what he wanted with the company.
A small, dark part of Reno's mind was even contemplating leaving the Turks, if there had been such a thing as leaving and still breathing.

He reached Room 3 and opened the door with a sigh.

And almost dropped his jaw.

**

Instead of some flabby, slug-faced old bastard as he'd expected there was a lithe cute blonde lying on the bed, bound wrists and ankles with red silk bows and blushing fiercely. There was a card on the table next to him. A bit stunned, Reno picked it up.

'A little reward from my company for all your good work during the year.' Signed Rufus ShinRa. With an added P.s. 'His name is Cloud, do treat him with some care, I'm sure the Soldiers want him back in one piece.'

*'My company', is it, sir?* Reno couldn't help but grin to himself, a bit of the darkness inside him lifting. Suddenly, the future didn't look quite as glum. *Well, you got my vote, you clever little brat.* Carefully, he burned the note on a lit candle, dispersing the ashes, before turning around to the struggling trooper on the bed.

"Now, what the fuck to do with you, yo?" He smirked down at the blonde as he sat down on the soft bed next to him. Say what you want, the Honey Bee Inn kept a clean room – at least the once these expensive. Now he started to relax, Reno could appreciate the huge bed with the clean silk sheets, the dozen or so lit candles that spread a soft glow and a spicy scent in the room. But why the trooper? Why someone from within ShinRa at all? As far as Reno could recall – and despite his sloppy appearance he *did* have an excellent memory and a highly developed sense of paying attention – he'd never seen the guy before…no, that wasn't true. He'd glimpsed of that ridiculously hair before, hanging on the taila of up-and-coming First Class Soldier Zack Fair and the rest of those mako freaks.

Reo might not be a master intriguer by any standards, but he knew a statement when he saw it. Old man ShinRa doted on his Soldiers. His brat obviously had higher thought of the Turks.

Things were looking up indeed.

All those thoughts passed very quickly through Reno's brain and were stowed away – the board was set, his place was bought if not by the gift but by the appreciation behind it, and all that was left was to see how Rufus chose to play Reno against his old man in the future.

And, as always, to have as good a time as possible in the mean time.

"You can start by bloody untying me!" The trooper – Cloud – hissed, thrashing uselessly in his bonds.

"Ah, you see, that's what's called a rhetoric question." Reno felt his grin grow wider. "Trust me, I know what to do with a little Soldier catamite." He slapped a palm on the naked hip, making Cloud yelp.

"I am not a catamite!" He stated, outraged.

"Then why the hell *are* you here?" Reno trailed his finger down the smooth chest, appreciating the strength that was building there from hours of sword practice – the kid obviously had dreams past a trooper's helmet and a machine gun. "I don't rape people, yo." He smiled nastily because it never hurt to build reputation. "You know, outside of work."

"I don't know!" Cloud wailed, although his thrashing had calmed under the caressing callused hands. "I was called away –in the middle of night – by the vice Head of Turks, and then *another* huge dark Turk came and bound me and stripped me, and wrote something on my ass…behind!" He ended lamely, as Reno's hand had slipped between his thighs and started stroking him.

Reno felt almost giddy now. *So Tseng and Rude is in on this to? Ah, ShinRa will never be the same again!* Ignoring the undignified protests, he leaned the trooper over, checking out said ass, which was all cute and smooth and had Rude's distinct handwriting all over it. 'Happy Birthday Partner – too bad I can't be there to see you cut this cake.'

Reno burst out laughing, his hand still working the trooper whose whimpering had taken on a slightly breathless tone now.

"So what you say, yo?" He flipped Cloud over again, still working him good and hard. "You wanna stay for some Turkish Delights? You know, some people pay good money to be where you are now."

"I…ah..I…" Cloud writhed, his answer obvious even though he managed one last glare. "Is everything work for you?"

"'Course it is." Reno leaned down to kiss him hotly. "I'm a Turk. But you know, sometimes the job has its pros…."

He had a feeling he'd be damned relaxed and ready for his vacation tomorrow.

**

"Are you sure it will work, sir? Turks are notoriously hard to bribe, even with a treat like that." Tseng asked the young man sitting opposite him as the limo drove towards ShinRa headquarters.

"It will work." Rufus said, smiling as he inspected a manicured nail and boffed it against his white suit. "Reno's been ready to snap – not because he wanted to leave ShinRa but because he *didn't* want to leave but saw no other way out. I merely provided him with a solution to his little dilemma. The trooper was just to add some spice. And, you know, it is his birthday. A good boss should be attentive to things like that, don't you think?" He smiled slyly, opening a few buttons on his white shirt. "Which reminds me – when is *your* birthday, Tseng?"

Tseng cleared his throat and gave a signal to the driving Cissney to roll up the dark window separating the drivers compartment from the passengers. A bit pouty, she did.

"Whenever you want it to be, sir…"