Disclaimer: We don't own this universe or its characters apart from a few OCs. The words are ours, though.
A/N: Collaboration work of Andrannath aka _ice_lady_LJ and sphinxofthenile aka moi. We owe huge thanks to white_jennaLJ for the beta reading. We had a blast writing this arc, so we hope you'll enjoy it too. Feedback for the soul is what water is to the earth. R&R please and let us know what you think! :)
Pairing: One sided Reno/Tseng for now. More in future chapters.
Warning: This arc does not contain incest and shota. Teen romance, though, happens. Also, we are talking about the Turks here, so expect alcohol, violance, sex (explicit yaoi and implied het), disturbing issues like character death, and spoilers for the games.
"For great justice, Tseng, the boy confides in you!" Veld started, rolling his eyes at his subordinate's stubbornness. He rarely liked having to rely on orders but, in this case, he would have to go there if Tseng continued being this stubborn.
"But, sir, he's…" Tseng tried, but the look Veld gave him stopped him mid sentence. He sighed, his shoulders drooping. "He doesn't trust me. He wants to have sex with me."
Veld shrugged and shook his head. He knew a headache was approaching, and it would be a deadly one if he continued down this path, but it was inevitable. "Tseng," he started, then sighed. "Tseng, you are the first person he didn't try to bite or shoot."
"But, sir!" Tseng protested. He was close to whining like a child, in spite the fact that he hadn't behaved like this when he had been one.
"Enough!" The boundary was just broken and Veld didn't want to hear any more of it. Him raising his voice made Tseng shake with surprise, but the Turk instantly froze and took his typical formal stance, back straight, head slightly down, hands behind his back. "He is a worthy addition to the Turks and you are the only person he ever made contact with. You shall take him in and help him in his transition. Is that understood?"
Tseng took a moment, then he nodded.
"Dismissed," Veld simply said and Tseng turned on his heel and left his office.
The menace in question was, of course, sitting in the hallway, looking as preposterous as only slum scum could. Tseng knew this was going to be a very long day.
"Follow me," he said to the boy, who instantly flashed him a wide grin and jumped from his seat. Tseng sighed again. "Do you have any luggage?" he asked and the boy snorted.
"A bag in the locker room," the boy answered, his eyes to the floor. He was being a jerk to everyone except Veld and Tseng. Veld, because he'd sent him to Medical after he tried to attack him, and Tseng because… well, he didn't really know why it was so hard being a jerk to Tseng.
Just thinking about him made his cheeks turn pink.
"Okay, go pick it up and I'll wait you in my car," Tseng answered and hurried to the elevator, leaving Reno alone to go and get everything he owned in this world.
---
Tseng got into his car and behind the tinted windshields, he let his composure drop, laying his head on his arms resting on the driving wheel. Why, in the names of Heaven was he punished so? If he ended up like this, he must have been an animal-torturing, genocidal, sadistic vandal to gather so much bad karma in his previous life.
Why had this boy had to grow so attached to him? Him of all people, who prided himself on being allowed to work on his own (a privilege no other Turk ever attained), and always made sure to do nothing less than perfection.
Now, he was stuck with the most annoying slum rat he ever had the misfortune to meet, and the damn kid (because he was nothing more than a kid with the eggshell still attached to his butt) just had to make it so that Veld would notice it too. Damn, damn, damn.
He let out a deep sigh, wondering how long this torture would last. Maybe if he was stern enough, he could avoid complications until the rookie either failed the exams or got killed on a mission. He was quite sure, one of the two was about to happen anyway, considering who he was thinking about here. Just what was Veld fucking thinking, when he insisted to make the punk a Turk candidate?
Well, Tseng didn't get far in his self pity, as he was quickly pulled out of it by a knock on his car window. His head shot up and what a pretty sight his eyes got to see. He felt like shooting himself.
Reno was grinning madly, his tiny bony hand next to his head, waving frantically. "You didn't unlock the car!" he warned, then tried to pull the handle once more.
Tseng glanced to the lock and thought about leaving it that way, turning the vehicle on and letting the boy run after him and, hopefully, freeze his ass while he's at it. But, that was too cruel even for his taste.
And then there was that look, Reno cocked his head, fluttered his eyelashes and pouted his lips. "Please? I'm cold!" he asked and positively jumped when Tseng pulled the lock up. He bounced into the car, looking all the way like a kid given a bag full of candy.
"Buckle up," Tseng ordered and started the car. Reno did, pulling the seatbelt over himself and his bag without a problem. He was a raggedy little thin thing, a sorry excuse for a slum rat that probably thought a day was good if he had two meals in it and never would have considered that three was a healthy norm.
Reno was short, barely reaching Tseng's shoulders but, considering the fact that the boy probably spent the years he was supposed to be growing scavenging and fighting for leftovers, it was no wonder he remained as small as he was. Well, with proper nutrition and training, he'd eventually add some muscle to those bones and hopefully grow at least a bit.
No one, absolutely no one deserved being almost a head shorter than Rufus ShinRa.
Somehow, the thought made Tseng vaguely consider putting a nice sushi plate together when they got home. Then his thoughts jumped to the fact that his household was just not planned to support two persons.
"We shall stop at Madelene's and get a few things for your stay," he said through gritted teeth.
Reno sunk in his seat, two thirds of his head lost in the neck of the enormous coat they gave him at his new work. He clutched his bag tightly.
Noticing the boy's distress, Tseng once again had to fight the need to bang his head somewhere. "Now what?" he asked, his voice a few levels over irritated.
The last third of the head disappeared there too. "No money," Reno answered, the coat ruffling his voice. "I'm sorry."
Realizing that, perhaps, he overreacted, Tseng sighed and took a second to think about what to say. "Alright," he started, placing his right hand to that backpack and pulling it a bit away. He even smiled as Reno's eyes perked out through the coat but the boy didn't say anything. "Don't worry, my treat."
"I'm sorry," another, little less ruffled apology came from within the coat and it made Tseng chuckle. "I'll pay you back."
"No, you'll pay ShinRa back, because it won't be my money I'll be wasting on you," Tseng said with a snort, then instantly regretted it as those big bluish green eyes disappeared under the coat again.
Guilt clawed at his heart, but at the same time his Turk self was screaming. How the hell was the kid supposed to do this job if he took an unfortunate slip of the tongue so much to his heart? One would think he had much worse on the streets... The thoughts just made the guilt even stronger, and finally Tseng forced himself to speak, though careful to keep any sympathy out of his voice. "Look, kid..."
But the voice from the coat interrupted him. "I'm not a kid and stop calling me a kid!" Reno yelled from under his coat as his fingers dug into his bag, knuckles turning yellow. "You're not that much older than I am so stop calling me a kid!" His head finally appeared from his coat and his cheeks were redder than his hair. "I'm almost seventeen so just you know, so there!"
Tseng's eyebrows shot up, but he wasn't sure should he laugh or snort. "Sixteen? You look and behave like you're ten!"
Reno's lips spread into a wide grin. "Sells well with the dirty old men like you on the streets."
Tseng winced. He didn't even want to think about what Reno just said. He hit the driving wheel with his left hand. He did notice Reno flinch, probably afraid that he was going to get hit too. Then, he took a deep breath, relaxing, relaxing, just like when meditating, relaxing.
"Reno…" he started, doing his best to keep his voice calm and face warm. He slowly let out the breath he was holding. The small involuntary movement Reno made calmed him down better than the breathing technique anyway. Because when it sank through his anger, it hurt.
Being close to Rufus ShinRa and his father for years now made him realise what the term "child abuse" really stood for, and he hated that knowledge. Hated to know that the young and weak could be abused by the ones they should have their faith in.
"Sorry, I didn't mean..." came the meek voice from behind the fabric of the coat, but Tseng cut in with a dismissive bow of his head, eyes fixed on the road.
"I was the one being crude, please, accept my sincere apologies."
The mouth covered in the heavy wool fabric created a sound of protest, but then the boy stopped and perked, pulling his head out. "What did you say?"
Tseng chuckled, eyes on the road, but he cast a glance towards Reno for a moment. "I suppose I've just apologized, ever heard of it?"
Reno did that whole big-saucer-eyes-and-pouty-lips thing that must have been the cutest thing Tseng had ever seen. Not that he would have ever admitted it, though. "No," the boy answered sincerely and his cheeks blushed.
Once again, Tseng felt a pang of guilt pass through his heart, but at least they were heading somewhere, with Reno smiling and not trying to hide any more.
"You for real?" the boy asked, honestly not believing it. Tseng chuckled and nodded and Reno's mouth again spread into a wide grin.
"So, what's in the bag?" Tseng asked absentmindedly, happy now that they worked this over.
Well, that was a mistake. Reno sunk back into his little cocoon and grabbed the bag tightly. "They're my things and you can't have 'em," he said meekly, sinking even deeper, if that was possible, not even a trace of that wild red hair visible from under the coat.
Once again, Tseng felt like the whole world was against him, and adding a very big bottle of aspirin to his mental list seemed more and more tempting by the minute. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he was trying to suppress the urge to groan in frustration.
"Look, kid... erm, Reno. Do I actually look like I'm in need of your things?" And that was a very good question, since only the silk tie he wore was probably worth more than all the things the boy had on him, including the oversized coat provided by the ShinRa.
Reno eyed Tseng. Well, Reno had had his eyes on Tseng since the very first moment he'd laid them on him. Then he sighed, realizing that he was sitting in Tseng's car, for starters. Just the fabric on the seat was probably more than Reno would ever be able to afford, and there he was thinking that this man would rob him or something.
No, Tseng was too perfect for it. Yes, that was it.
He still clutched his bag tightly. "Just…" he started, eyes lowered. "Just don't touch my things. I don't like people touching me, okay?" This time his shoulders drooped and he decided not to hide himself under that coat.
He could hear Tseng produce another sigh, eyes on him again. Reno didn't like people looking at him as well, but it wasn't like that with Tseng, at least not now. "May I ask you something?" Tseng's voice was nice and warm and approachable.
Reno liked it that way and hoped he wouldn't fuck something up to make the man hit him or yell at him. He nodded.
"Is that why you attacked everyone?"
Reno paused another moment, eyes still down but he could feel Tseng's eyes on his head. He didn't want to look at them now, as he slowly nodded, hating himself for being that weak. "Just… don't want people to touch me. Is that okay?"
He could hear Tseng sigh again and that made his eyes travel up. He was afraid of the reaction, but all he got was another quick warm glance as the man returned his eyes on the road.
"It's okay, Reno," Tseng said with a smile and he didn't have to look at Reno to make the boy believe him. "If you don't want anyone touching you, then I'll make sure they don't. Is that okay?" Tseng added and shot Reno another of his surprisingly warm glances.
Reno's lips spread into a smile but not as quickly as his usual grins were. "I can live with that." He turned his eyes on the road as well and relaxed in the seat, all of a sudden feeling so less confined than just a minute ago.
Then Tseng pulled off the road. "Here we are."
Madelene's store wasn't as flashy as Tseng's salary or status would've suggested, but it had considerable advantages to make up for that. One, the owner was a very nice elderly lady from Wutai, making exceptions for Tseng on the basis of his origin, and second, that for this very reason, he could come and do his daily shopping whenever his job allowed him to. That certainly came in handy when he came home from assignments in the middle of the night in dire need of supplies.
"Would you mind leaving that behind?" He pointed at the bag Reno was gripping tightly. "We don't really need customer troubles right now, do we?"
Reno's eyes shifted to the bag, then back to Tseng, who prepared himself for an argument, but to his great surprise, no objection came, just a slight nod of that conspicuous red head. Reno placed the bag carefully below the seat, then looked at him expectantly.
"I can assure you, that it'll be completely safe in this car," Tseng said just for the sake of saying something, still surprised about the turn of events. Reno nodded again and got out of the car before him, so the Turk decided to follow his example.
The store was a typical supermarket that Reno had had a chance of seeing, but the elderly woman arranging oranges in a nice pyramid wasn't a typical apathetical or even angry store clerk that would only feel the sense of trouble upon eyeing Reno. Quite the contrary, when she saw them, her lips grew into a wide smile and she came to greet them instantly.
Reno observed the way she and Tseng interacted, the handshake, the small curt bow Tseng made and the way she laughed at something he said that Reno couldn't understand. Then, Tseng pointed at him and her eyes grew large.
"Now, aren't you a tiny little thing!" she said and hurried to give him a hug too. Reno could see the way Tseng winced, probably remembering that whole touching discussion they'd had earlier, but Reno didn't pull away. True, he felt uncomfortable, but he couldn't remember any old lady ever harming him, so it didn't feel as bad as with other people.
She turned back at Tseng and said something in that strange language and Tseng burst out laughing.
"Oh, I assure you, he's not my son," he answered, looking at Reno with a smile, then laughed again. Reno felt like disappearing again and he pulled his shoulders up, feeling safer with the coat rim over his nose. "But I do feel like a babysitter," Tseng added through another laugh and the old woman laughed as well. "I need to feed him, for instance."
The lady laughed again and then looked at Reno and started speaking in that strange language again.
"Thank you," Tseng answered, then proceeded towards the shelves and Reno quickly followed.
"What did she say?" he whispered when he decided they were far enough so the woman wouldn't hear them.
Tseng smiled at him. "She said there's not enough food in the store to get you to a decent weight, but I can try."
Tseng walked among the shelves pretty quick, it took a bit of an effort from Reno to keep up with him. The older Turk seemed to know exactly what he was doing, what items he needed, and where he would find them. Reno couldn't help but admire the calculated efficiency that was so alien to him until now, and what seemed to be so much a part of the other as the dark Turk uniform he wore.
The fact that there were so many things to see and examine didn't make following Tseng any easier, but Reno wasn't so stupid as to anger the Turk while they were shopping for his food as well. To his utter surprise, the older man abruptly stopped at the clothes section, causing Reno to almost bump into his back.
Tseng shot him a measuring look. "What size do you wear?" He finally asked casually.
"What?" came the incredulous reply, and that earned an eye roll from Tseng.
"I'm not taking you to my apartment in those." The Turk gave him a quick once-over, clearly dissatisfied with what he saw.
Reno felt like disappearing again. He liked his clothes and didn't want changing them, but Tseng was probably right. The pants he was wearing were as old as he and the reason why they were still sticking together sure as hell wasn't the thread or the quality fabric. He looked down at the ragged grey fabric that was jeans a long time ago, but now was more like a collection of holes, and he shrugged.
"I can't afford this, Tseng," he started, voice apologetic. "How will I ever pay you back?"
The way Tseng smiled calmed him. It actually made him melt, those butterflies in his stomach (that for the first time in his life weren't hunger) made him feel strange and… warm.
"We'll think of something, okay?" Tseng said warmly, then turned his eyes towards the typical supermarket clothing section that didn't offer much but offered enough. "Now just get yourself something that preferably doesn't have holes."
Reno smiled hopefully, his eyebrows raising as those eyes, again, blinked sweetly. "Okay," he said and moved to the closest shelf and pulled out the first black thing he could find. He spread the pants towards Tseng and smiled. "There."
"Oh, really?" Tseng arched a perfect eyebrow. "When I said get yourself something, I was implying something you actually can wear. It's at least three sizes bigger than necessary." With a little sigh, he looked away from those bright green eyes and ushered the boy into the dressing cabinet. "Just stay here," he said, and before Reno could've protested, he was already gone.
A few minutes later he returned with a pile of clothes; three pants, several shirts, two coats and whatnot. There was even a beautiful (at least to Reno), white and grey striped scarf that looked so thick and soft that he just couldn't resist touching it. It was nicely warm, too.
He just couldn't believe his senses. When Tseng placed everything on the hook inside and left him alone with a warning that they hadn't had all day, he pinched his arm. Well, it hurt, so hopefully he wasn't about to awaken from a very nice, though quite unrealistic dream after all.
Why was Tseng so good to him? It was not like his first encounter (real encounter, not all those numerous times of him seeing them from the distance and getting the hell away) with the Turks was anything but good. He really hurt that guy and managed to bite at least three others and they all seemed to be friends with Tseng.
Reno wasn't stupid, he knew that he was trouble. It was silly of him to put himself as burden on Tseng, and it was even worse now as the man was obviously trying to help him and Reno was so evil.
He looked at the clothes and just yelled "No peeking!" and couldn't stop himself from smiling when he heard that chuckle from the other side. He quickly shimmied out of his pants and tried everything just to see if it fit. When he was done, though, he got out of the changing booth with everything in his hands, except the scarf, which was just too soft and he refused to part with it.
Tseng just raised his eyebrow at him, and Reno lowered his head as he walked to a small desk by the changing booth and placed the pile of clothes over it.
"Fits?" Tseng asked and Reno nodded, but now he realized he didn't know what to choose from that pile. Everything was so nice and smelled clean and fresh and new that he just couldn't make up his mind.
What surprised him was when Tseng grabbed the entire pile (and shook his head at the mess) and placed everything into the cart, cast Reno a grin and proceeded to the checkout.
The old lady was already waiting for them at the register and she smiled at Tseng and started speaking in that strange language again. She and Tseng continued speaking in that tongue as the lady charged everything. They seemed to be talking about nothing specific, just chatting for the sake of it. Then, Tseng turned towards Reno with the obvious intent of taking the scarf but the lady, seeing reluctance in Reno's eyes just laughed and said something to Tseng.
Tseng shook his head and slightly raised his voice but the lady kept on repeating one word – okurimono. Tseng eventually gave up, sighed, rolled his eyes and thanked her with a very curt bow.
Reno tried to bow too, but that just caused her to chuckle.
The numbers, though, weren't foreign to Reno, and he knew damned well what two hundred and seventy five meant. He felt the tips of his ears burn with shame as Tseng pulled out three one hundred gil bills, something Reno had never seen in this proximity. He felt his mouth water.
"All done," Tseng told him and grabbed the bags. Reno smiled at the lady and then had to run to catch up with Tseng's big steps.
When they got back into the car, Reno promptly took possession of his bag again, but this time, Tseng could see he wasn't clutching it so desperately, even though he still held it tightly to his chest. Maybe after all it finally started to sink into that thick skull that he was actually safe with Tseng, and not about to be played upon.
They sat in silence throughout the short way to Tseng's apartment. The redhead seemed to be deep in thought every time Tseng shot him a side glance, and he was reluctant to break the comfortable silence. After all, it had been a tough day for the both of them. And it wasn't even close to ending, he added as an afterthought.
He still couldn't understand why Veld insisted that he should take the boy in. If one considered just their different personalities, the idea was crazier than a deranged chocobo in moonlight. Yet, Tseng had learnt a long time ago that their boss perhaps wasn't always calculable, but he always had his reasons.
Also, where others suspected second thoughts, there were usually third and fourth ones as well. Sometimes even fifth as far as he could tell.
But right now, he couldn't tell for the life of him how it all worked out in the end.