Afterglow
Title: Afterglow
Author: Blind Destruction
Rating: 'T'
Pairing: Reno/Rude
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Reno and Rude are from Final Fantasy VII and belong to Square Enix. The title of this fanfiction is from "Garbage", from the song of the same name.
Author's Note: I don't have much to say about this, really. I just sort of wrote it on a whim after listening to "Beautiful" by "Garbage".
The rain still fell. It had been falling for days, weeks, but it still felt like forever. The sky was a solid black cloud; the rain wet, liquid daggers that stabbed at the ground. The lightning and thunder nothing more than flashes and rumbles to blind and deafen the senses.
A blessing disguised as a curse. A cursed disguised as the water that soaked him through to the bones, and did much, much more than simply dampen him, choosing instead to drench him outright until he was subconsciously shaking beneath his clothing.
Hands swayed back and forth in some indistinguishable rhythm, fingers of his right hand clasped meekly around the neck of a glass bottle. The clear liquid within it swishing as he lifted it up to his swollen lips and took a long, deep drink, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, up and down as he swallowed the drink.
His clothes hung off him, soaking into the water as though they were sponges, and satisfied themselves to cling to him. Thin shoulders tensed, back tensed, arms tensed, as a cough fell past his lips, erupting into the quiet, rain-drenched silence. A racking cough, the coughing of one who could have done something, but chose not to. The sound of someone who had consciously accepted life as it was, but allowed himself to wonder about alternatives, and let himself live in regret.
He was not one to live in regret. Not one to dwell on the past and piss and moan about things that could not be changed. He'd chosen a way, and this was where it had taken him. It had led him down the road he had picked, it had allowed him to meet those he met, and cherish those he had cherished, few though that they might be.
Pale, sickly looking blue eyes glanced upwards, water dropping into them as he took in the view. The beauty and ferocity of life and nature. Beautiful, he had to admit, before he shut his eyes and doubled over, letting out a longer stream of the cough. This time it forced him to his knees, hand clutching at his chest as the other grasped the bottle tightly, knuckles turning white under the strain.
It seemed as though he wanted to say something, anything, to get the feeling off his chest, the ache that groped at his lungs and poisoned his words. But he wouldn't allow himself to beg. And yet he could do nothing for it. Wincing in half realized pain as the squeezing, aching, choking cough continued to force itself out of his body, dragging along with it blood that fell past his lips and onto the ground. The swirling red liquid was barely registered as his eyes seemed to blur, hand at his chest seeming to hold tighter as though to force the agony out and release him. But he would not be released. It refused to allow him release, draining him more and more as his eyes closed. They slipped firmly shut, as his body made contact with the cold, wet ground. Chest shuddering as it was pressed upon the frigid cement, a few shorter, weak coughs leaving him as he collapsed under his own weight, the bottle still clenched tightly in his unconscious fist.
The rain continued to pelt him and the city. Falling to the ground heavily, trying to wash away the man. The blood that had made its way to the ground was swirled away, the red of his hair being pushed around almost to the same effect.
"Reno?"
The voice was loud, far too loud in his throbbing, aching brain. Eyes fluttered, as though to open, before they were closed once more, the effort too great a strain to bother.
"Reno!"
This time the name was intoned with a touch of worry, and a hand was put to his shoulder, shaking him lightly. Leave me alone, he willed. Mind trying to doze back out into the blessed arms of sleep, but this hand wouldn't let him, and the voice once again split through his mind.
"Reno!"
"Rude…" He groaned, lips cracking open as he let the name drift into the air. Far too conscious now to try and escape anymore; the effort was wasted.
"Reno." The deep voice said once more, relief obviously lightening the tone.
"Rude." Reno repeated, wincing in agitation as he forced his eyes open. The rain pelted itself into them, and Reno almost could have laughed. The clouds still blotted out the sky, the entire thing one solid, black color. Night and day were lost, the differentiation non-existent.
"Are you okay, partner?"
Reno heaved in a deep breath, not at all surprised by the cough that accompanied it, before he tried to force himself up off the ground.
He felt Rude's hand, big, heavy, comforting against his chest as he helped him up. Somehow he had ended up on his back, sprawled out in front of a cold, red bricked wall. The saddest part of it was, he remembered how he had ended up there.
He struggled to stand up, and Rude helped him, heaving him to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine." The redhead managed, but was forced to hunch over as another coughing fit overwhelmed him.
Rude nodded, unconvinced but not surprised, and helped his partner into the small, black car that was parked near the sidewalk where they stood.
Leave it to Rude.
Rude's apartment was warm and familiar. Just like the man himself, in some ways. Good old reliable Rude. Reno lay sprawled out on his partner's couch, too tired and too out of it to bother getting back up.
Rude didn't say anything about anything. He had simply helped Reno up to his apartment and into the bathroom. He helped him take off his clothes, and into the shower.
The water had been cold and scalding at the same time. Far too much like the rain outside. He still felt ill, and had ended up falling in the shower, laying in the tub as the water tried to overwhelm him again, but was defeated by the drain. Everything was washed away in the end.
He'd been half aware of what was going on, but Rude had come in and saved him from the water again. Picking him up easily, drying him and dressing him.
He couldn't quite remember what he happened after that, but he knew that now he was lying in a big, comfortable, warm bed. The thick blue sheets pulled up snuggly around him. The clothes he had been dressed in a bit big, but at least they were warm.
An empty packet of pills were on the bedside table next to him, a half empty bottle of water resting calmly next to it.
The aching in his chest had subsided into a dull ache, and he no longer felt the need to cough. Good old Rude. He always knew what to do.
His lungs still hurt; this had been going on for far too long for them to suddenly get better. But, the pain seemed temporary. Nothing a good night sleep wouldn't fix; if it even was night. Who knew anymore? It had been raining for so long, such a long, long time.
And yet, Reno was content, as content as he could be, to roll over, regardless of the effort it took, and face the big, slumbering man sleeping next to him. He was beautiful without those sunglasses. His guardian angel. The man who had saved him once, twice, who had saved him this time, who had saved him last time, and would save him tomorrow. Did he even want to be saved?
Rude knew him better than he did, he supposed, and he stretched upwards slightly, reaching his lips to the smooth, slightly parted lips of this man who knew him better than he did. He closed the distance between them, and let their lips touch, a small token of life.
He fell asleep that night, day? comfortably, rolled onto his side facing the broad, muscled chest in front of him and relishing in the dry warmth. A warm hand rested on him and pulled him closer, and the redhead was only happy to comply with his partner's silent request.
The darkness was everlasting, but in some places you could still see the afterglow.