Hi, long time no update!
Sorry about that ; er…I'll try to be quicker!
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, not even a little.
Sickly golden light poured in through the tinted windows over the heavy set man as he paced impatiently behind the desk. He turned in a titanic shifting of red fabric as the door clicked open and a stooped man in a soiled white lab coat entered. The light of the dying day reflected eerily off his glasses as he approached the large man already in the room.
"Well?" snapped the red-coated giant tersely. A malicious grin split the bespectacled man's face as he replied in a nasal voice,
"Everything is as I predicted, in six months your son will be born and the other one will be redundant." A feral smirk of triumph flitted over the paunchy jowls of the fat man, "Are you sure?" he demanded. A raucous chuckle burst forth when the stooped man in the white coat nodded, "Finally!" He crowed, "Finally I can do away with that pest!"
The greasy haired man before him ventured, "So then our agreement…?" Waving dismissively the red clothed man said, "Yes, yes. Consider the brat yours! Just don't kill him…" With a ribald wink he turned away from the grimy scientist to stare with unmasked joy over his empire. Finally he would be rid of that pathetic excuse for a son that had pestered him for so long, now he would have an heir worthy of his work…
Sighing exasperatedly Rufus stared at Reno in mild annoyance,
"Just what the hell is that supposed to be?!" He snapped, gesturing at the tortured mess on top of what used to be his desk. The flame headed Turk grinned sheepishly,
"Well, you see, I was trying to see what happened when spaghetti…" Rufus cut him off with a groan, "Forget I asked!" stifling a cough with the back of his hand he glanced up at the wall mounted clock in the corner of the room.
Folding his arms he huffed lightly, "Get up, we're going to be late…" Reno scrambled to his feet, brushing off a few stray leaves he peered at Rufus fro behind his mop of messy red hair, "You sure you wouldn't rather skip it half-pint?" The scathing look he received in reply was answer enough and he held up his hands in mock surrender as they exited the vice-presidents office and began to make their way towards the levels which housed the science department.
Whistling tunelessly Reno trailed behind his charge absentmindedly, "Hey, you think I could convince your secretary to go on a date with me?" he asked randomly. Rufus paused and stared at him incredulously, "What does that have to do with anything?" Reno grinned and shrugged, "Just making conversation, yo!" Whatever retort Rufus might have made was interrupted as they turned the corner to the corridor leading to the labs.
A white coated woman stood tapping her foot impatiently by the doors to the ponderous lift which would carry them all to the lower levels of the building,
"You're late." She snapped as they drew level, receiving an icy glare from Rufus that Reno had seen make Tseng back off. The scientist just glared back and punched the button that would call the lift as if she held a personal grudge against it and stalked in. Rufus stepped in after her, glancing down as a dark stain on the back of the woman's otherwise pristine coat caught his eye. He immediately wished he hadn't as he realised it was blood.
As the heavy iron doors clanged shut and the lift began it's slow journey to the bowels of the building a coughing fit overtook Rufus. Doubling over slightly he tried futilely to stifle the burning ache at the back of his throat and wiped irritably at the pricks of moisture that the violent coughs brought to his eyes. Reno bent down by his side, rubbing his back soothingly as the last of the wracking spasms subsided, anxiously he whispered to Rufus, "You sure you wouldn't rather pull a sicky yo?" Shooing the Turk away Rufus straightened muttering in a determined voice which failed to fool even himself, "Of course…"
The strange female scientist stared at him in detached interest, "That's a nasty cough you have there…" Rufus glanced at her sharply, made wary by the slightly smug tone in her voice as she continued, "Didn't you bring anything to drink with you?" Shaking his head slowly he frowned as she replied seriously, "Oh but you should always carry a bottle of water, particularly down here…" Before either Reno or Rufus could ask what she meant by this statement the lift ground to a halt and the doors opened with a soft hiss.
Taking a steadying breath Rufus glanced at Reno, as if for reassurance, before stepping out into the dimly lit corridor that awaited. Stepping out of the shadows towards them Professor Hojo emerged like a shadowy monster out of some small child's nightmare, his grating, nasal voice echoing towards them,
"Really now Rufus, there was no need to bring your pet bodyguard…I'm afraid I'll have to ask him to leave." Eyes narrowing Rufus asked softly, "Why?" Smiling that annoyingly self satisfied smile he so favoured the Professor replied, "I wouldn't want him getting in the way, who knows what kind of damage he could cause to my experiments!" Reno glared in annoyance, but his indignant reply was cut short when Rufus said softly, "You heard him Reno, wait for me outside…"
Staring at the slightly bowed head of his blonde haired charge Reno turned and walked slowly into the iron behemoth of a lift. "Bloody creepy scientist…" he muttered resentfully. Turning calmly to lead the way deeper into his shadowy domain Hojo replied blandly, "That's Professor bloody creepy scientist to you, Turk." Spinning on his heel Reno yelled after the greasy haired back of the Professor, "I'll call you whatever the hell I like, freak!"
With a hiss of closing doors and a clank of mechanisms the heavy lift took off, leaving Rufus alone in the dank laboratory levels. "This way, Rufus…" Hojo said in an oddly sinister voice barely masking malicious glee. Shuddering and pushing down the urge to cough again Rufus fell in behind the pale outline of the Professor, the heels of the quiet female scientist's shoes clicking ominously on the floor behind him.
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