Disclaimer: FFVII and all respective characters belong to Square Enix

Updated: 4 May 2010

Glass Butterflies

Chapter 6

"Here." Reno said, and handed the book to Rude, who arched his eyebrows in surprise.

"You finished it already?"

"I was on a roll." He shrugged, and walked over to his own desk, booting up his pc.

"And you understood everything you read?"

"No, but I think I grasped most of it." He grinned.

The broad man shook his head and waved with the book in his hand. He was going to say something, but seemed to change his mind on the last moment and put the book back on the stack.

"What?" The redhead glanced over the top of his screen.

"Why do you pretend to be only half as smart as you really are?"

Reno looked at him, studying his face, but couldn't see the other man's eyes, and shrugged. "Don't know. Habit maybe?"

"A habit?" Rude asked, frowning.

"Hmm. It makes things easier I guess." the redhead slowly said, "People underestimate you, which gives me the advantage. You know how dangerous it is to underestimate a Turk."

Rude nodded, but didn't believe that was all there was to it.

"What's with the serious faces?" a woman's voice suddenly asked. Both men looked up in surprise.

"Oh, good morning Elena."

"Reno started reading psychology books." Rude said, matter-of-fact.

Elena's eyes widened in mock surprise, and the redhead shot her a glare. "Don't do that."

"Why?"

"Because it's annoying. Go back to your own office."

"Someone admired his attitude and Reno wanted to understand why." Rude answered.

Elena pulled her face in a grin, and the redhead felt she was up to no good. As usual. She was still trying to get a good revenge for him making her look ridiculous in front of Tseng.

"I knew it!" she cheerfully exclaimed, "You're seeing someone, aren't you?"

"What?" Reno exclaimed, baffled, and blinked.

"You're seeing someone!"

"No, I'm not." he protested, and entered his password into the computer.

"Yes, you are. Why else would you act so in love all of the sudden?"

"What are you on woman?!"

"You keep spacing out, you get this dreamy look in your eyes every so often, and now you're trying to find explanations for certain behaviour!" she triumphantly said and counted her fingers as she summed things up.

"Get real." he spat. "How does that even add up?"

"You are acting unlike yourself lately." Rude calmly said.

"I'm not in love!" he exclaimed, "And I'm certainly not seeing anyone."

"Then where were you yesterday, after work?" Elena asked, teasing.

"Not that it's any of your business, I went for a drink with someone. And I find it suspicious that you keep taps on my whereabouts."

"A drink, huh?" Elena smugly grinned, an evil twinkle in her eyes.

"It wasn't a woman, ya twit."

"So you do have a thing for men!"

"You want me to hang you with your neck-tie?" the redhead hissed and held up a fist.

Elena chuckled and hid behind Rude. "You've had all the women in Midgar and are now moving onto the men."

"That is low, Elena."

"Or maybe you've only had so many women, because you didn't realise you were looking for a man. Hmm? Am I right?"

"I'm seriously gonna to hit you now." he growled and stepped in her direction, rolling up his sleeves.

Elena yelped and wanted to flee to a more secure location, but realised just in time that hiding behind her broad shouldered colleague was the safest place she could find, as he grabbed the redhead by the shoulders.

"Are you ever going to stop this childish bickering?" he asked, agitated.

"He/she started!" they both cried out, and Rude sighed, exasperated as he feared they'd never learn.

"What is it this time?" Tseng asked, appearing out of nowhere as he wearily stepped into the office.

"The usual…" Rude muttered, while still trying to pry Reno and Elena apart.

"Reno has a boyfriend, but he won't tell us who it is!" Elena chirped before Reno could shut her up.

He shot her a death glare. "I do not!"

The Wutaian man looked from Reno to Elena, then to Rude and back again, before shaking his head.

"In any case," he started with a sigh, and gestured them to follow, "I have some jobs I want you to do."

"I'll know who you're seeing by the end of the week!" Elena shot Reno in a whisper, and grinned.

The redhead shot her an annoyed glare, but didn't reply in any other way. Elena could say what she wanted, but there was no way she'd ever find out who he was supposedly dating. Who was there to find out about? He wasn't dating anyone and he certainly wasn't in love.

.

Time had flown by and there were only a couple of days left before the week was officially over. Elena still hadn't a clue as to who Reno might be dating, nor had she made any guesses, which pleased the redhead. There was just one little thing that had kept bugging him relentlessly ever since that day. If he wasn't in love… then why did he keep thinking of that certain blond?

Silently, he cursed himself. He couldn't be in love, and definitely not with him. The troubles it would give… he didn't even want to think about it. Yet... the thoughts would not leave him alone. He violently shook his head, and accidentally shoved his coffee mug off the table.

Weary, he reached for it and sighed. He didn't need that kind of a thrill on top of his work. Constantly being on guard outside of the building was one thing, but doing the same inside the building was a bit much for his taste. After all, the young vice-president had made it clear he didn't fancy the idea of everybody knowing about his… taste in men.

What about himself? Reno wondered. Not much would change for him, he guessed. People talked about him anyway, Rude wouldn't mind, Tseng didn't care as long as he still did his job right. Elena would no doubt tease him about it, but… she did that either way. The only one who would care was Reno himself. He wasn't ready to admit that he'd been looking in the wrong direction all this time. Might have been looking in the wrong direction, he corrected himself. Nothing was certain. The only thing he was sure of was that Rufus was very good in messing with his head.

Absent-minded, he fiddled with a small piece of paper that had inconspicuously been lying on his desk for a small time now. Should he call, he wondered, staring at scribbled numbers. It was so easy to punch in the numbers, but then… what was he going to say? Was he going to ask him out again? Not out, he shook his head. He'd only asked him for a drink last time. Rude and he had gone for a drink so many times, and they weren't dating. Unconsciously, he stared at his colleague at the other side of the desk with an eyebrow arched.

But Rude had never made any advances on him, and never would. Rufus on the other hand. Next to that… he didn't see the vice-president regularly, so any meeting would be unusual.

"I'm going to get some coffee." Rude suddenly said, "You want some?"

"Yeah, but no decaf."

His colleague muttered something as he took the mug from Reno, and shot him a half-hearted glare from behind his glasses. The nearest coffee machine with real coffee was on the far end of the floor above them.

"Thanks." the redhead grinned as Rude left the office.

He turned his gaze back to the creased paper between his fingers. …what was he going to do? If he called then they both knew there was some sort of mutual attraction. And if he didn't… He sighed. If he didn't then he'd probably grow more and more frustrated. He had the strong suspicion that the thoughts wouldn't diminish.

.

By the time Rude returned, Reno had settled the matter with a short text message. Phoning would have been too direct, and an e-mail might be read by his secretary. The coffee mug was placed onto the desk without much ado, and the redhead reached for it, thirsting for caffeine.

"You're never going to finish your report at this rate."

"I know, I know." Reno nonchalantly said, and nearly jumped when his cell phone sounded. A text message.

Rude raised an eyebrow, and the younger Turk suddenly felt very uncomfortable under his colleague's steady gaze. Fortunately, the bald man didn't say anything about it and returned to his own desk.

Reno didn't immediately read the message, but instead typed some more for his report in an attempt to throw Rude off guard. It probably was a feeble attempt, but he didn't know what else to do. Once the other Turk had his suspicions about something, he would make sure to have it confirmed as soon as possible.

A few minutes later, he paused, pretending to tend to his coffee, and quickly read the message.

"I'm afraid not.

I still have far

too much reading

to do for a

meeting tomorrow."

Reno stared at the text and resisted the urge to sigh or make any other kind of exasperated sound. He hit the 'reply' button and punched in the keys to form words.

"Do you ever have

an evening that

you're not busy?"

Send.

Just in time did he remember to put his cell into silent mode, as barely half a minute later a reply came in.

"No."

The redhead stared and arched an eyebrow. You've got to be kidding me. Have you never heard of weekends, kid? His thumb hovered over the 'reply' button, but he stopped himself, and snapped shut the little machine. Fine. Be that way. I'm not going to beg. he thought aggravated, and turned his focus back to the screen in front of him. There was still more than four pages left to type.

Even more irritated, he gritted his teeth together and glared at the screen as he typed. Why did Tseng need to have his report on paper? Wouldn't it be much easier if I just told him the whole tale?

Several paragraphs of typing later, another text message came in. The little black machine moved around a bit on the hard, wooden surface, but made no sound otherwise. Reno quickly picked it up to prevent it from making more noise.

"Why? Do you want

to see me that badly?"

Reno glared and hit 'reply'.

"If I did, I would've

replied fifteen

minutes ago."

"No, then you

would have just

sounded desperate."

"Like you are doing

now?"

Reno cursed under his breath. This was turning out to be an expensive conversation.

"You're not typing." Rude reminded his red haired colleague.

"I know." he replied, "I'm trying to figure out what to write next."

Silence. "All right then." he said, and turned back to his own work. Rude knew full well what he was doing, he realized, just not with who and about what. Something that he'd rather not know, he guessed, since Rude didn't ask any questions. Which Reno was grateful for, because right now, he couldn't have answered them. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure what he was doing himself. Or to be exact, he knew exactly what he was doing, but had no clue as to why.

"I'm not desperate

to see you."

"Yes, you are."

"Why would I be

desperate to see

you?"

"Because… you've

heard all these

stories about me

and you're dying

to find out if they

hold any truth to

them."

Reno grinned. Your turn.

"Heh, that's rich.

Do you even know

what stories go

about? If half of

them are true, I'd

rather not find

out."

The redhead blinked, and wondered what stories Rufus had heard about him. His finger hovered over the 'reply' button once again, when Rude spoke up.

"Reno, do me a favour. Just call her and say whatever you want to say and then be done with it. That constant clicking is driving me insane."

The redhead looked for words, and glanced over his screen to find Rude rubbing his temples with annoyance. "I'll just stop. I don't think it's going anywhere anyway."

"Playing hard to get?"

Reno nodded. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Is it the same woman who complimented you on your 'authority defying behaviour'?"

"Heh. Some one." Same guy. The younger Turk grinned like a farmer with a toothache. "Do you think there's a link between the two?"

Rude's lip twitched ever so slightly – a hint of amusement. "Quite likely. She plays hard to get to stay in control? Not wanting to loose grip on the situation? After all, love isn't a very safe territory."

The redhead smirked. "It sure is a control freak."

"…You really like her, don't you?"

Reno startled and felt a blush creep up his face. "What makes you say that?"

"The look in your eyes, your whole demeanour."

He looked away. "I really don't think so. I'm intrigued at best."

"…why do you resist it so fiercely?"

Reno glanced at Rude, still trying to find an answer.

"It isn't a woman, is it?" he slowly said as realisation dawned upon him, the real nature of the problem becoming clear.

For the longest time, Reno said nothing. "There's more to it than that. I really think I shouldn't get involved with him."

"Thinking is something you do with your head." Rude pointed out, "Your heart tells you otherwise, doesn't it?"

The redhead stared at him. "Don't do that. That's my line."

Rude smirked.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you want me to get involved."

"Maybe I do. So far no woman has been able to keep your interest. Might be why."

"I just haven't found my match yet." Reno protested, stubborn.

"Maybe. Only one way to find out right?"

Once again, silence fell upon them. The younger Turk stared at his colleague and feverishly sought a reply, another protest. Part of him didn't want to give into his feelings. Part of him did. Taking the easy way out never solved anything in the long run. What if maybe Rude – and Elena for crying out loud – were right? That maybe he had been looking in the wrong direction.

"I guess… I could… always give it a try, right?" he slowly started, "If it doesn't work, I'll know."

Rude smirked, and nodded. "Now either call him, or focus solely on your work, all right? You're distracting me too."

Reno snickered, and shot the last message another glance. "Sure." You're going to find out if those stories – whichever you've heard – are true, Rufus, whether you like it or not.

"Reno?" asked a voice which did not belong to Rude, after a short knock on the doorpost.

The Turk glanced in the voice's direction and found Tseng standing there, looking at him intently. "Are those reports finished yet?"

"Ah, not yet boss."

"…you realize they're overdue?"

"…yes…"

Tseng made a disapproving sound. "Well, I expect to find them on my desk tomorrow morning. You will not leave this office until it's done, you understand? Even if it takes you all night."

"…WHAT?!"

"You heard me. I want them on my desk tomorrow morning. No excuses. So you'd better get it done fast, because I'm not paying you overtime." At that, the Wutaian left the office, leaving Rude alone to Reno's furious ranting.

"Can he just do that?!" Reno cried out, baffled, mad.

Rude quickly ignored him and turned back to his typing in an attempt not to answer a question that would only lead to more protests. Reno let out an exasperated sigh, and slumped in his chair. Though he might have agreed that Tseng was lenient in comparison to others, right now, he thought it was terribly unfair. It was Friday for crying out loud!

.

Quite a few cups of coffee later, Reno finally put down the last few words and hit 'print'. Rude had left the office hours ago, and not even Tseng – mister Overtime – was in the building any more.

The redhead checked his watch. 21:30. Slowly, he rose from his seat and turned off the computer. He stretched as he took the sheets from the printer. Tseng had better not complain about these.

He took the suit's jacket off the back of the chair, turned off the lights and headed in his apartment's direction after he'd dropped the reports on his boss' desk. As the elevator doors slid shut, he wondered if Rufus would still be in his office. He did say he had a lot of work to do. What harm could it do to drop by the vice-president's office?

At this hour? Most likely he would have already left for home. He should follow his example.

His finger hovered over the buttons of the control panel. What should he do? He was rather curious, but what would be the point in going up – even if they were only 6 floors – if there was no one there? I could at least enjoy the view. he wryly thought.

He shook his head and closed his eyes. Slowly, he took a breath and pressed the button. The elevator skidded into motion and it started to ascend. He stared at the numbers above the door go up. Up to Rufus' office, and there was no way to make the elevator descend before he'd arrived there. Might as well go take a look then.

It wasn't very hard to spot the vice-president's office. There were only four doors on this floor and one of them had been left open. Reno could see a desk and several drawers in the dusky room, and beyond that another door through which chinks light crept. Quick and soundless, the Turk made his way through the secretary's adjoined office, and pushed the door open, not bothering to knock.

"Working late?" he said – or at least he'd planned to before he saw the blond man lying face down on top of all sorts of papers. A pen had fallen from his hand, and an empty coffee mug had been knocked over, leftover drops had spilled onto the desk.

Reno arched an eyebrow and made his way over to the desk. He crouched next to the large, comfortable looking chair. Rufus' breath was calm and even. The redhead snickered. "And you call me a slacker?"

His slender but strong fingers brushed through strawberry blond locks and traced a line over fine cheekbones. "Hey, wake up. Rufus…"

Blue eyes fluttered open at the soft touch, and stared at him, a bit disorientated. "Hmm? Where…?"

"In your office." Reno answered. Rufus straightened up in his chair, alarmed, and browsed through the papers laid out before him. Though before he could pick any of them up, the redhead had pinned down one of his hands. "Since when have you been up?"

"Ehm…" the blond started, still sedated by sleep, "since 5:30…" Reno looked up in surprise. "…yesterday."

"What?" the Turk gasped, "Are you insane? You should rest."

"I just had some." Rufus focussed on the papers again, "I still need to read all of these."

"If they wanted you to read all of those before tomorrow, they should've send them a week earlier." the redhead sternly countered, "Now stack those, or I'll stack them for you."

The blond halted and stared at him in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Stack those, or I'll do it for you. You're in need of real sleep."

He huffed. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Last time I checked, I worked for the benefit of this company, and this company needs a healthy vice-president. So I intent to do my job."

For a few moments, the two looked at each other, challenging. When it became clear that neither of them would back down, Reno stood up and grabbed Rufus by his arm, dragging him up to his feet.

"You've got quite some nerve." the blond said, disapproving, as the redhead led him away from the desk, but Reno could hear the slight hint of amusement in his voice.

The Turk grinned. "But… isn't that what you like about me?"

Rufus looked away as he tried to suppress the grin that crept up his face. Reno couldn't help but smile at the sight, and reached out. The blond young man startled at the touch, as gentle fingers brushed over his skin and pulled on his chin, making him face Reno once again. Aquamarine eyes looked down on him, hesitant, and the redhead slowly leaned in. Blue eyes widened as Reno's lips brushed over his forehead, and he pulled was into a warm hug.

"What...?" Rufus started, confused, barely over a whisper.

Reno didn't answer, and just kept the him close to his chest, five of his fingers entangled in golden strands of hair, the other hand clasping the younger man's shoulder. Rufus could hear Reno's nervous breathing, and slowly relaxed into the embrace, putting his own arms around the Turk's waist and let his head rest against his neck.

"I feel very awkward…" Reno whispered.

Rufus brushed his fingers through the flaming red hair. "So do I, to be honest."

Surprised, Reno bend away so he could see the other's face. "I thought you…"

Rufus ran his hand through the red strands again, and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He shook head before letting it rest against the other's neck again.

"Hmm?" Reno inquired wordlessly.

"…it's been a while since someone last held me like this."

A snicker escaped the Turk's lips, and he mischievously ruffled the blond's hair.

"H-hey!" protested Rufus and shot the redhead a fierce glare, who only grinned more.

"I like you." he suddenly said, which catching both himself as the blond off guard, "I can't help it…"

He was going to say something, but Reno cut him off by placing a finger over his lips. "Give me the time to get used to this, okay?"

"Confused?"

"And freaked out."

"It'll pass…" Rufus reassuringly whispered into Reno's ear, and hesitantly nibbled on his earlobe. A shiver travelled down Reno's spine, and the blond could feel him tense, but he didn't stop.

"Rufus…"

"Hmm?" The nibbles turned into butterfly kisses as he traced down the redhead's neck. Reno's hands moved down to his hips and kept him close.

"Not that I don't like what you're doing, but I do recall telling you to go to bed."

"Come to bed with me?" Rufus purred.

"No. I think you should get some rest."

The blond pulled back and looked at him, disappointed.

"It'll be a lot more fun when you're rested." the Turk purred in turn, again catching himself off guard. What the hell was he doing?

Rufus didn't seem very convinced, but silently agreed anyway. "When will I see you again?"

"Tomorrow?"

"The meeting might take all day."

"Such meetings, especially on Saturdays, should be forbidden." the redhead softly growled.

"Yeah, well. It can't be helped. At least I don't have any on Sundays."

"I'd kill the one who'd come up with those."

"That would be Father." Rufus said with a sly grin.

Reno snorted. "You really try anything to get rid of your old man, don't ya?"

The young man purred, mischievous, and nuzzled against the other man's shoulder, "That's none of your concern."

"I'm afraid it is."

"Well, then you had better keep a close watch on me…"

"Speaking of watches... You know the time?" He smirked.

The vice-president sighed. "Fine. I'll go to bed. I am beginning to feel weary." He stepped away, yawning, "I'll just get up early."

"Not before seven."

Rufus shot him a warning look. "Look, it's cute that you're acting all concerned, but don't think you can command me around."

Reno startled and straightened up. "It's just advice."

"I don't need your advice." he said, and turned off the lights with a flick of the wrist.

"No… of course not." Reno answered, a bit hurt in his pride, and headed for the door.

Fingers brushed over his face in the dark, and he stopped in his tracks, startled. Rufus took his head in his hands. Lips touched his own, hesitant and yet resolute. Reno's arms once again wrapped themselves around the blond's body, drawing him near, as he answered the kiss. The semi-darkness of he office hid them from any watchful eye there might have been, the faint light from the mako reactors barely strong enough to make out the contours of their bodies.

Reno's tongue slid out, licking the other man's lips, pressing against his smooth teeth to beg for entrance, which was gratefully granted. Rufus' tongue met his, pushing against and sliding pass it. As they engaged in a dance of dominance, it struck Reno as typical that their current surroundings seemed to portray their budding relationship perfectly. Destined to dwell in the night and the shadows, never to face the harsh daylight.

"What about Sunday?" Reno gasped, between kisses.

"I've got another meeting on Monday."

"Ugh…"

To be continued