Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the settings. So don't hate me if they don't out the way you wanted them to.
Note: This is M rated and will have future Yaoi so be WARNED and don't say I didn't warn you. I'll put this warning on every chapter just to be sure it gets through all those thick skulls out there. Thank you for reading.
CHAPTER 9.
Reno sighed, letting his head rest against the tiled wall in front of him. The room was already filled with steam and the scalding water flowing down his back did nothing to chase the chill away. It was like this every night, for how long now? A week…two. He'd lost track of how many times he'd done this.
It was always the same. The dreams continuing until he finally forced himself awake only to be unable to pull himself away from the dream. He'd be covered in sweat and like always, went to the shower, hoping that the hot water would be able to help relax him enough.
Oh, he'd tried sleeping pills, but those only made the dreams worse because he couldn't awaken. The drugged sleep made it impossible to escape until it had run his course through his system. After the first two nights of that, he'd chucked the medicine off his balcony.
Standing there for a few more minutes, he tried to relax his tense body, to let it absorb the available heat source, but it wasn't helping. Pushing away from wall, he shut the water off and stepped out. The heated steam kept the rest of the bathroom slightly warm, so that by the time he'd dried himself off and gotten dressed, he wasn't shivering because of damp hair.
Ignoring the luminescent green eyes that followed him, he went to the kitchen to grab the last beer from the fridge. Pausing just long enough to write the word 'beer' on the list stuck to the fridge, he headed back to his room. The night was barely half over and he was going to be wide awake for the rest of it, it seemed.
He glared up at the pale remnant that stared down at him. He'd just finally reached the point that he wanted. Where he was barely conscious, but not quiet asleep. That seemed to be the only time he could get any rest without the dreams bothering him. "What?" He demanded.
"Rude's here." He said flatly, before he turned and left.
"What, Rude?" He stood up slowly, working kinks and stiff muscles out of his body. He stretched and loud pops exploded in the air.
"If it was anybody but you, I'd think something just broke." A deep voice said behind him.
He turned, a tired grin on his face. "What can I say. It's just the way I was made." He sobered up, seeing the serious look on his partner's face. "So why are you here, yo?"
"Ah, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Reno, but…" he paused, uncertain on how to continue.
"Just spit it out, yo!" Reno demanded.
"…He got away, Reno." He said bluntly. His eyes trained on Reno for any sudden movements.
"Who…What?" His mind was off somewhere else in gaga land or something, cause it didn't look like Rude was getting anywhere with Reno.
"Javner, Reno, Javner. The one we were looking for." Rude gave him that look that said 'who the fuck else!'
"Oh, wait, he got away, but how?" His mind started racing, trying to bring him up to speed. He remembered something from last week. Something Rude had said, about how he thought Javner knew some high up people to keep avoiding the Turks. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Are sources confirmed it. Finally was able to get out of town undetected for the most part, it seems. Rufus is sending us and a few others to the towns closer to here do a new search, but it may take awhile." He said still watching him closely.
" Dude, Rude, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me so much. Just send me a postcard when yo get there, okay." He said, trying to bring forth his old cocky self, but it just seemed to fall flat and he knew Rude saw through it. But he didn't say anything, which he was grateful for.
"Well, I'll be seeing you." He nodded to Reno than Kadaj, before he left. Reno leaned against the wall, letting his forehead rest against the plastered wall.
"You know, you shouldn't lie to him." Kadaj said behind him.
"What else am I supposed to do. If I didn't, than he'd start to worry about me and get himself killed because he wasn't paying attention. And its not like he doesn't know I'm lying." He tried to defend himself against Kadaj's cold observations.
"True, but it still wasn't smart." Kadaj just turned and left.
"He mothers me too much as it is." Reno muttered to himself, forgetting again about Kadaj's enhanced hearing. He spent the rest of the day and all through the next one just brooding, letting memories of his life before things had become so complicated, before the Turks, before his mother had become sick. When every thing had seemed so simple as a child. He knew he couldn't go back to those days, but he still missed them sometimes.
He tried to control his breathing as he glared up at the ceiling. He was really getting tired of this routine. Pushing himself up, he untangled himself from sweat soaked sheets and head towards the bathroom. Looking at the clock that was on the small radio he kept in here, he saw it was just past one. Well, maybe he was starting to get better, if he was sleeping later than he normally did.
Shaking his head, he squashed the little glimmer of hope before it could stab him in the back. Sighing, he stripped off his sweaty clothes, and walked into the shower. Time for the routine to continue, for now.
This was getting old. It was the next night and nothing had changed. He still woke up in a cold sweat, still took his nightly shower. It was as if his mind was a masochist, reliving that moment over and over again. He hoped it ended soon.
He was staring at the blank TV screen in front of him. His mind was void of any thought. Just emotions and past memories. Mainly it kept going back to when he was kid. When his mother had been able to take care of him, before the sickness.
Those moments had been few, when he could remember a happy moment with his mother. Usually, it was only when she was able to take time off from one or both of her jobs. Most of his time had been spent alone.
But he still remembered the times she had been there, mainly at night, when he'd had a bad dream or was sick and she would just lay beside him on the bed, talking to him, singing to him. He couldn't remember her voice anymore, but it was still one of the better memories he had of her.
He looked at the clock. It was getting late and soon he would have to get up, to let Kadaj have his bed. The thought of Kadaj, the small pale teen, with so much power at his command, and yet so socially inept. It made something click in his thoughts. He knew it was a stupid idea, but he'd nothing left. He just hoped Kadaj wouldn't laugh at him.
He sat up and saw the Remnant watching him, waiting for something he wasn't sure. Maybe he'd spoken aloud in his mussing. He averted his eyes, and finally asked him. "Kadaj, can I ask you to do something?"
Kadaj just stared at him, before he finally spoke. "That depends on what it is."
"Well, it just that I remembered something from when I was young. My mother, would just lay next to me when ever I had a bad dream, and I was wondering if you could… well do that?" The last part came out slightly strangled, but he refused to look at him.
"Will it help?" He finally asked after what had seemed forever. Reno let out the breath he had been holding. He'd been expecting Kadaj to make fun of him or worse.
"I don't know, but it's all I can think of. You don't have to do anything, but maybe if there's well someone near me, it might help me sleep better." He finished, he felt a slight flush on his cheeks and turned his head away. Why was he so embarrass by this. It wasn't like he was asking him for sex or anything like that.
"Fine. I don't mind. Just try not to snore or roll over on me please." He gave a snort of laughter at the glare Reno directed at him. 'Damn punks these days, think they knew everything.' Reno thought to himself, but couldn't help but smile.
He lay on the bed, staring at the wall, unsure of what to do. He could feel Kadaj just a few feet away, could feel the heat radiating off of him, but it wasn't helping him get to sleep. If anything, it was keeping him up. 'Damn it! Go to sleep!' He yelled at his body.
Focusing on his body, he forced the muscles to relax. Forced the annoying thoughts from his mind, until he was finally able to make his mind blank and he could feel sleep on the edges of his mind. It was dragging at him, pulling him under its black surface. Trying to drown him in dreams and nightmares, but for the moment he embraced it. To see if this might help him out.
As he finally went under he thought he heard someone humming, but he couldn't fight the pull of sleep anymore. He let a sigh escape his lips as he sank all the way under the surface of unconsciousness.
And the first update of the week and during my winter break. I finally forced myself away from reading fanfiction to type this up. So here we go.
So Reno finally went with a last resort thing. Wonder where that will lead to. Well I know and I'll give you all a big, bright and shiny 'HERE I AM!' hint: The next chapter is the long awaited smut scene I've been promising. YES!!!!!!!!!! I've actually had this typed up for about two months now, sorry, but I had to wait for the story to catch up to this point. I won't tell you how it goes down, but it is technically my first smut scene ever typed, so please be gentle with your reviews/critiques.
This will be a two chapter update since the next one is already typed so look forward to the next one which should follow closely behind this one. Also if any of you all have lost track of time in this story, it's about three weeks into his vacation time.
Until Next Time
~Reiya
