Kadaj woke up the next morning to the sound of running water in the kitchen. Lifting his sleep-mussed head, he peered owlishly at the bright light to see his brother moving confidently around the apartment's small kitchen.
Yawning, the boy got up off of the couch and padded quietly to the counter, leaning on it on his elbows, head propped in his hands. He loved to watch Yazoo moving around, even though the old desire had been washed away by Aerith's forgiving light. Still, Yazoo was poetry in motion and Kadaj felt a familiar admiration and envy well up in him to see his brother making such grace out of simple daily chores. He smelled sweet, too—freshly showered and dressed for a day at home in a loose tee-shirt and cargo pants, his hair loose down his back.
"Did you sleep okay?" he inquired, startling Kadaj a little, who'd been watching him with dreamy, distant intensity.
"Yeah," Kadaj answered, sitting down on the counter's barstool to watch Yazoo start the coffee.
"You could've slept with us, Reno didn't mind," Yazoo told him, rooting through the cabinets to find sugar and creamer.
Kadaj shrugged a little and softly said, "Reno told me yesterday that I've never been responsible for myself. He's right—I've always relied on someone else, so…so I figured sleeping alone was a good start."
Yazoo smiled gently at him, placing the sugar down with three mugs already in place.
"Yazoo?"
"What is it, koishii?" Yazoo asked, turning away to view the contents of the refrigerator with a disgusted, "Hmph!"
Kadaj ducked his head shyly and murmured, "Why weren't you angry when you found me in your bed with Reno last night?"
"Angry? Koishii, why would I be angry?" Yazoo questioned, pulling out a questionable bowl of rice and tossing it into the garbage.
"I mean…If I had gone home and found you in Cloud's bed, I would've lost it," Kadaj admitted, tracing patterns on the countertop.
"What, don't you trust Cloud?" Yazoo asked, leftovers making their way into the garbage.
"Yeah, of course I do—"
"Then what's the problem?" Yazoo asked, turning around to face him and giving him a soft smile. "Kadaj, I trust Reno implicitly. There was a better chance of him beating you than sleeping with you. You're like a bratty little brother to him."
Kadaj gazed at him thoughtfully, considering it.
"So, how do you trust someone so much?" he asked, because if that was trust, he sure didn't have it with Cloud.
Yazoo thought for a moment, perfect face falling utterly still before he slowly said, "When you love someone, you give them the ability to hurt you more than anyone else in the world, but you have the ability to hurt them just as badly. You have to have faith that they would never do such a thing, Kadaj. Faith that their love for you is stronger than any selfish compulsion." He smiled, face softening when he thought of his fox-faced lover. "With Reno and I, we've already learned our lessons, hurt one another. Now we have faith that it will never happen again. Do you understand?"
Kadaj nodded a little.
"You respect one another," he said, dissecting their relationship and comparing it to his own. "You're equals."
"How else would we be?" Yazoo laughed. "Of course we respect one another. We also tolerate each others' foibles and forgive each others' stupid screw-ups—love is work, Kadaj, it isn't always perfection. People make mistakes, koishii, expecting them not to is…is…unreasonable."
Kadaj sighed unhappily, resting his chin on his stacked hands.
"I need to grow up," he said. "I need to face what's happening…"
"And what's that?" Yazoo inquired, pouring them both coffee.
"That Cloud never loved me," Kadaj softly said, and managed not to let tears well up. "That all of it was just…just smoke and mirrors."
"Oh, koishii, I don't think that's true," Yazoo murmured, placing Kadaj's cup by his elbow and stroking his hair. "Cloud is entranced by you."
Kadaj closed his eyes and told Yazoo of the prior day's events that had led up to him sleeping in their bed curled up in Reno's arms. Yazoo listened quietly, sipping at his coffee and leaning negligently against the opposite counter, but his solemn, smooth face held the stirrings of anger and deep, welling regret for his little brother.
"He's heartsick," Yazoo said when Kadaj finished. "He doesn't know what he's doing."
"It doesn't matter, I've decided what I'm going to do," Kadaj said, lower lip out in a stubborn pout.
Reno emerged from the bedroom, fingers riffling his damp hair until it stood on end, the long ponytail dripping droplets of water. He was dressed in his Turk suit, but in his usual sloppy way—no tie, shirt untucked, jacket open, collar unbuttoned to give brief, enticing glimpses of his breastbone and the dip of muscle there. His goggles were firmly in place, holding that mess of hair out of his eyes, and his grin was just as firmly present. He looked like a man with no worries, and greeted them both with flashing blue eyes and a quick, "What up?"
Yazoo handed him his cup of coffee and fussed with imaginary lint on his jacket, falling easily into the caretaker roll he'd so often played with Kadaj and Loz.
"Have any psycho fits last night, loony bin?" he asked, smirking and turning his head to kiss Yazoo until he stopped picking at his jacket. "Sheesh, quite the housewife this morning, aren't we?"
"If you didn't insist on going to work looking like I've had you horse-dragged beforehand!" Yazoo fumed, throwing one graceful hand in the air in exasperation. "Why do I try?"
"Because you love me, yo!" Reno said, catching him around the waist and squeezing him. "And…because you're a perfect housewife."
"Watch it, fox-face," Yazoo said, his tone holding a hint of warning. "I'll Switch so fast your head will spin."
"He can do that," Kadaj chimed in, nodding emphatically.
Reno's eyebrows lifted, his lean face lighting up with mischievous glee, but he only finished his coffee and stroked Yazoo's cheek, murmuring, "I'm sorry, baby, I'm just playing with you, yo."
Yazoo melted like butter in a hot pan, ruefully saying, "I don't mean to be so touchy, Reno, really. Kadaj just filled me in on what's been going on with Cloud and I got a little…"
"Pissed?" Reno offered.
"Out of sorts," Yazoo wryly said—though he had no qualms using foul language in private, he tended to leave that sort of thing in the bedroom, having been raised with impeccable manners and sensitivity.
"Can I go to work with you today, Reno?" Kadaj suddenly asked, giving him a soulful gaze.
"Absolutely not, it's not Bring A Brat To Work Day," Reno flatly said, refilling his coffee cup and going for his smokes. "And stop giving me the Big Eyes. I'm Rufus' bodyguard, it's sorta my…oh, what's that word…oh, yeah, job to keep kooks like you away from him."
"What's wrong with me?" Kadaj asked, not offended.
"You're psycho!" Reno reminded him. "So, no. Absolutely not. No way."
"But I need him to give me a job," Kadaj said.
"He'll give you a job alright," Reno scoffed, lighting his cigarette. He leaned on the counter next to Yazoo, who was watching Kadaj thoughtfully, and regarded the boy himself. What he saw there made him frown a little, assessing Kadaj. "You really want a job?"
Kadaj squirmed a little, pinned by both of their intense gazes.
"Yeah…like you said, I need to take care of myself," he said, suddenly emphatic, finding the well of the old Kadaj inside him—determination and strength. "He could use me, Reno. I need someone strong to teach me how to be strong for myself."
Yazoo looked at Reno, his silent look saying, 'Well, why not?'
Reno blew smoke from his nostrils and lowered his chin, staring at Kadaj from the tops of his eyes. Kadaj had an unsettling feeling that this was the same look people marked by Shinra got when the red-head dealt them death. No hint of teasing, no air of ridiculous charm—just steady, intense assessment and a stern inner judge.
"Not Rufus," he finally said. He got his phone out suddenly and flipped it open, frowning with uncharacteristic seriousness as he dialed a number and said, "It's me. Remember that favor you owe me? Well, I'm calling it in, yo. I got someone I want you to apprentice, no questions asked…Yeah, this will clear our debt, fair and square, yo—but you have to teach this kid, okay? He's at my apartment now but he can meet you wherever you like…Sounds good."
He hung up the phone, looking rather relieved, and gave Kadaj a satisfied smirk.
"Well, your fate is sealed, brat," he told him, taking a deep drag off of his smoke. "I know you've had a run-in with him before but if you want to learn to take care of yourself, I can think of no better person."
"Reno, who was that?" Yazoo asked, sounding worried.
"It isn't just anybody who can get the drop on old grumpy-pants, that favor was a landfall," Reno said, and tipped a wink at Kadaj, adding, "You get to learn from a real hero, nutjob."
"Why do I feel like I've been tricked?" Kadaj weakly asked. "Who is it?"
"Vincent Valentine."
Kadaj slumped down in a miserable little heap on the countertop.
Yazoo looked at Kadaj, and then looked at his lover, saying with haughty disapproval, "I thought you said you wouldn't really kill him?"
Reno laughed and shrugged his narrow shoulders, delighted by the reaction.