"So how did it go with his highness?"
Tseng opened the door to find Reno sprawled over his couch, the ashtray on the glass coffee table overflowing.
"Reno," Tseng sighed. He was tired, more tired than he liked to let on, and he wanted nothing more at that moment than to fall onto his newly made bed and sleep. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you, of course." The young redhead, newest and youngest of the Turks, slipped off the couch and went over to give Tseng a quick kiss. Tseng smiled sadly, then shook his head.
"Aw, c'mon, Tseng." Reno looked at him pleadingly, his green eyes hurt.
"Reno, we discussed this." Sighing heavily, he sat down on the couch. "Our relationship is over, at least in that sense. I don't want anything interfering with your work, or mine. When you weren't a Turk, it was different. But now, if it comes down to a life or death decision when we're on duty, I don't want there to be anything that would cause you or me to hesitate even for a split second. It could endanger one of us, or even Rude. Understand?"
Casting his usually vibrant green eyes down at the floor, Reno nodded. "Yeah," he said softly. "I understand."
"Gods, Reno." Tseng stood and gathered the younger Turk in his arms. "I don't want to hurt you," he whispered into his tousled red hair. "You know that. And I will always love you. But there simply can't be anything like that between us now. Or ever."
"I- I know," Reno admitted. "It's just- it'll take some time getting used to, I guess."
Smiling fondly, Tseng held Reno out at arms length. "Besides, your tastes are quite a bit wider than mine. You won't have any trouble finding someone else. You're adorable, Reno. You have women and men following you everywhere you go."
"And you don't," Reno scoffed. It was true, people everywhere of both sexes found the tall, delicate seeming leader of the Turks to be irresistible. Sometimes, Reno wished he could let the women know just how hopeless their position was. Tseng's tastes ran...contrary to the norm in this case. Reno grinned to himself. Lucky for him. Or at least, it had been.
"Don't remind me." Tseng stretched himself out on the couch, closing his eyes wearily.
"Tired?" Reno perched on the edge of the couch beside Tseng's head. Gently, he reached out and began to massage Tseng's neck and shoulders, frowning at the tension he found there.
"A little." Tseng opened one eye, gave Reno a careful look, then closed it again. "Not too tired to talk, though." He began to relax under Reno's touch. "I swear, Reno, sometimes, it's all I can do not to slap that little brat across his smart mouth. The next minute, I want to take him and shake some common sense into him. It makes me wonder whether the hell he's even been outside Midgar before." He sighed deeply. "And another minute later I want- well...I think you know what I want to do."
"I do." Reno paused, considering. "Tseng, is he-?"
"I have no idea. My guess is no. It's more than likely that he hasn't even heard about people- like me. Or even like you, for that matter. His father's a bigot; he can barely stand being in the same room with me. My money's on that he doesn't want his son to have even the faintest idea that things like this go on in the real world until he's ready to ingrain some of his own personal teachings in with it as well."
"Hmph."
A few moments of comfortable silence passed, then Reno became aware of his superior's slow, even breathing.
"Tseng?" he whispered in his ear. There was no response. Smiling softly, he placed a bittersweet kiss on his former lover's forehead and straightened. "I still love you," he said. "But I guess you're right. This can't continue." A single tear slipped down Reno's face, flowing over the scar beneath his right eye, mirroring the one on his left. He wiped them away impatiently, knowing that Tseng would have rebuked him for his weakness. Throwing one last look over his shoulder at the sleeping form of his beloved, he slowly walked out the door.