#5
"Reno, don't walk away from me!" Rufus stalked after the mess of red hair that was all he could see of the Turk moving through the crowded cafeteria.
"Making a scene in front of all those people! You're supposed to be better than they are!"
The blond snarled at the voice in his head. Even in death, his father haunted him. But his father wasn't here to be embarrassed by his chasing through the Tower after one of his Turks.
"Reno!"
He shoved past a group of girls that were trying to look pretty and catch his eye with only a passing thought. Didn't they know what he was? What he'd be like even if one of them were enough to catch his eye? The only reason Reno had kept his attentions for so long was because of his chaotic tendencies.
Nothing was ever the same with Reno, even when it was.
"Reno!"
"You're causing a scene, boy. I don't care why you're chasing him, but someone is going to see it as a lovers' spat. You're an embarrassment!"
"Go to hell, father," Rufus growled under his breath, breaking into a run as he followed Reno into a deserted hallway. "Reno!"
He reached out when he got close enough, grabbing Reno's wrist and forcing the red head to stop and turn around. It was a stupid move to grab a Turk like that from behind, he noted as Reno's other hand barely managed to stop before slamming into the blond's nose.
"Let go of me, Rufus."
Hatred. Reno looked at him with a hatred that Rufus had only seen directed at him in the eyes of those Avalanche terrorists before.
"No! Dammit, Reno, I didn't mean for this to happen! Why won't you believe that I never meant to hurt you like that?"
The light caught on the Mako in Reno's eyes and reflected back in a flash that only emphasized the anger already there. "Rufus, get your hand off of me. Don't think that I won't hurt..."
It was the most dangerous thing in the world, kissing a Turk this furious and ready to kill. And somehow, that made the touch all the sweeter. Reno wouldn't really kill him, Rufus kept repeating in his mind. Not that he fully believed that, but if Reno was going to kill him, he'd likely already be dead.
That didn't mean that it still wasn't a struggle to keep from getting hurt in this particular embrace. Reno's nails dug into his hand, and he winced visibly, but didn't pull away. He was stronger than his bodyguard. Reno was fast, agile, and smart, but physically he was one of the weakest of the Turks. The younger Shinra always found that if he could catch Reno off guard, he could easily overwhelm the other man physically.
Of course, that was something he had to be careful of, as well. A stolen kiss Reno would forgive in a moment. More and he'd lose everything.
Right now, even the kiss was going to have a painful consequence, Rufus realized as his head slammed into the other wall of the hallway. Reno was good with leverage moves when he could get his positioning right.
"What the hell makes you think you still have the right to do that?" Reno hissed out, a hand reaching up to wipe at his mouth.
The blond slid to the floor, holding the back of his head. He really had screwed up this time. Not only had he lost Tseng--who was easily the closest thing he had to a real father as well as Reno's real lover--but he lost Reno as well. He still had some hope that Reno would get past his anger for the past few days, but now...
He closed his eyes tightly as he bit down hard on his lower lip. If that was the way it was going to be, then he wouldn't cry. Not in front of any of them ever again.
Not that he'd ever have anything left to cry about after this.
Fingers touched his cheek suddenly, and he was forced to open his eyes to see why. He hadn't heard Reno leave, or anyone else approach, so it had to be Reno that touched him.
"Come on, brat. I'll get you some ice for your head."
"Reno..." The hatred was gone, but Rufus could still see the pain from everything that happened etched in Reno's face. "I didn't..."
"We'll talk about it later." Reno stood up and held a hand down to the blond on the floor. "Tseng would kill me for fighting with you like this..."