Business As Usual

Chapter #25: World Revival

By Miyamashi

Miya's Note: (Sighs) Well, here's Chapter 25! I really like this one, but I am a little disheartened by the fact that I figured some stuff out that facilitates that I must write a sequel to this. I've had the idea floating around in my head for a while, and I finally figured out the last piece of the puzzle that pretty much makes it a necessity for me to go on after BAU.

I'm happy about this, and a bit afraid. It's hopefully not gonna be as long as the first. This one's almost 230 pages already, in the tiny formatting I use on my computer, and in book format, the first "Book" of the story (Everything before Rufus leaves) is exactly 300 pages.

I dunno if I could take another one of those.

But I do have some really cool ideas that can actually, though it may seem impossible, connect this to Advent Children, all the while explaining the rest of the way Gaia works, how Rufus and Tseng are alive, what exactly Geostigma is, why Rufus would look for Jenova in the first place, and…all that stuff. Plus, it'll bring in a few of the big FF7 characters that are almost lost in the background of BAU, like Sephiroth and Aeris. Basically, I wanna do what AC didn't do…fill in the plot holes!

Phew.

I'm crazy.

I, truthfully, never thought I'd be there again, right in front of Rufus Fucking Shinra--on the floor no less--feeling him staring down on me like I was some worthless lowlife.

Ah, the sweet sensation of familiarity.

For a little bit there, while he had me vulnerable again, just like he used to get me in the old days, I thought I was actually over him. I thought I hated him more than I'd ever hated him before. I thought I could have just killed him right there, with no worry or care about what that would lead me to. "Kill him," I told myself. "Do it, Reno. Get up and rid the world of this scumbag. Rid yourself of him. Rid yourself of the plague."

Then, I tried to move.

And I couldn't.

And I realized he'd won again.

Yep, he still had me. Damned beautiful scumbag and his ways. And then, he spoke, and it sent those same shivers down my spine that always felt like fear.

"Stand up," he said.

I wouldn't do it. No. I wouldn't follow his orders. I wouldn't even look at him.

"Stand up, Reno."

No, Rufus, I won't. I won't until you leave.

I heard the sound of one of the switchblades he liked to carry around with him, and I felt it pointing down at me.

"Stand," he said simply.

I looked up at him against all of my better judgment--no not at him, at the knife--and I found his switchblade pointing, not point but handle, at my nose.

"Take the knife, and stand."

And I pulled the blade from his fingers. I pulled that blade that said to me, "Kill him, Reno. Look, even he wants you to do it," from his grip so fast I got to watch blood splatter the end of the sleeve on one of his new coats.

And I stood, ready to strike.

Rufus Shinra smiled a predatory smile. Reno found this ironic, as the prey should usually look more afraid than the hunter, although the situation at that moment was very much the opposite.

"Why are you doing this?" asked the Turk.

"Doing what, Reno?"

"Don't play with me. This. The knife, and that smarmy look on your face."

"I'm keeping my promise."

"Promise?"

"You're healed now, aren't you?" Rufus began to unbutton his jacket.

"What are you raving on about?"

"Such a short memory." The blonde pulled the jacket, as well as an under-layer that gave him a bit of a trench-coat look, past his arms and threw the garments on the floor behind him. He started on his shirt, pulling it over his head.

The scars on his chest reminded Reno of just what promise the President meant.

"You want me to cut you. You want me to make you bleed."

"If I remember correctly, you wanted to do that on your own."

The redhead looked at the knife in his hand. He heard the sound of Rufus' toe tapping on the tile.

And he pounced.

Reno slashed a long, thin gash across the blonde's chest. "That's for pushing on my broken ribs!" he yelled, staring straight into the other man's ice-eyes. Rufus simply continued to smile.

The redhead shoved his prey against a wall and buried the blade in his shoulder. "That's for leaving for eight years!"

Rufus began to laugh.

The knife began to drag over the President's stomach, cutting a deep, long, river of blood down his form, straight down the centerline of his body. "And that's for killing Nora and the baby," Reno hissed darkly.

The laughter grew harsher and more intense.

Reno watched the red flow down, to stain the top hem of Rufus' pants. The knife hovered over that same spot.

"A little feisty, are we?" came Rufus' dark sneer.

"If you think I won't do it…."

"I don't think you will."

Neither of them moved.

"You're awfully calm, Rufus."

"And is there a reason I shouldn't be?"

"I have the knife, and I could do just about anything to you right now."

"And since when has that been any different?"

It almost seemed like a flash of movement, and Reno had Rufus pinned face-first to that same wall, and the knife was held in front of the blonde's throat. "I'll do it. I'll kill you, if you make one wrong move."

"So dominating. I forgot how much you like the control."

"This isn't a game."

"Of course it is, and isn't it a fun one? You have me right where you want me, and I have you just where you need to be to make me…"

"Don't finish that."

"To make me scream."

Reno pulled the knife up against the scars on Rufus' throat.

"To make me shiver under you."

"Don't make me…"

"To make me yours."

Reno pulled the knife out from the small space in front of the blonde. "Mine? You want to be my little plaything, Rufus? Fine."

And Reno cut his initials into Rufus Shinra's back, dropped the knife, and turned away.

The redhead heard a couple of steps behind him, and he felt hands grip his shoulders. Then, he was facing the blonde, so close their noses almost touched. He could feel Rufus' hot breath puffing over his lips.

Even more, he could feel Rufus' gaze, which, despite the icy color of the eyes that bore it, was digging itself into him even more hotly.

"I hate you," said Reno, though his voice was shaking.

"No you don't, Reno. Not really, or you would have killed me."

"Don't tell me what I feel."

"I'm not. I'm telling you what you don't."

And there it was, that mischievous smirk that always told Reno that something was coming.

But, to the redhead's surprise, it was him, and not Rufus, who found himself closing the gap between them. But as quickly as the kiss had started, it was over, because Reno had backed himself away from the lips that had drawn him in.

He stared at Rufus, blood flowing down the blonde's body and his once-white pants. The President gazed back lazily, and made no move toward or away from the other man.

"You need to heal yourself. Do you have any potions?"

"No, but I have materia. It's so easy to forget that we live in a world of magic, isn't it?"

"Whatever, Rufus. Just heal yourself. I'm sure you have a lot to do, being President now and all." Reno began to walk toward the door.

"Wait, Reno," heard the redhead from a few feet behind him.

"What is it now?" said the Turk without turning around.

"I want you to do it," came the blonde's light, almost eerie whisper from right behind Reno's ear.

"I didn't even hear you move…"

Rufus simply acknowledged the fact with a slight hum. Reno let the fingers on his left hand be pried open by a set of unusually sharp nails. A cold orb was slipped into the redhead's grasp.

Reno clutched down on the materia, trying to feel the power that lay inside of it. "Restore materia, I take it? Mastered too, I assume?"

"You assume correctly."

Reno could feel the toothy smile that formed inches behind his neck.

"I'm not too good with magic."

"I'll help you. Just turn around." To emphasize that this was more of an order than a request, Rufus turned Reno himself, using those same nails as a guide on the redhead's shoulders. "Now, Reno, hold the materia tightly in your left hand, and hold your right over the injuries."

"I've never heard of anyone casting like this. They usually just concentrate and say a spell name, and the spell just kind of works."

"Like magic?"

"Funny," grumbled the Turk sarcastically.

"I want you to cast like this. It's much more…"

"Weird?"

"Intimate."

Reno raised an eyebrow toward the blonde. "I don't want to be intimate. Especially not with you."

"Well, that's too bad. You don't always get what you desire most."

"Unless you're you."

"Hmmm, you think that's true?"

"Right now it is."

"I want you to cooperate with me, and I wish that you would do it freely."

Reno simply let out a short grunt of annoyance.

"Hold your hand over the top of this injury here." Rufus guided Reno's hand to show. "Now, concentrate. Imagine the wound closing itself up, leaving only a little scar to show that it was ever there at all. Then move down, across the cuts and the stab wound, until you reach the end. Right. Here."

Reno looked up at Rufus' expression, which had a glint of lust and domineering malice that he didn't like in the least. Then, he traced his gaze down the path Rufus had formed with their hands.

And he noticed suddenly that his fingers were resting on top of the button on the President's still blood-stained dress pants.

"All healed," said Rufus with a sneer.

"I…I still need to get your back. Don't wanna have a big…"

Rufus grabbed his hand before he could pull away. "Leave it. I'll let that one heal on its own. It'll scar better that way."

Reno's fingers brushed over the fine fabric under them.

"Don't worry, Pet. I'm not going to rape you or anything. You are far better at that kind of thing."

"Don't even talk about that, Rufus, you sick fuck."

"I'll just taunt you and tempt you until you can't hold back any longer."

"I'm not gonna fall into another one of your traps…"

"I can wait for you to break." Rufus brushed a finger under Reno's jaw line.

The redhead shivered slightly.

"To snap." He brushed his lips over one ear.

Fingers curled over now-crimson cloth.

"To wither and melt, until the moment you're too weak to get away." Whispers that were sensed far more than heard.

Reno's knees began to try to give out under him.

"And then, I'll have you."

The redhead collapsed onto his once-lover's scar-mapped chest; into the embrace that had forsaken him for eight years.

Into a trap filled with the lust-marked fumes of vodka-and-steel scented poison gas.

Rufus took the materia from the other's hand and bit down slightly on the top of Reno's ear, just enough to pinch and cause almost a whimper to escape the captive's throat. "There, Rufus. You got me. Are you happy now?" game a pained voice that seemed to creak from the bony form in the taller man's arms.

Reno thought he almost felt Rufus began to purr.

"There, Rufus, she's out of the way, and you can have me back with no pesky obstacles."

"Except for you, of course."

"I'm not fighting you anymore."

"But you're not really cooperating, either. You're just giving up."

"Why the hell should I cooperate?"

"Because, if you don't, then I have to take absolute control, and I don't think you'll like that."

They stood for a little, before Reno finally pushed the blonde away. Rufus sprang into action, circling the redhead like a wolf to a rabbit.

And Reno began to circle back, transforming himself from prey to rival hound.

"Games again?" hissed Reno.

"Are you ready to play?" growled Rufus back.

Instead of answering, Reno lunged forward and grabbed Rufus by one shoulder and jerked forward. The blonde retaliated by grabbing hold of the ponytail of red coming from the back of Reno's neck.

Reno's grip tightened, and Rufus pulled his head farther and farther back.

The Turk eventually lost balance and fell backwards, only to be caught by his foe. Rufus looked down at him, kissed him roughly, and grabbed his hand, spinning him out of the grip like in a dance.

To Reno's surprise, the President began to hum a familiar tune.

"That's the song you…"

"The one I sang for you so long ago. Yes." Rufus continued to hum.

"Crazy fuck."

"Dance, Pet." Rufus pulled Reno in close, and shifted to a slow waltz. The redhead seemed to be trying to figure out how to move his feet.

"I don't dance. I just fight." The Turk broke the grip and pulled a new version of the electro-mag rod Rufus had given him from his coat, retracting it and holding it toward the blonde menacingly.

Rufus swept across the room and picked the switchblade up from the floor. He stood proudly and held the knife ready before him.

Reno pounced forward, jabbing the mag-rod toward the other man, who parried by knocking his hand sideways with the blunt of the knife, almost as if it were a warning.

Reno lunged and Rufus parried again, the latter's only movement coming from the arm that held the blade.

Reno lunged again, and the knife was through his hand.

The mag-rod fell to the floor.

Blade out, and Rufus simply whispered "Cure" and stepped back. The thin wound through Reno's hand closed up.

The blonde picked the electro-mag rod from the floor, closed it, and did the same to the switchblade. He dropped both weapons to the ground. "I guess I do have to take control, then."

"Go ahead and try."

"You've become more daring."

"No, I just don't care what happens so much if I lose anymore."

"Shall we raise the stakes, then?"

"How's that?"

"A duel. Hand-to-hand. If you win, you walk out that door alone. If I win, I get to have a little fun with you."

"You'll win, and you know it. You always win."

"Exactly, so if you choose to duel with me, you'll be cooperating."

Reno thought for a moment, and then smiled slightly. "A duel, then?"

"Ah, so he's finally returned. Hello, Reno."

Reno attempted to attack, but Rufus grabbed his hand. "I win," is all he said as he twisted the Turk around and dipped him yet again. "And thus, we dance."

"This is what you meant by having fun with me? I didn't even fight back, you know. You can't really say you won."

"I have you here still, don't I? So now, we tango. A sultry dance from exotic lands." Rufus snapped twice in front of Reno's nose to simulate a beat.

"I told you, I don't dance." Reno stood from the dip and pushed the blonde back. Rufus knocked against the messy desk Reno had assumed as his own.

The Turk stepped forward and pushed Rufus down on the metal surface, where the bloody, reversed mark of "R. K." stained the papers on top of it.

The redhead pushed his lips to the other man's in a predatory, devouring kiss. He slid his hands down the blonde's chest.

The door opened behind them.

"Reno, I've been getting complaints about excessive noise in here," said Rude as he walked into the office.

The sound of a gun's safety disengaging broke the stunned silence that followed.

"Go back the way you came, Rude." hissed Rufus Shinra, holding the pistol he'd pulled from a holster on Reno's hip with it's barrel toward the intruder.

Rude stood in a shocked stupor as Rufus pushed Reno to a standing position, one arm wrapped around the thin man's waist, the other still pointing the pistol. The three of them moved slowly and in sync toward the door. Rude backed out first, and Rufus cocked the gun.

"Go. Tell Tseng what you saw, too. That will make things interesting."

Rude backed up a few steps more, and then turned and walked quickly away from the two entangled men.

"I say we go somewhere more private, and a bit more comfortable," said Rufus, unwrapping himself from around Reno and handing the Turk back his firearm. He walked into the office and picked up his clothing, slipping his shirt over his head and holding the coat over his arm. "And, Reno, remind me to have a cleaner come in here and take care of the stains, although they should come out easily enough from the steel walls.

"Alright. To your place?"

Rufus' glare shot daggers into the other man. "That reminds me: I noticed that you had packed up your things and moved out."

"You were pissed. Didn't wanna intrude."

"What about the girl? Did she ever ask you about your living quarters?"

"Didn't have a chance. We always went back to her place on the plate. I didn't want her to get suspicious, and Rude's apartment wasn't exactly private."

Rufus bit his lip, thinking about Reno with a woman. "Are you upset?"

"About Nora? Of course I'm fucking upset about that, Rufus!" Reno turned his back to the other man, shutting the door again, so that he could vent without attracting too much more attention. "And to think, you almost had me, and then you have to go and ask the smart question, 'Are you upset?' No shit, Sherlock. You killed my girlfriend and my kid…"

"It wasn't your kid, Reno."

"What?"

"That child was my brother, although I didn't know it for sure until after they did the autopsy."

Reno frowned deeply, thinking about Nora with Rufus' late father.

"Give me another chance, Reno. I've been waiting for the time when we could start again from the beginning, without my father here, looming over us. Just me and you, Reno."

"You act like we're some fairy tale. You act like we can just hold each other in the cold nights and everything will be okay. You just want the bad things to be erased, like they never happened. That's not how it works. I'm glad Rude came in when he did, because I was about to do something stupid. I was about to let you erase it all, when that would have just made things worse."

"I'm not trying to erase it, Reno. Rufus set his hand on the redhead's shoulder. "But, I am trying to move on. You can't erase the past. You can't change the fact that she's dead, and I can't change what I did; all the things I've done, and you have done. But I can't dwell on it, either. Nobody can dwell on the past and stay sane. I've been trying to learn how to let go for years now, while I was in Junon."

"And all you've done is made it so you don't have to have a conscience."

"I told you why I did it. If that's not good enough for you, then that is fine. I really didn't expect it to be. But I need you. If Father hadn't died when he did, I would have been driven to go back to my old ways. The cuts would have gone deeper, and I would have lain, bleeding, on the floor of my office in Junon, and I would have died there."

"And it would have saved an innocent woman's life, and the Shinra legacy would have gone on in a new son, who I would have raised as my own."

Rufus laughed at that. "And you and your Leanora would have lived on, happily ever after, am I right? Who's talking in fairy tales now? What about when you found out about her? Would you have been so kind to her if she were still alive?"

Rufus Shinra swept past and through the door.

Reno Kiribani watched him go, and then picked up his weapon and the switchblade and walked out, too, but in the other direction.

"Rude, stop!" yelled Reno as he ran after his comrade.

"What now?" asked Rude, not turning around to face the redhead.

"Don't tell Tseng about what you saw in there, okay? Nothing happened."

Rude stopped in his tracks. "Nothing? That's a joke, Reno. I saw you, all over that bastard, the both of you bent over your desk. And he was shirtless, no less. I know exactly what was going on in there. Nora's conveniently dead now, so you thought you'd run back to him. Lemme ask you something. Did you know that Feltz guy?"

"Are you accusing me of…"

"Yeah, Reno. Timing seems a bit perfect, huh? Have the librarian kill her, so she's out of the way for you and the Prodigal Son. He was in your brigade, I seem to recall, back when you were in SOLDIER."

"I can't believe you're actually saying I had my girlfriend killed! I loved Nora, Rude!"

"Didn't take you long to get over that broken heart."

"I just basically told Rufus to fuck off, if you really wanna know. But, no, you're just making assumptions, as usual."

Rude finally turned around. "Oh, so you told the rich brat to screw himself, did you? And he really took that from you? I doubt it. If that had really happened, he would have shot you on the spot."

"You don't know that, Rude. You don't even know Rufus. He…" Reno stopped and thought back. "He just said, 'Would you have been so kind to her if she were still alive?' and left."

Rude looked at his partner, puzzled.

"Would I?" asked Reno, and then walked back in the direction from which he came.

Rude just watched him go.

There was a knock at Rufus' apartment door. The blonde smiled and answered, finding Reno, looking just as expected, confused and a little afraid, standing just outside.

"You're back," said Rufus, with no surprise at all.

"Yeah, I'm back."

"You've been thinking, I take it?"

"Yeah. Rufus, what was Nora?"

"I don't know, Reno. A martyr, maybe?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Come on in. Make yourself at home again."

Reno laughed slightly. "Home. You know, I tried to go back to my old apartment, but someone new was living there. I haven't met him yet. Rude said he's a new Turk Tseng hired when I was out of commission. I hope he doesn't ever find out what all happened in there, and that, if he does, he doesn't believe in ghosts."

Rufus' eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm a bit of a lady-killer, aren't I? In the literal sense, I mean."

Reno nodded. "A bit, yeah."

"It's not something I'm proud of, believe me. I have a lot of stains on my hands that are never going to come off, and they just seem to keep multiplying."

"Then stop making them."

"Can I have you back? Will you forgive me?"

"Forgive you? No, I don't think I ever will." Reno walked farther into the apartment and sat down on the bed. "But I guess I can try to move on."

Rufus sat down next to him. "I finally healed your little mark and changed shirts. It left a nice scar, though."

"I guess you're mine, whether I want you or not, huh?"

Rufus smiled slightly, sadly, and ran a hand over the sheets. Reno broke him from his reverie by placing a hand on his cheek and pulling their faces close.

Lips met, and Rufus cupped Reno's jaws with his thin fingers. Tongues intertwined in a slow, sensual dance, although Reno didn't object to this one. They fell to the bed, Rufus cradling Reno's head with his arm, the blonde hovering above the other man. In unison, they let out a hum that harmonized like a lover's song.

Rufus ran a hand down the redhead's body. Agonizingly slowly, he undid the few buttons left done on Reno's untidy uniform, and he moved shirt and jacket out of the way. Thin fingers roamed Reno's chest and stomach, light and almost tickling as they went.

The fingers slipped under the hem of the Turks pants and boxers.

Reno pushed Rufus away for a moment, and discarded his jacket and shirt while the new President undid his slacks.

And Reno Kiribani lay naked, exposed, and vulnerable, his legs hanging haphazardly off of the edge of his and Rufus Shinra's bed.

"You're beautiful," whispered Rufus over the skin on Reno's chest, in between the kisses he was trailing down his body.

Reno gasped as those kisses hovered at the bottom of his stomach. "I want to see you, too."

Rufus stopped and undressed, standing nude and still for a moment so that Reno could examine him. The redhead stood, and then he knelt in front of the blonde. Rufus stopped him. "No, sit back down on the bed."

Reno did, and Rufus knelt instead, his hands on Reno's knees. The Turk ran his hands through copper-golden hair, but found himself clenching instead as he felt Rufus' tongue running down the inside of his thigh.

Hands clasped only slightly on Reno's hips, the blonde leaned in towards the body before him, head bowed down as in worship, and took the other man slowly into his mouth, his tongue running over every bit it could reach, exploring.

"My God," gasped Reno, and his hands clenched even more tightly.

Rufus' fingers roamed in rhythm with his tongue, up his worshipped and his worshipper's sides and down again, then over the sides of his legs.

Rufus took in the slightly perfumed martyr's scent that lingered just in front of his nose.

Reno watched Rufus move, and tried not to move himself, as much as his body wanted to convulse into that grip of hands and mouth that held him. He let himself fall back a bit, his hands clenching silken sheets instead of silken hair. His breath hitched and he couldn't help but to thrust upward, to which Rufus responded by pushing his hips back down onto the bed when it caused him to gag slightly.

The blonde's nails scraped Reno's thighs carefully as Rufus pushed down on him to keep him from moving. The Turk bit his lip, and he couldn't help letting his head fall back, his eyes watering as he stared at the ceiling.

"Rufus, my God…"

Reno felt teeth scrape ever so slightly over him. It almost hurt, but…

"…it feels…I can't describe…don't…"

He felt Rufus' tongue run over him, then lips…

"…don't stop…"

Soft lips…so soft they could almost be a dream…

"Please, Rufus…"

Soft lips tugged down. No, that couldn't be a dream. No dream could feel like that…

"I can't…"

Rufus almost choked on the spattering of liquid heat that hit the back of his throat.

Reno fell back on the bed with a sigh.

"Was I as good as her, Reno?"

The redhead sat up quickly, his face flushed and his breathing still unsteady. "Is that what this was all about? You felt like you had to prove yourself to me or something?"

"No, I did this for myself, and for you. I just want to know."

"You were…different. Completely opposite of the way she was. She wasn't as careful. She let me finish things when I wanted to. You prolonged it. It was torture."

"Not good, then?"

"Better than good. I almost wanted to tell you to stop so I could just fuck you and get it over with, though." He fell back again. "Hold on, let me catch my breath. I can't let you get away with that."

"Oh, and what are you going to do to me?" asked the blonde, climbing up on the bed and straddling the almost lifeless form that laid there.

"I'm gonna torture you back." Reno pulled Rufus' head down so he could reach. This kiss was short, and more haphazard than the last. The Turk's head lolled to the side, and Reno's chest rose and fell in time with his quick, heavy breathing.

"I don't think you're up for any torturing."

"Just…give me a minute."

"Here, have a rest. Let's just talk." Rufus laid down sideways on the bed next to Reno's side.

"I don't know why I still ran back to you…"

"But you did, and that's what matters." Fingers played idly over a still-heaving chest.

"It doesn't make sense, though. I'm supposed to hate you."

"Technically, I guess I'm supposed to feel betrayed that you found a replacement for me while I was away, and I did, but only for a little while. Over everything I've told you, I know that you think that's why I killed her, but I can assure you that it's not. Even I could not kill over petty jealousy."

Reno looked at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused. "Rufus…"

"Yes?"

"Was what Nora did a crime? You know, running away and going into hiding, with part of the Shinra legacy in her womb?"

"Yes, but so was what I did, killing the child. But that was fear. If that child had lived, he would have outlived me, and, when I died, Shinra would live on."

"But you didn't know if it was his or mine."

"And if it was yours, you would have been the one committing treason."

"What did you do…while you were in Junon?"

Rufus let out a single almost-silent laugh. "I spent days locked in my office, and nights…those started out alone, just me and my thoughts. Then, I started making company in the knife and my blood; with the things I could hear when I was close to death from bleeding. Then, I would heal myself, and go back into the office the next day. Over and over again it went, for eight years, with very little sleep and even less human contact."

"I guess that makes you better than me."

"What do you mean?"

"I would think about you, and then I would go out on the streets to make it stop. I'd go out into the little back alleys and dark corners with a bit of gil, and I'd pay someone to make the thoughts go away. Then, Rude really started bugging me to find myself a steady girl, so I did, and I went straight for the one who reminded me the most of you."

"I feel like I should be flattered."

"I guess. You know, you were always the one I was looking for on those streets, drunk off my ass when I didn't have a mission coming, most of the time with Rude half an alley over probably thinkin' I had moved on while we both got sucked dry by lips in too-bright red lipstick.

"I don't wear lipstick."

"That's a relief. Neither do I, unless I'm really drunk. That's a long story."

"I don't think I wanna know."

"It doesn't matter. Like I said, I was really drunk." Reno sat up slightly, propping himself up on his elbows. "Lay back."

"Feeling better?"

"Much."

Rufus stretched out on the mattress, and Reno watched, entranced, as the dim light of the bedroom highlighted the almost bizarre curves and lines over the blonde's body. "I can say that I feel a little bad."

"About what, Reno?"

"That you can't know what this feels like, looking over you. You're untouched, except by me. You're my untainted idol of worship."

"I thought I told you not to worship me."

"Can't help it. That should be obvious every time I call you my God. Remember, I'm just the concubine."

"So you did read it."

"The whole damn book."

Rufus moaned as Reno ran one finger over his face, tracing the features there. The redhead stared down upon him, a subtle smile forming on his own mouth.

The exploring finger multiplied, and both of Reno's hands ran down the blonde's body, taking note of every mark and feature of that world. He mapped out a picture of Rufus in his mind, so that he could bring that vision back at any time and explore again.

"The most beautiful imperfection I've ever seen. That's you…no, that's us."

Rufus grasped on to one of Reno's hands. "Shh," is all he said, holding one of the redhead's fingers to his mouth. He sucked on the finger for a moment, and then let it go.

The Turk's mouth moved in where his hands left off, and he slipped his tongue in between the other man's lips. Rufus sucked lightly; a reminder of what he had done just a little bit before. Reno shivered on top of him, rubbing his body against his lover's. He could feel Rufus hard against the inside of his leg, and he could taste himself in the President's mouth.

Reno pulled away, and he traveled downward over the scarred lands; that reflection of the world the blonde's legacy had created. He searched with tongue and lips, painting in rivers of moisture to cleanse and heal the parched ground.

And he found Midgar. He found the barren city of light, untouched by outside forces and dead to anyone but he who called it home.

His home.

And there, he found it: The Fountain of Life. But no, that fountain would never create. Never, because it was his.

Rufus clenched the sheets, and his knees buckled; his heels dug into the mattress. Face flushed, he sweated new rivers into the map and his body contorted and shook, changing the landscape. Writhing under the drinker of eternity, the world itself began to live again.

Rufus propped himself up slightly to look down at the redhead. Reno had his eyes closed and was breathing almost as heavily as his captive. The blonde watched himself disappear into the Turk's lips. From the top, Reno looked as he did in a kiss, red hair sticking to his face with sweat and cheeks seemingly trying to match. And his eyes, those were lidded over lightly like he was peacefully asleep.

Exquisite.

Reno drew back, wiping his mouth, as Rufus fell again to the bed. "Just like I remembered," said the Turk.

Rufus moaned. "Hmm, me too."

"I like the way you taste," Reno whispered, climbing over the blonde and laying down on his shoulder.

"That's good to know."

The redhead relaxed fully into the figure under him, and he could feel that form sink farther into the bed, easing into the pressure pushing down on it. Reno turned his head upward, looking at the view of Rufus' face from beneath. He watched the lips begin to move.

"I thought I may have forgotten, in those eight years, what it was like to feel you. And, for a while, I think I did forget. But now…now I remember you fully. I remember why I was ever here, with you in my arms or at my side. I remember how you're the only one who can ever make me feel without that feeling being pain. Without you, ecstasy and torture are the same, but not here."

"Rufus, I wanna be a part of you."

"That's right, because I'm meant to have you inside. I'm meant to have you complete me. To make me right. To make me…whole."

"You mean sex."

"Not just that."

"But that's a part of it."

"Yes."

"Fair enough." Reno ran his fingertips over the shoulder he wasn't laying on. "Good news is, your little torture session seems to have worn off." The redhead nipped at the skin between his lover's shoulder and neck.

"I'd say it's about time we caught up for lost time, don't you?"

Reno simply nodded. The blonde spread his arms out and smiled.

"Complete me."

Miya's Note: Heh, there's an alternate ending to one of the sections, and it goes like this:

"The redhead collapsed onto his once-lover's scar-mapped chest; into the embrace that had forsaken him for eight years.

Into a trap filled with the lust-marked fumes of vodka-and-steel scented poison gas.

And Reno realized, suddenly, that Rufus made him think in hyphens."

I can laugh at my own cheesiness. Really, I can.

Well, now that it's summer, my updates might come faster, or they might not. It all depends on if I have ready access to the internet. Yay. And bravo to anyone who noticed the slight (joking) reference to one of my other fics.