Author's Notes: You know, I was only joking the other day when I spoke about warning people of the horror that might come from a Reeve/Hojo fiction… Someone then dared me to do it. So… here goes. This one is for you Jeannette (which is my aunt's name oddly enough)) for your reaction to the Reeve/Hojo, and for Liltigre for the dare.

Theme: Enemies

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Stolen Kiss

At first it was your average day at Shin-Ra, as average as pending world destruction from several different sources and a changing of presidents could be. Reeve was staying late at work again, something that was so very far from surprising. It was a regular thing these days, to sleep some at his desk, change into his spare suit after a nice shower and start another hellish shift at work. This was likely to be one of those days, or nights, or whatever. Either way there was Reeve, sitting at his desk and glaring at paperwork. That was the worst thing about his job, the paperwork. Copies in triplicate for everything and he was pretty sure that he was the only person they asked to hand write stuff instead of type. Sometimes he was pretty sure they said that just to keep him too busy to do anything else. The more he thought about it, the more right his fear seemed.

What made it worse though was the fact that his coffee maker was broken. That meant that Reeve was not only lacking the one thing in life the he really loved, but he was lacking a source of caffeine. And no caffeine he wouldn't last awake for very long. It was a very aggravating thought. So began the search for a source of caffeine so he might finish the night's work.

Really, you'd think that as the man who DESIGNED the fucking building he would have a master key. Apparently it turned out that Reeve wasn't trusted much these days. Everywhere he could think of a coffee pot or machine was behind a door that was locked and he could not get through. By the time he climbing up instead of down in search of the life restoring liquid Reeve was sure there was some sort of conspiracy against him. Probably designed by Reno. He wouldn't put anything past that red-headed abomination. Granted, Reno was probably his only real friend in Shin-Ra, but that didn't make his fury against the youth any less righteous. He'd get revenge for the lack of coffee. Maybe he'd hide Reno's precious, beloved fire materia in someone's desk…

Before he knew it the youngest executive was staring at a sight that put fear in his heart… Hojo's lab. He knew what happened here. What executive didn't? What a dreadful place it was. The pain and suffering here was twenty times that of the slums. At every possible instance he avoided the place. Bypassing it by elevator was the most common choice. And yet… being here made sense. Hojo would have a coffee pot. And since the scientist was never around this late there would be no problem with brewing up a pot. Or so Reeve thought until he heard a tell-tale shuffling.

Shit. Why did this have to be one of the few nights that Hojo was staying late as well?

"Mister Tuesti, what brings you to my lab?" came the scratchy voice of the creepy man as he shuffled up behind Reeve. How Hojo managed to sneak up on him out of no where was beyond the executive. Apparently the man was sneakier than anyone expected. But… He'd heard as much from the Turks. If someone could sneak up on Tseng or Rude they had to be sneaky.

"Uh… Just looking for some coffee," Reeve answered as he whirled to regard the shorter male. Rule #1 when dealing with Hojo, never turn your back to him. He might have some kind of injection ready. Being an executive didn't protect him from this one's insanity.

"I only have caffine pills," Hojo said. "There is no point in wasting time consuming coffee when a single pill can do the work of several cups. Any other method is illogical. Surely you have noticed the inefficiency of your intake of coffee, haven't you Mister Tuesti?"

Reeve bit his lip. Right now he didn't care. He needed to finish paper work and avoid Hojo. Hojo was creepy. "You wouldn't mind giving me some would you? I've got reports due in the morning and no way to finish them if I fall asleep."

Hojo stood there for a few minutes, pondering the situation. This would be a good situation to experiment upon the reactions certain actions got out of the younger man. What to do? Ah, already a plan was hatching in his mind.

"And what do I get out of supplying you from my personal supply?" Hojo asked, causing the other man to flinch. This wasn't suppose to be bartering, was it?

Reeve was totally at a loss for how to respond. He could say gratitude, but that would hardly be anything for Hojo. He didn't care for petty emotions and such. The guy was that weird. "Tell me your price and I'll consider it."

He grinned in response. Reeve was as predictable as he had first assumed. When tired the man certainly lacked creativity. But he was very tense, Hojo took that in right away. Reeve was afraid of him then? Not much different from most employees really. Still, Reeve was one amusing to mess with. He was so easy to get freaked out. Really, how someone so weak and... humane became an executive he would never know.

But, as for the price… Well… Hojo took payment without Reeve agreeing to it. Needless to say next time Reeve was one the prowl for caffeine, he avoided the science labs. No matter how often he washed his mouth out with soap one could never really scrub the taste of old, creepy man out.