Title: Boy Soldier
Author: Neldluva FFVII
Pairings: None, or lots, depending on how you look at it.
Rating: NC17
Don't read this if you don't like: Angst, sex (of the m/m and m/f sort), foul language, underage sex, questionable consent, masturbation, voyeurism (sort of), violence, blood, drug and alcohol use, prostitution
Disclaimer: Reno and FF7-verse are definitely not mine. Please don't sue, I have negative monies. The OC's are mine, though. Don't steal.
What you can expect from the fic overall: This is my version Reno's backstory, or how he got where he was in the various FF7 games and movies. It is a long, difficult journey, sometimes funny, sometimes sad. But hey, that's life.
What you can expect from this chapter: Reno gets introspective, and Tseng goes boom.
Author's note: I'm sorry I've taken so long getting this up! But for all intents and purposes, Boy Soldier is finished, and I'll be posting it hopefully regularly in the upcoming weeks. Thanks so much for your patience, you guys!
The first time Reno took a shower with the other male trainees, he couldn't figure out why they were staring at him. He'd always made a point to take his showers alone. For one thing, he liked his showers long and hot, and his head usually went somewhere else when he was under the water. And while he didn't mind being naked around the other boys, he hadn't had much of a chance to do it before. He glanced down at his own body, then compared it to theirs. They had the same parts, arms, legs, dicks, and they even looked mostly the same…
Except for the scars. Reno ran his hands down his soapy torso. The skin was uneven, rough here, smooth there, but marked with more scars than he dared to count. He glanced down. The oldest ones had faded into white lines of slightly raised skin, paler than the rest of him. The newer ones were still pinkish and angry-looking, at least compared to the skin of the other boys. The majority of Reno's scars lay over his chest and back, though he had a good number on his arms and legs as well. They ran over his skin a little like melted wax, dropped here and there by a careless candle. This one from a bullet, that one from the sharp piece of glass…
He had known, in an abstract sense, that the other boys had grown up in relative luxury. They hadn't been shot at every other day, or stabbed with knives, and if they had then Cure materia was always readily available to cure them of their ills. They probably took it all for granted, the little bastards, and never realized how tough you had to be to take a blow and keep on kicking because it meant life or death.
So he finished his shower quickly, trying to pretend he hadn't noticed the stares, and went back to his room to keep hacking into ShinRa files.
Veld managed to be surprised when Tseng stormed into his office. Tseng was constantly reserved, professional, and it took a great deal to ruffle his feathers. However, there was no denying that Tseng's feathers were very ruffled.
"Hehacked my computer," Tseng hissed, his cheeks flushed with anger. "The little brat broke down my security and hacked my fucking computer."
Veld frowned. It was a security risk, to be sure. Due to Tseng's position in the company, there were files on his computer that were confidential to all but the higher-ups. His first instinct was to eliminate the kid. He knew it was Reno already, just by how angry Tseng was, and privately wondered if they could afford the risk of keeping him any longer. It was likely that he had already looked into the files he shouldn't have seen. It would be a death sentence for anyone else, but for Reno…
"Interesting," Veld said at last.
"Interesting? Interesting! It will take months to restore my security, and he is able to view things that are confidential and dangerous! I request permission to eliminate him from Turk training." Tseng was fuming, practically reaching for his gun already.
Veld shook his head, straightening a stack of reports on his desk. "I will allow it, for now."
"But … but sir!"
"Tseng. You will receive technical assistance on replacing your security; I want that done as quickly as possible. But I want to leave certain things visible to him so we can monitor what he does with the information."
Tseng's expression came crashing down, and in an instant he looked miserable. "But … sir…"
"He is too valuable to be eliminated now, and I am impressed with his hacking skills, if not altogether pleased with the development. Continue surveillance, I want to know everything that he sees. Oh, and I think you might need a better firewall, Tseng. You are dismissed."
There was a decided slump to Tseng's shoulders as he exited the office of his superior.