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: At last, fate intervenes! The introduction of Rude, and Reno becomes a real Turk.
Author's note: Yay for chapters with substance! I hope you guys like this … I love the interaction between Reno and Rude, though I imagine it must have been rough for the first few weeks. Anyway, here you go!
"Congratulations," they'd told Reno, handing him a new suit and sending him on his way. He'd been supplied with an apartment, a place all to himself and not too far from the ShinRa headquarters. He knew Jenkins and some of the other recent graduates lived in the same building. Just like the old days.
He wandered around the apartment for a while. It wasn't that big, just one bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen connected to a living area. Still, he had it all to himself, so it felt luxurious. Even more luxurious was the fact that he wouldn't have to waste his new Turk paycheck furnishing the place.
He unfolded the suit, wrinkling his nose at it. "Fuck this shit," he said, tossing the tie into the closet where it remained for many years. He stripped of his old suit and put the new one on. The difference was notable – the suit he had worn as a trainee had been standard-issue and getting too small. This one was obviously tailored to suit him personally, with just the right length in the arms and legs and tight enough at the waist that it didn't slip down his skinny hips. With the boots on, he looked – dare he think it – stylish. He tried a few suave looks in the mirror and flipped at his hair before deciding that looked kind of stupid and stripping to enjoy being naked for a while. Of course, he'd turned up the heat so it was nice and warm and he didn't freeze. Eventually, he got tired and slept, but at last it was on his own time and not whenever Jenkins went to bed.
The next morning, he stood with the four newest Turks, Jenkins included. Well, actually, he slouched more than stood, staring evenly at Tseng as he looked them over.
"Reno, where is your tie?"
"Lost it." He shrugged.
"Hmm. Find it and arrive in proper uniform tomorrow."
"Yessir!" Reno said with a grin, swiping a sarcastic salute. The other new Turks snickered quietly.
"As you know," Tseng continued, eyeing the newcomers predatorily, "today you will be assigned to your new partners. With the rare exception, Turks always work with a partner. We have paired you according to interest and skill, trying to cover as many of your numerous weaknesses as we can. You should not need to be reassigned a partner. So make friends, because I will be very irritable if any of you come complaining to me. And don't even think of bothering Veld with something so minor."
With that, he gestured for the more experienced Turks to come in and meet their partners.
Rude disliked Reno instantly. The kid had no tie and his shirt was untucked, probably stained as well with his breakfast. He had a pair of helicopter goggles perched uselessly on top of his impossibly bright red hair. At first Rude thought it must be dyed – no one had hair that color. But upon closer inspection he discovered it was real, and that even his eyelashes were red, though darker than the rest of his hair. He was slouching, and there was a defiant smirk on his lips. Pretty eyes, sort of sea-colored like the clear blue-green ocean near Costa del Sol. Nice lips. The kid was definitely too good-looking to be a Turk. A model, maybe. Or an actor.
Rude rolled his eyes behind his dark shades. Something he had done during his career as a Turk had pissed Tseng off, he was almost sure of it. He kept getting these lazy, good-for-nothing, useless partners that kept getting themselves killed. Reno was just about the straw that broke the chocobo's back, so to speak.
He approached Reno cautiously, not sure what to expect. The kid just grinned wider and stuck out his hand. "Hey, I'm Reno."
"Rude."
Reno frowned, confused. "No I'm not. I just said my name."
"No, I'm Rude."
Reno just grinned and patted Rude on the shoulder. "Now you're being too hard on yourself, buddy. You're not rude, yo."
"No, dipshit, it's my name. My name is Rude." The nerve under Rude's eye twitched warningly.
"Oh, right. Well, cool to meet you. Man, you're a big guy, aren't you?"
Rude frowned. "Didn't you read anything in the file you were given? It should have told you everything you needed to know."
"Skimmed it," Reno said with a shrug. "It was really big and it looked boring."
Rude resisted the urge to smack Reno. That would undoubtedly make Tseng mad. This was going to be a long, long week.
"So, what are we doing today, partner?" Reno asked, sitting on his knees in his assigned desk chair and spinning like a child. "Do we get to go out and do the fun stuff, yo?"
Rude gave a long-suffering sigh. The kid hadn't stopped bothering him about "the fun stuff" for the entire week they'd been partners. Still, he hadn't set anything on fire or broken any priceless Wutainese vases yet, so he was off to a better start than most of Rude's previous partners. "Yeah, looks like we finally got an assignment," Rude reported. "Low-level though, just to get you in the swing of things. You cool with that?"
"Hell yeah!" Reno said enthusiastically, shifting around until his legs were crossed in the chair. The nerve near Rude's eye twitched again; the kid could not sit normally in a chair to save his life. "When do we leave, yo?"
"Now," Rude replied, rising and straightening his suit. Reno followed, though he left his own suit in its customary disheveled state. Rude had given up on changing his partner's habits of dress and hair, and even Tseng had seemed to accept it.
The job really was low-level, just requiring a little muscle in case things got out of hand. Despite cracking his usual inappropriate jokes on the ride over, Reno behaved himself surprisingly well. He looked appropriately scary, and when things did get out of hand, he kept his head and calmly did as he had been trained. The situation was resolved quickly and with minimal mess. Reno stood up from where he had been taking cover behind a table and grinned at Rude, who was staring back with surprise.
The kid had done so well that Rude took him out for a few drinks that night, even though he was pretty sure the kid was underage. Something like that wouldn't stop Reno, though, and together they got a pretty good party going. Somehow, Rude wasn't surprised when he looked to find Reno later in the night and saw the redhead tongue-wrestling with one of the women from the bar, his hand resting on her stomach beneath her shirt. He resolved not to say anything about it when Reno arrived at the office the next morning looking more ruffled and sated than usual.