Tseng lay back quietly, ignoring Rufus and Reno's quiet conversation in the other room. He hadn't been able to get a mission plan together that would send Reno and Rude off for an extended period of time. It was hard to get Reno away from Rufus for a mission when Rufus kept forcing Tseng to send lower members of the Turks to take care of the 'problems' he kept creating. Rufus knew what he was after; it was so obvious that he didn't approve of their lust-based relationship that even Reno could pick up on his anger. Reno rarely ever picked up on anyone's emotions, he wasn't known for being empathetic. Tseng thought it was probably why his relationship with Rude had failed in the first place.
It had been almost a week since Reno's time as Rufus' babysitter was supposed to be over, but the red-head still hung around in the evenings after work. Sometimes he stayed overnight but most nights he and Rufus had a quick fuck, Rufus fell asleep, and Reno showered and left as quickly as he could afterward. Tseng would listen as Dark Nation tried to rip away the legs on Reno's pants and smile even though it was usually one in the morning when Reno finally felt that Rufus was asleep enough for him to leave. Dark Nation loathed Reno, just like she loathed anything that was bad for Rufus. The large beast had a reputation as a vicious mutt, but she had never been anything but cuddly and loveable towards Tseng. She knew what was good for her master and she made it apparent when she didn't approve of his choices.
Soon Reno would leave, he and Rufus had already had their 'play time' and Tseng knew Reno had not left yet only because he was still recovering. The small rose-tinted blossoms drying on his shirt around his neck bespoke the use Rufus put him through. When Tseng had seen Rufus carry Reno out of his room he had shook his head in disappointment, Rufus had used Reno to the point where he couldn't move. Rufus is too rough with his toys, Tseng thought dryly, waiting for Reno to gather up the strength to leave. The sooner Reno left the sooner he could make another attempt to talk sense into Rufus. His attempts never worked, he only made Rufus angrier and made himself more confused, but he always tried.
He could hear a small commotion outside his room as Dark Nation romped towards his partially open door, Rufus was obviously not happy about whatever she had done. Reno was swearing and Tseng could see him holding his hand in pain. It was a wonderful sight and Tseng couldn't keep a small smile off his face. When Dark Nation started attacking Reno left, no matter how tired he was.
Rufus was scolding Dark Nation loudly as she sauntered into Tseng's room, pushing the door ajar with her head and shutting it with her agile tentacle. Tseng smiled and sat up, patting the blankets beside him to invite her up. Dark Nation jumped onto the bedspread and laid her heavy head in his lap, a small purr of arrogant happiness rumbling through the throat that was pressed against his thighs. He scratched her ears gently and watched her tentacle sway, twitching and curling the way a cat's tail swings proudly after it has just snatched a particularly juicy mouse. There was a small tint of red on the end of her tentacle and Tseng sighed, patting her side gently. "You shouldn't have done that, Nation. Rufus is going to be angry at both of us."
Dark Nation didn't seem to care as she pressed into his hands, rumbling happily. Tseng smiled and scratched her, a rare smile that he saved for Dark Nation and her Reno-hating antics. He didn't approve of her causing any real damage to the red-head, but a knick in the hand or a missing section of pants was something he could easily ignore. Tseng hummed and listened to Reno and Rufus argue outside, their voices rose steadily until their argument was cut off by the slam of a door. Dark Nation could always separate them far quicker than Tseng and his disapproving looks could.
Rufus slammed Tseng's door open and glared at him, blue eyes stony with rage. "Nation! Come!"
Dark Nation ignored him, her tentacle waving happily as she pressed into Tseng's now-still hands to beg for more attention. Rufus frowned and glared at Tseng, shoulders tense and straight as a board. Tseng could feel heated anger pouring from him and, in a rare moment of cowardice, felt the need to tremble and look away. Tseng, who had stared Death in the face more times than he could remember, was afraid because Rufus was going to throw a temper tantrum.
Rufus walked over to the bed and dragged Dark Nation off it by the scruff of her neck, ignoring the long scratches she left on the sheets as she tried to keep her grip on the fabric. Tseng was glad Rufus kept her nails filed; if they had been any longer his legs would be as ripped as the fabric.
Rufus tossed her out of the room angrily, ignoring the small welts her thrashing tentacle left on his arm. "I'll deal with you in a bit, Nation!" Rufus slammed the door and turned on Tseng, ignoring the whimpering and scratching coming from outside the door. Tseng made a move to stand and Rufus crossed the room, snatching him by his upper-arms and forcing him back onto the bed with an angry growl, "You turned my own pet against me! Why do you always make her hate people I'm with!"
Tseng's instincts kicked in and, before he could stop himself, he had Rufus pinned against the bed and had his forearm pressed against his twitching Adam's apple. Rufus glared up at him, his manicured fingernails digging into the skin on Tseng's arm and side as he tried to get a good enough grip to flip them over. Tseng didn't budge, his arm pressing deeper into Rufus' throat until the blonde stopped struggling. Tseng frowned and glared into the steely eyes inches from his own, moving his arm from Rufus' throat to his collarbone so that he didn't strangle the man. "I don't turn her against you, you turn her against you."
Rufus kept his grip on Tseng tight, not wanting the man to think that he had given up on trying to force him away. "Animals don't just turn against their master's, Tseng, someone has to turn them."
"She hasn't turned against you; she only goes after the people you're with. Haven't you picked up on that yet? She's protective of you and she's letting you know she doesn't want you with those people." Tseng kept his grip firm, but he loosened the force behind it. Rufus didn't try to struggle further and he continued his lecture, suddenly very aware of their proximity. "Animals use their instincts to choose potential mates, Rufus, and since humans don't have any instincts maybe you should listen when Dark Nation tries to tell you how incompatible you and Reno are. Hell, anyone who watches you two can tell that you barely like each other." The last time they had been this close…he didn't want to think about that; not when they were that close again.
"Who do you think she wants me to be with?" Rufus shivered softly as he stared into Tseng's face, no longer able to glare as he let his left hand drift over Tseng's side. Tseng trembled but didn't move, not willing to show anymore weakness than what his body naturally betrayed. Rufus loosened his grip on Tseng's arm and let his right hand drift as well, trying not to think back to what had happened the last time Tseng let his hands drift without supervision; he didn't need another reminder of how impermanent any relationship between them would be. The night on Tseng's couch had been enough of a lesson that he should have learned, but his head was too thick for the information to process fully; he would always think that he had a chance in the future, he just didn't think he had a chance in the now. Besides, Tseng had been drunk the last time, even if Rufus had not; he needed to learn that Tseng just didn't do what he wanted him to do while he was sober, not unless it was something work related.
Tseng pressed his arm against Rufus' chest a little more firmly, trying to resist the urge to press into the unblemished hands stroking him. "Stop it, Rufus. We need to have a serious conversation about this."
Rufus frowned and let his hands keep roaming, gently trying to pull Tseng closer. He internally cheered in adulation when Tseng bent a little closer to him. "Why does everything have to be serious when you're sober?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tseng frowned as he felt the arm pinned onto the bed next to Rufus' head start to bend, pulling the rest of him closer to the far too warm and confusing blonde. He wanted to be closer, but at the same time he wanted to run home where he would be met with austere reminders of how things were supposed to be.
Rufus kept guiding Tseng closer, determined to steal at least one kiss even if it caused him a black eye. "I mean that you never seem to relax when you're sober. You're always stuck on Turk-mode and you can't turn it off without at least three glasses of bourbon. I hate fucking bourbon." That last bit was a lie and he knew it, he had loved the taste of bourbon on Tseng's lips when he had kissed him that night.
"I'll make a note of that then. I'll drink more bourbon to keep you off me." Tseng could feel Rufus' breath on his lips now, the arm pressed against Rufus' chest wasn't firm or forceful anymore, it was just lying there shaking as he tried to calm himself. He couldn't find the command in his overfilled brain that would make him move away; the operator he normally dialed for problems like this had thrown all the neatly filed compartments of his brain onto the floor and left in frustration.
Rufus chuckled softly, already tasting Tseng on his tongue as he eagerly drank in the hitched breaths the dark-haired man was puffing down on him. "If that's the case then I'm going to smash every bottle of bourbon from here to Modeoheim."
"I'll import some from Wutai then. You can't get every bottle." Tseng took his turn at a chuckle as he felt Rufus' hands move in opposite directions across his back, one trailing down to toy with the waistband of the sweatpants he wore and the other dragging up to tangle into his hair. He didn't resist when Rufus pulled his head down and he kept his eyes open as their lips touched, gently and hesitantly at first, but slowly growing in force and intimacy as his eyelids drifted closed; Rufus' eyelids had fallen together moments before when the gentle caress of their lips had lost resistance on his side.
Rufus was scared, more scared than he had been the first time he had dared to drag Tseng into the level of intimacy that he had him in now. The first time had been easier, there had been fewer words and no one else had been in his bed barely an hour before. Tseng had been willing almost from the start that time, but he had had to force willingness from the man this time. He feared that the deeper the kiss became the faster Tseng would pull away, but Tseng didn't seem interested in pulling away. Rufus slipped Tseng's clothes off without meeting any resistance; Tseng hadn't protested when Rufus dragged his thin white tank top over his shoulders and had even assisted him in removing it. Rufus moaned softly when Tseng's lips pressed back into his, the small gap of time where they hadn't been touching had been torture.
Tseng let his inhibitions go, forgetting everything as he explored the contours of Rufus' body with his fingers and the taste of his mouth with his tongue. He felt his stress melt away under the heat of Rufus' body pressed against his own, the warmth growing even as their clothes fell away and let the breeze of the ceiling fan drift over parts previously covered. He could hear moans rising from both their chests and he swallowed Rufus' sounds even as he made his own, drinking in pleasure from touches he barely registered. All that existed in the moments of pleasure that passed like snapshots through his brain was Rufus; every taste and touch and sound and look that Tseng caught through flickering closed lids fueled his pleasure and made him drive deeper and faster, he couldn't even remember when the sex had started and the play had stopped.
Rufus tugged at Tseng's hair when he needed a breath; in their passionate play Tseng seemed to have drained his lungs dry. He was exploding inside, he could feel the sparks of pleasure darting over and through and into every bit of him. His heart was racing wildly and he couldn't moan and scream his pleasure out fast enough. Tseng was in complete control of him and he basked helplessly in pleasure, too close to bursting to do anything more. When he finally did rip apart at the seams he cried, not from the pain, but from the pleasure of being utterly and completely stripped of all his haughty attempts at strength. He held Tseng close, both of them panting roughly and dripping in sweat and pleasure made fluids. He could feel Tseng's heartbeat against his own as tears dripped from the corners of his eyes, his every fiber still alight with pleasure and need even though he couldn't find the energy to fulfill the needs he should have already sated. He shook softly as Tseng finally managed the strength to un-collapse himself, lifting his warm, sweaty self off of Rufus and out of him. Tseng chuckled huskily and kissed his eyelids as he whimpered at the loss his removal left him with. "So, you can cry."
Rufus laughed softly and pressed into Tseng's kisses, chest heaving. "Course I can. Everyone can."
"But you never do." Tseng hummed softly and rolled off of Rufus, laying on his back and pulling the blonde closer.
Rufus draped himself over Tseng and buried his head in the crook of his neck, eyelids fluttering shut from exhausted contentedness. "Don't have any reason too."
Tseng hummed and rubbed Rufus' shoulder gently, gazing at the blur of fan blades centered in the middle of the ceiling. He felt more relaxed than he could ever remember feeling, but a question still nagged at him, a question thrust forward by the something he hadn't given any consideration too. "What are we going to do about Reno? I'm not letting you go back to him after this. You know that, right?"
Rufus nodded and let his eyes drift shut. "I know. We'll figure it out in the morning, okay?"
Tseng nodded and let his eyes close, enjoying the contrast of Rufus' warmth and the chill of the fan. He felt Rufus' breathing even out, his own breathing slowing to match the blonde's. The next morning might bring hell he'd have to pay, but he'd deal with it. This night of comfort was worth any consequence.
Author's Note: It's been awhile, huh? Sorry about the wait. It was worth it, right? If it wasn't; deal with it. Oh, so you know, I listened to the songs 'House on a Hill' and 'If Tomorrow Came' by Kamelot while writing this. Just an fyi that probably means nothing to anyone else xD