Reno stuffed his travel bag into the trunk of his car, shoulders slumped low enough that his knuckles dragged across the asphalt below his feet. He wasn't depressed, he was perplexed. He felt lost in his own emotions, but he was sure a quick chat with Rufus would set everything back in perspective. He could go a week in Rude's company without jumping all over him; he just needed to know he had a reason to resist the temptation. If Rufus wasn't willing to suffer the week without him, then Reno would have no reason to keep his boundaries in place, except to keep from hurting Rude. He had already told Rude to keep his hands off him; he didn't need to send conflicting messages by not keeping his hands off of Rude.

Reno slipped into his car and drove, eyeing the bandage on his hand thoughtfully. He knew he needed to pretend to be happy with someone in order to give Rude the chance to find someone better suited for him, it was the only way he could keep himself from getting hurt and to keep himself from hurting Rude. He wasn't sure he should continue pretending with Rufus, but who else was there he could pretend with? He didn't want to go searching for a new pretender; he didn't need to involve anyone else in his abysmal attempts to get over Rude. Hell, he wasn't even sure he wanted to be involved in his attempts to get over Rude.

Reno pulled up to Rufus' mansion, parking and looking around carefully before stepping out of his car. Dark Nation had laid in wait for him before, waiting for him to pull up, and had cornered him at his car until Reno's yells for help had finally reached Rufus' ears and brought the blonde to his rescue. Reno rubbed his arm softly with his bandaged hand; the scratches her whipping tentacle had left on him were still healing. Dark Nation was only responsible for a small portion of the scabbed over cuts and purpling bruises littering his body. Reno tugged on his up-turned collar, rolling his neck gently to remind himself how many bites and bruises coated his throat. The mutt barely even accounted for half of his damaged clothing. Nation may have chased him to his car with a scrap of his pants in her mouth, but Rufus had done more damage by tearing his clothes off and leaving bites deep enough to bleed; the bites left scabs and, when Reno moved his head, the scabs broke and BOOM! Reno needed another white shirt to wear to work because he simply couldn't figure out how to wash out bloodstains.

Reno flexed his hand; contemplating the most recent Dark Nation inflicted injury, and walked up to the front door. He was fairly sure that a real relationship between Rufus and himself would never last because of that mangy mutt that did everything it could to keep Reno out of the house. If Reno wasn't in Rufus' room with the door locked, he wasn't safe form Dark Nation. Besides, Reno wasn't entirely sure he would be able to handle Rufus' rough treatment for enough of an extended period of time for anything to be considered a relationship. Reno couldn't keep going home at one in the morning and waking up sore and irritable just so he could go back to work at the unreasonably early hour of eight a.m. Once he got to work, he would steal the coffee pot and muddle through his paperwork. He was getting more done lately, except for today when he had pulled that stupid prank with Rude. He had to admit, the prank had been satisfyingly destructive, but flooding the office seemed to have landed him in hot water.

Reno rapped on the door with his good hand, waiting for Rufus' butlers to get Dark Nation under control so that he could enter the house without her teeth grabbing hold of his arm. He could hear scuffling behind the door and he assumed it was the butlers tugging the mangy menace back, but a shout loud enough to be heard through the door let him know Rufus was greeting him, not one of the many nameless butlers. "Nation! Heel! Go back upstairs!"

Reno smiled and waited for the door to open, feeling better now because Rufus sending Dark Nation off meant that Rufus wanted to see him. Rufus opened the door and Reno blinked, shocked by the disheveled state Rufus was in. He gave Rufus a once over, noting several bruises and a few broken buttons. "What the hell? You look like you got in one hell of a fight, Rufus."

Rufus rubbed the side of his neck and opened the door wider, letting Reno in. "I'm glad you stopped by. I need to talk to you about something."

Reno stepped inside, looking Rufus over carefully. It was well past noon and the man was in an attractive state of disarray. If Rufus looked the way he did now all the time, Reno would find it easier to fall in love with him. "What's up?"

Rufus sighed. "Just follow me. It'll be easier to explain if you see."

Reno felt his stomach drop to his shoes; he could see his hopes for an excuse drop with Rufus' shoulders. "You're breaking up with me, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Sorry, Reno." Rufus looked at Reno with a sad smile and led him upstairs. Even if the break up mess was out of the way, Tseng still wanted to talk to Reno. "Mind if we stay friends?"

Reno laughed, following Rufus up the stairs with a heavy heart. "We were friends?"

"Kind of. More like the kind of buddies who harass each other Monday through Thursday and then flirt on Friday so they can hook up on Saturday then Sunday they part ways and start the cycle fresh on Monday." Rufus smiled at Reno and led him to the living area where they had cuddled not even a half hour before Rufus had slept with Tseng.

"Sounds about right. Who'd you drop me for?" Reno couldn't really feel any hard feelings towards Rufus, they hadn't really liked each other anyways and, even though the sex was good, it wasn't what either of them needed. There was no need for animosity between them; Reno hated himself enough on his own, he didn't need anyone else to loath him.

"Me." Tseng lounged on the couch with Dark Nation's head in his lap, his shirt only half buttoned and his hair loose around his shoulders.

"I can see why." Reno grinned and looked Tseng over. "You can slum it better than I thought, Tseng. You should rough it up more often; it suits you better than your clean-shaven look."

Tseng touched his face with a frown. "I haven't had the time or the energy to waste on shaving today. I've been a bit busy."

"I noticed. You both skipped work today." Reno chuckled and sat on the armchair opposite Tseng, watching Dark Nation carefully. The beast glared at him but didn't leave the comfort of Tseng's lap; apparently, attacking Reno wasn't a priority when Tseng was giving away free scratches. "I flooded the floor, just so you know."

"Oh? What did you do that for?" Tseng wrapped an arm around Rufus' shoulder as the blonde sat beside him, pulling the younger man to his side tightly. "Also, why tell me it was you?"

"I was hoping if I fessed up you'd ease up the punishment I just got. I know you gave the order to send me to Modeoheim with Rude for a week." Reno folded his hands in his lap and looked at Tseng intently, begging for mercy. "I can't handle a week alone with Rude, bossman. I'll stay away from Rufus, I'll do all my work, and I'll wear my uniform right. Just don't make me go."

Tseng raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you hated Rude so much, or is it Modeoheim you can't stand?"

Reno shook his head. "I just can't be alone with Rude somewhere as isolated as Modeoheim. Hell, I can't be alone with Rude anywhere. It's complicated. I don't really have a good way to explain how I feel or why I feel that way. I just can't be around him."

"Well, that's more reason for you to be around him. Unless you'd rather spend the next week as Dark Nation's personal chew toy I suggest you pack up and go to Modeoheim." Tseng snorted and rolled his eyes at Reno's pathetic protests.

"Please, Tseng? I'll clean toilets all week if I have to, just don't send me to Modeoheim with Rude!" Reno was not above begging and pleading, he was rather good at both actually.

Tseng sighed and looked Reno over. The straight line that was Reno's normally slumped shoulders was enough to tell Tseng how vexed the man was over his predicament. What he didn't understand was why Reno chose to be vexed instead of choosing to be loved. "Reno, you and Rude work well together and everyone in this room knows you both adore each other. Why don't you want to spend time with your best friend?"

"Because when we're alone it's more than that." Reno sighed and tugged at his ponytail. "When we're alone we're lovers and I just know that I'll hurt him more by being with him than by rejecting him."

"Oh? How can you be so sure?" Tseng raised an eyebrow, "You are focused solely on self-preservation, Reno. I'm pretty sure you're more afraid for your own feelings than for his. You're not being noble by rejecting him, you're being a dick."

Reno blinked in surprise. "Bossman, I don't think I've ever heard you say dick before."

"Probably not. I don't say it often." Tseng shrugged and let his hand sit of Rufus' waist, noting the way the blonde's head rested on his shoulder. He was fairly sure Rufus was falling asleep again. He kissed Rufus' hair and turned his attention back to Reno. "The point I'm trying to make is that if you really think that what's best for Rude isn't you then you should care enough about Rude to not let him into your bed. You should be able to stave off his advances for one week and reestablish that you two are supposed to be friends, not lovers. If you really think that that is what's best, then you will care enough for Rude to stay in his company for one week to make sure he understands where you're coming from on the issue."

Reno sighed and nodded, pushing himself to his feet. "You're right, Tseng. But…" He looked at Tseng with a sad sigh. "I don't really think I'm strong enough to keep from giving in."

"If you give in, don't do to him what you've been doing to Rufus." Tseng looked at Reno seriously. "If you fuck him and leave him, you will hurt him more than you can imagine."

Reno sighed and searched his pockets. "I need a cigarette so badly."

"I thought you quit?" Tseng raised and eyebrow.

"I did. That doesn't mean I don't really, really need a cigarette right now." Reno smiled weakly and walked to the door.

"If you start smoking again I'll cut your pay in half." Tseng stroked Dark Nation's muzzle as she pressed at his hands for attention.

"Don't worry, bossman, I trashed all my cigarettes anyways." Reno lied quickly and walked down the stairs and out of the mansion, glad to be away from the strangely painful sight of Rufus and Tseng being in love. He slipped back into his car and spun dirt from his tires as he peeled out of the driveway, searching his glove box as he did so. He had one cigarette left, his emergency cancer stick, and he had it tucked between his lips and lit before he finished his peel out.

Author's Note: Sorry this has taken so long. No one wanted to do what they were told to do. Next chapter should come more quickly.