Reno turned off the giant TV when he heard a weak call of his name, having been watching some sporting event that was happening in Nibelheim. He went upstairs to find Rufus laying in the tub, looking as if he was fast asleep. Dark Nation was lying down next to the tub, Rufus's weak arm laying on her as his fingers barely moved to pet her back.

"Sir?" Reno called warily, seeing that the water was close to overflowing. Rufus didn't have the strength to turn off the faucet.

Rufus said nothing, only closing his eyes. Reno turned off the water and began to drain it, putting a hand on Rufus's shoulder and shaking him just barely.

"Sir? Are you okay?" he asked urgently, not liking the way Rufus was so unresponsive.

"Bed," he mumbled, barely awake.

Reno nodded and Dark Nation got up, watching. She seemed to trust Reno a bit more, but she was still growling as she watched. Reno picked Rufus up and out of the bath tub, setting him down in his chair and going to get towels. He began drying the unresponsive Rufus Shinra, leaving one towel on his lap and the other in his hair. He pushed him for his room and began looking for bandages to rewrap the blonde's injuries.

"Just give me some pants," Rufus mumbled after his head was bandaged. "The bandages… make it hard to breathe," he mumbled, inferring to the bandages that wrapped around his stomach and his chest.

"Sir, you need to wrap the wounds. They'll get infected."

"Fuck that," he growled. "Just get me pants."

Reno sighed, not arguing his boss's stubbornness anymore. He put the bandages down on the bedside table. "I'll leave those there if you ever want to wrap it yourself." He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and looked at his boss curiously. "You don't want any underwear?"

"No. It's just more work." He didn't even care at this point. He just wanted to sleep to get the pain to stop. He had managed to stop crying around Reno and was glad that he didn't seem to suspect that the blonde had been sobbing in his bath tub.

"Alright." Reno dressed him and picked him up, careful of his wounds as he laid him down.

Despite Reno's extreme care, Rufus still groaned in pain. "It hurts so fuckin' bad," he whined, not wanting to lay on his back. "Put me on my stomach, please…" He couldn't even roll over on his own… This was pitiful.

Reno was quiet, doing as his boss asked. "Do you want a massage?" That was the only thing he could think of to offer. He felt helpless, seeing Rufus like this. "My ma has back pain a lot and, I know it's not the same cause and all, but massages usually help her out. It might help."

"Sure." He managed to use his arms as a pillow, turning his head so he could breathe. The position hurt his neck, but he was glad that his wound wasn't touching the bed. "Just be careful."

"I will." He moved closer to the bed so he could get a better grip, ignoring the fact that Dark Nation was watching him from the doorway, still growling. "Let me know if it hurts," he said softly, placing his hands on Rufus's shoulders and rubbing them.

Rufus's body seemed to tense and he rolled his head to bury his face in his arms. "Harder," came his muffled request.

Reno obeyed, digging his thumbs in and putting his weight into it. "Like that?"

Rufus groaned softly at the feel. "Yeah," he mumbled, already feeling better.

"Damn," Reno muttered, rubbing his shoulders. "No wonder you feel like shit. You're all knotted up." He took Rufus's silence as an okay to keep going, moving down his back a bit as the blonde seemed to relax from his touch. He was careful of not getting near his wound or his spine. He stayed around his shoulders and his sides, getting relaxed groans every so often.

As he massaged him, his brain began to get sidetracked. Rufus's skin was soft, something that Reno hadn't really expected. Of course, with all the soaking in bathtubs he had done since the incident, it was really no wonder that his skin was so hydrated. Aside from that, his eyes began to travel.

Rufus was thin, but not as thin as Reno was. His spine was visible as a line, sticking out just barely. His skin and his back were perfect and flawless until it came to the wound, which was looking a little better. At least it wasn't infected. But, past his wound was a bit of his lower back that gave way to his ass, covered by the white sweatpants. Even though the pants blocked his view, Reno had seen him naked and knew exactly what it looked like under there. Perfect, firm, round…

Shit, what was he thinking?

He shook his head, blushing a bit and thankful that Rufus was burying his face. He moved down his back a little more and heard Rufus gasp before letting out a moan when Reno found another knot and began working on it. That breathy moan didn't help Reno's currently perverted state of mind at all.

Rufus just kept moaning and groaning as Reno moved over to his spine, just above his wound. "Right there," he groaned, in a state of bliss. If he had known Reno was this good at massages, he would have requested one earlier. His hands were like magic, taking a majority of the pain away and leaving a tingling feeling in their wake. He loved Reno's hands on him, even though they were a little rough and calloused. "Nn… There," he moaned, burying his face even further down in his arms and arching his back into Reno's touch a bit. He had no idea the problems he was causing.

Reno inwardly swore at himself as he felt himself getting aroused by this. This wasn't sexual, but his brain and his nether regions seemed to think it was. When Rufus moaned as he moved to his spine, he had the oddest urge to slip his pants off and take him right there. Of course, he would probably lose his job over that. Still, the urge didn't care about that consequence.

"Mm… Reno, how're you so good at this?" he mumbled sleepily into his arms.

Reno smiled, switching out one of his hands for an elbow. At the increase of pressure, Rufus moaned again. "Practice," he said simply. It was true. He had given his mother so many massages, he had lost count years ago. While his mother was young, having given birth to Reno at the young age of sixteen, she still had her back problems. After all, she had given birth to seven children, beginning at the age of fourteen. Reno was the second eldest and the only one living anywhere near home now. As such, he was the one responsible for taking care of his mother. That included giving her massages when her weary body gave her pain.

Rufus soon fell asleep, being lulled to sleep when Reno swapped his elbow back to his hand. Reno eventually noticed and stopped massaging him, putting the sheets over him. Dark Nation had fallen asleep on the floor at the foot of the bed, finally trusting Reno enough to turn her back on him for a moment.

Reno smiled and started to leave, but he had to give in to one of his urges. He leaned down and pushed Rufus's hair away, seeing that he had rolled his head to the side again. A little nervous, Reno closed his eyes and leaned forward to peck a lingering kiss on Rufus's sleeping lips before he turned and walked out to his own room, turning the light off as he went.

He hadn't noticed that Rufus's eyes had opened at the contact.

Reno had actually woken up early for once in his life, even before Rufus. He had taken a shower in the downstairs bathroom and gotten changed, wearing his Shinra uniform again. He went to the kitchen and found a note on the fridge from Rude, frowning a bit as he read it.

Take Dark Nation for walks once a day before work and twice a day on weekends. Her leash and collar are both in a closet in the living room, hanging on the inside of the door. The cleaning supplies are in there too. There's a note in the cupboard with pills for the president's dosing. Don't give him all the pills he asks for. There's a heating pad on the couch for his back. It seems to help. Wake him up around 7 to get him ready for work. I'll be by at 8:30 to pick him up for work. You can take Dark Nation for a walk then. You'll be excused if you're late because of that. I know Dark Nation doesn't like you, but give her a steak or some lunch meat and she'll love you.

Good luck.

-Rude

Reno sighed and put the note back on the fridge with a plain black magnet, knowing he wouldn't remember all that. He looked over at the microwave for the time and saw that it was almost time to wake up Rufus. He grabbed a cookie from the platter and ate it for his breakfast as he went upstairs, knocking on the open door of Rufus's room as he walked in.

"Mornin', Sir. Time to-"

Rufus was already awake, sitting in his chair and bandaging up his back with a bottle of antibacterial gel on his lap. He looked up when Reno came in, not quite finished with wrapping. "Reno, would you mind looking at my back? I can't see it, but I think it got infected."

Reno frowned and walked behind him. "It doesn't look infected to me," he concluded. "Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts. It always hurts," he muttered, finishing with his wrapping. Why didn't numbness from pain come from being paralyzed? It didn't make sense to him.

Reno helped him get on his shirt and his coat over his bandages and Rufus rolled himself to the bathroom. Dark Nation stayed perched on the bed as he disappeared. He paused in the doorway, turning to Reno.

"I'll be fine. Until I'm ready to go downstairs, feed Dark Nation and get her ready for her walk. Her food's under the sink in a bag." With that, he rolled off, not wanting to show Reno just how much pain he was in.

Reno nodded and looked back at Dark Nation, glaring at her. "You gonna be nice?"

Dark Nation jumped down and walked up to him, still growling as she rubbed against him and walked out.

He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing when she rubbed around his legs, but headed downstairs to feed Dark Nation as she led the way. He found the food relatively easily, as it was a large plastic bag with a piece of duct tape on it, labeling it "DN's Food". He pulled it out and Dark Nation immediately cheered up. She began bounding around, whining and barking loudly in excitement as she rubbed all around Reno's legs so much that she nearly knocked him down.

"Damn, guess I'm your friend now," he muttered, finding a large ceramic bowl on the floor that was painted by what looked like a child, a small hand print and a small paw print inside with names on them. Reno took a moment to read the named Rufus and Dark Nation, smiling before he dumped some food into the bowl. As Dark Nation began to eat, he put the bag back and ran a hand down her back. "You and Rufus have been together a lot, haven't you?"

He got the leash and collar while she continued to eat her dry food, dropping them on the couch to wait for her to finish. He went back into the kitchen and grabbed the instructions from the medicine cabinet, reading them over a couple times before he began sorting them all out to give them to the paralyzed man they belonged to. He took another cookie to eat, wondering if Rufus even wanted them. Reno imagined that he had to be hungry, as he went last night without dinner or even a cookie. He went back into the living room after he ate it, Dark Nation trotting after him and jumping on the couch, nudging her collar.

"At least you like taking walks," Reno observed, picking up her pink collar and idly wondering why such a ferocious looking beast had such an innocent flowered collar. He put it around her easily and managed to hook up her leash. Before he could take the leash to see how far she could go, Rufus called down to Reno from the bathroom.

Dark Nation hopped off the couch and ran upstairs to the bathroom, Reno going up slower than her. When Reno got there, Dark Nation was being shooed out of the room. She sadly walked out, dragging her leash behind her. Reno closed the door behind himself and smiled a little, glad that Rufus seemed to be fine. He had even added bubble bath to the water and the bubbles were a few inches high.

"I don't need help," Rufus said, gesturing to his nearby wheelchair. "I just want to talk to you."

Reno swallowed thickly and sat in the chair after pushing off the bandages and clothes, wondering why Rufus had gotten dressed and wrapped before his shower, but he was still nervous about what Rufus wanted to talk about. He knew that Rufus hadn't caught that kiss last night, right? And had he forgotten about the picture?

"First of all, I want to thank you for the massage last night. My back doesn't hurt as much today after that." He smiled a bit, truly meaning that.

Reno smiled back. "It's no problem."

He sighed. "Now that that's out of the way… There's a couple other things." He had been thinking about how to bring this up for an entire day now, and he had to spit it out now. "For starters, that picture you found the other day…"

Reno bit the inside of his cheek, holding back a blush. He was really hoping this wouldn't come up…

"I never want to speak of it again, and it would be best if we both pretended like it didn't happen. I'm sure you've made your assumptions, but don't tell anyone. This is between us, and I don't want to talk about it again. Also, I hope you saw that as a warning not to go snooping. Some things you find in here may just kill you."

Reno nodded, just barely. "Yes, Sir," he said softly, glad that Rufus wanted the same silence on the topic that he did.

Rufus's cheeks blushed a bit and he fixed his eyes on the bubbles in his bath. "However… About that kiss last night…"

Reno's eyes widened and his face heated up. "U-uh… I, um…"

Rufus was still looking away, just like Reno was by now. "Why did you do it?"

"It won't happen again," he said quickly, looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry, Sir. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like I d-"

"Why did you do it, Reno?"

Reno swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. How was he supposed to explain it if he didn't even know why he had done it? It was just a spontaneous urge, nothing more. "I… I'm not sure, Sir. It won't happen again."

There was a silence after Reno's words were spoken, stretching on for what seemed like forever. Rufus turned off the faucet and turned on the jets, sinking down a bit in the sudsy water. Neither one of them knew what to say, only making the silence more awkward. To help break it, they heard Dark Nation bark loudly and Rude announce that he had arrived. Reno stood and began to walk away in relief.

"Reno?"

He paused, standing just in front of the door. "Yes, Sir?" he asked, turning around.

Rufus finally looked at him, although it was from the corner of his good eye. "I didn't mind it that much. The kiss, I mean."

Reno blinked, his mouth opening slightly. "Sir, I-"

"Reno?" Rude called, wondering where the redhead was at.

"Coming!" Reno called, but he didn't move.

Rufus sighed. "Go on. It's nothing, Reno."

Reno nodded a bit and left the room, going down the stairs to see Rude petting Dark Nation in the doorway. "Yo, Partner. Sorry, Boss's takin' a bath." He walked over to Dark Nation, picking up her leash. "I'll take her out."

Rude frowned, sensing something was off. "You okay?"

Reno blinked, then smiled. "Yeah! Why, do I look weird or somethin'?"

He shook his head slowly. "No… Something seems different."

Reno stuck out his tongue. "I slept in a big fancy mansion. What'd ya expect?" He opened the door and walked out, being dragged by Dark Nation. "I'll see ya later!"

Rude sighed as Dark Nation began pulling Reno away, going upstairs to see Rufus trying to dress himself after his bath. He helped his boss, but he couldn't help but notice that Rufus looked like Reno. He seemed distracted and distant, his body helping Rude as he was dressed as if he was on autopilot. He took his pills, ate breakfast, and got out to the car in complete and utter silence. The only noise was the noise of the city that was a little ways away from the relatively independent mansion that Rufus Shinra called his own.

"Sir?" Rude finally spoke up as he got in the car. Rufus had been placed in the passenger seat and his wheelchair was folded and in the backseat, ready for work.

Rufus glanced over at him. "Yes?"

"You're being very quiet," he commented.

Rufus forced a teasing smile. "You're one to talk about being very quiet, Rude."

Rude's face remained impassive. "Reno was acting strange too. Did… something happen?"

Rufus let out a soft sigh before he spoke. "It's nothing to get involved in, Rude."

Rude fell back into his silence as he drove, not even turning on the radio to break the quiet in the black company car. He knew something was going on, as he was good at perceiving emotions. He was getting mixed signals, however. Rufus seemed to be depressed, as he often was since the accident, but there was something underneath it. It seemed to be confusion, which was also understandable. But, even below that, just barely able for Rude to see, was a small glint of happiness in his eyes.

Rude liked seeing the president happy, even if it was so small that he had nearly missed it. But it just confused him. What had happened to make the president happy? Surely Reno hadn't managed. On all of the occasions that the redhead had been lectured or yelled at in Rufus's office, it seemed like they were at each other's throats. But, since the explosion, things between them had seemed to become nicer. Maybe that was why he was happy. Maybe he felt safe with Reno.

Rude's ponderings ended there, as he had pulled up to the new Shinra building, which was just an old business complex they were renting until the new tower could be built properly. Tseng was waiting just outside, his hands on the handles of a new wheelchair. He stepped forward as Rude got out, helping Rufus into the chair.

"It's electric, Sir," Tseng said with a smile. "Why don't you give it a try?"

Rufus blinked, looking at the little joystick on the armrest. Curious, he nudged it a bit. The chair jerked forward and he was momentarily terrified of the speed.

Rude went inside, leaving Tseng to help Rufus.

"Don't push it so far. Try again, Sir."

Rufus pushed it again and moved forward a bit more slowly. He smiled, looking over at Tseng. "Thank you very much, Tseng."

He smiled back. "It's nothing, Sir. Your arms must be getting tired, so I placed an order the other day. They just delivered it this morning."

Rufus was moving for the doors. "Good job, Tseng."

Tseng smiled and followed after him.

Once they had rode the elevator up to Rufus's office, Rufus had Tseng alone. He sighed, looking up at the Wutai man from his chair. "I need you to do me a favor."

Tseng inclined his head a bit. "Yes, Sir?"

Rufus folded his arms on the edge of his desk, slouching slightly to ease the pain in his back. "Do me a favor." He pushed a file across the desk to him. "Have Reno get some work done. I don't want him messing around."

Tseng picked up the file and scrunched his eyebrows together as he flipped through. "But, Sir, this file… It's already been completed."

He sighed. "Just… keep him busy."

Tseng bowed, although he was a bit confused. "Do you mind me asking why, Sir?"

"I need the day to myself. You may come and go as you please, but… I wish to be left to my thoughts."

The director frowned. "Sir… Is something bothering you?"

"No," he said firmly. He opened his laptop and turned it on, just for something to do. "Get to work, Tseng."

Tseng nodded. "Yes, Sir." He bowed and walked out, reluctantly leaving Rufus alone.

Rufus sighed the second the door shut and he leaned back into his chair, closing his eyes and putting his hands in his hair. There was no way he could face Reno after that. He had to send Reno home before his emotions got anymore confused and knotted. He would send Reno home and get Tseng to move in. Either him or Rude. He didn't want Elena… She was too emotional, not to mention she probably didn't like seeing Rufus naked. But, she did cook well…

Rufus spent a majority of his day pondering just that, trying to think of someone to replace Reno. And, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted Reno to stay. He had feelings for the redhead and he couldn't pursue them if Reno was sent away. Of course, emotions interfered with work. So, maybe it would be for the better if Reno went back to his own home…

Before he could actually make a decision, there was a light knock at his door. Figuring it was Tseng, he closed his laptop, which he hadn't been doing anything on anyway, and called, "Come in."

The door opened and Reno stepped in, closing the door behind himself and stepping up to the desk. He didn't seem to sense Rufus's uneasiness. He sat down in the chair on the opposite side of Rufus and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Yo, Sir, um… I was thinking…"

"Of?" Rufus prodded, wishing he had an excuse to shoo Reno out.

"Tseng said I wasn't s'posed to see you today and… Are ya trying to tell me that ya don't want me going home with you and living with you and all that?"

Rufus's jaw tightened. "Yes, Reno."

Reno seemed to deflate, his eyes widening a bit in surprise. He looked down at his hands, which were playing with the zipper on his jacket. "Yes, Sir…" He sat for a bit, but stood and looked at Rufus with a sudden air of determination. "Sir, I can't."

Rufus blinked. "Pardon?"

"I can't let you make me leave, Sir. I'm a Turk. It's my duty and my job to protect you, even if it's from your own loneliness. I can't just stand back and watch you suffer in that huge house with just that guard hound for company. I know you're too damn proud to think you need it, but you need me there for you. Last night, you would've flooded the entire bathroom and maybe even drowned yourself. It's not just that you can't take care of yourself either. I can tell you're depressed and, no matter how many antidepressants you take, you're still in a shitty mood. I know I can't bring back your legs and I know I can't make the pain go away. I just want to be there for you if you ever need anything. Sir, let me do my job."

Rufus just stared at him, astounded by such an honest confession. It took him a bit to recover, shaking his head slowly. "Reno, get back to work," he said lowly.

Reno deflated again. "Y-Yes, Sir..."

Rufus smiled as Reno walked out. "I'll see you after work."

Reno paused, turning back and smiling. "Thank you, Sir."

The blonde man shook his head. "No, Reno. Thank you."