Rufus looked up when Tseng entered his cell briskly with two mugs in his hand and punched the button to close it with such force that I wondered if it could break from the mistreatment. "I think I've never seen you so agitated", Rufus observed when Tseng set down the mugs on the coffee table. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "You're having another coffee?", the vice president asked as he put down his tablet and reached for his mug. Tseng stepped around the table and let himself fall on the couch next to Rufus, stating sourly: "Is that a problem?" Rufus shook his head and answered: "No, I just didn't expect to see you again so soon." With a side glance, he continued: "Wanna talk about it?" Tseng groaned in response and looked away as he answered, trying to keep his voice in check: "The president has absolutely no plan for you. He never had any intention to let you out again."
He turned back his head toward Rufus to find his icy blue eyes staring at him. "Did you actually say that to him that?" It took Tseng a moment to pull his gaze away and buried his face in his hands before he answered: "Kind of." After a short moment of silence, Rufus broke out in a bitter laugh. He put his arm around Tseng's shoulder and pulled him closer, until his face ended up close to Rufus's chest. "You stood up for me", Rufus remarked and lowered his head to kiss Tseng on the crown of his head. "Thank you." Tseng relaxed a little as he closed his eyes for a short moment. "It wasn't much use. I think he'll keep you here forever." Rufus scoffed bitterly and said: "Hardly. It's to my advantage that he never made it public that I'm a criminal by the laws he made up for his little kingdom. If he keeled over today, I'd be the president and his orders would be void. It's only a matter of time." He rubbed Tseng's upper arm and asked: "Any other news?"
Tseng looked up and answered with more excitement: "Actually, yes! He gave permission for you to go to Rocket Town and attend the Shinra 26 launch." Rufus sat still for a moment, his hand resting on Tseng's upper arm, before he commented sarcastically: "Great! I'll do my very best to represent the Shinra Electric Power Company at this historical event of enormous significance." Tseng chuckled, and agreed: "Me, too, sir."
In his pocket, his phone beeped, which drew a sigh from Rufus: "I guess work is calling." He let go of Tseng, who reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and give it a quick glace before sliding it back into his pocket and answering: "It's nothing important." Rufus remained quiet for a short while, before he reached for his tablet. "By the way, there's something you should see." Tseng straightened himself out. "What is it, sir?" Rufus pushed a few buttons on the screen and explained: "Did you know you're famous?" Tseng rolled his eyes. "I don't think being on the Wutaian news makes me famous." But Rufus shook his head and turned the tablet around, which showed a photo of the Vice President, with the signature smirk on his face, dressed all in white, with dark shades covering his eyes and a blue feather boa around his neck, coming out of the tea house in Wutai. Tseng did not need to pinch his eyes to see that the picture also showed himself walking just behind Rufus' right shoulder, his eyes directed toward his boss. "Sir, how…", he began, which prompted Rufus to scroll down to show a headline that stated: "VP Rufus Shinra on a top-secret mission – and who is the dark, handsome stranger by his side?" Tseng looked up at Rufus, whose eyes were glued to his face. "Who took this picture?", he wanted to know, but Rufus only shrugged. "It was distributed over my Fanclub's newsletter. I'm a little surprised myself that I appear to have fans in Wutai."
Tseng took the tablet from his hand and scrolled a little further down to read the short paragraph of text that was posted under the picture, but the text was simply describing what Rufus had been wearing and identified the people in his entourage, where both Zack and Sephiroth were mentioned by name, although neither of them were in the picture. They had been walking around Wutai within the public eye, but their mission had not been publicized within Shinra-controlled areas until after the fact. They would need to pay better attention next time. Even if no sensitive information had leaked this time, confidential information may spread through Rufus' fanclub in the future. Tseng was aware of the "White King" fanclub dedicated to the young vice president and fashion icon, but the Turks had stopped keeping tabs on it because it appeared irrelevant in their investigation and it seemed to be dedicated mainly to spreading celebrity gossip. Slightly further down, the post started speculating about Tseng's identity, his relationship with Rufus, and his position in the company. Although they had managed to correctly identify him as a Turk of Wutaian origin based on his uniform and looks, almost everything else was fabricated. What worried him more was that the article encouraged readers to find more information about him and keep an eye out for him in order to find more clues about his identity.
"Why didn't you show me this before?", he wanted to know after verifying that it had been posted the day after it had been taken. Rufus leaned against the back of couch, hesitating for a moment before he responded: "I didn't think it mattered and-", he paused. "I thought you'd hate it." He did not look at Tseng directly and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a gesture Tseng had never seen Rufus making. He rushed to add: "I know this could be a problem for you, but I kinda like the picture." Tseng studied the picture again, but he could see nothing special about it, aside from Rufus' ridiculous outfit. "Anyway", he began anew and took the tablet from Tseng's hands. "I thought you should know." Tseng's eyes wandered back to Rufus' face, who seemed to avoid eye contact. "Thank you for showing me, sir", Tseng tried to appease him, not fully understanding what was going on. "I'll let the chief know. He'll know if there's anything we should do."
He put his hand on Rufus' arm to draw his attention. "Sir, what is it?" Rufus' eyes wandered to Tseng's hand on his arm and then to his face. His expression lacked the conceit and smugness he usually wore on his face, which had made way for insecurity. "I want you to be by my side just like this after I become the president." Tseng stared at him in disbelief. "You promised you'll be with me", Rufus added defensively, placing his own hand on Tseng's. "I'll be by your side, Sir, and I promise you'll be quite fed up with me being there at some point. But as a Turk, I can't do my job strutting around with you for the public." He hoped to remedy Rufus' disappointed expression by adding: "That's unless you want me to stop being a Turk, which would be in your power and yours alone."