The next morning, Tseng awoke gently to the sensation of Rufus gently tracing the scars on his back. "That tickles", he chuckled, his head resting on Rufus' chest. "Oh?", Rufus wondered. "Then maybe I should continue." He locked his own free hand with Tseng's and continued to lightly stroke his back with the tips of his fingers. Tseng closed his eyes again and allowed himself to cherish the moment just for a little bit, until he became aware of the bright beams of sunlight streaming in through a gap in the curtain. He immediately tensed up, his eyes wide open and gasped: "What time is it?" Rufus did not let go of him and responded lazily: "Seven-ish." – "Sir, your public appearance starts at nine. We should get ready", Tseng advised with some agitation, but Rufus only kissed the back of his hand in response. "You know, I have half a mind to keep you here all day long."
Although they had not quite played until sunrise, they had gone on long enough for both of them to pretty much collapse from exhaustion. It came as no surprise to me that Rufus was not at all opposed to the idea of continuing where they had left off. Tseng tried to push himself up from the bed, but Rufus held on to him too tightly. "Sir, Palmer is expecting us." Rufus sighed. "Let him wait a little longer." He turned Tseng on his back and kissed his neck, moving downward until he reached the small, round scars where Tseng's chest had been punctured by bullets during the Wutai mission. "Please stop looking at that, sir", he pleaded and tried to free his arms. Rufus let go of him and moved back up, his elbows resting left and right of Tseng' head. "And why is that, considering that I have seen and loved every bit and piece of your skin last night?", he purred. "My body looks terrible, sir." Rufus gently caressed Tseng's cheeks and hummed: "You jumped in the way of a bullet to save my life." He rolled off and laid down next to Tseng, burying his face in the nape of his neck and laid his hand on his chest. "What could be more beautiful than that?" – "Very cute, sir", Tseng sighed. "But we still need to get going."
Rufus sighed. "You know I'm not here for the rocket, right?" – "Of course, I know, sir", Tseng affirmed. "But you should know how excited Palmer was to hear that you were going to be here, after the president canceled on him. Really, you should have seen him." Rufus chuckled. "I can imagine." – "Now imagine how disappointed he would be if you didn't show up after all." – "Hmm", Rufus hummed and nibbled at Tseng's ear. "I don't really care." Tseng sat up slowly and looked down at his companion. "I think you don't understand what's at stake here, sir." Rufus looked up at him in surprise at this sudden change in tone. "You will need the support of the executives once you take your place and run the company. You can't do it if the executives won't work for you." Rufus pouted and put his head on Tseng's chest to keep him from getting up. "I take it you have reached some type of understanding with Tuesti, but what about the others?" – "I know", Rufus moaned, clearly disinterested in the conversation, but Tseng continued regardless: "You will never have an easier opportunity to bring Palmer to your side. Especially if the president cancels the space program…" – "Which he will", Rufus interjected. "When the president cancels the space program, the first thing he will remember is you supporting him right here, today. He'll have no reason to oppose you." Rufus pushed himself up and sealed Tseng's lips with a kiss. "Shut up", he mumbled. "I get it."
Tseng pushed the blanket away and swung his legs off the bed. But as soon as he attempted to stand, his legs gave way under him and he fell to the ground. "Whoops", Rufus commented. "Looks like you won't be going anywhere." He slid off the bed by Tseng's side and whispered into his ear: "You should stop me next time before it gets too much for you." Tseng shook his head, holding on to Rufus and countered: "I'm not here for the rocket either, sir." Rufus chuckled. "That's good to know." He pulled Tseng up and helped him walk the few steps to the bathroom. "Everything will be better after you have a nice, hot shower, won't it?" – "We should still hurry up, sir", Tseng reminded him, while Rufus turned on the water. As he sat under the hot shower, Tseng slowly felt life returning to his aching limbs, but he also began to feel the burning and stinging of the water on the lash marks on the back of his thighs and the rope marks on his wrists. He had enjoyed every part of being tied up, restrained and tormented in various ways the night before, but the day after such an adventure was always an ordeal. Once he felt strong enough, he managed to stand up on shaky legs, and Rufus took the opportunity again to pull him closer. "You're so tense, Tseng. Do you need a massage?" – "Sir, I…", he protested weakly, but Rufus put a finger on Tseng's lips and interrupted him. "Shush. That's an order. You will allow me to give you a massage." Tseng growled silently to himself, but was ultimately defeated by the cheerful, but determined expression on Rufus' face. "All right, but make it quick", he admitted in defeat, which was gratified by a kiss and a bright smile. Rufus handed him the shampoo and rinsed his own hair. "Hurry up then", he chanted as he stepped out of the shower and started to dry himself off.
Tseng tore his eyes away from his attractive companion and focused on getting himself cleaned up, which was a somewhat challenging undertaking after last night's activities, but ultimately succeeded. Once he finished, Rufus was already done with his own hair and eagerly waited for Tseng come out of the shower just to drape a towel over his head and start rubbing him dry. "Sir, please stop", Tseng pleaded with him. "You're treating me like a child." Rufus froze and looked at him with his eyebrows raised. "Sorry, I just want to pamper you after last night." He let go of the towel and turned away. "Well, I'll be waiting over there then, if that's okay." Tseng watched him leave, butt-naked, feeling a pang of guilt inside of him for turning Rufus down yet again, but he was still glad to be by himself for a few minutes. Although he frequently went on sex dates, he had never once slept over, let alone taken a shower together with one of his mates. The amount of attention Rufus paid to the scars on his body, and his body in general, made him somewhat uncomfortable. Although he had enjoyed last night, this amount of intimacy all of a sudden was too much for him. He brushed and dried his hair in his own time and tied a towel around his hips before he left the bathroom.
In the main room, Rufus had was already dressed in another pair of white pants and a black shirt. "Ah, you're done!", he exclaimed once their eyes met. "Come over here!" He waved Tseng over to the couch, which they had not made use of last night. "Not the bed, sir?", Tseng asked while walking over, and Rufus shook his head while he arranged Tseng on the couch. "I don't think you have time for another shower", he explained casually. "Oh", Tseng commented dryly after a short glance at the messy bed. "I feel bad for whoever has to clean up here." Rufus laughed as he placed his hands on Tseng's back. "This is the presidential suite. I bet the staff has seen worse. They won't even expect anything else." He began to work Tseng's back with circular motions. "Hm", Tseng agreed weakly. The president's "adventurous" lifestyle was quite infamous, not just within Shinra's inner circles, and so, Tseng had no doubt at the validity of what Rufus just said. He had even less doubt that Rufus would have a similar reputation from now on. He closed his eyes and checked another "first" in his head, while Rufus slowly made his way downward and eventually finished with Tseng's shoulders and back. He fetched a tube of ointment from Tseng's back and applied the cooling cream carefully to the lash marks on the back of his thigh and his chafed wrists. Tseng enjoyed the treatment too much to protest, and simply let it happen, until Rufus moved back up and finished with a kiss on the back of Tseng's neck.
"You really should take better care of yourself", he reprimanded Tseng again as he helped him up. Tseng flexed his shoulders and stretched. "I actually feel good, sir." Rufus sat down and watched quietly as he began to sort and put on his clothes that were piled up next to the bed. "Oh dear", he said as he inspected his shirt. "What's wrong?", Rufus asked and came over. Tseng held up his shirt and responded: "I can't wear a dirty shirt." Rufus stared at him for a moment and then cleared his throat. "That's… understandable." He turned around and walked over to his own suitcase. "Then I guess you have to go shirtless", he joked while pulling out another shirt from his suitcase. "I wouldn't hate that, although it would look a little unprofessional on national TV. But you might as well wear one of mine." He threw the shirt over Tseng's head and chuckled: "Your choice." As Rufus proceeded to put on his own tie and a vest, Tseng studied the shirt and protested: "It's black, sir." He held it to his body. "And it's at least two sizes too big." – "Boyfriend shirt!", Rufus called over his shoulder. "Admit it, you like it." – "I can't possibly wear a black shirt. The Turks uniform regulation clearly states…" – "Sorry for not bringing a white one for you, Mr. Vice Chief of the Turks", Rufus interrupted him as he put on his suit jacket. "I, personally, have never seen Rude wearing a white shirt. I'm sure you'll get away with it." Tseng growled a little as he put on the shirt and tried to smooth it out to make it appear a little less loose. The very idea of wearing an oversized black shirt during a public event horrified him, but even more so, all of his own shirts were fitted to his slim figure and the sheer amount of excessive fabric bulking up under his belt made him uncomfortable.
"It looks great", Rufus commented and came over again, now fully dressed. He wrapped Tseng's tie around his neck and began to tie it for him. "I can do that myself, sir" – "I know. But I want to do it", Rufus responded and kissed his cheek as he finished. He mustered Tseng, while he put on his suit, zipped it up and put on his gloves. "Perfect", he said. "It's too dark", Tseng grumbled as he looked down his front. "Hmm. Maybe you should try a different color of suit. How about pink?" Tseng stared at him in disbelief. "Or… I know! Yellow!" – "Very funny, sir." Rufus smirked again. "Don't worry about it. People will be too busy watching the rocket to notice that you're wearing the wrong color of shirt." He offered his hand to Tseng. "Come on, let's go. We have an executive to butter up."