Night Shift 24: M11-M20 Hallway
((OOC: Starting off in M13, moving into the hall.))Homura closed his eyes as that familiar voice filled the air, let out a slow breath to ease into the proper mindset for what was about to happen. Short this time, which was good, as he didn't have any desire to listen to the head doctor prattle on endlessly. No, Homura was eager to get things
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"I would say I told you so, but that might be preaching to the choir." He cocked a curious and mildly concerned eyebrow. "So what did our friend the personal space invader to do you?"
This would've been a more pressing matter, except that Rufus didn't sound all that accusatory. Coupled with Schuldig's numerous hints that he had a high chance of going insane sometime during the day, it was likely that whatever Schuldig had done, it hadn't been on purpose.
Hmm. Will wonders never cease.
And at any rate, Rufus didn't look deathly ill or anything. Maybe a bit pissed off, though.
"Elena should be making her way here." Definitely not a bad thing that Schuldig would be opting out tonight, too.
His eyes drifted down to the pipe in Rufus's hand. "I'm gonna grab a pipe from you. Got any more stashed away?"
Technically speaking, a gun was far more effective, but screw effectiveness. He missed handling his usual weapon.
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Rufus waved a hand, choosing not to acknowledge that it was his own fault that he felt like hell.
"He made me feel like my brain decided to explode and paste itself back together. I could feel him for a split-second shrieking or something, and then it was gone. I think if he would have stayed in there I probably would have gone insane easily. If that's what he hears all the time, it's a wonder and a half that he hasn't gone round the bend."
Rufus sighed, touching a hand to his forehead.
"I couldn't get near him. I'm hoping he's all right."
Truth be told, Rufus was greatly worried about the telepath. That tiny taste had been enough for him, making him want to drag out his eyes or something to relieve that pressure. Still, even he had enough sense not to challenge Farfarello or the rest of Schwarz for Schuldig. It would have been like trying to face down Tseng for Elena or one of the other Turks.
"They're in there in the closet. Grab whatever you want."
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Or - okay, maybe not really. He actually still couldn't bring himself to give much of a damn about anything regarding the telepath either way, as long he was kept out of it.
Rufus, though, was starting to worry him a little more. The President didn't look to be in severe pain, but Rufus could be as bad as any of the Turks when it came to revealing the full extent of any sort of injury.
But fussing over his boss like a mother hen wasn't a part of his job description.
"You don't look so hot yourself," Reno said, shuffling through Rufus's closet and removing one of the pipes. "If we get lucky, we might be able to snag you some painkillers. That is, if you're still good to go tonight?"
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Much as he had pushed aside Reno's words that this was all his own fault, Rufus waved aside Reno's words on his own condition. He could have been bleeding out of his ears and eyes and Rufus would have insisted on going along.
"I'm fine. It's a small headache, nothing more."
He watched Reno cross the room to the closet, a thoughtful look on his face. A brow arched as a rare smile/smirk shaped his mouth. Reno was one of the few that could pull that expression from him. After all, Reno was his own, not someone who could possibly become an enemy. Were the Turk going to turn on him, he would have done so before now.
"Painkillers are one of the few things we didn't find. I have bandages and the like from the second closet we went to last night. Some medications would come in useful. We got lucky last night in that we didn't run into anything bad. I doubt we'll be so every night."
Rufus leaned against the doorway, one temple resting against the cool metal of his doorframe. It was soothing in a way.
"Should I bring my trusty garbage bag again?"
The world was going to end with Rufus making a joke a second night in a row. It had to.
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"Small headache" my ass. If it was enough for Rufus to appear affected by it, there was nothing small about it.
Reno didn't bother insisting otherwise, though. It wasn't like he would've said any different if it'd been him. And really, trying to get any male to willingly swallow his pride was an exercise in futility. Rufus was more inclined to crack ten jokes in a row than admit he needed to take a night off.
With his back turned, Reno was oblivious to the smile on Rufus's face, which might've been a good thing for Rufus. If he'd seen it, Rufus probably would've had to explain exactly what it was Reno was doing that was amusing him.
Either that, or he would've gotten a semi-flirtatious remark.
"There's definitely meds around here, though. Saw one or two patients using them as a bargaining chip."
It was too bad they weren't back home - Reno would've been able to offer up painkillers on the spot. There was nothing worse than being on the job with a full-blown hangover, and so he'd learned to always keep some aspirin handy.
Hooking his foot around the leg of a chair, he dragged it up closer to where Rufus was standing and dropped down in it. He didn't know how long Elena would take to show up.
He smirked, playing absently with the pipe to test its balance and weight. "Can't think of a better ally than plastic. If nothing else, you could suffocate someone with it. Or something."
He, too, doubted they'd be as lucky as last night. In fact, if the laws of irony were anything to go by, they'd probably end up getting hit twice as hard, as compensation for their previous fortune.
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No, she was probably smart enough not to think anything that shouldn't be going on was, he decided.
Leaning against Reno's chair, he massaged his temples again to try to coax the last of the headache into retreating. What he wouldn't have given for some asprin or something equally effective. That smirk came back at the mention of smothering someone with his trusty garbage bag.
"I would have never imagined I'd be running around an insane asylum with a garbage bag of all things before, Reno. We should make this into an executive training came for Shin-Ra. Teach them what survival is. Tseng might even appreciate that idea."
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Reno snorted in mild amusement, sliding further down in his chair into even more of a slouch.
"Hey, it's about time the execs take their turn at it. Lord knows I've gone through enough of those damn things, even before this."
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"And here I thought those stories about Turk Survival Camp were nothing but rumours or reasons Tseng made up to increase his budget. So they are true? I now feel rather fortunate that the worst he ever did to me was throw me around the training room whenever I did something he felt was foolish."
For Rufus, that had been bad enough. It didn't matter how quick Rufus thought he was on drawing his weapon, Tseng or the other Turks always managed to make him look like a beginner. There were few things more shameful than being thrown around like a stuffed animal until he was covered with bruises that he couldn't break his pride down enough to ask Medical for healing. Explaining how and why Tseng and his people had felt the need to toss him around for an hour or so was not something Rufus would ever do. Better to take the punishment than complain.
"We could make you the new Head Doctor, Reno. Put you in whatever the control room for this place is, install cameras and traps, and let you be in charge. Tseng might thank me for getting you a hobby."
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He wasn't even sure if Elena had ever ended up with the same training the rest of them had, given she was the only one who'd joined up after that disaster with Veld and the other Turks. He'd never asked, and she'd never told, but when he thought about it, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to maintain any specific program just for one person.
At any rate, training had always sucked a hell of a lot more than the actual job itself.
He laughed, reaching back to retie his hair. "Oh, Tseng would just accuse me of using the cameras as a means to my voyeuristic tendencies or something. 'Sides, I'm the only person at Shin-Ra who even knows what the goddamn concept of a hobby even is, thank you very much."
Sort of. Maybe not really. He bitched about his right to a vacation more than anyone, but in truth, he could be as much of a workaholic as any of them. The time off he'd taken following Sector Seven had bored him to fucking tears. After running around with the Turks for all these years, booze and sex just didn't offer as much entertainment by comparison. And maybe that was also part of the reason why Shin-Ra had managed to keep a hold of him for so long. Because really, what else was there for him to do?
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Rufus snorted at that. Damn it, but that seemed so long ago. What had it been? A week? Two? Time had lost meaning here in Landel's. It felt like months. Watching Reno tie back his hair, Rufus frowned faintly. Did Reno's hair look longer? Shaking his head, he put the matter out of his mind and smirked at Reno's words.
"I'll have you know that I do recognize what a hobby is, Reno. I have quite a few actually. I collect gems occasionally. I have a great fondness for precious blue ones."
The other things he tended to collect he wasn't going into. Schuldig had already hinted at Rufus' proclivity in that area.
"I can only imagine the videos you would make off a place like this. Then again, perhaps I shouldn't. You could make a fortune online. We executives were still debating whether or not it was you that caught my head of finance in the boardroom with the PR director that time and put it out for the public."
Rufus shook his head ruefully, stopping quick enough when a bolt of pain ran through what he felt was the mush making up his brain. That had been hilarious though.
"But yes, I do know what a hobby is an have a few of them. We're not all work and no play. Some of us simply don't broadcast it often."
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At the mention of the new Turks, Reno leaned his head back to peer up at Rufus. "Yeah? God knows we could use 'em."
He was always wary about the hiring of new Turks - expanding the circle to unknown faces was never the best way to keep things secure - but there was no denying they were short more than just a few hands. They'd operated all right with the four of them before because there were still the SOLDIERS and the various lower guards to back them up, but after Shin-Ra collapsed, those guys had all scattered. Coupled with the fact that their intelligence network had crumbled to dust, too - hard to keep your sources when you couldn't offer the same power and protection - there was no way they could keep going with just four goddamned employees.
Reno shook off a single strand of red hair that had come away with his fingers. He watched it float for a bit before plucking it from the air again and starting to wind and unwind it around his index finger.
A smile curved his lips. "Okay. I'll give you that. Nothing says social life like blue gems, yeah?" His tone was more lightly teasing, though, lacking most of his usual sarcasm.
He lifted an amused eyebrow at the mention of the video. He actually had no idea what Rufus was referring to, having not lived through that particular time period yet.
"Oh, come on. Does that really sound like me? I mean, I would've kept it and used it as blackmail."
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A moue of displeasure came and went on Rufus' face at that particular memory. He recalled a bit too well some of the things from that era, ones he didn't care to dwell on. He was grateful for the subject change or what he pounced on as a subject change.
Glancing down at Reno, Rufus nodding, shoulders lifting in a vague shrug. "Tseng had wanted some, ones that he was willing to work with and build up since we're lacking the Shin-Ra Military Academy still. I'm not sure how it will go exactly, but that's not my area. I leave that in his capable hands. I ended up getting The Look for even thinking that he not let the rookies be my guards. He made it very clear that he thought I was the fool for even suggesting he would do such."
The horror of 'The Look' from Tseng didn't need further explained in Rufus' opinion. Many feared it and few stood against it.
Glancing down at Reno, Rufus' smirking smile took on a dark edge as he leaned heavier on the chair. Make fun of his gems would he? Rufus was rather proud of those. Few of them were found on Gaia and finding someone who could sculpt them without breakage occuring was even less. It might be time for revenge.
"Now Reno," he said in a low voice, dropping to the lower tones that was just shy of a growl. One fingertip rose in a warning gesture before Rufus tried to touch along Reno's jawline and brush a few more of those hairs away lightly as he returned the favour by invading Reno's personal space. Turnabout was fair play, and after all, he did want to just once see Reno back down. Revenge was just a good excuse.
"You should never, ever, ever belittle another man's stones, especially when you've never seen them."
Schuldig might be a really, really bad influence on Rufus after all if he was resorting to the telepath's tactics.
It was really too bad that Rufus' one thought was 'Please don't let Elena walk in now and see or hear that'. He'd never live it down if she did.
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Reno couldn't deny that Tseng had a damn good eye for new recruits. Whether it was through instinct or some sort of complex system the man had come up with, Tseng never failed to pick out the potential few others saw.
Tseng's "look" did, indeed, need no elaboration. Reno had probably received it the most out of everyone. If Tseng wasn't careful, Reno would start developing an immunity against it soon.
He was about to say something else, but stopped when he caught the look on Rufus's face. It wasn't one he'd ever seen with Rufus before, but he'd certainly encountered it on others. Hell, he'd flirted with plenty of people in the exact same way.
Wait. Flirted. Was the President flirting with him?
No, stupid question. Obviously, he was. Well, damn. This was new. Granted, Rufus was likely just trying to take revenge over his...gems (what? Christ, of all things).
If he hadn't had prior warning to Rufus' new state of mind, he probably would've pulled away on instinct. As it was, he let Rufus run a finger along his jaw, one eyebrow raised in a mixture of curiosity and amusement. He wasn't sure if he found this interesting or just kind of a turn-on. Maybe both. If there was one person who would be willing to admit that their boss was pretty damned attractive, it was probably Reno.
A faint smirk played on his lips, though someone who knew him well enough might've noticed a split second of hesitation as he wavered between dodging the challenge or taking it on.
But really, who was he kidding? He'd back down over something important. Over this, when Rufus was clearly just daring him for the sake of daring him?
Yeah, right.
Reno had been playing with the strand of hair out of boredom, but now he twisted it around his finger slower and more deliberately.
"Wasn't aware that blue stones were something to be fond of. You might want to get someone...to look into fixing that."
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The flaw in his plan was apparent soon enough when Reno failed to be properly cowed by Rufus' revenge tactic. That was unexpected.
Uhh... shit.
A dark thought surfaced in Rufus' mind, he seizing on that quickly like a drowning man would a life preserver. It was a long shot, but it might just work. One way or another, he needed to win this. Had to. The amusement in Reno's eyes was welcomed, not wanting to chance pissing off his one of two allies here. If Reno had showed the slightest sign of discomfort (or at least discomfort that Rufus would have known him well enough to pick up on) Rufus would have backed off. Since he didn't, Rufus leaned a little closer, his hair brushing against Reno's own.
"Do you know how I knew you weren't my Reno?" he asked, that low growl still in his voice. "My Reno had two scars. One is barely visible right here..."
Rufus fingertip slid slowly down Reno's throat, drawing a line just shy of touching the man's cartoid artery. Even he was smart enough not to do that. Given Reno's profession, he doubted the Turk would want a caress that intimate or potentially dangerous.
"The other is right..."
The fingertip dropped down without warning, following the line of Reno's Landel's wear collar at first and then lower to the man's mid-chest. A fingernail scraped against the material.
"There."
Rufus tilted his head, trying to brush his lips against Reno's ear as he spoke. "My Reno was nearly gutted keeping some crazy man from gutting me about a week before Geostigma surfaced and ended up getting stabbed himself in the process. Then again, there's also the fact that I know for sure if he's a natural redhead or not. Would you like to guess how?"
Rufus drew back some, enough to meet Reno's gaze. He had to remind himself that this Reno didn't know he was lying his arse off. It wasn't the first time Rufus had completely lied to win. What was business but a complete and utter fabrication at times?
"That and he has this fondness for being on top that I don't think you share."
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He shifted his leg, brushing it lightly against Rufus' as he did. He didn't comment as Rufus spoke, only locked his gaze with Rufus, lowering his eyelids just enough to draw attention to his eyelashes. He didn't bother moving away from Rufus's touch, either, even leaning into it slightly. It wasn't like it was unwelcome or anything. Maybe the fact that he'd been here for almost a week without any real action (the closest he'd gotten was flirting with Lust) had something to do with this.
Reno was tempted to turn his head as Rufus's lips brushed against his ear, knowing full well where the President's mouth would end up if he did so. But he wasn't about to take it quite that far yet.
Rufus likely would've been able to pull his little story off - he always was a hell of a good liar - if he hadn't made a reference to the timeline. But he had, and he apparently didn't realize that Reno was fully aware of every event up to and past Geostigma. Reno was pretty damned sure that he hadn't gotten stabbed a week before Rufus came down with the infection. He'd taken plenty of hits for a number of people before. That one wasn't on the list.
Of course, Rufus could very well be telling the truth about the latter half. It wasn't that difficult to see himself bedding the President. Actually, that prospect was looking closer and closer right now.
In any case, there was at least one bluff for him to call Rufus out on. That didn't mean he'd do it, though. He wanted to play along and see where Rufus was willing to take this.
"Hmmm. Did you want to confirm for certain, that second scar? Don't tell me you can see through my shirt." He cocked his head, as though considering, before finally discarding the loose strand of hair and leaning forward enough to close the gap created when Rufus had pulled back.
"Actually, we can confirm that and your assumption about my preferences in bed all in one go. Efficiency. That's your thing, yeah?"
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The brush of the Turk's leg against his own was a spark of heat, one he pointedly chose to ignore. He wouldn't win this game by giving into a weakness like lust. There was a moment of (very) faint worry when Reno didn't pull back but leaned into his fingers some instead. Well, that wasn't expected. This might call for a change of plan on his part.
This became even more apparent a moment later when Reno more or less propositioned him to find out if it were all true. The question now was how far was he willing to go to say he'd beaten Reno in something.
That smirk never left Rufus' face as he stood his ground, letting Reno close that gap between him that he'd created. He stayed standing, enjoying the short time he was able to tower over the other man. Height gave him the illusion of being in control, of being higher up that Reno was. It was something he'd used to his advantage. The tip of his tongue touched lightly against the centre of his own upper lip, sliding along to the cornre as he pretended to think over Reno's question.
"I suppose you would have no compunction about cheating on yourself."
His fingers ticked against the strands of Reno's hair that were free of the tie at the front, aimlessly moving until he reached the tail of red hair and tried to flip it over Reno's shoulder and into his own grasp. Rufus had lost count of the number of time over the years that he'd wanted to grab ahold of that hair and throw Reno into a wall with it. He tried to use it to force the Turk's head up, Rufus wanting to loom over him.
"I know my Reno is worth the time, but what makes you worth it?" he asked, sounding as bored as he would have been if forced to give interviews for mailroom positions. He was the very picture of Shin-Ra arrogance, that better-than-thou attitude that made his eyes cold and the archness of his smirk all the worse. "Efficiency has its place, but I prefer to take other things... slow and enjoy them. You look more like the fast and unable to control himself sorts."
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