Tease - COMPLETE

TEASE





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Warning

A Zack and Cloud and possibly others (not telling yet ) fic, can guess who they are… yaoi…if you don’t like that…don’t read.



Pre-Authors Note

I plan on having a lot of fun with this fic and bringing in some others into the mix. You can probably guess who they are by now…now it is just how will it all come together.



Thanks to ZiggyPasta for being my Beta…thanks and more thanks…



Reno!



Disclaimer

Don’t own, just using for my own amusement. Do not profit from this endeavour.





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Vodka





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~such a nice ass~



Reno had his phone out as he observed Zack giving his ‘You Want to be a SOLDIER’ speech.



Zack walked up and down the line of new recruits in, what looked like, a freshly pressed uniform. His spiky hair was teased perfectly so that it framed the handle of Angeal’s sword that was hanging on his back. His voice was loud and strong as he strutted up and down the line.



~and quite a strut he has~



Reno had licked his lips a few times as Zack turned, using that confident voice to pass on encouragement to the anxious men in front of him. It took three passes but he got a great shot of Fair’s butt, that wasn’t completely blocked by the stupidly large sword.



“What are you doing?”



Reno jumped and turned to the voice behind him. He should have known that there was someone behind. It wasn’t like Legend was known for being subtle and with the cigar hanging out of his mouth; he should have at least smelled the man.



He snapped his phone shut quickly. He felt his face burning at being caught taking pictures of a SOLDIER’s butt by his mentor. Legend was giving him his ‘I caught you’ look.



“Nothin’, Ledge,” he said as he slipped the phone into his pocket. “Jus’ observing the SOLDIERs, yo.”



“I see that,” Legend said as he puffed on his cigar.



Reno swallowed. He felt like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and now was going to get major hell for it. He hadn’t seen Legend for about a year, and he knew the first thing he was going to do was lecture him.



~way to go~



The first thing Reno noticed was that the man looked different. He looked older and tired. His blond hair was not as shiny as before, his skin looked a little greyer, and a slight rasp that wasn’t in his voice before, was now present. There was nothing wrong with his eyes, which were bright and dark, and full of amusement.



“Heard ya were back,” Reno said. “How was it?”



“Eh,” he said with a shrug. Legend was never one to talk about his missions once they were over. “Heard you’ve been getting into trouble.”



Reno rolled his eyes. He must have been talking to Tseng. “Nothin’ more than normal, yo.”



Legend laughed. There was definitely a new rasp in his voice. “That’s saying a lot, right there.”



“Glad ya find me amusing, too, Ledge,” Reno grumbled. He looked over to where the new SOLDIERs were now filing out. Zack noticed that he was looking. The cocky SOLDIER raised his hand in a two finger salute and with that damn charming smile of his, before he turned and followed out the troops.



“I’m hungry. Let’s go grab a bite,” Legend said as he placed a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him to walk forward. Reno obeyed.



“As long as it’s not the Mess, yo. I don’t think I can stomach anymore of that slop,” Reno said as they started to walk. Lunch was some horrid cream soup that had hotdogs floating in it.



~thought I was gonna puke~



He had a spoonful of the stuff and that was all it for him. He was amazed at how easily everyone else enjoyed the slop.



“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Legend said. “Got us a table at Monteno’s, just like old times.” He chewed on his cigar, pushing his chin towards where the SOLDIERs disappeared. “What was that about?”



“He’s just bein' a pest, yo,” Reno said.



“You shouldn’t mess with SOLDIERs, Reno,” Legend said.



“Pfft, Zack is harmless.”



~as long as you aren’t near Cloud~



“There is no such thing as a harmless SOLDIER."



~a lot less dangerous than Sephiroth~



“Whatever, man,” Reno said. “It’s jus’ Zack. The guy’s nickname is ‘Puppy’, for Gaia’s sake.”



“I remember what they used to call you as well,” Legend said. “It still does not mean that he won’t be dangerous when necessary.”



Reno rolled his eyes again. “I know what I’m doin’,” he said, stubbornly narrowing his eyes to his mentor.



~if you keep saying that, maybe one day it’ll come true~



“Is that why you were taking pictures of his ass?” Legend said as he pulled his cigar out of his mouth. The tobacco smelt so good, and he was craving a cigarette badly. Reno answered the question with a grunt as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. It was supposed to taste like cinnamon. It did, but it also had the bitter taste of nicotine in it, as well. He popped a piece in his mouth and chewed it quickly.



Legend grabbed the pack out of his hand. “What is this? Nicotine gum? Trying to quit?”



“Yeah. Trying to stay out of trouble and all,” Reno said as he chewed on the gum loudly. Legend tossed the gum back to him.



“By quitting smoking?”



“Yep,” Reno said.



~not gonna get trapped again~



“Well, it’s a nasty habit, anyway,” Legend said, looking at his cigar with an amused glint as he put it back in his mouth. “I want to hear your version of this trouble you’re encountering.”



Reno grunted. “Sure, whatever.” He was not going to confess everything to his mentor. He had no idea how he could explain all the crap that was happening to him.



Reno chewed the gum vigorously as he eyed the cigar in Legend's mouth. He was thinking that he had to buy some of those patches too, to get him through his nicotine withdrawal. He wanted to go for a smoke, but was too unnerved to return to the courtyard, or go any place where he could possibly run into Sephiroth.



He had to try to minimize the chances of having any further possible encounters. His nerves couldn’t take it if he had to deal with this persistent teasing. Quitting smoking was one of his tactics, and he knew he should be avoiding Zack and Cloud as well, but he wasn’t willing to stop those encounters yet.



~Cloud doesn’t even realize that he’s a tease and Zack is just such a flirt, when he’s not jealous~



He needed to find ways to not think about the past couple of weeks, and a conversation with Legend sounded like a good way to unwind. He was the one man that he could confide in. Legend wouldn’t hold anything against him, if he had the courage to talk to him about all the teasing bastards that he had been dealing with. He didn’t realize that he missed Legend in the last year. They had only been able to communicate through e-mail, and he had missed actually talking with him. They would make up for that tonight.



“Reno!”



He looked up and couldn’t help but smile at seeing Cloud jogging up to him. He was in civvies…



~wearing the shirt I bought him~



…and looking like he was on leave. Strange for a Wednesday, but not unheard of, after all, they had just come back from a mission.



“I didn’t see you in the Mess this afternoon. Where were you? Are you finally off that watch?” Cloud asked. He nodded respectfully to Legend who was standing behind Reno.



“Nah. Not yet,” Reno said. He wasn’t going to tell Cloud that he was actually hiding from him today because he didn’t trust himself to behave.



~looks damn hot in that blue~



“Are you feeling okay?” Cloud asked. “Not stiff or anything?”



~getting there~



“I’m good, Cloudo,” Reno lied, snapping his gum. “Body is gettin' used to the abuse.”



~if he undid that top button, I could see his chest better~



“That’s good to hear,” Cloud said, turning to point over to the group of four men he was travelling with. Reno recognized Joseph and John right away. Joseph was in full make-up it seemed, and his hair was a wild blue mess, and he had a silly grin. John was already looking annoyed. The other two, Reno knew from his reports - Benot and Cyrus. The two were like Cloud – in the middle of the pack, normal boys trying out to become SOLDIER. Cyrus was known to be a little bit more on the mischievous side. Benot and Cyrus grew up in the same small town and were determined to become the next Angeal and Genesis; grand dreams for small town boys. Not a bad group to go drinking with. They were safe drunks.



~I’m beginnin' to sound as protective as Zack~



“We’re going to The Plant for a couple of drinks, and since you still owe me…” Cloud left the rest hanging.



Reno rolled his eyes and looked over at Legend.



~if it was anyone but Legend, I would join Cloud at the pants…~



Reno took in a deep and controlled breath and refrained from slapping himself in his face…plant, not pants. Plant. He was just glad that he hadn’t said it out loud. That would be embarrassing.



“Got other plans right now,” Reno said, very carefully. “I’ll still have to owe ya.”



Cloud’s brow furrowed. He reached forward and put his hand gently on his arm. “Excuse us, sir,” Cloud said towards Legend. Legend just nodded. Reno allowed Cloud to grab his elbow and pull him away from his mentor.



~he should roll up his sleeves so you could see his arms better~



“Are you okay? You look kinda down again,” Cloud said in a low voice as he leaned close to him.



~he smells nice~



“Huh?” he said, trying not to look obvious as he took in a deep breath.



~is that aloe?~



“Reno!”



~nah, it’s more like honey~



“Wha?” Reno said, prying his eyes off of how that blue shirt dipped into his chest.



~I wonder what kind of soap he uses?~



“You are spacing out,” Cloud said. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”



“Just worked to the bone,” Reno quipped.



~or working my bone, is more like it~



Reno snorted, rolling his eyes, and looked over to where Legend stood. He was looking amused. He really had to curb his irrational and smutty thoughts running through his head.



“You need to relax. You sure you can’t come out?” Cloud said, his blue eyes growing large and pleading.



~can make a guy melt~



“Are ya outta money or somethin’?” Reno said, and straightened himself up.



“I have enough to cover. It’s Benot's birthday, so were gonna get him hammered.” Cloud smiled and looked at his group of friends who were waiting patiently. Well, everyone but Joseph. Joseph was bouncing around the largest boy in the group, who happened to be the birthday boy.



“Gonna catch up with Ledge,” Reno said, thrusting his chin toward Legend. “It’s been a year.”



“If you’re sure,” Cloud put his hand on his arm again. A small, concerned touch that set his nerves on fire. “Are you sure you’re okay?”



~he smells so good~



“I’m fine, yo.”



Cloud frowned at him. “Call me if you feel like talking,” Cloud said, squeezing his arm in his firm and talented hand.



“Hey! Chocobo-head! We’re gonna leave without you!” Joseph yelled.



Reno snickered.



Cloud glared at the blue-haired man and then to him. He let go of Reno’s arm and Cloud moved his arms stiffly to his side with clenched fists. “You repeat that and I will hit you,” Cloud threatened.



“Whatever, yo.” Reno smirked. “Chocobo-head. Suits ya.”



Cloud’s jaw clenched and his finger pointed straight at Reno’s nose, almost touching it. “Don’t you dare,” he said with a low grumble.



“Wouldn’t think about it,” Reno said.



~gonna change my phone ID~



Cloud sighed as Joseph called him 'Chocobo' again, and all the other men laughed around him. Cloud slapped his shoulder, said his goodbye, and jogged over to his friends.



“Gonna take a picture of his ass, too?”



Legend was now standing right beside him.



The thought had crossed his mind but there was no way to be subtle about it. He just grinned. “I’m ready for some food, yo,” Reno said, trying to change the subject of his obsession with SOLDIERs.



Legend gave a low, husky chuckle. Reno watched as the group of young men loudly started toward the train station, while he walked the other way to enjoy a good meal in a good restaurant with good company.



At least this day isn’t going to be a complete waste of time.





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Reno was stuffed and felt damn good about it.



He had all the good stuff – no - the best stuff on the menu. He had an appetizer of Escargot, which Legend refused to eat any of the ‘slimy things’. Reno enjoyed the meal of steak and lobster that came on a bed of rice. Legend ordered what he normally ordered when they went to Monteno’s – a simple steak, potatoes and vegetables. For a guy that introduced him to the great food, he was predictable and boring when it came to his choices. But that was not why Reno was starting to become worried; Legend hardly touched the food he ordered. Reno found himself picking food off his plate.



“Have you been starving yourself?” Legend joked at him as he took a piece of his steak.



“Mess food sucks, yo,” Reno said around a mouthful of food. “I haven’t had time to come down and eat properly. Ya aren’t eatin'.” He pointed to his plate.



“Not as hungry as I thought,” Legend said simply, waving his hand. “You want to order dessert?”



Reno, of course, did. He was so stuffed. He felt good and relaxed. Of course, they had not talked about anything upsetting. They talked about the gangs still roaming the slums, the latest bludgeoning and the last set of bombs that Legend used to finish off his mission. Nothing disturbing at all.



“Tseng has been keeping you busy, I hear,” Legend started.



Reno suddenly wished that he hadn’t eaten so much. He knew where the conversation was going to go and he didn’t want to have it.



“Yeah,” Reno said warily, and he looked over at Legend who was chewing on an unlit cigar. He wondered how much Legend knew.



“Cissnei is even worried about you,” he said, leaning forward. “Rude said you were acting odd, as well.”



He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”



“I do not accept that as an answer,” Legend said in a serious tone. Reno could hear his raspy breath, almost a rattle as it left his chest.



“Well, I don’t really wanna talk ‘bout it,” Reno said, a little sharper than he meant too. “And you didn’t really ask a question, ya.”



Legend sniffed and leaned back in his chair. “I guess I didn’t.”



Reno put a hand on his full belly and sighed heavily. “I don’t wanna talk about it here. I got some good drink back at my place.” He was thinking about the half bottle of that Banora Apple Vodka, and then maybe he could talk about it without being too much of a fool.



Legend nodded. “As long as you let me smoke.”



Reno couldn’t refuse him.





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Reno wanted to cry.



He sunk into his couch and stared at the newest offending bottle of flavoured vodka. Legend held the bottle, examining it closely. “This is expensive stuff. You moving into fancy booze too?”



He was able to hide the note that had been attached to it before Legend saw it, and had stuffed it back into his pocket. He hadn’t have time to read it, but he knew who it was from.



“Guess so,” Reno pouted.



“You are tense.”



“Yeah, well.”



~at least there weren’t any flowers this time~



“I do have some good new for you,” Legend said as he walked to the kitchen. He was gathering some cups. “Rufus requested that you join him on a trip to Kalm.”



He sank further into the couch and let out a heavy groan. He clutched at the note in his pocket and dreaded reading it even more.



~how is that good news?~



“You won’t be going. I will,” Legend said as he returned. “Tseng mentioned that you were having some issues with the Little Boss.”



Reno waited to respond until he had a good solid drink poured down his throat. He could see Legend's eyes intensely examining him. Did everyone know about Rufus? How did he not know that the Brat Boss was a…



~sexy, controlling, manipulating, handsome, scary, domineering, attractive ~



…horrible tease.



He sighed heavily, enjoying the burn and bittersweet taste of the flavoured vodka. “Why you? You jus’ got back, ya,” Reno said as he held up his empty cup, wiggling it slightly.



“Oh. Would you rather go?” Legend said as he poured the drink into the younger man’s cup.



“No, no, no! It’s all fine. I jus’ wanted to know why you?”



~even though I may have gotten laid, finally~



Reno frowned at his own betraying thoughts. He took the drink and guzzled it. “So,” Reno drew out the word, “what did Tseng tell you?”



Legend made himself comfortable in the chair across from the couch. He let out a sigh and leaned back in the chair, running a hand absently over his chest. Legend took in a deep breath and reached into his pocket for another cigar. “Enough.” “Enough?” Reno muttered, “Shit.”



“How did you even get on his radar?” Legend said as he lit the cigar and took in a deep drag. Reno frowned as he heard Legend take a shaky breath in, but it seemed to be negated with a heavy sigh.



“Dunno,” Reno whispered, leaning forward to pour some more. He was already feeling quite warm from the first two drinks and a full stomach. He was actually starting to feel like he could relax, especially with Legend around to look after him a bit again.



“Well, he can be quite a pest,” Legend said, rubbing his chest again.



“Has he ever tried it with you?” Reno asked, sinking blissfully back into the couch. He had a great couch; soft and warm.



“Nope,” Legend said. “I’m not on his radar.” Legend swirled the liquor in the cup.



Reno frowned. “You haven’t taken a sip of that yet, yo.”



Legend grunted as he put the cup on the table. “Not in the mood to drink.”



Reno blinked a few times. “Not in the mood? What the hell, Ledge? This is good stuff and you don’t even sip at it, yo.”



“Not in the mood for it, I guess,” Legend said, straightening in the chair. “Plus, I came here to talk to you about your problems, not mine.”



~Ledge has problems?~



Reno was going to ask what kind of problems he could possibly have. He was Legend after all. He didn’t have problems that lasted long.



“What was up with you taking pictures of that SOLDIER’s butt and that infantryman asking you to join him at the bar? You are a Turk. Why are you hanging around with them?” Legend said, leaning forward slightly, exhaling the smoke from his cigar.



~man, I want a smoke~



“Just friends.”



~unfortunately~



“You took a picture of his butt!” Legend said quickly.



Reno threw his head back.



~Zack’s butt is epic~



~always nice to look at~



~wonder if it is as firm as it looks~



~wonder if Cloud’s is the same~



“Reno!”



“What?” he yelled back and sat up straight. Legend’s eyes were boring right into him. Legend wanted answers and he didn’t want to ask questions to get them. Reno cleared his throat and tried to gather his thoughts. “Well! It’s all my fault that those two Spike-Brains are together anyway, yo!”



Legend gave him a confused look.



“Shit. If I hadn’t been taunting Wannabe about staring at his butt…” he let his voice trail as he realized what he was saying. Is that what was bothering him? It was almost like he set them up, and he highly doubted that they would be together if he had not made that silly bet. What would have happened if he had Zack take him home instead of Rude? What if he had taken Cloud home instead of getting so drunk that he couldn’t walk or keep his eyes open? “I pushed them together!”



~hell, I didn’t know I wanted them until they kissed each other~



“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Legend said. “Are you talking about that First Class SOLDIER and that infantryman?”



Reno really wanted a smoke and Legend's cigar and irritating questions were not helping his craving. “Yeah.”



Legend shook his head. Reno wished he could hide from that intense dark gaze of his. “I thought you had a thing with Kaze?”



Reno frowned and looked down at his lap. “We weren’t exclusive,” Reno muttered and hated admitting to him that they weren’t more than just 'fuck buddies'. The last phone call he had with Kaze had been short and tense. He knew Kaze was seeing someone now and wanted to be exclusive with. It wasn’t him.



Legend stared at him, he could feel the gaze. He hated the way that Legend could read him at times. He looked right through him. He could do that right from the beginning, and it was annoying.



“So,” Legend said, dragging out the word. “You’re lusting over SOLDIERs?”



Reno nodded and took another sip of his drink. “Ya, I’m pathetic,” he said and looked away from Legend. He couldn’t look at him and see the judgement in his eyes.



Reno heard Legend sigh heavily and move in the chair. “I don’t want to tell you how to live your life…”



Reno rolled his eyes and threw his head back against the couch. He whispered, “One hundred and fifty-two.”



“Pardon?”



Reno groaned. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. He looked over at Legend who was sitting on the edge of the chair, as if he were about to stand. His stern ‘fatherly’ look was on his face. Legend was as close as he got to a father as he would ever have.



He was caught. “Ya've told me that one hundred and fifty-two times,” Reno muttered. “’I don’t want to tell you how to live your life’, speech.”



“You’ve counted?”



Reno smirked. “Yeah. I do that with certain things, ya.” He had a running tally on a few things that either annoyed him or how he annoyed someone else. This was one of the things that he was annoyed with. He had heard it over one-hundred and fifty times, after all.



“I’ve said it that many times?” Legend seemed taken aback by the number.



“Yeah.”



“Have you listened to any of my speeches?” Legend asked in a lower tone that seemed to be coming from deep in his chest.



Reno sniffed. “Yeah, most of 'em.”



Legend may have an annoying way of presenting his advice, but his advice was good. “Well, I am going to give you some more. Forget those SOLDIERs. Stay away from Rufus. Find yourself a good girl and quit pissing off Tseng.” Legend stood, rubbing his chest and gave out a low cough as he pulled his cigar out of his mouth.



“A girl? Ledge, you know I don’t go that way, yo,” Reno said, laughing slightly. Legend never did understand his preference for other men. He tolerated it, but didn’t understand it.



“Still think you should find a girl. None of your other relationships,” Legend paused on that word and cough lightly, “worked. Don’t you think you could find someone that is more than sex?”



Reno scowled and stood up. “Not all my relationships were just about sex! I’m not a slut, Ledge.”



Legend was getting himself a glass of water and looking like he was trying to suppress a cough. He put his half completed cigar in the sink.



“I didn’t mean it like that,” Legend said and took a wheezing breath. He watched as Legend reached into his pocket and pulled out an inhaler. He placed it against his lips, pressed on the canister and inhaled sharply. He took a couple of deep breaths before putting the puffer back into his pocket.



“What the hell was that, yo?” Reno charged at his mentor, rifling through his pockets to grab the inhaler. He examined the small medical device and gave him an accusing look.



Legend shrugged. “I was late in administering my dosage,” he said, taking it back from him. He gave a heavy sigh, but the harshness that Reno had detected earlier in his voice seemed to be more pronounced.



Reno must have look horrified, because that was certainly how he felt.



“I wasn’t just away on a mission, Reno,” Legend said in a soft voice and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.



Reno looked at his mentor and was afraid to ask how sick he really was. “Where were ya, then?” It was a question that he didn’t really want to have answered.



“I did have a mission, but got a sniff of something bad, burned my lungs up so I have to huff this shit all the time. I can breathe again, but I need to take a puff every three to six hours. Kind of sucks.”



“Were ya goin’ to tell me?” Reno said.



Legend scoffed. “Would you have told me about Rufus?”



~hell, no~



“Is that why you can’t drink?”



“Yeah. Not supposed to smoke either, but that is a little harder to stop,” Legend said as he looked at his discarded cigar. “Maybe I should borrow some of your gum.”



“Ledge?” Reno said softly, “How bad is it?”



“Bad,” Legend said. “Don’t you worry about it. I am more worried about you and this infatuation with SOLDIERs.”



~if he knew about Sephiroth, he’d probably stop breathing~



“What about Rufus? You’re not worried ‘bout him?” Reno said as they stood in the kitchen.



“Tseng will do his best to limit your interactions,” Legend said. “And I will as long as I can.”



~as long as I can?~



“Hey! Don’t look at me like that,” Legend said.



“Are you dyin’? Ledge, give it to me straight. Why ya talkin’ like that? You can’t be dyin’.” Reno said, noticing that his voice rose with panic.



Legend pulled away from him.



That answered his question.



“What’d ya breathe in?” Reno asked, his own chest hurting in sympathy.



“I blew up some Sulphuric Acid tanks,” Legend said with a smile. “It was great.”



~great!~



“It just about killed you!” Reno blurted. “And you are saying that it was great!”



“Like you don’t like blowing things up!” Legend yelled back. “I seem to recall that you and your partner like to use explosives, as well.”



“We haven’t ended up with scarred lungs, yo,” Reno said. “Damn, Ledge.” Reno felt ill. His heart was fluttering way too fast, his head too light and to top it all off, his eyes felt like they were burning. “You can’t die,” Reno whispered and sniffed.



~do not cry~



“Damn it, Reno,” Legend said and reached out to him. Reno didn’t pull away as Legend's comforting arms reached around him. He rested his forehead against his mentor's chest and cried. He hadn’t done this since he was nothing more than a brat. Not a Turk yet, but still a kid trying to recover from the horrors that had been his life, and trying to realize that the world wasn’t that horrible after all.



He didn’t know how long he cried, with the fatherly hands rubbing his shoulders and whispering a string of comforting words that he wasn’t really listening to. As his tears slowed, he noticed the rattle in his mentor's chest was persistent, as if he was having difficulty breathing. He pulled away and avoided looking at his face. Strong and wilful Legend never showed weakness, mentally or physically, and now… now, he was broken.



“Was that why ya didn’t call?” he whispered, hating the sound of his voice. He sounded like back when he was a stupid, drugged up idiot again. “I hated jus’ gettin’ e-mails.”



“Couldn’t talk for six months,” Legend said, still rubbing Reno’s arms gently. “Made up that bit about the fact that they could trace the call, but my old phone did get trashed. I kinda melted it.” Legend let go of one arm and put a hand under his chin, forcing Reno to look up at him. “You going to stop freaking out now?”



“Yeah,” Reno said, feeling really silly. He pulled away from his mentor and wiped his face. “For now.”



“You know I don’t mind you crying on me,” Legend said with a smirk. “How many shirts did you wreck on me with more than just your tears?”



Reno snorted. “I was a stupid punk kid then.” He waved the thought away.



“You didn’t count that?” Legend asked. “I believe it was forty-two. I think I even have the expense accounts to back up that number.”



“You counted how many shirts I wrecked?” He sniffed and wiped at his face, trying to get rid of the traces of being a baby.



“You count my lectures. I can count ruined shirts,” Legend said as he picked up his unlit cigar and started to chew it. “Let’s go have another drink and we can talk about your current SOLDIER fetish.”



Reno grabbed the cigar from him and fished out a piece of gum from his pocket. “I am gonna make sure you listen to your docs better. You’re gonna stop smokin',” Reno said, grabbing his tea-towel from the stove and blew his nose loudly in it.



“You’re a pest,” Legend mumbled.



“Yeah, I know.”



“Reno, I didn’t want to hurt you.”



“Finding out when you died would have hurt, yo!” he yelled at him, waving the towel in his direction. Legend backed away from him, with a grimace. “Fuck! We have gone through a lot of shit, and you didn’t tell me that you just about killed yourself, Ledge!” The pain was still present in his chest, but now it was converting into anger – anger for not being told that the man, whom he thought of as a father and mentor, had just about died and no one had told him.



“It wasn’t like I was trying to kill myself,” Legend responded. “Didn’t know that was in the tank.”



“Well, ya always tell me to look where I shoot, and you should watch where you roll those damn bombs of yours, too!” Reno yelled. “Where’s that fuckin’ bottle, already?” Reno wanted another drink before he turned into a baby again.



“Was that one of my lectures?” Legend joked.



“Most likely.”



They made their way into the living room again. Reno didn’t bother with the glass and took a swig right from the bottle.



“Are ya going to tell me about those SOLDIERs?” Legend asked, taking a seat again. Reno didn’t like the fact that he pulled out that inhaler again and took two more puffs off of it.



“There’s nothin’ to tell, Ledge,” Reno said. “They got each other. I am dealin' with the flirty boss, bitchy boss, overly happy partner and a trio of flirty bastards. Everyone else is gettin' laid but me, yo. Did ya know that Rude’s doin' Sissy?”



Legend coughed and his eyes grew wide.



~I finally knew something someone didn’t~



“Yeah,” Reno continued, taking another swig. “Those two are so full of sweetness, it's tooth rottin’. Almost as bad as the Spike-Brains are when they think people aren’t lookin’. All smoochy-woochy, touchy-wouchy, overbearing, over-protective, sappy-wappy…” He stopped his tirade.



~where was I going with this?~



Legend looked at him. “Trio?”



~trio? Did I say that? ~



“I meant duo,” he quickly corrected. “Duo.” He did not want to talk about Sephiroth. He didn’t know what he should be thinking of Sephiroth. He would have to be a complete uptight ass not to think that Sephiroth wasn’t attractive, but he was Mr. Frost.



“Uh-huh?” Legend said. Reno hoped that he bought the 'duo/trio' slip-up. “So, everyone is flirting with you, and no one is giving you any action. Is that what the problem is?”



~that about sums it up~



Reno rolled his eyes and took another drink. “Just a little frustrated,” Reno muttered. “Kinda high-an-dry.”



“All your craziness is because you are sexually frustrated?” Legend said and chuckled.



“It has been at least a month, yo!”



Legend laughed harder.



Reno frowned.



~why is everyone happy with my misery?~



“I’ve never known you to have a problem getting laid! When did this start happening?”



Reno didn’t answer. He slammed the bottle – hard – onto the table. He crossed his arms and glared at Legend. Legend laughed even harder, sending himself into a coughing fit.



Reno pulled himself out of his self-induced pout as he saw that Legend took a little while to recover and became pale as he did so.



“Are you alright?” Reno asked with a worried look on his face.



Legend nodded. “Sorry. I know I’m not supposed to be laughing,” he wheezed.



~everyone else seems to be~



“Well, it’s not amusin’ to me,” Reno grumbled.



Legend stood, shaking his head slowly. “I will do what I can about Rufus, but he is the boss and all.” Legend shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “Ya know that I don’t want to see anything hurt you.” Legend looked down at him. Reno felt like pouting again.



“I’m not a child anymore,” Reno grumbled as he crossed his arms again.



“I know,” Legend said with another heavy sigh. Reno saw the serious look on his face and grew a little concerned. Legend used to give him that look a lot when he was younger – before Reno became a Turk. He was never too sure what that look meant. “I do worry about you.”



“I know ya do, but I’m not a runt anymore.”



“You’re acting like a runt.”



Reno stammered, trying to gather the right words for a response to that. Legend reached down and ruffled his hair, which infuriated Reno even further.



~either I am treated like a neglected sex toy or a child~



Reno returned to his pouting pose.



“Take the advice I gave you earlier. Forget those SOLDIERs. Stay away from Rufus. Find yourself a good girl and quit pissing off Tseng,” Legend said rattling off the list of things with his fingers.



“I don’t like girls. I have been trying to avoid Rufus and his demon pet. Those SOLDIERs are my friends, and pissing off Tseng makes my day!” Reno ticked off the list with his fingers as well.



“There is only so much sway I can pull with Tseng if you upset him all the time.”



“Two hundred and thirty-eight times, if you don’t count the phone call where I basically told him to fuck-off,” Reno said. He couldn’t really count that one. He hadn’t seen Tseng rub that dot on his forehead, even though he was pretty sure that he did.



Legend shook his head. “You count that?”



Reno didn’t bother to answer. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his nicotine gum. He had forgotten the note that he had pocketed earlier and it fell out. Reno didn’t notice until the piece of folded paper was opened in Legend's hands.



“Rufus seems to be taken with you, especially if he is sending apologies,” Legend said as he tossed the paper on his table. “He has broken bigger men than you, with less.”



~who the hell else did Rufus do this to?~



“Tseng said the same thing,” Reno said with a heavy sigh. “I didn’t ask for his attention.”



~just want him to stop teasin' and get on with it already!~



Reno looked at the note. It was simple. It read simply, ‘Apologies, Rufus.’



~at least it wasn’t anything embarrassing~



Legend let out a sigh. “I know. You didn’t ask for a lot of stuff to happen to you. You are just a natural trouble magnet.”



~trouble magnet?~



“Geez, thanks for that,” Reno mumbled, even though he knew it was true. If something went wrong, it was bound to happen to him. A trouble magnet was what he felt like for the last little while.



Legend gave a chuckle and slid beside him on the couch. He let out a sigh. “Do you want me to stay? I can tell Tseng you got sick and you can skip out of that boot camp tomorrow. You look exhausted.” Legend put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I can watch over you, kid.”



It was tempting, but he wasn’t a kid anymore. There was no point pointing out that he wasn’t a kid anymore. “Nah. It’s not like I have monsters in the closet to worry about.”



~just a quartet of hotties in the halls that keep teasin' and playin' with me~



Legend snorted. “Forgot about that.” He squeezed his shoulder and let his hand rest there. “You sure? I don’t mind crashing here.”



Reno swallowed. “Who was it?”



“Who was what?”



“Who else did Rufus tease? You know. Tseng knows. Sephiroth knows. No one has told me who, so tell me who it was,” Reno said.



Legend sat silent for a little while. Reno just stared at him. He really wanted to know. Who was the guy that Rufus did it to?



“It was Genesis Rhapsodos.”



Reno was pretty sure his heart stopped. Genesis. That arrogant, self-centered asshole had been teased and broken by Rufus.



~I don’t have a chance!~



“Reno?”



“Are ya shittin’ me?” Reno bellowed and reached for that bottle on the table. He needed another drink. “Right? You’re shittin’ me?”



Legend shook his head.



Reno took a gulp of the vodka. “I think I changed my mind,” Reno said. He very much doubted that he would be able to sleep now. At least knowing that Legend was watching over him would give him a little more time to sleep in the morning…



~hell, Genesis!~



“I think I need a little extra sleep,” Reno said. “I-I think I could use it.”



Reno took another drink. His head was beginning to hurt with all the drama that surrounded his life. Now he had two more dramas that were on that list. Knowing that Rufus had somehow tamed the temperamental Genesis upset him quite a bit, and knowing that Legend was ill was devastating. He needed some sleep where he didn’t have to worry, and with Legend looking over him, like he used to when Reno was a scared druggy, would make him feel a little better.



~hopefully~



“Ledge?” Reno looked over at him. His mentor was giving him a serious look, and an even more intense frown.



~what the hell?~



Legend gripped his shoulder almost painfully. “How do you know that Sephiroth knows?”



~shit~





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Sulphuric acid is nasty, nasty stuff… don’t spill it on yourself and don’t set bombs off near the holding tank… mists are bad, I say! Wear your respirator… the lungs are a very delicate organ. Legend is lucky that they were able to heal all the burns from the acid.

The more you know (star shoots across screen)



So let me know what ya think about this latest chapter. More angst for our dear friend Reno here… so thick….but at least he got a shot of Zack’s ass.