At least he's hot

Chapter 4

jackal grin


Work was just as shitty as he had expected. It was bad enough on a normal day, and being hungover just made it ten times worse. All of the tired employees looked especially frail and pasty under the ugly florescent lights, and the combined odor of copy-machine ozone and carpet cleaner seemed even stronger than usual. ShinRa Headquarters felt like a large rat cage on that day, filled with confused creatures blindly scurrying through a never-ending maze of cubicles.

Rufus was as panicked and disconcerted as a caged rat as he made his way up the floors of the building. At the top he knew his father was going to be angrily waiting for him, pacing back and forth in his huge office, and he knew that the longer he put off stepping into that office, the worse his assignment was going to be. His dad was like that... he had been a crappy, negligent parent, but seemed to have no problem whatsoever administering discipline now that Rufus was an adult. Even if there were more pressing matters at hand, Rufus' mistakes would take precedence on the old man's agenda. There wasn't a damned thing Rufus could do about it, either... the jackass was the president, after all.

His head was throbbing dully with murderous thoughts when he opened the door to the office. He looked around the spacious, immaculate room, only to find that someone else was already being yelled at. It was a guy with spiky, fire red hair, about his own age... whatever he'd done must have been horrible, because the president's face matched the guy's crimson hair. Rufus walked into the room, staying in the background, but just close enough to hear details of the argument .

“I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE FROM THE GODDAMNED STREETS, RENO!!! NEXT TIME, I'LL HAVE YOU EXECUTED!!!!!! IS THAT CLEAR?!??!" The president was standing up, leaned forward with both hands on the desk. Rufus could see a sheen of sweat on his bald head.

“Yeah, boss... whatever you say...” the man responded dryly, rolling his eyes. Blue eyes, Rufus noted. He was wearing a Turk uniform, although it was a little baggy on his lean frame, and his white oxford was only half tucked in. All in all, he gave off the appearance of a man who just didn't give a shit about anything.

The president looked like a volcano about to erupt, eyes nearly popping out of their sockets and veins bulging on his sweaty forehead. Rufus prayed for a heart attack. Instead, the prez just raised one shaky finger towards the door and whispered,

“OUT.”

When the president was so mad he whispered instead of screamed, he was either plotting a death sentence or concocting a life-threatening mission for the employee in question. It definitely meant bad news, either way. It wasn't something to take lightly, that was for sure.

Rather than quaking with fear, the guy just replied, “Sweet. Later, boss,” taking absolutely no heed to the foreboding tone. With a dismissive wave, he turned around and strode out of the office, barely noticing a slack-jawed Rufus on his way out.

It took Rufus a double-take of the situation to fully comprehend what had happened. President ShinRa, the most intimidating man in the world, had just threatened that guy, and he'd acted as if nothing had happened. How was it possible to be so nonchalant? It was like he'd just witnessed a strange paradox in the fabric of space. Turk or not, no one with their wits about them disrespected the president.

His father's piercing glare immediately disrupted Rufus' train of thought from the fiery haired miscreant. Panting and beet red, the old man looked like hell on earth, as if he'd been through a war rather than an argument. With a shallow sigh, Rufus silently stared back, waiting for the wrath... unlike that new Turk, he knew better than to talk shit. Plus, he had a hangover, and a yelling match wasn't going to help his migraine.

However, instead of the expected torrent of screaming, his father merely flopped back into his enormous chair and sighed tiredly, rubbing his temples. In a voice that was nothing but exhausted, he said, “You too. Out of my sight. NOW.”

Rufus knew a break when he saw one. Without another word he scurried out of the office, breathing a sigh of relief as he shut the door behind him. He leaned back on the door like an escaped slave and grinned. Somehow he'd made it out of that hellhole without getting an assignment... yet another paradox in the fabric of space. What really made him wonder, though, was what the hell that Turk had done to piss off the President past the point of punishment? In a way, he kind of owed the guy... he had inadvertently saved his ass.

He's not half bad looking either...

As he made his way down the hall, he laughed out loud at the thought. His entire body ached from last night, yet there he was, thinking about sex again. Most people would have been severely traumatized after a night like that... however, Rufus realized that he was little more than irked. I guess I just have a high tolerance for getting bossed around... he thought to himself, mildly bemused.

Now that his day wasn't doomed to several hours of paperwork, Rufus figured he'd stop by the cafeteria to pick up some coffee, and perhaps bullshit with other workers before ambling to his own office. Relieved or not, he still felt like shit, and he wasn't about to strain his eyes in front of a computer screen just yet.

After twenty-four floors of elevator nausea, he reached the cafeteria. Sterile and white, it looked more like a hospital room than a restaurant. When I'm president I'll make sure this place is remodeled, he thought to himself, walking over to the coffee station and pouring himself a tall, black cup.

Looking around for a place to sit, his eyes immediately found a shock of red hair. The Turk. There he was, leaned back lazily in a chair, feet up on the table, swirling a drink of some sort around in a styrofoam coffee cup. It didn't take a genius to guess that it wasn't coffee. With a patient sigh, he confirmed that whether or not the guy was a drunk prick, he still owed him a thank you. He walked over and pulled up a seat, certain that the Turk would at least recognize him as the vice president.

“Who the fuck are you?” he spat, slurring slightly.

Apparently not. With a rehearsed formality, Rufus introduced himself. Although the Turk didn't move to straighten himself up, he did hastily shwill down the rest of the crap in his cup, as if Rufus was about to confiscate it.

“Remember? I was in the president's office earlier?“

Still no acknowledgment. He made Sephiroth seem like the fucking Casanova.

“Well... anyway...” Rufus awkwardly continued. “Whatever you did in there pissed off my dad so much that he was too tired to yell at me. I was late for work, and I was expecting him to give me an assignment to make up for it. In a way, you saved my ass... if that makes sense."

A flicker of amusement lit up the Turk's eyes. Smelling strongly of gin, he leaned towards Rufus with a lopsided grin on his face. Nearly whispering, he asked, “Wanna know what I did?”

Rufus wasn't sure he wanted to know. God, the guy reeked of booze.

“I raped his secretary.”

Rufus nearly spilled his drink. Overcome with shock, he could only stare back for a few moments while the facts registered in his head.

One: rape.

Two: raping the president's personal secretary.

Three: The secretary's a dude.

“Why?” he managed to sputter, completely unable to think of anything else to say.

The jackal grin widened. “The boys on the plate are all soft as women. Don't make a difference to me." His piercing blue eyes connected with Rufus', running a chill down his spine.

At a loss for words, Rufus sat up, not wanting anything more to do with a drunken rapist. He turned around, and just as he was leaving the table he felt a rough hand graze his leg, the touch a little too lingering to be an accident. Hesitantly, he looked back.

“Name's Reno, by the way... We should have some drinks some time... since I saved yer ass an' all..." Judging by the way those predatory eyes were roving over his body, a drink wasn't all he wanted.

“Umm... maybe. OK?” The response spilled accidentally out of his mouth. It was such a surprise that he actually clamped his jaw shut, afraid that something else stupid might spill out.

The jackal grin just widened.