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Soft music and the sound of people chatting filled the room. Shinra had rented the Seventh Heaven for the annual midwinter party, providing Tifa with a nice fee for the catering. She had stocked up heavily on the alcoholic supplies, and well was that, as they were quickly draining.
Oddly enough, Tseng was one of the ones making the largest inroads into the stock. From where he was sitting by the bar, Tifa could follow his glances over to the corner where Reno was chatting with Elena. Tseng was drowning his sorrows? When he signalled for a refill, she grabbed the bottle and walked over to him.
“Why don't you talk to him?” While filling his glass, she smiled.
“Who? What do you mean?” Tseng's eyebrows drew together in a frown, and he knocked back yet another shot.
“Reno. I'm not blind, you know. I can see the way you're looking at him, and half the room will notice too if it continues.” She smirked as she walked away, leaving the bottle behind.
Reno, eh? Yes, he had been watching him. That confident, friendly and quite sexy redhead. Such, dirty, dirty things crossed his mind each and every time he though about Reno.
Cursing, he bottomed yet another shot. He had no idea what to do. He could behave like his usual self - hide his emotions and do nothing, or he could act like the teenager Reno made him feel like. His head dropped forward and his forehead smacked against the top of the bar. He closed his eyes, chuckling mirthlessly. He felt really exceedingly stupid – might be the alcohol, might be something else, but he still didn't like it. Lovestruck, he supposed. Damn.
He decided that he'd drink so much he either passed out, or got his nerve up to do something about his 'situation', whatever came first.
Patting around on the wooden surface beside his head for the bottle of whiskey, he failed to notice the presence of someone closing in on him. He didn't react at all until a hand patted him on his shoulder. He turned his head, only to look up at Cid Highwind.
“What're you doing here?” Tseng didn't mean to sound that snappy, but he really was in a foul mood.
“Some of us WRO guys got invited – as a courtesy to Reeve of course. And I never turn down free booze.”
“I meant, why're you bothering me?” Tseng was still resting his head on the bar.
“Because you look freakishly miserable where you're sittin' - lyin'? Problems?” Cid sat down on the chair beside Tseng.
“None of your business, Higwind. None of your business.”
“Ah, but this is s'posed to be a happy occasion, and yet here you are, broodin' over a glass of booze, and all because of a hot piece of ass.”
“What the? What? Who? How do you know?” Tseng sat up abruptly, scowling at Cid.
“Relax, man. I can tell - I've been there too. Reno's got that effect on people.” Cid knocked back his own shot, smiling crookedly at Tseng.
“Reno? What the?” Tseng's scowl disappeared, replaced by a look of pure confusion. What did Cid mean – 'he'd been there'?
“Man, it ain't difficult to tell who's causin' your distress. Your eyes follow his every move. I sympathize. He can really catch a man's eye.”
“He caught yours too?” Realization was slowly dawning on Tseng. Cid Highwind was attracted to Reno?
“Yup. Very much so.”
“What about your woman ... Shera was it?” Tseng faintly remembered a female face and connected a name to it. His interest was piqued – he'd never had any idea Cid Highwind of all was having those kinds of inclinations.
“Her? She knows.” Cid chuckled. “I told her from the start that sometimes I find men attractive and that sometimes I act on my attraction. She decided she would forgive me all my indiscretions as long as there were no other women. She's too good a woman for me, really. She should find someone else to love, that would love her back properly, but she won't leave me.”
Again he chuckled, this time a slightly hollow sound to it.
“We're fucked up, and we both know it. I always go back to her, and she forgives me anything. But enough about that. What're you going to do about with your situation?”
“I don't know.” Tseng appeared to accept Cid's company, interpreting it as two men drowning their sorrows together. “I don't even know if he's attracted to men. At all.”
“Trust me – he is.” This time Cid's chuckle was really just a chuckle, warm and hearty.
Tseng stared at him for a moment.
“How would you know?”
Cid leaned against him and whispered in his ear.
“I've fucked him.”
Tseng nearly fell of his chair, shock and the booze providing his cheeks with a nice pink tinge.
“You what?” He had registered that Cid had said that sometimes he acted on his attraction to men, but with Reno?
“I fucked him. We had sex. Happens sometimes.” He smirked. “By the way, I thought you were doing Shinra? Or was he doing you? Anyway, what happened there?”
“I did. No, I mean, I used to. I used to have sex him. Then he decided that having a relationship with someone didn't work to further his goals. Being free to fuck his business-connections suited him better. It didn't work at all for me. So we .... terminated our agreement.” His shoulders pulled up, and he stiffened slightly. Not an especially happy memory that.
“I'm sorry, man. Must've hurt.” Cid's hand came to rest on Tseng's shoulder again. “But I do have to warn you, if a relationship is what you want, Reno might not be the right one for you. He ... drifts. From one to another, never settling down. Not sayin' that he's easy, or anything like that, just ... rootless. We still meet up to drink together once in a while and discuss conquests. He always tells a different story each time.”
“Right now, I don't even care. I'm ... confused. Alone. Drunk.” Tseng swung back another shot, looking rather depressed.
“Take my advise, man. If it's just a fuck you want, if just to forget Shinra for a moment, to numb your mind, whatever – go for it. He is worth it. If you want to start a relationship with him, at least wait until you're sober and can discuss things with him rationally. He's no easy person to deal with, I'm sure you know that better than anyone else. And do warn me if you do, so I don't overstep any borders, eh?” Cid didn't love Reno, but he liked him. A lot. So if there was someone else better suited for him, he would step down easily. There was always other tails to chase.
“Yeah, sure.” Tseng didn't sound especially persuaded, but a silence settled between them and they continued drinking together in silence. Neither one noticed Reno walking up on them until he spoke.
“Cid, are you hitting on my boss?” He smirked lopsidedly. “He's spoken for, yanno.”
“Actually, kid, I'm not and he's not.” Cid laughed and patted Reno's ass gently.
“Huh, what happened to Rufus?” Reno tilted his head, looking questioningly at Tseng.
“Dumped me. Didn't want a relationship.”
“Aw, poor darlin'. Want a cuddle?”
Cid wondered how Tseng could have overlooked the way Reno acted for so long. Yes, he was friendly by nature, but as he saw it, Reno had never actually tried hiding his attraction to men from anyone. He was so obviously gay - he only cuddled men the way he was trying to cuddle Tseng right now. He was basically sitting in Tseng's lap, trying to give him a nice, supposedly comforting hug.
Cid chuckled, and decided he was needed somewhere else. Like in the dark corner where Vincent Valentine was sitting, where he could try persuading him to come home with him at the end of the day. Reno had managed it once, so why wouldn't he? He could be charming - if he wanted too.
“I'm off. See ya guys around sometime.”
He patted Tseng on the shoulder in farewell, and felt up Reno's ass one last time before he left. He had a feeling he wouldn't get the opportunity to do that again in a long while.
“Aw, leavin' already? I just got to say hello, yo.” Reno mock-pouted, and then chuckled. “Oh, well, I see where you're headed. Good luck, yo. Gotta tell me how it went someday.”
He winked, and waved. Then he turned his attention to Tseng again.
“So, the boss dumped you. Any particular reason?”
“Got tired of me, I guess. I suppose I'm too old-fashioned. I want to have an actual relationship with the one I'm having sex with. Didn't work for him.” This way, Tseng figured he could give Reno a fair warning before trying anything else, and also gauge his reaction to such a statement. To his surprise Reno didn't outright laugh in his face. Instead he stretched slightly, and leaned against Tseng, standing beside him by the bar.
“That's so you, Tseng. It's good to hear that someone still feels like that – makes me think there is still some hope for us all, yo.”
“You don't find it mushy and pathetic?” Tseng stared at Reno, somewhat incredulous.
“Naw, boss. You couldn't be pathetic if you tried. And mushy suits you. Somehow. I would never imagine you as the type that sleeps around anyway. You're not like ... me.” Sipping on a beer Tifa had brought him, he smiled gently.
“Hey, don't badmouth yourself. We're all who we are, that's just how it is. If you're happy living your life like you are, why not just enjoy it?” It stung, saying something like that, but Tseng would never try forcing his opinions on anyone.
“Yanno, sometimes I wonder if I really am. Happy, that is. Bah! Don't listen to me, it's the booze talking. And this season of the year always makes me feel a bit weird.” Reno stared down into his beer again, drifting away for a moment.
“What, are you finally growing up? Getting ready to settle down?” Tseng couldn't help but tease. The atmosphere around them had gotten a bit too tense, and he felt like easing it up a bit.
“Yeah, right. Like someone could make me settle down. For that, someone big and strong – like you maybe? - would have to sweep me off my feet, and nail me to the ground.”
Tseng knew that Reno was only playing along with the joke, but he couldn't help but feel a sting of ... something ... run through him. He still smirked, throwing another quip at Reno.
“How about I just nail you to a bed?”
“Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?”
“Very much indeed.” Tseng's palm came up and smacked against his forehead. Oh, unholy Jenova, he hadn't meant to let that slip.
Reno's head whipped up, and he stared up at Tseng.
“The fuck, boss?”
“Forget I ever said anything.” Tseng got up to leave, but a hand grabbed hold of his sleeve, urging him to stop.
“Don't. Don't even think about leaving after saying something like that. Did you mean it?”
Tseng sat back down again, resting his chin on his fist.
“I did.” There. It was out.
“Jenova in a freaking box, I never knew. For how long?”
“A while. Not sure.” He looked at Reno, smiling awkwardly. He wasn't a shy teenage girl, he could deal with this.
“Actually, it's been driving me up the wall.”
“Frustrated?”
“Very.” He actually managed to chuckle. No hiding it now. They'd just have to talk it through, and settle on some kind of solution.
“So you want to fuck me?”
“Yeah.”
“And you also said you need to be in a relationship with someone you fuck?”
“Yes, I'd prefer it to be like that. It's just the way I am.”
“Then, by inference, I take it you want to have a relationship with me. Is that right?”
“...yes.”
Reno stopped talking, and just stared at Tseng for a moment. He was apparently thinking hard.
“I don't know... I don't really do relationships. They never work out for me.”
“I know... Stupid of me, right?”
“Not stupid. You can't really choose who you feel attracted to, yo. I know that. But I also know that I end up driving everyone away in the end. People can't handle being around me for long periods of time.”
“Reno, we've been working together for ... how long now? Years and years. I could've gotten your contract with Shinra revoked time after time, and I haven't. Do you know why?”
“No...” Actually, he really didn't have a clue why they kept him around. Yes, he was a more than capable pilot, he could whack someone good with the EMR and things like that, but he also kept messing up constantly.
“I like you. I find your personality refreshing.”
“Really?” He tilted his head questioningly again.
“Yes. I just realized though, some weeks ago, the real reason behind that.”
“And what was it?”
“I want you. In my life. In my bed. Pure and simple. If that is a no-go, tell me now, and I'll drink myself into oblivion tonight, trying to forget everything by tomorrow.” He smiled, lopsided and wryly. There wasn't much hope in his expression, he already seemed set on loss.
“It ...” Reno had to stop for a moment, to gather his thoughts. “It probably wouldn't work. I ... I'm not ready for something like that. Not yet, at least. But come with me, this ain't the right place for this, yo.”
He got up, and started to walk away, pulling Tseng with him. He didn't say another word until they had walked the few blocks to a house owned by Shinra. In the end they were standing in the middle of a silent, unused living-room.
Reno stood in front of Tseng, fiddling slightly with his tie. Then he looked up, smilingly.
“You want me?” The question was simple, a yes or no would do.
Tseng nodded.
“I can't promise anything. I am me. This is what I am. But let me do this for you, and then we'll see what happens.” He pulled Tseng down by his tie, into a hot kiss.
Tseng would have felt shocked if his mind had been able to register anything but Reno's lips against his own. They were slightly rough, chafed from working outside during winter. But they were warm. And insisting. And belonged to the man he had been lusting after for several months now. Half his mind was screaming for him to take everything he could get, the other half was telling him this meant trouble and heartache. He couldn't care less.
His arms encircled Reno on their own, drawing him closer, drawing him flush against himself, wanting to feel Reno's warmth. His hands drifted up under his shirt and jacket, searching for skin. For contact. For more warmth. For Reno.
Reno quickly unbuttoned his shirt, letting both it and the jacket fall from his shoulders to the floor, giving Tseng exactly what he wanted. Then he started backing away, towards a door in the other end of the room, still pulling Tseng along by his tie.
“Bed. Now.” The words were as much of an order as Tseng could have ever given himself. And he followed it gladly. Any thoughts of tomorrow were hidden away as deep as possible. 'Now' was what mattered. 'Now' and Reno.
Somewhere along the way Reno let go of Tseng's tie, and it came off, followed by the jacket and the shirt. As skin connected with skin, Tseng lost any will to turn back. As Cid had said, Reno would be worth any hurt this would cause.
He lifted Reno up from the floor, still locked in a kiss, and when Reno hugged Tseng's hips with his legs, clinging to him, Tseng carried him like that the rest of the way over to the bed.
He sat Reno down on the bed as gently as he was able to, only to be pulled down with him.
“Trousers. Off.” Reno was giving the orders again, and Tseng was more than happy to comply. The fabric came off in a flurry, two pairs of close to identical uniform trousers landing in heap by the bed.
Naked, Tseng crawled up along Reno's equally naked form, feeling hands run along his sides to settle on his hips. He leaned in to steal another kiss but it was given to him freely. Hands wandered, touched, felt. Time as a concept lost meaning, only the next touch held any importance.
When Reno's hand settled between them, his fist closing around both their cocks, pressing hardness against hardness, soft skin against soft skin, Tseng momentarily stopped breathing. He couldn't help but buck into the fist, against Reno. When Reno started stroking both of their cocks in unison, Tseng buried his face in the nook of Reno's neck, moaning gently. The alcohol in his system already had his control wavering - Reno touching him like that didn't help.
Together they bucked and arched and moved against each other, until they came undone in each other's embrace.
Still shivering, Tseng rolled over to the side, only to have Reno follow him, to end up sitting across his hips.
“Don't think I've finished with you yet, boss.” He chuckled. “If you're having me, you're having me properly, yo.”
“Let me catch my breath first. I'm an old man, you know.” Tseng felt happy. He knew it would probably be temporary, but he still felt genuinely happy. His hands played gently, randomly over Reno's slightly sweat-slicked skin.
Reno smirked, and bent over the edge of the bed, pulling something from his trouser pocket. He waved the small tube in front of Tseng's face.
“Always prepared, yo. And man, you're not that much older than me.” Then he smiled again. “Watch me. See me.”
Having Tseng's undivided attention, he popped open the tube of slick, letting it drip into the pal of his hand. Once it warmed up slightly, he got up on his knees, resting his weight on the other hand. Then he moved the slicked one to his entrance. He knew exactly how much he could take, so without hesitation he slipped two fingers past the muscle, quickly stretching and slicking himself up. All the while he was holding Tseng's gaze with his own, enticing, entrancing.
Tseng watched. And wanted. He felt lust starting to surge through him again, slowly building, rising. So when Reno asked “Want me, yo?”, he was more than ready. He watched as Reno positioned himself over him, slowly taking him in. Intense concentration marked Reno's face as he moved.
Tseng's hands came to rest on Reno's hips, moving with the motions, helping, supporting. Again they moved as one, and Tseng could only look on in awe as Reno took what he wanted, used Tseng for his own pleasure, smiling down at him in a way that could possibly drive any man over the edge. The smirk gracing his lips spoke of innumerable possibilities for rapture, of want.
But while he took, he also gave. His hands trailed over Tseng's torso, drawing circles, painting promises and denying them. He whispered encouragements and vows under his breath, eyes closed and head thrown back.
Tseng continued to watch as he felt Reno pulling him with him, closer and closer to the edge. Reno was hypnotizing, suggestive, powerful. He was in charge, guiding them both towards where they needed to be.
Slowly, the tension started to rise in them both, movements becoming more strained, ragged, sharp. Hands grasping for hold, finding it, losing it again. In the end, hands found each other, clasping together beside Tseng's head. Their breathing quickened, their eyes closed tightly as they strained for release. In the end it was Tseng's hand that undid Reno. It came down to encircle his cock, stroking it in sync with their motions, until Reno moaned and shuddered. His back arched, and his mouth fell open in a silent scream as he came in Tseng's hand. As his muscles relaxed, he fell forward again, looking down at Tseng and a wicked smile graced his face, mischievous eyes glowing.
“Come for me. Come in me.”
Tseng yelped as Reno smiled down at him. His words were an order Tseng could never have denied. His head whipped to the side, and he bit down on his lip to keep from moaning. He shuddered violently as his hands came down to grip Reno's hips. Bucking up, he came, still feeling Reno all around him. It felt like home, like a haven. It felt right. He wanted to feel it again and again and again. But that thought would have to wait, wait for the dawn to come around again. For now Reno was all he wanted to consider.
His hand guided Reno down to lie by his side and then pulled a cover over them both. Reno was already looking drowsy, but he smiled up at Tseng again. Gentler this time, exhausted.
“Stay. 'Til tomorrow at least. Then we'll talk, yo.”
“Yes, tomorrow. But now we sleep.” And they slept, drawing on each other's warmth and company the throughout the cold night.
xxxEndxxx