Next Round (3/7)

Vincent was feeling his heart break as he watched Sephiroth fight his own limits and try and push his body into a seated position. Futilely, of course.

He tried to help him, but Sephiroth pushed him off, angry with himself for lacking strength. Considering the fact that he never had anyone helping him, it was no wonder he refused any kind of help even now, even from Vincent.

At last, he managed to push himself high enough and he sighed, his shoulders drooping. He looked even more drained now, barely keeping his eyes open all of a sudden.

“The irony would be laughable,” Sephiroth whispered, wincing as he tried to push himself up a bit more, but his hand was too weak and he just slid back down. “were it not me at its arrow point.”

Vincent sighed. “Perhaps you should listen to your body and rest, sleep perhaps?”

“I’m not sleepy.”

“I know the feeling,” Vincent said with a snort.

“Oh?” Sephiroth looked at him, eyebrows quirked. “I seem to recall you loving sleep,” he added sarcastically, then extended his arm. “Come here.” Vincent obeyed without a word. He took hold of the hand and seated himself next to Sephiroth then, after a moment relaxed on his torso.

He felt those lips leave a kiss on his hair and he just managed a sigh as he heard Sephiroth’s breathing finally slow down.

---

It was a bit after six that Reno returned home. Rude had quickly fallen asleep, as he generally couldn’t keep his eyes open when watching a movie. It was a conditioned response – TV on, Rude off.

Reno left his place quietly, not wanting to wake his partner up; Rude was going to give him shit for last night like this anyway.

Since he definitely couldn’t show up at work in jeans, in spite of what ShinRa was at the moment, he needed to go home for a change of clothes.

He dreaded it, though.

He had known about Sephiroth all along. Perhaps not from day one, but he was pretty sure it was from near the end of week one. Things were quite simple – Vincent and Sephiroth had something. Vincent had been in that coffin, Sephiroth had been in the basement lab. Love at first sight or some shit like that, but Vincent swore it was a connection that ran deep.

Vincent said he loved Reno, but he also said he’d choose Sephiroth over him were he alive. That, of course, was a non-issue.

Until last night.

He picked the lock (he knew how to do it more quietly than just using the key) and walked into the apartment as stealthily as his skills allowed. Then he froze on the spot.

There was one thing Vincent never did – he claimed he simply didn’t need to sleep after all that time. And now, if he wasn’t sleeping, then Reno was losing sight. He was spread there on the sofa, eyes closed, breathing shallow, long muscular arm protectively over him.

Feeling his eyes burn once again, Reno rushed to the bedroom and pulled a large suitcase from under the bed.

He was determined not to shed one tear as he roamed through the drawers quickly, throwing anything he thought he’d need into the case.

Then he spotted the bedroom door opening and Vincent slowly walked in, still hazy from sleep. The moment he spotted what Reno was doing, his focus returned.

“Reno?” he asked, eyes open wide.

Reno looked at him, but then continued to ignore him.

“Reno!” Vincent tried, more determination in his voice. Reno threw a ball of socks with such vigour that they bounced off the pile of shirts and fell to the floor right in front of Vincent, who squatted and picked it up.

Reno looked at him then and remained still.

“Let’s talk,” Vincent said now that he had Reno’s attention.

“Nothing to talk about,” Reno interrupted, moving towards Vincent to get his socks. He extended his hand and waited impatiently until Vincent handed the ball over. “I just want to know if I ever meant anything to you.”

“Reno…” Vincent sighed, then his hands found their way to land one on Reno’s wrist and the other on his cheek. He looked at him as softly as he could.

Then, half a second later, before his mind could even process it, Reno found himself being pushed to the side of the wardrobe, his lips ravished and Vincent’s hands everywhere. He moaned as Vincent’s lips sucked that special spot under his chin that always made him shiver and groaned as his hand unzipped the jeans and played with his forming erection through the boxers’ fabric.

Just as he was getting used to what was going on, he heard something and Vincent quickly jumped back, looking towards the main room. Sephiroth shifted and said something quiet, Reno couldn’t pick up what. Vincent probably could.

Instantly, the heavy breathing and blush that used to be passion turned into anger and Reno shot Vincent a look that would have frozen a lesser man. Vincent just blinked, looking all sorry and apologetic again. This was definitely not easy on him, but Reno couldn’t give a shit. Not now. Not like this.

“Him or me, Vincent,” he said, zipping his pants and pulling his fingers through his messy hair.

Vincent closed his eyes and exhaled. “Don’t make me choose,” he whispered.

Reno rolled his eyes, trying to keep his dignity. He walked to the wardrobe door and pulled his blue suit out. “Him or me.” He moved to the suitcase and just squeezed it between underwear and towels, then proceeded with closing the suitcase.

“Please,” Vincent whispered, so much desperation in his voice that it froze Reno on the spot. He turned to face Vincent, the suitcase be damned. “Just give me a few days. Is that too much to ask?”

Reno inhaled sharply. He noticed his hand on the suitcase started shaking, so he released the handle and hid it behind his back. “Too much. Far too much.”

Again, Sephiroth produced that quiet sound and Vincent’s gaze instinctively shot to the door. But he returned his eyes to Reno. “Please.”

Reno looked towards his still unclosed suitcase and sighed, hating himself for doing this, for being so weak. He nodded, his eyes closed, and just pulled the blue suit out. “Need to go to work. We’ll talk about this tonight.” He looked at Vincent, whose lips were spread into a small relieved smile.

“Thank you,” Vincent whispered, then rushed through the door to see whatever Sephiroth needed, leaving Reno to get dressed.

---

Standing in the elevator, Reno felt like breaking something. The fact that he was staring at his own very ragged and very tired expression in the metallic doors didn’t help. Angry, he hit the surface with all his might. It didn’t help and his hand hurt, but at least he didn’t have to see what Vincent had turned him into.

And what the hell had all that been about? Reno still felt like breaking something and he hoped he’d be able to do that at work. Or else he was going to lose it.

He looked at the mess he called his suit crumbled in his arm and pulled the cell phone out of his trouser pocket. Without watching it, he dialled Rude’s number.

“Yes?” he heard Rude say, sounding slightly pissed. He could even imagine the raised eyebrows on that stoic face, or perhaps even an eyeroll.

Reno pursed his lips, knowing now that this was a stupid idea. Not only had he screwed up last night, be he was in the process of confirming the size of the problem. “Can I come over?” he asked, sounding slightly apologetic even. “I’ll give you a ride to and back from work,” he added, hoping it would diminish Rude’s reaction.

In spite what Reno thought of his partner, he reacted quite the opposite. Reno heard a sigh, then a long pause. “Sure, just hurry up,” was all he said and Reno smiled. Well, at least something was working well and he didn’t have to revert to quickly changing his clothes in the elevator, hoping someone of the other tenants (who already thought he was better avoided in a large circle) wouldn’t just then need an elevator and end up staring at him in his underwear.

---

“What was that?” Sephiroth asked, after seeing Reno rush through the apartment like a wild dog, then exit without a word. He slowly pulled himself up, Vincent helping him with the pillows that were supposed to support him better. He was still far too weak, not even capable of standing by himself and Vincent hoped he’d manage to do at least that soon, before he’d need his first bath.

He doubted he’d be able to control himself with naked Sephiroth in his shower, and worst of all, the scene from half an hour ago made him realize he really didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to lose Reno.

Restless, Vincent got up to get Sephiroth more tea, even though he just wanted to buy himself more time. There were things he dreaded talking about the moment he’d realized Sephiroth had no memory of anything that had happened in Nibelheim back then. He poured the reddish liquid into his cup and returned to the sofa, more slowly than he’d left.

“Do you mind not being evasive?” Sephiroth asked as he took the warm cup into his hands. “Don’t make me make you,” he added with a smirk, slightly mischievous no matter the fact how off that seemed for his face.

Vincent’s eyes drooped. “We have a lot to talk about,” he said. “There’s… so much you don’t know.”

Sephiroth tensed in his seat. “Then do start from the beginning.”

“One year ago…” Vincent started, still not finding enough strength to bring his eyes up. “I killed you.”

---

Rude opened the door before Reno took his finger off the bell. “Get in,” he ordered, nodding to the apartment. Without suspecting a thing, Reno did step beside his partner, but the moment he saw Elena standing next to the armchair she had probably been sitting in, arms crossed over her chest, he thought about escaping.

Of course, Rude was blocking the door, and Reno perhaps was insane, but he wasn’t suicidal. Picking a fight with Rude meant exactly that.

“What’s this?” he said with a fake smile, but neither Rude nor Elena moved a muscle.

“Rude called me,” she said, still serious, still looking fucking dangerous for a woman almost half Reno’s size. Of course, there was the fact that she lived practically behind the corner and was probably at Rude’s place five minutes after Reno’s call.

Reno cast Rude a glance that was screaming ‘fuck you’ all over.

“What happened?” she continued, unfazed, a voice a bit softer than just a moment ago. She uncrossed her arms and took a seat at her armchair again.

Reno growled, looking at Rude again, who just shrugged, feigning innocence.

“Or do I need to call Tseng,” Elena added, eyebrow raised.

“Nothing fucking happened!” Reno answered, defensive. He tried to sound insulted, but the truth was, he was actually touched by what his friends were willing to do at the small sign of trouble. It meant a lot to him, although Reno would probably die before admitting it.

“Did you and Vincent have a fight?” Elena asked, forcing a small smile to her lips. “Or you just decided Rude doesn’t get enough excitement in his life.” She pointed to the suit in Reno’s hands.

Once again, Reno looked towards his partner, hoping for some help, but knowing he wouldn’t get any. Rude stepped away from him and towards Elena, all the stoicism in this world not covering the fact that he actually cared about Reno.

“I’ll call Tseng and tell him we’ll be late,” he said, a small grin on his lips. He looked at Elena the moment Reno shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Look, guys,” Reno started, spreading his arms, trying to act cool. “I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but there’s nothing going on.” He glanced towards the bathroom, hoping he’d manage to find his escape there. “Can I go and get dressed now…?” he asked, leaving the second part of the sentence hanging in the air as he unbuttoned his pants.

Of course, Rude was the first to break, definitely not interested in seeing his partner naked. “Go,” he ordered, massaging the root of his nose. “I have no desire to look at your skinny ass.”

Reno grinned and rushed to the bathroom. He really loved his co-workers, he really did. But he had no desire sharing personal things with them. And how the hell was he to explain Sephiroth to either of them without causing half of ShinRa’s manpower rushing to his apartment ten minutes later with the obvious intent on blowing it up?

He discarded the old clothes on the floor, glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked… presentable. Not much different from all those times he’d ended up drinking the nights away instead of sleeping. Rufus would survive. Tseng wouldn’t, but he’d keep his mouth shut.

He walked out of the bathroom. Rude and Elena were already at the front door, waiting for him. Elena was grinning, holding a box in her hands. Reno cast her a questioning look, but then he noticed the frost covered box was a chocolate ice-cream container.

With the corner of his eye, Reno spotted Rude was trying really hard (and failing miserably) to hide a grin. Reno just growled at Elena who offered the spoon with the box as well, not bothered in the least with the deadly sounds Reno was trying to emanate.