plate_builder | Open Post

I wasn't kidding about doing this more than once. I want at least three. Maybe four.

[ we're going to learn a thing or two about stamina tonight, Reeve. but, eventually, when he's quite content to, Reno gets up and casually crosses Reeve's office naked to fetch the towel he indicates. he doesn't seem inclined to cop an attitude about getting it or giving it to him, so he must not be on the verge of an angry breakdown anymore. maybe. he just eyes that glass and then steals it to drink it himself. nyah nyah. ]

[What? Reeve rolls onto his side and watches Reno.]

That committed to making me loosen up? I'm flattered. Bring me that glass when you're done. And explain your comment. For years?

[ he brings the glass, but only after it's empty. just to be a pain. and then lounges back on the couch as casual as you please. not the least bit embarrassed about the mess he's made of things (and is going to continue to make). ]

We've both been around awhile, y'know. I can barely remember what it was like before you got here. Seems like a long time to wait, that's all.

[ that is not an answer to the question, technically. ]

[Another use of the materia, and please do applaud the level of skill he's got thanks, and he's got water to dip the towel into to clean himself a bit.]

Yes, but that isn't answering my question, Reno. Because the truth of the matter is that I was more sexually active when I was a younger man. I would have been easier to bed when I was newer to the company.

I wasn't interested in you when you were younger. I mean, not really.

[ reno shakes his head at reeve's hopeless efforts at cleaning himself up. he's just going to get dirty again soon enough. ]

You freaked me the fuck out, honestly.

[listen, he's got to work. Once he's clean enough Reeve pulls his pants back on and stands. If he walks with a slight limp as he gets to the desk.]

Freaked you out? I cannot understand how.

[ pfft... yeah reno laughs at him as he goes. and stays on the couch, for now, but he'll be under that desk like he promised in a minute. ]

You were so fucking polite. To me. I thought something was wrong with you.

[Reeve flips open a file and lets his eyes flash over it, checking for errors.]

Why is there something wrong with being polite? I attempt to treat everyone in that way.

Yeah, I know! It's fucking... weird. Most people weaponize their good manners here. It's all for show, like the marble floors. Or to make themselves sound superior, well-bred, that kind of thing. But you treat everybody equally. I never saw anything like that before, really.

[ it almost sounds like reno's being... really nice! but then: ]

I mean, now I know you're a smug little fucker that probably always looked down your nose at me, but you had me fooled when I was a kid. Hence why I'm here now, and not then: 'cause the total disrespect gets me hot.

[Sound superior and well bred? Reeve tilts his head as he considers Reno. And he makes a very conscious decision in that moment. One he hopes not to regret. He takes a deep breath, tries to flip the switch in his mind, and closes to folder so he can lean back in his seat.

And when he speaks next, there is NO denying the right brogue of his accent. A kind of accent which would mean he would never be taken seriously in the walls of Shinra Inc. He still does choose to use full 'proper' language structure, so enjoy that strange moment of that rich accent and heavier, rolling sounds while still keeping his erudite word choice and sentence structure.]

Now Reno, nearly every individual here attempts to sound what would be seen as 'better bred'. Some of us do it better than others.

However... The further I climbed in this company, the more I learned. And the more I feared the organization you work with. At first I saw you as investigators, protectors. But Reno...

[When Reeve looks at him it's with true fatigue in his eyes.]

I've spent years rebuilding from the destruction this company makes. That it tries to hide. How can I not fear the people that are their hands in that?

[At last he returns to his 'normal' voice, and he offers a sigh.]

I do not disrespect you. I fear you. I fear... that if I am honest around you, some day that will earn me suffering. I fear all of the Turks. I fear Rude, I fear that trainee, Elena even though she isn't one. The only Turk I haven't feared was Veld. Even Tseng scares me. It's part of what makes him so... arousing.

[ well, well. how long did it take to beat the diction into him, he wonders? veld had to work on him for months. reno's not about to ponder it for long, though. he doesn't want to know about his fancy-schmancy tutoring or what he had to do to make it to the top. everybody's got some stupid story about what they had to do. he's more focused on finally wrangling the truth out of him. not that he didn't already know. it's just funny to hear him come right out and say it. talking to people who just come right out and say anything is... funny.

but it still doesn't resolve the issue. all he does is shake his head, unsatisfied. ]

Veld... yeah, he had that effect. But you're not getting anywhere with me by sitting there and calling me nothing better than a Shinra pawn, farm-boy accent or no.

[Oh, basically all of his period of time in higher education. Even then it had taken a year in Shinra's secondary office in Junon to finish the polish. And all of it had been hard earned. Every. Single. Syllable. Veld had helped with that, of course. They had been... close. Once. He missed the man so desperately.

Perhaps even the sad expression he was wearing even said that.]

It's not a farm-boy accent. I was born and raised on a farm, and you likely know it. That being said... I think we both know that I do not fit the corporate mindset that the President wishes I would.

[And he fears for his life.]

If I'm being honest, when you started reaching out, trying to befriend me? I thought this was an approach you were being ordered to, and the intent was to figure out just how discontent I was.

That—ugh! That's exactly my fucking point! Fine, so you've got cause to be scared. You think they don't all already know that? You make yourself loud and clear every time you open your big, stupid, whiny—

[ ughhhhhhhhh. reno, use your words. your smart person words, not your swearwords. he grinds his teeth and starts again with a long, frustrated sigh. ]

You know how much it ticks me off when I waste my precious time trying to get to know you and all you see is "Turk"? You never gave me the benefit of the doubt for a second, douchebag. You just see what I've had to sully my hands with and that's all I am to you. Just the asshole who blew up your precious plate.

[There is a long moment of silence from Reeve as he listens to Reno.]

I blame President Shinra for the plate. You were the hand that pushed the button, but he ended those lives. I...

[A sigh as Reeve pinches the bridge of his nose, how does he explain this.]

Will you concede, for a moment, that it is reasonable that I be afraid of the company I work for?

No, stop being a fucking baby and man up.

[ is what he says, but his eyes say, darting elsewhere in the room and then back, and you know why; because it doesn't matter how "private" Reeve's office is. the walls have eyes and ears, and worse: mouths. reeve can say whatever he wants to, but reno isn't going to follow suit for all the fucking gil in the world. his risks are much, much higher stakes, in his opinion, which he's sure communicates plenty all on its own.

his silence speaks volumes. of course it's reasonable to be terrified. ]

[As if someone like Reeve isn't aware of the eyes and ears, and hasn't dealt with them. You don't get where he is without learning to be paranoid. But he gestures to Reno as if to say 'this is my point.]

So, you were interested in me only because I was polite to you. And it was only a lack of politeness that left you wanting to jump my bones? There was no other thing you were getting at when you hinted you were interested in sex with me over the period of yers?

[ reeve's dealt with it; reno has not. well, not exactly. he's been on the wrong side of dissent before, but that was very different. that was a matter of actions and ideals. feelings had nothing to do with it. the last thing he wants is to confess a fear of the spider while actively caught in the web. it's one of those "if you don't act like you can see it, it's not there" kinds of things.

either way, he seems to consider for a long moment. at least they've hit some kind of mutual understanding... maybe. he's not sure it's made much of a difference in the long run. dogs and cats don't run together for a reason. ]

Psh... don't read into it. I was fifteen and thought you were cute. Veld said hands off. He's not here to tell me to leave you alone anymore, and it just so happens you aged real graceful-like, so that's all there is to it.

[ bullshit. ]

[Bullshit, very much bullshit. But Reeve nods.]

He was quite the friend, to spare each other the messiness back then. Hopefully tonight will scratch the itch.

You're god damn right he was. I had a real big appetite for older guys.

[ as if he doesn't now? eh, it's different now that he's older and tragically well past the age of legality. maybe sometimes he's still just trying to relive his glory days as jailbait. that seems plausible.

anyway, now seems like a great time to get to his feet and saunter over to the desk, leaning against it with his hip. temptingly, purposefully close. ]

Get back to work. You got a deadline, don't you?

I do. And i do not wish to be fired.

[Well, at least there is the implication there now. One night. Reno gets one night of this aggression and wishing to dominate the man. Do your worst.]

You're free to sit on the couch until I'm done with my work.

No thanks.

[ and down he goes, ducking under the desk and settling on his knees as if he's done it a hundred times (he has.) ]

Go on, get to it. Don't want you to get fired.

[Reeve, however, doesn't scoot closer.]

Unfortunately I require attentiveness to work, Reno.

Well, I'm not fucking leaving, so you either learn to cope or you can explain yourself tomorrow. Neither one is my problem.

[Like he doesn't have answers. Reeve pushes back from the desk, taking a folder as he goes, and casting a barrier spell with the clear intention of keeping the Turk under the desk. Which is, of course, bolted down.]

[ reno only figures it out a little too late. by the time he does, he's already bolted after him, only to be met with a solid invisible wall. he leaves a bloody streak where his face hits it and reels back, a hand over his mouth. ]

You bitch, what the hell!

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i don't wanna type a brogue

i would've laughed

yes and i would have died

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