plate_builder | [Open Post]

"I want to know, even if he isn't okay with it," Reeve answered. "I don't want to lose another person without saying goodbye."

Pain. He'd lost his mother, and then his father had died in a heart attack after the plate collapse. So many people.

Reno just scowls at Reeve, a look of 'don't talk like that' on his face, before looking straight ahead. "If Weapon can't kill him, a little Stigma won't do the trick, either. And don't even try and correct me.ç

“Have confidence in him for the both of us then,” Reeve countered. He has to wonder how insulated the Turks and Rufus are, to think he will beat the stigma. No one did. Of that Reeve was certain. He had already seen and heard of so many dying.

“I want to be hopeful. But I find it beyond me at the moment.”

Not so much insulated, as denial or not wanting to face factw. Or maybe he knew something on a deeper level? It was hard to say, but either way, it was obvious the Turks were going to admit no such thing.

It also seemed Reno was, for once, done talking. Or maybe Reeve just annoyed him into silence.

“Judge me as you see fit, Reno. But please pass my request on to Tseng,” Reeve sighed. Was that too much to ask?

"Fine." He mutters, before moving to climb into the front seat; who cares if Rude gets at least one foot in the face while he does it, he'll only swerve a little.

There was definitely a disadvantage to being Rufus Shinra's lover, Reeve had found. And the first and most powerful part of that was that he had found that his affection for the younger man overwhelmed those earlier plans of business first, pleasure later. More than once he'd found himself in Rufus's bed first, discussing business as he lay naked with the man in his arms. Of course that didn't keep him from romantic gestures like trying to learn Rufus's favorite recipe to cook for him (thank you Elena), and sometimes getting them right (thank you Rude). And yet they managed to find that line between business and personal lives and keep to it.

Just meant some discussions happened naked that didn't necessarily need to. For instance, Reeve was currently settling against Rufus, panting from the pleasure of their most recent round of sex, his body still singing from the thrill of the orgasm so fresh in his system. He settled next to Rufus in his bed, lips idly finding new places to press themselves in his affection for his lover.

"I've really got to learn to keep my hands off of you."

Not that he wanted to. He liked what they had. And having been in Mideel the last three months meant he'd barely seen the other man. At least he could talk to Rufus when he wanted.

It was fairly amusing to Rufus that Reeve had set the rules, and yet often enough had been the one to break them. Rufus rarely did, though from time to time the mischievious side of him couldn't help it; usually, that kicked in when he was well tired of business and wanted nothing more than to bother Reeve. That sometimes that harassment involved toys he had Reno (grudgingly) buy probably didn't help, but hey, Reeve had opened that can the first time they got together.

This time, he had actually intended to behave, though. There was something of a serious nature to discuss, something he was aware he would get flak for, but it seemed that three months was a little bit of time. Which meant one thing led to another after the architect's arrival, and here they were.

"Funny, even without your hands, you don't seem to be able to not touch me."

"Cute line," Reeve hummed as he spared another kiss for Rufus's jaw. Beautiful lips on beautiful skin because that was what Rufus deserved. "I've missed you. If nothing else because you keep my ego from getting too big. And I've got to tip Reno for buying that..."

Wait, no, saying it wasn't nearly as fun.

"I'm sorry. Just... ten minutes and I can be a reasonable adult who doesn't jump his young lover at the first possible chance when I see him."

Rufus chuckles a little, brushing fingers through black hair. "Definitely thank Reno... it will annoy him greatly. But, after we talk... after all, I did say there was something important to discuss, before you side-tracked us."

Something important to discuss. Reeve nodded as he relaxed against Rufus. Wants to get some nice rest. A few minutes to close his eyes so he has all the energy he needs. Except this is important and that means now.

"Sorry. What is it?"

Rufus strokes Reeve's forehead gently, and does give him a moment, before shifting to make sure Reeve is looking at him, understands what he is saying. "Let me fully speak before you react, please?"

Promising not to react? That wasn't a good sign. At all. Makes Reeve worried. Very worried.

"I promise," he answered, voice soft.

Rufus nods, and his eyes show that he is relieved that Reeve has agreed. He knows very well that this is not going to go over well, possibly even with the reasoning behind it. That was the reason that Rufus wished to speak directly with Reeve, and not over PHS or the Cait Unit. Easier to read the man too, if they were face to face.

"After some considerable discussion between myself and the Turks, and using all the information we have on the Stigma, it's become pretty obvious that no headway has been made regarding the Stigma itself. The only person I had who was trying to cure the Stigma has given up that any current cases can be cured with what we have."

He pauses here, hands moving still through Reeve's hair gently, wondering how pissed the man would be if he knew Rufus intentionally let a man who hated the person working on the cure have a gun... even though the person working was practically useless, and addicted to stimulants.

"I naturally don't believe such a thing, and that lead to the discussion. A lot of ideas were bantered about, but eventually everyone came effectively to the same conclusion; we needed to find the source and work from there. This is where I think you might become upset..."

He draws his hands away, but keeps focused on Reeve's eyes with his own. He had to be sure he was believed early on to avoid more argument than needed, and he knew that the fact he was being honest would help when it came to the potential of the older man trying to judge his eyes.

"We had no Stigma until after Meteor was called and Sephiroth defeated. Even all the damage the company did to the Planet, people weren't sick like this, which makes it logical that it has to have occurred at that time. At that place you all gathered at to defeat Sephiroth.

"Which makes it natural we must go there, and see what is left; Sephiroth, Jenova, or even pieces of Meteor. And those things must be brought back for study."

In the end it was probably for the best that Rufus made him promise silence. Because the further and further he went the angrier, the more scared Reeve became. By the time Rufus came to the point about Shinra, Reeve has sat up enough for the sheets to fall from his chest. And by the end there was an naked, angry man pacing by the bed. “You can’t be serious. At all. This is foolish. That place is full of terrible monsters your men aren’t ready to face.”

Rufus expected the anger to be about something else. About the fact he was even thinking of going anywhere near anything related to Sephiroth or Jenova. What had brought them to this point. Not worry about Turks.

Then again, over the last many months, he supposed Reeve had become as much family as anyone else he knew, and he had spent considerable time with the Turks. Probably began to see what Rufus did in the men. Meaning, perhaps, it wasn't so strange.

Doesn't stop the fact this is important, and Rufus looks at Reeve calmly as he speaks. "I see no other choice. We have reached the limit of what we can do without better understanding what the Stigma is, and if we are right that it is relates to Jenova or Sephiroth, having some of their DNA would be a great asset."

“Not without a geneticist and labs,” Reeve countered. Yes. He was upset over Sephiroth and Jenova too. Let him line up his priorities. “Rufus, Sephiroth is dead and gone. I saw his end with the others. I helped fight the final bit of Jenova with Cait. The issue is something else. I know it isn’t mako energy. But perhaps it has to do with the Lifestream rising up. There are far more cases in and around Edge than anywhere else. Look instead to Mideel for answers.” Seemed reasonable, and safer, to him.

"Think I couldn't find both?" Rufus notes, before shaking his head slowly. "And it can't be the Lifestream. If it was, we would have had issues in the past, since it covers the planet, but we haven't. That makes it quite unlikely to be the Lifestream."

“Save for Cloud, Tifa, and a few first class soldiers who are thankfully dead, people never came in contact with the quanta of mako people did when the Lifestream rose up to defend us. That power was something else, Rufus. Something no living being is meant to touch.” And perhaps that was what made people sick.

"Mako poisoning is far different from Stigma." Rufus notes. "Also, Mako is used in the stimulant which assists in keeping down the pain levels. The stimulant is what we used on the SOLDIERS. All information I have handed you in the past."

“Pure Lifestream And mako are different,” Reeve countered. “Which there is a chance you don’t understand. I am the one that reworked the entire mako refinement process and I can tell you with certainty that the difference between refined mako and even what bubbles out of a mako spring that your father used to start the ‘electric’ part of the company are different beasts. And I expect the Lifestream is different still.”

"And we have made no headway with Mako nor Lifestream." Rufus moves to get his pants on, the conversation obviously going to take some time. "We have to look into alternative reasons, and this seems the most likely."

“Nothing I can say with dissuade you from this foolishness, will it?”

Damn. The older man sighed and moved to start collecting his own clothes.

“I thank you for telling me, but I still think this is a bad idea.”

Rufus sighs a little. "Reeve, tell me something. If you think logically about all the information I have provided about Stigma research, and all the research you have gathered, have you seen anything to point to the Stigma having a link to either of the things you have proposed? Or any progress on a cure?

"If I truly believed the research was going anywhere, would I agree to send my Turks somewhere so dangerous?"

No, he doesn't have anything that would point to them. He wishes he did. The best thing he's got is what he's already shared with Rufus. What little Yuffie had found out after being banned from Wutai for a while. That her own research suggested there was some mental component to who is vulnerable to catching it. To who tends to die from it

None of it was a comfort.

"Why... even tell me this? You can make your own choices."

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