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Reeve earns a small chuckle for his remark about marrying Tseng, and he can't help but sound a little bit like he shouldn't admit to the next words he says, but will say them anyway. "Somehow, I doubt he would go for such a proposition. He's always been very much in love with Aeris, you know?

"And I'd say that right there is actually something people wouldn't guess. You and the office may have suspected something with the good Tseng and I, but what exists..." He shrugs, a sign he doesn't actually know what's there between them, and smiles wryly on his next words. "Or, more simply, there are things Rufus Shinra wants which he can't have and won't take by force.

"Though if you want something more light-hearted, I'm actually rather fond of cats."

"Well, I suppose we share two things," Reeve shrugs. Wanting Tseng and not getting a chance at that, and the fondness for cats.

Wait... What?

"You struck me as a dog person," Reeve said after a moment, frowning up at the ceiling. Dark Nation had been something he associated with the man, and that was definitely more dog than cat. And the loyalty that came with him, the moving in a pack? More dog person than cat person.

He kindly ignores that first part with a small smirk to himself, the part of him so used to filing away information for later use finding that little tidbit to be very amusing, though at the same time he can't really say he'd use it; He can't blame Reeve, or anyone, for finding Tseng an attractive man. Even Reno had admitted to it once, when Tseng was no where nearby, or his clingy fangirl Elena. No, it was a fairly normal reaction he felt, but it was still interesting.

The other part he does choose to react to, however. "I like both. Or, I should say, I like most animals. Unlike humans, they are easy to understand and want so very little. But can you imagine a man with the personality I put on having a cat as a pet? Although the girls would have ate it up, which they honestly didn't even need more reasons to want to get near me, I could see those back-stabbing fools thinking I was soft.

"I already had enough trouble with Scarlet acting as if I should be just as interested in her as my idiot old man was. Damn hag thought she was attractive to all men and tried to use it to her advantage any chance she got."

"I have a kitten myself," Reeve admits. A tuxedo cat, of course. But not named 'Cait Sith'. Mittens (yes he wasn't too original) was just a wonder. He hoped Tifa really had lived up to her promise to feed and care for the little dear while he was away. Marlene, at least, had seemed excited to have a cat running around the place. "But I think you could do with one. A persian. Long hair, impeccable breeding, and just as sour of an expression as you have."

What? He doesn't mind making some jokes. And then there was that woman that got mentioned. The very mention of her name made him shudder.

"If you do rebuild your company someday, make sure you have a good HR department. To deal with the sorts of lawsuits that are bound to pop up if you have another woman like her. And I was well aware of her harassing nature. I was on the receiving end at a few company parties. And boardroom meetings. Then again, making sure the doors to my level 'malfunctioned' whenever she tried to come down was a good way to avoid it."

"Now, now," He sounds amused as he speaks, even as he somehow manages to retain a straight face. "I never have a sour look on my face, Reeve. You must have me confused for that ex-Turk friend of yours, Vincent. How is he, by the way? Hopefully celebrating Hojo's death."

That said, he makes a snorting sound at Reeve suggesting an HR department.

"One, I don't intend to hire any other women like her, if you can call her a woman in the first place. Two, if the HR department is too good, Reno and Rude are going to be out of a job awfully fast; especially Reno at said company parties, if what I've heard of him dropping his pants freely is true."

"Reno should never be allowed to parties," Reeve shrugs. He has been to those parties, Rufus. He has too much awareness of what Renk's pasty White ass looks like.

As for Vincent... there was a problem if he has ever had one before. The man refused to interact with the world. He could not celebrate. It would likely cause him to melt.

"I have not personally met Mister Valentine. The others, yes, but Vincent is... elusive."

"So that rumor is true, huh? Why am I unsurprised?" He chuckles, and a devilish look comes to his face. "You don't happen to be one of the few who still has pictures, do you? Tseng is such a great bore, he's managed to delete or purge them all, claiming it isn't appropriate for such media to exist on the Turks."

He will ignore the topic of Vincent for a moment in lieu of something more interesting; potentially embarrassing Tseng.

"Why in the world would I take a picture of something like that?" Reeve asked, genuinely confused. "Nothing like that specific instance... But there are other pictures. I was part of the annual holiday cheer committee. I might be able to dig up pictures of Tseng being forced into seasonal hats or masks. Or Rude with chocobo shades. And Reno when he accidentally climbed the tree in the lobby and couldn't get down."

Yes, he has blackmail on the Turks.

Reeve must have said something right, if that purring tone in Rufus' voice is any indication. "Now, that sounds like something I'd enjoy having. Though Rude can be conned into such things by cute girls."

It's honestly a well-known fact, that last bit. Rude was a big man, always looked so serious, but he was rather gentle. Liked kids, so far as Rufus knew, and really liked women with long hair. If he'd been asked, the guy would probably wear a bow or play Santa Clause. Then there were the other rumors, about he and Reno... Those were amusing, and Rufus and the Turks were the only ones with the answer to them.

"Tell me, did you ever give our hag of a woman devil horns for Halloween? And the fat man, he'd have to certainly be a pumpkin; at midnight, he becomes entirely useless."

That earns a scoff from Reeve. "By saying such you imply that he was ever useful. Which is, of course, highly unlikely."

As for Scarlet, he would have preferred to just throw a sheet over her and walk away. The woman was worst when she was drunk. Which she always got at parties. Reeve's secretary earned her yearly bonus by helping him avoid her at parties. He was certain it made Scarlet think he was involved with the poor woman.

"I found a few uses, though he was too stupid to ever realize it. And a sheet would be an offense to ghosts." Sometimes, he did regret the fact he could not attend cooperate events after he was supposedly sent away for business those many years, if only because he wanted sometimes to see the shenanigans his Turks could get up to, and with more than just a camera which wasn't always working on those nights.

Of course, then he'd see the woman they were discussing, and how she hung off his old man and any other man she found with power, and he'd decide he was fine where he was. He'd internally joked, more than once, that it was her who had turned him off to women; if there had actually been a choice, which their hadn't. Actually, she had once told him she could change his mind, which was disgusting on multiple levels, not the least of which he seemed to recall her first pass at him was before he even turned eighteen.

But that wasn't a pleasant thought, and so he let go of it for now, and decided it was a good time to find another tack, another topic. "What about you? Considering Cait Sith, I could see you having some amusing costumes."

"You'd be sorely disappointed under that assumption," Reeve sighs. Yes, he did help arrange the parties, but somehow, each and every time, he ended up investing so much time into them that he forgot to outfit himself. Usually he ended up with something bought off the rack at the last moment.

No, Cait had been the most... colorful costume-like creation that Reeve had ever used.

"Too bad. I always had to go as myself when I was younger." He perhaps sounds a little disappointed, but it passes quickly enough, and he chuckles as an idea comes to mind. "Hey, Reeve, why not arrange a Halloween party in Edge for the young ones? It would be good for how people view you, and something you enjoyed besides.

"I promise, no Turks to spoil it."

Well... that sounded like a wonderful idea. "I should definitely see to that, but I'll have to figure out how to get candy for it. And where to set up. But it would be fun."

Children happy and joyous. Reeve was jealous. He hadn't grown up somewhere he could do that. And now he could get involved to some degree. Cait could join him too, be a mascot of sorts. Now Reeve was smiling as he thought about it. Import pumpkins and apples for games. Maybe do face painting. Were there even people who still did that? It would be wonderful.

"Yes, I think that would be a great idea. I should look into that right away."

"I'd suggest asking chemists to help with the candy." Rufus stretches a little in the chair he's in, a motion he seems used to doing. "I'm sure they'd enjoy a break from their work to do something fun, as well."

It was a bit strange, but Rufus somehow felt a small bit of peace at giving Reeve an idea the man actually liked, and less because it was Reeve, more that he was actually able to use his mind for some sort of plotting that didn't include how to kill someone or how he was going to deal with his own P.R. problems when it was found he still lived.

Something he wished to remain a secret a while yet.

"No," Reeve says, frowning at Rufus almost immediately. "Candy isn't the business of chemists, it's the business of cooks. There are plenty of places to get it as well, most candy making wasn't a Midgar marketplace thing. I just need to arrange for it."

Clearly the man is planning, even with his eyes closed and with him laying on the couch. There's a smile curving his lips. No, there were other things they could do. Chocolates were an industry perfected in Icicle, so he'd have to look there. Yes, there was much he could do, and he needed to start early.

"And of course costumes. I should ensure word of this spreads very early, to help encourage local business toward making costumes. That would be a nice financial boost for the area."

"Indeed. It might put some tailors to work, too." But he doesn't say much more than that to Reeve's ideas, though he does add. "The Gold Saucer is still around, isn't it? Perhaps you could see if they might do a parade. I understand kids like Chocobos. I'll go about finances if needed."

Reeve sat up quickly again, grinning despite his pain. Yes, this was a wonderful idea. "Dio owes me a favor. If not a parade, then assistance in arranging a haunted house. Kalm also had a village fair for many years that had monster themed funhouses..."

This was the best idea. He needed paper to write this all down. And the fact that Rufus would offer to fund something... frivolous? That shocked him. But he kept smiling. Don't look a gift-Shinra in the mouth, so to speak. He could do this, and that just, it was strange. He worked for people's needs and forgot about their morale. So he laughed, a deep, joyous laugh. There was going to be Halloween in Edge. "Too bad I can't import a cornfield maze. There was always one in the village I grew up in. But I can probably come up with something else."

"Cloud's hair." He supplies with a sort of dry amusement, knowing it's a terrible joke, and carefully he stands, grabbing up the bottles of water he seems to keep handy now, handing one to Reeve. "If you promise to lay back down, I'll get you some paper to brainstorm on. I think you'd prefer it to having to speak with me."

He knew the sudden change was perhaps a little bit sudden, and so he explains as he starts to his room, probably for the paper he promised. "I also think I should avoid straddling old men again until my hips have healed a bit more, so I'll also give you the paper so I can rest a bit."

Please don't get him started on the ridiculousness of Cloud's hair, because Reeve actually had a ten minute tirade about that. And, of course, he KNEW how much gil had gone into Cloud's hair care. Which had sucked.

But now Rufus was going to escape and Reeve frowned. "You're kidding, right? How am I supposed to write while lying down? If you're tired you're welcome to go provided someone might pass me food. And Elena will write for me. Or you could, but you're clearly tired. Have to be tired if you're mistaking a man like myself for old. I'm not even going to be forty for a number of years."

Rufus stops in his steps, and turns his head with a smirk on his lips, and this time his purr comes with a seductive tone, his body shifting almost imperceptibly as if he's being serious as he speaks. "Oh? You were the one complaining about children to me, weren't you? Would you like me to show you just how much I'm not a child?"

This time Reeve doesn't even blush, doesn't flinch. He just meets Rufus's gaze levelly. Really, they're doing this again? It was almost boring at this point. All he'd done is offered company to the man, maybe asked for some of his own. But if Rufus is going to play this game...

Reeve sits up a little straighter, and he smirks. His partners in the past had agreed on one important fact: his voice. Sure, Rufus might have a purr, but Reeve's voice could get to a deep rumble and he knew how to use it.

"I would agree, but only if I could make suitable use of your pretty little mouth. You'd look good if you were on your knees, mouth busy, eyes begging for more than you can handle."

Yeah, Rufus, he was playing the game before you were, to good effect. Before the last year of Shinra where things got a bit more intense, he had entertained a number of relationships. Just nothing lasting.

Rufus had to admit, this was a very good comeback, different than what he had expected to be honest. He also could admit he understood why there had been a few carefully guarded rumors about Reeve; he could appreciate a voice like that, and had to hide the shiver it sent up his spine, even as he turns to keep playing the game, amused even if Reeve was not.

"Oh? I'm pretty sure you'd be the one begging if I gave you that honor. I may be young, but as I said before, I am not inexperienced; and words are certainly not the only thing my tongue is good for."

Reeve would have been amused to know there were rumors about him in such a fashion, and he probably would have wanted to know what they were. Instead he raised a single eyebrow at the response.

"Perhaps it would be the only thing your tongue would be good for. But I don't beg, princeling. I take what I want. Especially if it gives me the chance to leave a man sore in as many ways as I can devise."

Rufus purses his lips together for a moment before his hand can hide them, apparently trying to stop another laugh from bursting forth. He didn't doubt Reeve for a moment, and if this had been any other sort of situation, he might have even asked him to prove it - was sorely tempted to see how far Reeve would - but he wondered if that were entirely appropriate.

Even considering the fact that Reeve held little interest for Rufus in such a fashion, though he had always been able to find things to approve of if he was using sex for a weapon and could certainly find a few for Reeve if he chose (dark hair, anyone?), there was the fact the man still highly distrusted him, and that they were partial business partners. Not that the latter had stopped him in the past, but there was also the stigma.

It hadn't seemed contagious to him when he was tossed into that truck with many infected, even though that black substance had gotten on him, but it certainly wracked the body something nasty and rather unexpectedly, a risk he would not be willing to take for a game.

Yet he also can't stand to leave it there, so when his hand finally leaves his mouth, he responds very simply. "You're welcome to try any time you'd like, once you're better, but I don't beg either.

"Now, let me get that paper for you?"

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