plate_builder | [Open Post]

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?"

Reeve shrugged at the amusement Rufus displayed. His partners hadn't complained. While he might not have had one in a while, he had enough confidence in his experience to not care. And he definitely wasn't going to use his a game on a man who was trying to be a brat.

"Paper and something to use as a writing surface. Or someone to dictate to. And don't hold your breath on your offer, even if it sounds like you have practice."

"Saying 'don't hold you breath' still means you thought about it." As he turns again, he makes sure to give Reeve a very enticing smile, before disappearing into the room he's been using.

After a couple of minutes, Rufus does return to hand Reeve a lined pad of paper, a pen and mechanical pencil attached by their holders to the top, and beneath it a clipboard he can use; not a perfect setup, perhaps, but adequate he hopes.

"When I go to lay down, I'll see if Tseng can cook something for you to eat. Rude is out with Reno again, gathering more information for us. Now, anything else you might need?"

"My materia back," Reeve answers as he starts writing. Already he is fully absorbed in his note taking. And within moments of work in his shorthand he is sketching something. It's like he wasn't even in the conversation before this. When Reeve focuses on something, it ends up getting all of him.

Rufus raises a brow at the switch, a little bit curious about the dedication and absorption the man has for such a simple project. In this way only, he is like Hojo, and unlike Scarlet or Heidegger, who could never seem to focus on one thing, always having to have as my plots and schemes as he or his father did. In a small way, it again makes him feel envious, though he won't say as much, only nodding at the request.

"I'm sure we can give it back, but don't run off, alright? Or torch anything. I worry about Reno and Rude doing that daily as is."

Straightening, he begins towards his room to make any other arrangements needed before he lies down, instructing Elena to bring the materia and Tseng to set about cooking something for Reeve, but to keep an eye on him and make sure he eventually rested.

His duties done for the time being, he does finally lay down to rest, for as long as he can anyway. Unfortunately for Rufus, some nights are longer for rest, and some shorter, with tonight being only a few hours worth of rest before he rouses - not sure, as always, why exactly - and makes his way quietly towards the kitchen, careful not to wake Reeve if he has fallen asleep.

Sorry, Reeve had already checked out for his latest project. Please leave a message with your nearest noteboard or possibly a sticky note on his forehead. In the end it was good Rufus warned Tseng to make sure Reeve rested. Without the Turk to literally take Reeve's work out of his hands, chances were Reeve wouldn't have eaten. And he even had to make sure Reeve ate everything on his plate.

Sleep was easier to convince Reeve of, seeing as his body was pretty insistent on the process. He ended up passing out with his notepad on his chest, not too different from nights in his apartment except for the lack of kitten snuggling him.

The sound of Rufus moving wakes Reeve. It isn't abrupt, just a slow thing, complete with a languid stretch. He has already slept a long period of time. His eyes open slowly and rolls to look for the noise. And then he groaned because that hurt.

"Someone there?"

Tseng was, like Reeve, quite dedicated to his job, whether it was a simple one like taking care of a sick comrade, or taking out a target, which made him perfect for dealing with stubborn men - Reeve and Rufus alike. And also why Rufus had asked Tseng to do the duties, knowing as he did that Elena would probably fall for "five more minutes" for more than an hour before finally getting fed up and throwing a tantrum about not being listened to; something which would easily have awakened him most times.

Of course, 'most times' was really a time before the ShinRa building had collapsed more or less on top of him, as that had been when he had started to change in some small way. Maybe not right after, as he'd escaped just fine if one ignored the damage to his body and the Turks had been right there to find him and spirit him away somewhere safe. After that, though... Well, he had made a pretty bad miscalculation, as had the Turks, and Rufus had ended up with more time to think about things than he would have preferred.

So, sometimes, he didn't seem to wake as he had before to the smallest thing. Perhaps it was just because there was always someone there, keeping an eye on him, and so he could be allowed to rest without fear, or perhaps it was something else - once again he could blame the stigma - but it was whatever it was.

Which means that sometimes, even when he was awake, he felt too tired to do much, and it spares Reeve a snide remark about forgetting where he is, or even some remark about being at 'Prince Charming's House,' and instead just gets a straight answer. "It's Rufus. Go back to sleep. I'm just getting some water."

"Drew a costume for you," Reeve answered, his voice a low and sleepy rumble. It was both fitting and amusing to him. Of course it involved setting up Rufus's wheelchair as a cardboard example of a Shinra Motors car.

He doesn't go back to sleep, but watched Rufus carefully. Sleepy Reeve was a bit like a cat. Sleeps anywhere warm, sprawls out, and watched anything that moves nearby, just in case it might become interesting.

"Should I be concerned?" He ducks into the kitchen area before Reeve can answer, coming back out after a few minutes to bring a cold bottle of water to the man, one for himself in hand, letting Reeve decide if he should answer the earlier question or not.

The smile Reeve gives is the dopey grin of a sleepy man. "You would be a car. Don't let Reno be your motor. He might accidentally drive you into something."

Rufus's hobby must be hydrating people, because he had given Reeve so many waters. Still, he was pleased and he downed a good bit of his water. So good. Better than coffee, but let no one know he was stepping out on coffee.

If Reeve knew the real reason the ex-President of ShinRa was drinking so much water, he probably would not have been amused at it, even in his sleepy state, since the truth was that the man often broke out in sweats whenever the stigma flared up, making hydration extremely important. And also rather ironic, since he seemed always to be cold, as well, if his sense of dress gave any hint; no one who wasn't freezing at all times would choose to wear so many layers as Rufus Shinra.

Either way, Rufus smirks a little at the remark about Reno, opening his bottle and downing a good amount himself, before taking a seat at the chair which had never been moved from nearby the couch. "He's a lot better driver than he seems. Sometimes.

"But I don't think I'm ready to reveal I'm alive just yet, so you may have to find someone else to play your little car."

No costume even in his own home? Works for him. But it was amusing. Rufus would be funny as a car.

"Might make my own costume. But I don't have any ideas."

So he had drawn one for Rufus instead.

What would be funny in being a car would have gone well over Rufus' head, unless it happened to be something less like a car and more like a wrecking ball; at least that would suit his current reputation, and honestly might have even amused him in a dark, self deprecating way.

However, this likely would not have been suggested, even if Reeve had communicated his amusement, as it would have been entirely too easy, and far be it from Shinra to be easy. Which explains his next remark.

"How about either the ring master of a circus, or a scarecrow? Both would be fitting, for different reasons."

Ring master, yep, Reeve could understand that. Give Cait Sith a mane to be a lion. But the other one? Reeve frowned and tilted his head. What was that supposed to mean.

"I read the Wizard of Oz too. I get the joke, not in Kalm anymore and whatever. But are you saying I'm brainless?"

Rufus would do those sort of vague insults.

He wasn't actually thinking of The Wizard of Oz, or that Reeve was brainless, but the suggestion causes a smirk, before he shakes his head. "No... Actually, I was thinking you're tall enough, and that you aren't scary, so why not try to be?"

Was that enough of a vague insult?

Scarecrows aren't scary and Reeve isn't laughing. It is interesting but he doesn't want to figure out just how he is being insulted so he doesn't respond. Just watches Rufus quietly.

"Do you ever consider genuine, harmless humor?"

"Not really." It's such a simple answer, and yet there's such a hint of amusement, he may be lying about that. But good luck figuring out if he is. "Besides, your humor seems pretty dark too, with exception of the car costume. Or, is it just dark towards me?"

"My humor is hardly dark. Have you met Cait?" Reeve considers Rufus briefly before settling back down to stretch out. "As for you I would prefer to put you in something else as a costume but the Stigma would make you self conscious so I went for covering."

"What would you be trying to dress me as that the stigma would be an issue?" He watches Reeve stretch out for a moment. "It looks like so long as you stay laid down you don't hurt too much. That's good."

Nope, Reeve was not going to discuss it. But he would rather focus on the pain. Or how it was less here.

"Yeah, you are right. Don't want to admit it, but the worst part is the leg and I suppose immobile is useful and important."

But what can you do? He sighs and reaches to lift his pad. He had drawn a healthy Rufus in vampire paraphernalia. And he looked good in Reeve's rough sketch.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject