#rufusreno

So he ignored the string as inconsequential, being much toobusy with betrayal and AVALANCHE and everything else, and took the occasional loverhere and there when needs must (a classmate or two who understood the urge forrelief, a few daughters of business associates connected to SHINRA to appeasehis father) and left it at that. Relationships were complications he didn’tneed or want when he was focused on overthrowing his father, on taking controlof SHINRA and effectively the world.

He came so closeto achieving that with AVALANCHE, only for it to come crashing down around himat Old Corel. If it wasn’t bad enough to have everything he’d worked so hard onbe ruined by the ‘Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department’, byVeld’s little groups of rejects and psychos who worked in the shadows and didSHINRA’s clean-up work (and worse)… at some point during the whole mess, thered string had grown brighter and thicker on his wrist, had stretched outwardto his soulmate at last.

Toward one of the Turks, as Veld’s groups of rejects werecalled, in particular.

The Turks, now led by Tseng, a quiet and taciturn Wutianyoung man, were unable to trade Rufus for the freedom of Veld and the old man’sdaughter, as the Turks had planned, but with a bit of careful maneuvering,Rufus had prevented the group from being executed for attempting to ransom him inexchange for their leader with a bit of clever showmanship. It meant the Turksonce more reporting to Heidegger and he was sent into ‘exile’ to Junon underhouse arrest… but he was alive to plot again and had gained the loyalty of Turks,which could work for him in the end.

There was only the matter of that damn red string.

He was set up in a palatial penthouse in Junon, one with abreathtaking view of the city and around the clock guards to ensure he didn’tgo anywhere unsupervised. His father was keeping a very close eye on him andmaking it clear that he wasn’t trusted, that he was being kept alive on sufferancealone.

Rufus would make him regret that small mercy and consideredthe situation a mere setback.

He’d take a little time to regroup, to consider his reducedresources, the altered battleground and then come up with a new plan. He’dlearn from his failure and do a better job next time, it was as simple as that.Learn from one’s mistakes and move on.

But first, that damn red string – that was a potentialweakness he hadn’t anticipated and he refused to let it be used against him.

It wasn’t long after he’d settled into Junon when he sat inthe room he’d established as an office, complete with a large desk where heworked during the day on the few things his father ‘trusted’ to him (boringassignments and tasks his father couldn’t be bothered with, for the most part,but which gave Rufus valuable insight on what was happening with the company),busy sawing at the string with what was supposed to be one of the sharpestblades on the market.

“It’s not gonna ta work, ya know. I’ve tried. Ya can’t cutthe damn string.”

Rufus jerked at the sound of that sardonic voice and nearlycut himself as he spun the chair around to find a lanky figure leaning againstthe doorway of his office, a lanky figured dressed in wrinkled black slacks andan open black jacket, a white dress shirt left with the top three buttonsundone beneath. The Turk had brilliant red hair in a spiky cut, severaltendrils falling onto his pale face and a long tail trailing down his back, analmost pixyish face with two red slashes along his sharp cheekbones andbrilliant aquamarine eyes.

He was Reno of the Turks, infamous for his insubordination,his violent, explosive nature and skill in fighting. Rumor had it that he mighthave been considered for SOLDIER but was too unstable for the program, too muchof a risk and so he’d been shuffled over to the Turks where even Veld (and nowTseng) struggled to keep the gutter-bred, below-Plate maniac under control.

He was also Rufus’ soulmate, the string on Rufus’ wristflowing bright across the room to Reno’s own, disappearing beneath the leathercuff of the baton he almost always wore when working.

It was then that thewords previously spoken sunk in, causing Rufus to stand up, the knife carefullyset aside and his hands braced on the desk, to glare at the bastard. “What doyou mean, you tried to cut it?”

A mocking grin curled Reno’s lips as he folded his arms overhis chest. “Just that, I tried ta get rid of the damn thing and nothing works.”He scoffed as his fingers gave the string a slight tug. “Even tried blowin’ itup. Rude stopped me from using the really strong stuff, though.”

Rufus stared at him in confusion. “You tried breaking it?” He’d been expecting Reno, a below-Plater,to show up to take advantage of the… ‘situation’ binding them together eversince he realized that he was stuck with the Turk.

Reno’s brilliant eyes narrowed as his lips curled into asneer. “Yeah, I did. What, ya think I wanna be tied to a fucker like you? Someone who’ll stab anyone in theback ta get what he wants?” He scoffed again. “Tseng says we gotta work withya, we work with ya. He says we gotta keep ya alive, we keep ya alive.” Forsome reason, Rufus felt a dark, angry emotion deep in his stomach over the waythat Reno mentioned the new Head of the Turk’s name, the way his voice held ascrap of respect. “But that’s it, ya stay the fuck away from me. I’m used talife bein’ an utter bitch so this is just,” Reno paused to laugh, the soundpure bitter amusement. “Yeah, stay the fuckaway, ya spoiled little shit.” He gave Rufus a rude gesture and then slippedaway into the shadows of the hallway without making any sound.

He left without giving Rufus a chance to say anything, toargue that he refused to be stuckwith such an ill-bred, uneducated, uncouth bastard(in every sense – Reno probably couldn’t narrow his father down to a possibletwenty men if given a chance).

Except… except Rufus despised being told he couldn’t havesomething. He detested being given ultimatums, in being told something was outof his reach. And Reno… yes, he was a gutter-rat, but he was also veryattractive, intelligent, and resourceful. He’d thrived with the Turks andclimbed up to their second in command. He had the gall to talk back to a Shinra(even a disgraced one, but from what Rufus had heard, that didn’t hold thebastard back at all).

He contemplated the red string around his wrist as he satback down in his chair and wondered if Fate had made a mistake after all.