looking_sharp | Mask Or Menace

[ oh, Rude, if they want to get into stepping out, he's got two words for that: spy girlfriend. ]

Ooh—yeah. Fuck. If I start using what he uses, maybe I'll wear it down more often. Won't be half as good, but at least I'll be fuckin' feelin' myself.

[Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?]

It would look good like that.

[ buuuuuuuuuullshit. ]

Think so? [ grinning—and offering the bag of doughnut holes up over his head for Rude to have, finally. ] Dunno how he keeps it out of his face while he's fightin'.

Magic, probably.

[Rude ignores the donuts. He had one on the way over, to make sure his mouth would taste like sugar. What? He's weird like that.]

Your mane looks good the way it is. Could just stand to be softer. Your lovers would appreciate it more.

[ suit yourself. Reno consumes another one whole, humming thoughtfully—then laughing. or rather, snorting humorlessly and without any real amusement. ]

"Lovers"? You crazy? Gross.

You've been bedding people lately. Only time I see you come back this hurt you either got in a fight or got laid. The former you tell me.

Rude—man, you've got it all wrong in that head of yours. Bedding is stretching it and lovers is gonna make me hurl. It ain't like that.

[ jesus christ. he does not want to think about either of his bosses with either of those terms. at least not when he's stone-cold sober. it's making him queasy. ]

Then tell me who hurt you.

[His fingers are moving into the longer hairs at the back of his neck now.]

And I'll deal with them.

[ it takes great trained, physical effort not to shiver, but he can't do much about the goosebumps. he's sensitive there. also, Rude looking for a fight is kinda hot. ]

Nobody hurt me. I hurt myself, honest. —I mean, accidentally. Got carried away.

You don't get like that anymore.

[So he's not buying it.]

I guess I do.

[ or something. he fucked up. he's lucky to still have a job. lucky to still be alive, besides, but at least that part wasn't entirely his fault. er, kind of. it sort of was. he's not the type to kick himself and blame himself for every little thing, but he's struggled a lot with taking on more than his fair share of culpability lately. ]

Fine. Keep secrets.

[It was new, and he didn't approve. At all. But he can't force things.]

If I wanted to keep secrets, I wouldn't have called you over here.

[ but we're getting pretty close to that big, huge wall he keeps up. he hunches his shoulders a little, glancing back. ]

What's it matter? Just—be with me, don't worry about stupid shit.

And yet, you are.

[And Rude doesn't like it. They don't have the support structure of Shinra here. They don't have cure materia. And he's almost lost Reno a few times recently. He doesn't want to have that 'almost' be a 'actually.']

I'm your partner. Supposed to keep you safe.

Don't.

[ he can't think about "safe." right now. if they want to talk about keeping anyone safe—he sure screwed that up, back at the plate. it's been eating him up for days, nearly a week now. he just can't get it out of his head. ]

What you need to keep me safe from is me. That's why I called.

What... do you think you're going to do?

Dunno. Nothing, I hope. Finish my coffee, let you braid my hair, take a nap. Get back to work tomorrow.

Fine.

[Even if he doesn't like it. He lets his fingers keep working through the strands of his hair.]

What sort of braid?

Fishtail.

[ it's ohhh so fancy. and it'll take awhile to do. ]

Complicated.

[Rude sighs and continues working the knots out.]

You sure you can sit still for that long?

Yeah, I can. Wait, hang on...

[ shifting to sit cross-legged instead, stretching his skinny chicken legs. ]

There.

[Rude lets Reno adjust himself as he finishes with untangling Reno’s hair.]

You’ll talk? Keep me awake?

Sure, I'll talk... what d'you wanna—oh my fuck. I've got a story for you. The other night, when I went out, you'll never guess who showed up. Go ahead, guess!

[ as Rude should know by now, "guess" is rarely if ever actually a prompt for Rude to try and guess anything. he can just go ahead and stay quiet a few seconds while Reno sips his coffee, because he's gonna tell him anyway. like he always does. ]

Sephiroth. Did shots with me and everything. No foolin'.

Sephiroth?

[No way that is going to be true. He can’t fathom the man doing something so relaxed. So… normal. Well, not normal for everyone, but it’s something.]

Seems your plan is working.

I guess. I thought I was out of my mind. He ordered a real sexy-named shot and everything. Took it with me like a champ.

[ who would've thought? sephiroth, a party animal. it's a pity he'd lost him in the crowd, somewhere around the time he was bawling in a bathroom stall... yeah, uh. let's not think about that. ]

Loosening him up's gonna be a breeze.

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