Episode 32
Jun. 8th, 2009 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaded_grin32
“You want the beating of your fucking life?”
“Get your fucking hands off of me!” he shouted, yanking away as Mei Li came in, her beautiful face alight with amusement. Kadaj glared at her and hissed, “Do you think this is funny? Do you think that you have any room to laugh at this?”
He started towards her, snarling, “He’ll dump you like he did me, you bitch!”
“Who said anything about dumping, you little fuck?” the man demanded, eyes narrowed. “If I was gonna dump you, you think I’d give two shits about who you was fucking? Huh? Fucking answer me, Kadaj!”
“No!” Kadaj yelled, fists clenched and a flush on his high cheeks. He pointed at Mei Li and demanded, “Get. Rid. Of. Her!”
“Not an option,”
They stood there in silence for a moment, Kadaj and
“If you won’t,” Kadaj lowly said, eyes shooting sparks with his anger. “Then I won’t stop seeing him. As long as this man lives in your house, I’m going to keep seeing him. And nothing you can do will stop me.”
“The fuck you will,”
Mei Li grew wary then, sensing a sudden seriousness to their argument. If they ended up brawling, she didn’t want to be in the middle of it. Her stock in trade was her looks—she couldn’t afford to have them damaged here, even for
Kadaj just shook with the force of his angry, deep breaths, and in a low voice he said, “He’s going to tell me about my family,
Rufus was beginning to think that maybe he shouldn’t have planned this.
It had seemed like a really good idea at the time, but now it looked like things could get…complicated. He’d considered it on an executable level—
He hadn’t really considered
But it clearly had.
And it had sounded almost as if
It might’ve been his absent conscience making a comeback, but whatever it was, Rufus was starting to worry that things would fall apart before they even started.
“Hey.”
He nearly came out of his skin when the soft voice called from his bedroom, and turned with wide eyes to confront Elena hanging around in the doorway.
“Holy hell! Didn’t I tell you to not come out?” he asked, breathless as his heart raced.
“Yeah, but you never came back, asshole,” Elena pointed out, and dug into her small bag to get a cigarette from her pack.
“I didn’t know you smoked,” Rufus commented, distracted. “Hm. Ah, well, he’s gone now, so fine.”
He waved at her dismissively and went to pout in his favorite chair because he’d been deprived of company for the evening.
“Since you sent my girl home, you may as well entertain me,” he called, grumpy.
“I don’t strip,” Elena told him, moving to sit across from him, her slender legs crossed and her smirk cruel.
“Some whore you are,” Rufus sighed, and leaned his head back, relaxing. Actually, he still had a briefcase full of nonsense to deal with and Lazard had warned him if he couldn’t keep up, he wouldn’t stay in the running to get control of things once the old man kicked off. Of course, with Rufus’s luck, he’d probably be in his seventies before his dad died. “How long do you think he will live?”
“Who?” Elena asked, apparently content to just sit there and smoke.
“My dad.”
She shrugged but he didn’t see it, not with his eyes closed.
“I dunno,” she answered. “He was having a weird conversation with someone on the phone, something about knowing how long. I think he might be sick, he’s looked a little pasty lately.”
Rufus lifted his head, eyes wide, and asked, “Sick? Like what kind of sick? How sick?”
“What do I care?” Elena asked, and shrugged again. “He’s nothing to me.”
Rufus brushed off her careless attitude and stared off, lost in his own thoughts, adding up the presence of his mother, his father’s absence from work, Lazard’s smug confidence.
“Oh my god,” he breathed, starting to make sense of it. He shot from his chair and scrambled to his briefcase, frantically getting out his work.
“What’s gotten into you?” Elena asked, bewildered.
“If he’s sick, maybe he’s dying,” Rufus answered, concentrating on his work. “If he’s dying, that means I take over. If I can’t do well at this, then some other asshole gets my spot.”
“Some other asshole?” Elena echoed, and laughed, tapping out her ashes into a crystal vase. “You mean, there’s an asshole bigger than you?”
“Unbelievable gall.”
“What was that?” Genesis inquired, stalking into his home with the grand flair of an actor. He spun to face Reeve and scolded, “Really, darling, I can’t hear you when you mumble!”
“I said you’re unbelievable!” Reeve complained, lugging his duffel alongside of him.
“Oh!” Genesis gasped, and covered his heart, gracing Reeve with a delighted smile. “Thank you, Reeve! You’re so adorable!”
Reeve scowled at him and said, “I’ll just keep my mouth shut from now on since everything becomes a compliment in the ears of the insane!”
Genesis ruffled his hair and turned to take the risers two at a time, graceful as a dancer. Reeve trundled behind him, his bag bouncing against the stairs, his face set with preemptive irritation. He just knew this would not go as he wanted it to, and that alone made him upset all over again. It would seem that where Genesis was concerned, Reeve simply could not win.
“Alright!” Genesis brightly said, flipping lights on in his wake. “Here we are, then! What do you think?”
Reeve glanced around the room, thinking that Genesis might dress himself with calculated eccentricity, but that he really knew how to decorate a room.
“I think Nibelheim Chic is a good choice for a room this size,” he said, and Genesis clapped in delight, exclaiming, “Oh! You’ve seen this, then?”
Reeve nodded and dropped his bag on the floor, tired and overwhelmed by it all. Everything had happened so fast since Yuffie had introduced him to
“I did a tour of Nibelheim, it was quite colorful,” he said, and stifled a yawn.
“Poor dear,” Genesis said, and made a soft moue of sympathy. “You look exhausted! Well, opening night is nearly upon us! Get some rest, darling!”
The slender, leonine man clasped Reeve warmly by the shoulders and dropped a kiss on his forehead as if he was a child.
“Goodnight! If you need anything at all, I’m just a door down!”
“Wait!” Reeve called, pausing Genesis at the door. “I want to be sure of this. You’re not going to sneak in here and crawl into my bed tonight, are you?”
“Do you want me to?” Genesis asked, and grinned when Reeve glared at him in exasperation. “Of course not, silly! I am Genesis Rhapsodos! Others try to get into my bed, not the other way around!”
“So, no, then?” Reeve persisted, hoping he could take him at his word. “I’m not going to wake up naked being spooned, in truth?”
Genesis rolled his eyes and sighed, “Honestly, Reeve! As much as you worry, I’m shocked you’re still alive! Goodnight, darling! I will see you in the morning.”
Reeve watched him leave and then ran to the door. He turned the lock, paced for a moment in an agony of offended dignity and indecision, and then turned the lock back to unlock it.
“I’m an idiot!” he lamented, and went to get into his pajamas.
Genesis, leaning against the wall just outside the door, smiled when he heard the door unlock, and drifted back to his own room humming a merry melody.
Rude had been aware of Tseng’s presence in the city since he arrived. Even though the man’s power was in Dai Jiao, a man such as he made ripples wherever he went, even in a place the size of Midgar. Now that
“I am amazed that you have contacted me,” Tseng commented as he slid into the booth in the loud club. His own guards were at a distance, but they were token. They both knew that if Rude had meant him harm, he would have killed him years and years ago when he’d held Tseng’s life in his hands.
“You have a connection to
“Now,” Tseng said, intrigued. “That is quite compelling. Of what interest is a mobster cum pimp to a man who is welding together an Empire?”
“He is playing a dangerous game,” Rude said, and turned his head to look at Tseng, the wild lights painting his face with color.
“No need for that,” Tseng breathed, and was glad that his own power had grown since their last meeting. Still, he respected this man more than anyone, and it showed when he spoke to him as an equal. “What do you need of me? I know nothing of his games, only that he is lately interested in your ward, Mrs. ShinRa…”
He trailed off when Rude’s hands tightened on the table, the leather of his gloves creaking.
“Ah…you protect her honor as well?” Tseng observed. “I have wondered why you would be interested in the sole female of the Jenova line. Royal blood would appeal to one such as yourself. Or are your intentions…darker?”
He regarded the silent man and wondered if there would be a blood-war involving the Jenovas soon.
“Should
Tseng nodded a little and murmured, “Of course. After all, you spared my life. It is the least I could do to repay the obligation.”
Rude shifted and held out a card. It was white, unremarkable, printed with a single phone number and nothing else. Tseng knew without asking that it was an answering service. Men such as Rude would never hand out their private numbers. Anonymity was desirable when one was a wanted killer illegally living inside a foreign country.
“The Jenovas have not sent you, have they?” he asked, knowing already that his first thought was wrong.
“No,” Rude answered. He offered nothing more. He didn’t need to. Tseng knew as surely as he was breathing that Kadaj would become suddenly much more precious to the Jenovas after Rude was finished here.
One child restored, and one child lost. It seemed to be a pattern they could not escape. Tseng might have offered his assistance to them, but they were proud and heedless people, and he wasn’t entirely sure he was against what Rude had planned…if he understood it.
“I wish you the best of luck,” he said, and slid the card carefully into his breast pocket. “I doubt that we will meet again.”
Rude turned and looked back at the dance floor, cold and cunning.
“It will not be on terms you like, if we do.”
Tseng nodded, and got out of the booth, elated by the simple fact that he had twice come face to face with such a creature and lived.
It would seem that he was very, very lucky. Very lucky, indeed.
Yuffie hadn’t meant to spy, and that would be her defense to her dying day.
She’d been dancing, feeling the music, working out some stress and idly wondering why Genesis was so intent on taking Reeve for himself when she’d spied Rude. He wasn’t exactly easy to miss, due to his size and the way he forced a bubble of space around him with that aura of sheer badass. She’d looked around automatically for
Curious to see what the big man did on his down time, Yuffie had managed to dance closer and slipped into the booth behind him.
She’d recognized the man he spoke with as Wutain, and had gotten the most of his side of the conversation from lip reading. It hadn’t made any sense, but it worried her, all that talk of royal blood and
She watched the Wutain man leave, and decided to follow him, but when she slipped from the booth her wrist was caught by a hard, firm fist—steel wrapped in silky leather.
Appalled to have been nabbed like a child, she slowly turned and looked up to find herself face to face with
He didn’t respond to her banter, he just tilted his head down a bit and purred, “If you don’t want trouble, little Princess, I suggest you keep your mouth shut.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“No,” Mei Li told him, even as Kadaj spat, “Well, she may as well stay now, asshole!”
“Both of you shut the fuck up!”
“Leave her alone!” Kadaj snarled. “This isn’t to do with her, now,
“I’m not fucking hiding!” the man shouted, pausing in between them, his slender fingers curling up to clench into fists. “Look, I’ve had a bitch of a night, okay? I don’t need this shit right now!”
Kadaj stared at him for a long moment and started to laugh, saying bitterly, “It’s always about you, isn’t it? Always about what is good for you, when it’s good for you, how you like things.”
He lashed out, slapping
“The fuck you are!”
“Let go!” Kadaj cried, his fury turning to tears, his tough little fists pummeling
“This is your home!”
“There,” Reno said, feeling the resignation set in, feeling that small body uncoil a little, the rage frustrated once again. He loosened his hold on Kadaj and stroked his hair, murmuring, “This is the only home we got, kid. It’s you and me, you know it. I found you, I saved you, I brought you home. You go fuck Tseng if you want to, you do what you gotta do, but you ain’t ever leaving me, Kadaj, unless it’s in a goddamned bodybag because you are mine and you always will be.”
Kadaj wept softly, wishing
“Then who is mine?” he moaned, unhappy and lost, hiding his face in his hands. He sat up in
“Make her go,” the boy whispered, a heartfelt plea to have
Here are two brand new pictures from the fabulous and amazing
belatrix_labe ! Mei Li looks so sexy! And Reno with Yazoo!!! *faints* Thanks again, Bela, for making these beautiful pictures(click for larger view)!
Mei Li and Zack Another Chance
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Oh dear!
Date: 2009-06-08 05:24 pm (UTC)Rude stills scare me! And make me feel extremely curious about what are you planning to do with the Jenova's...
At least you fond out something for Yuffie..heheh..cause betwen Geny and Reeve, she doesn't fit. Oh no, indeed. They' re the new fresh and adorable couple and I can't wait to see the smut!!! have a great vacation's trip and hope it inspires you to come back with more faboulous ideas and a real scene for Gen-gen and Reeve!
Hugs and kisses for you beloved Stacey!
Re: Oh dear!
Date: 2009-06-09 01:27 pm (UTC)I feel bad for Kadaj, too, but he will have his day! And Reno is just...well, he's RENO, he just skates through without trouble, he always has! But you're right about Yazoo, s/he will definitely change Reno's life.
Rude is one scary guy, that is for sure! And you're right, Yuffie was just flailing up the Reeve and Genesis thing :D As for smut....well, I am what I am and what I am is a smut-writer! WOOT! *cheers for the written porn*
Hugs and kisses right back at you, kid! I love your work and I can't get enough of it!
Re: Oh dear!
Date: 2009-06-12 07:33 am (UTC)I am truly amazed! The drawings compliment the story wonderfully and they are soooo beautiful!
Re: Oh dear!
Date: 2009-06-16 05:26 pm (UTC)hugs and kisses
no subject
Date: 2009-06-08 07:38 pm (UTC)I was a bit surprised that Rufus has a conscience after all.. or something vaguely similar.
And I had a good laugh at Genesis and his Nibelheim Chic ! :D Im trying to picture the Nibelheim Chic but I just cant ;)
oh.. btw.. Have a great vacation ! :D
(and yes, Bela drawings are great as usual, I usually comment on them on her LJ :D)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 01:20 pm (UTC)Rufus is going to be undergoing some major changes in the near future, keep your fingers crossed for him, there might be a decent man hiding beneath all that asshatery.
And YAY for Genesis and Reeve!
Thank you for the well wishes! I'm excited about vacation but I will miss my online buddies! And thanks for letting Bela know she is amazing! She rocks my world!
Glad you liked the episode! WOOT!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-08 08:50 pm (UTC)*huggles Kadaj* shall we kill him really, really slowly?
*huggles Yazoo*
*locks the door to Rufus' room, leaving him inside with Elena*
*scolds Tseng and Rude* if you hurt Kadaj or Yazoo, I'll hurt you very, very badly
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 01:16 pm (UTC)Kadaj agrees, REALLY slowly!
Yazoo wants a handkerchief
Rufus is banging on the door
And Rude is being a silent scary guy in the corner with Tseng. I don't think even THEY know what they have planned, but they are trying very hard to be mysterious *gives them the evil eye*
Glad you enjoyed it!
PS - sweet icon! *noms it*
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 08:55 pm (UTC)Ok, I need a scalpel. And some lemons. And a place where blood won't stain.
*offers hanky and hot chocolate to Yazoo*
*throws away key and whistles innocently*
If Rude and Tseng don't behave I'll summon Seph to burn their asses >:D
Loved it, as usual
PS: I made it from screenshots of ACC, if you want it, keep it <3
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 03:53 am (UTC)Blood War? Does that mean that Kadaj is the next in line to inherit the throne? That would be cool. Kadaj as King!
I love love love Genesis/Reeve. They are so cute together.
Great episode. I hope you have a great vacation and internet access!
Cool art Bela! I'm gonna go comment on your site.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 01:40 pm (UTC)Genesis and Reeve are really growing on me, lol! They are so fun to write! I'm glad that they are fun to read as well!
Thank you so much, kiddo! I hope I have the internet, too! That would be shiznit :D And thanks for letting Bela know you love her art! She is really awesome!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 06:35 am (UTC)Loving this. The last part was quite emotional, poor Kadybaby..Reno needs to get hurt BAD! >:(
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 01:32 pm (UTC)Glad you're still enjoying it!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-10 03:53 am (UTC)Maybe Kadaj can be with both Zack and Cloud!
PS: I really miss your Cloud/Kadaj fics...;_;
no subject
Date: 2009-06-21 02:15 am (UTC)Well, they might not be...then again, they may be! We'll just have to see :D And I think I might be able to work a little Cloud/Kadaj :D
WAHHH!
Date: 2009-06-09 07:55 pm (UTC)yay a rude development! and poor yuffie!
sorry, short resposne but its fianls week and myu brain is nonresponsive right now...
Re: WAHHH!
Date: 2009-06-21 02:16 am (UTC)Haha! Don't murder my Reno, I luffs him *snuggles him tight*!
And Rude is all Mmmmrawr :D
Good luck with your finals! I hope all is well!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-10 01:08 am (UTC)As for the others. Man, if Kadaj did up and leave, Reno would go bat-fuck. Not just because Kadaj looks after his business (although Zack might be persuaded (blackmailed by Rude) into taking over those tasks), but because I think he is fond of the little hellion. As odd as it sounds, Reno likes the fact that Kadaj has a temper and is spoiled and can be brutally efficient.
However... since Reno never tells Kadaj that he thinks he's special, Kadaj is left hanging about just where he fits into Reno's world. (Possessiveness does not equal a declaration of love... it's not even one of like, half the time.
Rude, Tseng and Yuffie? Nice way to bring her back into the story. She would see two scary dudes talking in a bar and try to eavesdrop. The woman really needs to stop with the self-medication. Or maybe she needs more so that her short-term memory goes 'bye-bye' (at least where Rude and Tseng are concerned).
Rufus is an idiot, but at least he's dimly realizing that his lifestyle is in jeapardy and that his wife is a person with feelings. I don't think he's been kicked enough yet to turn into a fully-functioning human being but I see a glimmer of hope.
Not so for Elena. She's still a skank.
Have fun on your vacation. Even if you don't have internet where you're going, (Um, paper and pencil work as a, erm, portable notepad... heh).
no subject
Date: 2009-06-21 02:21 am (UTC)Ha! Yeah, Genesis writes the book on manipulation :D I don't think Reeve is fully prepared for the experience that is Genesis Rhapsodos!
Yes, if Kadaj leaves Reno, there will be hell to pay. Reno would no more allow Kadaj to walk out on him than he would let Rufus run his business - and I myself don't know what his motivation is. I think he really does adore Kadaj. There had to be something other than fascination that made him "rescue" him. But you're totally right - possessiveness isn't love, and Kadaj knows it.
And yeah, leave it to Yuffie to accidentally fall into the middle of things :D And Rufus is changing on me, and I think that will become more pronounced as Yazoo's story draws to a close. That will be the catalyst for his coming around...but not for Elena, lol! She totally is a skank *smacks her ass*!
Thanks for the vacation wishes! It was far too long, lol! But now I'm home, yay!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-12 07:49 am (UTC)I loved the part with Rude and tseng! There was just something... yeah I can't even describe it properly, but the respect between these two dangerous men, the hints about the past, the silent agreement between them... It intrigues me! And Yuffie is getting herself in over her head, not even knowing it...
The Reno/Kadaj moment was fantastic! Poor little Daj! I can't wait to learn more about his past and know what it is Reno saved him from back then! Reno is an asshole, but he's doing it so well I still love him to bits! :D
Genesis and Reeve is so sweet and fantastic. Even though Reeve won't admit it, he likes Genesis, and I think he's secretly loving to be swept off his feet like that! The unlocking of his door proves that! Busted, Reeve! lol! It's gonna be so SWEET!
And maybe Rufus is finally starting to realize that life isn't always handed to you with no effort. I'm really curious to see if he will change - maybe even acknowledge some sort of feelings in the end? I'm glad to see that he's starting to show some sort of conscience, even though it's buried deep down!
Another amazing chapter, honey! Have the best vacation ever! *snuggles you*
no subject
Date: 2009-06-21 02:26 am (UTC)Hey, thank you so much! I'm glad you liked Rude and Tseng, those two cooking up trouble looks to be inevitable :D Rude's intentions are slowly becoming clearer and, frankly, they scare me. Toss Yuffie in to muddy the water and there's bound to be something terrible happen.
I feel so bad for Kadaj! There he is, wanted by two scary, powerful men, but not loved by either of them. And Reno IS a total asshole, but god is he delicious at it, hehe!
Genesis is super sneaky, hehe! Reeve just won't know what to do! Before he knows it, he'll have a boyfriend, haha!
And Rufus is on his way to change, which will culminate with the end of Yazoo's story, so it will take a bit more time. I'm really glad you liked it! I missed you while I was on vacation! *snuggles*
no subject
Date: 2009-06-16 09:23 am (UTC)I also loved how you elaborated on Rude a bit. He was pretty much a mystery to me before -and still is- but seeing that Tseng, who is such a dangerous guy has so much respect and fear for Rude is kinda unsettling *hopes the best for poor Yazoo*
I was actually really happy to see Yuffie again!
Oh, and I must leave a comment to belatrix: I love your art, but the new one with Mei Li and Zack is really stunning! You made her/him so beautiful and it´s good to see a face to the descriptions. She looks exactly like I had imagined! Good job, and I hope to see more of your illustrations!!!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-21 02:35 am (UTC)Hehe! Thank you so much, kiddo! Yeah, Reno really loses his mind when it comes down to actually truly losing Kadaj. I'm not sure if it is a possession thing or a "nobody walks away from me ever" thing or what, but he really doesn't deal well with Kadaj leaving his side.
Rude and Tseng are scary, hands down, and I think Yazoo's chances of escaping unscathed are pretty slim, so we all need to hope for the best! And YAY! I'm glad you were happy to see Yuffie again! I had actually kinda missed her, lol!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and thank you so much for letting Bela know what you think of her art! She does really amazing work, and I adore her! :D I will talk to you soon, boo boo! *snugs you to bits*
no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 08:57 pm (UTC)Oh, Genesis! You know I love Genesis, don't ya? I'm sure you've figured that out by now! How he is stringing things along, almost like he's got Reeve on an invisible leash. He's so DEVIOUS! I love it!
The relationship between Reno and Kadaj is becoming, quite simply, painful. What is this insane desperation of Reno's to hold onto Kadaj? And how long will it be before some bit of information turns Kadaj completely away. It's heart-wrenching to read!
“You mean, there’s an asshole bigger than you?”
Damn! Go Elena. It's the one thing she's said the entire time that's made SENSE!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 02:31 pm (UTC)Hehe! Genesis is too much fun, he really is - he just plows over anything and anyone to get his way and everyone is too stunned to stop him or protest!
Reno and Kadaj, yes, very complicated and unhealthy, but what can you expect from a mobster pimp and a reclaimed prince child prostitute? Bananas!
Ha! Yeah, Elena may be an uber skank, but she has her moments ;)
no subject
Date: 2013-06-13 09:16 pm (UTC)Well, I've just realized one thing about this fic; you couldnt really trust anyone. Reno and Rufus, friends, but surely they bit each others. Reno and Tseng, Tseng and Rude, Rude and Yazoo, etc, etc, its kinda scary! XD