A little scrap pile
As many know, I've been working on a fanfiction arc recently along a certain version of the FF7 timeline involving a what-if scenario with Reno and Rufus. You might notice that there isn't a real story about the beginning of their relationship. That's because I never finished writing it, and I'm unlikely ever to do so. That said, I'm posting some of the pieces up here, because they are a part of the arc in my mind.

This is not so much a fanfic as a dumping ground for the parts of what was to be a multichapter story from Reno's POV regarding how he and Rufus ended up together. The roots are in “Babysitting,” and most of the rest of the story is in “A Reflection,” but there are a lot of relevant bits from this thing, some of which Rufus didn’t even know to talk about in the reflection. So without further ado, here is a bunch of little ficbits, with running commentary to fill in the context, and just for author commentary, because when I get a venue to ramble about my characters, I really can’t resist.

If you’re looking for something actually resembling a story, I suggest you go read Rufus’ reflection. This here is really a collection of scraps.

Warnings for language and adult concepts.

[The story begins with Reno serving as a bodyguard for Rufus, and we get this little bit of reflection at Reno sort of watching Rufus, as he apparently has been a lot recently. This bit is what eventually spawned Rufus’ reflection, because, well, it’s one of the most salient things I’ve ever written about my interpretation of Rufus. And then after a while he decided that he wanted to talk.]

When most people looked at Rufus, they saw a cold, insensitive enigma, and Reno would have to give them that was true enough. But back when Rufus had been under the supervision of the Turks, Reno had gotten just a little glimpse into the soul of a very lonely boy with no friends and more responsibility than he really knew how to deal with. Rufus, of course, would deny all that, but for a brief moment he had let it show, and it had made him human, much as the young Vice President would prefer that nobody view him that way. Over those next five years or so, that boy had grown into a very attractive young man, older, wiser, and at his core still just as lonely. And at some point over those five years, a certain redheaded Turk had fallen just a little bit in love with the man.

Reno knew he wasn’t the only person who watched the Vice President, but he sometimes wondered if he was the only one who really saw him. And that was a good part of why he had kept his distance; Rufus didn’t want to be seen.

[And shortly after that, shit hit the fan. They got attacked by a group of guys. I am horrible at writing fight scenes, so I will spare you that. It’s something I need to work on. Anyway, Reno took care of most of them, Rufus was defending himself against the last and Reno caught the guy by his collar while he was distracted.]

“Alright, what do you think you’re doing?” When the man didn’t respond, Reno held up his weapon threateningly. The man looked at the ground, stubbornly keeping his mouth shut. “Right, well, I’m feeling generous today,” he let go of the man with a shove and a nod toward the bodies on the ground. “Get out of here unless you want to end up like your buddies there.” The man paused long enough to give Reno a look of terror before skittering away.

Reno sighed slightly, relaxing. Scary wasn’t precisely in his nature, but he did a good job of summoning it when necessary. He could be pretty sure that man wasn’t going to come back, unless he was very, very stupid.

Surveying the scene, Reno decided it didn’t look too bad. Attackers down, Rufus still up, and--

That last man hadn’t taken heed of the threat. And it turned out he wasn’t too stupid, either. Reno had let his guard down for half a second and the man had taken the opportunity to get behind him. Too close. Shit.

Reno was fast. Not fast enough to make up for failing to notice somebody getting in right behind him. He did react, trying to dodge and put a barrier of electricity between himself and his attacker, but he knew his chances weren’t good. He wasn’t going to have enough time to react before whoever that guy was bashed his head in. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought briefly, and Sorry, Rufus, guess you’re going to have to deal with this one on your own.

Then there was the bang of a gunshot, the sound of a body landing on pavement, and silence. Reno froze in surprise for a moment, and then relaxed in relief. Not dying today, then.

It was remarkable, he would reflect later, how calm he had been through all of that. For a split second, he had actually been sure he was done for. Maybe the guy wouldn’t have been able to actually kill him, but he would have been in exceptionally bad shape at the least. As it was, he was so relieved, he couldn’t help but smile. Apparently luck and Rufus were both still on his side.

“Wow, and here I thought I was here to be your bodyguard,” he commented jovially. He said it before he turned around because, well, he knew what kind of sight turning around was going to give him, and jovial was not going to be the word for it. Sure enough, the body that had just hit the ground was not in pretty shape. Blood formed a deep red puddle around the man’s head, a good part of which was missing. The man had probably died before he hit the ground.

But what really struck Reno was the image he got when he looked up at Rufus, a few feet away from him, gun still pointed at its mark. Reno’s eyes traced from the gun, up mildly trembling arms, to an expression that was at once deadly serious and confusedly shocked, and eyes that stared back down at the victim, at the blood, at the place where the bullet had hit, at the man’s head, or lack thereof.

Reno knew that face. He had looked like that once, several years ago. He had seen rookies look like that. More than once. He had not, actually, expected to see it on Rufus. Young as he was, Reno was sure Rufus had killed somebody, at some point. As it was, Reno was now pretty sure he had only given the orders. Go figure.

It was one thing to want somebody dead. It was another thing to have the power to make that wish happen. It was yet another thing when you were the one who had pulled the trigger. In that case, there’s nobody to pin the blame on, just you and a gun and a bloody mess that used to be another person. In Reno’s case, the weapon was typically an electric rod, but same thing. One second there’s a person, and the next second there’s a corpse. And somewhere in between, you did something.

It’s a shock, as Rufus just discovered. It never stops being a shock, as Reno could attest. You just get numb to it after a while.

He watched the Vice President in silence as, very slowly, he lowered the gun and put it away. He did it with a feigned coolness, but Reno could see through that. Rufus was shaken, and not putting up a good enough performance to hide it. Welcome to my life, Reno thought bitterly.

“So,” he began. Rufus jumped at the sound and whipped around to look directly at Reno. Yeah. Absolutely, completely calm. He wondered who the Vice President was trying to fool.

“You’ve never killed anyone,” he observed, almost casually. He hadn’t been going to say anything, but at this rate Rufus was going to try to force himself to act overly calm, and end up being a jittery mess. And that was no good at all. Rufus seemed taken aback for about half a second, then converted his facial expression into a pointed glare. Reno had, yet again, seen a part of Rufus that the younger man hadn’t wanted anyone to see.

“What makes you say that?” he asked, voice controlledly flat. That response, for one, Reno thought, but chose to go with the more obvious point.

“Your hands are shaking.” He nodded toward Rufus, who immediately shoved the offending appendages into pockets.

“They are not.” Reno rolled his eyes. Keep telling yourself that, he didn’t say.

“Whatever you say, then,” he replied. He was far from dropping it, but common sense said having a long conversation right here, right now, was not a good idea. Which was only solidified as Reno was not quite sure if he had just spotted a figure ducking around a corner in his peripheral vision. Probably an unfortunate passerby, or his imagination, but couldn’t be too sure. “Right now, we should get out of here. I don’t know whether these guys might have backup.” He started walking and Rufus followed with a nod.

Rufus also paused and took one last look over his shoulder at the body on the ground. Reno wasn’t watching, but he knew from the lapse in footsteps that Rufus had paused, and he would have to be an idiot not to know the reason.

[So off they walk, far enough to be well away from the scene, and far enough that they might just as well have taken some kind of transportation, but Reno felt like walking and a rather distracted Rufus didn’t put up a protest. And now that Rufus has rather effectively missed his appointment with whoever he was going to meet with, Reno realizes he’s doesn’t technically have to stick around anymore and he’s actually off duty. But he doesn’t want to leave Rufus alone while he’s being all mopey and not even doing a very good job of hiding that. So! Reno’s solution? Meet back in the lobby of the Shinra building in an hour, and Reno’s going to take him out for a drink. Rufus is obviously perplexed by this suggestion, but agrees. So that happens. Some commentary from Reno about how Rufus should dress more casually more often, and then they are off to some bars somewhere in the slums of Midgar that Reno happens to like.]

When they arrived, it seemed as if the bar was having a bit of a slow day. A couple people sat at tables here and there, but by and large the seats were empty. Reno recognized the woman behind the counter, a brunette in her mid-thirties, hair pulled back in a thick ponytail, and currently looking very bored. Reno took a seat at the counter, Rufus taking the one next to him. The younger man surveyed the area, apparently trying to decide whether or not he should be feeling uncomfortable. Thankfully he seemed to settle on taking cues from Reno, who felt perfectly at home.

“Julia,” he greeted, waving to the woman behind the bar. She looked up at the sound of her name, her eyes lighting up as she spotted who said it.

“Reno,” she recognized. “Been a while. How’s things?”

“Good enough,” he replied, which he figured was a suitable answer. It had been an interesting day, certainly, but it had turned out alright. She nodded understandingly and gave him a smile.

“So what’s your drink of choice tonight?” Reno thought for a second, then shrugged. Julia knew his tastes well enough.

“Surprise us.” Rufus raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t say anything. The ‘us’ seemed to surprise Julia a bit as she suddenly took more notice of Rufus. She had known he was there, of course, and probably noted that he seemed just a little bit awkward in this setting, but she hadn’t been quite paying attention to him up until then.

“Who’s your friend?” she asked, giving Rufus a mildly flirtatious glance, which the latter seemed to miss. Reno, of course, noticed.

“Ru--”

“His name is Rupert,” Reno cut in quickly, and with a challenging look at the lady behind the bar, telling her not to ask. Julia raised an eyebrow, and gave Rufus a long, hard look before nodding and going to get their drinks. He watched her go for a moment, then leaned over so his head rested on Rufus’ shoulder and his mouth all but touched Rufus’ ear.

“Are you nuts?” he whispered harshly. “You know, you’re not exactly well-liked down here. And I’m really not looking for another brawl tonight, and I’m sure neither are you.” It was a safe enough place, yes, and relatively unpopulated at present, but that didn’t mean certain things were wise. Rufus shifted his gaze into a sideways glance at his companion.

“So why are we here?” Reno pulled back and shrugged.

“Welcome to my life?” Really, he didn’t know why he had felt the need to drag Rufus to a slummy bar in the underside of Midgar, aside from it was the first place that came to mind. It was much more likely that Rufus knew the ones up top, so this was something different. And the prices here didn’t make Reno’s head spin, which was always a plus.

[I figure some people would probably recognize Rufus, but not everybody, and really the less the better, given the setting. And that not being used to such a setting, Rufus would not really think about that. I will continue on to them getting drinks, not because it’s especially relevant, but because I had a lot of fun writing it.]

“And back to why we’re here,” he added casually as a couple of glasses appeared in front of them, “nothing like a good stiff drink to get your mind off of things.” Rufus raised an eyebrow.

“Is that how you deal with problems?” Reno responded with another shrug.

“Sometimes.” Deal with? No, dealing with problems involved facing them head on and sparring with them until something changed. Alcohol was for the times you just didn’t feel like dealing with it. At the very least, it tended to make you not think so much about stuff for a little while.

The conversation didn’t go any further, as Julia reappeared with a couple of shot glasses. Reno picked up the glass in front of him and swirled its contents slightly, pondering what it was. Clear, which left a couple of choices. But, then, served in a glass that was actually a little smaller than a normal shot glass, which really only left one choice. Yeah, Julia knew his tastes, but she was ignoring them for the sake of her own amusement. He braced and downed it.

Rufus must have done the same, because he coughed and almost spit out the contents of the glass.

“What is that?” He sputtered, attempting to regain his composure. Yep, that’s how everyone reacts to this stuff, thought Reno. He had too, the first time he’d had it.

“Wutaian ‘white wine,’ also known as Phoenix, but that’s not as commonly used actually” he commented with grin. It was part of why he liked this place. They always managed to have something a little on the exotic side. He’d probably tried the alcoholic specialty of most places on Planet before he’d ever been to them. Some of them, he still hadn’t been to. He knew their alcohol, though. Rufus looked at him incredulously.

“‘White wine’? That’s, ah...a bit of a misnomer, isn’t it?” He looked back down at the now empty shot glass skeptically and Reno laughed.

“You’re telling me. Nothing ‘wine’ about that stuff. Kicks like a poorly balanced pistol and doesn’t taste so great, either. Have a couple and you kind of stop noticing, though.” He glanced at his own empty glass. “Another or something different?” Rufus didn’t actually have to answer that, because the look on his face so clearly said are you kidding? Reno laughed and flagged down the barkeep again. She sauntered over, an amused look on her face. She always did take great joy in giving that drink to an unsuspecting victim. Doesn’t matter how much of a drinker you are; the first time you try that phoenix stuff, you get a pretty damn hysterical look on your face. With a slight frown, he remembered her making fun of him mercilessly for that a few months earlier. She only did that to people she knew, though. With anyone else, she just kept an eye out from the other end of the bar, like she had just done with Rufus.

“What else do you have?” he asked, with a nod at Rufus and a grin matching her own, “Friend’s not a fan of the Wutai stuff.” The barkeep chuckled quietly, glancing briefly at Rufus, then the empty shot glasses, then back at Reno.

“Who is?” Reno replied with his characteristic lopsided grin and a shrug.

“Don’t ask me.” She chuckled again and produced a couple more shot glasses, normally sized this time.

“That’s a Cosmo Canyon specialty,” she explained, then glanced pointedly at Reno. “Don’t think you’ve actually had that one before, come to think of it.” Reno eyed the glass in front of him and shook his head.

“Don’t think so, no.” The woman smiled and gave another encouraging nod.

“Try it, I think you’ll like it.” That was enough of a recommendation. Frankly, curiosity was enough of a recommendation.

The new liquor had an interesting flavor, Reno thought. It had a nutty taste, with a very slight metallic edge, and an aftertaste that was just a little bit sweet. And just as strong as the Wutaian atrocity, but went down a hell of a lot smoother. It was pleasant overall. Barkeep had been right: Reno liked it.

Looking at the counter, he noticed that Rufus’ glass hadn’t been touched. He had been waiting for Reno to be a guinea pig this time around. The Turk turned to him with the same encouraging nod the barkeep had given him a minute earlier.

“It’s good.” Rufus raised an eyebrow, and Reno smirked. “Come on, I would know.” Rufus looked for a second as if he might have something to say to that, but decided against it.

This one did not produce the coughing and sputtering reaction the previous one had, but he still flinched as he drank it. Watching him, Reno had to smile. Not a professional drinker, that one. Not that he had expected otherwise. Being constantly in the public limelight was probably pretty good incentive for not getting drunk on a regular basis. Maybe the more interesting note was that the younger man seemed perfectly happy at the moment to down anything Reno handed to him.

That was a very interesting note, actually. Rufus generally didn’t just take stuff without question--and that applied to anything, handed to him by anyone. By all previous experience, Reno almost had to wonder why he wasn’t asking for a chemical breakdown of the contents of each of these drinks (which, actually, Reno thought might be sort of interesting to read, but decided that was a thought for another time). He chalked it up to Rufus being shaken, and this generally being sort of an odd day.

He did briefly think that he probably shouldn’t be encouraging Rufus to get drunk either, but he shoved that thought aside. It wasn’t like he planned on doing this on a regular basis and frankly the younger man could use the relaxing right now. Of course, if the man wasn’t thinking properly, Reno could see him getting himself into a lot of trouble in a place like this.

“Any of the back rooms open?” Not that this place was huge, but it had a couple of private rooms hidden in the rear of the building. Pretty nice ones, too, from what Reno could remember. The barkeep raised an eyebrow at the question, and glanced skeptically between the two men. Then she gave a nod, a small smirk playing on her lips.

“Yeah, think so. One on the right.” She nodded over her shoulder, indicating the room in question. “Knock before you go in, just in case I’m wrong about that.”

“Thanks,” Reno nodded. “And could I get a bottle of whatever that stuff you just gave me was?”

[The Wutaian thing is the direct equivalent of Chinese “baijiu,” down to the name (so-called white wine). “Phoenix” comes from the imagery on the bottle of a very cheap form of said baijiu (avoid this if you are ever in China. Trust me on that.) The second liquor (Pakoa has no meaning as a word, but is derived from the name of a kind of Chinese medicine I use--I was on a theme, here, okay?) is something I made up. But having now had the opportunity to try Amaretto, it’s rather similar to that. This was the end of a chapter, and the next isn’t terribly interesting, but will be excerpted for the lulz.]

The room, as it turned out, was both unoccupied and in pristine condition. Whoever Julia employed to keep these places clean and neat probably deserved a tip. The furniture and decorations were too elaborate, but not too spartan either. There was a large sofa, a coffee table set out in front of that, and the walls sported a few photographs here and there. The furniture was black, color in the room coming from a patterned rug on the floor and a nicely arranged bouquet of flowers in a vase in the corner of the room. Tasteful.

“What was that about?” Rufus asked, referring to the odd look Julia had given them when Reno had asked about the room.

“Thinks we’re fucking,” he commented casually. “That’s what these rooms are usually used for.” Rufus raised an eyebrow, and Reno shrugged. “Let her think it,” he said as he flopped onto the sofa, which was remarkably comfortable. “Doesn’t really matter that it’s not true.” He did briefly have the thought that he really wouldn’t mind that being true, but he quickly squashed that line of thought before it got to the point where he would start wondering whether back room plus drunk Rufus might have possibilities. Bad thought. He distracted himself by reading the label on the bottle of the good Cosmo Canyon liquor. ‘Pakoa,’ it was called. Whatever that meant.

Rufus, meanwhile, stayed standing. In fact, he seemed notably hesitant about sitting on that nice, fluffy sofa himself.

“They clean it, you idiot,” Reno pointed out with a roll of his eyes. Really, if you’re going to get twitchy like that, you’d have to be paranoid about most hotel rooms. The younger man didn’t look entirely convinced, but sat down anyway. Reno was expecting some backlash at just having referred to Rufus as an idiot, but all he got was a curious look.

“So why the private room?” the Vice President questioned. Reno shrugged, opening the bottle and filling the two shot glasses he had set on the coffee table. He slid one of the glasses over to where Rufus was sitting.

[...one does wonder what Rufus was thinking right there. I’m not sure, myself. Anyway, they proceed to chatter about the earlier events and if there was any particular reason for them getting attacked and blah, blah. This would all be more interesting if I ever actually finished figuring out what the intrigue half of this plot actually was, but alas, I did not. Once they were done with the serious chatting, Rufus proceeded to get himself completely sloshed, and Reno didn’t because he decided he was still somewhat functioning as a bodyguard and both of them being drunk would just be a tremendously bad idea. Chapter 4 will now be posted in its entirety.]

An hour or so, and about half the bottle of pakoa later, going home sounded like a good idea, as did spending a while in the safety of a Shinra apartment not worrying about Avalanche or anything else. Rufus wasn’t at the point of passing out, thankfully, but he was far past coherent and walking straight. Reno doubted the man would be able to find his way out of that back room without Reno’s guidance. As it was, Rufus was more or less slung over Reno’s shoulder and the Turk might have had to wonder if his companion had fallen asleep if he wasn’t still walking.

Reno took Rufus back to his apartment, figuring Rufus wasn’t going to want to be seen around his own place for the moment. He figured Rude would understand. Rufus needed a place to sleep, preferably with somebody there to keep an eye on him.

As it turned out, Rude wasn’t even there. Reno opened the door to find an empty apartment and a note reading, “Off on a mission. No details. Back in two days if all goes well,” and signed by Rude. Which meant that Rufus spending the night there wouldn’t be a problem at all. Good. Reno paused only to double check that the door was locked and to drop off the half-empty bottle on a counter before meandering both of them toward his bedroom, which was not so much out of courtesy as out of the knowledge that Reno didn’t mind sleeping on the couch and Rufus almost surely would. Thus, the blonde got a bed.

“Is it hot in here?” Rufus mumbled as he flopped down onto Reno’s bed. The redhead grinned. What was is about drunk people and always asking that question? Well, actually, there were a couple obvious reasons for it, but still. It was funny.

“Not really,” Reno replied, and resisted the urge to add, but you are. And he was, in Reno’s opinion, sprawled unceremoniously across the Turk’s bed, all rumpled and seeming uncharacteristically not at all bothered by that fact. The difference was refreshing, and appealing, and very, very tempting. Maybe bringing him back here wasn’t such a great idea, after all. He tried his best to push those thoughts aside.

“Do you need anything?” Rufus shook his head. “Then I’ll be out there on the couch.” He pointed to indicate where he was talking about. “Call me if you need anything.” And with that he turned to leave, but was stopped by a hand on his wrist.

“Don’t leave.” Reno looked back to find Rufus staring up at him, his eyes pleading, no, more like commanding. Rufus didn’t plead.

“What?” was all Reno could think to say, and Rufus frowned.

“I said don’t leave. Is my voice that slurred?” Reno couldn’t help but smile at that. Truth be told, it had been a bit, but that last statement had been remarkably clear. “What’s funny?” Rufus asked, and Reno just shook his head.

“Nothing.” He stared back at Rufus, thoughts going back to the original request and all the implications it could hold and probably didn’t. Reno was already getting far more enjoyment than he should out of the simple fact that Rufus had a hand on his wrist. Please don’t tempt me, Reno thought, but said, “I guess what I had meant to ask was: why?” Rufus stared back in a silent look that just as effectively said, I don’t have an answer to that question. That silence went on for only a moment before Rufus tugged on Reno’s wrist, which caught the redhead by surprise enough that he toppled over onto the bed, which had apparently been the other’s intention. He made an attempt to right himself, but Rufus caught him with an arm wrapped behind his shoulder.

“Don’t leave,” he repeated, this time softly, and pressed his lips against Reno’s. His eyes widened briefly in surprise, then slowly fluttered closed as he returned the kiss. Dare he think that Rufus meant it?

Too good to be true, his thoughts warned.

Shaken. Drunk. All in all, not thinking clearly. Probably not. But even so, how long had he wanted this, been waiting for this? His lips pressed into Rufus’, his tongue lightly tasting them, his hands playing over Rufus’ body. Even through layers of clothing, that contact was wonderful, and it wouldn’t take too long to get the clothing--

No. Despite everything, Rufus’ lips still held hints of the Pakoa, and so did his thought processes. Reno would never be able to completely fight back the thought that he was taking advantage of the situation, and if it turned out that this whole thing was nothing more than Rufus being weird under the influence of alcohol... Reno couldn’t deal with that. He broke the kiss, and Rufus looked up at him dreamily, which was in itself almost enough to change his mind.

“You don’t have to stop.”

Yes, I really do, he thought bitterly. With anyone else he might just go with that, but Rufus... he was playing with fire, and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to get burned. Very badly. He leaned in to whisper in the younger man’s ear.

“Tell me that when you’re sober,” he said, and extricated himself from the other’s embrace.

Never let it be said that dragging himself away from Rufus right then was not one of the hardest things Reno ever had to do. If only he could have just laid there in Rufus’ arms... but he couldn’t, and that was that. Rufus didn’t try to stop him from moving away this time, but he seemed almost hurt, and Reno allowed himself one more touch, to brush his finger’s lightly over Rufus’ cheek.

“I’m only going as far as the couch,” he assured. “Get some sleep. If you need anything, call me.” The younger man seemed as if he might have been about to protest again at Reno leaving, but changed his mind. Instead he closed his eyes, and smiled sleepily.

“You’re nice to me,” he murmured quietly. “No one else is nice to me...” He rolled onto his side, and within seconds was asleep. Reno pulled a blanket over the sleeping Vice President and just stood there watching him for a while before retreating to the couch. It was going to take Reno a good long time before he would be able to sleep himself.

[That last is ridiculously relevant in my mind, and Rufus does not remember saying it at all. And even were someone to tell him that he said it, he would likely deny it and/or be confused as to what he even would have meant by it. What he meant was not that anyone was especially mean to him. For the most part, people are polite and/or obedient towards him. But very distant. Goes back to the whole Reno sees him as a person more than a position thing. I will say that little bit of unconscious muttering probably went a long way in terms of convincing Reno to keep putting up with Rufus in the long run. Nobody else was going to.

Back in the context of the story at hand, several days passed, stuff was reported, and nothing more really happened.]

Actually, there was one more thing that stayed off the record. He hadn’t mentioned how shaken up Rufus had been that night. He figured the Vice President would prefer for that bit of emotional instability, however normal it was, not to be mentioned. That didn’t keep Reno from worrying privately, though. Rufus would come to terms with it, he knew, but in the mean time he was just a little off and probably in ways only Reno noticed. If nothing else, Rufus was very good at putting up a cool facade. Very, very good at it.

So good that he had managed to disappear from Reno’s apartment before Reno had woken up and not give any indication of anything at all out of the ordinary having happened that night. The only comment Reno had gotten out of the man was a cordial thank you a couple days later, for making sure he had somewhere safe to sleep. The Turk didn’t press for more conversation at the time, and then Rufus had gone out of town, this time taking Tseng with him, so he didn’t have another opportunity.

Part of Reno really wanted to confront Rufus about the whole thing, and part of him was pretty sure he never would. It was possible that Rufus didn’t actually remember any of it, given how drunk he had been. Which still left the possibility that the feelings were real, but bringing it up would be nothing short of awkward. And then there was the possibility that it was all the fault of the alcohol and Reno had just happened to be nearby. He knew he would probably never say anything because when it came down to it, he would rather not know anything than confirm that he meant nothing to Rufus after that. The Turk tried very hard to crush that thought whenever it crossed his mind, because it turned his stomach in knots.

[Poor guy. There will be considerably less story from here on out because very little was actually written. You may recall I said I never quite figured out what the intrigue side of this story actually was, and there was really no way to proceed without it. Some thoughts involved the latter AVALANCHE, some didn’t, some cast Julia as being heavily involved in whatever was going on, some had her as an unknowing accomplice, all of them involved a watch that Reno lost at Julia’s bar and ended up being bugged and he didn’t think to check because he was sort of friends with Julia and he was distracted. At least one variation involved Reno getting kidnapped. But I never did figure out exactly who was after exactly what information, so it’s all a moot point. Reno spent a while not having a chance to talk to Rufus at all, and then did manage to confront him about how he was doing regarding the whole killing someone thing. I never really wrote the scene, so I just have a snippet of dialogue.]

“I’m fine. I thought about it.”

“And?”

“And I remembered I don’t care about people.”

[Reno was not quite sure what to make of that statement, and kept trying not to actively wonder whether or not he was part of “people.” In the end, they figured out that they’d been mutually wondering if the other actually was interested in them, and mutually put off by the other’s lack of saying anything about it, and felt a little silly.]

So that concludes the relevant and/or amusing bits from the story never really written. You can probably see what I mean, about not a story, but a little pile of pieces that do find some place in the arc. Hope you enjoyed, even if it wasn’t particularly coherent.