Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

Gǎnhuà	By : vivarose Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 782 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Don't own Rufus, Tseng, Wutai, Shin-Ra, Midgar or anything else Final Fantasy 7 related. There are some concepts and OC's that are our own creations though. turns out pockets And we're poor no money is made off of this.

Chapter List
- 1-Chapter 1
- 2-c2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 2
- 3
- 4
[[Title:]]
"Gǎnhuà "
[[Rating:]] R
[[Series:]] Final
Fantasy VII
[[Pairing:]] Tseng<->Rufus
[[Warning:]] YAOI.
We're walking by canon but we do what we want. We characterize how we
feel we should and we write as we like. You don't have to agree with
how we do it, and if you don't like it, don't read it. If you do like
it, please encourage us. Criticism is undesired.
[[Thoughts:]]
There are themes of violence, sexual abuse (tastefully written)
murder and well...what you would expect from Turks and anyone who
happens to be in the Shin-Ra family or employ. Please read at your
own discretion. We hope you will enjoy the character
development/degeneration and will come to love this RP. Vivarose
writes Tseng, JadedSilk writes Rufus, the rest are currently shared.

~*~

The only thing that
felt warm or real was Tseng's hand on his shoulder, and he accepted
it for what it was. Some place to draw strength from. Rufus wasn't
the kind to give up so easily, though it felt dangerously close right
now.

The walk and climb home was slow and painful, and when he
arrived he was lucky to find his father already passed out drunk and
tickets on the counter. He was going away again to a convention it
seemed, whenever he sobered up. Rufus was so grateful he could cry.
He took an unsteady breath, and then glanced to Tseng. " When he
leaves, I will order out, whatever you would like," he said, before
heading for the comparative safety of his room.

~*~

The
sight of the sprawled out Shin-Ra Senior in his own drink was a
disquieting one, but not nearly as much as the expression that
crossed Rufus's face. Tseng nodded once to show that he'd heard
Rufus's comment about ordering out and pulled his eyes from the man
who was self-marinating in his spilt drink and followed Rufus along
down the hall. Before they parted, Tseng rested a hand on Rufus's
shoulder again.

"Don't forget that, no matter what, I'm
your Turk. I am here for you," the Wutaian said softly. Had they
been in Wutai Tseng might have dropped to one knee and kissed Rufus's
dominate hand to show his loyalty and dedication to his charge, but
they were not so the teen did not do so. It ran deeper then Turk
honor, it was the honor of his breed, his people's dedication to
whatever task was set before them. Tseng couldn't call himself
Rufus's friend but this was as close as he could come, and from
everything that had happened so far, the boy needed friends more then
anything.

Tseng dropped his hand from Rufus's shoulder and
began to move to his own room, just a few doors down from Rufus's.

~*~

Rufus lay in bed, thinking about the warmth of the
others touch, something that he wasn't accustomed to. He closed his
eyes and then curled up on the bed, surprised to find that he could
sleep. He only woke when Senior woke, and he then crawled under his
bed to hide, waiting for his father to announce he was leaving to the
empty house and disappear in a cloud of cigar smoke, alcohol, the
clatter of suitcases and the silent feet of bodyguards. Alone, hoping
his mother would be home soon, he remembered his promise to Tseng...
of food.

~*~

Tseng watched the older Shin-Ra leave and
then with bare feet softly padded down the hall to Rufus's room. He
had changed his clothing, he was now dressed in soft black silk pants
and a traditional shirt of his people. He paused and then picked the
lock to Rufus's door and entered. A quick look at the bed told him
that Rufus wasn't there, and the bathroom was dark. Where else would
a scared child go?

Walking up to the bed and then kneeling
down next to it, Tseng peered underneath to find Rufus. He smiled
slightly and extended his hand to the youth.

"Come on
now. Its safe, I'll protect you."

~*~

It hurt
Rufus" pride to be found here, when Tseng had come into the room he
was still hiding. But there was something about the other that really
did reassure him, and there was something about the way he was
dressed, that serious expression that made his heart beat a little
faster in a way that felt good...in a way he didn't want to think
about because it scared him.

"Sorry,"the blond said, a
blush painting his cheeks as he hesitantly took his hand, letting him
draw him out from under the bed and into the dark room. "I
thought...I would order us dinner. I can at least do that," he
wanted another cup of tea, too. He felt a lot better.

In the
dim light of the room Tseng took no notice of the blush and made a
bemused noise as they sat on the floor of Rufus's room.

"What
are you apologizing for? You've done no wrong," the Turk shook
his head and then stood, gracefully pulling Rufus up with him.
"Dinner...would be nice," Tseng smiled at Rufus and then
tilted his head slightly. "Your father is gone for the weekend
right? You can have some of the stronger teas then, they'll help you
sleep, but won't leave you drowsy in the morning. If you'll order
I'll fix you some tea."

If Shin-Ra Senior was gone for
the weekend then Tseng fully intended to make sure Rufus was able to
recover as much as he could before his father's return.

"Come
on then," he said softly, gently pulling Rufus to the lit
hallway. "Darkness inspires fear and you should be given
reprieve from that now, if nothing else you are deserving of that."

Rufus followed after, feeling much better and less heavy.
Even a nap had done well by him with something for pain and
inflammation. "What would you like to eat?" He asked quietly,
glad to be out of his room despite the lingering reek of booze...

He
glanced to Tseng in the light of the living room, knowing there would
be a letter for him on the table from his father that he might be
loathe to read.

Tseng had wrinkled his nose slightly at the
stench of the liquor, he was surprised that the elder Shin-Ra still
had a liver left at all. He turned towards his room to get the teas
as he answered Rufus,

"Just rice is fine," he said,
not wanting to try the Midgarian take on Wutaian cuisine, the last
time he had, he'd been retching for most of the night.

He got
the herbs from his room and returned to the living room, going over
to the coffee maker and after fiddling with it for a moment got a jet
of scalding hot water to fill a cup, which he measured the various
mixes of herbs into, adding a healthy bit of valerian root this time
and some other leaves and seeds. Tseng drained them from the cup
after a minute and set the tea on the coffee table in teh living room
and went over to where Rufus was.

"My father will be gone
this weekend...my mother...I doubt she will be home..." he informed
softly, and then nodded to Tseng in thanks and then reached slowly
for the drink. "This smells different from the other stuff," he
remarked about the tea before picking up his cell phone from the
coffee table, ignoring the letter he saw there.

The Shin-Ra
heir ordered pizza for himself, and then rice from a true traditional
Wutaian restaurant."Do you want dumplings? They come free with the
rice?" He asked his bodyguard, hand over the receiver.

Tseng
considered the offer of dumplings and finally nodded in confirmation
and sat across from Rufus on the couch, tucking his feet underneath
him in the traditional style of his people.

"The tea has
valerian in it as well as the others from what I gave you this
afternoon," Tseng said. "It will allow you to have peaceful
sleep and heal more effectively," the Turk did not speak of the
absence of Rufus's mother. It seemed clear to him that the woman had
gotten out while the getting was good, hence her constant absence.
However for the lack of Senior Shin-Ra's presence, Tseng was
grateful.

"How are your bruises healing?" Tseng
asked, having a feeling that they were a regular occurrence but
knowing that there was little he could do to prevent it. There was no
protecting Rufus from his own dear father.

Rufus looked away
slowly, "I...I'm... it's still there...it's not bad," he lied
easily. He knew the other wouldn't believe that he had not been hurt.
He just wouldn't tell him the full truth, that was all.

"Yes,
dumplings please....I have it...yes, on our account..."

He
glanced over to Tseng after hanging up, and then took another long
slow drink of tea.

~*~

The hesitation in Rufus's voice
was obvious, but Tseng did not push the matter. He did not mention
the bruises he'd seen on Rufus's neck when the other was sleeping,
and he knew that there had to be a bruise on the boy's side from
where his father had kicked him on Tseng's first evening of
employment in the Shin-Ra house. It was a frustrating matter, but one
that hopefully time would remedy. Patience, you don't build trust
over night, he reminded himself. Especially with someone like
Rufus.

He let the silence persist for a moment or two,
watching Rufus drink the tea. He had added willow bark as well to
help with the pain. What to say? It wasn't as if a simple
conversation could be made, they were different ages, different
cultures and it would not be appropriate for Tseng to inquire about
Rufus and the youth had shown no interest in Tseng beyond what was
necessary. The Turk tilted his head for a moment and remembered there
had been a envelope with Rufus's name on it on one of the tables he'd
passed earlier.

"There was a letter for you, your father
left it I assume?"

He nodded once, wincing slightly
before schooling his expression.

"I don't read them often
anymore," he said, fingertips tightening around the cup in
something that have been rage if he hadn't been so exhausted. "I
should study...for my tests," he said blankly, lost really.

Other
children his age did things, went out...played video games at each
others houses. They looked at nude magazines of girls while talking
about things they were still to o young to understand while bragging
to be the first to do so. Rufus knew that. He also knew he didn't
really care about that. He didn't like...well... he was pretty sure
he didn't like that sort of thing at all, and he knew his father
would only be worse to him if he knew.

The blond wished he
could bring himself to pretend. He knew the note would be about
finding a pretty girl at the mall to talk to, and Senior would leave
him money for a restaurant to take said girl out to.

Rufus
would use the money to bribe someone to buy him cigarettes instead.
The tea was making something inside of him unwind, and the pain was
easing a little. He wanted to cry for a moment, something he
absolutely refused to do. He'd forgotten what it felt like to have
that tension in his throat go away, the sting behind his eyes
resolve. It just didn't...happen anymore.

It all came down
to, there was something terrifically wrong with Rufus Shin-Ra, and he
didn't know what to say, or who to ask.

~*~

The wince
was not unnoticed, and the Wutaian's eyes narrowed slightly as he
tilted his head. The boy had tensed but his speaking was flat, as if
he were having trouble finding words and it wasn't an effect of the
tea. Tseng sat very still for a moment, hardly daring to breathe, he
could practically hear the gears working in the boy's head and the
exhaustion became painfully evident once again. Rufus never got to
let go of the fear or tension, to unwind was not in his nature and
for a moment the boy looked like he might cry but swallowed the
emotions down. Tseng looked at him calculatingly for a moment longer
and then unwound his legs from under him and with incredible caution
moved closer to Rufus on the couch.

He placed a hand over
Rufus' and guided the boy to set the tea down on the table for a
moment. Then Tseng hugged him, not tightly or crushing, but a embrace
that gave Rufus the ability to escape or return it as he saw fit.
Knowing full well that such an action could cause things to go very
wrong and half expecting a good sock to the jaw, but also knowing
that Rufus needed this. The stress, pain and whatever else was being
thrown at the young heir to the Shin-Ra company had been piling up
for far too long. If the pressure of these combined forces didn't let
off then it would one day kill him. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but
it would.

"Rest for tonight Rufus," he said softly
in the other's ear. "Just let it all go and rest. You are safe
here, I will never judge you."

Rufus stiffened for a
moment, afraid to be touched at first because touch had always meant
something bad would follow. But then warm arms and soft silk touched
him, and somehow this reminded him of a long time ago, when his
mother's arms had been safe. He wasn't being made to do anything
bad... it was just a protected hiding place.

He took a shaky
breath, and hesitantly rested his head on Tseng's shoulder. A
bodyguard had never made him feel...safe before. He meant to say
"thank you" as he leaned in to the other, but what came out was a
hiccuping moan of pain. He tightened his hands in that black silk,
and curled as close as he could get. It might be weak but it beat
hiding under the bed.

"Why?" he finally whispered, after
a long moment of silence.

It was pure weakness to admit the
pain, to complain. The orphans down in the slums had it so much
worse, but it didn't mean this didn't hurt.

~*~

He had
been prepared for a hostile reaction, ready to let the boy go if he
panicked. But instead Rufus's stiffness gave way and the boy curled
into the hug and against the Turk. A small noise left his throat and
the sound was like a dagger to Tseng and he gently folded his arms
closer around Rufus's body as the boy's hands fisted the silk
material of his clothing. The Wutaian said nothing, but held the boy
in his arms against him, still and quiet until the question
came.

"Not even the most skilled of soothsayers would be
able to answer that," Tseng said softly, one hand moving to
gently stroke the back of Rufus's head. "Its alright to let it
go, because if you hold onto it, you'll only be drown by it."
Children were raised to not show emotion or acknowledge pain or hurt,
a damned ridiculous concept and one Tseng doubted Rufus would ever be
shaken from. But if he could trust the Turk enough to open to him,
when things were quiet like this, private and away from prying,
judging eyes; then the boy might make it.

"Feeling is not
weakness. If we forget how to feel then we become monsters. I don't
want you to become a monster," Tseng crooned softly, still
gently stroking Rufus's hair, holding him for as long as the boy
needed.

"They already say...I'm a monster," Rufus
whispered, a tear unbidden running down his cheek. He wasn't sure
what it was...the sensation was unfamiliar and the thought at first
was that he was bleeding. He un-fisted a hand to touch his
cheek...and it came away wet, not red...

Tseng made a soft
noise of protest at Rufus's words.
"No, you are no such
thing," he said softly, his accent becoming more apparent as he
looked at Rufus who was wiping tear off his cheek, looking startled.
Leaving one arm wound around the boy's back for security, Tseng took
his other hand and gently stroked Rufus's face, brushing his bangs
aside and caressing his cheek.

"I have seen monsters
Rufus, you are most certainly not one. It is you who crafts your
soul, not your breeding," Tseng whispered fiercely. People not
pedigrees as the saying went.

Rufus hid his face into Tseng's
hand a moment later, and then his shoulder. He couldn't stop the rush
of emotions, and he sobbed raggedly until he was empty, clinging to
the dark haired man like he was the last sane thing in the world.
When he had cried himself out, when he had nothing left to give, he
curled against him exhaustedly. This a slightly more healthy tired.

He was shaking only a little when the delivery man arrived.

One of the household attendants was awoken by the knocking
and brought the food into the living room where bodyguard and boy
sat. With a nod to them that was polite and distant enough to say she
was well trained to pretend what she saw never happened, she rested
the containers on the coffee table, and then left with a
bow.

~*~

The Turk said nothing, holding the boy as he
let go of the poison. He didn't shush Rufus or try to quiet him, that
would only encourage him to bottle this all up again. Tseng remained
as steady and constant as the rocks against the western coast of
Wutai; which held back the sea from drowning the lower plains.

When
Rufus finally quieted and lay half curled in his lap the Turk spoke
softly, stroking Rufus's hair and down his back and then back up
again.

"Good, so good to let it go. So brave," he
praised softly. "So very brave. Very human, good," he
emphasised softly to reinforce that the boy in his arms was nothing
near a monster.

He saw the attendant leave the food for them
and returned her nod, grateful for the lack of interference.
"I
know you're tired Rufus, but eating will help you," he said
softly, his fingers tracing small circles on the boy's shoulders
where the shaking was still present. Tseng reached out and picked up
his own container of rice off the table and the chopsticks that went
with it. He kept one arm on Rufus, still stroking his shoulders as he
opened the container of rice and began to eat, giving a small sigh as
he did. Now this was how rice should be cooked. And then he returned
his attention to the boy against him and stroked his hair again,
making a soft wordless crooning of comfort.

Rufus had not
really noticed the differences between them until he had picked up
his piece of pizza. He hadn't thought of how /very/ different their
cultures were, even as he hungrily wolfed three pieces, and then
finished three more as an afterthought. He was still growing and he
hadn't been eating much at all lately...

He finished his pizza
with his tea, wiped his face and hands with the spare napkins, and
then found himself with his head resting against Tseng's thigh,
yawning. He was sleepy, and felt...better than he had for as long as
he could remember. He would let the other eat, and he would just
close his eyes for a moment...

Tseng watched the boy eat and
smiled slightly, it was a positive sign. But what he'd not expected
was to find Rufus resting his head against Tseng's legs again after
the boy had finished his tea and looking like he wasn't even thinking
of trying to fight sleep. With extreme care Tseng repositioned
himself so Rufus's head lay properly on his lap so as not to hurt the
boy's neck, while he finished eating and stroked the boy's
hair.

They sat in silence for a while longer, Tseng was
certain that Rufus had drifted off to sleep around 2AM, which was
something the boy was in desperate need of. The Turk started to drift
off as well, but then caught himself. He smiled down at Rufus and
with the utmost care, picked the boy up in his arms and carried him
back to his room and placing Rufus back in his own bed and pulling a
blanket over him.

Tseng then quietly padded back to his own
room, and made several notes in a small black note pad. It was
written in his own code, each Turk had one specific to him or her,
and was used to track mission status and developments. Verdot had
made Tseng start keeping more detailed entries in hopes of

Helping
the Wutaian keep his emotions and mission separate. Not that it
helped much but Tseng did have the most through and detailed notes of
anyone, he was also the most organised. When he finally went to sleep
he chuckled slightly to himself. He had a feeling that tomorrow was
going to be back to running the gauntlet and found himself looking
forward to whatever interesting challenges Rufus supplied him with.

~*~

Rufus woke by degrees. He felt relaxed, warm and
safe for the first time in quite some time. He had been having the
most shocking pleasant dream about something he shouldn't have even
been dreaming about... and glanced down in surprise. His leg was
wet...what the...

Had he wet himself? He had...oh. Oh...Shiva.
Had he had one of /those/ kind of dreams?

He bit his lip to
keep from making a sound of worry, and then quickly stripped down and
tossed his clothes in the hamper before immediately getting in the
shower.

Would anyone know? Could they tell by looking at him?
Did that mean? No. Tests. He had to study for tests.

~*~

Tseng's
internal alarm brought him awake at eight AM as it always did. The
Turk had not had any remarkable dreams, mostly it had just been a
churning and regurgitation of the day's events and he paid them no
mind as he showered and dressed in his Turk uniform. There was no
seer blood in his family line so he didn't trouble himself with the
meaning behind dreams, although it was slightly odd that in his dream
Rufus had a small blue mark on his neck. It wasn't clear as most
dreams were inclined not to be and Tseng took it for a bruise from
the boy's father and paid it no further mind.

He left his
room, made tea for Rufus, this one to promote alertness but not make
him jittery or nervous and coffee for himself, seeing that the house
staff had already taken care of the boxes leftover from the take out
of the previous night. Around ten he knocked on Rufus's door, half
expecting the boy to have already left the place.

~*~

Rufus
was sitting at his desk, eyes glued to a book, music blasting.
He
glanced up at Tseng, giving him a slight smile that wasn't actually
displeased to see him, though he looked tense, even uncomfortable.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked, taking his earphones out for the
other, then blushed a little.

Mentally Rufus cursed himself.
What the hell was wrong with him?

The politeness was
surprising but not unwelcome, and Tseng returned the smile as he set
the tea down on Rufus's desk and sat in a chair opposite the boy to
talk to him, his own coffee in hand.

"I did," he
said, noting the color high on Rufus's cheeks, but he said nothing
about it, attributing it to perhaps the embarrassment of pride for
the previous night. "You? The tea helped yes?" On the rare
occasion the herb did cause excitability but it hadn't seemed to have
had that effect on Rufus.

Tseng leaned forward slight to see
the subject his charge was studying and since his job was to watch
the boy, he half considered offering to help Rufus study and then
make the kid take a break so his brain didn't explode or something
like that. He would see what Rufus's temperament was this morning.

"Advanced Calculus and...well Biochem is over there,"
Rufus pointed to where he had exiled the book to the other side of
the desk. He managed to get himself under control. Tseng wouldn't
know if he didn't give it away by flailing like an idiot. "I know
this formula but sometimes in a pinch it slips my mind. I have to
memorize it perfectly."

He took the tea off his desk with a
nod, and tried to ignore his stomach gurgling.

Tseng wrinkled
his nose at the dreaded calculus, he would take his chances with the
BioChem any day. At least that you could see the results from and
actually apply it. Never theless he leaned closer to look at the
formula.

"Oh, just integrate it," he said looking at
the formula for a minute. He took a pencil from the desk. "Look
here," he circled a few letters in the formula to form the name
of a local shipping company, 'Fedex'.

"See?" he
asked Rufus, looking at the other. "Then just add in the rest of
the numbers as you need them."

Rufus' brows raised in
surprise. That was simple. Easy to remember. "I think I
understand," he murmured, pulling a practice problem out of his
book, applying the shipping company liberally to the numbers and
grinning just slightly. "Great!" He said. "Okay, I
guess...Biochem but...I think I'm getting something to eat first,"
he said. Tseng was...really good looking. It was probably the first
time he'd noticed it and /really/ noticed it. Or perhaps the first
time he'd acknowledged it fully when it happened for what it was. His
heart fluttered in his chest but his stomach sunk a little at the
realization... He needed a cigarette....

~*~

Tseng
leaned back into the chair and watched Rufus work through the
problems, glad to see the slight grin on the boy's face. Rufus wasn't
a bad kid, just an over stressed one, who would probably grow to a
fine young man and be more than able to manage his father's company.

Only it seemed as though he hadn't figured out girls yet,
then again with an absent mother and his father being less then
helpful it wasn't surprising. Tseng thought for a moment, reflecting
on Rufus's flat out refusal of the young lady in his class. The boy
had done so without a second thought. Again the obvious alternative
came to Tseng, but he shrugged it off. Rufus still had many years
ahead of him to figure out his sexuality. And Tseng was not a
believer in coincidence, the boy was confused, stressed and puberty
was going to be assaulting him head on. Especially with how little
affection was shown towards the young teen. There was no way to
attribute all of this to a potential budding attraction...Was
there?

Tseng realised he'd zoned out in his train of thought
and that Rufus had been speaking to him. Tseng gave a vague nod and
stood to go with the boy to the kitchen. And try as he might, now the
that possibility had presented itself, he couldn't help but consider
it. But then again there were ethics to be considered, but that
wasn't something Turks were widely known for.

~*~

Rufus
heated up some cold pizza and then sighed. What did people from Wutai
eat in the morning? Why did it suddenly /matter/ to him? He decided
to ignore the question and not ask it. He could read a book about it
at the library if he needed to.

He finished the tea Tseng had
made him, and he washed the mug and put it away. If there were dirty
dishes in the sink when his father came home Ifrit help him....

He
thought about going back down to the slums today...it was nice
outside, and he didn't really want to study anymore. He could
probably give Tseng the slip so he could, he needed some time to
think, to learn how to hide whatever was happening to
him...

~*~

The Turk kept a thoughtful distance from his
charge, carefully thinking things over in his mind. Rufus was getting
a look on his face that Tseng was learning to identify as the "I'm
going to say 'fuck this' and get the fuck out," look. Meaning
that Rufus wanted out for a while.

Tseng sighed softly,
already knowing how he would handle that. He would let the boy 'slip
out' and follow him, just further back. Just enough to be sure the
kid didn't get himself killed. Even if Rufus had bouts of
hellishness, he was still a good kid. And not bad looking for a
Midgarian, it was so rare to find hair that pale blonde and eyes that
blue and sharp naturally. It was as exotic to him as his own features
appeared to others.

A round of rather dirty images kicked
their way into the forefront of Tseng's mind and he pointedly ignored
them, sipping at his coffee and cursing himself for such a
predicament. Even if Rufus was likeable.

He finished his
pizza, and then glanced to Tseng. "I'm just going out onto the
balcony to read a book, I'll be back," Rufus said lowly. He
finished his Pizza and the headed out, not waiting for
approval.

When he saw that no one was following, he closed his
eyes, took a deep breath, and swung out over the railing and down one
of the gutters, falling into the trellis as a break to descent, and
rolled down onto the grass and to his feet. He would head down into
the city library.

~*~

Tseng watched the boy from the
kitchen and as he made his grand escape and then the Turk finished
his coffee and left via the front door. Rufus was on the surface
streets and heading towards the city's historic district, Tseng
followed about two blocks behind the youth. Curious to see what his
charge was up to. Fortunately there were lots of business men in the
historic district for an early lunch so Tseng blended in fairly well.

Finally Rufus entered the great stone building that was the
library and Tseng of course followed. He wouldn't stop Rufus from
doing anything, unless of course it was life threatening, but he
would watch the boy, as he'd been ordered.

He stopped at the
library first, and took down two popular novels, behind them he hid a
book on Wutaian culture and customs. He would read it and leave it
here so no one would know he checked it out or looked at it. He then
picked up a newspaper, and locked himself in one of the small private
reading rooms, sitting down with his back to the wall.

Smart
boy, Tseng mentally applauded Rufus as he took his seat in the
private reading room. There was only one small window on the door to
the room. For a moment his mind filled with scandalous ideas in which
to use the room, but he quickly pushed them aside. Stop that, he told
himself. If this was all a red herring then it would be getting
worked up over a great deal of nothing.

Tseng sat at a
computer terminal across the way from the reading rooms, the angle of
cubical of the computer terminal shielding him from view of anyone
entering or leaving the rooms but allowed him to be see who came and
went. For a moment Tseng just stared at the computer screen and then
began typing.

He did nothing but waste time, looked up
articles, checked stock prices, played at least fifteen games of
solitaire and four of mine sweeper, which he kept losing. Mostly
because his mind kept annoyingly drifting back to his charge and the
very idea that...Even if Rufus was younger than him, it wasn't by
that much. But the kid had been hurt in ways unspoken of by his
father, Tseng frowned as he lost for now the fifth time at mine
sweeper. Although the idea of showing and guiding the boy in the
matters of such a relationship was an appealing one. Tseng had gotten
along quite nicely with the other village boys, even the ones who
weren't homosexual. The Wutaians didn't mind so much the orientation,
as long as some how the family line was carried on, be it by
surrogate mother or spouse. But he'd only had one serious
relationship and that had ended when the Turks had recruited him.
Leaving everything behind and never able to go back. Becoming dead to
everyone he knew. Tseng sighed slightly, as he lost his sixth game of
mine sweeper. This was his life now. His duty. Things would play out
as the gods wanted them to, and he would not be as foolish to think
he could alter them. What would happen would happen, and he would
accept it.

~*~

When Rufus was done reading, his head
was full of ideas, and he knew, somehow, that he was not alone here.
Turks were good at subterfuge. When he had finished the book, he
carefully left it among a stack of dozens of other international
books on the re-shelving rack. Even the Wutaian wouldn't know...

And
then he had to sit and just think for a few minutes....did he...was
he...

Just then his cell phone rang, and he answered it. As he
did his face went pale, and then even paler still. He felt like the
world was closing in, and he had to clutch to a nearby chair leg for
support. "Yes sir," he whispered, even though that was the last
thing! THE LAST! That he wanted to do...and his heart hit somewhere
around his knees...

Tseng had been about to rise to move
slightly closer to Rufus when the boy go the phone call. From the
look on his face one would think he'd been sentenced to death or some
other far worse fate. Instinct screamed at Tseng to run to the boy
and find out what was wrong, but he resisted the urge and stayed
where he was not willing to give away that he was there.

He
waited for Rufus to recover from whatever news he had received and
when the boy moved, Tseng followed, keeping the extra distance,
curious as to what was in store for them now.

He headed back
for their home, head hanging, hands in pockets. He felt like someone
had punched his spine in and then pulled it back out through his
stomach. When he arrived home he went back to his room, packing all
his books in his bag before heading to the closet to pull out a suit
and tie. He stared at them balefully.

He well expected Tseng
would be back in at any moment.

Tseng did make it back to the
house shortly after Rufus, and knocked lightly on the boy's door
before entering. Had it been anyone else the scene before him would
have been funny. The look that Rufus was giving the suit and tie was
not unlike the look a condemned man gives the gallows. And then it
made sense. A date. Of course. Rufus already held the "fairer"
sex in disdain, so this would not help the matter and probably with a
girl his father had picked out.

The Turk tried to think of
something encouraging and motivating to say, but couldn't find
anything. Instead he settled for patting Rufus sympathetically on the
shoulder and hoping with all hope that the girl at least would have
some brains so there could be some sort of intelligent conversation.
Although he very much doubted that.

Rufus fought the urge to
put his tie on backwards and upside down on his forehead, just in
hopes that she would hate him and leave him alone by sight...and yet
he knew that wouldn't work. When he was fully dressed he turned to
Tseng, his expression utterly empty.

It wasn't the first time
he'd debated suicide in a week...it really wasn't.

And when
the limo arrived to pick him up, he gave his bodyguard an apologetic
look, and perhaps one of slight longing before he got in. Tseng would
be going with him, he could just focus on that...

~*~

It
was about the time that they got into the limo that Tseng realised
he'd run smack head first into a culture barrier and not even
realised it. Dating in Wutai was drastically different from here in
Midgar. Even the arranged dates were done with compatible children,
instead of randomly picking girls. And knowing Rufus's unfortunate
luck, it would probably be the girl who had tried to pass him the
note most recently in school.

Silently Tseng thanked the gods
that he had been born Wutaian and then added a prayer for Rufus to be
given strength to endure the rest of the afternoon. Tseng considered
finding out of the girl was allergic to anything and then planting it
in her food, but he doubted Shin-Ra Senior would appreciate that very
much. Rufus looked like he wanted to die on the spot, although he did
look nice in the suit. Tseng couldn't come up with something to say
that would help. As they pulled up to the girl's house, he rested a
hand on one of Rufus's clenched ones, gave it a gentle squeeze as if
to say "everything will be alright, somehow," And then
straightened in his seat as the door opened for the young lady.

Rufus' heart was racing, but it was not for the girl he was
seeing, as perhaps his father had hoped. It was some cheerleader
girl, too much makeup, too tight a suit and just... was his father
hoping he'd have sex with her? She was terrifying. Her lipstick was
too red, her dress nearly made her breasts spill out, and her heels
made her effortlessly taller than Rufus. He felt like he was going
out to dinner with a prostitute, not someone his own age. In the car,
he tried to make pleasant conversation, but her laugh was like a bray
and her teeth were far too big and white. He was honestly afraid of
her a little, and as he held the door for her, the perfume she was
wearing was /nothing/ like Tseng's shampoo and cologne, and he didn't
like her in the slightest. He hoped she choked on her salad.

Tseng
had to bite his tongue or he would have laughed at the girl. Was this
girl really fourteen? Little did he know that both he and Rufus had
similar trains of thought: Are we seriously going to dinner with a
prostitute? Tseng stood about ten feet away from the table where the
two sat against the wall of the restaurant. He kept half expecting
the girl to attack like a manic dog but instead she carried on about
this gossip and that gossip.

There was no detouring the young
lady from the mindless chatter either. Tseng had a feeling she was
one of those girls who had only two modes: talk and fuck , and like a
old computer, she could only do one at a time. And she seemed somehow
oblivous to the ill-concealed death glare Rufus was giving her. The
whole restaurant was staring at the pair now.

Finally
somewhere half way through the main course she excused herself to go
to the ladies room and Tseng massaged his temples for a moment and
then moved to Rufus, putting a hand on the younger teen's shoulder
and speaking lowly in Rufus's ear.
"What by chance is the
young lady's name?" He had an idea.

"Marie," Rufus
said weakly.
It was like every time she talked she sucked the
life right out of him... already he felt like he wanted to vomit, he
had barely touched his food...

Tseng gave Rufus an encouraging
pat on the shoulder again and stepped away from the table as the
young lady returned. Tseng pulled his cellphone out and went to work,
having a feeling that they only had so long before Rufus killed
either himself or his date. A few minute later the reservation list
of the restaurant was pulled up on his phone, he found the girl's
full name, then searched medical records. What was the saying that
Midgarians used for success, "Bingo"?

Tseng
smirked and discretely ducked away towards the kitchens. Marie it
just so happened was violently allergic to peanuts, but only if she
ate them. About twenty minutes later the dessert for the two came
out, rich chocolate molten cakes and Marie's had been carefully
dusted in peanut powder that was now covered by the melting
chocolate. Tseng was back at his place against the wall, looking
bored and sympathetic towards his charge but otherwise uninterested.

Rufus has been wanting her to shut up for an hour now, but
when she started to wheeze and gasp and drool, he felt like the gods
had answered his prayers. He pretended to fan her when she dropped
from her chair to the floor, and while one of the diners in the
restaurant called an ambulance, Rufus stood beside her, not caring
particularly much.

He did not go with her to the hospital,
just handed her coat and purse to the paramedics, and then slunk out
when the public eye realized there had been a scandal near a Shin-Ra.
He and Tseng both ended up squeezing out a bathroom window to escape,
and only once they were in the limo again did Rufus relax, glad the
whole nightmare was over. He was certain somehow this was Tseng's
doing.

Tseng kept his expression schooled and neutral,
although the relief was plain to see on Rufus's face. The moment the
young lady had started to have the reaction, Tseng had discreetly put
the call in to Rufus's father stating the incompetence of the
restaurant staff had resulted in a severe allergic reaction on the
behalf of Rufus's most charming date and she was now in critical care
and no one was allowed to see her and that yes of course Rufus had
been enjoying her most wonderful company and that he was quite
concerned for her wellfare â€¦and so on and so forth.

Now he
just looked back at Rufus who was sprawled out in the back seat of
the limo looking relieved and as if he were about to pass out.

"A
shame about your date," Tseng mused, trying to keep a straight
face. "She seemed like such a nice young lady."

"She
was fantastic. I have to ask her out again sometime," he said
flatly, already loosening his tie. He wanted to go home, crawl into
bed...and not get out until next year. That was sounding amazing.
Whatever Tseng had done to her, he could do to any girl that got too
close....Rufus wouldn't complain.

The Turk sighed and shook
his head in amusement. Rufus seemed to be feeling better already if a
little ragged for the wear. He made sure the panel separating them
and the driver was up before speaking again.

"You'll have
to keep some of them around you know," he said staring out the
window at the now night sky. "For the sake of appearances. Find
two or three that actually have some brains about them and aren't too
hard on the eyes, otherwise you'll give yourself away." He spoke
in vague terms not meaning to hint at anything in particular. In
general it was just good for publicity to have safe guards for one's
own interests.

"Give myself away?" The blond asked, panic
racing up his spine. What, did that mean, did everyone know? Did
Tseng know that he...no...no...he had to stay calm. "What do you
mean?"

Tseng looked at him, alarmed by Rufus's panic.

"Just
what I say, nothing more nothing less. Its always a good philosophy
to have several safe guards to one's reputation. Right now you can't
stand women, you find them petty and you make that plainly obvious.
Your opponents will use it to raise questions of your character, and
you should anticipate this. Be ready to counter it. You've just
simply not met the right type of woman. You are still growing in that
area, still learning, and still young," Tseng said soothingly
and he leaned over and gently tapped the side of Rufus's
temple.

"Think smarter not harder," and for a second
he rested the palm of his hand against Rufus's face, stroking back
his bangs with long fingers for a moment and then pulling away again.

Rufus tried so hard not turn his face into the others
touch...it felt so good...cool and soft compared to the roughness of
his suit collar.

He closed his eyes and wished for a moment
this could be anything but what it was. That it could be more....he
wished he wasn't thinking about the other this way, he didn't want it
to be considered a silly crush, if it was more...it felt like more
than that....

He had to find pretty women that he could
stand...and that would be a hard thing to locate...

~*~

Tseng
scolded himself mentally for doing that. There was no need for him to
antagonize whatever awkward stage of youth Rufus was in, that was
cruel. No sense in getting his own hopes up either, no matter how
much he missed the boy he'd been with before being recruited. What
had his name been? Tseng couldn't even remember any more. Without
realizing it he sighed heavily, there were times he greatly missed
the home he would never see again, things had been simpler
there...

It was silent for the rest of the ride home, each
male lost in his own thoughts. When they finally got back to the
house and inside it the feeling seemed to have bloomed into a small
cloud of gloomy depression as they went to their rooms. Tseng only
long enough to get the tea mixture though. His own personal strife's
were no reason to falter in his duty, and he brewed the tea and then
knocked lightly on Rufus's door but did not enter, telling himself
that it would just be giving the boy the tea and saying good night.
Verdot had been so right, his emotions got in the way far too often.
And he couldn't fuck this up, because when Turks fucked up, they
died.

Rufus glanced up as Tseng came in after a short knock.
He sat there, hair wet and tangled, only in sleep pants. He hadn't
expected him to come in, and he tried to be inconspicuous, even now
the bruises were still livid. He would have moved away to hide
himself but it was already too late...

"What am I supposed
to do?" he whispered.

Tseng actually almost dropped the cup
of tea at the sight of his charge. All thoughts of anything unsavoury
left his mind and he had half the mind to kill Rufus's father the
second he walked in the door when the man returned home, a series of
soft Wutaian swears left his lips. It took a minute for his brain to
catch up to his body, which was already moving to the boy and gently
embracing him. One hand in his breast pocket to pull out the comfrey
oil, as he sat next to Rufus so they were more level.

"You
survive," Tseng said, his voice trying to convey too many
emotions at once and his throat tightened. "You survive, because
anyone can die. I will be by your side to help you up when you think
you can go no further," he promised, fingers slick with the
herb's oil working so gently over the bruises, the other hand
stroking Rufus's face.

Rufus closed his eyes and lay his head
on Tseng's shoulder, he'd never let anyone see...not before now. The
touch was gentle and the oil felt good...he couldn't help the sound
of relief he made as Tseng held some of his weight.

Hesitantly,
he reached up, touching shower warm fingertips to Tseng's face. "I
don't want to be alone...anymore..."

~*~
- 2
- 3
- 4
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Gǎnhuà