Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Caretaker for a Day ❯ Roles Reversed ( Chapter 2 )

Obligatory Blurb Again: ...The Sequel!! ::cackles:: This one, like I said, has slight shounen-ai in it. ^^ Wewt for R/R!

Also, many kudos to Ali for keeping me (in)sane during this.. XD Boy scouts!

~

Reno felt like he was dying.

His head was buried in between two mammoth pillows, but the matching comforter that normally brushed his chin as he slept had been kicked to the floor hours ago. Even though he was dressed only in a pair of thin, silky boxers, his body felt like it was submersed in lava. He groaned and reached up to his forehead, feeling for a fever, and stuck his tongue out at the sweat smeared across his palm.

He couldn't breathe through his nose at all, his chest was making wheezy noises, his eyes were watering, and he couldn't seem to hear anything at all, even as he groaned again, louder this time, and rolled over to hug his pillow to his chest. He hadn't been this sick in years, not since he had first joined the Turks and gotten all of his vaccinations at one time, and in the years of his good health, he had forgotten what being truly sick felt like.

However, the only thought that seemed to truly stick in his mind was, "Tseng is going to kill me for missing work today."

His voice was a rough croak, and he blinked at his surroundings, momentarily bewildered by the unusual tone. He looked onto the side table at the clock, and, seeing that it read 6:24, decided that although it was the busiest day of the year, he still had time to call off work. He'd be damned if he was going to show up half dead.

His sweaty fingers dialed the numbers on the phone, the glowing numbers of the handset swimming together a few times and making it difficult for him to decipher them, and then he waited through the two rings that it took for Tseng to answer his cell phone. "Speak."

"Tseng?"

"Reno? Is that you?"

"Yeah... listen, I know you really needed me to work today, but-"

"You sound like shit. Don't come today."

There was a click, then silence. Reno blinked down at his phone, briefly wondering how his sentences always managed to be cut off, and then he dropped it back into its charger, not caring about it any more than that. His throat was on fire from the little that he had said, and if he could only get up and make it into the kitchen, he could remedy his throat AND his headache in one go.

It was getting there that was the hard part.

He sat up in his bed and buried his face in his hands when dizziness overtook his body. It subsided soon enough, allowing for him to get up, but he waited a bit longer and just sat there on his bed, enjoying the lack of stimulation from the darkness of his bedroom. His feet decided that it was time to fix his head, however, and soon enough, he found himself strolling towards the kitchen, groping the walls of the hallway to ensure that he didn't bump into anything. There was a digital clock on his microwave that emitted a gentle blue glow, and it was the only thing in the whole room to welcome him.

Reno knew his kitchen like he knew his own body, and didn't even have to open his eyes to find the cupboard with the aspirin in it. His hands shook four from the bottle and he swallowed them dry, quickly realizing his mistake when they caught in the inferno inside of his voice box. He flailed wildly for a glass two cupboards over, filled it with lukewarm water, and downed the entire glass.

His throat still felt like hell, but at least his headache would go away soon.

Next stop: Ice cream. He turned around and tripped over the small island that took up the middle of the floor space, recovered, and grabbed the door handle to the freezer with a vengeance. The red-haired Turk finally opened his eyes to look inside, and found that, to his great dismay, he had absolutely no ice cream whatsoever.

Nor any Popsicles, or any other frozen treats that he may have been able to fix himself up with.

His face drooped in an almost comic display of tragedy, and he flung open the refrigerator door instead. There to greet him were leftovers from the night before, a carton of inedible eggs, a tub of soft butter, some doughnuts, a loaf of bread, and every condiment you could ever possibly want to use. Reno shut the refrigerator door, leaned against it heavily, and sighed. He supposed that's what he got when he went on long assignments away from home.

"It's not my day, it's not my day, it's not my day..." He continued his mantra over to where he flopped down onto his couch. Tseng will have already told Rufus of his absence, and Reno wasn't sure what the blonde would think of it. He knew that the vice president would more than likely not mind, but he still felt bad for not being there on the anniversary of his inheritance of the corporation.

With a brief smile, he lay across the dying couch in a lazy sprawl and wondered if he would be missed. Each year, to celebrate, President Shinra held a gargantuan party. There was singing and dancing, and there was live entertainment... Reno held up a hand in front of him to count the number of times that he had gotten into (and won, his ego smirked) drinking contests with various employees. When he ran out of fingers on the suspended hand, instead of continuing on with his other hand (and both feet), he simply dropped it back down to his chest, tired from the movement.

Pathetic, he thought. Absolutely pathetic that I'm too week to even hold my hands up for long. He closed his eyes and breathed through his mouth a few times, feeling like a dog panting in the middle of summer, and then his right hand flew to the gun under the couch. In one solid, practiced moment, he pointed it upward next to his right ear, jamming it up into the chin of the owner of the hands draped lazily around his neck and resting on his collarbones.

However, instead of the startled and violent reaction that he had expected, the fingers on one of the new hands simply reached up, closed around the gun barrel, pulled it out of his hand (his jaw dropped, and he finally realized how weak he truly was), and put it back under the couch. "You really are a Turk at heart, aren't you, Reno?"

The voice was snow-kissed satin on a moonlight night, caressing his ears in a way that only one voice could. He tilted his head back, ignoring the painful grating sensation that it put on his throat, and met the delicate, malachite gaze of his vice president, Rufus Shinra. Shock seized his heart for a split second. "Ru-" he cut off, coughing loudly four times and swallowing the mucous that it brought up, "Rufus?"

"Tseng told me that you weren't feeling well."

"Yeah, that's a fucking understatement..." Initially, it didn't occur to him to ask Rufus how he had gotten there so fast, or even why he was up so early in the first place. He curled into a protective ball on the couch, shivering now, and tried not to lean into the touch on his shoulders. "You don't have to be here, you know... It's you're, like, ONE day off in the whole year... You don't have to spend it taking care of me."

"I know." Rufus pushed Reno back into a sitting position, then sat behind him with Reno between his legs, and leaned the Turk back against his chest. The vice president then tipped his head forward and lay his face against the back of the other man's head, positioned perfectly so that his mouth was directly next to Reno's ear. "Reno, Reno... Do you remember a few years back when you took care of me when I was sick?"

Reno shivered again, not so much from the chills racking his body but from the breath flowing over his ear, and shook his head.

"I was twelve years old. You came to my room and made me tea... And then you gave me a bath." He smoothed his hands (they were always cold, always) across Reno's chest a few times and hugged him a bit closer. "And then, you kidnapped me," he smiled slightly at the thought of being kidnapped by the man in his arms, "and took me to your house to feed me sweets."

"Yeah... Yeah, I remember now. At least, I remember the ass-kicking I got for doing that..."

Rufus chuckled and pulled back slightly, sniffing at the restricted fire that was taking up most of his vision. "Guess who's sick now, Reno..."

Reno blinked. "That's too easy, sir."

Rufus grinned. "And guess who gets to take care of you, Reno..."

Reno didn't say anything. His throat still felt like it was on fire, since he hadn't been able to soothe it with anything, but apparently, he didn't have to. Rufus slipped an arm around his shoulder blades and another around his thighs, lifted him easily, and carried him down the hall to the bathroom joined to his bedroom. Reno would normally have resisted, mainly because of the fact that he didn't really like being picked up at all, but he was so tired, and the strong arms around his body felt really nice right about then.

The ride ended abruptly as he was placed on the toilet seat, and he smiled at the role reversal that they had gone through. Rufus was running water in the tub, and the sick Turk wondered what exactly the blond was going to do during the bath. His bathtub was considerably smaller than Rufus', and fit against the wall on three sides of it. Reno watched him lazily, wondering why exactly Rufus was stripping down to his underwear (which were still blue briefs, and the fact nearly made him fall over with laughter), but voicing no protest.

Rufus paused in his actions, turned and appeared to be considering Reno for a few moments, and then pointed to the Turk's boxers. "Those come off."

The redhead blinked for a moment, letting it sink in, and then spluttered. "What?"

"Your boxers. You can't bathe properly if you're still wearing them."

Reno looked down at his lap and sighed. He didn't have the energy to argue at all, and he HAD known Rufus since the kid was practically new to the world, so he did as he was told and removed his boxers, dropping them onto the floor in an untidy pile. The vice president nodded in satisfaction and hooked his thumbs into his own briefs (Reno actually did smile this time, but quickly wiped it off his face before he was caught), pulled them down to his ankles, and stepped out of them. They fell on top of Reno's boxers when they were kicked, and then Rufus motioned Reno to stand.

The Turk wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence, but his throat hurt so badly and he couldn't think of what to say anyway. It was extremely awkward to be pampered by Rufus Shinra, as the man was notorious for having a colder heart than Sephiroth himself. Arms slid around his body once again, lifting him against a now-nude body, and he suddenly didn't really care if the world ended right there.

"God, Reno, you're burning up..." Rufus carried him a short distance to the right, and there was the sound of liquid being disturbed as the blonde's feet broke the surface of the bath water. Reno knew what was coming next, and as he was lowered, he prepared himself for the extreme chill of the water. However, it never came; only a very comforting cool enveloped the front of his body, and at his back, there were muscles wrapped in silk caressing his skin. "Was I really like this when I was sick?"

"No, you were cuter. And you talked more."

Rufus chuckled -actually chuckled-and scooped water onto Reno's chest. There was a clear plastic cup resting on one of the corners on the bath tub, waiting to be filled with water, and the vice president grabbed it and did just that. The water went onto Reno's head, wetting his hair and soothing his fevered scalp. This caused the Turk to sigh and lean back so that his head was on Rufus' shoulder, and a sudden memory inspired the blond to return another favor, in hopes that it would at least bring Reno's famous smile back to his face.

He resumed his earlier position next to Reno's ear and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of cigarettes, aftershave, and expensive liquor. He had never sung before, not to himself or to anybody else, and so he was left with an alien feeling in his stomach. It was stuck somewhere between nervousness and modesty, two things he hadn't felt since he was a small child, and he quickly smothered them angrily. Instead of fueling the odd emotions, he simply opened his mouth and began to sing, hoping that his voice would be pleasurable to the man that he held against him. "I'm not a perfect person..."

Reno shivered in his arms, but did not wake.

"As many things I wish I didn't do," Rufus nuzzled the ear next to his lips, and wouldn't even admit to himself the relief he felt at the fact that his singing wasn't nearly as bad as Reno's, "but I continue learning..." He grabbed for the shampoo behind him and looked at it, noting that it merely said "Normal Scent" on the front, and squeezed a small amount into the top of Reno's mane of hair. As his fingers lathered the soap, he continued with the song. "I never meant to do those things to you, and so I have to say before I go..."

He dipped the cup under the bathwater and dumped it onto the top of Reno's head, taking care not to let it wash over the man's face. His free hand kept up a comforting (and also, hopefully, helpful) rubbing motion on the Turk's chest. "That I just want you to know," he looked over his shoulder and saw that there was a matching bottle of conditioner, and squeezed some of that onto the hair in front of him, "I've found a reason for me to change who I used to be..."

The conditioner was smoothed to the ends of the red mop, and then expert fingers gave a gentle massage to the scalp. "A reason to start over new," he purred the words into Reno's ear as he rinsed the conditioner this time, and didn't quite realize the truth of the lyrics that rolled off his tongue until he had already sung them, "and the reason is you..."

He sighed and leaned his face against the side of Reno's hair, breathing in the comforting, humane scents, and simply existing. He was happy, another foreign feeling, and he didn't want to leave. The dead weight of the body he was holding disconcerted him, however. "...Reno?" He jostled him a bit. "Reno? Are you awake?"

Reno didn't answer.

"I'll be damned. I'm not even a good enough singer to keep you awake. Bastard." He paused and then laughed aloud. "Oh, Reno, if you only knew how enticing you are when you sleep, even if it is my fault you're unconscious in the first place... Come on, let's get you back to bed." He hooked his arms under Reno's armpits and hoisted the man out of the water gently, so as not to wake him from his well-needed slumber. He had no free hands to grab a towel, so Rufus carried the man straight into his bedroom without drying off, and set him on a comfortable-looking chair. He then tended to the bed, remaking it and fluffing the pillows, and then finally retrieved a few towels from the bathroom cupboards.

"You know, Reno, you really ought to stop beating yourself up so much." Rufus frowned at the few light bruises that mottled the wiry frame in front of him. He then rubbed the towel in small circles down said wiry frame, blushing when he got to Reno's unmentionables, and finally finished with a foot massage. His own body was still soaked, causing goose bumps to rise on his arms and legs, but he ignored them and tended to Reno first.

The covers were pulled back on Reno's bed, and then Reno was placed under them. Rufus replaced the corners to the bedclothes and smoothed them, then went into the bathroom, pulled the drain on the plug, gathered up the discarded clothing, and shut off the light. Reno's underwear went into his laundry basket, and Rufus dressed himself before padding over to the other man's bedside. He smoothed back the bangs stuck to the man's forehead, and smiled once more, very softly. The words came to him much easier now that he knew that Reno was asleep. "I wish that I could take it all away, and be the one who catches all your tears..." He traced an imaginary tear path down the side of Reno's face, and his smile grew saddened, "That's why I need you to know... I've found a reason for me to change who I used to be," he leaned forward, nearly touching foreheads with his sick employee, "a reason to start over new," his lips brushed the tip of the Turk's nose so lightly that they scarcely touched at all, "and the reason is you."

Rufus Shinra gave Reno of the Turks one last glance, drinking in the sight of the man snuggled under the covers so securely, and turned his back, walking out the door.

When he was sure that he heard absolutely no noise whatsoever in his entire apartment, Reno opened his eyes and stared at the wall ahead of him. He lay very, very still under the comforting softness of his covers, trying desperately to hold onto the feel of Rufus' hands on his skin, and of the sound of his voice singing -singing!!-in his ear.

His last coherent thoughts before he slipped into a light sleep were two very different things. One, most favorably, was the memory of the lyrics that Rufus must have picked for Reno by mistake. The tiger's purr rumbled through his mind once more as if it were really there next to him again, and the words were stored not in his mind, but in the bottom of his untouchable Turk heart, where nobody else could find it but him.

The other, more comprehendible thought was that Tseng was definitely going to kill him now, hands down, and that Reno didn't really care anymore.

The Turk slept with a smile on his face for the first time in a very, very long time.