Deleterious

Sleep

      Reno's trembling had only increased, but at least he was clean. Rufus laid his lover roughly between the sheets to make up for the too-sweet way he'd just been cradling him against his chest. He'd hoped to elicit a curse or two from the man, but there was nothing but more shivering. Frown deepening, he moved away from the bed and retrieved a glass of water from the kitchen before returning.
    In his absence his lover had curled in on himself, wet hair matted to his face and plush lips parted. He sat the glass on the night table and stood there looming for a long time. Perhaps he should have followed Tseng's advice and had the man sent to Medical, but there had already been more than enough strange hands on Reno's pale flesh than Rufus' could easily tolerate.
    "B-boss..." The mangled summons brought Rufus from his murderous daydreams and he looked back down at Reno who had cracked open his eyes.
     An acrid emotion blossomed behind his sternum and the sudden warmth and discomfort of it made him angry.
    He pulled the comforter up around his lover to hide his quaking form, the sight of it disturbing him more than he'd ever admit, bringing back more terrible memories.
    It hurt, the sickness like ice in his veins, spreading painful winter with every wretched pump of his heart. Yet, the sheets he lay in were sweat damp and his hair clung to his forehead. The convulsions had muddled his mind and the lack of control he had over his extremities maddened what sense remained.
    He heard Tseng's voice outside, a sound he'd never admit to be soothing. Elena chuckled softly and for a moment he found himself wondering what the Wutian could have said to coax such a sound from her. It was a pretty sound, not obnoxious like Reno's cackle. The man laughed with his whole damned body.
    There was a shuffle outside, a quiet exchange of words and a grunt that could only be Rude's. Tseng and Elena's shift must be over. Was it already so late? He tried to move, to straighten his curled body before one of the Turks came to check on him as was protocol for shift-changes. He was weak and miserable, but he did not want to look it and there was nothing dignified about the fetal position.
    He managed to roll onto his back but his lungs were angry and his head spun from the effort. His blanket had slid mostly to the floor during the struggle and he was only wearing a pair of thin shorts and his plethora of bandages. As if to taunt him, moonlight spilled in through the now open door, illuminating his shame as brightly as the neon lights of the Honey Bee Inn. He could only hope it was Tseng and not-
    "Mr. President," Elena's calm voice called, "Can I help?"
    Her presence was only a mild relief. "I'm fine. You're dismissed."
    "But, sir-"
    "Get out."
    To his absolute dismay, she did not obey him. That sweet, stupid little tramp walked right up and tried to return his blanket. He made to capture her wrist but she shrank away from his touch and somehow that was worse than her having ignored a direct order. Frustration made him hateful and he snarled at her. "Afraid to ruin your pretty skin?" He hissed, "Don't think Tseng would let you suck-"
    "Yo, what's goin' on in here?" Reno drawled, suddenly leaning in the doorway.     "You got the Boss half naked there, I'm jealous."
    "I was just trying to fix the covers. It's cold."
    "Relax, he ain't gonna get any colder than his heart, yo."
    "Reno!" Elena's nagging tone was nowhere near as lovely as her laugher but Rufus couldn't be bothered to tell her that just then as his muscles began to stiffen as another episode neared.
    "Get out." He gritted, "Or you're fired."
    "Sir." Elena retreated and the door shut behind her, but he knew better than to expect Reno to listen.
    "Why you gotta be such a prick, Rufus?" The redhead sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You ain't had a pretty girl touchin' on ya in ages and ya can't even play nice for five secs?"
    "She didn't want to touch me." He seethed, vision doubling.
    "Or maybe she didn't want ya hurtin' her. Not everyone likes a good bruisin' as much as me."
    As if he could hurt anyone in this state. A rush of new agony enveloped him and he stifled a cry. His sight fled and his existence was reduced to blackness and pain. The Geostigma burned, its venom filling him with every ounce of the planet's fury until he was fighting for air and failing. He could hardly feel the snap of elastic as the oxygen mask was placed over his nose and mouth, numb to the loathing he usually felt for the thing.
    As the attack eased he batted at the uncomfortable device only to have his infected hand snatched from the air and held in a grip that sent an ache up his arm. "Leave it be ya bastard. Least till you ain't suffocatin'" Reno grumbled into his ear. "I don't wanna have to call Tseng back here."
    He was so exhausted, but he stubbornly forced his eyes open in order to glower at his worst and best employee with as much annoyance as his frazzled head could deliver. Reno just grinned and maneuvered them gently so that they were both sitting slightly upright against the pillows. The Turk was still holding his diseased hand and even though the warmth of his touch was comforting, he tried to pull away. The action ended as no more than a flinch of fingers and the sigh he emitted came out as a wheeze.
    "Ya ain't got nothin' to prove, ya know. Not to us." Reno muttered, sounding irritated. "We coulda bailed, easy. Coulda been sittin' on a beach somewhere by now."
    Instead they'd dug through rubble for his body while the rest of ShinRa scattered. It'd taken them three days to find him, but they hadn't quit on him despite being sure it was only a corpse they looked for. He hadn't forgotten the debt he owed, not that he hadn't tried to. He would never admit his gratitude. His weakness was blatant enough already, there was no need to flaunt it.
    This time when he reached to pull the mask off, Reno let him. "I should have given- you to Hojo when I had the chance." He puffed. "Stop holding my hand."
    The redhead lifted the appendage to his mouth and laid a kiss over the black stained bandage. "Make me, yo."
    As much as he wanted to let go, to allow himself to enjoy the tenderness and the undeserved kindness, he railed against it. "I will make you suffer for this."
    There was a long silence that he had not been expecting and for a time he thought his lover may have fallen asleep, but then the man let out a slow, angry breath. "Is havin' to watch ya die not punishment enough, ya fucking asshole?"
    Ridiculous. He had to stop this now. If Reno being in such a state was going to cause him such- discomfort- then he was not going to let it to continue. Why should he have to feel unpleasant as well? "Sit up." He ordered, pulling Reno into a slump and handing him the glass. "Drink this."
    Of course the idiot couldn't hold it himself. With a disdainful cluck, Rufus gripped the back of Reno's neck and held the cup to his lips. When the other man tried to turn his face he tightened the grip on his nape until he took a few reluctant sips. "Good." Rufus purred, catching a stray droplet with the pad of his thumb. "Again."
    It continued slowly that way until the glass was half empty and Rufus' patience was nearly maxed out. Returning the Turk back to the pillows, he combed his fingers through his damp hair and braided it's length neatly to the side. "Missed me, yo?" Reno murmured, eyes half-lidded.
    "Your hair looks preposterous like this."
    "I'll- try blond next time."
    "Only red will do." He growled, moving away as those slender fingers reached for him. "Your body belongs to me and I have allowed you to ruin it for long enough already."
    "Careful," the man breathed, "almost sounds like ya give a shit 'bout me."
    "I like my property to looks it's best." He countered, finding a sense of relief in reminding both of them that Reno was only a body, a thing he owned and could do with as he liked.
    Leaving said possession in the bedroom, he trekked to his office and sat down at his desk. He bent to slide the faux wood aside, revealing a safe built into the left inside panel. His handprint followed by a seven digit pin unlocked it and he pulled free his stash of Materia. It took him a few minutes to find the one he was after as he was not proficient in sensing which orb did what just yet. He'd only recently begun refamiliarizing himself with the things as he'd been wary of anything planet related since the stigma. He'd never voice his apprehension, and often cursed himself for the weakness, but any time he borrowed power like this he felt as though the planet might punish him again.
    It felt as though he was on a sort of Planetary Probation.
    Annoyed with himself, he tucked Sleep into a bangle he'd hidden beneath his long sleeve and returned to his bedroom. Reno protested his presence on the mattress as it shifted, but quickly warmed to the idea as he slid his body beneath the blankets along side him. "No fuckin'" The redhead reminded, snaking his arms up to hook around Rufus's neck, long fingers tangling in the blond hair at his nape and nesting his clammy forehead in his chest.
    The position put that infuriating tightness back in Rufus' chest and he snarled at the discomfort. They'd slept like this so often back then, when all he'd been able to do was lay there, Reno the only warm thing in his world. Slowly, he eased the Materia from it's hiding place and positioned it at the back of his lover's head. "Stay still."
    Perhaps it had been the coolness of it's Mythril vessel or the tingle of energy emitted from the sphere itself that had alerted him, but Reno gave a huff of protest. "Don't like it when ya use that shit, boss."
    "Your opinion doesn't matter to me in the slightest."
    The Turk sneered, inching his shaking form further into the shelter of his body. "Asshole."
    Rufus responded by activating the Materia, closing his eyes against the brief and brilliant flash of green that swept his lover into a forced slumber.

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This work is finished, I just haven't transferred it all over from my Ao3. If I get some interest going on here, I'll post the rest.