Auribus Tenere Lupum: Onus Probandi: Four

Reno wasn’t in their room when he got home. He also wasn’t in the lobby, the break room, the library, the training facilities, the lounge or the AV room. Rude was running out of places to look for him and he couldn’t leave the building. He’d tried calling his phone and the redhead hadn’t answered. It worried the hell out of him. Finally he’d called Tseng. “I can’t find Reno. That asshole you sent off with me for dinner told him it was his entire fault I was in this mess and now he’s gone missing. I can’t go looking for him. He’s not anywhere in the building that I can find him. What am I going to do?”

“I will call him. When I’ve located him I will call you.”

“Thank you,” he breathed, absolutely relieved.

The call that came in nearly an hour later was not from Tseng, but from Reno. “Hey, saw y’called. Y’okay? How was dinner? They got the best steak salad there.”

“Reno. Reno, where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you. Worried sick. You okay? Man, don’t let what that fuckwit said make you upset, Reno. He was just pissed that he got assigned to baby sit me instead of fucking his computer screen.”

“He’s dating my friend Andy,” Reno returned, suddenly getting quiet.

“Uh, sorry. Listen, they gave me free time tonight and I wondered if you might want to go and get a movie or something and chill out for a bit. And… well, if you don’t mind going outside to get it, I’ll even spring for that noodle stuff you like from that cart vendor at the end of the block.”

“You okay if I bring a TV in the room? I got one on loan from the department.”

“Yea! That’d be great!” He wouldn’t have to deal with ANYONE that way. Just him and Reno and television and dinner.

“Hey, you okay if I know someplace else t’get food from? I got a good place in mind. You got your mind set on noodles?”

“No. What do you have in mind?”

“I’ll surprise ya. Be back soon!”

The line went silent and Rude closed it, heading back up to their room.

Reno came in an hour later with a twelve pack of beer and a huge red and white striped cardboard container. “Ah, SHIT, Reen, you didn’t!!” Rude nearly did a dance of pure joy. “You got wings and beer.”

“Yea, why, s’that wrong?”

“Gods, NO, Reno! Man, I’ve been craving wings for weeks. Gods damn I love you!” He wrapped his arms around him and gave him a spin, setting him back down on the floor. “You’re the most awesome anybody who ever fucking lived!”

Wow. That wasn’t the reception he was planning on getting, especially since Rude had been essentially avoiding him for the better part of the last month. “Glad t’know I could help.”

“What movies did you get?”

“Got that one you was wantin’ t’see with the all fightin’ guys an’ the runnin’ an’ killin’ things.”

“Sweet.”

“Got one’a those dumb movies y’just sit an’ stare at brainlessly, too.”

“Even better.” That would be awesome for after they’d downed the wings and started heavier on the beer.

“An’ then I got nrmnshrph.”

“Didn’t catch that.” The burn in the redhead’s cheeks was enough, however, to let Rude know he’d said something he didn’t really want his partner to hear.

“Said I got this other flick, too.”

“Yea? What one is it?” Rude got to work on setting up the TV so they could watch it from the bed while they ate.

“Princess Bride.” Reno blushed harder and bent over to open the container of wings and pull the beer out of the cardboard before it sweat and made the box wet. He popped the top on two of them and put the rest in the fridge until they were ready to drink them. The walk back to Shinra had been long and hot. He was sure the beer was sweating as much as he was, but if he wanted it cold in enough time to have it while they ate he had to have it pre-chilled.

“Princess Bride? You like that movie?”

“Never seen it.”

Rude looked up at him like he was from another planet. “You’ve never seen the Princess Bride?”

“No. Spent most’a m’life scrappin’ for everythin’ I got.” He wasn’t bitter about it, just slightly embarrassed that he’d missed out on things other kids took for granted.

“Yea, sorry, Reen. I forgot.”

“S’okay. Thought maybe we could watch it tomorrow ‘fore we both had t’leave.”

Rude dropped back on the bed and sprawled out, fingers laced behind his head. “Can I eat?”

Reno grinned and nodded, bringing everything up on the middle of the bed. If they made a mess on the comforter it stripped off easily enough and they could chuck it in the laundry. The redhead sat cross-legged bedside Rude and dropped a plate full of wings in the middle of his chest before he started on his own. The box stayed between them for bones.

Reno made one pile on his plate for the drumsticks and another pile for the long pieces, starting with those first. He liked pulling the meat out from between the parallel bones with his tongue and sucking the ends to get all the meat and sauce. He didn’t bother with the dressing, putting it on Rude’s plate with what he already had since he saw him dipping out a healthy portion with each bite.

“Don’t you use dressing?”

“Nope. Like the way it burns without it.” He sucked the sauce off of his fingers before he started on another one. Rude just laughed and turned back to the movie.

“You know, it’s like you read my mind, Reno. How do you keep doing that?”

“I don’t always know what you wanted.”

“Yea, but it’s more like… like when I really, really need something you’re right there with it. How do you keep doing that?”

He shrugged. “Iunno. Just sorta pops in m’brain.”

Rude didn’t say anything for awhile as he focused on the movie, the way the wings burned without sauce, the way the flavor changed when he used the dressing, the way the beer chased it down. It was only once he’d taken the edge off of his hunger that he noticed the way Reno was eating. He had to shift so things were a bit more comfortable. “You always eat those that way?”

“Yep,” he answered, eyes glued to the bare-chested warriors wielding swords as he sucked on the end of the wing. Rude made a little noise, eyes glued to Reno and the movie forgotten. He’d watched him as he cleaned the sauce from his fingers again, taking them down to the knuckle and sucked them, twisting each digit half a turn as his lips puckered and popped at the end of each fingertip. Reno finally noticed as he swigged his beer. “What?”

“I never thought wings could be sexy,” Rude stated, awestruck. He blinked twice at him and then returned to staring. Reno stared back as a long silence stretched between them, Rude looking calf-eyed and Reno feeling more and more creeped out.

“Well, couldcha just stop… starin’ at me like that? Makes me uneasy.” He turned back to his beer and the movie.

Rude blushed and picked up another piece, licking the end of it the way Reno started each of his. He nibbled along the side, peeling all the meat off without tearing it like he normally did. The other end got a little lick and he started on the opposite side, nibbling along like he had before. Then he pushed his tongue between the bones and eased the meat from between the bones in one long piece before he sucked down the length and nipped it from the bone. He sucked the remaining piece into his mouth, taking all the sauce from what was left and tossed the bones in the box. Maybe Reno had something to this. He’d never liked the skinny pieces before. Rude picked up the next and ate it in the same way.

Reno wasn’t aware of it at first, but the continuous motion caught his attention. He grabbed a pair of brown bottles from the small fridge and turned to hand one to Rude, watching a pink tongue dart between the bones and suck the meat free. “Uh, y’want another beer?”

Rude looked up. “Yea. Thanks.” It was back to the wing, concentrating on how he was eating. Reno stared until Rude looked up at him.

“Hey, if I ain’t allowed to stare at you while you eat wings this way, you ain’t allowed to stare at me.”

“Do I really look like that when I eat them?”

“Yea, where do you think I learned it?” He sucked the bones from end to end and Reno shivered.

“Damn. You musta been starin’ awhile.”

“Kinda like you’re doing now?”

He hadn’t realized he’d been staring and he laughed. “Yea. Kinda entertainin’.”

“Sexy, isn’t it?”

“Yea, in a weird sorta way, it is.”

Rude chucked the bones into the striped container and grinned. “Feels weird, doesn’t it?”

“Yea. Pretty damned weird.” He took another drink from his beer, licking the rim around the mouth of the bottle before he took a drink. Once it was finished, he ran his tongue around the outside and inside edge of the bottle. He covered the inside first and then the outside. It was completely unconscious. Rude blinked and stared. “Do you do that every time, too?”

“What?”

“Lick the bottle like that.”

“Like what?”

That was his answer. It really was unconscious. “Open your beer and take a sip.”

He opened it and his tongue flicked across the mouth before he drank. Setting it on his knee, he looked at Rude with a complete lack of understanding.

“You just licked the bottle. Drink again.”

When he lapped at the glass, Rude pointed it out. Reno froze in mid-stroke with his tongue hanging out over the bottle. He looked down at it over the bridge of his nose like he couldn’t quite believe it before he pulled it back in his mouth and put the beer back down. “Dude.”

“Yea! You didn’t know you were doing that?”

“No! What the hell!?” he laughed, looking down at the bottle in his hand. He lifted it to his lips, trying to take a drink without licking it. It felt strange. “Man, I can’t do it! I have to lick the fuckin’ bottle!!”

“What? Why?” Rude chuckled, taking the top off of his bottle. “Here, look. You just put it on your lip, drink and swallow.” He then demonstrated. Reno nearly giggled at him. “Yea, you know what? I can’t do that. I gotta lick the damned bottle.”

“Why? That doesn’t make any damned sense! You don’t have to lick the bottle to drink the beer!”

“Yes, I do. If I don’t lick it first it feels all weird on my mouth.”

“Weird how?”

“Like it doesn’t feel complete. I wonder if I do it with cups?” He dropped off the side of the bed and went into the bathroom for one of the little rinse cups. Filling it with water, he took a drink. He didn’t do it with water. Maybe it was the beer. He poured some of the beer into the little cup and drank it. He hadn’t licked it that time either.

Rude followed a little while behind, his wings sitting on the bed where he had been. “Did you lick it?”

“No. What the hell?” He tipped the bottle back to his mouth and lapped at it before he drank it. “What the hell!?”

Rude laughed, incredulous. “That’s weird, man.”

“Tell me about it! It’s not your damned weird ass habit! D’y’think it’s glass?” He rummaged through his pack and found a soda bottle. He didn’t lick it until after he’d taken a drink. “Okay… so I lick it if it’s a bottle.”

“Yea, but you didn’t lick it until after. The beer you lick first. Here.” Rude picked up his rinse glass from the sink and handed it to him. Reno looked at it, put water in it and raised it. He licked the rim before he drank.

“Holy fuck! I have to lick the glass! I’ve gotta be the weirdest motherfucker on the planet!”

Rude threw his head back and laughed. “That’s an odd quirk, Reno.”

Still chuckling at himself, Reno made his way back to the bed and dropped down, opening the fridge. “We drank all the beer.”

“Lightweight.”

“Hey, how often do you see me drink an’ I’m a little scrawny thing. ‘Sides, I drank two’a yours.”

“Ah, so that’s it! You’re drinking your share and my share of the beer.” He didn’t care, but it was something to rag on his friend about. “You still only had eight beers.”

“Lemme see you drink eight beers and not feel somethin’.”

“Well I would, but you drank mine!”

Reno laughed, shaking his head. “Yea, so?”

“So I think I deserve something for it.”

“Yea? Well whaddya want?” he purred, crawling along Rude’s leg until he got to his waist. His fingernails tickled Rude’s side where he drug them across his ribs to his waistband. “This?”

“No, I don’t want you tickling me.”

Reno snorted. “Yea, that’s not what I was askin’. Y’want it?” He curled a finger under the band and slipped his hand inside, brushing against him. “Do ya?”

He did. He wanted it bad. “Yea. Please. I really want to.”

Reno’s eyes flickered and he had Rude completely exposed in a few quick motions as his mouth closed over swollen flesh. Rude moaned and planted his hands on the bed. Reno snorted around him and ran a hand along the comforter until he found Rude’s hand, placing it on the back of his head and curled his fingers into his hair. Rude groaned again, sitting up a bit so he could look down at him. He didn’t have to give words of appreciation; Reno’s eyes spoke it to him just as well as the smirk that was quite evident as he worked the length easily.

Blue eyes turned down again and he picked up the pace, taking deep breaths until Rude hit the back of his throat. He held his breath until after the head passed through his tonsils and out again before he exhaled. If he tried to breathe once it hit the back of his throat he gagged and there was nothing sexy about that. He’d only made a few passes before the hand in his hair tightened and Rude’s hips worked. Reno made a small adjustment so he didn’t have to work as hard, letting his partner’s motions do some of the work. It made him smile, though, that Rude was really getting into it. Reno couldn’t keep still when he was getting head, either. It just felt too damned good.

With Rude occupied, Reno unfastened his pants and wrapped his free hand around his cock, stroking himself as he took Rude down. It felt strange to actually want to cum with someone he was fucking around with, never having had the experience of someone he wanted to fuck around with. Before it had been always just another John, another number, another dollar. This was Rude, his partner, his friend, his roommate, his partner in crime, his first kiss. This was the man who had stayed by his side through things he’d always weathered through alone. This was someone who cared for him deeply and passionately. This was the man who brought him food, who brought him medicine when he was sick, who had defended him against anyone he even thought would be a threat to the little redhead’s safety.

The man who had shot and killed his brutal attackers to save him from another attack.

Reno gulped, making a thick, wet noise in the back of his throat as the electric energy curled his toes as it exploded from his backbone in all directions at once. He heard Rude give a cry of pleasure before everything washed over him and he was oblivious to anything other than the sensation.

Rude’s head snapped up and he growled as he tried to keep from shooting right then and there. He watched the muscles along Reno’s back tremor and shake, watched his feet tense and flex, each muscle tensing and relaxing with the current as it fired through his body. Even as orgasm came to Rude as well, he kept his eyes open as well as he could to watch Reno as he swallowed hard, his hand slowing its steady pump and press against the bed as he suckled Rude until he’d finished.

Rude fell back against the bed with a long bale and panted to catch his breath. Reno huffed a short laugh and he fished for something to clean his hand. He settled finally on the shirt he was wearing, tugging it off once he was done and tossed it onto the floor to be dealt with later so he could curl up against Rude’s side. Once one thick arm curled around him, Reno sighed and closed his eyes, completely content with the world.

Clean up could wait until tomorrow.