InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It's for my prince."

Rufus ShinRa (whosoldtheworld) wrote in chaosunraveled,
@ 2009-09-03 23:46:00

Entry tags:

finished thread, rating: pg-13, reno, rufus

I heard the devil whisper in my ear, he made his message clear when he said:
Who: Rufus (whosoldtheworld) and Reno (itsmydayoff)
When: Late Evening
Where: Niflheim's Training Room
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some language
What: Rufus has had enough of being kicked around, and decides he'd like to brush up on his hand-to-hand. Reno is there to help. Things can never be that simple, though.

Rufus ShinRa didn't tend to walk around in public in sweats and sneakers, and doing so now made him feel exposed; but it was unreasonable to attempt to spar in his usual fare and thus exceptions had to be made. A towel over his shoulder and a water bottle in hand, he wove his way to the training rooms as swiftly and quietly as possible, fighting the urge to use the Eye to help him avoid any possible encounters.

It had been a while since he'd last sparred. His last round had taken place before the geostigma crippled him, at least, and there hadn't been time after he was cured. Too busy rebuilding— no. Not thinking about that right now. In any event, he'd never been so proficient as a Turk in hand-to-hand combat— not even close —but he could hold his own. And like his shooting, a skill at which he had been nearly on par with the Turks, his abilities had taken a great hit with the loss of vision in his left eye. Having a gaping hole in your vision during a fight was bad no matter what your weapon. But Rufus had always been able to rely upon the Turks to protect him, and so he hadn't worried.

He'd had at least three violent encounters in this hell-hole, though, and one of those had been against the only Turk he had, now. He'd won one, in the dark, and that hadn't really been a fight so much as a lot of rough falling, and he hadn't won so much as been interrupted before the scuffle could decide itself. As the days went on it became increasingly obvious that the President was out-matched in most any fight he could pick here. So he'd asked Reno to spar. And it had nothing to do with being humiliated and frustrated and so weary he could barely think straight. And he wouldn't raise the topic of Maria. And that was that.

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itsmydayoff
2009-09-04 04:59 am UTC (link)

Reno arrived at the training ground a minute or two after Rufus, having changed into similar clothes. Not that he wasn't used to fighting in that uniform suit by now, but really why should he if he didn't have to? Sweats were more comfortable.

He wasn't terribly surprised by Rufus' request to spar. Reno had brought it up himself a while back and they'd just never gotten around to it. He figured that Rufus' encounter with Cuthbert, or whatever had gone on with Ryuzaki, or quite probably both, had brought it back to mind. Whatever had inspired it, it didn't really matter, though. He could always use the practice, and so could Rufus.

"So," he began, almost as a kind of greeting, as he noticed Rufus was already there and casually dropped his own bottle of water to the side, "no weapons, right?"

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whosoldtheworld
2009-09-04 05:33 am UTC (link)

"Not unless I'm supposed to start carrying around boken." He tugged the sleeve of his shirt before stifling the action and turning to face Reno. He stared at the Turk, frowning very slightly as he reminded himself that he trusted this man; that Rufus was weak in this arena, but Reno already knew that, and was there to make him stronger, not exploit the disadvantage.

It takes strength to be weak. Who had said that to Rufus? Tseng, or maybe Veld, he thought. The ShinRa heir certainly hadn't understood the words at the time. He'd probably laughed. Now, he went through this routine every time he entered the training room, like a child in a pool, steeling himself to dip his face under the water. The time between this and his last sparring match only made it more difficult, that was all.

After a minute his breathing had slowed and steadied and his shoulders relaxed. He nodded to Reno.

	itsmydayoff 2009-09-04 06:35 am UTC (link)
	So, he'd dodged it, if apparently mostly by chance. That was good. Reno felt Rufus' hand contact with his arm before he managed to shift his momentum enough to spin his arm away from the other man's grip. At the same time, he swung at him with his other arm. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	whosoldtheworld 2009-09-04 06:42 am UTC (link)
	This time Rufus managed an actual block, arm coming up in a half-remembered curl and swinging out to knock the blow away. Then he hopped back again, lowering his stance a hair as he felt muscle-memory slip awkwardly into place. He blinked, and waited for the next volley. Not on offense until he was a little more comfortable. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	itsmydayoff 2009-09-04 07:17 am UTC (link)
	Reno just grinned at him, extracting his hand from where Rufus had blocked it. At the brief break in the action, he decided to take the opportunity to shift the dynamic. He hopped back away from the other man lightly, landing in a defensive stance, then raised a hand to gesture with a flick of his fingers, come at me. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)