#ebony-nox

[sadistic-second]

❝  can’t you tell, i’m very shy. and demure.  ❞

Reno could not believe the words that she was spouting out of her mouth. There was just this dumbstruck look on his face. “Ebony, you threw me out of the window yesterday. How the balls is that SHY AND DEMURE?!”

[rikelusshinra]

Promises and Gunpowder - 1991

1987 was a different year it was the war that had changed the way ShinRa had profited no longer just from electricity but from weapons of destruction and the military forces. SOLDIER had grown and expanded from just a special operations forces to a much larger capacity in the wet-work being done around Gaia and were often assigned to bolster defenses in capital cities. Rikelus had been back in Junon as an instructor for three years before he went back to active duty in the Winter of 1991. It was quiet until February 30, 1991 when AVALANCHE made their first appearance and attacked ShinRa head on. He’d been reassigned a new partner—a girl—a pretty one at that. That didn’t suit him well at first knowing someone was pulling the strings above him but that day when the concrete was melted by the bombs and lives were on the line he’d accepted her and saved her life. 

He’d torn several of his tendons doing so and nearly passed out after their encounter with Fuhito in the storage facility by the airbase. He was harmed by the explosion and Nox returned the favor and brought him back to hospital at the underwater mako reactor and was able to get him the necessary treatments to get him back to full strength. It was the first time she’d met his mother—often called the ice queen for her bedside demeanor and the fact she was thousands of feet underwater in the research facility. Locked away like some precious jewel of ShinRa’s past—a memory Winston didn’t want to relive or at least that’s what the son thought.

Soon after the attack he’d been interrogating some of the suspects and found out that someone within ShinRa had hired them because of the currency they were paid in was only gil that was printed locally. This was something that most people would have looked over but the older brother had disposed of the currency and ensured the AVALANCHE member wasn’t allowed to speak up about this fact to anyone else. Rikelus had a pretty good idea of who it might have been however without truly confirming the facts there was no way to step forward at this point.

He’d managed to get an audience with his brother—something the old man had downright forbid until there was the attempt on his life. He thought it best to unite the two brothers again and show the company was stronger than some eco-terrorist group. Rikelus had went out for a few drinks with his partner the week before he saw Rufus again for the first time. He’d taken those pristine gold plated elevators up into the penthouse where his brother was living at. Marble floors, vaulted ceilings, modern fixtures it was just as he pictured it—living in the luxurious ivory tower like some *ivory-paragon*

He wasn’t wearing a hat—an officer’s suit or anything like that he was just dressed in a white v-neck t shirt that had the top three buttons opened. He was wearing a black long sleeve dress shirt with a red tie that matched the family colors that was left untied. He appeared to be more dressed to go out for an evening with his partner than he did for any type of family outing. He was never really into jeans he’d always wore the dark colors when he did. On this occasion his jeans were new—something he’d picked out in the one of the stores some dark navy blue acid wash that were all the rave now. He couldn’t quite understand why people would buy something with excessive flared leggings that wouldn’t prove to be reliable in combat. Those piercing red glowing crimson red eyes softened when he saw Rufus and he offered a faint smile that widened into that of the family grin they had.

“You’ve grown brother—you look well.” He said before going over to him and giving him a hug for longer than a couple of seconds before he let go. He seemed more rugged than he previously was with a few scars that weren’t noticeable unless he’d removed his shirt save for a single one on the right side of his cheekbone that was about four inches. It looked like it was caused by a katana or something sharp and slender.

“This suits you better than the mud—and the trees—and the mosquitos.” He joked before he really got down to business. “You know I was worried about you after stopping Legend they were out to get us—I remained in the west to fight and keep the forces of Wutai weak so we wouldn’t be fighting the same on two fronts but here we are doing that with terrorists. Care to catch some fresh air?” He asked him with no doubt in his mind that this room was probably bugged.

[sadistic-second]

“Seduce me”

To say that Reno had committed a crime would have been an understatement. What he was doing right now probably bordered somewhere along the lines of sexual harassment. He had broken into her place of residence and had found out which room was her bedroom. The bag he had brought with him was dropped to the floor and he opened it up. Time to get to work. He knew he had some time before she got home so he set to making sure the bedroom had adequate mood lighting. So many candles were placed around the room. He made sure not to light them just yet. He had more a little bit more time before she would get home. He didn’t want them all to melt in the meantime. 

He left the bedroom and began to leave a trail of rose petals from the front door all the way to the bedroom. He put a few of his mood lighting candles on some of the furniture he saw on the way there. Then he stripped down once he was back in the bedroom and draped a red silk sheet across his shoulders and it cascaded down the rest of his body. Once that was finished, he walked around to the various candles and started to light them. It was almost time now. She would be getting home soon.

He positioned himself on the bed and put a rose in his mouth, being very careful of all the thorns. He could hear the front door opening. Though what else he heard was mildly concerning and he was starting to have regrets. But no, he had to see this one through to the end. So he waited for her to open her bedroom door. For a moment, he thought she would kill him. But apparently seeing him like this was enough of a momentary shock for him to wink at her and say, 

“Well, here I am. What were your other two wishes?:

[sadistic-second]

Shove

What god awful scenario had to have had to happen in order for Reno to be in the current mess that he was in now? Oh, right. He’d merely walked around the corner while talking to Rude about something and bumped into someone. He had thought he had said ‘Sorry’ or perhaps he had tried to excuse himself. Or maybe he hadn’t said anything at all and hadn’t really cared who he’d bumped. They should have been more careful anyway. 

The sound he made as the air escaped his lungs was something of a long hiss. He hadn’t really expected to be shoved against a wall today. He hadn’t really expected her to be the one to do it either. Why was it that at every twist and turn, she was there to make his life hell for a few moments. There he was pinned up against this wall, his hands trapped somewhere behind his back. She had actually pressed him fully against the wall. Aches were starting to creep up his arms from the awkward angle they were at. All he could do was stare back at her, eyes fixated into hers. 

What was her plan here? Just stare him down? Break him somehow? Their mutual boss wouldn’t like hearing about this nor would he enjoy knowing that his bodyguard had a broken arm or leg. All he could do was stare her down and hope that she let him go without harm.

[sadistic-second]

♞

For all intents and purposes, Reno just hadn’t thought that it was possible. After all, only two men had ever actually picked him up before. Maybe a woman had before, but he wasn’t really going to count his mom when he was little. So the fact that Ebony has just sort of lifted him up like he was a sack of potatoes was both hilarious to onlookers, but absolutely terrifying to him. He tried his best to remain calm and still, staring down at her as best that he could from his current position. He wanted to demand to be put down, but no words came at first. So he was just left to let his body slowly relax before eventually finding the nerve to say,

“Hey! Put me down, psychopath!”

[ivory-paragon]

@ebony-nox

[rikelusshinra]

Funny throwbacks that were WIPs rent free in my head since 2017.

@ebony-nox

[rikelusshinra]

Promises & Sweet Noshings

Rikelus had spent nearly three quarters of a decade with her as his partner after that fateful day where AVALANCHE decided to assault Junon. “You know Nox—I’ve been thinking.” He said like he always did before he started going through what would be one of his long thoughtful monologues but this time he didn’t. He wanted to speak about something that he found odd, “It’s like even on the first day I met you hanging there tearing my tendons trying not to drop you it’s like I knew you my entire life.”

“Don’t you find that strange? I pushed through the pain even after tearing connective-tissue away from bones as if commanded to. No more like *I* had to protect you no matter what. It’s strange like sometimes things get shoved in my head; but, I know I’m not crazy.” He knew what was strange after he’d spent much introspective thinking closely about it when she wasn’t around. He’d felt this drive to protect her even at the cost of his own life for some reason—an unnatural response or so he thought.

Rikelus ShinRa hadn’t banked on running into Jenova’s sister and the power of her influence whether she exacted it with conscious thought or not. It was odd indeed that he’d get his fog around her when he tried to come to these conclusions until after Rayleigh’s treatments. The elder ShinRa had been getting infusions from Rayleigh directly to get him back to full strength after fighting Fuhito head and his Raven’s head on before they decided to take this trip. Now his head was clear but he felt a deeper connection to the planet in a way that he needed to protect it still.

She was reclusive most of the time until their paths had crossed, and they were reassigned. He’d learned about her fear of heights and knew she didn’t have much love for the other ShinRas. He’d wondered if Rufus was she she’d imagined he thought in his head knowing they were closer to the same age or so he thought anyway. She’d loosened up around him now that Rufus was back at the manor and it was just the two of them Infront of the campfire. Rikelus had skillfully built a set of smores and passed them to her on one of those fancy pristine white porcelain plates. He’d had Rufus bring the chocolate from the shops of Junon from a refined chocolatier. The sweet graham crackers were baked locally as well as the marshmellows—the mixture was actually quite tasteful he’d taken a bite out of his before sitting it back down on the plate and taking a sip of his Banora white apple juice.

Nox was always someone who was carefully guarded even towards him about some things; but, he wanted to get everything out in the open if they planned on taking on Winston ShinRa and were indeed going to do a very careful coup d'état it would involve getting SOLDIER to side with them both and stand down. Rufus could wrangle in the Turks their loyalty lay with him because of Heidegger.

 @ebony-nox