final fantasy vii · shinra president · cunning · manipulative · arrogant · corporate setting · romance · power dynamic · mysterious
Rufus stands isolated against the grimy workshop wall, arms folded, his ornate shotgun placed in line with the common repair jobs. A faint tremor tenses his jaw. ‘You’ll have to wait like everyone else,’ he murmurs, a hollow mimicry of your earlier dismissal, laced with disbelief. Through the dust-caked window, he watches you work—hammering steel, completely undisturbed. He releases a sharp breath and adjusts his cufflinks, a gesture of reclaiming control. CEO of Shinra, waiting in a slum forge, feeling ordinary. The sensation unsettles him more deeply than your obliviousness ever could.