"You're a bastard."
"Am I?" He replied, turning his head. "You flatter me."
"That's fine. Now go help the others." He pointed.
Cloud was never one to follow orders, especially from arrogant men much like himself. He crossed his arms and leaned back.
"Why don't you just help them Leon, instead of standing around?"
"I was. But you should too. We need everyone to help rebuild the town." Squall tapped his foot impatiently.
"Take care of it yourself."
It was always a challenge between the two. Not quite rivals, but almost wishing they were. Always having to out-do each other. Who was the better fighter, the better man. Who could out last the other one. They never needed to say anything, they knew what was there, what was between them. It was an anger, building to tension that needed an outpost. It just happened and neither of them spoke about it.
"You should learn how to handle your emotions," Squall sighed.
Cloud grunted, impervious to insults. He set a barrier between them, one only Aerith saw through. She understood, unlike Leon, who was completely incompetent. He would have to learn on his own.
"I already know how," Cloud said smoothly, his smile almost unnoticeable.
"Ohh right," Squall put on a mocking grin, boldly. "You take them out on me."
Cloud dropped the smile and replaced it with a smirk, which seemed much greater in worth. Squall raised his eyebrows in return. Check mate.
"I can't deny that, Leon."
He couldn't, truthfully. He took pleasure in making Squall admit things, emotions, words.
Squall stuck out his chin, swiftly moving next to Cloud. He crossed his arms and leaned back. A parallel, looking like a clone. It was a question of the chicken and the egg. He tapped his foot on the stone ground.
"My name isn't Leon." A straight face.
"So you're living a lie too?" Cloud looked at him, looked up.
"Yes, I suppose you could say that."
They were friends because they were so similar. Cloud was afraid of the light, so he sought out things in the dark. He'd latched on to Squall, someone just like himself. They could relate, surrounded and drowning. They hid during the day.
"My name is Squall," he whispered at night, when the darkness was all around them.
This was written at four am, finished after a school report. It's not my best work; I was trying something new. I wanted to write something on this pairing. I suppose this takes place between the two games, because they are starting to rebuild Hollow Bastian. Anyway… thank you for reading. :3
Squall and Cloud (and Aerith) belong to Square-Enix.