My other stories are not on the back-burner, I'm still working on them. Everything I write for them doesn't sound right to me – it's getting frustrating -.- Ah well...new story time. Enjoy!
1wildrose1 .. x
Rating: NC-17
Pairing (s): eventual Leon/Cloud
Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy franchises, nor any of the characters.
Summary: Outofthedarkness is now online
Warnings: Yaoi and some tough issues are raised (such as teenage pregnancy and Huntington's Disease) and AU...possible OOCness but that's because it's AU.
Prologue
Cloud's POV
Outofthedarkness is now online
Cloud ran his fingers through the thick blond hair of his son, typing on his battered old laptop with the other hand and trying to avoid the sticky keys with questionable food stuffs mashed beneath the dark plastic – that was the last time he would let Sora near his laptop after lunch. Roxas had another bad episode earlier in the evening and Cloud couldn't quite bring himself to leave him alone. So, here he sat, at nearly 3am, on his three year old son's bed with Roxas soundo in his lap while his twin brother, Sora, slept across the room, spread out in a position to make a gymnast proud.
He had been browsing the internet for a few hours – googling symptoms of his son's condition, again, just to reassure himself that, yes, okay, this was normal. Normal for Roxas. Reading comments and quotes from other paranoid parents didn't help his anxiety any more, so he had veered off into uncharted internet territory, hoping to keep his mind off things. He had work in the morning, but it was okay – he had caffeine tablets and a developed immunity to sleep deprivation.
First came the minigames, but after a few tries he got worried that the stupidly loud repeated clicking – because his laptop seemed unable to be quiet – would wake the boys, so he moved on to reading random stories on fiction websites. This was soon vetoed too, because he just couldn't focus on getting really into the story – too little sleep and too much worry. He started searching around news websites – boring repeats of news he already knew – and watching videos on youtube in silence. It wasn't long before he caved into the internet pressure of clicking one of the advertised links down the side of a webpage which took him to a chatsite.
Ordinarily, Cloud would never log into a chatroom – they just seemed full of perverts, wierdos and random people just trying to start an argument – but tonight he wasn't going to get any sleep and had to pass the time until he could wake the boys and get them ready to see their Aunty Tifa while he was at work.
And, so, here he was, logging in using the name he had used to make his email account – which he still used – when he was thirteen and in that 'Gothic phase'. He read through some of the previous conversations that were already going on – lots on people announcing that they were single and wanted to 'cam', people asking for 'asl' and...other things that made him – as a 21 year old man with two children – blush a little and glance down uncomfortably to Roxas, who was still curled in a tight little ball against his stomach. Sighing, he scrolled down, ignoring the adverts to 'chat with hot, sexy girls for free', looking for something remotely interesting.
Kate: hey guys add me 19 blond n hot!
28-m-usa: got cam?
Brian: hey kate ;D
Kate: both of ya eh? think ya can handle me?
Cloud rolled his eyes, deciding not to read the rest of that conversation. He clicked the drop down box at the bottom of the chat screen – maybe one of the other servers would be better. 'Teen chat' – really, no – 'Lesbian chat' – might be funny, but no – 'Music chat' – Cloud wasn't really into music enough for that – 'Singles chat' – hmm...maybe. It had been a long time since his last relationship, and he was hardly going to actually get with someone he talked to on here.
Just as he was about to enter the 'Singles chat', Cloud paused as the last option caught his eye – 'Gay chat'. Of course there would be one of those – there was a lesbian one, too, so it was no big surprise that it was there. What was surprising, however, was the curious little flip Cloud's stomach did at the sight of the option. True, the last relationship he had had been with a woman – the mother of his two children – but he had always been bisexual. Actually, Aerith was the only woman he had been with, so he was really more gay than straight...if it was possible to measure the degree to which he was gay. So that little feeling meant...he wanted a guy? He guessed so – no other women had caught his eye since she...since the accident.
Well...what harm could it do?
Outofthedarkness is now online
The conversations here were much the same as in the previous server, except, y'know, between guys. After a few minutes of reading, a small window appeared on his screen.
Bigboi: ite
Cloud frowned, typing into the personal message box hesitantly.
Outofthedarkness: hi
Bigboi: u goth?
Outofthedarkness: no not really
Bigboi: into bondage?
And that was the end of that conversation. Cloud shook his head and closed the window, ignoring the guy's further attempts of talking to him. He had a couple more conversations like that before any of them caught his eye.
Name1234: weird name
Cloud blinked, his lips twitching a little at the irony of this new guy's statement. Well, at least he wasn't asking him to 'cyber'. Yet.
Outofthedarkness: could say the same about you. Couldn't think of a name?
Name1234: nah I'm not so creative, Outofthedarkness. You sound like the myspace name of a twelve year old emo girl
Outofthedarkness: 13 actually – and a boy, but whatever
Name1234: you shouldn't be on here
Cloud frowned at that, re-reading the few sentences he'd written before realising why he'd said that.
Outofthedarkness: oh! No, I'm not 13. I meant that I came up with that name when I was 13
Name1234: ?
Outofthedarkness: it's a name I've used on accounts since then
Name1234: fair enough. Don't know if I believe you though – you could be some horny teenager looking to experiment
Cloud laughed a little, settling himself into a more comfortable position – this guy seemed to be interesting. Enough to talk to for a couple of hours, anyway. If he got pervy, Cloud would log off and find something else to do.
Outofthedarkness: that's the risk you take when chatting online, I guess
Name1234: good point...
Name1234: what you doing up so late/early, then? Too scared to sleep because of the monsters under the bed?
Shaking his head, Cloud smirked – the thirteen year old thing was going to stick, huh?
Outofthedarkness: no, sneaking cookies and milk and the like. You know – grown up things. How about you? For all I know you're an 80 year old man in his final days, looking for some fresh young boy to fiddle
Name1234: ...oh my God – that's so disgusting...
Name1234: 75 actually...
Name1234: ;P
Cloud covered his mouth with his hand, trying to stop the chuckles from coming out and waking the boys. The two wrote back and forth for about half an hour, talking easily about the stupidity of most people on these sites. It did occur to Cloud that he and this guy were also on these sites, but he decided to let it slide.
Name1234: why does it take you so long to reply?
Rolling his shoulder back to relieve the ache of leaning over his sleeping child to type, Cloud pursed his lips. He wasn't that slow.
Outofthedarkness: sorry, I'm typing with one hand
Name1234: um...
Cloud blinked at the screen, his face colouring when he realised what this guy must be thinking.
Outofthedarkness: not that -.- oh my god
Outofthedarkness: that's so fucking wrong cos the real reason is that I'm holding my son with the other arm
Name1234: son? Bit young for a kid, aren't you?
I'm not thirteen, Cloud rolled his eyes. He was quite sure that the guy believed him when he said that he wasn't a kid, but he still kept on making these jokes.
Outofthedarkness: you don't even know how old I am
It took him a few moments of hesitation before he decided that it would be okay to add something slightly personal.
Outofthedarkness: I'm 21
The reply came seconds later.
Name1234: it's all lies. You're a 13 yr old girl
Name1234: on a gay chat site
Name1234: bit weird if you ask me
Laughing again, Cloud came back with a snarky retort, easily falling back into their easy back-and-forth. Before he knew it, it was approaching six o'clock in the morning. He had to get up and dressed soon – maybe sneak in twenty minutes TV time to himself before the boys had to be up and fed. It was time to say goodbye. But...
Outofthedarkness: so, I had a nice few hours talking with you...
Name1234: is this the point where you try and get me arrested for luring a minor by asking me to meet up?
Grinning, Cloud shook his head.
Outofthedarkness: oh god no – believe me I don't want to meet up. Don't need that shit -.- no offence. I just wanted to know if you wanted to swap emails. You know, in case I happen to take another milk and cookie break during the night and am in need of an old man to talk to
Name1234: ...yh okay, I guess