Disclaimer – Characters property of Square Enix and Disney where applies. I make no profit from their use.
AN: Written for a club I belong to on another site. (see homepage link in my bio)
30 Forbidden Fruits – Bitter
Leon was always his most distant, unapproachable upon waking. Especially living in such a full house. No one dared mess with him before his morning coffee, which wasn't hard as he almost always woke first.
Cloud, also an early riser, did his best to beat Leon up of a morning. For one simple reason. Leon's coffee was horrible. No amount of cream and sugar ever seemed to eliminate the underlying bitterness, which left an even worse aftertaste the blond could taste at least half a day. And, he seemed to be the only one who noticed.
He'd tied instant coffee, but it never compared to the taste of fresh. He would be damned if he was going to buy a new coffee maker, or brew it the hard way, just because Leon was horrible at making coffee.
It just so happened that, this morning, they made it to the coffee maker at the same time. Generally ignoring one another as they shuffled about the kitchen, they both paused as their hands met above the coffee maker. They had reached for the it at the exact same time.
Neither willing to give over easily on anything, this was no different. A staring contest, which was more like a glaring contest, ensued. Only the arrival of Tifa broke up the sad behavior, when she grabbed twin handfuls of blond and brown hair, smacking their skulls together with a growl. "I'm sick off this fight over the coffee! Move! I'll make it!" She scolded them, ignoring the exclamations of pain and anger from the two men.
"Don't make it too bitter," Cloud told her at the same moment Leon spoke up with, "Don't make it too weak."
"I'll make it how I want to make it," she informed them. "Seriously, if you two would just go sleep with one another, it'd make life easier for everyone. Growling at each other over everything."
"We do not!" Cloud snapped, uncharacteristically. It reminded Tifa of the Cloud before Sephiroth.
Leon, wondering why that was what Cloud got from what she said, eyed the blond a moment. "I think the more important matter is that we don't want to sleep with each other," he spoke calmly.
A snort from the doorway made them look over. Cid stood there sipping his tea, the one person never effected by the coffee nonsense. "You're both in denial. It's not like you don't have options, Spike, to not have to drink Leon's coffee. You just want an excuse to bitch at him. Last week it was the way his boots squeaked when he walked, even though it'd been raining and everyones shoes were squeaking."
Cloud stared at Cid blankly, not saying a word, and refusing to acknowledge the smirk on Leon's face.
"Don't go getting smug, princess. You're no better," Cid pointed at Leon with his mug. "You walk around like a lost puppy every time he's gone for more than a day, moping and denying there's anything wrong. Then, the moment he shows back up, you're bitching at him for being gone and 'worrying the girls'."
"I do not 'mope'. Not over anyone, and certainly not him." Leon glared at Cid.
Cid shrugged. "Deny it all you want, boys," he said, knowing how they hated him calling them that, like most of the names he called them. "But, I know the signs. Seen it before. You should just do everyone a favor and go fuck each others brains out."
"Cid Highwind, that's no way to talk!" Aerith's voice filled the room from behind the pilot, making him wince before turning around.
"Sorry, Aerith," he apologized before quickly shuffling off to his computer.
"I think he's right," Yuffie spoke up, having somehow sneaked in unnoticed. "Besides, it'd be really hot." She grinned at them lecherously.
"NO!" Both men yelled in unison.
"Aw, come on," she whined/begged. "Just a little kiss?"
"Yuffie, leave them alone," Tifa ordered her as she handed mugs of coffee to both men. "Drink this and like it. I'm making the coffee from now on around here."
They glared at her as much as they dared, taking the coffee and sipping it. Leon eyed it before downing it all and walking, heading for the castle. Cloud chose to savor the beverage, focusing on it and not on the nagging voice in the back of his head that wanted to think about what Cid had said. He focused instead on the coffee, glad that it wasn't bitter.