This is a prize-fic for CryptJo on Y-Gallery. She asked for something involving Cloud, Leon, and Riku with the prompt Rivalry. Thanks go to Sassy and Winged Scythe for help.
Crush Together
Riku nodded automatically as he and Sora walked down one of the streets of Radiant Garden, not really paying any attention to whatever story Sora was currently telling. It wasn't that he was disinterested in his friend's tale; he was simply preoccupied. He had been since he had seen-
"Hey!" Sora abruptly shoved his shoulder to get his attention. "Worlds to Riku."
"Sorry," the sixteen-year-old murmured, glancing at his friend.
"What's with you lately?" Sora frowned. They continued walking along the cobblestone road, Sora turning sideways to face Riku as he spoke. "You've been distracted almost since we got here."
Sighing, Riku flicked his head to reposition his long bangs. "Yeah, I know."
Sora was studying him intently and Riku was nearly positive he knew what the younger teen was thinking. Riku had been rather hesitant to visit Radiant Garden with Sora. The last time he had been here, the world was still thought of as Hollow Bastion and Riku did not have many fond memories of the place.
Thankfully upon arriving nearly a week ago, he found that the world had very little effect on him. Any concern he had held as to the others' reactions to him was quickly dispelled by the warm and friendly way he was received by Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie. Cid had greeted him gruffly but the girls assured him that he was like that with everyone.
"I'm fine, Sor, really." Riku assured his best friend with a smile. "I like this place and so far everyone has been really nice."
Well, everyone but two specific men and it wasn't that they were unfriendly, they were just… removed. One of them, Riku had crossed paths with before. In the beginning of the whole Kingdom Hearts mess, Riku had encountered Cloud a few times. They had talked a bit off and on and were amicable toward one another but Cloud was just one of those people who simply preferred to be slightly apart from the group. Riku understood and respected that.
The other… well, he was the reason for Riku's recent preoccupation. From the moment Sora introduced Leon to him, Riku had become thoroughly intrigued by the man. Yes, the sable-haired man was gorgeous but there was more to it than that. Something about his quiet nature drew him in. There was an immense inner strength to him and after watching him, Riku noted a subtle yet scathing sense of humor and an incredibly sharp mind.
Riku decided just two days ago, after spending several hours alone with Leon in Ansem's study, that he officially had an all-out crush on the man. This in itself was not much of an issue for Riku had always known he was attracted to men so it was not at all a shock when he realized this. It was a bit frightening just how badly he wanted Leon but even that could be dealt with.
No, the problem lay in that it appeared Riku was not the only one thinking about the Gunblade specialist in much more than platonic ways. Riku had noticed almost immediately how Cloud would look at Leon's lean, leather-clad body. The blond also only seemed to really be comfortable around the other male, speaking a little more freely and sometimes even cracking a rare smile for him.
He really did not want to get into a competition with the older man because he rather liked Cloud but he wasn't willing to just walk away either. Riku figured that he stood as much of a chance with Leon as Cloud did, well, maybe Cloud did have a slight advantage being closer in age to Leon, but personality-wise, they were on the same level. Leon had not shown any particular fondness for Cloud, getting along with him as well as he did with anyone else, and there was no reason that Riku could not attempt to start something with Leon.
Sora was looking at him curiously. "So, what's got you so distracted?"
Riku debated lying to the spiky-brunet but decided he could not do that to his best friend. Actually, maybe Sora could help him. "Tell me something, Sora. Have you ever noticed Leon… showing any special interest in anyone?"
"Special interest?" Sora echoed, tilting his head. "Whadya mean?"
Sighing, Riku muttered quietly. "You know, like has he dated anyone?"
"Oh!" Sora exclaimed loudly as understanding kicked in. "Uh, not that I know of. Leon kinda keeps to himself and all that and he spends nearly all his time on the restoration so I don't know if he just isn't interested in that or too busy or what."
The older teen nodded slowly. He felt Sora looking at him curiously and angled his face away a bit. He really did not want his friend to figure out why he was asking…
When Sora abruptly laughed, Riku knew he was busted. "You have a thing for Leon?!"
"Shh!" The silver-haired one hushed him, glancing about quickly. He did not want the whole town to know about his crush and Sora was never very good at keeping secrets. "Don't announce it to the world!"
"Sorry!" Sora whispered, still a bit too loud for Riku's preference. "But seriously, you have a crush on Leon?"
Taking a long breath, Riku only nodded once. He waited for Sora's loud, animated outburst but it never came. After a minute, he flicked his aqua eyes over and found the younger teen studying him rather intently. "What?"
"I'm just thinking," said Sora in a considering tone. "I suppose I could see you and Leon together. You have some of the same personality traits."
Riku could not help but feel a bit more hopeful at Sora's observation. The brunet had to know Leon rather well and if he didn't think it was a lost cause, well, that meant something. However, that hope was still extremely cautious. Just because Sora thought they could be compatible did not mean that anything would ever come of it.
"So what are you gonna do?" Sora asked seriously.
He frowned at the other in mild confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Sora explained a bit theatrically, "are you gonna make a move on him?"
They were entering the Marketplace now and there was a noticeable increase of people around. None of them paid much mind to the two teenagers, occasionally nodding to them or offering a short hello before continuing on. Despite the apparent disinterest, Riku really did not want to continue this conversation where anyone could overhear them.
Sora seemed to realize this because he did not push Riku for a reply but kept shooting him quick looks as they passed through the square. Near the stairs leading to the upper level, the pair caught sight of Cloud speaking quietly with Leon in the shadowed area next to the bricked wall. Leon had his arms folded before him but wore a light smile as he said something to the blond who actually chuckled in response.
Riku watched this with a detached eye, head angled down as they got close enough to be in easy view. He felt all the hope drain out of him and did not look at them as they approached. He heard Sora greet them happily and he found himself hanging back a step as the younger teen started off on some random conversation.
"Hey, Riku."
The named teen glanced up only to see the object of his desire giving him an odd, lopsided smile. Riku's heart swelled at it, knowing that Leon's smile was almost as rare was his laugh and he was the one receiving it. From the corner of his eye, he could see Cloud's expression darken a bit. Too bad for him.
It took Riku a moment but he steadily responded with a 'hey' of his own.
"Thanks for all the help the other day." Leon shifted his weight. "We've been trying to sort through all of those files for months now and got no where."
"No problem." Riku shrugged easily. "If there's anything else I can do to help, just ask."
"Actually," Leon spoke slowly. "I was wondering if you could help me sift through some of the data. You probably know more about Ansem the Wise and Xehanort's research than anyone alive."
Nodding, the silver-haired male bit his lower lip. "Probably, though I don't have much detail or anything. I should be able to tell who wrote what at least."
"That will help." The Restoration head stated. "Do you have time tomorrow evening?"
Riku flicked his eyes toward Sora who was nearly bouncing in excitement. The way his blue eyes brightened indicated that there was a plan working its way through Sora's head. Something told Riku he was not going to like the words about to come out of his best friend's mouth.
"Actually, I was gonna get together with the nephews for burgers at their house but Riku was kinda uncomfortable about it." Sora explained quickly. "You guys should get together for dinner and then head over to work at the castle."
Riku could not believe that Sora had just suggested that. The younger teen was all but asking Leon out for him. Apparently Sora thought that this was somehow going to get Riku and Leon together.
"Sure," Leon agreed. He dropped his arms took a step toward the stairs. "I need to get back to headquarters. Riku, see you at the noodle shop at around five thirty?"
This was happening almost too fast for Riku. He had just confessed to his crush on the much older man and now he had a pseudo-date with him courtesy of Sora. He knew better than to think dinner would led to anything but it was at least a really good opportunity to spend some more one-on-one time with the man and Riku would take all of that he could get.
"Sounds good." He glanced to the side to see Cloud all but glaring at him. Riku could not help but smirk at him. Even though he liked Cloud, Riku would not pass up something he wanted for him.
It looked like the game was on.
--0—0—
Riku sat on one of the walls of the Postern, drawing random designs in his sketchbook. It had been an absolutely crazy week and he was taking the evening to just muse over the whole thing. He really had not been prepared for how… juvenile his competition with Cloud was going to become.
At first it had just been little things. The evening after Sora's dinner arrangement for Riku and Leon, Cloud had managed to completely screw up the project he was working on and Leon had to stay late to fix it. By the time Leon got it straightened out, it was way past dinner time and they ended up simply grabbing some box meals and getting right to work.
Despite this, the night had gone extremely well. Riku and Leon had conversed easily as they poured over the various documents and files. The session had gone deep into the night and when Leon decided they were done and they were walking back to Leon's house where he and Sora were staying, the older man had offered to let Riku sleep in his room so he wouldn't wake up Sora.
The look on Cloud's face when he saw Riku leaving Leon's bedroom that morning had been priceless.
From that point on, Cloud had made it a point to remain as close as he could to Leon at all times. Unfortunately for him, this was not nearly as often as he probably wanted for there was a lot to do and Leon was determined to spread everyone out as much as possible. The plus side of this, at least from Cloud's perspective, was that Riku was also limited in his time alone with the former SeeD.
In addition to the competition for Leon's time, there was a not-so-subtle battle of wits occurring. Whenever both Riku and Cloud were involved in any sort of conversation with Leon, they would attempt to impress him with ideas and input. It was almost painfully obvious that Cloud didn't know what the hell he was talking about half the time. Riku would have laughed at the feeble attempts except that he himself didn't have a clue what was being discussed the other half of the time. It seemed that he knew what Cloud didn't and vice versa.
Leon never called either one of them on this but he had to know something was going on. He would have to have been extremely dense to not catch the dark looks exchanged when Leon appeared to be showing any kind of favoritism to one of them and the muttered slights that had been steadily increasing these past few days. He had to have noticed because everyone else seemingly had.
Riku sketched out a quick rendition of the Bailey. This whole thing was getting ridiculous. He and Cloud were acting like children over the man and if the silver-haired teen was honest with himself, it didn't seem to be accomplishing much of anything. Leon was just the same in his attitude toward Cloud and though he and Riku had gotten closer, it wasn't anything like Riku wanted it to be.
He stopped drawing and looked up as he sensed people approaching. Even if he did not hear their voices a moment later, he would recognize them anywhere. He frowned tightly at the pair walking casually toward him. He hated to admit it but Leon and Cloud really did look good together.
Cloud caught his eye and smirked ever-so-lightly at him, taking a minute step closer to the other man. They continued their idle conversation for another minute before Leon noticed Riku and gave the teen a brief nod and that half-smile of his. Riku felt his heart lift. One thing he had over Cloud was that the Gunblader smiled much more for Riku despite Cloud being able to make him laugh more often.
"Hey, Riku." Leon came to a stop about a foot from where he sat on the high-wall. His head was about even with Riku's knee.
"Hi," replied the younger male, looking directly at Leon. From the corner of his vision, he could see that Cloud did not miss the snub.
"What are you sketching?" asked Leon, folding his arms and leaning a shoulder against the wall.
"The Bailey."
Cloud snorted lightly and Leon shot him a look. "What?"
The blond shrugged innocently. "I didn't say anything."
Riku narrowed his eyes but held his tongue. Cloud was just continuing with their week-long unspoken battle and he would not get defensive even if he was rather sensitive about his drawing. At least this time, Leon had noticed something was up.
The sable-haired man turned back to Riku. "May I see it?"
"Uh, sure," Riku reluctantly agreed. He handed his sketchbook to the older man and hoped he did not think it was terrible. The Bailey was Leon's favorite place to go and think which had been one of the reasons Riku had chosen to draw it.
Leon studied it for a minute, Cloud glancing at it from the side. "This is good."
Cloud actually nodded in agreement. Whether it was to gain favor with Leon or he really thought it was Riku could not tell. He decided it did not matter, though, so long as Leon liked it.
"Thanks," The teenager murmured, slowly taking the book back.
"I should you have you help Cid with drawing out some of the blueprints for the new construction." Leon commented, watching Riku close the book and set it on the stone beside him. "He's been bitching about having to do ten different things all at once for a month now."
"I told you I'd do whatever I could to help around here."
"And I appreciate it greatly." Leon smiled at him. Riku's heart fluttered like it always did and he fought the urge to jump down and hug the man. "You've been more helpful in the past week than some people around here have been over the past year."
Cloud suddenly turned on Leon and scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Leon lifted an eyebrow. "That wasn't-"
"I do things around here. Maybe I'm not the best worker or simply know how to do some of this shit but I pull my weight!" The swordsman paced away a few steps. "I don't have to do anything, Leon. I hate this menial labor but I do it for you. I bust my ass around here and you never say anything!
"Then he," Cloud gestured at Riku vaguely, "shows up and you do nothing but praise him! He isn't any better than I am, Leon."
Leon looked completely put off. "I never said he was, Cloud."
"You didn't have to," the other man muttered. "I'm much better for you than that kid."
"Wow, Cloud," Riku shook his head. "Insecure much?"
"You know what, Riku?" Cloud glowered at him. "Everything was fine around here until you came and messed everything up."
"I didn't do anything!" The silvered one barely raised his voice. "And from what I could see, there wasn't anything going on even before I came with Sora. Don't blame me for what you can't do."
"I would have if you didn't-"
"Hold on!" Leon interrupted rather loudly. He glanced between them in confusion. "I am totally missing something."
Riku glanced away. He could not believe they had gotten into a stupid, adolescent fight right there in front of Leon. He supposed it was expected of him being a sixteen-year-old but Cloud should have known better. Then again, Cloud seemed to be a little emotionally stilted at times.
Leon sighed loudly. "All right, for the past few days, the two of you have been nearly at one another's throats. I assumed there was just a personality conflict or something but obviously it's a lot more than that. Now, are one of you going to explain or I am going to have to find a way to make you?"
Both of the others fell silent. This was not how Riku wanted this to end. He had hoped that when whoever eventually won out, the other would take it like a man and bow out gracefully. Two minutes passed and still they did not speak.
Bringing his hand up, Leon pinched the scarred bridge of his nose. "I really hope for both your sakes that this isn't about what I think it is."
Riku looked at Leon, expression probably mirroring Cloud. He really did not like the sound of that statement. "What?"
With his head angled down slightly, Leon simply asked. "You're gay, aren't you?"
The silvered teen blinked. For some reason, the question had taken him off guard. He did not know why. "Uh, yeah."
Slowly nodding to himself, Leon dropped his hand to re-fold his arms. "And I already knew Cloud is."
The named man frowned. "You did?"
"Both Aerith and Tifa told me after they noticed how much attention you gave me," said Leon, glancing at the blond. "They were convinced you have a thing for me."
Cloud stared back, looking torn between denying and confessing. In the end, he shifted his weight and turned his face toward the stone-laden ground. He didn't speak but it was obvious he knew Leon knew the truth.
"And Sora has been asking me a lot of random questions about my dating preferences." Leon did not look back but Riku knew that statement was directed toward him. "With the way you two have suddenly starting acting toward one another, I should have put this together a lot earlier. The first few days after Riku got here, you were at least friendly toward one another."
Leon dropped his arms and stood in a way that it was pretty clear he was now addressing both Riku and Cloud. "I like you guys. Cloud, you've become my best friend and Riku, I feel comfortable with you and we get along extremely well which is a rare thing for me. That being said, I am in absolutely no way attracted to either of you. I'm sorry, but I'm not at all gay."
The statement was like a kick in the stomach for Riku. He had never considered that perhaps Leon simply would not be interested in either of them. Now that he thought about it, it was absolutely ridiculous for him to have assumed that the former SeeD was gay. It was not like every guy was… hell, before meeting Cloud, Riku had never meet another homosexual before.
Riku glanced at Cloud and figured the blond had to be going through a similar thought process. Where they really that dense or had they simply wanted Leon enough to let themselves believe he was obtainable? He took a little comfort in that they had not seen anything to indicate that he wasn't gay either… though it was a small comfort.
"Wow," Riku chuckled without much humor. "Definitely feel like an idiot now."
"Yeah," agreed Cloud. "I guess we got so caught up in making sure the other didn't get what we wanted that we didn't stop to think if it was even an option."
"So, knowing that," Leon spoke slowly, "think you two can start being friends again?"
"Cloud's always been my friend," answered Riku easily. "Just because we were acting like, well, teenagers, which I totally have an excuse for, doesn't mean I didn't care about his feelings."
"Same here," seconded Cloud.
"Good," Leon pursed his lips a moment. He seemed a bit uncomfortable now and flicked his eyes between the two other males. "I really am sorry. I know it hurts when someone you're interested in doesn't share that interest."
Sighing, Riku shrugged. "I'll deal."
Cloud nodded also.
Leon declined his head briefly. When he straightened out, there was an odd little smile on his face. "You know, this isn't normally something I would say, but the two of you would probably work together really well as a couple."
Riku lifted an eyebrow at the sable-haired man, as did Cloud. When they did, Leon began laughing. This just confused Riku and he was positive that Cloud felt the exact same. Was Leon trying to set them up?
Shaking his head, Leon started walking in the direction of town. "Both of you have the day off tomorrow. Make sure you spend it together."
Riku watched Leon's retreating form for several minutes. He could not tell if Leon was being serious or simply trying to help them move on from their crushes on him. Either way, he understood that Leon wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't actually believe it.
"Want to meet up for lunch?"
Riku glanced over. Cloud had his head angled down but was looking directly at him. With a shrug, he scooped up his sketchbook and hopped off the wall. "Sure."
The pair then followed the path their shared crush had gone and began talking about nothing.