Cloud sighed as he hobbled into his office on his mandatory crutches, shuffling about the small space as best as he could without knocking anything over. He had gotten better over the last couple of months, but that didn't mean he liked it. In the beginning he often stumbled, knocked things over and lost his temper before he proceeded to throw his crutches and cause even more damage. Now he could at least maneuver around the house without breaking everything though that thought didn't help much with all that had been going on recently. Times were tough right now and the blond was doing his best to cope with what he was dealt.
Reaching his chair the spiky haired male slowly lowered himself into his seat before he leaned his crutches against the wall nearby. Once they were secure he turned to his desk and the large stack of bills on its surface. He sighed once more before he grabbed the nearest one and ripped it open. His frown deepened when he saw the amount owed, memorizing it before he went on to the next bill and the one after that, until none were remaining. Though this left him pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration at the sheer amount of money he owed.
He had been struggling to make ends meet since he had first moved back home after his parents died. Had he been alone the blond would have been fine, hell he might have even sold the farm, but he wasn't. No. When his parents had died in the accident they had left him not only the farm to care for, but his four younger siblings as well. Of course he loved them, but supporting four teenagers as well as trying to run a farm was hard work, especially when he's spent the last six years in a city working as a mechanic. Plus there was also Denzel to think about so that meant he had five minors depending on him.
It was as he was in the middle of his inner freak out when his office door opened and someone walked in. Cloud didn't notice until the other person was right in front of his desk pulling at the bill he was starting to crush in his hand. Blinking his head shot up to lock eyes with a tall brunette man wearing dark blue denim jeans, black shirt, and a brown jacket with fur lining the hood.
"What do you want Leon?" The blue eyed male said as he yanked the bill out of the younger male's grasp before he started lightly smoothing it on the desk to avoid the other's gaze. Ever since the muscular man started helping around the farm he had found it difficult to deal with him one on one. He supposed it had to do with them being similar.
"I was wondering what you wanted to do about everybody's paychecks? Not to mention the horses will need more feed soon," The steel eyed male responded watching as the other flinched at the mention of money. Despite trying to hide it, it was pretty obvious to see where the blond's mind was with his reaction and the large pile of bills on the wooden desk. Moreover the smaller male had been pretty absorbed into himself when he had first arrived, not even noticing the other come in.
"Just...let them know I'll have their paychecks soon...," Cloud replied as he ran his hand through his hair, eyes still downcast at the bills scattered about. When he didn't get a reply the older male glanced up to see the tanned man had crossed his arms and was staring at him. The blue eyed male instantly felt uncomfortable under the athletic man's scrutiny and automatically glared back up at him.
"What?" He asked heatedly wondering why the other was observing him so closely, feeling even more uncomfortable as a minute ticked by without a reply.
"...Are you having trouble Cloud?" The brunette replied after what seemed like an eternity and looking like he was trying to choose his words carefully. His attempt at tact didn't work though and the lithe male's glare hardened as he went on the defensive.
"That is no business of yours Leon. I appreciate that you come here to help on your off days, but you've only been here for a couple of months and anything besides what you do to help is my business," Cloud replied shortly, crumpling another bill in his hand as he tried to come across as capable. He didn't like seeing that the broad male's expression didn't change at all despite his eyes seeming to get a little sharper.
"Actually Cloud, it is my business, maybe not as directly as it is yours, but it is still my business. My brother works for you and risks getting laid off if you can not pay him," Leon replied seriously as he gazed back at the other man.
"Not only him either, but everyone else under your employ and your family as well," He continued watching as the blond slowly went from rigid to slumped over in his seat.
"Don't think that this is only your problem to bear," The younger male finished softly as Cloud rubbed his face in frustration.
"Well what would you have me do Leon? Tell everyone that it's getting harder and harder to pay the bills? That I've been having to choose low quality feed just to make sure we even have some? That I might have to sell off the cattle before they're ready just to pay off my bills on time? Hell at the rate things are going I'll have to sell some of the horses too and God knows it's going to be fun herding the cattle then. Not to mention my leg is still broken. I'm useless right now. I need to be out there helping everyone work, but no I'm stuck here worrying about bills," The smaller male replied back sharply as he waved his arms around in agitation.
He hated not being able to do something to help out around the farm. He was so used to some sort of physical activity that now that he was forced to be less active it was driving him nuts. Even his youngest sibling Namine was helping out around the farm because she knew they needed the help. His little artist sister was mucking out stalls and feeding the animals and he hated it because he knew how much she liked being clean and inside. He just wished he knew what to do to save the farm because he really didn't want to uproot his siblings because he couldn't keep a hold of their childhood home.
"Calm down Cloud," Leon replied surprisingly gently as he rested his hand on the spiky haired man's shoulder. Sometime during his little rant the younger of the two had moved over to his side of the desk and Cloud wasn't sure what he thought about how close the other was.
"We'll come up with something, just don't bottle everything up, we can all see it's taking a toll on you," The brunette then said before he pulled his hand away and straightened up.
Said blond rotated his shoulders lightly in the pretense of stretching though really he was contemplating on why the taller man's hand had felt so comforting there. Not wanting to dwell on that thought for long or the fact that apparently everyone else was seeing how stressed he was becoming, especially considering that he had more pressing matters to worry about he shook his head to clear his thoughts.
"Forgive me if I don't go spilling my monetary issues with my teenage siblings," The blond retorted as he gave the other a look that said he thought the man was being ridiculous. He wasn't too surprised when he saw and heard the sturdy man sigh.
"Look Cloud me and my brother have been talking- don't give me that look of course I talked about this with my brother, he does work here after all," Leon said giving the older man a look equally as exasperated as the one he was given.
"We were talking and we wondering what you would think about bringing in extra help for free?" The brunette continued getting a very confused look in return which caused him to roll his eyes.
"Not like me, in case that's what you were thinking. You know how in big cities they enroll problem teenagers in programs to show them what might happen should they get in too much trouble or potential jobs?" He explained a bit though the blond didn't seem to be catching on as quickly as he had hoped.
"Roxas was telling me that you have a friend of some sort back in Midgar that works at the police station and I was thinking that he might be able to hook us up with some bratty teenagers we can use for extra help on the farm. Their parents would send money for food and other necessities while we would get free labor, albeit inexperienced labor," The stoic male explained earnestly to the blond who was now thinking to himself with his head propped up on his intertwined fingers.
Cloud thought about the proposal intensely, eyes trained across the room as he mulled over the pros and cons of such an undertaking. He liked the idea of free help considering he was getting closer and closer to having to sell the farm, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to expose his family to such troublesome people. It was definitely an option he wanted to think about though. With more hands they would be able to do more work in a day, not to mention get the cattle to a more fitting weight for sale.
"I'll call up Zack and talk with him about it alright? If I come up with something...I'll let you know," The shorter of the two eventually responded as he glanced over to where the brunette was standing. He looked back at his desk quickly when he saw a smile starting to appear on the taller male's generally emotionless face, trying to ignore the vaguely tingling feeling it gave him. Instead the spiky haired male straightened up in his seat and attempted to shoo the other out of his office so that he could focus once more on his bills.
"Alright I'm leaving. Would you like me to bring you anything to drink?" Leon asked as he walked over to the door, pausing with his hand on the handle as he waited for an answer.
"I have a broken leg Leon, I'm not crippled. I can get my own drink," Cloud replied returning to his grumpy self though he was a little shocked at the soft chuckle he heard come out of the other. Nevertheless he bristled when the mischievous man said that he would get him a coffee, darting out the door before the blond could yell at him further. Once Leon was gone the limber blond sighed as he leaned back in his chair, staring at the wall briefly before he pulled out his phone to dial a familiar number.
Cloud couldn't help the smile that came onto his face when the voice of his friend came on the line.
"Hey Zack, yeah I have a question for you," The blond said glancing at the bills once more before he turned his complete attention on the phone call. When Leon returned a few minutes later with the promised coffee the blond was writing some things down on a blank sheet of computer paper, completely engrossed in his conversation. He didn't notice the beverage being set down in front of him until he finally hung up the phone five minutes later. The twenty seven year old blinked when he noticed the steaming hot drink before he looked up to see the brunette looking at him curiously.
"Oh thanks," He murmured surprised that the other actually brought him a drink as he reached over to pick it up and take a sip. He was even more surprised that the coffee was just as he preferred it and when he glanced up at the other for an explanation the larger man shrugged and said something about seeing him make some before. Accepting the answer though still curious he took another sip before he set the mug down on the desk.
"That was Zack on the phone by the way. I told him about your idea and he said he would bring it up to his chief and see what they could do about it," He then said giving the stoic male a little half smile.
"Really?" Leon replied looking a little astonished himself at the turn of events. He had hoped his and his brother's idea would be considered, but he hadn't expected anything to happen. Now he could only hope that things would work out and they would get some help to lighten the load. It wasn't too difficult, but so many head of cattle was hard to work with only three full time workers as well as himself and the teenagers. As well as the fact that the teenagers had school to think about too.
"Yeah though we probably won't get a response for awhile considering all of the legal hoops they would have to go through to even see if this is possible," The blond replied looking optimistic despite the potential for it not going through. Smiling the older male shooed Leon out once more, this time to get back to work or to leave for the night before he finished up with the bills. In a decidedly better mood now he didn't groan as much as he normally did upon seeing all of the numbers. Once he was done with them he placed them all in their rightful spots before he peered up at the clock hanging on the wall. Seeing that it was almost time for dinner the blond reached over for his crutches and hauled himself to his feet.
Shuffling around his desk once more Cloud made a note that if he were to ever come into money to make himself a bigger office. After he had successfully done that the spiky haired male made his way out of his office and to the kitchen, where he could already smell something being cooked. Upon entering the large kitchen and dining room combination he smiled at seeing the room so lively. Since he couldn't afford to pay his workers much the blond continued with what his parents had done and offered a room in their home to make things easier. It helped that the house they had built was large, well suited to housing everyone currently working there and even if it didn't they had a sizable guest house not too far away that they could stay at.
Currently Aqua, they only female employee he had and a tough one at that, was cooking up what smelled to be chicken and rice. One of his twin brothers Ventus was attempting to help cook, but from the expression Leon's brother Terra had on his face he wasn't doing a good job. Roxas, the other twin, was sitting on the island watching the shenanigans with a grin. Well he was until Cloud glared him off of the counter and into a seat where his butt belonged. Cid was chatting with Leon at the dinner table, who looked to be staying for dinner tonight. Sora was chatting on his phone with...Kairi it seemed, his pen pal from Hollow Bastion. Lastly Namine was showing Denzel how to draw, the ten year old copying her slowly.
Making his way over to the dinner table Cloud called to Aqua and asked when dinner would be ready.
"Whenever Ven stops trying to help," She shouted back over the noise in the kitchen before said blond cried out in indignation. She laughed in response before telling the teenager to go and get the table set. Cloud saw what she was doing and was about to send Roxas to help his brother when he saw Terra following after the other first. He watched the two of them curiously before Denzel blocked his vision with a piece of drawing paper covered in crayon.
"I made this for you...," Denzel murmured softly as he held out the picture for the older male.
"Oh did you?" Cloud asked gently taking the sheet of paper and looking over it. It showed Cloud dressed all in black and Denzel in the first clothes they had bought together as well as the blond's motorcycle Fenrir.
"Do you like it? Namine said I did a good job," The child asked worriedly, though his face didn't look it.
"You did a very good job Denzel. Why don't you go and put this on the refrigerator?" The spiky haired male suggested with a soft smile as he handed the drawing back to the other. The brunette nodded, his hair bouncing lightly, before he rushed over to the fridge and stuck the picture there with a magnet.
Turning back to the table Cloud blinked to find two pairs of eyes on him.
"What?" He asked staring down both Cid and Leon.
"It's jus' weird seeing you actin' all soft to someone," The older blond replied with a grin that said he just saw something rare and hilarious.
"I agree, you're always so aloof," Leon said siding with the short haired man with a nod of his head.
"There's nothing wrong with being nice to your own kid," The lean male responded with a huff as he turned back to watch Sora starting to help Aqua bring the food over, his phone call over for now.
"There is when it's emo Cloud," Roxas piped up from his spot across the table, a shit eating grin covering his face.
"I don't want to hear that coming from mister you guys don't understand my music," Cloud replied referring to his sibling's taste for darker music. Roxas just stuck his tongue out for a moment, knowing that any longer and his older brother would likely find some sort of projectile that would probably end up meeting his face.
"Calm down boys, dinner is here so you can all stop your starving squabbling," The blue haired woman chided as she finished placing all the food on the table. Ventus cheered and quickly took his seat beside Roxas, Terra soon joining on his other side. Once everyone was seated the signal was given and the food quickly distributed among ten plates.
Aqua received many thanks for the good food, from Cloud as well, which she took with a smile. The blond looked around the table as he ate and smiled softly at the atmosphere. Everyone was smiling and chatting with each other, like they hadn't just spent an entire day together. Well mostly an entire day, the kids still had school after all, though summer was coming soon. Although he enjoyed his time in the city he still liked being here with his family and friends, even Leon despite the odd feelings he continued to bring about. The only thing he wished for was that his parents could be here to see this, to see him home once more, to get to know Denzel more than they had. Sighing lightly he looked down at his plate, retreating into his own mind as the others buzzed with excitement around him.
His retrospection did not last long before he felt a light tugging at his sleeve. Looking over to his right the blond blinked upon seeing Denzel giving him the same sad look he gave him when he found out about his parents. Smiling the older male reached over with his right hand to gently ruffle the boy's hair and telling him to eat his vegetables. The ten year old huffed and pushed his hand away, but he gave Cloud a small smile back before he returned his attention to his meal. The spiky haired man did the same though he made sure to participate in conversations now and then so as not to worry the youth. However he didn't notice that Denzel wasn't the only brunette to notice his slip.
When dinner ended Cloud struggled to help bring dishes to the sink, but he was thwarted at every chance.
"Give it up Cloud," Leon commented on his most recent attempt at carrying plates over without spilling food, which he failed at much to their two cats joy. The brunette had intercepted him for the second time, everyone else already having done so before. Despite the regular occurrence the blond was determined to do what he could to help.
"Will you just let me help for once?" The older man seethed as he noticed there were no more dishes to grab.
"You can help once you don't need two crutches to walk," The larger male replied giving the cast a once over before he handed the dishes over to Roxas who had been delegated to dish washer, that is he was ordered to.
Cloud groaned before he hobbled his way out to the living room where he saw Ventus and Terra setting up a game with Sora whining in the background about the unfairness of it all.
"Quit your bellyaching Sora you'll get a chance soon enough, it's not our fault you lost the rock paper scissors match," Ventus chided as he set about choosing his character, Terra doing the same beside him.
"But I always lose rock paper scissors you know that!" The brunette whined as he rolled around lightly on the floor.
"That's because you're predictable Sora," Terra commented as he gave the younger teenager a light smirk.
Sora, the ever mature one, stuck his tongue out at his brother's friend.
"Calm down Sora or I'll send you to finish your homework before you can play and don't think I don't know that you put it off to the last second," Cloud said as he shuffled over to his chair, the one that used to be their father's and showed up in the many pictures of them as they grew up.
The older twin simply cried dramatically at being tripled teamed by the people he thought cared about him.
"Come on guys, don't pick on Sora too much, he'll develop a complex," Namine said with a soft chuckle as she joined her family in the living room.
"He already has a complex Nam, it's called being a brunette surrounded by blonds," Cloud replied with a chuckle.
"Yeah, remember how I tricked him into thinking he was adopted because of it," Roxas chimed in as he entered the room, finally done with all of the dishes thanks to the help of Denzel, who followed after him and took the spot by Cloud's legs.
"Come on Roxas don't bring that up," Sora moaned into the floor as he felt the embarrassment for that part of his life return.
"Why not? It's funny, you even tried to trick mom and dad into taking a blood test so you could prove it," The blond replied with a short laugh, keeping a smile on his face even after he realized that he had mentioned their parents.
"Don' forget Cloud even got in on it sayin' that they'd been dyin' your hair brown since you were a baby to trick ya," Cid said trying to make sure that they didn't fall into a funk at the mention of their parents. He knew that they were prone to it and the mood had been too good today to waste.
"Yeah he left empty bottles of dye lying around the house where you could see it, I remember finding a few," Namine said with a light laugh as Sora covered his face with one of the pillows from the couch with a groan.
"Man it had to be pleasant growing up with you all as siblings," Leon muttered with a half smile as he joined the group.
"Yes! Leon, be on my side," Sora shouted as he sprang up from his spot on the floor to run over and cling to the older man's arm.
Cloud stamped down the twinge of annoyance he felt at the motion, as well as the one when the taller male ruffled his brother's hair.
"Hey now Leon you were no picnic either," Terra said glancing at his brother before quickly turning his attention back to the game when he died, groaning since that meant that his turn was over. Sighing he held up the controller only for it to be snatched by Sora once he had run over.
"From what I recall you once stuck a whole pack of gum in my hair so you could practice cutting it," The younger Leonhart said as he got up and gave his spot to the older twin.
"Hey I was just trying to practice. I wanted to be like our grandfather," Squall replied with a light shrug of his shoulders at the 'are you serious?' look he received from his sibling.
"And don't forget I'm the one that still does your hair today," The elder brother added giving the other brunette a pointed look.
"Yeah yeah, why don't you just go home already Leon, you do have work tomorrow," Terra replied as he made shooing motions at his sibling.
"I can feel the love, Aqua console me," The tan skinned male said feigning sadness as the blunette walked into the room.
"I have no idea what's going on in here and I don't think I want to know," She replied with a chuckle as the larger man pretended to cry into her shoulder. Safe to say it wasn't very convincing.
"Oh ya know the usual," Cid replied with a light wave of his hand, used to the family's antics by now. He had been working for this family since their parents had been alive, before most of them had even been alive.
"Well the usual better settle itself down soon, tomorrow's supposed to storm so we'll have an early day," The eighteen year old replied seriously as Leon straightened himself up.
"Ah and I have to work at the shop tomorrow. If I get off before the storm I'll head over to lend a hand," Squall said waving to the group before he headed home, nearly tripping on one of the cats on the way out and then one of the dogs on the porch. With animals constantly underfoot he wasn't too surprised that Cloud had managed to break his leg so soon after moving back home.
Once the brunette was gone Cloud stood up and proceeded to order everyone to bed. Aqua was right in saying that they had an early morning tomorrow and the kids had school so he would only have them for a short while before it was just him, Cid, Aqua, and Terra. The fact that he was still reliant on both crutches meant it was basically just the three of them.
"But I haven't finished my round yet," Sora whined though he kept his eyes on the screen. Both players then shouted when the screen suddenly turned black. They looked up to see Cloud holding the television's power cord loosely in his hand.
They both groaned before grudgingly rising to their feet and plodding off to their rooms, Roxas and Namine following after them. Cid, Terra, and Aqua bid their good nights before heading off to their rooms on the other side of the house. Which left only the blond and his adopted son left in the living room.
"Come on Denzel," The older male said ruffling the boy's hair before proceeding to lead him to his room.
Due to the recent events that had happened to cause his return Cloud had relinquished his room to the smaller male so that their rooms could be right next to each other just in case. That meant that the blond now resided in his parent's room. It was hard being reminded of them everyday so he had taken out most of their possessions, except for the bed and a few knick knacks, and stored them in other parts of the house. Every time he came in there it was hard not to imagine things as they once had been, but he was getting better. He figured removing a lot of their things helped.
Going over to his bed the spiky haired male practically flopped down onto the mattress before he placed his crutches against the wall. After that he stripped down to his boxers and threw his dirty clothes over to the hamper on the other side of the room, a hamper that was quickly beginning to overflow. Sighing the blond dropped down onto his pillows and hauled the blankets over himself. Turning over to his nightstand he set an alarm for early in the morning and once satisfied he settled down to sleep.
( . I can't stop the ideas from flowinggggg, but don't worry I'm still interested in all of my other stories. Honestly there's probably one more story I'll start, but I don't know when yet so you'll probably see an update for one of the other ones first)