-From Hidden Desires To Vampire Bites-
-An AU Kingdom Hearts story-
-With The Altonas-
"This costume you have me wearing sucks." came the declaration from the other side of the bathroom door. Yuffie rolled her eyes at the door, then caught the dress that was flung out the door. From inside the bathroom, Tora Altona sighed and zipped up the full-body black lycra suit that her best friend had thrown in, along with the Lolita dress. Giving herself a once-over in the mirror, she slowly stepped out, amid squeals from Yuffie and a 'holy crap!' from her twin brother Ryu, who happened to be walking down the hallway at that point in time. Tora decided that whichever spirits were working on Halloween were giving her plenty of bad luck.
"How long did it take you to put that on?" Yuffie asked, holding out a cat-ear headband. Tora slipped them on her head and reached around to fiddle with the black tail attached to her backside. Yes, her friends and family had convinced (read: forced upon pain of made to wear a skirt) her to dress up as a black cat for this year's Halloween party. Yuffie was dressing up as Spiderman (Tora still wondered what had possessed her ninja friend's mind), while her twin brother was dressing up as the Shadow King Kyouya Ootori from their favourite anime Ouran High School Host Club.
"Long enough. I'm just glad I didn't have to wear the skirt." she replied, straightening her ears and fixing her friend's mask.
"We wouldn't have made you wear it, Tora. I know what you went through." Ryu said, patting his sister's shoulder. Yuffie nodded in affirmation. When Tora was younger, she always got teased for wearing a skirt in elementary school, and every day she'd come home crying. When she started junior high, her mother persuaded the principal to let her wear slacks or shorts. Since then, no-one has ever seen the gold-eyed girl in a skirt, long or short.
"Don't even think about it, Yuffie; I can almost see what you're thinking." Yuffie grinned and clapped her hands in order to destroy the murderous aura her best friend gave off.
"I was just thinking about how Cloud can't keep his hands off you tonight." she said, "He's going to die of a nosebleed when you walk through the door!" Ryu laughed at the bright blush that crossed Tora's face, but quickly turned it into a coughing fit as heated gold eyes rounded on him.
"Come on Tora, we still need to get you to Aerith so she can do your makeup. Tifa will accessorise you at the same time." Tora gasped as she was yanked forward by her best friend and her brother through the house toward the living room, where she was sat down on the couch beside a pretty brunette holding a make-up case. She smiled at the look of sheer horror implanted on the gold-eyed girl's face. A busty woman entered then, chains and belts in her hands.
"Go easy guys, she's only a little kitten." Yuffie said, winking and dragging Ryu away to get him ready for the Halloween party. Aerith opened the case, and Tora could see at least three of each make-up item known to any female. Tifa began looping chains around the girl's neck as the brunette held up a white powder and began to decorate her face. Tora sighed. She wondered if Cloud was having a harder time than her.
-
-Meanwhile, with the Strife and Leonhart families...-
"Cloud, it cannot take you forever to put on a costume! For the love of Halloween, hurry up!" The blond behind the door groaned and finally fixed the tie that he had draped around his neck. Why did he have to be the vampire, anyway? Why couldn't they get his brother Roxas's best friend Axel to be the vampire? He stuck the fake teeth in his mouth and opened and closed it a few times to get used to the plastic inside his mouth, then stepped out to meet the youngest Leonhart, who was dressed in a black and white attire with a pumpkin mask on the right (1) side of his head. His blue eyes stood out even more against the dark colouring that was the make-up.
"There, it's on Sora. You happy?" he asked.
"Definitely! And not only will I be happy, but Tora will be too! She'll fall over twice to look at you once! Or something like that..." Sora tilted his head and rubbed his chin to try and work out what he said, while Cloud groaned, and covered up the blush that had dusted the bridge of his nose. Ever since his closest friend Squall (Call him Leon or he'll kick your ass. Seriously) had "found out" that he liked the gold-eyed girl, he had tried everything in his power to hook them up. And considering that Yuffie was their friend also, that meant elaborate schemes and plenty of embarrassment to the both of them. Speaking of the older Leonhart, he walked into the room, wearing leather pants, no shirt, and his fur collared short-sleeved jacket. Fluffy gloves were on his hands like paws, and a bushy brown tail was pinned to his backside.
"Sora, stop thinking. You're going to hurt yourself." he said, looking at the eldest Strife, "Nice fangs."
"I'll bite you." Cloud hissed.
"Oh stop it, you two. Leon, don't you think Tora's going to faint when she sees what we've dressed Cloud up in?" Sora pointed at the vampire attire on the blond's body. It wasn't much; just a black suit with vest and a red tie. His eyes had been darkened with kohl that Roxas kept in the bathroom (for whenever he felt emo, Cloud argued) and a pair of snow white gloves adorned his hands. A deep black cloak swept over his shoulders, trailing the ground lightly. Leon tilted his head to the side, then smirked.
"She's going to drop dead, if you know what I mean." he said.
"I mean it. I will bite you."
"And risk becoming a homosexual? You wouldn't dare."
"Fine, have it your way." Cloud crossed his arms over his chest and bit his lip, the fangs jutting out under his top lip almost cutely. Sora grinned and grabbed the two elder's arms.
"Axel's driving us to the party!" he yelled, making the two elders groan with anguish. Last time Axel drove, they had to take out life insurance whenever it happened again...and it proved to be the best investment they'd made.
-
-At The Party-
The Halloween party was already in full swing by the time the girls and Ryu arrived. Tora immediately regretted wearing the lycra as she caught sight of a drunken Luxord from the kitchen. What, only an hour and a half in and he was inebriated already? What the hell was in the punch? She shrugged off that feeling and walked over to the refreshment table, where she saw Sora, Leon, Roxas and...oh, dear God...
"Hey Tora! Wow, you look amazing!" Sora yelled, waving her over. Ryu gave her an 'encouraging' push in the back, and she walked robotically over to the punch bowl. Roxas quickly pushed a cup into her hands, and she hid her nervousness by grinning widely.
"Thanks Sora, and may I say that you gentlemen are looking the part too." she replied, marvelling at their costumes. Roxas wore a classic white suit that had been torn and fake-bloodied in strategic places to give him the appearance of an undead aristocrat. Fake blood dripped from underneath his hairline and the corner of his mouth, while he held a fake-bloody knife in his hand. Before leaving to come to the party, Sora had jammed a pair of furry wolf ears over his older brother's head, much to Leon's sheer disgust. Tora reached up and scratched at his head where the ears sat.
"Such a good puppy." she cooed, giggling at the look on his face.
"Hey guys!" Yuffie bounded up to the group, her Spiderman mask strapped to her hip so she could see, "Marluxia told me that they're going to be taking photos of everyone soon, so we'd better get our butts over there soon."
"I refuse to have my photo taken." Ryu said, crossing his arms and pouting.
"If I'm in, you're in. It's a twin thing." Tora declared, smacking her brother on the arm. Everyone laughed at the glare she received, to which she just poked out her tongue, a pair of small feline teeth poking out of her mouth.
"Hey, where'd Cloud go?" Roxas asked, looking around and groaning as Axel walked over. He wore a pair of dark slacks that had been torn at the ends and several chains around his waist. Manacles and more chains were fastened around his wrists, ankles and throat, and a small trail of fake blood ran down his left arm from a cleverly drawn on cut.
"He told me he was going outside to get some air. Why don't you go get him, Tora?" he smirked. The gold-eyed feline growled and restrained the urge to slap him, instead smiling sweetly and upending her cup of punch over his flame-red spikes. He yelled loudly as she walked away, leaving everyone else to clean up the mess she'd made of his hair. The wind blew as she stepped out to the back veranda of the house, chilling her bone marrow.
"Why couldn't the weather be better for Halloween? Stupid pagans, picking the colder weather to do their rituals..." she hissed, rubbing at her covered arms to try to warm them up. A pair of hands suddenly covered her own, and she froze. Warm breath gently blew over her ear, and she could smell the punch that the person had drank a while ago.
"It's not safe to venture into the darkness by yourself, my dear. Something could happen to you." Cloud whispered in her ear, sending shivers up and down her spine. He had absolutely no idea why he was suddenly interested in a role play with the beautiful cat-woman in his arms; he supposed it because of the spiked punch that he suddenly felt this gutsy. Dutch courage (2), eh?
"I only came out here to look for my friend." she replied timidly, knowing full well who was behind her. The blond trailed his fingers ever so softly over her cheek and down her neck, his lips making a different line along her jaw line and up to her ear. Tora's breath hitched as she felt a fang trace the shell of her ear. So she had a fang fetish; shoot her. Cloud's eyes caught the shimmer of something on the side of her neck, ducking down to see if he could...wait, was that powdered sugar? Something in the back of his mind told him to thank Yuffie for planning out her outfit for the party.
"It's Halloween, my dear. Vampires stalk the night looking for their next...victim." It took all of Cloud's willpower not to drag Tora inside, find a spare room and ravish her until the sun came up when he felt the shudder of pleasure course through her body. Her hand gently snaked up and threaded itself into his spiky blond hair.
"Looks like I've been caught, then." she whispered, moaning a little as she felt his tongue lap at the powdered sugar Yuffie had insisted Aerith dust over her bare shoulders. Satisfied he'd cleared a large enough area, the blond opened his mouth a little further and latched onto her skin, gently sucking as if attempting to drain a little blood. Tora's head fell to the side to allow for easier access, as her breathing slowly sped up to accommodate for her erratic heartbeat. She gasped softly as his fangs scraped across a particularly soft spot on her neck, somewhere between the place where her neck and shoulder met. Cloud lifted his head once he felt that he'd left a decent mark on the once-flawless skin of Tora's shoulder, and turned her eyes to meet his.
"You most certainly have, however I must insist you retire with me to my abode. My thirst for you is...unquenchable." Sealing the deal with a kiss was the only explanation he could give to the bewildered look in gold eyes. Kissing him back, Tora wondered if anyone had put them up to this. Ah, screw it; going home with Cloud was more than enough reward for all the embarrassment she had to put up with.
-
-The Next Day-
"Wow Tora, you look beat." The gold-eyed woman shot a tired glare at her twin brother as she sat down in the booth opposite him in their college cafeteria. She pushed a stray strand of hair from her face and groaned, resting her forehead on her arms.
"I need sugar..." she moaned, too tired to put any more energy into her words. Ryu nodded and quickly bought his sister a large lemonade, placing it in front of her while sipping on his own coffee. As if animalistically, her head shot up, looking at the large tumbler in front of her. She took a long sip and sighed as the glucose ran through her body, re-energising her and making her glow again.
"Thanks Ryu. I needed that," Then she caught the look on his face, "What?"
"Nice bite. Has Yuffie seen it yet?" Hiding the smile on his lips, the gold-eyed man reached into his sister's bag and produced a small compact mirror he knew she kept in case she got paint or something on her face. Tora flipped it open and peered at her neck. Sure enough, a deep purple bruise stood out proudly against her skin. Two small bite marks were visible through the bruise.
"I am going to kill Cloud Strife..." she hissed, closing her mirror and replacing it in her bag, "I told him I had school today."
"Why are going to – oh wow, Tora." Yuffie sat on Ryu's other side, staring at her neck as if a second head was growing out of it. Turning the colour of the punch at the party last night, Tora hid her face and her neck underneath the hood that was attached to her green jacket. From out of the corner of his eye, Ryu caught a blond-headed college student chuckling in mirth to himself while revising something from the thick textbook propped open in front of him. Returning to the conversation at hand, he arrived just in time to see Yuffie be thwacked on the arm by Tora for suggesting that she show off her hickey again.
"But it's a nice colour!" the ninja-in-another-life exclaimed, waving her arms around, "You could use that colour in your artwork."
"It'll be the colour you'll turn if you don't shut up." Tora hissed, looking up as she heard footsteps approach their table, "Hi Cloud."
"Why are you hiding my possession mark? Do you not like vampire bites?" he asked, a smirk dancing on his lips as he sat beside his girlfriend. She groaned and banged her head on the table, causing several patrons to wonder what the sound was.
"I think I preferred your hidden desires. Because of you, I was almost late to my morning lecture!" she exclaimed, glaring at him.
"Tora, you hate your morning lecturer today, anyway." Ryu pointed out. As a reward for his comment, he received a package of sugar thrown at his face.
"Shut up." his sister hissed. Cloud smiled and looped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her hood down and pressing a kiss to her temple.
"I promise, no more hickies." he said, crossing his heart.
"Really?" Tora asked.
"Well, where everyone can see them, anyway."
"CLOUD STRIFE!"
-
(1): I do not remember which side Sora's mask sits on whenever he visits Halloween Town. If it's not the right side, let me know.
(2): I like the idea of someone needing alcohol to do something stupid. I find I often need sugar.
DISCLAIMER: The disclaimer applies to the characters of 'Kingdom Hearts' and 'Final Fantasy' – Disney, SquareEnix and Tetsuya Nomura – and Ryu, Tora, and the costumes and party – me.