Another product of the StrifeHart meme. ... I probably should get an LJ if I intend to keep doing these... _

In any case, I realized a few sentences into my first draft that sea lions are mammals. And can't breathe underwater. (They also actually swim with their front flippers, but I couldn't make that work with a mer-person, so I ignored it.) I forgot to mention the cute whiskers, which I now regret, but I'm mostly pleased with how this worked out.

Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to put these in, but that doesn't change the fact that they're still not mine.

PROMPT: Cloud and Leon join Sora for an adventure in Atlantica - but here's the catch: Leon's form is a sea lion!

Leon glared at the three doubled up laughing a few yards away.

Why were they laughing at him? Goofy turned into a freakin' sea turtle, surely that was more laugh-worthy than… this.

He opened his mouth to say as much but a gentle hand covered it. Glancing to the side he saw Cloud shaking his head.

"Leon, sea lions are mammals. You won't be able to breathe."

Sadly, his point was valid, and so the three amigos were spared a verbal lashing. Instead they got a death-glare.

"Speaking of breathing…" Sora seemed to have recovered from his hysterics. "How do you intend to survive Ariel's party?"

There was a thoughtful pause, followed by a shrug from the older brunet.

Cloud, however, considered it for a moment longer. "How long until we need to be there?"

"About 20 minutes, I think. Should we go ahead and stall while you find a way that Leon won't die in the middle of it?" Sora's voice was waaaaaay too cheerful for that question, but Cloud nodded at him anyway, and they swam off to go distract Ariel for as long as possible.

Leon looked pointedly at Cloud, silently asking him what he was going to do about this, and didn't protest as his hand was grabbed and he was towed to the surface. Being able to breathe actual air was nice. He could certainly hold his breath longer in this form, but after about eight minutes he started to notice it, and in ten he began truly running out of air.

He let out a dismayed noise as Cloud yanked him under again, glaring. The blonde predictably ignored it.

"I have an idea. Hopefully it will get you through this, and we'll probably never have to come back here again." He sounded… flustered. Why? He was an actual fish, he didn't have issues breathing the water. "But just in case, this way you only have to swim up a few feet if it doesn't work, okay?" Leon frowned, but gave a slow nod anyway.

"Right." And then Cloud's lips were on his, and his tongue very carefully pried open Leon's mouth, taking advantage of the other's shock as he passed air to him. As he pulled away, a stream of bubbles drifted upwards.

"…." The brunette stared for a while, still trying to process what had just happened.

"So…" Cloud suddenly sounded very small and awkward. "Will that work for air?"

Recovering, he nodded, and the blonde smiled, before grabbing his hand again, this time dragging the reluctant sea lion to the ocean floor, where Ariel was by now probably quite worried about them.

It was another hour (and about five more kisses) before Leon finally realized something. He tugged gently on Cloud's hand, smirking as he watched the other turn. Confused, Cloud opened his mouth to ask something only to have Leon kiss him firmly – no true trading of air this time. When the brunette pulled away, his smirk seemed even bigger.

"… What?"

The smirk turned to an outright grin as Leon mouthed two words:

"Angel fish."