So I found a co-writer... Yay! As a matter of fact, she's the one that wrote this chapter. She goes by xx. domino(but no space). She did a really good job and I thank her! *shameless promotions* If you haven't already read her stuff you should check it out!
To answer the questions everyones been asking, yes we have decided to go with PoTC mermaid idea: when Cloud's tail is completely dry he can become human.
Disclaimer: We own nothing but the ideas.
Come What May
Chapter Two
There's a fine line between ignoring someone and totally neglecting him. At the moment, Cloud was about ready to break the barrier separating him from this derogatory woman with her face pressed up against the glass. He didn't want her, he wanted Leon… or Squall… whatever they called him. Even if life back home had been a little overbearing (not to mention, incredibly boring) he hadn't been subjected to being stared at like some kind of headless fish, or being contained in a tiny little glass treasure chest.
His (seemingly unwilling) mate had disappeared, and he had been hoisted back into the tank through means of two other men, one with blue eyes and yellow hair just like himself. He didn't like him. He was crude and spoke to the merman as if he was stupid. His name was Seifer.
Cloud's stomach rumbled and he looked down at it, cursing it for the noise. The black-haired woman in front of him tilted her head in curiosity. Well, if she was going to spend all of her time gaping at him, then he might as well make some use of her. He pressed his hands to the glass, and as she had been taught, she followed to hear Cloud's mental message.
~I'm hungry. ~
"Um," she laughed nervously, "what do you eat?"
With lightning reflexes, Cloud snatched up one of the fish swimming around him. It was the dainty size of said creature that stopped Cloud from eating it. Fish bones were a pain, so he normally liked to eat bigger stuff. He waved it in front of Yuffie's face, hoping that the over-excited pirate would get the message.
Yuffie held up one of her fingers and ran to the door of the Captain's Cabin yelling, "Captain! Cloud's hungry."
Leon's reply was distant, but the smooth baritone still sent shivers up and down his spine. He let go of the frightened little fish and gnashed his teeth at it, prompting it to swim away before he decided he was hungry enough to eat it.
"What does it eat?"
"Leon!" Yuffie cried in outrage, "Cloud is not an 'it'! Stop being rude."
"I'll be as rude as I want! It trekked water all over my cabin!" the Captain replied, the slight irritation in his tone making Cloud grin gleefully. He liked this mate which was so excitable and easily provoked. He liked the indignant flush that blossomed over Leon's face when the blond sent him something scandalous through his mind link, like an image of him moaning and writhing underneath him.
If only they would let me out of this tank, then I could assume human form and learn how to be like him.
Back home, Cloud had never been allowed to go to the surface, but it didn't exactly stop him from disobeying orders and going anyway. But he knew it was possible. He'd seen his mother do it before she ran away to live life as a human. She couldn't exactly blame her… circumstances were not the best.
"Whatever! He eats fish."
"We just ate the last of it this morning, and we can't stop sailing because we're also running out of fresh water. It can wait until we reach port."
Cloud huffed angrily. Yuffie saw this and ran up to his tank, "Don't you worry, Cloudy. I'm going to convince Captain Stick-up-his-ass that we should stop and try to catch some fish."
He decided not to acknowledge her, and as soon as she was out of The Cabin, he grabbed the runaway fish and stared at it evilly. It wasn't much, but it would provide enough sustenance to get him through the night.
"Leon! You have to watch him properly!" Yuffie growled, "Look here, there are three fish missing."
The brunet stormed up to the tank and rammed his fist into the glass so hard it shook, but not so much that it would break. It was a clear warning to Cloud to keep in line, and the movement startled and offended him. When someone tapped on the glass of the aquarium, the resonating shockwaves rebounded off him and the glass over and over again, causing him to have headaches and slight nausea, "You're now property of this ship! You'll behave accordingly, sea-creature, or we'll hang you at the top mast by your tail fins. You will not eat my fish."
Cloud's brows knitted together and he turned his back on Leon, refusing to cooperate, but really hurt that his mate could speak to him like this. Another violent slam of his fist on the glass, sent another wave of pain and heartache through him, "Do I make myself clear, merman?"
He turned around in his confined space, noticing that Leon's hand was still on the glass. He reached forward and his mental voice surged forward like storm waves, ~My name is Cloud, and I'm hungry,Captain. Or do humans normally allow their pet fish to starve to death?~
Leon flinched at Cloud's voice, his hand flying away from the glass. He had only heard it calm before, now it sounded like a hiss of a feral animal. He was angry and volatile, plus a little crestfallen at how the brunet could treat him like this. Instead of waiting for an answer, he turned around and slumped against the glass. It felt like there were eons filled with silence before the Captain growled.
"We stop the ship for one hour. One hour, Yuffie. And if you cannot collect any fish by then, we set sail. Understood?"
"Yes, Captain." Yuffie obeyed, but cast a worried look towards Cloud's back, which was curved into the corner of the glass prison, his shoulders were slumped dejectedly. "Aww, c'mon Lee. Look what you did! Now he's sad. Go and apologize."
"I'll do no such thing."
"But-"
"If you don't catch any fish, he starves."
Yuffie replied with a rude, obscene gesture involving one of her ten fingers and stormed out of the cabin. Cloud released a sigh, and heard a similar one echoed by the brunet himself, but the rest of the hour was served out in silence.
Cloud had accidentally fallen asleep in his awkward, irritating position. It was night time now, judging from the light outside of The Captain's Cabin, but when he turned around Leon was not in his cot. His backside scraped the sand at the bottom of the tank as he thought about what the brunet could possibly doing right now, so he was a little surprised when he felt the soft weight of someone else's consciousness rubbing up against his own.
Leon had approached his tank from the other side effectively scaring the young merman. Cloud slid further down, so that his back was pressed up against the floor of the tank and his fins curved up the side, the flare at the bottom of his tail brushing against his hips in an awkward arch. He looked up at Leon's eyes, which were locked precariously on his own.
His breath hitched as his eyes roved over Leon's strong features, sun-kissed skin and gunmetal grey-blue eyes, glowing in the moonlight. He was completely captivated. He wanted to reach up and touch his face, but when he tried his fingertips reached cool, cold glass instead. Leon still stepped back, despite Cloud's slow and careful movements. It hurt a little.
Falling in love for Merfolk was totally different story than that of a human. As soon as you'd met your soul mate, there would be no exchange, no altering feelings. You were bonded for life. Cloud would be the first to admit that it had hit him like a two ton boulder. All at once, he'd felt desire, love, admiration and lust for a person he didn't even know, and he knew he wouldn't ever want to let Leon go because from the second their eyes met, he was already in too deep. But the precarious thing about falling in love with a human was the fact that they didn't have to reciprocate the feelings; they could walk away whenever they wanted to, which was an incredibly scary thought.
Loving someone who hated him this much felt like a dull ache in his heart, but Cloud didn't want to give Leon the satisfaction of knowing that. Instead he continued to stare at him, wistfully wishing he could touch him like he wanted to.
"I'm sorry," the brunet murmured against the glass, so quietly Cloud might not have heard right.
In seconds, Leon was gone and into the tank dropped three large fish.
Cloud's heart swelled and he pressed his hand up against the tank wishing Leon would touch it so that he could say 'thank you'. But the Captain was getting into bed now, and for a brief second, the merman thought that he saw the glint of gunmetal grey flash silently before he went to sleep.
"Why do I have to clean the tank?" Leon growled, "He's your fish!"
"Yeah, but someone gave me extra deck duty. So while I've got a date with a mop, you get to spend your time with a pretty mermaid."
Cloud growled. He was not a mermaid. Yuffie never seemed to get that through her head. Leon caught the look and grinned, delighting in his annoyance. The look vanished as Yuffie tossed Leon a rag and started to explain how to clean it (because Yuffie liked to clean the Captain's fish tank, even before they'd caught Cloud). Leon muttered something unintelligible as he dragged over a chest so that he could reach inside the tank.
Over the course of the next few hours, Cloud proceeded to swirl around Leon's busy hands, watching what he was doing to the tank in interest, smiling when their eyes made contact. The Captain's face would twist in a grimace, but the blond was not deterred. Whenever he tried to touch Leon's hand while it was working on the inside of the glass perimeter with a rag, the Captain would move away insistently.
It became a kind of game to the playful merman, constantly trying to grab Leon's hands before he pulled them out of the tank. The remaining fish inside were not amused.
Cloud stopped a little bit, trying a different approach.
He snatched up one of the remaining fish and dangled it over his open mouth precariously, making sure that his mate was watching. Leon growled and shoved his hand into the tank to stop him by grabbing his arm. Cloud let the fish go and grabbed onto Leon's hand, brushing his lips against his knuckles lovingly.
He adored the way that Leon's face blossomed with color as he snatched back his hand, snarling through the window at Cloud's smug expression. He pressed a finger to the glass.
"Listen! Just because I might have given you fish, doesn't mean I want to be your mate, Merman."
Cloud's fingers met Leon's against the glass, -Not yet, My Love. But eventually.-
The Captain spluttered indignantly, and Cloud took that momentary lapse in concentration to stick his head outside of the tank and press his lips against Leon's in a quick, chaste kiss. A rush of warmth filled Cloud, while chills wracked Leon's frame as he staggered back, uttering a curse under his breath. Cloud submerged himself again, grinning as the heat thrummed through his system, leaving him with beautiful tingling sensation along his skin.
Leon was still looking at him with wide-eyed shock, so Cloud pressed his hands up against the glass and motioned for Leon to do the same. When the brunet shook his head, Cloud made a show of trying to get out of the tank and Leon muttered about how they needed to get a cover for the aquarium. He pressed his hand up against the glass reluctantly, and shivered again. This time, it wasn't because of the cold in his system, but because of Cloud's words.
-I will make you love me, Leon.-
He scoffed.
"Try, Merman. I dare you."
I will, Cloud vowed as he watched Leon make his way out of the Cabin.
And I'll succeed.
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