Leon was eating his breakfast when Aerith appeared in the doorway, still adjusting the pink bow in her warm brown hair. She smiled at Leon as she passed him, and he motioned toward the livingroom with his half-eaten toast, taking a sip of his half-empty coffee.
Curious, Aerith placed her arms by her sides and walked to the arch separating the livingroom from the kitchen. A warm smile spread across her face at the sight of Cloud sitting in one of the reclining chairs, legs crossed at the ankle, a mug of warm coffee placed against his lips.
"Cloud," she greeted, talking a step forward.
Blue eyes looked over the rim of the mug, and it was quickly lowered. "Aerith," Cloud murmured back. The beautiful lady walked up to him and placed one of her warm hands on his, gently stoking her thumb over it. Cloud looked up at her and gave her a small smile.
Aerith smiled back, though, hers was wider. Leaning over gently, she placed a kiss on Cloud's forehead. His eyes closed. It was her own kind of greeting, really. A blessing. If there was one thing Cloud thought he needed, it was blessings.
Moving back again, Aerith moved her hand which was on Cloud's hand, to his shoulder. His eyes fluttered open, and stared up at her.
"Come and eat something," she prompted gently, giving his shoulder a soft squeeze. Cloud would often go days without food, but, Aerith when would tell him to do so, he would.
Pausing for only a moment, he nodded and heaved himself out of the couch, the mug Leon had given him, now empty, swinging from his fingertips. Aerith lead him to the kitchen, a hand on his back, as though the other would turn and run if she was not there.
Leon looked up as Cloud and Aerith entered the kitchen, chewing on his toast. Aerith placed Cloud in the chair opposite Leon, and looked at the other brunette. "Would you like some pancakes, Leon?" she offered. Leon nodded in assent. Aerith was quite the cook.
"And you," Aerith looked at Cloud, and tapped him lightly on the nose, making the blonde one blink. "You're eating something too." With that, she turned to the fridge to get the ingredients for pancakes.
The male brunette grinned into his toast. "You are so whipped." His gibe was barely audible, but he knew Cloud could hear him.
"And you're a pussy," Cloud returned, pretending to rub the back of his hand against his mouth, muffling his voice so Leon was the only one who heard what he'd said.
Aerith looked over her shoulder at the sound of Leon choking on his toast.
By the time the the pancakes were done, the smell of the food had floated all through Merlin's house and awoken many of the residence. Cid was already hacking away at his computer, Merlin had disappeared somewhere, claiming that the ozone needed him, Tifa was sitting beside Cloud, trying to get him into a conversation and failing, and Yuffie was in the shower.
Aerith placed plates of pancakes in front of all of them, balancing Cid's plate carefully on a chair beside the older man.
They all ate in silence, Cloud's sudden appearance taken in stride. Cid had greeted the younger blonde with a slap on the back and a hearty 'nice to see you're still alive, Spike!', while Tifa had merely smiled and said hello.
At the sound of a string of sniffs, Leon looked up, to find Yuffie leading herself into the kitchen, her eyes closed, and her nose high in the air. Funny what the smell of decent food can do.
Opening his eyes, Yuffie spotted the pancakes at once, and let out a triumphant whoop, making a grab for the closest plate. Which, coincidentally, was Cloud's. Not a man to take any shit from anyone, even if it was a breakfast-stealing ninja, Cloud grabbed his plate and yanked it away form her.
And thus, Yuffie ended up sprawled across his lap.
Pouting magnificently, Yuffie heaved herself up, turning to the one who had foiled her plans for food, her eyes immediately lighting up at the sight of Cloud's face.
"CLOUDSTER!" she squealed, throwing her arms up in the air, the blonde wincing at the volume of her voice, and the close range. "WELCOME BACK, CLOUDIE!" With that, she sprang forward, and threw her arms around his neck.
Cloud's chair teetered on the back two legs from the force of Yuffie's over-affectionate glomp, and Leon quickly shot out a foot, placing it between Cloud's legs, against the seat of the chair, and pushing down, the front two legs of the chair meeting the floor again with a clack.
The blonde man gave Leon a quick, semi-relieved glance, lying on the floor with Yuffie on top of him hardly his idea of a good time, patting the excited girl on the shoulder awkwardly.
Leon just gave him a look that clearly said 'I didn't do that. I would've liked to see you humiliated.'
The blonde scoffed quietly, dislodging Yuffie from around his neck, the young girl giving him a bright grin. "You gonna stay here?" she chirped, seating herself on Cloud's lap, much to the dismay of the blonde. "We've got a spare room!"
Cloud's eyes looked over Yuffie's head, to Leon. Despite what he'd said, he was going to ask for permission this time. Leon shrugged in an uncaring fashion. He didn't really mind.
Looking back down at Yuffie, Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay."
Cid flinched at the sound of Yuffie squealing again, dropping one of his pancakes on the keyboard. His curses were, luckily, drowned out by the ninja's happy whoops and the sounds of Leon trying to get her to shut up.
((TBC. The only thing I like about this chapter is the little exchange of insults between Cloud and Leon, and Aerith being nice. I was in a slump when I wrote this. I'm already working on the fourth chapter, but, don't expect the updates to be posted daily. I'm not awesome. The series is basically came about because of the titles of the chapters, then, I just wrote what I thought would work with it, and the gay is just a bonus. Again, please read and review! I'll love you for it!))