The Beast Within

Chapter Three

Investigation Underway

"I'm afraid living conditions are not as up to scratch as they could be…"

The wolfish blond snorted softly.

"But it'll have to do." The brunet finished, removing his boots.

The blond wordlessly moved forwards without taking his own footwear off, taking in his surroundings. Leon's home seemed to be a little on the messy side, yes. He imagined the restoration leading gunblader wouldn't really the have time to keep a neat home. In his mind, the house made the perfect den and a bit of mess never did anyone any harm!

A sigh passed Leon's lips. Watching Cloud walk over his floor with muddy boots, he tugged off his own and avoided the dirty marks Cloud had made as he padded into the kitchen.

Cloud sniffed. Leon's home was a boring smell. Leon's scent was definitely there but nothing else besides a little coffee really stood out. Collapsing back onto Leon's sofa, the blond sighed. He imagined this was going to be a very unexciting time.

He really shouldn't have let Leon talk him into coming back to his place.

Still, who could refuse the offer of more food?

In the kitchen, Leon was rifling through drawer after drawer, cupboard after cupboard and then fridge and freezer to find some meat for the blond swordsman in the other room. If he broke his promise to the blond then he'd lose trust—something he needed to keep with the blond in order to get this 'wolf' side of him to confide in him.

When was the last time he went shopping for groceries anyway? He couldn't actually remember…

Making his way back into the lounge, he saw Cloud had made himself at home. He gave little snort of amusement and moved closer.

The blond, not wasting time, asked outright "Where's my food then?"

Ah.

Leon replied calmly, "I have yet to get some. Don't worry, you will have it. Patience…"

A growl rumbled in Cloud's throat, and he clenched his fists slightly. Patience was something he lacked when his stomach was making the same noises as he was. He didn't seem to like being told to wait, nor did he like being told to have patience it seemed. Still, the human was nothing worth getting angry over now was he? He was beginning to warm up to the brunet considerably, but it would be a while until Cloud truly trusted him.

Picking up the TV remote to kill some time, Leon flicked the television off standby and sat on the opposite end of the sofa. It was a worn three-piece leather couch, something that had come with the house. It was quite comfortable; Cloud was already relaxing slightly into it to prove it was. Leon leaned back on the arm of the couch, glancing at the male who looked at him curiously, before returning his attention to the television.

He didn't know what to put on that the wolf might be interested in. He sat up, dropped the remote on Cloud's lap and sat back, folding his arms. "You choose."

With a soft noise of question when the remote landed on his lap, he shrugged and lifted it. He clicked a button and the TV's screen flickered off. Blue eyes widened and he hissed, throwing the remote back at Leon in frustration.

Leon jerked as the remote flew at him without warning and smacked straight into his knee. Picking up the fallen remote and rubbing the spot where it collided with his leg, he muttered "Easy on the remote. You wanna break it?" He turned the TV back on easily, and then looked at Cloud who leveled a dark glare at him. "What's your problem?"

Arms folding, Cloud muttered something about technology and gadgets and how he hated them. Leon stopped listening to his quiet rant after a few moments and switched the news on. He wasn't particularly listening to the headline stories or the weather. Neither was Cloud. But they both took to pretending they found interest in it.

Looking at the clock on the wall after a half hour or so, Leon sat up, stretched until his back clicked and then stood, glancing down at the snoozing blond. He was just as tired as the younger male was; but he had to keep to his promise of food. He'd bring back a variety of raw meat and something for himself, perhaps a few desserts and snacks.

He thought about how Cloud had eaten that half decomposed mouse without hesitation. The blond must have been really hungry to eat such a disgusting rotten creature.

Well hurry up and get shopping.

Leon crept over to the door, quietly opening it and equally as quietly shutting it closed. He then disappeared into the cool night.

--

It seemed Leon wasn't quiet enough.

With a heightened sense of hearing, as soon as Leon had got up, the creak of the sofa had the blond awake. He stayed still though, and was about to raise his head and question where Leon was going before the brunet was gone. The sound of the quiet click of the door shutting was like someone just closing it properly.

The blond sat up immediately, frowning in confusion. The only thing he could hear now was the ticking of the clock that echoed about the room and the occasional groaning of pipes and radiators about the house. Leon had well and truly left him alone.

At least the male had left a few lights on. Cloud rose slowly, looking around. The place wasn't particularly tidy as Leon had warned him before he'd entered his humble abode. Still, the brunet's house was cozy. He liked it the way it was.

His nose was telling him there was some investigating to be done!

Creeping upstairs, Cloud sniffed. From the top of the stairs he already knew where the bathroom and bedroom was. He followed his nose to the bathroom first. Pushing open the door, he revealed a rather large cream color themed room. He'd half expected the bathroom to be quite small given the fact Leon's home wasn't particularly large itself.

The bathtub was rather large itself, and there was a cubicle shower to the side; as well as, obviously, a toilet and a sink. The shower had the most cleansing products within it- which told Cloud that the brunet favored using the shower over the bath. Perhaps this was because showers were much quicker. The restoration leader never did seem to have time on his hands these days anyway.

Spotting an open bottle, the smell of soap coming from it, the blond scooted forwards and sniffed experimentally, the overwhelming smell making his nose scrunch and twitch slightly. "Ugh." Disgusting, how could a human use such substances to cleanse themselves? They should be glad it wore off on their bodies in a matter of hours; the smell was awful.

After sniffing around the bathroom some more, he found himself in Leon's bedroom. He wasn't surprised when he found that it was very simple, quite tidy and plain colored. Eyes roamed from the gunblade case propped up against the wall, to the double bed, which looked as if it had been made quite hastily.

Snuffling, the blond climbed up onto the bed, the mattress and sheets dipping. The sheets appeared inflated-like and rose to hug his knees and thighs when he sat. He gave them an experimental gentle pat. They were very puffy sheets indeed. He slid onto his front, letting the waves of sheet rise as they pillowed his sides. Blue eyes began to flicker closed and he curled up slightly, warm and comfortable, and much more appealing than the cool leather couch downstairs. With a slightly stifled yawn, Cloud found himself drifting off already.

--

Several shopping bags in hand, Leon was on his way home.

He had been longer than expected, as Aerith had stopped him halfway through his grocery shopping to start a conversation with him. After every response he gave, he couldn't help but wish he could tell Aerith he had to get back to Cloud and that it was urgent. But by the way she was talking as she discussed Cloud made him not want to worry her further. She didn't deserve it.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?"

"Aerith, I'm fine. I know what I'm doing."

"Well… okay. But if there's anything you need—"

"—I'll be sure to let you know."

"Take care, okay Leon?"

"Yeah, you too."

The brunet had watched her turn and go, quite relieved the conversation had ended. He hurried to get the rest of the groceries, including some extra toiletries as he didn't know how long Cloud would be staying. Queuing was also irritating, but he calmed himself some by reminding himself that Cloud had been was fast asleep on his couch when he'd left, and that he highly doubted the male would wake in a matter of twenty minutes or so.

Leon entered the house hastily, dropping his keys into the tub on the side and removing his jacket, stepping further inside as his eyes immediately went wide when he discovered that not only Cloud no longer asleep.

But Cloud was no longer there.

Leon took a deep breath, strode over to the couch, looking for faint footprints that could give him clues as to which way Cloud might have gone. Hidden in the house perhaps? Or maybe he had gone out via the backdoor?

Using his common sense, Leon scouted the house. He found Cloud curled up on his bed, and relieved, went over to the male. Cloud looked something akin to, as he could just hear the girls say: 'cute'. His soft lips were pouted just slightly, cheek pressed into the sheets, hands curled into what looked like half-fists, fingers twitching occasionally in his slumber. Leon resisted the urge to wake him with a comment such as 'Glad you made yourself at home'. The fact was, he didn't want to wake dear 'Sleeping Beauty' up. It seemed the blond was catching up on much needed sleep.

The brunet turned to go back downstairs. He had groceries to stow and meals to make.

It was merely a half hour or so later that Leon heard noises upstairs. Cloud came downstairs shortly after the noises with a yawn and wordlessly sat himself back down on the sofa, the smell of food making his mouth water and stomach clench and then grumble loudly. Leon watched as the blond inhaled deeply and then murmured with a hint of amusement, "It'll be ready soon."

Slouching back on the couch, Cloud gave a soft snort. He then looked at Leon, raised his chin slightly and spoke in a low voice.

"You smell like him."