Yay! Thanks for the reviews! Makes me happy!
Yeah I seem to pay more attention to the unpopular-ish couples because they don't get enough attention, haha…
But this is almost a fact: Sora can make any pairing look cute. In some way, whether sadistic or fluffy, he can make any pairing look remotely cute-or hot depending on what it is…!
Well anyway: Hope this story isn't going too slow paced. But I don't want to add too much into one chapter. That was my old habit: my chapters would be so long! Now I'm breaking the habit by forcing myself not to go too far past certain pages on my Word document. But if you guys want me to add more to a chapter, let me know!
Cloud remained still and motionless, almost like a statue. Memories came flooding back into his mind before his shocked face became a face of fear and he shoved Leon away from him, looking away from the man that just kissed him. Silence filled the room for a few more moments before Leon spoke up.
"…I guess I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Leon tried to look at Cloud's face but he kept looking away, "…to scare you."
"…"
"I don't know if you like me any more than before but…I hope you can at least believe that I am not here to harm either Sora or Roxas?"
Cloud silently stood up and Leon wasn't sure if he was going to get kicked out in a matter of two seconds or get beaten up.
"…I rather you not do that again, Leon."
"…Did I bring you memories you rather have forgotten?" Leon asked, standing up as well, without being fazed by what Cloud requested.
"Shut up…"
"I apologize for that then, but…I'm afraid I simply don't just 'not do it again'…"
Cloud sends Leon a glare,
"Then get out! And you can forget about seeing Sor-"
Leon made a firm grip on Cloud's shoulders that it silenced Cloud, although Cloud didn't know why Leon's touch can silence him so easily like that.
"I'll leave, so you can calm down and think things though; but I'll be back, Cloud. I really do like you…" Leon brushed a part of Cloud's hair to give a quick kiss to the blonde's forehead before releasing Cloud and goes to let himself out. Cloud only stood there to watch Leon leave after he said his first name for the first time. Normally Cloud would be raging about how disrespectful that was but…the anger never came. Instead it felt…almost comforting.
Sora, upon hearing some of the conversation, quickly tries to hide himself as he was standing between the living room and the front door. So Sora silently runs upstairs, forgetting he could've gone to the kitchen where the popcorn was waiting for him. Leon slipped his shoes on and opened the door but before leaving he looked up the staircase.
"Hey Sora!"
Sora flinched and crawled into view at the top of the stairs,
"Y-Yeah?"
"…Sorry you had to hear that."
"Um…no, it's okay! Really! But…Are you coming back, Leon?"
Leon gave a small smile, or a smirk depending on who sees it,
"Of course, Sora. And Sora…I really do care about your father. Watch over him for me until next time? Make sure he feels better?"
Sora smiled for him,
"Definitely!"
Leon lets himself out, closing the door and walked down the streets of Hallow Bastion, heading back towards his job at 7th Heaven for his night shift.
"Hm?" The motorcycle went into a halt, and Roxas's nose collides with Axel's back once again. Depending on which direction and angle Roxas's face was facing, every time Axel makes a sudden stop he seems to injure or hurt some part of Roxas's head.
"Stop doing that!" Roxas exclaimed as he held his nose which he thought was going to bleed any second.
"…Isn't that Leon?" Axel asked staring down the road and Roxas quickly got over his pain,
"Where?" Roxas looked between Leon and his home, "Why did he leave so early?"
"Yeah no kidding, any normal person would stay longer if he wanted to molest Sora, I mean, I wou-" Roxas took his helmet off and hits Axel over the head to stop the disturbing sentence. Luckily, Axel had his own helmet on, saving him any serious injury.
"OW! I wasn't serious! I wouldn't let anyone touch Sora before me anyway!"
Roxas climbed off the motorcycle and nearly shoved his helmet to Axel.
"You're not getting close to Sora for the last time!" he shouted and Axel only rolled his eyes,
"Uh huh, yeah, okay, we'll see…"
Roxas groaned from impatience and took off towards his house, not bothering to convince Axel anymore.
"Thanks for the ride, Axel! I'll see you later!" Roxas shouted as he ran,
"…Can I see Sora first?" Axel asked shouting after him,
"HELL NO!"
Axel rolled his eyes and got off his motorcycle to put away Roxas's helmet away into the seat.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Roxas nearly barged into his house and shouted for his brother. Instead, Cloud came running,
"What's wrong? Is Sora hurt? Is Leon still here?" Cloud exclaimed carrying one of the store's sword in hand.
"No dad, I'm fine," Sora answered running down the stairs in time to see Roxas jump and plant his body against the wall to dodge an accidental swing from Cloud upon hearing Sora's voice in which he turned his body thus his sword moved as well.
"Oh Roxas! I am so sorry!" Cloud dropped the sword and pulled his son into a protective hug, "I almost hurt you!"
"I-It's okay…" Roxas lied as he still had his wide eyes of fear. One thing everyone knows is to never get between Cloud and ANY sword he holds in his hands.
"What do you mean Leon kissed Dad?" Roxas exclaimed when the two were alone in Sora's room with Roxas on the bed and Sora on the floor, eating the popcorn he made for the second movie they were supposed to watch.
"Shush! It didn't go that well!" Sora pressed a finger to his lips, "But I mean what I said. I saw Leon kiss Dad! Except Dad got slightly angry I think…"
"You think?"
"I wasn't sure what happened exactly I mean…it's bad to eavesdrop!"
"Ugh!" Roxas fell back on the bed, "Come on! Something big happens and all you say is that it's bad to eavesdrop?"
"Well it is! And spying too!"
Roxas shook his head and then sat back up again when he remembered something.
"Oh yeah, before I forget: Whenever you see Axel, make sure I'm with you when you talk to him."
"Huh? Why?"
"Just…because!"
"Roxy…" Sora gave a firm look at his brother, "I will disobey you unless you give me a good reason!"
"Ugh…Okay! I'm just trying to protect you! I don't trust you and Axel alone together! I'm more mature and know what's out there! So I can handle myself-"
"Hey! I'm not a baby!" Sora cut in,
"Uh, yeah, you are…" Roxas mumbled. "And let's face it: I'm more of an adult than you anyway."
"HEY!"
"Besides, he's my best friend and you're my brother! I'm pretty sure I know what I'm saying!"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"Sora look: I've seen things and I know things that would never ever cross your mind! Especially when I was dating Axel-"
"You dated Axel?" Sora exclaimed and Roxas mentally cursed himself for letting that slip.
"Erm, don't tell Dad…" Roxas muttered as he tried to avert Sora's gaze. Sora reached for his stuffed Moogle next to him and threw it at Roxas,
"Pedophile!"
"Shh! Shut up! And nothing bad happened!"
"How would I know that? Now I know why you started coming home more and more late when you first started your part-time job! Do you know how hard it was to cover for you?" Sora exclaimed, standing up.
"Sora: Nothing. Bad. Happened. I dumped him before anything did!" Roxas stood up too, the two now face to face.
"Then why are you still friends?"
"Why can't we be friends? Leon's even older than Axel!"
"He doesn't count! We're not dating him, Dad is!"
"Dad's NOT dating Leon based on what I heard you say!"
"Well they might!"
"That's not the point! Don't compare me and Axel with Leon and Dad!"
"Oh…you're right: You and Axel was pedophile!"
"Sora! Shut up! We didn't do anything for the last time!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Cloud was downstairs in the kitchen, eating and polishing some new sets of swords from the store to get his mind off what happened but stopped when he heard a big thump and some yelling.
"…Boys! What are you doing up there?" he yelled,
"NOTHING!" they both yelled in unison. Normally, Cloud wanted to go upstairs before they kill each other but…
"They're still brothers…they should be okay…and…I have more important problems!" Cloud thought and found himself angry at Leon just even thinking about what happened.
"He's…AH! I can't think straight! It's not right! He's younger and…what am I even thinking? Why the hell am I even CONSIDERING a relationship? Man this guy is good…"
Upstairs, the twins were rolling around on the ground, both trying to get the upper hand over the other. But when Roxas finally seized control and about to give Sora a black eye he stopped and the two stared at each other with Roxas sitting on top of Sora's waist.
"…"
"…"
"…Wouldn't Dad…" Roxas lowered his fist when he started to talk,
"Have stopped us by now?" Sora finished and the two stared at each other some more. This is the first time they got so close to physically hurting each other, at least, it's the first time since their first fist-fight many years ago. Roxas looked towards the door and slowly got off Sora who followed his brother. The two snuck downstairs and took a peak into the kitchen to see Cloud lost in thought as he does a horrible job polishing the swords while looking at the wall in front of him with a piece of bread hanging from his mouth.
"…You think Dad's okay?" Sora asked worriedly.
"…I don't know."
"Do you think he hates Leon?"
"I really don't know, Sora…"
Sora suddenly left from his spot and Roxas was about to yell in protest and tried to stop Sora but instead decided on saving his own hide and goes back to hiding in case Cloud gets mad.
"Hey Daddy!" Sora greeted cutely with his hands behind his back and rocking his body back and forth.
"Hm?" Cloud snapped out of it and looked down at Sora. Despite being 15, he's not taller than Cloud even though Cloud's sitting. The man took the bread out of his mouth, "Something you need, Sora?"
The boy only nodded cutely,
"Well…what is it?" Cloud asked, not sure why Sora seems to be taking his time; and he's seems awfully cheerful, not to mention calling him 'Daddy' for once in a long time. Sora stopped rocking his body and just looked at his father.
"Smile for me!"
"What?"
"Smile for me! Like this!" Sora showed his best example but Cloud only stared while Roxas's brow twitched upon hearing that request,
"I rather not."
"Please, Daddy? It will make you feel better! And when Leon sees it he'll feel better too!"
"What?" Cloud's voice turned from relaxed to sudden tense now knowing Leon was involved.
"Leon feels bad. I ran into him after I finished the popcorn! He told me he hurt your feelings today and he hopes you feel better! Even though I was mad at you at first that he had to leave early but when he told me that, I knew I had no right to be angry at you!"
"Sora…" Cloud whispered as he listened to what the most innocent person in his family had to say about Leon. When Sora says something about someone, it's usually very hard not to believe him. But this story explained why Sora didn't question Leon's disappearance.
"So I hope the next time you see Leon, you'd have forgiven him! And then give him a nice smile to let him know that! Remember, Daddy: It's bad to hold a grudge unless…actually I don't know what last part is…Auntie Tifa never told me…" Sora crossed his arms and went into thought. Cloud, slowly but he did, let out a light laugh and placed a hand on Sora's head.
"You're a good kid…I raised you better than I thought," he lightly played with his son's hair and slowly pulled him into a hug, "Thanks Sora."
Sora grinned and happily hugs back, pleased with himself for making his father feel better.
The young man that fell for another man, older but not that he cares, was cleaning wine glasses...or at least, he was supposed to. Not that there was much to clean since his earlier leave that day but he stood there for a good 20 minutes and only got through one glass and currently slowly cleaning the second.
"…Tifa?"
"Mm?" she replied as she went in and out of the back, carrying in and out crates and bottles.
"You're close to Cloud right?"
"Yeah definitely. I assume you got acquainted? Cloud started yelling at me a while ago after finding out I entrusted you to pick up his sons on that rainy day…"
"Yeah…Can I ask you about him?"
"I guess, but nothing personal."
"…Did something bad happen to him in the past?"
Tifa stopped moving and slowly turned to give a hard stare at Leon.
"That's something only Cloud can discuss with other people," she replied.
"So something did happen?"
Tifa sighed,
"Look Leon, yes, Cloud's had some bad things happen to him. He fears his past more than anything with the exception of everything that's happened to him to happen to Sora and Roxas too. That's why he's very protective of them. Let's just say Cloud fears darkness…in every way possible. Even in something as simple as letting his sons out at night."
Leon, by this point, already stopped cleaning but just listened carefully to every detail he can pick up on.
"I see…has he ever gotten close to anyone? I mean other than the person that gave birth to Sora and Roxas," Leon continued his series of questions.
"Well…" Tifa crossed his arms, "Cloud's never one to actually seek out a relationship. He didn't exactly try to get kids either. Don't get me wrong, Cloud loves Sora and Roxas to death…but Cloud never really found someone he actually loved," Tifa explained.
"Do you know his sexuality?"
Tifa raised a brow and Leon sense it,
"Er, sorry, personally question, I know."
"Squall Leonhart," she uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hip, "Don't tell me you asked for a later shift recently because you want to spend more time at Cloud's place!"
Leon lightly flinched at being called by his real name.
"Erm…I'm just spending some quality time with Sora and Roxas," he half-lied and suddenly started cleaning that same wine-glass at a faster pace.
"…Are you serious? You expect me to believe a 28 year-old man is trying to spend 'quality time' with two teenage boys that aren't even related to him?"
"…That's what Cloud said."
Tifa smiled and shook her head,
"Okay here's the deal: Based on the fact that you're slightly down, as in more than usual, and the fact you got here extremely early, and you're asking me about Cloud, I am going to assume something happened between you two…"
"Yeah that's pretty much it," Leon muttered and she continued.
"So tomorrow, go give him some lilies or any bunch of pretty flowers."
"Huh?"
"Cloud's got a soft spot for pretty flowers. He didn't play with other kids much when he was younger so nature was like his best friend…don't tell him I told you that," and on that note, Tifa went towards the back again to continue her work.
"…" Leon only nodded and whispered a silent 'thanks' before finally moving on to the next glass to clean. Based on that conversation alone, he can assume Tifa probably knew Cloud since they were kids for knowing crucial information like that.
The gunblader sighed out loud as he found himself hopelessly falling in love as all he could think about now was going to see Cloud tomorrow with flowers in hand.
Notes:
-Originally, Sora wasn't supposed to know what Pedophile means-lol
-Since Cloud didn't exactly have friends when he was little, I would assume nature would be his best friend. It sorta makes sense, no?
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