A/N: Hello again. I just can't seem to stop writing this story! It is quite literally my every spare thought. In any case, I don't hear much complaining, so we'll carry on. I wanted this to have a bit of a Christmas theme considering the time of year and all, but then I began to wonder if this world would even have Christmas – it being a Christian holiday and what not, so I've settled for calling it Solstice, and made it a winter celebration instead.

I hope you enjoy. xxx


Exchanges

Leon had to stifle the sounds Cloud was making with the palm of his hand; his own little moans smothered into the crook of the blond's neck as he bit down on the tender flesh and rocked forwards. The bed creaked under them in that tell tail intone and despite how hard Leon tried to keep his thrusts shallow, the rocking sounded deafening in the quiet of his dorm room. Cloud's breath was hot against his hand, and his skin slick at his hip as Leon gripped harder, kneading the muscle there.

The wall supporting them was cool and smooth against Cloud's forehead and he splayed his hand along it wider, hoping to soak up some of its relief into his scorched flesh. He lazily stroked himself, keeping time with Leon's careful penetration and everything was slow and intense, the air too heavy in the thick hotness of the tiny room.

The young blond had only arrive a short time before, surprising his professor who had been alarmed to say the least at finding his student and secret lover stood outside his room for anyone to see.

"What are you doing here?" he had hissed, stepping out briefly to check up and down the halls to see if anyone was watching.

"I came to give you this." Cloud had replied, holding out a brightly wrapped present.

Leon had looked at it like it might have been a dangerous animal, the seconds ticking away as he tried to gather the shocked and scattered pieces of his mind together to work out what was going on, before he remembered that it was Solstice and everyone had gone home for the holidays. Everyone except himself, and Cloud, apparently.

"Get in here." He demanded, grabbing the front of Cloud's jacket and scarf and pulled him into his room.

Cloud stumbled inside, turning sharply to avoid crashing into Leon's desk that was stacked high with papers and books and caught Leon checking the halls one more time before closing the door.

"Cloud, do you have any idea how risky it is for you to come here?" he asked running a hand raggedly through his hair.

"Relax; everyone's gone home. There's no one about." Cloud said with a small playful smirk. He loosened his scarf and shrugged his way out of his coat, placing it across the back of Leon's swivel chair.

"What do you think you're doing?" the brunet asked him, his face stern and completely unmoved by his lover's appearance.

"Making myself comfortable." Cloud replied, toeing off his boots. He cut off Leon's taciturn reply with a quick assault to his lips, taking the older man by surprise and pushing him back up against the door. Leon only resisted for a fraction of a second, before giving into Cloud's incessant mouth.

"You know, you're really cute when you're trying to be serious." Cloud commented as he wasted little time reaching for Leon's belt.

"I'm not trying" Leon replied, caught halfway between wanting Cloud to stop in case someone heard them and begging him to continue. "I am serious." He managed to say before Cloud silenced him again with another dizzying kiss. Despite his bravado, it was really all the persuasion Leon needed and before long he had stripped Cloud of his clothes and tipped him towards the bed.

Regardless of Leon's earlier concerns it clearly hadn't been enough to stop himself from pushing Cloud up against the wall and fucking him slowly, making the breathless and dizzying sensations last for as long as possible.

Leon pushed himself in deeper, shifting his angle and was satisfied when he felt the puff of hot air against his palm and the muffled cry from the blond.

"Shhh." He warned kissing the spot he had bitten earlier, lapping at the sweat that had gathered there. He teased that spot inside his lover a while longer, only relenting once Cloud's legs began to shake so badly they were in danger of collapsing under them. "Are you ready?" he asked, his voice husky.

Cloud whined and nodded, trying to break free from the hand over his mouth but Leon's grip was strong.

"Hold on." Leon instructed him, taking Cloud's erection over from the younger man and leaning all his weight up against the blond's back.

Cloud braced himself against the wall, fists clenched above his head as all of his pleasure was taken over by the older man who began to fuck him harder. He bucked, wanting to push back and participate in his own orgasm, but the older man had him pinned, his constant assault pitching their combined weight against the wall as Cloud was thrust and fucked into white hot blinding release, his whole body bucking and twisting against the uncontrollable pleasure. It wasn't until it was all over that he realised Leon had cum as well and that the juncture of his neck and shoulder was sore from the fierce bite mark imprinted into the skin.

Leon let his hand slip away from Cloud's mouth and the younger man's harsh panting spilled out into the quiet of the room, mingling with his own.

"Fuck." Cloud moaned hoarsely finally able to say something. The weight from his back disappeared and he shuddered as Leon pulled out of him. Finally he pushed off the wall and collapsed backwards onto the narrow bed, uncaring that the old box springs screeched or that Leon threw him another one of those warning looks.

The older man quickly disposed of the condom and stretched out on the bed beside his lover. They hadn't been doing this long, and the intricacies of post-fuck chatter had always been something of a mystery to the older man in any case, however his younger companion seemed unaffected with the same problem.

"You've no idea how badly I needed that." He breathed out, turning to flop onto his stomach.

Leon snorted, thinking that yes, he knew exactly. He probably had the record for longest dry spell on campus after all. In fact, it could more accurately be described as a drought. He was the proverbial walking desert.

"Don't tell me that's all you came to see me for. You'll hurt my feelings." He replied dryly.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I forgot." Cloud suddenly exclaimed, climbing off the too soft bed and scrabbling through his discarded clothes for the present he had brought over. Normally Leon would have been exhausted. The young man's exuberance would have exasperated the more introverted older man yet somehow he felt none of that. Instead, he felt… invigorated – excited even. Leon didn't allow himself too much time to dwell on those thoughts.

Cloud clambered back onto the bed and settled down again next to Leon, handing over the gift, all of a sudden a little shyer than he had been.

"Here." He said an edge of vulnerability to his voice.

Leon took the present and sat himself up, leaning against the headboard. He ripped open the delicate orange crape paper to expose a box. Inside, sat amongst more finely layered paper was a beautiful leather bound journal, its texture butter soft and in the corner his initials were monogramed into the cover. For a long time, Leon was speechless and Cloud worried that he had chosen wrong.

"Do you like it?" he asked eventually, unable to take the silence any longer.

"I…I don't…" Leon was unsure exactly how he felt, but he knew that the last thing he wanted Cloud to feel was that he didn't like it. He loved it. It was, without doubt the nicest thing anybody had ever bought him. It wasn't saying much, considering he didn't receive very many presents, but still, Leon couldn't remember a gift that had made him feel quite like this before. "This must have cost you a fortune." He settled for concerning himself with the monetary value, territory that was much more comfortable, and tried to ignore the way Cloud's expectant face fell ever so slightly.

"Yeah, well, I don't have any family to buy for. Just Tifa and a few others." The young man's awkwardness was palpable.

"I don't know what to say." Leon said honestly.

"Ummm, just say thank you." Cloud tried to joke, but all the while feeling like the sentiment of the gift had missed its mark.

"Thank you." Leon offered as sincerely as he could muster, his eyes locking with Cloud's who still looked so unsure. "Really, thank you." he added, wanting that look to disappear.

"So I should probably get going." Cloud spoke up after a few long moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Do you have to?" Leon found himself saying.

"Um, yeah. Sorry." Cloud rose from the bed and began dressing, all the while feeling the eyes of his professor on his skin.

He left the same way he had come in, quietly and as inconspicuously as possible; the feel and scent of Leon still clinging to his skin wrapped up and embedded into the material of his clothes.