Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. These ditties are mine, as are Duke and McCallister. I think this round turned out slightly awkward, but I do not apologize! We all need a little awkward sometimes. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

040 – Another Side

Tifa reset the security system on Merlin's house after she walked in for her shift, not looking forward to six hours stuck in this house. The old sorcery books were only so interesting when there was a big hunk of nothing going on.

She nearly skidded in a puddle of water and grabbed the wall to steady herself. Looking down at the floor, she saw splotches of water and soap and…was that mud?...leading down the hallway and toward the break room in the back of the house.

Curious, she took a few more cautious steps and poked her head into the bathroom. She gagged at the mud and grime slaking the bathtub, spilling over into the floor with soaked towels and what she recognized as Leon's jacket and T-shirt.

"What in Kingdom Hearts…" She picked up the bottle of shampoo and saw it was completely empty.

What the Hell did Leon get INTO last night?

Perplexed, she followed the water trail into the break room and abruptly found her answer.

Leon was on his back, out cold on the couch and shirtless. In place of a shirt, however, a full grown red-golden retriever was curled up on his torso.

"Huh?" Tifa tilted her head.

The dog lifted her head and looked at Tifa with large brown eyes. Leon didn't stir and Tifa snickered, quietly backtracking to her bag and pulling out her camera.

Oh, she HAD to get a picture of this…

..:-X-:..

041 – Distraction

Tifa twisted Leon's arm behind his back, pinning him to the floor. "You're getting lazy."

He grunted and rolled hard, throwing off her grip and driving his knee into her side. With the wind knocked out of her, Tifa fell off. Gaining the upper hand, Leon reversed the grip, getting her into a headlock.

"And you're cocky." He bit back.

She laughed and dropped her weight from her legs, hanging in his grip. Taken off guard, Leon staggered. Tifa wriggled out of his hold and spun around, swinging her heel to slam across his jaw smoothly. He dropped like a rock.

"Unlike you, I've got the moves to back up my arrogance. Now get up." Tifa said, getting her breath back. "I've still got an hour before my shift starts."

Leon swung his leg around, sweeping her ankles out from under her. She fell back on her hands and rolled backwards to her feet, hardly missing a beat as he staggered to his feet.

"C'mon, I heard you were good." Tifa said, lifting her fists.

"This isn't my playing field." Leon said, wiping blood from his lip. "Swords and guns, not hand to hand."

"Always with the excuses." Tifa grinned and attacked again.

Leon was expecting her right hook this time and dodged it, grabbing her forearm and tripping her knees out from under her. She grabbed his shoulder and they both went down to the floor: Tifa on her back and Leon on top of her, pinning her down.

Tifa smelled like freshly cut grass and strong coffee. A bizarre but…strangely appealing combination. Before Leon could register why that particular thought was troubling, Tifa had driven her knee into his chest, flipping him off of her person. He rolled off and she immediately hooked her leg around his neck, pinning him down like an ox.

"Give." She demanded.

He choked as her calf locked his throat closed and tapped his palm on the ground twice. Satisfied, Tifa released him and rolled easily back up to her feet, pushing her hair out of her face.

"And you owe me another beer." She said in triumph. "You're really running up a tab here."

"Shut up." Leon got up slowly, too proud to show how much pain he was in. "Next time we train with swords."

"All right." Tifa lifted her hands skeptically, "But you won't just have bruised ribs after that."

Leon just glared as she chuckled and left the training room. After the door closed, he hung his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Ow…" He doubled over. Damn, that woman could kick…

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042 – Peace Made Scarce

"Are you okay?" Leon asked.

Tifa lifted her face from her desk, eyes narrowed and frown set deep. He paused, looking at her again. She continued to glare, looking five seconds away from ripping someone's throat out. He backtracked over the details of the day.

Nothing huge. No attacks beyond the usual skirmishes. No meetings. No tours. Nothing big enough to warrant the death stare she was sending his way. It wasn't the end of the month, when progress reports were due. It wasn't the beginning of the month, when new assignments came pouring in. It wasn't…

Wait a second…

Tifa was glaring as though waiting for him to figure it out himself. Realization dawned and he took an instinctive step away from her.

"Oh." He blurted.

Awkward level seven.

"I'm going to…I left something…See ya." He turned and escaped through the door into the hallway.

Oh…shit…He'd completely forgotten about…Dammit…He made a mental note to buy a tub of ice cream on the way home…some sort of peace offering to appease the beast before she clawed his eyes out…

Every three weeks, it was really, really uncomfortable having a woman as a roommate.

..:-X-:..

A/N 040: This is Tifa's side of my one-shot Man's Best Friend, in which Leon meets and subsequently ends up adopting Duke the red-golden retriever.