Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Duke. Enjoy!
..:-X-:..
167 – April Fools
For justagirl8225
The solid white coffee mug had only four things on it. The word 'I' followed by a big red heart shape. Directly under it were the words 'my mutt'. The thing sat placidly on the kitchen counter, hot coffee steaming out of the top.
Leon looked at it over his knit fingers, and then over at Tifa, who was standing in the doorway grinning like an idiot. It took little brain power to figure out who was behind this. April Fools. At least she hadn't drawn all over him in purple marker like Yuffie last year.
And people wonder why he doesn't sleep well.
Tifa was still watching him…waiting for a reaction no doubt.
…Seriously…what the Hell?
He didn't move, standing in front of the steaming mug. He knew better than to look in the cabinets. She would have confiscated all the other coffee mugs, and she knew he needed his morning dose of caffeine in order to not kill any stupid interns at headquarters. She looked quite smug with herself.
Duke had started rising with the smell of coffee too, lately. The smell accompanied one of the two humans being conscious and therefore able to feed/pet/pay attention to her. So she lumbered out of Leon's room, tail swishing, and abruptly stopped when she stepped out into the hallway.
Maybe she thought the mug was ridiculous too.
Though, by the way her entire body aimed toward the couch, Leon doubted that was it.
He returned his gaze to Tifa, her devilish little grin still in place. Yeah, you keep grinning, woman. You'll get what's coming to you.
Meanwhile, the meeting was in fifteen minutes.
With a huff, he reached out, hooked one finger through the loop on the mug, and lifted it up. He swallowed his pride as he swallowed the coffee, all the while glaring over the top at Tifa. She looked like she was about to applaud…Maybe she had hid Cid or McCallister in here just to embarrass him.
A beat passed, and suddenly Tifa's smirk disappeared.
Yeah, let it sink in.
Duke hopped onto the couch, moving around on the furniture restlessly.
Leon kept his eyes on Tifa, holding the prank mug quite nonchalantly and watching the gears start to turn in her head…She was noticing how he had caved into the prank, a very un-Leonlike thing to do. He had drank willingly from a mug that said I 'heart' My Mutt…which was a very un-Leonlike thing to do. Now he was just standing there, still drinking from it, and watching her…which wasn't really un-Leonlike, but still not expected.
Duke hopped off the couch, shuffled back and forth across the front, and lay down in front of it before jumping up onto it again three seconds later.
Tifa gave him a suspicious look and picked up her keys, walking over to the door. Leon finished his coffee, calm as you please, set the mug on the counter, and picked up the gunblade, following her to the door, wordless.
They were both halfway out the door when Duke keened and started pawing at the couch. Tifa eyed the dog with a lifted eyebrow, looked at Leon, and then stepped out. Leon smirked, closed the door, and locked it.
A beat passed as they stood out in the hallway.
"All right, all right." Tifa exhaled in defeat, "Just get it over with."
Leon walked past her, "I have no idea what you mean."
"It's April Fools. I just 'Fool'ed you, and you've got something cooking up here," She poked herself in the temple. "So just lay it on me. I know you want to."
"I already did."
"What?"
"You'll see."
"…Leon…" She jogged after him.
He looked at her, and then decided to put her out of her misery. "We're almost late for the meeting." He noted as they walked down the stairs and out into the street.
"Yeah…"
"And I hid a raw steak in your couch." He tilted his head as horror took over her face. "Duke should have shredded that whole thing to get to it by the time we get home." While she glared daggers at him, he shrugged, "It'll probably be an improvement."
..:-X-:..
168 – Ashes to Ashes
For Atramentous Love
The building was on the verge of collapse, Tifa could hear the structure popping and breaking under the crippling fire that had engulfed the entire thing. She could also still hear people screaming, trapped inside. Two, maybe three, but it tore her up inside, because there was nothing they could do. It was almost—
The middle level of the building started to buckle. In the same second, Leon took one off balanced step toward the structure, to go back inside for the civilians, even as it started to implode.
"No!" Tifa threw herself at his back, grabbing him around the middle and holding him in place. "Leon, stop."
"They're still in there—" He grunted, trying to wriggle out of her grip.
"It's too late—"
"Let go—"
The rest of the building bowed inward at the middle. The flames had eaten away at the interior structure and caused it to implode completely on itself. The building disappeared in a whoosh of hot air, blackened wood, and red hot flames.
Leon stopped struggling, but Tifa kept her arms around him, her face pressed against his back, between his shoulder blades. She pinched her eyes closed as she felt him list slightly away. They both sank wordlessly to the ground. She could smell smoke and burning wood.
The screams had gone silent.
In their place, however, the sounds of people rushing to and fro to put out the residual flames and evacuate the surrounding area filled in.
Nothing could have been done, she told herself inwardly. She and Leon had both already gone in and brought people out three times separately. The last run, she hadn't found anyone and had stayed outside the inferno to help tend to the wounded. Leon had gone back in, found nothing, and been forced to come out because of the smoke.
If he had gone back in right then, if she hadn't grabbed him—he would have been killed. Tifa turned her face so that just her right side was pressed against his back, arms still locked in place, and opened her eyes. She could hear him breathing raggedly against her.
Ash was drifting through the air, settling on the ground and every other surface surrounding the epicenter of the fire. She saw Aerith, darting back and forth, handing out potions to the victims. The woman made her way over to them and wordlessly cast two healing spells over their heads. Tifa hadn't looked at herself, but she figured she looked bad if Aerith thought she and Leon both needed the spells.
The healing effects made her insides light and warm and she exhaled, breathing a little easier now. By the slackening of Leon's chest under her arms, he was feeling the effects too. She let her arms loosen around him, breathing carefully and trying not to inhale the ash.
"Dammit." Leon pushed himself back up on his feet.
Tifa remained where she was, looking ahead now where the building had been just a minute earlier, now just a skeletal mess of jagged wood, heated steel beams, and dying fire. No one could have survived that collapse…or if they had…she doubted anyone would get to them in time. She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat.
Leon turned with a growl that she couldn't interpret, and started to walk in the other direction. Tifa climbed to her feet, looking after him.
"Leon…" She started.
He didn't acknowledge her and she hesitated. Normally, when things went downhill like this, he would go off by himself, and she would let him. He had left her alone when she wanted to be alone, the least she could do was return the favor. But this time…This time he didn't look right. This time had hit him hard.
There was nothing he could have done, but he wouldn't see it that way. Leon hated feeling useless. Tifa hurried after him, determined not to let him slip into the brooding mood that he usually did. She caught up to him, ashes drifting off her hair and shoulders.
"Leon, wait—" She had nothing to say beyond that. Just calling out to him.
Words of comfort or reassurance would have sounded hollow at this point, and probably would have pushed him away. In all the time Tifa had known him, she had known Leon not to be one to take solace from other people. So instead of saying anything, she caught up to him, moved in front of him, and abruptly embraced him. Her own fears and feelings of uselessness crashed over her, but she took a little comfort when she felt his arms haltingly reciprocate the embrace.
The only way Leon could be comforted was to think he was the one giving comfort.
..:-X-:..
169 – Any and Every Excuse
For justagirl8225
"You might be more comfortable if you lay down." Aerith offered, pouring water in to fill the rest of the bag of ice.
Tifa grimaced, sitting hunched on the edge of the couch, one arm cradled around her ribs, where a bruise every shade of blue and purple was blossoming. The idea of lying on Merlin's couch like some wounded animal while the rest of the Restoration Committee walked in and out all day made her nauseas.
"Just give me a potion and I'll be fine." She grumbled.
Aerith handed her the ice pack. "That bruise will earn you a day off. You should take it, get some rest—"
"Aerith," Tifa groaned in exasperation, taking the pack. "I don't need a day off. I just need this bruise to go away so that I can get back out there."
"You sound like Cloud." Aerith tutted.
"Bite your tongue!" Tifa snapped, but she was too tired to really mean it.
She eased the ice bag against the sore, swollen spot on her ribs and hissed at the cold. She shifted the grip around on it so that she could pull her shirt back down over it and hold it from the other side. There was no need for her hands to get frostbite because one Dancer Nobody got a lucky shot.
Aerith sighed, "Get some rest—"
"You aren't serious."
"—and we'll see how you feel after the swelling goes down."
Tifa inhaled and then gagged slightly when breathing aggravated her ribs. "I don't want to lie around and wait. Just sitting here is making me crazy."
"What's making you crazy?" Yuffie chirped as she walked in with Leon, both looking like they'd gone ten rounds with the fire elemental Heartless that lurked around Ansem's Study.
"Aerith won't heal my wounds." Tifa said dramatically. "I think she has an agenda."
"Now that's not nice." Leon said flatly, eying Tifa. "What's—"
Tifa kept a lax expression and lifted her shirt enough to show off the bruise. He tilted his head at it, looking bewildered and slightly impressed. Yuffie was less subtle.
"Holy crap! You're lucky to be ALIVE!" The girl gawked.
Tifa grunted, lowering her shirt again and shifting uncomfortably.
Aerith rolled her eyes, "Just lie down and take the pressure off of your ribs."
"How lazy is that?" Tifa snapped, feeling irritable now. "I'm fine."
Leon sighed, sinking onto the couch next to her and looking at her flatly. "Don't be stubborn."
Tifa balked. "You want to talk about stubborn? YOU—the guy who used paper towels and duct tape to avoid going to the hospital when your thumb was almost sliced off?"
"You're being dramatic." He leaned back slightly. "Come here."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?"
"Because I said so." He quipped back at her.
Aerith instructed Yuffie to go see if Cid needed help at the Bailey, to which the younger woman huffed and sauntered out, saying something about old men and cranky attitudes. Tifa was too exhausted to argue with Leon, and conceded, leaning back against him. No sooner had she done this than he scooted back, taking her with him, so that they were both effectively lying on the couch…Well, he was lying on the couch, and she was practically lying on him.
It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, but Tifa was NOT going to get up first. She grinned, adjusting the ice bag against her ribs and leaning into his chest. All this before Aerith turned around from ordering Yuffie off. The flower girl looked mildly surprised at Don't-Touch-Me Leon and Bad-Mood Tifa in effect cuddling on the couch.
"What's all this?" She said, wry grin touching her lips.
"You said lay down." Tifa shrugged, her insides going light at his proximity.
Aerith snorted and looked to Leon. "And your excuse?"
Leon made an offended noise, "I got a very bad papercut today."
"That's not good." Tifa said in mock concern, taking one of his hands, "Let me take a look at that….oh yes, I see it…you should definitely take the rest of the day off. In fact, I wouldn't get up off this couch if I were you." She flashed Aerith a smug grin.
Aerith sighed and walked out of the room, "You two are impossible."
..:-X-:..
A/N 167: Leon still thinks he'll win the Couch War…silly man.