Prompt: Luminescent
Given by: Reina-183
Setting: Radiant Garden, Post-KHII
Pairing: Pre Cloud/Riku
"Cid is just teasing you and you're making it fun by reacting this way," said Leon as he looked over some old blueprints at Ansem's old desk.
Cloud was leaning against a wall on the opposite side of the room. "You would have thought he'd outgrow that by now."
"He never will," replied the scarred man. "You should have figured that out by now."
Loud footsteps suddenly approached the study from the computer room, along with a few giggles.
Cloud and Leon stopped talking and watched as Sora ran passed them with Riku close behind the spiky-haired brunette.
"Hey, watch it," said Leon as Sora came dangerously close to ramming into a bookcase. Ironically, Riku was the one who prevented him from injuring himself. Leon suspected the teal-eyed boy wanted to save that pleasure for himself, considering the way they came barrelling into the room.
"Sorry," Sora said with suppressed laughter as Riku murmured something and looked slightly apologetic and a little embarrassed too.
"What are you two doing here anyway?" asked Leon. "I thought you were going to be checking out something in The Land of Dragons."
"We did," answered Sora. "We needed to check something on the computer and I figured it would be better to have Riku do it."
"Considering what happened the last time you tried to use it, I'd say that was a good idea," commented the scarred man with a smirk.
"Hey! That could have happened to anyone who doesn't know about computers," muttered Sora.
"Sure it could have," replied Leon, smirk still in place, as he returned to the blueprints he had been restoring.
"You started bashing random keys when it failed to do what you wanted, didn't you?" asked Riku with a small grin.
"Not all of us are computer whizzes who learned under Ansem the Wise, okay?" replied Sora. "At least I can see something when it's right in front of me…"
"Yeah, as long as it isn't a dangerous object practically screaming at you not to touch it," retorted Riku easily.
"Again, that happened once," said Sora, holding up one finger as if the visual aid would help him prove his point.
"Do we want to know?" asked Cloud.
"Probably not," answered Riku.
The blonde man stepped away from the wall and regarded the two teenagers. "Is that why you're back early?"
"Yep," answered Sora brightly as Riku seemed to avoid eye contact with the former SOLDIER. "Turned out we needed to just leave it alone. Luckily, Riku can smell danger a mile away, so we avoided releasing an ancient evil entity."
The silver-haired boy snorted. "You mean I have common sense."
"I think Riku was right; I don't want to know," replied Cloud, whose eyes flicked over to the teal-eyed boy briefly.
"Hey," Sora said, looking at Cloud's face intently. "Your eyes are sort of glowy."
"Glowy?" repeated the blonde man.
"That isn't a real word, Sora," commented Riku.
"You know…the same with Reno's and Sephir-er…only they're a different colour…but they're still…er…" Sora scrunched up his face in thought.
"They're luminescent," said Riku, who was staring into the man's eyes while he was watching Sora.
When both Cloud and Sora turned to Riku (even Leon turned his eyes toward the boy), the silver-haired teen turned his face away slightly.
Sora grinned when he noticed the slight smile on Cloud's face. "You would know…" He muttered to Riku, whose face lowered, further hiding it under his long silver bangs.
Cloud turned his attention to the spiky-haired boy. "What?"
Leon tried to disguise a snort as a cough, while Sora just grinned. "He notices luminescent things…usually."
"Oh," said Cloud as he took on a look of slight confusion, which only Leon recognised as well hidden disappointment.
"I think Sora is referring to the Mako," stated Leon.
Cloud's expression darkened.
"What's Mako?" asked Sora, as Riku threw him a look that he did not notice.
Cloud however, did notice. "It's alright, Riku. After what happened here, a few of us were involved in something. As a part of this, we were exposed to a substance called Mako to make us better soldiers. That's why my eyes have a faint glow, the same for Reno and Sephiroth."
Cloud's mood had notably darkened during his brief explanation. Sora looked confused and a little lost. Riku offered Cloud a look of understanding. Leon could not help but raise an eyebrow when he noticed that his friend clearly took some comfort from the silver-haired boy's support.
"Riku," Leon said as he switched his gaze from Cloud to the boy. Teal eyes turned to him. "We've been having some trouble adapting a few of Ansem's old systems. Do you think you could stay a few days and help us out with that?"
"Sure," said Riku, then he turned to his best friend; "Unless Sora has another bright idea to risk our lives."
"No, we can stay," said the blue-eyed boy with a grin.
Riku nodded once and turned back to Leon. "Alright then, which programs?"
"Cid left a list in the computer room," said Leon as he moved to lower his blueprints.
"That's alright," said Riku as he started headed toward the computer room. "I noticed a programs list in there earlier that I wondered about."
Leon nodded to the boy as he left the room.
Sora turned to wave to the two men, "I'll see if I can help him at all."
"You'll probably just it make it harder for him," said Cloud, whose eyes were still on the door Riku had just passed though. "Don't get him sucked into the computer."
"Fine," Sora turned to Leon. "Can I help you, then?"
The scarred man's eyes darted to the boy. "Actually, Aerith was just saying how nice it was to have Kairi's help in the gardens, and I'm sure they could use more manpower out there."
"Great," said Sora as he turned for the exit. "See you guys later," he called with a wave.
Leon turned to face Cloud just as Mako eyes darted over to him. "What was that about?" questioned the blonde.
"We need help with the computer and that kid's the best at it. Cid said he was a lot of help with the computer before, and he did learn a lot from Ansem himself, so he knows his pass codes and such," Leon explained levelly. "Besides, I thought you would enjoy having the kid around for a while."
"You thought what?" asked Cloud sternly. "First of all, I never said I wanted him around, and what about all those cracks about his age earlier?"
"You don't have to say it," responded Leon. "It's obvious in the way you talk about that kid and the way you look at him. Cid was mainly joking about the whole jailbait thing, he's just happy to see you getting back to your old self. Shera and Zell are the only ones who are probably going to have a serious problem with the age thing."
"Out of our friends, yes, but not the whole town," commented Cloud, "But that doesn't mater anyway, because I am not seriously interested in the kid. I just…" the former SOLDIER's voice lost its sternness. "I just don't know."
"Look," said Leon. "Cid's right about the jailbait thing. It's illegal and I'm not going to pretend to understand it completely, but the Mako isn't the only thing making your eyes luminescent when that kid is around."
Cloud just stared at his friend for a moment. "You're actually encouraging this?"
"Cid isn't the only one who's happy to see you getting back to your old self," replied Leon.
"What makes you even think Riku would be interested?" asked Cloud.
"Well if you could keep your attention off of him for more than a few seconds, you would have noticed Sora teasing him about you." Leon crossed his arms. "Also, why else would that kid shy away from you after the eyes comment?"
"Maybe you're right…" Cloud took on a thoughtful expression as he looked towards the door to the computer room.
Leon rolled his eyes. "I guess Riku isn't the only one to miss something's luminance at times," he muttered as he returned to his blueprints.
