Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but I was totaly swamped with school work. But as soon as I got a chance, I finished this and here it is! Because that's the kind of person I am... sometimes. Thanks to: Kanilla, Queen of the Insects, BlueEyedDemon1, BLACKSHEEP, carbuncle x3, 13CC, demonmaster-999, Lack Thereof, Lady Samurai, Jaguira, Aeshma-Daeva, chocoholic freak,mango smoothies, EE2, and, of course, Derek. I love you ALL! Thank you so much, this story now has over 80 reviews! A virtual hug to you all :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, but I own the story, so read and enjoy but please do not take.

Summary: One day a man in a wet shirt and leather pants shows up on Sora's doorstep. So, Sora gets a roommate, a young artist named Riku who turns out to be the most charming person person he has ever met. So charming, infact, that he proceeds to charm the clothes right off of all of Sora's friends. But that's okay, because Sora doesn't know. Yet.

It was nine in the morning. It was, in Sora's opinion, earlier than anyone should have to ever get up. Unfortunately for him, Riku thought that it was the absolute perfect time to start a new day, and, since Sora was a light sleeper, his day-starting inevitably woke up his cranky roommate. Sora had tried to reason with Riku, but Riku had the strange opinion that getting up early was good for him, or, more accurately, for the both of them. Riku really was so silly at times. The doorbell rang. "Sooooooooooooora!"

Sora groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. "Oh no, NO!"

"Sora! Open up, honey!"

Sora curled up into a little ball on the couch.

"Sora! Open up, love, we've got pie!"

Riku peeked out of the bathroom, his toothbrush still in his mouth. "Pie?"

"Sora, come on, now," came a male voice from behind the door. "We know you're in there..."

Riku rinsed out his mouth and walked out of the bathroom. "Well? What are you waiting for? Whoever they are, they have pie!"

Sora glared at Riku but nevertheless opened the door. A rather plump lady with dark brown hair and two pies came inside. She was followed by a tall blond man who looked like he spent a fortune on hair gel (1). The man smiled as his wife set the pies on the kitchen table.

"Sora, hello!" said the woman.

"Hello mom, dad..." said Sora reluctantly.

"Hello Sora's parents!" said Riku while enthusiastically eyeing the pies.

"Hello... who is this?" Sora's father asked Sora.

Riku held out his hand. "I'm Riku, Sora's roommate." He shook hands with Sora's father.

"Hello, Riku, my name is Cloud and my wife's name is Aeris," the blond man replied.

"Nice to meet you, dear," said Aeris. She looked around and clapped her hands. "Well, why don't we get to work on these pies! Sora, honey, why don't you go put the kettle on the stove?"

Sora grumbled a bit but went to do what he was told. Meanwhile Riku and Cloud stood staring at each other while Aeris did... something(2).

"So. Riku," began Cloud, "what is it that you do?"

"I'm an artist."

"An artist!" Aeris gushed, "how lovely!"

Cloud was less enthusiastic. "Hm. An artist. I hope you're not one of those fruitcakes who paint the noses upside down and the too many eyes..."

"Um...no. My style is very traditional..." said Riku after a little while of Cloud's ranting.

"Good. I hate those idiots. Anyone can splatter paint on a canvas."

"I whole heartedly agree with you," said Riku.

"And all of that stuff about expressing feelings is total bull crap that they say just so that they can get out of trying! I think that-"

Aeris put a comforting hand on Cloud's shoulder. "It's alright, honey. He agrees with you," she nodded her head as if she were talking to a child. Cloud slowly calmed down.

"So... Mr.-"

"Oh, just call me Cloud, I insist!"

"Alright... Cloud... what is it that you do for a living?"

"I'm a lawyer."

Riku nodded his head as if he were really impressed. He was, in fact, not. He had known far too many lawyers in his life. Most of them had had very loose morals, and five of them had committed murder. One of them had been a serial killer and had committed twelve murders (interestingly enough, all were other lawyers that Riku had known) before he had been caught by the police. Riku had to admit, though, Cloud did not fit the sharp and well-dressed mold.

Aeris patted her husband's arm. "He mostly does pro-bono work," she beamed at him in pride (3).

Riku nodded. That explained it. A lawyer that works for free is not a lawyer by definition, only by name. They all sat down, Riku sitting across the table from Sora's father.

Sora came back from the kitchen, magically managing to hold four steaming mugs at once (this was a hidden talent of his).

"Thank you, love," said Aeris to Sora as she took two cups from him and set them on the table. She handed him a knife and he began to cut up the pies. "Why don't you tell him about the case of the potted plant, honey?" Aeris asked of Cloud.

Riku leaned in. "The potted plant case?" he asked with newfound enthusiasm. The case of the potted plant was, in short, a husband suing his wife for dropping a potted plant on his head after he had tried to strangle her. Since she didn't get hurt but he did, he was the one that got to play the victim, never mind the fact that he started it.

Cloud nodded. "Yes. I was the lawyer on the behalf of the wife."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Didn't the wife loose?" He didn't need to ask, he knew that she lost; he also knew the lawyer that had worked for the husband. Now he was just trying to piss Cloud off. Riku was actually very good at pissing people off because he was good at finding people's buttons and, since he liked buttons, then pressing them.

Cloud slammed his hand on the table. It made a large thump sound and the tea spilled out of its mugs. But not all of it, a fact for which Sora was grateful; he did not want to go and make more tea. Aeris and Sora looked at Cloud disapprovingly. "Damn right she lost! How could she win when the husband had that smug, slimy, silver-haired, bastard as his lawyer? The disgusting snake bribed the judge, I just know it!"

Sora wiped off the bottom of his mug with his sleeve. Aeris patted Cloud on the shoulder. Riku grinned wider and wider. But, being a tactful young man, a quality which most young men lack, he tried his best to hide his grin when Cloud looked up. He succeeded moderately well.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get him next time... Cloud," he said after a moment.

"You're damn right, there'll be a next time! I swear, the slippery bastard is stalking me!"

"Don't swear, honey," said Aeris as she took a sip of tea. Cloud took a slice of pie. Sora was by now not paying attention, and, in fact, hadn't been for the past ten minutes. Ten minutes during which he had managed to single-handedly consume half of the apple pie. Riku was not at all upset by this, and had by now forgotten all about the pie. This was really turning out to be much more interesting then he could have ever hoped.

"Well... Cloud and Ms.-"

"Just call me Aeris, dear, 'Ms.' makes me feel so old!"

"Aeris... I would really like for you to meet my parents! They are throwing a party this weekend... Why don't you come?'

"That's lovely dear, we'll be there! Won't we, Cloud?"

(1) That, or he got electrocuted daily

(2) Something very productive, no doubt

(3) Hopefully pro-bono is the right word. If it isn't... well I'm sure you all understand me

Authors Note: In my mind Aeris gets fat during her marriage to Cloud because... well... pie! And Cloud becomes a cranky guy, because... well... Aeris! And I'm sure we all know who the other lawyer is... Yes, I quite think that my obsession has no bounds.

Next Chapter: A rainy day