The Elsewhere Chronicles
See disclaimer in the prologue
"What are you writing?"
Leon looked up from his paper. "End of the term assignment."
The look on Cloud's face turned from inquisitive to amused, and he turned back to his lime Coke. "Leon, that isn't due for months."
"Unless I start it now, I won't do it at all," Leon reasoned, then typed a few more sentences, scowled at them, and took the sheet out of the typewriter, crumpled it up, and tossed the ball into the wastebasket next to his desk, putting a fresh one in its place.
Knowing that Cloud would be shaking his head, Leon didn't turn to look at him. The young blonde had been after him to swap his old typewriter for a computer for years, and they both knew that Leon wasn't about to. The typewriter had been a gift from Rinoa, who had been his best friend through most of his childhood, and he would always keep it as a memento of her, even if it did make him seem behind the times.
Cloud headed up behind Leon's chair, then leaned forward and slipped his arms around the brunet's shoulders, pressing his cheek into Leon's shaggy hair. It had taken quite some time for them to develop this kind of ease with each other, and more than a little hard work through the awkward days. But they were close enough now that Leon didn't object at all to Cloud's attention seeking until he realized the danger his precious typewriter was in and frowned up at his boyfriend. "You're going to spill that," he pointed out, indicating Cloud's Coke.
Rolling his eyes, Cloud set the Coke down on the bedside table. "Jeez, Leon."
About eight months younger than Leon, Cloud was nearing his nineteenth birthday, and was just starting to grow out of his gangly teenage look, when his untamed hair had been annoying and his feet had seemed too big for the rest of his body. He possessed hazel-green eyes that faded into shades of smoke on gray days and an unruly fluff of bright blonde hair, which stuck out in a million directions but was much, much softer than it looked. Facing the world with an easygoing sense of unconcern, Cloud was accepting of most situations, quiet but not introverted, and a keen observer. And even after several months of life as a college freshman, he still had no idea what the hell his major was going to be.
He'd started out with the idea of majoring in Japanese, like Leon, but then had switched to an English major because he found the foreign language interesting. That hadn't lasted five weeks before Cloud had decided that it was too frustrating and had swapped it to something else. Usually, his major changed with his mood—despite his normal demeanor, Cloud was unbelievably fussy about what field he wanted to put his life into.
Leon had suggested once that he should switch his constant minor in history to a major, but Cloud, mortified, had protested that he wouldn't be able to get any job that way. Very few places went out looking for guys with their bachelor's in history. Too bad—Cloud certainly would enjoy it. He loved history with a passion equal to his total adoration for Leon.
His major was art right now, something that Leon had to hide a chuckle at. Cloud was to Picasso as a PB&J was to stromboli. Still, Cloud could be stubborn when he wanted to be, and as such, the art major was lasting longer than Leon had expected. Who knew? Maybe it would work out this time.
Turning, Leon looked up at his boyfriend. Cloud Strife's soft, vulnerable eyes were bright at the moment, his full, sensitive lips delicately curved into a slight smile—a look that Leon definitely thought Cloud should wear more often. Cloud didn't really smile much, but when he did, it made the inner beauty of the goodness he tried to hide behind an uncaring façade shine out.
Leon made an effort to reply in kind (he wasn't much of a smiler, either), turning his swivel chair around to face the blonde. "All right, the paper can wait. What else do we have on our list this week?"
Cloud shrugged and headed over to the piece of paper taped up beside the calendar. While most people meant that question figuratively, Leon was one of the very few people who actually kept a real list of things to do. "Well… Sora's trying to organize another get-together soon. Not a sleepover, just a get-together—he knows that no one has the time to stay the night. One of us has to pick Sephiroth up from the CHC tomorrow, too."
Leon grimaced, but nodded. Sephiroth also roomed with them, which sometimes got to be a pain for the brunet—a drama major, he had been Cloud's boyfriend before he and Leon had gotten together, and the way Sephiroth still acted like he owned the blonde irritated Leon a little. Sephiroth loved attention and could be very demanding, and why exactly he felt like he had to room with Leon and Cloud when he was rich enough to get his own condo and maintain it, Leon didn't know. He and Seph didn't always get along, but they usually made an effort on Cloud's behalf. It wasn't out of jealousy that occasionally Cloud and Sephiroth still got involved (they had threesomes, for godsakes, so obviously Leon couldn't object that much)—Leon was doing the same thing, in a way—but rather out of a personality conflict. Namely, both Leon and Sephiroth thought that the other should get his head out of his ass.
As an actor—and a good one, Leon was forced to admit—Sephiroth didn't just take drama classes at their college, St. Ajora's, but spent a great deal of time down at the Cecil Harvey Center of Entertainment downtown, working on extracurricular plays. Because they only had two cars between the three of them—a rusty red pickup and a brand-new black-and-silver Scion, both of which belonged to Leon—this meant that Sephiroth usually required picking up after rehearsals.
"Anything else?"
"Well…" Cloud ran his finger down the list. "We need to go lube shopping, we're almost out again. Um, you're going out with Ansem tomorrow at seven, in case you've forgotten…"
Leon looked stricken for a moment; he had forgotten. Entirely. Dear Lord, he would need to start getting ready today.
"Don't worry about me though, I'm going to go to dinner with Seph at the same time. Oh, and Larxene has a recital this weekend, and everyone's invited, as usual." Cloud's smile grew. "You'd think that a girl like her would be mortified at the thought of anyone seeing her in tights and a tutu, but no, she's proud of being in ballet."
"That's because she never wears a tutu, just leotards," Leon reminded Cloud. "And she keeps bragging that ballet gives her a broader range of movement when she wants to kick people, so why shouldn't she be proud?"
Cloud shrugged. "She's weird." He turned back to the list. "Anyway, payday's coming up for both of us, which is always good, because the rent is due the day after that." He pursed his lips, which distracted Leon by how cute he was when he did that, then jabbed his finger at something on the bottom of the list. "Seifer's latest parole hearing is at the end of the month, and they want you back there to testify again."
Leon rolled his eyes, tightening his hands into fists. "Does he still think they're going to let him out after the things he did? What an ass."
Cloud pulled a sympathetic face. "Not much I can do. But the prosecutors will just reiterate the things he did to you and Rinoa for the ten thousandth time, and he'll get thrown back in. You'd think he would have learned by now, they're not going to let him out ever if they can help it."
Leon made a face. Both he and Cloud knew that Seifer would just keep trying. He wouldn't be Seifer if he saw the light and stopped.
Beginning to realize what a bad mood the topic was putting Leon in, Cloud grimaced and stepped forward to loosely put his arms around the brunet once more. "Hey, relax," he said gently. "You know what? Neither of us have much work, besides your paper. Why don't we go down to the Red Nocturne and get something? You know, as a stress reliever."
Leon shrugged. "…Sure."
Cloud leaned in to gently kiss his cheek. "Good… I'll go get ready; meet me in the parking lot when you're done up here." With that, he headed off to change out of the torn-up motorcycle club T-shirt he'd had since his sophomore year in high school. The Red Nocturne wasn't a formal café, but Leon worked there, and Cloud didn't like presenting a sloppy appearance towards his boyfriend's boss and coworkers.
Listening to Cloud's heavy boots clomp down the stairs, Leon gave the blank paper in Rinoa's typewriter one last jaundiced glare, then stood up with a sigh. Oh, well. The paper could probably wait until tomorrow.
---
The Red Nocturne was one of a number of small specialty shops that Leon and his extended group of friends and acquaintances worked at—Diamond Dust, the ice cream parlor in which Cloud was employed, Etherlight (the local flower shop), Destati (the record store), and Neoshadow (a popular dance club) were the other prominent ones—and, while it wasn't exactly the busiest place in town, it usually had at least one or two customers around due to its high-quality coffee and welcoming atmosphere.
When Leon walked in, trailing Cloud on his arm, he was able to pick out five patrons and one fellow employee chatting happily around the large booth they occupied. He knew all of them at first sight, which wasn't too rare but still a surprise.
…Or maybe not, considering that the employee was one of Leon's younger friends, a very charismatic high-school-age kid named Sora Go figure, then—Sora was one of the most sociable people Leon knew, and was one of the reasons that Leon himself had so many connections throughout the town. The brunet liked to keep to himself, but Sora's overextended buddy network was always there to prevent him from being too lonely.
Sora was half-sitting, half-leaning against the edge of the wooden edge of the padded booth's seats, chattering amiably with everyone else, his spiky, flyaway brown hair flouncing as he gestured wildly in order to make his point as his deep blue eyes glittered happily. He wore his Red Nocturne apron—simple and black, with the shop's logo stitched in red over the breast pocket—over a semi-formal pair of black slacks and a red polo shirt, but his easy demeanor told Leon that his shift had probably ended a while ago and he'd just gotten too distracted by his company to change into something more casual.
Sora's silver-haired boyfriend, Riku, was sitting in the cushioned booth itself, his aquamarine eyes deceptively mild as he sat with his face propped prettily in the palm of one hand. Every now and then, he broke into Sora's story to correct or tease him, bringing as many laughs from the other patrons as Sora's tale itself. Though the brunet got a little bit redder every time Riku interrupted, Sora just smiled and laughed it off. The two were a well-balanced couple—Sora had most of the energy and gregariousness, and Riku had the razor-sharp wit and common sense. They'd been together for so long that Leon had trouble remembering the time before the existence of "Riku and Sora" as a unit.
Next to Riku was Kairi, the red-haired girl who was the only obstacle to Sora being declared "everyone's best friend". Just as charming and sociable, she was even cuter than the brown-haired boy to whom she had been joined at the hip mere days after her family had moved into the neighborhood, when both of them were toddlers. Sora knew everybody there was to know and got along with them just great; Kairi knew everybody in town and for the most part, they loved her. Unless he was on a date, wherever Sora went, Kairi was usually tagging along.
Completing their row, Namine the quiet blonde artist sat beside Kairi, hunched over what looked like a fresh sketchbook. She had stacks of the things, usually going through at least one a month, and filled them with bits and pieces of her life and the lives of her loved ones. Leon had heard that she and Kairi had become friends in middle school, and nowadays it was very rare for Namine to be seen out in public without her much more talkative friend alongside her. People joked that Namine was like Kairi's second shadow, a figure in ghostly whites who trailed her almost everywhere. And it was definitely true that if Namine ever dyed her hair red, she and Kairi would be physically indistinguishable. Still, the two of them were not related, and that made most of the people who knew them smile into their hands.
Sitting opposite Riku and the girls, their backs to Leon and Cloud (though both would recognize them anywhere) were two boys dressed in black, one with long, spiky dyed-red hair, the other a blonde with a short, stiff hairstyle full of stubborn cowlicks. Axel and Roxas, of course.
Both of them were members of Organization XIII, the semi-notorious gang that was a more-or-less benign weight on the city streets. All thirteen of them had banded together out of the wreckage of their troubled lives, and instead of causing chaos in the town, they actually seemed to be working more to hold it together. One of their leaders, Xemnas, was the owner of the Neoshadow dance club, actually, and their thirteen members were spread across the various non-commercial shops that the town loved so dearly. Roxas was Sora's cousin; Axel was an unruly stray who'd gotten into everyone's hearts and who had sewn the two halves of the Organization together when they'd first met. He annoyed the crap out of most people who knew him, but they put up with him all the same. The two of them had hooked up a few months back, and now, you never saw one without the other.
As Leon headed down the aisle, he noted with amusement that Roxas was smiling at Sora's story, but Axel was laughing at Sora, period. Like most of the Organization members, Axel seemed to think he was a badass. Usually he was more of a dumbass, though he had some smartassed comment on his situation more often than not… but either way, you could always count on Axel to be an ass.
Sora, taking notice of the two men heading towards him, flashed both Leon and Cloud a bright smile. "Hey! What are you guys doing here? I thought you didn't have a shift today, Leon."
Leon shrugged, giving Sora and his posse a small smile as they said hello. "We wanted a break from college life."
"Ah." Axel grinned, his beryl-colored eyes flashing with the mischief that always made Leon want to start edging away. "Squeon's getting sick of the hassle, mmm? And everyone told me I must be insane to want to start college a year late."
Leon gritted his teeth and wished that Axel would stop calling him that ridiculous nickname, while Cloud smiled into his sleeve.
Just ignore him. You know he's always like this.
"So how is life on the responsible side?" Axel teased. "Going crazy from the workload yet?"
Leon shrugged. "…Not really."
"Decided on a major yet?" Kairi asked Cloud, grinning.
The blonde looked evasively to the side. "I'm trying an art major now… it's hard work, but I think I like it. The professor's nice, and there are some familiar faces in my class… Julius Vandole, for one, and there's Vincent, too."
"Wait a minute. Vincent?" Kairi repeated, wiggling her eyebrows at him. "Vincent Valentine? The one you had a mad crush on all through middle school?"
"…Yes, that Vincent."
Leon gave his boyfriend a sidelong look of mild curiosity. Cloud looked embarrassed, to put it mildly; he was staring at the far corner of the ceiling, blushing up to his ears.
Kairi giggled; Roxas leaned over and changed the topic in order to rescue Cloud.
"So, how's Sephiroth doing? We haven't seen him for a while."
Back on safe ground, Cloud swiped a hand through his hair and slipped his arm back through Leon's, as if to reassure him that "that Vincent" wasn't going to come between them. "He's been spending most of his free time down at the CHC. He got the lead role in their latest play, I forget what it's called—but he said that Olan Durai is the stage manager and Mustadio Bunanza is on the tech crew. He seems happy with how they're doing so far."
"Any news about how his mom is? Maybe she's getting better?" Roxas asked, a little hopefully.
Cloud's face fell. "No… at least, I don't think so. Seph doesn't talk about his home life much."
Which was true, Leon knew, but still, even he heard the silver-haired man's latest angry outburst at the doctors who were still bothering his younger brother to have their mother institutionalized. As far as he remembered, Jenova had been a perfectly normal (if unusually rich) mother to Sephiroth and his brother Kadaj until she'd volunteered for a drug test run by the ShinRa Corporation, which had just bought out a pharmaceutical branch in the local chain of supermarkets at the time. Whatever it had been, it had caused her permanent brain damage, and now she required near-constant supervision by their family's servants or Kadaj himself. Sephiroth had no love of family closeness, but as much as his mother and brother annoyed him, he hated ShinRa for what it had done to them.
"Oh…" Making a face, Roxas turned to Leon. "How's Ansem?"
Leon scowled. "He's doing well, or seems to be. …He's still dealing with having all his work for the past few years stolen, though."
"Sounds like you two need a coffee break," Sora told them sympathetically. "Well, we're going to close soon, but Larxene's still in back somewhere. She's still working, so if you bother her enough, I'm sure she'll help you."
Nodding to Sora, Leon led Cloud towards the café counter.
"I hate having to give them bad news," Cloud said softly.
"It's not your fault… they know better than to shoot the messenger." Leon shrugged. "At least things haven't gotten worse."
"You're right." Still, Cloud rested his cheek against Leon's as they headed back to find Larxene, and they continued the rest of their way in silence.
It wasn't necessarily bad that their lives were hectic, Leon reflected. At least this way, they were more likely to improve than to get worse.
:TBC: