.

Thank you to the reviewers I am unable to reply to by PM. Your comments are appreciated.

۵۵۵۵۵
-Chapter Nine-
Waterway or Bust
۵۵۵۵۵

As Cloud joined him for coffee on the Third District steps, Leon surreptitiously studied the younger man's face, searching it for any sign of awkwardness or anger, but thankfully, found none. Cloud merely sipped his coffee in silence and didn't appear to be aware that anything out of the ordinary had happened during the night. Bravely, or perhaps it was out of fear, Leon decided to make sure.

Better to flush the Fastitocalon out of the sand while you knew the damn thing was there rather than let it sneak up on you from behind when you were least expecting it – those devils had sharp teeth.

He cleared his throat and asked nonchalantly, just making conversation, "Sleep well?"

A look of uncertainty slowly crept across Cloud's face, deepening to confusion as he contemplated the question, and unsettled Leon's stomach worse than Aerith's 'Monster Medley' stew. Then confusion turned into a frown, and the monster in Leon's tummy sprouted Malboro tentacles of fear that slithered up from his belly and wrapped around his throat, tightening their grip with every anxious beat of his heart.

Thankfully, just as Leon was ready to pass out from mounting panic, the confusion suddenly lifted from Cloud's face, as well as the frown, leaving a look of pleasant surprise in its place. "Yeah. Really well," he answered. "I had really good– uh..."

Really good dreams.

No, it would probably be best to leave that part out. "... I mean, yeah ... really well."

Come to think of it, Leon realized, breathing a sigh of relief as the tentacles slowly relaxed their stranglehold on his throat, so had he. He couldn't recall the last time he had slept through an entire night. Emboldened by Cloud's answer, he decided to press the issue a little further, just to make absolutely certain there weren't any fiendish creatures lying in wait to bite him on the ass. "No nightmares, then?"

The look of uncertainty momentarily returned as Cloud took stock of his mental and physical state, searching for the telltale signs of his nightly torture – the bone-deep tiredness and muddled mind, the weary resignation, the dark despair – but he found the unfamiliar feelings of peace and hope instead. A warm glow flooded his body as he recalled his dreams, wonderful dreams, and so vivid, they had almost seemed real: The reassuring weight of Leon's arms and the steady beat of his heart, the warmth of his comforting smell. The feeling of rightness, the sense of belonging. The way Cloud fit just so against his side....

Too bad dreams that good never came true.

Cloud realized that Leon was still waiting for an answer and shook his head. "Nope, no nightmares," he said, wondering what the heck was up with Leon. Was he trying to make conversation?

Leon?

"Well, good ... that– that's good." Leon nodded, fighting back a grin as he stood up to get his second cup of coffee.

Unable to keep his eyes off that magnificent leather-clad ass, Cloud watched as Leon walked off towards the house. There was definitely something wrong with the man this morning, he decided. The jaunty little spring to his step looked almost like Yuffie's.

۵۵۵۵۵

After another bowl of oatmeal for the boys, and Yuffie's usual bagel, the three of them left the house together to make their morning rounds. Aerith offered to come with them in case they needed her healing magic against the Blue Flames, but Leon knew that she enjoyed her mornings to herself and that she hadn't really had one since Cloud's arrival. He also knew that she had overdone it the day before, so he politely told her that it wasn't necessary, though she was welcome to come with them if she wanted. They had plenty of potions to go around, and they also had Cloud, which should be more than sufficient against the Blue Flames. And indeed it was.

After warming up on the weaker Heartless in Third, they moved on to the more powerful ones in Second, and with Cloud's extra arm, dispatched them all in record time. To the merchant's delight, they were even able to open the district a little earlier than planned, but the merchants didn't remain delighted for long when their customers failed to show up.

Still, the three fighters continued to patrol the area, taking out every Heartless as soon as it appeared, but with Cloud's help and no people around to protect, they quickly found themselves with very little to do. In the midst of their growing boredom, Merlin popped in to see how things were going.

"I see business is booming," he stated wryly.

Leon eyed the cunning old wizard suspiciously. "Merlin," he drawled, "what did you do?"

Shaking his head with feigned remorse, the devious wizard confessed, "I fear that I may have accidentally let it slip to a couple of chatty waitresses that it might be more prudent to forgo new stockings for a few days than do without one's heart."

"Sabotage." Leon smirked, nodding in approval. "I like it."

"There's more than one way to skin a cat." The wizard chuckled. "Or an ass." And Leon suspected that Merlin knew them all.

۵۵۵۵۵

The rest of the morning passed without incident, and soon they were closing up shop. The two men walked with Yuffie back to the house and then proceeded directly to Merlin's, not even stopping for lunch, determined that nothing was going to sidetrack them today. Upon reaching the wizard's house, they nodded a quick greeting and then hurried straight through the portal and down the stairs to the waterway.

Feeling a childish excitement, Leon entered his hideaway and turned to gauge his friend's reaction. It was not the one he expected. The eagerness on his companion's face had turned to trepidation, and he was frozen in the doorway as if unwilling to come any farther.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked.

But Cloud was far too preoccupied with battling his irrational fear to answer. He knew it was stupid to let such a silly thing unnerve him so completely, but that didn't stop the sweat from rolling off his brow or the panic from roiling in his belly. Cloud's mind could insist all it wanted that everything was fine, but his body knew better.

It was the color, and the way it reflected off the walls in watery waves of green. Mako green. It went straight to the part of him that would never be okay, buried deep at the heart of him. He would carry it with him to his death and probably beyond, because death would only deliver him to the Lifestream and more Mako green. At least there his wretched memories would finally be dissolved forever, and he would be free of them at last.

When he finally looked at Leon, Cloud could see the worry and disappointment in his friend's eyes, and it shamed him to know that he was the one who had put it there. Leon had been looking forward to this, even though he had never said so with words, and Cloud knew that in sharing this place with him, Leon was sharing a little piece of himself. And here Cloud was, ruining it.

He had wanted a way to repay the man for his kindness and generosity, to give him something back, and he couldn't even give him his appreciation. It made Cloud angry at circumstance and disgusted with himself.

Then just like that, his anger with himself for letting Leon down outweighed his fear and hardened his resolve; if he couldn't do this for himself, he would do it for Leon. Taking a deep breath, Cloud stepped into the cavern. It felt like stepping back into one of Hojo's tanks, but he did it.

Leon lightly touched him on the arm. "Cloud? ... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cloud lied, but the slight tremor in his voice gave him away. "Just a little dizzy for a second," he added more strongly, but Leon still wasn't buying it.

"Maybe we should just go back," he suggested, his keen grey eyes clouded with concern.

"Oh no." Cloud laughed, determined to salvage what he could from the mess he had made. "You're not getting out of this that easily." He took a step forward, just inside Leon's personal zone, and narrowed his eyes. "What's the matter, Leonhart? Scared?"

Leon took his own step forward, which brought him right up in Cloud's face, and snarled, "Of you, Strife? Never."

Then suddenly they sprang apart as if some secret signal had been given, understood only by those who spoke the language of warriors, and both of these men were fluent. In battle stance with weapons drawn, they circled one another mentally, sizing each other up and staring each other down, both of them deadly, and neither man quite so alive as when he held his blade at the ready. Silently, they dared each other to make the first move.

Cloud could sense Leon's concentration sharpen as his focus narrowed down to one precise point, and Cloud got his first true taste of Leon's formidable prowess. He may have seen Leon fighting the Heartless, but never before had he been on the receiving end of Leon's blade – the target of his attention – and the intensity of it was daunting. He was thankful the man wasn't his enemy; the deadly determination in Leon's eyes was more intimidating than Sephiroth's.

Sephiroth was indisputably the most powerful fighter that Cloud had ever known, and he knew without a doubt that if the general had ever turned the full force of his power against him, had he chosen to attack relentlessly, Cloud wouldn't have stood a chance. But Sephiroth liked to play with his prey and therein lay his weakness. He was too arrogant, too sure of himself. The possibility of defeat never entered his mind and you could see it in his eyes; they carried an edge of mockery. He thought he had plenty of time to toy, and it left an opening – not much of one, but enough.

Leon, on the other hand, suffered no such weakness. He knew he wasn't infallible, and he turned that into a strength. He compensated with concentration; he didn't take unnecessary chances, and he didn't mess around. Leon got right down to business. Serious business.

With the smallest of nods, Leon issued the challenge, and with the tiniest pull at one corner of his mouth, Cloud accepted. He tightened his own focus, along with his grip on the hilt of his sword, and they began to circle one another physically – slow and deliberate, tightly coiled – each waiting for the other to strike. When it finally came, it came together, and their blades met in the middle.

They moved cautiously at first, each testing the other's ability and both holding back, measuring each other's strength with every blow and weighing one another's skill with every parry, building steadily in force along with their confidence – not in their own ability, but in the other's – for Leon still wasn't convinced that Cloud was back to full speed, and Cloud had no intention of unleashing his full Jenova-enhanced strength against Leon until he was sure the man could defend himself against it.

It quickly became apparent to both that they were evenly matched, trading off weaknesses and balancing strengths, exchanging one's precision for the other's power, timing for speed. One would briefly take the advantage only to lose it to the other, and in the end, there was no clear winner, only two tired men. By the time they finally sheathed their blades, they were both ready to give in, and give out, and they eyed one another with a new level of admiration and respect.

Cloud slid gracefully to the cavern floor and leaned back against the cool stone wall, satisfied and at peace. Even the color wasn't quite so disconcerting.

Leon, meanwhile, was digging around in a wooden crate by the wall and pulling out various items. Once he had retrieved what he wanted, he joined Cloud, setting his gunblade between them and handing Cloud a bottle of water. Watching as Leon removed a piece of jerky from a small plastic bag, Cloud took a swig of water and then set the bottle down.

"Could I?" he asked, indicating Leon's weapon with his eyes and reaching for it when Leon nodded in reply. He examined the curious hybrid for a moment, opening the six-chambered cylinder to confirm that it did indeed contain bullets, and then snapped it shut again, thoroughly confused. "Where do the bullets come out?"

"They don't," Leon said with a small snort, tossing a couple of plastic bags on the ground between them and replacing the gunblade in Cloud's hands with the bag of jerky. Cloud took a small piece and sat chewing on it in silence while waiting for Leon to explain.

Leon took his time finishing his own piece of jerky before answering. "It isn't like a regular gun. Rather than propelling the bullet out of the barrel, the energy from the explosion is channeled through the blade," he explained, tapping the cylindrical mechanism that connected to the firing chamber and extended into the blade, "sending a powerful shock wave directly into the target. When correctly timed, it can double or even triple the amount of damage, depending on how tightly you have the mechanism adjusted and the type of ammo you're using. But if you don't pull the trigger at precisely the right moment, the shock wave will backfire."

"And I'll bet that doesn't feel too good." Cloud winced.

"Gives a whole new meaning to the word 'recoil'. Leon chuckled. "That's probably the biggest reason why most cadets who thought it would be cool to specialize in the gunblade didn't stick with it for more than a few weeks, even though beginners were only issued low-level ammo. As soon as they realized what a painful learning curve they were looking at, they started looking for a different primary weapon.

"But misfire one of these," he said, emptying a round into the palm of his hand and handing it to Cloud, "and you'll be out of commission for a week, waiting for the feeling to return to your arm."

Cloud inspected the small, shiny shell. It didn't look very dangerous. "What is it?"

"Pulse ammo. Well, it's comparable to what we called pulse ammo back on my planet. The energy crystals used to make it were rare even on my world, and they don't exist on this one at all. Fortunately, the Moogles figured out a way to synthesize something very similar using bright crystals instead. Unfortunately, bright crystals are almost as difficult to come by."

Cloud handed the bullet back to Leon and reached for another piece of jerky. "Good jerky."

"Homemade," Leon replaced the round in the chamber and set the gunblade aside. "No preservatives."

"Well it's really good." Cloud took another sip of water. Noticing that Leon didn't have any, he held the bottle out to him. "Don't you want some water?"

"That's the last bottle," Leon answered. "I'll bring another case tomorrow."

"Well, here." Cloud thrust the bottle at Leon more forcefully. "We can share this one."

"No, really, it's okay." Leon grabbed one of the plastic bags from the floor and picked out a piece of dried fruit.

"No it isn't okay," Cloud insisted. "I'm not going to take your last bottle of water, Leon."

Leon didn't know what to do. He didn't like eating or drinking after other people, sharing glasses or utensils – and germs – but he wasn't sure how to refuse without hurting Cloud's feelings. Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal since Leon never particularly worried about hurting people's feelings – not that he intentionally tried to hurt anyone's feelings, but he certainly didn't lose any sleep over it if he did. So why was he so reluctant to hurt Cloud's?

Not that it would hurt Cloud's feelings. Cloud probably couldn't care less, Leon realized, and then realized that made him feel bad.

He was still just sitting there, frozen mid-chew as he attempted to sort his way through his dilemma when he became aware that Cloud was still waiting for a response, bottle suspended midair. Leon eyed the bottle warily and then hesitantly took it from Cloud's hand. Slowly bringing it to his lips, he took a very small sip and quickly handed it back.

Cloud shook his head and reached for the bag of trail mix instead, picking out a few almonds and popping them into his mouth. Then he dug around in the bottom of the bag with his index finger, fishing out the last few colorful pieces of what looked to be some sort of candy-coated chocolate. "Did you make this trail mix, too?" he asked.

Leon nodded cautiously, still waiting for his lips to self-combust or maybe just melt from contamination. Why else would they be burning?

"Well, next time you might want to put in more of these–" Cloud examined the logo stamped on the little candies. "– M&Ms," he suggested.

"Oh, right ... well, um ... Yuffie must have gotten into my stash again," Leon muttered, still holding out the bottle of water like it might explode any second. "Damn little ninja thief," he added for good measure and set the bottle down, finally realizing that he could.

Cloud stopped rooting around in the bag and looked over at Leon, noting the slightly pink tinge to his cheeks. "You're saying that Yuffie snuck in here while you weren't looking and stole all your M&Ms?"

"Well, yeah. Probably... Maybe," Leon mumbled, hanging his head.

Cloud chuckled. "Well, that's good. I'm glad to hear it."

Leon raised his head and looked at Cloud askance, alarmed to find him smirking like the torama that caught the chocobo. Leon frowned. "Why is that good?"

"Because it means she must have outgrown her allergy to chocolate."

"Right..." Had Yuffie ever mentioned that? Leon didn't think so, but then again, maybe he just hadn't been listening. He didn't listen to a lot of the things Yuffie said.

Trying to buy himself some time to think of a plausible excuse, Leon picked up the bottle of water and took a big gulp, almost choking on it when he realized what he was doing and dribbling some down his chin. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he set the bottle down again, firmly this time, as if that would make it stay there. When his eyes landed on the huge weapon lying alongside Cloud's legs, he decided it would probably be easier to simply rely on his trusty old standby instead; he changed the subject.

"Can I ask you something?" The question felt strange as it left his mouth. Unfamiliar.

"Sure," Cloud answered, even though he wasn't.

"Why do you have your sword wrapped up like that?"

Cloud stared at the other man with dismay. "I thought ... You didn't do it?"

"Why would I wrap your sword in bandages?" Leon snorted as he gathered the bags of snacks and got up to put them away.

No, of course not; Leon wouldn't do such a thing. Cloud shook his head. How could he be so oblivious to the obvious? It was much more in keeping with Sephiroth's sadistic sense of humor; it had his fingerprints all over it.

Broken. The word whispered through Cloud's mind like the cold breath of darkness. A damaged sword for a damaged puppet.

"It was like that when I found you," Leon stated quietly, concerned by the sudden downswing in the younger man's mood. Watching him from the corner of his eye, Leon finished putting away the snacks and closed the crate securely. When he walked back over and picked up his weapon, Cloud was still just sitting there, lost in thought, and seemed to be descending into a state of despair.

He looked up at Leon. "Where did you find me, anyway?"

"Come on." Leon held out his hand, returning Cloud's gesture from the previous day. "I'll show you."

۵۵۵۵۵

He led Cloud out of the waterway through the culvert into the area behind the hotel, then turned left down the alleyway and entered the house at the end. Obviously familiar with the place, Leon made his way through several rooms until they came to a larger room full of ... dalmatians. There were two adult dogs and ten or twelve, fifteen ... sixteen, no twenty ... one, make that two dozen ... or more ... Cloud finally lost count as the wriggling, spotted puppies continued to appear from every nook and cranny and all converged on Leon. Cloud looked at the bitch with compassion. He didn't know that much about dogs, but it seemed like an awfully large litter.

The puppies were all trying to climb Leon's legs now, their entire little bodies wagging furiously and tumbling over each other in their frenzied haste to get closer to the man who was just standing there amidst the frothing sea of black and white, calmly allowing them to jump all over him, and grinning. Then he plopped down on the floor in the middle of the squirming pile of puppies and proceeded to play with them.

Cloud was dumbstruck.

Not wishing to disturb the moment, he slowly backed up to the sofa and quietly sat down. Leon looked like he was about to start rolling on the floor any minute.

The bitch ambled over to the sofa and laid her head in Cloud's lap, looking up at him with her doleful doggy eyes. "Yeah, I don't blame you," he said, patting her on the head.

Suddenly becoming aware of his less than dignified demeanor, Leon stood up and stiffly brushed himself off, much to the disappointment of the puppies. "There used to be ninety-nine," he explained, schooling his face back into sobriety as he sat down on the sofa with Cloud, "but they all got scattered around on different worlds. Sora's been keeping an eye out for them on his travels. So far he's found twenty-seven."

"Ninety-nine?" Cloud choked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Is that even possible?" The puppies were busy pulling their pudgy little bodies up onto the couch and crawling back into Leon's lap.

Realizing what Cloud was thinking, Leon chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Of course, they're not all Pongo and Perdita's," he said, indicating each adult dog respectively.

"Oh, no – of course not." Relief washed over Cloud's face. "Lucky for you, huh, Perdita?" he said, gently scratching her behind the ears.

"Only fifteen of them were actually whelped by Perdita," Leon continued. "The other eighty-four came from ... well that's kind of a long story," he said and let it drop.

Responding to Cloud's gentle touch, or perhaps afraid of losing his sympathy now that the truth was out, Perdita pushed her nose into the warm, cozy crack between Cloud's thighs, attempting to nuzzle her way further into his good graces, as well as his ... private ... places ... she really shouldn't be ... getting so close to his ...

Cloud squirmed uncomfortably, feeling his face beginning to burn as he tried to remove her snout from his crotch. And to complicate matters even further, the puppies were beginning to make their way over as well. The bravest one – having evidently tired of the stiff competition for Leon's lap – had blazed a trail to Cloud's, and now the others – encouraged by the first one's success – were following one by one.

"They like you." Leon smiled. "Especially Perdita. She was guarding you the night I found you."

"Really?" Cloud asked. Suddenly feeling guilty for having pushed her away, he renewed his attention to her ears, and she happily reclaimed her place between his legs.

"Actually," Leon stated dryly, observing Perdita's position, "I think she might have a crush on you."

Cloud looked at him, horror-struck until he realized that Leon was just joking. "So I take it you like dogs a lot." It sounded dumb, even to him, but it succeeded in turning Leon's attention away from his crotch.

"Not really. I just like these dogs," he answered, stroking one of the puppies who had fallen asleep on his lap. "I've never really known any other dogs all that well. Well, except for one, and she was a royal pain in the ass."

"Why's that?" Cloud asked, just to keep Leon talking. It was warm and rather cozy on the couch with all of the sleeping puppies draped across his lap and spilling over onto the sofa and down to the floor and on top of his feet. Actually, Cloud decided, burying his fingers in warm puppy fuzz; it was kind of nice how accepting they were, without asking for anything in return other than an occasional rub on the belly. He settled back on the couch to listen to Leon as he began to answer his question.

"Angelo was a client's dog. On my first mission as a SeeD," he explained.

"Angelo? I thought you said she?"

"That's right."

"So, shouldn't that be Angela?"

Leon snorted and shook his head. "At first, I assumed our client was just confused, but perhaps she had her reasons. I think it might have been Angelo who was confused."

"You're saying that Angelo was ... gender challenged?"

"Well, she was always hump ... um, you know, doing that ... thing to your leg."

"Oh, right." Cloud flushed again and eyed Perdita suspiciously. "So ... SeeD," he said, attempting to steer the conversation back to the original, less embarrassing topic. " That was the name of the organization you worked for, right? Aerith mentioned that you used to be a mercenary."

"Something like that," Leon answered, leaving it vague.

Perhaps leaving it altogether, Cloud decided after a few silent minutes had passed. "And Angelola?" he prompted.

Reluctantly, Leon resumed the conversation where he had left off. "Our assignment was to assist a small resistance faction in freeing the town of Timber from enemy occupation, but it turned into something much more ... complicated ... and well... We never did complete our original mission," Leon admitted with a sigh "At any rate, our client got swept up in the whole thing right alongside us, even though it no longer had anything to do with Timber, and Angelo tagged along too. She was always screwing things up." Leon scowled.

"Like what?"

"Like running over and healing me right when I reached my limit and was about to unleash my strongest attack. Or we'd be trying to stock up on some rare magic a monster was carrying, and before we were able to draw more than a dozen or so spells, Angelo would rush out and kill it. It was really annoying.

"But I suppose it isn't really fair to fault Angelo," he conceded with another sigh. "She was actually very smart. I suppose if anyone were to blame, it would be Rinoa for not controlling her dog, but then, Rinoa could barely control herself. She was really good with magic, but whenever she got injured, she'd go bonkers and start casting random spells, ranging from totally useless to downright detrimental. The only way to get her to stop was to knock her out completely."

"We had a big cat on our team named Red XIII," Cloud volunteered in exchange. "Well, his real name was Nanaki, but we called him Red. Fortunately, Red wasn't annoying at all, but you did have to watch out for tip of his tail – it was a flame. I couldn't tell you how many times I ran into the thing and burned myself before finally figuring out to have Red bring up the rear." Cloud shook his head and laughed at himself. "He was really smart too and could talk. He didn't say much, but when he did, we all listened.

"And then there was Barret; nobody listened to him, even though he talked all the time," Cloud said fondly. "Barret was a huge black boulder of a man with massive shoulders and a gun grafted onto one arm, and he was always barking about something in his deep booming voice." Cloud demonstrated loudly, imitating his friend, and twenty-nine pairs of startled ears perked up. "Oops, sorry," he apologized and everyone settled back down.

"And Vincent ..." he began, but immediately lapsed into silence and just sat there, fingering his friend's cloak as he chased an elusive memory.

The lazy afternoon slowed to a standstill, though the clock on the mantle begged to differ, its steady tick-tick-tick the only sound interrupting the silence other than an occasional muffled yip from one of the dreaming puppies, chasing an illusive rabbit.

Cloud was on the verge of joining them in dreamland, sinking deeper and deeper into the cushions, when Leon sat up straight and poked him in the arm. "Come on." His voice sounded suspiciously like he too had dozed off.

Cloud nodded at the puppies. It was so tempting to just curl up right alongside them. "I hate to disturb them."

"I know," Leon agreed, "but we really should get going before we fall asleep." Certainly didn't want to make a habit of that. "Besides. I still haven't showed you where I found you."

"Oh, right." Cloud reluctantly disentangled himself from the warm knot of puppies and followed Leon out the front door. Halfway down the alley, Leon stopped and pointed out the place.

Cloud wasn't exactly sure what he was hoping to find, but whatever it was, it wasn't there; the only indication that he had been there was the blood stain on the ground. Still he continued to stare at the spot, hoping it could shed some light on the past year of his life, but it did nothing to illuminate the shadows in his mind.

Determined to make the best of this new life, Cloud turned his back on his missing past and a resolute face to the future. With a nod to his patiently waiting companion, they turned for home at last, fighting side by side through the Traverse Town darkness as they made their way towards the little house in Third District filled with feminine laughter and light.

۵۵۵۵۵

That evening after dinner, Leon was reading in his bedroom when a soft knock interrupted him, and he looked up to find Cloud in the doorway. Leon usually kept his door closed, but had decided to leave it open for this very reason; he didn't want Cloud to feel like he couldn't come in should he need something from the room. They were, after all, more or less sharing it. Still, Cloud seemed hesitant to enter the room and remained in the doorway.

Leon finally realized that he was waiting for an invitation in spite of the open door, but before he could issue one, the younger man said, "Sorry to bother you..."

"You're not bothering me," Leon replied, placing his index finger between the pages to hold his place and closing the book. "What is it?"

Cloud shuffled into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I've been meaning to talk to you about getting my own place."

Leon replaced his finger with a proper bookmark and set the book aside. "I don't know of any vacancies at the moment, but I'll let you know as soon as something's available." He responded slowly, careful to keep any trace of disappointment out of his voice. "Are you ... uncomfortable here?"

"Oh no, not at all," Cloud was quick to answer. "But I don't want to keep imposing on you."

"Well, don't worry about it; it's not a problem," Leon assured him, feeling a sense of relief.

Cloud also felt a sense of relief. "All right," he said, "as long as you're sure I'm not in your way. But I'm on the couch from now on."

Leon nodded in agreement and made no protest to that, deciding it was probably safer that way. The couch was much too small to sleep two fully grown men.

Cloud picked up the pile of folded bedding from the foot of the bed and grabbed the book he had borrowed from Leon. "I'll just take these with me now so I don't have to disturb you again later."

"You're welcome to read in here if you like," Leon blurted out before he could stop himself, then attempted to temper his overeager outburst with his usual indifference. "The television can be distracting when you're trying to read."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine," Cloud insisted, not wishing to further intrude on Leon's privacy, yet he continued to linger in the doorway for several seconds before finally forcing himself to return to the living room, leaving Leon staring at the vacated space, feeling empty and dissatisfied. Lonely.

Stupid.

Hyne, could he possibly be any more pathetic? He jerked his book off the nightstand and whipped it open, sending the bookmark fluttering to the floor. He attempted to read, but it might as well have been written in hieroglyphics, and after staring blankly at the page for several minutes, he slammed the book shut and set it back on the table.

This seriously had to stop; he couldn't even concentrate anymore. Was he really that desperate for companionship?

No way.

Leon steeled himself and gritted his teeth, forcing his mind to focus. It was just a matter of discipline.

Ten minutes later, he was still sitting there with his head in his hands, having thoroughly contemplated world peace and blue eyes, the laws of physics as applied to blond hair, the nature of reality and soft lips, as well as what he wanted for dinner tomorrow night, the fine art of kissing, and where Aerith had hidden his gunblade oil. He was just about to give up and go out to the living room when the reason for his short attention span reappeared at his door, book in hand.

"Are you sure you don't mind? Yuffie's being annoying."

"I wouldn't have offered if I minded," Leon replied, grateful for the interruption from the ping-pong party going on in his brain.

And so it was that Cloud once again found himself stretched out on Leon's bed. He opened his book, and Leon reopened his, determined to give it one more try. When he glanced at the clock just a short while later, he was surprised to find that over an hour had already passed. It made about as much sense as Cloud's hair, but there was no denying that it was easier to concentrate with the cause of his distraction in the room with him.

It wasn't much longer before Cloud began to nod off, and his book slipped from his hands. He rolled over onto the other side of the bed and buried his face in the covers, wondering briefly why that side of the bed smelled like Leon before his brain shut down completely, and soon he was dreaming of warm puppies.

Leon closed his own book and picked up Cloud's, setting them both on the bedside table. Then he settled back in his chair and sat for a while just watching Cloud sleep – just like he had one week ago today. Only one short week, and he already felt closer to Cloud than he did to people he had known for years. It worried him a little, and he wanted to be afraid; to wrap himself up in the familiar blanket of fear and distrust that had kept him safe for so many years, but he couldn't seem to find it.

۵۵۵۵۵

Cloud was abruptly awakened by the sound of a crash and climbed out of bed to look for the– wait, what was he doing in Leon's bed? Wasn't he supposed to be on the living room couch? Well never mind that right now – the light in the bathroom was on.

Cloud stepped inside to find Leon kneeling on the floor, clutching a nearly empty bottle of aspirin in one hand and groping around on the floor with the other, tracking down the little white pills and throwing them in the trash. He took one look at the man and decided it was time to intervene whether Leon liked it or not. Besides, it was easy to see that he was in no condition to put up much of a fight; despite his attempt to conceal it, the pain in his eyes was obvious.

Cloud crouched down in front of the older man and took the bottle from his hand. "I'll get it," he commanded. "You go lie down."

"But– "

"Go," Cloud insisted, setting the bottle on the sink. He hoisted Leon to his feet and guided him gently out the door, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him towards the bedroom when he tried to go back to the couch instead. "On the bed," he directed in a tone of voice that Leon had never before heard from the soft-spoken man; it was still spoken softly but brooked no contest.

Of course, Leon contested it anyway, "Cloud, I appreciate your–"

"Don't argue," Cloud ordered firmly, still using his 'I'm the one in charge here' voice as if speaking to a difficult child, but he was a little surprised when it actually worked. Leon hung his head and plodded obediently into the bedroom.

Cloud quickly finished cleaning up the aspirin and then quietly entered the bedroom to find Leon lying stiffly on his back, looking like a terrified rabbit ready to bolt. So he suspected what was coming, then... Worried that it would be the final push over the edge, Cloud changed his mind about telling him to remove his shirt and simply told him to turn over onto his stomach. Leon complied, and Cloud climbed onto the bed, sitting on his heels beside him. It would have been more comfortable to straddle Leon's thighs, but he could just imagine Leon's reaction to that.

Actually, Cloud wasn't so certain that he would be able to handle having his thinly clad private parts so close to Leon's thinly clad ass. And besides, this wasn't about Cloud's comfort.

"We'll take this slow and easy," he said, lightly placing his hands on Leon's shoulders, "and if you still feel uncomfortable after five minutes, I'll stop. Just five minutes – you can handle that, right?"

Leon raised his head to check the clock on the nightstand.

"Oh no you don't." Cloud chuckled, turning the clock so Leon couldn't see the time. "You're just gonna have to trust me."

Leon merely grunted in response, which Cloud chose to interpret as consent.

"I'm just going to explore a little first," he explained, "and if anything hurts, even just a little, I want you to let me know. All right?"

"All right," Leon mumbled.

Very gently, Cloud began to work his way down Leon's back, warm hands moving lightly over soft cotton and hard muscle, down to the waistband of Leon's pants and then back up again to his shoulders, speaking calmly to keep Leon's attention focused on his voice rather than on the hands traveling over his body. "Just relax," he encouraged, then scolded playfully, "and stop holding your breath; that won't help anything."

Leon did his best to do as Cloud directed, and as he slowly released his breath, Cloud could feel the tension in his shoulders ease. "That's better," he said. "Deep breaths, just let it all go." He continued to speak encouraging words as he stroked Leon's back, just letting him get used to the feel of Cloud's hands on his body, and gradually became bolder as Leon began to relax.

Still being careful not to go beyond the waistband of his pants, Cloud started exploring his back in more depth, searching for the source of his pain and finding it quickly; he had a large knot just above his right shoulder blade. Cloud pressed on it lightly and Leon flinched.

"Is that your headache?"

"Yeah, that's ... How'd you know that?"

"It's a very common spot to carry stress," Cloud explained. "Your headaches are the result of referred pain; the real problem is in your back." He continued to explore as he spoke, deft fingers probing ridges of tight muscle and kneading away the tension with strong thumbs, but the five minutes was up far too fast, and reluctantly, Cloud announced it, though wisely, he kept his hands moving. "Shall we continue?" he asked, fully expecting Leon to refuse.

When Leon nodded in reply, Cloud filled up with affection, knowing it was a bold move for the reserved man, and he poured every ounce of that affection back into his hands. Applying gentle pressure with the heels of his hands and then caressing with his palms, he worked the full length of Leon's back.

As Leon relaxed completely, going limp beneath his hands, Cloud ventured a little farther down to the small of his back and then back up to his neck, moving up his spine, over strong shoulders and down muscled arms, but never applying more than a light touch to the tender knot near his shoulder. After fifteen minutes or so, he instructed Leon to turn over onto his back and immediately felt him tense up.

"Never mind," Cloud said quickly, returning to Leon's shoulders to concentrate on the thick ropes of muscle leading up the side of the neck to the head, kneading them with strong, steady hands as he worked his way up to the base of Leon's skull. Knowing that the head was an intimate spot for some people, he slowly slipped his fingers into Leon's hair and began to massage the back of his scalp, watching closely for any sign of discomfort. But Leon handled it surprisingly well, and when Cloud's thumb slid into the hollow of Leon's temple, rubbing it with a soothing circular motion, Leon rolled over of his own accord to allow Cloud easier access.

Echoing the circular motion of his thumbs on Leon's temples, Cloud massaged the sides of Leon's head with his fingertips and then slid his thumbs up over the bridge of Leon's nose, easing away the tension in his brow with slow, firm strokes. A soft moan slipped from Leon's mouth, surprising them both.

He looked up at Cloud with a bashful smile and drowsy eyes, so vulnerable and open that Cloud had to suck in a breath to keep from falling right in. They were dark blue now, deep as midnight and as mysterious as the man, and Cloud gave up trying to hang a color on Leon's eyes. They seemed to change with his mood, revealing the very emotions he tried so hard to hide – if one only had the code. Cloud decided he wouldn't mind spending the rest of his lifetime just trying to decipher it.

A wonderful feeling spread through his body at the thought, filling him with a desire both dangerous and sweet, and he returned Leon's lazy smile with one of his own. "Good?"

"Mmmm," Leon hummed in a tone that could have meant anything, but it did feel good, better than good, and he wanted to tell Cloud so, but he couldn't summon up the effort to speak. But it didn't really matter; Cloud seemed to understand him anyway.

"Good," Cloud whispered again. It was the last thing Leon heard before he slid into a deep, dreamless sleep; a tender smile and beautiful blue eyes, the last thing he saw. Cloud tucked him in and brushed a stray lock of hair from his handsome face, fighting off an almost irresistible urge to place a kiss on his unfurrowed brow.

Quietly closing the bedroom door behind him, Cloud tiptoed to the couch and curled up in the cozy nest left by Leon, falling asleep almost immediately, with thoughts of Leon on his mind and the scent of him on his hands.