Title: The Pets Chronicle part 2 – Uniformalities
Author: Sorceress Fantasia
Pairing: Leon / Cloud
Theme: Uniform
Warnings: AU, fluff, sap, humour, slightly crack-tistic in nature
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters, as much as I would like to.

Written for LJ 7snogs challenge.

Summary: Cloud has little idea what his uniform does to Leon's psyche.

It was noisy.

It was much too noisy.

Those two chocobos were going to find themselves in the stew for dinner tonight if they didn't quiet down within the next few minutes! Leon threw a pillow irately at his door, which was the only thing that kept the two hyperactive birds out. Suddenly, it was as though he had shouted his thoughts and let it echo through the nearly empty apartment, things immediately settled down outside his room. The pillow combined with his murderous aura, which had probably leaked out of his tense body, was enough to cause the birds' feathers to stand on ends. Ah, blessed silence. Except for an occasional and timid 'wark', that was.

Leon snorted. In the two weeks since Cloud had moved to Destiny Apartments, they had quickly settled into a routine of leaving Zack and Aeris together with whoever was at home. Leon often got saddled with the job in the afternoons, since Cloud and Sora were in high school and had lessons during that time, and Leon's classes at college started in the evening on some days.

It was such a bother. If Cloud hadn't asked him to take good care of Zack, he would have chained the bird up to a table, turn on a flashlight and lead him on a merry wild goose chase until the chain got all wound around the table leg nicely. That damn bird was much too active for his liking, and in the days since knowing him, Aeris had even learned to be a rebel. Where she used to be a meek little chocobo biting on his pants legs to ask for more greens before the Zack phenomenon, she had transformed into a prissy little princess that kicked him if he didn't feed her enough.

If it wasn't for Cloud…!

Stupid black chocobo.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his bedroom door. Before he could even reply and allow whoever it was outside to enter, the person had already taken it upon himself to fling the door open. Leon was a little annoyed, but his annoyance sort of melted away when amusement caught up with him at the sight standing at the threshold of his room. He had to bite his bottom lip to stop the laughter from coming.

The person wasn't as amused.

" Leon, tell your pink lady to stop pecking at my feet every time I'm here to pick up my chocobo after lessons," the person said with a deadpan, the black chocobo already tightly snuggled in his arms. Aeris was, true to his words, hovering around his feet and pecking repeatedly. Unfortunately for her, he was wearing thick combat boots.

"Too bad. Aeris doesn't listen to me. You'd have to ask Sora for help. You like that, don't you, Riku?" Leon replied with a drawl, smirking.

Riku was Cloud's younger brother, even though the two looked nothing alike. While Cloud was a blue-eyed blond, Riku had soft silver hair and aquamarine eyes, both girl-magnet features, according to Sora. He would know, since Sora and Riku were in the same class in high school after the latter had transferred schools, along with his brother. Cloud was one year above them, and a magnet just like Riku, although Sora's sources said that Cloud seemed to be attracting more boys than girls.

But despite both being magnets, neither brother seemed to be interested in their fawning fans. For Riku, it was mostly because he was trying to seduce Sora and failing miserably at it because Riku loved eating chocobos while Sora loved chocobos that were still alive. And Cloud, on the other hand… Leon wasn't sure. And he wasn't exactly interested in finding out why.

What Leon was interested in, was write and sketch out plans to make Cloud fall in love with himself.

Riku returned his smirk. "As much as I would love to, I don't think Sora would appreciate it if I barge into the bathroom with him in the shower right now."

Most definitely not.

"Anyway, you won't mind if I sort of kick your pink lady out of the way so I can get out, would you? Man, I don't understand why Cloud always makes me come and fetch this guy," –he shook Zack a little, who cried out indignantly at the rough handling- "for home when he knows your chocobo doesn't like me. She doesn't peck Cloud, but every time I'm here, she can't seem to stop pecking at my feet!"

"Probably because he wants Aeris to get used to you."

"Well, if that's the case, it's not working. But whatever. I have to take our emergency food stock home now."

Zack shrunk visibly at the nickname Riku had given him, too shaken to even wark in protest when Riku carefully shoved Aeris out of the way, about to turn and head for home. That was, until someone came up behind him and plucked Zack out of his hands, much to the black chocobo's delight.

"Riku, Zack is not our emergency food stock. I'm not going to let you eat him even if we're completely broke. And don't kick Aeris again."

"Cloud!" Leon exclaimed softly. "How did you get in?"

"By the front door of course, which Riku had so generously left wide open for everyone to come in," Cloud answered, giving his younger brother a little glare at his sheer carelessness. Riku held up his hands and slowly backed away, hardly feeling Aeris' newfound pecking strength in retaliation for the shove earlier.

While Riku was busy pushing the blame onto Aeris, who had started pecking him like a chocobo possessed the moment he entered the house and completely distracted him, and while Cloud was busy chiding him about safety, Leon's attention was entirely captured by the blond like a chocobo in an industrial-strength metal cage.

Talk about woah. Leon recognized the uniform all students of Radiant High had to wear, that poor excuse for a fashion faux-pus that was composed of a drab white shirt, dirty green checkered pants and a matching just-as-dirty green checkered tie. He had worn it himself, back in those days when he was still a high school student, and one of the reasons he had been so happy at his graduation ceremony was because he could finally burn that uniform that had made him look like a fashion victim. In fact, he and his friends had a barbeque party that very night, using their uniforms after the charcoal had ran out.

Maybe it was because of his silly crush, but somehow, that very same uniform didn't look so bad on Cloud… In fact, if Leon was to be completely honest with himself, that uniform made Cloud look even hotter than usual. Maybe it was the role-play urges in Leon's sex drive.

And with Cloud always being so flirtatious with him, it helped to fuel Leon's midnight fantasies involving the uniform, some textbooks, a whip and a candle.

He licked his suddenly dry lips.

The memory of Cloud kissing him two weeks ago was still fresh on his mind.

Vaguely, he wondered if he could talk Cloud into kissing him again, this time for helping to take care of his pet chocobo. It would be a nice payment and not too much trouble for either party, he thought. When he felt a heat gathering slightly below his abdomen, he thought it would be a good idea to stop thinking that much. After all, he had already come up with several plans to kiss Cloud, so it would only be a matter of time before he snogged the blond. Alright, stop thinking… stop thinking… stop thinking!

Leon was so focused on trying to make himself stop thinking of all things that were obscene and be possibly connected to Cloud that he was completely unaware that Riku had ran out of the room, Aeris had chased after him while trying to peck him again, Zack had jumped out of his master's hands to help Aeris in the pecking, and that he was alone with his favourite blond. And in his bedroom too, of all places.

He did a little double-take when there was a hand waving right in front of his eyes. He did another double-take when he realized how close Cloud was to him, the way he could see himself reflected in the other's baby blues. He gulped softly.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Cloud breathed.

Leon blinked, his eyes glued to how the blond's lips were moving. "…I, I was just thinking…"

"How nice it would to kiss?" Teasingly.

Bye bye brain. Hello lustful teenager hormones. "I… I was thinking more along the lines of how good you look in your uniform…"

Cloud smiled, looking more than a little amused. It was then that Leon finally realized what words had just slipped out of his mouth. But before he could correct himself (and hopefully look less like the pervert Cloud had surely already tagged him as), he felt, rather than saw, Cloud's face swim out of focus. And then, there was a light pressure on his lips.

It lasted only for a second, but for Leon's raw lips, it was a little eternity that he would remember forever.

He willed his heart to slow down and for his breath to return to him.

Cloud was still smiling at him, tapping on his parted lips playfully.

"That was for taking of Zack today. Thanks. Take care of him again tomorrow afternoon?"

Leon nodded dumbly.

"Thank you. I'll be in my uniform again tomorrow when I come to pick him up. Wait for me, alright?"

And then Cloud was gone.

Inwardly, Leon silently hoped that the reason why Cloud paid little attention to his admirers in school was because of him. At least, he knew the reverse was true. After meeting Cloud and sharing a chaste kiss with him, the people in school no longer felt as interesting as they had before. If they were a bunch of colourful people, then the blond was techni-coloured, more bedazzling, intriguing and mesmerizing.

Not to mention a better kisser.

He licked his lips again, wondering if Cloud could be persuaded into another kiss while wearing his uniform tomorrow. After all, that was what the otherwise drab uniform was for.

-tbc-