-1Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, Final Fantasy, or any mumbo-jumbo like that, I just write the fan fiction.

Rated: M or R if you like

Warning: Yaoi, meaning guy on guy action. If you no like that, then don't read this, or anything I write here for that matter. If I get a flame yelling at me about the Yaoi, you will get a very nasty and biting response from me, one guy and I had a huge fight over a flame he sent me…haven't heard from him since…Mwahahaa

Song of Desperation.

"You look tired." was Cloud's first comment when he saw Riku the next morning. Riku nodded and turned away from Cloud, scratching at his bloodshot eyes as he let out a monstrous yawn.

"I was up all night." Riku managed to get out between yawns.

"Really? Why?" Cloud asked. He was seated at the counter opposite of Riku, waiting for breakfast. Cloud couldn't cook work crap.

"Reading." Riku responded. He pulled out a pan and set it on the tiny oven. Cloud marveled how Riku had fit an entire kitchen behind that little counter of his. Everything was miniature, but it all did it's job well enough. Riku bent over to get into the tiny refrigerator for some eggs, and Cloud blushed as his employer's delicious looking ass was pushed in his face.

Cloud looked away and tried not to stare at the teen's ass. The last thing he needed was Riku kicking him out because he was gay. He couldn't afford to be kicked out. "Reading? Reading what?"

Riku paused a moment and looked back at Cloud, then stood up and kicked the fridge door shut. He had several eggs in his hands. "Oh, just something I picked up yesterday, couldn't set it down. I finished the whole thing."

"How big was it?" Cloud asked. "What was the title? Maybe I've read it, I consider myself a bit of a bibliophile you know."

"Oh I'm sure you've read it…" Riku faltered. He couldn't let Cloud know he had taken his manuscript. He only hoped that he wouldn't push the issue further.

Lucky for Riku, Cloud wasn't very inquisitive. He didn't ask anymore questions, and instead elected to open the shop.

"No, that's ok Cloud, we aren't open on Sundays." Riku replied, cracking the eggs into the pan.

"Really?" Cloud asked. He looked out across the street and saw lots of other businesses were open. "How come?"

"Don't need to be." Riku replied. He was flipping the eggs now so they wouldn't stick, but he messed up and broke one of the yoke's. "Damn…" he muttered. "You like your eggs scrambled?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah sure." Cloud replied. He was watching various people walk by. A habit he picked up long ago. Back when he was in college, his English Professor had said that the best way to improve one's writing was to watch how people behave everyday. Building a character was the most important element in the story. If you didn't have a character that seemed real, people wouldn't want to read your stories.

"You look off in la-la land, what's up?" Riku came up behind Cloud with a plate full of eggs.

Cloud glanced at him then back out onto the street. "Research." he replied simply.

Riku looked at him for a moment then shrugged and plopped down at one of the tables. "What kind of research?"

"Character development." Cloud replied, taking the plate from Riku. He sat down and began to eat. "If you know how different people will act in the same situations, you can easily make a believable character that people will love, or hate."

"Can't you just make them do what you would do?"

"You could, but lets say Mr. Smith is a complete social outcast, rarely talks, has few friends, and tends to sit under the radar, an average Joe with nothing great going on with his life. He goes into the bank for his paycheck, and happens to get in the middle of a burglary. What would he do? But he isn't the only one there, George, an ex-soldier who'd fought in a war, is also there. He's a macho man who has a strong sense of justice and doesn't take crap from anyone. How would he react? And on top of that, you have to consider the personality of the burglar. Would he back down if challenged? Would he shoot first and ask questions later? An author would have to have multiple personalities to act out all those parts believably."

"I guess so." Riku replied, messing with his eggs. "But what if Superman came in and beat the crap out of the burglar? There, problem solved."

"Yeah, well what if the burglar turned out to be an alien from deep space? He'd whip out his kryptonite and Superman would be defenseless."

"You got me there…" Riku paused a moment to think. There had to be something he could do to help out Superman. "Well, then the alien's enemy race would come in and shoot him down with their lasers, thereby freeing Superman and saving the day."

"Ah, but Mr. Smith turns out to be the alien's accomplice. The aliens had taken over his brain years ago and kept him acting normal so they wouldn't raise suspicion. He shows his true colors and blasts away all your alien pals. Then he knocks superman out, robs the bank, and goes back to his alien organization who do experiments on Superman till he dies. Beat that."

Riku frowned. "I don't think I can…"

Cloud laughed. "Exactly. But you saw my point. A story can develop naturally, but without the characters, its nothing."

"Well that explains why I liked your book so muc- shit."

"You read my book?" Cloud asked.

"Err….yeah, you left it on your bed and…it looked interesting…so…"

"So you read it."

"Yes…" Riku looked down at the floor, his eggs forgotten and cold.

"But you liked it?…"

"Yeah…it was awesome, kind of sad, but awesome!"

"I love you!!!!" Cloud suddenly pulled Riku off of his chair in a big bear hug. Riku choked, but otherwise didn't react. He was too busy trying to process what Cloud had just said.

Finally Cloud set him down and smiled at him. "I've been waiting for someone to like my book! I knew it was good…"

"Err…yeah, the book…." Riku was still dazed, but he was happy. Cloud had said he loved him.

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I should write more, but I'm tired.

R&R!