Another chapter up! All the previous warnings for this story still apply. I apologize for any spelling errors. Reviews are always appreciated. I love to know what you guys think. Onto the fic!
Once Sora reached the top of the staircase and moved out of sight, Leon turned to Cloud.
"Where's Riku?"
Cloud huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"How should I know where the brat ran off to?" he questioned angrily.
Smirking at the blonde's behavior, Leon called out "Riku where are you"?
"Over here Le" Riku answered, coming to stand a few feet behind the pair.
Cloud glared as Leon walked to the preschooler, and ruffled his hair.
"Hey Riku" the brunette started "did you and Sora behave while Cloud was in charge?"
Riku smiled up at the older boy. "Of course we did Le" he replied.
"Good" Leon said, taking the child's word as the truth. Cloud on the other hand sputtered violently.
"That's a bold face lie you little-" Leon held up a hand to silence his peer.
"Stop antagonizing the kid Strife" Leon deadpanned. Cloud could only stand by slack-jawed, mouth agape.
"But he…I…they…it" he stuttered, finally finding his voice.
Deciding to disregard Strife's rambling, Leon turned back to Riku.
"Come on kid, let's go get something to snack on" he suggested, walking towards the immaculate area that was the kitchen.
"I got you and Sora sea salt ice cream" he mentioned.
The brunette teen laughed when a small hand gripped his, and proceeded to drag him into the kitchen. Glancing behind him Leon called back to the now sulking blond.
"Make yourself useful and bring Sora into the kitchen when he gets back down here".
Cloud grunted, making a dismissive gesture in response. Once the other boy took a seat at the bottom of the stairs, Leon turned back to face the enthusiastic child latched onto his hand and let himself be led away.
Strife sighed and drummed his fingers on the banister as he waited for Sora to return; however, the blond teen grew concerned when the sounds of crashing and thumping resonated down the staircase.
"This brat is more trouble than he's worth" Cloud mumbled, deciding it would be best if he investigated.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Strife was met with an array of unfamiliar doors. The teen had to beat down the urge to knock his head against the nearest wall.
"Sora!" he shouted.
The sounds of more thumping and a faint "I'm in here" came from the door on the right side of the hall. Looking around warily, Cloud made his way to the room the call had originated from and cracked open the door.
His eyes widened as he noticed Sora seated on the floor, sniffling slightly with one hand clutching his knee.
"What happened?!"
The spiky haired preschooler whimpered and looked up, tears clouding his usually bright blue eyes.
"I…I…I was trying to find my k-key and a b-box fell out on me" he explained shakily waving a hand at the open closet door and the cardboard box lying on the floor nearby, its contents spilled across the carpet.
Cautiously stepping past the sniffling child on the floor, Cloud began to sift through the objects on the ground, stopping when his hand brushed something soft and grey. Picking the item up he found himself examining a stuffed gray key, with a bright yellow handle and a small mouse emblem adorning it.
"Is this it?" he questioned, holding the toy out to the still seated child.
Sora's expression lit up as he took the toy from Cloud, cuddling it fondly. The blond allowed himself a tiny smile at the other's happiness.
"We better get back downstairs kid" Cloud noted playfully, scooping Sora up off the floor and resting him on one hip.
Sora grinned and clutched onto the front of Cloud's shirt as the older male jogged out of the room and down the steps, jumping down the last few before finally walking into the kitchen.
Both Leon and Riku turned to look at the pair, the elder of the two almost dropping his ice cream upon catching sight of the lightly bleeding scrape on Sora's knee.
"Where did that come from?!" Leon asked, taking his brother out of Cloud's hold and into his own.
Strife opened his mouth to explain, only to have Leon cut him off.
"Are you okay? Did you fall? Is this his fault?"
"Leon!" Cloud yelled, managing to snap the brunette out of his impromptu parental fit.
"The kid's fine" the blond boy started "a box got dropped on him while he was looking for that" he explained, pointing at the toy in Sora's grasp.
"All he needs is to have that scrape cleaned, and bandaged. He'll be good as new. I swear" he finished, hoping his account of what had happened would placate the other teen.
Leon looked between Sora and Cloud before giving a solemn nod. Setting his younger brother down Leon walked out of the room, returning a few moments later with a first aid kit in hand. Lifting the injured preschooler up again, the older boy sat him gently on the edge of the nearest counter.
"Hold still" Leon admonished gently, beginning to apply peroxide to the scratch.
Sora whimpered but stilled anyway, twitching every now and then when he felt a particularly harsh stab of pain.
"All done" the elder brunette soothed, ruffling Sora's hair and picking him up off the counter.
As soon as the spiky haired child's feet hit the ground, he was running to his friend's side (1).
"Come on Ri!" Sora shouted, bouncing up and down "let's go build a fort!"
Riku smiled and let himself he tugged back into the living room.
The two teenagers glanced at each other letting an awkward silence fall over the room. Cloud was the first to cut through the quiet.
"That was um…"
"Yeah… it sure was" Leon tried to contribute, failing miserably.
"So would this be considered a date?" Cloud blurted out.
TBC
Abrupt chapter end ftw!
(1) – From what I know of kids, they recover from scrapes and injuries pretty fast.